Chapter Thirty

Author's Note:Well, this is it.

This is what we've all been waiting for.

The conclusion to this tale.

The finale.

It's time to see who'll come out of this alive... and who won't.

Enjoy!

She couldn't just let him go like this. Although her memory was slowly coming back to her, and despite parts of her life missing with that man who had just ran in the direction of danger, she couldn't let him go alone. She just couldn't bear the though of something happening to him that she could've prevented. She loved that man very much, and she didn't want to lose him.

"There's nothing you can do to help him," said KC, regarding her sympathetically as he guided her towards the exit of the hospital that had been his entrance. "You're going to have to forget about him. He's a dead man."

That angered her. "And you just let him go like that?" She snapped. "You should've went with him! You've got a gun!"

KC stopped and glowered down at her. "You don't think I know that? He went there unarmed, Clare. Not me. He could've asked for my gun or my assistance, but didn't. He simply wanted to make sure you were safe. I've got a promise to keep." He said, continuing to pull her along. "Now let's go."

Clare allowed herself to be dragged a little further as she realized the meaning of what KC said. "He's basically committing suicide," She murmured, stunned. "That's what you're saying."

Her answer was a mute nod.

"Well, that can't be it!" She protested. "He's got to have some other plan. Maybe he wants his... his accomplice to kill Scorpion! And then they're both going to escape!"

KC pulled her through the door and out into the open, where the sound of a helicopter was out in the distance. "You hear that?" asked KC, pointing up in the sky. "That's just the beginning. No one in that lobby will live to see another day. Scorpion will create some excuse to kill everyone in there to cover his tracks – that's what he does."

"I know Eli made you promise him to keep me safe, but I can't just leave them there," Clare said sadly, prompting KC to turn around just in time for him to feel her knee into his crotch. He collapsed to the concrete. "I'm sorry!"

Before she could hear his reply, she ran back into the hospital with.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, a sense of dread gathering in her stomach.

Please, please, please, God, don't let me be late.

With the pretense of a hostage situation behind them, the people Kyle had talked to were now ready to help in his cause. He had a man as a lookout; keeping Kyle informed of how man police cars were arriving on the scene as they came. When a car he didn't recognize arrived, he spoke up. "I think he's here!"

Kyle eased through the crowd of people that were now far more relaxed to the window, where he peered though to see the strange car that the man – named Chris – had identified. Kyle squinted in order to see better, although it was not needed. A tall, muscular man appeared out the passenger side door of the latest arrival and Kyle recognized Scorpion immediately.

This was it.

"All right, people!" Kyle said, sticking his arm in the air with his gun. "He's here. We've got to pretend like good little hostages and captor. So, please take your spots and let's get this show on the road."

A stark contrast to when he first arrived, all the people took their assigned spots on the floor and put their hands behind their heads. Kyle took his spot walking in a circle around them when the phone on the other end of the library began to ring.

"Answer it!" Kyle shouted to the hostage closest to it. The woman didn't flinch; knowing that was what Kyle was going to do. She made her voice sound shaky and weak as she called out to Kyle for him to come over and talk to the negotiator on his terms. Kyle stomped over there and offered the woman a small smile as he took the phone from her.

"What are your demands, Kyle?" The voice of Scorpion filled Kyle's mind. "Let's just cut straight to the chase, okay? You're wasting a lot of manpower here."

"I want you and you alone to come into this hospital, Scorpion," said Kyle calmly. "Unarmed, so you may face the truth."

"Face the truth? What's that mean?"

"You asked for my demands, and there they are. Do with them what you please. Just know that if you do need heed them, someone will be hurt."

Kyle quickly slammed the phone down before Scorpion could get the last word in. He was beyond playing games with that man. This was a time and place for an ending, and Kyle was determined to have it.

Kyle didn't have to take two steps away from the phone before it rang again. He picked it up expecting it to be Scorpion again, but it was a different man.

"Scorpion has agreed to your demands, Mr. Martin. He's making his was towards you now. Please do not shoot him – he's unarmed."

Yeah, right. Kyle murmured to himself. He ripped the phone out of the jack and made his way back into the lobby – just in time to see Scorpion open the front door and walk in with his hands up.

"Is everyone all right?" He asked, being completely unprofessional.

"Like you give a damn," One of them murmured.

"I care, I assure you –"

The entire lobby jumped as the sound of two gunshots erupted, followed by the sound of Scorpion falling to his knees.

"You... idiot!" Scorpion shouted with all his might, reaching for his stashed gun. Kyle pulled the trigger again; hitting him in the hand and making Scorpion fall backwards.

