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30 Years Ago - June 2350
Shield Row, England
Kathryn was sitting on the sofa watching a program on the TV, resting a coffee cup on her chest.

"I didn't know Televisions were still around," she said, sipping at her coffee.

A one year old James walked over holding a bit of paper. He tugged gently on her trouser leg, "mum."

Kathryn glanced down, "what is it sweetheart?"

James handed her the paper, "I drew a picture of you."

"Aaaw, how sweet," Kathryn said, she brought the paper close to her. "Oh, you've even drew a big coffee jar. Very nice."

"Yeah but I'm so glad there is no jar that big," James said. He shuddered, "bloody scary."

"Honey, enough with the bloody ok," Kathryn sighed. She messed up his hair with her available hand, making him pout.

Peter walked into the room, "damn I hate that Fluffy."

"Yeah me too. What did that hissing furball do now?" Kathryn asked. James looked up at Peter, he quickly climbed onto the sofa beside her.

"It knocked a few things off the bench, and Susy isn't around to clean it up," Peter replied.

Kathryn rolled her eyes as she gathered James up in her arms, she placed him onto her lap. "Let me guess, men don't clean things either."

"Well sometimes, but I thought you would considering one of the things were a coffee jar," Peter said, smiling sneakily.

Kathryn's eyes widened, "what? Is it ok?" She quickly put James back where he was before, and rushed for the kitchen.

"Works every time," Peter said. He walked up to the sofa, "so what useless thing are you doing now?" He snatched the paper from the sofa, he laughed as he looked at it. "That's cute, I like the way you drew the coffee jar bigger than her."

James looked up at him with fear in his eyes, "it's just, she's thinking it."

"Yeah I get that, don't care. Stop looking at me like that all the time," Peter snapped.

James looked away, "sorry." He climbed off the sofa, then headed for one of the doors.

Peter reached out and grabbed him by the arm, "where are you going? Don't you want to watch that crazy mum of yours eating coffee off the floor?"

James tried to pull away, "no."

"Stop being a baby," Peter grumbled. He gently slapped him across the back of the head, then roughly pulled him back towards him. "Come on, it's funny to watch it." James started to cry, making Peter groan, "for god's sake, why must you cry at every little thing!" He let go and stormed out of the room.

Kathryn came back in from the kitchen, "that damn cat, one jar wasted. I..." She spotted James nearby the sofa picking up the paper, still crying. "Oh sweetheart, what's wrong?" She rushed over to gather him up in her arms. She used one hand to wipe away some of the tears, "it's ok, I'm here." He smiled weakly as she brushed away a few strands of his hair. "Now, you tell mummy what's wrong."

Day Three

03:05 GMT
Shield Row
Jessie stood nearby the bedroom window, she pulled the curtains apart and peered out of it. She watched for a while, her eyes lit up slightly. She turned away from the window after closing the curtains again.

A little while later the door opened slowly, James quietly stepped inside without realising Jessie was watching him. He closed the door as quietly as he could, then turned back, he spotted Jessie after he did. "Jess, what are you doing up?"

"Waiting for you. I figured you'd be back sooner," Jessie replied.

"Sorry, didn't notice the time," James said quietly. He took off the jacket he had on, revealing a few cuts and bruises on his arms.

Jessie walked over to him, "what happened, did you find him?"

"No, but I found a lot of vampires," James replied, turning to her.

Jessie sighed, "you should have called or something. After what's happened lately, I couldn't help but be worried sick."

"I'm sorry but I wanted to find Lena, but I couldn't. Things got a bit out of hand, I lost track of time," James stuttered, sitting on the bed. He covered his face with his hands, then looked back up at her. "Please, I don't want you to be mad at me too, I'm sorry."

Jessie sat down beside him, she took a hold of one of his hands. "I'm not mad, I was just worried."

"Good because this has already been a hard enough day, with people snapping at me and stuff. Not that I don't deserve it or anything," James muttered.

"I take it you're talking about Phoebe and Gretchen when you visited them," Jessie said.

"Phoebe was ok, so was Yasmin..." James said.

"Oh god, you told Lena and Yasmin?" Jessie questioned.

"No Juna decided to blurt it out, I had to tell Yasmin the rest as she was in the room. Lena overheard from her room," James replied.

"Oh, that's not good. Lena's mad at you then? Why?" Jessie asked.

"Because I didn't tell her earlier," James replied.

Jessie sighed, "right. She'll calm down eventually."

"I know but she went to find Frenit and she's never fought him before. I don't know if she found him or not," James said.

Jessie bit her lip nervously, "it's ok, Sandi left a message for you saying she was home. I thought she sent it so you could keep tabs on her, not because of this."

"Well at least she's home and behind that shield. As long as no one attacks Juna, they'll all be ok," James said. He glanced at her, "but I should have done this ages ago. That's obviously why everyone's mad at me."

"No, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault at all. No-one expects you to organise these kind of things," Jessie muttered.

"Well grandma thinks I do. Just because I married a witch, doesn't mean that I boss them all around I know, but it should have occurred to me sooner," James said.

"I think it slipped everyone's mind," Jessie said. "Listen it's not your fault at all. If people want to use that excuse to blame you, they may as well blame themselves too."

"I should have killed Frenit years ago Jess. I had plenty of times to do that, but I never did," James muttered. "This is my fault."

Jessie shook her head, "I disagree. He is a strong vampire, you said he was harder to fight than the Masters. I think if you really had a chance to kill him, you would have."

"I can't help but feel responsible though," James said. "Will this always happen? I mean, if someone I love dies it always feels like it's my fault. Will it happen the next time, and the time after that?"

"I don't know. But you have to remember, not one person you love died because of you, unless you count your dad," Jessie said.

James raised his eyebrow, "I suppose I do count him, that was definitely my fault."

Jessie smiled slightly, "technically it was Unu's for killing me, and his because he's an ass."

"No you can't take that one away from me, I did kill him in cold blood," James said.

Jessie smirked, she stroked the side of his face, "if you insist, but you were evil. I doubt you would have done that like you are now."

"What makes you so sure? I seem to be getting worse with each death," James questioned.

"No you're not, because of your training. You're not evil are you?" Jessie replied.

"I may as well be. Yeah I killed my father, and put my mother in a coma the last time. Don't get me started on Claire and Threepwood. But this time, you should have seen me when I killed those vampires. I didn't just kill them quickly like I did with my dad, I made sure they went through a lot of pain first," James muttered. "I'm sure I was more evil as myself before than I was when you died."

Jessie shook her head, "no you're not evil. They were vampires, already dead. If they were alive, you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"How can you be so sure? You didn't see it," James said.

"Because I know you. Evil people don't have a conscience, or at least very much of one. You have a bigger heart than anyone I know," Jessie said.

James shook his head, "yeah right."

"James you wouldn't have killed those vampires like that if you didn't," Jessie snapped, she quickly softened back up. "Your mother left you when you were two years old with a monster of a father. You had a hard life because of that. She then came back into your life, trying to be the mother again but without even telling you..."

"I'm over that Jess, why are you..." James butted in.

"Let me finish," Jessie said. "I can't keep count of how many times she was cruel to you when Lena came aboard. You used to hate her for intruding in your life and everything. Despite everything she put you through, you let her into your life eventually like she did nothing to you. I must admit, I would never have given my real mother the same chance."

"That's because my mum tried to get into my life and yours didn't," James muttered.

"Yes but if she did, I wouldn't let her anywhere near me," Jessie said.

James shook his head again, "if I'm such a good person, then why do I feel like a monster?"

Jessie stared at him with wide eyes, "you don't really feel like that..."

"I do. Other evil Slayers, witches whatever, they only kill and torture people when they're actually evil. They're fine when they're not. But I'm worse when I'm not," James said.

"You're no monster, Frenit is the monster," Jessie said.

"Maybe I wasn't one, once upon a time. But right now, I'm turning into somebody different, and I don't like him at all," James mumbled.

Jessie shifted herself closer to him, "you'll always be the same man I fell in love with, so don't ever think that. You're just going through a rough time."

"Then I must be always going through a rough time," James said.

"Look you're not a different person. Yes you've changed over the years, but not in a bad way and you're still James," Jessie said. Her hand moved to the back of his neck. "Would I still be here with you, if you were a monster? Me of all people come on, remember I am, was the man hater."

"I'm still changing aren't I? You don't want to be with the end result," James said.

"Yes I would, even if you did turn into one, but you won't. Don't you know me at all after all these years? Nothing can tear me away from you, hasn't the last ten years taught you anything?" Jessie said.

James smiled weakly, "you always know what to say, don't you? How do you do that?"

"Well I've had lots of practise," Jessie smiled sweetly.

