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Skiaska nodded, knowing better than to go against Gail. Before she left, though she kissed Lydia on the forehead and hugged her loosely. "it's going to be okay." She looked at the gag in disdain, but left it alone. If Gail thought it should come out, she would take it out. Witht hat done, Ski turned and exited the room.

Skiaska stopped as Will entered. Gulping slightly, she talked quietly. "From what I have gathered, a man named Kaji, who knows Tokeru, tried to shoot Kerri and hit lydia instead." A quick brush of her ahnd killed an oncoming tear. "It hit her in the stomach and neither Teslae or Lydia were able to get a mental reading on the baby... Gail is doing an ultrasound right now." Ski looked at Will and quickly strode out of the infirmary. Now that she was in the hall, she sat on the floor and cried quietly. Nothing could happen to Lydia or Will! Nothing! They were the only ones who treated her with anything akin to respect now... Lydia was her closest friend... "God dammit..."

Krii'Ouse watched Will enter, taking a few moments to leave. 'Will, please... don't do this. He doesn't deserve a trial.' he said, determined. He had heard him mentally, always able to hear Will's speech through his mind in close proximity.

'He shot a Hunter under your roster! He hit Lydia in the stomach, he doesn't deserve it! Even if we found a court to judge him, we'd be leaking the war to the public! This is a Hunter dealing only, we've seen what happened, he needs to be punished!' he demanded. His face was firm and full of anger.

'Think about it, Will. You know what's right. You know justice is too weak in this country. If I have to go through you... I will.' he said, leaving the room sternly, and heading to Hunter's.

Even though she was blindfolded and gagged, Lydia could still hear very well and felt panic rise up in her throat when Gail told everyone to leave. How could Lydia be alone at a time like this? The blood of her unborn child was on her hands! Suddenly, a warm and comforting hand took hers and the psychic reached out her mind to touch the one of the man who held her hand; Will, her lover and without a doubt the most important person in her life.

As soon as her fumbling mental grip was able to grab a hold of Will's mind, Lydia's precarious emotional state broke as she tried to tell Will what had happened. Shot in stomach, accident, he did not mean to, baby cannot contact our baby, my fault, killed our child, all my fault. Behind the gag, the whimpers started up again as tears again fell down Lydia's face.

Gail came up to the examination table, the ultrasound ready to go. "This may get a little bit uncomfortable, Lydia. Just try to bear with me, here." The doctor pushed up Lydia's shirt so that she could put the ultrasound gel over Lydia's expanding stomach. The whimpering increased for a moment before dying down again; the gel was uncomfortably warm. Gail began to run the ultrasound over Lydia's stomach, looking for any signs of life from the fetus. After a few moments, the doctor removed the blindfold from Lydia. "Look."

The psychic slowly turned her eyes to the screen of the ultrasound, trying not to think about how uncomfortable this all was, putting pressure on her stomach and all. Her eyes widened in surprise. There, on the screen, was her little baby, the motions of a tiny heartbeat strong and vibrant.

Will just held Lydia's hand tighter as she spoke to him in his mind. 'Hush, love. I know it was an accident. And despite what you might believe, it's not your fault either. This is all FUBAR. But we'll figure something out. I promise. And I'm right here for you.'

Will watched Gail as she placed the ultrasound on Lydia, and felt relief flood him as it showed a tiny but strong heartbeat. Lydia's emotional state probably prevented psychic contact with the child, leading them to believe it dead. Now, he had to get out there and make sure that his word was carried out. Nobody was going to die without first getting a jury of their peers.

Heading back out into the infirmary waiting room, he glowered at the assembled Hunters. Will could tell from their faces and by how they looked away from him that they'd disregarded his words. He wasn't surprised. They were angry, believed firmly that they knew what was right, and were ready to carry out what they thought would be justice. It pained him so much. His Hunters, his family, was falling apart before his eyes, and if he allowed Kaji to be killed without first getting a trial he knew it would lead to war. A war that would destroy the Hunters from the inside out and leave New York defenseless.

Growling loudly, he stared each and every Hunter there in the eyes as he spoke. "Gail's done an ultrasound. The baby is fine. But that won't stop you from wanting Kaji dead, right? It won't stop you from wanting to kill someone who's on the roster just like the rest of you."

At this point, his voice turned into a roar, cowing those before him. "YOU'VE ALL FORGOTTEN! KAJI IS ONE OF US! THE SHADOW STALKERS ARE STILL OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ARMS, OUR COMRADES, FIGHTING THE SAME FIGHT AS US SIDE BY SIDE! AND YOU WANT TO KILL HIM BEFORE HEARING HIS DEFENSE?! BEFORE GIVING HIM A CHANCE TO DEFEND HIMSELF?! IF THE LYCANS CAPTURED KRII'OUSE, OR THE VAMPIRES CAPTURED KERRIGAN SO THAT THEY COULD EXECUTE THEM FOR 'CRIMES AGAINST THEIR OWN KIND', YOU'D BE DEMANDING THAT WE MOUNT A RESCUE BECAUSE WE PROTECT OUR OWN! KAJI IS OUR OWN, AT LEAST FOR THE MOMENT! AND WE HAVE TO DECIDE, AS A WHOLE, IN A CIVILIZED AND ORDERLY PROCESS, WHETHER OR NOT HE ENJOYS THAT PROTECTION STILL!! IF WE DON'T, WHAT'S TO STOP US FROM PICKING EACH OTHER OFF WHENEVER WE HAVE ARGUEMENTS OR DISAGREEMENTS?!"

