Ok so a little forewarning. Firstly this is a long but hugely important chapter so I beg of you, bear with it. Also thank you all so much for the amazing reviews and for keeping me going through this story. I know I say it all the time but you have no idea how much it really means.

This is the start of the major and final arc of this story so...remember when I said a storm was coming? Grab your raincoats, kids. ;)

The click of the gun locking, the bullet slotting into place echoed through the large hall. It broke like thunder, as though glass had been surrounding them and it was now in shards piercing his skin. He watched her blood flowing, her skin greying and cooling.

He watched her die.

"Pete?"

Allie's voice broke him out of his dark reverie and he jolted slightly, his eyes clearing and focusing on the essay in front of him, the red pen still tightly locked in his right hand. He'd been working now for almost three hours and still wasn't any closer to getting things done, hence why he'd roped her in.

"Oi,"

He felt one of her fingers tapping against his temple and smirked, turning to face her. He didn't look up from his marking, instead reached out and ran his hand up her calf, rubbing her knee, revelling in how soft her skin was, how warm it was. He raised an eyebrow when she grabbed his hand and traced it up her body to her lips, kissing each finger tip slowly and deliberately.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking about the other night," she mumbled between kisses, her voice taking on a sing song quality meaning she wanted something. Eight years down the line and he'd just about worked out all of her moves; of course that didn't mean he was immune to them, he just stood a fighting chance.

"Were you naked?" he looked up at her seriously. "Because if you were, I can promise you I won't remember any of the conversation we had,"

Laughing, Allie shook her head and reached out, smoothing the frown lines from his forehead; she knew he was stressed about more than his school work but she wasn't going to push him, not when things were going so well at the moment. They were stress free for the most part. She hadn't told him yet about the note Eddie had left for her at work, deciding it might be better to tell Dave or even Steve before she told him. They would try and make sense of it whereas she knew Pete would instantly lost his mind and hunt down what she had no doubt was a scorned kid with an attitude problem who would never follow through with his threats.

As if on queue, the scar on her stomach began to twinge and she winced slightly. A not so gentle reminder that the Hatcher family weren't known for not following through with their threats.

"I distinctly remember having underwear on," she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh yeah," he smirked, sitting back in his chair. "Which ones?"

"You're serious?" the blonde raised an eyebrow. "You have underwear memory recall?"

"Try me," her husband grinned, linking is hands behind his head.

"Pale blue lace, black trim," Allie told him smugly, knowing there was no way he could possibly-

"Tuesday," he nodded. "Yeah, go on."

Laughing hysterically, she sat back further on his school desk and used one of her feet to poke his stomach gently, smiling when he caught her foot and held it there, leaning forward to press a kiss against her knee.

"I know that this year has been..." she waved her hand dismissively. "And we're only just back on track with everything but I keep thinking about all those things we said on holiday, about wanting to move on and live life and..."

She stared at him for a long moment, knowing he was trying to read her, his brow furrowing when her light green eyes started shimmering, her hands shaking slightly as she clasped them over his against her leg.

"I want another baby,"

Allie watched his eyes widen and leaned forward, determined to get her point across before he started panicking and listing off all of the reasons she was a complete and utter jackass for even thinking about it.

"I know that Poppy is only just in school and Alex is only just walking but I want..."

Pete stood up suddenly, shoving his chair back as he did so and standing between her legs, tilting her face up to his and kissing her hard, closing his eyes tightly and revelling in the feel of her, the taste of her. Jesus, how did she still get him like this?

"I wasn't joking about that army," he whispered against her lips, noting her eyes were still closed. "I love the shit out of you, Harding." he laughed, brushing her hair out of her face. "And the rest is something I'm not fussed about. So if you're sure, lets do this,"

Allie beamed up at him, her hands clutching his shirt, eyes filled with tears.

"You're sure,"

"Do you have any idea how sexy you are when you're pregnant?" Pete smirked at her, pulling her closer, liking the way she had started picking at the buttons on his shirt. "Plus come on, our kids are fucking cool,"

He pointed to the photos on his desk, one of Poppy wearing sunglasses and his Zutons t-shirt as she danced like a lunatic at her last birthday party and one next to it of Alex, the exact image of his father chewing shamelessly on the football toy Swill had bought him. Ok so it was from Pets At Home but still, the guys heart had been in the right place...

