AUTHORS NOTE: This is the final chapter of the story and the penultimate chapter of the whole thing, as only left to come after this is the epilogue. A quick word of warning, this chapter may be the shortest one in the whole story but it also contains graphic descriptions of drug taking and overdose. Also, Nathan has to die. I want to make it clear that I am not condoning murder in anyway. I am merely using the plotline from canon where Gideon murdered Nathan for Eva, but in a different way.

CHAPTER 50

The call comes just after quarter past twelve that Nathan has been seen leaving the prison. By all accounts he is incredibly pissed off that Kelvin really isn't there to pick him up and that he has to make his own way home. Mark is following him and we have been told he is waiting at a bus stop to catch a bus into Stoke.

I am astounded and incredibly grateful at how these people have volunteered and put themselves out for Eva. They have selflessly volunteered to keep eyes on Nathan until we can get to him. In Rob and Mark's case they have given up their day off to do this and I won't forget it.

By about 2pm I can't concentrate on work any longer. Martin knows something is going on but I haven't said anything.

"Look, what's going on? This is the fourth time I have tried to discuss something with you only to have you off on another planet somewhere" he asks me eventually as I completely miss something which he is trying to tell me as I'm really not concentrating.

I sigh and rub my eyes, "Nathan fucking Barker is being released from prison today" I say and Martin's eyes widen at that news.

"So, what the fuck are you doing here? You should be at home with Evie, in case that piece of shit heads straight for her again, like he did last time" he says.

I realise he is right and I grab my jacket. "I'll see you tomorrow" I say and Martin slaps me on the back as I walk past him.

As I leave the depot, I text Vic to tell him that I am heading home to Eva. The plan was I'd stay at the depot until Tez got the word that Nathan was back in Stoke but as I am worthless there I might as well go home and be with my wife.

As I pull into the driveway, my phone starts ringing and I see Tez's name on the screen so I quickly answer.

"Hello" I say.

"Gideon, Vic told me you were heading home" he says.

"Yeah, I couldn't concentrate at work, and so I was essentially worthless so I decided to call it a day" I say.

Tez lets out a small chuckle, "Well, Barker is now in Stoke and Mark says he has gone straight to score so he is predictably following form and making life incredibly easy for us".

"Good" I say with relief.

I see the front door open and Eva is standing watching me with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I have to go" I say and I quickly say my goodbyes to Tez.

I climb out of the car and look at my wife standing in the doorway of our home holding my daughter in her arms. In that moment I know I am making the right decision and that Nathan Barker dies tonight.

"Angel" I say as I walk towards her.

"Not that it's not lovely to see you, but why are you home early?" she asks. I take a moment to really look at her, her face is pale and I see fear in her eyes which she is trying desperately to hide. She is worried about the fact her ex is free once more.

I pull her towards me and press a kiss to her head before also planting one on Lily's head.

"I missed my wife so I decided to come home" I say trying to keep the atmosphere light.

Eva sighs as she sees through my words completely, "You were worried in case Nathan showed up here and so you came home to protect me" she says and I smile at her.

"That may've played a small part in my decision" I admit and Eva leans against me as I wrap my arms around her.

"Thank you" she whispers quietly and from that I know she is relieved that I have come home, which also tells me she is scared.

"I'll come with you to pick Maisie up" I say and I see the relief on her face.

"Thank you, I have to admit that I wasn't looking forward to going, in case he showed up there this afternoon" she admits.

I shake my head, "He won't get the chance to" I say. I'd had the same concerns and Tez had arranged that if he showed any signs of heading to the school he was to be called immediately and Barker would be intercepted before he got there and plan b would come into effect.

"Angel, I know you don't want to know anything but your grandfather has got a number of his friends keeping an eye on Nathan. We know exactly where he is and what he is doing. I promised you he would get nowhere near you or Maisie and we are going to make sure of that fact… Mark and Rob have given up their day off to help us keep him away from you and Mark has been tailing him since he left the prison at lunchtime. If he was making any move to go to the school or come here, I would know about it right away and I could inform the authorities. That call hasn't come through so you are completely safe" I say.

I know I am safe telling her this much as we are not doing anything illegal with this part of the plan. Eva smiles at me and I see her relax slightly and that small movement tells me just how wound up she is about this.

"Gran said stuff was going on that I didn't know about, and that I would be ok" she says after a moment.

