A/N: Here's the next chapter. Sorry about how short it is, but this chapter kind of ended itself as I wrote it. I promise that I will do my best to make the next chapter longer. I'll try to get it up as soon as possible. In the meantime, please read & review!!

Chandler and Roxanne drove home in complete silence. Both of them were thinking about the events of the day. What had started out as a peaceful, relaxing day off had turned into a nightmare. Neither of them wanted to believe that what had happened today was a reality rather than just a bad dream that they would awaken from.

When they reached the Camden house, Roxanne headed towards the house, rather than going to the garage apartment.

"Roxanne, what are you doing?" Chandler asked.

"I just want to check on everyone, see how they're holding up, and make sure they're doing okay," Roxanne replied.

Chandler caught her by the arm. "Look, Roxanne, I know what you're trying to do. You can't fool me, You're trying to help everyone else so that you can ignore your own pain. Roxanne, this isn't healthy for you. You have a right to grieve. You have a right to cry. You saw your partner, one of your closest friends, shot. You were right there, but you couldn't do anything. Please, don't just pretend that everything is okay. I want to help you." he pleaded.

Roxanne pulled away from him. "I'm fine, Chandler, don't worry about me. You go on up; I'll be up once I make sure that no one needs anything." She continued on her way to the house.

Chandler sighed, torn between going after her and doing what Roxanne had said. Finally, he decided that he should follow her to the house. After all, he should be checking on the family as well.

When Chandler stepped inside the house, he was greeted by a very somber looking crowd. Ruthie's eyes were puffy and red from crying; Sam and David had tear streaks on their faces; Carlos sat on the couch with his arm around Mary, who was sleeping on his shoulder. Sarah had Sam and David sitting on either side of her, her arms around them. Peter was perched on the arm of the chair that Ruthie was sitting in, rubbing her back and holding her hand. Rose and Simon were nowhere to be seen; Chandler assumed they were upstairs with the kids, since their vehicle was in the driveway still. Roxanne was over by Sarah and was talking softly to Sam and David.

Chandler stood in the doorway for a few minutes, unsure of who to go to first. He finally decided to go talk to Peter and Ruthie and see if there was anything he could do to help them.

Peter glanced up as Chandler stopped beside the chair Ruthie was sitting in. "Chandler, how's Lucy?" he asked quietly, trying not to disturb Ruthie, who was half-asleep.

Chandler sighed. "She's hanging in their. She's doing a lot better now that your mom and Ben are there."

"Are they spending the night?" Peter asked.

Chandler nodded his head. "Lucy tried to convince them to go home, but neither of them would hear of it. They both insisted on staying there for at least tonight. Roxanne and I offered to take the girls and keep them tonight, but Lucy wouldn't hear of it. She said that she needed them close by right now."

"I can see why. Losing her dad and her husband in the matter of just a few years is going to be hard on her." Peter glanced down at Ruthie and saw that she was finally asleep. "I'm going to take her on up to bed now." He glanced over at Roxanne. "You might want to take Roxanne home; she looks exhausted."

Chandler followed Peter's gaze. Roxanne had moved to sit by David, who had ended up falling asleep in her lap. Sam had done the same thing on Sarah. Peter was right; Roxanne did look exhausted. In fact, she looked like she might fall asleep as well in a few more minutes. "I will. If you need anything, just call," he said, before moving over to where Roxanne sat. "Roxanne, let me take David and put him to bed. I'll take David, too, Sarah."

Both women gently shook the twins and woke them up enough that Chandler managed to lead them both up the stairs and get them into their beds before they fell asleep again. After making sure that they were all settled, he went back downstairs.

"Is Matt coming home tonight?" Sarah was asking Roxanne.

Roxanne nodded her head. "He said he'd be here as soon as he made sure everyone was settled in for the night. He's worried about Lucy."

Sarah looked relieved at the news that she wouldn't have to spend the night without her husband. She had spent most of the day trying to comfort Sam and David and take their minds off of what had happened as well as trying to hold everyone together. Right now she wanted nothing more than for Matt to be there with her, telling her that everything would be alright, like she ahd been telling everyone else.

"Do you want us to stay here with you until Matt gets here?" Roxanne asked.

Sarah shook her head. "No, there's plenty of people in the house. I'll be fine," she said. "You two go on to home. You both look exhausted."

Roxanne got up and Chandler slipped his arm around her, supporting her as they walked out of the house and towards their apartment. "I didn't realize how tired I was until just now," Roxanne said. She gladly let Chandler support the majority of her weight; she felt as if she took another step she would collapse.

