Ch. 7 Kidnapped Heartbreak:

[A/N: This is an emotion heavy chapter...just fair warning.]

"Be careful you two, call if you run into any trouble."

"Don't worry Johnathan we'll be fine." Cross said smiling as the two male toons synced channels on their walkie talkies before waving good bye; Harper smiled waving lightly as Johnathan's golden car pulled away to go back to his safe house where his family was waiting.

"So…Johnny boy told me that you babysat for his kiddos last night, and they actually like you!"

"Yep! It was fun! A little awkward at first but it was a blast. They kept mentioning that they did something awful to you the last time you were there but they never said what. Care to elaborate on that?" She asked with one brow raised. Cross chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck while his other arm swung by his side.

"Oh the little scamp Simon was messing with me. He had this bug-like mechanism that he had just finished and placed it on my wing without me noticing." As they walked and talked Cross became very animated laughing at himself as he acted out the experience trying his best not to knock his guns from their holsters.

"So I was just drawing with Rosanna when Simon wanted to show me something. I shrugged and was like sure why not? As I stood up I felt something crawling on my wings I asked the kids to look but they just shook their heads and assured me it was nothing. So shrugging it off I went with Simon and my wings started to itch and I had this sensation of something being on me so like a dork I ignored it until it had climbed up onto the tip of my wing and I went to scratch at the spot and that's when I pulled my hand away and there was this large bug on my hand!" Harper grinned as she began to giggle watching as he stopped walking and mimicked what he did that night.

"And I screamed, I mean from what Johnathan said from outside it sounded like bloody murder but when he and Belle rushed into the room they saw their kids laughing on the floor as I was standing there frantically dusting myself off looking for the dang thing. I never did find it but luckily he hasn't asked me back to babysit. Every now and then I still get that tingling sensation on my wings an- Harper?" Pausing in mid-sentence he noticed she wasn't near him nor anywhere in sight.

"Harper?" He asked looking around not realizing the little angel had snuck off to a nearby tree to grab a large leaf before walking up behind him and just lightly touch his wings making them flutter. Holding in her giggles she side stepped when he turned around and did it again when he turned back around, after a few minutes of messing with his wings Cross managed to grab the leaf as Harper burst into a fit of giggles. He sighed rolling his eyes.

"You little sneak, that was clever. I never even heard you make a sound." She grinned facing him as he just rolled his eyes chuckling.

"No wonder Johnathan treats you like one of his children! You act just like them!" Cross laughs smiling for a moment before noticing the confused look on the little angel's face.

"H-He does? I thought he was just being nice." Harper asked more to herself then Cross as she titled her head to the side in thought, he smiled.

"I wouldn't fret, it's a good thing. He's never been so fatherly toward another toon besides his children before…well except for this one time when he gave me some advice." Cross snickered as he resumed walking with Harper running to catch up.

"Oh? Advice for what?"

"I was going to ask my girlfriend at the time to marry me and I needed his advice before I did so." He said casually as he looked around at the area of thick trees slowing to a stop once more.

"Aww Cross I didn't know you were such a romantic!" Harper squealed in delight drawing a slight blush across his face, he grinned.

"Hehe, I had everything planned for that night. It was perfect…so when I finally got up the nerve to ask her at the end of the night I remembered what Johnathan said. Just be yourself and take a few deep breaths and there's no way she can say no."

"Did she say yes?!" Harper gasped with hearts in her eyes getting a little too close to the taller angel making him laugh at her curious delight.

"Ha-ha yep! It was the best night of my life, I had the love of my life there by my side and soon we would be wed…" Sighing sadly his smile faded and so did hers as he recounted what happened that fateful day.

"A few weeks before the wedding we went on one last raid together, you know before we did the honeymoon thing. Well…there was an ambush…I tried to save her, to get her out of there with the rest of our crew but we were outnumbered…she didn't make it…"

" I'm so sorry Cross…I didn't know…" Harper glanced down at the ground sadly as Cross just shrugged.

"Its fine…I guess that's why I try to distance myself from others…I don't want anyone in danger because of me…I mean it was a long time ago and I should be over it but…I don't want my heart to be broken again…" For a minute the two angels stood in silence just listening as the warm breeze blew softly through the leaves, after a couple of minutes Harper walked up to Cross and pulled him into a hug shocking him momentarily before he wrapped his arms around her holding her close.

