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** NICK **

The hands on my shoulders were heavy and rough as they jerked me backwards. Everything was happening so fast that I couldn’t even begin to process what was going on around me. Guns were going off in every direction, men were yelling, Sarah was screaming, and fists were flying. A strong arm pushed my head down and drew me against a well-padded chest as a stray bullet whizzed by the side of my face. I could still hear the ringing in my ear as my new-found protector practically hauled me off of my feet and out of the cinder block room.

“I’ve got Carter!”

“Richardson is out!”

The arm that was applying pressure to my head suddenly disappeared and I stumbled forward into another set of arms. I blinked rapidly to try and discern what was going on, but there were too many arms and too many faces. Someone cut the cable ties from around my wrists and another pair of hands immediately began leading me even farther away from the room.

“Mr. Carter, can you hear me? Are you all right?”

“Huh?” I felt like I was emerging from a deep sleep; everything was so foggy and confusing.

“Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“No.” I shook my head and, for the first time, managed to focus my eyes on Detective Bell’s anxious face. “Brian!” Reality hit me like a Mac truck. “Howie! AJ! I have to go back!”

“Wait!” Detective Bell grabbed me around the waist and held strong as I began to flail about in a desperate attempt to interject myself back into the chaos that was still raging only a few feet from where we stood. “It’s not safe for you to go back in there right now!”

“You don’t understand!” I could hear the hysteria rising steadily in my own voice. “This is my fault! I have to go back in there and get them!”

“Nick!” Kevin’s voice boomed out over the rest of the noise.

I stopped trying to escape from Detective Bell’s hold long enough to turn and locate the origin of Kevin’s voice. Kevin was sitting on the ground being tended to by a paramedic. The first responder looked less than impressed by the fact that Kevin was yelling. The man had his hands poised over Kevin’s face, waiting for him to hold still so that he could more effectively bandage the large, oozing cut on his forehead.

“There’s nothing that you can do right now, Nick.” Kevin’s eyes locked with mine as he spoke. “You have to let these people do their jobs.”

As I stared back at Kevin, I finally processed all of the activity that was going on around me. Everywhere I looked there were law enforcement officials in protective gear screaming at each other and into various electronic devices. EMS staff members were also hustling about in every direction and barking orders at each other. It was a startling sight, but not as startling as the view of a portable stretcher being pulled from the room where the five of us had been trapped only ten minutes before.

“Howie!” Neither Kevin’s orders nor Detective Bell’s grip could hold me back as I let out an anguished cry and began shoving my way through the crowd of police officers and paramedics towards the stretcher.

“Is he going to be okay?” I peered down into Howie’s ashen and eerily still face as the two EMS workers hurried across the dark, dank basement towards the stairs. “You have to tell me something! Please!”

“He needs immediate medical attention.” The man closest to Howie’s feet gave me a less than encouraging look as he and his partner reached the base of the staircase. “We can’t tell you anything more.”

I ran a hand through my hair and turned around frantically in a circle. As much as I wanted to follow Howie up the stairs, I knew that I would only be getting in the way. I had to give Howie every opportunity to pull through. If he didn’t make it, I wouldn’t make it.

“Let go of me!” Sarah’s voice rang out, sending a sharp pain through my chest. “You killed my brother you bastards! You killed him!”

I could feel the anger coursing through my body as I watched Sarah struggle wildly against the two police officers who were dragging her out of the room. She had her hands cuffed behind her back and her face was smeared with blood, but she appeared to be otherwise unharmed. Tears were sliding down her face as she twisted and contorted her upper body in a fruitless attempt to escape from the two men who were easily overpowering her.

“I didn’t get to finish!” Sarah wailed. Her eyes found mine as the police officers dragged her unceremoniously across the floor. “He didn’t get to watch them all die!”

My heart was pounding erratically now with the vision of Brian and AJ lying on the floor. Sarah’s words had brought me back to reality. Howie was already getting help, but what about Brian and AJ?

Forcing Sarah’s screams out of my mind, I began frantically pushing my way back through the mess of emergency workers. I ignored Vinny and Joey being led away in handcuffs. I ignored Kevin screaming my name. I ignored Detective Eaton’s attempt to latch on to my arm, and I ignored Tony’s blood-soaked body lying on the floor. All I cared about, at that moment, was finding out for myself if Brian and AJ were okay.

My eyes zeroed in on Brian the second that I entered the room. He was being helped to his feet by a couple of EMS workers, a white bandage wrapped securely around his left arm. He looked a bit unsteady on his feet and I saw him wince as he applied pressure to his right leg, but none of that prevented me from continuing to charge directly towards him at full speed.

