CHAPTER 25

FULL CIRCLE – PART 1

By

Kelly Batten

Gracie and Sam started to run down the corridor. They stopped around a corner when they felt they were safe. Sam said, "Gracie, do you know what the plan is?"

"When we discussed it, Kyle Graff was supposed to meet Dad, Paula and Jennifer to assess the situation and then Kyle was supposed to call for help if needed."

Sam shook his head negatively. "I don't think that's going to happen. I saw Kyle leave with Moira Murphy."

Gracie looked at him questioningly and said, "Has be betrayed us?"

"I don't think so. He didn't look happy about being with her."

"If he wasn't able to get a message to anyone…"

"Then it's on us to get one out. Before we try that, tell me what's happening right now that you're aware of."

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In the room with the bodies, Duval and Jennifer looked at all of them. Duval said, "I can't believe anyone could do something like this. These are people."

"It shouldn't be that shocking. Look at history. There's always some megalomaniac who puts money and power before people."

"I know….you got the explosives?"

"You better believe it. Let's hope we can get it all set up before we're discovered."

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In the main lab, Jimmy said, "Vic, you kill my daughter Helen and my son-in-law Wally, you get nothing from me."

"I don't think so, I'll personally put a bullet in Paula's head." He pulled out a gun and aimed it at Paula. Paula was surveying things and noticed that the henchman put her gun on a table that Vic clearly wasn't aware of. All she had to do was have enough time to make a run for it to grab it. It was only about ten feet away but at the moment it felt like a hundred meters.

Liza said, "Vic, come on, that's my mother! You kill my mother and all bets are off! This doesn't need to get messy. What do you want so that we can avoid bloodshed?" She looked Helen and Wally and they were doing their best to keep their feet up but they looked completely terrified.

Vic said, "You can start by taking some of Jimmy's blood out of him."

"All right fair enough."

Jimmy said, "What about Helen and Wally?"

Vic said, "One thing at a time Jimmy!"

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In the security room, Mary was at the main computer and Solly was holding a gun on her. Mary said into the computer, "Arthur upload Project Headache into Project James Pritchard."

Solly looked at her funny and said, "What does that mean?"

"It's very simple Solly. I re-named your system James Pritchard. It seems a fitting name since everything revolves around James. I integrate Headache with James Pritchard and voila! The merge is completed. This will take some time though. So relax and enjoy the company."

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Gracie and Sam were walking down the hallway, Gracie had to ask, "Sam?"

He stopped and turned to her and said, "Yes Gracie?"

"It's really you isn't it?"

Sam smiled and said, "Yeah Gracie, it's really me. The night we found your father and Agent McCaffrey on the porch, we had gone to Dairy Queen. You ordered a butterscotch dipped cone while I ordered a chocolate dipped cone."

Gracie smiled and hugged Sam. "It really is you! What can Liza do to help you?"

"I'm not sure she can do anything. My main mission in life right now is to destroy my aunt's horrible plans and to save all of you."

At that moment they heard a click behind them. They turned and looked. It was one of Murphy's henchmen. He said, "I don't how you both got out but it's time to go back to your cages."

Sam immediately grabbed Gracie's arm and pulled her behind him and said, "You're not one of the regenerates are you?"

"No, but I've got a gun and you don't."

"You're right, I don't have a gun so I'm going to take yours."

"Excuse me?"

Before the man could barely finish his sentence, with super human strength, Sam jumped at him with lightning speed and disarmed him. He not only grabbed the gun, he used the butt of the gun to start beating him. The man fell to floor and Sam kept beating and he beat the man's head in until brains were coming out and there was a pool of blood. Then for good measure, he reached down at the man's chest and pulled out his heart and threw it at the wall.

He looked up and saw Gracie terrified. His hands were bloody and he ran to her and said, "Gracie, I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Sam why would you…"

"Gracie listen to me. We can't afford to be caught and right now, they can regenerate people. I wanted to make sure he couldn't be regenerated. I'm sorry you had to see that but, I'm a soldier and I won't let this go any further than where it already has."

Gracie nodded and said, "I understand. Let's keep walking." She dried a tear from her eye. She wasn't sure why she was crying. She wondered if it was because she was frightened by what Sam had done or was she crying for Sam in that he knew he could never be the person he had been ever again.

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Duval and Jennifer were surveying the room with the bodies. Duval was looking at the monitors. None of the bodies were close to the point of being reanimated. He looked over and Jennifer was starting to put the detonators up. She looked at him and said, "Are you having second thought about this?"

"They're people Jennifer….like my father."

"They're already dead. They're not like your father. You're father has been reanimated. These people are gone. We can't let this go any further than Jimmy Pritchard."

"You're right. It's just not easy to do this…then again you have a license to kill don't you?"

Jennifer stopped and looked at Duval. "Just because I have a license to kill, doesn't make me immune to what I do. I like to think of myself as a civilian soldier. I've only killed when I had to. Right now Duval, we have to do this. This has got to be erased."

Duval nodded and said, "I know. Let's get this place wired."

They began to set everything up with precision when all of a sudden, they both felt themselves yanked backwards and thrown forward like a couple of rag dolls.

They both landed on the floor face first and when they turned to look at who grabbed them, they realized they were both looking at the regenerated versions of Strayburn and Mei Lin.

Strayburn and Mei Lin both had menacing looks on their faces. Duval looked at Jennifer and said, "I don't think they're here to kiss and make up with us."

