"Go go!" Alessandro yelled, opening the door and waving them forward. Once the three passed he entered and closed the door, blocking it with a chair. "Get under the stairs, stay quiet!"

"Don't worry, Daddy will come save us!" Rebecca cheered, smiling widely. Alessandro chuckled as he began going through the kitchen drawers. No matter in what situation they were in he could always count on Rebecca to be upbeat and positive, she'd always be smiling for them. He took a moment to look back on the three hiding under the stairs. His triplet sisters. Rebecca was holding onto the other two, talking happily and trying to assure them, Ruby had been crying but now she was quiet, listening intently to Rebecca. Jasmine was in shock, she was staring right at Alessandro but her eyes didn't seem to register anything. He couldn't blame her.

"Son of a bitch." He muttered as the entire building shook. He began searching the drawers again for something, anything, which he could use.

"Mommy wouldn't like to hear that." Rebecca called. "You'll need to put a coin in the jar." Alessandro laughed, giving her a nod.

She really always managed to be happy, just like him at her age.

"I want dad." Ruby muttered.

"Don't worry, I'm sure daddy and his friends are on their way right now. They'll fight these guys and get us out of here. You'll see." Alessandro said, going to his sisters and kneeling in front of them. "It'll be alright, and until dad comes I'll keep you safe."

"Promise?" Ruby asked.

"Promise." Alessandro answered, pulling the three of them in a hug. He held them at arms-length for a few moments before speaking. "Listen, I'm going to stay by the door. If someone comes in I'll throw something at you. If that happens I want you three to yell, just once. Ok? I'll take care of the rest."

"You won't leave us like mom, right?" Jasmine murmured, her eyes swelling with tears. She pulled Alessandro into a tight hug. "Please don't leave us!"

"I promise you, I won't ever leave you." Alessandro said, trying to sound confident. He smiled at the three and gently pried Jasmine off. He pulled out a quarter from his pocket and gave it to Rebecca. "For cursing. Now stay here and be quiet until I throw something or until I call you." The three gave him quick nods and he got back up, pushing the refrigerator in front of the small opening that led to under the stairs. He then walked back the drawer, gingerly pulling out a handgun from there. He always knew dad had hid a gun somewhere, but he never thought it would be hidden in the cracker drawer, under his endless supply of saltine crackers.

Can you even use that thing? A small, negative part of his mind said.

"When your dad's a soldier, you learn a thing or two." He said to himself, clicking the safety off and making sure the gun was loaded. He walked to the back of the room and hid in a shadowy corner, behind some boxes.

Mom was supposed to un-pack these later. I was supposed to help her by entertaining Rebecca, Jasmine and Ruby.

"Damn it mom, I needed you here." He whispered, his eyes tearing up. He took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, reminding himself that he couldn't cry. Not right now, not when he had three siblings to protect. His heart froze as he heard someone kick the door. One time, two times…the third time he could hear it swing open and hit the wall. He took a deep breath and grabbed the first thing he could, a spoon, throwing it to the stairs. A few seconds later his three sisters shrieked and four soldiers ran down. Just as he dreaded, the bad guys. They wore standard military assault gear and had the regular weapons, but their helmets…they covered their heads and faces with only two red lights where the eyes should be. It was almost enough to make Alessandro lose his nerve and try just to hide.

Hiding isn't enough. You need to do something. Right. Now. The more positive, risk taking and absolutely insane part of his mind said. He found himself thinking of Rebecca and smiled. The four didn't see him and lowered their weapons, two of them gripping the sides of the refrigerator. Now was his chance.

"Karma bitch!" Alessandro yelled as he stood up and fired a bullet, hitting one of them in the head. He shot the second and ran behind a wall as the other two spun and took aim. He cursed and dropped down as the bullets teared through the sheetrock walls. When they stopped he quietly stood up, hearing them cautiously walking to where he was. He took a deep breath and as the first one rounded the corner he pushed the gun upwards, bullets flying through the roof. Alessandro kicked him in the balls and as he fell he shot him in the head, blood spraying on his face. If he had time to think he probably would've thrown up, or frozen. But the second soldier sprung around the corner and hit Alessandro with the butt of his gun, making him fall. He kicked the handgun away and stepped and Alessandro's chest, keeping him down.

"Those were my friends!" The soldier said, putting the barrel of the gun against Alessandro's forehead. "You'll pay for that!" He moved the barrel to Alessandro's leg, firing a single round. The poor boy yelled out in pain, reaching for his leg only to get kicked in the face. "Anything left to say?"

