A/N: As of this week, the UK (Where I'm from) is now two episodes ahead of the US in the airing schedule of Super Samurai. I have considered carefully what I intend to do, since I am aware that many of my readers are FROM the US, I have decided not to risk spoiling, and will not fic the episodes until they air in the US. In the meantime, I will continue with my own storyline.

Far from the city, Ji and Brenda were enjoying the remainder of their honeymoon. Brenda was a city girl, who had barely gone anywhere there wasn't a Starbucks, so she genuinely loved the still and the quiet. Ji had taken her on a gentle hike into some woods. He was carrying a large backpack, which made her wonder exactly how much food he had packed.

"It's really beautiful out here." She commented.

"It is indeed." Ji agreed as he started to look around. Brenda thought this was odd, he had told her that he just wanted some fresh air, but the way he was acting, it looked like he was actually searching for something.

"Um...can I help you?" She asked him. "It looks like you're looking for something."

"I am." He said with a smile. He veered off the path a little way, and started to inspect a large rock set into an embankment. Brenda just looked at him a little curiously.

"Ji, what are you doing?" She asked him.

"Well, it has been a long time since I had the opportunity to take part in my hobby." He told her. He placed down the backpack, and reached inside, pulling out a curious looking too. It was clearly a hammer, though it had a square face, while the opposite end tapered into almost a flat, wide chisel. Brenda watched as he used the chisel end to start marking a line on the rock.

"Isn't playing around with rocks and dirt Serena and Emily's thing?" She asked him. Ji just turned to look at her, smiling.

"This isn't playing." He informed her, before turning the hammer around. He tapped the rock a couple of times, before with a hard blow, the rock split in two. As he picked up a piece of it, he showed it to Brenda. Inside, there were a few little purple crystals.

"That...that's beautiful." She commented. "Is that amethyst?"

"Very good." He said, impressed that she recognised it. "Geology has always been an interest of mine. I just haven't had much chance to go out in the last couple of years."

"I guess all those Nighlock running around have kept you and Jayden pretty busy." She commented. Ji chipped off a little piece of amethyst, and put it into a plastic bag, before putting it into his backpack.

"So, you go around breaking up rocks for fun?" She teased him. "You know, they used to make prisoners do that as a punishment."

"I've just always been fascinated by how the Earth formed over millions of years." He told her. He spotted a small, flat stone a little way off, and picked it up, inspecting it before showing it to her. "Like this for example."

"Ji, it's a stone." She said, seemingly unimpressed. He pointed to a few lines on it.

"You see these markings?" He asked her. "The way they almost seem to be layering up? This stone is what's called sedimentary rock. It formed over many years by layers and layers of mud washing across it, building up in layers. As it dries out, it forms rock."

"Wow." She commented, trying to feign some form of interest. "So, how long does this take?"

"Thousands, sometimes even millions of years." He told her. He put the rock into a plastic bag, before putting it into his backpack. "Come, we're quite close to the river. I believe there's some pyrite in this area."

As he started off down the path, she just shook her head, chuckling slightly, before looking to her slightly expanding stomach.

"Its official, your daddy's a dork." She said to the baby. "Sorry about that kid."

She started down the path, catching up to Ji and taking his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

Back at the school, David went into the back of the command truck, finding his intelligence officer by the computer, pulling up records.

"Come on Benny, what do you have for me?" He asked.

"Well, we already know that Hudson's former military, well I just checked up that Clyde kid that was named in the note." Benny informed his boss. "His dad served in Afghanistan too, two tours. His second ended when an IED caught his transport. He ended up leaving his legs in the desert."

"You think he might have served with Hudson?" David asked. "It would explain why..."

"There's something else." Benny interrupted him. "His dad was sent home on a military pension, which was handled by Bright Securities."

"Bright Securities?" David asked. "Let me guess, the man who handled it was Goodwill."

"They lost the lot." Benny informed him. "Not only is it possible the kid's dad was a comrade in arms, both of them lost money because of Goodwill."

"That's motive." David sighed. "What about the other name?"

