The man may have been larger and outweighed Steve by a good sixty pounds, but here the larger bulk was his disadvantage. Speed and agility allowed the smaller man to move swiftly, landing harsh blows on his lower back and legs, weakening his vulnerable parts, bringing him down. Gabriel- 2 seemed to relish the attack, his face glowing with eerie madness as another sharp jab to his face sent turning with droplets of blood spilled and another gash marked his face. The blows were relentless and plummeted Gabriel -2 everywhere, pushing him backwards, as he tripped on his own feet and feel to the ground. When he looked it was to smile at his opponent, marking the rapid change in their situation now.

"I always knew you had the guts… and strength… and you save it all for me. I’m touched Gabriel!" His taunt was just that, a means to rile the other man, but Steve no longer let the verbal jabs reach him. They bounced off his skin and feel dead to the ground where he could trample on them.

"Do you really enjoy the pain?" Asking him the single question, Steve wasn’t too surprised at his response, but he needed to hear it. It would mark at place where he always stopped before and where he planned to pass.

Wiping away at his bloodied lip, he looked at the back of his hand seeing the smeared blood then gets shakily back to his feet. Swaying slightly, he spreads his legs apart, hoping the stance will support him better. Gabriel – 2 could feel his side protest from the hard hits Steve had given. The ribs must be bruised he thought, perhaps even broken. "Always! The pain can fill you completely, wholly, what else is there to have? It is all consuming."

He reached over with a strike that Steve had not been expecting and it sent him staggering backwards as Gabriel – 2 advanced towards. The sharp blow knocked the wind from him a brief moment before he got back on his feet and did a flying kick to the man’s right leg. For the past few minutes, he concentrated his efforts there, weakening that part of him, before moving elsewhere. The howl of pain that filled the air let Steve know, his plan was working and soon, very soon, Gabriel – 2 would find himself looking up and not down at him.

The fallen man moved ever so slightly that Bo nearly missed the motion if he hadn’t been at his side just then. When Steve shot at him at such close range, his brother-in-law was certain only one outcome could come from it, but there he was, bleeding profusely and grimacing, yet very much alive and in pain. So Steve wasn’t a murderer, well not yet. Bo thought. The other injured men outside may tell a different story, but somehow he was beginning to see that Steve injured them enough just to incapacitate their motions, but not to kill. Even with what had been at stake, he still held back, although the struggle outside was rapidly telling him, it may not be long before that changed as well.

It felt like hours had gone by, by only a single minute passed as Elliot held on to the woman in his arms, watching as her blood coated the rug beneath the, her breath growing more shallow and labored, her skin turning cool and deathly white. Benjamin had held onto his injured arm, but stayed at his side, his eyes mirrored in pain for all of them. Apart from being there, he could offer no comfort or aid, but sat helpless. The wounds on Stephanie’s leg were bad. Elliot had used his shirt to tie off the circulation at her thigh, but so much blood was lost and still the ambulance had not come.

"Just hold on Sweetheart." He said the words softy at her ear, not caring anymore if Benjamin could see what he was saying. His cousin had kept his focus just on the woman between them too. Lying there on the floor, everything else just paled in comparison to what just happened. He whispered to her about returning to England, of taking her to see the countryside again, of horseback rides in the early morning, of country fairs, of all the things waiting for them if she would just hold on. Benjy watched at his side, reading the words on Elliot’s lips as Stephanie lay, half awake and half asleep clutching his hand. It was her hold that Benjy could not look away from. With her hand in his, Elliot was the only life force that she was clinging too.

Benjy turned just once to see the fighting outside. His legs would not support him so he remained where he was, seeing a body strike at the glass doors rattling them. Bo had stood, ready to intervene, but Steve had wanted no interference from any of them. Though standing just within the room, his gun poised and ready, Bo made no attempt to stop the combatants and hoped, Steve would leave some part of him left when the ISA arrived. He half expected that they would be there already, but so far it was just the six of them in that room. The other Gabriel’s were not accounted for and they could come up and over power them or they had simply run off, fleeing capture.