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In the lab where Jimmy, Liza and Paula were, Liza proceeded to take Jimmy's blood. They put it under the microscope and Vic said, "What's going on Liza?"

"What are you talking about? You wanted Jimmy's blood and I've given it to you."

"No Liza, this isn't Jimmy's blood…or rather not the blood that we would have expected. This blood is not the same blood that we pulled out of Joey."

"That's your determination after one minute of looking at it?"

"Liza, I know what I pulled out of Joey and this doesn't even come close to it."

Paula was very gingerly making her way to the table with the gun as all eyes were on Vic, Liza and Jimmy. Jimmy made eye contact with Paula and she gave the nod to keep the distraction going as the one soldier was looking at all of them.

Jimmy said, "Hey Vic, you don't like the blood she took out of that arm. Take this other arm instead." He walked up very fast and grabbed the gun.

At that moment Paula got the gun and turned it on the soldier and yelled, "Drop it Asshole!"

The soldier wouldn't drop his gun and kept it trained on Jimmy. Paula at that moment made a decision and fired right into the guy's head. He dropped to the floor. Vic turned to hit the button to release Liza and Wally.

Jimmy screamed "NO!"

However at that moment, Paula fired multiple shots into the glass and the fluid came rushing out into the lab as Helen and Wally came down. Paula then fired into the control panel and rendered what was left of the tank completely unusable.

Helen and Wally ended up on the floor in the fluid that was engulfing the lab. Vic tried to make for a getaway and Jimmy filled with so much rage walked up to him and snapped his neck, killing him instantly.

Liza ran to Helen and Wally with a scalpel and cut the zip ties on their wrists. "Are you two all right?"

Helen said, "We're OK, no worse for the wear."

Wally said, "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Jimmy said, "I think company's on the way." He grabbed the mini machine gun that the soldier was carrying and he handed it to Wally and said, "Get Helen and Liza out of here."

Wally said, "Jimmy, I don't know how to use this."

"It's simple Wally, just point and shoot."

Liza then said, "Wait, I can't leave just yet."

Paula said, "Liza, you need to get out of here. Call Fielding for back up."

"Wally and Helen can do that. Look, before we got into this room, we saw Sam. I promised Gracie I'd do what I could to help him."

"Liza, you can do that after we get out of here."

"Mom, I know you mean well but I think I'm needed here."

At that moment five more guys came in and started to shoot. Wally and Helen ran up the stairs and one of them grabbed Jimmy and they started to fight. Paula was shooting back.

Jimmy yelled, "Wally shoot!"

At that moment Wally had his Rambo moment where he stood up to shoot but nothing happened. Helen stood up and yelled, "Wally, you've got to turn off the safety!"

She flipped off the safety and Wally started to shoot. Being the inexperienced shooter though, he wasn't prepared for the reaction of the gun and it slipped out of his hand and proceeded to fall on the steps and bounce but, as it hit each step, the gun bounced and then fired. Everyone on the floor ran to take cover but the bullets hit all of the soldiers and they fell dead in their tracks.

Jimmy looked up and said, "Wally that was brilliant." Wally and Helen looked at each other astounded by what had just happened. Jimmy then said, "Now take my daughter and get the hell out of here!"

Wally said, "Right! Let's go get help Helen."

They both took off.

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In another area, Gracie and Sam were walking. They stopped in their tracks when they heard the gun fire. Sam looked at Gracie and said, "You've got to call for help. Kyle isn't here and there's gunfire. We have no idea who's shooting at who but we need to bring in the cavalry."

Gracie nodded in agreement and said, "Great do you know where I can find a phone?"

"Yeah, this way."

They ran down the corridor and made a sharp turn. There was an office there and they could see through the window that there was a desk phone. Sam immediately yanked off the door knob. "Call for help. Then make your way to the nearest exit and get the hell out of here."

"Sam, I can't leave when my entire family is here."

"I'll take care of your family. Just call for help."

"What are you going to do?"

"Anything I can to help and stop this madness once and for all."

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to know something. Why did you let the guard live who guarded you and then kill the one who confronted us?"

"We had somewhere to lock my guard up. I'm sorry Gracie. I'm a soldier. If securing something means killing…I'll do it."

Gracie nodded and said, "Understood." He turned and ran down the hallway.

Gracie picked up the phone and wasn't sure who to call. She didn't feel like she could call 9-1-1 and she didn't have Fielding's direct number. However, she had someone else's number. She took a card out of her pocket. It was a card she felt like it was a good idea to keep. She dialed the number.

"This is Officer Allen."

"Barry!"

"Gracie? Are you all right?"

"Not exactly."

"Where are you?"

"I'm not entirely sure but, you can figure out where this call is coming from can't you?"

"Yes, we can do that."

"Good, Barry I need you call Agent Fielding at the FBI and tell him we need the FBI to come at once, there's been gunfire exchanged."

"Gunfire exchanged? Gracie, who's shooting at whom?"

"I'm not sure, that's why you need to get the FBI here. In fact, not just the FBI, bring in the CIA, MI-6, and the SWAT team as well. In fact, Barry just bring the whole alphabet! We need help!"

"All right Gracie, I'm on it. Get out of there Gracie!"

"I can't my family's here." She hung up the phone.

Barry on the other end was saying "Gracie! Gracie!"

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Mary was in the computer room with Solly. They heard the gunfire and Solly said, "What's going on?"

"How would I know? I'm here with you."

Solly put the gun in her face and said, "Look, I admire you. We're both self-made women but, it's obvious some kind of a double cross has happened now, tell me what's going on!"

