I'm baaaaack. Did anyone miss me? I missed all of you. This is short but please forgive me. I hope I didn't loose any loyal readers over my personal hiatus. If you enjoy this leave a review for more, that will only motivate me to add. Thanks - MJ123 :)

Everyone in the room froze once their eyes gravitated towards the gun in Steven's shaky hand. Alex was the first to stand up, though the injury had taken him down the first time he figured he had nothing else to lose, these people were already like his family and his duty was to protect them. He knew not to take out his gun just yet, but instead to talk him out of doing something crazy.

"I'm warning you…" he said and though he was freaked out internally and he could feel everyone, especially Norma's eyes on him, he wasn't about to back down from whatever this would turn out to be.

Steven scoffed brutally, lowering the pistol a bit, an amused look on his face, "You're warning me? I'm warning you, you really wanna mess with me again, Sheriff? I don't think that worked out for you so well the last time," his voice was full of gentle slurs, whatever he had been drinking there was no doubt it had been strong.

Norma was next to stand up, taking Alex by the shoulder and tugging a bit. He was immediately aware of her, his feet stayed planted to the ground, he didn't want her to get in the middle of this. She could feel his most protective side coming out but didn't care, she pushed him aside a bit and stood in front to face a drunken Steven.

"Am I what you want?" she asked bravely, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes focused to his glassy ones. "Am I the reason you're starting all of this chaos?"

"You know something, Norma," he began, scratching the back of his head with the gun, "For a long time you were. I swear it - you, you were always a main player in my sadness. I missed you for quite a bit and then of course I found Katie and had a kid but you were always still there. And now I'm trying to get you out of my fucking head!" he shouted, now raising the gun to her.

Though the telltale bullet was aimed at her, not a bead of sweat dropped down her forehead, she shook her head and tightened her stance. The second Alex started speaking, she turned around briefly to face him, "Norma, move aw-"

"No, Alex. I've got this," she said, cutting him off and looking back at Steven. This guy was drunk and clearly still in love with her, "You're not gonna do that. You wouldn't do that."

"Oh yeah? What makes you think I wouldn't?" he asked harshly, moving closer and putting the gun to her forehead, still Norma didn't move, not even so much as shake or flinch.

Then Norma remembered the miscarriage. She didn't want to admit the long buried secret. Especially not in front of everybody, of course Alex already knew about it, but not her sons or anyone else for that matter. "Steven, I think you know why…" she started, her palms growing sweaty.

"Nope. I don't think I do. Why don't you enlighten me?" he asked again, pressing the head of the gun deeper into her flesh. She could feel Alex's hand stealthily resting on her lower back to try to relieve her.

"Because…" she hesitated, not able to look anywhere else except for the floor.

"Because why?" he asked, the torture and mockery in his tone made her want to pop off but she was wiser than to do that. She knew he would kill her right on the spot if she did anything irrational, though that was her typical nature.

"Because, Steven, I almost had your child. Are you really gonna kill me? You love me...you loved our connection. You loved me after the miscarriage and you loved me after Sam's death. So go ahead, kill me, shoot me right here and now in front of everyone. It won't kill the love you have for me, it will only make you miss me more, you really want that?" she asked, her eyes locked with his, everyone else in the room seemed to disappear once she spoke. She could tell that mouths were dropped open wide and eyes were shot awake.

To her surprise, it worked. Steven lowered the gun and started to cry then, crying over the loss of his almost child and of course the loss of Norma's affection. He wished he could go back in time then. "You know...I didn't think you remembered…" he trailed off drunkenly.

She shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Yes. Of course I remember. That was my child too, I wasn't just going to forget about it. I also remember and know how much you love me. And if that notion is true, you will give me that gun and forget all about this nonsense."

He scoffed and looked up at her with a tad of rage in his eyes, "And why the hell should I do that?"

"I already told you, you love me. If you love me, you won't kill me or any of the people I love. Plus," she paused, turning around and walking towards the bassinet, pulling out Ella and cradling her, "Your daughter is right here. Are you going to kill people with no mercy in front of her? Don't you love her?"

He stopped and stared at the sleepy baby in Norma's arms and dropped his gun to the floor, "Of course I do. And I love you too. This is how it's supposed to be. You, me, and her. Our own family just like the one that was ripped away from us."

Immediately Alex swerved and grabbed the gun from the floor, Steven paid no attention to him however, he was fixated on Norma and his daughter. "No, no...don't you see? Katie is her mother and she loves her very much. And I have a family I care about, I have a finance I am deeply in love with. You can't take these things away for your own selfish benefit, Steven."

Alex grabbed Steven just then, wrestling him to the ground, and holding him down with a knee as he motioned to Dylan to toss him his trusty handcuffs. He got the signal and threw them his way and in one swift lucky catch, they were latched to his wrists. He stayed silent then. Norma moved quickly to let Ella rest with Katie while she finished the job.

Emma and Dylan ran out to get the police. Alex looked at Norma with a lot of love and appreciation, she had protected everyone around her with absolutely no trace of fear. That was his true love. She was a simple warrior. And just when he thought her bravery was over, she kneeled down to Steven and put a surprisingly sympathetic hand on his back.

"We can't always get what we want in this world, Steven. We can only hope for the best and see what the outcome is."

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