~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

Ripping out the sword from his chest, Courtney's eyes widened a little at the scene. Gabriel had an arm over his now heavily bleeding wound, but his glare was as sharp as ever; his knees trembled at the pain, but he did his best to stay on his feet.

Wes was the most shocked out of all of them, staring up at the guy he had nearly killed, but the same guy who risked his life for his.

Before she could do anything, yellow glowing ropes wrapped around her, forcing her to the ground with a scream, the rest of the group running over, Jade glowing yellow as she kept the ropes steady.

However, the shock covered their faces when they saw Gabe's giant chest wound, blood covering his lip as he coughed, and eventually fell forward. Lara made a run for it, managing to catch him before he could fall, cupping his face as tears blurred her vision. "Gabe?!?"

No response, his eyes glassy, vision distant. With a trembling hand, she began to glow a soft green, biting her lip to stop the sobs from escaping her, and trying her best to heal his wound.

But it went all the way through, and healing someone from a wound that deep takes a lot of energy, energy they all barely had...

The others all kneeled down around them, all feeling cold from the fear that quickly filled every part of them, tears on their faces. They all tried to heal the wound as much as they could, even until they felt like they were about to pass out, but they had to save him.

Even so...

He still wouldn't wake up...

Jade covered the lower part of her face as she shut her eyes, sobbing into Jake's shoulder, who wrapped his arms around her as his bangs covered his tear filled eyes. Cassie hugged Fiona's arm out of instinct, crying into it as Fiona buried her face in her hair to hide her face.

Lara didn't bother hiding it, her loud sobs being the only thing heard for miles without end as she waited for any sign, anything at all! A breath, some movement, a heartbeat!

... nothing...

He was... gone...

"Gabe!! Gabe please, y- you can't leave!! Not now!!" She choked on a sob, covering her mouth to muffle the rest before burying her face in his unmoving chest, gripping his bloody shirt.