Mary looked at her calmly and said, "Am I supposed to conclude that because you've got a gun pointed in my face, that we're now kindred spirits and friends?"

"Tell me what's going on Mary Goodwin!"

"I don't know Joan Soladar! Perhaps you should leave the room and investigate."

"You'd like that wouldn't you?"

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In the lab with the bodies, Strayburn said, "At last, I can have my revenge on you Duval!" He pointed to himself and said, "You did this to me!"

Duval nodded negatively and said, "No Strayburn, you did that to yourself when you decided to be on the take…and kill my wife no less!"

"Well, you managed to replace her didn't you?"

"You're sick Strayburn."

"I'm not sick. I'm super human." He was walking toward him. "I'm going to enjoy killing you slowly with my bare hands."

Duval saw their guns behind them. Strayburn said, "You want your guns, you're gonna have go through us."

Jennifer was trying to diffuse the situation and said, "Look you two, if you don't cooperate with us, this is only going to end badly for both of you. Moira Murphy doesn't give damn about either of you. She wants to sell the both you to most likely a company in China that specializes in weapons manufacturing. You think you've got power right now? You don't."

Mei Lin said, "We'll see about that."

Duval said, "Suggestions MI-6?"

Jennifer said, "Run FBI."

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Back in the original lab Jimmy, Paula and Liza were regrouping. Jimmy said, "We've got to find the others."

Paula said, "Jimmy…Duval and Jennifer are in the building. They snuck in behind me after I was caught."

Jimmy said, "This building is very similar in design to the one that Connor Graff had. Which way were they headed?"

"I was taken to the right and they went left."

"If they went left then they most likely found the room with the bodies."

"There's more bodies?"

Liza said, "Yes, at least 15. That's what Vic said,"

"If that's where Duval and Jennifer are then Jimmy, they'll need help that's most likely where other guards will go."

"You're right, I need to go there but, Mary is with Solly."

"I'll go get Mary."

"Paula, I don't need to tell you…."

"No, you don't. Jimmy, I promise…I'll find her and I'll get her out of here. Please go find my husband and bring him back to me."

"Understood."

Paula then grabbed another gun and handed it to Liza. "Mom, I can't take this."

"Liza, if you want to go into battle, you go in armed. I know you know how to use this. I made sure of it when you got old enough as I wanted everyone in the house to know how to use a gun if guns were going to be in the house."

"Mom, there're two things I don't do…date artists and kill people."

"Liza, no one is asking you to kill anyone but, you need protection if the chips are down."

Jimmy said, "She's right. Liza you're with me."

Paula said, "Jimmy…"

"You don't have to say it Paula. She's my daughter too."

They nodded to each other and they went their separate ways.

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Wally and Helen went up several flights of stairs. Helen said, "I can't believe how far below the surface this place is."

"It makes it easier to deny that it exists. It's OK though. We're finally at the exit." Wally opened up the door and the two of them ran out only to be facing the barrel of the gun.

Fortunately, the person behind the gun was Officer Barry Allen. He put the gun down and said, "Are you two all right?"

Helen said, "We're all right but the rest of our family's in there."

Wally said, "How did you get here?"

"Gracie called me. I notified Fielding at the FBI and SPD was able to triangulate the location from where Gracie was calling. She called on a land line so it wasn't too hard to figure it out."

Helen said, "Then where's the back up and Fielding."

"I promise, they're on their way. As soon as they told me where this place was, I didn't wait for any further orders. Have any shots been fired in there?"

"Yes."

"I'm going in."

Wally said, "No, Barry you need to wait for back-up."

"I'm not sitting back and waiting to be told to go in when an entire family is in danger." With that, he ran in.

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Paula was rounding a corner when she came face to face with Solly. Both women were equally shocked to see the other. They both pulled guns on the other. Paula said, "Come on Solly, this isn't going to end well."

"No, it isn't. At least not for you." Solly, cocked the gun but, before Paula could react, Solly was knocked out cold with a fire extinguisher. She fell to the floor and behind her was Mary holding that fire extinguisher.

Paula looked at Mary and said, "I was coming to save you but, clearly you had the situation well in hand."

Mary smiled and said, "Well, not entirely. I did need a good distraction."

"Have you got the damning evidence?"

Mary smiled, held up the jump drive and said, "You better believe it."

"Well done. Grab little Miss Bitch Goddess's gun and let's get out of here."

Mary grabbed the gun and said, "I think we should tie her up."

"With what?"

"Good point. Let's hope she stays this way until the police arrive."

"Let's get going. I'm not sure how many turns we'll have to go through until we hit some stairs."

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Jimmy and Liza were making their way to the main room when a familiar face appeared in front of them.

"Hello Jimmy and Liza!"

Jimmy and Liza looked at each other and Liza said, "I knew this was too easy."

Jimmy rolled his eyes and said, "Hello Joey." Jimmy held up his gun and said, "I've been waiting a long time for this Joey!"

"Really Jimmy? After everything we've shared together, you're just going to shoot me?"

Liza said, "Shoot him Jimmy!"

Jimmy pulled the trigger and the gun was empty. "I clearly grabbed the wrong gun."

"Here Jimmy, take mine."

"No Liza, you get out of here and find the others. Joey and I have unfinished business."

Joey laughed slightly and said, "Yes, Liza do go on ahead. It's not like you're going to get out of here. They're everywhere."

Liza ran off and Jimmy put his hands up to motion him forward and said, "You want me Joey, come and get me."

