**
There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are
There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

Lord knows
Dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time
You'll find the way

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
(Mariah Carey - "Hero")
**

**** Liz broke past Joey upon reaching it, panic on her face and in her hurried steps. She felt no pain from her hurt foot, her whole being was concentrated on Lucky.

She reached the beach, the brothers in tow, and looked to the right, then the left. She froze. ****


Her breath came in frantic gasps. The waves beat against the shore, never ceasing their rhythm. The bright moonlight shone down, making the two figures knee deep in the ocean stand out against the land by stark contrast. They were grappling, throwing punches and wrestling around. Liz was able to make out Lucky.

He was bleeding from a cut on his lower lip, and winced when the other man throwing punches hit him in the ribs. The man threw a particularly hard punch into Lucky's cheekbone, sending him staggering backwards. Lucky ran smack into a violent wave and went down to his knees. Another wave, closely following the first, had him pitching forward, right towards the evil man.

The man gave a hard karate chop to the back of Lucky's neck, and Lucky saw stars. Thoughts of Liz brought his mind into a strange focus.

Have to save her. Can't let him hurt her.

The next wave that came by, Lucky held onto, and used it to prop himself up, making it to his feet.

"You just don't give up, do you?" the man taunted, into the wind that had picked up.

"Not when it comes to Elizabeth, no," Lucky replied solemnly, throwing a wild right hook. The man dodged and was smirking evilly when Lucky's short, focused left jab caught his nose. Blood spurted everywhere. The man howled in rage, tackling Lucky without a thought.

Liz watched all of this, frozen in place. The older Sweeney brothers stood behind her, speechless and nerveless, neither moving. Liz's heart thudded for Lucky. When she saw the man take Lucky down, her whirling thoughts broke. She was out of her haze in a microsecond, on running towards the pair in another.

"Elizabeth, wait!" Andy cried out, giving chase once his brain registered what she was doing. Joey followed wordlessly, fear showing on his face.

It took Liz all of two seconds to realize she was putting herself in extreme danger. But when she saw the man stand up, kicking at a form under the water, her mind screamed Lucky's name and she no longer cared for her own life.

The man was turning from Lucky's body when a screaming blur hit him full force. He toppled into the water. The shock of the cool water was enough to startle Liz, but she went on with her mission bravely, without a thought for herself.

She doubled her fists and rammed them into the back of the man's skull, as he was hunched over, trying to rise from the waves that smashed into his body. Liz didn't seem to be having problems with them. The man's knees buckled. He looked up, as Liz threw her arms out in front of her and raked her nails across his face. Tears were running down her cheeks unchecked. The man screamed and broke away, going downwards. Anything to get away from the pain. Unfortunately for him, his head came into contact with Liz's knee almost immediately.

Now the boys were upon them. Joey gave Liz a sort of bear hug from behind and pushed her towards the sand. Andy hefted the dragging man out of the water, keeping careful hold of his limbs, just in case he wasn't done yet.

Joey turned towards where he thought Liz was. She was kneeling up to her chin in the water, her arms wrapped around an unconscious body. Lucky's body. Joey joined her in pulling him to the sand of the beach.

Liz dropped to her knees, beside Lucky, rambling aloud. "Call 911...check airways..."

Joey watched with rapt fascination, still in shock. Liz tilted Lucky's head back and opened his mouth, plunging two of her fingers inside to check for blockage.

"Nothing."

She leaned over him further, turning her head so her ear was next to his mouth and nose. She couldn't tell anything over the chattering of her teeth.

"No breathing."

Her hands shook as she pressed her fingers into his neck, desperately searching for his pulse point.

"Where's your pulse, Lucky?"

She gave up on that quickly, and repositioned herself above his head.

The man was giving Andy trouble, once he'd regained a little of his brain, struggling and fighting against the boy's hold.

"Hey, Joey, wanna give me a hand?!"

Joey turned to his brother, a dazed look on his face.

"How about if I give this guy a fist?"

Andy cackled as Joey insisted the knuckle sandwich he gave the man went straight to his stomach.

Liz wiped her tears out of her face, and leaned over Lucky's head. She closed her eyes in one brief moment of terror and nearly collapsed. She forced herself to go on. Lucky's lips were cool against hers when she blew into his mouth. She prayed the air was going into his air passage, and not his stomach.

She backed up and away after several breaths, too frenzied to count. Her mind went numb as she tried to recollect her swim classes from years past.

"Breathe into their mouths...done that."

She used her index finger and middle finger to locate the area just below his ribs. She placed one hand on top of the other and laced her fingers together. Using the ball of her hand, she compressed Lucky's chest.

"In and out. In and out."

Her panic escalated when he remained in the same condition. His lips were turning blue around the edges.

"Lucky, listen to me, you cannot leave me!" She shouted, half sobbing. She forced her breath into his lungs again, counting to seven before returned to compressing his abdomen.

The boys had made quick work of the evil man, who was now unconscious as well, and going to end up with some nasty bruises in the morning. They turned to help Liz, Joey joining her on the wet sand, and Andy running for the stairwell and the phone.

Liz shook with desperation.

"Can't leave me," she murmured, pushing on his chest again. "Can't leave me."

She returned to his mouth, a little dizzy from lack of air, and pressed her lips to his, sending that life saving gas into his body. She sat up, screaming against the injustice of it all.

A soft gurglish cough from nearby startled her.

---

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