Rating: T-M as always just in case.
Disclaimer: You know the drill.
A/N: Responses are at end of the chapter. Sorry for the typos! Much love to all! (Violence to one!)

Chapter 7 – I've Come To Bring You Hell

August 11th, 2015

There were two lights casting shadows into Luke and Grace's room. One source of light was the moon. It danced in rectangles of pale blue on the wall by the closet and along the hardwood floor. The other light came from the clock sitting on the nightstand across the bed on Luke's side. It's green glow reflected the numbers 3:52. Grace nuzzled herself closer against Luke. She could never figure out why his skin always felt warmer than her own. Grace felt herself sigh. She was tired but she couldn't fall asleep and she wasn't sure why. Luke had only fallen asleep an hour ago, but that was partially due to Luke and Grace's extra curricular activity since their visitors had easily tired out both Lara and Brynn during dinner.

Grace smiled to herself when she realized that her hand was absently drawing invisible circles around Luke's stomach. Guess old habits do die hard, she mused to herself as she rested her chin against Luke's collarbone and turned her eyes upwards to study his face. Luke's head was tilted to the side and aimed down towards her as he slept. Grace was positive that Luke's left arm, which was under her and curled around her, was totally asleep. Grace felt her eyes roaming over Luke's face. She wasn't memorizing. No, that had been done before; come to think of it, long before they'd even started dating. Of course, as the years wore on, she memorized every new and old detail more completely.

Out of the corner of her eye, Grace saw the clock change to 4am. She frowned slightly and sighed. Why couldn't she just fall asleep? At this point it didn't matter. She would be up in two, three hours at the absolute most when the girls woke up. Grace shivered as the wind made the curtains dance as moonlit shadows on the wall. She reached down and took a hold of the top of their bed covers, which were resting at the small of her back and along Luke's hips.

She moved slowly and pulled them up easily to her shoulders, doing her best not to wake Luke. He shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake. Grace gave one last attempt to place herself closer into Luke's slumbering embrace. She turned her head to its side again and left her head against Luke's shoulder and collarbone. She resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep. Now though, it was a little clearer why she couldn't.

Grace found herself lying there next to Luke, thinking about her life. Before she knew his family, after she knew his family. She knew everyone was bound to change through out their whole life; everyone does. None of the four of them were the same as they were in high school after all. Grace was actually glad about that fact, at least for herself. She didn't want to be the person she was throughout most of high school.

Well, certain parts of her could have used mending; of course, Luke had been the catalyst to sealing those wounds shut thus changing Grace's life forever. Admittedly Joan and even Adam had helped. Grace inhaled deeply, feeling more at ease even as the darkness began to wane slowly. The dark nothingness of night was slowly fading into a brighter version blue as the sun prepared to wake up the world of Arcadia.

Grace was just at the point where her heavy eyelids were taking over, sinking down towards her cheeks to close and envelope her in sleep, when a noise startled her. Grace squinted her eyes wondering for a brief moment, where the murmuring grunt of pain had come from. She realized, a second later, that it had come from Luke. Luke squirmed slightly, turning his head and clawing at the pillow under his head with his free hand. A strangled half-sob, half-whimper of despair came through his clench jaw and tensed face.

Grace frowned. No matter what they'd tried, nothing had quelled the nightmarish images from invading Luke's slumbering mind. Under his closed eyelids, Grace could see his eyes darting rapidly back and forth. His shoulders hunched and his head twitched as another heart wrenching murmur filled the room.

Grace moved carefully. Startling him awake only made things worse, they'd discovered. She moved until she could place her mouth near his ear, using her left hand to hold his head still by gently stroking the side of his face into his hair.

"It's not real, Luke," Grace said quietly into his ear. She had pretty much only interchanged his name with the nickname of either brain or geek sparsely now, in an attempt not to confuse their younger nieces and nephews. She'd gotten used to just using his name. "It's just a dream," She said as he twitched slightly and murmured again. Grace did he best to wipe the beads of sweat off of his forehead. "C'mon, Luke, you've gotta wake up now," She said calmly.

Luke squirmed. Grace was pretty sure she heard the word 'no' among Luke's feeble murmurs. He made a move to roll to his side but was left on his back because at this point, with the way Grace was leaning over him, her body blocked his shoulders from being able to turn. Grace felt Luke's arm tighten around her back as the skin of his forearm and the palm of his hand clutched at the bare skin of her back.

"Luke," Grace spoke softly again. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She just couldn't get used to seeing him so pained like this in his sleep. "Please wake up…" She was close to begging. The vulnerability of both of them was abundantly clear to Grace; in fact, to Grace, it was amplified by the bareness of their flesh as she lay there, perched over her husband, trying to coax him out of horrendous snooze in limbo.

When a few more minutes passed and Luke sunk further into his nightmare sweating more profusely and struggling harder to toss and turn, Grace did the only thing she could think of to disrupt Luke's nightmare. Giving Luke's shoulder a slight shake and she said his name a little more forcefully.

With a harsh yelp, Luke shot straight up into a sitting position so fast that Grace barely had time to move to the side without Luke's head slamming into hers. His shoulders heaved as he inhaled deeply, trying to get his ragged breath back into rhythm. Grace watched the sweat glistening off of his skin. The edges of his hair were damp from the salty liquid.

"Hey…" Grace's voice returned to its softer tone as she reached a timid hand out to the back of Luke's shoulder.

Luke flinched and tossing his head back as he clenched his eyes. Grace withdrew her hand swiftly, frowning. Luke bent his head back down slowly. His breathing slowed and he sighed. He cast his head sideways, staring at the covers over his lap and Grace's lap.

"I'm sorry…" His voice came out hoarse and parched. She could see the guilt he felt for being the reason she was awake in the middle of the night; of course that was because he hadn't known that she had been awake anyhow.

