Hudayfah shifted onto his knees, wincing slightly as the rope rubbed against his chafed wrists. He had been working on getting his hands free for the past two days, and he was...almost...there...

He gave a slight groan as the rope dug deeper into his flesh. He should just give up, for all he knew he was just making the rope tighter. After a few mores seconds, he slumped against the wall in defeat.

He just didn't have the energy for this. He was going on five days without any food, and barely any water. Not to mention he had been in this position with his arms tied since he had arrived. It had been a killer trying to figure out how he was supposed to pray without having access to any water for Wudu, or being able to actually move.

But he just did the best he could.

As a wave of dizziness hit him, he closed his eyes, not wanting to experience the nauseating lightheadedness again. And of course, with his eyes closed, Jenna's face filled his mind. She had been all he could think about, and it physically hurt not to be near her. He woke up multiple times in the night reaching for her, and when he realized that she wasn't there, it was an indescribable feeling of heartache.

Being left alone for four days, except for the times when Jamaal came to bother him, had given him a lot of time to reflect, and for some reason he hadn't been able to stop thinking about how this had all began. It seemed like a lifetime ago, though it really wasn't that long ago...

"Muhsin did what!?" Rami exclaimed in disbelief, and Hudayfah nodded.

"Yeah. The idiot."

"Who does that?! I mean his own sister!" Farris added with a shake of his head.

"Alright, what are we going to do about it? Any suggestions would be helpful." Hudayfah said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, and the other men around the table remained silent.

"So we are certain that it's her that Jamaal wants? And not any of the other sisters?" Ramzy asked, and Hudayfah nodded.

"Yes. Jenna was the one that Muhsin put on the line, and now not only is she in danger, but so is the rest of the family."

"He's the biggest idiot I've ever met." Rami muttered under his breath, before he leaned forward. "Okay, so if we get her out of the house, we could keep her out of danger, and the others would be safe wouldn't they?"

"That sounds logical." Jafar said, and Hudayfah run a hand over his beard thoughtfully.

"So what? We get her out of the house, and what do we do with her?"

"Put her up in one of your houses?" Ali suggested.

"And then what? We can't leave her alone, but it's not like we could spend the night with her or anything." Abdullah said.

"Well what do we do?" Jafar asked.

They spent the rest of the night throwing out ideas, trying to find a solution, but mostly arguing. After they had gotten through their fifth pizza, Rami threw down his crust, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Maybe one of us should just marry her." He said with a laugh, and there was a profound silence at the table, before Farris sat forward.

"That's actually not a bad idea!"

"What!? Come on man I was joking!" Rami exclaimed, and Farris shook his head.

"No it makes perfect sense! She gets married, she leaves the house, she can be with one of us without it being you know Haram, and she would be safe!"

"Who says she would even agree to it?" Jafar asked.

"Hud, you've met her what do you think?" Shareef asked, and Hudayfah shrugged.

"I don't know her too well, but from what I've gathered of her, she is very protective and loving, and I think if she knew the circumstances, she would agree to it."

"Okay well now the big question is, who is going to marry her?" Ramzy asked.

"She would be safest with Rami!" Ali piped up, and Rami scowled at him.

"I'm not just going to marry some girl I've never met! You marry her!"

Ali raised his hands in the air.

"Hey! You're older!"

"What does that have to do with anything!?"

"Wait, why are we even doing this in the first place?!" Hassan asked.

"He's got a point. Why is it our business?" Abdullah asked. "Are we just going to keep bailing Muhsin out for the rest of his idiotic life?"

Hudayfah sighed.

"You guys, this isn't about Muhsin anymore. This is about an innocent girl who is in extreme danger, and I won't let anything happen to her. If you can have it on your conscious that you let her be in danger because of your feelings towards Muhsin, that's your business."

"Low blow bro." Ramzy muttered.

"I vote Rami to marry her!" Ali shouted.

"Bro, shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"Well if Rami is good enough, what's wrong with me?!" Abdullah demanded.

"Oh so now you want to marry her?! You didn't want anything to do with her a second ago!" Ali protested, and as they started all arguing, Hudayfah hit the table.

"Enough! I'll marry her! I'm the only one who has met her, and obviously I'm also the only one who has the maturity level higher than a five year old!"

A silence fell over them, and they all stared at Hudayfah in surprise before bursting out laughing.

"What!?" he asked, and Rami shook his head.

"You're going to get married?!"

"What's wrong with me getting married!?" Hudayfah demanded.

"Well, aren't you just, you know busy with work and stuff?" Farris asked, and Hudayfah shrugged.

"So? I can't be married at the same time?"

"No offense Hud, but I've always thought of you as being the last one of us to get married." Farris said, and Hudayfah scoffed.

"What?! Why?! Am I such horrible marriage material?"

"No it's not that. It's just you are the most successful, I would think you would want to focus completely on your career and furthering your inventions, and plus would you want to be tied down?" Abdullah asked, and Hudayfah scowled at him.

"Okay you know what? This isn't about my career or my inventions or what I'm comfortable with. Right now this is about saving an innocent human being." As he stood up, they all began to protest.

"Aw come on Hud don't be offended!" Rami exclaimed, but he had already left the room...

He hadn't admitted it to them even now, but he had been really insulted that they would say that about him. Like he told Jenna that one time they were stuck in the elevator, his biggest goal and hope for the future was having a family, and while that wasn't why he had married Jenna to begin with, he now couldn't imagine having anyone but her by his side.

Man he missed her. He missed her so much.

If he had known that this was going to happen, he would have given her one last kiss, held her so tightly that he wouldn't even know where he ended and she began. He would have told her that she was his entire life, that there was nothing in the entire universe that could compare to how she made him feel.

