Chapter 2- The Basketball Game and Ending

Anna brushed her teeth quickly. Jim had said that they were on a timer as Owen's game was about to start. Jim was a stickler for being punctual to anything and everything. One way he and Cayden weren't alike. Cayden was always late. (An oddity since his cell phone had a clock.) Jim had been in the army and acted like it would kill him to be late for anything. He even went so far to freak out if Owen and Anna were late coming home from school. Anna's thoughts then went to Cayden. Anna hoped her father would keep his word and show up like he had promised, but her mother had told her not to hold her breath on that one. Cayden had a bad track record for promising to do something and then not delivering on his word. Her mother had made that point quite clear as she was always angry at Cayden for the four or five years they were married and he had kept things from her.

"Anna, it's time," Jim said, knocking lightly on the bathroom door's open doorframe.

"Coming," Anna said, her voice muffled from the toothbrush in her mouth. She spit out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth. Anna ran to her room to pick up the latest Colleen Coble book she had started and her next "Star Wars" book. Anna figured between the car ride and how often Owen sat on the bench she could finish "Lonestar Homecoming" and start "The Truce at Bakura."

Cayden stood outside the gym, watching Owen playing basketball. He had promised Anna and Owen that he'd show. They just hadn't realized that he wouldn't come inside to watch the game. Unknown to his children, Cayden did show up for school events and he either would sit in the back row or outside the gym like he was doing at this moment. He had seen Owen win basketball games and Anna playing Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker." Cayden wished he could let his children live with him, but they were better off living with their mother and Jim.

Cayden looked at his girl. Cayden had always loved his daughter. She was the one most like him in personality and looks. Owen had taken after his mother's side of the family with his height and nearly black hair. Anna's eyes were blue like his and her hair was a rich brown like his hair before he started going gray. He knew Anna was disappointed that she rarely ever saw him at events. He also knew that Anna had hacked into Helix one night last fall. Cayden had put a web tracker on his daughter's and son's computers that alerted him when they were on the internet. While Cayden had been hurt and disappointed that his girl would spy on him, he understood her reasons and hadn't shown her that he was angry. Cayden looked with pride as Owen passed the basketball and Anna, Silvia, and Jim cheered with the other people in the bleachers.

"Cayden James?" A voice behind him asked. Cayden turned to see two men in suits. The one who spoke held up an Argus I.D.

"I was told to expect you. Warned, in fact," Cayden said conversationally as if he was ordering dinner or taking his clothes to the cleaners.

"Mr. James, we're here to remand you into custody for multiple violations of federal law. We strongly advise you not to resist," the agent said.

"My only son is playing in this game and I promised my daughter I'd be here. Could I perhaps watch it before you take me in so I can keep my word to Anna?" Cayden asked, indicating the basketball game and looking at Anna briefly. Cayden smiled briefly. Anna was eating a hot dog with relish, her cheeks bulging from the huge bite she had just taken and the fact that she had loaded the dog down with mustard, ketchup, cheese, and pickled relish; enough toppings to give her father dyspepsia if he thought about it long enough.

"That's not how it works," the man said. (A/N: I think they should have let Cayden finish the game. At least Oliver would have taken Cayden to see Owen's grave. Which is more than I can say for these wombats.)

"I'm just asking for a few moments. A little compassion here," Cayden said.

"I strongly suggest surrendering peacefully to avoid a scene in front of your children," the agent said as his partner revealed his gun, attached to his side.

"There's no need for that," Cayden said in a defeated voice as he had his wrists handcuffed behind him and they led him to their van. Cayden looked out the window as his boy made a basket and Anna cheered. The car drove away, with Cayden feeling like he would cry.

Anna sat in the library at the high school, next to Owen working on her last math problem before turning her attention to the project on one of the gods in mythology. Everyone had to pick a god or goddess in any kind of mythology and make a poster board picture of it and write a report. Anna had planned to write hers on Thor, the god of Thunder. After seeing Thor with Jim and Owen, she found the story interesting, not to mention that every girl in the high school thought Chris Hemsworth was gorgeous; Anna included. (A/N: This particular project, my own sister did when she was in school, but she picked an Egyptian goddess and not Norse.)

Anna capped her pen and opened up the book in front of her to Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, before realizing she was famished. "Owen, I'm going to the vending machine. You want anything?" Anna asked her brother, who was working on his term paper on Winston Churchill.

"Yeah. A Sprite sounds good," Owen said, not looking up from a source card he was writing.

