In the Darkness there is Light

Standing at the top of the lighthouse, Will watches as Matt talks to a detective. Then he notices the elderly man sitting on a bench behind them. His arms and torso are covered in blood and he's crying and shivering. Grabbing a blanket from a nearby gurney, Will strides over to the man and places the blanket over his shoulders.

"Are you alright?"

The man laughs. "I'm sorry, it's not funny, it's just that I've been asked every possible questions about that couple, and not one cop or paramedic has asked me if I'm ok." The man says looking at a bewildered Will.

"Name's Ernie."

"Will."

"You don't look like a cop."

"I'm not. I'm a friend of that cop over there," Will says pointing to Matt.

"Do you hang out at crime scenes often?"

Will laughs, "You know Ernie, not normally, but lately my whole life has been a crime scene."

"Well it's been a weird day, and I'd be happy to listen if you want to talk about it."

Starting from the beginning, Will tells Ernie about Chloe. That the day he saw her in the grocery store he was completely taken by her. She was so incredibly beautiful, but had no idea, and there was something in those big green eyes that intrigued him. Their whole relationship had been that way. Even when Chloe was sick with the flu, Will still found her beautiful. Chloe challenged Will to be the best possible man he could. Because he wanted to be that, for her. Whenever they were together it was as if the whole world melted away, and the only thing left was them. She made him feel alive, and strong and brave. Will told Ernie about his plan to take Chloe on a train ride up the coast to a beach house, where he intended to propose to her. But as usual he was late to meet her and when he got to the train station at 3:22pm, she was gone. He sat at the train station for hours, calling her cell phone, and hearing her voice mail pick up every time. Fearing the worst, but unwilling to give up, he sat there until the last train left at midnight. With a heavy heart and mind racing Will walked five blocks to Matt's apartment, and as Matt opened the door, Will cried in front of him for the second time in ten years.

Ernie places a large weathered hand on Will's shoulder. "You'll find her son."

Walking over to Will, something over Will and Ernie's heads catches Matt's eye. A soft glow from across the water. Weird, Matt thinks. There aren't any houses that far out still left.

"What is it Matt?" Will asks noticing Matt's expression.

Matt simply points over their heads.

Standing up Ernie and Will look at the soft glow.

"What is that?" Will asks.

"I don't--" Matt begins to say, but Ernie interrupts.

"That the old Amesworth estate. But it's been abandoned for years. Since the granddaughter died."

"I don't understand, I thought with the boardwalk project, all the houses were demolished." Matt says.

"Oh yes, they are supposed to be, in fact that house is scheduled for demolition tomorrow. Because of all the trees around it, they couldn't get a wrecking ball in there so they've got it wired with explosives in the basement. It's supposed to implode on itself basically."

"Jack!" Matt yells to one of the detectives.

A short, chubby but pleasant looking detective walks over to Matt and before he can respond, Matt speaks again. "You said you thought the shots came from a sniper rifle.... Do you think that (pointing at the light) would be too far away?"

"Not at all. Looks like the right distance to me."

Matt pulls out his phone and dials dispatch.

Will stands to his feet and bumps into a coin operated telescope.

Opening her eyes Chloe feels a searing pain on the right side of her head and a biting pain on her thigh. Feeling her head she finds blood, and what seems to be a nasty gash just above her right temple. Glancing around her she sees Maxwell crouched down attempting some sort of first aid on his calf. Slowly she looks down at her thigh, where the knife is sticking out of it, trying desperately not to move too much. Not just because she doesn't want him to see her awake, but because with every movement a blinding pain spreads behind her eyes and she feels she may black out again.

While Matt talks animatedly on the phone, Will searches his pockets for quarters. Ernie watching him, says, "Oh son, you don't need quarters, it works without them."

Crouching down and looking through the telescope, Will sees the house. It's completely dark except for a soft glow from what looks like the attic. There's paper covering the windows, but he can see the shadow of someone moving inside. He moves the telescope and spots a Land Rover in the driveway. Without a word Will stands and knows that Chloe's there. A hand stops him and Will turns to see Ernie holding his car keys out. "Go," he whispers.

Matt will want to follow protocol and wait for back up. Sorry Matt, Will thinks, I just can't wait, she needs me.

As soon as Matt turns his back Will walks quickly past him, and runs back down the stairs through the light house, dodging officers and paramedics as he goes. Once outside he hits the unlock button on the key fob and climbs into a white Camry.

"Will?" Matt looks around and doesn't see him. "Where's Will?" Matt turns and sees Ernie smiling.

"He's headed over there, couldn't wait for protocol." Ernie says pointing to the house.

"FUCK!" Matt shouts. Yelling orders for a couple of officers to follow him, Matt bursts through the house and jumps in his car to follow Will. In his heart he knows Will is right, he knows that Chloe is in that house, but what Will doesn't know is that this guy is a professional, and Will is ill equipped to handle him.

Standing at the window and seeing the siren lights at the lighthouse across the way Maxwell thinks about his options. He glances over his shoulder at Chloe, who is still unconscious on the floor. The pain in his leg worsening he bends to tighten the make shift tourniquet and grimaces as he does. As he rises again Maxwell sees the headlights of a white car pull into the drive. "What in the hell?" he mumbles. Stiff legged Maxwell hobbles to the staircase and slowly descends.

Will speeds onto the gravel driveway and comes to a very quick stop, almost fishtailing the vehicle as he does. A car horn honks behind him and Will turns to see Matt speeding down the road toward the driveway. Shaking his head, Will jogs to the side door of the house. Finding it locked, he punches through the window above the door knob and barely registering the pain, as the blood trickles down his glass covered hand, Will reaches inside and unlocks the door.