Grace knew it was safe now, so she slid herself so she was even next to him easily sliding her arms around Luke's shoulders. Luke sighed deeply as he let himself be pulled into Grace's embrace. He rested his head against the crux of the middle of her collarbones and listened to her heart thumping in her ribcage. Grace coddled him expertly, which Luke still found odd. Sure Grace had her sentimental moments, but in these moments the sheer tenderness that came shining through was something that Luke usually only witnessed from her on rare occasions; barring of course that she was particularly gentle and affectionate towards their kids and their nieces and nephews-and puppies.

"You know," Grace made sure her smirk was audible in her voice. "You just say the word and I'll do my best to take your mind off that nightmare…" She rested her chin against the back of is head.

Luke offered a slight snicker, which greatly eased Grace's mind. It was taking less and les time for Luke to recover from the night terrors. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but she was glad it was becoming a little easier.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," Luke finally spoke.

Grace dropped a kiss to the back of his head and let her hand run in the tufts of hair at the back of his neck and down along the damp skin of his back. "I wasn't sleeping," She confessed.

Luke lifted his head, just high enough to look at her; they were mere centimeters apart. "You were?" He asked. Grace nodded. Luke found himself smirking. "Look, I know I'm hot, but you can ogle me when I'm awake you know," He said.

"Please," Grace smirked and rolled her eyes, "It's much more fun plotting what I'm going to do to you when you're sleeping," Her voice came out thick and seductive as she whispered.

"Can I say the word now?" Luke asked as he slightly closed the gap between himself and Grace causing her to run her tongue across her bottom lip before lightly chewing at the corner of the inside of her lip as she smirked. It amused her how easily they became wide-awake even though they both knew deep down how exhausted they should have been. She closed the gap between their lips easily and pulled herself over top of Luke as he relaxed his body down against the mattress and pillows, pulling her close to him so that there were no gaps between their pressed bodies just as specks and tiny rays of early morning sun started to spill about the room.

"I'm glad," Ryan smiled at the girl in front of him, "That you came to meet with me. I didn't think you would want to after out last meeting," He smiled at her, taking the left side of her face in his right hand, feigning affection.

The girl swallowed hard. "W-Why did you try and hurt them?" Her voice trembled.

He smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry darling…sometimes I just can't control myself." Ryan held his arms open, willing her to step into a hug. "I promise, I'll work harder on that," He said.

Slowly, as he encouraged her, she stepped into his embrace and placed her head sideways against his chest. She sniffled slightly. Ryan smiled to himself wistfully as he curled his arms around her and swayed just slightly. He was good at acting; acting was just lying.

"I have something I want you to do…" He spoke after a few minutes.

She looked up at him with frightened eyes as he smiled. She paused for a long moment before finally timidly responding. "What is it, Daddy?"

Grace felt awkward, walking through the walls of her old high school with and over stuffed black diaper bag over her left shoulder, a car seat hoisted to rest in the crook of her bent left elbow, with Brynn snoozing inside and Lara balanced on her right hip. Lara rested her head tiredly on Grace's shoulder, clutching at the ear of a floppy puppy that was dangling by her knee. Her other hand was curled with a thumb stuff into her mouth.

Grace was almost there. She was on her way to meet Helen for lunch. Helen's summer art coarse was supposed to have just let out. It was strange to be back in this place voluntarily-and with her children no less. Grace shook her head, feeling inevitably weird.

"Excuse me miss," A voice stopped Grace in her tracks. Good God, this is not happening, Grace thought to herself shaking her head slightly. Of course she would get caught in the hall a mere 6 feet from the art room. "But you can't come in here without a visitor's pass. And you most certainly cannot come in here to change your Children in the lavatories," He said. It was a comfort to know that some people didn't change, even if they were pompous assholes.

Smirking, Grace turned around and raised an eyebrow at Gavin Price. The shock on his face was thrilling for Grace. She noted with pleasure that after the years of student, Price's hair was speckled with gray hair. It even looked like it was thinning. Good, served him right.

"Miss Polk-,"

"It's Girardi, Price," Grace corrected, smiling.

"Well, it's certainly nice to see you've matured from your teenage revolutionary ways," Price put his hands behind his back, smiling. "I saw Luke on TV, must be relaxing to be a housewife?" He asked in his normal derogatory way.

Grace snorted. "It's a shame that you're always going to be a brown nosing lacky who thinks its cool to bully high school kids into thinking they aren't worthy of their dreams when really, who are you to give any kind of job advice?" She asked. "And, by the way, I've accomplished more in my life then you ever will," Grace turned to head into the classroom.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to escort you off the premises," Price stopped her. "We cannot have unannounced visitors you see-,"

"Oh stuff it Gavin," Helen called out from inside the art room. Lara lifted her head off of Grace's shoulder at the sound of Helen's voice. "She's on the visitor's list for me anyway. Go check," Helen called out.

Grace turned her attention to Lara. "Want to go say hi to Nona?" She asked Lara, ignoring Gavin Price. Lara nodded emphatically. Grace bent her knees and lowered Lara to the ground. Lara bee-lined, in awkward steps, through the door. The class, which was just ending their session and cleaning up, spotted her and emitted a chorus of 'aw's. Grace cast one last smirk over her shoulder before entering the classroom.

Helen was just scooping Lara into her arms and planting a few kisses on the toddler's cheek. "Class, this is my granddaughter, Lara," Helen smiled.

"Hi Lara," Most of the class responded easily.

Lara bashfully buried her face into Helen's neck after taking in all the strangers. The class was filing out. Some of the girls stepped up to Helen to say hi to Lara and to gush about how cute they thought she was. Grace managed to step in next to Helen. Some of the girls asked about Brynn and gushed over her for a few seconds, now that she'd woken up because of the commotion. Once everyone had filed out, Helen grabbed her knapsack and purse with her free arm.

