A/N: First and foremost thank you all! I know this chapter was delayed but I knew it would be the last one and was having a hard time letting it go. I really appreciated all the reviews and I hope this story managed to entertain a few of you while we got through this pandemic. I hope everyone is staying safe and strong in these hard times. This story was meant to be ten chapter and I managed to make it 49 chapters, again that's because of you all reading and reviewing! Have I had other story ideas pop into my head? Yes. So always keep an eye out and again thank you I appreciate every single person who has read and/or reviewed.

Perfect

AJ woke up the next morning and looked to her side and Hart was gone she shot up and noticed Punk was gone too and she let out a sigh. It was only a quarter to five and she threw the blankets off herself and grabbed her robe and tied it around herself as she ventured into the hallway. Across the hall Hartley's room was empty so she headed down the stairs and saw the TV light on and Punk sitting on the couch holding a bottle feeding Hartley.

"What's going on? I didn't hear her wake up." AJ mumbled tiredly.

"I was up and saw her fussing so I snuck her out before she got to you." Punk said to her.

"I can wake up with her you don't have to always do it." AJ reminded him.

"I might have to work a couple of hours today so I wanted to spend some time with her." Punk said simply.

"Go into work?" AJ questioned sitting next to him now. "What happened?"

"Ape, I don't want to bother her." Punk said nodding at the baby and AJ glared at him. "There was a woman killed not far from here."

"I heard about it on the news." AJ said to him. "And you think it was Dickie?"

"She was wearing your necklace." Punk informed her.

"He's really gunning for me, huh?" AJ asked in jest but it bothered her. "I wonder what the odds are of the same man killing an entire family at different times?"

"Stop that." He warned her coldly. "No one is going kill you."

"Odds aren't in my favor." She mumbled.

"April." He scolded now. "I haven't slept. I can't sleep. I'm working around the clock to get this guy and I won't let you make jokes about dying."

"If I don't laugh about it I'll cry." She said to him.

"Ape." He sighed shaking his head.

"You're scared." AJ noted.

"I'm not scared." He scoffed.

"You are." AJ nodded. "I know you really well."

"I'm frustrated." Punk corrected.

"I know." AJ said to him.

"You make jokes and it makes me feel like you're accepting a fate of death." He said to her.

"I have the worlds most perfect little girl in my world and the most perfect husband. I'm not accepting anything." She informed him with a light smile. "I'm not going anywhere without a fight."

"That's my girl." He stated proudly.

"And I know you're going to get him and when you do I need you to make me a promise." She said to him.

"Anything." He said to her without hesitation.

"I know facing him won't easy. You'll think how he attacked me twice, how he killed my parents, how he scared me, how he attacked you and you'll think if you can kill him you can avoid ever having to deal with him again and keeping me safe." She said to him.

"I never said I was going to kill him." Punk remarked looking down at his daughter now.

"I know you. And I would be thinking the same thing." She said to him. "But I need you to promise me that you wont. I want him to pay for what he did to my mother."

"I'll do my best." He promised.

Later that day AJ was alone with Hartley. Punk's mother took a night away and Punk went into work.

She was feeling a bit overwhelmed. Hartley was screaming for what felt like hours and she didn't want to eat, she didn't want to sleep, she didn't want to play- she just wanted to scream.

"Please give mommy a sign." AJ pleaded to her daughter and now Larry was barking. "Not you too." She groaned.

She was at her wits end and this was a moment she truly missed her mother. She reached for her phone to call her only to realize that she wouldn't be able to answer. This was what daughters needed from their mothers. She knew Punk was working, he was already gone for eight hours and she knew he was busy but now she was worrying the baby was sick. Was she warm? Or was she just making herself hot from screaming.

"Do you hate me?" AJ asked daughter near tears. "Is that it? When Grandma and Daddy are here you don't act like this." Larry was now scratching her leg and she realized he probably needed a walk. "Do you need a walk now too? Can't you just go in the yard?" she nearly cried then it hit her. "Do you want to go in your stroller?" She asked picking up Hartley. "Yea? It's not too cold tonight and you've never in your stroller." She said carrying her upstairs to change her for her first trip out but looked back towards the living room that looked like a tornado hit it.

