The cabin looked exactly as Noah remembered it. It was strange to think of those good memories with his father, but he had long ago come to accept that this man with him now was no longer the man from his childhood. Somewhere along the way, the Colonel's mind and become warped and confused and, if it wasn't for all the pain he'd inflicted on Luke over the years, Noah could almost feel sorry for him.

He entered the cabin, noting the fireplace where they had roasted marshmallows and the kitchen, where his father had taught him how to gut and cook the fish they had caught during the day. He was sure that the small and rustic wooded table and chair set was the exact one from those days so long ago.

Staring back out the kitchen window he saw his father giving further instructions to Joshua, who climbed back into the BMW and drove away. They would no longer need the car after all. At that thought Noah promptly ran over to the kitchen sink and threw up. His whole body had started to shake as he retched.

When he turned around, wiping his mouth on his arm, he saw his father watching him from the door. "Take a seat son." And he moved one of the chairs out from under the table and placed it in the centre of the room, facing the kitchen.

Noah was too tired to argue anymore. He just wanted it done! He just wanted it over with! Luke was safe! Joshua had called the police to let them know where he was and that was all that mattered. He sat down immediately, looking at the floor.

"I've asked myself a thousand times why my son would betray me. Why he would call the police on his own father."

Noah looked up and noticed a length of rope in his father's hands, "I wasn't trying to betray you Dad… I was trying to help you."

"I needed to escape Noah! I needed to get away and I needed my son to come with me!"

"To where Dad? Where would we have gone? It wouldn't have changed anything. I'd still have been gay... and you'd still have been sick."

During this time his father had walked behind him and he didn't put up a fight as he was securely fastened to the chair. There was no point. His father would never stop. Whatever happened, it would all end tonight. His heart was racing.

"I'm sorry about the rope son, but I need to make sure you stay with me."

He walked out the front door, returned with a gas can and proceeded to douse the wooden walls of the cabin with petrol. Noah started to make small noises of fright when he realised the ultimate fate his father had planned for them. He tried to remain collected but it was becoming increasingly more difficult.

...

"Fresh towels?" She knocked again. Still no answer. Strange. She was told the man had only just checked in. Of cause she had received a stern warning when the manager discovered she hadn't finished prepping the rooms that morning. Damn! One day he would fire her for sure!

She tried one more knock then unlocked the door, only to let out a scream of horror when she discovered the bloody body on the bed!

...

Half an hour had past since Luke had woken up in the back of an ambulance. His strength had somewhat returned now that the paramedics had stitched him up… the antibiotics and painkillers were kicking in and he felt a little bit more like the old Luke. They told him it was a flesh wound but that he definitely needed hospital admittance. Luke simply refused and continued to ask what the hell was keeping the police.

As soon he heard the sirens he jumped out of the ambulance and hurried to tell the police about the cabin and Big Bear Lake. Of cause they tried to leave him behind, but after he insisted, "Either you take me along with you or I hotwire a car!" the deputy had thought it best they take him along.

During the drive they were informed that the Colonel had kept his promise to Noah, and had reported Luke's location. Luke was relieved that at least they should arrive at the cabin sooner than the Colonel would have originally calculated. Maybe this would buy them some time. He made a mental note to send the motel cleaner a thank you gift… if they somehow managed to survive the night!

They drove at breakneck speed; siren's blazing, through the entrance of the national park in search of the cabin. He had started to sweat again. He prayed every moment of the drive that they weren't too late.

Eventually, in the distance, they saw one cabin with its lights on and as the car slowed Luke spotted the Colonel through the window. He couldn't see Noah, but he saw the Colonel talking to somebody and he knew it must be him. A wave of relief rolled over him. Noah was still alive. He opened the door before the cruiser had even fully stopped, but as he started towards the building he watched wide eyed as the Colonel and then suddenly the entire cabin lit up in smouldering flames.

"Noah!" He screamed, and he tripped and fell on the grass. He scrambled back up but, before he could move forward, somebody had his elbows in a vice like grip, holding him back. "No, No! Let me go! Noah! Noah!"

"Luke! Luke! Stop!" and he recognised his father's voice, "Stop son! I'm sorry… It's too late… You can't go in there!"

