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Chapter 13: Tragedy

            His menacing voice echoed in her head, "your best friend or your past true love."   She was petrified, scared to death, never had she been in such a predicament. Her hands continued to shake because of the cold and frightful air that seemed to engulf the room. His large, cold hands gripped her own, not allowing her to turn the gun towards him. His other hand focused a blade to her side, ready to penetrate her flesh if she disobeyed his orders.

Tears and sobs choked her, the sight of her loved ones tied up like animals panicked her, who would save them now. In the past, she could always rely on Jason or Stone to come to the rescue. But Stone was gone, and pretty soon, she readily believed Jason would be leave the world, too. Her eye wandered from Jason's stoic face to Brenda's mercy begging eyes. She never saw such terror or uncertainty in both of them. The strength and fearlessness that used to possess their eyes escaped the moment Jagger uttered those threatening words. "Jagger, please, isn't there some other way that we could-" her voice croaked.

"Come on Robin, big sister Brenda, or big hero Jason?" Jagger interrupted her pleading. His cool breath caused the tiny hairs on her neck stand straight up.

The knots in Brenda's stomach wouldn't loosen no matter how hard she tried. Cowardice and fear dominated her, preventing reason and patience to settle in. The nervousness and anticipation finally got to her. Not realizing the potential danger her words could lead the three of them in, Brenda snapped. "You've gone completely insane. When the hell did your mind get so warped that you had to resort to an innocent woman todo your-"

"Brenda," Jason interrupted her quietly. He was taken aback by the stern look Brenda returned to him.

"Jason, no, don't tell me to be quiet." She looked back at Jagger, "He can't make her do this, he can't just make her decide-"

"So, who will it be, Robin?" Jagger asked impatiently. He pretended to ignore the comments Brenda had just retorted. He wouldn't let her words or big mouth dictate his decisions. He steadied his grip on Robin and repeated his question. Despite his strong grasp, the young woman continued to tremble.

"I can't…I'm not going to shoot anyone, Jagger." Robin replied.

"I guess that's too bad," Jagger commented with a stifled laugh. He swiftly, but forcefully knocked Robin to the ground and grabbed the heavy metal weapon that her hands once possessed.

"Robin!" Brenda screamed out. Robin looked down towards the point Brenda was staring at. The knife had pierced her side, blood slowly trickling from her body. She looked back up at Jagger, who was now staring at her. For a brief instant, Robin thought she saw disbelief in Jagger's face, but he quickly covered it up. Her gaze was locked with Jagger's, while the corner of her eye saw Jason attempt to rip the pipe.

His eyes didn't leave Robin's as he prepared to kill her friends. "Say good bye to your big sister, Robin," he uttered. As Jagger turned to focus on Brenda, his index finger ready to pull the trigger, gushes of water sprayed into his eyes. Jason had broken the slim pipe and was now running towards Jagger. Surprised and shocked, Jagger pulled the trigger, unaware of where the bullet was heading.

Adrenaline overtook his once tired body. His mind as well as his heart wouldn't allow her to leave the world. He wouldn't let a jealous, grief stricken man take the vibrant life away from her. He wouldn't let the madman take Brenda away from him. At that moment, it struck him that she may be out of his life forever. That's when he snapped, because he knew he couldn't live a day without her. She was the one that instilled life back in him and taught him more about life after Robin, after Elizabeth, and after Courtney. Despite their rants and bantering and claims of hatred, she had always managed to teach him something. She made him smile during the oddest and rarest times. She remained loyal to him. She fought for him. She was the one…She was the one that he had truly fallen in love with. If only he had realized it before that moment.

He watched the pipe above him rupture under his force. His legs carried his body towards the villain, attempting to prevent the gun from hurting the two women in the cold room. Hatred, shock, and confusion sent his body to the ground. Something had infiltrated his body, something with such a force to bring the omnipotent enforcer down to the floor. Pain surged through his veins as he felt his body weaken. But he wouldn't give up. Despite the throbbing and aches, his body managed to stand back up and fight.

Her body froze the instant the deadly weapon was aimed in her direction. The water blurred her vision. Figures and shapes moved in various directions around her. Sounds and smells were all that she could clearly rely on as to what was happening around her. Pounding, clanging, gun shots, screaming, she heard it all, but she didn't make a squeak. She heard things fall on the floor in heavy thuds. She felt the ground shake in fear, underneath her. Her arms suddenly dropped from the aching upwards position they were in and she fell to the ground. She ended up on the floor. How, she did not know. She felt her wrists still imprisoned in metal, but also swelling in pain. Her hands felt bruises beginning to form around her knees. Her head pounded in agony as a dribble of her blood slid down her face.

Her nostrils took in the scents of gun powder, sweat, and blood. She was too afraid to look up from the tiny spot on the floor. There was a dead silence now.  Everything happened in an instant, but afterwards felt like forever. She was unsure of whether or not she should get up or look up. Was he ready to shoot her if she moved? Was she dead? Would she see her own lifeless body on the ground? Worst of all, would he be gone, drained of the life that she cared so deeply about?

Tears began to flood her eyes, tears of pain, and tears of hurt. They overflowed across the floor. She followed the independent path the tears seemed to take on, as if it was developing a life of its own. Her eyes were glued on the tiny stream as it seemed to halt and then mix into a tiny pool of blood. Her gaze followed the blood's path, to its origin. Then she saw it, or rather, them. She saw the three of them lying on the ground, each in its own state of sleep. Her heart drowned in horror. She forced her body to crawl to them, to ensure that they had not left her. They couldn't have left her.  Surely they had known how important it was to her for them to stay in her life. Didn't they?

            She stopped at the closest body. He was dead. She couldn't believe her former friend, the man she used to have a crush on, the man she used to adore and obsess about was now gone. But he was gone a long time ago. The man that was now dead was not the Jagger Cates she knew so long ago. But she still couldn't help grieve for the lost soul. Her eyes bled salty tears of pity for the man. How she wished she could have tried to change him. Perhaps it would have been possible for her to have stopped him so long ago. She cried at his failure to make sense of his life. She cried at her own failure to be there for a man who obviously needed a friend.

            Her thoughts and eyes then wandered to the body lying near Jagger. She brushed the young woman's brown hair from her face. Her sobs grew louder just seeing her best friend in such a state. The body was still warm, a strong heartbeat was intact. "Robin? Come on, little sister, it's me," she called, attempting to awaken her. Robin groaned. Her leg stung and her side ached. She opened her eyes to see Brenda's swollen red eyes. Relief rushed through her, her best friend was still alive. But then fear overtook her. She looked to her left and saw him, his chest barely moving, and his color slowly draining. Brenda followed Robin's gaze. "No," she whispered as she crawled to his body in pain. Brenda took his head into her lap and caressed his face. She called his name, but he didn't answer back.

A/N: Such an intense chapter! I thought it would be better to write about what the characters were feeling than to illustrate a picture of people getting shot and stuff. What did you guys think? Too sad? Too crazy? Tell me your thoughts. I'd really appreciate it. Thank you to all of you who have read and reviewed. It's nice to know what people think of your story. Ok, until the next chapter!