"I'll take care of that later." She mumbled to herself and Larry followed her out.

Punk walked into the house and was met with complete silence and that terrified him. He quietly closed the door behind him and arched a brow as he stepped further into the house. He saw AJ's car in the driveway so she had to be home. He peered into the living room and that's when he reached for his gun. It looked like the place was turned over, a struggle must have taken place. His heart was racing as he inspected the rooms on the first floor, her office, the kitchen, went down to the basement then headed upstairs.

Punk swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed open his mom's bedroom door and it was empty as was Hartley's and his room. He grabbed his phone and dialed Dean.

"She's gone!" Punk yelled. "I just got home and the place is a wreck and no one is here! Her car is in the driveway! Yea I looked everywhere!" He yelled. "Just get here!"

Punk frantically ran down the stairs and looked for clues when the front door swung open and he aimed his gun.

"Don't move!" Punk screamed causing AJ to let out a scream which woke Hartley and caused her to start crying and Larry to start barking. "Jesus!" He yelled lowering his gun.

"You woke her!" AJ hissed looking in the stroller.

"Where the hell have you been?" Punk demanded.

"Your daughter wouldn't stop crying! And Larry needed to go out. I put your daughter in the stroller and pushed her while I walked Larry and walking made her feel great and made her sleepy and she finally fell asleep and you just woke her." AJ explained with a red angry face.

"I'm sorry." He sighed watching AJ cuddle the baby. "Where the hell is my mom?"

"She went home for the night." AJ said with a sigh.

"You thought taking her out was the safest option?" Punk asked.

"We walked up and down the block for almost an hour. We were in front of brightly lit houses and no one murdered me." She said to him and passed him Hartley. "She hates me." AJ said to him as she calmed in Punk's arms instantly.

"No." Punk said to her and she began to cry again and AJ smiled. "See? She hates me too. You took her for her first walk without me?"

"Yea well you get to take her for her second walk." AJ said taking her jacket off and hanging it up.

"I just got in-" He began and his face dropped. "But I will take her back out." He said putting her back in her stroller.

"Thank you." AJ said opening the front door.

"Right this second?" He asked.

"I can't take the screaming. She likes the fresh air." AJ pointed.

"Right." He forced a smile and headed out and Larry barked.

"Larry likes to be with her." AJ said passing him the leash. "Stay in brightly lit areas." AJ mocked as he walked out the door.

AJ was laying on the couch a few minutes later. She had to cook and clean but she needed ten minutes. She had both eyes closed for two minutes but opened one she heard a siren, then more sirens. She shot up off the couch at the sound of her front door being kicked in.

"What the hell?" AJ asked fearfully standing up and an officer pulled a gun.

"Don't move! Hands up!" The officer warned and AJ shot her hands up in the air.

"Where is Punk?" Dean asked walking in and saw AJ. "AJ?" He asked and placed his hand over the officers arms to lower the gun.

"What the hell is this?" AJ asked shaking. "Why is the entire police force storming my house?"

"Punk called and said you were gone!" He yelled. "Where's the baby?"

"She's with him! They're out for a walk!" AJ yelled back.

"False alarm." Dean said into his radio. "You ok?" He asked concerned walking over to her. "You look pale."

"Thirty cops just broke my front door and raided my home." AJ said placing her hand over her chest. "I took the baby for a walk so she could sleep and I come home and Phil is holding a gun and Hart starts crying." She said in tears and Dean sat with her.

"Why are you crying?" Dean laughed. "I'll fix your door tonight."

"It's not about the door." AJ cried. "I was alone all day with the baby and she hates me. I really should have thought this whole thing out before I requested unprotected sex."

"Ugh god, come on." Dean groaned. "You're a good mom."

"I could only get her to stop crying by walking her." AJ told him.

"Yea and some mom's drive their babies around." Dean pointed out. "You're a great mom. Your first day alone and you already figured out what she loves. Long walks."

"That's kind of true." AJ said thinking about it. "But why does she hate me?"

"She's a baby, they hate everyone." Dean assured her.

"I'm sorry." Punk said walking into the house quietly. "Shush my daughter is sleeping." Punk hissed at the cops walking out the door. "I'm sorry." He mouthed to AJ who looked ready to kill him.