"Roxanne, you've been through a lot today. You have every right to be tired," Chandler assured her. When they reached the stairs leading up to the apartment, Chandler scooped Roxanne up in his arms, carried her up the stairs, and laid her on their bed. "Lay here and rest. I'm going to fix us something to eat. We haven't eaten since this morning."

Chandler was in the process of fixing sandwiches for Roxanne and himself when eh hear Roxanne start sobbing. He sighed in relief. Finally, all the emotion that she'd carried around inside of her all day was coming out. He finished making the sandwiches, then carried them to the bedroom. He set them down on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed beside Roxanne. He gently stroked her hair until she had calmed down.

"Do you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Oh, Chandler, it was awful! We were called to a hostage situation. We exchanged gunfire with the gunmen for a long time, then the shooting finally stopped. We thought it was finally over, so we all got up. Next thing I know, I hear a gunshot and turn around in time to see Kevin clutch his chest and collapse ot the ground. There was so much blood, Chandler, so much blood. I got ot him as fast as I could, but he'd lost so much blood. The first thing eh sai d when he saw me was, 'Roxanne, help.' I let him down, Chandler , I let him down! I couldn't help him! All I could do was sit there and watch him bleed to death while we waited for help to arrive. I felt so helpless! I couldn't do anything!" Roxanne began sobbing again.

Chandler pulled her into his arms and held her, rocking back and forth. "Roxanne, you did what you could, and Kevin knows that. He knew there was nothing you could do. You did what you could, and that was to be there for him when he needed you the most. That's what matters, Roxanne. You were there for him."

"I let him die, Chandler! I just sat there and let him die! I didn't do anything for him! I just sat there! I couldn't do anything!"

Matt sighed with relief as he pulled into the driveway of his parent's house. No, his mom's hosue, he corrected himself. Even though it had been almost three years since his dad had died, he still had trouble sometimes remembering that he was gone. Matt shut off the car and took the key out of the ignition. He frowned when he saw that there were still lights on downstairs. He had hoped that everyone would be in bed by this time so that he wouldn't have to see anyone and he could just go straight up and climb in bed next to his wife.

Matt walked up to the house and opened the door quietly so as not to disturb who ever was still up. He shut the door, then walked into the living room to see who it was that was still up. At first he didn't see anyone, but as be started to walk out, he saw Sarah slumped over in a chair, fast asleep. He smiled to himself. She had obviously fallen asleep waiting up for him. He walked over to the chair, sat on the arm, and leaned down to give his sleeping wife a kiss.

Sarah's eyes fluttered open. "Matt, what time is it? I must have fallen asleep," she said.

"It's about two o'clock in the morning," Matt replied. "What are you doing up so late?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"I was waiting for you," she replied.

"Well, I'm home now. Come on, let's go to bed," he said. Sarah got up out of the chair and Matt put his arm around her, leading her towards the stairs. He sighed. "It's been a long day."

Sarah looked up at her husband, concern written on her face. "Matt, are you okay?" she asked.

Matt gave her a half smile. "I'll be fine, Sarah. I'm just tired. It's so hard to see Lucy hurting so much. It was so much easier when she was little. I could protect her from anything that hurt her then, and even if I couldn't then I could at least make her feel better. I can't do that anymore, and it's so hard. Isn't that the big brother's job, to protect his younger siblings?" Matt sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I can't do that now that she's all grown up."

Sarah stopped walking, forcing Matt to stop with her. She turned so that she was facing hi, then said, "Matt, you can't protect all of them forever, as much as I know you'd like to. They're all grown up now, even Ruthie. All you can do now is be there for the when they need you, like you were for Lucy today."

Matt's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Sarah, it's so hard. Before, Dad was here, and he always knew exactly what to say and do to help. I wish he were here now. Lucy needs him so much."

Sarah led Matt to the room they would stay in for the night, which was Matt's old room. "Matt, you aren't your father. You can never take his place, nor do you need to take his place. Lucy and the others don't need you to try to step up and do everything dad did, especially not now. What they need most is for you to be yourself. They need you to be their older brother, that same older brother who was always there for them when they needed him. Matt, they need you, not someone that's trying to take their dad's place."

Matt sighed and sat down heavily on the side of the bed. "You're right; it's just so hard. It's been nearly three years, but I'm still not used to him being gone. Tonight when I pulled into the driveway, I was thinking of this house as my parent's house. I had to correct myself. It's mom's house now. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that." He yawned. "Come on," he said, pulling the covers down, "let's go to bed."

Sarah walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. Her heart ached fro her husband. She knew how close he and Lucy had always been, and how much he was still struggling with his dad's death. She knew that these next few days, weeks, and moths would be a struggle for Matt as he tried to figure out how to deal with everything.