I will march down an empty street like a ship into the storm.
No surrender, no retreat. I will tear down every wall.
Just to keep you warm, just to bring you home.

BANNERS · Start A Riot

Lying on the cold floor, her breath caught in her chest, Ceylin finally understood the power of what she heard while growing up about being a mother, that a mother was able to stop a moving car for her child. She had never really understood before, because as much as she loved her mother and she loved her in her own way, Ceylin could never imagine this kind of gesture coming from her own mother.

When she held Mercan for the first time, she knew that what she had felt for her daughter was something new and so strong that she had never felt before. Losing her caused one of the greatest pains of her life, it made her heart bleed every day, but now that she had her back, she knew that she would do anything to never lose her again. Some mothers stopped cars, she took a calculated shot.

She turned her head and saw the frightened look on the woman standing next to her, the one that was responsible for 30 months of suffering.

"It's over for you" Ceylin said in a low voice, which made Filiz snap out of the stupor she was in and face her "you'll never be able to leave now, no matter what that mental report says" Ceylin tried to muster a sarcastic laugh, but the pain in her abdomen didn't allow it.

Filiz trembled, she looked at the gun that was still in her hand and then at Ceylin again, absorbing the prosecutor's words and it was then that she understood.

"You set me up" she said with a trembling voice, still not believing what she had done.

"You will never go near Mercan again" Ceylin said as she stared at her, anger could be seen in her green eyes "you will never even see her again."

Filiz seemed unresponsive, the situation that the prosecutor had provoked to make sure she never got close to her daughter again had gone beyond anything she could ever imagine. But before she could say anything else, the door to the room suddenly opened, Ilgaz was on the other side with two guards behind him.

"Ceylin!" Ilgaz screamed as he opened the door and felt his heart stop when he saw the situation. Filiz standing with a gun and Ceylin on the floor, blood staining her brown silk blouse.

Ilgaz didn't think twice and threw himself on top of Filiz, causing the gun she was holding to slide across the floor and her to fall.

"My leg!" Filiz complained of pain, but Ilgaz didn't care, he turned her onto her stomach and held her arms against her back.

"Take her out of here, now!" Ilgaz ordered and one of the guards came and lifted the prisoner "and call an ambulance!"

As soon as the guard caught Filiz, Ilgaz rushed to Ceylin's side and knelt beside her, he felt dizzy when he saw that Ceylin had been hit in the abdomen and blood was now dripping onto the floor. "Ceylin," he whispered her name and he felt his eyes start to burn.

"You were right" Ceylin said in a whisper and Ilgaz finally looked into her eyes, those green eyes that he loved so much. "It hurts like hell" she said, remembering a conversation they had had in the past and once again tried to laugh, but the pain that spread across her abdomen was increasing.

"Ah, Ceylin, ah!" Ilgaz shouted, no matter how many years passed, Ceylin would always surprise him in some way. "This is going to hurt even more" he said and then he put pressure on her wound and watched as Ceylin let out a low moan of pain.

"Sorry," he said and ran one of his hands through her hair, before returning to his other hand to keep pressure on the wound. "You're going to be okay, tamam?"

Ceylin nodded, her breathing quickened, and she closed her eyes, but it only lasted for a second.

"Eyes open Ceylin, don't close your eyes" he pleaded, his voice choked with unshed tears.

Ceylin felt a huge pang of guilt in her heart when she saw the state Ilgaz was in, she remembered the terrible days when she thought he had really died years ago, but despite the guilt, she knew she would do it all over again for Mercan.

"It's cold" she said and Ilgaz noticed how Ceylin was shivering now.

"You're losing to much blood" he realized when he saw that the pool of blood beneath her was increasing. "Where the hell is the ambulance?" he shouted and a few seconds later a guard appeared at the door.

"It's almost here sayın savcı" he replied.

"Tell them to come faster!" He screamed and the guard just nodded and ran away, then he felt Ceylin's hand pulling his jacket.

"Ilgaz... Ilgaz..." Ceylin had difficulty speaking now, her whole body was shaking, and her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest.

"Stay calm, they are already arriving" he said.

"Ilgaz... take care of Mercan... okay?" she swallowed and tried to continue speaking, but Ilgaz didn't allow it.

"You're going to be okay! You're going to be okay, and we'll be just like when we first took Mercan home from the hospital, we'll be a team, okay?" Ceylin then smiled.

"She looks so much like you" she then held his wrist "you said she... looked like me... but she looks like you..." and smiled again "I love that she... looks like you."

"Ceylin..." Ilgaz whispered her name, he wanted to make her stop saying those things again, but he couldn't, she was determined, just like with everything in life.

" Seni çok seviyorum..." she squeezed his wrist tighter "I always did, please forgive me... if I made you believe otherwise" tears were now rolling down the prosecutor's face. She would never forgive herself if she let Ilgaz believe that one day she had stopped loving him.

"You're going to be fine sevgilim" Ilgaz also couldn't hold back his tears anymore "we're all going to be fine."

Ilgaz then heard a commotion in the hallway and knew that help had finally arrived, but then he felt Ceylin's grip on his wrist lose strength and when he looked at her again, her eyes were closing.

"Ceylin, stay awake!" he begged, but unfortunately Ceylin could no longer keep her eyes open.

.

.

Yasemin scanned the prosecutor's office hallway once more, but there was no movement. Mercan played with her blue stuffed bunny beside her. They were there for the girl's custody hearing, but neither Ilgaz nor Ceylin didn't show up yet. The inspector had already called them a few minutes ago, but there was no sign of them.

She found their absence strange, despite the incident earlier, the family had had a very pleasant time and things seemed like they would take their course for the good.