Brian’s eyes widened as he realized that I had no intentions of slowing down. I ploughed into the paramedics, practically knocking both men to the ground, as I slammed my body into Brian’s with astonishing force. Brian stumbled backwards from the impact, bringing his right arm up to encircle my back. I grabbed on to him as hard as I could, finally realizing how he had felt a few days earlier he had first learned that I wasn’t dead.

“Oh God.” I choked; my face hot with tears. I couldn’t even bring myself to speak properly. I was so relieved. I had been expecting to see Brian still lying on the floor. I had been expecting to learn that he was dead. So, the fact that he was alive and hugging me back was almost too much for me to handle.

“I’m okay.” Brian’s voice was muffled by my shirt; his face crammed against my chest.

“You’re okay.” I repeated his statement just to convince myself that it was real.

My fingers dug into Brian’s back, grabbing at the extra fabric on his t-shirt and tightening my grip. I was afraid to let him go, afraid that if I let him go that he would inexplicably slip away. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his left arm hanging limply at his side and the thought briefly occurred to me that I might be hurting him. Still, I made no move to pull away.

“We have movement!”

Brian and I both lifted our heads at the paramedic’s words. Our eyes met and we lessened our grip on each other as the two EMS workers that I had nearly taken out on my quest to reach Brian all of a sudden dropped to the ground to assist their co-workers.

“Sir, can you hear me?”

“Fuck …”

AJ’s voice was little more than a whisper, but it was enough to cause me and Brian to spring apart. The two of us lowered ourselves to the floor, careful not to get in the paramedics’ way as we struggled to interject ourselves into AJ’s field of vision.

“AJ, can you hear me?” I practically shouted the question. “Say something!”

AJ let out a strangled grunting noise and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked painfully against the light before looking me in the face. “Fuck …”

“Sir, there’s a good chance that you have a pretty serious concussion.” One of the paramedics pushed me and Brian roughly out of the way as his companion began to outfit AJ with a neck brace. “I need you to stay awake, but, at the same time, I need you not to move. We’re going to put you on a stretcher and carry you out of here. Do you understand?”

AJ grunted again. “My head fucking hurts.”

I actually smiled as I helped Brian get back on his feet. The fact that AJ was swearing was a good sign. The two of us moved out of the way as the EMS workers delicately manoeuvred AJ onto the stretcher and hoisted him into the air. Brian swayed a little as we moved to follow AJ out of the room, and I immediately shot my hand out to steady him. I completely ignored the police officers who were busy covering Tony’s body with a sheet and placing numbered markers around the room. At that moment, I only had eyes for my brothers.

“Jesus Christ!” Kevin screamed as soon as I led Brian out of the room. He looked hastily at AJ as the paramedics carried him through his line of sight, and a look of relief washed over his face when he saw that he was conscious. Unfortunately, his relief was short lived. “Nick, why is it that you never listen to a word that I say? I told you to just wait and let the professionals do their jobs and you completely ignored me! Do you have any idea as to the trouble that you could have caused by running around the way that you did?” Kevin paused mid-rant to look at his cousin. “Christ, Brian, you need to see a doctor! You’re bleeding through that bandage. Were you shot? Did they say how bad it is? Why is nobody taking you upstairs to an ambulance?”

I exchanged a quick, knowing look with Brian before letting go of his arm and stepping forward. A paramedic immediately took my place, offering Brian his arm and gesturing that he needed to start making his way upstairs.

Kevin’s worried eyes followed his cousin’s movements for a few more seconds before they finally settled on my face. “Well?” Kevin demanded. “The police are waiting to talk to us.”

“I’m glad that you’re okay, Kev.” I took a final step forward and wrapped my arms around Kevin’s back, pulling him into a tight embrace.

It took only seconds for Kevin’s hands to find my back and, when they did, I was surprised by the strength of his grip. He returned my hug with way more emotion than I had expected. I could feel his body shaking. I could feel the tears running down his face. Normally, this kind of emotional display from Kevin would have sent me running for the hills. I usually couldn’t handle it when he broke down, but this time it was different. This time, the feeling was mutual. This time, I knew that Kevin needed me just as much as I needed him.
Chapter End Notes:
I can't believe that this story is up to 300 reviews!! I am so amazed at all of the positive feedback that this story has received so far. I'm actually a bit sad that things are winding down. I also wanted to extend a sincere "thank you" to the person(s) who nominated me for the DRATW awards! I am beyond humbled - you are all amazing!