"Well, I don't know about Spike Skullovitch, the name comes up clean. No criminal charges, no juvie record, but there is something interesting. His dad is listed as Eugene Skullovitch, the entrepreneur, and he's married to one Kimberly Skullovitch, who adopted Spike when he was young."

"OK, so what does that have to do with anything?" David asked him. Benny smiled.

"Kimberly Skullovitch was a negotiator with a SWAT unit over in Stone Canyon." He informed him. "I think her son picked up a bit from her and is trying to help us."

"Well, right now we can use all the help we can get." He replied. Just then, Eric came in, pulling up the schematics of the area.

"Alright, we located the classroom they're in." Eric informed him. "The rest of the classes appear to be locked down, so far our surveillance suggests they're only in that one class."

"They're only after the girl, they told us that." David said with a nod. "So they're happy to just lock the other kids up."

"Hudson said he wanted to set up a Skype." Eric reminded him. "We located the computer lab on the top floor, on this side of the building. I have two sharpshooters positioned, one in the bank across the street, the other on the billboard, ready to line up shots. In the meantime, we're looking at how to enter. We've confirmed the doors are wired."

"Hudson should be familiar with IEDs." David agreed. "So we'll need bomb disposal."

"I've already got them working on that." Eric told him. "I've also got guys trying to find ways to the roof without raising attention. We're looking at going in hard and fast if we can't negotiate."

"Well, we still don't know what they want yet, so let's not lose hope we can't talk our way out of this." David told him.

Hudson was pacing in the classroom, while Clyde watched him nervously, keeping a hold of Melanie. The other gunmen had been sent to find the computer lab. Spike was sure by now that Mal had to have been taken to an ambulance, and more importantly, that his note would have reached the police. He held Vicky as she sat, whimpering slightly, staring at the blood on the floor. She had seen one of her best friends shot before her eyes only minutes before.

"The lab's secure." One of the gunmen stated. "We've got the windows covered, and the power and phone lines are back up. We just need to set up the link."

"Alright." He commented. "So, does anyone know how...?"

"I'll do it." Spike blurted out. They all looked around at him. "I'm the top of my class in computer science. I should be able to connect you."

"Why are you so desperate to help kid?" Hudson asked him.

"I've already seen one of my friends getting shot." Spike told him. "Melanie's my friend too. I want all of us to get out of here safely. Getting you what you want and getting you out of here quickly seems the best way to do that."

He looked to Vicky, who seemed horrified by the prospect of him going with them, but she knew that Spike was just trying to stay with Melanie. Leaving her alone with Hudson and his accomplices just seemed like a horrible idea. Spike got up and made his way towards the door. Clyde brought Melanie, and as they left, Hudson locked the door, locking the others inside.

Spike tried to analyse the situation, remembering the stories his mom taught him when he was young. Now, he had cut down the number of hostages in direct danger to just him and Melanie. Everyone else was locked in classrooms, with no armed guards as far as he knew. There were four gunmen that he had seen, and all of them were with him. He was shoved into the computer lab, where one of the monitors had been set up.

"Alright kid, link it up." One of the gunmen instructed him. Spike started up the Skype programme, and sighed.

"Call the police back." Spike told him. "I'll give them the link-up information."

In the truck, David looked around as the phone rang. He picked up the phone, taking a deep breath.

"Mr Hudson?" He asked.

"Uh...no, it's Spike." Spike answered. "Spike Skullovitch, I'm one of the students here. I'm just calling to give you the link up information."

David gestured to Benny to get out of the seat by the computer, and sat down, beginning to type in the information as Spike relayed the details.

"Spike, I believe you want to help don't you?" He asked. "Can you just answer me, is everyone alright?"

"The others are all locked up." Spike told him. "Melanie and I are..."

His voice was cut off as one of the gunmen smashed him in the face with the butt of his assault rifle, sending him tumbling out of the chair. He pointed his rifle at Spike.

"Alright kid, that's enough!" He warned him. "Against the wall!"

Spike just slid across the floor, backing into the wall. He pointed to the computer.

