A/N: As always, your reviews and enthusiasm means the world to me! Thank you everyone!

Where Not To Look For Freedom

"I don't understand why you want to stay here." Punk said as he carried his and April's luggage through the loft doors. "Most of our stuff is at the other place and I said I'd pack the rest up."

"I want to do it." April shrugged.

"We have to be out by the end of the month regardless." He reminded her.

"I know this, Phil." She said annoyed. "I just want to be here, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that we have a big beautiful home half an hour from here." Punk said to her. "A house you love, a house you spent months decorating and a house that you talked about our entire honeymoon and now suddenly you want to sleep here."

"I just want to make sure we don't leave anything behind." She said taking her bag from him.

"You're scared." He said to her.

"I'm not scared." She snapped at him.

"It's ok, Ape." He said to her.

"It's just a big house and you're diving right back into work..." she trailed off.

"I get it." Punk said to her.

"I mean he just walked right into our suite in another state imagine the damage he can do in our home." She shivered at the thought.

"Yea." Punk said to her.

"Regret it yet?" She asked unzipping her bag.

"Yea I do." Punk sighed. "But I can't change it-"

"I'm talking about marrying me." She warned him and his face fell.

"I'm talking about not catching Sawyer in Hawaii." Punk sighed. "Why would you ask me such a stupid question?"

"Because this can't be what you imagined. Why did you even want to be with me? You told me last year that Sawyer would kill me, he wouldn't stop." She reminded him as she pulled her dirty laundry out of her suitcase.

"I'm pretty sure I never said that." Punk said to her.

"You bought that house outside the City to have a peaceful life away from it all." She told him.

"I know it hasn't been peaceful around us since we met." Punk said to her. "But marrying you is the only mistake I didn't make." he said honestly.

"So what happens? Sawyer is a big threat again and I go running again? You post Marshal's outside my door?" She asked.

"You're getting a Marshal detail for sure." He confirmed. "I want nothing more than to give you something normal."

"I'm tired." She admitted sitting on the couch. "I'm tired of having the same conversations about James Sawyer over and over again." she told him as he sat next to her. "I don't even remember what it feels like to not have him in my life. He probably knows where I work too-"

"You'll have 24/7 protection. I'm having it set up now." Punk told her.

"One of the last Marshal's who guarded me shot me in the chest, the other tried to drag me to my death." April sighed. "I only trust you."

"If you trust me, trust I'm not making those mistakes again." Punk said to her.

"I want our kid to have a normal life." April told him. "I don't want her or him to go to school with their Marshal body guard and be confused why the other kids don't have one. I don't want to lay awake in the hospital after the baby and keeping an eye out for Sawyer in case he tries to take our baby. This is supposed to be the happiest time of my life. I'm a newlywed and a mom to be and before you say it will get better, I know I did this to myself."

"You didn't." Punk said to her. "Maybe if you didn't lie on the stand I'd be dead and you wouldn't be a pregnant newlywed right now." He shrugged. "Ever think about that?"

"No." She admitted. "I should have never walked into Ms. Paulson's apartment." she said to herself.

"Um, ouch." Punk remarked.

"I would have met you regardless." She said brushing it off. "I know you were destined to be my life."

"Yea?" Punk asked with a grin.

"Yea." She smiled lightly. "You are the person I was meant to annoy for the rest of my life." She shrugged and he laughed.

"We're having dinner with my parents tomorrow night but I can cancel-" He began.

"No!" She said to him. "I want them to know. It will distract me."

"My mom is going to ask why you're not living at the house." he warned her.

"I don't want to worry her." April said to him.

"She worries about everything." Punk said to her and stood up. "I want to go into the office for a few hours."

"Ok." She said looking at her suitcase then back up at Punk. "What?"

"You have to come with me." He told her and she groaned.

"Your office is so boring." She said getting up and grabbing her purse.

"I know, but I have to get you a Marshal and that's not happening for a few days." Punk told her.

April was peering outside of Punk's office window as he made phone calls.