The pain in his hands had grown worse, the rawness of the cuts upon his knuckles were scraped anew each time he struck the larger man across the jaw. He could feel his own strength giving way as Gabriel – 2 kept coming at him, but Steve would not lose an inch of ground he had won over him. Whether he had truly achieved what few men had, gaining the upper hand against him, or Gabriel – 2 had made it in Steve’s favor by, not by giving in, but allowing himself to be beaten. There would never be a time when Steve would say he knew the reasoning behind the man’s thoughts.

It was as complex as the man’s motives and all he knew was he had been letting him win. Crumpling to the ground, Gabriel – 2, his face a mass of cuts and bruises, the right side of his lower body, a mass of pain from Steve’s hits, faced down on the ground. Taking large gasps of air into his lungs, hoping the end was finally near. Even as he tried to raise himself up on his arms, the weariness he felt shook at his arms and he nearly fell back. There was no strength left in his leg to support him, so he twisted his broken body around and looked up at the man just behind him. Steve had been bent forward, one hand placed on his thigh while the other was pressed against his own side. Several deep bruise marks lined his face and jaw, and the skin on the back of his hands were now red and shredded from the hit he had inflicted with ferocity. The jagged breathing marked his own taxed strength, but he raised himself up, standing as erect as he could before pulling the gun from the holster.

Gabriel- 2’s eyes widened as he let out a strange laugh. Of all things to end his life, he really would have preferred something more substantial than a bullet through the heart or head. But then again, it wasn’t his choice though as a man on death’s door, he didn’t think it wrong of him to make a request. "That’s too quick Gabriel… if you used your hands, I could die a more agonizingly slow and painful death."

Steve sneered down at him while holding the gun upright as he tried to keep his stance and not topple over from exhaustion. His back was to his family and all that Bo and Benjy could see was the fallen man on the floor and Steve standing above him a ready gun poised in his hand. "Do you think… I care… about what you want." He told him, his voice coming out in broken gasps as he took another step closer.

"You want me to suffer… I can see it in your eye… I can smell it on you." Barely staying in a sitting position, he let out an intense moan, as his hip twitched under the pressure of his weight and he fell to one side, supported only by his elbow. But when he looked back at Steve, there was that same damn smile on his face, the stare of madness that had kept him alive all these years. The insanity of his action allowed him to survive his missions, to cheat death. Now all his cards had been played and he was empty. There was nothing left by the madness and that alone would not help him live.

"You are suffering… you’re finally dying… even if it is years too late. And I’m going to stand here and watch… I’m going to enjoy seeing you breath your last."

"Stand and watch… in silence?" The man aimed one last barb that hit him squarely in the chest. "It won’t be the first time… will it?"

Getting down on his knees, Steve grabbed at his shirt, wrapping his fist around the pulled fabric and bringing the man’s face within a hairs breath of the gun. For a moment Steve pressed it against Gabriel – 2’s cheek before lowering it slightly, letting it fit just beneath his chin. "I couldn’t have saved that girl… she was already half dead when I found out."

"She was as good as dead, but you kept quiet just …one too many times didn’t you Gabriel?"

Steve’s face grew dark then as an anger turned on full force inside of him and he pushed the gun just on the underside of his chin. When his hand began to tremble, he knew he was pushed to the edge and he could feel how much he wanted to pull the trigger, to finally end things. Gabriel – 2 sensed his wavering control, he had hoped there was enough to make the man fall the opposite way. There were only a few things he could use against him and this one made the deepest cut. It was a remorse Steve Johnson never recovered from and maybe, just perhaps, it would be what finally pushes him to kill.

They faced each other, one man nearly crazed with anger, who held life or death in his hands while the other waited, baiting, wanting the conclusion on his terms. A hundred thoughts ran through his mind as his fingers held steady at the trigger, wanting so much to end this long nightmare, but Steve held back. He felt himself slowly pull away as images of Stephanie filled his thoughts and how she was suffering in pain just a few yards away. He followed with thoughts of Kayla, of her ignorance at what had happened and what was transpiring now, that his decision could affect their future. Last, Steve thought of his unborn child, the son he was to name after his best friend. A child who may never get to know his father if he turned into a murderer. "Help me Marcus!" He silently called out to his son.

