Hey guys here's the next chapter! Thanks again for all of you reviews. I really appreciate all of your comments. Hope you like this chapter (Again...Extra long!).

Jaybes: I forgot to respond to your idea last chapter but I'll definitely consider the idea for Rummer. Could be like a spin off from this fic which I can write at the same time (depending on how long this fic actually is).Thanks for the suggestion :)

Chapter 66

"It's a dead end" Charlie said as she got out of the car, closing the door with a frustrated slam "It's a bloody dead end!" she glanced at Cameron and Joey who were standing at her side "He came this way, didn't he?"

"Yeah" Joey nodded in response and looked around for the man "I still don't understand why we're following him though"

"He said that Ruby and Summer ran off" Charlie answered choosing to block out his implications of what had happened in the house "And since this is the only other way they could have gone since we would have passed them if they had gone the other way...He must be following them so we have to find them before he does"

"Um...Right" Joey nodded feeling herself growing more nervous by the second at Charlie's disturbingly calm demeanour "But it's a dead end"

"We'll walk" Charlie said glancing at Cameron who nodded her approval "They probably went through the woods when they found it was a dead end". Wasting no time she started walked forward into the relative darkness of the woods.

"Do you think we're going to find them?" Cameron asked nervously "I mean...the woods are huge. They could be anywhere"

"We'll find them" Charlie nodded firmly "We have to...Before Grant does"

"Maybe he decided to take off?" Joey offered optimistically "Maybe he isn't actually looking for them"

"I doubt it" Charlie sighed as they continued walking "He seemed pretty pissed off with them for some reason. He wouldn't just leave them alone"

They walked in silence for approximately 20 minutes before Cameron spoke up hesitantly, her voice soft "Charlie?"

"Hmmn?" Charlie hummed in distracted acknowledgement, her eyes on Joey who walked slightly ahead of them, obviously more used to long walks because of her job.

"What do you think he meant?" Cameron asked fearfully "When he said that he had been...'Messing with them'?"

Charlie swallowed hard at the question, feeling sick just thinking of the possibilities "I don't know Cam. I hope it's not what it sounds like but...thinking about what he did to us..."

"I know" Cameron nodded slowly "But he wouldn't stoop as low as to...I mean Ruby's his daughter! Biologically I mean..."

"I don't know" Charlie took a deep breath to try to calm herself "I don't really want to think about that. All we can do now is hope..."

"We have to find them quickly" Cameron noted obviously "I can't believe we wasted so much time back there..."

"Well we were almost blown to pieces" Charlie reminded her though she too was kicking herself at how long they had waited "And we had to make sure they weren't still around the house first..."

"But it's dawn" Cameron sighed heavily as she kicked at the leaves beneath their feet in frustration "Which means they've been out here all night and most of yesterday. We're running out of..."

"Time. I know" Charlie snapped "I really don't need a reminder..."

"Sorry" Cameron apologised quietly "I didn't...I mean, I'm just..."

"Scared...I know Cam" Charlie responded gently "So am I. But we will find them"

"I don't understand how you can be so calm" Cameron frowned in confusion "I'm practically near melt down here"

"I'm not calm" Charlie muttered "I'm just trying to focus on getting them back. If I think about anything else I'm going to fall apart and...I can't do that right now. There's plenty of time for that later"

"Hey" Joey called from in front of them "I think I found something..."

"What?" Charlie watched in alarm as Joey slid slowly down quite a steep hill in front of them "Joey! Are you insane? Where the hell are you going?!" despite her words she quickly followed her wife with Cameron hot at her heels "What is it?" she asked when they finally reached the bottom.

"Um..." Joey knelt down and ran her finger across the substance on the leaves before lifting her hand to inspect it "Blood"

"Shit" Charlie swore under her breath as she glanced from Joey to Cameron "That means either Grant is close or...One or both of them are bleeding"

"I don't know which is worse..." Cameron mumbled quietly.

"We need to hurry" Charlie said trying to keep her voice steady but finding that it shook anyway "We have to..."

"Is that smoke?" Joey asked looking over Charlie shoulder at the sky "It looks like smoke..." Both Charlie and Cameron turned around to look at the sky.

"It is" Charlie nodded quickly "Maybe that's them...C'mon!" with that she turned and rushed through the forest, with the other two women hot on her heels.

---

"C'mon" Summer muttered tearfully to herself as she struggled to get the pile of twigs and leaves she had gathered to light "Damn it..." she glanced hopefully over at Ruby, her expression falling immediately when she noticed that the younger girl was still in the same position. She turned back to her attempt at a fire and tilted the small fragment of broken glass in her hand towards the barely present sun "Come on!" a moment later a small spark flashed and the twigs she had gathered ignited causing her to exhale in relief. She quickly threw some more wood onto the flames to make the fire bigger before she rushed back to Ruby as fast as her injuries would allow her.

