Meanwhile up in the air vents as Jerald was crawling around peering through the vents trying to figure out what was going on in the all too quiet Orphanage down below, a light bulb went off in Ellie’s head as she got a sudden idea.


“Jerry can we goes to the playroom please?” she asked and Jerald pulled his worried gaze from a vent and looked at his niece whom he currently had a very firm protective hold of and he arched his eyebrow.


“What for?” he asked suspiciously.


“I just remembered that I forgots my Donald Duck down there an’ I wants him.” Jerald sighed heavily as he considered this. He knows that her Donald Duck is a big security thing and she could really use some form of security right now with all that is going on. He gently squeezed her hand and then began leading her to the playroom. When they arrived at the vent he opened it up and peered inside to make sure there wasn’t any sign of danger in there. When he saw that it was safe he gently gathered her into his arms and she wound hers around him tightly as he climbed down. When his feet hit the ground he gently set her down and she ran straight for the dress up center. He watched her as she rummaged through the dress up box and when she found her Donald Duck she tucked him safely under her arm and he raised his eyebrow as she tried to be sneaky by pocketing the handcuffs too. When she returned to him he gathered her up and she latched onto him. He waited until they were back up in the safety of the vents before confronting her about her not so sneaky moment, and what she is up to now.


~*~*~*~*~



When Nick made it up to his and Ashley’s apartment he went into Bella’s room, into her closet, and he climbed the dresser and opened the air vent before squeezing himself inside with not too much difficulty – it was easier then he thought it would be that’s for sure. If they ever make it out of this alive, his kids will have to find themselves a new hiding place now that he’s discovered he can get up there – not as easily as them, but it’s possible. He pulled his feet all the way in and closed the vent behind him before venturing off in the direction he knows the basement is in and when he found it, his heart lurched as he heard his girlfriend sobbing. She can defend herself pretty well now but he needs to work with her on doing so when he isn’t around to coach her through it.


He peered through the vent and his heart broke even more as he saw her lying face down against the stairs and Sean molesting her. As gay as he is now, he can’t understand how he can still enjoy touching her like that. He knows it can’t be out of sexual pleasure it has to be just because it simply hurts her and that alone pisses him off royally. He sat there watching with great difficulty just waiting for her to feel his presence. It’s taking everything in him not to shout at him right now and stop him from doing it. He was specifically told that Sean is not to find out that he is being set up otherwise it won’t work. After a long moment she finally turned her head toward Nick’s direction and when she saw him there her watery eyes widened and Nick threw his finger up to his lips instantly telling her to be quiet and she obeyed, though she looked at him with eyes that practically screamed ‘help me’.


You need to help yourself baby he told her, immediately slipping into the comfortable silent conversation that he is used to having with her. I can’t be there to do it so you need to step up and do it yourself.


I’ve tried…


Not hard enough. I know that if you did you would’ve succeeded because I know you are capable of doing anything. Ashley shook her head slightly just enough for Nick to notice but not Sean and Nick nodded in disagreement. You can do it sweetheart I believe in you. You are strong and you don’t deserve to be treated this way. I need you to fight back, get away from him, and run to Marcus in the lobby right now. Everybody’s lives depend on it. Tears cascaded down her face and when she felt Sean’s fingers slide into her, she lifted her foot and kicked him hard in the face, all the while keeping her eyes on Nick. Sean cried out in surprise as he seriously thought he’d finally turned her back to her old obedient ways and she got up slightly and began crawling up the stairs only to have him grab her leg and yank him back down. She twisted around and rammed her fingers into his eyes causing him to shriek even louder.


Using his moment of weakness to her advantage, she got to her feet and darted up the stairs while pulling her underwear and pants back up as she goes. By the time she reached the door and had twisted the knob open and flew out of the basement, Sean recovered and tore after her furiously. Nick meanwhile, whirled around and crawled as fast as he could through the little space that he had in the air vents until he reached the vent just around the corner of the stairway. He threw it open, slid his way through and jumped down barely landing on his feet before taking off again. He ran as fast as he could using nothing but pure adrenaline by now, though every once in awhile having dizzy moments, blurred vision, and stumbling over his own feet but he surged on with the desperate need to reach Ashley before gunfire is made being the only thing on his mind.


When he made it to the staircase he dove down it, tripped over the fourth to the last step and went rolling down the rest and when he hit the floor he wasted no time in getting to his feet – winced in sheer pain, and then kept going until he was in the lobby. He looked toward the corner that Ashley should be coming from and sure enough she came running out from around it sobbing with Sean shouting at her not too far behind. She caught sight of Nick, went straight for him, and he met her half way with his arms out stretched. She flew into them and he dove into the security booth with her before Sean even made it around the corner and he threw his arm under her head to cushion it as she hit the ground hard with him on top. She slid her arms around his neck and held onto him firmly as he tightened his own arms around her in return before kissing her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips and whispering reassuring words in her ear as the shooting began outside the booth.