His last words to her had been I love you, and no way in the world did that adequately express the depth of his affection for her.

***

The night was dark. So dark, that Jafar had already tripped four times since getting out of his car. It was two o'clock in the morning, and he had been pacing his room since midnight. Finally he hadn't been able to take it any longer, and he had jumped in the car.

As he approached the building, he slipped on his gloves, before gripping the first rung of the ladder that hung down from the fire escape. He quickly scaled the first few floors, and ten minutes later he found himself at the top of the building.

He knew that it was stupid to be doing this on his own, especially if he was recognized, but he couldn't just sit around knowing she was in danger. He couldn't just sit around and wait for someone else to save her. It was his fault she was in this mess, and it was his responsibility to get her out of it.

He studied the bars on her window for a few seconds, inspecting the bottom and top. At first glance it looked like they wouldn't be able to be removed unless they were cut with a saw or something. But after another few moments he realized that the main section was held on with four screws, and it was just made to look like the entire thing was bolted in place. It must have been constructed in great haste.

He reached his hand through one of the bars, and tapped lightly on the window. He waited a few seconds, before doing it again, and soon Emma appeared, her eyes widening as she recognize him.

"Oh my God. No Jafar you have to leave!" she whispered in a panic as she opened the window, and he gripped the bars, leaning forward.

"Emma, are you okay?" he whispered back, and while she nodded, he could see her eyes welling up with tears.

"I'm fine! Now please, go! Hurry!"

"Hey, calm down. It's okay." He said reassuringly, and she shook her head.

"No! You have to go now!"

"Not without you."

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Please go. This is how Hud got taken, it can't happen to you too!"

"Shh, calm down. It won't okay?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I do."

"Please go." She whispered again.

"No, I won't."

"Jafar, they are going to find you, and take you and just...please leave. I have a key to the room, and I'll get out on Saturday night!"

He shook his head.

"I'm not waiting that long. Emma, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?" he asked gently, and after a few seconds, she nodded.

"Yes."

"Good. Now I need you to go back and lie down."

"How come?"

"I'm going to try to be as quiet as possible as I take off the bars, but if I end up making noise, someone could come in and check on you, and you need to look like you're sleeping. Once I get the bars off, I'll call for you, and we will go. Okay?"

"Okay."

As she disappeared, closing the curtains behind her, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a miniature tool set. After a few seconds, he picked up a screw driver, and began to take out the first screw. As the tool was small, things weren't going as fast as he wanted, but soon he had pulled out the first screw in the upper right hand corner. After placing his knee underneath the bars so he could balance it once it was loose, he began to work on the lower right corner.

He worked quickly and quietly, and after twenty minutes when he had gotten all four screws out, he felt the frame start to fall out of place, and he quickly gripped the middle, leaning it against the side of the fire escape. He winced as it made a clinking sound, and he froze, in case someone had heard.

After waiting five agonizing minutes, he pushed open the curtains, peering into the room.

"Emma?" he whispered, and immediately she sat up, pushing herself out of the bed.

"Oh my God. Jafar you did it!" she whispered and he motioned her forward.

"Hurry!"

As she started to climb out of the window, he stepped back giving her room, and once she was back on the ground, he ran a hand through his hair, motioning to the ladder.

"You go first."

She hesitated, glancing down all the flights.

"I'm scared."

He gave a faint smile.

"Okay, I'll go first."

"I'm still scared."

"Emma, you said you trusted me."

She nodded.

"I do."

"Then you have to trust that I won't let you fall."

"Okay."

They began the long climb down, Jafar pausing on every landing to make sure she was doing okay. They didn't speak, as the realization of what they were doing had begun to weigh on them, and they wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. After half an hour, they had reached the bottom, and she turned up to look at him, her face shining.

"We did it!" she exclaimed, and he laughed.

"Let's get out of here before we start congratulating ourselves!"

They hurried to his car, and once they were both inside, he started the engine, and drove off, letting out a long breath.

"You okay?" he asked after a few minutes, and she nodded.

"Yeah." She turned to look at him. "Thank you."

He shook his head.

"Thanks are not needed, nor will they be accepted. It was my duty."

"You're different tonight."

"How so?"

She shrugged.

"Well you've said more tonight than all the other times you have spoken put together."

"Yes well breaking out someone I guess has made me talkative."

She laughed before leaning against the door.

"I feel bad leaving."

"Whatever for?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, and she pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"I feel bad for leaving Hud."

"Hud will be okay."'

"How can you be sure?"

He glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow, and she shook her head in amusement.

"Fine, I'll trust you."

It was quiet in the car as he drove down the deserted streets, and his eyes flickered over her before he cleared his throat.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked quietly, and as she looked over at him, he tightened his hold on the steering wheel, fearing her answer.

"Not physically."

"What does that mean?"

She sighed, pulling her legs under her.

"He tried to mess with my mind, you know?"

"How so?"

She shook her head.

"He's just a psycho. And he was always touching me!"

He practically tore the wheel off.

"Woah! Dude!" she exclaimed, and he shook his head.

"Sorry." He mumbled, before he fell silent, trying to get his anger under control. The thought that that creature had his hands on her, made him practically see red.

"I can't wait to see my sisters. They must be a wreck, especially Jenna. I can't even begin to wonder how she must be feeling having the person she loves being taken away."

Jafar knew.

And it was the worst feeling in the world.

"You can't go home right now."

"What?! Why!?" she asked in surprise.

"Because once Jamaal figures out you are gone, all hell will break loose. It's better if the others have no clue of what transpired tonight."

"Well then where are we going!?"

He brought the car to a stop, and pulled up the brake, before he turned to look at her.

"I need to tell you something."