"You won't be able to bring me back this time, Stretch."

He's saying it like he still believes in her. How can that even be possible?

Kirsten watches through vacant eyes as the people around her- her friends - cower away from the gun in her hand. All except for Cameron. Always the hero. Why, why does he always have to be the hero?

"Run!" she wants to scream, "Get away from me, please! I can't watch you die again."

She remains silent. Her body is no longer hers to control. That, coupled with the way Cameron is looking at her, leaves her feeling desperate and raw.

He takes a step closer and her hand tenses around the trigger.

"No!" she thinks, praying that the bastard responsible for this can somehow hear her, "Please don't hurt him! It's me you want. Just leave him alone!"

Cameron's eyes flicker to the weapon briefly, but in an instant they are back on her. He looks as terrified as she feels, but there is determination that she knows well.

"Kirsten I know you're in there." he says, "I know you'd never hurt me. I trust you."

Why did he have to say those words? Those words that she'd never returned, but now wishes she could scream at the top of her lungs.

Her eyes begin to water and she feels a tear slide down her cheek. Cameron's face tightens with pain and she hates herself for being the cause of it.

Another step and she knows that this is it. War rages beneath her skin as she fights with everything she has not to pull the trigger. She will not hurt him. She will not.

Her entire body shakes, the struggle for control tearing her apart. Something ghosts across Cameron's face, almost like pride.

"That's it, Stretch." he whispers low so only she can hear, "Fight it."

She is and but not for long. She isn't strong enough to break the hold completely and she thinks apart of him may know that.

"Always the optimist." she thinks as more tears fall down her face.

He extends his hand, reaching for her. It's too much. She's going to kill him. Blood is pounding in her ears, a silent scream clawing its way up her throat.

"You can't have him."

Adrenaline shoots through her like a shock wave and she uses it to break the spell, if only for a moment. Without giving herself a chance to doubt, she thinks of the best way to save Cameron, the only way that guarantees all of this will stop.

Pulling back her arm, she presses the barrel against her chest. In slow motion she watches his eyes widen and his jaw drop.

"No!" he screams and she wants so badly to tell him that she's sorry, that she loves him.

The moment passes, her strength is gone, and her fingers close around the trigger.