AN: Hey everyone! So this story is almost done. I could have ended it on this chapter by making it longer, but who wants to end on lucky number 13 and I thought you might want an update sooner (as the second half of this is still not completed). I left a question down below if you'd like to drop an answer. Happy reading and Happy early Thanksgiving.


Carter felt herself coming to once again and wondered how long it would last this time. She had been struggling to stay conscious. Fighting to keep herself alert, but the combination of residual drug, sheer exhaustion, and intense pain was making all but impossible. She blinked her eyes open once, able to see that it was getting dark, before closing them shut. The spinning making her feel even worse.

As she did, she tried to adjust the way she was seated, and her thoughts were taken away from her hurting head and became directed to her wrists. A sharp, shooting pain radiated up both of her forearms from the point where the restraints were digging in. She figured they had probably cut into her skin, sensing that the occasional drop of liquid that landed on her fingers was blood, but she wasn't sure how deep and honestly she was afraid to find out.

She could feel herself beginning to fade once more. Slowly, one by one, her senses beginning to dull. But as she tried once again to keep herself from being dragged back into darkness, to the silence, she thought she heard something. Like a soft grumble of an engine outside. Managing to slip her eyes open for a split second, she saw slivers of light shine through one of the boarded up windows.

Her eyelids fell shut, a tear sneaking past and rolling down her cheek, and she let out a small noise. Her attempt at a shout to get the attention of whoever was outside. Having used up all her energy, she slipped into the void. Her thoughts on what she had seen and heard, hoping it wasn't her mind playing tricks on her. Hoping that the person was a friend, an ally. Hoping with everything she had left that it was her mom, there to finally rescue her.


For most of the ride Elizabeth kept her gaze forward, keeping her eyes glued to the horizon, awaiting the small, rundown restaurant to come into view. She could feel herself fidgeting but found herself helpless to stop. Her adrenaline coursing through her, and she was glad that David had insisted on driving. They had taken the SUV he had driven up, her unmarked cruiser having been retained by the department to further deter her from participating in the official investigation.

She took her eyes off the seemingly never ending highway to glance over at David in the driver's seat. His brow was deeply creased, more than just from squinting due to the dimming sky, but from immense worry. She knew, she was feeling the same thing. Elizabeth only watched him for a moment more before she went to turn back forwards, but as she did her eyes fell on the back seat. And instantly she was transported back to the day they had gotten Carter back.

Her daughter, finally back, a moment she had hoped for the past 13 years. And yet she was all grown up and clearly wanted nothing to do with them. Elizabeth remembered all the conflicting emotions that flooded her, and instead of trying to sort through them, she threw herself into her work. Recalling the series of phone calls she had made to her boss and Kyle.

This time there would be none of that. She knew Carter wanted to be back with them, and she wouldn't waste any time with phone calls or official police business. She would simply relax, put all her focus on Carter and her family. Love that she was back with them all.

She felt the car slow ever so slightly and her attention snapped back to the road.

"Lizzy, is that it?" David asked, the tone of his voice suggesting he couldn't actually believe that the diner existed, or that they actually came across it.

Elizabeth simply nodded, not actually knowing if it was but hoping more than anything it was, David catching the gesture out of the corner of his eye. It was still only a small structure on the horizon, but as they got closer it became more clear that it actually was. David placed an open hand over the middle console and Elizabeth instinctively took it, giving a small reassuring squeeze as she did. And she was sure her grip only tightened as they got closer.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably closer to 20 seconds, they pulled into what served as the parking lot. A gravely, dirt patch with a scattering of potholes. The tires made a large crunching noise as they rolled forward. Their lights falling on the building, shining into the diner only through the cracks in the boards that covered the windows.

The place was falling apart. Clearly nobody had been here in years, and Elizabeth suspected no one ever would in years to come. The thought made her shudder. That if they hadn't figured out what Lori meant, her daughter wouldn't have been found until it was likely too late.

She and David slowly got out of the car. It was now almost dark, making everything more difficult. Elizabeth pulled out her flashlight and grinned as she watched David use his phone as his light source. They both looked around a moment before he spoke up.

"I'll go around back and check for a way in there," he said.

"And I'll try the front and side doors," Elizabeth added.

She watched him walk off a few feet before calling out.

"David, wait!"

He turned back towards her and she met him where he stood.

"Take this just to be safe."

He hesitantly took the small gun his wife held out in front of him. He knew it was just a precaution. They were still unsure if there was anyone else Lori had been working with.

"Be careful," he told her before turning back in the direction he had initially started. Elizabeth nodded and took a deep breath, drawing her own gun at the same time while starting towards the front door.

She figured this would be the most heavily locked to discourage anyone from attempting to get inside, but she needed to be sure. She stopped a couple of yards from the door, not needing to get any closer as she could see the thick chain intertwined in the door handles, a large padlock securing the ends tightly together.

Growing more anxious by the second, she hurried around the side of the building, coming across another door. Her heart skipped a beat as the beam of her flashlight fell upon a small hole broken into the glass of the door near the knob. Instantly she knew this was how Lori got into the old diner. And for as badly as she wanted to get into the building, for a few seconds Elizabeth couldn't move.