"I'll fix the door." Dean assured him standing up and looking into the stroller. "She's an angel." He said looking back at AJ who glared him.

"I'll put her in her crib." Punk said and AJ stopped him. "This is the most quiet she's been in hours. Leave her." she ordered.

"What in the world?" Pam gasped stepping over the door.

"I'm a good mom. I swear." AJ told her sadly.

"I thought you were staying out?" Punk asked his mother.

"Where is the door?" Pam asked Punk.

"It's a long story." Punk sighed.

"I just wanted to close my eyes for a minute." AJ sighed sadly.

"Go, close your eyes. I'll watch the kid and fix the door." Dean insisted.

"Have you been at work?" Pam asked seeing Punk's gun and badge.

"I had to-" He began.

"Your daughter is a few days old. Look at your poor wife." Pam scolded.

"She hasn't stopped crying." AJ explained to Pam.

"Go upstairs and get some sleep." Pam instructed her. "You fix the door." She pointed at Dean.

"Yes Ma'm." Dean said fearfully and scurried off.

"This is great thanks." Punk said kissing his mom's cheek.

"Where are you going?" Pam asked.

"To get some sleep with Ape." Punk told her.

"No, no." Pam told him. "You should have not gone to work."

"There's a madman looking to kill my wife I have to work." Punk explained.

"It's just as exhausting to be at work as it is to be here with Hartley." Pam told him. "You watch her, I have to clean the mess your friends made."

"They're not friends." Punk groaned. "It was work!" He yelled after his mother and that's when he heard his daughters cries. "Oh, fuck." He groaned and looked down at the baby. "Yea, yea I know." He said pushing the stroller out the door again.

AJ opened her eyes and saw Hartley in her side crib and smiled. She was so lovely when she wasn't screaming. She rolled over and was nose to nose with Punk who was still in his street clothes.

"You've slept for ten hours." Punk mumbled and her eyes widened.

"I have not." She scoffed sitting up and looking at the time and it was 7 in the morning.

"You snored so loud." He grinned with his eyes still closed. "We just came in."

"Was she up this whole time?" She gasped.

"No. She's been sleeping for hours. I watched her in her stroller. Then I helped clean up downstairs. I'm sorry I sent the cops after you." He teased.

"I should have text you or called." She said.

"Just be careful." He said to her opening his eyes a bit.

"I feel to awake to sleep." She said to him.

"Not me." He said to her. "I'm exhausted."

"I'm starving." She said to him.

"I know I've heard your stomach growling." He smirked. "There's leftover Chinese food down there."

"I love you." She said nipping his lips and then ran out of bed.

AJ was downstairs eating cold Chinese food. She couldn't wait to heat it up. She was absolutely starved. She heard a bark and realized Larry was nowhere to be found but the bark from the yard sounded just like him. She walked over to the french doors that lead to the back and saw Larry crying at the door.

"Oh my god." She gasped opening the door and Larry ran right in. "Did daddy leave you out by accident?" She asked and before she could close the door she felt a hand over her mouth and she was being dragged out of her house.

"Shut up." Dickie hissed in her ear. "I'll go into your house I'll kill your husband, mother in law and daughter." He threatened as she still resisted but she was no match for his strength. "I've been waiting to do this for years." He said pulling her further through the yard towards the woods.

AJ wondered if this is what he did to her mother? Dragged her to the woods behind that house? Did he surprise her father like he did her? She clenched the fork in her hand that she had and hoped he hadn't seen it. As soon as they approached the woods AJ stabbed her fork as hard as she could into his thigh and he let out a scream and she took off.

"Phil!" She screamed as loud as could as she ran as fast as she could. "Phil!" She kept screaming trying to run back to the house and felt someone tackle her the ground. She hit the grass hard and she could feel blood. Probably from her nose because it felt like her nose just ripped off her face.

"Fine. I'll do it here in the yard." Dickie said rolling her over and he grinned seeing her face. "Look at all that blood." He said leaning down and licking over her face. "Tastes like your mom."

All of the sudden the weight was lifted off of her and AJ sat up. It was dark out but she knew that was Dean. He must have been sleeping on the couch after he fixed the door.