I smile at her, "Well you should listen to your gran, she's a wise woman" I say.

oooOOOooo

We go to pick up Maisie from school and she is delighted that we are both here to fetch her. Her innocent joy helps to relax Eva a little more and I am just determined to make sure that Nathan doesn't take that away again.

When we arrive back home, I see Eva relax completely as the front door shuts. I hate to see her like this and cannot wait until that piece of shit gets what is coming to him.

We follow our normal afternoon routine albeit slightly earlier than normal as I am home early. I listen to Maisie read and we talk about her story. Now she is working with the older children she also brings home small amounts of other homework to do. Nothing huge or taxing, mainly just worksheets which she strolls through. We have our tea and afterwards I help Eva clear up the dishes and I load the dishwasher. It's all so normal, routine but Eva is trying so hard to maintain this façade of normality but I can see she is on edge and afraid. Just how frightened she is, becoming apparent when we sit down after I have bathed Maisie and she is playing with her toys in her room before she goes to bed. The front door bells sounds and Eva nearly jumps in the air at the noise. Her panicked expression tells me that she is terrified of who this could be.

"Angel, it's fine I'll go" I say reassuringly and she nods whilst trying to stay calm.

I open the front door and see Vic and Tez standing grinning widely at me.

"Everything ok?" Tez asks and I smile at him and nod my head.

"I'm fine, everything is ok apart from the fact Eva nearly had a nervous breakdown when you rang the doorbell".

Tez's smile fades and concern fills his face, "Shit I never thought" he says and he strides past me into the house closely followed by Vic.

I close the door and walk into the living room where I see them talking to Eva. Maisie is in her room at the moment so they are talking freely.

"I didn't mean to scare you sweetheart" Tez says as he holds Eva in his arms. Vic is next and as he moves in for a hug Maisie appears and he swallows what he wanted to say.

"What are you doing here?" Maisie says her voice filled with excitement but the way she said that makes us all laugh as it was so reminiscent of something Eva would say.

"Bloody hell, mini Evie!" Vic murmurs before giving Maisie a broad grin.

"We just came to see your mum and dad" Tez says and that satisfies Maisie. Before she can respond Vic's, Tez's and my phones all ping simultaneously and then Tez's starts ringing. We all look at one another as we know what this means. I glance at my phone and there is a one-word text from Rob and it makes me go cold.

Coming

This was the alert I have been dreading all day, this means that Nathan is heading for Eva. I have no idea how he knows where we live, but I am certain any of his cronies would've given him that information as it is no secret where Eva now lives.

Tez answers the call on his phone whilst trying to look nonchalant in front of Maisie. Eva has immediately picked up on what is happening and I see her anxiety levels rising dramatically.

"Ok mate" Tez says simply and hangs up.

"Eva sweetheart, we need to borrow your husband for a while is that ok?" he says.

Eva nods but doesn't say anything, the fear coming off her in waves is killing me and I step towards her and hold her.

"He's on his way here isn't he?" she whispers to me and I nod.

I feel her start to tremble and I hold her even tighter. "Don't let him near Maisie and Lily" she whispers quietly but there is also a hint of desperation in her voice.

"We won't let him get here" I promise as I press my mouth to her ear and she nods.

"Ok" she says and I watch as she takes a deep breath and turns towards Maisie and looks at her carefully as she thinks about what she is going to say next.

"Maisie, daddy has to go out for a while to help granddad Vic and granddad Tez" she says with a forced brightness. Maisie nods as she runs to me and hugs me.

"Will you be back to read me a story before I go to bed?" she asks and I glance at Tez who nods.

"I hope so… let me go sweetheart as the sooner I go the sooner I'll be back" I say. I won't break a promise to my daughter so despite Tez's confidence that I will be home before Maisie goes to bed, I won't promise her that I will… just in case.

Tez and Vic have matching grim expressions as we leave the house and I hate leaving Eva alone at a time like this but I am fully aware that it has to be done. We make our way to the park. It is ironic that the one place where there should really be CCTV cameras there are none. But this works in our favour for what we need to do tonight. I look around, at this time of year this place is totally deserted at this time in the evening, but I look around anyway just to double check.

As we enter the park we wait, we know that Barker will come this way to get to our home as Rob had told Tez in the call that he was following Barker towards the park. As I am thinking that I see him. Barker has clearly taken something, as he is behaving erratically. My mind goes back to that night on the estate when he was behaving in a similar manner outside Eva's flat.

"What do you think he has taken?" I whisper to Vic.

"Looks like coke, by the way he is behaving… Evie said he always took coke, but he sold Heroin" Vic whispers and I shake my head in disgust at that.

