Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with TNA. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination.
Chapter Content & Trigger Warnings: Some violence

Chapter 38

Several Weeks Later...


"Yes! This is what I've been waiting for," shouted Matthew Wilson as he typed furiously on his laptop.

After two long months of working nearly around the clock, he'd finally broken into the federal court's databases. His hand twitched with the want to call Joe right away, but he knew he needed to look through the file and gather the information which could help them find Ella first.

He scanned the screen, hunting for anything which would possibly help shed some light on the case.

"Telisa Fournier…married to Jacques Fournier…" Matthew read bits and pieces of the file aloud. "Ah, a domestic abuse report…" He pulled up the full report and read it through. He quickly discovered that Mrs. Fournier was being abused because she wasn't becoming pregnant right away. His wife soon became suspicious of his actions outside their home, and began researching her husband online.

"Oh, my God," Matthew ground out. "His name wasn't really Fournier either." He read on to find out about how Jacques Fournier's name was actually Colin Faletti. "He's Italian, not French…" Matthew assumed out loud. Knowing he'd get more accomplished by reading silently and taking notes, he bit off the urge to read aloud and get sidetracked.

Nearly an hour later, he came to a chunk of information he knew he couldn't keep quiet about. Snatching up his cell phone, he quickly called Joe.

"Matthew? What've you found out," Joe asked in way of greeting.

"I finally broke into the Federal Court's databases today. She's not dead, Joe. Fournier's wife is alive!"

"What?! What are you talking about?"

"Let me get this all out," Matthew instructed, his voice shaking with excitement. "I found a report of domestic abuse in their marriage. It turns out Telisa Fournier wasn't getting pregnant right away, and Fournier began beating her as a result. Telisa grew terrified of him, and also began wondering if one of them had reproductive issues since she wasn't getting pregnant. So they each went to a reproductive therapist and had tests run. She apparently was fine, and it was Fournier who had the problem. The therapist relayed the information to her and she was afraid of how Fournier would react to news of his being sterile, so she took the blame and begged the therapist to help her."

"So, he can't have kids?"
"Nope."

On one hand Joe was relieved. But on the other hand, he was afraid of what the man had put Ella through over the past few months—especially if he grew frustrated at her.

"This is all in the file," Matthew said. "She'd also suspected him of illegal activities outside their home. So, then she did some research on him, and found out that his name isn't even Fournier. He's actually Colin Faletti. He's Italian and is tied into the mob."

"Yes, I remember years ago, a couple of detectives warned us about that," Joe said, his voice growing worried.

"It turns out there are several organized crime leaders who are actually afraid of this guy. Telisa found him on the U.S. Marshals' Most Wanted list. So then, she hatched a plan. She lied and told Fournier she was pregnant, and then contacted the U.S. Marshals with information on him. She began to work with them to catch Fournier, however, something went wrong and she had to resort to faking her death, like Ella. The U.S. Marshals set up a fake car accident and got Ella's dad in on it. They had him pretend he'd operated on Telisa and failed to save her. And then, Telisa went into the Witness Relocation Program."

"Oh, my God," Joe uttered. "Nathan and Andrea absolutely died for nothing."

"Exactly," Matthew agreed. "And-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Joe cut him off. "Did you just say she went into the Witness Relocation Program?"

Matthew smiled, glad to see Joe was evidently thinking the same as he was, "Yes, I did."

"Does the file say where she is?"

Matthew's smile broadened, "Yes, it does. She's in Chicago."

"We need to go see her," Joe said immediately.

"I know," Matthew replied. "Do you want me to book the flights, or do you want to?"

"I can do it," Joe replied. "Can you get over here to the house? I'd like to leave as soon as possible."

"Consider me leaving now," Matthew smiled. "I'll be there shortly."

"Thank you so much," Joe said softly.

"Thank me when we have info on where Ella is," Matthew replied. "We still have a ways to go."

"Alright, see you in a bit."

The two men hung up then, and Matthew began hurriedly throwing a few clothes into a suitcase.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Fournier watched as Dr. Ford, whom he'd hired to test the paternity of Ella's baby, used a long needle to puncture her rounded stomach and penetrate the baby's amniotic sac.

Ella cried out in pain and fought the urge to pull away from the doctor's hands.

"Please, try to be still, Ella," Dr. Ford instructed as he continued working. "It's very important you stay still or I could hurt the baby."

