Like thick velvet cloth, pitch black darkness wrapped itself tightly around Beckett's mind, swallowing him into a terrible abyss he knew he needed to find a way out of…but there was no light to guide him back.

Suddenly a shooting pain on the side of his face brought a twinkle of light back and he got a flash of the world in front of his eyelids before the darkness overtook him again.

'Wake up Beckett', he willed himself to open his eyes, but couldn't get his heavy eyelids to open more than a sliver. His head felt heavy, as if he were wearing a concrete helmet. His mind and thoughts felt like they were swimming in thick syrup, and a persistently annoying ringing in his head wouldn't go away.

Another jolt of pain seared from his head through his body and Beckett was finally awake, the hazy and lopsided world in front of him slowly coming into focus. At first he didn't understand what was happening, what he was looking at; all his mind wanted to do was close his eyes again and drift off into a dreamless sleep…until Meredith's familiar figure several feet away from him, hunched over and calling out his name snapped him out of his haze. The abrupt realisation of where he was sent adrenaline coursing through his body, breaking Beckett out into a cold sweat.

"Mere…Meredith?" he called out, his voice unusually gravelly. He tried to move but his arms were painfully secured behind his back and he found himself lying unceremoniously on his side.

She was on her knees, a Blood Eagle raider looming over her with his knee painfully jabbed in her back, forcing her to hunch over; but there was no doubt about it – it was Meredith. A deep gash on her left eyebrow left a dark bloody trail down the side of her face and neck, her arms were bound in front of her with thick coarse rope, but she was alive and, for the most part, unharmed.

"Finally! You're awake!" a coarse voice boomed some feet away from him. Beckett felt his stomach sink…there was only one man that god awful voice belonged to.

Willing himself up to a kneeling position with a pained groan, Beckett raised his heavy head to look Mad Maddox defiantly in the eyes.

"I was afraid you'd miss the party", Maddox sneered, squatting in front of Beckett to obscure his view of Meredith, "We just can't have that".

"What do you want Maddox?" Beckett spoke in a low tone, his gaze darting around his surroundings to see what was going on. The situation wasn't promising – he and Meredith were completely surrounded by Blood Eagles. From the looks of things, they appeared to be on the roof of the Unfinished Mansion. The wind at this height was unexpectedly strong, buffeting against the building with force and the conglomeration of Blood Eagles that had gathered on the roof, making them sway and stumble every once in a while with a strong enough gust…all except for Maddox who was sure of foot.

"At first, I just wanted to get my hands on you", Maddox began, his tone dripping with sadistic pleasure, "I wanted to make you pay for what you did to Star. But then…the most wonderful thing happened", he turned around, eyes wide with a sickening joy that made Beckett want to spit in his face, "What do I find but your little busy body here, trying to rescue ol' Johnny". Maddox chuckled in amusement as he strolled over to Meredith and grabbed her by the nape of her neck, forcing her to her feet.

"Let her go!" Beckett spat, a murderous rage coursing through him, "Let her go or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Maddox interrupted, eyes wide in mock surprise, "You'll kill me? Take a good look at yourself Beckett, you're trussed up like a prize radstag. Relax! Sit back, enjoy the view", he gestured around with his free arm, a crazy look in his eyes, "But before we make a start on our fun filled evening, there's someone who wants to see you first, he nodded to a Blood Eagle standing beside Beckett, who grabbed him by the collar and swung him round. The sight in front of Beckett stole the very warmth from his body.

"You…son of a bitch", Beckett muttered with a loathing so intense it made his entire body shake with disgust and rage. In front of him, on a sharp rusted metal spire, was Johnny's lifeless head…his eyes rolled back, slack jaw, and his skin turning a deathly shade of grey. Behind him was what was left of his body, strung up for the crows to pick at in the morning. The Blood Eagle guard yanked him back around again to face Maddox, who seemed even more amused with Beckett's reaction.