Gabriel – 2 knew even before the pressure against him that the man wouldn’t kill. Just the barest flick was in his eye as Steve started to pull the gun away, removing the threat from him. The sound of the ambulance sirens were finally making their way closer to the house as Steve added more distance between then and started to rise. The hand the grabbed his pulled him back down as Gabriel – 2 placed his own fingers over his and pressed at the trigger. "Will you send me to hell. Gabriel?"

Steve struggled to free his grasp, but the man gained more strength, refusing to let him free. In one look, Steve saw the emptiness within the man’s eyes and felt his acceptance of death and he finally understood. It would have been a wrong move to make at any other time, but on this occasion, it was a silent plea that he gave into. Letting completely go of the gun, Steve’s hand fell free as Gabriel - 2 pressed it more firmly under his chin.

He looked laughing at Steve, but his last words were to the contrary and really made very little sense even at the end of things. "You really disappointed me… Johnson."

The loud shot made Steve jump back as Gabriel – 2, with the gun in his hand fell back dead on the ground. The gaping hole under his chin marking where the bullet entered and did the most damage and the shattered opening at the back of his skull, showing its exit. Bo came rushing out and saw the dead man. Though Steve had blocked from his view, the self induced execution, his own experience told him his friend was blameless and had not killed anyone. Even with all the pain and torment rained down on him, Steve managed not to become what he had been trained to be for a decade. He had not killed, he just couldn’t do it, failing Greyson the man who had made him his most proficient killing machine. He wasn’t an angel, but a man.

Steve looked back stunned and shaken. There was a chance he could have been wrong, that Gabriel – 2 would have turned the gun on him instead, but it happened just as he believed it would. All those years of mayhem and torture, the countless pain he inflicted on others, that same pain he now welcomed and relished when meted out to him, it was as though he was taking it all back. With each blow, each strike, Gabriel – 2 took in the pain, absorbing it back into himself, taking in what he had freely given. In some twisted way, had he been trying to make up for his sins?

He had looked to the last one, the only one who had not sinned, who hadn’t killed. Steve never earned the title Gabriel because he wasn’t the avenging angel, he was simply a man. There at the very end, when death was moments away, Gabriel – 2 still asked him to join them, to become one of the fallen by giving him death. For an instant, the briefest of seconds, it almost seemed like he would, but something or someone pulled him back and all the man could do was stare back in disappointment. Gabriel – 2 had forgotten what it was like to be a man, just an ordinary man. It was only as he lay there, broken and beaten, the pain of his downfall feeling his body that he understood and gave up. Men felt pain, angels didn’t. When Steve moved away, he had given him the choice and this time, he chose the one no one would have guessed.

Without another word, Steve got to his feet and ran back inside reaching his daughter the same time the paramedics did. Relinquishing his place at her side, Elliot moved as Steve bent down to talk to his daughter, telling her everything was going to be fun, kissing her forehead as she cried out in pain from being moved. Other men suddenly filled the room, standing just in the back ground as Stephanie and Benjy were taken away and rushed outside to the waiting ambulances. Elliot was about to follow when Steve stopped him at the door and saw the changed expression at his face. The older man lowered his glance to his chest, eyeing the old scar, before letting him go so he could be treated.

Bo was speaking to two of the new arrivals when Steve tried to join the others and ride with Stephanie to the hospital.

"Mr. Johnson?" One had called out to him, preventing him from leaving the room. "If I may have a word."

Steve gave him an angered look as he peeked over his shoulder at Bo, who just stood waiting. "Look… just get out of my way so I can go to the hospital with my daughter. You got that!"

"We need to speak with you about what happened here tonight." He spoke with a stuffy British accent which could only mean one thing, the ISA was finally here.

"Then look outside!"

"We would like your explanation first."

"You want to talk to me, do it at the hospital. I am not leaving my daughter’s side. Now move!"

The man gave him a piercing stare before stepping out of the way and he was able to jump in before the doors were closed. Stephanie had been sedated from the pain and was now laying nearly motionless on the stretcher. "Baby…" Steve cried down at her, wiping the tears the spilled down his cheeks. "What am I going to tell your mama?" He took her hand in his as the vehicle began to move and they to pull out of the drive way.