Day Three - 04:20 GMT
Duncan jumped and quickly sat up in his bed. He heard a scratching noise coming from the window. "Sasha... Sash, wake up."

He heard a groan come from the crib, "no, don't wanna."

"Do you hear that?" he asked, the scratching continued.

Sasha moved the cover off her as she sat up, "oh yeah, I did."

Duncan pulled himself out of the bed, he slowly headed towards the window. The scratching stopped just as he got to it.

"Shields up, can't be anything dead right?" Sasha stuttered.

"Can't be, no," Duncan replied. He pulled the curtains open. "Ookay, it must have been a cat or something."

"Daddy said they're nasty," Sasha muttered.

Duncan turned to her, "I doubt they can get through the window though."

Sasha's eyes widened, she pointed towards the window. "What?" He turned back around, "nothing there."

"There was, she moved," Sasha stuttered, shaking. She tried to get through the wooden bars on the crib.

"Are you sure you're not just half asleep," Duncan muttered, glancing back at her. He looked back, then he found himself face to face with a woman's face, pressed against the window. Startled he backed away from the window. "Oh god..."

"What is it?" Sasha stuttered.

Duncan backed into the crib with wide eyes. "I don't wanna know." He glanced back at her, "for crying out loud." He pulled off one of the bars, Sasha climbed out of it. She rushed to the door, while Duncan just stared at the bassinet nearby it.

Sasha opened up the door, then ran into the door opposite. "Mummy, daddy..." she cried, running towards the bed.

"Sasha, what's wrong?" Jessie asked as she sat up. James also sat up.

"There's something outside the window," Sasha replied.

James climbed out of the bed, "it better not be that damn cat again."

"No it's a woman, very creepy," Sasha stuttered.

"Ok ok, wait outside, I'll get something," James muttered, kneeling down next to the bed.

"Ok," Sasha quietly said. She rushed back out but ran straight into Duncan, who was holding the baby.

"She's still there," he stuttered.

James and Jessie stepped out of the room, he handed her a knife. "Just in case, you take this."

"This is your favourite one right?" she asked, looking bewildered.

"Yeah," James said, turning to the kids. "Stay with your mum." He went into the other bedroom.

Jessie sighed as she walked over to the window. She looked through the gap in the curtains. "Oh crap."

"What, creepy woman?" Sasha questioned.

"No, it's ok... that shield is up," Jessie replied.

James stepped back out into the landing, "all right, here's the deal. There is a gang of vampires behind the shield, and a pale looking woman on the roof."

"Is she a vamp?" Duncan asked.

"It's not possible," James replied. "I'm going to go and get rid of them, just in case. Jess, you remember the plan we made before the shield?"

"You mean they hide, I guard the room one?" Jessie muttered.

"Yeah. The woman joined the gang so they must be working together. Also I'd prefer that you all hide during this," James said.

Jessie pulled a face, "I'm perfectly well enough to guard. I'm not the hiding type."

"Fine, the weapons I have are on our bed, so help yourself," James muttered, he rushed down the stairs.

"Ok, you heard him. Duncan you keep a hold of Sarah, both of you hide somewhere," Jessie sighed. She gently pushed them into the bedroom.

"But mum, the vamps can't get in," Duncan muttered.

"The other woman can," Jessie quietly said.

Meanwhile, outside:
"I'm telling you, that's what this is about," Frenit said to the group.

"Ok ok, we get the picture. There's nothing we can do yet so quit..." one vamp said, muttering slightly after catching Frenit's glare. "Sorry sir."

One other vamp looked behind him, "when is she going to get on with it?"

"Probably now," Frenit said, watching the front of the house. He watched as James walked through the front door. He walked through the bushes, he stopped at the fence. "Slayer, glad you made it."

"I live here, you stupid pile of crap," James muttered.

Frenit pretended to look offended, "aaw ouch. What did I do to... oh right, I killed your mummy didn't I?"

"Ok," James pulled another knife out. "Tonight it ends."

"What does exactly?" Frenit frowned.

"The unbelievable cheesiness of you," James replied, he kicked the gate open, it went through a shield.

"Ok that one hurt," Frenit muttered, glancing back at his minions. "I'm cheesy?" They all nodded backing away. "Ok, this time you'll die and then you'll share your mothers grave."

Meanwhile:
Jessie took a deep breath, pacing the room nearby the door, fiddling with the knife. Drumming on the window made her jump, she turned to the window raising the knife. The drumming stopped, she backed away as a light scratching sound came from the window, followed by a loud bang.

A loud smash from the other room startled her. "What the..." She walked over to the door and slowly opened it far enough to look outside.

The woman stood up whilst pushing a ripped curtain off her. Jessie went through the door and closed it behind her. The woman turned to face her, "ok let's make this quick."

"If you insist," Jessie shrugged, raising the knife again. The woman kicked her below the knee, making her drop the knife, it skidded towards the window. She hit her right back. The woman stumbled back, Jessie went to hit her again, she grabbed her arm as she pulled it back. She pulled her closer and grabbed a hold of her neck. Jessie kicked her again but she didn't loosen her grip.

Meanwhile:
Frenit stumbled to the ground, he just laughed. "You haven't changed have you?"

"So I've been told," James muttered, kicking him hard.

Frenit tried to pull himself back up, but James kicked him back to the ground again. He laughed again, "you seem to have this obsession with me, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Well every time you forget what you're supposed to do, and go for me. It's quite cute actually," Frenit laughed.

James' eyes widened as he glanced back at the house, he noticed the broken landing window. "No..." he stuttered, he kicked Frenit in the face and ran back towards the house.

Meanwhile again:
Jessie managed to push away the woman, she crashed into the wall where the window was. She walked over carefully as the woman pulled herself back up, holding something behind her back. The woman made the first move and leapt for her. Jessie got knocked to the ground nearby the stairs.

She started to pull herself back onto her feet, the woman put her arm around her neck and helped her back onto her feet. Jessie struggled to get out of it but couldn't. The woman raised the knife Jessie had before, she plunged it into her chest. She smiled deviously while looking down at the bottom of the stairs, where James was.

"Hey, catch," she sneered before pushing Jessie down the stairs. He managed to catch her half way down, he carried her down to the bottom. The woman laughed, "say goodbye to your children too Slayer." She blew him a kiss, and continued to laugh.

Meanwhile again:
Frenit was still lying on the ground while two vampires talked nearby. "Do you think Frenit sent the Slayer in too late, the witch may not have had enough time to kill his witch."

"Which witch is which?" the other vampire asked.

"His witch obviously means the Slayers witch, the other witch is ours you idiot," the first one groaned.

Frenit looked up at them, "would you two just test it and go through?"

"Nah, I think you sent him in too early," vampire 2 said.

"And I think you shouldn't have at all. He's really going to kill us for this," vampire 1 said.

"So what, just do as your told!" Frenit snapped, he tried again to get up, the pain brought him back down.

"Woah... and the Slayer isn't even evil yet. I'm really scared now," vampire 2 said.

"Don't be a wuss. How bad can it be?" vampire 1 rolled his eyes.

They both heard a scream come from the house. The woman had been thrown through the window, she landed right on the fence and turned to dust.

"Very bad," vampire 1 stuttered. "That was a good shot."

"Try the shield," a more braver vampire said.

Meanwhile again, again:
James put down one of the computers next to him, while trying to cradle Jessie's head with his spare hand. A woman appeared on the screen, "what's the emergency."

"My wife's been stabbed in the chest, get someone here now," James stuttered.

"Ok, is she breathing?" the woman asked.

"Yes just do it!" James snapped.

"Ok ok, calm down. I've got help coming now. Try and put pressure on the wound, keep her head upright," the woman said. "It'll be five or so minutes." She disappeared off the screen.

James quickly put his other hand on the wound. "Oh my god, Jess I'm so sorry..."

Jessie looked like she couldn't breathe very well, "James... it's ok."

"No, I can't believe I let this happen again," James stuttered.

"At least this time..." Jessie said. "This time I get to..."

"Jess, if you're having trouble breathing, you shouldn't talk, it makes it worse," James said.

Jessie weakly took a hold of the hand that was on the wound, "I have to. It's really bad..."

"No it's not, you're going to be fine," James stuttered.

"I'm sorry... don't want to hurt you, again," Jessie said in between breaths. "Tell the kids, that I love them."

"No... you can tell them yourself," James said, tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Jessie said quietly. She closed her eyes tightly. "I will always, love you..." she whispered. She then fell limp in his arms.

His eyes widened, "no... no come back, Jess?" He shook her lightly, "Jess, please don't do this to me again. Come back, no." He brought her closer to him, and started crying into her shoulder, "no, Jess... don't, I love you."

"Aaaw, that's so pathetic," vampire 3 sneered from the doorway.

