"LACEY!" I held the phone away from my ear, flinching at the screams that emitted from the speaker. I glanced across the table and Jean glanced up at me a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. It was his fault why she was flipping out! She probably finally found out what happened last night, even though her wimp of a fiancé promised he wouldn't say anything. He always ended up saying something though. Asshole.

"Yes, Misha?" I said as sweetly as I could, cradling the phone on my shoulder so I could finish filling out the paperwork that I was behind on. I really did need to take a break on those parties.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She snarled into the phone and I could hear throwing things around in the kitchen, probably making herself something for lunch. "Kyle told me you didn't come in till really late last night and not only that, but you lost your house key. Again! And you knew he had to leave early for that mission he was going on!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes again and stood up from the table and walk out of the room. I didn't want everyone to hear another fight again. Ever since Kyle moved into the house, everything had changed. He didn't like me coming home late at night, because it always woke me up. He thought I was immature and selfish. In other words he hated me, almost as much as I hated him.

"What do you want me to say? Sorry? I went out with my friends last night Misha. Something you used to do with me every now and then. Kyle used to come to, but now you two are engaged and he moved in and both of you put together you've been nothing but fun suckers!" There was brief moment of silence threw the phone and I wasn't sure if I'd finally past the line when talking about Kyle, but then finally she laughed.

"A fun sucker, Lacey? Seriously?"

"Yes. A fun sucker!" I said defiant but, I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my mouth. "Don't make fun of me!" "I'm not." She said quickly and I could hear the smile in her voice and knew at she was holding in more laughs. "You can't really blame us though. We're growing up. You can't party everyday. You'll understand when you find that someone." My nose wrinkled in disgust and I shook my head. I doubted that would happen anytime soon. I was still young and wasn't ready to settle down anytime soon. Especially with someone like Kyle. He wasn't all that great, but I couldn't tell Misha that. She loved him with all her heart. I couldn't ruin that for her.

"Well, is that the only reason you called me? To yell at me and give me some wonderful insight?"

"Don't get smart with me and no. I have some good news! I wasn't going to tell anyone till Kyle came back from Ishbal, but I can't hold it in any longer. Is there anyway you can come to the house for a bit?" She sounded excited about something and usually when she said she had something to tell me that she usually wanted to tell Kyle first was wedding details. Not something I was super excited about hearing about since she had something new everyday.

"Yea. Let me see if I can get Havoc to cover for me." I sighed into the phone and turned back around, going back into the office.

"That boys in love with you, you know." I ignored Misha's comment and walked back to the table. Jean was writing furiously on a piece of paper a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Can you cover for me, Jean? I'm sorry to ask, but Misha needs me to come home right now to tell me something." He looked up from his paperwork, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. He brought a hand to his lips, pulling the cig from his lips.

He had opened his mouth to say something, but then Misha's voice screamed from the phone receiver. "TELL HIM HE BETTER LET YOU! THIS IS A MATTER OF A SISTER NEEDING A SISTER!" He chuckled lightly and shook his head.

I smiled sheepishly and held a hand to the mouthpiece of the phone. "Sorry about her. You know how she can be when she wants something." Jean nodded his head, his eyes wide.

"Well I guess I don't have a choice. You owe me a drink tonight Lacey. I'm already behind on paperwork and now I got to do your's too!" He smiled and took a drag of his cigarette, shaking his head, but I could see that he was scared. Jean Havoc had always been afraid of my sister and I think he always will. When Misha had a gun in her hand and you made her angry, you were as good as dead and if anyone knew that. Jean did. Ever since we were teenagers, he was the one always helping me sneak out of my house.

"Thank you so much!" I grabbed my jacket off the back of my chair and carried it in my arms. "I've got you a drink if I can get out of the house tonight." I muttered and then brought the phone back to my ear. "Alright, I'm on my way home."

"Yay! Tell Jean I said thank you! Oh and instead of meeting me at home, you remember that little diner where Mom and Dad used to take us all the time? Go there! We can have lunch. Okay?" Before I even had a chance to respond, she said she loved me loudly and then the line went dead. I smiled and shook my head, snapping the phone shut and slipping it into my pocket.

"Thank you again Jean. I'll see you later." I gave him a smile and he lifted a hand in a wave, without looking up from his paper. I didn't waste no time leaving the building and going quickly on my way to the small diner where I spent most of my Saturday afternoons as a kid. My mind was racing, wondering what news Misha just had to tell me.