When he finally got her to calm down somewhat, he rolled them over so that they were closer to the wall of the booth and he sat up with her in his lap before pushing them both into a corner and underneath the shelter of the counter top that the television screens used to be sitting on. He looked around frantically and when he saw a cupboard door he opened it up and was pleased to see that it was big enough for the both of them to crawl into. He did just that before shutting the door behind them and he leaned back exhausted against the wall before grabbing a nearby flashlight and turning it on. He looked her over in quiet concern for a few seconds as she sat there sniffling and feeling violated. He could actually feel her trembling she is so shaken up. He gently shifted her so that she is straddling him and then cupped her face in his hands.


“You’re okay…I’ve got you now. I’ve got you baby,” he told her in a quiet whisper before gently bringing her lips down on his in a soft kiss. “I love you,” he added between kisses and she tightened her arms around him instantly putting the death grip on him. When he pulled back from their kisses he wound his arms around her waist as she nestled her head in his shoulder and he sat there quietly placing feathery light kisses on top of her head as they listened to the battle going on out there.


Meanwhile on Emilio’s urgent but unexplained request Damien and gang waited just long enough for Nick to get Ashley out of the way. As soon as he did Sean came flying into the lobby shortly after giving Emilio, Kori, Scott, Wiley, AJ, and the rest of the BSB gang that Marcus had managed to track down (which was Brooke, Brian, and the rest of security) just enough time to dive in front of Sean, work together on shoving him out of the way just seconds before he was hit by a bullet, and turn on a very surprised and royally pissed off Damien.


“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Sean shouted incredulously and Marcus who had been one of the guys in charge of making sure he was out of the way rolled his eyes as the two of them were hidden behind a turned over chair and he was holding onto Sean with one hand and shooting with the other.


“Shut up and just be fucking thankful that we just saved your stupid ass and help us out here in return will you? Or would you like for me to throw you out there for death instead?”


“Wait, wait, hold up – you’re going to have to clear something up here before you expect me to jump right in and help you. Why would you save me when I’ve caused you so much grief?”


“Because for some really crazy unknown reason, your daughter loves you and will never forgive me if anything happens to you, and two, maybe Ashley’s compassion is starting to rub off on me who the fuck knows. Just be grateful that I did if you are capable of it at all.”


“That bitch doesn’t have any compassion,” Sean insisted and Marcus paused in his shooting just long enough to smack Sean upside the head really hard and Sean yelped in pain.


“OW! What the fuck?!”


“Ashley has more compassion than you could ever dream of! She is the sweetest, kindest, most loving human being to ever walk the face of this earth – the best thing to ever happen to us and you’re hell bent on taking her away – on hurting her and making her cry and destroying everything she holds dear yet she still manages to find it in her heart to be Ellie’s number one advocate in her fight to keep you out of death row! So don’t try to fucking tell me she doesn’t have compassion or I will shoot you in the knee cap next time! And blame it on Damien. Got it dickwad?” Sean stared at Marcus in a long silence then not bothering to hide the incredulous look on his face at Marcus’s words. He’d known Ellie was trying to save him from death row…but Ashley too? That’s just too much.


“And the sad thing is,” Marcus went on then in response to Sean’s shock. “She would probably win the fight for Ellie too. Ashley tends to have the knack for making even the craziest things make sense. She wants to save your butt and you want to kill her. Ungrateful bastard…”


“It’s not about her. It’s about punishing Kori” Sean insisted firmly.


“Why should Ashley pay for Kori’s mistakes?”


“I told you, it’s not about her.”


“It has everything to do with her!”


“No it doesn’t. Killing Ashley will punish Kori once and for all – I don’t want her to have any family left!”


“See, that’s why it has everything to do with Ashley. She has to die because Kori pissed you off. Why can’t you see how fucking unfair that is?” Marcus asked trying very hard not to get emotional. He can’t shoot a gun and cry at the same time, his eyes will get all blurry. “She never did anything wrong – she was sucked into all of this against her will. A sweet innocent person who loves and cherishes each and every family member she has. She is a great girlfriend, a great friend, and a wonderful mom whom you are taking away from a very special infant. She has the ability to do great things in this world, Sean.” When Sean didn’t reply, Marcus went on going for the kill. “I bet you had potential to do great things too when you were younger…until your father took it all away huh? One terrible day your mother is taken from you forever and it turned your life completely upside down. It’s a shame Bella has to go through that…but at least you had the decency to not make her watch.” Sean gripped the gun tightly in his hand upon being reminded of his childhood – the gun that he was currently not shooting. He is purposely doing everything he can to avoid eye contact with Marcus. “I wonder what path Ellie will take when she loses her father like you lost your mother. She may not have to watch, but she’ll know it happened nonetheless.”


