A/N: Rated M for violence, cruelty and potential cold blooded murder.

Ch- 18: Redemption

"Bridge, I will say this one last time…" Sky Tate slowly drew out, for the third time, "put your gloves on, and we can sit… and talk"

the stalemate had changed since the time Sky had arrived, and it was less that three minutes later.

See what happened was that the minute Sky arrived, in his classic 'Sky-Tate-to-the-rescue' fashion, and Z had been distracted by his arrival, and his classic opening line, 'you are deluding yourself Bridge' and Boom!

Bridge had gotten just the perfect moment, to grip Z's wrist, and twist it around her, as his hands glowed with evil: a side effect of his psychic powers manifesting. His telekinetic abilities could throw either husband or wife across the room, in a dazed frenzy… no… that was the last thing either needed. Now he had both his hands outstretched in different directions, at Sky and Z. Ske needed to do damage control right now, it was for the sake of a very injured Z.

"right… and then you'd take me in" he said, and Sky had to admit, it was the classic thing to do.

Then Sky saw that glint in his eyes… the one he had had, the second before he had pushed Sky off the roof…

The glint of murder.

The next second, Z's blood ran cold, as she felt an iron grip on her throat, and felt herself bring hoisted into the air, from the neck. She reached for her neck, an involuntary scream trying to tear out, but emerging only as a short stifled squeak. There was no hand, at her neck, only the force of it, she touched her neck, and felt the grip tightening, as she felt her life force drain out of her body. Her face had turned ashen white as she struggled for every ounce of air, that was struggling it's way through Bridge Carson's telepathic grip.

Sky's eyes widened, as he watched his wife being lifted into the air, and being suspended there. His eyes watered, and his own breath came out in rasps, as he realized horrifyingly, that Bridge had Z under his mercy.

"Z!" he cried, and she just struggled in mid air, a mere ten feet apart, yet miles and miles away from his reach. Sky felt his knees give way, and he grabbed onto the couch, to steady himself, and watched as the psychopath looked cruelly from one to the other.

"so? Sky? Z? Tate? Delgado? Tate?" he said, looking alternately at both of them, "you want me to kill you?" he asked, smiling his most charming smile.

Z hurriedly nodded, as much as she could. Death would've been the best alternative for her at this present moment.

Sky meanwhile felt himself choking out, "NO!"

"hey!" Bridge pretended to be disappointed, "see, now you've made it difficult for me…." He grinned, sadistically, "Should I kill her? Should I not?" he tilted his head on one side, as if trying to speculate, then to the other side, considering the other alternative. "I should no?" and again, Z nodded, and Sky found himself crying.

"you know what? I'll let you guys decide." He said, smirking, "whoever BEGS more convincingly, will get his wish!" he said, and well, if he couldn't have physical fun with her, well, psychological fun was just as satiating.

"why are you doing this Bridge?" amongst his sobs, Sky whispered; this was the first times, that Sky Tate, Commander, Sky Tate, had cried in front of anyone except his wife. But he couldn't hold them back, right now. Seeing his wife struggling to die. They had been in life or death situations before, but they had been ultimate. This? This was torture, especially for him. He couldn't stand to see her like this, and he couldn't stand the thought of her dying. She couldn't give up like that! What if he—

Too many what ifs had been there,

"WHY am I doing this?" Bridge echoed his question, followed by a maniacal laughter, "ladies and gentlemen," he spoke out to no one in particular, "he asks, WHY I am doing this! He pretends to be SO ignorant!" followed by more laughter, "Sky Tate, what do you think? Why am I doing this? Why am I what I am today? Because of YOU!"

Sky was taken aback, so much viciousness in his old friend, so much of hatred… had he caused that?

"Sky, I was dating Z, I was in love with her! I was happy with her! we were both happy together! But then you came along… you swept her off her feet! And suddenly? I wasn't enough for her. oh, now she needed a prince charming, a knight in shining armor, who was rich, handsome, ripped, well built, moral… perfect."

Z was still struggling, in the air, not even listening to what he was saying, only hoping that he'd quickly finish up, and kill her off, because this purgatory was worse than hell!

"it was because of you, Mr. Perfect, that she left me, and plunged me, into this hell cycle of misery which made me the psychopathic maniac, as your newspapers describe me, I am."

Sky listened, and he realized his anger was growing with every passing word, not just because every passing second provided more agony to his beloved, but also because this, all of this, that Bridge Carson was saying, was sheer bullshit!