"Poor bastards never stood a chance with us as parents," she conceded with a laugh.

"So fuck yeah bring on the rest," Pete smirked down at her, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I love you,"

"I love you more," she told him, meaning it with every fibre of her being.

"Now that just isn't fucking possible," he shook his head, leaning down to kiss her again, bringing her legs around his waist and getting as close to her as he possibly could, breaking free from her mouth to kiss down the column of her throat to the top of her breasts then back up.

"Should we take this somewhere a little more private?" he winked.

"Art closet?" she giggled, linking her arms around his neck.

"Well that or...Bov,"

Allie froze, staring up at him in horror and confusion, letting her arms fall from his neck.

"Ok, of all the things you've ever suggested, that's by far the most twisted," she shook her head.

"Don't flatter yourself, sloaner," the man in question laughed. "You wouldn't know what to do with me,"

Turning to face him, she shot him the same smirk he was sending her way and hopped off of Pete's desk, pulling her skirt down and suddenly wishing she'd thought to wear something a little more conservative.

"Pete on the other hand..."

Her husband roared with laughter and she held her hands up, reaching down for her purse and shaking her head in dismay. Still after 8 years, these men still found new ways to torture and horrify her.

"Right, I'm going to...get my eyes bleached," she stood on her tip toes and kissed Pete gently, sliding her feet back into her shoes and making her way towards the door. "I'll see you later,"

"Ivy green, black trim," he called after her, laughing at her blush when she realised what he was talking about, flipping him the bird over her shoulder as she made her way down the hall to the exit.

Turning his attention back to his friend, Pete caught the look on Bovver's face and grimaced; they hadn't spoken properly since their phone conversation the other night in which he had confided that Eddie had been at the house and spoken to Poppy.

"How's the new job going?" Pete gestured to Bovver's suit which was amazingly unstained and ironed.

"S'alright," he sniffed. "I ain't saving the world but it pays the bills,"

Walking over to one of the displays on King George, Bovver leaned against the wall and picked one of the board pins from it, turning it over in his fingers as he stared unwaveringly at the man before him. His oldest mate. His brother.

"I take it you haven't told Allie?" he spoke quietly, just in case she was still lurking in the hallway. Birds were birds at the end of the day, no matter how sound they seemed on the surface.

"Course not," Pete scoffed. "You think I'm fucking stupid?"

"Eddie Hatcher is still alive, so yeah, part of me does," he shrugged.

"Mate," Pete breathed, resting his arms on his desk and looking up at him. "After everything that's happened, you really want to end up in the nick over some little shit like Hatcher?"

"He knows where you live, Pete," Bovver hissed. "He's not just fucking with you or the firm, he's going after your missus, your kids!"

The blonde's usually bright blue eyes turned dark at that thought but he kept pushing, knowing that Pete didn't want it to come to this but with Hatcher's sometimes it had to be this black and white.

"He's going into this with an eye-for-an-eye mentality, son," Bovver tapped his temple. "He ain't thinking about the bigger picture and you can bet your left nut he's not giving a shit if he ends up in the nick. He wants this evened out, we took his family, so he's going to take yours,"

They stood in silence for a long moment before Pete sighed heavily and spoke.

"We could shop him."

"Like we did before?" Bovver shook his head. "Mate if they didn't send him down for what happened to Allie, they won't fucking care that he's posting weird notes through your door,"

"They couldn't prove the gun was his," Pete protested. "That's the only reason that little cunt isn't rotting in a cell right now,"

"Ifs, buts and maybes won't do shit all here, Pete," Bovver countered.

"He's right, mate,"

Both of them turned towards the door and saw Harry Harding standing there, his expensive suit and professionally mussed up hair making him stand out like a sore thumb as he leaned against the doorway.

"Harry," Pete smiled pathetically at him, wondering why he was even trying to cover it up.

