Alright, guys, this is it. The end of the road. Chapter 12. I hope you are completely out of your minds with anticipation and excitement. Well, I won't go that far, but I do hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sad, but true..

Cody's hospital room...

The boss, or Artie, lightly shut Cody's hospital room door and turned around to face the sleeping blonde boy within.

"You," he whispered through clenched teeth. He watched Cody's chest rise and fall for a little while as he stood in thought. Then he began walking slowly and quietly towards the bed. "You're the reason I haven't been able to find a job for the past year," he said a little louder, his anger getting the best of him. Cody began to stir. "Now lets see, what would be the best way to kill you?" Cody heard as he opened his eyes groggily. He felt someone jerk him into a sitting position and he cried out in pain.

"Make one sound and I slice open your throat," Artie said into Cody's ear, placing the scalpel onto Cody's throat. He could feel the cold metal pressing the his neck as the man held it there with one hand. The other hand was being used to wrap tape around Cody's wrists. Cody started breathing heavily as he felt a sharp pain go through his stomach from where his gunshot wound was.

Artie finished taping up Cody's hands and moved to the front of the bed. Cody's eyes grew wide as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. Artie grinned.

"Do you know who I am, kid?" he asked, twirling the scalpel in his hand. Cody glanced nervously at the instrument.

"No," he said, his voice still raspy from having a tube down his throat for so long.

Artie chuckled. He moved in just inches away from Cody's face. Cody could feel his hot breath and turned his head slightly.

"I'm your worst nightmare," Artie said slowly. Cody turned his head back towards Artie and looked him in the eye.

"That's a bit cliché, isn't it?" he asked defiantly. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Artie let out a quiet, yet maniacal laugh.

"You got guts, kid," he said, nodding his head in approval. Then he smacked Cody hard across the face. Cody whimpered, pressing his cheek onto his shoulder.

"Too bad you're going to die," Artie said, slapping a piece of tape across Cody's mouth. Cody looked around wildly.

"Help...please...Zack..." he thought to himself as his breathing became more and more shallow from fear.

In the cafeteria...

Zack and Peters were enjoying their dinner when Peter's cell phone rang.

"Peters...Hey, Ed, what's up?" Peters said, holding up his finger to Zack. He stood up and walked a few feet away. Zack shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwitch, when he suddenly felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach.

"Something's wrong..." he thought to himself, looking uneasily towards Peters. He was twirling his spoon in his pudding when the officer came back over and sat down in front of him.

"Zack, do you remember a man named Artie? He worked at the Tipton when you and your family first moved there," Peters said, placing his phone back on his hip.

Zack thought for a minute. "Yeah, he was stealing. Me and Cody..we were using mom's video camera and we got him on tape. Why?"

Peters sighed and folded his hands together, placing them on the table. "Mr. Moseby went down to the police station with London and Maddie. He says that London told him Artie is Felix's partner. She said she recognized him from when he worked at the hotel."

Zack twisted his lips and thought about it for a moment. Nodding his head slightly, he said, "I could see it, I guess. We really didn't see him much because we were only there a few weeks, but I can still see it." Peters looked worried.

"Zack, Lt. Brooks is sending over an officer to post outside Cody's room and I think it would be best if we had an officer stay with you and your mother, too," Peters said quietly.

"You're scaring me. I don't understand," Zack whispered, looking over his shoulder. Peters shook his head.

"I'm not trying to scare you. But from what Mr. Moseby says, Artie isn't exactly stable. Mr. Moseby says he threatened to get revenge, and if that's the case, I don't want anything to happen to you or your family. If he finds out somehow that you and your brother are responsible for what happened...I would feel more comfortable, personally, if you let an officer stay with you. Until we catch this guy, ok?" Peters said. He looked at Zack and furrowed his brow. "Zack, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

Zack's face was slightly paler than it had been a few minutes ago. "Peters? I want to go back to Cody's room. I just had a really bad feeling...I just want to be with Cody," Zack said, rising shakily from his chair. Peters got to his feet.