By the time Scorpion could put his secret gun into his uninjured hand, Kyle managed to kick it right out of his hand with one swift kick. As Scorpion tried to grab him, he smashed his boot into his injured hand, causing Scorpion to wince. Kyle leaned down meanacingly. "Now you're going to know the truth of what you've done."

Scorpion was about to say something as Kyle brought up his other foot and smashed it against Scorpion's face, hard.

The big man didnt move afterwards. Kyle suspected that he'd been knocked out, as had been his plan when he brought his foot across the man's face. He wanted him to wake up in a different world than he had fallen asleep in. There was just one problem with this plan.

Kyle didn't know how long Scorpion would be out.

In order to make sure he would be out long enpugh, Kyle smashed his foot against Scorpion's face twice, causing a laceration that began to bleed quite profusely. Content with his handiwork, Kyle took an ankle in each hand and dragged Scorpion over to the crowd of people that watched that small brutality with a faint look of disapproval; not that Kyle cared anyway. This man didn't deserve to be treated with respect. He was a monster, plain and simple. Kyle had done his best to show these people that.

Now it's time for the next part of my plan.

"Someone signal to the police outside that I want to talk about hostage negotiation," Kyle ordered, looking around. "You've played your hostage role, it's time for this crisis to end."

Eli, it seemed, was always arriving late to the party.

By the time he'd arrived at the lobby, Kyle had already gotten the upper hand. Seeing Kyle talking to some of what Eli suspected were his "hostages", Eli walked over to him and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Eli?" Kyle said, his tone suddenly distant. "I thought you were going to take Clare as far away as possible. If you're here, where's she?"

"She's in the hands of someone I trusted with her life."

"Why'd you come back?"

Eli looked over at the fallen form of Scorpion. "I just had to see him."

Kyle gestured, nudging Eli softly in the direction of the body. "He's alive, don't worry. He's just unconscious. If it'll bring you clousure to see the face of the man who has been your tormentor for so long, I won't stand in the way. I'll be right over here, okay?"

Eli nodded absentmindidly as he approached the fallen form. In this state, Scorpion didn't look nearly as intimidating as Eli had imagined him to be. He almost looked peaceful – something Eli didn't expect to see this man like at all. "You're not as scary as I thought you'd be," Eli murmured, sinking to his haunches as he pushed the man's shoulder. "Although you do look as cowardly as the attacks you've ordered on Clare," He snarled, his anger rises. "You and Jake thought that true men beat their women. You wanted obediance, and Clare defied you. That isn't something to be ashamed about. I'm glad she defied you. I'm glad she defied Jake." He paused, trying not to attract the attention of the other people around him as he leaned in as if to whisper a secret to him. "I thought I was sorry at first that Clare killed Jake, but now I'm glad. I'm glad that she doesn't have to worry about him hurting her ever again."

In his restricted line of sight, Eli hadn't seen the uninjured hand of Scorpion sink beneath his pants and pull out the holdout gun he'd had stashed away.

By the time Eli felt the muzzle of the gun at his chest, it was too late.

Bang.

Clare let out a blood-curddling scream as she saw the blood erupt from Eli's back the moment she had entered the lobby. She ran over to Eli, who had managed to fall backwards off of Scorpion rather than on him.

"Eli! Eli? Stay with me!" She cried as she craddled his head weakly, not knowing what else to do. She thought about applying pressure to the wound but upon taking a closer look at the hole that was in his chest, applying pressure might've been out of the question. She simply cradled his head; the panicked voices of the other people around her drowned out the moment she heard Eli's voice.

"Clare...?"

Her eyes widened, as her vision seemed to zoom in on him. The moment he had spoken, all she could hear was him. Everyone else had been snuffed out. "Eli, be still and quiet. You're going to be all right, you just need to conserve your strength."

He wasn't listening, of course. "Clare... Do... do you know what I saw... when I first saw you?"

Clare shook her head, the tears spilling and rolling down her cheeks as she shook her head. "No, I don't know what you saw."

"I could see your... bright blue eyes from the hearse. They were eyes of an angel, for sure.. I could see the momentary hurt that my running over them had caused. I had, to my luck, hurt an angel. I couldn't just keep going... I had to stop and let... you know that you had the most pretty eyes I've ever seen..."

Clare closed her eyes as she began to keen softly. "I was never an angel, Eli. You should've kept going. You should've never thought twice about me. You could've went on and married Imogen, and had children." She lowered her head. "You could've been happy!"

"Every moment I was with you... I was happy."

Clare expected him to continue, but there was just silence. She opened her eyes and saw the far away look in Eli's and knew that he wasn't with her anymore.

When the police finally stormed the hospital with the paramedics, she had to be pryed away from Eli by three police officers because she refused to let go.

She had just lost everything.

Everything.