"Phil!" AJ screamed.

"AJ, run!" Dean yelled trying to keep Dickie down.

AJ began to run and heard a gun shot and froze before reaching the house. She turned her head and saw Dean laying on the ground and Dickie standing over him holding a gun.

"No." She whispered terrified knowing he was going to pull the trigger again.

AJ ran back towards Dean and Dickie. She was NOT going to let this man kill her brother now. Dean wasn't dead, but he was wounded and Dickie was looking for the kill shot. AJ pushed Dickie's arm with gun but he swung his hand back and she hit the floor again.

"Phil!" She screamed out again and felt Dickie dragging her by the ankle and rolling her over.

"I hate using a gun." Dickie said to her getting on top of her. "I HATE IT! I don't use guns. What enjoyment can you get from this? It's over so fast. But this is your friends. Imagine I kill you with his gun? Maybe I'll let him live so he can let the guilt eat at him." he suggested. "You look like her, you know that, right?"

"Please don't hurt my daughter." AJ whispered closing her eyes. "Please don't hurt her. Please don't hurt my daughter." She prayed over and over.

"Your mother said the same thing to me." Dickie smiled. "You really are just like her. I had fun with her first. I don't think I have time to do that with you." He said and used the gun to hit her across the face. "You're not even fighting." He sighed. "You really are just like are." He stood up and aimed the gun right at her. "You're weak, just like her. Just like your father. Just like your daughter is going to be. Don't worry. I plan on checking in on her from time to time. Make sure she's growing and stuff." He grinned. He raised the gun and AJ shut her eyes tightly when she heard it go off.

"April." Daria smiled as AJ opened her eyes again and she saw her mother smiling down at her.

"Mom." She greeted with a weak smile.

"April!" Another voice yelled out and her mother was gone. AJ knew that voice. Her vision was blurry from the hits to her head.

"Phil." She smiled.

"You're ok." Punk told her trying to clean the blood off her face.

"Hartley?" AJ asked more alert trying to sit up.

"She's with my mom. She took her out of the house. They're safe." Punk assured her. "Dean is ok too."

"He shot my good arm." Dean spat annoyed and Punk looked over.

"Ambulance is on it's way." Punk assured him but not leaving AJ.

"It went right through." Dean said walking over to him. "Jesus."

"Her nose is broken." Punk said to him.

AJ tried to pay attention to what they were saying but she felt like her head was about to fall off. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open as well.

"Mom?" AJ asked.

"Stay awake." Punk urged.

"Mom?" AJ asked.

"Ape, look at me." Punk urged and she rolled her eyes to the back of her head.

When AJ woke up it was because of the beeping. She opened her eyes but every inch of her face seemed to hurt.

"Babe?" AJ asked turning to see Punk.

"Hey." He greeted with a light smile. He was always faithfully at her side.

"You look tired." She noted.

"I look better than you do." He frowned.

"Yea I don't want to know what my face looks like." She sighed. "Was I dreaming?"

"No you were not." He said to her.

"Where is Hart?" AJ asked.

"With my mother at home." Punk assured her.

"Dean?" She asked next.

"He's fine." Punk said to her. "Him and Renee are around here somewhere."

"Dickie?" She asked finally.

"I'm sorry." He said to her and she frowned. This was never going to be over. "I'm so sorry I couldn't keep my promise."

"He's going to hurt her." AJ cried. "He mentioned Hart-"

"Ape, I killed him." Punk said to her and she felt terrible to feel the relief but she did. "I told you I would try- I wanted him to go to jail but I saw him holding that gun over you and-"

"You did the right thing." AJ assured him. "He would have hurt her."

"Hartley?" Punk asked and she nodded. "He actually said that?"

"Yea." AJ sighed. "I thought I was dead. I saw my mom."

"You were concussed." Punk corrected. "You took a beating."

"Dean was there." AJ noted and he smirked.

"Dean slept on the couch because he was too tired to drive home. He heard you go out the backdoor and saw Dickie. I heard the gunshot when he hit Dean. I grabbed Hart and told my mom to drive and keep driving until she heard from me. I think she was almost in Canada." He teased and she smiled a bit then she frowned. "What? I know you're in some pain but you have peace finally."

