Everyone stood still, especially Stella. None of them had ever seen Charlie so physically angry before, not even when Steve had killed John. His eyes were practically burning as he glared down at Steve, not lessening his foot on his throat, even for a second. Steve didn't answer straight away, he was too busy trying to push Charlie's foot away, but it wasn't working, Charlie was much stronger than him. "Well?" Charlie snapped loudly, and so suddenly that it made Stella jump.

Holly had woken up now, and she was looking around, slightly confused. Stella walked away, going to where Lyle was with the kids. She set Holly down on the worktop with the others, putting her arms around her so she didn't fall off. She put her hand on Alex's shoulder. "Are you all OK?" She asked them, looking at them each in turn. "Are any of you hurt?" If Steve's men had hurt any of them, she was ready to go back in there and pound the hell out of him herself.

They all shook their heads. "No, we're OK." She sighed with relief.

"Who is that, Mom?" Alex asked, curiously.

Stella sighed. "He's someone I never want you to go near. Any of you. No matter what, never trust him. Do you understand me?" She made them swear not to trust Steve, and they all agreed straight away. Anyone who was worthy of Charlie's angry side, which none of them had seen before, was not worth trusting.

"What's he doing here?" Alex asked again.

Stella shook her head lightly, "I don't know." She admitted quietly.

Lyle went into the other room, as he was no longer needed for babysitting, he thought he might try and get in on the action. Handsome Rob, Left-ear and Lyle all stood around Steve, blocking out any action that the boys hoped to see. Handsome Rob had picked up the gun of Steve's that Charlie had slid over to him, and was admiring it teasingly, which in all truth, was making Steve look quiet a bit more nervous than Charlie strangelling him was.

"Answer me!" Charlie growled at him, leaning closer to his face as he did so before straightening once again and loosening his foot just a little so Steve could talk. He was still pinned to the ground though with a strength that having thought about it, Charlie himself did not know he possessed.

"You still think that you can keep me away, Charlie?" He teased. "You think that you can hide away and that I'll never find you?"

Charlie narrowed his eyes, not giving Steve the satisfaction of an answer, but it had been his plan that Steve never found them. "What do you want from us?" He asked. "What the hell are you here for?"

"Every peice of gold you stole from me! Everything what's rightfully mine!" Steve shouted as loud as he could.

"We don't owe you anything." Charlie told him.

"Are you sure about that?" Steve challenged.

Charlie leaned down closer to him, putting his weight forward so Steve could barely breathe. "Completely."

"How far are you willing to go to keep their lives Charlie?" Steve asked, a desperate attempt to shock Charlie so much that he would release his hold on him, allowing him a few seconds to get up and prepare himself, seeing as he was struggling for breath. "You think you've got it so good, don't you, Charlie." Steve mocked in his cold voice. "You got the gold, you got a girl, and you've got a family." His voice was dripping with sarcasm on the word 'family'. "Life isn't perfect, Charlie. Look at John. He lost his girl, then he lost his life, leaving his daughter alone in the world."

"She's not alone." Charlie snarled. "She'll never be alone, never." Though as soon as he had said it, he realised that Steve had found a way to get to him, he had found the sensitive point that he shouldn't have revealed.

Hearing the mention of her father, Stella felt angry again. She hated how Steve used him as a means to taunt them, to get to them. It was worse when she heard Charlie react to it. Steve was going to get exactly what he wanted if Charlie didn't control his emotion. Though, when an arch enemy is threatening your wife and children, controlling emotion isn't the first thing that comes to a man's mind. He was having more luck controlling his urge to kill.

"Will they?" Steve taunted. "Alex? Holly? Damon? Michael? The Twins?" All the others looked ready to take on Steve in the same way Charlie was about nowm, particularly Handsome Rob. "Yes, I know all about them. I know all about your perfect children, your sons, your princess."

