Lee groaned as Rita started to work on his knife wounds. Eli was watching, not wanting to be away from his parents for a second. Gunner was returning Katie to Tom and Theresa with Barney. The others were sitting around drinking beer and laughing at Lee's situation.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Eli asked, tilting his head at Lee, who tried so hard to keep his face straight.

"He isn't going to answer you," Rita replied to her son, dabbing the cleaner into Lee's deeper cuts. He twisted in the chair he was sitting backwards in, gripping the rungs tightly in his hands. A small grunt still escaped his lips.

"Hey, Eli," Toll called. "Why don't we play a little Crazy Eights, huh? Give your old man some space so he can cry."

"Dad doesn't cry," Eli pointed out.

"Not in front of you," Toll corrected. Eli peered at his father curiously, who still wasn't saying anything.

"Go on," Rita urged Eli. Once he was out of ear shot in the other room, Lee released the breath he'd been holding.

"Dear God, woman, are you almost through?" he gritted out.

"Almost," Rita answered cheerily, putting gauze an tape on his shoulder blade. Lee was thinking about how in 10 hours he would lose the ability to reset the day. He looked over at Eli laughing with Toll and knew it had all been worth it. Rita finished and moved so she was standing in front of him.

"You can cry now," she teased. He sat up straighter and put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer.

"I don't need to," he replied. She ran a hand over his scalp playfully.

"If you say so."

"Dad! Toll's cheating!" Eli called, making them both turn to look at what was going on.

"Sally don't like," Doc commented, throwing down his cards.

"Since when is having a good strategy cheating?" Toll asked.

"Saving all your eights to the end is a low blow," Thorn explained.

"It's called being smart," Toll argued.

"This is why I don't play games," Mars said, laughing.

"Hey, bud, why don't you get ready for bed?" Rita said, making Eli groan.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"All right," he sighed, getting up. Rita watched him go up the stairs.

"He seems fine," Lee noted. They had all waited for Eli to be in a panic or upset, but he appeared unfazed once they were safely home.

"I guess he gets that from you," Rita said, kissing his cheek and going to join Eli upstairs. Lee went to join the others when his phone rang.

"Hey, Tom," Lee said, seeing who it was. "Everything all right?"

"Help me," a woman's voice rasped. Lee felt the hair on his neck stand up.

"Theresa?" he asked.

"Please...help..."

Then the line went dead. Lee stared at his phone, getting a sinking feeling in his gut. He dialed Barney. There was no answer. His heart starting to pound, he went up to get Rita, who was tucking Eli into his bed.

"Hey, can we talk?" he said.

"Dad, can you read me a story?" Eli asked.

"In a bit. I have to talk to your mother first."

"Okay."

Rita followed him down to their bedroom where he shut the door behind him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Something's happened," he answered, showing her his phone. "Theresa just phoned me from Tom's cell asking for help, and Barney isn't answering his phone."

Rita stared at him for a moment, letting it sink in. Her eyes flitted back to Eli's bedroom then back to Lee's. She swallowed.

"Could be a coincidence."

"Something's gone wrong," Lee insisted. His phone rang again, and he saw it was Tom's number again.

"Theresa?" he asked, answering.

"I really hate that you got involved," Tom's voice said.

"Why's that?"

"Because it just complicated everything. You weren't supposed to get injected, your wife was. You messed up everything, but I guess it is what it is. It shouldn't matter who's got it so long as it benefits me."

"I'm not sure I'm following," Lee said, buying some time. Rita ran to get Thorn, who would help track the call.

"And now," Tom went on. "Now it seems your two friends have taken it into their hands to keep my daughter from me."

"With good reason it seems," Lee commented.

"If you don't get over here, I will kill her," Tom said. Lee heard screaming in the background then. He tensed.

"You're at your place then," he said, holding up his hand as Thorn came scrambling in with his equipment.

"Where else would I be?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why? Does it matter why?"

"It does."