I made it to the diner before she did, since Headquarters was closer than our house, so I waited outside the door for her. It didn't take long till I saw her come around the corner. She was grinning from ear to ear staring down at a little piece of paper in her hand. She looked up from the paper, her smile widening when she saw me. The hand with the picture raised up in the air and she waved and then everything seemed to move slower.

Misha had just passed by an alley, quickening her step to reach me faster when a tanned arm shot out from the alley, grabbing her by the back of her hair. She didn't scream at first, but her blue eyes stared at me, frozen in shock. There was an echoing, booming laugh and then she screamed my name. I started running toward her, but I was moving too slow. It was impossible to make it to the end of the block in time.

And then everything was a blur. Misha was lifted off the ground and then in a quick movement she was brought down hard on the ground. She didn't scream, just the slightest widening of her eyes before she hit the ground. I was silent for a moment, before the realization of what just happened went through my brain.

I screamed as my sister was just murder in front of my eyes.

* * *

"LACEY! Stop, you're okay! Lacey!" Two strong arms held me down as I screamed and thrashed violently in my bed. My leg was on fire from too much movement and the jostling in the . My eyes shot open and I sat up quickly, my breathing was ragged and the sheets clung to me from a cold sweat. I looked up at the person who was holding me down and noticed it was Havoc. His blue eyes were wide with confusion and concern and it was right there I just started bawling. Years of holding it in, I finally just let it out.

"I couldn't save her Jean. I didn't save her. It's my fault she's not here. It should have been me…not her." Jean's eyes widened and he shook his head, wrapping his strong arms around me in a hug, holding me tightly against him. I buried my head into his bare chest, not able to look at him. It should have been me who died, not her. She had a life ahead of her and she was going to be…going to be a mom.

"Don't you ever say that! Do you hear me Lacey. Don't you ever wish it was you. No one deserved to die that day. Not you or Misha. It just happened and there was nothing you could of done to save her." Havoc pulled me away from him and cradled my face in the palms of his hand, forcing me to look into his eyes. I wanted to believe what he said, but it just didn't seem true.

I shook my head and looked down, tears still falling from my eyes. I could of saved her, but I was too slow. She was the only family I had left and I didn't save her. I let her die. Her death was on me and my fault. I couldn't save my own sister.

"Hey Lacey look at me." I closed my eyes, taking in a hard breath, before opening them and meeting Jean's eyes. He smiled at me softly and brushed a thumb across my cheek, wiping away the tears. "You know Misha wouldn't want you like this. She'd be yelling and raving and calling you big baby. And then probably shoot something for emphasis." I couldn't help but laugh at that, because I knew it was true. Misha was crazy about her guns and shooting things. "See, you know it too!"

I nodded and brought a hand up, wiping at my face. "Thank you Jean. I can always count on you to cheer me up." I smiled and reached over, embracing him in a tight hug. "You're such a great friend!"

He wrapped his arms around me slowly and squeezed me tight. "The only reason I know how to cheer you up is because I've been doing it since we were kids. You were always a baby about everything." I rolled my eyes and pulled away, slapping his arm lightly.

"That's because you've always pushed me to do something stupid and I ended up being the one getting hurt!" He laughed and shook his head. I crossed my arms and glanced at the bulky thing that was under the blanket where my leg was. My mind wandered to Rage and I wondered if she was okay and if she got away from Envy. He was mad at her about something and I just hoped he didn't get to her. He was an evil, mean, psychotic man and there was no telling what he'd do to Rage when he found her.

"Well, no that your sane and not wishing you were dead, I think I'll go to bed now. It's way to early to be up right now." He smiled and kissed me lightly on the forehead. My eyes widened when I felt the blush rose to my cheek and I was thankful that the room was too dark to see anything. "Goodnight Lace. Sweet dreams."

When he went to walk away from the hospital bed, I grabbed his hand, he paused and looked down at it, before glancing at me. "Please don't go. I don't want to have another nightmare." Jean didn't say anything for a while and I was scared that maybe I was finally asking too much of him.

And then I heard him sigh, "I'm not pushing you to do anything and you're still a baby." He chuckled and then pulled his hand from mine. "I'll stay with ya, but I'm not sleeping in an uncomfortable hospital chair, so scoot over a bit." The covers were lifted up and then my face grow hotter as I shifted over the best I could, without jostling my leg too much.

Jean laid next to me in the small hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling and I laid next to him almost touching and it was weird how alive my body felt next to him. My hand was just egging to reach over and grab his that was just next to mine. I don't know why I felt this way, it was weird and something new to me.

"Thanks Jean." I whispered in the darkness and then closed my eyes and drifted off into a peace filled sleep and for the first time in years, it wasn't haunted by that terrible day.