Author's Note: I know I said I'd be gone for 3 weeks, but turns out I wasn't cut out for 3 weeks of field work. I'm overweight and have arthritis and stuff, but thought I could push through anyway. I made it a week, which is longer than the teacher thought I'd last, and had to throw in the towel. Not to worry, teacher is gonna try and give me an incomplete and a side project later to finish the class, but he has to get permission from the program advisor lady and collaborate with one of my other teachers on just what that project should be so I can still get my Bachelor's degree in Geology this December. Here's hoping. And here's another chapter. I am still really sore, so sorry if its bad.

And warning: this is where it gets dark and violent.

Chapter 11: Punishment

Mike's head was pounding. He couldn't move, but he heard sounds; distant voices. He tried to open his eyes, but as soon as the light touched his eyes, pain tore through his head forcing him to close them again. Trying to move caused a lot of pain to rip through his body as well. His hands, he soon noticed, were tied behind his back. So he tried instead to just focus on the voices he heard.

"That's a good girl," Robert was saying. "Don't ever disobey me again."

"I won't, sir," he heard Ginny answer softly. Mike could tell from her voice alone that she was crying a little.

"You weren't alone in this, you know," Robert said. "You're friends helped you. Let's wake them up and show them what it means to cross me."

"No!" Ginny nearly shouted. "Don't hurt them. They...they don't know the rules."

"How else will they learn?" Robert asked. Mike slowly opened his eyes now. It took a few moments for the fog to clear, but he saw he was lying on a hardwood floor. He moved his eyes around the room more, ignoring the pain he felt in his head. Mike saw Robert standing next to a bed with some other woman Mike didn't recognize, but didn't see Ginny. He assumed she was on the bed, obscured by Robert and the other woman. He couldn't see Micky and Rose, but felt an arm slumped over his feet. He assumed they were lying by him, but he wasn't at a good enough angle to see them. And he still couldn't move.

"They'll learn; you don't have to punish them," Ginny said.

"It doesn't work that way, sweetie," Robert said. Mike's stomach clenched. "Disobedience demands punishment. You know that."

"Punish me," Ginny pled. "They didn't know what they were doing. Punish me, not them."

"They need to learn what happens when you cross me," Robert said.

"They will," Ginny said. "Please don't hurt them. Let me take their punishment. They'll learn."

"Wake up our friends, Darla," Robert said. The woman next to him moved towards Mike. When she moved, Mike finally caught a glimpse of Ginny. She was sitting in the bed and holding a sheet tightly to her bare chest. Her hair was disheveled and tangled and a small tear slid down her face. Mike instantly knew what all that meant and his stomach clenched even tighter.

"No, please!" Ginny begged.

"Enough!" Robert snapped and Ginny immediately fell silent.

"This one's already awake," Darla said when she kneeled down next to Mike.

"Sit him up," Robert said. Darla yanked Mike up with a strength he wasn't expecting from her small frame. She pushed him against a wall so he was sitting upright, but his head smacked against the wall a little. More pain shot through his head, but he pushed it aside. Mike could now see Rose and Micky slumped over at his feet. Micky had dried blood that had dripped down the side of his face and Rose was a little pale. Darla moved over to them and held a small vial under their noses. They both woke up quickly, but groaned in pain.

"What's going on?" Rose mumbled. Both her and Micky's hands were tied behind their backs as well. Darla grabbed each of them by the shoulders and pinned them against the wall next to Mike.

"So nice of you to rejoin us," Robert sneered. Rose looked around, clearly very confused.

"Rose, I'm sorry," Mike said softly. "He grabbed you as soon as you and Ginny came out of the tunnel. It was a trap; he was waiting for us. He knocked you out with chloroform."

"I will kill you, son of a bitch," Micky spat when his eyes fell on Ginny, still holding the sheet tightly and hanging her head down low.

"Is that any way to talk to your father?" Robert asked. "I taught you to be more respectful than that."

"You don't deserve my respect, bastard" Micky answered.

"Watch your tongue," Robert said. "You're already in trouble. You took Ginny and Rose from me. That can't go unpunished." Robert reached behind his back and pulled a whip out of a back pocket. Mike tensed and he felt Rose do the same next to him. "Ginny, kneel down on the ground."

"Don't-" Micky started but Robert cut him off.

"Shut your mouth!" Robert yelled with such anger that Mike instinctively shrugged away. He couldn't believe this was all really happening. He looked at Robert, the man who'd helped raise him; his best friend's father. Robert had taught them how to fight. And now, the man who Mike used to look up to was hurting them. How could this have possibly gone so wrong. He couldn't even imagine how Micky was feeling. "Do you really want to make things worse for yourselves?"

"I don't really care what you do to me," Micky argued even as Ginny did as she was told. SHe kneeled down on the ground, still clutching the sheet.

"Yes, I know," Robert said. "Your mother was like that. Always putting herself above others."

