Michael's thoughts whirled wildly, trying to catch up with reality and wake up at the same time. He flicked his eyes around, assessing the situation. There were three people crowding up the tiny room: one holding the dagger, one holding him down and one stationed by the door. Michael had a serious disadvantage but he wasn't going to go down without a fight. If he could get the dagger away from his throat, he might be able to make enough noise to wake up the others in the house. He could even use the size of the room to his advantage. All he had to do was just get the dagger away from his neck...

"Stand up," the man with the dagger ordered, backing off slightly to allow Michael to move. Michael hid a smirk. That was enough. Slowly, cautiously, Michael began to sit up before bursting into movement. He grabbed the wrist of the hand that was holding the dagger and twisted hard, wrenching the dagger out of the man's grasp. Immediately, the other two attacked. Michael shoved the first man back against the wall, which made a satisfyingly loud crash. Someone had to have heard that.

Michael quickly turned his attention to the other two men who were advancing on him, taking the time to assess them further. All three men were dressed in black, rather like... Michael frowned, glancing back to the man on the ground. His mask had slipped a little, revealing his face. It was Gerald. Which meant that Lilith was behind this.

Dammit.

He could deal with that later. Right now, Michael had a bigger problem. The two men advancing on him had somehow procured machine pistols and they were pointed directly at him. While using these would surely waken everyone in the house, it wouldn't matter. And especially at this close of range... There would be no way that they could miss.

XxXxX

Thud.

Fiona groaned. What the hell was that? Groggily, she shifted to glare at the offending noise that had woken her up only to hiss when her hip reminded her of it's condition. She slowed, taking care to not move her leg too much as she turned to figure out what had woken her. All she saw was a wall. Frowning, she glanced around. Where was she again? Oh, yes. Nate's old room. It was a bit odd to think of it that way, that she was sleeping in the bed Michael's brother had slept in for years. Michael. He was in the room next to her, the room... The room that thud had come from.

She turned back to frown at the wall. That hadn't exactly been a quiet thud. Not the kind that would come from, say, falling out of bed for some reason. She strained to listen for more movement. Instead, she heard voices.

There was someone in there with Michael. Male. Maybe more than one person. Not Sam, no, Fiona didn't recognize the voice. And they didn't sound exactly friendly.

Dammit, what was going on? Growling angrily, Fiona pulled herself off the bed, her face twisting as pain shot up her leg. She toppled when she tried to put weight on it, grabbing for the bed post to keep herself vertical. Slowly, swearing profusely under her breath, Fiona made her way to the door and around to Michael's room.

XxXxX

"We were given strict orders to bring you back alive," one of the advancing men said quietly. "But Lilith said nothing about how alive you should be."

"I'm sure she'd rather have me more alive than dead," Michael pointed out. A string of multi-lingual curses ran through his head when he heard Gerald behind him groan and stir. In just a moment he was going to be surrounded and completely screwed.

"Well. She's not here to tell us, is she?"

"I'm sure you don't want to guess wrong and take the punishment for it, do you?" Michael tried, glancing back at Gerald.

"Lilith's punishments are actually... quite enjoyable."

Aw hell. Seriously? That woman was really a psycho, wasn't she? Michael glanced at all three men, wondering just how many others Lilith had wrapped around her finger. Was Michael to be the latest edition?

"Michael?"

Michael looked up with a start, staring at the now open doorway. Leaning against the frame was Fiona, taking in the scene before her, realizing how much in trouble both she and Michael were suddenly in. One of the men with a machine pistol whipped around, not hesitating to let out several rounds.

"No!" Michael bellowed, jumping towards her instinctively. However, it seemed Gerald was conscious now. Strong arms wrapped around Michael, yanking him away from Fiona as she folded to the ground. Michael struggled desperately, eyes locked on Fiona's figure in a crumpled heap on the ground, praying for any sign of life.

"Fio-!" An elbow jammed into his throat and Michael chocked, the cry silenced. Something connected with his head and he suddenly stopped struggling, falling fast into darkness.

A/N: I love reviewers and live for constructive criticism!