"You've never shot anyone." AJ remembered. "You took a life, you must-"

"I have no regrets." Punk said to her. "Your life trumps anything else."

"I love you." AJ smiled tiredly. "It's all over?"

"Years of living in fear, your mom not having justice, your dad's life, it's all over finally." Punk assured her. "It's all over."

"Hello." Pam greeted walking into the room holding Hartley. "I thought April could use this."

"Will I scare her?" AJ asked fearfully but held her arms out for her daughter anyway.

"Nah." Pam said to her and Hartley seemed happy to be in her mom's arms.

"I love you." AJ said kissing the top of her head.

"She missed you both." Pam told them. "Would not rest until I walked into this hospital."

"She likes us again." AJ said to Punk happily. "When can I go home? I want to take her home. And I want to be able to open the window in her nursery and now I can because that lunatic is gone."

"You shouldn't be here too much longer." Punk told her.

"My nose is broken?" She asked fearfully.

"Nope. You're very lucky." He told her.

"Good. I am too young for a nose job." She said to him seriously but looking down at Hartley.

"You alright?" Pam asked Punk as he walked across the room and saw AJ cooing over their daughter.

"I feel relief. For the first time in a long time." Punk told his mother. "I never wanted to take a life but-"

"You're a hero." Pam cut him off. "You saved your wife and Dean."

"I hate that she's hurt but it's over with finally." Punk said to her. "We can open the windows and go out after dark."

"It's long overdue." Pam said to him as he admired his wife and daughter.

AJ was home the next day and Punk walked into the living room and laughed.

"What?" AJ asked.

"I get you're excited to have an open window but you don't have to open every single window. It's cold." He teased her.

"It's eight at night, our daughter is sleeping, I was able to cook dinner, clean and breathe in the fresh crisp night." She told him happily.

"You could breathe it in?" He asked arching a brow and she touched her bandaged nose.

"You know what I mean." She huffed. "Did you sleep?"

"For the first time in years- yes." He told her. "And now I can enjoy the rest of my paternity leave in peace." He said sitting on the couch.

"You want me to heat you up dinner?" She offered.

"In a minute." He said and hit the couch gently for her to sit with him. She walked over and sat down next to him. "I have something for you." He said reaching into his pocket.

"My locket." She smiled taking it from him.

"FBI released it. It's yours again." He told her.

AJ opened the locket and saw her sonogram photo.

"I'm happy to have it back." She said putting it on.

"I have something else." He said reaching into his other pocket and she placed her hand over her heart. "I promised you when I first met you that you'd get this back." He said passing her Daria's locket. The locket that he found out a crime scene in Chicago that lead him right to AJ.

"I gave up hope on getting this back." AJ said opening this locket now.

"You could wear it." Punk urged.

"No." AJ said shaking her head. "I'm giving this to Hartley once she's old enough. It was my mom's and she'd want Hart to have it. Thank you." She said kissing him. "Thank you for saving my life."

"Please." He scoffed. "Don't thank me for that."

"It's kind of weird that he bought us together." AJ said to him. "I've been thinking about it a lot. Dickie bought us so much pain and misery yet he introduced."

"I think we would have met regardless." He shrugged.

"I think you were a gift from my mom." AJ smirked a bit. "I never would have survived. Medically or physically without you."

"You give me too much credit." He said to her.

"I had this tough exterior but it wasn't real." AJ said to him. "I needed love. You gave me purpose. And a daughter." She added.

"I don't want to talk about his stuff." He said to her. "How about we heat up food and watch a movie."

"A movie?" AJ gasped.

"Baby is sleeping, we have time." He suggested.

"It sounds like a date." She said standing up. "You pick the movie I'll get the food."

Four years later…

Hillsborough was still the same. The people, the businesses, the houses. AJ still carried a lot of bad memories from here but her mother and now father rested in Hillsborough and it will always be the place she met her soulmate. She leaned against the car at the cemetery and watched her four year old daughter chat at her mother's grave. Hartley was only four but could chat like a gossiping wash woman. They came twice a year to see her and Hartley loved going. She would place flowers for her grandmother and fill her in on every aspect of her life.

