AN: Thank you for your wonderful comments! As promised, a new chapter. I was going to put it up later this weekend and try and get a head start on the next chapter, but like I said earlier, I can't resist you guys!

Shawn froze when he saw the muzzle of the gun pointed right at his heart.

"You don't want to do this," He urged, slowly holding his hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture.

"You're wrong. I really do. You ruined my life, Mr. Spencer."

The gun went off and Shawn flinched, waiting for the pain to spread through his body. He heard a curse and opened the eyes he had clenched shut, his gaze falling on Juliet as she handcuffed the injured gunman.

"I would stop resisting arrest if I were you, because you are seriously ticking me off," She said, glaring at the man. "First, you rob a bank. Then you try and kill my boyfriend? I don't think so."

The handcuffs closed with a snap and she pulled the man up, passing him off to one of the officers that had just come up to her.

"Jules, that was…hot."

She gave a smirk as she walked over to him, but it fell from her face as she brushed a finger underneath his bruised eye. He couldn't help but to briefly close his eyes at her touch.

"You scared me, Shawn. I didn't think we would be able to get here in time, and I thought…thought I might lose you…" Her voice trailed off and she shook her head.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Jules." She didn't smile at that comment; she was still looking at him, worry creasing her face. He gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist to pull her closer. "I'll always come back to you."

"Promise me," She breathed.

"I promise."

Shawn opened his eyes slowly, peering across the room and looking for Cole. His heart stuttered with hope when the room appeared empty. He carefully turned his head to look behind him, half expecting to suddenly feel pain as Cole began his next torture session, but…he wasn't there. He furrowed his brow in confusion; since when did Cole leave him alone in the cabin?

Immediately, Shawn began twisting his arms, struggling against the tape and rope that held him captive. When Cole had been in the room, Shawn's efforts at freeing himself had been subtle. He hadn't wanted Cole to catch him. Cole's absence now gave him the freedom to really work hard at freeing himself. "Come on…" He muttered, twisting and pulling and straining his arms. He could feel the skin tearing around his wrists, could feel the vigorous movements pulling at his other wounds, but he didn't care. His mind was focused solely on escaping this hellhole.

He needed to hurry; too much time was passing…He watched in triumph as some of the tape snapped free and the rope slowly got looser and looser. "Please…" Cole could return at any moment, and he wouldn't be happy to see the progress Shawn had made in freeing himself. He jerked his hands frantically as the last of the bonds loosened, and he pulled his hands free. "Thank you…"

He leaned down to reach his legs, adrenaline pumping through his body and muting the pain that should have been slowing his progress. The rope fell to the ground and Shawn stood, swaying unsteadily on his feet. He staggered to the table and grabbed the knife, swallowing when he saw that it was still stained with some of his blood, and hurried to the computer. The screen was black, and he pressed a button, hoping to make it turn on. He swore when a box popped up saying the computer was locked and pushed away from the table, not wasting any time trying to guess the password. He hurried to the door, looking through the window to see if Cole was outside. He squinted against the bright sunlight, his eyes scanning the area outside as he looked for Cole. When he didn't see him, he took a deep breath and gripped the door handle.

Slowly, he opened the door and stepped outside. He staggered forward, his goal to lose himself in the forest that surrounded the cabin. He smiled as he felt the sun's warmth caress his face, as the breeze ruffled his hair. This felt like a dream. Could he really be about to escape? His eyes fell on the dirt road that wound its way through the trees. Knowing it would lead to civilization, he wanted to follow that path; but he also knew it was too obvious. Cole would find him quickly if he went that way. He turned, trying to decide which direction to take as one hand moved to press against one of the cuts that had begun bleeding heavily again.

He could do this. He could slip into the forest and escape. He took a step, and froze. The smile fell from his face and his heart hammered in his chest as he watched Cole walk around the corner of the cabin.

He tilted his head at Shawn. "Do you wonder why I wanted to keep you sedated? Obviously, you are bent on escaping at any chance you get."

Shawn backed away, holding the knife up in front of him, his hands shaking despite his best efforts to appear calm. "Don't…don't come any closer," He rasped.

"Do you think they're happy for you? They must be. They must have cheered when they saw you escape. I bet they are pacing the office, clutching their phones, hoping you will be able to find a way to contact them. I wasn't even planning on doing this; the thought just hit me out of the blue. But think about it! How devastating for them to go from that high of watching you escape and believing you're free, to watching you be dragged back into the cabin. Not to mention the way it will affect you, having your freedom snatched from you once again. I bet that will just…kill them, watching that hope you had to escape fade from your eyes.

I know they won't get to watch this part…but I'll bet they'll still hear some of it." The tire iron that Cole was holding slipped through his fingers until he was only holding the end of it. He smiled and took a step closer to Shawn, who moved back in response.

"Stay…stay back," Shawn warned, half of his mind on Cole, the other half weighing his options. There was no way he could win in a fight against Cole. The tire iron was longer than his knife, and Shawn just didn't have the strength to overpower the larger man. The only other option he had was to run, which he did as soon as Cole took another step forward.

