Brass lifted got his arms around a chunk of concrete as big as a full-grown Rottweiler and threw it into the growing pile. Dust plumed into the air as it landed with a boom. Breathing through his mask made him feel like he was suffocating, like something was sitting on his chest. No, that was just guilt about Amber and Vengeance.

It had been nearly a fucking week. Six days. Unable to breathe, Brass yanked off his mask and stomped away from the site where they were clearing away the worst of the debris.

There were half a dozen like it scattered within a mile around him. The missile had struck the outer edge of the compound at Reservation. Ironically, it had hit the human workers quarters hardest. The best thing that could be said was that since it was the middle of the day, hardly anyone had been there. Three humans had died and one Species. An even dozen wounded, several critically, but all expected to recover.

He hadn't even known about the missile when he'd come to under a bush at Amber's house. He'd just been furious no one was there yet to help them. By Flame's watch it had been almost three hours since they'd arrived. But in the chaos, everyone had either forgotten about them or had no manpower to get to them.

By the time he and Flame had made contact, it was full-on dark. The cops had arrived after they'd called in the human's body, but nobody had a clue where Amber or Vengeance had vanished to, or who had them.

Brass snarled, throwing his mask and heavy gloves to the ground. Whoever had gone after them must've wanted Vengeance damn bad.

It had to be Ven, they all knew it, they just weren't sure how or why. Justice's prevailing theory on why was that it must have to do with Vengeance's supposed drug resistance that had been so valuable to Mercile, but the how was a lot the hell had anyone had figured out who he was? Or that he'd be at Amber's?

But it seemed certain he'd been the target of some very impressive planning. Where that left Amber, no one knew. Every male Species though, knew why she'd been taken. To control Ven. It was a tactic they were all intimately familiar with.

A branch snapped behind Brass and he whirled, his lips twisting back in a growl. Flame slowed his approach, spreading his hands, the tight smile strained on his normally amiable face. "Easy there. Just me, bearing gifts."

Brass turned away. "Any word?" He asked every time he saw any member of the council and the answer was always the same. The same two words. He thought if he heard them again, they would destroy him, but he asked anyway.

"Not yet."

Brass bowed his head, wondering if Amber was already dead. He hadn't lied to Ven, he knew wasn't in love with Amber and he didn't feel about her that way… but he still cared about her. Very much. And he cared about his friend. If Ven lost Amber….they all lost Ven. Pure and simple.

"Hey, don't you want to see what I brought you?" Flame's voice tried for his familiar teasing tone, but fell flat. Everyone was raw this week, but Flame was trying, because he was Flame.

With a sigh, Brass turned to see the redheaded Species holding out his phone.

"God, where'd you find that?"

Flame shook his head, his blue eyes dark. "They released everything the cops impounded at Amber's. Everything that belonged to us, anyway. How did you not miss it?"

Brass stared down at the flat bit of plastic and metal. He shrugged. "I never really got used to using the damn thing. Amber was the only one who ever texted me anyway…" His voice trailed off, his heart tightening painfully in his chest. It was impossible and Brass knew it, but hope still grabbed him hard as Flame watched.

Brass's hand shook as he ran his thumb over the cracked screen. It must have smashed into the ground when the Tazer had hit him, but would the electricity have fried it?

Please. Fucking please. With a chirrup, the screen glowed a soft blue. Two messages!

His eyes scanned, they made no sense to him, except the last line:

Come and get us! And the sender's name. Amber.

"Flame! Look."

The redhead bent forward as Brass held out the phone, his arm swaying. With a frown the Species glanced down, his eyes moving back and forth and widening as he read.

His eyebrows shot up. "I know what this is. Oh, fucking hell, you clever, clever female!"

Flame yanked out his own phone, typing frantically.

"What?! What is it, Flame?"

The redhead's blue eyes never left his phone. "She sent you her Apple ID and password. Which means you can access her account, and I bet…I just bet….oh fucking, come on!" Flame's knuckles went white as the fingers of his other hand flew.

