Disclaimer: I do not own any of them….you know the drill.

Author Note: So I'm still working on my New York series, but this idea has been haunting me for a while now. Kind of a different take on what happened at the end of Saw I. Just a snippet for now but maybe something more in the future- if anyone is interested enough to read it, that is. :)

Lawrence has had enough.

He cannot take another night of anticipation as he waits for Adam's horrific screaming to pierce the taunting silence as 2AM rolls around.

He cannot spend another evening coaxing Diana out from underneath her bed after she spots his stethoscope hanging around his neck.

He definitely cannot come home from a late shift to find Adam crouched on the floor of the closet holding a kitchen knife after the latest Jigsaw killings have been posted on the nightly news.

Lawrence cannot spend anymore nights wide awake and pacing between his and Adam's bedroom and Diana's room next door- examining the shadows for any sign of movement.

He simply cannot do it anymore.

The answer to all of this is made perfectly clear on one quiet night as he listens to Adam's light snoring to his left and Diana's soft breathing on his right. They both curl into his embrace to enjoy the last few moments of peace before the nightmares of raspy voices and beady eyed monsters begin.

Lawrence cannot allow his family to suffer this pain any longer. He decides that he must protect them, at whatever cost necessary.

If Lawrence is going to save his family, he will have to kill the man who has been killing them for the past year and a half – over and over again.

The terror doesn't stop after the chains come off. It stops when the guy holding the key is no longer able to reach the lock.

And as the memories of a dirty workshop in a rusted out warehouse have begun to return to him, he knows exactly how to do it. He recalls the miraculous moment when he stumbled out into the fresh air and away from the madman who held him captive as he became the patient to one of his own. Lawrence cringes at the memories, suppressed until just recently, and takes another look at the warm bodies sleeping tightly against him.

John Kramer saved Lawrence's life so that he would be like him – take over his legacy.

John had no idea what he was getting himself into.