(I own nothing!)

My hands are bleeding from where they have been cut by the razor or rubbed raw by the rope. The last rope snaps and I rub my wrists to regain feeling in them.

At least the car was stopped. Jake had parked the car six hours ago.

Jake had moved me from one car to another about eight hours ago. He had blindfolded me before pulling me out of the trunk but I had caught a glimpse of his watch through the blindfold.

Eight-thirty.

Sixteen hours since I was taken.

Leaning down I start on the rope tying my legs.

Cobb paces the room.

No news. They had checked everywhere, called everyone they could think of, and nothing. She was gone and there was no way left to find her.

He stops pacing and looks out the window.

'First Mal and now Ari… No, I lost Mal but I am not going to lose Ari.' Standing up, he walks to the bathroom. It is still a mess from the attack.

He steps into the bathtub.

'Crinkle'

He looks down. There, half under a splinter of wood, is a piece of paper. Leaning down, he picks it up.

It's a hotel receipt for a Holiday Inn a few towns over.

Racing out of the bathroom, he climbs into his car.

It is a long shot, but it is their only hope.

"Hold on, Ari, I'm coming."

I kick the taillight. I had read that if you ever get locked in a trunk to kick out the taillight and stick your arm through, waving for help. Unfortunately this taillight won't budge.

"Shit." The trunk is running out of air, a few more hours and I will be unconscious, and then…

Well, that isn't going to happen. I have kids to take care of and a boyfriend to kiss when I get out of here. Pulling back my leg, I kick as hard as I can.

*Crunch*

That wasn't the car. I curse a blue streak clutching my foot. Then the crunching sound comes again and this time it isn't my foot.

Someone is outside the car.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I scream through the lid.

"Sorry, love, just me." My blood runs cold. "Keep screaming like that and I'm afraid I'll have to cut out your tongue. But don't worry; I'll give it a special spot in my collection." I flinch as he bangs on the lid.

"You see, you're special. No one else has ever gotten away from me before. So the fact that you made it this long without me finding you is proof that you are very, very special. So you know what I'm going to do?" He coos at me. I kick the lid, probably hurting my foot more than anything else, but it makes me feel better to hear his flinch.

"I'm going to start with those pretty brown doe eyes. I'm going to cut them out slowly so I don't damage them. Then I'm going to cut off all of your pretty hair. Do you know what I'm going to do next?" I can hear him breathe as his voice draws closer to the lid.

"I'm going to rip out your teeth and cut out your tongue. Maybe I'll even take your ears. Then I'll kill you slowly, so I can record your screams. But don't worry; I won't waste the rest of your body. I'll send it to those kids you love so much. I wonder what the look on that man's face will be when he and his brats open the box to find my work of art. Do you think he'll cry? Maybe I'll add his daughter to my collection. I've never done a kid before. Do you think she'll scream for her father, before I rip her tongue out?"

My blood boils and I beat my fists against the lid.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER, YOU BASTARD!" I scream my voice going hoarse.

"Temper, temper now, my dear. We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"GO TO HELL! I SWEAR IF YOU TOUCH HER I'LL KILL YOU!"

*BANG!*

I jump as a bullet whizzes past my ear.

Didn't your mother ever tell you not to make promises you can't keep." Two more shots are fired, one grazing my arm. He leans over to look at me through a bullet hole. "Don't tell me what to do again, you worthless whore. Or I'll have to teach you some manners." I jerk in the trunk to avoid the next hail of bullets coming through the lid.

Well at least I wouldn't die of suffocation; I'd die of lead poisoning.

*BANG*

I flinch to avoid the next bullet.

But it never hits. Dead silence fills the air.

Then I hear the key in the lock and the lid creak open. Jake stands there grinning at me, the gun hanging lazily at his side, before he falls to the ground half his face blown off.

Then I jerk away as blood and brain matter splatter everywhere.

Then two strong arms are pulling me out of the trunk.

"Ari?" I can feel someone's hands pulling my hair from my face, but my eyes are still on the prone form of my nightmare. "Ari, look at me." The hands turn my head and tears fill my eyes.

"Dom."

He pulls me into a hug. I can feel the gun on his hip, the one that ended Jake's life.

'Why is he shaking?' Then I realize that I'm the one who's shaking.

Then everything seems muted, time moving so slowly it makes me dizzy. Dom pulls me to his car as Eames and Arthur drag off the body. Yusuf checks me over when we reach the car.

Then I'm sitting in the car and Dom's driving. He looks over at me constantly. I can't bring myself to remind him to focus on the road.

Then we're at his house, James and Phillipa are running towards me, and everything slams back into reality.

I drop to my knees and pull them to me.

It is over.

It is finally over.

I was home at last.