"Ruby?" she whispered as she knelt down next to the other girl "Rubz?" when no answer was forthcoming Summer closed her eyes briefly against her tears "I'm going to get us out of here. Charlie will find us soon..." she risked a glance at the fire before looking down at Ruby "And if Grant turns up...I'll protect you. I promise I won't let him near you" she paused for a moment, hoping for a response "Just hang on in there Rubz" she lowered her hand to Ruby's and stayed still for a moment before hauling herself painfully to her feet.

"That should do..." Summer muttered as she limped over to a large piece of wood and picked it up. She proceeded to hobble back over to Ruby and sat next to her on the ground "We'll be fine". She lost track of how long she sat like that, holding the piece of wood close to her but after what felt like hours a noise from her left caught her attention and she lurched to her feet, piece of wood held defensively in her hands. She felt her hands grown clammy and her breath labour as she waited for the person who made the noise to appear. She shifted awkwardly lifting her injured foot slightly off the ground. She was so sure that Grant was about to burst angrily through the bushes that it took her a couple of minutes to process as Charlie appeared instead.

"Summer!" Charlie gasped out loud as her gaze focused on the injured teen, noticing that she was bleeding and her foot appeared to be hurt with only a brief glance.

"Charlie..." Summer dropped the piece of wood to her side and limped out of the way "Ruby...She won't wake up!"

Charlie paled dramatically as her eyes dropped to her daughter "No..." she ran over to Ruby and dropping down at her side she placed two fingers on the inside of her wrist, finding only a faint beat "Ruby?!" she gently tapped the teenager's cheek as tears welled up in her eyes "RUBY WAKE UP!"

"It's her blood sugar" Summer said quietly "She hasn't eaten in days and all I had was stupid chewing gum which ran out really quickly!"

Charlie nodded though she didn't appear to be fully listening as she was too focused on Ruby "How...How long has she been like this?"

"Since this morning" Summer answered just as Cameron and Joey burst through the clearing. At the sound she lifted the piece of wood in her hands and turned to them but relaxed upon seeing who it was.

"Summer..." Cameron gasped upon seeing the state her sister was in "What..."

"Cameron" Summer coughed finally allowing the piece of wood to drop to the ground as she limped forward slightly. She stumbled but felt a pair of arms wrap around her before she could hit the floor. She revelled in the familiar comforting embrace as she allowed her tears to fall unhindered "Ruby..."

"Charlie?!" Joey asked in alarm as she slumped to the ground next to Ruby and Charlie "What's..."

"She has a pulse" Charlie stated tearfully "But it's really faint...I don't think she has long"

"Wait!" Joey gasped as her hand flew to her pocket "I have glucagon!" she pulled the small pack from her pocket and handed it quickly to Charlie "It'll bring her blood sugar back up"

Charlie stared at the package in her hand for a moment before she ripped the plastic open allowing the contents to drop gently to the ground in front of her. She grabbed the needle and removed the protective plastic from the point before she injected the liquid from the syringe into the half full bottle and swirled it around. When the mixture was finally clear she quickly pierced the film lid of the bottle again and drew the liquid into the syringe. Charlie gently moved Ruby's shirt up so her stomach was visible and pierced the skin with the needle. When all of the fluid was injected she pulled the needle out and waited with baited breath "Come on Ruby..." when nothing happened after a couple of minutes she glanced back at Joey "Nothing's happening"

"I have more of that in the car" Joey answered "She might need a double injection"

Charlie nodded and glanced over her shoulder at Cameron "Cam?" she pulled her gun from her belt and ensured the safety was on before she offered it to Cameron "Take this. If you see him..."

"Got it" Cameron nodded as she took the gun while still holding onto her unsteady sister.

Charlie turned quickly back to Ruby and gently lifted her into her arms as she stood up, suddenly thankful that the teenager was light enough to carry "We have to go"

"How does she do that...?" Joey muttered to herself as she offered her arm to support a badly limping Summer. They quickly started after Charlie who was already a good three metre's in front of them.

---

Charlie bit her lip as her foot tapped nervously on the waiting room floor her thoughts unwillingly turning to when she had last seen her dad in the hospital. She shook her head quickly trying to rid herself of the imaginary flatline that filled her ears.

"Hey" Joey said as she placed a hand on Charlie's leg to still it "She's going to be okay"

"How do you know that?" Charlie asked tearfully "She hasn't even woken up yet and Rachel won't tell us anything! That can't be a good sign..."

"Ruby's a fighter" Joey reminded her gently though she too looked terrified at the prospect of losing the teenager "She's going to get through this"

"I can't do this" Charlie whimpered as tears tracked down her cheeks "I can't lose anybody else Jo. Especially not her..."