"I think his head makes a great addition to my mansion, don't you?", Maddox added, "I was thinking of doing the same to your little friend here but… I imagine there's better uses we can find for her".

Beckett's whole body launched him forward, only to come crashing unceremoniously face first in front of Maddox's feet before quickly being picked up by two other Blood Eagles and painfully planted back onto his knees.

"So I got to thinking...", Maddox turned his attention to Meredith, who despite her small stature and having her hands tied, was trying desperately to get out of his large grip, "What can I do with her that'll have the maximum effect? Hmm? Let my boys have their way with her? Rough her up a bit, then cut her up in little pieces in front of you? Or…maybe she can keep Johnny company", Maddox suggested sadistically.

Before Beckett could say a word, Meredith got a good swing with her leg, connecting hard with Maddox's side when he wasn't paying attention. Though it gave Beckett satisfaction to see Maddox wince like that, he knew he wouldn't let a defiant act like that go unpunished.

"Feisty, isn't she?" Maddox laughed, yanking Meredith along as he neared the edge of the platform they were standing on, making Beckett's stomach do a loop.

"Let her go Maddox", Beckett growled, keeping his eyes on their enemy, "It's me you wanted, right? Well I'm here now. Let her go, and you can do whatever you want to me".

"No Beckett!" Meredith protested, only to be reprimanded by Maddox's tightening grip around her throat.

For several agonising moments, Maddox seemed to consider Beckett's proposal, pacing back and forth from the ledge. Beckett's heart was beating in his throat and his desperate gaze fixed on poor Meredith. Maddox had not let up his grip around her throat and she had to fight for every breath, wheezing and gurgling as Maddox yanked her around like a small animal in his hand.

"You make a good point Beckett. You are here, and I can finally pay you back for what you did to me", Maddox answered in a low, dangerous voice. Something in the narrowing of his eyes told Beckett that he was simply taunting him, "But… what your little bitch did to Star…No…she's not going anywhere", Maddox added.

"Please, please just let her go", Beckett begged, body shivering from the cold and the fear building within his core. If he lost Meredith, he feared that that would be his undoing. She had given him purpose in life, encouraged him to become a better man...if he lost her, what point would there be to living?

Maddox's eyes shifted between Beckett and Meredith, still struggling in his grip, "Wait…wait, are you two…?", he pointed with his free hand between him and Meredith, a now sickening grin spreading through his thin lips, "oooh ho ho, shit! This is too much! Boys, we bagged ourselves a 2 in 1!" Maddox called out, prompting the other Blood Eagles to join in his laughter.

Beckett kept silent, a rage building inside of him like he'd never felt before. He wanted to hurt Maddox, to rid the world of the likes of him...but right now there was nothing he could do against Maddox or the others that wouldn't incite retribution onto Meredith.

"You know what? On second thought... I'm feeling unusually generous tonight. So... I think I will grant you your last request Beckett - I'll 'let her go'".

What unfolded before Beckett, he never could have predicted... The act was so violent and careless it rocked him to his core; without a second glance, Maddox raised Meredith off the floor and tossed her over the ledge, as if she were a rag doll…and there was nothing Beckett could do to stop the horror unfolding in a split second in front of him. All he could do was watch, powerless as the woman who'd saved his life, who he'd come to love more than anything and anyone, was hurled to her death without a second thought. There was no scream, no cry for help from her, just a stark realisation as their eyes met that this was the last, precious moments of her life, before she disappeared into the abyss below.

"NOOOOO!" Beckett howled, his voice carried by the buffeting winds, launching himself from his kneeling position only to be knocked over by the Blood Eagle guard standing behind him.

Maddox laughed and whooped, pleased with the reaction he achieved.

"Well, there she goes! Isn't that what you wanted Beckett? I let her go, just like you asked" Maddox mocked, leisurely sauntering over to kneel beside him "S'only fair, when you think about it. She took my Star, so I took her from you. An eye for an eye".

