Danny's feeling of victory was very short-lived as he stumbled out across a field, recognizing nothing in his path. He knew that it wouldn't be long before the Patriots would realize that he was missing and at this rate, with his stiff legs barely carrying him as he tried to stumble towards what looked like it might be a train-yard, his great escape was likely to be cut short. He managed to make it across to the other side of a gate before he erupted into a coughing fit and collapsed to the ground. He fell back with his weight against a chain-link fence as he fought to catch his breath.

He hadn't been sure whether he should search for help, since he wasn't sure how much the townspeople trusted the Patriots and he was certain that his current appearance didn't send out the kind of message that tended to put strangers in a welcoming mood.

He didn't have to worry about making that judgement call for long though since he soon heard footsteps approaching him. Someone had clearly heard him choking and had followed the sound of his coughing fit to him. He tried to look up at them, but before he could make out anything beyond a pair of brown leather boots, his vision faded to black.

When he woke up, he wasn't sure how much later, Danny found that he was lying down inside a bedroom with a couple of blankets pulled over him. He moved to sit up a little and flinched at the pain that shot through his chest, where his skin was still decorated with bruises left over from the Patriots' hospitality.

"You're awake." He turned towards the source of the sound to spot a curly-haired brunette leaning against the frame of the doorway. Her arms were wrapped around her waist as as she peered over at him. "You were out for a couple of hours there."

"Why did you help me?" He asked as he leaned back with his head against the bed's headboard.

She hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and took a couple of steps into the room. "The enemy of my enemy, right?"

"So then people here don't like the Patriots?" Danny questioned as he felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"Not exactly," she admitted as she stopped, still a few steps away from him. "How long did they have you in there for?"

"Not sure," he responded. His eyes darted down to the raw flesh on his wrists from where the cuffs had dug into his skin before he looked back over at her again. "I lost track a while ago."

"What did they get you for anyways?" The girl asked as she eyed him from where she was standing. She still seemed a little unsure of what to make of him.

"Being born into the wrong family," he responded with a shrug. "I guess they were keeping me to use as leverage... How about you?"

"What do you mean?" She asked as her brow furrowed in confusion.

"You said they're you enemy, but people around here don't see them that way," he pointed out. "So what did they do to you?"

"It wasn't to me," she responded. "It was to my brother." She paused for a moment and looked around the room that Danny suddenly realized was probably her brother's. "They brain-washed him. Changed him into someone I didn't even recognize to use him as one of their weapons. Now he's dead."

"I'm sorry," Danny told her.

"It's not your fault," she responded as her gaze dropped to the floor. She took another step closer to him and then told him, "And not everybody is falling for the Patriots' acts. There's a few people getting together to try and stop them."

Danny sat up further and clutched at his side as a surge of pain shot through it before asking, "Where?"

She took another step forwards and her hand moved to his shoulder to stop him from sitting up any further. As he looked from her hand to her face, a slight blush formed on her cheeks.

A nervous smile formed on her lips as she told him, "Me and my dad are meeting with them tomorrow. You can come too, if you really want, but right now you need to rest."

"I need to do something," he insisted. "Not just lay here."

"Then get some sleep. You need to heal," she told them.

"Alright," he agreed before he leaned back in the bed.

She turned to walk away, but paused halfway to the door and turned to look back over at her shoulder at him as she introduced, "I'm Heather by the way."

"I'm Danny," he told her. After a pause he added, "Thanks... For helping me."

"I couldn't just leave you lying there all bloody and walk away, could I?" She questioned as she shot him a small smile. "I'll be back with some food and water in a bit."

"We need more than just two untrained amateurs," Miles complained.

"My daughter found a prisoner that escaped from the Patriots," Joe responded. "They should be here anytime. He's pretty beaten up, but he should still be able to help. Kid's sure motivated enough according to Heather."

"Great," Miles responded just as sarcastically. "Now we have three amateurs and some injured kid who's more likely to get in the way and get us killed than-"

He cut himself short with his mouth hanging open as Joe's daughter came into sight with a surprisingly familiar boy at her side.

Charlie shot a confused look over at her uncle when he stopped talking mid-sentence, then followed his line of sight and froze as a giant grin formed on her lips at the sight of the pair in the distance. "Danny!"

She rushed over to her brother, who picked up his own pace to head towards her. As she reached him, she moved, as if to embrace him, but instead came to a screeching halt right in front of him and grabbed his face in both of her hands. She pulled at the skin under his eyes frantically, needing to be sure that the Patriots hadn't brain-washed him and tattooed him while he had apparently been being held prisoner.

"What are you doing, weirdo?" Danny asked as he tried to swat her hands away. "Get your hands out of my eyes." He couldn't believe that, after all the time he had been missing, this was how she was choosing to greet him.

Charlie didn't let the insult get to her as relief washed over her when she found that there were no numbers tattooed on the inside her brother's eye. She let out a small laugh of disbelief as she wrapped her arms around him tightly and buried her face in his shoulder.

He winced a little as she held onto him in her vise grip, but his smile remained in place as he commented, "A little tight, Charlie."

"Sorry," she apologized, but still squeezed him one last time before finally releasing him.

"This another ex-boyfriend?" Connor questioned as he turned to look over at his father.

"No. Brother," Bass corrected as he stared pale-faced over at the two youngest Mathesons.

Connor peered over at the girl that the boy had arrived with and noticed that he didn't seem to be the only one relieved that this was some mystery brother that no one had ever bothered to tell him about and not fresh competition.

A/N: Please read and review! :) Updates of this should be coming pretty regularly.