"You only have one choice here."Colin began as he
moved the group to the center of his office,"Turn Tom
over to me and the elders might not see your actions
as betrayal."
Lewis's eyes narrowed,"And what would they consider
your actions to be? Are you really that deluded to
believe that you are acting with the consent of
everyone?"
Colin leaned against the front of his desk as he
folded his arms across his chest,"You've been out of
the loop for awhile,Lewis. There are things being
planned that you do not know about."
Lewis pressed the barrel of the gun harder into the
small of Tom's back forcing the younger man
forward,"Are you going to spend all night enlightening
us or our we going to get down to business?"
Colin's eyes narrowed sharply,"You interfered with my
plans, brother dear, why should I make any kind of
deal with you?"
"Because you know as well as I do how valuable Tom is
to our future."Lewis replied quietly.

Walter knew he'd regret this later but he aimed his
gun anyway. With one shot the blond adversary went
down clutching his shoulder. The other two 1.6er's
glanced at each other than down at the wounded man
before reluctantly lowering their weapons.
Lucy jumped slightly before turning to glare at
Attwood,"*That* was your plan?"
Walter grinned,"It worked didn't it?"
Lucy shook her head,"Warn me next time."

Sanchez moved forward ushering the trio into a nearby
closet. Just as she was about to lock the door the
brown haired youth lashed out striking her hard across
the face.
Lucy's eyes blazed with anger as she brought the
weapon back up using it to shove the man back into the
closet.
Loosing his footing the man tumbled into the other
two,"Try that again and I will shoot you!"
Attwood joined her just as the blond man glared at
them,"You may think you have the upper hand but Prey
will die they always do."
Walter shook his head firmly,"Not this prey."
Lucy slammed the door shut making sure it was locked
before turning away.
Walter noticed the rapidly forming bruise on her left
cheek,"You alright?"
Lucy shook her head,"Its nothing, lets move and round
up the rest of these toy soldiers."

Tom blinked in surprise at Lewis's statement but kept
his face expressionless.
Colin shook his head as he walked around the corner of
his desk and press a button on his phone console,"This
absurdness ends now."
Five tense long minutes went by before Colin hit
another button and then another.
Still no one came.
Lewis grinned,"Rather hard to keep up this pretense
without your army isn't it?"
"I can handle you without an army."Colin replied in a
voice that was clipped and harsh. He calmly hit one
more button on the phone console.
On the wall closest to Tom a wood panel about the size
of a mousepad slid open revealing a semi-automatic
machine gun.

Lewis whirled to face the weapon then looked back at
his 'brother',"Your ace in the hole won't work."
"Why is that?"Colin replied as he leaned on the desk
his hand just inches above the button that would
trigger the gun.
Lewis raised his gun and pressed it against Tom's head
as he cocked the hammer,"You forget that I always
finish the game my way."
Tom heard the trigger being pulled back and forced
himself not to close his eyes. Whatever happened he'd
meet his fate with his eyes wide open.
Trusting Lewis this time may have turned out to be his
Achilles' heel.
Colin laughed,"You don't have the nerve to kill your
prize pupil."
"Never underestimate me,'brother'."Lewis replied
coldly as he squeezed the trigger.
Then at the last possible second Lewis spun around and
fired. The bullet hit Colin square in the chest. The
recoil sent him flying through the plate glass window
to his death on the street far below.

Katherine Krieg was just about to turn into Whitney's
parking lot when a call came over the radio.
"43L go ahead dispatch."Hurst replied as he turned up
the volume of the radio.
"There's a John Doe with a gunshot wound at 2828
Dover."
Peter glanced out the window at the building in
question which was only two blocks away,"That's a
highrise,what floor is the body on?"
"Negative,the body is not in the building."
"Sounds like a stiff right up our alley."Krieg replied
with a weak grin as she put the car in reverse and
pulled back onto the main street.
Hurst grimaced as he cowered in his seat mockingly
holding up his hands in a defensive postion,"Please,
don't tell any more jokes. Unless you want to dispense
then to the whole department to use instead of their
guns."
Krieg glared at her partner but didn't respond as she
smoothly changed lanes.
She could only hope that this body answered a few
questions instead of leaving them with more.
That is of course if this John Doe was even connected
to the case at all.

Epilog

Six months later.....

Sloan Parker squeezed her eyes shut as her right arm
sprang out and grabbed the bed rail.
The contractions were a hell of a lot more painful
than she had ever expected.
But as she opened her eyes and looked into Tom's the
pain seemed much more bearable.
Especially when she remembered the source of the pain.
After all they had gone through by some miracle Tom
was by her side and she was giving birth to their
child.

