A/N: Sorry this took so long and is so short, but I hope to have another one soon. This is very violent and somewhat depressing, and I left it at a very cruel place. Sorry, but I couldn't resist. Enjoy and review, even if it's only to cuss me out for leaving the chapter like this!
"So," said the woman holding the shotgun. "Looks like your friend missed you so much he wanted to join you. That's nice. I enjoy company. Marti, don't be rude, introduce your friend!"
Casey's voice was shaking. "His name is Zack. We work together."
Her words and the attempt at the callous tone hurt Zack in the irrational part of his mind. He knew she was downplaying his role in her life to try to protect him from the older woman's wrath, but it still felt like a rejection. Though he knew he would endure whatever their captor threw at him before he would deny her, he also knew how badly that would hurt her, so he kept his mouth shut.
Melissa reached out and slapped her daughter hard enough to roll her eyes back in her head. "Don't lie to me! He's your boyfriend, and he's the one who hurt Darrell!" She turned to Zack, keeping the shotgun pointed at Casey, knowing that was the way to control her newest toy. "He managed to get home a few minutes ago, told me everything. Is he going to die?"
Zack thought about saying yes just to piss her off, but not with the shotgun to Casey's chest. "No. I made it all up. There's no such thing as neurolic acid. Just a plain old muscle relaxer."
"Okay," she said. "Now where are your friends?"
Zack swallowed. "They left. It scared them when they thought I killed that guy and they ran off like terrified little kids! Said I'd crossed the line, and I never got the chance to tell them I was lying." He set his mouth in a grim line, but the fact that his lips were trembling ruined the effect.
Melissa rolled her eyes, then swung the shotgun around, striking him in the side of the head. He fell quickly, stunned, then sat back up with a hand wiping away the blood from the gash at his temple. "Do you think I'm stupid? They're around here somewhere. And 'that guy' as you called him, is to me what you are to my daughter. You tortured him, told him he was going to die horribly. He still can't hardly walk, says it feels like his leg is on fire!" She pulled out a knife from her pocket, opened it, and before Zack could even react she jammed it into Casey's thigh. Zack yelped, and started toward her but Melissa stopped him with a look. Casey, meanwhile, bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from crying out, although he wasn't sure if it was from pride, to spare him the pain, of to keep her mother from getting any more enjoyment out of her.
Melissa turned back to Zack, picking him up roughly by the collar of his shirt and put him on his feet. At this exact moment, Casey managed to break through the ropes that Booth had managed to weaken. She pulled the knife out of her thigh and lunged at her mother. The older woman dropped the shotgun in surprise as the girl hit her from behind.
They struggled on the floor, Casey trying to stab her mother and Melissa easily holding her hands. On a good day, as an adult now, Casey could probably have taken her mother. But after the beatings she had endured, the lack of food, water, and sleep, she was just too weak. She was losing badly when Zack came to his senses and grabbed the shotgun. "Hold it!"
Both women ignored him. Casey wasn't about to stop trying, and Melissa knew he couldn't pull the trigger without killing them both. Helpless and unsure, Zack could only watch and wish Booth and Wilson would hurry up. What was taking them so long?!
He hadn't even noticed that his back was to the door that led upstairs until he heard the click of a pistol being cocked. As he turned his head, he heard a familiar male voice. "If you even breathe funny, you're a dead man." Thomas. Zack had forgotten about him. The man raised his voice again. "Kid, you're gonna drop that knife if you don't want to have to wash your man's brains out of your shirt."
Casey looked at them for a moment, unsure. She glanced at Zack, then at Thomas, then her mother. Finally at the knife and her own wrist. "I'm sorry, Zack." She plunged the knife into her arm and sliced. Blood spurted onto Melissa's face, and she jerked back. Thomas momentarily forgot about Zack and raced (as best he could with the limp) to Melissa's aid. They fought to get the knife out of Casey's wrist and hold her down.
Melissa slapped her. "You little bitch! You can't die yet! You can't get off that easy! You destroyed my life! Everything was fine until you ran off!" Casey fought and kicked from the floor, cradling her profusely bleeding wrist around her chest to keep them from getting the knife.
She couldn't figure out why Zack wasn't running. She had caused the distraction, had their full attention. She was going to die anyway, maybe this way she could save him and also spare herself whatever else her mother had planned. But Zack wasn't playing by the rules! He was still there, and…he had the shotgun again. That hadn't worked last time. She felt weak, she was losing the battle.
This time, Zack knew what to do. He couldn't shoot, but he remembered what Melissa did to him. Winding up like he had that one summer for little league, he slammed the barrel into Thomas's head. The man was dazed, but turned to face Zack. His gun went off, hitting Zack in the thigh. Just then, Booth and Wilson stormed down the stairs. "FBI!" he yelled. "Freeze!"
No one paid him any attention. Thomas turned toward them, tried to raise the pistol, and Wilson shot him dead center of the forehead. He fell backward, landing on Casey, who saw now that there was a chance. She pulled the knife out of her arm and jammed it into her mother's stomach. "Why doesn't anyone listen when I say that?!" Booth muttered exasperated.
Melissa picked up Thomas's gun before anyone could stop her and started shooting. One hit Booth in the leg and he hit the deck. One hit Wilson in the chest. Three to one, in favor of the lunatics. Booth tried to take aim at Melissa, but she sought cover behind Casey holding the gun to her head. Booth froze.
"Do it, Booth!" Casey insisted. The blood from her arm had not clotted entirely, but had slowed to a trickle. 'Next time I attempt suicide, I should do it when I'm less distracted!' she thought with as much of a smirk as she could manage. "Kill her now!"
Booth had Melissa trained in his sight, finger on the trigger, but couldn't do it. "She'll kill you!"
"Believe me, it's a good trade. Shoot her!"
It was a standoff, and Booth was the one who flinched. He tossed his weapon down; it landed at Casey's feet, but at least it was out of his hands. Melissa released her daughter. Just then, Zack, who had gone unnoticed until that moment, dragged himself toward Melissa with every intention of cold-cocking her just like he had done Thomas. A second before he could land the blow, Melissa turned, pointed the gun, and pulled the trigger. Zack fell in a spray of blood, and Casey's face lost all expression. While her mother was distracted by her latest victim, Casey picked up Booth's gun. "Mom!" she shouted, and her mother turned to face her. Casey leveled the pistol and emptied it into her mother's skull. As a reflex, the dying woman raised the gun and fired twice, hitting Casey in the chest and abdomen, before falling.
Casey looked around to Booth, the only other one still conscious. "I'm getting tired of finishing what the FBI can't do!" she proclaimed, then promptly collapsed.
Booth crawled toward the phone. His leg was on fire, but he had been shot before. He just prayed he wasn't the only one left to tell the story. He finally managed to grasp the receiver and dial 911. "This is Agent Booth with the FBI. I need an ambulance. Or several. And a coroner, and the police, and anyone else you can find. I have one who's for sure dead, four that may be, and I've been shot. Please hurry!" he gave the dispatcher the address and hung up. The last thought he had as he finally passed out too was that it looked like Jonestown in here.