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In the large room, Duval and Jennifer were running for the stairs when Strayburn and Mei Lin ran up to them, grabbed them and pulled them back.

Duval said to Strayburn, "So what are you gonna do? Break my neck?"

"Nah too easy…Come on Duval, hit me with your best shot."

With that Duval made it look like he was going to throw a punch. Strayburn was anticipating it, but he wasn't anticipating for what Duval actually did. He gave him a good swift knee to the groin.

Strayburn was doubled over and said, "Cheap shot Duval!"

"Not when you've got the advantage of super human strength!" He then punched Strayburn across the face. Strayburn lost his balance and fell to the floor. Duval pounced on him as Paula had done and started punching him in the face over and over. His anger was overflowing.

He screamed at him. "That's for killing my wife! That's for kidnapping Gracie! That's for undressing Paula and me in our drugged states! This is for being on the take! This is for pretending to be my friend! And this? This is for throwing my father over the bridge!"

Strayburn was bloodied up as were Duval's hands. Strayburn however, was not out of the fight as he had the energy that Duval lacked.

Across the room, Jennifer and Mei Linn were squaring off for a full blown cat fight. They both assumed positions of a kung fu fight.

Mei Linn said, "You don't stand a chance against me. I have the strength of five women!"

"You may have the strength but I have the moves."

With that, Mei Lin made the first kick. Jennifer was not prepared for the power behind that kick and she went down. She got up and realized Mei Lin would be a more formidable foe.

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Mary and Paula were making their way through the catacombs of hallways. They were trying to find the easiest route to an exit.

They both stopped and Mary said, "Paula is it just me, or do you think we somehow circled back?"

"I don't think we've completely circled back as we haven't found Solly but, I suspect we're in the vicinity."

All of a sudden, Paula felt something hit her arm and she let out a scream. Blood was flying in the air. Mary looked on in horror as Solly screamed, "You're right you've circled back and you didn't find Solly, she found you! Now, I'm going to kill both of you! I'll ask for forgiveness later."

Paula and Mary could see that Solly was holding a very large hunting knife. Blood was coming out of Paula's arm quite heavy as it was a deep cut. As Paula was trying to keep the blood under control, Solly went after Mary. Paula reached behind her to take out the gun that she had but Solly saw it and gave her injured arm a good kick and the gun went flying across the room. She then turned around and began to kick Mary. Mary who was trained in boxing and kick boxing was putting up defensive moves but was clearly being more guarded in what she was doing due to being pregnant. Solly circled around and saw Paula was making her way to her gun. She leapt at Mary and put all of her weight behind her kick and sent Mary across the room where Mary landed on some crates and in the process dislocated her shoulder.

Mary let out a cry of pain and Solly said, "I'll get back to you…and your jump drive!"

She then lunged at Paula as she was almost to the gun and got in another stab in Paula's back, although not as deep. It was enough to get Paula to the floor. They were fighting for the knife.

Mary, across the room knew she had only one option if she wanted to help Paula. She was going to have to put her shoulder back into place. She got up and she hit her shoulder against the wall and let out a painful groan. Solly momentarily stopped and looked which gave Paula the opportunity to hit Solly across the face and stun her just enough to where they were both fighting on equal terms for the knife.

Mary saw a rope by one of the crates and grabbed it. She ran over as Solly was still in the dominant position over Paula and she threw the rope around Solly's neck, pulled the rope tight and pulled Solly off of Paula.

Solly was still trying to stab Paula in spite of this but now that Mary was cutting off Solly's breathing, Paula grabbed Solly's hand with both hands, turned the knife on her and in spite of Solly continually hitting Paula in the face with the other hand, Paula successfully turned that knife on Solly and forced Solly to shove that knife right into her chest and Paula just kept pushing further and Mary pulled the rope tighter around her neck. They both kept it up until Solly finally stopped moving.

They both let go and there was Solly's lifeless body all bloodied on the floor. Mary and Paula both looked like they'd been in a war. They looked at each other and Mary said, "You and I both slept with James, got pregnant and now we've killed a woman who slept with James. I'm not sure how to react to this."

Paula put her arm around Mary and said, "We are best friends forever."

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In the room where Jennifer and Duval were, Jennifer realized she had to get to her gun. She lunged toward Mei Lin and started to roll with her so she could make it to the gun but, Mei Lin was able to get the upper hand and started to choke Jennifer. Jennifer was trying to reach for the gun when all of a sudden a hand grabbed Mei Lin by the shoulder.

The hand was that of Sam Adams. "Hey Bitch! Why don't you pick on someone who's a little more like you!" He sent Mei Lin flying across the room.

On the other side of the room, Strayburn grabbed Duval's wrist and began to twist it back. "This is where getting regenerated pays off Duval! You may get beat up but you're not down for the count." With that he kept twisting until he was able to push Duval off of him. Duval was in deep pain and Strayburn did the final twist and broke Duval's wrist. Duval let out a scream of pain.

"I'm going to kill you!" At that moment Strayburn felt someone land on his back.

It was Gracie. She was coming down the stairs from above and when she saw Strayburn break Duval's wrist, without thinking, she climbed over the banister and she dropped right on top of Strayburn and began to scratch his eyes. "You bastard! You killed my mother!"

Duval was hastily running toward his gun but was met with the cavalry. It wasn't the cavalry that he was hoping for though, it was the men in black. They were coming in to bring order to the situation but order was the last thing on Sam Adams' mind.

One of them spoke and said, "Enough! Murphy doesn't want this room destroyed."