Ella sobbed, but nodded, not wanting to do anything to endanger the baby—even if it was Fournier's.

It's not the baby's fault who its father is, she thought, trying to think about anything but the pain. She thought back to the day's events that had led her to the current torture she was in.

Fournier had suddenly burst into her cage that morning and began ranting about the night he'd kidnapped her.

"You were both covered in marks that night! You had sex! This baby may be his! I have to know if it's mine, or his!"

And with that, he quickly arranged for a doctor to come in to perform an amniocentesis.

And here she was going through excruciating pain, and the fear of what would happen to her baby if it was Joe's.

Even so, I can't help but hope it's Joe's, she thought helplessly. I would never hate or resent a baby—even if it turns out to be Fournier's, but I want it to be Joe's baby so badly.

Finally, the procedure was over, and Ella finally relaxed back against her pillows.

"I want results within an hour," Fournier ordered as the doctor packed up his instruments and materials.

"Yes, sir," Dr. Ford replied. "I'll call you with them soon."

And with that, he left and Ella was alone with Fournier once again.

"If the baby is your husband's…it must die."

Ella's gaze shot up to his, "I will not let you kill my baby. Whether it's yours or Joe's. I will fight you to the death on this, Fournier."

"We'll see," was his reply. He smirked at her, then left the cell, unknowingly blessing her with solitude.

Any other time she would have prayed. But she'd finally succumbed to the loss of her faith. She couldn't take any more.

What seemed like hardly an hour, Fournier returned to her cell.

"The baby isn't mine. It's Seanoa's."

Tears filled Ella's eyes. Tears of happiness that she'd not given this monster what he wanted, tears of happiness that she had another of Joe's children growing inside her, and tears of sadness and fear because she had no idea how to protect her baby.

I just have to, she told herself.

"It's a boy."

Ella closed her eyes and tried to will a calmness over herself.

A little boy

"I realize you'll try to put up a fight against me for the sake of your child," Fournier went on. "But it will be futile. I will win, Ella. I always do."

He watched her lay against her pillows and weep softly. I think it's time to use her daughter one last time, he thought. I'll bring her here and promise to let her live if Ella decides to give up her baby. And if she does let me kill the baby… I'll kill Miracle anyway. She wasn't supposed to have happened in the first place!

He left the cell again, and Ella could only cry herself to sleep.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Miracle sat quietly in the library during study hall, trying to keep her mind on her pre-algebra homework, but she kept finding her focus diverted to the giggling gossip of her friends. They huddled at the round table, and discussed what boys they had crushes on and whether they thought the boys liked them back.

"Who do you like, Miracle," Kristin asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Oh, I..." Miracle stuttered, unsure how to answer the question. "I don't really have my eye on anyone at the moment." Her gaze subtly shifted over to Finn standing as her bodyguard in the corner of the large library.

She gave him a shy smile when he caught her gaze, and felt her face flame. She attempted to refocus on her current math problem when she heard her friends begin quietly giggling again. She looked up to see them all staring at her.

"So that's why you don't have a crush here at school," Kristin whispered. "You have a crush on your bodyguard!"

Miracle started to protest when another of her friends—Melissa Downs—chimed in.

"I don't blame her. He. Is. HOT!"

Before Miracle knew it, the whole table was weighing in with their whispered opinions of her protector.

"He's got a definite mysterious thing going on. I like it!"

"I love his accent!"

Miracle wished she could just fall into a hole and never be seen again. Finn had to have heard them, she thought. I'm so embarrassed!

But to her relief, she glanced back at him and saw that he was casually flipping through a magazine and showed no indication he'd heard the girls' conversation.

She watched him for a couple minutes, admiring his tall, muscled frame. Truthfully, she thought Finn was gorgeous, with his short dark brown hair and vivid blue eyes, but she knew he was in no way interested in her. After all, he was twenty-eight years old and she wasn't even quite fourteen yet. But a girl can dream, she thought sadly, looking down at her math book. She remembered how it felt when she'd been so frightened to see her mother's tattoo's stuffed into those little baggies. She didn't quite remember screaming, but the next thing she knew, Finn was there holding her in his strong arms and whispering soft, beautiful Gaelic words to her in that Irish accent of his.

She heard a light buzzing sound, and noticed Finn taking his phone out of his pocket and glancing at it. He looked stumped for a moment, and then glanced at Miracle. He signaled to her that he'd be right back, and then went out into the hallway to take a call.

