For Those You Love

Chapter 15

"Lee!" Katjaa's voice echoed, waking lee from his peaceful slumber. "I need you, right now."

"What's up Kat?" He asked, the deep rumble of his voice barely a whisper as to not wake his sleeping wife and daughter. He saw Ben's eyes focus on him through the dark.

"I need you to get Ken." She whispered, her voice dead. She hastily grabbed for a nearby cloth and dabbed a small trickle of blood from her son's face. "He's… he's out of time." She choked, looking up at the tall man.

"I'll go." He replied, stroking the young boy's hair caringly before moving to the door. He made his way along the train with his hands in his pockets. How was he supposed to say this to his friend? Duck's dad?

Before he knew it, he was standing behind Kenny, who was sat in the drivers seat and staring out at the long stretch of track.

"You… uh… you need to stop the train, Ken." Lee said softly, internally hating himself. When he didn't get a response, he held out the bloodied tissue that Katjaa had discarded. "Kenny."

"What?" He replied, obviously knowing that the 'deaf' act wasn't going to work. He didn't look at the other man. "I'm busy."

"Ken." Lee urged, making him look around.

"What the hell's that?"

"Your son's blood." Lee sighed, dropping the tissue and closing his eyes. He knew this would happen. He knew that Kenny wouldn't listen.

"Get outta here, Lee." He growled back, not daring to look at his friends face.

"You know he's dying." The younger man whispered as he reached out to touch his friend's shoulder. Kenny just shrugged off the grip and glared.

"Nobody knows shit! He'll be fine!"

"He won't be." Lee croaked, fighting away his emotions. "He's going, Kenny."

It was asif a switch had been flipped. Kenny suddenly looked as if he were about to burst into tears as he argued.

"What's the goddamn deal? He's a little sick, but we can't just quit." He snapped, turning his head to look at his friend. "It's a scratch. He's not like the others. Jesus, all ya'll are just makin' it worse."

"You're in denial!" Lee shouted, hoping that a violent approach would finally wake the other man up.

"And you've given up! On Duck, on EVERYONE!" Kenny shouted back, obviously trying to gather some strength for the upcoming battle.

"STOP IT GODDAMNIT!"

"Fuck you, Lee!"

"You're gonna listen, Kenny." Lee growled as Kenny stood to square up to the other man. He continued, his voice taking a dangerous edge. "I don't know what the hell's wrong with you, but you need to lock it up. Be a man here." He said, nudging Kenny's shoulder. This seemed to make him more angry.

"Oh, you want a piece of me?" Kenny asked, narrowing his eyes. "Is that it?"

In response, Lee shoved him hard in the chest, making him fall backwards against the console.

"Yeah, I do." He smirked as if nothing had happened. "You're acting like nothing's wrong, and somebody's gotta knock some sense into you.

Then, Kenny pounced, grappling Lee by the shoulders and making him fall against the controls. Once again, Lee took advantage of his strength and pushed his arm against Kenny's upper chest.

"I told Katjaa that I'd get you to stop this. You bet your ass I'm gonna." He grinned. What he didn't expect was for Kenny to suddenly overpower him, flinging his fists across his face repeatedly.

"Just Leave me – the fuck – alone!" He bellowed, cornering his friend and still swinging his fists madly. Lee didn't even try to fight back, knowing that he just needed to let his anger out. "I don't need – you – and Duck doesn't – need you!"

He saw his go to take another swing and braced himself for the impact.

"You're kid's alright! You don't know what this is like! You fucker!" He screamed before smashing his knuckles into Lee's left cheek. Red blood oozed out from the fresh wound and splattered onto Kenny's t-shirt. "You're not helping my family! You're not helping Clementine and Carley! You're not helping ANYBODY!"

Two more punches and Lee was laid against the console, clutching his side and guarding his head with his shaky hand. His eyes were already darker and his wedding band was splattered with blood from trying to stem the bleeding of his cheek

"I fucking hate you, Lee. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" His face softened slightly and he breathed deeply. Lee noted how his expression became one of despair and confusion before Kenny spoke once again, this time soft and scared. "I…I… I don't know what to do."

"S-stop the train…" Lee groaned, spitting out blood from his mouth and hastily wiping it away.

Kenny's shoulders slumped as he reached for the brakes, pulling it quickly.

"Come on, man." Lee grunted as he clasped Kenny's shoulder and guided him out of the driver's compartment, towards the heartache he knew was imminent.

