A/N: For those of you who have noticed, i apologize for the misnumbering on some of the chapters. I wrote some chapters and split them in two so the numbering has been weird ever since.

Chapter 9:

Everything happened so fast.

Chuck was walking Jill to her car one minute, and the next Sarah was right there behind him.

He didn't have time to react.

She was shouting something and then she was pointing.

Oh my God.

Sarah had a gun.

"Get away from her!" Sarah screamed, pointing the instrument at him. Chuck froze like a deer in headlights, his eyes bulging with bewilderment. He felt Jill's arm snake around him as she cowered against him.

"Sarah?" he asked, for a second unable to recognize the woman who stood in front of him. She looked every bit like the woman he once knew, but the expression on her face—Chuck had never seen her like this before. Her glare chilled him to the bone; he never thought blue could look so black. There was no light in them, no hint of the person he had fallen in love with; just an endless abyss. The first thought that came to mind was…soulless.

No, this was someone else entirely. A part of her he'd never witnessed. A part of her he never knew existed.

"Chuck," Sarah said through gritted teeth. "Get. Away. Now."

Her voice was so grave, her stance so intense, that Chuck did the first thing that came to mind and held his hands up high in surrender.

"Sarah?" he whimpered. "What are you doing here?" He looked over her shoulder at the man fast approaching with a weapon of his own and found he couldn't keep the hurt from entering his voice. "Why are you with Bryce?"

When she didn't respond, he began to panic. "Do you always carry a gun?" Even to dinners at Ellie's? Even when they went out to the movies?

Still no answer.

"How did you find me?"

In her silence, the awful truth dawned on him. His eyes immediately darted to his watch, where he noticed a pulse-like red flash behind the timepiece where there hadn't been before. He didn't know what to say. She had given him that watch as a gift.

Chuck gulped. Camille was right. Sarah had lied to him, over and over again. Everything was a lie.

"Get away from her right now, Chuck," she warned, creeping closer. Jill whimpered, shrinking behind his long torso. "I'll explain everything when we get home."

"Sarah," Chuck said. "Please put the gun down. Let's discuss this."

He knew in an instant that there was no discussion to be had. Her eyes were jet black, the coldest, cruelest expression he'd ever seen. It was a look of absolute, vile, hatred.

Bryce snuck close to Sarah's ear. "Take the shot," he hissed, loud for everyone to hear. The gun in the woman's hand wavered and Chuck visibly flinched.

Oh God, the two of them were in on this together.

"What do you want?" Chuck asked, directing his question at Bryce.

"Get away from her!" Sarah shouted, taking another step forwards. "Jill, I swear if you…" She couldn't finish the sentence but her intentions were obvious.

Jill clung to Chuck's shirt, her body pressed up tight against his. Her hands trembled as she tugged on his tie, drawing his head down as she stood on her tiptoes. He wanted to tell her it would be alright. He wanted to console her, and beg her not to cry, but he was really no better.

"Listen to me, Chuck," Jill said, her voice shaking the same as her body. "You need to run now. As fast as you can, as far as you can." Her eyes began to well with tears and she stroked his hair ever so gently. "Don't look back. Do you hear me?"

"Jill," Chuck gasped. "What are you talking about?"

Jill shook her head. "Did you hear me?" she whispered, urgently now. "You need to run. They're dangerous people." Her eyes darted nervously at Sarah and Bryce, both armed and ready to shoot.

"Jill…"

"I love you," she said. She looked like she was about to kiss him but held back. "I've always loved you."

Jill looked away before Chuck could say anything else. By then her body had stopped trembling and she had a wholly determined look on her face.

"Remember what I said," she whispered as she stepped away from Chuck. She looked Sarah dead in the eye as she walked forwards, standing directly in the line of fire.

"Go ahead, Sarah," she said, standing rigidly still. "Shoot me."

Chuck stared in horror. "What? No! Jill!" When had he become the kind of person who allowed a defenseless woman to take a bullet for him? "Sarah, don't!"

"Don't move!" Sarah ordered, her aim shifting in warning.

Chuck froze. Her eyes were dead to him and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Jill turned her head and Chuck was faced with a pair of the most pitifully sad eyes. "Don't," she whispered, agreeing with Sarah.

Then she turned back to face the blond.

"What are you waiting for, Sarah? You've got me." She raised her arms in the air. "Come on, I'm who you want."

"Sarah!" Chuck begged.

"What are you waiting for?" Bryce demanded, taking aim. "I'll do it—"

"No!" Chuck cried. How could Bryce be so heartless? This was Jill, his ex-girlfriend…their ex-girlfriend.

"Shoot me!" Jill commanded, raising her voice.

Chuck stared at Sarah in disbelief. Was she really going to do it? Her hardened expression combined with a look of immense concentration seemed to spell their imminent doom. If not for the slight tremble in her weapon hand, Chuck had no doubt she would have pulled the trigger a long time ago.

"Shoot me!" Jill screamed, her voice echoing through the empty car lot.

Voices began to escalate, each trying to outdo the other and the reverberations shook through the building, culminating into one cacophonic mess.

"No! Don't! Sarah, please!"

"Hurry up, Walker!"

"This is what you wanted isn't it?"

"What are you waiting for?"

"Shoot—"

An explosion sounded in Chuck's ear, the noise so loud his body jerked back like an elastic band snapping back.

Nothing happened at first, but the smoking gun in Sarah's hand shook Chuck from his paralysis. She had done it. She had really done it.

My God.

Chuck looked in front of him at Jill. One minute she was standing there, and the next she was falling.

....

be honest...you didn't think she would actually pull the trigger, did you?