"what the fucking hell are you trying to say Carson?" Sky finally screamed, "you're trying to say that you're a soul dead, mad, psycho fanatic BECAUSE this woman broke up with you?" Sky asked, "you know? I used to blame myself, have been, for years now, for your misery! But now, in this situation? With you narrating exactly what I used to feel, is making me realize that it… is… not… my… fault! Ironic no?"

"ironic? No" Bridge repeated, with certain firmness in his voice, "hypocritical, yes" he said, amused, "you think of something, so it's right, and when someone else tells you the same thing, he's wrong?"

"Z also used to tell me, that it wasn't our fault, that it was not my fault, or hers, that you couldn't recover from a break-up!"

"break-up? that's what you think this was?"

"YES!" Sky was surprised by the sheer shock in his voice, "what the hell do you think it was you idiot? She found you bugging her, so she dumped you! It wasn't her first time! I'd had quite a few relationships before Z, and she had had before me! Including you! It wasn't our fault, or our scheme, that our relationship worked out, and yours didn't! Bridge Carson, this is how the world is! sometimes people find themselves suitable for others, sometimes they don't…"

he continued ranting, as he, from the corner of his eye, realized, that as Bridge's attention was diverted by Sky's talks, his grip on Z's neck was loosening. Who knew, if he continued like this, Bridge, in his total confusion, might release her.

"Bridge, this is how relationships work! People fall in love, they fall out of it, husbands cheat on wives, girlfriends find better boyfriends and break up… other way around too! people get bored of each other, people find better people to spend their lives with. They get divorced, they break up, they split up, they move out, SO MANY PEOPLE DO IT!"

"but that doesn't mean that if someone's left you for someone else, you set out to murder them and their lover! No! you move on, and find someone better for yourself! And why do you even HAVE to find someone for yourself? Why can't you just stay happy alone with your friends, and family? Bridge, remember I told you, when you broke up, that you shouldn't resent her? that she did what she thought was best for both of you? Remember when Adelaide proposed to you, and you turned her down because you were so hung up on Z? just think, if you had given her a chance, given anybody else a chance, wouldn't you have saved your own life?"

"ohkay, this is all nice and pretty, what's the catch?" Bridge scowled, and by now, he had completely forgotten about his grasp on Z, and was completely trapped in Sky's words.

"the catch, Bridge, is this: if, and only if, you had decided that you would've picked up your life, not gotten involved in those drug rings, and whatever other unspeakable crimes you did, IFF you had deicded that you'd move on, like everybody else did, after the break-up, and a few days of crying over it, maybe you would've helped us pick out the furniture in the house. Maybe your children would've been best friends with ours, maybe, you'd be laughing at dinner tables with us, Syd, Jack, Ally, Boom, and others. Maybe, just maybe, if you had dealt with the situation like an adult, you'd still have been our Ol' Buttery Boy Bridgey"

Sky was breathing heavily, after the whole rant, and he hadn't realized that there were tears in Bridge's eyes, though he was trying to fight them back. He was done... he had not just preached to Bridge, but also justified himself. He felt that he had redeemed his sins, had suffered enough for pushing his friend onto the dark path... He felt redemption. What Bridge was today, was not because of Sky, but because of himself, and that was just as soothing to Sky as the sight of relief sweep over Z as she felt air gush into her lungs at that very moment, and felt the life come back into her.

"you know what?" he said, standing up straight, "I'm tired, sick and tired of you two, the 'perfect couple'. I refuse to believe that whatever happened to me was not because of you two!" he said the words, but even his own voice didn't sound convinced. He knew what he had to do now, there was no other alternative for him. He couldn't surrender himself to the torture of the containment cards, and prison and judgement and trials! All he needed was a minute. It was game over for him, he decided to... exonerate... Z.

"you want us to take you in?" Z asked moaning from the pain, from behind, as Bridge, quite gently put her down, she had been so surprised by the gesture, that she wondered, if the psychopath had had a change of heart. Maybe it wasn't too late for him, she thought, but dismissed the thought as all the agony she had suffered in the past few minutes came back to her, this madman did not deserve sympathy. So many cruel murders, rapes and heinous crimes he had committed that confinement felt like a punishment too nice.

Sky raised his SPD morpher, to scan judgment for all the crimes he had committed, and it came out 'guilty' to nobody's surprise. Sky then raised his morpher to contain the vicious criminal.

But then the man acted as quickly as a puma… Bridge Carson grabbed a blaster from Z's waist, put it up to his head, and before Sky or Z could react, he pulled the trigger.

Schuyler Tate and Elizabeth Delgado watched horrified, as Bridge Carson collapsed onto the floor, as dead as he could be.

A/N: so? whaddaya think? worth it? loose ends being tied up in the next chapter, so ANYTHING anybody needs clarified in the next chapter post it in the reviews!