They were bringing their guns into position and Strayburn shook Gracie off of him and sent her flying across the room.

Duval managed to make it to his gun and Jennifer made it to hers. Sam Adams said, "Hey Guys! Nobody's going quietly." With that he started running to the men in black and he started to grab their guns and began to break their necks.

Jennifer thought it odd that nobody wanted to shoot and then she realized why. Nobody wanted to risk sabotaging the tanks. These bodies were Murphy's ticket to money and power. Jennifer met Duval's eyes and motioned to the tanks and Duval knew what she meant.

Duval yelled, "Gracie! Hit the floor!"

Gracie dropped to the floor and Duval and Jennifer started shooting all of the tanks out. The fluid went everywhere and it made for a slippery floor with the fighting. Gracie ran to Duval. "Dad! Are you all right?"

"My wrist is broken. It's a good thing I can shoot left handed. Gracie, you need to get out of here."

"Not without you! Strayburn took Mom from me, he doesn't get to take you as well!"

With that Strayburn emerged from the floor a little dazed from Gracie's pummeling and getting kicked in the head by Sam while he was down. Strayburn started to run toward them. Gracie saw him first and yelled "Dad!" She lifted up Duval's hand that had the gun in it and Duval fired his final bulled right between Strayburn's eyes.

Strayburn fell on his face, dead before he hit the floor.

Meanwhile, Sam was kicking serious butt with the other men in black. Mei Lin was initially crouching down during the gunfire but, she wasn't finished with Jennifer yet. Once Jennifer was done shooting, Mei Lin jumped up to lunge at Jennifer but was stopped by a single gunshot. She fell forward. The person behind the gun was Liza. Tears were streaming down her face.

Jennifer ran up to her and they took cover while Sam finished killing the last of ten men in black that came in. Jennifer tried to be comforting and said, "Just think Liza…before too long, you'll be dating artists again."

Everyone was starting to regroup when the guard whom Sam and Gracie locked up came in with guns blaring. Gracie let out a scream as he was aiming for Sam.

The guard yelled, "Hey Sam, you forgot to grab my radio! I was able to get the lock undone by my friends whom you just killed. Well now that your friends have destroyed the tanks, I'm going to blow your head off!"

At that moment, a gunshot went off and Sam looked down to see if he had been shot but at that moment the guard fell forward. The person behind that gunshot was Barry Allen. Gracie ran up and hugged him and exclaimed, "Barry! You got here! Where's the back up?"

The hug did not go unnoticed by Sam.

Barry said, "Hopefully on its way. Is everyone all right?"

Duval said, "I think so, except I've got a broken wrist."

"Let's get out of here."

Jennifer said, "We've got to blow this place up."

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In another area of the building, Jimmy and Joey were facing off. Joey said, "Jimmy, I'd tread lightly if I were you. I've got nothing to lose at this point."

"What do you mean Joey?"

"It means, I have no wife, no children, no future…my time is running out."

"So why are you here Joey? Leave this place and find some happiness while you can still be happy."

Joey narrowed his eyes to toward him and said, "The only thing that will make me happy is to kill you!"

Joey lunged at Jimmy and was not prepared for Jimmy's strength. That did not stop Joey. He started to punch and Jimmy punched back. A normal man might have died with the power behind Jimmy's strength but not Joey. He could give it as good as he could take it.

They broke briefly, Joey said, "Look at us, two super men duking it out. Then again, remember when we used to pretend we were super heroes? I was Superman."

"I know Joey. You had quite the thing for Lois Lane on the old 1950's Superman series."

"Who did you used to be again Jimmy?"

Jimmy circled him and said, "I always preferred Captain America. He was an actual war hero. He sort of inspired me to enlist to go to Viet Nam."

Jimmy threw another punch and Joey said, "We can do this all day. How long shall we go before one of us puts the other one out of his misery?"

Jimmy replied, "I'm not in misery so I guess I better put you out of yours." The punching continued.

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Mary and Paula were making their way in another area of the building. Paula said, "Mary look…I see an actual sign pointing to an exit. Let's get the hell out of here!"

Mary grabbed Paula's shoulder and said, "Paula, I don't feel right leaving this place without knowing whether everyone else made it out."

Paula said, "Mary, we've got to have faith on this one. Before we came in here, we all agreed that we would rendezvous outside."

"What if they weren't able to get the explosives set?"

"We just have to pray that they have. Come on."

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Jennifer and Sam got the explosives set and Sam said, "This feels like old times."

Jennifer couldn't help but smile and said, "Yeah, we saved Liza, Gracie and Helen this way."

Barry was over with everyone and was trying to find something to make a splint for Duval's hand when he asked Duval, "What the hell is all of this?"

Gracie piped in and said, "It's better that you don't know Barry. Dad might have to kill you."

Duval looked at Gracie sternly and said, "Gracie, come on, I wouldn't do that…however, Officer Allen what you're seeing is highly classified so I suggest you do your best to forget about it. In fact, once we get out of here, we're going to come up with a very good official explanation."

Everything was going great when Sam got the remote detonator in his hand and to his shock, he felt another hand grab him. It was Mei Lin. Liza had shot her but had clearly missed a vital organ. Mei Lin had only passed out and now was surging on adrenaline. She grabbed Sam and started to choke him.

Jennifer was ahead of everyone else, took aim and yelled, "MEI LIN!" Mei Lin looked at her briefly and it was just enough for Jennifer to shoot her between the eyes.