The contraction finally subsided and she glanced
around the room. Despite Ed's protests Sloan had
insisted that she have the child at the University.
A hospital would just have too many questions,Sloan
had reasoned with her friend.
Besides they would know better than anyone how to
handle any medical complication that came up during
birth.
Now that the moment was finally there Sloan could only
pray that her child was healthy.
"Okay,Sloan,"Ed Tate called from the foot of the
bed,"You're fully dilated. On the next contraction you
can start to push."
Sloan nodded as she glanced from her best friend to
Tom. She didn't know who was more nervous.
Ray and Walter were standing quietly against the wall
near the door. Ready to help if they were needed.
Tom winced inwardly as he saw the pain cross Sloan's
face as another contraction began.
He glared at Ed,"Can't you give her something for the
pain?"
Sloan grasped his hand,"No.....no drugs."
"Sloan...."Tom replied quietly as he took her hand in
his.
Sloan shook her head,"Drugs will risk the baby's
health."
"We don't know that."Tom replied quietly,"I don't want
to risk your hea...."

Sloan tightened her grip on Tom's hand cutting off his
sentence as another contraction started.
This one was more powerful than any of the others.
Sloan bit her lower lip to keep from crying out.
"Sloan,this is it."Ed stated with a smile,"Start
pushing."
Sloan nodded as she clamped her eyes shut. She forced
herself to ride the wave of pain, using it as
controlled energy.
"That's it,Sloan."Ed commented excitedly,"I can see
the baby's head. Two more pushes...."
Sloan's eyes snapped open as she glared at her best
friend,"Easy for you to say."
Her attention was snatched away from her friend as her
body was wracked by another contraction. Sloan forced
her exhausted body to funnel all the remaining energy
into one more push. No matter what Ed said this had to
be the last one.
She didn't think she could do any more after this one.

Ed watched in amazement as tiny shoulders appeared.
Followed by tiny legs....then suddenly he was holding
a brand new life in his arms.
Sloan collapsed back against the pillow so tired she
could barely keep her eyes open.
Tom was on his feet as he looked anxiously toward
Tate.
Silence.
Panicked Sloan forced herself into a sitting
position,"Ed? What's wrong? Why isn't it crying?"
Rising to his feet Ed was about to reply when a tiny
wail interrupted him.
Ed walked around to the left side of the bed and
gently handed the infant to its mother,"Say hello to
your daughter,Sloan."
Sloan felt tears stream down her face but she didn't
care. Carefully she shifted position so Tom could see
their new daughter.
Part of her still couldn't believe that somebody was
going to be calling her Mama.
But as she looked into Tom's eyes she knew that
whatever lay ahead for them they would make it through
together.

"Would you like to hold her?"Sloan asked in a quiet
voice.
Tom didn't look away from the tiny pair of eyes
staring back at him.
A daughter.
His daughter.
Tom felt such a rush of love surge through him that it
nearly toppled him.
He had a family.....a place where he could finally be
truly happy.
At Sloan's question he reached toward her,"I....."Tom
replied his voice thick with emotion,"I'm afraid I'll
drop her."
Sloan smiled at him as she gently placed their
daughter in Tom's arms,"No,you won't."

As he accepted his daughter Tom slowly sank into a
nearby chair. Afraid if he stood any longer his legs
would give way. The baby slowly reached up and grasped
Tom's right forefinger in its tiny hand.
Not looking away from the absolute perfect picture
before her Sloan asked Ed,"Is she really okay?"
Tate nodded as he leaned against the bed
rail,"Yes,she's perfect,Sloan."
"So what are we going to call this new little bundle
of joy?"Walter asked as he and Ray came to stand next
to Ed.
Sloan looked down at her new daughter,"I'd like to
name her Melissa.....Melissa Ann."

Detective Katherine Krieg stood in front of her file
cabinet, manila folder in hand.
More than anything she hated filing cases that had
more holes in them than swiss cheese.
The John Doe they had discovered by the highrise
turned out to be Colin Montgomery a CEO of a
multi-million dollar computer company.
But his business didn't explain his death.
Or for that matter the connection to the Parker case.
Tim Hansen had been employed by Montgomery for five
years.

While she was grateful that Parker had been found
alive the good doctor's reemergence had only led to
more questions.
None of which were answered by Daniels to her
satisfaction.
But as it seemed to be more and more these days
politics had interfered with justice.
The Commissioner had forced her to close the case and
place it in the cold file among countless other
unsolved murders.
"That wouldn't be the Parker file would it?"Peter
Hurst asked as he leaned against the open doorway.
Katherine grinned,"How could you tell?"
"Your forehead crinkles when you're frusterated."Hurst
replied as he walked into the room.
Katherine sighed as she filed the folder and shut the
door,"I just don't like loose ends and that case is
full of them."
Hurst nodded,"I know,so do I. But its been six months.
If there were any new leads we would've found them by
now. The people involved in the case aren't exactly
cooperative. Not that I blame them, they want to move
on with their lives."
Krieg turned around,"Is that your subtle way of saying
we should move on as well?"
"That and the six open case files on my desk."Peter
replied with a grin,"Come on, I'll buy lunch."

END