Blood pulsed through Beckett's body in a rush and his body shook with inconsolable grief and fury. He couldn't hear the next words that came out of Maddox's mouth from the crashing waves of his blood, until his vision began to narrow and a dark, murderous veil clouded his eyes. His following memories were a haze, suddenly having found himself on his feet launching himself into Maddox. As if by magic his hands were freed and were clamped around his enemy's thick neck. He could feel Maddox's oesophagus crunching in his grasp before a sharp blow to the back of his head forced him to break away, reeling precariously forward. His vision came in and out despite his eyes being wide open and filled with rage. He swung his arms furiously in front of him and to his sides, feeling his balled fists colliding with several targets followed by the sickening sounds of cartilage and bones crunching; killing any and all Blood Eagles was his only purpose now.

Several volleys of gunfire thundered below on the ground level of the Unfinished Mansion, but Beckett didn't seem to care; he was out for his own revenge. With Maddox's Blood Eagles on the roof quickly dealt with, beaten to a pulp with their limbs twitching as the last semblance of life left their pulverised remains, Beckett swung round, his attention searching for Maddox. He found Maddox ready for combat on the other side of the platform, licking his thin lips in anticipation and brandishing a deadly combat knife.

"Just you and me now Beckett. We can do this quick and painless, or I can take my time with you. Your choice…though on second thought, I think I'll enjoy myself with you tonight", Maddox taunted above the sound of the howling wind. Clenching his jaw for the fight that was about to come, Beckett was under no illusion that this wasn't going to take every ounce of strength on his part to get his revenge. He was lucky that Maddox was distracted before and thought Beckett couldn't get out of his restraints, but now the element of surprise was gone. He was under no illusion that he was getting out of this alive; all he wanted was to be the one to watch Maddox draw his last breath.

Launching himself at Beckett and slashing the knife in quick successions at him, Beckett dodged every blow and advance, knowing that if he could keep this pace up he would eventually tire Maddox out enough for him to make an opportunistic mistake. The volley of gunfire at the base of the building was intensifying and Beckett could hear that something was going on, though he had no respite to make a guess as to what.

"C'mere Beckett! Stop pussyfooting around and face me like a man!", Maddox yelled, annoyed at Beckett's quick parries and movements away from his grasp. Maddox lunged at him again, only this time he made a mistake of reaching too far. Beckett turned just in time to avoid the blade and grabbed his arm with both hands, twisting it painfully behind Maddox's back. The knife dropped out of his hand, but Maddox quickly recovered with a swift kick to the back of Beckett's knee, sending a shooting pain that left him sprawling on his hands and knees. He quickly recovered, limping away to one of the end tables with a tray full of surgical instruments and picked up a scalpel before he felt Maddox's hand slam into his right shoulder and pull him away with such force that he rolled over the edge of the platform thirty feet away. Feeling the terrifying weightlessness as his body left the safety of the platform, Beckett reached out his arms in a last effort to grab hold of anything; luckily for him, a protruding steel beam offered a steady surface to grab onto.

Now he could clearly hear that the fighting at the base of the structure was moving upward; he looked down and saw the rest of the Blood Eagles were under attack and many were either dead or abandoning their posts, though who the invaders were he could not tell. He didn't have long to cling on before Maddox's towering figure loomed over the ledge, sneering down at Beckett hanging on for dear life with one arm hooked around the steel beam. He stomped on him with such force that the searing pain made Beckett gasp, knocking the wind out of him. Despite his grip loosening slightly, he was still adamantly holding on…but for how long could he keep this up? The next kick could break his arm and he'd fall down to his death...just like Meredith.

'At least in death we'd be together again', a despondent thought crossed his mind.

Suddenly another voice called behind Maddox, turning his attention away from Beckett and opening up a window for attack. Without hesitation, Beckett took out the scalpel in his free hand, reached up and slashed just above Maddox's right ankle. The sound of a snap, as if a taught rope being cut, surprised Beckett; he must have caught his tendon because Maddox's wounded leg abruptly collapsed under his weight and he stumbled onto all fours, bleeding profusely from the wound.