"Are we ready?" She asked.

"Double parked and ready to go," Grace said as they walked into the hallway and headed for the car. Grace was doubling as Helen's ride, since one of their cars was in the shop. It took less than fifteen minutes to find the café that Helen and Grace had decided to eat at.

They decided to sit at one of the outdoor tables since a cold front had moved through, leaving the temperatures in the mid 70s with no humidity. The Umbrella sticking of the middle of the table was good too. Grace sat Brynn's Car seat in the empty chair to her left and the waiter pulled a highchair over to Grace's right that they put Lara in while Grace and Helen sat across from each other.

As they ate, they talked about random things. Grace told Helen about Becky for a while and Helen asked Grace if she knew how Joan was doing. Grace confessed that Joan was growing jaded of the New York City life and that Adam was worried. Lara chewed on banana pieces, teething cookies and mini finger raviolis, being sure to get as much as she could all over her cheeks, hands and bib. Grace managed to get half of a sandwich down before Brynn decided she was hungry. She situated Brynn into a better sitting position before she mixed up a small cup of oatmeal and started slowly feeding it to the baby.

"How's Luke been sleeping?" Helen asked, taking a sip of her tea. She tried to sound nonchalant, but Grace knew better. Helen picked up on this and added, "Joan mentioned that he wasn't sleeping well."

Grace glanced at Helen and then quickly back to Brynn. She inhaled slowly to give herself more time to think of how to answer this question. No doubt after Joan had 'mentioned' this to Helen, she had surely seen the dark circles under Grace's eyes today; of course, that wasn't entirely due to nightmares. Grace felt her cheeks flush just slightly at this thought. She cleared her throat as she used the little spoon to swipe some excess oatmeal off of Brynn's chin as she kicked energetically, ready for more.

"He's…getting better," She shrugged slightly, "a little."

"Does he tell you what they're about?" Helen pressed on.

Grace shook her head. "Not usually," She said as she unhooked Brynn from her car seat. Grace cleaned off the baby's face and settled the girl in her arms before finishing Brynn's meal off with a small bottle of formula. Lara was contentedly mashing her banana slices together while singing gibberish and occasionally, she stuffed her hand in her mouth to suck some of the mashed fruit off of her fingers.

"I think it's because of Ryan," Grace let her eyes glance up from Brynn to Helen. She shifted her gaze to Lara, who was consumed in playing with her food, and then looked back at Brynn. Helen seemed to be taking everything in.

"Naturally," Helen replied. "You had quite an ordeal within the past couple of months."

Grace pressed her lips tightly together as she put the empty bottle on the table and threw a towel over her shoulder before resting Brynn against the towel and patting her back as Brynn murmured and shuffled.

"Maybe," She was unsure how to approach this with Helen. Helen, Grace remembered, had had many dreams that had acted as warnings-that-came-just-too-late; like when the Church was vandalized and the Synagogue was burned. Grace had been pretty sure God had been behind those. She had wondered if maybe, Helen was aware of this fact; and f she was, maybe Helen could help Luke? Grace inhaled and looked at Helen again. Helen looked at Grace encouragingly, almost willing Grace to dispel everything to her. Grace decided that maybe, just maybe, Helen was the best person to talk to about this.

"Let the girl go and we'll talk about this Hunter," Will suggested. He was standing, wearing only a bulletproof vest over his suit shirt and tie. He was aiming at Ryan Hunter's head, but couldn't get a clear shot because Ryan kept tugging his frightened hostage so that she was shielding him.

Will had recognized the girl before the voices in his earpiece had told him who it was. Her name was Bonnie. She had known his daughter; or maybe she knew Luke. Regardless, she had gone to school with his kids. Shortly after the Church vandalism and the Synagogue fire, Bonnie had suffered a nervous breakdown via a severe panic attack in the middle of the school hallway. After Ryan was arrested, Joan, Luke, Adam and Grace had dug deep enough in their pseudo-detective work to find out that Ryan had been terrorizing Bonnie for weeks before he'd 'saved' Adam in the woods.

Some years back, Bonnie had finally been declared 'sane' again. Under the custody of her parents, she had matriculated back into the world. She had been working in this coffee shop for two years now, while she went to school. As soon as she'd seen Ryan enter the establishment, she'd gone into the back room and placed a frantic 9-1-1 call.

Ryan smiled wickedly. His plan was working brilliantly. "Right," he said. "I let her go and I get shot. That's how it works isn't it?"

"This is not a movie, Hunter," Will said shortly. "That's a real life you have in your hands. We don't want anyone dead here today. That includes you," He assured. Truthfully, Will was begging for a reason to injure Ryan. He was willing to accept anyway to stop Ryan from slipping away again, even if it meant placing a bullet in Ryan's kneecaps or perhaps even a shoulder. This man had haunted his family long enough.

Bonnie was covered in nervous sweat in the heat of the coffee shop. Her salty sweat drops mixed with her tears as she held onto Ryan's taught forearm, which was across her neck. She tried to regulate her breathing. She didn't dare speak. She was both paralyzed by fear and under orders from Ryan not to speak. She tried not to utter any unnecessary sounds, uttering only involuntary whimpers. She clenched her eyes tightly.

"Oh spare me," Ryan snickered. "We both know you'd loved to take me out."

Will took a deep breath. "I won't lie. You have caused my family more grief then they deserve," He said cautiously. "But that doesn't mean I'm out to kill you, Hunter. I just want to talk."

"Then talk," Ryan suggested. Will was playing perfectly into the palm of his hand as he saw it.

"Why here?" Will began.