"What are you doing?" vampire 2 stuttered.

"Yeah," vampire 1 grumbled.

"Oh come on, what's he going to do, use us as a hanky?" vampire 3 asked.

"Um," vampire 1 stuttered.

James gently placed Jessie onto the ground, he got onto his feet. A strange rumbling noise could be heard from upstairs, this made all the vampires a little nervous.

"What's that?" vampire 1 asked.

"A spaceship?" vampire 2 shrugged.

"Uh," vampire 4 pointed at the stairway. A lot of weapons like axes and knives were flying down the stairs on their own, heading James' way. At the last second they stopped right in front of him. He slowly turned around now with red in his eyes.

"Uhoh," vampire 1 said.

Vampire 2 slapped vampire 3, "look what you did!"

The weapons floated around James so they were in front of him, they then suddenly flew forward in full force and hit every vampire in the right place. They all turned to dust seconds later. The weapons all collapsed onto the floor afterwards.

Frenit walked in, "ok boys, let's get..." He looked around, "where is everyone?"

James stepped forward. He wiped some dust off the chair nearby, "what do you think?"

Frenit looked around again, "oh, I'm impressed. Telekinesis is very advanced, good. Now is that going to happen to me?"

"No. I want to hurt you," James replied.

Frenit laughed, "oh really. Well you have become a very challenging opponent, I'd be lying if I said you weren't. Now let's see if you're a match for me now."

James closed the gap between them, more or less. "Ok," he said with a shrug. He swung a fist at him, he fell hard onto the floor. Blood started pouring down his face. "Am I, or aren't I?"

Frenit smirked as he wiped away some of the blood, "this is more like it. I can stop holding back." He jumped back onto his feet. He then attacked him, but James didn't seem hurt by any of his attempts. He grabbed a hold of him by the throat, and pushed him right into the wall.

"What's wrong Frenit, are you getting on in your old age?" James said.

Frenit struggled to get free but failed, "you can talk, you should have been dead and buried eight years ago."

"Yeah, I've heard it all before," James muttered. "You know, I'm getting bored of this." He pulled him away from the wall, and backed away himself. He then literally threw Frenit back towards the wall.

Frenit groaned as he pulled himself up a little, "woah, I feel like I've just went through a brick wall." He looked back and saw he was now outside, and there was a gaping hole in the wall. "Oh I have."

The front door burst open, several medical officers ran in to the room. James turned to them, scaring the crap out of most of them.

One turned to another, "you know the procedure." He nodded and ran back out.

"What are you gawking at, treat her," James muttered, beckoning his head in Jessie's direction.

They rushed over to her, they got out tricorders and regenerators. James meanwhile headed for the hole in the wall, Frenit caught him by surprise by jumping through it. He just managed to knock him onto the ground. James pushed him away easily, he got up as he grabbed a hold of Frenit by the neck again. He tightened his grip and Frenit turned to dust.

"Vampire good, doesn't count," one medic whispered, turning back to the patient.

They all were too focused on what they were doing to notice James coming up to them.

One guy shook his head, "it's too late, her lung is too badly damaged. She's gone."

"Really?" James said. He put his hand across the side of the guy's head, and pushed it. He collapsed onto the ground, everyone stared in shock. "Now he is," he said, his eyes turned from red to black.

"We can take her to the hospital to revive her," one medic said quickly.

"Right," another medic said. One of them set up a stretcher.

"Daddy," Sasha's voice called from the stairs. She climbed down the last one, she started hugging James' leg. "Daddy, they came in and took them. They're gone."

"What? They're all dead, how did they..." James muttered.

"Came through window," Sasha said quietly. She looked over at the medics, she turned a little pale. "Mummy?" She rushed over to Jessie as the medics put her onto her stretcher.

"Sorry sweetheart, we're taking her to the hospital," one medic said carefully.

One medic eyed James briefly, then turned to Sasha, "would you like to come?"

"She's staying with me," James said coldly.

Sasha looked up at him, she backed away with fear in her eyes. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

"He's not your father, not anymore," one medic said, holding out a hand for her.

"Sasha, you know I won't hurt you... and of course I'm your dad," James said.

Sasha backed away again, she took a hold of the medics hand. He quickly rushed her out while the medics carried Jessie and the other guy out too.

"No," James said as he followed them out of the house. He was then greeted by a few dozen Security Officers surrounding him, all pointing rifles at him.

A familiar Security officer stepped out from the crowd, "it's on kill by the way. After your last rampage we know how to stun you."

James watched as the medics got Sasha and Jessie into one of the shuttles. "That won't stop me."

"No? It'll do for now," Craig said.

"Then why don't you do it?" James asked in a cold voice.

"Because violence has never worked in the past, why should it now?" Craig replied. "I know a lot of crap has happened lately, and Jessie being stabbed was the final straw, but this is not the way to go."

"Oh please, you should know by now that the cure is to either tell me you love me, which you don't thankfully, or take the power away from me. Speechifying me doesn't," James said.

"I'm only trying to make you understand. The last time you did this, you hurt a lot of people, and I'm not talking about the ones you killed," Craig said. "You hurt your family, Lena, Duncan, your mother."

"Well that's simple, they're not here so I won't," James said.

Craig looked confused, he turned to one Security guy, "that's a point, I just saw Sasha go into the shuttle. Where is Duncan and the other one?"

"The vampires I killed were a distraction, others took them. Now, will you be a good little Slayer Groupie and get out of my way," James said.

"Out of the way of what? Killing people, that's not the way," Craig said.

"Whoever's in my way will get it," James said.

"Oh right I see, that's typical. Only caring for yourself, that didn't take long did it?" Craig muttered.

"What are you talking about?" James asked, rolling his eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? You remember how you felt when you found your mother murdered in her bed, or when you saw Jessie get murdered, twice even?" Craig questioned. He bravely took a few steps forward to get closer, "you're not the only person who feels like that you know. Imagine what the families of that man you killed will feel when they find out.

"You're not a bad guy, and I know you really care for your family. But this isn't going to bring them back. Your kids need you now, now more than ever. Jessie believed in you more than anyone, I'd imagine she'd be pretty disappointed in you right now."

"Why don't you imagine something for me then. Your whole family either murdered, taken away from you or hates you. That's simple enough for you isn't it?" James said.

Craig closed his eyes, "I know this is very hard, but you don't get it. We'll all get search parties looking for your children, nobody has to die to get them back."

James stepped closer, leaving them only a foot apart. "You know what?"

Craig now looked pretty nervous but stood his ground, "what?"

"I'll make a deal with you. Now you take me to that hospital, you keep out of my way when I look for my children. In return, I'll not kill anyone, excluding vampires of course," James said.

"You won't kill anyone, how do we know you'll keep your word?" Craig asked carefully.

"Because if you take me to the hospital, I might be able to cure myself," James replied.

Craig then got it, "ohno, what if it doesn't work? I thought it only works if you're evil for a while."

"It will, I'm more experienced than I was back then," James replied. "If it doesn't, I'll still keep my word as long as you don't send anyone after me, like the other Slayers for example."

"You can't trust him," one Security guy said.

Craig sighed, "no I think we can. He only wants his kids back after all."

00:20 Eastern / 05:20 GMT
New Manchester:
"How bad is it?" Kevin asked.

Sandi shrugged, "beats me, we've never seen him like this."

"I dunno, I have briefly. He turned himself evil to help us escape," Kevin said, shrugging. "That's why I figured he'd always have control of it."

"It's not surprising considering what's happened," Sandi said. "Craig told us we're only back up though. If we needlessly attack we could risk lives."

Emma and Zare walked through the empty doorway. "What happened to your door?" Emma asked.

"Lena broke it," Kevin replied.

"We only got a brief message, anyone like to explain what's going on?" Zare asked.

Sandi turned to Kevin, "the brief message should have told you, what did it say?"

"Go to Sandi's," Zare replied.

Sandi groaned, "great. You two shouldn't really do this, it will be dangerous for even Kevin, Lena and I so..."

Lena pushed her bedroom door to the ground, "this better be good, I had plans."

"James is evil," Sandi sighed.

Emma's eyes lit up, "yeah, that's cool, I missed it last time."

Lena stared at Emma oddly as she walked over to the group. "Took his sweet time, well he has took his time about everything, right?"

Zare looked confused, "hang on, wasn't he trained so he wouldn't? And what happened?"

"Well after losing a baby, then your mother, then the love of your life and finally two of your kids get kidnapped, wouldn't you flip out?" Kevin commented.

"What? Nobody told me about Jessie and the kids!" Lena snapped.

"It just happened, ok," Sandi said nervously.

"So what's the plan?" Zare asked.

