Well, if you are reading this chapter I know you are a fan of the now defunct show that inspired this story. Hope you enjoy.

The end of the last chapter

"Ahh!" Growls an airborne Ryn as she launches herself headfirst into Robb's stomach. Sean rushes the doubled over biologist and grabs the hand with the gun.

Ben reaches under the bedsheet and gives the hypodermic needle he's been hiding to Hope.

"The neck…"He pushes out the words. "The neck…"

She hops from the bed holding the implement as if a dagger.

As Ryn's hands squeeze Robb's throat. Sean tries to wrestle the weapon from him. He swings the now choking man to the side. Robb's hand extends.

A shot is fired.

Ryn screeches in terror shattering the window.

And alerting everyone in the area

Chapter 25

Till death do us part

A cluster of police officers converge on the last apartment in the row of motel rooms. Before an officer can knock on the door a deputy sheriff points his firearm through the shattered window.

"Hands up, now!?" He screams at Ryn holding Robb's unconscious form.

Ryn! No!" Yells Xander. His pleas go unheeded.

The officer at the window fires as Ryn snaps the neck of Robb, throwing him down to the floor.

"Ryn," screams Ben. His clothes drenched with the blood of a mortally wounded Hope. A victim of Robb's un-aimed shot.

"No! No!" He reaches for his love's outstretched hand as his grasp of Hope does not lessen.

"Ben, Ben…I love you. My hope…" Ryn's eyes flutter as Xander pushes away an officer pointing a gun at the wounded woman.

"I got you. You'll be ok." Xander tells her. "You'll all be ok."
In the background the call for an ambulance can be heard.

Looking up at the para-medic administering to Ryn, Xander's cheeks shed tears as the EMT bites his lip and shakes his head.

As the other medic eases Hope from Ben's embrace, his expression tells Xander unwanted news.

"Xander," unharmed Ben begins to tremble as he grabs the lifeless body of Hope into his arms.

"My baby…my…baby." He cries into her ear.

Summoning strength, Ryn leans into her distraught lover.

"No, no," he keeps repeating. "No, this can't happen."

"Ben…" She whispers his name. Looking into his tearful blue eyes, she speaks.

"My love, you are one of us. We will meet again. Our…spirits…love will…" She gasps for a breath.

"Do something! Do something!" Yells Xander.

As one of the EMTs tries to help Ryn, she pushes him away.

"No, I must tell Ben."
"Let her be." Xander said as holding the medic's arm to keep him from her.

"My darling. Cami will feel in her soul what…" She clutches a quivering breast. "She will contact you. Then…bury us." Another tortured breath halts her words. "She will know where." Gasping for air, she continues.

"That way, I can be with my Hope and our baby." She lets out a painful giggle. Ryn cringes from the action.

"When your time is done…you will join us. We will be…together forever." She whispers a phrase to Ben and then drops her head.

"Ryn!" Ben screams as her head falls on his lap

Xander could only offer his shoulder to embrace his sobbing friend.

Twenty miles to the South

Pat and Maddie pull into a convenience store off another desolate road.

As Pat offers to buy then some drinks and a snack, he uses his cell to contact his two subordinate agents.

Maddie also is on the phone. The call is from Chief Hawkins.

"Maddie, this is the Chief." As the conversation continues, she informs him of Hope's disappearance.

Then some news he has received from Nicole stiffens the young woman's posture.

"Yeah! The Russians have an agent somewhere near you." He tells the attentive listener.

"He had traveled from the Philippines. Lieutenant Commander Martinez told me one of his covers is to pose as a Polish national."

Maddie's jaw drops, as she turns to look at Pat standing at the register.

Sirens blare as more people want to gain entrance to the overflowing motel room.

Sean is outside giving a statement in-between attempts to stifle the urge to sob over the death of the young hitchhiker he offered to help.

Inside, Ben still clings to Hope with one hand.

"Ben, you have to let her go." Xander places both his palms on Ben's cheek. "My friend. Both of them. Remember, what Ryn said." He puts his lips to Ben's ear. "You guys live on in spirit. You're one of them now. You'll all be together." He leans back. "Maddie and Helen will deal with that crazy Cami." He pushes out a chuckle. His expression remains anything but cheery

"Xander, contact Maddie, tell her I love her. I…we …both of us love her."
"Gees, bro. You three. But you'll tell her when you see her." Xander tries to keep his friend occupied as the stretchers from the morgue enter the room.

"Xander, you know what Ryn whispered to me before she…" His shaking stops the torn voice.

"No, I thought it was private. It's between you and her." The longtime friend admits.
"Till death do us part." Ben repeats it with a smile on his face.

He reaches under Ryn's body as it lies on Robb's automatic.

"Till death do us part"

The shot brings a moment of surrealistic silence to the room.

For the reader:

Tell me what you think. Believe it or not, I can continue this story if you wish. (With our favorite characters) Or just do what Freeform did and leave everyone hangin'?

If this is the end of the story, thanks to all those people in the US and far-away places for your interest.