Ryan laughed heartily. "That's a laugh!" He laughed again. "We've been here before, haven't we, old buddy?" Ryan grinned, knowing he'd pushed a button. The last stand off he and Ryan had had, Ryan had held a gun to Helen's spine and threatened to give her a taste of Kevin's world.

Will tried not to twitch. "Don't be stupid, Hunter. I can help you," He offered.

Ryan just smiled. "You don't know it yet, buddy, but you already have," He grinned as he tossed Bonnie towards Will, leaving Will with the only option of lowering his gun to catch Bonnie. Ryan turned and ran into the back room, knowing there was an exit that way. Officers swarmed the building, nd shots rang out as Ryan made his escape.

"Adam! What a surprise!" Sadie smiled and greeted Adam with a hug as he entered her office. "To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?"

Adam smiled sheepishly. "I just came to drop off those paintings and the sculpture you wanted," He informed her.

Sadie was about to reply when the door to her office burst open. Two big security men in dark suits entered. Between them, a petite, big-busted blonde entered. She looked like she was about to head down the runway for the MTV Video Music awards, complete with too much jewelry, an expensive designer hand bag, a large ugly hat with a feathery strip around the base of it before the brim started, and the biggest fake grin Adam had ever seen.

"Sadie! Darling!" The woman gushed, rushing to Sadie in tiny little gallop steps. She popped a foot in the air as she kissed the air next to Sadie's cheeks. Sadie looked alarmed, confused and shocked. "And who's this artsy little fox?" the woman turned her attention to Adam. She held out a hand, waiting for Adam, apparently, to gallantly kiss the back of it.

"Adam Rove, meet Kaya," Sadie shot Adam a strange look. "I'm sure you've seen her on TV?" She suggested.

"Uh, yeah," Adam nodded vaguely. He reached out and shook Kaya's hand, much to Kaya's dismay. Kaya, of course, was the world's current Britney Spears. Her songs were awful, and mostly men wanted to nail her and women wanted her plastic surgery.

"I've just been dying to meet you," Kaya gushed, batting her eyebrows. "I just love your work," She offere a bubbly giggle.

"Uhh…thank you," He said awkwardly. He looked at Sadie. "I should be going. The pieces are in their usual spot," He told her.

Sadie nodded. "Tell everyone I said hello," She smiled.

Kaya frowned. Adam turned and left the office before Kaya could speak again. Just as he was leaving the main lobby, Kaya's voice filled the air.

"Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo, Mr. Rove!" She called.

Adam sighed and turned to face the pop diva. "Yeah?" He asked as politely as possible. He vaguely heard the elevators in the hallway ding, signaling they were opening.

Joan stepped out of the elevator, pushing the stroller containing Mac in front of her. Gabe was at the side of the stroller, holding onto the handle as he walked next to Joan with a lollypop in his mouth. She stopped when the lobby was in her sight, at the scene in front of her. There in the lobby, was pop culture's 'It Girl,' pawing all over her husband. Joan strained her ears to hear what they were saying.

Kaya giggled madly. "So there's an award party after the show and I thought maybe-,"

"Look, you're like famous and all and that's cool," Adam couldn't think of anything intelligent to say. "But…I'm um, not really into all of the flashy…famous…um…stuff," He said.

A look of anger and determination crossed Kaya's face. Without warning, she grabbed Adam's head and pulled him down to her level, locking lips with him. She had pulled him so hard that he almost fell over. Adam felt like he was going to vomit, as he tasted the caked on make up she wore.

Outside the lobby, Joan's mouth fell open. She felt frozen to her spot. What the hell was going on at this gallery? Joan's mind reeled. Did this happen often? She watched as Adam tore himself away from Kaya, looking alarmed and confused. Joan was about to step forward, when Gabe did it for her.

"Hi daddy!" He'd finally noticed his dad and went running to him.

Adam turned around, still shell shocked, as Gabe attached himself to Adam. Kaya stared at the boy and then at Joan as Joan pushed the stroller into the lobby in front of her. Kaya smiled sweetly at the scowl on Joan's face.

"Does your nanny always bring your kids in to meet you at work?" Kaya asked, staring Joan down. Joan scowled but Adam spoke before Joan could retort.

"Actually, this is my wife, Joan. Joan, this is Kaya," Adam said, giving Joan a look of sheer gratitude for the interruption.

Joan and Kaya exchanged and awkward handshake.

"Oh…I see," Kaya gave Joan a once over. "You can obviously understand why I mistook you for a servant," She said.

"I'm surprised you're up and a bout," Joan didn't miss a beat as the two smiled wickedly at each other. "I mean, I read about your recent butt implant gone awry. I thought for sure your recovery time would take at least the whole summer," Joan quipped.

"Daddy, what's a butt implant?" Gabe asked as Kaya stared Joan down.

Adam looked from Kaya to Joan. "Right, well, nice to meet you, Kaya, but we're off to dinner. Goodbye," Adam ushered Joan and Gabe back into the hallway and hit the button for the elevator. "Well that was unnecessary," he commented as they waited for the elevator.

"Oh, so it's normal for you to hook up with silicon injected pop princesses when you come here?" Joan asked as they stepped into the elevator.

Adam looked at her incredulously. "You can't be serious," He said in his normally quiet tone. "You think I really wanted to kiss someone like her?"

"I saw-,"

"You saw her accost me," Adam protested as they left the elevator. He picked Gabe up as they go outside. "And it was disgusting," Adam cringed.

Joan looked at him while they waited for the light to change so they could cross the street. She sighed and looked down. Why did she always have to over-react? She lifted her head when she felt Adam place a kiss on her cheek.

"Did I tell you this morning that I love you?" He asked.

Joan nodded. "You do every morning," She said meekly.

Adam smiled. "And don't you forget it," He said. Joan offered a small smile, feeling stupid.

