He's dreaming.

He knows he's dreaming because Paula is with him. Paula is with him and they're running across the rooftop again and there's that light in her eyes that only comes from doing totally insanely reckless. He knows he is dreaming because Paula is with him and he never wants to take up.

Ever.

Paula's eyes start to go wide again like they did last night and she's starting to shout something at him and she's shoving him away with the strength that was always so surprising in her graceful, lithe form.

He tries to fight this time. He tries to stay in place so he can take the bullet—take the bullet that took Paula away from him forever. He fights to stay in place—

And he fails.

He smashes into the chimney like he did last night. He smashes into it and rolls to his feet and flips to Paula's side to pull her out of the line of fire. He knows it's too late because he knows it's just a dream but he tries anyway.

And Paula is dying again.

"Paula …"

By rights, she shouldn't have been able to speak—not with that wound. But Paula had always lived by her own rules—and damned if she didn't die by them that way. "Lawrence … the girls. Do not let this be their fate. Promise me. Promise me—"

"I promise, baby. I'll keep them safe. Just don't leave me. Please don't leave me—"

"Lawrence …"

She dies saying his name.

That's how it happened last night. That's how it happened in real life. But this is a dream and it's not over yet.

"Paula …"

"Mommy can't hear you anymore, Daddy. She's gone to a better place—or a worse, I guess."

"Jade…"

She's there in a green and black uniform. He knows that uniform. Knows it and hates it—hates what it means.

"No, baby. No …"

"Oh come on, Daddy. You know this is who I am. This is what I've always been meant to be. This is what Mommy trained me to be. This is what you trained me to be. An assassin. A killer." She slips a white cat's mask—the mask that Paula had given her—onto her face. "A Shadow."

"No, Jade! No! Not you! Not this! I promised!"

"Well, we both know how well you do at keeping your promises, Daddy dearest." Jade flips from the roof they're standing on to another. "I have to go now. They're waiting for me."

"No, Jade! No! I won't lose you too! I won't!" He leaps across the roof. "Come back, Jade! Come back!"

She's always just ahead of him. No matter how hard he tries, no matter how fast he runs, she's just ahead of him … fading away from him … fading into the Shadows …

And then she's gone.

She's gone and he's alone on a rooftop and there's a body there.

It's not Paula.

It's a cop.

A cop with an arrow driven into his heart and a rifle by his side.

A sniper rifle.

"I got him, Daddy."

It's not Jade.

"Artemis …"

His youngest daughter, his little girl, steps out of the darkness with her bow in hand. Her eyes are cold and her face is like the face he sees in the mirror when he comes back from a killing mission. "I got him, Daddy. I got the cop who killed Mommy."

"Artemis … baby… no…"

Not her too.

Not his Artemis.

Jade is suddenly beside her.

"Aren't you proud of your girls, Daddy? Aren't we exactly what you and Mommy wanted? We're just like you."

Artemis slips a mask over her youthful face. It's a goalie's mask.

It's his mask.

"Just like you, Daddy."

And Artemis holds up her hands, and they're covered with blood …

"No, baby! NO!"

He's still screaming when he wakes up.