A/N: If you have ever read my fanfiction 'Family Reunion', this is an extended and slightly improved version of one of the scenes in that, thus the warning from the previous chapter still applies.

-All Alone-

Terry glared at the news report. It was something about how great the Alliance was, ergo it was something he did not believe. If the military was so wonderful, how come his wife had been killed 6 months ago?

"Dammit, I miss you," he sighed, before forcing the remaining resentment towards Hannah's former employer from his mind and turning off the laptop. There were bigger things than the Alliance's constant stream of 'look how great we are' articles. For example, today he and his daughter were going shopping to buy her a belated birthday present, albeit only two days since the date.

He finished his coffee before he went to go wake Hayley, only to discover that she was already awake and reading through a book on the Sol system, made especially for young children who already had a vested interest in the galaxy.

"Are you ready to go to the toy-?"

"Wait," the small redhead said without looking, running her finger below the bold, white text that said that Jupiter was the 5th planet from the sun. When she finished she closed the book, looked at her father and said, "Ready!" as a wide grin spread across her face, revealing a wide gap where her two top incisors would grow in.

Terry couldn't help but chuckle when she ran past him, already dressed in preparation for the trip. He hadn't seen her this happy in 6 months, not since her mother passed, although the book on the Sol system and his attempt at painting stars on her bedroom wall had cheered her up considerably.

He would never mention it to her now, but if this obsession with their home system and the galaxy continued through until she was a teenager, he would have to intervene before she decides to join the Alliance, like her mother had. He wasn't losing her to their incompetence too.

Hayley was in the middle of putting her shoes on when her father came out and told her she needed to eat breakfast first, causing the girl to let out an overdramatic sigh while she still continued to smile as she stomped through to the kitchen.

It was amazing how well she was coping, with her now at a point where she could freely console Xander, who she had since befriended. Before, comforting him would often bring up memories of her mother and cause her to become upset, but now she was able to keep that thought out of her mind. Quite remarkable for a girl who had only just turned four.

Once she had finished eating, Hayley and her father made their way out to the car. It was still an on-the-ground, four wheel car, something that was becoming increasingly rare as people moved over to the skycars that the xeno-freaks had brought with them when they allowed humankind to live 'alongside' them, as opposed to beneath them.

Honestly, Terry never believed that they had allowed humans to be on the same level as them, still keeping them restricted for killing Turian's, while they were still allowed a seat on the high-and-mighty council. He couldn't pretend he fully understood politics, but he knew that the treatment of the two participants of the first contact war was complete bullshit.

"Are you belted up okay, honey?" Terry asked as he got into the car. Nowadays, he only ever helped her into the car, as trying to belt her in often led to her screaming in his face. She was rapidly becoming independent, but she still loved nothing more than time alone and days out with her father.

"Yes, Daddy," it was easy to lose count of how many times Hayley had smiled that day already, doing so again while she clapped her hands together in excitement, planning what toy she would buy and play with.

There was a cool, new rocket toy that had come out recently, and whenever Hayley saw it on the TV, she would get up and point up towards the screen, giving her father the most pleading look she could muster. She decided that she would try and find that as soon as they got to the store. After all, her father had promised her anything she had wanted.

"Okay, time to go," he said, starting the car and pulling out of the garage.

Should have gone earlier, Terry thought as he stared at the solid mile of traffic ahead of him. He would have accepted the traffic as bad luck, had it been Friday the 13th, but today was a Thursday the 13th. He had always been a little on the superstitious side.

"Are we there yet?"

"No," Terry sighed at his daughter's question, which she had asked 8 times already, knowing that she was still otherwise mesmerised by the sky cars that were zipping through the air 2 miles above them.

He didn't trust anything of alien design, and saw them as nothing more than death traps. He wasn't a physicist and didn't really understand how any of this stuff worked, and the thought of people putting so much faith into the accidents waiting to happen made him infuriated.

Basic cars were being phased out and he knew that by the time Hayley could learn to drive, she would be driving one of those and potentially end up being killed by one of those. The thought of anything happening to her made him sick to his stomach.

"I want one," the redhead said, pressing a fingertip to the window and pointing up at the cause of Terry's frustration. She had also fixed her face to the window too, her upper lip being pulled up slightly when she moved herself lower to get a better look at the colourful dots flashing by.

The way Hayley appeared made the woman in the next car over giggle, before she returned her attention to the road.

"Not until you're 50, Hayley," Terry said as though he was joking, which he wasn't. In fact, he'd rather she never even thought about having one again, but there was no need to ruin her day by scolding her over something he didn't approve of that she clearly wanted.

"You're mean," Hayley pulled her attention away from the sky cars and pouted, crossing her arms and giving her father a look of disgust which he didn't notice.

The next five minutes passed in silence. One that Terry couldn't help but feel was a sense of foreboding, and that something bad was about to happen. He didn't know why he had that feeling, but he was unable to shake it.

It all became clear when he saw a flash of orange and yellow come from one of the sky cars above. He saw scraps of twisted metal fly elsewhere as the engine of the vehicle combusted and it came hurtling towards his car.

Hayley was unable to register anything. She had heard a distant bang, followed by a whistling noise that grew ever louder and closer. The next thing she knew, black smoke was creeping into every crevice and shards of metal were flying left, right and centre, causing her to reflexively close her eyes. An incredible heat enveloped her small form, but the red and orange that accompanied it missed her by an inch and then it was over.

The smoke had cleared by the time she was able to open her eyes again, and her entire body was stinging, especially from her right eyebrow to her left cheek. Her arms were red and sore with a couple blisters, and while the burns were not bad and would likely leave no long lasting scars, Hayley couldn't help but scream at the sight.

"Daddy!" She wailed, trying to get her father's attention.

He was slumped over in the driver's seat, his head thrown back with his neck bent at an unnatural angle. Small shards of metal were sticking from him at random intervals, with a large one embedded in his abdomen. Blood was pouring freely from his mouth and the dozens of scratches and burns that had formed elsewhere. To make things worse, he was entirely unresponsive to his daughter.

"Daddy..?" Hayley's cries suddenly became quieter as she attempted to reach out to her father, "wake up!" she said with force, as she was about to make contact with his arm.

Outside the car, there were people shouting and screaming. Sirens could be heard growing closer and closer. Some people were howling in pain while others were bellowing for help, which would not come soon enough.

Just as Hayley touched her father's arm, someone reached in through the shattered window.

"Help! There's a girl in here!" It was a woman's voice, and her body became visible as she reached in so she could unbuckle the four year old, constantly trying to hush her while she became frantic and attempted to hit the woman who was trying to help.

"No! My daddy won't wake up," she cried, smacking the woman relentlessly, wanting nothing more for her to give up so she could continue in an attempt to wake up her father, "I need to wake him up!"

The buckle became undone, and the woman quickly moved the belt out of the way so that she could pull Hayley out of the car while doing as little damage as possible. However, she wasn't prepared when the small girl lurched forward in one final attempt to get to her father.

"Daddy!" Hayley squealed, breaking free of the woman's hold on her and grabbing her father's arm, only for the limb to be so slick with blood that her hand slipped away with ease when the woman returned in another attempt to remove the injured four year old.

This time, she was successful, but all hopes of not hurting the child left when the constant kicking and screaming led to the reddened skin being rubbed a bit too raw, causing more blisters that was too painful for Hayley to bear.

She was taken over to the first available ambulance, where paramedics tended to her wounds while they were on route to the hospital, placing cooling packs on Hayley's arms and bandaging the gash on her face that was bleeding profusely.

The entire time, all she could do was cry out for her last remaining parent.