Luke felt every part of him die and he sank to his knees in shock, staring wide eyed at the burning cabin in front of him, his father's hands on his shoulders. He had long since stopped breathing.

...

The FBI liaison officers had fetched them from the airport as planned and right away they had headed east towards a motel, where Holden and Lilly were told, Luke had been discovered. Their moment of relief was short lived however when they found out that Noah and his father were still at large. On route the agents had received yet another call informing them that Luke was on his way to a place called Big Bear Lake in a local police cruiser. Apparently he'd reported to the police of the Colonel's plans to end his life, along with Noah's.

The news had caused Lilly to cry out loud and Holden had spent some time calming her down. In the meantime the agents had changed course and were now heading to meet the police at the cabin in Big Bear Lake. By all accounts they were not far behind.

They hadn't driven through the park for long before they saw the flashing lights of the police cars ahead of them, and Holden turned when Lilly pointed, "There's Luke!"

As the car came to a standstill he sprinted up the grass verge just in time to grab Luke before he ran, unthinking, into the burning cabin. He could here Lilly screaming in the background, but he held Luke firmly back to prevent him from running into the flames. The heat blowing back on the wind was intense. His heart bled for Noah and his son.

...

Noah watched as his father continued his ministrations with the gas can. He could taste the fumes and his head was starting to spin. The back of his throat stung. He had long since allowed the tears to flow freely. Fear gripped his very being. Only the day before he and Luke were enjoying the beaches and now his father would end his life. How could the tables have turned so quickly?

"Please don't do this Dad!" He pleaded knowing it was of no use. Shocked he watched as his father doused himself, his military uniform darkening in the flammable liquid.

"There is no reason to be afraid, son." And Noah couldn't believe it as his father actually smiled at him. "Don't you see?"

"No Dad. Please!" He was weeping uncontrollably. "Please…"

"I tried Noah. I really tried. I tried to raise a good son. A decent person… I realise now that we cannot fix our relationship in this life. Too much has been damaged. But you are all I have Noah, so we need a clean start. This way we get to be together, as we should always have been."

"Dad I AM a decent person. And I've tried to be a good son to you, despite all the terrible things you've done!" It was so difficult to speak through all the fear and sobs and vapours.

"I WAS willing to wait for you, Noah. I planned to give you a year or two to live out your dream in LA. I've come to realise I was wrong about that. It's not everybody that can find success in such a fickle industry and I worried that it was a pipe dream for you. But YOU did it! You did it out of all the people who try and I am proud of you for that son."

He squeezed Noah's shoulder and walked to the kitchen counter, putting down the gas can. He turned to Noah and removed a box of matches from his pocket. "But mostly son? I was proud of you for cleaning up your act! For getting rid of that Snyder snake! For apparently becoming a man!"

"I AM a man Dad!"

But he wasn't listening, "Why Noah? Why did you let him back in? WHY?" His eyes glowed with anger as he removed a match from the box.

Finally Noah just snapped! "You know why!" He screamed.

His father shook his head.

Noah pressed on, "Yes you do! That's why you used him! You're a good soldier, Dad! Maybe even the BEST!" Noah's mind was working overtime. "You did what any good soldier would do! You found my weakness and you used it against me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You used him because you knew that I would do anything for him. You knew that he was the ONLY reason I would meet you anywhere! The ONLY reason I would go anywhere with you! And if you knew that… if you KNOW that… then… then you know the truth!"

"No!" His father shook his head, eyes wide.

"Yes!" Noah nodded his head, "You know that I love him! You know that I love him and that he loves me!" Noah laughed bitterly at the irony of it. "And that's why it's come to this… isn't it?"

His father stood stock still, staring at him, a look of confusion on his face.

"Because you've accepted it! Haven't you? You've finally accepted that I'm gay! And… and you know you can't change it! You know it's something you don't have any control over!" It was all becoming so clear to Noah. He was laughing in hysterical panic…

"Stop it!" His father's anger was enough to ignite the cabin. "Stop it right now! I'm ordering you!"