Tez smiles "Which makes our job nice and easy" he mutters. I have no idea what Tez is planning to do, all I know is that after tonight Nathan Barker will be no more.

I look around for Mark and Rob but don't see them, and realise that is probably deliberate. We wait and my heart feels like it is beating out of my chest.

Tez turns to me, "Gideon" he says and I look towards him.

"Last chance, do you want to witness this? I won't think any less of you if you decide to leave this to us and want to go home to Eva" he says and I shake my head.

"No, I need to see him die, so I know for sure he will never hurt Eva again" I say coldly.

Tez nods and slaps my shoulder. Barker hasn't even noticed us yet and he is getting closer. Then he does and he stops, he looks at me blankly before he glances at Vic and Tez and vague recognition fills his face.

"Well, well, well, is this my welcome home party?" he sneers and Vic laughs.

"Yeah something like that" he says and we take a step closer.

He looks at me and frowns as somewhere in his drug addled head he must put two and two together and realise who I am.

"Are you the fucker who took my girl away?" he growls and I laugh.

"You really are a sad pathetic little boy aren't you?!" I say, that takes him by surprise and he just stares at me.

I step forward towards him, "Hello Nathan, I've heard all about you and I have been looking forward to meeting you, to meet the big man who thinks it's ok to terrorise children and rape and beat women" I say. I look him up and down derisively. "You really are a contemptable specimen aren't you, a typical bully" I say.

I watch as his eyes widen and I see fear for the first time as he realises that maybe he is going to get hurt tonight.

"I… I just wanted to see Maisie" he stammers holding up his hands and I laugh.

"Bullshit, you got the adoption paperwork. You know that you have nothing to do with Maisie anymore, she is my daughter now and has been since the moment she asked me if she could call me daddy" I say.

I watch as anger fills his face, "Well I don't give a shit about her, you can keep her but I want Eva back" he spits and I laugh loudly.

"My wife had made it clear to you that you were dead to her when she visited you at the prison" I say calmly.

This angers him even more and he takes a step towards me, "You stole her from me, you poisoned her against me" he screams and I laugh again.

"If you think that then you are clearly more deluded than I thought" I say as I push him away. As I do so we all crowd him and shepherd him over to the bushes just in case someone should decide to walk through the park and see us.

"The last time you saw her you kicked her in the head and broke her ribs… tell me Nathan if someone did that to you, would you want anything to do with them?" I speak to him as if he is a small child because behind the drug haze and bravado that is exactly what he is. He is a frightened little boy who is desperately trying to hang on to the one person who at one time loved him.

I step closer, "You blew it Nathan. She loved you, and you took her love and you stamped all over it, just like you stamped all over her. Now she loves me and I cherish her. I would never dream of harming a single hair on her head because she is a beautiful, intelligent and totally amazing woman…" I pause and laugh in his face, "she was the only person who ever loved you and you threw it back in her face and made her despise you, whereas I will love her back forever" I say. I know that is a low blow, but I don't care. I see the moment my words hit their mark and the moment he breaks in front of me.

He really does look like a small frightened child now and he looks from me to Tez and Vic as he seems to think about something.

"Can… can I just see her, just once to tell her I'm sorry" he mutters and we all laugh loudly at that.

"Erm… no" Vic says harshly.

I see the anger coming back now and he balls his hands into fists, telling us all he is doing is trying to manipulate us. "Fuck you! Fuck you all I'm fucking seeing her, she's mine" he yells and with that Tez grabs him. I see movement and I panic slightly until I recognise Mark and also Rob who appear from nowhere and Mark throws a bag at Vic who opens it. Vic nods at Mark who returns the nod and then disappears back into the shadows.

I see three syringes and Vic smiles and it hits me what they are going to do, they are going to overdose him with drugs.

I step forward and help Tez who is now grappling with Nathan who is now screaming and struggling in his hold.

"Calm down Nathan, we are not going to hurt you" I say coldly.

"We are not going to kick you in the head or ribs or smack you about, even though you fucking deserve having a small taste of what you did to Eva done to you" Tez growls.

"No, just relax… because we are going to make you feel so good" I say. I use the words my Uncle Hugh said to me as a child. Not in the context he meant them obviously but for some reason they just popped into my head, those words always filled me with fear and panic as I knew what would follow but saying them to Nathan, knowing that they will be the last words he hears from me feels right in a strange perverse kind of way. He violated Eva just like Hugh violated me, so it just feels… right.