"Daddy?" Gabe asked.

"Yeah pal?" Adam turned his attention to Gabe as they walked along towards the restaurant they were going to have dinner at.

"What's silicon?"

Joan and Adam couldn't help it as they both started laughing while Gabe looked at them, confused.

Helen hadn't had a warning nightmare in nearly 9 years; that is, until tonight. Of course, as she slept, she wasn't aware that this was a warning. After discussing the dreams that Luke had told Grace about, Helen was apparently extra perceptive and open to some warnings of her own.

Helen found herself at a picnic. It was in Grace and Luke's backyard. Helen stood off to the side in the yard watching. She looked around, smiling at all of them. But something wasn't right.

"Hello Helen," A voice said from beside her.

Helen started and then looked over. Standing next to her was a familiar figure; it was God. Well, it was Helen's 'dreamland' version of God, she thought. He stood still, with his hands in his pockets, looking in the same direction as Helen.

Helen looked at him suspiciously. "I'm not dead, am I?" She asked,

Cute Boy God offered a lopsided half smile, amused. "No," He shook his head. Helen accepted this with a nod. She turned her attention back to everyone in the yard. "Is something wrong?" God questioned.

Helen's forehead creased in worry. "Where's Gabe?" She asked.

"That's a good question, Helen," God replied. Helen looked at him but then shifted her gaze back to the backyard. "Keep yourself open to the clues."

"Clues? What clues? Clues about what?" Helen turned to look at him again, but he was gone. She looked back at her playing Grandchildren. Still, there was no Gabe.

"It doesn't make sense right now, Mrs. G,"

Helen looked over, startled to find Judith standing next to her. Judith looked on sadly at everyone in the backyard.

"Judith?" Helen asked, confused. "But you're-,"

"Dead? Yeah, I already went over this with JoJo a long time ago," She frowned. "I don't have much time though to explain." Judith spoke quickly. Helen followed Judith's line of sight and gasped when her eyes landed on Grace.

"What's going on?" Helen asked, wide-eyed.

Grace was sitting in a chair at the table on the deck. Everyone was oblivious. Grace was covered in cuts and gashes about her face and arms. She looked like she'd been dragged through some mud. Her hair was matted and had flecks of dried blood in it. Her eyes looked determined. Behind her, off to the side, stood Ryan. His arm was extended, a pistol in his hand. The tip of it was pressing against the back of Grace's head. Ryan cocked the hammer of the gun. Helen's breath hitched in her throat as Grace closed her eyes, resigned to her fate.

"She's going to be his savior," Judith said.

Helen looked at Judith. "What?"

Judith frowned slightly. She turned away from looking at Grace and Ryan, to look at Helen. "She's the only one who can bargain with Ryan," Judith said. "She's going to save his life."

"Who's?" Helen asked, staring at Grace. Grace opened her eyes. She stared back. When Judith didn't answer, Helen looked over; Judith was gone. Helen heard the loud bang of the gun going off. She saw nothing but darkness. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she realized she was awake, sitting up in bed. She breathed heavily, feeling the droplets of sweat on her forehead and down her back. She looked next to her and saw that Will was still asleep on his side.

Reaching a shaky hand out, Helen spoke as she shook Will's shoulder. "Will…Will, wake up…" She asked.

Will shook awake, slight dazed. "What's wrong?" He asked as he sat up, rubbing his face. He saw the distraught look on Helen's face and was paying full attention now. He's spent the evening calling and warning Kevin, Lilly, Luke, Grace, Joan and Adam about Ryan and what had happened in the afternoon. He felt as though he'd let them down again. He pulled Helen into his embrace and listened as she recounted her dream.

"Are you scared?" Luke asked Grace. They were lying farther apart than usual in their bed; mostly it was because they had Lara and Brynn lying in between them, asleep. After Will had told them about Ryan, they decided it would be all right for one night to leave the girls sleep in their bed.

Grace looked down at the girls. She ran a hand over Lara's hair lightly, so she wouldn't wake the toddler. She nodded, knowing Luke was just as worried as she was. "I think we'll be all right," She said after a few minutes.

Luke pressed his lips together tightly in a slightly forced half smile. He nodded. "We will," He said, as if he was promising her.

August 24th, 2015

"Will you two be all right walking alone today?" Melissa, Caleb and Katie's summer day camp counselor asked as Caleb pulled on his backpack and put Katie's over his right shoulder.

He nodded, reaching out and taking Katie's hand for when they started walking. "It only takes a couple of blocks," Caleb said. He was used to walking with Katie from camp to the daycare center, which was only 5 blocks away.

"Okay," Melissa said carefully. "No strangers, and no wandering anywhere else, right?"

Caleb nodded again. "Bye Melissa," He said. Katie waved goodbye as they headed to the sidewalk. Melissa waved and watched them until they were out of her view.

After walking only two blocks a girl who looked only a few years older than Caleb approached. Caleb tightened his grip on Katie's hand and steered her closer to himself s he walked. He made sure to keep an eye on the girl for a few more steps before the girl spoke.

"Hi," She smiled brightly. Caleb didn't respond at first and Katie was too busy looking at storefronts are they walked. "I'm Anneliese," She spoke up. She smiled when she saw a flicker of recognition on Caleb's face. Good, at least she knew someone had spoken about her. "I have a message for you," Anneliese continued.

Caleb kept walking. He wasn't sure what to do. He was sure he'd heard her name before but he didn't know her and he wasn't supposed to talk to people he didn't know. Besides, they were only a block and a half away from his mom now. She would know what to do.

"Ryan's going to come after your family soon," Anneliese spoke. She practically could see Caleb's ears perk up. He looked nervous. "He's planning it, the day before Labor Day. He's going to hurt Aunt Grace by hurting her daddy." Anneliese realized they were just about at the daycare center. They were a block away. Lily was outside, looking up the block and waiting for her children. Anneliese swiftly turned around and walked away.

