The Games That Play Us

Two years. It had taken two years to get to this moment. It's like all of those memories flashed through Punk's head immediately. Seeing April in the interrogation room, her hands covered in blood. Everything they had been through lead to this moment.

"Lock the door." James instructed Punk.

"I can't. I broke it." Punk said calmly as he kept his eyes on April's. She looked very calm which put him at ease a bit.

"Barricade it then." James told him. "Or you can go and leave me alone with your wife."

"Fine." Punk agreed.

"Ah, ah." James scolded teasingly. "Drop your gun, please."

Punk eyed James now but then realized there was no option. James had zero reason to keep April alive so he wasn't taking any chances. Punk slowly lowered his gun to the floor.

"Kick it across the room." James instructed and Punk did it. "Take that piece of wood and wedge it under the door. We need privacy." He told Punk.

"Don't hurt her." Punk said and James didn't even flinch he just gave Punk a slow smile.

Punk quickly grabbed the wood and reached to close the door and wedged the wood under it. He could hear commotion upstairs and heard the other Marshal's running in.

"Don't take too long!" James yelled.

Punk came back down the stairs slowly and saw they were in the same position.

"It's been a long time since we've all been together. Was the last time in the woods?" James asked them but neither responded. "I suggest one or both of you engage with me before I get bored."

"Yes." Punk answered quickly.

James was pressing a gun to April's head and Punk was at his mercy. His entire world was his wife and he was now going to do everything this mad man asked of him if it meant keeping her breathing another day.

"I remember that night. April outran me." James smirked. "You remembering that?" he asked kissing the side of her head and Punk felt bile in his throat.
"Don't worry, I'm not attracted to her. She's a little too young for my liking." he told Punk.

"So don't kiss her." Punk suggested coolly.

"It's a friendly gesture. You should feel good about being me being so delicate with her." James pointed out.

"I am." Punk forced out and moved his eyes to April.

"April and I have this uncanny connection. We are constantly running into each other. It's almost like destiny." James said to him.

"He was going to kill me." April told him and James covered her mouth with his free hand.

"I was." James admitted. "I was about a second away from it when I heard you coming down. I had a feeling if she wasn't my shield you would just kill me." James told him.

"You're right." Punk said to him. "But she's tiny. She won't be a good shield if you plan on getting out of here."

"She is short." James had to agree.

"There's an army of Marshal's upstairs. They can easily shoot you over her." Punk told him. "I'm taller."

"Phil." April's response under James' hand.

"They won't be able to see you behind me. I'll get you out of here." Punk offered.

"Then you'll kill me." James smirked. "I see it in your eyes. I always see it in your eyes every time we meet. You're always ready to kill me. But I always have something you love in my hands. Last time it was your daughter."

"I remember." Punk said to him, remaining calm.

"That's who I want." James told him. "That's who I need."

"She's not here." Punk informed him, sounding smug while doing so.

"I noticed." James told her. "What about a fair trade? Your wife for your daughter?"

Punk glared at the man and April shook her head.

"Stop." James warned her as he bent her neck back a bit and Punk heard a crack and his heart dropped. "I didn't break it. She just needs to stretch more." he smirked.

"There will be no trade for our daughter." Punk told him.

"I didn't think so." James smirked. "You've been after me for years." He told Punk. "You arrested my father to get back at me-"

"I arrested your father for being a criminal." Punk corrected.

"Our states dates back before April. You've just always had a hard on for me." James laughed. "I was the one that got away. Every. Single. Time. You took my father from me, you took my friends-"

"You didn't have friends." Punk scoffed.

"You forced me to live a life on the run." James said to him. "What was it about me that attracted you to me so much?"

"You're a criminal. I'm a Marshal. It's easy math." Punk responded.

"There was something about me that you were drawn to." James grinned. "I know you feel it."

"Look, you're in a lose/lose situation right now." Punk warned him. "You have two choices-"

"I can die or be arrested." James finished for him. "I'll take you both with me." James smiled. "Your children will be orphans, well, the boy will be I'll take the girl." April stiffened in his arms at the remark. It was the first time Punk saw her scared tonight.