"Time heals broken hearts Cross, and I'm sure she'd want you to be happy. To let people back in but I can see where it'll take time, but know your friends have your back. You don't have to do this alone." Pulling out of the hug she smiled sweetly at him making him blush slightly as his smile returned.

"Thanks Harper." The silence returned for a minute comfortable and tender until a loud noise came from across the grove they were in, drawing their weapons Cross signaled for Harper to get behind a tree as he went to check it out. With tentative steps he quietly inched his way forward sticking to the brush and tree bases to keep out of sight, poking his head around with guns drawn he jumped out of his hiding spot to come face to face with…

"A squirrel? Are you kidding me?" He sighed in annoyance before Harper's blood curdling scream rang through the trees.

"HARPER!" Turning on his heel he darted back to where he left her hiding only to dash behind a tree, his heart pounding and eyes wide at what he just saw. On the other side of the tree, Simeon had Harper knocked unconscious with a large gash on the back of her head as he tossed the large branch aside. Smirking the human picked up the angel and walked back from whence he came.

'Oh no! But we haven't even hit the border yet! Where in the world did he come from?! This isn't good I've got to call the guys.' Cross poked his head around again to watch the direction that they disappeared in before keeping to the trees as he called the guys for back up.

"Guys hey its Cross we have a big problem! Simeon is here and he has HARPER!" Keeping an eye on the human as he walked Cross quickly hid behind a thick branch when the man turned to look in his direction, luckily he always wore green pants or he would have been spotted.

"Are you sure it's Simeon?" Johnathan's voice came through the device, cool and collected but Cross knew his anger was boiling on the other end.

"Yea pretty sure, white hair, glasses, has the most evil look in his eye with black ink running down the left side of his face." A collective gasp sounded from the other side as Bendy's shaken voice boomed through the speaker.

"You need to get Angel Cake outta there! We've seen firsthand what that loon can do and it ain't pretty!"

"Yea! Use that stealth yer always bragging abou-." Abel's voice annoyed voice came through the speaker next only to get cut off by Johnathan.

"Do what you have to Cross, just don't lose them. Get her out of there if possible and Cross? Don't get caught. I don't need two of you stuck in that hellhole."

"Yes sir." Using his stealth, Cross followed close behind avoiding the security cameras that were hidden in the trees before dashing toward a broken window on the far side of the building.

'Don't worry Harper, I'm coming for ya.'

"Ugh, wh-where am I?" Harper asked groggily as she was carried through a door before being slammed down on the floor, yelping in pain she opened her eyes to see Simeon standing over her. Grabbing for her guns her eyes widened when she realized they were no longer there, glancing back at the human she tried to back up but she didn't get very far.

"Ah ah ah, you're not getting away that easily." Simeon said smirking as he stomped on her wing holding her there, she whimpered trying to free herself but failed. Bending down to her level, the man cupped her face smirking for a moment before growling as she went to bite his hand. He laughed smacking her across the face before stepping off of her wing causing her to fall back onto the ink stained floor.

"You remember this place don't you Harper? Your home for the past two years well…until a few weeks ago." Glaring at the toon he watched as the light from the hallway shone on her features before a maddening smile crossed his face.

"What have you done with Cayne?! Where's my brother?!" Harper shouted trying to sound brave and in control.

"Why he's right behind you my dear, let's just hope he doesn't mind the company though. He gets very rowdy when someone invades on his territory." Chuckling darkly Simeon grabbed her shoulders before forcefully turning her around and shoving her once more to the floor, glaring at the ink stained concrete she looked up at the sound of chains rattling in front of her. With a horrified gasp her eyes welled up with tears as Cayne's semi-conscious body shifted against the wall, from what little light there was coming out of the hallway she could see that his blue horns had red tips and there were gashes and bruises all over his body. From his neck down across his torso trailing down his feet large chains held him firmly against the wall, but not for long…

"C-Cayne?!" Harper screeched upon seeing his battered body as she slowly began to crawl over to him as Simeon's laughter filled the room.

"That's right Cayne, wake up…you have a visitor." Cackling like a wild man Simeon left the room closing and bolting the door shut behind him, as the man's laughter died down light moans could be heard from Cayne as he began to awaken.

"Oh Cayne, what have they done to you?" Harper cried as streams of tears rolled down her cheeks, lightly cupping his face she watched with glassy eyes as his large blue eyes fluttered open.

"H-Harper? W-what are you doing here?" Still a bit groggy he closed his eyes for a moment allowing them to adjust before opening them once more.