Slowly reaching the final flight of stairs, Maxwell hears the glass breaking below him. Kitchen door, he thinks. Maxwell stops and steps into one of the bedrooms, walking directly toward the closet.

Laying on the floor, Chloe hears the cars screeching to a stop outside, and then the glass breaking. Once again she tries to sit up, but her head is filled with a searing pain with each movement.

"Chloe?"

It's Will!

"Up here!" Chloe yells back, a new searing pain almost blinding her.

Filled with hope and a bravery he can't quite explain, Will runs up the stairs. He reaches the second landing when he hears Matt burst through the door behind him. Not stopping Will takes on the second flight and then the third, crashing through the door to the attic. Tears begin to build as he sees Chloe on the ground with blood on her face and a knife in her leg.

"Oh baby!" He moves to close the distance between them when he suddenly drops to his knees blood pouring from his chest. Will collapses to the ground.

Standing in the doorway is Maxwell with a 9 mm pointed at the fallen Will.

Hobbling toward Will, Maxwell points the gun at his head, no mistakes this time, he thinks.

Matt hearing the gun shot takes the remaining flight of stairs two at a time, realizing too late that he's left his gun in the SUV. Finding a loose banister he yanks it from it's base and stops just outside the attic door. If he moves to fast he'll be heard and then seen. And then dead. As quietly and as quickly as he can, Matt moves into the room toward Maxwell. Seeing Will laying on the floor a pool of blood beneath him, Matt is filled with rage. He lifts the banister to strike and notices the tourniquet on Maxwell's calf. Perfect, he thinks. Striking with all the force his baseball glory days taught him, Matt takes out Maxwell's good leg, striking him right behind his knee cap.

Screaming in pain and rage, Maxwell turns to see his attacker as he's falling, causing him to break the leg even more. Standing above him Matt kicks the gun away from him and lifts the banister again. But before he can take a shot, Maxwell uses his tourniquet bound leg and kicks Matt in the side, causing him to fall backwards. Matt hits his head and everything goes black.

Seeing Matt's badge on his belt, Maxwell begins crawling to the door and begins to slither downward.

Tears pouring out of her, Chloe crawls over to Will's body. The bullet missed his heart, and he's still breathing. Kissing his lips and fighting back the searing pain from her temple, Chloe slowly rises to her feet.

Limping across the room, Will's body laying on the ground behind her, Chloe is determined. Slowly pulling the knife from her thigh, she moves toward the staircase. Below her, Maxwell is crawling down the stairs, his one leg broken and bent the wrong way and the other losing blood. Taking her time, Chloe watches Maxwell scramble down the stairs, enjoying watching him suffer.

The sound of the sirens in the distance, getting closer and yet the only sound Matt hears as he slowly wakes up is Will's breathing slowing down.

"I miss you," Chloe whispers, looking down at the gravestone, flowers in hand. She bends to set the flowers in front of it, but is hindered by the large bandage on her thigh.

A hand touches her shoulder, "here let me help you my love." Will says, taking the flowers from her and setting them on the grave of Chloe's mother.

Wrapping his arm around her waist after standing back up, Will kisses the top of Chloe's head.

"I love you." Chloe whispers.

Laying in the ICU, arms and legs strapped to the bed, Matt wakes up and finds a pair of brown eyes watching him through a mess of red hair. Molly smiles at Matt, and places a small hand on his forearm as he notices the restraints.

"They had to tie you down, because you kept thrashing around in your sleep and pulling the iv's loose. I hope you don't mind that I'm here. I'm getting released from the hospital tomorrow, but when I heard you were here I wanted to make sure you were ok.." Molly trails off as she looks down at her lap.

"I'm glad you're here, Molly."

"So you do remember me?"

"Of course, you're a hero."

"No I'm not. I'm just a used up prostitute."

"No." Matt says strongly enough for Molly to meet his eyes again, "You're beautiful."

Two floors above the ICU, Doctor Teller is up to his elbows in the abdomen of Maxwell.

"How many liters have we given this guy?" Teller asks.

"Four," replies the nurse.

"Alright I'm packing and closing."

"Doctor..." the nurse starts, as the alarms go off, and Maxwell flat lines.

After attempting to revive him for half an hour, Doctor Teller steps back from the table. "Time of death 23:13."

While washing up after walking out of surgery, Doctor Teller sighs. Hearing him, Nurse White says, " There's nothing you could have done for him, he had a broken leg, a pierced artery in his leg and a gash the size of a refrigerator in his belly. If he wasn't bleeding out from his leg, his insides were sliced beyond repair. And from what I've heard, he deserved every single wound."

Shaking his hands dry and reaching for a towel Teller looks at her, "I heard what he did too, and I don't wish harm on anyone, but I'm also not distraught that he's gone. Don't think my sigh was that of disappointment that I couldn't save him, no I sighed because I'm exhausted from trying to do so."

It rained the day of the funeral. No one stood beside the casket with flowers. No one was there to hear the eulogy. But as the casket was lowered into the ground, one tear was shed. Just one.

Standing under a tree, her hood hugging her face, the only color was the tip of red hear poking out from the hood, the rest of her dressed in black. Chloe watched as Maxwell's body was buried alongside his mothers. Relieved that he was gone, yet also sad. Not for the man who died, but for the small boy who sat next to her on the swing. The boy that never had a chance at a normal life. A boy with no family, a boy lost. That's who she shed a tear for.

Three months later and a few miles down the road from the cemetery, a man stands at an altar, a smile on his face. His best friend standing next to him, as they wait for his bride to walk down the aisle.

"Are you ready?"

"I am. She's my match Will." Matt replies.

In the front row sits Chloe a smile on her face and a secret in her heart. She can't wait to tell Will, but not today. Today is Matt and Molly's day.