Mei Lin fell and Sam got up and said, "The remote trigger is now broken because of what she did. Someone has to stay behind and trigger it." There was stunned silence in the room and then Sam said, "I'll do it."

Gracie ran up to him and said, "No Sam! We can't let you stay behind like this."

Sam looked at everyone and said, "I'm already dead. They wanted Jimmy in the hopes that they could synthesize his blood to extend our life spans."

Liza said, "…and they've failed. Vic Shelly is dead. Jimmy killed him and Mom went to find Mary who was with Solly last we saw."

Duval said, "Liza, where's my father?"

"We ran into Joey on our way here. That's why it was just me who showed up."

"Do we know where Helen and Wally are?"

Barry said, "Yeah, I can vouch for them. They're outside."

Duval said, "So the only people we know for sure who are outside are Helen and Wally. Paula, Mary and Dad could be anywhere here?"

"Why are you referring to Jimmy as Dad?"

Gracie said, "That's part of the classified information Barry."

Barry looked confused but then said, "Understood."

Sam said, "Look, I stand by what I said. This place needs to go. I'm going to stay behind and blow it. How about I give you fifteen minutes?"

Gracie started to cry and yelled, "No Sam! You can't do this!"

Sam put his hands on her shoulders and said, "Gracie, I'm a soldier. I put my country first. Some day if you have a son and you can't think of a name for him, maybe you can consider Sam." He smiled and then looked at Barry and said, "Get her out of here."

Barry said, "Gracie come on."

Gracie was fighting him and yelling, "No!"

Duval came up and with his good hand touched her shoulder and said, "Gracie, we've got to go…now!"

Liza said, "Gracie, he wants to do this. Let him do it."

Gracie turned and started up the stairs with everyone else when Sam yelled, "Agent Pritchard!"

Duval turned and said, "Yes?"

"Get my Aunt Moira for me!"

Duval nodded and said, "We will." With that, Duval, Barry, Gracie, Liza and Jennifer exited.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jimmy and Joey were still duking it out. They were fighting as they were making their way up the stairs toward an exit. They both were looking like they had gone fifteen rounds in a boxing match.

Jimmy said, "Come Joey, give it up. Let's just walk out of here and you can disappear. For old times' sake, I'll look the other way."

"The hell you would! Come on Jimmy, I'm not stupid. You want me dead. I seduced Rosie and broke her heart. I tried to rape Helen in your backyard. I tried to rape Paula in the precinct years ago. I kidnapped Gracie, Liza and Helen. I then shoved Duval off of a building. You're gonna look the other way on all of that?"

A surge of anger rose in Jimmy and he lunged at Joey. He began to hit Joey harder than he had hit anyone before and he screamed, "Joey, you make it damn difficult to find anything redeemable about you!"

The fighting continued.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Duval, Gracie, Liza, Jennifer and Barry emerged outside. Duval called out "Helen! Wally!"

Helen and Wally came around the corner and Helen yelled "Duval! Thank God!" She then looked around and said, "Where's everyone else?"

They all got looks of worry on their faces.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the deep section of the building where Sam was, he looked at the clock on the wall and held the detonator in his hand and then he said, "You lose Moira!" With that, he flipped the switch.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mary and Paula rounded a corner and they found an exit although it was not stairs that they found. They found a ladder and saw at the top there was a hatch that one opens from the inside.

They looked at each other and Mary said, "Paula, you don't look like you're in any shape to climb a ladder with those knife wounds."

At that moment, they heard a loud exploding sound and Paula said, "I don't think we have a choice. You go first."

"No, you go first."

Paula shook her head and said, "Mary, if I falter and fall, I could take you down with me."

"All the more reason why I should be behind you. I can help keep you steady and focused."

"How can you do that when you're under me?"

"I'm not sure but, I know I can't do it if I'm above you."

With that, the room around them started to collapse from the explosion. They both ran to the ladder and the debris landed not more than five feet from them.

Mary said, "All of our options are out. You start climbing. I won't start until you do."

"You're very good at getting your way aren't you Mary?"

"I'm a tech giant. We're used to getting what we want…now after you Paula!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jimmy and Joey were still fighting. They were now just five flights from the door. Jimmy could see it in the distance. He got in the last big punch and Joey went over the rail but was holding on.

Jimmy walked up and Joey looked down and said, "Do it Jimmy…it's what I did to Duval. I don't deserve any better."

"No Joey, I'm not going to kill you. Somehow, after all of this fighting, it just doesn't feel like a win."

"But you're not going to save me either."

"On the contrary Joey, take my hand."

"You don't want to save me."

"Not especially, but if Rosie were here, in spite of everything, she wouldn't want me to kill you or leave you for dead, she'd tell me that I'm a better person than that….so take my hand and we'll exit this place together."

"So I can do what Jimmy? Be one of Moira Murphy's experiments?"

At that moment they heard the explosion and they saw the fire below coming toward them. Jimmy said, "Joey take my hand now!"

Joey looked down and without saying a word, he let got and fell into the fire. "Joey!"

Jimmy was completely horrified at what he saw but, he knew he had to get out of there. With a running start, Jimmy leapt into the air and grabbed onto the rail of the stairs one floor below the door.

The fire was getting closer and pulled himself over the rail and ran like hell the rest of the way up the stairs. He made it to the door, opened it and found himself outside very much alone.

"Helen! Wally!"

With that everyone came running around the corner and the sirens were coming. The FBI and the police were there along with first responders.

Duval yelled, "Dad! Thank God! Where's Joey? Liza said you two ran into him."