In the other ambulance, Benjy had also been giving something for the pain as was strapped down. Elliot looked down at his cousin, seeing him grimace in pain at the paramedics treatment. Benjamin’s wound has not as bad, sine the bullet entered just the flesh part of his arm and exited leaving two whole but not as much damage. From what Elliot chanced to hear, Stephanie was in a very bad way. One bullet hit her femur bone, possibly breaking off a part, while the other had severely injured an artery and now the rush was on to save her leg. Elliot placed his hand over his heart, rubbing against the old scar there, almost feeling the ghostly pain that once filled him.

It was never ending this pain. It would never leave him.

**********

As the stretcher was wheeled in Steve ran after it but was stopped before he could get passed the nurse’s station. His yelling and screaming just got security brought around when Kayla finally showed and the news of Stephanie’s condition hit her like a stonewall. Benjy’s stretcher quickly followed with Elliot coming on its rear. He gave them both a passing glance as he was also ushered behind the door and seated at the first stall while his cousin was wheeled further down the room. The majority of activity centered where Stephanie was being worked on and Elliot could hear the calls going back and forth as they were prepping her for emergency surgery.

Kayla stared aghast at her husband as his explanation only fueled her anger. "You told me he wouldn’t go after her… that’s what you said!" She screamed back at him and he cowered down.

"It all happened so fast… I couldn’t stop her from running. It shouldn’t have happened…but the others…"

"OF COURSE IT SHOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED!"

"Sweetness, please… !" She all but breathed fire at him and he saw her place a protective hand at her belly. Quickly wrapping his hands around her, she was pulled into his embrace as she struggled against him. Steve refused to budge, to let leave until heartache overcame her actions and she slumped against him in tears.

"Oh God! My baby!" She cried in his arms as he tightened his hold and his own tears were torn from his eyes.

"I didn’t know baby… I didn’t know… I would have died to save her… I’d die for her… I’d die…"

She sobbed within his embrace, her face scrunched up in pain when Dr. Berman approached to tell them Stephanie had been brought upstairs. The grim expression on his face showed the severity of the situation and while he kept reassuring they were all going to do their very best, they had to know, to be prepared.

"The artery was hit and… she’s lost a lot of blood. We’ve already called the specialist in and believe me… she will have the best people working to save her leg, but… but it doesn’t look good. I just want you both to be prepared."

Kayla dried her tears, wiping them quickly with her hand as she asked the man for the special favor. "Dr. Berman… I would like to be there with my daughter… just to observe."

"Dr. Johnson… under the circumstances, that is not a good idea. Please believe we will do everything humanly possible to save her leg…"

"I don’t doubt that… but I just need to be with her, please… I’m begging you… please!"

It was a familiar situation for him, the confrontation with the parents, even though Dr. Johnson was a colleague, here she was a worried mother, like all the others before her. Her request complicated matters and he really didn’t know what to say. Under other circumstances, having her observe would not be out of the question, but she was personally involved here and that part, could make her presence a hindrance. He didn’t want to say no, it would seem almost another blow to what was an emotional charged moment, but seeing the plea in her eyes, in her husband’s, he knew hospital rules were going to be broken that night.

"You are too personally involved Dr. Johnson… and you know how difficult that is. Your presence maybe a hindrance…"

But Kayla would not be denied, she just couldn’t let her daughter face this alone. "If she knew I was there… I know she would fight harder. That’s all I want to be… I don’t want her to feel alone."

Hesitating only another few second, his small nod sent relief pouring through the two of them as Steve let out the breath he had been holding in. His wife turned and saw the misery etched on his face and knew the pain was killing him inside. She felt an instance of remorse for her earlier outburst and quickly hugged him before Dr. Berman told her to hurry.

"We need to go upstairs now Dr. Johnson… please… we must move now."

"I’ll be right up." She told him as he left the two of them alone. Steve took hold of her hands as more tears ran down his face. Kayla’s eyes also filled with more tears and she gave him a quick nod. "She won’t be alone. I’ll watch over our baby girl… pray for us!"

"I will." His words were barely above a whisper as he swallowed and forced himself to smile.

Kayla suddenly leaned forward to give him a small kiss before rushing off down the hall to the OR. She didn’t look back though her husband watched until she disappeared from his sight in the corridor. For several seconds he stood where he was, the hospital staff walking around him, giving him curious glances as he remained unmoving in the center of the room. The sound of footsteps came up behind him and just stopped. Steve didn’t turn right away, but waited a long moment before facing the man at his back.

