Dominic sat up on the back seat of his car where he had been catching a quick nap before he and Vince tried once again to find out where Brian was being held after they had been forced to leave him behind at the warehouse when the cops had unexpectedly turned up earlier than they had planned.

He knew that the cops had Brian, he and Vince had scouted the warehouse afterwards and when they had seen that no one was there, they had managed to talk to one of the homeless guys that had hung around that area and he had told them that the law took everyone away. He had also told them when they had described Brian to them that the guy had not been in cuffs when he had been taken away but he thought that maybe he had been in the back of an ambulance.

If that was the case than they had to find out which hospital, it was not going to be easy, there was no way either he or Vince could just ring or march into a hospital, the feds and a number of cops would be watching out for them, they had to do this smart he thought to himself. He knew it was about time to call in some favours that he had with the street racers here, they would be able to find out where Brian was he was sure of it. Pleased that he had come up with a way of finding Buster, he closed his eyes and got some much needed rest.

xXx

"Well it looks like you are good to go Mr O'Connor."

The doctor checked the remaining notes on Brian's chart as he spoke to the young man on the bed, he noted that he had been here for almost a week now and he looked like he was eager to escape, not that it would be easy for him what with the police officers stationed outside his room. Placing the chart on the rack on the end of the bed, he took notice of the patient glancing towards the door and the officer standing outside it.

"I'm sure they have a safe house waiting for you, somewhere for you to rest before you testify."

The patient glanced up at him, fear evident in his eyes. He could see him fiddling with the blankets under his hands and that he was chewing his lower lip.

The doctor picked up his files and strode out of the room, closing the door behind him; he turned briefly to the Officer at the door.

"You can tell your bosses that you can move the prisoner in there, anytime they want preferably the sooner the better."

The Officer looked at and replied.

"He ain't a prisoner this time doc, he's a witness. Well an unwilling one but a witness all the same but I will tell the bosses."

"I thought he was a prisoner, the way one that in charge was talking the other day."

"Well he is kind of but not in the normal sense doc."

"What other sense is there?"

"A victim and a witness doc, the feds took down a big sex ring here in the city a week ago, O'Connor was one of the men they apparently forced into their ring as a slave but I don't believe that. The guy was once a cop but he let his mark go and has just come out of prison for it so I'm not inclined to believe a word that comes out of his mouth but for some reason the feds thinks he is telling the truth and none of the others that were kept as sex slaves have come forward or have been picked up yet and so he is at the moment the one and only witness for the prosecution. Not that he wants to be hence why I'm here; still I shouldn't be telling you this so I'd appreciate it if you did not say anything to anyone."

The Officer had realised as he was rambling that he had said too much and he really hoped the doctor did not drop him in it. He knew he should not have said anything but he could not stand O'Connor, never had when he was on the force and certainly not now.

xXx

"Hector, it's good to see you again old friend."

Dom thrust his hand out to the small Latino as he approached the group of men standing around a car that was parked on the side of the road. It felt good to Dom being back in the old neighbourhood, seeing all the old faces that he once knew so well.

Hector smiled widely as he took Dom's hand and pulled him into a brotherly hug.

"It is good to see you again amigo. How have you guys been?"

"Not too bad but we need your help Hector."

"What do you need old friend?"

Dom looked around at the crowded neighbourhood, he and Vince really needed to be out of sight in case the law showed up or someone not friendly towards them ratted them out to them, that the two of them were here. Glancing towards the house behind Hector and his crew, he nodded towards it.

"Perhaps we could talk in private."

"Of course amigo."

xXx

It was late in the evening and Brian had wanted nothing more than to be left alone, he had been moved from the hospital late that afternoon and was now sitting in a daze like state in one of the bedrooms of the safe house that Bilkin's team had brought him to. Not one of them had spoken a word to him other than Bilkin's himself who had been one of the men to collect him from the hospital.

He had been given no choice, Bilkin's himself had informed him that if he did not cooperate he would be on his way to lock up for the assault on Vinny, the prison guard who had run the entire sex ring. Vinny himself was recovering somewhere else in the hospital under police guard following his rape in the warehouse and it wold be a while before he himself was brought to trial, if at all. The ordeal had caused him to become even more unstable and it looked like he was going to be incarcerated in one of the city's mental wards for the rest of the foreseeable future if not for the rest of his natural life.

The sound of someone cursing as they tripped over in the hallway caused Brian to flinch as he came back to his senses and he saw that he had been sitting in a daze for at least two hours. He wanted to flee but he did not know where he was and he wanted nothing more than to be with Dom and even Vince but at the same time he wanted them safe, he did not want Bilkin's getting his hands on them. He had no idea what he would do if anything happened to either of them because of him, they had risked so much in trying to help him the first time, the very last thing he wanted for either of them was to be arrested.

Brian gave up trying to think about what he was going to do and wandered over to the bed to lay down and maybe get some sleep when he heard other sounds coming from the rest of the house, there were several loud bangs, he got up whether to intending investigate or hide but had not gone more than a few steps when the bedroom door flew open and he saw a figure of an armed individual standing in the open doorway.