Noah stopped and then, shaking his head, and added softly, "So you'd rather die… you'd rather die then have a gay son! You want to die and you want to take me with you…"

For the first time in his entire life Noah saw a deep sadness cross his father's disappointed face. "Despite what you think, son, I have always loved you." And with that he simply struck a match and allowed it to fall to the ground…

"No!" Noah screamed and from that point on everything seemed to happen so fast.

His father's body took no more then a second to light up in flames and Noah watched in fascinated horror as the flaming figure screamed its way towards him. Suddenly from out of nowhere something large barrelled into him, pushing him over sideways in the chair and out of the way of his father, so that the Colonel stumbled and fell onto the hard wood floor instead. The flames ignited the petrol soaked walls of the cabin and Noah found himself surrounded by red and yellow heat. He coughed and sputtered, desperate for breath, expecting the flames to take him too, but instead he flinched as an axe fell somewhere near his head and he felt rather then saw the wooden chair smash to pieces. Two strong arms lifted him up from under his armpits and dragged him through the burning building and out the back door, into the fresh night air.

He heaved the moment they fell outside and landed in a pile on the grass. Cool oxygen streamed into his burning lungs as he felt his wrists being freed from the ropes. His eyes were streaming and he sat there choking up the thick black smoke. It felt like someone was hammering inside his head. He looked up amazed that somehow he was outside! Somehow he had escaped the blazing inferno that now lit up the night sky. His father's funeral pior.

"I'm leaving now… The police are here..."

Noah looked up and for the first time noticed Joshua towering above him. He followed the man's gaze and noted the distinctive blue and red flashes coming from the front of the cabin. He turned back to Joshua and rasped, shuddering, "Thank you…"

Joshua nodded, "You're a good kid."

And with that he disappeared into the surrounding woodland.

...

Holden and Lilly watched Luke in dismay. They had been unable to do anything to comfort him. He wouldn't allow anyone near him and the sounds of complete anguish coming from him were unbearable.

Lilly too was sobbing loudly in Holden's arms and every now and then she would utter, "Noah, oh my god, not Noah…"

...

Luke shook the hands off… he didn't want their comfort… he wanted to feel this loss… This was the loss of Noah! He wanted to feel the searing pain Noah must have felt in the heat of that fire. He wanted to suffer, but the hands were persistent as he continued to bat them back. Eventually they grabbed hold of his cheeks, holding his head steady and he could hear a voice calling his name. The voice sounded like Noah and suddenly Noah's face, Noah's eyes were in front of him and he thought how cruel, how cruel his mind was to do this to him now.

"Why? Why?" he gasped. He was taking short, sharp breaths.

But then he heard the voice say, "Luke! Luke! It's me! It's ME!" and he saw through the haze and for the first time he wondered if this apparition might be real. The head nodded at him. He took the soot covered face in his hands and it felt warm, solid and wet with tears. He patted his way down from the shoulders to the waist and finally, barely daring to hope, he squeaked, "Noah?"

Luke looked back up and Noah nodded at him before grabbing hold of him, wrapping around him. Luke knelt there shocked, arms at his sides for a few seconds, until finally he lifted them up and placed them tightly around Noah.

They collapsed together.

...

They watched as a figure seemed to appear, stumbling from out of the black smoke. Holden felt Lilly tense in his arms as she too noticed him. He was completely blackened by dirt and obviously on the point of absolute exhaustion but it was him!

"Noah!" He heard Lilly say and she began to move towards him but Holden instinctively held her back. They watched as he dropped to his knees in front of Luke. Luke seemed to take a few minutes to recognise him, or to accept his presence, before they fell weeping into each other's arms.

Holden took a deep breath and slowly let the air out…

...

Eventually Luke pushed Noah back to face him, "I thought you were inside!"

"I was…"

Luke shook his head in disbelief and unsteadily asked, "How?"

"It was Joshua."

Luke took a moment to breathe deeply in and out and then punched Noah hard in the shoulder so that he almost fell over backwards, "You left me!" He said, angrily.

"I'm sorry." Noah's eyes pleaded with him.

"God Noah! I thought you were dead!"

"So did I… for a minute there!"

Luke grabbed him and hugged him in close again and after a while Noah said into his hair, "I told you I don't like rollercoasters!"

Luke gave a weak laugh, quivering in his arms, "Same here, Noah! Same here!"