Deep in the night, a lone ATV speeds through Jade Creek; the ground is slick after a brief yet intense shower, but the silver-furred hare doesn't care. His mind is totally focussed on just two things: not crashing, and finding his kidnapped girlfriend.

Rob Stiil pushes his ATV to the absolute limit; he pushes so hard he comes close to crashing on several occasions. But this doesn't slow him down. Two hours after midnight, he reaches his destination: a lakeside house built into the hill. Leaping off his ATV before it's stopped, the vehicle slews into the undergrowth, where it stalls; Rob crashes through the front door, sending shards and splinters throughout the den.

"HANNA'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!" Rob wails in anger, falling to his knees. Someone slams into the hare, knocking him flat to the floor; he feels a tanto pressed on his neck for the briefest moment before it's withdrawn.

"W-W-W-W-What?" Maria stammers, unable and unwilling to comprehend the news.

"Hanna's been kidnapped!" Rob repeats. The sudden activation of the ceiling light blinds him and Maria for a moment; Maria rolls off Rob to one side.

"What on Avalice is-" Danny begins; when Rob's words sink in, he recites a string of obscenity. "Who would take her?" he asks as Xander barges into the den, ready to fight; when he sees Rob, he stands down.

"Who cares?" Rob bellows. "We have to find her!"

"And we won't do that yelling through the night!" Danny snaps. "Now calm down!"

Rob jumps to his feet and storms up to Danny. "I will do anything to find the woman I love!" he growls.

"And we will do everything we can to help you!" Danny retorts. "That's why you came here, isn't it? But we can't do that unless you calm down and tell us what you know!"

Rob stares Danny down; Danny remains steadfast. Eventually, Rob's anger begins to subside. Slowly, despair takes over; shrinking from Danny, Rob drops into the chair and buries his face in his hands. "I don't know much," he sobs. "All I have is a note."

"That's a start," Danny replies softly. "Do you have it on you?" Rob takes the note out of his pocket and hands it to Danny; the badger takes the note and reads it. "Whoever took her clearly wants to keep us busy," he concludes, folding the note. "But now is not the time to try and figure it out; we need fresh minds to make any progress."

"We can't waste any time!" Rob pleads. "We have to find her before she's-"

"Don't even think that!" Maria snaps, her eyes moist. "We'll find her alive and well, and you know it!"

"Maria's right," Danny agrees. "We need to keep our hopes up; we won't get anywhere being negative."

"I know," Rob whispers. "I just… I don't know what I'd do without her…"

"I think you should get some sleep," Danny suggests.

"Not sure I can," Rob laments.

"You'll have to try," Maria adds weakly, crying in sympathy.

"Maria, get Rob to bed," Danny asks softly. "Xander, go check Rob's ATV; judging by the mess he's made of the front door, it's probably buried in the undergrowth." With a nod, Xander heads outside.

"I'm really sorry," Rob murmurs. "I'll pay for a replacement."

"Don't worry about it; you weren't thinking straight," Danny assures. "Anyway, we have a couple of spares left over from when we renovated this place."

"Come on, let's get you to bed." Maria's trying to stay strong for her friend, but she cannot keep her voice from breaking.

Reluctantly, Rob stands and allows Maria to lead him to the spare bedroom; a moment later, Xander returns from outside. "I got his ATV out and put it with our trikes," he reports. "It looks like it needs some minor repairs though."

"We can sort that out in the morning," Danny acknowledges; he looks around at the mess. "We just need something to block the doorway, and then-"

Xander doesn't wait for Danny to finish; he picks up the sofa and stands it on end, blocking the front doorway. He then moves a few other pieces of sturdy furniture around it as reinforcement.

"That works, I guess," Danny compliments. "Now, let's get back to bed; we've got a lot of work to do in the morning."