"You don't seem to understand. You're not getting out of this house." Punk informed him. "Killing us isn't going to get you any closer to our daughter."

"But it will put me at ease." James said to him. "You've made it your personal mission to get me and I'm going to get you first."

"Don't." April said as James pointed the gun at Punk and she knew he would gladly take the bullet over her. "We'll do whatever you want, we'll help you get out."

"Yea? You would do that for me?" James asked grinning down at her and stroked her cheek. "She's so fucking loyal, I can see why you bone her." he said to Punk crudely. "Those cute little doe eyes. You aren't half bad now that I look at you." James looked up at Punk and smiled and pushed April into his arms.

"Don't hide her behind you because you know I'll just shoot you." James warned him and April clung to Punk's side.

"That was good." Punk encouraged. "You don't want to hurt her, you don't want to-"

"I do. I want to hurt everyone I come across. It's who I am." James corrected. "But I want to know the lengths you'll go to stay alive, well, to keep her alive. I ask all my victims that. You wouldn't know because they're all dead. You know I like to play first."

"April, you can go." Punk told her.

"No, April you can not go." James corrected. "I'll kill him. And my gun won't jam this time."

"I'm not going anywhere." April said holding onto Punk.

"Kiss her." James told Punk.

"What?" Punk asked confused.

"Kiss her. Thank her for being so stupidly loyal to you. That's true love." James said pointing his gun at her.

"Alright." Punk said kissing the top of her head.

"Not like that." James groaned. "Kiss her like you kissed her in the woods." he told him with a smile. "I saw that kiss."

Punk leaned down and kissed April but kept his eyes opened and on James the entire time. He wasn't sure what his game was but he was sure he was sicker than he thought. James licked his lips as he watched the two.

"I like that." James grinned as Punk broke the kiss. He could taste April's tears on his lips. "Do you remember our kiss?" he asked April but she didn't say a thing. "You didn't kiss me like that. Come here." He said using his finger to waved her over.

"No." She said shaking her head.

"Loyalty again." James smiled. "My dad had that kind of loyalty. Then I had no one. I had hoped you'd give me the same loyalty you gave him but I realized that was impossible. You were too tainted. Even though you saved me."

"I saved Phil." April told him coldly.

"Ape." Punk warned under his breath.

"She's spunky." James smirked. "Kiss her again."

"Excuse me?" Punk asked in disbelief.

"Kiss. Her. Again." James told him. "Bite her lip a bit, she's been a bad girl." He grinned.

And now Punk realized where this was going. He eyed James coldly and he just nodded at April.

"Do you want me to do it?" James offered.

Punk leaned down and kissed her again, and again kept his eyes on James.

"Don't stop until I tell you." James told him. "You're going to remember this moment every time you kiss. You're going to remember me standing here. Forcing you. Think you'll still want each other by the time I'm finished?" he asked almost gleefully.

"You mother-" Punk began as he pulled away from April and James pulled the trigger back.

"I didn't tell you to stop!" James yelled. "You took away my partner, I'll take away yours." He told him. "Kiss her again!"

"I don't want to." April cried.

"Ape." Punk whispered. "It's alright." he assured her quietly and she just nodded.

"She started crying way later than I thought she would." James laughed and April's face turned from anger.

"Ape." Punk warned again.

"She's always crying. I bet she cries more than the babies." James laughed. "Get back to it." he ordered.

April reached up and pulled Punk into a bruising kiss. Punk knew she was mad and proving a point but he had to keep his eyes on James. He saw Jame biting on his own bottom lip and grinning. When punk saw him reaching into his own pants he began to lose it.
"Touch her." James told Punk. "And remember this moment."

Punk lost it. He tried to remain calm but he wasn't going to let James taint his physical relationship with his wife. He wasn't going to let him get off and then kill them. Punk shoved April to the floor, harder then he would have liked but he wanted her out of the way as he lunged for James who pulled his trigger and shot Punk in the chest which sent him crashing to the floor.

"Phil." She whispered in horror as she saw her husband lie motionless on the floor.