"C-Cayne I'm so sorry, I-I Simeon he…he found me." Glancing down at the floor he shook his head as fear crossed his face, he could himself losing control again.

"Y-you shouldn't be here…it's not safe" Closing his eyes again he chuckled darkly as his horns started to turn red, his face and halo dripping onto the chains below. Standing up Cayne's body began to change, his chuckles turned to hysterical laughter causing Harper to watch horrified as her loving brother became a monster before her very eyes.

"It's not safe for you here…you need to run. " Cayne said as his voice deepened, behind his back his remaining wing turned into a wing of knives as his spiked tail did the same.

"C-Cayne?" Harper whimpered backing away from him until she reached the wall, her wings pressed firmly against the cool stone as hot tears streamed down her face.

"You know what happens to people who intrude on my domain don't you? Hahaha…..They don't make it out alive." Rolling his head to one side, Cayne's once blue eyes were now black and red.

"Cayne…Y-You're scaring me."

"I know not this Cayne you speak of… My name's PAYNE! And now it's time for you to die!" As Harper whimpered her brother extended his claws chuckling before going in for a strike, from down the hall Cross poked his head around the corner before ducking into a nearby room when Harper's terrified screams echoed through the studio.

'What is he doing to her?!' Cross thought about ready to make a dash when the sound of approaching footsteps and maniacal laughter stopped him, with widening eyes he quickly hid underneath the security desk pulling a full box of tapes in front of him to hide his form as best he could.

"Ah listen to that, it sounds like Harper has met Payne…Good Cayne's body is giving into the serum, pretty soon it'll be permanent." Simeon mused chuckling to himself.

'Serum? Payne?' Cross furrowed his brows thinking as he tried his best to hear more of the mad man's rambling while another terrified scream tore through the halls.

"Ah, music to my ears. Oh how I've missed that angel's screams." He paused hitting a few buttons on the console before him turning up the volume on the screen for Cayne's room.

"Run, run my little mouse…try as you may there is nowhere you can hide where Payne won't find you." Cross tried to suppress a growl as Simeon stood above him laughing until another human knocked on the room drawing a low growl from the madman.

"What is it Jason? Can't you see I'm a little busy at the moment?" The man in the doorway shook slightly under the younger man's gaze as he shifted his weight from side to side.

"Aren't you worried that he'll kill her?" Jason asked slightly worried, Simeon scoffed waving his hand in the air.

"I'm not worried. That's the whole reason she's here, for the serum to take full effect he must kill another toon. And who better than his sister to test out this theory?"

"Sir he's breaking through the door!" Keith yelled from down the hall, the man sighed lightly pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"Very well then I'm coming." Sighing in annoyance Simeon left the room to take care of his little problem, Cross sighed for a second as he made his way out from under the console gasping when his eyes landed on a monitor that showed Harper and "Payne" fighting. Watching for a few seconds as Payne landed a major blow to one of Harper's wings he growled turning away as he pushed the box of tapes close to the door before darting down the hall where Payne was breaking through the door. Taking a deep breath he looked around for something to use as a weapon when he looked down and saw a 2x4 laying on the floor beside him, he bent down and picked it up taking another deep breath he jumped out of the way as the bolted door got slammed into the wall beside him.

"Cayne it's me! Snap out of it!" Harper cried dodging an attack as Payne's claws hit the door slamming it out into the hallway. Glancing toward the doorway Harper didn't see Payne's claws coming toward her until it was too late. With widened eyes she tried to dodge but he managed to slice her wing leaving a three clawed gash across the upper left hand side, screaming in pain she tried to get away but to no avail.

"Any last words sister?" He cackled raising his claw preparing himself for the final blow when out of nowhere Cross entered the room hitting Payne with the 2x4 slamming him into the wall beside him. For a split second his color changed back to blue but it was only for a moment before Payne's black and red eyes surged with anger.

"Harper are you alright?" Cross asked helping her up, she nodded before running out of the room pulling him with her.

"Come on we need to get out of here!" Harper and Cross made a b-line for the door as Cross grabbed the tapes, he pulled them into the security room for just a moment as Jason and Keith ran passed trying to get a hold of the demon but to no avail. Poking his head around the corner Cross nodded to himself before grabbing Harper's wrist and running the rest of the way to the door. Slamming the door closed Cross dropped the box of tapes leaning against the door he sighed for a moment before feeling something slam against it. Harper pushed against the door with all of her might as Cross used his back to keep it closed, the two glanced at one another for a second with a small smile when all of a sudden one of Payne's claws made it through the door.

