"What do you mean? He's here?" I cry.

"Yes, there was a dark windowed car sat outside the house just after you came back from shopping. When I went outside to check it out, I saw another man approach it and began to talk to whoever was in the back. Only a few seconds later, the guy outside whipped a gun from his belt and shot the guy." He explains, out of breath. He sees the shocked look on my face and continues. "That's not all. The shot person gets out of the car, only injured which is when the armed guy shoots again and this time they fall to the floor."

"Who did he shoot?"

"Who do you think was sat outside waiting for you? Thanks to this idiot, none the less." He gestures with his foot to the butler who's still sprawled out on the floor looking very sorry for himself.

My whole body feels numb when I quietly muse, "Robert."

August solemnly nods. "So now he's out there on the gravel, his chauffeur looking completely beside himself with fear and the armed man is nowhere to be seen."

"Who is the armed man? And where does Jack come into all this?" I wonder out loud but August doesn't reply he just stares at me knowingly as I put the pieces together in my mind. "Jack shot Robert."

August nods again.

"Why?" I whisper, falling to my knees and staring blankly at the floor.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." A cold and deep voice sounds out over the foyer and I'm unable to place where it's coming from when I snap up my head and frantically search for him. For Jack. It's his voice, I just know it. August searches too but we both become lost when all the lights go out and the blackout curtains fall simultaneously to block out the last of the light.

"Willow!" August calls out and I hear him try to run to me but before he can reach me another pair of strong arms tighten around my waist and I'm lifted from the floor. I gasp, not wanting to scream, I never like to scream and seem weak. I am lifted way up into the air and placed back on my feet at the top of the stairs.

A slither of light shines through a nearby window and hits his face that's mere centimetres from my own as he darkly whispers, "I finally found you." There's no sense of safety like there usually is in Jack's arms as I stiffen and he pulls out a strong smelling cloth.

And then, everything goes dark.

*****

I can't breathe.

I literally cannot breath and the musty, dark smell around here contaminates the last of the breathable air floating around me. I take deep breaths when suddenly a movement beside me is detected and I straighten up, holding my breath again.

"She's awake." Someone grumbles just as a strong grip is placed on the material covering my eyes from being able to see and it's ripped away.

Dots fly around in front of my face until shapes wiggle and swim around, finally merging into people. I'm in a dark concrete room full of all sorts of men, the one closest to me being the only one I fully recognise.

"Jack!" I hiss. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Well, you didn't meet me like you said you would so I had to find another way of getting to you." He shrugs casually. He's referring to back in the car park when we supposed to meet. Does that mean he would have taken me here back then? What if the first time I saw him, he wanted to take me then too but the other gang members got in the way?

"What, not even stalking is beneath you now?"

"You, my fiancé, are staying in the house of another man. Do I not have the right to be concerned?"

"No." I sneer. "You don't have any right. As far as I'm concerned we don't even know each other."

Since when did he acknowledge I'm his fiancé anyways?

How dare he take me to the very hide out of his stupid gang. All the men around are dripping in distasteful scribbles of ink, all over their limbs. Some, even their faces, and in our town that defined you as part of D.A.R.E. It's partly why I didn't believe August used to be part of it, because he was as far as I could tell, tattoo free. Then again, he never fully committed, they just kept using him.

He raises a hand high and I close my eyes tight. I would have hit him already had I not been tied up tightly in rope and bound to a chair.

"Why am I here?" I demand to know when he doesn't hit me and I open my eyes to find his hand low again.

Jack bends down low, all the way down to my level in the chair and gets up close and personal. "You are an asset in many ways. I also need to prove to the guys that my only weakness, will no longer be a problem for me." He explains nice and slowly, a creepy smile on his face.

I allow a smirk to wriggle onto my own, not allowing fear to show. "So you admit I'm still a weakness. Your weakness." I move my face closer to his, almost closing the gap and when he doesn't retreat, I smile knowing I have the upper hand. I then quickly move away happy that I had proved him wrong in front of all his gang members.

"So what? I'm still entranced by you." He shrugs before leaning in just as I had done. "That can change." He adds with a sneer. I freeze up wondering what he means when the large door to the basement looking room is kicked open and a bulky, scary looking man stands, seemingly looming over everyone.

All the men in the room who looked tough just a second ago are now bent over in fear and respect, allowing him to walk past. I just give him a disgusted glare until I realise he's heading my way and is stood right at my feet. "Enough child's play." He orders with a scowl.