"Because I'm good at what I do, that's why."

"And you'd have killed your own child and mine to get what you want?"

"It got you to inject, didn't it? I only needed one of you to have it. Antonio just screwed up is all."

"So he wasn't the mastermind behind all this and blackmailing you."

"God no. He was a pawn in my game. It looked convincing, though, didn't it? Once we reset, he'll get another shot if you fail."

"I will not be resetting," Lee said simply. He wasn't about to go through that hell again to get his son back.

"One hour, Lee. That's all the time you get. Then I'm coming after your family."

Tom hung up in Lee's ear, and he threw the phone across the room.

"What's happening?" Rita asked.

"He's gonna kill Theresa if I don't go over there," Lee answered, pacing the room.

"Where's Katie?"

"Gunner and Barney got her out of there."

"Lee!" Barney's voice called on cue. They all hurried down the stairs to meet him. Katie was in Gunner's arms, crying while Barney stood there waiting.

"What the hell happened?" Lee demanded.

"He didn't look right," Barney answered. "And we saw him smacking the mother around just as we got there. I told Gunner to hold off, and Tom lost it when I said he wasn't getting Katie back."

"Well, he's gonna kill Theresa if I don't get over there," Lee said. "That's his demands. He wants me and my ability to help him with whatever it is he wants."

Rita was pondering the situation while everyone else thought about what to do. Maybe this didn't make sense, but she had to voice it.

"How would he even get you to come do what he wants after you reset?" she asked. "He won't remember any of this when you reset."

"I'm not resetting," Lee repeated firmly.

"What do we do with her?" Gunner asked, bringing their attention back to a shaking Katie, who was staring at them all.

"Come, let's go upstairs," Rita said. "Eli's there. He'll keep you company."

Katie didn't say a word as Gunner followed Rita to Eli's room. Lee felt bad for the girl. She had a long road of recovery from all this ahead of her.

...

"Where's Gunner?" Barney asked when Rita returned later. Lee looked up from their plan and noticed she looked upset.

"Katie won't sleep unless he's there keeping them safe," she replied, avoiding Lee's gaze. She didn't want him to know that the girl's anguish and fear was troubling her.

"How do we know Theresa isn't in on this?" Thorn asked. "I mean, it's easy to pretend you're being beat up and potentially being killed. It makes us run over there to the rescue."

"I don't know," Lee said, remembering the voice he'd heard on the phone. It had seemed awfully real to him. Her screams too.

"I think they're in this together," Mars piped in. "They staged the whole kidnapping thing to take the spotlight off of them. The kidnapper would get blamed for whatever they're planning on doing, and they get to run off free."

"But why get us involved?" Lee asked.

"Because you'd take care of the kidnapper," Barney answered. "You wouldn't be putting your focus on what they were doing in the background."

"But he said he wants to use me," Lee argued. "He wants me to reset."

"He's spinning yarn to confuse you," Barney said calmly. "Don't fall for it."

"Um, hour's up," Doc said, looking at his watch. Everyone looked at each other.

"He said he's coming for us next," Lee said, hoping that their theory was right and Theresa wasn't just murdered in cold blood by her husband.

"Then let's get ready," Barney said, loading his pistol.

...

Rita jumped when there was rapid pounding on the door. She looked over at Lee, who was standing there gun in hand. He nodded. She got up slowly, one hand on the gun that was in the back of her jeans. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the door. A wild eyed Theresa was standing there.

"Please," she begged. "He's going to kill me!"

"Come on," Rita said, pulling her inside. Barney was immediately there, grabbing her shoulder tightly.

"W-what are you doing?" Theresa asked.

"We don't exactly trust you," he replied. He searched her, pulling out a gun from her back pocket.

"Well, well, well," Lee said, stepping forward. "Looks like someone really is in on it."

"You don't understand," Theresa whispered. "He's going to kill all of us."

"You walk in here with a gun claiming he's going to kill you? Not buying it," Lee said angrily.