"Pedro, I love you," Harry chuckled. "But you're the only other human being on earth who's worse that my sister at putting on a brave face," he walked further into the room and pulled out one of the chairs, flopping down onto it. "So why don't you lose the creepy smile because it just makes me think you've got something shoved up your arse and explain this to me,"

Ignoring Bovver's laugh and his brother in law's eye roll, Harry chucked the piece of paper he had been carrying around for days onto the desk and swallowed the taste of bile in his throat as he read it again.

Staring up at Pete, he saw the slightly younger man turn pale, losing his footing slightly as he crashed down onto one of the chairs and looked up at him, his eyes hard as blue stone.

"What the fuck is this?" he whispered, his voice shaking.

"I found it the other night, when you and Allie were out," Harry leaned his elbows on the table and breathed deeply, trying to force himself to remain calm. "Poppy wanted to play hide and seek and..." he shook his head. "Pete, we can't let this lie,"

Above him, Bovver began to grind his teeth as he plucked the note from Pete's grasp and read it, his stomach churning as he did so. This was all they needed to prove that Eddie Hatcher wasn't messing around. He wasn't just spying through windows or making little comments, he was going to kill Allie.

"Was he in the house?" Pete spoke calmly this time, his eyes trained on the table, tracing the lines of pencil and etched swear words as his heart slowed, thudding sporadically in his ears. "How did this get in there?"

"I don't know, mate," Harry shook his head and swallowed hard. "But do you really want to think about that?"

Like lightening, he moved, standing and throwing the chair he had been sitting on across the room, his wordless scream echoing through the room and down the hallway. Neither of the other men moved, knowing how hard this was for him. How much did they have to overcome so early in their lives? How many people did they need to lose?

Resting his arms against the wall, Pete half sobbed, trying not to be sick despite the lump of bile he could feel sitting in his throat. He had watched Allie nearly bled to death, he had held her as the light had dimmed in her eyes, he had picked out the dress she would be buried in.

Not again.

"We're doing this now," Bovver told him. "We find him and we..."

"No," Pete turned to face them both, his face almost grey. "You two don't do nothing, you hear me? This is my mess, she's in this because of me, all of you are,"

"Pete," Harry stood up and set his eyes on his brother in law, his voice firm. "You're family, just as much as Allie is to me. You're not doing this alone, you're not..."

"She'll need you," Pete pointed at him. "You don't come anywhere near this because she's going to need you, all of you. I don't give a fuck if I go down for this, if that's what it takes to keep her safe, to keep my family safe," he shook his head. "I end this, you hear me. No one but me,"

"For fuck sake, Pete," Bovver shouted at him. "You think that's going to be a consolation to her when you're inside? Nah mate, you let me and the boys take care of this, no one has to know,"

"I can't...-"

His phone started ringing and he gritted his teeth, ready to ignore it when Harry shook his head from where he had leaned over to Pete's desk and squinted down at the screen.

"Its Allie," he told him, sounding as though he might be sick. "Pete..."

"No one makes a move unless I say," the blue eyed man glanced between them, his gaze fierce. "I mean it, anyone does anything without telling me first and you can dig yourself a grave next to that little shit,"

Taking a deep breath, he slid his thumb across the screen and forced a smile on his face, attempting to sound normal. He needed her to feel safe, the way he had always made her feel, he needed her to know that nothing was wrong that he would always be there.

"Alright stranger," he laughed lightly, slumping down on the chair as his body finally gave in. "Don't tell me you're in withdrawal already?"

In that moment, his stomach plunged down to his feet, the icy trail it left in its wake causing him to stand too quickly, half collapsing onto the desk as he listened to the one thing capable of killing him.

His wife. Screaming.

"Hi Allie!"

Looking up from her phone and abandoning the text she had been writing to Harry to ask him what he wanted for dinner tonight, she lifted her hand to block out the sun and smiled as she spotted one of the mum's from Poppy's school.

"Kristen," she smiled, dropping her phone back into her bag for a moment as the woman jogged over to her, her own little girl in tow. "How's things?"