Brass was lost, but his heart was pounding at the look on Flame's face. "What good is that? Tell me, goddamn it!"

"She has Find My iPhone enabled, a GPS positioning app that helps find lost phones… and she gave you the motherfucking key."

"Won't her phone be dead by now, even if whoever has them didn't find it?"

"Doesn't matter, It will still have telegraphed her last location, the last time she accessed cellular or WiFi, which would've been when she texted you—YES!" He held up his phone, his eyes shining with a fierce jubilance.

The room was quiet, the kind of quiet that presses on the ears and the heart.

They were all exhausted. It'd been a hell of a week. Justice rubbed his eyes wearily, looking from Fury to Trisha to Tiger to Slade, and then to his wife, curled up in Slade's office couch next to him, her hand on his chest. He reached down and covered it with his own.

"We can't give up," but Fury's voice was tired. He pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back against the wall, his eyes closing.

Nothing. What could you do with absolutely…nothing? Not so much as a trace of who could've taken Vengeance and Amber had come up. No prints on scene. Coulson was dead, no answers to be had there. His phone was gone, his computer wiped. Both his personal laptop and the one at his office. Tim and the Task Force were good, but even they had to have at least something to go on.

Trisha propped her jaw into her hand as she leaned over her husband's desk. She was turning the pages of Amber's employee file again. It included everything, her background check, her contacts (every one examined and cross examined already) and her medical charts; since all human workers signed a medical release waiver. The doctor straightened as something caught her eye.

"She missed her last birth control shot. Did you know that?" Trisha had been on a rare visit to her family with Slade for the last three weeks, they had only got back to Reservation the day of the missile. What a welcome home that had been.

Justice blinked at her as her words sunk in, unease tickling the back of his neck as he straightened. "Fucking shit."

Everyone looked at him. The NSO leader wasn't one who swore often, even around these people, the people he was closest to. Politics and press conferences had taught him to guard his speech very carefully, but something had made him forget himself totally.

"What?" Jessie's voice was alarmed.

Justice's eyes turned to Fury, who'd pushed away from the wall, his jaw dropping. "We never warned him that they could get pregnant. Or her. I meant to, but…"

"What are you talking about?" Trisha stared from one of them to the other. "We told all the NS about the possible of pregnancy after that last scare. Every—"

"Not Ven." Fury had a stricken look on his face.

"Why the hell not?" Trisha got to her feet. "Why would you—"

"Let him explain." Jessie narrowed her eyes at the doctor and for a moment the two women stared each other down, but finally the doctor took her seat. Slade moved behind her, his hand resting on one shoulder. Trisha leaned into him ever so slightly.

Justice shook his head, his hands clenched. "We thought it was for his own good. After everything that happened, it seemed to me—"

"To both of us." Fury stated quietly, looking around the room. "You asked me if you were right and I thought you were. I still do."

Justice sighed. "We'd talked it over, Fury and I, and decided as unstable as he was, it was best not to mention a family was a possibility. For Vengeance, that kind of temptation seemed like a very bad idea. It was my call in the end, though. To keep it from him."

"But when he and Amber…?" Trisha stared at him. "When they went to Reservation?"

"I meant to have the older Harris tell them. At Reservation. I knew she was on the shot, we require it after all, and I….fuck." His head fell into his heads, "..forgot." He swallowed hard. "I called him right after they left, but I got another call, and then another. I was so goddamn distracted by lobbying for the land purchase and all these new threats, I never got back to it. It's my fault."

Trisha leaned back, Slade's fingers tightened slightly. After a long moment, she sighed. "Well, it's highly unlikely any of this will be a factor. She should still have quite a bit of the hormone in her system, we just…god, we just need to find them!" Trisha cursed, her palm slapping the desk.

Then came the louder snap of the heavy door banging open, Brass and Flame shoved into the already crowded room. "We've got them. GPS."

There was a rumble as six people shot to their feet, and Justice's roar, "Get Tim in here now. I want the task force assembled within the hour."