"Supposedly Craig's took him to the hospital, something about a Chosen power that he has that should help Jessie. We're back up in case it doesn't work," Sandi replied.

Lena raised an eyebrow, "well we'd better get there now, James can't do that."

Sandi looked confused, "he's done it before."

"Yeah with me, and I was still alive. We're talking about the same power, but enhanced to revive the body after treatment," Lena said.

"Twice Lena," Sandi said.

Lena frowned, "oh right, Sasha... she didn't have any wounds to treat."

"And?" Emma said.

"And she was still a foetus, I'd imagine a full grown woman with some sort of wound..." Lena muttered.

"Stabbed in the lung," Kevin added on.

Lena stared at him, "well there you go. That would take up a lot of his energy. Normally he'd get that mid thirties, and it would be fine, but being evil will have tapped into powers he's not used to."

"Ok let's get there then," Zare muttered.

00:45 Eastern / 05:45 GMT
North Durham Hospital
A couple of Security officers burst into a waiting area, one of them went over to reception.

The other Security guy at reception leaned over the counter, "ok, procedure nineteen."

The reception woman nodded nervously, she and the other nurses headed into the back room.

"Ok everyone," another one said loudly, clapping his hands. "We've got a bit of a situation here, so unless you've got a death wish, I'd move into the other waiting room."

Everyone in the waiting room looked around at each other nervously before doing as they were told. A female Security officer who was already there with Sasha looked worried. She looked down at her, "we should do that too." She picked her up, and carried her away.

"It had to be my shift, didn't it?" one Security guy muttered.

"Yeah, we'd better get out of the way," the one at Reception said.

The Reception woman came back, "are you sure this is the right place? Wouldn't the morgue be the right one?"

"No, the medics had no choice but to try and revive her. One guy got murdered for refusing," the Security guy replied.

"Right, which patient?" the woman asked.

"Stuart," the guy replied.

The woman sighed, "oh, good luck. That's operation room two." She walked back into the back room. Every Security guy spread out around the room, while the Reception one remained where he was.

The doors burst open again. Craig, James and several nervous Security guys and girls came through them.

"It's room two," the Reception Security guy called.

Craig sighed, he glanced at James. "Ok, but remember the deal. If it doesn't work and you start attacking, we've got permission to start firing, ok?"

James turned his head to stare at him, "fine but you remember, if someone purposely gets in my way or even looks at me funny..."

"Yeah yeah," Craig muttered. "Nobody can help but look at you either funny or be terrified, so get used to it."

"Tell me, when did you become a bigger ass?" James asked. He headed for the nearby corridor.

Craig tried his best not to pout, "ok, that was uncalled for." He slowly followed him, two others did the same.

Meanwhile inside one of the operating rooms, several doctors and nurses were trying to treat Jessie.

One doctor shook his head, "it's no use. The lung is too badly damaged. She probably died as soon as this happened."

Another doctor nodded, "we'd better get her out of here before..."

The door opened, James walked in, followed by Craig and co. "Ok guys, step back," Craig carefully said.

"What, you brought him here?" one doctor asked.

"Please don't say stuff like that," Craig muttered under his breath. He walked up beside James, "ok, you're on."

He headed over to the biobed, the doctors and nurses quickly got out of the way.

Craig stepped closer, "ok, this better work."

One of the consoles next to the biobed started beeping. One doctor slowly walked back over holding a tricorder. He opened it up and started to scan. "This is strange, it's healing."

Craig sighed in relief, "good. Come on Jess."

James glanced at the doctor, "what have you done?"

The doctor looked worried, "what do you mean? We tried to heal her."

"What exactly did you do?" James asked.

Craig swallowed hard, "what's with the questions?"

James turned around, "it's not working, you prat."

"Hey, that's not my fault," Craig muttered. "You probably don't know how to do it."

The doctor did another scan, "the lung is damaged still, the area around it is healed completely."

James glanced at him, "it should have fully healed, you must have done something."

"Um... I don't understand what you did enough to tell you," the doctor stuttered.

Craig took a step backwards while raising the rifle he had, the others did the same. "Ok I'm sorry James, but remember..."

James sighed, "ok." He rushed over to the window, and jumped through it.

"Uhoh, what do we do?" one Security guy stuttered.

Craig stared at the window blankly, "um, learn how to fire rifles quicker?" He tapped his commbadge.

Meanwhile, onboard Lena's shuttle:
In: "Anderson to Janeway."

Lena tapped the commbadge lying on the console, "this better be good."

In: "It didn't work. Luckily no one got hurt, but he escaped."

"How did he escape without hurting anybody or getting stunned?" Zare asked.

In: "He's fast ok, leave me alone."

Lena groaned, "I'll contact Voyager, they may be able to locate him. We'll go after him when they do."

North Durham Hospital:
Craig was now walking into a different waiting room, "no offense Lena, but I think the others should do that. You should come here."

In: "What are you talking about? None of the others have ever handled James like this, I have!"

"I don't think telling him you love him and stuff is going to help this time," Craig muttered. He stopped nearby Sasha. "Besides, your niece needs babysitting and I can't do it."

In: "Craig, you're not the boss of me. I'm sure one of these guys can watch her. He's my bloody brother ok, I have to help him."

"He'll be expecting you Lena, it won't work the same way. You've been through enough and Sasha has too, you two should stick together," Craig said.

Sasha looked up at him, she tugged on his jacket. "Craig, where's my mum?"

Craig looked uncomfortable, "like I said, I can't look after her."

The shuttle:
Lena groaned into her hand, "all right, I'll come." She tapped the commbadge again.

"It's ok Lena, we'll be able to handle it," Sandi said.

Lena slammed her hand on the console, startling the whole shuttle. "Damn it, I should have found him before he got to Jessie." She folded her arms on the now broken console, "I can't do anything right."

Zare put a hand on her shoulder, "it's not your fault Lena."

"Somebody transport me to the hospital. At least there I can't screw up," Lena muttered.

Kevin looked over from the neighbouring chair, "don't beat yourself up, in a way we all screwed up."

"Please, if Sasha gets told about her mum it'll kill her. I may as well be with her, I know how it feels," Lena said.

Sandi glanced at Kevin, he nodded his head and turned back to his station. He keyed in a few commands, Lena beamed away.

Emma sat down in Lena's chair, "I don't mean to worry everyone but, how are we going to stop James anyway?"

"We don't. We just follow him to see what he does. If he tries anything drastic, we'll either help or stop depending on what it is," Sandi replied.

"In other words if he kills, we attack, or if he attacks an entire horde of vamps guarding his kids, we help," Kevin said.

Zare raised an eyebrow, "really? I thought it was the other way around."

Sandi shook her head, "contact Voyager, they will have better sensors than us to track him."

"Aye aye," Kevin said, typing in new commands.

01:15 Eastern / 06:15 GMT
North Durham Hospital
Lena and Craig stood by the doors in the waiting room, Sasha sat nearby.

"It feels all surreal to me you know," Lena muttered.

Craig glanced at her, "what does?"

"This whole thing. It hasn't really sunk in that mum is gone, but I still manage to feel annoyed about it. And this whole thing with Jess and James, it just seems too much to happen at once," Lena replied.

Craig nodded, "yeah, I guess any Slayer in his position would have flipped too, training or no training. I know I would."

"I thought I did when I found out about mum," Lena said.

"Yeah, I remember the day when my mum died," Craig muttered. She glanced at him. "I didn't believe it but I spent the whole day snapping at people. When it finally sunk in I cried for ages, it's not a nice thing to happen, I know." He turned to her, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I should be. All I've been is angry, I haven't even cried at all," Lena said. "I bet mum is watching thinking 'well at least James cared enough to go evil eventually, and be mopey about it. Even Yasmin cried in her room for god's sake'."

Craig frowned, "no I doubt that. You don't know how James reacted, he probably did the same as you. As for Yasmin, she's only a kid in a way. Your mother's probably glad that you didn't cry."

"Yeah, she probably would be," Lena muttered. She glanced over at Sasha. "I don't want to see how she'll react when someone tells her. As for Duncan, he's already been through it. At least they'll not remember her in twenty years, that way it won't hurt as much."

Craig sighed, "sorry Lena, but I say it's worse for them. James is never going to be the same again now, he's proved that before, and those kids aren't going to grow up right because of that. They'll always be reminded of what they lost because of the way he'll act. Also I think Duncan won't forget her that easily."

Lena stepped forward, she turned around to face him. "I don't want to tell her, you do it."

He stared at her blankly, "me? I have no right."

"You expect me to do it or something? I can't, I'm still mad at James for telling me about mum," Lena questioned. She placed her hands over her face, "I shouldn't be I know, it's just..." She started to cry into her hands, "she's only a kid, I don't want to make her cry or anything."