"Hey, who were you talking to?" Lily asked as she crouched down and hugged them both. Katie shrugged and headed inside to play. Caleb looked upset. "What's wrong, honey?" She asked. Caleb started telling her what Anneliese had said. Lily's face fell at his words. She ushered him inside to call Will and Kevin right away.

August 28th, 2015

"Well it's about time," Grace said as she walked down the front steps of the house. Joan and Adam had just pulled up into the driveway. Gabe was out of the car as soon as it stopped. Grace crouched down and prepared herself as he launched at her. He jumped so hard that Grace lost her balance and fell back into the grass laughing as Gabe latched onto her.

"Hey, give her some air, Gabe," Adam said as he approached with a bag over his shoulder and a suitcase in his hand. Gabe clambered up and off of grace.

"Sorry," He said sheepishly. Grace laughed as she sat up, leaning on her palms in the grass.

"That may have been the best hello I've gotten all summer," She told him with a wink. Gabe smiled broadly. Luke came outside to help carry their stuff in. He greeted Joan, who had Mac in her arms with a hug and placed a kiss on Mac's cheek. Adam left Grace and Gabe sitting in the grass where Gabe was babbling about the ride down, so that he could follow Luke in.

Grace looked up when Joan set a squirming Mac in the grass. Grace spread her legs apart and opened her arms for Mac to trot up to her. She hugged Mac to her and kissed her cheek as the girl giggled.

"Can I go play?" Gabe asked. He wanted nothing more than to swing on the swing and go down the slide now that he'd seen and talked to Grace.

Grace nodded. "Knock yourself out, kid," She smiled as he took off running.

"Don't run through the house!" Joan called after him. Grace stood, taking Mac with her. She and Joan walked through the house and outback. Lara was already in the sandbox. Brynn was napping on a blanket inside a playpen in the shaded part of the grassy yard. Grace set Mac down, and Mc went right for the sandbox to play too.

"Still feeling a little on the manic side?" Grace asked Joan as they sat on the deck.

Joan watched the kids playing. A guilty look crossed her face. "I can't wait to leave there. I don't even know why. I was fine before the summer," She shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find something while you're here," Grace suggested. "You'll be back by November, no problem. There's a place around the corner that just went up a week ago."

Joan inhaled deeply and nodded. That could be nice. It was be good to live close to Luke and Grace again. It felt weird for a moment to think that. Luke and Joan had always been opposites and fought like cats and dogs about stupid things. Joan and Kevin had been the two siblings that appeared to get along the most. Truly, Luke and Joan were closer. They were closer in age. They were bound closer because of Grace, something that Joan had found she was thankful for. Even though Joan hardly understood half of what Luke usually said, he was always thoughtful and protective, even after everyone had ignored him and forgotten about him; everyone but Grace at least.

Joan felt a half smile, half frown when she remembered what Luke had done, once he'd gotten the whole story of what Adam and Bonnie had done from Grace after leaving Mock Trial. He had gotten his first ever detention when he had thrown Adam up against a locker and almost gave him a concussion. He had succeeded in screaming a few nasty threats and expletives at Adam before it took Helen, Gavin Price, one of the security guards and Lischak to pull Luke off of Adam. The whole way to the Principal's office, Luke had tried to get free and go back after Adam as he yelled insults and threats and told Adam never to go near his sister again. He spent a week in detention. Afterwards, Joan had talked to him and calmed him down considerably. It took three months for Luke to be okay about Adam's plans to apologize and try to earn Joan's trust again.

It would also be nice because if they bought a house around the corner from Luke and Grace they'd been within ten blocks of Joan's parents in one direction and within 8 blocks of Kevin and Lilly in the other.

"Do you know anything about the house?" Joan asked. Grace launched into the info he and Luke had gotten about the house.

September 7th, 2015 – Labor Day

By the time Labor Day had come, there was no sign of Ryan or Anneliese, who had been reported missing by her foster mother. Joan and Adam had looked at a dozen houses in the area. They had finally looked at the house around the corner from Grace and Luke and they decided it was perfect. They also discovered that the house's backyard was directly on the other side of Grace and Luke's house.

All they would have to do to make the houses accessible to each other would be to tear down the ugly rotting wooden fence that Grace and Luke hadn't decided what to do with yet. Then they could share backyards. All of this had put Joan in a good mood. Adam had been relieved when she's been smiling more often and laughing as she and Grace picked on Luke, who tried to defend himself but just wound up laughing all the same.

As predicted by Anneliese, nothing happened to the Rabbi the day before Labor Day. Will wondered if that meant that Ryan knew that Anneliese had tipped Caleb off. Now, it was Labor Day. Will and Helen prepared to go to Grace and Luke's. They had been using Grace and Luke's house for picnics a lot lately, mostly because of the space and the sandbox and swing set that easily kept the kids occupied. Helen was downstairs n the kitchen pulling a bowl of potato salad, a bowl of macaroni salad and a bowl of her infamous summer salad out of the fridge, waiting for Will to finish getting ready.

Will was jut finishing pulling his shirt over his head when a thought struck him. What if Ryan had simply postponed his attack, in the hopes of throwing Will off his trail? Quickly, Will hooked his gun to his side and grabbed his phone and his keys. He went downstairs.

"What's going on?" Helen asked. Since the night of her dream, she hadn't had another.

"Go on over. There's something I have to take care of before-,"

"Will," Helen interrupted. He always found a reason to get called away on holidays.

Will put his hand on her shoulders. "I promise I won't be long. I think I may have overlooked something and I need to take care of it right away," He explained.

Helen sighed. "Go," She granted him permission.