"He needs me," she insisted. "He needs the codes. He can't kill me until he has them."

"Why are you here?" Rita asked before Lee could cut in.

"I just need to know that Katie is all right," Theresa whimpered. "Tell me she's all right."

"She's fine."

"Promise me you'll look after her if something happens to me?" Theresa asked. "Promise me!"

"I promise, Theresa," Rita said. "But nothing is going to happen to you."

"Where's Tom?" Lee asked.

"I'm sure he has figured out that I escaped by now. He'll be here soon."

Barney nodded to Lee and went back to join Mars, Thorn, and Toll outside. Gunner and Doc were someplace far away with the children.

"How can we be sure that you're not just going to kill us when he gets here?" Rita asked her.

"I never wanted this. I had no idea Anthony was working for Tom. My own husband betrayed me. I could care less about what happens to him. In fact, give me the gun back. I'll shoot him."

"Leave it to me," Lee said.

"Come on," Rita said, steering Theresa to the other room. Lee's phone rang then, and he answered.

"I hope you have house insurance," Tom said in his ear.

"LEE! ROCKET!" Barney's voice bellowed. Lee charged to where Rita and Theresa were hiding.

"GET DOWN!" he roared, grabbing Rita by the back of her neck and forcing her down. Theresa threw herself to the floor after them. An explosion rocked around them, and Lee's ears started to ring very loudly. It wasn't over. Lee could hear the house starting to give way. He was ultra pissed that this was the second time his house was destroyed in 10 years.

"Get up," he urged, shaking Rita. "Get up!" She coughed, moaning.

"Lee..."

"Come on, it's gonna cave in on us. Get up," Lee said again. He gripped her arm tightly and hauled her to her feet. Her face was bleeding.

"Theresa," she said, pointing. Lee saw that Theresa wasn't moving.

"Get out," he told her. "I've got her." Rita hurried to the back door while Lee picked up Theresa and hauled ass after Rita.

"You all right?" Barney asked, taking her from him once he was outside.

"Yea. Where is he?"

"Took off in the truck after he fired."

"You didn't take him out?!"

"I hit him," Barney said defensively. "He's wounded."

"She needs the hospital," Rita said, examining Theresa.

"We'll go," Thorn offered as Mars nodded along.

"I've got Tom," Lee growled.

"Be careful," Rita begged.

"He's got us," Toll reassured her. Lee gave Rita's hand a squeeze before letting it go and marching to his truck. Tom was going down.

...

"He's getting the codes," Barney said, looking up at the building. They had found Tom's truck parked outside.

"What kind of man kills his own wife and child?" Lee asked, feeling enraged. Of course, Tom didn't know that Katie was still alive, but still. The man was a monster.

"Just don't die all right?" Barney ordered.

"I'll do my best," Lee answered. The three of them moved in. Lee found Tom rummaging through the safe, just as he thought.

"Looking for something?" Lee asked, making Tom spin. He saw the blood on his shoulder from where Barney had shot him.

"If you're looking for the codes, you won't find them," Toll chimed in.

"I don't understand," Tom said, genuinely confused. Lee and Toll smirked at each other. Before they had gone to find the children, they had made a pit stop to take the codes out of the safe.

"You think I was stupid enough to leave them lying around in a compromised safe?" Lee asked.

"I didn't give you enough credit," Tom smirked.

"It's over. You lost," Lee said.

"Did I?" Tom asked. He fired off a shot before anyone could move, and Toll cried out, hitting the floor.

"Toll!" Barney shouted. Tom dashed out the side door when Barney landed on his knees beside Toll. Lee didn't even hesitate. He ran after Tom, catching up with him in the stairwell. He wrapped an arm around Tom's neck, spinning him around and throwing him down a flight of stairs. Lee jumped and landed beside Tom, who was scrambling to get up. Lee landed a kick and bent to haul Tom up to punch him again. Tom wrenched out of his grip and landed a blow to Lee's face, causing him to stumble. Tom shoved him hard, and he went over the railing. Lee managed to grab the floor before falling, and Tom smirked.