"Okay. Be right back," Anna said going out into hall where the coke machines were. Considering they would eat after doing their projects, Anna didn't need to buy chips or candy bars. They were going to stop at the Mellow Mushroom to eat pizza before heading home. (A/N: A place I have eaten at. For those who don't know what it is, it's a retro pizza place with a 1970's theme.)

Anna put in the money for Sprite and a Dr. Pepper. relieved that neither drink was sold out. The machine spent more time being out of drinks and forcing her and Owen to drink Pepsi or something diet, two choices that Anna found disgusting.

Anna walked into the library, holding the sweating coke cans in her hands. "Owen, they had Sprite," Anna said, setting the drink by her brother. "Owen?" Anna asked again when her brother didn't answer. Anna looked up and her blood siphoned out of her veins. "OWEN!" Anna screamed. Her brother's chest had an arrow sticking out of it, his arms hanging loosely. Anna stood on shaking legs and put her fingers to Owen's pulse. There was none. Anna's face went pale and sobs rose into her throat as she ran out of the library, tears blinding her vision. Her brother was dead and her mother needed to know.

Anna had never walked Star City at night, but her mother and Jim would understand the reasons she did so now. Anna felt a cold chill. The door to the townhouse was partly open, something that was a major sin with Jim at night since Star City had it's share of criminals. The Green Arrow had been protecting everyone for the last four years, but that didn't stop criminals. Anna went into the house, her heart going to her feet. Her mother and Jim lay on the floor in pools of blood.

"Mom? Jim?" On close examination her mother was like Owen and Anna could feel a faint pulse on Jim. Jim opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Anna? Your mother?" Jim asked faintly.

"Don't talk, Jim. I gotta get you to a doctor," Anna said, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Don't be afraid, Anna. You...you've always been brave," Jim said his voice getting fainter.

"Jim, don't go. I need you. I'll be all alone," Anna said. Jim reached up, touching her face gently.

"I...I...I...love you, Anna," Jim said and his head fell back and his hand fell from Anna's face. Anna felt like Edith Frank in a version of Anne Frank that came on TV and Anna had rented from the library that Disney had done. When the Nazis had stolen Edith's daughters Edith broke down, sobbing uncontrollably; something Anna did now. In three unmerciful strikes she had lost her family and she had no idea where Cayden was. She hadn't seen him in four months since he had failed to show up at Owen's basketball game. Anna wondered if his friends at Helix knew where he was. She remembered her father mentioning someone named Shech who worked for Helix. She even wondered if Helix was open this late.

Anna stood up morosely and made her way to the phone. She had to call the police first to report the murders. When the First Responder answered Anna put the receiver on the coffee table and ran up to her room. She would get out of the house. Whoever had done this to her mother, Jim, and Owen was probably close by and Anna had to get out before she was next.

Cayden had lost all sense of time. It had been four months since his arrest and the Argus agents had questioned him every day on his activities. Cayden thought of Owen and Anna. His children were probably very angry that he hadn't made any contact with them, but this wasn't his fault. If he ever got out he would have a hard time convincing them that he had been arrested.

Cayden couldn't see a thing through the hood they had put on his head, but he knew someone was entering the container he was in. The doors were very loud and squealed open as if they were coated in rust. "If this is another feeble attempt to extract information from me I warn you I will continue to invoke my Fifth Amendment protections," Cayden said as the agent removed the hood. It was the same agent who had arrested Cayden at the basketball game and he looked at Cayden with something akin to remorse In his eyes.

"I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, Mr. James, but your son Owen and your ex-wife and her husband were all found murdered last night," the agent said. Cayden looked at him uncomprehending. Owen, Sylvia, and Jim all murdered? What did that mean? And Anna? Where was Anna? Then the fact that Owen was dead hit him.

"No, my son's only eighteen and my daughter fourteen," Cayden said.

"Your daughter is still alive. She was with Owen last night and when he was killed we think she was the one who placed the call alerting people to your ex-wife's and her husband being killed. We have no idea were she is now. Anna Post has completely disappeared," the agent said, his words barely registering through Cayden's grief.

"No, no. Who would want to hurt my boy?" Cayden asked, his voice heavy with tears.

"I'm afraid we don't know. We are trying to find your daughter. We'll bring Anna to you when we find her. I am truly very sorry, Cayden," the agent said before leaving the container. Cayden sat there in numb shock. His son was dead and Anna missing! His girl was wandering all over Star City. Right now he wasn't thinking of trying to escape. He hoped the agent was telling the truth about bringing Anna to him. The city was far too dangerous for his girl to be wandering around by herself.