In some custody hearings, depending on the child's age, the Judge would request to hear the child, but as Mercan's situation was different, this would probably not be the case, but it could happen that he wanted to hear Mercan and she, as the girl's psychologist, would need to say how Mercan was reacting after her rescue and everything that was happening, so they were there.

The inspector appeared at the courtroom door once again, but again he did not find who he was looking for. When he was about to return to the courtroom again, a figure appeared at the end of the corridor and quickly walked towards them. When he got closer, Yasemin recognized the man as Chief Metin, Ilgaz's father.

"Chief Metin" the inspector greeted him when he approached them, Metin had a worried look, so Yasemin got up and stood next to the inspector, something wasn't right. Metin then looked at them both.

"They won't be able to come" and sighed heavily "Ceylin was shot, Ilgaz is with her."

Yasemin put her hands over her mouth in shock.

"What do you mean, how this happened?"

"Prosecutor Efe called them to inform that Filiz was trying to get a report of mental instability along with her lawyer, Ceylin went to talk to her, Filiz managed to get the gun from her bag and shot her."

Yasemin didn't have time to properly react to the facts when a frightened voice caught the attention of everyone there.

"What?" Mercan asked scared, standing behind Yasemin " Anne..." she hesitated before continuing "Did Filiz hurt Ceylin?"

Yasemin quickly knelt in front of the girl and placed her hands on her shoulders. She had clearly heard what had happened.

"It seems so Mercan" Yasemin chose to tell the truth, Mercan was a very smart girl for her age and given everything she had been through, lying was the worst choice if they wanted her to accept her real parents.

"But don't worry Mercan, she'll be fine" Metin tried to console the girl, who grabbed the necklace around her neck and looked at it with sadness in her eyes, remembering the day Ceylin had given it to her.

.

.

Ilgaz adjusted the covers around Ceylin and brushed some errant strands of hair away from her face when he felt her move under his touch.

She blinked a few times, getting used to the light in the room, when she finally saw Ilgaz beside her and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat down next to her on the bed and caressed her face.

"As good as I can be I guess."

"You were shot in the lower abdomen, the bullet went in and out, luckily it didn't hit any organs, the doctor said you'll be fine and make a full recovery."

"Now we have matching marks" Ceylin said with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Ceylin for fucks sake, shut up" he said and cupped the prosecutor's face with both hands – it was incredible how small she looked when he did that – and kissed her lips, then her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, he filled all her face with kisses, such was his happiness that she had survived.

"I'm so glad you're okay" he placed his forehead against hers and took a deep breath, while caressing her face. "What am I going to do with you, huh?" he asked looking at her again.

"Do you have any choice?" Ceylin asked with a smile.

"Apparently not" he replied, smiling back.

"Filiz?" Ceylin asked, after they were silent for a while.

"She was sent back to prison, they are investigating what happened, but the situation is not looking good for her" he replied, "Nil is trying everything, but if she thinks I am going to let her client get away with everything she has caused us, she is very mistaken."

Ceylin sighed, she knew it was now a matter of time before everything was resolved. Sometime later, they heard somewhat excited voices outside and Ilgaz went out to check what was going on. He found prosecutor Efe and a nurse near the door.

"Is something wrong?" Ilgaz asked as he approached the two.

"Nothing wrong prosecutor Ilgaz" Efe replied and then looked at the nurse again "Isn't that right? We will grant the necessary permission, won't we?" He questioned the nurse who then agreed to the prosecutor's order.

.

.

Ceylin was almost dozing off when the sound of the door woke her up, she turned towards the door and Ilgaz's head appeared. He was smiling and she could tell there was a spark in his eyes.

"Someone wants to see you" he said.

Ceylin just nodded, she imagined it would be Eren or someone from their family.

But when Ilgaz opened the door wider, Yasemin's figure appeared. Ceylin didn't show any reaction when she saw the psychologist there, but it was then that she felt her heart race in her chest when she saw her pull someone by the hand and then Mercan appear at her side.

She was surprised and immensely happy to see her daughter there. Yasemin encouraged the girl to approach the bed and Ceylin quickly tried to sit up, she grimaced due to the sudden movement, but tried hard not to make any sound of pain, as she didn't want to scare her daughter.

Ilgaz quickly run next to her on the bed, telling her to take it easy and helping her sit more inclined on the bed.

They carefully watched Mercan approach in silence. The girl still acted cautiously, but she seemed to be much more confident around them.

Ceylin felt her breath catch in her chest as she felt her daughter's small hand hold hers.

" İyi misin?" Mercan asked in a low voice, Ceylin felt her eyes burning, but she held back and smiled at her daughter.

"I'm much better now that you're here" she replied and Mercan missed the worried expression she had when she entered the room.

"Do you want to sit on the bed?" Ilgaz asked and smiled when her daughter nodded enthusiastically.

Ilgaz took Mercan under her arms and placed her sitting on Ceylin's bed, facing her mother who couldn't stop smiling at her daughter's mere presence there.

And in a gesture that no one had anticipated, Mercan, with the delicacy of a child, lay down on top of Ceylin's torso, her small hands on her shoulders and her head now resting on her chest.

Ceylin remained static for a second, due to the surprise and pain she felt at her daughter's movement, but she didn't let it show. She immediately wrapped her arms around her and kissed her head. She breathed slowly, but couldn't contain herself, silent tears were now streaming down her face, such was the joy of having her daughter in her arms again after so long.

Ilgaz then approached them, with tears of his own and placed one of his hands on top of Ceylin's which was resting on their daughter's back and the other on her head and rested his forehead against hers, rubbing their noses together. Ceylin automatically held his head with her other hand, keeping them both close to her.

Yasemin from the other side of the room with a smile on her face watched the family finally truly reunited.