Elliot was half dressed in his own clothes and wore a hospital top. The bruises on his face and arms were more pronounced now with the dark purplish marks indicating how badly beaten he had been. Steve eyed him almost with pity, knowing full well the man had suffered because he was trying to protect his daughter. If anything, the man deserved his thanks and appreciation at the very least, even if he didn’t expect it.

"Is she… how is Stephanie?" Even at his most emotional level, the man just couldn’t get past the layer of civility and proper reserve. Steve would have hoped his voice would lose some of its coolness, but he still lacked warmth.

"She been brought into the OR. Kayla… they’re letting her observe so she won’t be alone."

"And her leg? What was the prognosis?"

His tears came anew and under other circumstances, Elliot was the last man he wanted to see him cry, but at that moment, he knew the younger man was the one who would best understand. "They say… there was damage to the artery and my girl’s lost a lot of blood."

"I tried to apply pressure… I did everything I could… but it wouldn’t stop coming…"

"I know you did… and I am thankful." He offered him the barest hint of a smile and had to take a few deep breaths before he could continue. "I know you got hurt trying to protect her… you and Benjy."

"We obviously didn’t do a very good job."

"You did what you could… and that’s something I won’t forget. I won’t forget this."

Elliot looked down a moment, seeing the stains on his shoes, knowing what he saw there was none other than dried blood turned to a rusty brown mass. He thought again of Stephanie and how her surgery must be starting. He wanted so much to do something, but he just didn’t know what? "I wish… I wish things had turned out differ…"

"It should all have happened differently." Steve tried not to think of what was happening just down the hall, but it was all that filled his thoughts. They were cutting his baby up more, trying to put her leg back together, to repair what was damaged. But if they couldn’t, what if it was beyond help, what was he going to do then? How could he tell Stephanie?

"Mr. Johnson?" Elliot had been watching him, seeing the display on emotions on his face, knowing there was something more.

"They’re trying to save her leg… and they said… they told us we have to be prepared just in ca…" Steve stopped and let out a shaky breath, his voice nearly breaking. "…To be prepared if they can’t."

The younger man stared back aghast and quickly turned his head in the opposite direction. Steve didn’t actually mind his behavior as it allowed him to do the same. When he looked back down the corridor, another voice, this was comforting and familiar called his name and he saw his brother-in-law finally arrive and to give him a big hug. The two men held onto each other a good long while as Elliot watched a few feet away. Bo gripped his friend hard feeling the tremors and tried to hold in his own tears when Steve began to pull away.

"I heard, Bro." Bo told him. "I’ve called mom and pop… and Hope and asked them to let the family know too. We’re all praying for her… and I know she’ll pull through this. She has too. She just has too." Bo took his face in his hands and made his friend face him. "She’s going to make it through this… do you hear me! She will! Don’t forget she’s a Brady!"

"She’s a Johnson!" Steve answered back.

Bo smirked at him and gave him a playful hit before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, well… no one’s perfect."

When he released him both turned nearly at the same time to see Elliot still standing there. It was then that Steve remembered Benjy was in surgery too. "Benjy? Is he… have they taken him…?"

Quickly answering. Elliot mentioned his cousin’s condition. "He’s also been taken for surgery. His injuries are bad, but not… fatal. The bullet passed through flesh."

"Thank God!" Steve remarked and closed his eye in relief at the news.

Bo saw that the man was nearly dead on his feet and offered some help if he needed it. "Look… if you’ve been cleared to go home. I can give you a ride… if you needed one?"

"Thank you… but I have already taken care of that. I do appreciate the offer."

Bo just shrugged his shoulders and looked a second at Steve before answering. "Not a problem."

When Steve faced him, Bo gave a knowing look that he caught right away and the two men excused themselves as they walked to the other side of the room. Elliot moved as well taking a seat by a chair near the wall. His expression was guarded and almost calm in appearance and most that saw him would think he was in control. But if they had looked closer, they would have seen how awkward he actually sat, almost rigid in the chair as though relaxing was something foreign to him. He sat nearly ramrod straight as if bending slightly would cause him to break and shatter into a million pieces.

"Look Steve… the ISA have taken control of everything. It’s no longer a police matter."