"Don't you talk about her," Rose said.

"I guess your girlfriend is like that, too," Robert said. "The difference is, she's more well behaved than you are. She does as she's told. I only had to punish her a few times before you took her away from me. But she's certainly still loyal to you. She volunteered to take your punishment."

"What?" Micky asked.

"Don't you think you've already done enough?" Mike spat. Robert only smiled and moved behind Ginny.

"Don't you dare," Rose said boldly as Robert raised the whip above his head. Robert ignored her and brought the whip down on Ginny's back. The whip made a sickening crack. Ginny stifled a scream and Micky struggled to try and get up. Mike wanted to run to her rescue too, but knew it would be fruitless and only make things worse.

"SIT DOWN!" Robert boomed at Micky. Darla pushed Micky back towards the wall so hard Mike felt the wall shake a little when Micky's head bounced against it. "Not another word out of any of you! No one else speaks until I tell them to. Unless you'd like to extend your punishments and make things worse for Ginny."

"Be good little boys and girls," Darla laughed. Robert simply smiled and raised the whip again. Mike looked away, refusing to watch.

"Here's your first lesson," Robert said bringing the whip back up again. "You disobey me the first time and you get two lashings." Mike cringed when he heard the crack of the whip a third time. "Since each of you disobeyed me, that's two lashings for each of you."

"But your little bitch volunteered to take your lashings for each of you," Darla whispered to Micky, but still loud enough for Mike and Rose to hear. Mike thought Micky would immediately lash out, but as soon as Darla spoke, Robert brought the whip down on Ginny a fourth time. This time she screamed and fell forward onto her hands as Mike looked back at her for a moment. Anything Mike, or Micky and Rose for that matter, wanted to do was lost in that moment. They wouldn't dare do anything to bring more pain to Ginny.

"Get up," Robert said. "You volunteered for this. If you can't take it, I can move on to your friends."

"No," Ginny said pushing herself back to a kneeling position. Mike could see the pain on her face and wanted desperately to do something for her. But he feared if he even so much as uttered a syllable, Robert would add more lashings. So he looked away again. Rose buried her face against Mike's shoulder, trying not to look either.

"Hey!" Darla said slapping Rose. "Pay attention! No looking away! This is your punishment!" Mike forced himself to look back. It killed him, but he was afraid that not doing what he was told would make things worse. He knew it would. Rose reluctantly lifted her head up and looked at Ginny. Once he was satisfied they were all watching, Robert brought the whip down on Ginny a fourth time. Ginny screamed and Mike cringed. He wasn't sure how much more of this any of them could take. He glanced over at Micky and saw something he'd never seen before on the face of his best friend. His jaw was clenched in anger, sorrow darken his face, and fear flash across his eyes. He could tell all three of them were trying hard not to react the way they wanted to. They all knew it wouldn't end well at all. Finally, Robert brought down the whip a sixth time; two for each of them. Mike was pretty sure Ginny had already received her punishment and she'd only get six lashings for each of them. Rose and Micky were still tense, unsure if there would be more, but Mike finally relaxed a little. He knew it was over.

"That's a good girl," Robert sneered. Mike could almost see Micky vibrating with anger. Before Mike could whisper to Micky to keep his cool, Robert moved in front of Ginny, still desperately crutching the blanket to her chest and shaking. "Now, have we all learned to behave?"

"Yes," Mike spat before Micky could say something they'd all regret.

"Is that how you speak to me?" Robert sneered. "I helped raise you. I put food on your table. All out of the goodness of my heart. Don't you think I deserve a little more respect than that?"

"You didn't raise me," Mike said. "If it weren't for Micky's mother, you would never have taken me in. She's the one who raised me. She's the one who fed me. You don't get any of the credit. Diana does."

"Come again?" Darla sneered as Robert's hand tightened around the whip again. "You will speak to him with respect."

"I merely wanted to make sure we all speak the truth here," Mike said catching himself and forcing himself to swallow his anger. "Isn't that the most respectful thing to do? Not lie to each other? In all truth, you would have turned me away. You didn't do anything out of the goodness of your heart, Sir. You did it because Diana wanted it."

"He's right," Robert said just as Darla moved to hit Mike. "I wouldn't have taken him in. And we shouldn't lie to one another. But I will ask you again, all of you, have you learned your lessons?"

"Yes, Sir," Mike answered.

"Yes, Sir," Rose echoed, although her jaw was just as tense as Mike and Micky's. Micky only nodded. Mike knew it was to keep himself from saying something he regretted.

"Well, let's test that, then," Robert said. "Darla is going to cut your ropes but none of you are going to move until Darla and I leave this room. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Rose and Mike said tersely.

"Micky, I hope you aren't responding because you're biting your tongue like a good little boy?" Robert said as Darla pulled a sharp knife out of her waistband and moved toward Mike. Micky only glared at Robert.