Will smiled and kissed her. "I love you," He said before heading for the door.

Helen sighed to herself as she piled the salads up and headed outside to her own car.

On his way to Grace's old house, Will called in for some squad cars to accompany him. When he reached the house, the cars were already there, blocking off the street with their lights whirling. Will drew his gun and had 3 of the officers follow him to the door. He knocked on it and waited.

When the Rabbi answered, he almost had a heart attack with four people aiming guns at him. He put his hands up in defense. "What's going on?" He asked, clearly confused.

Will relaxed, causing the others to follow suit. "Rabbi," He said, relieved, "We thought maybe Ryan was bluffing and trying to throw us off."

"Oh. Well, no one's been here but me," He said. "I was just preparing to go to Gracie's."

Will nodded, holstering his gun. He turned to the officers. "All clear. Pack it up and head back to the station."

Some of the officers grumbled as they went. Will offered the Rabbi a ride, and the Rabbi accepted.

"Mommy, Katie kicked the ball into the front yard, can I go get it?" Gabe asked Joan.

"As long as you don't go in the street, yes." Joan nodded.

"Thanks mommy!" Gabe trotted off.

Grace felt herself zoning out of the conversation she was having with Glynis and Sweet Lou as she watched Gabe disappear around the side of the house. A feeling she vaguely recognized as alarm was tugging at the back of her mind.

"Are you okay, Grace?" Glynis asked when Lou went to stop Sephie-short for Persephone- their daughter from fighting with Justin over a bucket in the sandbox. Joan looked up when she heard the question and glanced at Grace.

"Where's Gabe?" Helen gravitated towards the conversation.

Grace and Joan's gazes locked. They both had no idea what it was, but at the same moment they both leapt from their chairs and ran for the side of the house in the direction Gabe had gone.

"What's going on?" Adam and Luke asked as they came form the kitchen to the deck. Glynis shrugged.

Will parked at the end of the block. He and the Rabbi were just starting up the walkway of the house when they heard screaming.

"LET ME GO!" The little voice bellowed.

Will looked at the driveway and saw a black van double-parked in the street. A tall, lanky figure, easily recognizable as approaching the side door of the van, trying to stuff the boy into it. Will had already drawn his gun, recognizing the voice as Gabe's.

"Put him own Hunter!" Will bellowed as Joan and Grace rounded the house. The Rabbi turned and headed for them, in an attempt to stop them from interfering now that a gun was involved. Joan let out a shriek of fear for Gabe as Hunter used him as a shield from Will.

"What're you going to do now, boss?" Hunter snickered.

"He's not part of this and you know it Hunter!" Will tried to remain calm as his grandson cried and tried to wiggle free. Hunter turned from looking at Will, to looking at the Rabbi, holding Grace and Joan back.

"Let me go," Grace demanded.

Hunter laughed. He kept Gabe in front of him. "Take another step, any of you, I dare you," Ryan challenged. After hearing the commotion, Luke, Kevin, Adam and Helen had come through the house and to the porch, leaving Glynis, Lily and Lou to look after the kids. They had stood frozen on the porch, helpless.

"I swear if you don't let him go-,"

"You'll what?" Ryan cut Grace off with a chortle of laughter.

"Mommy!" Gabe tried to reach for Joan, who couldn't pull herself from the Rabbi's grasp because of the paralyzing fear for Gabe's life.

"Shut up," Ryan ordered Gabe, who whimpered. His body racked with sobs and deep breaths. He was terrified.

"Hunter, let's be reasonable," Will began.

"Oh shut up with the negotiating," Ryan rolled his eyes. Before Will could respond, Ryan aimed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. Helen, Kevin and Luke let out screams of horror as Will collapsed backwards. Grace had just broken free from her father's grasp when Ryan turned and aimed at her. She heard the explosive bang of the gun going off over Gabe's cries but she wasn't hit with a bullet. She felt the force of someone's body tackle her to the ground. Behind her, her father let out a stiff gasp as he fell, knocking Joan over with him.

Grace realized that, of all people, Friedman had been the one to tackle her. Before she could decide what to do, she threw him off of her. She didn't look to see who had gotten hit by the bullet but she knew that Will had been shot and that her father and Joan were lying on the ground. The others were making their way to the injured but Grace's mind was set on one thing; Gabe.

She saw Ryan's back to her as he stuffed Gabe into the van and slammed the door shut. She was just about to the van when someone's arms stopped her.

"What are you doing?" Grace tried to bypass Collier as Ryan revved up the engine.

"If you go in there, he'll kill you and Gabe on the spot," Collier told her.

Grace struggled to get free as the van took off. "Let me go!" She screamed. She kicked his legs out from under him and ran a few feet after the van but it was too late and Grace was afraid to turn around and face who else she was going to lose.

Finally, she turned around. Helen approached Joan frantically. Joan sat up, holding the side of her forehead. "I'm okay, it just grazed me!" She assured, waving her mother to go to her father. Luke was already leaning over Will, pressing hard into Will's side, trying to stop his father from bleeding. Kevin had wheeled inside and was on the phone explaining that an officer was down and another wounded, to send help now.

Adam was at Joan's side. Joan brushed him off and rolled the Rabbi onto his side. She mimicked Luke, pressing hard onto the Rabbi's shoulder and chest area and ignoring the searing pain from where the bullet had grazed her temple. Adam helped as best as he could. Grace numbly made her way to her father and took over for Joan. Joan looked up to see Collier, standing there, staring sadly at the seen before him.

Joan gritted her teeth. Him…this was his fault, she thought. She stood up and marched to him. Before he even saw her coming she knocked him right onto his back in the middle of the street with a right hook. She straddled his stomach and wrapped her bloody hands around his neck. He stared at her pitifully.