"You should...you should really consider joining your friends." He laughed, staring right back at the soldier. "You'd all have fun in hell." Even with his voice covered in pain he managed another laugh.

"You'll be meeting them shortly." The soldier said, pulling out his pistol and aiming it Alessandro's head.

"Man, wish I could take a present to them." He replied sarcastically, a smile on his face. "You're just forgetting one thing." He laughed as the soldier cocked his head to a side curiously. "There were other people in this house besides me."

"What?" The soldier murmured, then recognition hit him. The shrieks he had heard earlier…he spun and looked around, actually expecting someone to be behind him. The fridge was still in place, nothing else had moved.

"Idiot, course they wouldn't come out." Alessandro said, already standing up. The soldier turned to him, only to have a kitchen knife embed itself in his head. "Say hello to your friends for me. Pretty bad soldiers if I could take them down anyway."

"Alessandro? Alessandro are you ok?" Jasmine called.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Alessandro answered. "The bad men are gone, but I want you three to stay there."

"Where'd the go?" Ruby asked.

"Uh…" Alessandro looked down at the corpses and suddenly it hit him. He had done this. He had killed for men, and beaten for trained soldiers in a fight. He had done that. While part of his mind felt pride in this most of it began to feel sick and he fell on his good knee, losing his lunch. He wiped his mouth and began limping back to the stairs, using a wall as support. He fell down in front of the fridge, leaning his back on it.

"Are we safe now?" Ruby asked.

"Course we are! We have Ale!" Rebecca cheered. "He promised he'd keep us safe until dad came."

"Dad better hurry, taking care of you three is tiring." Alessandro said, laughing as he heard Rebecca complain.

"Is he really on his way?" Jasmine asked.

"Last time we talked he was in Minnesota, that's not too far from here. If the soldiers here need some help then I think he and his friends will come."

"Is Minnesota pretty?" Ruby asked. "Is that why dad's there?" Alessandro let out another hearty laugh.

"I'm sure it's a nice place. But he isn't there because of that." He was about to try and explain in a way that they could actually understand but before he could the building shook again. He frowned as dust and small bits of the roof rained around him. He propped himself up again and listened intently. His three sisters shrieked as another explosion, much closer, rang out and shook the house violently. He cursed as big chunks of the roof began falling.

"Rebecca, Jasmine, Ruby, get out of there!" Alessandro yelled, trying to push the fridge back.

"We can't the refrigerator is still here!" Jasmine yelled.

"Help me push if you can!" Alessandro yelled, slamming his shoulder against it and crying out as pain flared through his left leg, but he didn't care. He needed to get his sisters out. "Push!" He yelled again, feeling the fridge move a couple inches.

"You can do it Ale! You've done it before!" Rebecca cheered.

I did it when I had both my legs and chunks of roof weren't raining down on me.

He groaned and continued pushing, the big appliance moving at an incredibly slow pace, in his eyes. Through the small crack that had opened his could see Jasmine's hands trying to help push. He yelled in frustration and punched the fridge, turning and ramming into it again with as much force as he could muster. This time it tipped over and fell, but that was good enough. Jasmine crawled out of the half blocked hole, followed by Ruby and then Rebecca.

"Outside, now!" Alessandro yelled, leading them up the stairs, opening the door and waving them out. Before they could get out, a car, probably of some desperate civilian, appeared zooming about. It was showered in bullets and it swerved, heading for the house. Alessandro cursed and pushed the three back down, jumping right after them and landing on his back.

"The doors blocked, where do we go?" Jasmine asked fearfully as the roof came down around them.

"To the corner! Huddle in the corner!" Alessandro ordered. He forced himself up a moment later and went to them, hugging the three and using himself as a human shield.

When a building collapses you go to the corners, less chances of rubble falling on you…and if something falls it will hit me and not them.

"It'll be fine, it'll be fine. I'm keeping you safe. Don't worry guys, don't worry." Alessandro muttered. "Listen, I love the three of you. After this building falls I want you three to run and don't let anyone stop you. Find men dressed like daddy, listen to them."

"You said you wouldn't leave us!" Ruby complained, hugging him. Alessandro looked at each of them, smiling a bit. For once Rebecca's happy nature wasn't there, she looked worried.

"I'll always be with you three. No matter where and when, I'm always there." Alessandro said. "Here, and here." He said, tapping Rebecca's head and her heart. "I love you three so much, never forget that. Take care of each other for me." Alessandro said, closing his eyes and bracing himself as a final explosion sounded and the building collapsed around him.

…

…

…

"Don't worry love, cavalry's here."