"I assure you, he understands very clearly," Mike said.

"I know what you're thinking, Micky," Robert sneered walking towards them and putting the whip back in his back pocket. "You're thinking you outnumber us? Three of you against two of us. Four if you count Ginny, though I wouldn't count on it given her condition right now. But you're forgetting something."

"What's that?" Micky asked through gritted teeth.

"I have the upper hand," Robert smiled. He pulled out a gun and pushed it directly against Rose's forehead. She shrank back a little, but he still held the gun firmly against her head. "You even so much as twitch and I pull this trigger. Understood?"

"Yes," Micky said, a little more scared than before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Robert said.

"Yes, Sir," Micky said firmly.

"That's a good boy," Robert said almost laughing as Darla cut the rope from Mike's hands. He was free, but he still couldn't move. He didn't dare even breathe too deeply. He wasn't sure how much of a sensitive trigger finger Robert had and he didn't want to test it. Mike's eyes darted over to Ginny to make sure she was still ok. She hadn't moved either. She'd been through this; she knew what would set him off. Once Rose and Micky's ropes had been cut, Darla and Robert moved toward the door, but the gun stayed trained on Rose's head.

"Don't move," Darla reminded them.

"You will enjoy my hospitality while you're here," Robert said. "Dinner will be in an hour. Bandages are in the bathroom. More beds will be brought in after dinner. I suggest you make the most of them. I have a feeling you'll be here a long time." Without another word, Robert and Darla turned and left out the only door in the room. It shut behind them with a metal clang; the door was solid steel. Micky, Mike and Rose instantly sprang up and rushed toward Ginny. She fell forward, right into Micky's arms and started crying.

"Ginny, I'm so, so sorry," Micky said holding her tightly to him. Mike took one look at the wounds on her back and wanted to throw up.

"Rose, go get those bandages," Mike instructed. "Micky, help me get her to the bed." Rose nodded and ran for the bathroom; a small wooden door behind the only bed in the room. Mike took one of Ginny's arms and looped it over his shoulders to allow he and Micky to carry her to the bed without jostling her back too much.

"I'm so sorry," Micky said to her again when they had carefully laid her in the bed on her stomach. Rose came out of the bathroom and set a bag down on the bed and a bowl of water on the floor.

"It's not your fault, Micky," Ginny said softly as Mike started cleaning her back with the water and a cloth from the bag. "You did everything you could. I know you did."

"I swore to you that you were safe," Micky said clutching her hand. She winced in pain and squeezed his hand as Mike wiped the warm water across her wounds.

"It's not your fault," Ginny repeated. "No one could have foreseen this."

"I don't get it," Rose said slightly exasperated. "How the fuck did they even get the drop on us? You checked to see if they were there."

"He said he used an amulet to block me," Ginny said. "They were prepared. There's nothing any of us could have done."

"We'll get out of here," Mike said.

"How?" Micky asked. "That door is solid steel and the walls are brick. We aren't getting out of this room."

"He made one mistake, Micky," Mike said.

"Not from where I'm sitting," Micky argued.

"Look around you," Mike continued. "There's only four of us. That leaves Piper, Willow, William, Peter and Davy out there. He didn't care about them. He didn't view them as a threat. He underestimated them. You heard him. They'll get us out of here."

"How long with that take?" Micky asked. "It took Rose five years to find Ginny in the first place."

"It took me five years to find her cause he kept moving her," Rose said. "He's not gonna be able to move all four of us. And your friends are not going to give up on you."

"Ginny spent five years not giving up on you, Micky," Mike reminded him. "Don't you give up after an hour."

"I'm not giving up," Micky said. "I'm just pissed. I want to kill him, but I can't. I'm pissed."

"We all are," Rose said. Mike finished washing the wounds on Ginny's back and dug around for some bandages. There weren't any big enough, so he had to make do with lining up enough small ones before taping them down to her back. Rose walked over and picked up a pile of clothes next to the ground. They were the clothes Ginny had been wearing and they were torn. Anger flashed on Micky's face when he saw them.

"We need to do our best to keep our cool," Mike said. "I think he made it pretty clear that if even look at him the wrong way…"

"I know," Micky said kissing Ginny's hand softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Stop, Micky," Ginny said. "You didn't do anything. This is not your fault. You did everything you could. We all did."

"I let you down," Micky said.

"No," Ginny said forcing a smile. "You've never let me down. You could never let me down." Ginny closed her eyes and soon passed out from pain. Micky never let go of her hand. Rose began to look for a loose brick or something they could use around the small room they were in and Mike moved to try and clean Micky's head wound. Micky was slightly startled, not even knowing he had one, but let Mike tend to him anyway. And they sat in silence, not knowing what else to say or do. Mike knew in his heart he was right. Robert underestimated Davy and Peter and the others. And that would be Roberts downfall. They just had to hold on until then.