"It's so easy," he taunted. He went to stomp when Lee pushed off and landed on the stairs below with a crash. Winded, he struggled to his feet. Tom was going up, so Lee had to force himself to hurry after him. He yanked open the door at the top of the stairs and saw Tom sprinting down the hallway to the other exit. Lee pulled out his knife and threw it with all his might. It hit Tom right in the middle of his back, and he fell face first. Lee limped over to him and watched as Tom cried out in pain and tried to reach for the knife to pull it out. Lee yanked it out for him, making him cry out. Then he bent down to Tom's level, aiming his gun at him.

"You do not get to mess with my family and run off free," Lee said menacingly.

"Such a big man," Tom taunted. "You can kill me, but someone else will always be out there ready to take my place."

"Then I'll be waiting," Lee said. "You don't seem to understand what I used to do for a living, Tom. Even after all your research."

"I have an idea," Tom replied.

"Any last words?" Lee asked.

"Watch your back," Tom winked.

"WAIT!" Barney shouted, making Lee hold his fire.

"What?" Lee asked.

"He's got it," Barney said.

"Got what?"

"The other vial of blood. Antonio's was a decoy."

"How do you know?"

"Because of this," Barney said, holding up the empty vial. "He's injected it just now. Antonio was nothing but a distraction this whole time. Tom let him believe he had the vial, but he really didn't. Tom's got it. If you kill him, you're resetting the day in his favor."

Lee noticed that Tom was smirking, and he knew it was the truth. He pulled out his knife slowly.
"Lee, did you not hear me?" Barney asked.

"I did. I'm just helping our friend here get ready for a blood transfusion," Lee said, making some cuts. Tom grunted in pain.

"Call it in," Barney ordered Toll, who obliged.

"You'll never outwit all of us," Lee said to Tom. "It's why I have a team. It's why I won and you lost." Tom didn't respond as he was starting to black out.

"Don't let him bleed out," Barney warned.

"I know what I'm doing," Lee scoffed. "Geez. Have some faith in me."

They heard sirens then, and Lee knew that this was soon going to be all over.

...

Lee found Rita at the hospital with Theresa, who was sitting with Katie and rocking her in her arms. The rest of the team was sitting around awkwardly.

"Dad!" Eli cried, grabbing Lee around the middle.

"Hey, sport," Lee answered, hugging him back. Rita joined them.

"Is it over?" she asked.

"Yes. I supervised the transfusion myself," Lee explained. "Tom's going away for a long time."

"You guys are welcome to come stay with me until you get a new house," Barney offered. Lee looked at Rita.

"What do you say? Try out the US of A for a while?" he asked her.

"I think it might be less trouble," she laughed. "Sure. Why not?"

"I don't want to leave Katie," Eli said, looking over at his friend.

"You might see us over there," Theresa said. "I'm resigning tomorrow. We aren't going to stay here. I want to get as far away from Tom as possible."

"There," Lee said, gesturing. "Problem solved."

"It'll be like old times," Barney grinned.

"More like a new start," Lee corrected. He put his arm around Rita, who gripped him fiercely. Eli went to sit next to Katie to try and cheer her up. Rita knew that poor girl was going to need a lot of therapy to get over this.

"He's a brave kid," Lee commented.

"He gets that from us," Rita said. Perhaps one day Eli would feel the repercussions of this entire drama, but for now, he seemed fine.

"No more bullets," Lee told her, touching her cheek softly. The others were laughing hard about something in the background.

"No more bullets," she agreed, smiling and kissing him gently. It was time to officially retire for good. They held hands as they watched Barney lift Eli onto his shoulders and run away from Toll, who was chasing them for some reason. Yes indeed, life was finally back to normal.

The End

If anyone actually read this story, thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed it.