The first thing they saw was Katjaa, who looked to be on the verge of tears and stroking her son's sweaty hair. Kenny went quickly to his wife's side and hugged her tightly. All Lee could do was approach his own wife and daughter slowly with a sad smile on his face and watch his friends make their impossible decision.

"What happened to your face?" Carley whispered, cupping his cheek in her left hand and turning his head so the red cut was facing her. "Jesus, Lee!"

"I… I got Kenny to stop the train." He said simply, receiving a look that clearly said 'don't fuck with me, Everett'.

They both looked down upon hearing a sniffle and immediately switched their attention to their daughter, who had tears streaming silently down her cheeks. Carley quickly brought the girl into a warm embrace, hoping to make it somewhat easier.

"Well, who then? Do you want me to do it?" Kenny's voice rang through the silence. Katjaa just stared at him through eyes that were full of despair and Lee knew what he was going to do.

"I- I'll do it." He said closing his eyes, hating what he knew was imminent.

"Lee, thank you, but it should be a parent." Katjaa said softly, threading her fingers through Duck's short hair.

"No parent should have to do this." Lee countered, squeezing Carley's hand softly before walking over to Kenny. After some muttered conversation, Kenny turned to the other man and gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you, buddy." He said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "We're gon' take him into the forest, so Clementine doesn't have to see. Give us a minute to say goodbye?"

"Of course." He nodded as he watched Katjaa pick her son up into her arms and carry him away. Lee felt a small hand on his and turned to see Clementine looking up at him with a look of sadness.

"Katjaa!" She squeaked, pulling out a piece of folded up paper and running over to the woman. She handed her it and softly stroked Duck's hand. "It's so he'll remember all of us. He can take it with him."

"Thank you, Clementine." The woman whispered, clutching it desperately. "I'm sure he'd love it."

Lee had to admit: The woman had balls.

If he was faced with something like that, he'd be bawling his eyes out by then. No way would he be able to carry Clementine out into the woods to be killed. Neither would Carley.

He saw Carley kneel down with her arms open for her daughter and made his way over to them. The young girl turned to look at him through teary eyes and spoke very softly, as if she was nervous.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make sure he's okay." Lee sighed, reaching out and taking her hand in his. Behind her, he saw his wife, whose cheeks seemed to be wetter than they were before.

"But how… he's bitten?" Clementine pressed on, looking directly into the chocolate brown eyes of her father.

"By making sure he doesn't come back." He admitted as she moved back to her mother. "Clem, I promise that things will-"

BANG!

A gunshot pierced the sombre atmosphere and could be heard clearly. Lee was immediately on edge.

"What the-"

"NO!" Kenny's cry sounded and Lee stood quickly, turning to Carley with worried eyes.

"Carley, take Clementine onto the train." He urged. Upon seeing her hesitant look, he continued. "Go. It'll be fine."

He kissed her softly before sprinting into the forest. He couldn't think, only that anything could have happened.

Eventually, after running for what felt like hours, he came to a clearing and stopped short upon seeing knelt sobbing over his wife's lifeless body.

"Kat! Kat! Katjaa!" He called desperately, clinging onto her hand and shaking her shoulders. Disbelief was evident on his face. "Why, Kat? Honey, oh fuckin' God…"

Lee's eyes were focused on Duck's small form that was laying against a nearby tree, evidently still alive. Then, he fixed his gaze back upon the couple on the forest floor.

"Oh my God…" He whispered, finally realizing what had happened. Katjaa hadn't been able to cope. She wanted to be with her son.

Kenny sniffed as he brought his fingers over her eyelids, successfully concealing her azure orbs once and for all. His eyes found the dropped gun and he picked it up in his shaky hand as h stood to face his dying son, who was still breathing with difficulty.

"What do we do?" He asked helplessly, obviously confused and scared beyond belief.

"Give me the gun, Ken. I'll do it." Lee whispered, laying a comforting hand on the other man's shoulder before taking the firearm off him and raising it to point at the ten-year-olds forehead. Before he pulled the trigger, he locked eyes with his friend. "It'll be okay, man."

Kenny nodded and Lee brought his focus back to the task at hand. In his mind, he was wishing to god that Duck would forgive him.

"I'm so sorry, buddy. You be sure to never stop being Robin…"

BANG!

A/N- Alright guys, I just wanted to get something off my chest. I'm really insecure about my writing. After receiving some rather nasty PM's, it took me a while to get back into the swing of things. So, if you like the story, please put it into a review? It'll help me a lot. Tell me what you do/don't like about It and why you have that opinion. I know it sounds so bad but those PM's have really given me a knock down. So, until next time HPTwin out!