A/N: This is the angsty last chapter of Fire in Shadow. There are two ending you can chose from, the angsty one and the happy one.

To the Crimson Comet: sorry for the cliffhanger. I won't do it again.

Blah radio communication
Fire in Shadow

Naomi was sitting on the couch listening to the conversations around her. Leena and Bit were furiously arguing over whose cookie he was eating and Naomi was awaiting the screams of pain. Jamie was messing with a book of comics and Doc was running around going "Whoosh the pteras swoops!" Naomi smiled, all the familiar noises. She realized how long she had been at the base, which she now thought of as home. No, she thought with her eyes closed, home is wherever Brad is. As if on cue Brad walked in and sat down next to her. She pulled her feet up onto the couch and laid her head on his shoulder. He smiled and stroked her hair. Just then Bit said "Oooh." and poked Leena. They both looked at the couple and smiled childishly. Brad ignored them and went back to watching Naomi.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 5:00 am *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Naomi woke from the absence of Brad's body beside hers. She shot upright and looked around. She calmed down a bit and walked out of her room. Naomi looked in the living room and dining room. Then she saw a light in the kitchen, shining under the door crack. She opened it slowly and released the breath that had been pent up. It was Brad, making coffee. She slowly walked up beside him, he turned around and smiled. She asked him,

"Do you always get up this early?" He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, but why are you up?" She kissed him softly,

"Because you weren't there." He kissed her neck, with his arms still entwined around her waist.

"I'll be back in a minute." She put on a pout face,

"Okay, but hurry." And walked out. He gazed longingly after her for a moment before turning back to the coffee maker.

Naomi walked slowly down the halls down to Brad's room. The door slid open and she walked in. Something wasn't right, she stood still. A steady even breathing emanated from the room. She spoke,

"Hello?" and was about to turn on the light when she felt a gloved hand cover her mouth. She couldn't even scream as she felt a needle plunging into her arm. And then all she saw was darkness.

Naomi swam through the depths of unconsciousness and moaned as she slowly opened her garnet eyes. Where was she? She looked down and saw a thin trickle of blood running down her arm. She pressed her palm to it to stop the bleeding. She tried to stand but realized that her feet were bound and that she was sitting in a chair. She tried to kick the chair out from under her but a raspy voice, one that haunted her nightmares, sounded from the shadows.

"Ah, ah, ah. Now we can't have that can we?" Naomi screamed as all of her memories came back, the kidnapping, the murder.

"Evhert!" she yelled, "Come out and show yourself so I can beat the crap out of you."

Evhert emerged from the thick shadows. He was exactly as she remembered him to be, the haggard yellow face, the red eyes and stubbly beard.

"Well, Miss Flugel, I'm going to have fun with you." She looked at him in defiance. He circled the chair,

"So fiery and so beautiful." He trailed off, watching her intently. Then he shot out a hand and grasped her chin. She wanted to bite his hand off. He put his face near hers, his horrible breath coming in wheezes. She said between clenched teeth.

"You touch me and I swear I'll kill you." He smiled and said

"Like this?" and he put his mouth over hers. He forced his tongue into her mouth and searched it. She wanted to throw up, he pulled back and spat. Then he took her hands and tied them behind the chair. Naomi fought to keep her pulse down. He circled her again, chuckling all the while. Then he spoke again,

"First I'll cut you and let you bleed, and when your dead I'll sleep with your cold, stiff, corpse." Naomi did throw up now, all the contents of her stomach spilling onto the floor. Then Evhert spoke from behind her,

"Here I'll take your mind off your stomach." Naomi felt the slashes on her arms but kept sitting up, looking for an escape. The room became dark and her eyes swam. Then she realized the ropes binding her arms were slipping. She focused all her energy on working them off. Then Evhert was in front of her; she kept looking up like she wasn't focusing on the ropes. His knife scraped under her chin as he tilted her face up. His knife dripped with blood, her blood, as he cut her cheek. She felt the blood running down her face. Her arms were free and she savagely punched him. He staggered back,

"You bitch!" and cut her ankle. Naomi screamed as she felt her life draining away in the pool of blood at her feet. "Brad." she whispered as she slid from the chair to the floor. She thought to herself, Brad I'm doing this for you, as she stood up and picked up the chair. Evhert laughed,

"Oh, little Naomi's going to hurt me..." she smiled and laughed back,

"Yeah I am. Now go to hell you bastard." She slammed the chair down on his head and stayed conscious long enough to hear his neck snap.

Jamie you see anything? Leena frantically asked. Jamie looked down at the barren landscape.

No. How about Bit or Brad? Bit circled the base, looking for clues. He spoke excitedly

Yeah, here's some tracks from a godulas. Brad didn't answer, he hadn't spoken since they discovered Naomi was missing, just set off as fast as he could go. The rest of the team followed. They reached an old abandoned hotel. Jamie spoke,

We should all take a floor. They spread out running from room to room. Frantically kicking open doors, they called as they opened each one, "Nope." Brad reached the last door of all of them. The rest of the group was behind him; they wanted to let him go in alone. The door creaked open with a tired sigh and he walked into the dark interior. The first thing he saw was a body, with its neck hanging at a grotesque angle. Next to the body was a splintered chair, ropes still clinging to it. And then he saw her, Naomi, lying in the middle of a pool of blood. He fell to his knees next to her, cradling her limp body to his chest. She gasped and vomited blood. She looked at him, a small smile on her lips,

"Brad, I love." her eyes clouded over and she fell limp in his arms. He picked her up, shocked, and called to Jamie,

"Get an ambulance!!" then he sat back down on the floor, holding her. He kissed her forehead, with blood starting to dry on it.

"Naomi," he whispered, "It's alright, you did good, you did good." He trailed off sobs breaking in his throat.

"Oh god Naomi, why did you have to die? I can't go on without you." He stayed clutching her slender form until the ambulances arrived.