"Just click the icon." He told them as the computer started to chime. "It's ready."

Hudson gestured to Clyde to bring Melanie over, getting her to sit on the chair by the screen. He clicked the icon, opening up the feed.

"Alright, we've established contact." Hudson stated. "As you can see, Ms Goodwill is currently unharmed. How long she stays that way depends on whether or not we get what we want."

"Well, none of us want to see that happen Mr Hudson." David told him. He had a few notes just out of view to refer to. Now that he had Hudson's attention, he could begin negotiation. "How about you tell us what you want? Maybe we can work something out."

"I'll tell you what I want! I want my money back!" One of the gunmen screamed, waving his gun around. "But that's not going to happen because..."

"Alright, calm it down!" Hudson stated. He looked back to the screen, grabbing Melanie by the face.

"She's a beautiful girl isn't she?" He asked.

"Melanie is a beautiful girl." David agreed. "From what I can see, she also looks like a very frightened girl. Are you frightened Melanie?"

Melanie just nodded in response.

"Alright Mr Hudson, what can we do so Melanie and Spike and all their friends can go home safely?" David asked him.

"As you know, her dad screwed us over pretty badly." He informed them. "You see Clyde over there? His dad lost his legs fighting for his country. He was meant to be taken care of. Clyde here was all set to go to College, until her old man lost the money they were relying on."

He shifted a little closer.

"The DA did a deal with him. He sells out a few of his friends, and he gets a nice, cushy cell in minimum security for four years. After that, he gets to walk out and get on with his life." Hudson told him. "With good behaviour, he'll probably not even serve half of that! What kind of justice is that?"

"I can understand your frustration." David said empathetically. "I'm sure Melanie understands too."

"The way I see it, he owes us." Hudson replied. "I want the DA to take that deal, and tear it up. I want to see him get what he deserves, not this joke he gave him!"

"Well, I'll contact the DA." He stated. "I'll see what we can do about appealing against this sentence. It'll take a while, but we can..."

"Secondly, I want a film crew out here to record a transmission. I want the whole city to see what Goodwill's done, and I want them to see what happens to him." He continued.

"The news networks are on their way." He assured him. "We can link up a transmission if you want to make a statement."

"Finally, I want Goodwill." He told him. "I want him here, and I want him on camera to confess to everything he did. I want him to tell the whole city about the lives he's ruined, and I want to look him right in the eye and hear him apologise."

"That's a pretty big ask." David said, being careful not to tell him no. It would be a potentially lethal move to give him the impression that he wouldn't get what he wanted. At the moment, the only thing keeping the hostages safe was the belief that they would get what they wanted. "Prisoner transfers are a complicated thing. It'll take some time."

"I'll expect an answer in an hour." Hudson told him. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but until I see Goodwill here, his daughter and all her friends will have to answer for his crimes."

He cut off the Skype link, at which David just looked to Eric.

"I need a tactical solution and soon." David told him.

"We're working on it." Eric answered.

"There's no way we can bring Goodwill here." David stated, looking back to the monitor. "You saw him; he's serious when he says he'll take out those kids. If he'd do that, then if we send Goodwill in there, we know what he'll do."

"We can't let him execute Goodwill on national television." Eric agreed, getting onto his radio. "Alright guys, give me some good news on that roof access."

Meanwhile, inside the computer lab, Hudson looked to the other gunmen.

"Go into the hall; keep an eye on this door." He told them. They went out, leaving Clyde, Melanie and Spike alone in the room with him. Melanie looked up to him, her eyes full of terror.

"Please, let us go." She begged him. "I know my dad did a terrible thing, but I've done nothing to you."

"Unfortunately, that's not the way the world works." He said as he lowered his face to look into her eyes. "Whether we do bad things or not doesn't guarantee bad things don't happen to us. The only thing that matters is what we're willing to do about it."

"Mr Hudson?" Clyde asked, beginning to shift a little uncomfortably. "We're not going to...you know...?"

"They know what we want, it's up to them." Hudson stated.