Amber leaned her cheek against the cold steel of the bars, watching Dr. Maeng take blood from Vengeance again. Next it would be her. The doctor tested her blood twice a day, Ven's even more. They gave him all kinds of drugs, one by one, then tested him at intervals after. Some of the drugs made him feel sick, some of them made him act a bit odd, but all of them left his system within 90 minutes on the outside.

"It's amazing." Dr. Maeng said that so much Amber wanted to slap the bitch upside the head. She thought that would feel pretty damn amazing.

But as bad as she was, was infinitely better than Trainor. He hadn't been around much since that first day, but occasionally she would look up to see him standing in the doorway. Just standing there.

It always gave her a sickening jolt, especially as it invariably happened when Ven was gone for one of their tests. The tests he always complied with. Her big Species never complained, never attempted to hurt anyone or run away. And she knew why, he was terrified they would hurt her.

Vengeance had more than enough on his plate. So, she never told him about Trainor. It wasn't as if the guard did anything. He just…looked at her. With those eyes. Pale and cold. Waiting. She closed her own eyes, letting the metal soothe her hot head. She didn't feel good, but was it any wonder?

Six days. Her and Vengeance agreed on that. As near as they could figure it had been six fucking days. Nothing.

Where was the NSO? Had her text even gone through? It was Northern California, mountains made cell reception spotty. Maybe they had no clue where they were. Without her message, how would they? Amber swallowed a moan just as Vengeance turned to her.

"Your turn." His voice was soft, but she could see the worry in his eyes.

Forcing a smile she straightened, holding her arm out. One thing about the doctor, she always drew the blood herself and she was good at it. Actually, as far as Amber knew none of the other technicians that had to be in the complex knew about her and Ven. And there were other scientists here, other Species even, though from what Vengeance had gathered, listening carefully to the guards night after night, only a handful and all males. And there were human woman here. Lots of them, apparently. Kept in some other part of the underground complex.

"Why humans?" She'd asked Vengeance that at first, but after a few days, they both knew. Dr, Maeng was obsessed with the idea that a human female and a male Species could procreate. After poring over data pulled from the old Mercile documents that Trainor had obtained for her, Dr. Maeng was convinced it was possible. Vengeance hardly seemed surprised Trainor had saved and copied confidential documents during his employment at Mercile,

He'd told her sourly that the company was almost as ruthless with its employees as it was its experiments. It made sense Trainor would want insurance. It was actually from those papers and files that Josh had identified Ven as the Species he'd seen on Amber's phone. And in turn, Trainor had identified that picture as 161, a Species Dr. Maeng had been looking to find for a long time.

Dr. Maeng had told them that much herself. Gleefully.

"I would have been happy to get any of your lot." She'd also told them 'lot' referred to his number. The last few dozen of the Species with one hundred as their number had been heavily experimented on as children and teenagers. Many of them showed no effects, or died. But some had developed unusual characteristics, like Ven's drug resistance. "But you, 161, you're a legend." She'd clapped her hands as she said it. At which point, Amber had spit on her.

The doctor had started, her eyes darting down in comical horror as she saw what Amber had done. Then she'd glared, her hands on her hips. "I could almost hope you don't get pregnant," she had whispered. "So I can give you to Trainor. He really wants you, you know." She shuddered delicately, her eyes on Amber's with a cold malevolence. "I can't even imagine what that would be like…can you?"

Amber had never really considered whether she could kill another human being or not, but given a gun and a clear shot at either Dr. Maeng or Trainor…she now had no doubts of what she was capable of. She hated them even more for that.

The needle slid under her skin, with its all too familiar sting. She raised her eyes to Vengeance's. Looking at him never failed to calm her. He was the only thing keeping her sane in this hellhole.

His body wrapped around hers at night, his voice in her ears hour after hour, that low rumble easing her into sleep and keeping her there. Until she'd wake up, sometimes thinking they were back at the cabin, until she'd see the bars again and the panic would strike.

