"Allie." Jack gasped as relief flooded through his body. He crouched in the grass and shadows out of sight and looked down at the scene. Allie was alive but she was tied up and so was Lily and Sarah. Gavin was there as well and Jack wondered what in the world he was doing with his pa.

"Lily killed your brother. That was the gunshot we heard." Hawke said as they watched John retie Lily's wrists.

"Good for her. I know what kind of man Brian is and I can tell you what he was probably trying to do to her." Hawke felt his blood boil at the thought of any man touching his wife but he forced himself to remain calm. Angry men made mistakes and his families lives depended upon him keeping his head.

"Two is all that's left of the gang. That blood at the cabin must have been Blue's." Jack whispered. Hawke nodded.

"What do we do now?" Jack asked.

"We wait for our opportunity." Hawke replied and both men looked back down at the campfire below.

***

"Come here, Lily." John said sternly and Lily walked to him. He grabbed her arms and retied the rope that was still tied around one of her wrists. "Stay still or I will kill your daughter." he warned.

"Let's play a little game." John said loudly enough so that he knew anyone hiding in the shadows would be able to hear. He grabbed Lily by the arm and pressed his gun against her temple. She bit her lip and fought back the tears of fear and desperation that were burning in her eyes. What was it about her that screamed 'Hey crazy psycho killers, please come stick a gun to my head?'

"Bring her sister over here." John said to Paul. Paul nodded and pulled Allie to her feet. He led her over to stand next to John and pressed his own gun to her temple. Both of the sisters looked into the shadows and wondered where their men were. Janna had disappeared back into the darkness and was no longer visible and Lily suddenly had a horrifying thought that maybe the wolf had followed them on her own and Jack and Hawke really weren't here to save them.

"What's the game?" Allie asked keeping her fear from showing in her voice. "I love games."

"We're gonna find out just how much lover boy over here cares about you." John replied nodding toward Gavin who looked more scared than Sarah as he shook and cowered beside the fire.

"Oh great." Allie muttered.

"One person is going to die here in two minutes. It's either going to be Jack's beautiful little Allie doll or you, Gavin. You get to pick."

Gavin looked like a deer in headlights as he stared at Allie. He did not want to die but then again he did not want Allie to die either. Damn Lily for shooting this crazy mans son. She should have just let him have his way with her instead of killing him and signing all of their death warrants.

The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife as Gavin and Allie stared at each other. She could not believe that he was this big of a coward. She already knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth to speak.

"Her." he whispered as tears fell from his green eyes. "Kill her." John laughed loudly as Allie shook her head with disbelief. John grabbed Allie and threw her to the ground.

"Paul, go kill that coward." he said. Allie and Lily both closed their eyes tightly as Paul walked over to Gavin. The sound of a rifle shot filled the air but when Allie opened her eyes it was Paul that was lying dead on the ground. Allie took advantage of John's moment of confusion and pulled away from him.

Hawke and Jack came running from the shadows and John felt a moment of panic. He grabbed Lily who was trying desperately to get to Sarah and pressed his gun to her rounded stomach.

Hawke and Jack stopped in their tracks.

"Let go of my wife." Hawke said his voice as cold as steel and his hands tensing on the rifle he was holding. Allie tried to run to Jack but John stopped her.

"Nobody move!" he yelled. " I am in control here." He looked over at Gavin but the man was curled up on the ground and definitely not a threat. He looked back at his son and the injun and his mind raced to come up with a way to get out of this alive.

"I'm leaving and I'm taking her with me." John said tilting his head at Lily.

"You will not take my wife." Hawke growled.

"If you try to stop me I will kill your unborn child and then I will kill your wife." John replied. Lily knew she had to do something. She could see the helpless look in Hawke's eyes. She recognized it well since it was the same look he had had when Nathan had been holding her. It broke her heart because she knew he would hate himself for not being able to help her. Hawke was fast but he was not fast enough to stop John from pulling the trigger that his finger was already tight against.

Lily knew it was time to take things into her own hands. She took a deep breath and then turned slightly and brought her knee up into John's groin. She yanked away from him as he doubled over and took off running toward her daughter.

John knew he was going to die. He heard a growl behind him and saw a gray wolf coming toward him like a living shadow and he saw his son pulling his revolver.

Time seemed to stop and the world stood still as John turned his gun to Allie. He might be about to die but he was going to take away his sons happiness before it happened.

Jack saw his pa turn his gun toward Allie. Jack yelled her name and launched himself through the air, throwing his body between Allie and the bullet that came roaring from John's gun. Jack fired a bullet of his own even as he felt a burning pain fill his chest as his pa's bullet found its mark. He heard a snarling as Wolf leapt on John and he heard the tearing of flesh as Wolf made sure the threat was gone.

"Jack! Oh my God! Hawke he's been shot!" Allie screamed as she fell to her knees beside him. Jack could feel his breath growing weaker and his vision was blurring. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace. He held it up to her and she cursed her hands that were tied behind her back.

"Don't you die on me, Jack. I can't lose you again." Allie said as tears poured down her face. Jack tried to smile but began choking on the blood gathering in his lungs. He didn't mind dying this way. After all the terrible things he had done in his life, he would happily die knowing that he had saved Allie's life.

"I… love you.. Doll." he gasped as the blood rolled out of his mouth and down his cheeks.

"I love you too." Allie replied. Her heart was shattering apart as she watched the love of her life and the other half of her soul bleed on the ground at her beside her. She watched his eyes close and she broke down burying her face against his neck.

"He can't die." she said looking up at Hawke. "He can't die because that would mean he sacrificed himself for me! I can't live with that on my conscience!"

Hawke untied Lily's hands and a sobbing Lily ran to her daughter and untied her before removing the gag from her mouth and lifting her into her arms. Sarah curled her arms around her mother's neck and buried her face against her chest

Hawke walked over and untied Allie's hands before lifting Jack's unconscious body into his arms.

"There is a town close Allie but I think we are going to be too late." he said as he whistled for Trigger and the horse came walking out of the darkness toward them. Hawke threw Jack over the horse and then jumped up into the saddle. He waited until Gavin, Allie and Lily had found horses to mount and then they began galloping as fast as they could toward the nearby town.

888

"He is not going to wake up." The doctor said in a cold, stern voice. "He is dying and there is no point in me wasting supplies to try to save him." Allie collapsed on the floor of the doctor's stark sitting room when she heard his words come through the office door and sobbed into her skirts. Lily was curled up in an arm chair with a sleeping Sarah in her arms. Lily had a look of shock and horror on her pale face and had yet to say a single word. Wolf and Janna were curled up together in the far corner. Gavin had already holed himself up at the nearest hotel with several bottles of whiskey.

Hawke looked down at Jack's bloody, unconscious body lying on the doctors operating table. His skin was grey and ashen and his breathing was shallow. Hawke felt a desperate rage fill him at the doctors words. He looked at the tall thin man and pulled his knife.

"What are you doing?" The doctor demanded with panic as Hawke stalked toward him and the doctor backed up until he was pressed against the wall and Hawke glared down at him with a deadly intensity in his eyes.

"You will do what you can do save my sons life or I will end yours." The doctor nodded quickly and looked over at the dying boy.

"I will try but the boy is dying. You need to say your goodbyes." Hawke turned and stormed from the room slamming the door behind him. He stood in the sitting room and looked down at Allie sobbing on the floor and at his beautiful sleeping daughter and his terrified wife and wondered how they were all going to survive losing Jack for a second time.