I liiiiiiiiiive. Updates may be a little sparse for a while as I'm dealing with a lot of stuff at home, but I have plenty of stuff in the works, so I'm not done writing Crood fics yet.

This story takes place some months after Ch. 2, "Here We Go Again." It goes to a bit of a dark place, so be warned.

Security

Guy stopped in his tracks, still hidden in the trees before the opening to his home.

Eep, her belly heavy and round in the late stages of pregnancy, stood facing him, with Little Guy and Ember gathered behind her, a hand in front of each and a snarl on her face. Ember's snarl mirrored her mother's. Little Guy's blank expression was somehow more disturbing.

Across from her, with his back to Guy, stood a stranger, a broad-shouldered man with burn scars across half of his body. He held a wriggling Nan tucked under one arm and a broad knife in his other hand.

Guy's heart began to pound. Fear and rage churned in his stomach, but his mind went sharp and cold as he surveyed the distance between himself and the stranger. He drew his knife. He was only going to have one shot at this.

He took one step into the open. Eep's eyes flicked towards him and back to the stranger in a breath. Guy ducked back into the trees, but the stranger didn't look back, focused on the angry mother in front of him.

Smart man, Guy thought. If she weren't pregnant she'd have ripped your throat out by now.

Eep took a breath. "I'll go with you. Just let my children go."

Good girl. Keep him talking.

"No, I don't think so," the stranger said, his tone casual. A shiver went up Guy's spine. All his instincts screamed "killer."

As if he needed confirmation. He blocked out the stranger's words, concentrating on creeping up with all of the stealth Eep had managed to teach him over the years.

He took one slow breath, and lunged, catching the man's forehead in his free hand and bringing his knife up against the stranger's throat.

"Drop the knife," Guy said, his voice so cold and calm it sounded like someone else's. "Now."

The stranger stiffened.

"Do it, or I will kill you," Guy told him, lips lifting to show his pointed teeth, though the man couldn't see. "Hurt my daughter, and you die right here."

There was a long heartbeat. The man opened his hand and his blade clattered to the ground.

"Kick it away," Guy ordered. The stranger complied.

Guy looked at his family over the man's shoulder, and his eyes settled on his son. "Come get your sister," he said, and Little Guy ran forward. Guy pressed his knife tighter in warning. The man held still as Little Guy took Nan and retreated back behind his mother.

Guy looked at his mate. "Take the kids inside, Eep."

"Go," Eep told them, turning to shepherd them into the hut. She followed them in and shut the door.

"You threatened my family," Guy said quietly.

"Nothing personal," the stranger mumbled.

"Oh, it's very personal," Guy corrected him icily. "You took my baby and you had a knife pointed at my mate. Doesn't get much more personal than that. So the question is, what do I do with you? If I let you go, how do I know you won't come back?"

"I'll swear on my life," the man said earnestly. "Or whatever else you want. You made your point. So to speak." He licked his lips and changed tack. "It's a hard new world out here. Not enough women to go around. I didn't know she was taken."

Guy snorted. "Right. She's the size of a mammoth and you didn't know she was taken. Tell me another."

The stranger started to move but Guy's knife bit into his neck. The man stilled again. "No luck," Guy warned, his voice dangerous again. "I don't goad that easily. You want me to slip up, you have to try harder than that."

The stranger growled. "Look, I swore I would leave you alone. I'll move on. You'll never see me again."

Guy considered this. "Move," he ordered. "I want to show you something." He walked the stranger to the cliff edge. "On your knees," he said. "Look at that jungle. Look at it."

"I see it, already," the man snarled. "Look, I get it, you're the big bad boss of this patch of jungle. I already said I would move on, okay."

Guy heard the door of the house open and shut behind him. He risked a glance to the side and saw Eep come to stand a short distance behind and beside him, blocking any sightline between him and the house. "I've got them both facing the back wall with their ears covered," she said softly.

Guy nodded. Then he took a slow breath, and slit the man's throat. There was a gurgle and hot blood gushed over his hand. Guy planted a foot in the man's back and pushed his bleeding body off the cliff wall.

Guy watched him fall until the body disappeared into the thick jungle below, and then glanced down. Blood dripped from his hand, staining the ground at his feet, but otherwise he'd kept it clean. There was a splash of blood on the cliff wall below, but they never let the kids get this close. No one would see it before the next rain washed it away.

Eep moved toward him.

"Stay back," Guy said quickly, and then flashed her a lopsided smile. "I don't want the kids to smell blood on you. Go back inside and let them know everything's okay. Don't come out again until I come back."

"Okay," Eep said, her eyes steady on him. "You did the right thing."

"I know," he sighed. "Doesn't mean I like it. Go on." He looked at the bloody knife in his hand. He hauled back and hurled it off the cliff.

Eep drew her own, the obsidian blade he'd made for her many years ago, and put it on the ground. She went back to the house.

Guy shrugged off his fur vest and used it to wipe his hand. Then he picked up Eep's knife in his unstained hand and put it in his waistband.

He found a flat rock with a sharp edge and used it to scrape up the bloodstained earth, shoveling it over the cliff wall. The rock followed it, and then after a moment of deliberation, he wadded up his vest and threw it as far as he could.

Guy hesitated at the trail down the mountain, looking back. He was reluctant to leave his family unprotected again, but there was no water source on the overhang where they lived. Guy grit his teeth and walked quickly down the trail to the creek that flowed down the hill. When he reached it, he turned and walked downstream, away from the clearing where his family came to get water. When he felt he was far enough away, he crouched and washed his hands over and over again, until he couldn't see or feel or smell the blood anymore.

It was only the knowledge that his family was alone and unprotected that let him get up and go back.