"Sure, buddy. Let's go," he said in a comforting voice. He walked over to Zack and put a hand on his shoulder, ushering him out of the room and towards the elevator.

The whole way up, Zack was twisting his hands in his shirt, looking nervously at the numbers as each floor passed by.

"Zack, everything's gonna be ok," Peters said. Zack looked up at him.

"I'll feel better once I'm with Cody," he said. The elevator doors opened and Zack and Peters stepped out. The floor was almost completely deserted except for one nurse, who was looking over a paitent chart. Zack and Peters turned towards the left and began walking down to Cody's room. As they began to get closer, Zack felt a wave of nausea flow through him, and he began to walk faster. Once outside Cody's room, Zack, with Peters right behind him, threw open the door and stopped dead in his tracks. There was Cody with tape over his mouth, his arms taped behind his back, and Artie, who whipped around. Artie rushed behind Cody, grabbing Cody's head and pushing the scalpel further onto his throat. Officer Peters grabbed the gun at his side and held it facing the crazed man.

"Cody!" Zack screamed, trying to rush over. But he was held back by one of Peter's hands.

"Drop the weapon, Artie!" Peters said in a threatening voice. Artie laughed wildly.

"Do you really think you're in a position to tell me what to do, officer? And you, kid..make one more move and you get your brother's esophagus as a trophy!" he spat, pushing the tool harder into Cody's neck. A small stream of blood began to trickle down his throat, and Cody let out a strangled moan. Zack looked at his brother in fear.

"Artie, just let Cody go and we can talk about this," Peters was saying, trying to be reasonable. Artie huffed.

"You think I'm going to let my only leverage go? How about you drop your gun or I kill the kid. How about that?" Arite yelled. He tightened his grip on Cody.

"Ok, ok," Peters said, putting his hands up in self defense. He held the gun out to one side, crouched down and placed the gun on the floor. Artie nodded.

"Now kick it over to me. NOW!" he bellowed. Peters kicked the gun over and Artie leaned down cautiously, never letting go of Cody, and picked up the gun.

"Why don't you let Cody go now. You have the gun, just let him go," Peters said quietly. Artie laughed again.

"And miss out on my revenge? These little brats ruined my life!" he said with anger in his voice. He was waving the gun around Cody's head.

Zack and Cody locked eyes. Zack shook his head slightly. "No, Cody.." he said softly. Cody just looked at his brother, and Zack knew what he was going to do. He braced himself.

Artie was still going on about how he could never get his life back. He didn't notice when Cody turned his body slightly and lifted his foot. Suddenly, Cody took one swift kick to Artie's groin. Artie yelped, falling backwards.

"No! Cody! Zack!" Peters yelled, as Zack launched himself forward to grab his brother. Artie, stunned for only a second, sprang into action. He pointed the gun towards the twins and shot. Cody and Zack fell onto the floor, the bullet missing Zack's head by a few inches. Cody cried out when they fell, pain rushing through his body and through his arm, where the IV ripped out.

"Get out of here!" Peters yelled at the boys as he ran towards Artie. He threw a punch and hit Artie in his already crooked nose. Artie started cursing and aimed the gun at Peters. Zack saw this and yelled "Watch out!" Peters turned and ducked his head as Artie took a shot. He hit Cody's IV bag and liquid spilled out everywhere. Peters lunged towards Artie and tried to grab the gun. He rammed Artie against a wall and the gun fell to the floor as they began to struggle with each other.

Zack brought Cody to his feet and shifted Cody's weight onto his body. "I'll get you out of here, buddy, I promise," Zack said as he started pulling Cody out of the room. But the floor was soaked from the IV bag and Zack slipped, crashing to the ground with his brother on top of him. Cody moaned as small areas of blood began to form on his hospital gown where the stitches from his wound were being pulled. Suddenly, Zack heard Peters yell out, and saw him fly to the side. Artie, with blood dripping down his face, picked up the gun and staggered over towards the boys. He cocked the gun and aimed it at them, grinning like a madman. Zack, still slipping on the wet floor, threw himself onto his brother's body to shield him. Then he heard a gunshot.

