AJ watched the world go mad and didn't know what to do. A large smelly man had appeared in their house and tried to carry off Gabby under his arm and then there were other men with guns. Now they were sat in the big dining room where he'd had the party before, only now everyone was terrified and upset.

The man in the suit, who was obviously in charge, had demanded the kids be taken away. Before one of the smelly men could come and grab him, AJ got up on his own. He was going to have to be strong, for Gabby and his B-twin. They both looked so scared right now. Just this morning Bianca had told him how brave she thought he was; he was going to prove her right.

Francois stood up too when the soldier came forward.

"You can't just take the children. At least let me go with them. I'm a nanny."

The man in the suit sniffed and nodded to one of his thugs who pushed Francois back down to the floor.

"Take a seat." he said roughly.

He turned to the thug again.

"Get the kids out of here."

The guy lunged to pull Ayesha from Camilla. Reggie surged forward to stop him but three other men grabbed him and held him down.

"I'll take her." said AJ putting himself between the gunman and his little sister's best friend.

Camilla kissed her little girl and, upset as she was, she encouraged her to go with him. Ayesha was heavier than she looked, but AJ managed to pick her up and she latched her arms around his neck. He looked to Miranda. She had gotten to her feet too and was now taking her sister by the hand. She was crying but she was going to be brave just like him.

…

Spike had woken up in a nightmare. He had been dragged from his bed without his hearing aid and the world was a silent mime and it scared him more than anything. A man came forward to drag him from his mom's arms. Spike's eyes sought out AJ. His friend was bending down to pick up Ayesha, stubbornly ignoring the man who had a hold of his collar. His expression was determined.

Spike made the decision to follow his friend's example. He turned in the big man's grasp and reached out to take his little brother by the hand. His mom grabbed his cheeks so she could watch her lips tell him she loved him and to watch his brother. He replied that he loved her too.

Emma was hanging onto her daddy and refusing to be pulled from him. She looked like she was screaming. Spike pushed at the man to let her go. He then held his other hand out to her. His dad gave him a grateful smile. Emma was crying so much she couldn't see where she was going so Spike hugged her instead as they hurried up to join the others as they were herded from the room by three men with big guns.

…

AJ gave Spike a welcome nod as he came and joined him. They were marched across to the bungalow that had been there home. It wasn't far but it was a struggle with the weight of Ayesha in his arms. More of the grubby soldiers were coming out with armfuls of their stuff. Miranda suddenly darted towards one of the ugliest goons and grabbed at something in his hand.

"You can't have that! You can't have it!" she screamed hysterically.

The man raised a fist to knock her away but one of the guards pushed him back and glared a warning. The goon released his grip on whatever had been so important and Miranda hugged it closely to her chest.

Gabby was left upset and confused that her sister had let go of her hand. AJ had his hands full with Ayesha so he couldn't shepherd her but Emma, still sobbing, took Gabby's hand instead. They were all in this together.

…

They were shut into Miranda and Gabby's room. It had been turned over, one of the mattresses was now on the floor and their bags and clothes had been thrown all over the room.

"What was that?" AJ asked, still in shock that Miranda had taken on one of the armed men.

"I couldn't let him take it." she said slowly revealing her treasure. It was Marissa's music box. "She gave it to me to help me with my nightmare… I had to keep it safe"

She lifted the lid and the soothing tune filled the air and the fear and the terror drifted away with the music.

…

Spike watched the tension in Miranda, Gabby and AJ's faces melt away when she lifted the lid of her little green pot. Emma and Ian also seemed to relax.

"What is it?" he asked.

Miranda looked at him, and realised he was without his cochlear implant.

"It's a song." she said. He watched her lips as she sung the words for him and he had to admit that the words made him feel better.

"All through the night, near and far, we will be together…"

…

"Are we going to be alright?" Emma asked, her voice catching.

They had been locked in for a few hours now and had made themselves comfortable on the fallen mattress. Of all of them there Emma looked the most scared. The little ones didn't really understand the danger, and Miranda and AJ had unfortunately done this before.

"We just need to do what they say." said Miranda remembering her time held at knife point by the evil Reverend Ricky. "That's how you stay safe, you do what they say."

AJ grunted, Ayesha was sat on his lap and she getting insanely heavy. Then he realised she was falling asleep.

"But what do we do now?" Emma asked.

AJ woke Ayesha up so he could carry her over to Gabby's bed which was still intact.

"I think the little ones should have a rest, maybe." he said. "It still they're bed-time."

Ferreting around, he found one of Gabby's toys and handed it to Ayesha. Gabby let go of Emma's hand, drawn to her friend and the fact she was holding Mrs Bunny. Spike pulled Ian over as well.

AJ found, Strawberry bear and Mr Monkey as well amongst the messed up bedding and handed them out amongst the other little ones.

AJ and Spike took charge of putting the younger kids to bed while the girls just watched.

"And then what do we do?" Emma asked.

"We wait." Miranda said with a sigh. "We wait."

…