She was feeling possibly more nervous than she'd ever experienced in her entire life...

"Stephanie, calm down..." Shane said gently but firmly, his hands raised before him as though to ease his sister's mind somewhat.  He gazed up at her from where he sat on the sofa, Torrie at his side.  Briefly, he noticed the blonde turn toward him, a look of great concern on her lovely face.

"How can you expect me to calm down, Shane??" the brunette demanded, stopping dead in her tracks as she eyed her brother.  "Who the hell knows what's going on in Adam's head?  He's liable to get himself killed!"

"He's not gonna get killed..."

"Oh, really?" Stephanie demanded as she glared at Shane with wide blue eyes.  "He's dealing - no, playing - a game with a madman!"

Torrie stood up and went to her friend, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Stephanie - Kurt, Jay and Nora are with him by now...I'm sure they'll keep an eye out for him..."

The distraught brunette blinked at the blonde woman.  She could only hope she was right...

*

Adam put the car in park and stepped out.

As he surveyed the area, he reached down and fingered the butt of the gun, which he'd hidden under his shirt and in the waist of his jeans.  So far, the bastard Levesque was not here.

Then, not a moment later, he spotted the burly man's rental pulling up.  This was it - where it had all occurred barely a week ago - they were about to confront one another in the parking lot of the fair - the very place where Amy had been shot.

As far as Adam was concerned, it was most appropriate...

The other car came to a halt, and slowly, the door on the driver's side opened, and the bastard stepped out.

Although it was night and pretty late, Adam could still see the arrogant, overly confident smirk on the bigger man's face.

You'll be wearing that grin on the other side of your face soon, asshole! the Canadian thought.  His fingers tightened as he skimmed them over the butt of the pistol once again.

"Well, well, well..." Paul spoke first, taking a few extra steps as though to close the distance between them.  "I'm surprised at you, Copeland..."  The smirk deepened, and the tall blond man scowled.  "I have to admit, I never thought of you as reckless or stupid...Correction - yeah, I did think of you as stupid - for dumping Stephanie.  She's a hot little number - but then again, she's a fucking bitch..."

The tall blond didn't reply, opting instead to glare at Levesque.  Meanwhile, he flexed his fingers some more, preparing to unholster the gun.  Apparently, the maniac hadn't a clue about it.

"Know what?" Paul asked in a demanding voice.  "End of the line for you, pal..."  With those words, Levesque made a grab under his own shirt, and Adam reacted quickly, a snarl escaping his lips as he did.

From there, everything was pretty much a blue.  It all happened so quickly, though Adam felt like he was going in slow motiion.

Of the two of them, Levesque was quicker, the bulky man somehow retrieving his weapon first.  A shot was squeezed off, and the taller, slimmer man fell to one knee.

Initially, Adam didn't even realize he'd been hit.  It felt as though he were numb - and then he experienced a strange sensation, almost as though his body were not his own.  However, the Canadian managed to free his former girlfriend's pistol, and, before Levesque could fire at him again, Adam did the honors with his own gun...

The burly madman let out a loud bellow of agony as a bullet ripped through his right thigh, tearing through the quadricep muscle, and he seemed to stumble just a bit before dropping his gun.

Adam knew he'd shot the asshole, but suddenly, his vision was oddly blurred.  He watched Paul hobbling around for about a minute.

And then, everything faded to black...