Even Jack then takes a step back, not that he shows conformity on his face.

"Let's get down to business." He then commands, kneeling down to my level just as Jack had done. "I'm the proud owner of D.A.R.E. and you have interfered one time too many. Now I have to take action."

"Do you really?" I ask in a bored tone.

"Yes," He hisses, the sound of a blade sounding out as it hits the light. I pretend to not be bothered by the entrance for a weapon, it's happened far too many times to scare me. It's just the potential of each weapon that puts me on edge. "I can't knock you off just yet because you're still of use. If you do what I ask, I may be able to... How do I say this? Let it slip that you killed two of my closet men?"

I inwardly feel the urge to gulp but I stop myself.

"So you are fully prepared to do as I wish?" He grumbles.

I nod. It's not like I have much choice. Once I'm out of here, I'm going straight to Mae and leaving everything behind, forget what this guy wants me to do. He'll me after I do it anyway, that's always how D.A.R.E. works.

"Excellent. Here's what I need you to do." He orders me. "Jack will be leaving us soon for the biggest mission ever calculated. As my best man he is the only one I trust to carry it out. However, all of that dirt your agency has on him is putting him in great danger."

"That's not my problem, in fact, you took him and made him do all that stuff in the first place." I shrug.

"Perhaps," he agrees, shocking me slightly. "But I know how clever you are with computers and your definite ability to wipe information for good." He says with a proud smile. "If you weren't so loyal to the good side, I'd have you as one of the highest members here."

"You wish." I growl.

"I do. Unfortunately that's not the case hence, me using force." He looks completely blank and unsympathetic as he traces a finger down my jaw and harshly pulls away. "I need you to go back to your HQ and wipe all the info they have on Jack, shred papers, wipe data, destroy everything." His voice is thick with anger and spite, I gulp but don't step down.

I nod but I'm not looking at him. I don't want my eyes to betray that I'm lying to him.

"Perfect. Jack will take you back to the HQ. We need this done as soon as possible." He says walking towards the door that he had first come through. "Jack? She's ready." He calls out to presumably Jack as he tosses the knife in Jack's direction and leaves.

"Hello again, Willow." Jack says cooly striding towards me, catching the knife. "I really didn't expect you to go along with this. What's the catch?" He asks curiously as he rips apart the ropes that hold me down.

"I'm broken, there is no catch." Which isn't technically a lie.

"Why didn't you come the other day?" He asks, changing the subject.

I peer at him closely. "I'd say you already know. I think you wanted them to find out what I did so I'd join you on the bad side. Well it didn't work." He freezes for a split second and that's how I know I'm right. He really did plan all of this. Was it also a lie that he needed to see me that day and really it was just him starting his grand plan of saving his own butt so he can run away on a new mission?

"So, I'm still looking out for number one. Is that a crime?" He asks not looking at me, purposefully. Guilt is evident in his voice.

"Not unless it means ruining the lives of many others."

"What, like yours? Doesn't that make you as selfish as me?" He challenges with an eyebrow raised.

"Maybe." I mumble not elaborating on my thoughts. I was always just looking out for him. But that's changed, now I look out for my daughter and I, not just myself. The one person I will never let him know about because he doesn't deserve to. He'd probably train her to follow his legacy and become a D.A.R.E. agent.

He helps me up from my tangle of ropes once I'm free, ignoring my wince when I lean on my ankle. We then leave the cold, dark room of D.A.R.E. agents and wander around some just as nasty corridors until we stop on a corner.

"Jack, what are you doing?" I demand to know but he just turns to me, another strong smelling cloth in his hand.

Great.

He places it on my face, keeping my arms out of the way and says "I'm sorry. But boss says you can't know where our HQ is."

"This isn't going to work jack."

"It usually does." He says, glancing at the cloth, thinking I mean the use of chloroform but thats not what I was referring to. I meant the whole plan but now my body is reacting to the strong liquid and I can't tell him what I really mean.

I shut my eyes tight, ignoring him as I try to fight the urge to fall into an abyss of slumber but it's use when I feel each of my limbs lose all feeling and I go limp. The last thing I see is Jack's smug face before my eyes close again all on their own.

"I forgot how strong you really are. Just not strong enough to beat what we have planned." His voice sounds far away and muffled as I fall further and further from reality but I'm still conscious enough to realise he did know what I meant.