'Get up, do it now while you can!' an urgent thought pushed Beckett into action. With immense effort, he swung his lower body up and round, hooking his leg around another exposed beam and pushed himself up with his upper body. Before he knew it, he was on top of Maddox's back repeatedly driving the scalpel into his chest and neck, unaware of another Blood Eagle who had come up to the rooftop to help his master. A series of muzzle flashes almost blinded him in the dark and the air filled with a cloud of red mist and the familiar metallic taste of blood. Either from sheer stupidity, stoned haste, or blind luck, most of the bullets from the stunned Blood Eagle raider met their target in Maddox and missed both their heads. With a final sickening gurgle and a bewildered look in his dark eyes, Maddox's last breath rattled out of his throat and his limp body collapsed face forward.

Panting from his ordeal and shivering in a cold sweat, Beckett knelt on the hard surface of the platform ready to face his admonishment for killing Maddox…instead, a deadly volley of bullets at the bottom of the stairs from where the raider had originally surfaced from caught the raider unawares. He was dead…it was over…

Beckett's spent body slumped to the side on his hip, a stubborn part of him still clutching onto the bloodied scalpel he used to kill Maddox; despite part of him wanting nothing more than to close his eyes and never wake again, another stubborn part fiercely clung to life. Searing pain began to spread through his body; he looked down at his torso and found several bullets had met their target, leaving red patches of blood spreading through his off white shirt.

"Beckett?!" a familiar voice called from the bottom of the stairs. It wasn't until the man's familiar lean frame came into Beckett's blurry vision that he realised it was Ward.

A deep, relieved exhale rushed out of him and Beckett finally collapsed; it was comforting to know that in his last moments, he would have a dear friend beside him…

Beckett's mind floated in a void, in a dream state of semi-awareness and random fleeting memories dispersed by long and terrifying moments of nothing; though in all of the moments where he had a semblance of consciousness, Meredith was always beside him.

'It's all a dream', he thought, 'It's a dream, or I'm close to death and she's waiting for me'.

He felt her hand on his, her soft lips graze his forehead; she whispered something to him, but her voice was so ethereal that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand. Cold tears ran down the sides of his face and a heavy weight rested on his torso, making it hard to breathe. If he was near death, he was comforted to know that she was there waiting for him.

"How's he doing Paige?" he heard a man's voice ask.

'Paige? Wha-…where am I? Foundation?', Beckett thought.

"Vitals are stable, there's no infection and his condition over the past couple of days has stabilised", another man answered. Their voices were familiar but so muffled that Beckett couldn't place one of them.

'Just let me go', he despaired, 'Please…No more. Just let me go'.

"Has he regained consciousness?"

"Barely. He's peered around once in a while, but nothing since", Paige answered.

"I don't understand, he's supposed to be getting better".

"The blow to his head was severe Ward, he just needs some time for the skull fracture to heal", Paige answered. His voice was growing louder, or was it that Paige was getting closer. Suddenly an uncomfortably bright light flashed in one eye, then the other, rousing Beckett enough to shake his head weakly and pull away from the stimulus.

"That's a good sign...Isn't' it?" Ward's voice whispered.

"The best we've had so far!" Paige replied, optimism in his voice. Beckett compelled himself to open his eyes wide enough to let him examine his surroundings. There they were, Paige hovering over Beckett taking his vitals while Ward peered from behind his back.

"Hey there! You gave us quite a scare Beckett!", Ward grinned encouragingly. Somehow the weathered lines in his face appeared deeper and he had dark bags under his eyes. It didn't look like he got much sleep.

Beckett tried to speak, but his mouth and throat were so parched he could barely utter a sound.