Craig stepped up and put his arms around her. She moved her hands so she could cry into his shoulder, and put her arms around him. "Don't worry, it's going to be ok."

Lena looked back up at him, "wait... yeah, everything's going to be ok."

"Erm, I expected that to be harder than that," Craig said, looking confused.

"No I just thought of something. I know how to get Jess back," Lena said.

Craig raised both of his eyebrows, "how exactly?"

01:25 Eastern / 06:25 GMT
The shuttle
Andrea was on the small monitor screen on Kevin's station, while the others had gathered around his chair.

"He's obviously not lost his old skills. After we gave you the scan results we noticed a delay in the readings. He somehow managed to tap into our scanners, and delayed them by ten minutes," Andrea was saying.

"Meaning that he's ten minutes ahead of us," Zare muttered.

"No, it's ten minutes behind us," Kevin sarcastically said. Zare glared at him, he ignored her.

"It's not a total loss," Sandi said. "He must have access to a shuttle or something."

"Well that would explain how he got to a museum in the city, which is a good half an hour walk from the hospital, in a few minutes," Kevin said.

"He could have ran, fast," Emma pointed out.

"Still, it would have took longer and he had to hack from somewhere," Sandi said.

Zare frowned, "am I missing something here?" Everyone glanced at her. "Why would James want to go to a museum? Doesn't he have kids to find?"

"Good point, what kind of museum was it?" Sandi asked.

Andrea sighed, "a twenty first century ammunition museum."

Emma's eyes lit up, "ooh, do they have chain-saws in there?"

"It's not ammunition," Kevin said.

Emma pouted, "damn it."

Sandi shook her head as she walked away, "damn it, he must have gone there to stock up on weapons."

"But wouldn't there be phasers in the shuttle?" Kevin pointed out.

"They're useless against vampires," Sandi groaned into her hand.

"They can hurt a vampire good in the right hands," Kevin said.

Sandi shook her head, "no, he went to get some of the most brutal weapons in history. Those would never kill a vampire, but they'd hurt them like hell."

"And what kind of weapons are those?" Zare asked.

Sandi turned back, "guns."

Emma pulled a face, "nah, the most brutal weapon is a chain-saw."

"It's not supposed to be a weapon, get the point," Kevin said.

Emma glared at him, "I'll give you the point in a minute."

"Andrea, start searching for a shuttle he may have taken. We'll do the same," Sandi said.

Andrea nodded, "will do." The monitor turned to black.

North Durham Hospital:
Lena was now inside the operation room Jessie was in. She was fiddling with a station, while Craig watched from the doorway. He kept looking back into the waiting room every now and then.

"Are you sure this'll work?" he asked.

"I'm sure of it. This'll help get James back, and he won't do something too drastic to get his kids back," Lena muttered in response. She glanced at Craig, "it won't bring my mother back but it'll have to do."

Doctor Jones appeared in the middle of the room. "Please state the nature of the medical..." He looked around the room, "this isn't right."

"Hey doc, we've got an emergency here," Lena said.

"Ok, what is it?" Doctor Jones asked.

"Look behind you," Lena replied.

Doctor Jones turned around, he gasped when he spotted Jessie on the biobed. "Oh no."

"Yeah and you've obviously already guessed that James is evil now," Lena said.

"As expected," Doctor Jones muttered. He picked up a tricorder and started to scan. "I don't know what you expect me to do."

"It's ok, I have a plan. You just have to help me with it, none of the other doctors would," Lena said.

"What is it?" Doctor Jones asked.

"Well Jessie's an ex Borg, all we have to do is re activate any remaining nanoprobes in her system. They should treat the rest of her wounds, and we can revive her," Lena replied.

"There's a flaw," Doctor Jones said. "Re-activating so few nanoprobes when she's already dead is a bit of a waste of time. She doesn't have enough, and we'd have a lot of trouble re-activating them."

Lena shrugged, "not if you donate some of mine."

Craig and Doctor Jones' eyes widened in horror. "Ohno, you know what always happens when you donate nanoprobes," Craig stuttered.

Lena rolled her eyes, "you know how to disconnect us if it happens."

"True, but I don't like this idea," Doctor Jones said.

"It'll work," Lena said.

Doctor Jones sighed, "fine, but it may be too late. Please accept that if it doesn't work."

"Try telling that to Sasha outside," Lena muttered.

Doctor Jones looked uncomfortable, "fine, I already agreed you know."

02:28 Eastern / 07:28 GMT
"Ready?" Doctor Jones asked as he looked up at Lena.

She nodded, "as I'll ever be." She pushed a hypospray into Jessie's neck.

Doctor Jones placed a large device on her chest where the wound is. He started to scan, "her nanoprobes are not reactivating."

Lena sighed, "hopefully mine will do the trick alone then."

Doctor Jones' tricorder started beeping, "it's not working Lena."

"Can she survive with just one lung?" Lena asked.

"In theory yes, but..." Doctor Jones replied.

"But what?" Lena snapped.

"We don't have time to remove it. Her cells are already starting to decay, she's been dead too long already," Doctor Jones stuttered.

"We can try, there's nothing else to do," Lena muttered.

"There was obviously a reason why the other doctors didn't do this for her before," Doctor Jones said.

"She was already dead when they brought her in here. Obviously doing that would have been against the rules or something," Lena said.

Doctor Jones frowned, "no, that's not what I meant."

Lena started glaring, "do it or I'll reprogram you to do it."

Doctor Jones sighed, "all right, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"The nanoprobes will repair her cells anyway, so stop moaning," Lena grumbled.

3 Years Ago - December 2377
Voyager, James/Jessie's Quarters
James walked out of one of the bedrooms holding a PADD, "you know we could just manage through Christmas and New Year, if we cut down on, everything. Maybe we should give alcohol a miss one year."

"Uh huh," Jessie mumbled, not paying attention.

James looked up from the PADD. He found her hovering near the baby carrier, which a very young Duncan was lying in asleep. He headed over to her, "so, you a little more used to him now?"

She looked at him, "huh, what?"

James smirked, "you're obviously getting used to Duncan."

Jessie shrugged, "I guess." She leaned over to stroke Duncan's cheek with her finger. "I can't believe that he causes so much bother for Tom and B'Elanna. He's so peaceful and behaved with us."

"He probably knows who we are," James said, putting an arm around her waist. "I doubt it'll stay that way anyway."

"Yeah, maybe so," Jessie sighed. "How long do we have him today?"

"A few hours while Tom and B'Elanna go on the holodeck," James replied.

"Hmm, they forgot about Bryan quickly," Jessie said with a smirk planted on her face. "Be right back." She headed for the closest bedroom.

Duncan opened up his eyes and looked up at James. He leaned over to pick him up. "So, you have any plans for today?" Duncan grabbed a hold of one of his fingers, smiling innocently. "Huh, I take that as a no then."

The door chimed, he headed over to it. Tom strolled in once the door opened. "Hey," he said cheerfully.

"Tom uh, did you forget something?" James questioned, looking confused.

"No, we've just cancelled the date. Thought we'd spend some time with the boys," Tom replied.

"It's ok you know, we're good. You and B'Elanna have fun ok," James said.

Tom smiled, "nah, we cancelled it cos we want to, not have to. I want to spend as much time as I can with him, you understand." He frowned, "no you wouldn't. Maybe one day you will." He took Duncan away from him, he immediately got restless. Tom got as far as the doorway when he started crying loudly. "Don't cry, it's ok," he whispered, walking out.

Jessie stepped back into the room, she looked around the room all confused. "Um, how long was I in there?"

"Tom changed his mind," James muttered.

"Oh, that's nice," Jessie said, shaking her head.

James turned to her, "we've got to do something."

"About?" Jessie questioned.

"This. Doesn't it hurt you a little when Tom or B'Elanna take him away?" James asked.

Jessie looked a little uncomfortable, "a little but..."

"There really shouldn't be a but," James cut in.

"But there's nothing we can do yet. We're not ready," Jessie said.

"I bet all parents feel like that, but they have no choice. Tom's already attached to Duncan, the sooner we tell him the better," James said.

"Right but this'll kill him. Yes I hate him, but I wouldn't enjoy hurting him like this," Jessie muttered.

"We have to, we can't have Duncan raised by people who aren't even his parents," James said.

"I know that," Jessie snapped. "I'm not ready yet, and that's not good for him. I'd rather not hurt anyone until we are."

"You should have already noticed that Duncan prefers to be here with us," James said.

Jessie shook her head, "you're not making it any easier."

"It's not meant to be hard at all. I'm tired of pretending to be somebody I'm not, and giving my own son to someone I don't like," James muttered, slowly getting tears in his eyes. "If we tell him we'll hurt one person. If we don't we're both to get bashed every time he leaves, it's going to hurt Duncan most of all."

