Author's Note: In case you didn't know, I'm really terrible at updating things on time. My apologies for taking so long with this; I think Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween really hurt me when it came to writing for the fandom. I think I'm over it now. Again, comments are always appreciated.

"Families are about love overcoming emotional torture."
-Matt Groening

Jamie, Tina, Valerie, and Valerie's mother, Jessica, all go out for a victorious dinner at a nice little place in Historical Downtown Haddonfield. It's one of the few places that is still sixties-themed – most places around the town are moving on to bigger and better decades. Jamie and Valerie enjoy the atmosphere as much as any teenager can, while Tina and Jessica find it a nice way to celebrate their hard work.

Jessica is a good mother and doesn't mind her girl's strange musical taste, though she does raise some fuss about her hygiene on occasion. She doesn't mind Valerie being friends with Jamie, and has helped Tina every so often with the more motherly duties she has trouble with, being that she and Jamie are more like sisters than anything.

Tina likes this little place and orders as much as she can get away with in polite company, knowing that this will be her last time here for who knows how long. After all, Jamie's going away to college, and she has a book she needs to start working on – a nice little romantic comedy. She never expected to be an author but now that she's used to it, there's no way she'll give it up.

And of course, there's that nagging voice in her head reminding her than in two days, she and Jamie will be on a plane to Colorado... A trip they might never come back from.

"So, what are you two planning on doing for your last summer?"

Jamie and Tina share a look at Jessica's question, and then Jamie says, "We're... staying in. But... but first, we're making a little... trip."

"Really?" Valerie asks, blinking, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was... kind of spur-of-the-moment, Val," Tina says lightly, hiding her shaking hands in her lap. "We're just going to do a little sight-seeing. Visit my folks in Colorado."

Valerie looks at them and Tina realizes that she knows where Michael's being held, but thankfully the girl says nothing.

"That sounds fun," Jessica says politely, not knowing the truth.

"Not really," Jamie says idly, taking a sip of her soda, "They're really boring. We'll be back in... We're not sure. But probably soon."

Truthfully, they had just bought one way tickets, because they didn't know what hoops they'd have to jump through to see Michael. And there was that looming thought that maybe they won't live long enough to make the return trip...

"Well," Valerie says, giving Jamie a heavy look, "When you get back, we need to go do stuff. I'm not spending my summer locked in my room."

"There's a bunch of new CDs coming out, Valerie," Jamie responds with a grin, "I'm gonna be lucky to get you out of the house at all!"

Tina doesn't know if they'll be around to take Valerie out.

Jamie grabs her hand under the table and gives it a reassuring squeeze. It'll be fine, Tina thinks, grinning as Jessica begins to get on her daughter's case about the slowly forming dreadlocks in her hair, Everything will be fine.

Valerie insists that she drives them to the airport outside of Pontiac, and quite frankly neither Jamie nor Tina are going to refuse her company. Its strange how, in a few short days, the one with the least sense on her has become the voice of reason.

"You guys packed everything, right?" Valerie asks for the seventh time.

"Yeah, Val," Jamie answers, also for the seventh time.

"Clothes, cigarettes?"

Tina nods and adds, "A big old can of Mace and two handguns. They should slip through security."

Valerie shrugs. "You never know. If they ask, what are you gonna say?"

"We're visiting family," Jamie deadpans.

"Do you two even know how you're going to get in? Can you get in? And are you seriously expecting to bring guns into a prison?"

"No, no, and not really."

Valerie shakes her head in disbelief. "I didn't know that taking you to the house would set you off like this, Jamie. I hope you two know what you're doing."

"No, not really," Jamie repeats, slumping down in her seat. "Wake me up when we're at the airport."

Valerie sighs and shakes her head again, skimming through her Rolling Stones CD to find something Jamie can sleep to. Tina puts an arm over Jamie's shoulders and hopes that they won't need the guns at all.

Chloe sighs and stares blankly at the clipboard in her hand. She wishes the words would rearrange themselves in an order she can decipher, so that she can help Michael... but they refuse, staying in their boxes and giving no answers.

Myers, Michael Audrey. Life sentence for viciously murdering fifteen known victims, with more possible. Jesus, Chloe sighs, finally putting the board away, The only reason he's here is because he tried to kill his niece and failed. If he had succeeded...

Michael has been comatose for almost two weeks now, ever since he jerked awake calling her name.

She still can't believe it. He knows her name.

Does that scare her, or please her? She's not sure. But at least now, she knows that he's receptive to conversation. Chew on that, Jon.

"Michael," Chloe says quietly, leaning over the medical bed the man is restrained against – they wouldn't even let him have a real hospital bed, just this old metal table. "Michael, I know you're getting better. Why are you asleep now?"

She runs a hand through her hair and shakes her head. His sudden coma makes no scientific sense – it's not even a real fucking coma, for Christ's sake! It's just... like a nap. A very long sleep.

She laughs quietly, "Michael, I hope you're not playing Sleeping Beauty, because I doubt anyone's going to be kissing you to wake you up."

