Danny woke up feeling refreshed and full of energy, for the first time in a long time. He rolled onto his side to look at the shape under the covers, the dark hair at the top.

Climbing out of bed quietly, he moved to the end to pull his clothes on. Glancing back at Leo, he could hear his breathing, soft and regular. Curious he moved closer. Leo's face was peaceful as he slept, almost unlined, almost innocent. He looked healthy. The bruises had disappeared from his face. Danny had an urge to touch him, stroke his hair, kiss him, pat his shoulder, anything. Just now, when he was like this. Before he woke up and ruined it all.

Danny pulled away. How had this happened? How had his life turned into this so quickly? And why didn't he feel worse about it. He was surviving, he reassured himself. Making the best of things. He must be a pro at that by now. Think just five minutes ahead, he reasoned. And in five minutes he would like to have a full stomach to make a decision on. He checked his wallet and headed out the door, closing it softly behind him.

The motel was empty, only one car parked. There had to be a store around here or a gas station or something. He supposed he was in control of that. He had to admit, it was a nice day. As he walked out of the lot birds were singing, the sun was shining, cliché but pleasant. It was peaceful here, even with the roar of the highway in the distance. As he walked along the grass verge he half-expected to see a deer leap out at him from the woods that bordered the road. And there was the gas station just ahead.

When Danny walked back in the room he saw Leo crouching next to the bed, reaching underneath. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Looking for something?" He put the carrier bags down and slipped the gun from his waistband. Leo stood up straight. He was naked and Danny could see how much he had healed overnight.

"I don't need a weapon. I could have killed you whenever I wanted, while you were sleeping." Leo walked over to the fridge and looked through it, ignoring the bags of shopping by the door. Danny placed the gun on the bedside table, sitting down next to it. He wondered if Leo would make a grab for it or not. He laid back on the bed. "Why did you let me do that to you last night?"

"Do what?"

"Fuck you."

"Oh that. Just felt like it I guess. You had a good time didn't you?" Leo came over to the bed with a drink and a packet of nuts and laid down next to him.

Danny shifted away a little. "I would have thought you'd like to be on top." He figured it probably wasn't a good idea to talk about sex right now but he couldn't seem to stop himself.

"It's good to try new things. Don't get used to it-"

"Don't worry, I won't. I'm leaving today."

"Where are you going to go? I know you can't go back. You wouldn't be here if you could." Leo's voice didn't sound worried exactly, but he didn't sound as completely sure of himself as he had a minute ago.

"Anywhere."

"You know I need you Danny. I'm not just going to let you go."

"You can't stop me. And you don't need me to protect you from Starkweather, you can-"

"Not that you moron. I told you before. My life turns to shit without you around. That's why I need you to stay."

"Well my life is going to be a hell of a lot better without you around." Danny stood up, conversation over. Leo immediately followed suit. They stood on either side of the bed, staring each other down. Danny waited for Leo to make the first move.

A knock on the door broke the tension. Leo went over to the window and moved the curtains aside just enough to see through. Danny picked up the gun and followed him. Leo moved aside and Danny looked out to see two Watchdogs. He motioned to Leo to stand back. Leo looked unconvinced but did move back towards the bed. Danny opened the door. For a moment he and the Watchdogs looked at each other. Then one reached out a hand, giving Danny a VHS tape. "From Mr Starkweather."

The Watchdogs left, strolling away across the tarmac, while Danny looked down at the tape. He closed the door and carried it over to the TV as Leo moved to the window. Danny turned the tape over in his hands. It was unmarked, nothing to suggest what it might contain. He sat down on the edge of the bed, running through possibilities in his mind, trying to figure out what Starkweather might attempt. Outside, he heard an engine start up and a car roll away.

"Are you going to watch it or just stare at it?" Leo stood halfway between the window and the bed.

"Don't know."

"Either it's a threat, in which case we don't need to watch it, I know exactly what we're dealing with here. Or they're offering you something."

"There's nothing on there that could change my plans." Danny was only half listening to Leo. His mind was on the tape, he didn't know why but he was sure there was something on it he needed to see. But he couldn't think what, he had already lost everything he cared about.

"What if they offer to let you go in exchange for me? Would you turn me in?"

"Why? They've got nothing I want. Besides, I didn't save you just to take you back."

"Then why did you?"

"I told you, Starkweather."

"Bullshit."

"I don't know." Danny paused. He figured since he probably wouldn't be seeing Leo after today he could at least be honest with him. "I felt sorry for you." That was as honest as he was willing to get right now.

"You didn't seem to have any problem torturing me."

"Well, you deserved it... but, you looked so pathetic. And you had been there a long time, they weren't going to ever let you go. I don't think anyone deserves that, not even you."

Leo sat down next to him. "In some ways, you and I are very different people."

"So you would have just left me there to rot?"

"Of course not. I'm the only one who gets to hurt you. I'll kill anyone who touches you, you know that."

After a slightly uncomfortable silence Danny stood up. "Well, I'm going to watch the video."

Leo jumped up too. "Well I'm not. I'm going to take a shower. If it's some mind control thing I'll shoot you, right?"

Danny switched on the TV and inserted the cassette, while Leo headed off to the bathroom. It took him a while to find the right channel for the VCR, and then he pressed play. The tape opened on two people, a woman with long brown hair in her early twenties, and a similar looking blond boy in his late teens. They were tied to chairs in the middle of a bare concrete room. Starkweather spoke over the footage. "Good morning Dr Lamb, and Mr Kasper too, if he's still with us. Since we last met I've been doing a little research on you Daniel. And look what I dug up." The camera zoomed in on the faces of the pair, first one then the other. Danny gripped the bedcovers hard, nails digging through them into skin.

"They claim not to remember you Daniel. Have you forgotten them? Only time will tell. If you want to see them again be at the old TV-MVK studios at ten tonight. I do hope I'll see you there."

On screen someone stepped into the edge of view and the two people looked to the side, afraid. The tape cut out. By the time Leo came back in Danny was sitting close to the TV, rewinding the tape over and over and playing it back, examining it. Leo sat behind him and watched.

"What do you want to do?"

Danny waited for the video to end again before he answered. "I'll meet him of course."

"You know they're not your real kids."

"I saved you, do you think I'm going to leave them? I'm not going to let Starkweather hurt them."

"We'll be walking into a trap. We'll need weapons."

"No 'we' wont. I'm not letting you anywhere near my kids."

"You won't get far on your own. I've seen you fight."

"After what you did to them? You're not going near them."

"I didn't kill them. Who do you trust with them more, me or Starkweather?"

Danny said nothing. He turned the tape off and sat back on the bed, some distance from Leo.

"You'll have a better chance of getting your kids back with me. I'm offering to help you. You'd be a fool not to let me."

Danny was silent a minute before he answered. "Fine. But if you so much as look at them the wrong way."

"Yeah, you'll kill me. I know. Let's go get some firepower."