I say nothing more and wrap my arm around Nathan's arm pulling his sleeve up and exposing his forearm. I glance around once more and am happy to see the park is completely deserted. Tez has Nathan's head in a death grip and Rob steps up and wraps a tourniquet around his arm making his veins bulge. All the while Nathan is struggling and pleading.

"Please… please… no… don't… I'll go… I'll leave… I won't do nothing" he begs.

"Too fucking late for that" Tez growls in his ear.

Rob helps us hold Nathan down while Vic steps forward and plunges the needle into Nathan's arm and empties it. Before following the same procedure twice more. Nathan starts to convulse violently and I watch as his eyes roll and he starts to vomit.

"I think his vein collapsed when I did the last one" Vic mutters.

"Never mind" Tez says coldly.

Nathan is now totally still and quiet and we lay him down in this secluded bushy area. We leave the tourniquet on him and place one of the empty syringes in his hand and put one next to him and then the final one in the bag and push it into his pocket. I notice he is frothing at the mouth now but not offering to move to do anything about it.

"Is he?" I ask looking down at him.

Tez looks at me, "Dead?" he asks and I nod.

Rob crouches and presses a finger to his neck and shakes his head "No pulse" he says and he holds his hand in front of Nathan's mouth. "He's not breathing either" he says with clear satisfaction.

Tez smiles, "It would appear so then" he says.

I feel a rush of relief, Eva and Maisie are finally free of him.

I look up at Rob who is gazing down at Nathan with a look of satisfaction on his face. Mark is nowhere to be seen.

"Seems fitting we used his own drugs on him too" Rob says and I look questioningly at him.

"We followed him when he went to get his stash, and before he took his hit of coke he hid that other crap, so Mark just retrieved it from where he had hidden it and prepared it all for him, ready for it to be given to him, while I took over watching him" he says with a satisfied smile.

"I will never be able to repay any of you for what you did tonight" I say as I look around the men in front of me.

They all shake their heads, "No, this should've been done years ago. I was always guilt ridden that we didn't do more at the time when Evie was with this fucker," Rob says.

"We should be the ones thanking you Gideon, you have transformed Evie's life… and Maisie's. She didn't have a life before she met you, she was just existing day to day. She was just surviving. Now, she is blossoming and it's a joy to see and you gave her that and for that we will all be forever grateful" Vic says as he slaps my shoulder.

Tez and Rob both nod and murmur in agreement.

"What happens now?" I ask as I nudge Nathan with my foot.

As I say this, I see movement and Tez looks up, "Someone is coming" he says as he sees a figure walking towards us.

I look back and notice Rob has now also vanished, melting away into the night and Vic looks at Tez and he nods.

"Hey! Mate do you have a phone on you?" Vic calls and I stare at him in shock.

The man walks closer and stares wide eyed at Nathan sprawled on the ground. "We just found him, don't know who he is but he can't stay here… what if some little kids find him" Tez says.

The man nods and pulls out his phone and I realise what they are doing, someone else is calling the police therefore they will be the ones recorded as raising the alarm.

I glance at Tez again, "You get yourself home son" he says kindly to me, "We'll take care of all this" he adds.

I nod, "Thanks" I say noting the fact he didn't use my name.

I walk in the front door and Eva is waiting for me, her eyes wide and terrified. I take off my coat and hold open my arms. She walks into them and bursts into tears.

"I promised you he would never hurt you again and he won't" I say simply.

I feel her stiffen and she pulls away and looks carefully at me.

"What did you do?" she asks.

"Me… personally, nothing really" I say honestly.

I can see Eva reading between the words and her eyes widen.

"Is he…" she stops and looks at me and I nod.

"Don't ask me anything more as it's best you don't know" I say and she nods. I hold her tightly and I feel her sag in my arms and then she begins to cry.

"Hey" I say as I stroke my hand up and down her back.

"He's really gone… really, really gone for good?" she asks and as she says this she sounds like a little girl.

I nod again, "Really, really gone" I say simply.

Eva holds me tightly, "Thank you" she says quietly and with total and genuine relief.

I don't say anything and I just hold her.

"Daddy!" The call makes me smile, and I pull away from Eva. Before I can respond I hear Lily squeal and my smile gets wider.

I look at Eva, "It appears that our children need us" I say and Eva nods and smiles at me.

"Well we'd better go and find out what they need" she says.

I step away from her and hold out my hand, my heart lurches as she slips her hand into mine and we walk together into the living room.