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Kellie held Kyle closely, cradling his head against her chest, running her fingers through his hair, tears still fell down his cheeks, he sniffled.

"Here" Kevin said handing him a cup of water, Kellie let go of him and he took a drink.

“Damien was right…this is all my fault” Kyle said.

“What are you talking about? Did you tell Damien to do this?" Kevin asked.

"No" Kyle said.

"Did you give him the gun?" Kevin asked.

"No but..." Kyle said.

"No buts! This is not your fault" Kevin said.

"Yes it is..." Kyle whimpered.

"No! Kyle Michael...you look at me" Kevin said holding Kyle's head up, looking into his watery eyes "This is not your fault" he said. "No... no... unless you put the idea in Damien's head or gave him the gun this is not your fault” he said.

“Tell that to Harry” Kyle said “Or Bradley J. for that matter” he said "Damien wouldn't have even done this if it weren't for me" he said sadly.


~*~



Neilson stood in front of a soda machine, slipping quarters into the change slot.

“Hey” Adam said approaching him.

“Hey” Neilson said "Where've you been? Where’s your shirt?" he asked as the machine dropped the soda down into the opening.

"Oh, funny story, you’re gonna love this, Kyle and I were taken hostage by Damien" he said to them "And then when he got bored with that, he shot Harry" Adam said to him.

"What?!" Neilson asked.

“Oh yeah” Adam said “Fun stuff!” he said “Anyways while Damien was bitching and moaning about his sad life, he told us about Bradley, how is he?” Adam asked.

“He’ll be okay, he just woke up” Neilson said.

Adam nodded “Where’s Nat?” he asked looking around.

“Home, her mom’s all freaked out” Neilson said “God, he shot Harry too?” he asked.

“Yeah, not just him but Mr. Burns and coach Reinhart were hit too” Adam said.

“Harry alright?” Neilson asked.

"Yeah he'll be fine" Adam said.

"Is Kyle okay?" Neilson asked.

"Yeah...just a little shook up, he and Damien got into a fight over the gun…what about you, you alright?" Adam asked.

“Oh yeah…basically had to watch my best friend almost bleed to death, that’s always fun, what happened to Damien?" Neilson asked.

"Cops took him away, he’s in jail as we speak ” Adam said.

“Too bad we don’t have any inside connections so we could make him someone’s bitch” Neilson said.

“Exactly what I was thinking” Adam said.


~*~



Brian sat in a large, over-sized chair by Bradley’s bedside, Bradley was sound asleep, the door opened and Vicki came in.

“Hey” she said quietly.

“Hey” he said.

“Well I am officially off the clock so I am free to hover” she said going to Bradley’s side.

“The nurse just gave him his pain medication I think he’s out for the night” he said.

“I think so” Vicki said softly kissing Bradley’s forehead and stroking his cheek.

"So...this has been an exciting day for all of us huh?" he asked.

"Hasn't been the best" Vicki said standing by the chair.

“You know I can stay here with him tonight, you can head home and get some sleep” he said to her.

“No, no I cannot go home, I’m just going to stay awake worrying about him” she said.

“Well as long as you’re staying…you mind keeping me company?” he asked holding his hand out to her, she smiled, accepting his hand as he pulled her down, she curled up next to him.


~*~



Harry lay in his bed sleeping peacefully, the monitors beeping loudly, the door opened and Kyle stepped in. Harry turned his head, peering up at Kyle.

"Uncle Kev?" he asked.

"Kyle" he said to him.

"Oh hey" he said "Where am I?" he asked.

"Hospital...how do you feel?"

"Not good...what happened?" he asked.

"You don't remember?" Kyle asked.

"I remember being at school...and my mom called, I remember running down the steps and I could hear someone yelling...it was you."

"Yeah it probably was...Harry you were shot" Kyle said to him, Harry looked up at him confused.

"What? Seriously?" he asked.

"Yeah...by Damien" Kyle said.

"What?" he asked.

"Damien shot you."

"I knew he didn't like me but did he really have to shoot me?" Harry asked "Wait a minute...this doesn't make any sense...why were you there?" he asked.

"I was a hostage" he said.

"Hostage?"

"Yeah...Adam got himself there too because he didn't want me alone with Damien" Harry looked around the room befuddled "This is all just..." he said.

"I know" Kyle said to him "You weren't the only one who was shot either."

"Who else?"

"Coach...Mr. Burns...Bradley J."

"What?! he shot Bradley?" he asked "Is he okay?"

"Yeah he's fine, Nat and Neilson took care of him the whole time."

"I don't get this how did this happen?"