So, Ven would wake up and talk to her again, or they'd have sex. Lots of hard, quiet sex, seeking solace in each other's bodies almost mindlessly, but every mindful of the cameras all around them. Then they'd curl back up together and she'd sleep for a little longer.

If they took her away from him…

Amber knew she'd promised Vengeance she'd survive, and she intended to keep that promise. But if they were separated, she honestly didn't know if she could bear it. There had been something in Ven's eyes the last couple days that had her worried something was coming.

She knew he heard conversations she could not; that he stayed awake longer and woke earlier. For some reason she was exhausted all the time anymore. Depression was her best guess, from the constant stress of being locked up. Maybe that was all that made her think Ven was hiding something. Being caged tended to make one paranoid, but after Dr. Maeng left, she had to ask him again. "Is something bothering you, Ven?"

He seemed to tense ever so slightly, validating her fears, but then he smiled down at her. That sardonic, sexy smile. "You mean other than the cage we're in, the guards, the constant tests and the fact we have no decent window?"

Her lips curved. This was a game they had been playing for the last few days, before Ven hadn't really gotten the finer points of sarcasm —like a lot of Species—but they had been working on it. And he learned fast.

She waved a hand airly. "Oh, that stuff is old hat!"

"Then you must be talking about the lack of entertainment. It is quite boring since they took out the big screen. I miss Star Wars marathons." His eyes were soft, but they couldn't quite manage a twinkle.

She sighed and reached for him. Something was bothering him, but he wasn't going to share. She'd worry about it tomorrow, right now she just wanted to sleep. His arms wrapped around her, enclosing her in the cage she craved, the warm living one of his body. In seconds, Amber was asleep, unmindful of the worry creeping into those dark eyes that traced her features again and again.

Vengeance sat, staring out into the hall. Trainor was back. He'd come the night before as well. Ven saw no need to share this fact with Amber. Or the conversations he overheard as Trainor chatted up the guard outside their enclosure as the two men played endless rounds of something called poker.

"So they're not taking her with the other women to that New Mexico site tomorrow night?"

"Nah." Trainor's voice was bland. "Maeng is really hoping she's preggers. Idiot doctor. If you ask me, they'll never get them to breed, not even if they were the best scientists in the world. And they aren't. Abominations just aren't meant to procreate, it ain't natural. It wouldn't be right."

The other guard made a non-committal noise at Trainor's fervor and then asked something too low for Ven to make out.

"Oh, some fancypants in Russia wants ol' 161 when she's done with him. The doc just wants to wait before she separates them 'cause she thinks there is something special about their 'mating bond' that'll make the woman more likely to get knocked up." He snorted dismissively. "I've heard that crap before, but like I said, that stupid animal in there is shooting blanks for all his magical damn DNA. So, the doc will keep her with him until the end of the week, even after they clear out the rest tomorrow. Once we hit Friday, its lights out for that bitch." Ven could hear the smile in Trainor's voice, He bit back the growl that rose in his throat.

"Why not just send her along after? To New Mexico with the other sluts?"

"I convinced her it's too much of a risk to do a second transfer. It's not smart to draw attention with a lot of air traffic in and out of here just a couple days apart. You can bet the NSO has their noses out. And we're just too damn close to Homeland for that shit. Anyway, Maeng really had to think about it. She'd like to send her with the others, thinks maybe since one animal likes banging her, others might, too. But that human batch and the rest have to leave tomorrow, and she just has to have her with 161 until the last second to keep him calm. But Maeng owes me. 161's bitch is gonna be all mine, for a few hours anyway."

The satisfaction in Trainor's voice made Vengeance's whole body shake with rage. Amber stirred and he forced himself to calm, even when the man's next words had him wanting to rush the cage door. "You want a shot at some of that? I could maybe be convinced to share, if you're so inclined?" His tone was faintly mocking, as if daring the other man to accept.

"What?" The other guard's voice sounded shocked, but then turned to an almost frightened eagerness. "The doc would be okay with that?"

