Killian awoke to the feel of cold metal pressed to his temple and, upon opening his eyes, was met with the sight of Emily's face, grim with her expression of calm and collected – yet ice cold – fury. Before he could move, Emily instructed, "Settle." She kept her voice low and quiet so as not to wake Finley, but there was no mistaking her grim determination for mercy. "Wake her," she added, nodding toward Maggie.
She'd waited until Alex was asleep before driving back to the Doyles' farmhouse with one goal in mind: she was getting Finley, come Hell or high water.
"What?" Maggie mumbled sleepily as Killian shook her awake. It took her a few moments to notice Emily's presence, but when she did, she pushed herself to sit up, suddenly wide awake.
"You want to come back with us? You and Finley?" Emily asked her, gaze never leaving Maggie's. Even in in the darkness, she didn't miss the black eye she sported. "You need to decide: go or stay."
His tone a warning, Killian began, "Maggie..."
"Not you," Emily scolded, pressing the rifle she'd found leaning against the wall outside the farmhouse's porch door more firmly to his temple so that his face was pressed into the pillow. "You don't get to say a goddamn word. This is up to her."
Maggie flicked on the bedside lamp so she could get a better look at the situation unfolding.
"You know what life will be – here or there – you know. This isn't something you need to think on," Emily said gravely. Her gaze locked on Maggie's, boring into her with an intensity Maggie had never seen from her former mother-in-law.
"I'll go," she whispered.
Emily nodded once. She hadn't anticipated she'd want to stay. "The car is at the bottom of the drive," she told the girl, borrowed rifle pressed tightly to Killian's face. "Keys are in it. Drive straight to the Sheriff's station in Bentrock. They'll sort this out."
"Finley's things," Maggie protested. "I need to..."
"No," Emily said firmly. "It's gotta be now."
Maggie moved to rouse Finley where he slept in a little cot against one wall of the cramped little bedroom. "But what about you?" she asked, pausing at the door, arms full of sleeping preschooler.
"Just go."
As Maggie ran towards the stairs, one of the other Doyle boys woke and came bursting out of his room. "Something's burning..." He shouted to rouse his brother, then turned to Maggie and snapped, "Did you leave the stove on?"
She shook her head, clutching Finley all the tighter as she cowered against the wall, quite literally fearing for her life as she made her escape. She'd already seen what the Doyles were capable of...
"What the Hell is going on?" Ian demanded, bursting from his room at the commotion outside the door.
"Ian, the house is on fire," Maggie stammered. "We smelled smoke." She plastered on a smile she hoped was innocent and believable and wouldn't betray the fact that she was making an escape. Moira may have been the clan matriarch, but Ian was far from innocent...
He spent several moments weighing her words for several moments and the truthfulness in her expression, then reached to snatch Finley from her.
"No!" Maggie shouted, turning away from him so she could shield her son with her body.
Her shouts distracted Emily long enough for Killian to grab the barrel of the rifle and attempt to wrest it from her grasp. They spent several moments struggling, before Emily punched him in the face, breaking his grip. She pointed the rifle at his chest and, when he called for help, she slammed the butt into his temple.
In the hall, Maggie and Ian were still struggling over the boy. "Get your hands off of him!" she screamed. "No! No!" Finally, Ian managed to gain the upper hand, snatching the boy, sending Maggie spilling down the stairs. She landed at the foot of the steps, curled in the fetal position, not moving.
Emily emerged from the bedroom to aim the rifle at Ian...who, like the coward he was, picked up Finley and used him as a shield. For several moments, Emily and Ian stared each other down; she kept the rifle aimed square at his head. She wasn't playing nice any longer.
He quickly seemed to think better of it, setting Finley back on his feet. "Finley..." Emily said gently, extending a hand towards the boy in a silent 'come here' gesture. If he was scared, he didn't let on, already so strong and so fearless. He toddled over to his grandmother, ducking behind her legs, trusting her completely to keep him safe.
"Ian! What's going..." Moira started, emerging from her room in her dressing gown. She screamed as Emily loosed a shot in her direction; Emily may have been a forgiving woman, but she wasn't ever going to forget the injustice Moira had inflicted on her...
Ian slammed into Emily, knocking the rifle from her hands and onto the landing below. The two of them then attempted to fight for control of the boy.
"Ian, out of the way!" Moira shouted, having disappeared into her room and reemerging with a pistol. "I've got her." She aimed the pistol square at Emily's chest, at least as best she could while she was still struggling against Ian.
"Damn it, Moira, don't shoot!" Ian shouted right back.
She ignored his instruction and, in the chaos of it all, the shot missed Emily to instead lodge in Ian's neck. He'd barely collapsed to the floor when Moira was once again taking aim at Emily.
"Maggie?" Emily called out, listening for signs that she was okay after her tumble. She glanced over her shoulder to lock eyes with the young woman on the landing below. She was doing her best to shield Finley from the violence by gently pressing his face into her shoulder, but she could feel him trembling in her arms.
"Give the boy to me!" Moira shouted. "No one gets hurt!"
Emily knew there was no way she was going to get past Moira unscathed; she didn't fear for her own safety, she'd made her peace with her own demise, but she had to think about Finley. She weighed her options as best she could and knew there was only one thing to do... She turned, dropped Finley to the landing below, trusting completely that Maggie would catch him. And just in time too, because in the next moment, Moira had loosed another shot, this one catching Emily in the shoulder.
Moira leaned over the railing, locked eyes with Maggie, then shouted, "No!" as Maggie ran for the door. "Boys!"
"The house is on fire!" one of the boys called, coming back up the stairs with panic in his ice blue eyes.
"Get Maggie!" Moira shouted. "She's got the boy!"
Emily wasn't defeated yet, though. She launched herself at Moira and wrapped her arms around her, the two women struggling for control. Emily managed to wrap her fingers around the gun, taking a shot at the Doyle boy making his way towards them, then another.
