A/N: Chapter update (at long last)!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Halloween. I just own Clem and other characters I toss in from time to time.

October 31st, 1995

Tommy had left the baby in Clementine's care, he was going to try and reach for the Strodes before anything bad happened to any of them. So for now it was just her and the little guy. Smiling down at the defenseless baby on Tommy's bed. Her eyes taking in the innocent sight of him. He had been dealt a terrible deck of cards, she'd give him that. There were still so many questions that Clem had, but as she got lost in the need for this child's brillance in her life, she soon realized how attached she had become to him. Protecting him was a must now. There was simply no way around it. Michael wanted to end the family line, this child was the last of the bloodline, so she would try her best to stop Michael at any costs. This time? She would not fail. She didn't care anymore. However, deep down, she knew that wasn't completely true. Her heart still ached for Michael Myers. She wanted him more than words could possibly explain, at least in the sane sense.

It had been proven many times before that she was not quite sane herself, and she didn't have a problem with that, despite how many others tried to get her to turn back to sanity. It was that easy when you're born with a chemically imbalanced brain. They did say that the insane always can find one another and fireworks would spark upon giving into their very obvious emotions for the other. Maybe that was her problem, then. She knew that it was only a matter of time before what was left her sanity to snap, and she would be just as insane as Michael Myers himself. Her body tensed suddenly, but her smile did not waver. She thought back to the baby and tried to swallow down her thoughts, for his sake, she shouldn't get distracted so easily. After all, they were hiding him from an infamous serial killer.

A giggle slipped out as she saw the little look she was getting from the baby, she allowed her finger to gently poke at his little stomach, grinning when she received a happy reaction from him. God, she was such a dork! She kept herself on high alert now, refusing to get distracted again. There was no telling how long Tommy would be, but she decided it wise to wait it out until she felt necessary. The name Tommy had given the baby made her smile and shake her head. Stephen. In a way, it was fitting and the little guy seemed to be taking to it already. Clementine had always wanted kids, but given her mental state of mind, she'd gone against it for good reason. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to care for a little one all on her own. Brushing back a strand of her loose dark hair, she giggled again as she scooped Stephen up into her arms, slowly rocking him.

She was afraid he was going to start crying again, he must be starving, and unfortunately, they didn't have much around to offer a newborn. "It's okay, little guy." She assured the little life in her arms, gently poking his nose which earned a interesting result, Stephen's little fingers grabbed a hold of Clem's lone finger. He had a tough grip, that was for sure. He was going to make it in this life and go out fighting, just like the others before them, he wasn't going to give up that easy. As silly as it may seem, the woman holding him felt her heart swell, accepting that she had to have the same outlook on life. It didn't bother her one bit. Not anymore. Of course, that was only temporary. Something was brewing and Tommy had pretty much cracked it. His studies proved successful.

It was a cult. That was how all of this was connected. Michael had been the biggest part of the cult, meaning to kill every, living, last member of his family. And apparently, that meant anyone who got in the way in the process. There was no way to break this cult, at least, not to their knowledge as of yet. It was total madness. And still there were bigger pieces of the puzzle still not exposed.

Her thoughts were quickly ripped at the seams, Stephen was wailing away again. Where the hell was Tommy?

XXXXX

As she rocked the baby in her arms, Clementine waited for Tommy to return. Eventually, the other male made himself known by entering through the door, as if on cue the child Clem had been holding close started to cry out. He was starving. It was about damn time, too. Grateful that Tommy had gotten the formula from the store, he began to fix it just like so in what little makeshift items they had to offer up here. After a bit and some more of Stephen's starving cries, Tommy gently placed the bottle, with the formula inside, in front of the baby. Cautiously, Stephen took to it, thrashing about until he was settled in understanding what was really happening here. The poor, little thing was in desperate need of this, there was no telling just how long he'd been there in that station unattended to. After hearing Jamie's pleas on the radio, it had almost killed Clementine, just thinking how she was murdered by her uncle. The very man she had tried to protect her from and keep her alive, but after losing them both that night all those years ago, it had taken a deep impact on Clem. She wasn't for sure if she could really bounce back from that loss.

However, the woman was a strong individual and she had, after hearing Jamie, that had given her some hope. Even after finding her dead, Clem now had the last piece of the family Michael so ruthlessly wanted to put an end to. Finding something to look forward to was this little guy and keeping him alive and protected at all costs. Looking at Tommy as he took Stephen from her arms, trying to feed him the bottle, but he didn't seem to be interested in it, his noises of protests were enough to make the woman stare in surprise. Wasn't he just crying for that a minute ago? And now he wasn't taking it? Hmm... That was strange. Wait a second, maybe she should try? Even though she wasn't a mother herself, Clementine thought maybe just the touch of a woman, that may be enough to get him to eat.