"She's telling your mother how you wouldn't give her ice cream after dinner three months ago after she cursed." Punk smirked leaning next to her.

"She's been waiting to rat me out for that." AJ laughed keeping her eyes on her daughter who moved her hands around dramatically.

"We can come back here more often." Punk reasoned.

"I think this is all I could take." AJ said.

"She looks more and more like you every day." Punk noted watching their daughter as well.

"She has my attitude too." AJ warned.

"Oh, I've noticed. I also caught her picking a lock." Punk remarked and AJ smiled proudly.

"My girl." AJ said proudly. "Did she get it unlocked?"

"It took her thirty minutes but yea." Punk said to her. "Are you going to teach him that trick too?" He asked nodding to their backseat where their six month sold was babbling holding a toy in his car seat.

"Nah, little Phil is all you." AJ smirked looking at him and making a funny face at him and he laughed. "He's one happy baby that's for sure."

"Much more pleasant than Hart at that age." Punk snorted.

"He's just different." AJ told him proudly.

"I heard her tell your mother she's going to a private eye when she grows up." Punk said to her.

"Would you be ok with that?" She asked.

"I'm ok with anything she wants to do as long as she's safe and happy." He told her. "I'm proud of you and the work you do."

"You say that yet follow me." AJ mocked.

"I followed you once, I was nervous." He defended. "And you had PJ with you." He reminded her.

"He's a mama's boy. He likes to be close to me." AJ smiled.

"Right." He mocked. "It's me he watches baseball with every night with a big smile."

"Larry crapped yesterday in the kitchen and he smiled. It doesn't take much to make him smile." AJ defended.

"Jealous." He mocked.

"Mommy!" Hartley yelled waving her over. "I need to tell Grandma how PJ slobbered on my stuffed donkey and you can tell the story!"

"Go ahead, I'll stay with him." Punk said to her.

AJ grabbed Punk's face and kissed him deeply.

"Thank you for bringing us back here and being so good patient." She said and kissed him.

"Stop that." He said to her. "But you can make it up to me by letting my mom watch the kids when we get back."

"I can arrange that." AJ said to him.

"And I mean take the two little monster overnight." He insisted and she smiled.

"Ok." AJ nodded and he smiled. "But that means I'll have to work one morning instead of one night and you'll have to take Hartley to her dress fitting."

"Her dress fitting?" He gasped. "Is she four and getting married?"

"She's four and a flower girl. You remember Dean and Renee, right?" She teased.

"Ah, yea." He remarked. "I get to sleep with the best man." He said eyeing her and she blushed.

"I asked him to call it best woman." AJ sighed.

"He likes you calling best man." Punk shrugged.

"Well you get to take me home from the wedding if you play your cards right." She remarked.

"Please." He scoffed. "I knew I had you for life once you had the second kid." He teased in a serious voice.

"It was that long painful labor that really made me commit to you." She teased back. "So a date night when we get home and a date night after the wedding. That's two dates more than we've had since PJ."

"I know." Punk said to her. "You work nights, I work mornings- it's hard."

"But I think we still make it work." She said to him. "You still love me, don't you?"

"I love you more with each day that passes." He told her. "I love that you work, I respect what you did and sometimes it doesn't scare me." He smirked.

"We'll make date nights more often." She promised and kissed him again.

"Mommy! Daddy! I'm waiting!" Hartley yelled towards them then looked towards the headstone. "They are ALWAYS kissing." she tattled.

"I'll be right back." AJ said to Punk then met her daughter.

Punk was in awe of how amazing of a mother his wife was. She managed to juggle motherhood, a career and their marriage. He wasn't lying, he loved her more each day. He loved his family and he would always be indebted to Hillsborough. It bought him his wife, his children and even a brother because Dean wasn't just AJ's brother anymore. He didn't mind coming back to visit at all.

"Daddy! Bring PJ!" Hartley now yelled waving and giggling.

"Well, you heard the boss." Punk said looking down at his son and opening the back door and taking him out of his seat.

"Hurry!" Hartley giggled excitedly.

Punk and his son joined his wife and daughter and life was perfect.

The End! Thank you!