Title: "Catch and Release"

Rating: T, for some intense scenes later on

Genre: Suspense, Friendship

Character(s): the Davenport household, Douglas and several OCs

Pairing(s): Donald/Tasha, Tasha/OC (you'll see how and why later on), Chase/OC, Adam/OC and Leo/Kerry

Summary: The Davenports and Torrance must set aside their differences and work together to rescue Leo. Meanwhile, Leo struggles against falling into the dark trenches of his corrupted memory to warn his family of the dangerous trap awaiting them. Sequel to Search and Destroy.

Notes: Gah, I can't believe it! It all started with an idea a year ago (one year ago, today, Trial and Error was published!), which I decided to write with just for fun and just to have something new to read – and now here we are. This last lap towards the finish line is jam-packed and a little rocky, but I hope you love it as much as I do. Again, I'll try to make this as short as possible. This one's darker than the first two also, so just a head's up.

Oh! And also, it may seem later on in the story that there's some supernatural elements included here, but let me assure you that there won't be any of that. I don't dabble with that genre at all, so just know that things are not what they appear.

Other than that, enjoy!

One.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Leo awakened to the sounds of water droplets hitting the floor. Using the little but sufficient amount of energy he had, he turned towards the source of the noise and found that one of the pipes at the opposite side of the room was leaking. Gauging the slightly cooler temperature of his surroundings, he slowly and carefully rolled onto his right and then used his elbow to support himself up. His body was still too weak; he was barely able to push himself up an inch off the floor on his first try before collapsing back down. But he was too determined to find out something, anything at all, about his situation—or at least his location—that giving up was not even an option.

Again, he tried and again, he failed. He took a deep breath. Then, bit by bit, he placed his weight on his arm while willing the muscles in his body to cooperate.

For the third time, he failed. Still, he found a degree of comfort that this time, he landed on his forearm, which was surprisingly steady in holding him up.

The smallest of smiles pulled on Leo's lips. He was almost absolute that if he had the energy for it, he would have laughed. It was ridiculous, he thought. He knew he would not win any trophy for body building anytime soon, but did he really not have enough muscles in his body to fulfill the simple task of sitting up? Wow. Hitting an all-time low here, he thought.

The shadow of the happy expression vanished into vapor as the likely reason for his weakness occurred to him. Instinctively, he glanced at his left wrist. It was heavily bandaged and felt very sore. He tried to move it. Stabbing pain ascended up his arm, the sensation traveling quickly towards the bones of his neck and into his skull, and it nearly caused him to scream. He clenched his jaws shut to prevent himself from yelling, resulting in a muffled but loud groan.

Bad idea. That was a really bad idea.

After forcing his nerves to still, he refocused on the task he had at hand. Knowing that his left side presented no use for him at the moment, he placed a bit more pressure on his right arm as he pulled up his knees underneath him to gain more leverage for his body. Gradually, the dull gray floor increased in distance away from him, proving the success of his plan.

Leo took several deep breaths after he stopped. The task of rising on his hand and knees severely exhausted him, and though it frustrated him he understood that he needed to rest to conserve what might he had left. When he had enough, he looked up at the window—the only connection he had with the world outside.

He couldn't remember the last time he was awake. There had been too many dreams and too many flashes of reality that his sense of time had become somewhat unreliable. The last time he saw the scenery outside, it had been bright and tropical. It had been warmer too. Yet this time, everything was glum and overcrowded. Branches of trees appeared to hang low in shame, and the sky seemed to have just finished weeping.

Carefully, he swiveled to his left to sit, which was another simple thing that he remembered not being able to do. Afterwards, he started to look around the room. It was much bigger than what he had previously thought, but was as empty as he remembered. It was a wide room with a cement floor, cement walls and cement roof. The only interesting features were the window perched high above the opposite side of the room, the small opening some distance away from him, which he supposed was some kind of drainage, and the varying sizes of pipes opened towards the room.

"You're sitting up. That's good. That means you have enough energy."

Leo looked up at the person who spoke. He found Douglas standing a few feet away from him, his arms crossed, a wickedly pleased expression on his features.

Douglas observed him ponderously. "I'll probably monitor your vitals for now, just to make sure it won't be too much on you during the test period," he said. He smiled. "I need you healthy and undamaged for that one."

Leo glared.

Douglas began scanning the room. "Just in case you want to know, we're currently inside a simulation chamber," he said. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't look much, but that's the beauty of it. If we ever have to move, covering things up is not going to be a problem. All they'll see is another abandoned warehouse. I doubt they'd even have any idea what they're really standing inside of when they step in here."

"What makes you think I'm going with you?" Leo said, but his words came out as a mumble because that was only what his strength allowed.

Douglas smirked at him. "I don't have to think. I know you're coming with us," he said. He nodded towards his bandaged wrist. "I made sure of it."

Leo looked down on his left wrist uncertainly.

"I wouldn't worry much about moving out of here, though," Douglas said. "The New Class is pretty tough to beat. I doubt that anyone would want to cross them after they find out what those three can do." He hitched a shoulder. "Well, if they're anything like Donald, absorbed in their own hero illusions, then yeah, they might. But if their lives are any important to them, then they probably shouldn't." He shot Leo another look before swiveling around then walking forward.

An electric current ran through a portion of the cement wall. The dull gray material dissolved into thin air, revealing a heavy metallic door behind it.

Before Douglas pushed it open, he stopped. "Hope that your family doesn't come for you," he said, his cold words bouncing off the iron. Then, he stepped out. Another electric current ran downwards the opening and soon, it was back to being another part of the wall.

Leo continued to stare with fear and uncertainty. There were so many unknowns that he was left feeling at a loss on what to do. He was still very weak. He was also very alone. These limited him much, especially the former. The threat on his family had increased, too, and the ambiguity surrounding how this was so decreased his room for movement more.

But he knew that he had gone too far to be defeated by mere excuses now. He had to do whatever it takes—for his parents, for his siblings and for Torrance.

Leo took a deep breath then looked down again on his left wrist. Whatever it takes, he resolved.

to be continued.