"What are you looking at?" Punk asked peering over to his wife.

"John." April said freely and turned to see Punk glaring at her. "Not in that way." She scoffed knowing what he was thinking. "I didn't realize he was back to work."

"He is." Punk said simply.

"Maybe you're right about him having a connection to Sawyer." She said eyeing the clean cut man behind his desk.

"I have someone looking into that." Punk said to her.

"Why not just ask him?" April asked curiously looking back at Punk and he smirked.

"That's not how this sort of thing usually works, but thanks." Punk teased and she glared at him. "I don't know if he has a connection such as he's helping Sawyer or a personal vendetta. If he's helping Sawyer he won't tell me and if he has a vendetta there's a reason he's been keeping it a secret."

"Sometimes I think you over thing things." She shrugged sitting across from his desk. "I could ask." She offered.

"Or you could not." Punk said to her. "Stay away from him." He warned her. "I don't trust him."

"How's his wife and baby?" April asked.

"No idea." Punk said to her.

"I think I could get John to talk." She announced.

"What did I just say?" Punk groaned in annoyance. "Do you not listen to me?"

"You knew this when you asked me to marry you." She pointed out shaking her head. "I ignore all things I don't want to hear."

"Wow. You better hope our kid doesn't inherit that trait." Punk whistled. "I can't have two people in my life who completely ignore everything I say."

"Newsflash, kids always ignore all things. It will have nothing to do with me." She informed him. "Are you excited to tell your parents?"

"Not really." Punk said as he typed on his computer.

"Why? Aren't you excited to tell people?" She asked with a pout.

"Of course I am but I know my parents." Punk sighed. "My mom is going to glue herself to you. We're never going to have a moment of peace. My dad is going to talk about what a great grandfather he'll be but when the times comes he won't be around."

"I don't think you give your father enough credit." April said to him.

"I've known him my whole life, you've known him for a year." Punk reminded her. "I've actually beent thinking about my dad a lot actually."

"Yea?" She asked.

"Once I get Sawyer and the baby gets here I'm going to cut back on some hours here." He told her.

"Yea?" She asked with a grin.

"I'm not leaving the field or anything but I really want to cut back. I don't want to be the dad who's too busy at work to spend time with my kid." Punk told her. "I want to be present in his life and be there for him. I never want him to think that work comes before him."

"My fears of you working have nothing to do with the time you spend here it's about how dangerous your job is." April told him. "You'll be a remarkable father. I also can't help but notice you said him." she smirked.

"Ah, yes." Punk smirked. "Just a feeling."

"A feeling or a hope?" April questioned.

"A feeling." Punk told her. "You have to have some feeling yourself, right?"

"Boy." She admitted putting her hands on her stomach. "I've also been reading old wives tales and all signs point to boy. A little Punk. And if it really is a boy it saves us the trouble of naming him."

"Oh, shall he be nameless?" Punk asked amused.

"Well, I had an idea." She admitted.

"Do not name him after me." Punk warned her. "I hate my name."

"I love your name." She frowned.

"He deserves something original." Punk told her.

"That's a shame because I liked Jack." she told him hopefully and his face fell.

"After my brother?" He asked touched and she nodded.

"Jake Robert." She announced. "After both of our brothers. We could call him J.R for short."

"I like that a lot." Punk smiled and she smiled back.

"Really?" She asked.

"I think that's an awesome idea." He told her. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I love the name and I wish I could have met your brother." She told him sweetly.

"I wish I could have known him better too." Punk admitted.

"You never talk about him. I feel like I talk about Robbie so much that I never give you a chance to talk about Jake." April confided. "Makes me feel bad."

"I don't talk about him a lot because I didn't know him well. I barely remember him and my one memory of him is being killed in front of me." He told her bluntly and she felt her eyes begin to water. "Don't cry." Punk requested nervously.

"Everything makes me cry." She said annoyed with herself. "But that is really sad."

"Sometimes I feel lucky. I see how much pain you are in when you think about your brother and how the simplest memories can bring you down." Punk told her honestly.