When he got home, he called Eep. When she opened the door, Little Guy and Ember peaked out around her. Guy gave them a reassuring smile. "Everything's okay. I just need your mom for a minute. Just stay there."

Eep shooed them back inside and shut the door before coming back to him.

"Check me," he said quietly. Eep walked around him, looking carefully and smelling him closely.

"You're fine," she said after a moment. He opened his arms to her and she came into them immediately.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into his shoulder. "I should've been-"

"Stop," he told her, holding her as tight to him as her stomach allowed. "This wasn't your fault. We haven't seen another person since we got here. We haven't had any reason to be careful." He was silent for a moment. If he hadn't come home right then..."We'll set some traps on the trail," Guy said, "And teach the kids how to avoid them. Until I can do that, maybe it would be better if we all went and stayed with your parents for a while."

Eep nodded without lifting her face from his shoulder.

"I've hurt people before," Guy said distantly, "But always in a fight. I've never killed anybody in cold blood before."

"You did the right thing," Eep said again, right by his ear.

"I know," he said. "It's just-I thought it would be hard."

He didn't sleep that night, equally afraid that the man hadn't been alone and that they might be taken unawares, and that he would dream and frighten the children with his nightmares. He went to bed as if everything were normal, and then once the children were asleep, he slipped out of bed and out of the house. He sat with his back against the doorpost and Eep's knife in his lap, staring into the dark.

In the morning, they made the agonizingly slow trip down to Crood Valley.

Guy didn't relax until the kids rushed into their grandparents arms. He helped Eep to a comfortable place, and spoke low to Grug, telling him what had happened. The big caveman scowled and muttered under his breath, and then gently shoved Guy towards the area where they all slept.

"Everyone's safe here. Go get some sleep. You look terrible."

Guy tried to sleep, and he managed a sort of light doze for a few hours - light enough to keep a comforting hold on the murmur of voices around him, and not deep enough to dream. Eventually he gave up, and got up to check on Eep, who was out cold in the sun-warmed grass, and the kids, who were playing with Thunk and Douglas.

Eventually, he sat himself by the fire, and sat staring moodily into the flames. He sat for some time before Little Guy's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Dad?"

Guy looked up and saw his son standing there, stiff and uncomfortable. "Hey, Little Guy," he gave a tired smile. Little Guy seemed to relax. He came and sat next to Guy, leaning against him. Guy put his arm around the boy. "Something bothering you?" he asked.

"I heard what he said," Little Guy said, looking down. "That man. It was only me he was going to kill. He was going to take Mom and Ember and Nan with him." He paused. "I wouldn't have been able to stop him."

Guy watched him. "How does that make you feel?"

"Bad," muttered Little Guy. "I didn't want to die. I was scared of what he would do if he took them, and I thought, would he kill the new baby if it came and it was a boy? It seemed like he only really wanted girls."

Guy winced. His child was too clever by half. He didn't know what to say.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you feel bad for killing that man?"

Guy looked at him sharply. "How did-"

Little Guy shrugged. "It just made sense."

Guy put his face in his hand. Dark and light, what kind of parent was he. that his kid could come to that conclusion so easily? And now he had no choice but to explain something he felt Little Guy was still far too young to deal with. He wouldn't lie to his son. He put his hand down and looked Little Guy in the eye.

"I hate that I had to do it," Guy said. "It makes me sad and angry. But I don't feel guilty about it, because I was protecting you and your mom and your sisters. That's my job as a dad. Someday when you have a mate and kids of your own, it'll be your job to protect them the same way, and you should never, ever feel guilty about protecting your family."

Little Guy seemed to take that in for a moment. "Mom and Ember and Nan are my family. Shouldn't I have protected them?"

Guy debated his answer for a moment. "If you can, yes. Sometimes you can't. Little Guy, there was nothing you could have done. As long as that man had Nan, there was nothing any of you could do. He would have hurt her if you tried."

"Will you teach me to fight?" Little Guy asked. "And make me a knife?"

Guy's jaw tightened, and he looked away. "Little Guy," he said after a moment, tightening his arm around the boy. "Even if you knew how to fight, there was nothing you could have done."

"I know," said Little Guy, "But at least I could have tried. At least I could have fought back. Maybe Mom and Ember could have gotten away if I could fight him."

"Your mother would never leave you," Guy said with absolute certainty. "And if he had taken them," Guy added, "I would have gone after them. Me and your grandma and grandpa and your Uncle Thunk and Aunt Sandy - we would have looked until we found them and brought them back." Guy hesitated. "If something like that ever happens again, I want you to run. You run as fast as you can. Take Ember or Nan if you can, but if you can't, you just go. You wait for your chance and you take it and you run until you find help."

"But-"

"No," Guy said firmly, turning to face him and bending to take him by the shoulders. "The best thing you can do is go find help. You're not big enough or strong enough to fight a grown man and you shouldn't try unless it's your only option. If you can run, you run and bring back help. Understand?"

Little Guy bit his lip, but he nodded.

"Okay," Guy said. He straightened and smiled. "I'll make you a knife, and I'll teach you what I know about fighting. Your grandpa can probably teach you even more. As long as you promise me that you won't fight unless you have no other choices. If you have the chance-"

"Run," finished Little Guy. "And get help."

Guy nodded. "Good." He put his hand on Little Guy's head. "Someday you're going to be big and strong. When that happens, I still want you to remember, you don't fight unless there's no other choice and you need to protect yourself or someone you love."

Little Guy nodded in his solemn way. Then he threw himself at Guy and wrapped his arms around his father's neck. "I'm glad you came," he mumbled. "I was scared."

Guy squeezed his eyes shut, and hugged the little boy back as tight as he could. "I love you, son."

"I love you too, Dad."