Jessie stepped closer to place a hand on his arm, another hand went up to his shoulder. "James don't, we're just not ready for him. Yes it hurts me too to see him that upset, but it can't be helped."

"Jess, your mother wasn't ready for you and your sister, so she abandoned just you. You've never forgiven her for it," James said.

"No, this is different," Jessie stuttered.

"I'm sorry, but it's natural to feel like this. All we can do is give it a try, and that's what I want to do. You want to do it too," James said.

"I do but..." Jessie said.

"The sooner we do this the better it will be for everyone," James said.

"What if he doesn't know, and he hates us for lying to him?" Jessie muttered.

"He knows. He's a smart kid, and I think on some level, every kid would be able to pick their parents out from a crowd," James replied.

"But will he hate us though?" Jessie asked carefully.

"Nah, but it was never about him, was it? We weren't afraid of him, we were afraid at what would happen," James replied.

Jessie smiled, "yeah, and it didn't. I don't think I could have lost another child, it was painful enough the first time." She pulled a face, "I hope I didn't just jinx it."

"I wouldn't worry about it. As long as at least one of us still around, nothing will happen to him," James said. "You know we'd both risk our lives for him, if we had to. Well actually I hope you won't, ever..."

Jessie tried not to laugh, "ditto to you, but someone has to."

02:40 Eastern / 07:40 GMT
Old Manchester City Centre
Three vampires had gathered around nearby the centre of a shopping centre. Sarah-Amy was busy wailing nearby from the floor. Duncan lay nearby unconscious, hands tied to a fountain wall with chains.

"But we need that, they'll find out now what it's for," one vampire stuttered.

"No worries, we'll be long gone before they do. They are rather distracted you know," the vampire from the museum sneered.

The last vampire covered his ears, "will that baby ever stop crying? She's doing my head in."

"She's just like her father. She can't help it, she's a natural moaner," the lead vampire said.

"When will the Game arrive?" vampire 1 asked.

"About ten minutes," the lead vampire replied.

Duncan groaned as he woke up, "ow my head." He looked around, still a little bit dazed.

The lead vampire smiled at the others, he walked over to stand right beside Duncan. "Glad you could join us."

He looked up at him, then he noticed the chains. "No, not again," he groaned as he tugged on them. "Where's that Frenit guy?"

"Dead, finally," the lead vampire replied as he knelt down beside him.

The other two vampires glanced at each other in disbelief. "What, how did you know that?"

The lead vampire shook his head, "because I saw it happen."

"Good, so why am I here?" Duncan grumbled.

"Because I'm in charge now and our circumstances are still the same as before," the lead vampire said.

"What are they?" Duncan asked.

"I'm not explaining big words to you, kid," the lead vampire muttered.

"I know what it means," Duncan muttered.

"Oh I see, you want to know why we keep trying to capture you," the lead vampire questioned. He stood back up, "you'll find out soon enough."

Vampire 2 glanced at his watch, "in about eight minutes."

"No, the game will take up a good half hour, idiot," the lead vampire snapped.

"Game, what game?" Duncan asked nervously.

"The game that'll take us away from this dump," the lead vampire said. He knelt down beside him again, "and that's when your training will begin."

"Training, huh?" Duncan said.

"Isn't it obvious? This generation of Chosens and Naturals are going to be on our side for once. Once we're finished here we're going to a planet called Hetaria to pick up the next Natural," the lead vampire said.

"I won't be on your side, I don't like you," Duncan grumbled.

"Oh you will, your sister will be easy too," the lead vampire said.

"F*** you," Duncan muttered.

The lead vampire smirked before slapping him across the head. "You're just as bad as your dad, never mind that'll change, kind of."

"Kind of?" Duncan said.

"Well you'll be evil after training so that's the only thing you'll have in common with him," the lead vampire said.

"What he is? Do you think the game will beat him here?" vampire 1 asked.

Duncan looked confused, "why would dad be like that again?"

"I did warn him about your mother Duncan, but he would never listen to me. Now look what she's done to him," the lead vampire sniggered in the other vampires direction.

Duncan pouted, "what do you mean?"

"Well I suppose training could start while we wait," the lead vampire said. The others smirked. "Mummy's dead, somebody stuck a knife into her and she died in front of your dad."

"I don't believe you," Duncan grumbled.

"I don't have time to pick up the body to prove it to you," the lead vampire said. "Why do you think I was able to capture you on my own? Your dad was too busy going psycho on everyone downstairs to even notice me sneaking in upstairs, while your mother lay dead on the ground."

Duncan shook his head, getting tears in his eyes, "no, she can't be. She's tough."

"Well she can't be if she keeps getting stabbed, ey boys?" the lead vampire laughed. The others joined in.

"Shut up!" Duncan snapped at them. They ignored him and continued to laugh. "Stop it," he muttered, before bursting out crying.

"Aaaw, poor Duncan... twice before you're even five. That's so sad," the lead vampire sniggered, standing up. "He's never going to see daddy again either, so that's a bonus." The others continued to laugh.

2 Years Ago - June 2378
The Enterprise, James' Quarters
Lena walked in with Duncan beside her, she looked around the room. "Hello? Anyone home?"

James walked in from behind her, they both stared blankly at each other.

"Where have you been?" Lena asked finally.

"Somebody threw something at the door, so just down the corridor," James replied.

Lena looked nervous, "did you catch them?"

"No," James replied with a shrug. He knelt down next to Duncan, "so did you have fun with Aunt Lena?"

"Yeah, we threw coffee balls at grandma, and then Yasmin got chased for eating the icecream, and then..." Duncan replied.

Lena quickly covered Duncan's mouth, "and then we behaved ourselves."

James looked up at her suspiciously, "what did you do?"

"Lena spilt her coffee all over her desk and wrote her a message, for when she got back from chasing Yasmin," Duncan blurted out.

"That was me, yeah," Lena muttered.

"Lena, I don't care if he did. She deserves all she gets," James said, looking back at Duncan. "What did you write?"

He started fidgeting a little, "Lena wrote it daddy, she wrote 'all coffee, RIP'."

"That's nice," James said, not looking too sure.

"I was going to put 'coffee bitch's desk'," Duncan said.

"I thought it wasn't you," James said.

"Oh... aaw," Duncan moaned, pouting a little.

"No it's ok, I probably did worse to her anyway. Hope so anyway," James said.

"So yes we did have fun. We should all hang out some time, it'll do you some good too," Lena said.

"Nah, I'll only just ruin it," James sighed, standing up. "But we can arrange something just for Duncan again. What do you say?"

Duncan nodded, smiling, "yes please."

Lena smiled, "good, tomorrow then." She messed up his hair, making him pout. "See you usual time Dunc." She headed back out.

"Sorry Duncan," James muttered as headed for the sofa.

"Why?" Duncan asked.

"Well I'm just going to spoil your mood. Maybe we should tell Lena to extend the sessions," James replied, sitting down. "Maybe you can have a sleepover or something."

Duncan pouted again, "why don't we both go, it's fun annoying grandma."

"Sorry, anyone who shares the room with me either winds up depressed as hell or de... um, scrap that," James muttered. "That's why I send you to Lena, Duncan, I don't want you to be unhappy, it was nice to see you like that before."

Duncan sat down nearby, he started playing with the toys he left there, "ok."

James closed his eyes and groaned, "god, I'm doing it again. Just ignore me."

Duncan looked up at him, he held out one of his toys, "do you want to play?"

James shook his head, "no, you'll have more fun without me."

Duncan looked back down at his other toys, "ok." He gathered some up in his arms, "I'll play in my room." He pouted as he rushed to his room.

James watched him. He rolled his eyes after he disappeared into his room. "Idiot, that's parenting your dad'll be proud of." He pulled himself to his feet and headed to the room Duncan went into. He walked inside to find him lying on his bed crying, with the toys he had scattered, some broken on the floor.

He went over to sit beside him, "Duncan I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." He reached out to stroke his hair, "I do want you around, I do. I hope you don't think. It's just I don't know what I'm doing sometimes."

Duncan lifted his head off his pillow to look at him, his face damp with the tears. "But you don't, you avoid me."

"Why would I do that?" James asked carefully.

"Because it was my fault. Mum's not here and it's my fault," Duncan cried, rubbing one of his eyes.

"No, don't ever say that. It wasn't your fault. She was murdered, no one but the one who did it is responsible," James said. He moved his hand so he could wipe away a few tears. "And I do want you around. I wish I could have you around all the time, but I don't want to bring you down with me, like I'm doing now, you see."

"You do? So why don't you act that way?" Duncan asked.