The adrenaline that was pumping through Shawn lent him speed, and he put all of his efforts into running as far and as fast as he could away from Cole. He was so focused on his running that Cole's tackle caught him off guard. The knife flew out of his hand as they both fell to the ground. The pain was immediate, but Shawn wasted no time to start struggling against Cole; he was kicking and hitting as hard as he could to free himself. But with one punch to his temple, Shawn was dazed. He struggled to focus through the haze. He knew he needed to keep moving, so he tried to push himself up from the ground.

The hit to his side surprised him, knocking him sideways and robbing him of his breath. He forced his eyes open in time to see the tire iron swinging for his head, and immediately brought his arms up to block that hit. It landed with a sickening crunch on his wrist instead, and Shawn cried out, his stomach heaving at the nauseating pain.

The tire iron was swinging away from him and he pushed himself up with his good arm, hoping to crawl away. His efforts were futile; the tire iron landed against his side and Shawn felt one of his ribs crack. Giving up on escaping, he curled into a ball, trying to present as small of a target to Cole as he could. The hits fell across his back, his sides, his arms and legs, and he shuddered against the pain. Just when he felt like he wouldn't be able to hold on any longer, when his body was beginning to go limp…Cole stopped.

Shawn blinked heavily, slowly twisting his head until he could squint up at the man, his body trembling as he gasped for breath. Cole stared down at him, a slightly worried expression on his face.

"I hope I didn't do too much damage. You have to last until the fourth day. Did I hit you too hard? Or just hard enough?" He knelt beside Shawn, his hands ghosting across his body. Shawn stiffened at the extra pain as Cole touched broken bone and deep bruises. He clenched his jaw, fighting to control the whimpers that were escaping his mouth.

"I don't know how to hit someone hard enough to just cause a bruise instead of breaking a bone. It looks like I did a little of both this time. I'm not a bad guy, Shawn. Doesn't that knowledge just come automatically to bad guys?" He tilted his head as Shawn started laughing.

Shawn couldn't stop the strange noise that was coming from his mouth. It resembled laughter, but nothing about this situation was funny. That didn't make the laughter, or whatever it was, stop. It kept coming, growing louder and more hysterical, causing him more and more pain as his body shook. Finally, Cole grabbed his broken wrist and squeezed. The laughter turned to shrieking and Cole dropped his arm, nodding in satisfaction. Shawn quickly cradled it against his body, wrapping his other arm around his torso.

"You need to focus, Shawn. Try not to lose your mind go as we go through this, okay? I still want you to answer my questions and you can't do that if you become hysterical."

Cole grabbed Shawn's good arm and began dragging him back…back to the cabin. Shawn struggled only once, just to receive another vicious blow to the ribs for his efforts.

"You know, I uh…I've heard people say that with gunshot wounds it's really all about the shock, you know? That at some point, the…the wound itself just goes numb. You can't feel anything. Well, it's not true. I can say, without a doubt, that this is the most pain I've been in in my life."

He could remember waiting for that numbness, and it never came. And now, he had far surpassed the pain of that gunshot. Would he be able to go numb this time? He had a sinking feeling that wasn't going to happen.

Shawn looked up, his gaze riveted on the sky.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was a deep blue and there wasn't a cloud in sight.

Cole dragged him into the cabin, wrestling him into the chair. Shawn could feel him moving his arms and legs, preparing to tie them down again, and he let out a groan as Cole handled his broken wrist. He blinked against his fading vision, still focused on the small piece of sky he could see through the door.

He had almost been free.

How disappointed his father must be with him! Shawn had had the opportunity to escape and hadn't been able to get away. It was yet another failure to add to the list. He closed his eyes against the sudden swell of emotion. He had been so close, and now…he would never leave this cabin again. In two more days, Cole would finish this sick game, and Shawn would be…Well, he would be free then, wouldn't he? Not in the way he would have preferred, but free nonetheless.

He kept his eyes closed, ignoring the words Cole was speaking. He knew things had changed when his secret was revealed, but he had still hoped that his friends would eventually forgive him. His love for Juliet was so strong that he had believed they could move past the hurt someday. He had hoped Gus would come around and that his father would eventually be able to tolerate the sight of his own son again.

None of those things were going to happen. All of the things he had wanted to do, all of the plans that he had for the future…he was never going to get the chance to do them.

Juliet turned in his arms, pushing him away from the stove until his back ran into the counter behind him. She pulled his head down, returning the sweet kisses he had been giving her. When she pulled away, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, sighing contentedly. They stayed that way for several minutes before she broke the silence.

"I never want this to end," She said quietly.

He smiled at the words and pulled her closer. "Neither do I."

"I mean…I want to do this in fifty years, Shawn. I want to grow old and gray with you."

"I know. Me, too." He waited a moment before adding, "And in fifty years, I'd like to be rocking our grandchildren."

She pulled away, looking at him with wide eyes. "Is that…that's your indirect way of saying you want to have kids!" she said in astonishment.

He swallowed nervously, but still nodded. "I do. I want a little girl that looks just like you."

"Except with your eyes. And I want a little boy that looks just like you," She said, giving him an ecstatic smile.

"Except with your eyes," Shawn replied, his voice deeper than usual.

And that…that would never happen, either.

AN: Sorry...