It wastiptoeing on thelinefor Charlie when he had said their names, but when he had called Holly 'Princess', the name that only they were allowed to use for her, he slammed his fist into his face. Steve hadn't just crossed the line with that, he was now hang-gliding on the other side of the line. Out in the kitchen, the boys gasped as they watched Charlie punch the man on the floor, and the sound of his fist colliding with Steve's face was enough to make Stella wince a little. She had seen Steve before after he had taken one of Charlie's hits, and it wasn't pretty. "Go, Dad." She heard Alex whisper awefully, and she realised that perhaps it wasn't the best thing in the world for the children to be watching. It was too late now though, there was no way that she would be able to get all six children away from what was happening on her own without them asking more questions than they were undoubtable going to ask already.

"Careful, Charlie." Steve warned, apparently he had grown tolerant to Charlie's punches now. After all, he had now experience quite a few, though this one was probably expected."Everything has a reaction. Cause has an effect. Whatever you do to me," He nodded towards the hatch, "I'll do to them."

"You won't get anywhere near them." Rob assured him, as Charlie didn't seem to trust himself to open his mouth. From where the others were standing, it wouldn't have suprised them if sparks had started shooting from his nostrils and steam leaked from his ears.

"I bet you thought that this morning, didn't you?" Steve reminded. "They're not even safe in your own back garden. Anywhere they go, I'll find them."

"If you even touch a hair on their heads I'll shove this gun so far up your ass you'll be spitting bullets." Rob promised harshly, holding out the gun that Steve had previously held.

"Is that thing loaded, Handsome?" Charlie asked curiously. "I can think of a few things to do before he gets near enough to even see their hair again."

"What?" Steve asked, shocked. He obviously hadn't planned on the tables being turned this much.

"Sure is." Rob said after a moment of checking. He handed it over to Charlie, who took it, and held it to Steve's face.

"You know, I've never shot someone before, which is more than I can say for you, but at this range, I bet I'm right on target." He said, closing one eye, as if aiming.

Stella's eyes widened. Having the kids watch Charlie hitting someone was something she could deal with, but watching him shoot someone? That was different. "Get down." She told them quickly. They looked at her in arguement. "Now!" She instructed. Reluctantly they got down from the counter and sat on the floor instead. After placing Holly on the floor, she closed the hatch, at least it would block out some sound if anything happened. Inside her mind, she begged Charlie not to do it, she didn't want him to kill another man, no matter what the reason. She wanted to take the children outside, upstairs, anywhere but the next room; but she didn't know whether it was safe. She would rather stay here than risk their safety. She paced around the kitchen, nervously, straining her ears to listen to what they were saying.

Steve closed his eyes, apparently waiting for the gun to sound and his life to end.But the sound never came.

"Charlie?" Left-ear enquired after a few moments of silence, watchingas Charlie lowered the gun to his side.

"I can't do it." Charlie said, shaking his head in defeat. "I can't do what he did to John. He deserves it for what he's done, but I won't be the one to do it."

In the kitchen, Stella smiled to herself,even though no one could see it. She knew that Charlie didn't have it in him to shoot someone. He could threaten them, and make their lives a living hell, but he could never put a gun to their head and pull the trigger. And for that she was glad. She didn't want a murderer for a husband, nor for her children's father.

Charlie had never felt so angry with himself in all his life. Steve deserved the bullet for all he had done to them, to the people who had once called him a friend and ally, but he couldn't bring himself to end a man's life, no matter who the man was. I should be able to do it, he thought, Why can't I pull a trigger to ensure the safety of those we love? Who's to say what he might do because I can't do this? Defeated, he dropped the gun to the floor as if it were alien to him. He had held a gun many times, but because they always succeeded on their heists, he had never had to use one. He prefered to rely on stealth instead of weapons. "Handsome, I'll leave you in charge of him. Take him for a ride, make sure he's not within ten miles of any of the kids." Charlie instructed.

