((This is almost a one-shot. Planned through in an instant and written in two sittings (Chapters 1 through 4 in the first and the rest the next day). Overall title is taken from My Demons by Lacuna Coil. The chapter heading is from the Evanescence song Lose Control.))

1. Nothing Good Left of You

Sitara was howling with laughter. A smile tugged on Marcus's lips even though his attention should be elsewhere. Hers, too. 'Nothing. No sign of them.' Josh's voice came over their channel, sounding to all the world as if nothing was going on. 'Did Wrench find anything?'

'He isn't back yet,' Marcus answered. 'Building's a bit more complex than we thought, he wants to look thoroughly, he'll be a while.'

Sitara was wiping tears of laughter from her face and Marcus looked at the stage at the front of the room. The slender drag queen had just taken off her wig and was shaking it into the face of someone at the front. They had meant to be here for the show, he, Wrench, and Sitara. They hadn't intended to be on the lookout, however. Then somehow Wrench had found out that the Sons of Ragnarok planned to mess with the performance. He had no idea in what manner, only that something would happen. How he came by that knowledge Marcus couldn't begin to guess, and the suggestion that a threat to a public event would be a matter for the police had only led to protests from him, too. So here they were, on alert. Marcus on the phone with Josh, Sitara watching the crowd for anyone acting oddly while occasionally adding to their conversation, and Wrench scouring the building.

'Marcus! I managed to hack into one of their computers. They left us a message.'

'What?'

'It says: "We know you are looking. You were betrayed. We will find you."'

Marcus stood abruptly. Sitara, suddenly pale, did the same. 'Josh, I'd like you to …'

'Way ahead of you. Wrench's phone is still where it was five minutes ago. Sending you the location.'

'Thanks.' Marcus followed the ping down a flight of stairs, taking three at a time. Sitara was following equally fast. He almost missed the device. It was up on top of a condom machine.

Sitara's eyes were wide. 'I can't see Wrench forgetting his phone on that.'

'No.' He had a couple of reasons why. Wrench being allergic to latex, so he had no business using that thing, was only one of them, but he didn't say that. 'Shit, Sitara. I know how this looks, but I refuse to believe …'

'Me too.' She shook herself like someone trying to get rid of a very annoying insect. 'Josh, do you have any other way to track him?'

'No.'

Marcus swore soundly and Sitara placed a hand on his shoulder. 'He'll be all right.'

'There is a chance that he …'

'No,' Marcus and Sitara barked at the same time.

'Look, Josh,' the young woman said, 'Wrench wouldn't do that.'

'Then perhaps that is what they want us to think. They want us to abandon him.'

'More likely. And not good.' Marcus fixed his gaze on Sitara. 'I have to find him. If anything happens to him …' He couldn't do this again. Horatio had died under his hands, if this happened with Wrench … No. They would find him. They would find him in time.

Ϡ

Wrench opened his eyes with a groan. He slapped the back of his right hand against his forehead and tried to will the pain residing there away. 'Hi there.' The voice burst the peaceful bubble in which he had thought he was just hung over and he scrambled up to a sitting position.

The woman in front of him was short and stocky, her brown hair gelled to obedience. 'Fuck you, Britt, what did you hit me on the head for?'

She shrugged. 'So your so-called friends are going to believe you when we send you back in. At least, that was the plan.'

If she had seen Wrench's face, she would have known that she'd made a mistake. Several, in fact. But it was hidden by his mask, eyes at default. 'So what the hell was all this about? I said I'd make contact.'

'You didn't, though. All you did was fuck over Lenni. Who was working with us.'

'Using you, you mean. Here we thought you'd take it out on her, at least.'

'They think you're a traitor, you know. The rest of our group. I'd be very careful. I still trust you, though.'

Of course she did. Wrench knew why, too. But she wouldn't get what she wanted. He'd never been all that attracted to her, but now everything she stood for was a huge red flag. 'Thanks. So … here's the deal, Britt. There's this guy, Retr0. He's … like, the leader.' Wrong word. Totally. But she'd never understand if he said he was the heart of the DedSec cell. 'We've needed him so far, as you all know if you use your brains. But now I can finally get rid of him.'

'Be quick, Greg. The others are getting nervous. They say we should just kill you.'

'I don't deliver, you do that.' He fought down the urge to break her teeth for calling him Greg. Not her fault, this. 'Now dump me somewhere tied up neatly and have them pick me up.'

Britt made a face and looked away. 'It isn't that simple anymore. You see, Charlie guessed they'd try and hack us. He left them a message, basically telling him that you're a traitor. And I agreed.' She returned her gaze to him. 'You see, Greg, you've been gone a long time and you haven't made contact. Better you do this from a distance. You know them, you can do it. But that was the only way we could risk letting you live. By cutting you off from them. You can't go back.'

'This was all it was about, isn't it? We ran right into your trap. You never planned to disrupt the performance, you just wanted to catch me.'

'Well. If we'd bled a few faggots in the process, I could have lived with it. But in essence, yes.'

Sometimes, Wrench was surprised at himself. Like now. He was calm. All rage and anger had bled out of him at her words, leaving him quiet and settled. 'Ah. Well, I just have to go to my garage real quick, then. Still got the gun there.' The one the Sons of Ragnarok had given him when he'd joined them. It was time to go back for it.