April didn't realize Punk had pushed her right to where he threw his gun. She reached for it slowly as James watched her.

"April, it's over now. We're all going to die and we're all going to go together." James said pointing his gun at her. "We'll all be in hell together."

"You're going to hell." She hissed and raised her gun and shot him.

April stood up and stood over James to inspect him. She wasn't sure he was dead. She dropped to her knees and leaned over his body.

"You were a dead man the minute you touched my daughter." She hissed. "I hope you burn in hell for eternity."

April then remembered Punk was in the room and went to turn her head but that's when James wrapped his hand around her throat.

"I'll take you with me, bitch." He hissed in pain.

She felt someone lift her up which pried James' grasp of her neck as the door was kicked in upstairs.

"Are you ok?" She heard Punk ask and she turned around his arms and began to inspect his chest.

"I had my vest on." Punk reminded her. "It knocked the wind out of me for a minute though."

April didn't even respond she wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you." She said against his chest as Marshal's filled in downstairs.

"How the fuck did he get in here?" John demanded to know looking at the other Marshal's.

"He has a pulse!" someone yelled.

"Let him die!" April yelled pushing the Marshal off of James.

"Stop, Ape." Punk encouraged. "It's over." he promised her as she sobbed in his arms. "It's over. " he kept repeating into her ear quietly.

April was sitting in the hospital waiting room an hour later. Punk was getting checked out after taking a bullet, even though it hit the vest he most likely he cracked or possibly broken ribs. Punk wanted her to get looked over. She was basically unharmed minus a few scratches around her throat from then Punk pulled her away from James. The night's events were weighing on her heavily. It wasn't even the fact that she was nearly killed in the garage and almost killed again in the basement, but she was in shock over shooting someone.

No one explains the power of shooting a gun to someone. James Sawyer was a terrible man but taking a life wasn't something April wanted to live with. If she could go back in time though, she wouldn't change a thing. She thought James killed Punk and something came over her. Then the constant reminder of how James wanted Mya also terrified her. He would kill J.R if he could. She felt like she was being torn in a million directions.

"April." Punk greeted as he stood over her and she looked up.

"Are you ok?" She asked and he nodded.

He had on a hoodie that was unzipped and no shirt on underneath, but his ribs were wrapped.

"Cracked rib but I'm fine." He told her. "Let's go."

"No." She said shaking her head.

"Did you get looked at?" He asked her.

"I don't need to get looked at." She said and he slowly and carefully sat down next to her. "Hurts?"

"Just when I sit." He remarked. "Why don't you want to go?"

"James is in surgery." She told him.

"Dean will call us." Punk assured her. "Let's go get the kids and go home."

"Home? Where I shot a man?" she asked.

"We'll go to a hotel tonight." He shrugged. "It will be cleaned up."

"I can't leave until I know." She told him. "You should go to the twins though."

"I'm not leaving you here." He said and placed his hand on her knee. "What's going on?"

"I have to know if I killed a man." She whispered.

"It was self defense." Punk told her.

"It doesn't change the fact that I might have murdered a man." She said to him. "I don't regret it but I still feel guilt, is that weird?"

"No. You're just an amazing person." He shrugged. "I've known this about you since the day I met you. You didn't have a choice tonight. It was him or you. He would have gone after Mya again." He added.

"I know." She said biting on her nail. "I just...I may have killed a living person."

"He wasn't a person." Punk told her. "He was a very sick lunatic. Sicker than I thought."

"Why did he keep making us kiss like that?" She asked him.

"He got off on it." Punk shrugged and she cringed. "He wanted to make it so if we ever kissed again we'd think of him. Taint it, taint us."

"Why did he hate us so much?" She asked shaking her head. "What did we do to him?"

"He was jealous." He told her simply. "He's was a lonely guy, a lonely kid for that matter who didn't fit in anywhere. Maybe I pushed him further when I arrested his father." he said thinking about it.

"You can't blame yourself for doing your job." She said to him softly.

"Like you can't blame yourself for defending yourself and your family." He pointed out.