"Oh wonderful," the dark haired woman rolled her eyes as she gestured to her daughter who was hugging a bandaged wrist closely to her side. "Seems my warning about trying to do handstands in the playground only lasted 30 seconds,"

"Huh," Allie winked at her and then crouched down, peering into the face of the little girl. "I used to do that, too," she whispered, wrinkling her nose and taking a pen out of her bag. "Only cool thing about having one of those is people get to sign it,"

Grinning at the little girl's giggle as she scrawled a quick flower and signed her name, Allie stood up straight and jerked her head towards the school.

"Let me guess, mine was the circus master," she chuckled, clicking the cap back onto the pen.

"Like mother like daughter," Kristen laughed, nudging her, then frowning suddenly. "What're you doing here anyway, don't tell me Pops forgot her bag again?"

Blinking in confusion, Allie shook her head, pushing some hair out of her eyes and meeting the older woman's gaze questioningly.

"What do you mean? I haven't been here today,"

"Well I know you haven't," Kristen adjusted her bag strap, ignoring her daughter as she whined and pulled on her hand. "Your brother came to pick her up,"

Allie froze, her brow furrowing as she traced her thoughts, wondering if she had asked Harry to collect her today. No...he was at a meeting until 6, there was no way...

"You didn't tell me there was a third Harding brother by the way," Kristen laughed. "Although definitely the milkman's kids, where did the dark hair come from?"

Allie felt herself start to shake, pressing her fingers to her lips before shoving Kristen out of the way and running full pelt into the school, ignoring the woman as she shouted after her. Her feet pounded on the wooden floors as she flung herself into the office, roughly pushing one of the parents to the side as she came face to face with the receptionist.

"Poppy Dunham," she blurted in a rush, her hands shaking manically. "Who picked her up?"

"Mrs Dunham, I'm sorry but I was speaking with..."

"I don't give a fuck who you were speaking with," she shouted. "Where is my daughter?"

"Your brother came to collect her," the receptionist scoffed at her rudely. "Which you should know given you signed off on it,"

"What?" Allie shook her head as she handed her a piece of paper, her eyes scanning it before she fell back from the desk.

That writing. She would know it anywhere.

"That's not my signature," she sobbed, her body heaving as she tried not to throw up. "He's not my brother...who the fuck did you send my daughter home with?"

The receptionist's eyes widened and she began to tremble, digging through various papers, looking for something Allie knew damn well didn't exist.

"He...he was at the gates, he had the authorisation slip, he said he was your brother," she stuttered.

"Oh my God," Allie clutched at her hair, pulling on it hard as she looked helplessly around the office. They all stared at her in horror, the realisation of what was happening apparently hitting them. "Oh my god,"

Running back out of the school ignoring the shouts of various teachers, she sprinted to her car, stopping half way there and falling to the ground, turning her head and vomiting violently. She looked up across the grass and saw it. Poppy's bunny rabbit key ring that she took everywhere with her, its fur matted and half covered in felt pen, her name which had been stitched into it missing the first P. Clutching it, she screamed, looking around the yard desperately hoping to see her, to find out this was all a mistake.

"Poppy?" she screamed. "Poppy!"

Scrambling to her feet, she threw herself against her car, trying to unlock the door, a task made impossible by the incessant shaking of her hands. Sobbing hard, she grabbed her phone from her bag and pressed the emergency call button, knowing it would connect to Pete straight away.

"Alright stranger," his voice filled her ears and she rested her head against the glass sobbing silently and wiping the vomit from her lips. "Don't tell me you're in withdrawal already?"

"He took her," she screamed, curling in on herself and clutching the small toy rabbit as though it was all that was keeping her alive. "Oh my god, Pete...he took Poppy! I came to get her and she's gone...he's got her...he took our baby...oh God, please..."

Around her, the wind picked up slightly, the spring breeze drowning out her desperate screams only slightly as leaves fell at her feet, the traffic lining the road coming to a momentary stop as people stared at her in horror, one or two people even using their phones to call the police. Looking up at the sky, Allie prayed that her daughter was doing the same, that she was ok, that he wouldn't hurt her.

But if there was one thing Allie Dunham knew, a lesson she had learned far too early in life it was that prayers often went unanswered.