Babette's Story

I lie in bed paralyzed. I don't know how much time had passed, but my brother checked on me about 6 times after Forrest left. It's hard to think positive when my life so far has been filled with tragedy. I shut my eyes and picture her smile, and those beautiful eyes that I use to look into and find my strength. I can hear my room door open. Probably Eli again.

"How you holdin' up, Hun?" Maggie's soft voice filled the quiet room. I slowly open my eyes staring up at the ceiling. She walks further into the room and sits on the edge of the bed by my feet.

"I should've brought her home that night." I mumbled. "I was so stupid to think that things were perfect, knowing that animal was still on the loose."

"This is not your fault, Babette." She soothed.

"Ain't it? I should've used my head. I should've known better than to think we could live happily with him still in town." I say grimly.

"You will live a happy life. With Forrest and your daughter. They will bring her back. Don't lose that hope." She tried to assure me. A frantic knock at the door made me sit up quickly. Maggie looked as confused and worried about who could be on the other side of this door as well. The door swung open. A gasp escaped my mouth....

Third person POV

"Forrest, the sun of a bitch is gettin' away!" Howard yelled. "You alrigh'!?" He looked at his younger brother's shoulder that was covered in blood. He yelled over the shoot out currently in action.

Rakes and his men were a little ways out of Franklin, when Forrest and and his small group caught up to them. At the sight of the deputy, Forrest' bottled up rage for all that the man did and damage that he caused surfaced all at once. Forrest pulled his gun from his waist and fired every single shot from his revolver. He was out in the open nothing to shield him and he didn't care. Rakes and his men opened fire, Forrest never flinched. He ignored the shouts of his brothers, in back of him ducking behind their cars. It wasn't until Forrest was thrown onto his back from the impact to his shoulder.

"Forrest!!" Jack shouted the moment he saw his older brother get taken down. He crawled quickly to Forrest' side, while Howard in a state of rage emptied his gun then started firing off shot gun rounds screaming obscenities. Jack pulled Forrest halfway until Howard got ahold of his good shoulder and pulled him the rest of the way behind the car.

"Hey! Forrest, you alrigh'?" Howard asked again when he didn't get an answer. Already reloading his guns.

"I'm fine Howard. We gotta that rat bastard b'fore he disappears." Forrest hissed through gritted teeth. Sheriff Hodges voice could be heard wailing over the never-ending sound of gun shots. He wanted everyone to cease fire. The shooting became less until it finally stopped.

Howard than took that time to peak above the car. "The muthafucker is heading back to town!" He muttered.

"Mind tellin' me why you boys fired on us?" Sheriff Hodges drawled.

"Do you know what goes on in your OWN goddamn town sheriff." Richie scoffed as he stuffed the gun in his hand in the back of his pants. "You can stay here talkin' amongst yourselves, I'm gonna go get my niece back." The expression on sheriff Hodges' face was one of confusion. Forrest was already seated in the front seat reloading his revolver. His face etched with pain from the movement of his left shoulder. Howard and Jack ran back to the truck and sped off once inside.

All Forrest could think about as they drove back to town was that Rakes didn't have his baby girl. It made him feel sick to think about why she wasn't with him, but he wasn't gonna except that, that was his daughter's fate. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to watch the life leave the deputy's eyes. He started to think about Babette. How broken she was. He thought he'd seen her at her lowest after Rakes did what he did, but she completely shut down now. He watched her every second out of fear that she would hurt herself to break free of her misery. He couldn't bear the thought of living without either one of the two women in his life.

The truck came to an abrupt stop, bringing Forrest back from his dark thoughts. Anger coursed through him at the sight of the Deputy's black car left abandoned in front of the hotel Maggie once lived in. The people of Franklin County scattered back into their homes or stores knowing that whatever was about to happen, wasn't good. The men with Danny were already out of their cars and searching the deputy's car.

"Forrest must've got 'em before he took that hit." Danny muttered as he pointed at the blood smeared on the seat. Howard spoke up.

"Danny, you and the fellas stay here in case the muthafucka slips pass us." Forrest was already headed inside before Howard was even done giving instructions to his best friend. Richie followed right behind him. As they made their way upstairs and towards Rakes' door, it was quiet. Too quiet. Forrest stood in front of the door slowly placing his hand on the knob and twisting it. He was about to push the door open when two shots were fired through the door nearly hitting Forrest. Richie fired back along with Forrest and Howard who was by their side in the blink of an eye. Richie ceased fire before he emptied his gun with a deep frown growing on his face. Barely audible over the parade of gun fire, Richie heard a shrill cry coming from inside the room.

His eyes grew wide at the realization. "STOP!! STOP SHOOTING!!" He yelled at both his brother-in-laws. Neither one- so infuriated with hate towards the sick prick- stopped. "I CAN HEAR HER CRYIN' IN THERE FORREST! HOLD YOUR GOD DAMN FIRE!!" Forrest wasted no time in kicking in the door, just in time to see Rakes reaching down on the side of the bed. Forrest raised his gun and steadied it on Rakes' back until he came face to face with the red wailing face of his baby girl. Forrest immediately lowered his gun. Howard rushed forward only to freeze in place at the sight of the deputy raising his gun to his niece's head.

Rakes chuckled. "Smart choice, Bondurant.... You might want to put that down." He said to Richie who had his gun trained on the deputy's head. Richie unwillingly did so. Forrest saw nothing but his crying daughter's face. She was scared. Her arms were stretched out in front of her reaching out for him and there was nothing he could do, without her getting hurt in the process.

Forrest knuckles were clenched so tightly they were white. "Let her go." He growled.

Rakes scoffed. "She's the only thing keeping you savages at bay. Why would I do that?" He asked with a sly smirk. "Now, why don't you boys step to the side." No one moved until they saw him press the cold steel barrel closer to Arrilyn's head.

Forrest, Howard, and Richie slowly and cautiously stepped back out of the deputy's room and into the hall. He never took his eyes off the three men, who he knew wanted to so desperately kill him. Never turning his back on them he slowly inched his way out of the small room and over to the stairs of the hotel. Deputy Rakes was so sure he would get out alive that he never noticed the youngest Bondurant creeping up the stairs behind him.

Jack could see his niece in Rakes' arms and knew he needed to do something fast. In a one swift move Jack took hold of the arm that held the gun. The gun went off. A few inches away from his niece's body. The other three men were rushing towards the scuffling deputy and youngest Bondurant. Jack made sure to subdue Rakes' hand that held the gun. The men tried to free Arrilyn without her getting hurt in the process, when the gun went off three times. Everything in that moment seemed to freeze.

Babette's POV

My eyes grew wide at the sight of Jack. He was out of breath. His clothes were covered in blood. His eyes were just as frantic as his knock. They were also red as if he had been crying. His voice when he spoke gave it away also. "Babette...... I-I... w-we gotta get to the hospital now!" I was off my bed in a flash and standing in front of him.

"What's goin' on, Jack? Did they find her? Is everybody okay?" My questions came out in a worried rush. There was something in his eyes that made my heartbeat speed up. "Tell me. Now!" I shook him.

"I-It's bad Babette. It's really bad. C'mon, we gotta go." I let him drag me out of the room, Maggie quickly following behind. My mind was racing a mile a minute. The only words replaying in my head was 'It's bad'. I don't think I can handle the news that's about to be told.