"Sure." Rob said cheerfully, enjoying the sound of a welcomed torture, dragging Steve to his feet and pulling him through the house. He was heard struggling and yelling at Rob until the front door closed, and the familar sounds of Rob's car revving up was heard. Of course, they all wondered how long it would be before Handsome Rob moaned about having his seats contaminated by that slimeball.

Charlie swore, running his hands over his face and through his short hair, and Stella came into the living room, a hoard of boys following her and Holly in her arms. "Are you all OK?" He asked them.

The boys all nodded. "Later." Stella muttered, reminding him that the kids were there, and she didn't want them to have seen what just happened.

"I'll check the rest of the house, make sure the upstairs is clear." Left-ear told them, going into the hall.

Lyle and Stella collapsed onto the couch. Charlie sat on Stella's other side, and then all the children piled on top of them. Holly sat in Charlie's lap, Alex between Charlie and Stella, Michael beside Lyle, and Damon and the twins on the edge of the couch. They all sat silently, in some form of shock.

"Well," Lyle said. "That was, uh, interesting." Charlie glanced sideways at him, but didn't answer. He was worrying now, about what might happen, what could happen because he wasn't able to act.

"I don't like that guy." Holly said strangely, scared almost. Cuddling up to her Dad, Charlie held her tighter, more reassuringly.

"It's alright, Holly, he won't hurt you." Charlie assured her, kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah, don't worry, Holly." Alex added. "I'll look after you too."

"And us." The twins echoed.

"And me," Damon and Michael said together.

Stella managed a small smile. Another way in which Alex beared an amazing resembalance to his father was his protectiveness. Charlie was always looking out for everyone because he was always in charge, but Alex was always looking out for the others because he was oldest. She cuddled her son to her, and he didn't argue. When their children were together, it reminded her a lot of when they were doing the L.A heist, and the guys that helped them out had started hitting on her. All of the guys had warned them, and they had found it very amusing when they had failed; and when she came back from 'repairing' Steve's cable, they had all reassured her, telling her that she was brave, that she had done brilliantly. They had come with her on her 'date' with Steve, and had sat, out of sight, waiting for her signal should anything go wrong, as it did. Afterwards, when she was a complete wreck because of what Steve had said to her, she found herself in the arms of the four men, being comforted. She knew that the boys would look out for Holly in the same way, because they already did. She was the only girl amongst them, and wherever they went, they would always keep an eye on her, include her in their games. It was lovely for her and Charlie to know that no matter what happened, Holly would always be protected by someone.

"The boys pulled quite a stunt out there today." Lyle told Stella. "I wouldn't have done it."

"Thats 'cause you're a wuss." Nick and Nathan chorused together. Lyle swiped at them playfully but hit thin air purposefully. "Besides, it was Alex's idea to get in the tree."

"Tree?" Stella asked curiously. "Oh, Alex, not that big tree. I hate you climbing that. I nearly die every time you do!" Stella complained.

"Yes, that tree." Alex muttered, shamefully.

"They would have caught us if we didn't!" He argued.

Stella sighed in surrender. "I know. Well done, boys."

Left-ear came back down. "Upstairs is clear." He stood beside the couch, placing his hand on Damon's shoulder.

"Boys, can you take Holly and go play upstairs for a while, please?" Charlieasked them. None of them argued, getting off the sofa. Alex took Holly's hand when Charlie set her on the floor and they went upstairs together. Charlie slid into Alex's place beside Stella and put his arm around her. "Are you alright?" He asked her again, as she hadn't answered him before.

"Fine." She said quietly. "I mean, it's not the first time I've had a gun held on me."

"That doesn't mean anything." Lyle piped up. "We all have, it's just different when kids are involved."

"The kids aren't going to be involved anymore!" Charlie assured them. "He's not going anywhere near them!"

"I wonder where Handsome's taking him?" Lyle wondered.

"Hell I hope." Stella said bitterly.

Charlie hoped now that Stella and the others wouldn't be angry with him for not shooting him. It would certainly have made their lives easier in the future if Steve hadn't been around. For in only six years time, things were about to take another turn for the worst.