"Here, this'll help", Paige reached over to his other side and placed a plastic straw to his lips, squeezing the closed bottle to let a stream of cool water trickle into his mouth. He hadn't realised how parched he felt until that first drop of water touched his tongue, and immediately his body reacted positively. He took several long drags of water through the straw, enough to quench his dry throat.

"Easy now, not all at once", Paige gently moved the drink back to the end table to Beckett's disappointment.

Once he had a moment to get his bearings, there was no doubt in Beckett's mind that he was in Paige's infirmary underground in Foundation.

"How're you feeling?" Ward asked, warily taking a seat on a chair opposite Paige.

"Why… Why am I here?" Beckett manage to ask after a moment. Both men looked at each other, confusion written on their features.

"Do you have any memory of what happened to you Beckett?" Paige asked hesitantly.

Beckett nodded, "I was on…the roof… Unfinished Mansion".

Both men nodded and smiled in relief, encouraged by his answer.

"You…should have left me", Beckett added in a sombre voice, once again confusing his carers.

"Now I know there's something wrong", Ward turned to Paige, his tone filled with concern.

"You should have let me go… I was ready…", fresh tears trailed down the side of his face.

"We're not in the business of letting out friends perish without a fight", Paige gently laid a reassuring hand on Beckett's shoulder, but Beckett adamantly shook his head and resisted.

"No…No! I wa-…watched her die…saw Maddox toss her as if…as if she were nothing!", his voice cracked and was becoming desperate; he felt his heart rush in his chest as the memories came crashing back. Maddox with his hand wrapped around Meredith's delicate neck, yanking her around as he paced on the platform, tormenting Beckett before throwing her off the end of the platform to fall from the deadly height of the Unfinished Mansion…her startled and terrified expression still raw in his mind. Chest heaving in desperation to catch some air, it felt as though a large concrete block was sitting atop his chest, threatening to crush him.

"Calm down Beckett, everything's alright", Paige tried to reassure him, but when Beckett showed no signs of improving Ward had to hold him down while Paige injected him with a clear liquid. Almost instantly Beckett felt the weight lift off his chest and his heart rate slow; he could breathe again. Not long after he felt his eyelids grow heavy and the familiar weight of sleep begin to take hold. Everything began to have a faraway quality to it again.

"You'd better go get her back Ward", he heard Paige's voice before succumbing to a dreamless sleep again.

Hours, days, or weeks could have passed since he was last awake and fully conscious. Time had no meaning anymore; especially since he didn't have Meredith.

Meredith…

His brow furrowed and he felt tears well up uncomfortably in his eyes, burning his lids before sliding down his face. It was enough to wake him from his deep sleep. Mind still groggy from the sedative that Paige administered, Beckett lay still in his bed. It wasn't until after several moments when he tried to wiggle into a more comfortable position that he felt something obstructing him under his right arm and a weight across his chest and abdomen. He moved his right arm in an attempt to move away from the obstruction, but only managed to rest his arm on top of it. In his dazed and drugged state, it took him a moment to recognise that the obstruction wasn't...normal. Confused and curious to understand what was on his bed, he willed himself to move his head and focus his gaze down.

There, curled up next to him with her head on his chest and right arm wrapped around his waist…was Meredith.

Beckett froze, blinking the tears and sleep out of his eyes and pushing his mind to wake up.

'No…it can't be her…', he thought, his bewildered gaze affixed to her. Meredith was dead, he saw her fall… Surely he was hallucinating, imaging her there there with him. Yes, that must be it, he thought, surely it was his intense grief conjuring up her presence to either sooth or torment him… but the more he observed her form, the more he realised she had to be real. Her sides roses and fell with every breath, he could feel the warmth from her body radiating through the thin blanket covering his body, and every once in a while, her fingers and feet would quietly twitch as if she were dreaming.

Beckett's body froze and he feared that if he moved she would disappear, but despite that his need to find out if she was really there prodded him to examine her further. He trailed his fingertips lightly over her exposed skin, felt her warmth spread to his hand, heard her breathing; everything from the touch and smell of her skin was screaming at him that she was not a hallucination – Meredith was really alive, and he wasn't crazy.

