Far from Home.

The officers met Brian and Emily as soon as they walked inside of the morgue, and gave them sorrowful smiles. Emily didn't return the gesture. She squeezed Brian's hand and he held her close as they were walked down the hall.

There wasn't a single coherent thought that was going through Emily's mind, at the moment. She was nothing but a blank slate, her face empty of all emotion, her heart now just seemed to beat to keep her alive, and her brain just functioned to help her try and grasp at reality. And even though she desperately wished this were just some sick nightmare...

She was kind of content that it wasn't.

If Lucy really were... Dead... Then at least she'd have some kind of closure to the whole situation. She wouldn't have to spend her days wondering if Lucy would ever return home.

Granted, if her daughter was no longer on this earth, then she would be greatly devastated. Half of her heart would be demolished right before her very eyes and then she'd have to clean out her room, and deal with the memories of when she was alive and laughing.

Just thinking about Lucy, Emily could hear her giggling.

It bought her to a distant memory when Lucy had just began to talk - She'd already learned walking. Brian was sleeping on the couch, tired from a day's work. Emily had sat Lucy at the dining table, trying to get her to color. However, she just didn't want to put the markers and crayons to the coloring page. In fact - She preferred to color everything except the coloring book.

Lucy had stood up, a green marker in her hand, and walked over to where Brian was sleeping, coloring all over his inked arms, exposed chest and face.

Emily had let her, seeing as though that was probably the funniest thing she had ever seen in her life. Lucy continued to color all over her dad until she poked his eye with the marker, causing him to wake up. Brian jerked away, and rubbed his eyes, seeing the green smears on his hand.

A giggle sounded in his ears and Brian groaned, standing up and walking to the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. "Well...," He had trailed off.

"You're the hulk, daddy!" Lucy grinned, dropping the marker and laughing as he came around the corner and picked her up, tossing her into the air.

The memory bought a very small, barely noticeable smile to her lips and it was quickly cut short when the smell of something strange touched her nostrils. Emily hadn't noticed they were in an examination room until the chilly air hit her skin. Brian, once again, shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over her, holding Emily's shaking figure to him tightly.

A few minutes later, a man walked in, wearing extensive medical uniform right down to the mask over his face - Which was pulled down to his neck.

"Hello," He spoke softly; His tone matching the mood of the room,"I'm Dave Bramson, the coroner. I've asked the officers to call you both in today, so I could have you identify if a body found earlier yesterday is your daughter."

Brian felt Emily go weak. He held onto her tightly so she wouldn't collapse and rubbed her back so she wouldn't throw up again.

The coroner showed no emotion whatsoever as he led them to a wall of what looked like giant file cabinets. The whole world seemed to slow down into a frame by frame thing when he pulled open one of the cabinets - A white sheet covering a body.

The officers left the room, waiting outside, giving the couple and coroner some privacy.

Emily tightened her grip on Brian's hand as the sheet was pulled down - Just enough to reveal the face and neck of the body. She quickly hid her face in Brian's chest, not wanting to face the lifeless body.

"Babe," Brian whispered in her ear quietly,"Come on. We have to see if this is Lucy..."

She shook her head. Before... Sure, she'd been a little more... Brave about the situation. But now that she actually had to walk the walk, now that she had to actually go through and look a dead person in the face? Emily wanted nothing more than to walk away and just go hide out in her home, again.

This moment was the inevitable, and Emily didn't want to face it.

Brian rubbed his hand up and down her arms until she finally brought her head back up. He watched her quietly as she stepped forward, tugging him close behind her.

Even though he had to seem strong, Brian wanted to break apart and cry again. He heard Emily's gasp, and he wasn't sure if it was because she'd never seen a dead body before or... If it was the worst...

When Emily ran out of the room, Brian could only guess she had been sickened to her stomach, again. He looked down at the body, seeing the cold and bruised features of his beautiful four year old daughter.

Lucy's once pale skin was now colored with bruises and other ungodly marks. Her hair was matted and it seemed darker... Dull.

It almost seemed like a cruel joke.

Brian stood there a bit longer, holding back his tears, holding in his vomit. Maybe this was all just some joke. Maybe they'd been cruelly punk'd. Lucy would wake up at any second now, she couldn't hold her breathe this long.

But as the minutes ticked by, realization sank in, throwing Brian's dim hopes out the window. An agonized sob broke through his lips for a brief second before he controlled himself. "That's her." He managed to finally get out.

The coroner nodded and put the sheet back over her. "I'll be doing her medical exams to determine her cause of death. The officers will phone you when the autopsy is complete, and when they have the results. I... I'm very sorry for your loss. Tell your wife the same for me." Brian just nodded and walked out, the world feeling like a thousand pound weight on his shoulders.

Emily was outside with the officers who were trying their very hardest to comfort her. Brian walked over - The officers dismissing themselves back into the coroner's office - And wrapped his arms tightly around Emily, wishing he could take in all the sorrow, all the tears, all the heartbreak and just bottle it up inside of his conscious. He kissed her head numerous times, tightening his hold on her with each smooch.

Brian helped Emily into the SUV and quickly drove home, wanting to just collapse into a deep slumber and try to put today's emotions behind him.

As he pulled into the driverway, he heard the broken sobs of his fiance. Brian quickly got out and caught Emily as she tumbled out of the passengers seat. He held onto her tightly and took her inside, the two of them laying down on the couch together.

"It's all just a bad dream, right?" Emily whispered.

With a troubled sigh, Brian shook his head. "No, baby, it isn't. It's real. Today's real and whatever happens tomorrow will be real. I'm sorry."

She shook her head, burying her face into the crook of his neck. It took Brian a couple of hours to calm Emily down before she finally fell asleep, her tight grip never once faltered. He could only hope that, as she slept, she wasn't having nightmares. If Brian could, he'd delve into her thoughts and fight away every last single nightmare, replacing it with the most perfect dreams and the sweetest memories.

But he couldn't.

And with each passing second, Brian felt like he was letting Emily down step by step. He sighed quietly, forcing his eyes shut. Today had been enough for him. Tomorrow, however, and the upcoming weeks would probably be worse than the hell they'd been through for the last month or so. With all honesty, Brian wasn't ready for this. He hadn't been ready for today. But then again - Who was ready for this shit? Seeing their once smiling child... Dead... Certainly not him. Certainly not Emily. No one.