"Because I'm just a miserable, and bitter sod without your mother around. If my step mum was alive, she'd tell you the same thing," James replied. "It's not about you, I'm sorry. I don't want you to be like me at all, you've got your whole life ahead of you. I'm the one who's stuck."

Duncan sat up, "do you think she'll miss us, wherever she is?"

"I'd be lying if I said no," James replied.

Duncan rubbed his other eye, "I miss her more you know."

"You wanna bet?" James said, raising an eyebrow.

Duncan nodded, "she was a cool mum, probably the coolest." He started playing with his blanket. "I'll never ever see her again, will I?"

"I don't know, I hope so," James replied with his eyes closed.

"What?" Duncan said.

James shook his head, "sorry, it's just your future brother or sister, they'll never ever meet her. They won't know who she was, and how incredible she was. I just hope you'll remember when you're older, you are very young now so..."

"I won't forget mum that easily," Duncan said.

James sighed still with his eyes closed, "you'd think my mum would be memorable enough. But I barely remember her being around when I was little, and I was two when she left. You might forget her." Duncan watched him with wide eyes. "I don't know, she doesn't deserve to be forgotten, and not known by her own children. It can't be helped though." Tears started forming in his eyes, "I don't know if I can bare to do this, I can't."

Duncan put his own hand on his, "dad, I don't want to. We can tell the newbie everything, show pics and stuff. It'll remind me too."

James reopened his eyes, "sometimes I forget you're only one. The most intelligent thing I ever said at your age must have been the F word, placed before something like cat."

"I said mum was cool didn't I? You said incre... increwible, you are too," Duncan said.

"Well when your brother or sister arrives, we'll see about that," James said.

02:45 Eastern / 07:45 GMT
The shuttle
Kevin's console started beeping, he turned to it, "um guys. Craig's just left us a message."

Sandi, Zare and Emma walked over. "What is it?" Sandi asked.

"Somebody else has stolen a shuttle from the hospital shuttle park," Kevin replied.

Emma shook her head, "hasn't anybody ever heard of console locks and passwords."

Zare smirked, "nope obviously not, but one thief was a hacker."

"Whatever," Emma groaned.

"Ok, who?" Sandi asked, ignoring the other girls.

Meanwhile
Tanfield, England
Inside the old comprehensive school, the main door to the assembly hall opened up. James walked inside, his face fell as he glanced around, and found nobody inside. He walked further into the hall, and stopped in the centre nearby a couple of tables. Angrily he kicked one of them, then leaned on another one. He closed his eyes tightly, and put one hand over his face.

The main door opened up again, somebody stepped through it. "James," a familiar voice said softly.

James opened his eyes again and stopped leaning on the table. He turned around, eyes widening in shock or maybe disbelief. "Jess, that really you?"

Jessie took one step closer, "yeah, it's me."

James headed over to her. As soon as he was close enough, he put his arms around her, she did the same. He buried his head in her shoulder, "you've got to stop doing this."

Jessie smiled weakly, moving one hand over to the back of his head. "What, dying or coming back?" Her only response was him crying into her shoulder. She stroked his hair, "shh it's ok, I told you it was hard to tear me away from you."

03:20 Eastern / 08:20 GMT
Old Manchester
The lead vampire was busy pacing while the other vampires watched. "What is taking them so long?"

"They're never on time, sir... it depends on the Matrix remember," vampire 2 said.

"I don't like to be kept waiting," the lead vampire said.

"I wouldn't worry sir, it'll be here soon," vampire 2 said.

"It better be. I don't know how long I can stand that baby crying," vampire 1 muttered.

Meanwhile, in another part of the centre:
"God it's been a while," Jessie commented as she looked around. She stared at one shop they passed, then turned to James, "remember that place? I used to be in there for ages."

"How could I forget, I was the bag carrier remember," James said.

Jessie smirked, "well things sure haven't changed then." She quickly linked arms with him, "do you really think those lifesigns are Duncan and Sarah-Amy?"

"No one else should be here," James replied.

"You know, I think that Susy's ghost will be in here somewhere, still looking for those red shoes she wanted," Jessie said, giggling a little.

"Tell me, did the doctors give you drugs after you were revived?" James asked.

Jessie shrugged, "I don't know, why?" She then got it, then slapped his arm. "Aren't you supposed to stop being evil after I come back?"

James frowned, "do you hear that?"

"Oh yeah, shut me up..." Jessie muttered. She then heard some voices echoing down the corridor. "Oh I do." They both stopped nearby the top of one of the escalators. James slowly walked over to the banister, and looked over it. There he could see the vampires and the kids. He quickly came back over to Jessie's side.

"Ok, we should backtrack and beam that torpedo nearby that shop of yours," he said.

"It's not my fault they had good clothes," Jessie said, pouting slightly. James smiled as he reached out to stroke the side of her face. She smiled nervously, "what?"

"Nothing," he said. "Here's the plan, you transport that torpedo there and set it up. Timer for twenty minutes, once you've done that you run to the shuttle, and get the damn thing prepared for take off."

"What? I really don't like that plan at all," Jessie muttered.

"Ok, twenty one minutes," James said.

Jessie raised an eyebrow, "that didn't take you long."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"You know what I mean. That sarcastic attitude didn't take long to resurface," Jessie replied, folding her arms and pouting again.

James smirked, he leaned in to kiss her briefly. "You know you bring it out in me." He walked away.

Jessie continued to pout, "ok, I still don't like the plan." She walked off in another direction muttering to herself.

Meanwhile the lead vampire was standing still, looking really annoyed now. "I don't hear 'incoming game'," he grumbled.

"Maybe cos we're indoors," vampire 1 said jokingly. The lead vampire slapped him hard.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes!" he snapped. He stormed over to where Duncan was sitting. "Ok you, why isn't the game here yet?"

"How the hell would I know," Duncan muttered in response, turning his head away. "Maybe it's idiot proof."

"Oh you are too much like your father," the lead vampire grumbled, now fuming. He grabbed a hold of him and held him up into the air. "And that I don't want to put up with again."

A loud bang startled everyone, especially vampire 1 who screamed in pain. He fell onto the ground, cradling his head.

"What the..." the lead vampire muttered. Another bang interrupted him, vampire 2 screamed and stumbled to the ground, cradling his leg.

"That sounded really painful. Maybe pain killers will help," James' voice said from nearby. He stepped out of the shadows holding an old rifle.

Duncan's eyes lit up, "dad..."

The lead vampire groaned, "oh great, now there's two of them."

"You'd better put him down, or you'll end up with more metal in you than organs and bones," James muttered.

The lead vampire turned around, "I don't think so, you might hit your little brat."

James' eyes widened in shock, "what, John? What are you..."

The lead vampire smiled deviously, "oh you do recognise me then. It has been a while since I looked this young."

"But you said they wouldn't sire you," James stuttered.

"Oh but they would to get the shield password to Manchester," John said, shaking his head. "Silly boy, you never did have any brain cells in that big head of yours."

"That's how the vamps got out," James said quietly.

"Bingo," John said, smirking a little. "All those people that have died," he said, stepping forward. "Your mother, that slut of a wife... that's all your fault."

James shook his head, "no, it was, you said..."

"Yes it was, and now because of you, your two annoying children will work on the side of the Softmicron. How about that," John said. "I bet you're proud of them."

James reloaded the rifle he had, "put him down."

"Hmm, no," John said. He tutted while shaking a finger at him, "you wouldn't want to hurt your little boy, would you?"

"Oh I see. You're so cowardly that you use a three year old as a shield. Same old John," James muttered.

John narrowed his eyes, "I'm no coward. I'll put him down if you put the rifle down."

"It gets better," James commented, managing to look amused.

"Fine," John grumbled. He threw Duncan back onto the ground, he quickly moved out of the way but still managed to get shot in the leg. He stumbled nearby Duncan.

"Aaw, you're not fast enough old man," James said, walking closer to him.

"You call me the coward," John muttered while trying to pull himself up. "Some Slayer you are, using a gun as a weapon."

James shook his head, "you'll have to do better than that."

"It's true you know. You're probably the weakest excuse for a Slayer there is. If you had of listened to me, instead of eyeing up that girl of yours, you wouldn't be so weak," John said.

"Wrong," James muttered. He swung the rifle into his face, knocking him back over. "Shows what you know."

John smiled as he got back up, "there's the rifle again..."

"Oh give it a rest," James muttered. He hit him with his fist instead after throwing the rifle to the ground, John then hit him back. They both started to battle it out while the other vampires struggled to get up.

"Holy crap, what a headache," vampire 1 groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

Vampire 2 managed to get to his feet, he spotted the rifle lying on the ground.