"C-Cross….." She stammered as tears streamed down her face as she stared at the claw through his chest. At that moment it was like everything was in slow motion, as Payne retracted his claw back through the door Cross closed his eyes and slid down the door leaving a trail of ink in his wake just as the others arrived.

.

"C-Cross…?" Harper cried shaking him lightly.

"CROSS?! Come on stay with me! Open your eyes dammit! STAY WITH ME!" As more tears streamed down her face Cross's body just slumped over, bleeding from his wound in his right chest cavity. He was out.

"HELP ME GUYS!" Abel and Bendy rushed over to Cross as Johnathan ran to Harper's side.

"Abel take him to the hospital immediately! We will meet you there. See to it that he gets the proper care." Abel nodded taking one last look at Harper before speeding off to the hospital with Cross in hand.

"I-I…h-he…Cayne…" Was all she could stammer out as Bendy just reached down and picked her up, looking over to Johnathan the two men frowned as she sobbed limping away from the door for fear of Payne's return.

"What's that?" Bendy asked spying the box of tapes by the door.

"C-Cross grabbed it before we got out…." Looking at Harper Bendy gently placed her back on her feet staying close by for support when Johnathan walked over and glanced in the box.

"It's a bunch of tapes...Bendy pick these up and bring them with us we may need these." He said walking over to Harper holding her for support as Bendy walked over and grabbed the tapes before leading the two to his car.

"I-It's all my fault Johnathan…i-if I didn't…if we didn't…" Sighing the flaming toon wrapped her into a hug and just let her cry as Bendy sighed opening the passenger side door.

"Come on, let's go see Cross."

"He's going into surgery now. He'll be on a breathing machine for a little while. But he's lucky to be alive."

"Okay thank you nurse." Sighing sadly Abel watched as the nurse left the waiting room before running a gloved hand through his hair.

'You've gotten yourself into quite a mess this time Cross.' Shaking his head he sat down in a chair as he waited for the others to arrive.

"ABEL!" Harper shouted before running up to him and wrapping him in a tight embrace throwing the rebel angel off guard.

"What'd they say?" Johnathan asked as he watched as Harper just cried into Abel's chest.

"They said he's in surgery now, he's lucky to be alive and will be on a breathing machine for a little while." Nodding his head the flaming toon took a couple steps away from them as he called his wife telling her he was going to be home late.

"Hey where's Bendy?" Abel asked rubbing Harper's back as she started to calm down, looking around she too noticed that the demon was missing.

"He took the tapes to your place he should be right back." As hours passed the little group sat in the waiting room when Bendy showed up, glancing down at Harper's sleeping form against Abel's shoulder he noticed that part of her wing was stained with ink.

"Hey what happened to her wing?" He asked taking a closer look as Abel tried to keep her still, upon closer inspection he saw that the top half of her wing had been sliced and was still bleeding pretty badly.

"Excuse me nurse?" Bendy called out as a nurse walked by, she stopped for a moment looking at them before noticing Harper's wing.

"Oh dear! How long has she been like this?" The nurse gasped rushing over to the little group raising alarm as Harper groggily yawned as Abel nudged her awake while the nurse helped her sit up.

"Huh? A-Abel? What's going on?"

"Ma'am I need you to come with me please." Rubbing her eyes she glanced over at the three mobsters before following the nurse as Cross's surgeon walked over to the group.

"Hello, you're here for Cross?"

"Yea how is he?" Bendy asked directing his gaze to the surgeon as he smiled.

"He's in recovery now, it was really touch and go for a while. He has a strong will to live that one. He should make a full recovery but it will take time. No working for a while. He will need to get a check up in a month to see how he's healing but as long as he's healing nicely and no rough housing he should be right as rain and back to full health in a couple weeks or so. Take good care of him." Glancing between one another the guys waited a few minutes before locating Cross's recovery room just as Harper and the nurse from before came walking down the hallway.

"Hey, Cross is out of surgery. He's in recovery. Come on we are gonna go see him." Johnathan stayed behind to answer a phone call while Bendy and Abel took Harper to go see Cross. As they neared the recovery ward the sound of a heart monitor beeped through the hallway as a nurse led them to Cross's room.