"Joey's gone. Let's leave it at that Son."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inside the building still as Paula and Mary were climbing the ladder, Paula faltered a little bit. Mary said, "Come on Paula, we're almost to the top."

Paula was starting to breathe a little harder. "Mary, I think I may have lost close the amount that one gives on a blood donation. I'm starting to feel light headed."

Mary yelled, "Paula! Stay with me. You fall, I fall! Keep moving. In fact let's start singing."

Paula shook her head and said, "I don't know what to sing."

"Follow my lead Paula…

Frère Jacques
Frère Jacques
Dormez-vous
Dormez-vous
Sonnez les matines
Sonnez les matines
Ding, dang, dong
Ding, dang, dong

Mary then yelled even louder, "Come on Paula! Sing it with me! I know you know the words, everyone does."

Paula could see there were only about fifteen more ladder steps to go. She started to weakly sing it.

"Come on Paula, you can sign it better than that. Sing it and pull yourself up with each word you sing. Sing it with me Frere Jacques, Frere Jacque…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Outside, all of the first responders were assembling. Duval looked concerned and said, "Dad did you?"

Jimmy shook his head negatively and said, "No Son, I didn't, it was his choice. I pray he found peace in death that he seemed to lack in life."

"Dad did you see Paula or Mary before you came out?" The rest of the family was congregating around them as Duval asked the question.

Jimmy raised his eyebrows and said, "You mean they're not out here with you?"

Liza had tears coming down her face as Jennifer put her arm around her. Duval got a look of devastation and Jimmy was speechless.

All of a sudden from behind, they heard a voice yell, "James!"

They all turned and there was Mary and Paula. Mary was doing her best to keep Paula steady. They both had blood on them.

Duval yelled, "Paula!"

They all ran to them. Gracie said, "I'm going to get the EMT's over here now." She ran off.

Helen said, "Wally, you're an EMT, help them."

Mary said, "The blood isn't mine. It's Paula's. Solly caught us off guard."

Duval ran to her and said, "Dear God! Please don't take her away from us."

Paula said, "Duval, it's going to be all right. I think I look worse than I am."

Mary said, "Wally help her, she can barely stand."

Wally said, "OK Paula let's have you sit down. At the very least you need fluid now."

Duval said, "What happened to Solly?"

"Let's just say she won't be bothering anyone ever again."

The EMT's arrived and started to tend to both Paula's and Duval's injuries. Jimmy walked up to Mary and said, "Thank God you're all right." They hugged and Jimmy said, "Is the baby all right?"

Mary smiled and looked at him and said, "I can honestly say I don't know." She then turned to Wally and said, "Wally, can you possibly borrow a stethoscope from one of those nice EMT's over there?"

"I'll see what I can do."

Jimmy said, "Come on Honey, I think you need to sit down."

Wally came back with the stethoscope and said, "What do you need this for Mary?"

"Wally, can you please put it up to my lower abdomen and tell me if you can hear a heartbeat."

Wally's eyes got wide and then he looked at Jimmy and Jimmy nodded. "OK, I haven't had to check out too many pregnant ladies this early along but I'll do my best."

He put the stethoscope up to Mary's stomach and after a few seconds he smiled and said, "I'm definitely hearing something in there."

Mary's eyes got wide and she said, "Oh thank God! James we're really going to be parents."

"Thank God for second chances. Wally, you'd better go and check on Duval and Paula."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Over by the paramedics, Duval and Paula were getting their wounds looked at. On EMT told Duval that he definitely was going to need an X-ray and most likely a cast on his wrist.

The other EMT told Paula that she needed at the very least stitches.

The aid cars were called and as Paula and Duval were sitting there, Duval said, "I'm sorry Paula."

Paula looked at him funny and said, "Sorry for what? From what I'm hearing, it looks like we got a lot of bad people off the street. The only thing left appears to be Moira Murphy. Jimmy, Liza and Mary can all testify that she was in this facility."

"I should have waited on us getting married. We've been married for twenty-four hours and here we are needing medical attention again. We should be on our honeymoon."

Paula moved so she'd be sitting closer to Duval and took his unbroken hand in hers and said, "Haven't you heard Duval? The family that gets injured together stays together!" He looked at her still unconvinced. "Duval, if I'm going to get stabbed in the line of duty, then I'd rather it be on a case that I'm working with you. I'm not sorry we got married. That bitch tipped her hand because of it. As for our injuries, they will heal and who says we still can't take a honeymoon once we have this taken care of." She then leaned in and whispered, "Mary got the goods. You and Jennifer blew the place up. We succeeded."

"At the cost of Sam Adams."

"We'll make sure he gets a hero's funeral with honors."

At that moment Fielding walked up to them. "Hello you two. You've got some explaining to do."

Duval and Paula looked at each other knowing full well that they were busted. Duval said, "Sir, with all due respect…"

"No Pritchard, you two are going to listen to me. McCaffrey, you were the senior agent in charge of this operation and you didn't notify us when you had the target in sight. We knew nothing until Officer Barry Allen notified us because he got a desperate call from Gracie Pritchard."

"Sir…"

"No, McCaffrey you listen to me. You broke protocol here and it will go down in your record. I think you were compromised because your family was involved, not to mention your new husband. This is why we don't want our agents working with relatives. However, we will hash all of this out later. Do you have the package?"

At that moment Mary walked up and said, "Yes we do. However, I'd like to say that in Agent McCaffrey's defense, I might not be here had she not shown up when she did."

"I believe you but, how big is the body count in that pile of rubble now because she didn't call me?"