Silence reigned for a short moment, before Will turned his tone gentler, letting understanding and his own pain show through. "You don't think I understand? You don't think I'm angry? He shot the woman I love. He put my unborn child in danger. I want to slice open one of his veins and throw him into a pit full of starving vampires. But Lydia herself, the victim here, was pleading with me just now for understanding. She herself says it was an accident. What if it was? I don't know what happened, and I don't know if anybody here has all the facts straight. What if we killed him, and he turned out to be innocent? We go out every night and kill living creatures and break countless laws, and we say we do it because we're protecting society. If we ignore the basics of civilized society, if we kill Kaji because he hurt one of our own without even giving him the opprotunity to defend himself and plead his case, we're no protectors; we're no better than a highly skilled and heavily armed gang that protects our turf and our own through violence and terror."

Now he turned his voice slightly pleading, trying to drive understanding into them. To make them see the same dangers that he saw but they were too blinded by anger to see. "We murder Kaji, Tokeru and the Shadow Stalkers will declare open war on us. They know our secrets, we know theirs. What do you think will happen when people who know how each other fight, who know their strengths and weaknesses, start battling each other? It'll be a slaughter on both sides as brother kills brother, sister murders sister, and friend slays friend. And after it's done, after there's just a few of us left, the vampires, the lycans who're hostile to us, and the tainted will descend upon the survivors like a flood. And not a single one of us will be left alive. You murder Kaji, you'll be starting the process of your own suicides. And I won't allow it."

Will closed his eyes, blinking back the tears that threatened to escape. His voice had become but a whisper, yet it still carried to those there. "I love Lydia. I love our child that I have yet to meet. But upon my life, I love each and every one of you so much more. You're my family. Some of you are dear friends. Others are like distant cousins. A few have become like the parents I dearly miss. Many more of you are like brothers and sisters to me. And a few... A few of you, are what I imagine my child will grow up to be like. You're my family, and you're tearing yourselves apart with your rage and anger. And it's more than I can bear."

Gathering himself, he opened his eyes again and stared at them. "We're a family here, closer than family in so many ways. And remember, even when family members hurt each other, they're still family. Well folks, Kaji is a member of this family we call the Hunters, even though he's not the closest member. And that means that we'll make sure he gets a fair trial in front of a jury of his peers... other Hunters. A Hunter will prosecute him, a Hunter will defend him, a jury of Hunters will determine his innocence or guilt, and a Hunter will judge him. We'll determine like civilized beings whether or not he is still one of us. And if as a group we find that he's not... Then he loses those rights and that protection gained from being a Hunter, and he will pay. But until his innocence or guilt is determined by this court of his fellow Hunters, then none may harm him. Because if we let emotion and rage alone rule us, we're even worse than what we hunt because we claimed to be better."

Letting them all mull over what he'd said, Will walked out of the infirmary. He hadn't missed the telepathic message his blood brother had sent him. The lycan Hunter was more enraged than anybody else. He had to find Krii'Ouse and talk with him. Whether they'd be talking with their words or with their fists, would mostly be up to Sethe.


((exit Infirmary))

Skiaska's tears had died down as soon as Will said the baby was fine. And with that speech, she understood that he was right. Kaji was one of them, even if they wanted to deny it. And if we went against the only thing we have, family, then we would become animalistic fools, ruled by any whim that our minds threw at us. Ski sighed as she stood, and smiled gently.

"He's right, you know. We are family. Some of us may be black sheep, some definitely have screwed up pasts, but in the end, it's all the same. We have to help each other. Even if that person doesn't seem to deserve our help." Noddind, she went into the Infirmary and looked at Gail. "Can I talk to her now?"

Lydia did not want Will to leave her side just yet; after going through such an emotionally draining experience, she wanted his strength near her so she could lean on him and borrow from his strength. With the baby due in only three months, she wanted to speak with Will about what was going to happen to them, and if it was possible, she wanted to spend the night with him, to just sleep next to him to know he was there.

As the psychic was lost in her thoughts, Gail went about freeing Lydia from her restraints and removing the gag from her mouth. "Your wounds should heal just fine in the next few days, but until I say you're fully healed, you stay in a wheelchair, okay?" Lydia nodded, not wanting to even THINK of endangering her child now. Wheeling over a chair, Gail helped the younger woman into the wheelchair, making sure not to cause Lydia any unnecessary pain.

"By the way, Skiaska wants to speak with you. Do you want to speak with her?" Gail asked, not even finishing the sentence before Lydia nodded approval. She needed a shoulder to cry on now, and if Will could not be there because of his duties, Skiaska and Kerrigan would do just fine. "You can come and talk to her, Skiaska." Gail called.

Skiaska quickly went to Lydia, hoping she could help some how. Sitting by her, she smiled gently. "Tell me what I can do, little one..." She petted Lydia's hair carefully, and continued to smile just a bit. She was almost bursting with the fact that Lydia's child was fine. I realize that you need Will right now, but he is dealing with... Krii'Ouse... He'll be back as soon as he can, but is there something I can do? Ski directed her thoughts upon Lydia and continued to pet the girl's hair.