"Please, I'm begging you!" Melanie started to sob. "I...I'll do anything..."

"I think that's quite enough out of you." He told her, tearing off some duct tape and placing it across her mouth to gag her. He looked to Spike, who held his hands up.

"I'll stay quiet." Spike stated. He saw that Clyde was uneasy; he had already heard Hudson threaten all the students. It was one thing to make the threat, but now, he was starting to worry that he would carry the threat out. The plan had been to take Melanie, and force them to bring her father to them to force his confession and apology. He didn't allow himself to believe that Hudson would go as far as to actually kill an innocent person. Hudson meanwhile, just lit up a cigar and started to smoke. Spike looked to Clyde, seeing the look on his face.

"Clyde, why are you doing this?" Spike asked him. "You know Melanie; she cheered at a lot of your games."

"Mr Hudson said we would get justice." He told Spike. "He said..."

"Clyde, I don't think you're playing by the same rules he is." Spike commented. "I remember you; you were one of the few football players that didn't make life hell for us. You can't think this is right."

"You know for keeping quiet, you're saying an awful lot." Hudson called over. Spike just fell silent. He had gagged Melanie, a bad sign in itself. He was dehumanising her, distancing himself from her so he would forget she was just a frightened sixteen year old girl. It was a dangerous step, one that increased the chances that he would carry out his threat and kill her. The only hope he had was that he would be able to talk him round, something he couldn't do if he was gagged too.

Looking to Clyde, he could swear he was even paler than before. He looked almost as terrified as Melanie. He hoped that in some way, he had reached him.

Meanwhile, back in the country, Ji and Brenda arrived by the riverbank, where Ji started looking around. Brenda watched as he leapt around the rocks, looking for something. She couldn't help smiling, seeing an almost childish enthusiasm in him as he looked for just the right one.

"Alright Ji, just find your stone so we can eat." She chuckled. Ji went to a rather large boulder, inspecting it thoughtfully.

"I thought there'd be more to choose from." He commented. "This one will take a lot of work."

He put down his bag, pulling out his geology hammer, a lump hammer, and a few chisels. She watched as he started to mark out a line across the middle as a guide. She took a seat a little way off, watching him work.

He picked up a large, bladed chisel, and the larger hammer, making the groove deeper. The metallic ring startled the birds, causing them to flutter away. She saw him take out another longer chisel, this one more of a point than a blade, and hammer it in, making a hole.

"Ji, how long does this take?" She asked. "There are plenty of stones..."

"This is the only one with pyrite." He told her. "Besides, a little work makes it more satisfying when I get the sample."

He picked up a wedge, hammering it into the hole. She watched as he then reached into the bag, pulling out a sledgehammer. She raised an eyebrow seeing this.

"You brought a sledgehammer?" She asked him.

"You need the right tool for the job." He said with a shrug. She just rolled her eyes as he raised the hammer.

"Ji, that rock is huge." She stated as his first blow rang out. "You're never..."

"It's all about knowing what to do." He told her, striking the wedge. "First, you create a stress line."

He grunted as he brought the hammer down again, striking the wedge further into the crack.

"Then you create a focus point." He told her, bringing down the hammer again. "It's the same way I broke the other rock, only on a larger scale."

"I'll believe that when..." She watched as after a couple more blows, finally the rock cracked open and split in two. He looked to her, smiling as he held the sledgehammer over his shoulders. "You...you actually did it!"

"Like I said, it's the same principle as with the smaller rock earlier." Ji told her, slapping the split boulder, which showed large deposits of a murky gold-coloured substance inside. "With the same principle, the size of the boulder is meaningless. Create the weakness, and it just falls apart."

"Just collect your sample." She told him, coming across. "Then we can have some lunch."

As Ji went back to his task, chipping off a chunk of the metal, which she presumed was the pyrite he was looking for, she looked out the packed lunch, before looking to him, seeing the look of delight on his face. She wasn't sure she'd ever understand his hobby, but it didn't matter. If it made him that happy, he could break as many rocks as he liked.