"It's my fault" Kyle said to him.

"How is it your fault?"

"He did all of this because of me...I took something from him that was obviously very important to him and... he snapped" Kyle said.

"Hardly your fault...Damien was always a bit unhinged...besides you saw him today at lunch he was out of his mind."

"Still, do you think any of this would've happened it if weren't for me?" Kyle asked "Think about it, if Jared or Gavin won do you really think Damien would've lost it like he did?" Kyle asked.

"I don't know...but you shouldn't be blaming yourself."

"I'm not so sure about that" he said.


~*~



"You're not going to believe this" Kellie said hanging up her cell phone "that was the DA, Damien's lawyered up, they're going for an insanity defense" she said to Kevin.

"So what does that mean?" he asked.

"It means they're going to have a competency hearing to see if he's fit to stand trial and if they find any reason he’s mentally incompetent he won’t be convicted” she said “And if he is and pleads not guilty we’ll have to go to trial” she said.

"That means putting Kyle up on the stand making him relive this whole nightmare" Kevin said.

"Kyle, Nat, the other boys they would all have to testify not to mention all of the other witnesses and the other victims" she said to him.

"Can he really do this?" he asked.

"Unfortunately he can” Kellie said to him “Ian is going to try his hardest to keep this out of court but that this point, it might just happen" Kellie said to him.

"This just keeps getting better" Kevin said.

"Excuse me" someone said coming into the waiting room.

"Yes?" Kellie asked seeing a man enter the room with a briefcase “Garrett” she said.

“Kellie Mitchell, good to see you again” Garrett said.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I’m here on behalf of my client, Damien Winchester” he said.

“You’re representing Damien?” Kellie asked.

“Damien’s father has been a close friend and loyal client of mine for many years” he said.

“Sorry about that Garrett” Derek said entering the room
“ah, you must be Kyle's parents, Derek Winchester, Damien’s father" he said extending his hand, Kevin shook it reluctantly.

“We were hoping to speak with Howard Dorough and Brian Littrell?" he asked, they looked at each other.

“Well I’m afraid that’s not possible” Kevin said “They’re with their boys right now I won’t have you disturbing them” he said “So you'll have to deal with me" he said.

“Mr. Richardson with all due respect…our business here really just involves Mr. Dorough and Mr. Littrell.”

“Well with all due respect to you Mr. Winchester and your attorney here as I told you before they’re not available to speak with you” Kevin said irritated “They’re right where they’re supposed to be, at their boys’ bedsides, they were shot… and your son Mr. Winchester, is the one who shot them so you can understand why I’m not going to pull them away for this” he said sternly.

“I second that” Kellie said.

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were acting on their behalf” Garrett said to her.

“You didn’t really ask did you?” Kellie asked.

“Alright…Mr. Winchester was hoping to reach an agreement with the victims and their families” Garrett said.

"And that would be?" Kevin asked.

"Look obviously my son is a very disturbed boy, he's sick, he does not belong in prison, he belongs in a facility where they can help him heal" Derek said to him.

Kyle stood in the doorway listening “What’s going on?” he asked.

“It’s okay sweetie, I’ve got this” Kellie said to him.

"Mr. Winchester" Kyle said.

"Hello Kyle” he said “Good to see you again” he said.

“Yeah wish I could say the same” Kyle said looking at him suspiciously “What are you doing here?” Kyle asked.

“That was my question” Kellie said.

“Well like I was telling your parents here, I'm prepared to make a very generous offer for the sake of my son's health" he said to them "My son has severe psychological problems and he needs professional medical help...he's not going to get that in jail". "And I'm sure Kyle can agree that he wouldn't want to feel responsible should anything happen to Damien in jail" Kyle looked at him incredulously.

“Garrett would you please explain to your client that suggesting is classified as bribery and extortion...which last time I checked were both illegal" Kellie said to him.

“Nice try Kellie but I’m not representing Mr. Winchester, just his son” Garrett said to her.

"Do you really understand the magnitude of what has happened today?" Kevin asked him.

"What happened today is a great tragedy, I can't speak for my son but he knows what he's done was wrong and he is ready to atone for it...but incarceration isn't the answer" Derek said.

"The hell it's not" Kyle said to him "He threatened to kill me, he held me at gunpoint, he shot two of my friends, he almost hit a third and he took Adam hostage!” Kyle said.

“I think you should leave” Kevin said “Now” he said “Or do I have to get security?” he asked.

“That’s not necessary, let’s go” Garrett said to Derek.

"Ian? hey it's Kellie Mitchell, listen I just had a very interesting encounter with Derek Winchester..." she said on the phone.