"I just want to wait." She said to him.

"Alright." Punk said sitting back. "I'll wait with you."

"You don't have to. You're probably exhausted." She said to him. "Dean or Corey will wait with me."

"Nope. I'll wait." He said to her. "We're a team, remember?"

"Yea." She said giving him a faint smile.

"It's over, whether he lives or dies." He told her.

"If he dies he's going to haunt me for the rest of my life." She told him fearfully. "I'm not a trained Marshal, I can't kill people even they're bad-"

"He's not going to haunt you unless you give him the power to." He told her but she didn't respond. "You want to hear something weird?"

"I don't think tonight could get any weirder." She muttered.

"Oh, it can." He warned and she looked at him. "Aren't you curious as to why I went into the basement?"

"No. I assumed you heard me scream." She shrugged and he shook his head.

"That's like three floors down from where I was." He pointed out.

"So, why did you go downstairs?" She asked.

"I saw something and I might be crazy but I swear it was your brother." he told her and she eyed him. "I didn't recognize him at first but then I saw his picture in our room and it was him. He ran right past me and down the stairs towards the basement."

"You have like a sixth sense?" She asked teasingly.

"No." He said. "But maybe it was like when James was going to kill me and I saw my brother." He suggested. "There's a reason I went down into the basement tonight."

"You saved me." She smiled and kissed the side of his chin. "You always do."

"Actually, you saved me like you always do." He smirked.

"I just don't want him to die." She blurted out. "I can't live with that. It will haunt me for the rest of my life. I'd rather him go to prison."

"Whether he lives or dies he's out of our lives for good. He's never going to get near us or our kids again." Punk told her.

"That is a relief." She had to admit.

"No more guards, no more fear." he grinned. "Our kids can play in the yard and we don't have to move or be afraid every time we hear a noise."

"I like that." She admitted with a small smile.

"Why are you shaking?" He frowned grabbing her hand and clasping it between his two.

"I don't want to be a murderer." April whispered terrified. "I'm not that person."

"You're not a murder." He said to her. "I've killed people in the line of duty, do you see me as a murderer?"

"No. But you're a trained professional. You take an oath." She pointed out. "Also, this is why I could never be a Marshal or a cop." She admitted.

"You're brave, you're strong, you're a wife and you're a mother." her told her. "You're not a murderer."

"We'll find out." She sighed and he kissed her hand.

"You're the ultimate protector and I'm damn proud of you." He told her.

"Thanks." She responded quietly.

"April, did you get looked over?" Dean asked walking over.

"No. I'm fine." She said shaking her head.

"You need to get looked at for the police report." Punk told her. "I'll come with you." he offered.

"No. You sit and rest. And you make sure he doesn't get up, he's in a lot of pain." April ordered Dean who nodded.

"What's going on with her?" Dean asked watching her walking away, it was easy to tell something was very wrong with her and it wasn't just about being held by a madman there was more.

"How is Sawyer?" Punk asked ignoring his question but also keeping his eyes on his wife as she was ushered into a private room by a nurse.

"It's still early but it looks like he'll pull through." Dean told him.

"Good." Punk said and Dean eyed him.

"Seriously?" Dean asked with a laugh.

"Ape couldn't live with herself is she killed him no matter how justified she is for killing him." Punk said.

"Is that why she's so upset? She's so weird." Dean teased but Punk glared at him.

"She's not built like us." Punk said to him. "She's special. She doesn't have a killer bone in her body."

"We're not killers." Dean pointed out.

"You know what I mean." Punk said to him.

Another two hours later James Sawyer's eyes fluttered opened. He couldn't believe he was still alive. Still being alive meant there was hope. He was satisfied with killing Punk, even if he didn't get April. Jame's weak smile was gone when he saw Punk basically nose to nose with him.

"I never thought I'd say this but man, am I glad to see you awake." Punk grinned. "Save your strength." He urged the horrified man. "You and I are going to be spending A LOT of time together. We have statements, and a trial. I'm so happy you get to live and suffer." he told him. "You're my bitch now." he informed James then walked out of the room leaving James petrified.