"I know" Joey pulled Charlie gently into her arms, trying to keep her own tears at bay as the older woman sobbed quietly "She's going to be absolutely fine though. You'll see...She'll be awake in no time to complain about being in the hospital or to try to escape to see Summer..."

Charlie nodded against Joey's shoulder though she didn't feel much better "Where are Cameron and Summer?"

"Summer's pretty banged up" Joey said quietly knowing that Charlie was trying to focus on anything but losing her daughter " But she wouldn't leave the waiting room so Rachel told her that she was injecting her with painkillers when she was actually sedating her. Apparently it was the only way to make her move"

Charlie couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped despite her tears "I'm sure Summer will have something to say about that when she wakes up. She's pretty terrified about this...Didn't even want to leave Ruby's side. She looked about ready to kill somebody with that piece of wood back there..."

Joey nodded slowly "I..."

"Charlie? Joey?" Rachel's voice sounded cutting Joey off.

"What is it?!" Charlie leapt to her feet with Joey at her side "Oh God Rach please don't tell me she's..."

"She's fine" Rachel interrupted quickly with a small smile "I've managed to stabilise her blood sugars and other than that she's absolutely fine...Apart from a bit of a cut on the back of her head"

Charlie expression relaxed slightly but she still appeared worried "Um...Rachel? Did you...Did you check if anything happened to her? You know..."

"No" Rachel said in response "I didn't check. I figured that we should wait until she actually wakes up to ask her"

"Oh" Charlie nodded slowly "Of course" she lowered her hand and grabbed Joey's for comfort "But...Did it seem like it?"

"I can't tell for sure" Rachel answered "Sorry Charlie..."

"It's okay" Charlie muttered as Joey squeezed her hand "Can we see her?"

"Of course" Rachel nodded "Just follow me..."

"Hey" Joey spoke up stopping Charlie from moving "I'll be there in a minute okay? I just have to go and check something first..."

"Okay" Charlie appeared confused but nodded anyway. She kissed Joey quickly before pulling her hand away "But hurry..." with that she turned and followed Rachel down the hospital corridor to Ruby's room.

"The IV's just a precaution" Rachel said as they stopped outside of the room "She's fine"

"Thanks Rachel" Charlie hugged the doctor tightly "You have no idea how much this means..."

"I think I do" Rachel said with a small smile as they pulled away "If you need me I'll be around here somewhere, okay?"

"Okay" Charlie nodded and watched Rachel walk away before she entered the room shutting the door behind her.

"Ruby?" she whispered as she sat on the chair next to the bed and took Ruby's hand tentatively in her own. She sighed sadly when there was no response but knew that was to be expected because of the drugs. She held her breath when she felt a squeeze to her hand as if Ruby knew that she needed a response but exhaled when the teenager didn't stir. She leaned forward and rested her head on her arm on the bed, falling asleep in a matter of minutes thanks to the stress of the past five days as well as being awake for seventy four hours straight.

---

"Charlie?"

"Hmmn?" Charlie mumbled sleepily at the sound of a soft voice calling her name, drawing her further from her sleep "Wha..."

"Charlie!" the voice got slightly louder.

"Huh?!" Charlie sat up straight in her chair and blinked rapidly "What? What happened?! I'm awake..." when she was finally awake enough to remember where she was her eyes widened in surprise when they landed on Ruby who was sitting up in the hospital bed "Ruby! You're awake!" she promptly stood up and threw her arms around her daughter in a light hug.

"Yeah...I am" Ruby tightened the embrace as she hugged back fully aware that Charlie was trying not to hurt her "I'm not going to break you know"

"I thought I was going to lose you" Charlie whispered as she tightened her hold "You have no idea how scared I was..."

"I'm fine" Ruby reassured her with a small smile as she pulled away "You're not going to get rid of me that easily"

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked trying to suppress her tears of relief "I mean...Do you feel okay?"

"I feel better than I have for the past few days" Ruby shrugged. Her eyes widened in alarm as she noticed something "Where's Summer?!"

"Sedated" Charlie answered.

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed "What do you mean se...?"

"She was hurt" Charlie said quietly "But Joey said she wouldn't leave the waiting room so Rachel tricked her into being injected with a sedative...Apparently she told her it was a sort of painkiller"

"Ooooh" Ruby nodded unable to stop the laugh that escaped her "She's going to be pissed when she wakes up"

"Where is Joey?" Charlie frowned suddenly as she looked around "I haven't seen her since...I don't know when. I don't even know what day it is..."

"She went to get some coffee" Ruby answered "She said you were already asleep when she got here yesterday and she didn't want to wake you"

"Oh..." Charlie nodded slowly.

"Can I go and see Summer?" Ruby asked hopefully already reaching for her IV "I need to know if she's okay..."