“Shut up! JUST SHUT UP!” Sean shouted angrily while forcing back unwanted emotions.


“What’s the matter? Did I hit a nerve?”


“Just fucking concentrate on who you are shooting at will you? These are very dangerous men you are dealing with!”


“This Damien guy must be anyway, because I never imagined you’d ever be scared of anything,” Marcus commented.


“He murdered one of my good friends.”


“And you are trying to murder one of mine but that doesn’t make me scared of you. It just makes me want to throw you out there for Damien to shoot in the head but I am doing my very best to control myself – it is my love for Ellie that is keeping me back and that is it.” Sean rolled his eyes but otherwise didn’t respond to Marcus’s comment.



Meanwhile, Detective Stabler and Ben who each stood on different sides of the hallway peered around the wall at the full on battle that was going on. Detective Benson was standing behind Detective Stabler watching his back like usual and Detective Tutuola took Ben’s. As for all of the other undercover cops that helped Ben guard the ‘hostages’, they sent them all out to help fight Damien and gang.


“Emilio informed me that Nick has Ashley hiding with him inside the security booth,” Ben whispered to all of them.


“Where is Ellie?” Detective Stabler asked instantly when he didn’t see the little girl hiding anywhere. “And Jerald?”


“…We sort of don’t know at the moment, actually” Ben answered warily. He knows how protective he is of the five year old and it is because of that very reason that he only let the other two in on it. “They disappeared from the cameras a long time ago.”


“Then they are in a bathroom or up in the air vents,” Detective Stabler insisted readily and he moved to go investigate only to have Detective Benson gently grab him by the arm.


“But all of the action is happening in here which means they’re safe for the time being. Why don’t you and I focus on getting Nick and Ashley out of the building huh?”


“It needs to happen in the next few minutes because we don’t have very much time left. Damien’s gang is shrinking faster now that we’ve sent in extra help. Once they’re dead Sean is going to try and take control again” Ben urged.


“He won’t be very successful…he’s a one man team. Where is Trevor?”


“Around…I heard they got into a huge fight. I suspect he’s keeping a real close watch on Sean though.”


“Anyway, Nick and Ashley” Detective Benson prompted. “Elliot and I will take the lead, you two back us up.” When the four Detectives had a strategy planned out Detective Stabler and Detective Benson quietly slipped out from hiding in the hall way into the lobby. With one trained eye on the shoot out going on in front of them they made their way with stealth toward the security booth; darting behind objects as they went. The other two followed suit ready to take out anyone who stands in their way.


Detective Stabler managed to reach the booth undistracted and when he did he used one of Ellie’s moves, rolling from the table that he was under into the booth and he got to his knees before speaking in a quiet whisper.


“Nick, Ashley, where are you?” As he spoke Detective Benson joined him and a second later the cupboard door opened just a crack revealing one of Ashley’s brown eyes.


“Sweetheart its just us…we’re here to get you out of here.” The cupboard door flew open and she darted out and into Detective Benson’s arms before beginning to sob out of relief and while Detective Benson hugged her and told her reassuring things Detective Stabler tended to Nick. He peered in at him with concern when he hadn’t come out of the cabinet.


“Yes I’m fine…” Nick insisted, though he sounded weak. “Get Ashley out of here please.”


“He’s lost a lot of blood Elliot,” Ashley sniffled. “he needs medical attention I don’t know how much more he can take.” Detective Stabler nodded and reached in and gently pulled Nick out.

“I’ve come to get the both of you out of here,” he insisted while doing so and Nick got into crawling position, winced slightly, but then put on the best brave face for Ashley that he could muster. “Then come on…I want her out of here now while Sean is distracted.


“Nick stop it,” Ashley snapped tearfully. “You aren’t fooling anyone, especially not me, She added and then pulled away from Detective Benson before going over to Nick and moving him so that he is on her back.


“Baby you’ve been carrying me all night…really I can—“


“--No. I need you to save your strength because I refuse to let you die on me Nick! Its not going to happen! I won’t lose you, I won’t!” She said firmly as tears cascaded from her eyes and she gently grabbed his hands. “I’m your girlfriend it’s my job to carry you when you’re down.”


“Just let her take care of you right now Nick, she needs to…it’s important to her and we really don’t have the time to argue right now,” Detective Benson insisted gently before Nick could argue any further. Nick sighed heavily but otherwise didn’t say anything as Ashley allowed Detective Stabler to gently grab her arm and using stealth he began to steer her out of the booth and with Detective Benson on Ashley’s other side and the other two Detectives trailing them at a close distance they quietly made their way toward the hallway that leads to the Hospital Wing.