The intercom speaker crackled above the class' heads and the office secretary spoke loudly, "Miracle Seanoa, you have a phone call on line three." She repeated the message again to ensure Miracle heard it.

Miracle stood and collected her books, preparing to leave the library when the librarian informed her she could take the call at the circulation desk if she wanted. Opting to save some footwork, Miracle laid her things down and walked to the desk to take the call.

"Hello," Miracle greeted the caller. "This is Miracle."

"Miracle, it's Uncle Jeff. Listen, we've found your mother. She's on her way home with Joe. We're supposed to meet them at the airport in Denver. I'll be by the school in about ten minutes to pick you up."

"Oh, my God! You've found her," Miracle cried, shaking with relief. "How? She was in Denver? Did the cops catch Fournier?"

"Yeah… They found her at an abandoned cabin in Colorado…Joe said the cops did catch Fournier. So, it's over, baby! We can all move on with our lives now."

"I'm so happy," Miracle exclaimed. "I can't wait to see them!"

"I know, hon! I'm not far from your school. So, get your things and meet me out front, okay? I'm in a rental car—a gold Chevy Tahoe."

"Okay," she said, hardly able to contain herself. "I'll be waiting."

She hung up and hurried back to the table where she grabbed up her cell phone. She quickly sent a text to Joe to let him know how happy she was. She typed out the text, then quickly snapped her phone shut and pocketed it. Lastly, she grabbed up her things and said goodbye to her friends, then exited the library instantly spotting Finn on his phone a few feet away.

"Okay, I'm on the way," he was saying. He hung up the phone and noticed her hurrying toward him.

"Finn," she exclaimed. "They found Mom! I've got to leave with Uncle Jeff to go meet her and Daddy at the airport."

He looked highly skeptical.

"I would'a been contacted, Miracle," he stated, touching her shoulder lightly. "My job right now is t' protect you. Your uncle wouldn't just call you and tell you to leave wit'out leaving word with me first."

"B-but..." Miracle stammered, desperate for the news to be true. "Uncle Jeff said they found her in Colorado—we were to meet her and Daddy at the Denver airport. They said Fournier was caught."

"Are you sure t'was your uncle?"

"Yes," she cried. "It was his voice—One hundred percent his voice."

"I don't like this, lass. Something is going on." He paused and ran his hand over the back of his neck. "Okay, I was called from dispatch and told my captain wants to see me. But, I'll go wait for Jeff with you first. If he shows up and verifies all this, fine, you can go. If he doesn't... well, then you're sticking with me. Got it?"

"Got it," she replied.

Seconds later, they exited the building so they could keep an eye out for the gold Chevy Tahoe.

Minutes later, it pulled in front of the school and stopped in front of them. She squinted, trying to make out Jeff's face. All she could see was pale blond hair and sunshades, but the windows were too tinted to make out anything else.

Suddenly, the back doors opened on the vehicle and three men piled out and immediately attacked Finn.

"MIRACLE! RUN," he shouted, countering their attacks right and left.

"No," she screamed, pulling a canister of pepper spray from her jeans pocket. "I'm not leaving you!" She proceeded to spray the can at one of the men who threw a punch at Finn's head. It gave Finn the edge he needed to take the man down and smack his head into the pavement.

"HURRY UP!"

Fournier's voice rang out from the vehicle, and Miracle turned to see his cold eyes staring daggers at her. She felt a pair of arms go around her then, and a cloth was slapped over her nose and mouth. She cried out and struggled, but the man wouldn't release her. She tried to scream, but it just came out as a muffled moan.

She dragged in a harsh breath to scream again, and instantly went limp as her muscles betrayed her. The urge to sleep slammed into her, and all the fight left her.

"MIRACLE! NO! LET 'ER GO, YA-!"

She was vaguely aware of Finn shouting for her and felt the cloth being lifted from her face briefly. She was tossed into the Tahoe. Doors slammed shut, and then she felt the sensation of the car speeding away.

"Finn..." she mumbled sleepily and tried to thrash in the hopes of waking herself up. "Please, help me... Find me... Finn... Can't stay... awake..."

"Shut her up," Fournier's voice snapped. "Finish drugging her, and tie her up. She's as feisty as her mother."

Miracle felt the cloth slide back over her nose and mouth, and then her world slowly faded to black.