"I wouldn't trade my memories for the world." She told him.

"The name is a nice way to honor him." Punk said to her and she smiled through her tears.

There was a knock at the door and Punk waved whoever it was in and she quickly cleaned her face.

"Ape, I want you to meet your Marshal detail." Punk said standing up and so did April and she turned around to see a very handsome man, not as handsome as Punk but still very fit and attractive.

"Hi there." April greeted sticking her hand out to the gruff man.

"This is Marshal Ambrose." Punk introduced. "Dean, this is my wife."

"We're going to be spending a lot of time together." Dean told April and she smiled. "Your husband has warned me about you too." he said and her face fell as he continued to shake her hand. "I know your tricks and I'm going to piss you off but that's fine as long as you stay breathing."

"You don't really mean 24 hours, do you?" April asked suddenly realizing that this guy meant business. There was no getting around him like she could with Punk, John, Corey or even Adam at the time.

"I mean 24 hours." Punk clarified and Dean smirked. "And he doesn't take bullshit. Dean is one of the most decorated Marshal's in this state." he told April who pulled her hand from his grip.

"I mean, he has to sleep." April laughed nervously.

"I think we have a guest room to spare." Punk told her.

"Speaking of, I need the key to your place." Dean said and April watched in confusion as Punk passed him his key.

"This is your copy." Punk told him.

"Why do you need a key?" April asked.

"Since you're not ready to go home, Dean is going to have the house installed with a state of the art alarm system. Camera's on the property, camera's at the doors-" Punk began to explain.

"Like prison?" April asked.

"I am having a fence put in." Punk admitted with a shy smile and April narrowed her eyes at him.

"Phil, I want our kid to have a front yard." April said to him. "I like our white picket fence."

"It's not like I'm having a wall put up." Punk explained. "Just something a tad higher and more secure. You won't even notice the difference. You'll also feel much safer."

"Don't worry about it Mrs. Brooks-" Dean began and April held her hand up.

"What did you just call me?" She asked.

"Mrs. Brooks." Dean said confused and her face lit up.

"That's the first time I've heard that!" She cheered. "You can call me April." She instructed Dean who just nodded.

"I should have the house set up by tomorrow night." Dean told Punk who nodded.

"Ape, I want you to take this seriously." Punk told April.

"I think it's pretty clear that I am." April said to him.

"I mean it. No sneaking off, no running off from him and you have to do what he says." Punk ordered her. "This isn't just you anymore."

"I know." April said quietly. "I'll be on my best behavior."

"Good." Punk said to her. "Then there shouldn't be any problems."

"I have to go to the bathroom." April said to them. "Are you going to follow me?" She asked Dean who smirked.

"Not in this building but I've heard about your run-ins in bathrooms and I will be there." he warned her amused and she rolled her eyes and walked out of the office.

"Is he watching her?" Punk asked as Dean peered out the window and saw John Cena's eyes follow April's figure.

"Yup." Dean said eyeing him. "John has always had some shady shit going on."

"He never gets near her." Punk warned him.

"No one is getting near her." Dean told him. "I'm damn good at my job."

"I appreciate you doing this." Punk said sitting back down while Dean kept one eye towards the window to make sure April wasn't being bothered.

"Protection is my job." Dean reminded him.

"You just came out of a one year protection detail I know you wanted a break." Punk said to him.

"Nah." Dean said to him. "This is what I do and I'm good at it."

"Your impeccable record is part of the reason I called you personally for this." Punk admitted. "And the fact that you used to work on this team and know James Sawyer."

"Part of the reason I didn't take that break was to get James Sawyer." Dean smirked. "And the fact that you did call personally. It's not like you to ask for help."

"It's not. But I have a wife and kid on the way." Punk reminded him.

"I'll keep her safe." Dean said positively.

"I have no doubt." Punk said to him. "She's scared, she's emotional-"

"I can handle her." Dean smirked but Punk shook his head.