Steve could just imagine what the ISA was now doing with the remaining AA’s. "And here I thought you were going to arrest me for murder."

"Murder? What are you talking about… you didn’t kill anyone." Bo told him the news as he looked back confused.

"I shot one in the chest. That man is dead!"

"No." Bo shook his head at him. "Looks like he was wearing some kind of vest. At that close range, the bullet did go through, but it stopped it before it could cause serious damage."

"What about the ones outside?"

"They’ll have concussions and one has a huge gash, but they’re alive too."

"Well I certainly lucked out… didn’t I." He took a few steps away and stopped. From where they stood, he could see Elliot sitting at the far end of the waiting area. The man was all alone, sitting as still as a stone statue.

"They still want to talk to you… but are willing to give you some time."

"Which really means, they want answers now." The last think he wanted to think about was what the ISA could possibly want with him. "They’ve got the discs, they have the other Gabriel’s… what else can they want from me?"

"I don’t know… maybe what the second Gabriel said to you before he blew his brains out."

Steve quickly turned and saw Bo was just as disgusted and annoyed at the ISA’s insistence. As far as he was concerned he said all he needed to when he saw them earlier. What he needed was to be by himself, to find a place where he could focus all his thoughts on his girl, to pray for her as he promised his wife. Steve needed to get out of there. "Look… Bo… if they come around could you head them off… I just don’t need this right now… I have to… I want to go to the chapel."

Bo gave him a nod and a squeeze on his shoulder. "I’ve got your back, Bro."

Placing a couple of friendly slaps at his chest, Steve left him as he walked over to the elevators and got in the first available one. He pressed the button for the third floor which would bring him to the level where the hospital chapel was. Closing his eye again, he rubbed at it with the palm of one hand then leaned against the wall tiredly. Not really sure of the time, he knew it was getting late. He hadn’t even eaten since breakfast he realized but food was the last thing on his mind. The single purpose he had was to go to the chapel and say a prayer for his baby girl. He needed to say a lot of prayers for her. Steve needed to pray until God heard him.

For the longest time, he just kept his head bowed as he sat in one of the pews. There were some candles already lit when Steve entered the room and he chose one that had a slight pinkish tint to it. He had looked at it curiously a moment before choosing that one to light. Luckily for him, the room was bare and no one would interrupt his solitude. Not even sure of how to start, he just jumped straight in begged.

"Please, let her be all right… just don’t let my baby girl hurt anymore." Taking a deep gulp, he swallowed hard and asked, begged for the miracle. "Please save her… leg… please… save her."

His hands were clasped tightly together as he sat, ill at ease on the hard bench. The smell of wax was mild, but it still tickled at his nose and he scrunched up at the scent that filled the room. Within the half dim lights, he waited in near darkness not wanting to be seen or heard by anyone but the one he wanted to hear him that night. In the dark, no one would see his tears, his frustrations and anger at what he couldn’t stop. In the shadows, he could lose himself, feel less of the guilt. For long moments, he sat and waited and prayed, his eye growing weary and tired, but still he continued, begging. How long could he go on like this, how long before he had to stop?

Closing his eye for just a moment, Steve told himself, he needed to do this, to just rest a minute, a single minute, because he was so tired. He was just so tired after everything.

As Marcus kept playing, Steve found himself growing sleepy. He closed his eye again, then feeling the ground give beneath him and he softly fell and landed back on the chapel bench.

The hardness hit his shoulder as he turned and was jolted awake and looking up just in time to see his mama standing over him, shaking him awake.

"Mama?" He spoke, feeling all the more confused at being back home so quickly. "What are you doing… Stephanie!" The news of his daughter hit him full on as he jumped to his feet startling Jo.

"Steven Earl…" She nearly yelled at him in her haste. "… It’s over. She’s been brought out of the OR. The operation is over and Kayla’s waiting for you."

"Mama wait!" He stopped her before she could reach the door. "What hap… is she okay? Was the operation successful."

His mama threw her arms around him and hugged him tight while the sound of her sobbing filled his ears. Her body shook as she tightened her hold on him and his heart nearly sunk from the pain. But when she pulled herself away, there was no hiding that the happy smile she had on her face told him all he needed to know.