James managed to knock John to the ground, "sorry, haven't got time ok." He went over to Duncan, and knelt down. "Are you all right?" he asked. Duncan nodded his head as James started to remove the chains.

His eyes widened, then he pointed behind him, "dad!"

Another bang echoed around the room. Vampire 2 shrugged from right behind him, "damn thing moved, what kind of crappy weapon is this."

James stood back up, holding his arm. He moved his hand away, and found blood on it. "Ok, you guys are really starting to piss me off." He grabbed a hold of the rifle, and pushed it backwards, it hit vampire 2 in the stomach, making him stumble backwards. James managed to keep a hold of the rifle. He noticed vampire 2 about to fall nearby Sarah-Amy. He quickly went forward to push him in another direction, he fell to the ground nearby.

John quickly grabbed a hold of Duncan again just as James turned back their way. He tutted again, "you're not handling the parent thing very well. Maybe we should go and leave you with one."

James narrowed his eyes, "Duncan, close your eyes."

Duncan did as he was told, "ok why?"

"You don't want to see this," James replied. He fired the rifle at John, taking him by surprise. He bit his lip to stop himself from screaming, he dropped Duncan onto the ground.

Vampire 2, who was just about to attack James from behind when he shot John, stared in horror. "Oh my god, you'd do that to your own dad... that's sick."

James glanced back at him, "step dad." He knocked him onto the ground easily. Duncan got onto his feet and ran over to James, and started hugging his leg. After he let go, James went over to pick up the baby. "Come on, we haven't got time." He headed back out, Duncan followed him.

Meanwhile:
Jessie was running down a street in the middle of the city, she stopped to lean on a lamp post. "Oh god," she said, trying to get her breath again. "I can't run with just one lung. Stupid plan." She looked around, "I hate this city." She then headed for one of the alleys, there a shuttle was parked.

She didn't notice the clouds above the city turning a slight shade of purple and blue. The usual voice started speaking, "warning... incoming game."

Jessie opened the shuttle doors, then she looked up in the sky. "Ohno, not now."

She climbed into the shuttle and rushed over to one of the stations. Sitting down she keyed in a few commands. "Computer, locate any human lifesigns."

"Three lifesigns are one hundred and fifty two metres away and closing," the computer responded.

"Good, how long until they get here?" Jessie asked.

"Three minutes," the computer replied.

"How long until the game lands?" Jessie asked.

"One minute," the computer replied.

Jessie slammed her hand on the console, "crap. Computer close the shuttle doors." The doors closed on their own, while she worked fast at the station she was at. The shuttle started to raise from the ground. "Computer, transport those lifesigns to the shuttle."

"Unable to comply. Game Cube radiation is interfering with the alignment sensors," the computer said.

"Will you be able to if we get closer?" Jessie asked.

"Affirmative, within twenty metres," the computer replied.

"Twenty? Oh brilliant," Jessie muttered. She continued working, "I'm crap at flying shuttles too."

Meanwhile again:
James and Duncan went down one street, and ended up in a dead end. "Crap, I always get lost in this city," James groaned.

Duncan looked up at him, "what do we do?"

James knelt down to pick him up with his spare arm. "You just hold onto me tightly, we're going over the wall." Duncan nodded, he put his arms tightly around his neck. He moved his arm away as he walked up to the wall.

Not far away the shuttle was flying low but a little too fast. The shields grazed one building, knocking it slightly to the side.

"Warning, shields down to 90%," the computer said.

"So what. Can I get a lock on them yet?" Jessie asked.

"Negative," the computer replied.

"Let me know when I can," Jessie muttered.

Outside, James jumped down from the wall. He looked around, confused again. "Crap, where now?" he asked himself.

Duncan looked up at the sky, the Game Cube was just touching the tallest building and was coming down fast. "Dad... it's coming."

They heard a loud crashing sound, James turned in the direction it came from. The shuttle had just flown through a large window in a tower block. "Holy crap, what's she doing," he muttered. They all dematerialised, and rematerialised inside the shuttle.

"Phew, hope the shields go back up after that," Jessie commented, glancing back at them. "Everyone ok?"

"Yeah we are," James replied as he put the kids down on the chairs at the back. He rushed over to her, "let me take over."

Jessie stared at him, "I can fly it fine." She turned back to the station. "Hold on tight."

"Warning, Game Cube has now surpassed the safety range," the computer said.

"Great, looks like we'll have to fly through more buildings," Jessie muttered. She keyed in a few more commands, James quickly sat down in the other chair.

"Duncan, hold onto your sister ok," he said.

Duncan frowned, he leaned over to pick up Sarah-Amy.

"I wonder if warp would work," Jessie muttered.

James stared at her, "please be joking."

"I am don't worry," Jessie said, shaking her head. "Going to impulse though, raising shields." The shuttle lurched forward, and shook madly as it went through more towers, and around some other buildings. "Ok, we're clear of the game... going up."

The shuttle picked up speed as it flew into the air nearby the game. The game was not far from the ground when the old shopping centre suddenly exploded. A huge shockwave emerged from the area the Game Cube was, it collided with the shuttle, sending it flying towards New Manchester. The Game Cube stood, with sparks going around it, it then lifted back up and headed back for the clouds, leaving a massive crater filled with fires. Buildings around the crater started collapsing to the ground.

Another shuttle flew over New Manchester, it locked a tractor beam onto the other shuttle to stop it.

Jessie raised her head off the beeping console, complete with a nasty scar on her forehead. "Ok, what happened?"

James moved out of his chair, he eyed the scar on her forehead, then looked back at the kids. Duncan had fell onto the ground, but still had a hold of Sarah-Amy, who was busy crying loudly. He rushed over to them and knelt down. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah think so," Duncan muttered in response.

Jessie glanced back, "what about Sarah?"

James took Sarah-Amy away from Duncan, "it's ok, she's just a little scared. Don't blame her."

"Yeah, it was quite scary when the area exploded," Jessie commented, turning back to the console.

"No, I think I was talking about your mother's flying," James said to Duncan. He sniggered.

Jessie glanced back at them, "hey what?" She turned back with a frown on her face, "we're being hailed, another shuttle saved us from crashing into something."

James walked back over to sit beside her, Duncan followed and stood in between them. "Who is it?"

Jessie pressed a few commands into the station. Kevin and the others appeared on the screen. "Hey guys, looks like we got here just in time," he said.

"Just. Thanks," Jessie said.

"We'll tow you back to Durham, Lena and Craig aren't too happy with you Jess," Sandi said.

James glanced at Jessie, she tried to look innocent. "Ok, I wasn't allowed to leave that soon, but what are you going to do?"

"Obviously a lot of people are more mad at you though James," Sandi commented.

"So what else is new," James muttered.

"Yeah well, at least you're both back now. Or should I keep quiet," Kevin said, eyeing Duncan.

"Doesn't matter, too late now," James said.

Kevin laughed nervously, "yeah, ok shuttle um, Lena's shuttle out."

"Next time, I fly ok," James said.

Jessie shrugged, "fine, but it wasn't my fault. I did warn you that it was a bad plan."

"I suppose you did," James sighed.

Jessie glanced at him, "ha, I win again." She then noticed the wound on his arm. "Hey, what happened?"

"One of the vamps nicked one of my guns," James replied.

"Oh," Jessie said. She moved closer to take Sarah-Amy off him. "You'd better rest it then. Wait, guns? I thought you only had one."

"Jess, when you're in a twenty first century ammunition museum, you don't just help yourself to one rifle," James commented.

"Cool, can I have one please?" Duncan asked.

"No," both James and Jessie replied. He pouted.

Day Four

03:02 Eastern / 09:02 GMT
New Manchester
"Well?" Daniel questioned while leaning on Sandi's chair.

Sandi looked up at him, "do you mind?"

He backed away, "geez, sorry."

Sandi folded her arms, "I've never heard anything about this at all."

"No, it's only a legend. This artifact fits into a hidden temple, the rest of the ritual is a bit sketchy though," Wesley said.

Kevin turned his computer around, "but we know what the end result is."

Wesley groaned, "this is the big thing. Now we know why the vampires were after this, they didn't want to be destroyed before they got the chance to escape in the game."

"Well they've been vaporised most likely, well the ones in Manchester have anyway. What do we do?" Kevin said.

"We can't risk this falling into the wrong hands, and all this happening again. We need to find out more," Sandi said.

Wesley nodded his head, "I agree."

Daniel now looked very confused, "ok, are you guys doing this on purpose?"

"In a way yes," Sandi replied. She looked back up at him, "whatever you do, don't tell Lena or James, the last thing we need is them being impulsive."

"Fine, but I don't like keeping this stuff from her," Daniel said.

"You have to. There's no telling what this thing will do," Sandi said.

****THE END****

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