"Hey, Tommy? Let me try." Clem suggested, holding her arms out toward him, he turned and gave her a confused look, though he did hand Stephen over with the bottle going into her own grip. "Here you go, Stephen." She whispered to the baby, tenderly moving the bottle towards his mouth, then he took straight to it with no signs of protesting against her feeding him whatsoever. This was too strange. Usually it was that old saying of a 'mother's touch' that seemed to be the key to feeding fussy babies. That wasn't the case here, and that was enough to turn heads. Looking up from the hungry baby who seemed to be gladly drinking from the bottle, Clementine smiled at Tommy, who returned the look wholeheartedly. Finally! They got him to eat at long last. "We're naturals." She teased her friend, resulting in him to shake his head, Tommy's smile still in place as he watched her tend to Stephen.

They only had some time before the Strodes returned to their home. "Guess we better get them, huh?" Clem asked Tommy, looking back up to catch his gaze, earning a nod from him. There was no way they were going to leave Stephen here by himself, her and Tommy had things to do and they would bring Stephen with them. She didn't exactly like the old woman who was downstairs. That woman seriously needed to be heavily medicated and locked up. Tommy saw different, it could just be Clementine, but she had a lot of experience of witnessing true insanity and not coming back from it. Mrs. Blankenship, she was something from the other side. When Clementine was growing up she could remember that lady and she couldn't stand her. There was the creepy look in her eyes and that raspy voice when she chose to speak, and when she did it was enough to make her have a sleepless night or two. In her opinion, Tommy was blind to the expense that Mrs. Blankenship would go to just to serve her own rotting sanity. He was stubborn, she could understand that, Clem just didn't want to accept it. That was another reason Stephen was going with them. Blankenship would probably turn on them in a heartbeat.

It wasn't only that specific reason, Clementine knew that Michael had been in her house the night he was taken, and that was enough to convince the woman that Mrs. Blankenship had something to do with triggering this curse Michael had. Whatever locked him tight within this cult, Clementine wanted to free Michael from it's demon grip and maybe get back the little boy she had known all those years ago. Most would say there was no coming back from that, but Clem still held a sliver of hope to perhaps put an end to all of this madness. If it rested on her and Tommy, then they would do their best to stop it all for good this time. It was going to be a war that may have seemed impossible to win. They both knew what they were getting into, and that drove them.

Walking out of the house of Mrs. Blankenship, Clementine and Tommy made their way across to the Strodes home, Michael's home. Following after Tommy, Clem kept Stephen covered up and still stabilized the bottle she was continuing to feed him with. Tommy knocked on the door once they arrived, but there was no sign of it being unlocked, nor did there seem to be anything suspicious... yet. Biting her tongue, she watched as Tommy looked around the front of the home, curious if anything happened that they could see from out here. There seemed to be nothing wrong, so the three of them started to walk along the sidewalk, having in mind to get more formula for the little one in Clementine's arms. It didn't take them very long before they almost ran into the little boy known as Danny, he snapped his head in the direction of Tommy, who was in front of Clem and Stephen, pumpkin guts spill across the ground. He had dropped his pumpkin because he had been frightened by something and Tommy's close form hadn't helped.

"Sorry." Tommy apologized, looking at the little boy who slowly came out of it, noticing the small noises Stephen happened to be making. Danny looked around Tommy at Clementine who was still holding Stephen, he obviously looked confused. "Hey, I'm Tommy. This is Clem, the little guy she's holding is Stephen. Danny, right?" Tommy asked, getting a nod from the boy, "Would you mind if we stay at your place? Just until your mom gets home? We have to talk to her about something very important." After Tommy explained, Danny gave a small nod in agreement, starting to lead the way towards his house with no words. Exchanging a look with Tommy, Clementine shrugged at how easy that had been, following behind the kid with Tommy coming at her side as they headed back towards the home the Strodes had been occupying.

XXXXX

They were currently sitting in the room that once belonged to Michael Myers. Clementine felt a chill go straight through her as Tommy say on the bed with Danny showing him his books, Stephen in Tommy's protective hold, Clem's eyes scanning the room. She could still remember coming in here to play with Michael. Even though it had been all those years ago, the wounds were still very fresh to Clementine, she was just about to walk out of the room and let Tommy speak with Danny alone. Just as she reached for the door handle, the door was forced open with her eyes staring straight into the eyes of Kara Strode. "Oh, uh, excuse me." Clem said, watching the look of panic in the young woman's eyes flicker to confusion and somewhat relief to have found her son at last. She must have been searching for him. "Where's my mom?" Kara asked, her eyes landing straight on Tommy and the baby. "What are you doing in my house?"

"Oh, she wasn't here when we got here." Tommy responded to her first question, tilting his head at her second one, "Clem and I, we're here to warn you and hopefully keep you safe." He explained, taking in a deep breath before he completed the next line, "Do you know whose house this used to be?"

A/N: I know. It's been too long. Hopefully, this was a good read for you guys! I'm trying to get back in the habit of posting chapters for my stories more regularly now, so bear with me. Send in your reviews, I'd love to hear from you all. Thanks for reading, it means the world!