"Whoa!" Charlie exclaimed as she grasped Ruby's hand "Remember what happened the last time you pulled that out? I'm willing to bet Rachel would be twice as pissed off if you did it again..."

"Fine" Ruby pouted as she allowed her hand to drop to her side. The fell into a brief silence before she spoke up again "I missed you...While I was away"

"I missed you too" Charlie smiled lightly her eyes glittering again with unshed tears "You have no idea how much..."

"I'm fine!" a voice from outside of the door caught their attention "Stop fussing already!"

The door swung open and Joey walked in looking slightly exasperated "Look who I found while getting coffee. Miss I'm going to limp around the hospital for an hour to find the right room"

"I wasn't limping around for an hour!" Summer exclaimed as she limped into the room with Cameron right behind her ready to catch her if she should fall "Maybe 45 minutes..."

Charlie and Ruby exchanged amused looks at the other teenager's antics.

"Hey" Summer said softly her expression turning suddenly serious as her eyes fell on Ruby "You're...Awake"

"Yeah" Ruby offered a small smile "I am" she rolled her eyes as Summer shifted nervously and blinked rapidly, obviously trying to get rid of oncoming tears "Would you just get over here already?" she opened her arms to the other girl.

"I don't wanna hurt you..." Summer said hesitantly as she hobbled over to the side of the bed.

"You won't" Ruby reassured quietly "Just...Please?" she released a breath of relief when Summer hesitated for a moment before wrapping her in a warm, tentative embrace.

"I was so scared..." Summer whispered tearfully "I thought that you..."

"Hey" Ruby said softly as they pulled from the hug and she lifted a hand to wipe Summer's falling tears away "I'm okay. I told you I wouldn't leave you...Remember?"

"I remember" Summer nodded causing unshed tears to fall "I'm just...I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything in the woods..."

"Don't apologise" Ruby cut her off gently "You saved my life. You saved me in more than just one way. I don't know what I would have done without you there...You're my hero"

"Well I don't know about that" Summer chuckled as she wiped her tears away. She glanced at Charlie, Joey and Cameron who had glanced away at the private moment. She shifted and winced as her foot hit the ground "Ouch!"

"Here" Ruby shuffled to the left and patted the bed next to her "Jump up..."

"I really shouldn't" Summer winced clearly in pain "I don't want to knock any tubes or..."

"You won't" Ruby rolled her eyes "Just do it Sum. You're in pain standing up and if you don't sit you're probably going to fall"

"Fine" Summer sighed and sat on the bed next to Ruby "But I'm only doing this because you asked me to"

"Whatever" Ruby laughed before they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Rachel is going to kill you" Ruby said suddenly as she looked down at Summer's arm.

"Why?" Summer frowned.

"You pulled your IV out" Ruby answered "I did that once. It's not a good idea..."

"It's fine" Summer shrugged "I don't even know why I had to have it..."

"Because you're dehydrated" Cameron answered with a disapproving look.

"Yeah...That" Summer said with a shrug "I feel fine though"

"What's wrong with you?" Ruby asked curiously "Is your foot broken?"

"Apparently my ankle's sprained" Summer answered "And I have 'bruises and lacerations' from my trip down the bank. It doesn't hurt that much"

"It looks like it hurts" Ruby said as she traced a scratch on Summer's arm.

Summer shrugged "They have me loaded with Drugs"

"Hey" Charlie cut in hesitantly "Um...I have to ask you both something" she glanced at Joey and Cameron who nodded for her to continue "Erm..."

"What is it?" Ruby frowned.

"When you were with...him" Charlie swallowed heavily silently dreading hearing a certain answer to her question "Did he do anything to either of you? I mean did he...Touch you in any way?"

"Uh..." Ruby glanced at Summer who had turned silent. This however only fuelled Charlie's already high concern.

"Did he?"

"He didn't touch me" Ruby answered softly her gaze flitting between Charlie and Summer "He threatened to but...He didn't"

"Summer?" Charlie asked as she noticed Ruby's look "Did..."

"No" Summer answered with a shake of her head "He didn't..."

"Sum" Ruby whispered in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Cameron asked worriedly noticing her sister's expression as well as the short exchange "If there's anything..."

"He didn't" Summer repeated unable to look Cameron, Charlie or even Ruby in the eye.

"We have to find him" Joey said suddenly "We've been so distracted I completely forgot that he's still out there somewhere..."

"Wait!" Ruby said in alarm finally shifting her confused gaze from Summer "He's still out there?! He isn't locked up yet?!"

"Yeah" Charlie nodded in response "He got away from us back at the house. We don't know where he is...He could be anywhere by now"

Summer and Ruby glanced at each other in worry though Ruby was still focused on the worrying idea of Summer lying about what Grant had almost done.

TBC