"Where's my son?" Joan demanded. Adam looked up when he heard her. He didn't know what to do. What was Ryan going to do to Gabe? How did this happen? "Where is he?" Joan demanded again, landing another punch to Collier'ss nose.

"Jane!" Adam went into the middle of the street now as the sirens closed in. He wrapped his arms around Joan's waist and pulled her off of Collier.

"I don't know," Collier said sorrowfully.

"Liar!" Joan fought against Adam. "Why didn't you warn us? Why didn't God warn us? Are we not good enough? We do everything he asks and he still wants my son to suffer? Well fuck you!" Joan swung her leg and landed a kicked to Colliers face, knocking him over again.

"Stop it…stop it," Adam pleaded. "This won't help us find Gabe…" He said weakly through tears. Joan seemed to deflate to sobs now. He dad was lying there, dying. So was Grace's dad. And now the most evil person Joan knew; the man closest resembling the world's image of Satan, had her son in his clutches. Adam was barely able to hold Joan up as she collapsed back against him, shaking with sobs while the paramedics worked frantically to load the two injured men into the ambulances and get them to the emergency room right away. Squad cars loaded everyone, including the kids, up and escorted them at nearly 70 miles per hour to the hospital where they sat in the waiting room; they had been given scrub shirts and pants to change into since most of them were covered in someone's blood or their own. Joan had gotten two butterfly bandages to hold the gash on her temple closed. Collier had been taken back to fix a broken nose thanks to Joan.

They huddled together numbly in the hard plastic chairs. No one spoke. Occasionally someone would utter a sob. There were lots of sniffles. The kids were scared and confused as the minutes ticked loudly by from the clock on the wall. Grace thought hard. Where would Ryan take Gabe? Where would he hide? Think, damnit, he's trying to lure you somewhere. Grace racked her brain.

It was nearly midnight when a doctor entered the waiting room. He held two charts in his hand. He had changed into new scrubs before entering the waiting room, but everyone noticed the blood splatters on his white sneakers and the tiny flecks he hadn't been able to clean off of his glasses as he came to tell them how Will and the Rabbi were. Everyone sat stiffly, preparing for the doctor's words.

"I won't lie to you," He said heavy heartedly. "The next 12 hours are touch and go…" He said. "They've lost a lot of blood. Mr. Girardi had extensive internal bleeding but we've managed to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet. We're keeping close watch on him but right now his brain activity seems stable. He's not out of the woods though. And Mr. Polanski," The doctor frowned. "I'm afraid the surgeons are still working on him. The bullet has deflated his right lung and scraped his heart. They're going to have to remove his lung; it's too damaged to repair. I'll keep you posted as I know more…" He sad glumly before leaving the distraught relatives to deal with what he'd said. The doctor heard their cries and muffled sobs as he went to make a vague statement to the press and to shoo the nosy reporters out of the hospital to the parking lot.

Grace rose out f her seat silently. She walked out of the waiting room. Helen watched her carefully with millions of thoughts running through her mind. Luke rose to follow her but Helen reached out a hand and stopped him. She thought she saw Judith in the doorway, following Grace with a knowing look on her face.

"Let her go Luke, she needs to," Helen said. Luke hesitated. "She'll be all right…" Helen said even though she wasn't sure. She'll be his savior, echoed through Helen's mind as she watched Grace make an exit.

A/N: Chapter title from "Won't Back Down" by Fuel. So, there's the long awaited chapter. Sorry it took so long I won't make excuses, I promise. So what'd ya think? A lot went on in this chapter….

Responses: MDM79 – Thank you! Ahh the Becky Coogan card, shocking wasn't it? Wait why was it funny? Because it's Chris Marquette's name or am I missing something else? Lol. I wasn't really thinking about it honestly. Joan and Adam are coming back soon! The millionaire thing was iffy for me but I did it anyway. Thanks again! Much love

EBFR – Thanks! Oh the kids. They are so much fun to write! Lol, you liked Gabe's intuition eh? (Me too!) That is a lot of money. I wish I had that much money! That's totally not just the apprentice theme, that's actually a song, but I can't remember who sings it. Anywhoo, thanks again, much love!

Tiff – Relax, it's an update, see, I kept up my end of the deal dude. No spoilers! I'm stubborn! I'm about to go read yours and there better be turmoil! Much love.

Carol – Thank you! Ah filler. It sets you up doesn't it? Becky, ah, that scene made me sad, the one in the show. How was the big scene that the filler set you up for? No comment on the killed thing. Thanks again! Much love!

Sayxanything - You'll see what it's about. I'll post it when this story is finished. Curiosity killed the cat you know! Wow, that sounds like a workout, beating people down to get to class! Fic: Thanks! Thanks and Thanks! A blast from the past indeed! The case will come into focus later, obviously, after this chapter. Was that Earth shattering enough for you? Go one shots! Thanks again, much love!

Sam – Thank you! I didn't keep the down time for long. Was it satisfying? Thanks about the Becky thing. Haha, I hoped someone would laugh at that as much as I did. I'm horrible with the geek speak. I know nothing scientific! Thanks again! Much love!

Hezziebob182 – Thanks dude! Thanks about the Becky thing. I'm glad everyone loves the kids! Lol, sorry bout your sanity! This is what happens, ya like it? Much love!

Magentabear – Lol you got a double dose! Glad you liked. I loved the God scene in Ch. 5 too, very much in fact. I thought that would be the way Joan would react to the money thing! Lol, much love!

K Wolf – Dude…RELAX! Breathe, yo. Lol it is unfair that he made that much money. I totally wish I could win the powerball, then I'd be rolling in it! Thanks. Hate ya back. Violence to you!

Special thanks to Toni, who's caught up to chapter one and reviewed it! I hope you still like it when you get to this point! Much love!

There you have it, do with it what you will…!