"Trust me, she's tricky." Punk warned. "She's escaped from me many times."

"This is what I do." Dean reminded him. "I knew what I signed up for when you called. I knew you wouldn't have married anyone who was boring or easy to handle."

"Yea." Punk chuckled. "She's tough."

"I read the files you sent over." Dean said to him. "She saved your ass a few times too. She's got survival instincts."

"I want to know what James wants with her. Why wouldn't he kill her? He's had so many opportunities."

"You said that he said she saved him." Dean told him. "He thinks there's a connection there. The only ever person to protect him to the extent April did was his father."

"April didn't save him from prison out of the goodness of her heart. She did it because his father threatened to kill me." Punk reminded him.

"I'm well aware of that." Dean assured him. "But his daddy is locked up and the only other person he feels protected him and shares loves with him is your wife."

"Don't say that." Punk shivered.

"He'll see the baby is a obstacle." Dean informed him. "Him kissing her was a sign of what he wants from her and that's a Harley Quinn to his Joker."

"He's fucking crazy." Punk spat. "April doesn't even jaywalk!"

"He's a psychopath. He'll wait for the baby to be born before he makes his move." Dean said to him.

"You think so?" Punk asked.

"I do." Dean said to him. "He won't risk causing her physical harm by trying to get the baby out of her or-"

"Please." Punk said holding his hand up. "I can't even think like that."

"You need to." Dean informed him. "Like I said, he won't risk hurting her for that or he could have done it in Hawaii. He wants April. He doesn't want the kid."

"He can't have her." Punk said to him.

"We still don't have enough to bring him in. Wandering into your unlocked hotel room in Hawaii isn't enough." Dean told him and Punk nodded in agreement.
"But we don't want to bait him with April."

"No." Punk agreed.

"He knows he's being watched." Dean pointed out. "He's not going to litter. He knows his get out of jail free card is locked up now so he's not going to do anything too reckless."

"I don't even know if he's smart enough to think that clearly." Punk remarked.

"He'll be an angel until April has that baby." Dean warned him. "Then you have a problem. Because he'll grab April and eliminate the person or persons he thinks is keeping her from him. That's you and this kid."

"I wish he'd come from." Punk said coldly.

"I'm not messing around." Dean warned him. "He will take you out. He knows you're one of the biggest threats. You and your kid are the real targets, not her."

"He can't have her." Punk repeated to Dean. "Her and the kid are a package deal."

"As of right now." Dean added.

"She'd never go with him." Punk told him. "He'd end up killing her too. She'd give him no other options. He would literally kill me, my kid and then her." He said thinking about it.

"It won't get that far." Dean assured him. "We need to dig into the John connection but it won't be easy because he is a likable guy here."

"That's why I called you, you're an outsider to this office and I trust you won't have any trouble digging. I trust Corey too." Punk told him. "We'll get the dirt on him and I can present it to the Chief."

"Let's hope he's sloppy enough to have left something behind that we can use." Dean said to him.

"Alright." April announced walking back into the office. "I'm hungry. You need to feed me." she instructed Punk.

"I'm done here tonight anyway." Punk said standing up.

"Will you be eating with us or hiding in the corner?" April asked Dean who had to laugh.

"You have some attitude." Dean said amused. "I appreciate that and no. I won't be starting duty with you until tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow after dinner with your parents, right?" She asked Punk. "I don't want to scare your mom or dad."

"Yea, yea." Punk assured her. "They won't know about Dean."

"I have to get the security set up at the house today. I'll spend the night there getting a feel for the place." Dean told Punk who nodded.

"Nice meeting you." April said to him.

"You say that now but I have a feeling you're going to hate me." Dean teased.

"Me too." April admitted with a dramatic sigh.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Punk laughed and Dean nodded at him and left. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Pizza." She grinned walking out of his office and he followed her.

"I can go for some deep dish pizza." Punk agreed and glanced over and saw John eyeing them.

Punk grabbed her hand and shot John a death glare as he walked her to the elevator.