Finally, she forced herself to move the last few steps, carefully reaching through the jaded glass and opening the door from the inside. Her senses were on high alert, the crunching noise she made walking over the broken glass on the floor seemed deafening. Even with her flashlight, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the now pitch blackness. In a sweeping motion back and forth, she lit up every nook and corner her path came across. Her gun also following the path of her light.

A large noise from the other end of the diner startled her, her heart practically jumping out of her chest, but after a moment she realized it was just David trying to get inside. Elizabeth continued her thorough method of searching, coming up against what appeared to be a high counter top, tattered bolted-in bar stools accompanying it. Her breathing was quick, but as she rounded the corner, her breath caught completely in her throat.

There, half-way down the high-top counter, 20 feet in front of her, sat Carter. Her daughter's head hung, the rest of her body appearing to be limp. Tears welled in her eyes as she tried to push away her initial, terrible thoughts.

"Carter!" she yelled, the name coming out in a whispered shout.

Elizabeth holstered her gun and ran over to her daughter, kneeling next to her. With her hands trembling, she reached out to gently lift Carter's head. As happy and relieved as she was to have her daughter back within her reach, the woman's heart broke as she looked her daughter over. Carter's normally vibrant face was the palest Elizabeth had ever seen her. She imagined it was probably from lack of sleep and, as much as she hated to think about it, whatever drug Lori had sedated her with. Her hair was tangled and her clothes filthy, more than from just being in the dirty restaurant. And while Carter had always been tiny, and maybe it was just the angle in which she was tied up, but Elizabeth had never seen her so small. Almost broken like.

She let out the breath that she had been holding when she heard a small, soft groan from the girl.

"Carter, can you open your eyes for me?"

Elizabeth watched as Carter's eyes seemed to flutter under her eyelids, but to her dismay her daughter's head remained heavy, her eyes still shut. She could see Carter's breathing was shallow as she ran her fingers gently over the edge of the duct tape that was plastered over her mouth from cheek to cheek. Carter's skin felt dry and dusty, and Elizabeth hoped her lips weren't chapped, as it would make what she was about to do that much more painful.

"Carter, I'm going to take this tape off. It might hurt a little, but I'm going to be as gentle as possible," she explained, still not certain if her daughter could hear her or not.

Slowly she started to pull at one corner and it took all of her will power to keep removing the tap as she saw Carter's face scrunch in discomfort as the adhesive pulled against her cheeks and lips. Elizabeth relaxed for a fraction of a second as Carter took in a deep breath once her mouth was free.

The relief was short lived, as once she was certain Carter was breathing normally, Elizabeth continued to look over her daughter, then noticing the small pool of blood under Carter's wrist. It wasn't enough to be life threatening, years of crime scenes told her that, but it was still enough to cause her alarm. She could see it was because of the zip ties. They were tight around Carter's tiny wrists, cutting deeply into her delicate skin.

Quickly, she started to fumble through her jacket pockets, looking for the tactical knife she sometimes carried with her, to cut her daughter free. Focused on finding the knife and figuring out what she was going to wrap Carter's cuts with, she didn't notice Carter groggily blinking her eyes halfway open. And froze when she heard a soft, raspy word.

"Mom?"

Elizabeth slowly looked up, hoping that it wasn't her mind playing tricks on her, but once her eyes met Carter's she couldn't control the tears that started to spill over. It was only the third time Carter had called her that since she had been back, a number that she was painfully aware was much lower than it ever should have been.

Elizabeth once again reached out and touched Carter's face, and she figured it maybe had to do a little bit with exhaustion, but she relished the feeling of Carter relaxing into her palm.

"I'm here my sweet girl. I found you. You're safe," was all she could manage to get out before she felt the lump form in her throat, preventing any other words from escaping.

Without taking her eyes off her, Elizabeth found the blade she had been searching for and swiftly cut the zip ties open. Once Carter's arms had been freed she instantly fell forward, Elizabeth stumbling to catch her, but nevertheless falling into her mother's arms. There was such an overwhelming amount of relief between them, that Elizabeth wasn't surprised when she heard the small, soft sobs coming from the girl.

"Mom…" Carter squeaked out again, so grateful that the single person she had come to trust to get her away from Lori was actually there.

"I've got you Carter. I've got you," Elizabeth reassured, noticing however how Carter was slowly starting to go slack in her arms, the thought of her unbandaged wrists coming back to mind. "Carter, you've got to stay awake. Keep those eyes open okay?"

Another crash came from the back and she was certain she heard the faint yell of "Lizzy" coming from the same area of the restaurant. She took it to mean that David had made it in, and she knew she needed him right then and there.

"David! Over here, I have her!" she yelled loudly enough she was certain he would hear her. Right away, her attention turned back to her daughter. "Hang in there, Carter. You're going to be home soon I promise, just hang in there."

Carter tried to do as her mom said. Keep her eyes open. Stay alert. But suddenly she had started to feel light headed, different from the drugged feeling she had been feeling before. And before she passed out one final time she was hazily aware of her mom wrapping cloth around her wrists and her dad carrying her outside to the car before it went black one more time.


So I was wondering if any of you would be interested in a Lori/Carter scene in the next chapter. I'm leaning towards it as it feels like a natural thing for Carter to want closure, but I thought I'd ask my loyal followers what they would like to see. I aim to please you guys.