With a sad look on their faces Bendy and Abel glanced at Harper and then to Cross. Sighing with tears in her eyes, the little angel walked across the room to Cross's left side. Saying nothing she lightly grasped his hand giving it a little squeeze before sitting down by his bedside.

"This is all my fault…i-if…if I hadn't gone with him….he'd.." Sniffling she let the tears fall as she looked at his sleeping face.

"He'd probably be dead. Look Angel Cake its not yer fault. If he would have gone in there alone he might not be here." Bendy said laying a gentle hand on her shoulder with a small smile he sighed.

"B-But if I wasn't with him then he wouldn't of had to go into the studio in the first place…if I-I wasn't captured then he wouldn't be hurt…He'd be ok." With her eyes full of tears Harper started to cry again letting go Cross's hand she sniffled trying to calm down as the fallen angel's eyes fluttered open. With a painful sigh he looked up at Abel and Bendy with a weak grin before turning his attention to Harper reaching out to wipe her tears away.

"Shh shh...Everything's gonna be alright." He cooed making her lift her face as her violet eyes shined like glass, he chuckled.

"C-Cross?" She stammered holding his hand against her cheek for a second before letting go.

"H-Hey Angel Cake…W-What's all this talk about blame huh?" Harper sat sniffling for a minute as soft wheezing noises drifted out of his throat.

"Cross you're alright! I'm soooo sorry I got you hurt and-" As a fresh round of tears appeared he reached for her hand and lightly grasped it squeezing it gently every now and then.

"Hey it's ok, it wasn't your fault."

"B-But if I didn't go with you wouldn't have gotten hurt. You wouldn't have had to go inside that horrible place." Her voice quivering with every word as the two had momentarily forgotten that Abel and Bendy were even there.

"Harper….I would have had to go in anyway...that was part of the job...If it wasn't for you being there I could be dead right now...so in a way…...you saved me." He wheezed taking his time as he breathed through the pain, the light beeps of his breathing machine echoing in the background.

"But Cayne..."

"Harper believe me he would have seen me either way, I may be stealthy but I'm not that stealthy. Plus with you being there I was able to grab the security tapes." Abel looked at him for a second remembering the box that was left outside the door when they found him.

"Oh so that's what was in that box?" Abel asked no one in particular.

"Yep! I grabbed them thinking they would be useful. Oh! Harper are you alright? You're wing..."

"She's fine the nurse took a look at her while you were still out."

"But she's still bleeding..." Cross said pointing to the bandages over her wing as they slowly turned black.

"I-I'm fine..." Harper said just above a whisper as her eyes began to shut.

"Harper you need to stay awake sweetheart." Abel said holding her shoulders as she began to slump forward a little.

"But I'm...so...tired..." She yawned placing her head on the edge of Cross's bed.

"Bendy go get a nurse and Johnathan if he's still here. I think she ripped her stitches open." Abel just rubbed her back as she glanced up at Cross as he watched her worriedly for a few minutes before a nurse came in the room with Bendy and Johnathan following close behind.

"I need you to sit up dear so I can take a look at that wing of yours." As the nurse removed the bandages from Harper's wing Cross's eyes widened having never seen the wound before now, he glanced back down at her as she just calmly sat there with a dazed look on her face while the nurse removed the old stitches before replacing them with new ones.

"She's going to be a little out of it for a bit." Placing her hand on the girl's head the nurse sighed.

"She has a slight fever so keep an eye on her and she'll be fine. Cross hun how are you feeling?"

"Hmm? Oh I'm fine." The nurse smiled sweetly at him nodding as she wrapped Harper's wing in new bandages.

"There we go dear all fixed up, and Cross since you're feeling better we can move you to a regular room so you're out of recovery." He nodded smiling a bit thanking the nurse as she left the room.

"Alright Cross, time to go." Abel said crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for Cross to sign the exit waver.

"Alright I'm coming, where's Bendy?" Cross asked as he took a minute to stretch himself out.

"Huh? Oh he had some things he had to take care of, he'll be over later."

"Okay."

"You ready to go?" Harper asked walking up to the two angels.

"We'll be meeting Johnathan and Bendy at my place." She sighed fluttering her wings a bit.

"For what?"

"To watch those tapes you found and decide what happens next." She answered like it was just an every day question.

"Harper will you be ok to watch those?" Cross asked frowning as she just shrugged her shoulders looking away.

"It doesn't matter, let's get going. I want to get home before they do." Nodding to one another the two boys sighed.

"Whatever you say Harper."

*End Ch. 7*