He wanted to hold of her, pull her tight to him and never let go. A painful lump in his throat prevented him from uttering a word, but his whole body shuddered as he sobbed silently next to her. Even though not a whisper left his silent sobs, his body was shaking so much that it roused Meredith from her slumber. She raised her head slowly at first, a dazed and perplexed look in her eyes, until she woke enough to notice that Beckett was awake and weeping.

"Beckett?!" she looked him over urgently, "What's wrong? Are you in pain? Paige? Paige! I need you here!"

Suddenly the room rushed with activity and Paige, two medics and Meredith encircled him checking his condition.

"What's going on? Is he going into shock?" Meredith's voice was so distraught that it took Beckett aback. He knew he had to calm himself down and made himself take several deep breaths in and exhale, the way Meredith taught him to calm himself when he felt himself spiralling into a panic.

"Apart from raised heart rate and breathing, he seems fine", Paige's confident answer seemed to ease Meredith's worries somewhat, "He just seems to be…a bit emotional, is all".

"Mere…you're alive…?", Beckett mustered after a long moment, blinking hot tears out of his eyes.

The lines around Meredith's eyes softened immediately and she heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm here Beckett", she moved to sit beside him, taking hold of his hand in hers, "I'm alive and ok. You had me so worried so much though".

"How?" was all Beckett could muster, his body still shuddering from the intense emotional release.

With Beckett's condition in no danger, Paige ushered the other medics out of the room to give him and Meredith some space. Once she was sure they were alone, Meredith described her side of events after Maddox threw her over the side of the roof. Just as he had been lucky to grab hold of an exposed steel beam, Meredith's fall was arrested when her rope bindings got caught on a bent rebar. Beckett's gaze fell to her wrists and, sure enough, he could see the skin of her delicate wrists were a deep shade of red from rope burn and angry looking scabs from cuts caused by the rope digging into her skin. If it wasn't for the buffeting wind pushing her in a more sideways fall and further away from the wall of the building, it could have very well meant the end of her short life.

"Not long after Ward and a group of his guards stormed the base of the Unfinished Mansion. Louis told Foundation about what had happened, and the settlers were eager to send some of their best fighters to help us. They killed almost all of Maddox's raiders, scattering the rest of the survivors, and quickly moved up the building. I recognised the sound of Ward's voice when he was near my level and called out for help. He and another guard pulled me up and I led them to the roof", her voice trailed off and Beckett could see tears brimming in her eyes, "By the time I got up there, you were out cold and bleeding badly. One of the raiders had shot you several times and I thought I'd lost you".

Beckett felt fresh tears roll down his cheeks, empathising with her side of the story. Without hesitation, he pulled his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him. Meredith didn't resist, simply lay on top of him and they both stayed there for several long moments, silently comforting each other.

"Oh Mere… I…I don't even know where to start…", Beckett stammered between breaths, "That feeling, when I thought I lost you…that I'd never see you again... It was like watching my world end… When it was over, when Maddox was down…I was ready to die…wanted to die".

Meredith shook her head on his chest and took a shuddering breath in, "Me too… I knew that if you didn't pull through, I wouldn't want to carry on…". For a moment they quietly held each other, breathing each other in, hands trailing lovingly over each other's faces as if memorising every line, every curve of the other.

"I love you so much Mere. Without you… I dunno what I would do…where I would be", Beckett uttered after a tender moment, leaning toward her and pressing his parched lips on the soft, plump pillows of her open mouth. She tasted sweet and warm, just as he remembered.

"I love you too Beckett", Meredith breathed.

Holding each other tightly, Meredith and Beckett spent the rest of the day inseparable from one another, recovering their bodies and minds with good food and cheerful conversations about fond memories and the endless possibilities that awaited them in their future.