Duval then said, "Director Fielding, it was my idea to wait on calling. This is just as much my fault."

"…and you will be dealt with as well Pritchard."

Jennifer then came up and said, "Director Fielding, this was a joint operation between the FBI and MI-6, I'm just as responsible for this mess."

"…and I have already notified your superiors Agent Bancroft." Jennifer got a worried look on her face. "Now I don't have to answer for you but I do once again have to answer for McCaffrey and Pritchard."

Jimmy then said, "Fielding, I know I'm just a CI but, before anyone gets thrown to the wolves, I think it's important that we all see what's on this jump drive that Mary got from the inside."

"Fair enough, once you two get stitched up at the ER, you come back to the FBI and we will re-group and figure it out."

He walked away and Jimmy said, "I'm never sure what to make of him. Sometimes he seems like a friend and other times, I'm not sure."

Duval said, "He's a friend Dad. If he weren't, you wouldn't be working with us at this point."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Across the way, Gracie was hugging Barry and said, "So do you understand why you can't say anything?"

"Yeah, it's pretty fantastic though. If I were to tell, I'm not so sure I'd be believed."

"If Moira Murphy has her way, this will become the norm with the military. Barry, I believe you're a good person, please don't double cross me."

Barry leaned in and kissed Gracie very lightly on the lips and said, "Gracie, I'll always keep your secrets. Is it possible to maybe go out some time? I know you're hurting over Sam. I got the impression that the two of you used to be close but, I'm a good listener and I really do like you a lot."

Gracie smiled and said, "I like you too and yes, Sam and I were good friends. He disappeared and I thought he was dead before anything could really happen but, because of him, I feel like I can trust people again."

"Well, you can trust me Gracie. If you'd like to see me again, just give me a call."

"I think I will."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Duval had a cast on his wrist and Paula had stitches in her back and on her arm as they all met at Fielding's office. Jimmy, Paula and Duval sat in Fielding's office and they all looked at all of the incriminating information on the jump drive.

After they sifted through it all, Fielding said, "It's perfect. I can't imagine anything better. Between this and the other information you've accumulated, I think we've got enough to put Senator Murphy away for treason among other things."

Jimmy said, "I'm sensing a big but…here."

"You obtained this without warrants."

Duval rolled his eyes and said, "Yes that's true but Mary can testify to what she did. Mary obtained all of this because she was given access to the computer. Me, Paula and Jennifer snuck in but Mary, Jimmy, Liza and Gracie were all kidnapped…again. They can testify to all of it and it won't be thrown out in a court of law. We've also got the recordings of Helen and Wally being kidnapped…"

"By Joan Soladar…she's the one who called Jimmy. What proof do we have that Moira Murphy did any of it that will hold up in a court of law."

Paula said, "Jimmy, Liza, Gracie and Mary all saw Moira Murphy in that compound."

"Given the familial ties between the four, we need someone who's not related and last count everyone who was in there is now dead."

Duval said, "Kyle Graff was there. He can testify that she was there."

"Did you see him there?"

Jimmy said, "No, but Mary, Liza, Gracie and I did. Kyle will help us. He hates that woman. It's why he's been pretending to help her this whole time."

"OK but how can we get this jump drive to be irrefutable?"

Paula said, "I think I know who to call to make that happen. In the meantime, let's get a warrant for her arrest as an accessory to kidnapping. I hear she's doing an interview today."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Moira Murphy was having the last touches of make-up put on her as she was getting ready for an interview. She had no idea as to what had happened the day before as the FBI kept the incident out of the news with a promise of an exclusive after an arrest had been made. As she was walking toward the stage area in front of the cameras she didn't realize that a production assistant slightly bumped her and kept on walking.

As she was sitting there being interviewed, the female interviewer asked her, "You have been in the Senate since you were first elected in 1992, which was the year of the woman. What's next for Senator Moira Murphy?"

"Well, I think it's one of two things at this point, retire to an island and enjoy the fruits of my labor in public service."

"What's the other option?"

"To run for president. We are in an age where a woman president is a big likelihood and I think I have a lot to offer as president."

"Such as?"

Before Moira Murphy could say anything, in walked Duval, Paula and Jimmy with a plenty of back up behind them.

Moira got a funny look on her face and then Duval said, "Senator Moira Murphy, you're under arrest for murder for hire, kidnapping, torture, money laundering and treason."

Paula put the cuffs on her as Moira Murphy said, "Turn off those cameras." The cameras kept rolling. The reporter knew she had the scoop of a career.

Paula said, "You have the right to remain silent.."

Jimmy said, "You might want to remember that right Senator."

Paula continued reading her the Miranda Rights. They proceeded to lead her out of the building and Moira said, "You think you've got me?"

Jimmy said, "Yeah Moira we do."

"Maybe I should tell the world your little secret."

Duval said, "Trust me Senator, the world is going to be far more interested in you by the time it all comes out."

Moira said, "Where's Kyle Graff?"

Paula said, "Where you'll never find him. I did you a favor by not searching you in front of the cameras but now that we're outside, turn around while I do the frisk."

"You woudn't dare touch me."

"It's either me or Agent Pritchard."

She stood there very indignant as Paula did a standard frisk and when she got to Murphy's pocket, she reached inside and found the jump drive. "What's this?"

Murphy said, "I have no idea where that came from but all of you probably do."

Jimmy said, "Tell it to the judge Moira."

Paula then shoved her in the back of the police vehicle.

TO BE CONTINUED…..