Chloe turns to find her scheduled visits for the rest of the day and misses Michael's hand, which clenches, just slightly. She even misses his mouthing of the name "Jamie."

Something is different now.

She is no longer behind that strange and blurry veil that had made Michael impossible to see clearly. The voices are perfectly clear now, and she realizes that they are chanting exactly what they should be –

And that chant is scaring her uncle more than anything else.

His eyes are not wide, and he is not screaming silently over the crowd, but she can feel his fear. His eyes have already latched onto hers and she's only been here for mere seconds – he's so desperate.

Jamie, he mouths, Jamie, Jamie, Jamie.

"She doesn't love you, Michael," the voice says from the black pit of worshipers, "Not like Judith. You know what you must do."

"Kill her!" the crowd shrieks.

Michael lurches suddenly and his eyes roll.

"Let it in, Michael – why do you fight it?"

"Let it in!"

His head bangs loudly against the metal table and he mouths her name again, desperately. Then, no, no, no. Jamie. No.

"Stop it!" she shouts, but the crowd is still chanting, cheering at Michael, who is banging his head against the table over and over, eyes shutting tightly and then widening, looking blindly upwards.

"Let him go! Stop it!"

The crowd falls silent, but this time they are vicious and angry, not awestruck.

She races overhead and feels phantom hands grabbing at her ankles.

"I'm coming, Michael, I really am!"

He sags in his bindings and stares up at her. He mouths, Jamie, no, no, no. Angry, no, no, no. Then, as she nearly reaches him, he mouths, Chloe.

She blinks – taking maybe a split second – and finds herself staring at Tina, who is holding on to her tightly. The other passengers around them are staring uneasily.

"T-T-Tina!"

Her friend hushes her and smoothes back her hair; Jamie wonders what she's done now.

"You were screaming, honey. Don't worry, you're awake now."

Jamie shudders and realizes that something is going horribly wrong. The only problem is – she doesn't know if her visit will help or hurt her uncle fight them off.

She doesn't want to know who they are.

Michael feels the rage seeping through his mind and Jamie's gone now – how can he not accept it when she's not there to tell him she's coming, she's not coming, the voice says so and even though he's all grown up that voice is still so much bigger than him –

He hates the rage so much but it makes everything easier to handle, much easier than when he's alone and in his cell, looking out at a door that never opens, thinking of people who can never come back –

No, no, no.

They land in Colorado Springs in the evening and immediately take a shuttle to the nearby Days Inn, where Tina had made them reservations for a week. The place seems to be permanently under booked so there should be no issues with getting an extension – which they probably won't need.

Jamie is restless so they sit on their beds and watch a pay-per-view movie – some old chick-flick that helps them get their minds off their impending visit to the prison, even if just for an hour or so.

They order overpriced burgers for dinner and call it a night sometime between midnight and one in the morning, and though Tina finds sleep fairly easy to come by, Jamie stays up. She dreads the dreams she knows she will have and the last thing she wants is to wake Tina up by screaming... But she knows also that if she isn't rested tomorrow, if anything goes wrong she might not be able to fight.

Her eyes shut slowly, resignedly, and she curls up under the blankets, hoping that maybe tonight she'll be left alone.

The dark pit is empty and utterly silent.

She is where she has always been, standing across the room from her uncle, who is still bound to the metal table, but something is horribly wrong.

She moves quietly and quickly from her place to the raised dais Michael is on, and takes in his appearance with fear and revulsion. He is sagging in his restraints, eyes glazed and head drooping on his shoulder, tongue lolling from his mouth as he pants. The sound of his breath is strained and weak.

"...Michael?" she whispers, stepping forward, closer now with no fear. She can't be afraid of him, not any more. "Uncle?"

"You are far too close, little girl."

The voice echoes from around them and Michael twitches, eyes almost reaching Jamie's but not quite.

"You have been making our duties far more difficult than they should have been. If only poor little Michael had killed you all those years ago... he wouldn't be suffering like this. Wouldn't be fighting me."

The voice chuckles now, and Jamie steps near the edge of the dais, confused and a little scared.

"But in the end, you've done nothing but delay the inevitable. Michael!"

The bonds on Michael's table slip away, falling to the ground soundlessly. The Shape lurches forward on unsteady feet and slowly rises to full height, eyes blank and mouth set in a firm line, though his breathing is still labored.

"You know what you must do, Michael... Kill her here – and then you may return to do it all over again."

The Shape slowly moves forward and, being on the edge of the platform, Jamie has nowhere to go. His face is whiter now and she realizes that the mask – the mask is coming back –

He reaches his arms out, hands ready to wrap around her neck like a vice, and she reaches out and grabs his wrists tightly. She knows she can't stop him, if he's about to kill her, but still –

"Uncle!" she cries, feeling his hands touch skin.

He hesitates.

"Michael," Jamie whispers, "I'm – I'm almost there, please – just – I'm almost to you! Don't let him – don't let it..."

