Hello! I'm back already! I wanted to bring the action and drama down a little bit and introduce a bit of humor here, so I hope I was able to manage that.

Thanks to those of you who reviewed last chapter: Aquababy58 and Stephanie! You're awesome! I hope to hear from you after this update!

Enjoy!

- Steve, are you okay? – asked Danny, worried because his friend seemed to be in a world of pain if his scrunched up face was any indication – were you hit?

- I'm fine – came the obvious and totally expected reply. He was sitting on the floor with his knees drawn to himself, cradling his left arm and dripping wet from head to toe. Annabeth was kneeling next to him and Danny was hovering over the both of them still at attention in case someone else came at the out of nowhere.

- Sean? – asked Annabeth hesitantly. Steve tilted his head up and held her gaze for a second before answering.

- Dead – he said, and just to make sure the message got across without a hint of doubt, he repeated – he's dead – she closed her eyes a released a big breath.

- Good… good – she then looked further away from the pier they were standing on and into the water to make out the floating body of the man who had turned her world 180° degrees over a week ago. She sighed again and started telling herself that at least half this nightmare was over. The other half would begin when she and Steve faced what had happened at their home; but this was not the time or the place to do it.

- What about Paul? Everyone else? – asked Steve.

- Paul's dead too. The two workers are currently secured on the inside and everyone else is dead – said Danny – it's over. Hey, what's wrong with your arm? – he asked, seeing the way his friend kept his left arm pressed close to his body and the disturbing color that the skin was starting to acquire.

- It's broken – he answered, having to hold his left arm with his right one because the throbbing pain had intensified since coming out of the water. They all examined the limb and knew that this was worse than any normal break. There were bruises with the shape of fingers all over his left forearm that were turning a nasty shade of purple, but that was nothing compared to the black shadow that expanded underneath those marks from his wrist to his elbow. Apart from that, it was terribly swollen and by now it was obvious that every single movement, even the smallest one caused him a great deal of pain.

- Let me ask you something – started Danny in that tone of voice that suggested he was warming up to initiate one of his famous rants – what is it that compels you to use your left arm as if it was Captain America's shield ah? You use it to stop bullets; to deflect knifes, to hold the side of freaking mountain cliffs! And now you hand it over so that someone can break it with… what? A boat anchor?

- It was a metal pipe – Steve corrected – and it would have been just fine if the crazy son of a bitch hadn't decided to hang into it and twist it every five seconds.

- It would have been just fine? Just fine? – Danny continued to ask almost indignantly – because having your arm broken with a pipe is totally fine but having it jerked around is suddenly too much?

- Yeah, that's about right – he simply stated.

- Apparently you don't have a whole lot of love for your left arm, do you? – Danny finished asking. Annabeth and Steve could see that Danny was genuinely trying to raise a point here, but the rant was so ridiculously normal that they had to try and suppress their giggles to finally give into the laughter that earned them a half glare from the Jersey detective. But, the truth was, Danny was glad he could help easy some of the tension from the group. Although, that didn't take away the fun of feigning annoyance - that's right, laugh now but don't come complaining next time something happens to your arm. You were insufferable the first few days of having that cast on – Steve just smiled at that.

- Just help me up will you? – he said and extended his right arm so Danny could take his hand and help him get to his feet. They could hear distant sirens approaching the facility and knew that the police must have been informed about what had happened there. Probably someone calling to report a lot of gunshots and what must have sound like a gang war – I'll go brief HPD into what went down here and then we can let them process the scene and handle the bodies. No more need for us to be here than necessary. Then he started walking towards the front of the building making sure to keep a tight grip on his arm. Before Danny began to follow him though, Annabeth grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

- Thank you… for being cool about all of this – she said sincerely. He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently but firmly.

- You'll get over this. You both will – he stated looking her directly in the eyes – I'm gonna be here for you every step of the way, but you're stronger than all of this – and by the moment he finished, she stepped closer and gave him a hug.

- Thanks – she whispered, and then they made their way together towards the now arriving cars of HPD. They made it just in time to hear Steve finishing his explanation to an officer.

- … inside. There's also a body that needs to be recovered from the ocean right by the third pier on the left side of the place – the officer soon made his way to his men to start coordinating the scene and Steve turned to his partner and sister with a strange expression on his face.

- What? – asked Annabeth. Steve swallowed tightly with a frown on his face. He also looked something close to embarrassed.

- I think I need to go to the hospital – he said because the pain in his arm was really making him nauseated and dizzy.

- You think!? – said Danny exasperated – what were you planning to do before huh? Cover it in duck tape and swallow just a couple of Tylenol? Just get in the car you goof… at least I'll be able to drive for once. And he started to make his way to the Camaro walking a little bit faster than necessary. If SuperSEAL himself admitted that he needed to go to the hospital, then his arm must have been literally killing him and he didn't want to waste any more time before heading to the hospital. Annabeth and Steve followed him close behind.

There you have it. I wanted to do something kind of different with this chapter and that's why it was just one big dialogue from top to bottom. I think it was a way to freshen up a little bit the action and drama and also, a good way to introduce some humor right into the mix. Did you enjoy it or did you find it tedious to read? Either way, next chapters will be written normally.

Now that both brothers are dead and they can finally star to move forward, the only thing left to see is how Steve and Annabeth are gonna get through and over what happened to them. It's time to heal the wounds (both physical and emotional) and that's what will happen on the next chapter.

I THINK next chapter will be the last one. I still have to think if there's anything else I'd like to add to the story but, so far, this will come to an end on the next update. As I've said before: this is NOT the end of our characters because I have a lot of stories to write about them!

I hope to hear your comments soon!

Until next time!