The first thing he saw, was his daughter, Jessica, crouching in a corner, her arms around her knees, her hands on her ears. A dark hole above her head marked the place of a missed gunshot. The poor girl was so scared that she didn't seem aware of her surroundings anymore. But she was still alive.

James' eyes travelled along the room quickly stopping on Coltrane's body, lying motionless on the ground a few feet behind him. Blood was slowly trickling down his shoulder. He didn't pay much attention to him and soon his eyes found what he was looking for.

Thomas was leaning on the wall, his eyes unfocused, his arms dangling on each side of him. His mouth was slightly opened, as if he still couldn't believe what had happened. For a wild second, James thought that he had been hurt and his eyes scanned his body but he couldn't see any sign of a wound. Then a thud echoed and James saw a gun, his gun, on the ground just below Thomas' shaky hand.

Something clicked in his mind and relief washed over him. The first shot had been Tom's and the second one had been Coltrane's, but being shot he couldn't aim accurately and missed Jessie before collapsing onto the ground.

James was nearly too happy to breathe properly. His children were safe. They were both safe. He laughed nervously but jumped as someone arrived on the threshold. Recognizing his wife, he smiled and reached out a reassuring hand and pulled her inside the room. "They're fine." He whispered, not realising it himself.

Harry spotted her children as James' words made their way and she took a shuddering breath as tears slid down her cheeks. This was over. At last, this terrible ordeal was over and her children were unharmed.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw James approaching his daughter and put a hand on her shoulder whispering "Hey, princess." The girl looked up, her big blue eyes shining with tears. She looked stunned to see her father. Sitting next to her, he soothed down. "I'm here. It's over now Jessie, it's over." and he hugged her in a tight embrace. "Oh daddy..." she sobbed and held on tight to him too.

Harry focused her attention on her son who seemed shell-shocked. He hadn't moved an inch. Spotting the gun on the floor, she closed her eyes a second as comprehension dawned on her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she went to him and kissed him on the forehead. She held him tight then let go of him, rubbing his shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes. "My big boy..." she murmured.

"I shot him..." Thomas' voice was hoarse, as if coming from a distance. Then he looked up into his mother's eyes. "I shot that man." He said in a quavering voice.

Harry shook her head with a small smile. "No." she corrected. There was no hesitation in her voice. "You saved your sister, that's very different."

A little light of hope appeared in the boy's eyes but disappeared almost instantly. "But you said..." he swallowed hard. "I... I disobeyed, I kept the gun and..."

"...and I'm glad you did." Harry finished quickly. "You did save your sister Tommy, and... your father was right, you are old enough to protect your family. I'm so proud of you." She sobbed and hugged him again. She felt James' hand on her shoulder and turned. He was standing right behind her, one arm around Jessica's shoulder. Harry caressed her daughter's face as Dempsey clapped his son on the back. The couple shared a genuine smile, a perfect moment of happiness.

A scraping noise and a sudden gush of wind made them all jumped. Harry shuddered, noticing the trail of blood on the floor, but that wasn't what was upsetting her, it was the missing body of Coltrane. She turned to her husband. His face had hardened when he had seen Coltrane's figure escaping by the opened window. He let go of his daughter muttering "Never again..."

The next moment, Dempsey had bent to pick up his magnum at Tom's feet and in a dash he was gone by the window too, yelling "Coltraaane!"

He was chasing him across the lawn and the gun in his hand felt like an old faithful friend that wouldn't let him down on this critical time. Coltrane had already reached the shelter of some trees, but Dempsey was confident that he would catch up with him easily; after all Coltrane was wounded. Soon he would be able to put an end to all this and this time he would make sure that Coltrane would never stand up again.