"Michael!" the voice roars.

He stares at her and then, with a force she didn't expect, he shoves himself away from her, grabbing his head and letting out a soundless shriek, back hitting the table and restraints sliding back into place.

He chokes, struggles, pulls at the restraints but they do not budge, and his face – no longer pale and mask-like – contorts in animalistic fear, his fight-or-flight response triggered to no avail.

"Michael-!"

He turns to her and says, soundlessly, Jamie, hurry, no no no, hurry hurry.

And then he screams aloud.

Tina wakes up to Jamie shaking her violently – the clock on the desk across from her bed reads four-twenty-three. Barely even four hours of sleep... How can she do it?

"Jamie... it's like four in the-"

"We have to go now!"

Tina sits up and stares at Jamie in confusion. "What do you mean, now? It's four in the morning, Jamie – there won't be anyone there."

"We have to! He's – they're – he's in trouble, I need to – there's a woman, Chloe, she must be – we need to go now, Tina!"

"What do you mean – who's in trouble? Who's Chloe?" Jamie is near hyperventilating so the older woman grabs her arms firmly and exclaims, "Jesus, Jamie, calm down and talk to me!"

Jamie takes deep breaths and falls gracelessly back to sit on her bed, feet tapping in anxiousness. "Michael. He's... They have him. They almost have him and – and he said hurry. He needs – Tina!"

Tina knows that her face must be showing all the fear in her soul, but she can't help it. Her little girl is talking like – like a maniac. Like that Loomis guy, but instead of wanting Michael dead, she wants him...

"Tina, I know it sounds – I know I sound insane but you've gotta listen to me!"

"...Okay. Okay, I'm all ears."

Jamie nearly jumps off the bed but forces herself down, feet skimming the carpet as she swings them back and forth.

"It's... he needs me, Tina, and... And I think if we don't get there, that – he's going to kill again."

"Jesus!" Tina breathes, eyes widening even more than they already are.

"It's... I don't know how to explain it, but... He doesn't want to. I can't tell you why, I can't get into his head like... like before. But he told me to hurry, Tina, and they're trying to make him... angry again. I don't know, Tina. I'm sorry; I can't explain it to you any better than that. Just... you've got to believe me!"

Tina stands slowly, pacing to the television and back again. "He told you? But... Jamie, he's... He doesn't talk."

The little girl sighs and says, "When I was... when I couldn't talk, I learned how syllables look when you say them. It's easier for people to read your lips when you know how words look. And he said... He said, 'Jamie, hurry, no no no.'"

"That could mean – that could mean don't hurry! That could mean don't come!"

"Its how you lay the words out. Tina, you write, you know that."

Tina does know. And she knows that they're leaving the hotel tonight. But it doesn't mean she can't try to deny it – deny her ward's connection to her manic uncle, deny her intelligence and her knowledge of what's going on.

"Get dressed," she says finally, "We'll talk in the car."

Jamie leaps to her suitcase and Tina knows they've made a bad choice in coming to Colorado.

Chloe struggles around the surge of orderlies, going for the tranquilizers in the top right cabinet. Michael had started to have a seizure only a moment ago, and the room is already filled with guards, doctors, psychiatrists and nurses, all trying to do six different things at once. She knows that some of them are far more qualified than her to deal with Michael, but...

Well, he knows her name, not theirs.

"Out of my way!" she shrieks, pushing through the mass of people around the table as she readies a shot, "Clear out, clear out!"

"Rask, as your superior-!"

She knocks her own boss aside and administers an unhealthily large dose of tranquilizer to Michael, bringing him slowly down from his spasms before he chokes on his own tongue. She whirls, faces the crowd of gaping faces, and points with a shaking finger to the door.

"Out."

All but two guards, another nurse, and her boss leave, shuffling out with wary glances behind them.

"Chloe Pierson Rask, where did you get the nerve to take over in the middle of a high-tension situation?"

Chloe turns, checks Michael's pulse, and tosses over her shoulder, "No one else was." She adds, once she's certain Michael's spasms have stopped for the time-being, "Besides, I just saved our patient from choking on his own tongue. Let's not be too quick to judge my actions."

"Your actions aren't what's worrying me – I think you're getting... attached to this case."

"What do you mean, attached? This is Michael Myers – the last thing he needs is someone attached to him."

One of the guards quips, "We all know what happens to those people."

Before Chloe or her boss can reply, however, there's a strange noise down the hall. It very nearly sounds like gunshots.

"What on Earth-?"

The alarms sweep through the medical ward, auxiliary warning lights flashing red and sirens wailing from the intercoms, and Chloe sees Michael twitch. She's not sure how he can possibly move, after the amount of tranquilizers he was given, but there's no time to contemplate it; Jon is grabbing her, and she and her boss are being escorted out of the ward.

"We can't just leave him-!"

"We can and we will. We deserve to live, not him!"

Chloe is dragged through the halls away from her charge, who twitches again and opens his eyes.

"...Jamie..."