Zack, wincing, opened one eye and looked over at Artie. He was staring down at a hole in his chest. Zack's breath caught in his throat and he turned to face the doorway. There stood Lt. Brooks with his gun still pointed at Artie. Zack turned back to Artie just in time to see him fall backwards. Letting out a long breath of relief, he layed his head on his brother and passed out.

A few hours later...

Zack woke up to find himself in a hospital gown and bed.

"Well, this is all too familiar..." he said quietly.

"Zack!" he heard someone yell. It was Maddie. "Guys, he's awake!" she called out the door. Carey, Kurt, Moseby, London and officer Peters came rushing in. Carey and Kurt threw their arms around their son.

"My baby," Carey sobbed, kissing his face. She looked at Zack and smiled through her tears.

"Mom? What happened?" Zack asked, looking around at everyone.

"You saved your brother's life, then went into shock," Peters said, crossing his arms. Zack, staring at the stitches on above the officer's eye, started to remember everything that happened.

"Where's Cody?" he asked, a hint of fear in his voice. Kurt layed a hand on his shoulder and Zack looked at his father.

"He's fine, he's asleep," Kurt said, smiling and wiping a stray tear from his cheek.

Zack sighed. He looked at Peters. "What about Artie?"

Peters tensed a little. "He didn't make it," he said, shrugging slightly.

Carey, not wanting to talk about it, said, "Lets get a doctor in here to check you out, ok honey?" Zack nodded and put his head back onto his pillow as everyone, except officer Peters, left the room.

"Zack, you were really brave back there," Peters said. Zack looked at him.

"Thanks," he said, smiling slightly.

"You gonna be ok?" Peters asked.

Zack closed his eyes as images from earlier crept through his mind.

"I'll be ok once I see Cody," he answered.

The next day...

"Mom, is Cody awake yet?" Zack asked his mother. He had been released that morning, and he still hadn't been able to visit his brother.

"We're going up there right now. The nurse just came out and said everything was looking good," Carey said. She looked at her anxious son. "He's still there, sweetie, I promise," she added.

They reached Cody's room and walked inside. Cody looked up and smiled when the walked in.

"Hi!" he said happily. His voice had gotten a little stronger since the last time Zack spoke to him.

"Hi, honey," Carey said, kissing Cody's forehead. Zack came over to Cody's bed, looking at the bandage on his brother's throat. He looked up at his mother.

"Mom? Can I have a second alone with Cody?" he asked. Carey could see the pleading look in his eyes and nodded.

"I'll go finish signing some of your paperwork," she said to Zack, and walked out the door. Zack turned toward Cody.

"You're crazy," he said to his brother. Cody looked at Zack strangely.

"Why?" he asked. Zack just shook his head.

"First you get shot for me, then you kick a madman with a gun in the balls," Zack said, sitting on the edge of Cody's bed. Cody laughed.

"Well, I didn't know what else to do. And you're crazy too, you know," Cody said, playfully punching Zack in the arm.

"Me?" Zack said, taken back.

"Yeah, you! I take a bullet for you, and you decide to return the favor? He could have killed you," Cody said, pulling himself slowly into a sitting position. Zack smiled.

"Hey, eye for an eye, little brother. I told you I'd never let anything happen to you again," he said. Cody looked into his brother's eyes.

"I know you won't," he said softly. Zack pulled Cody into an embrace.

"I love you," he whispered into Cody's ear.

"I love you, too." Cody whispered back.

"We'll get through this together," Zack said, pulling away. He looked at Cody and smiled.

He finally had his brother back.

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OK. Cheesy ending. I know this. Conclusions have never been my strong point. In fact, I suck majorly at them.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. I worked really hard on it, and I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you are not confused about anything.

Please review. They brighten my day. And it helps me in my decision to write another story. I hope you will all stay with me and read my new story which will be up in a few weeks (hopefully).