Hey.

What do we have here? Two chapters in a single night? I'm impressed. And I'm the writer.

If you didn't already get the memo, this fic is primarily US Marshals. There will be a decent tip of the hat to Kimble, but count on mostly just the team, a couple OCs, and a few flashbacks and nods to Ridge (err, that is, RDJ).

He did a Peter Pan right off of this dam right here!- T. Mostly violence towards "puppies". (I.e., Royce shot my favorite puppy.)

I didn't kill my wife!- Not according to storyline. (Obviously... I really don't think that I need to say that anymore.)

Kids, stay awake- I do not slash, but, like quite a few of Fugitive/US Marshals fans, Sam and Noah for best Father/Son combo in the fandom would have my vote. So it kinda shows. Beware.

Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard opened the door to the apartment with the gunfire only to find exactly what he did not want to see. Newman had turned the whole wall a deep, foreboding scarlet. Sam winced. The thick, warm liquid was spreading steadily across Noah's white T-shirt. Gerard was at the boy's side so quickly, he was sure he could hear a sonic boom.

Noah's head tilted slightly upwards at him, and the boy's empty eyes shifted towards him with a glazed, pleading stare. Too late, Sam, they seemed to say grimly. Too late. Sam gritted his teeth. No, Sam put a sharp retort in his own face I'm not going to lose you. Not now.

Sam looked at Noah. Somehow, it always seemed that he could read the kid's mind. Not really, of course. They weren't really telepathic. But sometimes you got so close to someone, you almost could read their minds. Noah Newman was pretty much an open book to any stranger who tried hard enough. And Sam learned to read him very quickly. Quite frankly, it was a blessing and a curse.

Noah's face became almost unbearable. Sam suddenly couldn't define Noah from his own guilt. Why are you late? I needed you. Why didn't you come? Sam vaguely remembered calling the policemen on the radio. He barely heard Royce's explanation of the incident. His attention was fixated upon the broken body in front of him. "Don't move, kid... Don't talk, don't move, don't talk."

Newman's expression quickly changed from shock to pure terror. Sam made the mistake of trying to read him again. Sam, Noah seemed to silently cry, please help me! It hurts so bad! Sam, please help! I'm scared... Dad, I'm scared. It drove all of his sanity away. He fumbled for his radio to call for help for the second time in thirty seconds. "This is Gerard, I need an ambulance-" It was a good thing that the police chose that moment to appear, because Sam knew if he didn't leave, he was going to lose it- right on the radio.

Gerard pushed himself back into command mode. "Get your EMT people up here, stat!" He grabbed a piece of cloth- he really didn't know what it was, and he was quite beyond caring- and packed it onto the wounds. "Hold this on this kid," he told Royce. And if he thought Noah couldn't look more terrified, well, he was wrong. At the mention of Royce tending to him, Noah seemed to go ballistic. Sam Gerard read Noah one last time, and left out the window. He would never forget what he saw on that boy's face. No! Sam, please don't! Don't leave me! Please don't leave me! Dad... Please don't.

Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard felt his eyes become moist on the way up the fire escape.

From a different point of view...

Noah stared blankly up at the ceiling. Where was Sam? He needed to get here.

Noah felt a hot, sticky liquid soaking the center of his T-shirt. Aww, man, he tried to make light of the situation, I really liked this shirt. With another bolt of pain came the realization that his shoulder had been hit as well. He winced. Who was he kidding? This was the end-of- line. The final chapter. The last sentence.

He started feeling tired. Too much blood loss his body seemed to pout. His vision wasn't much better. And hearing? Noah laughed inwardly at the thought. He had been nearing deafness in his right ear for a long time- coming up on a year. It didn't do much for his job, but nobody knew yet, and that was a plus.

Noah began to think. He wouldn't have walked in on Royce if he had known. Or would he have? Probably so. He would have tried to stop Royce anyways. And he would still probably be in the same position. Because Royce really wasn't the type to miss a target. But Gerard probably would be a bit closer. He heard a door.

Speaking of Gerard...

Noah looked slightly to his left to find Sam coming into his field of vision. He looked up at Gerard. What took you so long, buddy? I've been bleeding here a long time. Sam seemed quite preoccupied.

"Sheridan got a shot off. Newman, he just walked into it. Just walked right into it-"

Noah stopped listening and rolled his eyes... To the best of his ability, for the latter. Yeah, right. He hadn't walked into a fight. He'd walked into an execution. And Royce had shot him. He tried to tell Sam. No sound came out of his mouth.

"Don't move, kid. Don't talk, don't move, don't talk."

Another searing pain shot though his chest. He couldn't help but disobey Sam's order. Sam, it really hurts. Please help... Dad. I don't wanna die. Noah snapped back into reality. Why did he call Sam 'Dad'? He didn't have a dad. Not since he was six.

"Hold this on this kid." Royce took the cloth that Sam had been using to apply pressure.

Sam looked at him one last time, and Noah sent one last plea through. Don't leave, Sam! It was Royce all along! Don't leave! I've seen too much! He's going to kill me! Please don't leave... Sam left out the window after Sheridan.

Newman's thoughts drifted to a dark corner of unconsciousness as he stared up at Royce who was slowly easing off the pressure so as not to alarm the policemen. Yep. Definitely going to die.

Yeah, I know. It's pretty bad for a T. I'm really not sure what to call it. I mean, US Marshals is only rated... What? PG 13? And this wasn't much worse. I don't think. Anyways.

Did you think that the first chapter was OK?

Please review. And all Fugitive/US Marshals fans... Please be merciful in the review section.

Please excuse the grammatical errors.

All character rights to Andrew Davis and Stuart Baird.