"P-please... d-don't leave us... don't leave... m-me..."

~~~~~~~~~Gabe's POV~~~~~~~~~

...

"Kid?"

...

"Kid, wake up."

...

-BONK-

"Ow!!" My eyes shot open, seeing myself floating in a dark abyss. There were no walls, no floor, and no ceiling.

I didn't feel any pain anymore, if anything, I felt much stronger.

Well, minus the pain of something suddenly hitting my head, making me look up to see Bill floating upside down, staring at me. "Did you do that?!"

"I had to wake you up."

"You could've have found a more gentle way of doing so?!"

"Eh, not really my thing."

I rolled my eyes as he floated to be in front of me. What made me a little worried was that instead of his usual playful smile, his expression was serious, more serious than I had ever seen him.

"It's not your time yet."

"Huh?"

"In your world, you're thinking about giving up, but it's not your time yet."

"... everything hurts when I'm back there.."

"So? No matter where you are, pain will always be a thing, you just gotta move on. Besides, are you really gonna leave knowing the world is still destroyed? Is that really what a hero does?"

A... hero..?

"You're a hero, Gabriel, you've saved everyone, even if you risked your own life."

Huh.. I've never thought of myself as a hero..

It doesn't sound back actually..

I have him a nod. "Alright, I'll go back."

"Atta boy." He took off his top hat and placed it on my head. "Here, it'll help you bring everything back to normal."

"Your hat?"

"More than just a hat. Take good care of it, okay?"

I nodded, feeling a smile grow on my face. "I'll see you around, grandfather.."

"Same here, kid."

With that, I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, then waited.

And waited..

And waited...

...

"Don't leave... m-me..."

At the sound of a soft familiar, my eyes finally opened, seeing everyone around me crying.

"Uh... guys...?"

They all quickly looked up at me, eyes wide and red, filled with surprises as I sat up. None of them said anything, as if waiting to believe if I was really here, until Lara wrapped her arms around me and pressed her lips against mine.

My face heated up at the action, eyes wide in shock. I really hadn't expected this when I woke up!

But.. I didn't mind it.

She soon pulled away, her cheeks a deep pink, and I could see in her eyes she grew nervous at the realization of what she had done. But I gave her a smile to let her know it was okay, and she smiled back.

Everyone else then wrapped me in a group up, and I tried my best to make sure they didn't suffocate me, but even so, I was more than happy to be back..

Jade sniffled as she wiped away from tears, and I noticed her gaze move down to my neck. "What's that..?"

"Huh?" I looked down to see what she meant; a small necklace was dangling from my neck, a small top hat charm in the middle. I smiled, knowing who this was from. "Just a small gift from grandpa."

However, my smile quickly faded away as I looked around. "Wait, where's Wes? And Courtney?"

Fiona nodded over to the side, and I saw Courtney lying unconscious on the ground, with Wes kneeling a few feet away, wearing handcuffs and staring at the ground. A small sigh escaped my lips, even if he said he had nowhere to go, we could try to help him some other way.

At least he now knew what he was doing was wrong.

Cassie nervously rubbed her arm. "So.. how do we fix all this..? I don't think any of us have enough energy to do much.."

"I have a way." Gently grabbing my new necklace, I looked up at the sky. Bill said this would somehow help me bring things back, right?

Without saying anything else, the necklace began to glow, and about a minute of everything around us shifting and morphing, the town returned to normal, including all of the people.

Police then quickly ran over and were able to arrest the two criminals, and Jake let out a small sigh. "Guess this finishes this mystery."

"How about we all go home..? I think we need a week's rest for now.." Jade suggested, all of us nodding.

But as I began to walk away, I felt someone gently grab my arm, seeing Lara behind me, her ears flattened back.

"Gabe, um.. a-about what I did, I j-just.. I-it's just.."

Chuckling a bit, I leaned over, placing a kiss on her cheek, which caused her ears to perk up. "Don't worry about it.. It was.. nice.."

Her cheeks grew pink, but she soon smiled, and then that smile morphed into something more nervous. "That's not all I wanted to say.."

"What else is there..?"

"It's about this feeling I've had through all of this.. A-about my dad.. I know he's here somewhere, I just.."

"... you want me to help you find him..?"

"I-I know you're probably exhausted, but this might be the last chance I get to-!"

"I understand, Lara.. I'll help.."

She stared at me for a little while, then smiled again. "Thank you.."

~~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

The two of them spent around half an hour looking around a certain area in town, where Lara could sense he was very close by.

Why did she want to find him though?

She didn't know the answer to that yet. It was very strange to her.

Eventually they made it to a darkened alleyway in between two tall buildings, both feeling a cold chill go down their spines. But they weren't afraid, not after all of this happened.

Gulping back a bit of saline, she lifted her chin in confidence. "We know you're there, Ryan."

There was a small change in the air, barely even felt, but definitely there. Both teens stood close to each other incase anything happened, but they could feel that it wouldn't.

"I didn't think you'd follow." A voice spoke, it was too familiar to ignore. The deepness, the accent.

That was him.

They both turned, seeing a shadow with two bright green eyes staring at them from deeper into the alley. Lara took a deep breath, taking a step forward. "We had to know why you're here. Did you have any part of this battle?"

"No, not this time."

"You did though. I saw the chains you used to stop Courtney from hurting us." Gabe's eyes widened a little at Lara's statement. Had he really helped them against Courtney?

The man didn't reply, not until he took a few steps forward, his face finally visible. "And if I did?"

"I want to know why. Why did you come back? And why did you help?"

"... Maybe I just wanted to see my daughter, even if just one last time."

Lara's ears perked up a little at that word, gripping her sleeves. Maybe it was a desire that she had kept locked away for years, but deep in her heart, she always hoped that maybe, just maybe, they could one day have the family bonding she always hoped for.

He stuck his hands in his pockets, his gaze shifting away, as if to hide the shame he brought along. "I didn't expect you to search for me, nor talk to me, nor after all I've done, so I will take my leave now."

"Wait.." He didn't move, Lara fiddling with a stand of hair. "Maybe it doesn't have to be the last time.. It'll take a while, but.. I-I would like for us to try to be a family.."

No reply, and she felt a pit slowly grow in her stomach, gripping her hair. Gabe stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder for confort.

"I would like that."

She froze a little at his words. He was nowhere in sight anymore, but she could sense he was still around, even as she heard his voice fading away.

"Maybe I'll see you around, Lara.."

And with that, the feeling was gone..

She let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping down, and Gabe looked down at her. "You okay..?"

"Yeah.. I think that was a bit of progress.."

"For someone like him, definitely.."

They chuckled a bit, and after a few seconds of silence, he gently took her hand, tangling their fingers together. "C'mon, let's go home.."

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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