"Like I said, she owes me. I say you get a turn, then you get a turn. But…I'm the one who gets to kill her. Understand? I got it planned real special like." Vengeance watched Trainor's eyes flicker to the doorway but knew the human couldn't see well enough to make out his face in the dark, let alone tell whether he was awake or not.

The other guard nodded. "Yeah man, whatever you say. Your deal."

Vengeance closed his eyes as the slap of cards and laughter rang through the room. He had to tune them out for now.

Trainor was right. Amber wouldn't get pregnant. None of the females ever did. And once the evil doctor realized the experiment was over, she'd let Trainor kill her. Not him. Because Vengeance was her precious 161 and therefore valuable, but Amber was human. Expendable. Trainor and his buddy there would enjoy using her before they killed her.

Ven's fist tightened so hard his fingers threatened to crack. What could he do to stop it? What could he possibly do to save her? As strong as he was, in this, he was totally helpless. Just as when he had watched 134 die.

It enraged him, the pain, hate and despair building inside, until it felt like they would boil over and blackening his skin before ripping him apart….

But rage and hate didn't solve problems, he remembered. His head was pounding as he thought of a better time; Amber curled sweetly into his side just like now. Watching movies together in the dark, instead of listening to real monsters. It was hard, against his very nature, but Vengeance forced himself to push his raging emotions aside and think this through.

What was the worst that would happen if Amber went to this New Mexico site? The one that needed all the humans? She'd be given to another Species from what it sounded like. Maybe more than one.

He could tell her again to give in, not to fight. Make her promise him. Vengeance whined low in his throat, a keening sound as he imagined the horrors she might go through. His nails sank into the edge of the mattress and shredded it before he noticed what he was doing.

Amber stirred then, her hand instantly reaching up to caress his cheek. He forced himself to relax and go quiet, murmuring soothingly into her ear until she sank back into sleep without coming fully awake.

If Amber went to New Mexico, she'd at least be alive. She'd have a chance. Not much of one, but….

He'd risk Species over humans any day. If she stayed here, with Trainor, that was torture, rape and a death sentence. If she went to New Mexico there was hope, no matter how small that in time the NSO would find her. As for him, Vengeance had a feeling he'd die in Russia…but that hardly mattered if he couldn't get her away from Trainor.

How could he get them to take her with the others though? To separate Amber and him? It sounded like the doctor wanted her to go, but was worried about Trainor, and keeping Vengeance calm.

And it came to him then, the only answer. The obvious one.

For hours, Vengeance lay awake wondering if he was strong enough to do what needed to be done. In the end, he knew he would simply have to be. Because he was strong enough to do anything if meant saving her.

With the sting of tears in his eyes, he rolled over just before dawn, kissing her awake soft and slow. His fingers slid down the soft smoothness of her belly, cupping her sex, teasing her open with his hand as his tongue did the same to her mouth.

She came awake gasping his name, her hands circling her arms as her hips arched into his touch.

"Ven?" Her soft brown eyes were wide and questioning, but he lifted his free hand to his own lips, laying a finger there, warning her to be still.

This was for them, for her. She didn't know it, but this was last time he believed he'd share sex with her. No…make love. Vengeance liked that term, because it fit his intentions precisely. He was giving Amber all his love, right here, right now, so there could be no doubt how he felt about her.

She would remember that later. Or so he hoped.

Vengeance took her slowly for the next hour. With his mouth, with his fingers until she was limp, her thighs glistening with her juices. Her wonderful smell imprinted into every cell of his body. When he finally took himself in hand and pushed inside her, her eyes rolled back in her head. Her whole body arched up as he pressed deep, listening to her whisper his name over and over helplessly, her voice raw with pleasure and love.

He soaked himself in that, in the sound and feel of her love until he came so hard, he tumbled her right over the edge with him. Vengeance couldn't stop the howl that tore from his lips.

He didn't care if they heard this time, in this minute, he didn't give a damn about them or what was to come. There was only her. Amber.

His mate. The one Vengeance had tried so hard to find, for so long…

The one he now had to let go.