Title: Too Tough To Die
Chapter 14 – Who Built the Bigger Mousetrap?

Danny felt his hands trying to claw at anything as he crashed through the floorboards, clawing at the air and then the wooden floor as he started to sail into the darkness. His hand latched onto the jagged edge as his ears picked up Wilder's twisted laughter in the distance.

HURRY UP! HE'S COMING! MOVE YOUR ASS! His brain commanded as he tried to pull himself up. His legs continued to swing, finding nothing to use as leverage, nothing he could use to propel himself up onto the floor and then allow him to get the upper hand on is ensuing captor.

You have the tracking device…Jamie will find that but you gotta get Wilder before he gets to you and then goes after Jamie! Because if he gets you…Jamie or dad…are next and you know it. Now…MOVE!

Danny heard Wilder's footsteps getting closer and knew he had to do something to stall for time and avoid being caught –again. Much like Jamie, he knew that if Wilder were to get him this time, it'd be game over for sure. But his strength started to wane and he knew he had only seconds to decide. So he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and then let himself drop.

Thankfully it was only a few meters but he landed on his injured side with a painful gasp, something that drew Wilder closer.

"I heard that detective!" Wilder's voice boomed as he neared the gaping hole in the floor. "You're in my lair now..."

"Ah shut it," Danny growled as he pushed himself upright. He felt a small twinge in his ankle but it wasn't enough to impede him in any way – at least not his mobility. It was the pain in his side that warned him it could lead to his downfall if he didn't find a place to just sit down and rest.

But as he heard Wilder's angry hiss as he called his name, Danny knew sitting down to rest was the last thing he could do. You have the gun…go after him! Take him down! End this for good!

"Come on Danny boy…this isn't very fun…for you!"

Danny remained in place as he wrapped his arm around his chest and pulled his gun. One shot…take him out and then end this damn game! And that's what he prepared to do. He watched Wilder's shadow draw closer to the corner of the wall he had hid behind, but then he stopped; his plan to draw Danny in closer to him.

"Oh Danny boy…come and get me! You have the gun right?"

Go….oh wait…he's baiting you! He wants you to pursue him because he has another evil trap set…you go after him…you get caught again and it's game over! This time you get him to follow you! Get him off his game…GO NOW! Run…get him to follow you!

So with his left arm wrapped around his throbbing chest, and his gun still fixed firmly in his right he turned and started to make his way down the darkened hallway – heading for God knows what in the hopes of escaping the monster after him. This time he purposely stomped louder in the hopes of getting Wilder to follow.

It worked.

"You can run detective! But you can't hide…not from me…and not in here!"

"Try me you bastard," Danny whispered as he tried the handle on the first door he found. Locked. He considered busting it open when he heard Wilder's footsteps land on the same floorboards he did moments earlier and knew he was out of time.

Stall…run…hide…do whatever you need to do to keep Wilder busy. He's obsessed with the hunt…give him one hell of a chase.

"You won't find any place to hide Danny…but trust me this makes your painfully agonizing end that much sweeter – FOR ME!"

"Ah SHUT IT!" Danny shouted as he headed for the next door. Locked. This time he kicked it in in the hopes that Wilder might think he was in it. Come on Jamie…hurry up…

XXXXXXXX

"Can't this thing go any faster!" Jamie growled as he looked at Parker in concern. "Damn it Danny," he added with an angry mutter.

"So Danny…is he…"

"Known for doing things like this?" Jamie interjected and then nodded when Parker nodded in acknowledgment. "But I know for a fact with Wilder…he's taking this personally and doesn't want anyone else hurt because of him."

"I get it," Parker replied with a small frown as he pressed down on the gas a bit more which prompted Jamie to look over in wonder. "Don't want to lose another brother."

Damn it Danny…you better be okay when we get there!

XXXXXXXX

Wilder took the bait the first time as Danny heard him push the busted door open and then slam it closed just as quickly. "This is getting boring now detective!" Wilder spat as he hurried down the darkened hallway.

Danny knew that Wilder wouldn't pursue him forever and it was time to end the chase now – having told himself that he was far enough away from whatever area Wilder might have set traps in and he could take him on, one on one, assured he'd have the upper hand until the end. Or so he thought.

But Wilder wasn't a man to suffer lightly and knew that two could play the same game so when Danny stopped he stopped.

Danny heard the silence behind him and cursed as he too stopped, his mind wondering where Jamie was. Come on Jamie….get your ass here already! But of course he had a good head start on his brother so Wilder had at least some time to put into action some of the traps he had set.

And that's exactly what he wanted to do.

Danny poked his head into the hallway and saw Wilder with his back to him just as he started to creep back down the hallway. Now or never….GO!

Despite the throb in his chest, Danny bolted from his hiding spot and raced after Wilder. Wilder heard Danny as he barreled toward him but turned too late and the two of them slammed into a nearby wall. Danny's lips uttered a painful grunt but Wilder was too distracted by the pain in his own back to ball his fist and hit Danny in his injured side.

"It's…over."

However, Wilder wasn't about to miss that opportunity twice. He twisted his frame and this time his knee caught Danny in the side and applied a bit more pressure than wanted or expected.

This forced Danny's grasp to loosen but allowed Wilder's lithe frame to slip from his grasp and tried to wiggle away. This time he brought his fist up and hit Danny in his injured side which caused Danny's eyes to slightly water and his jaw to tighten.

But Danny wasn't about to just roll over and let Wilder escape as long as he was able to fight back. His hand shot out and grabbed Wilder's boot. His fingers latched on to a hand full of fabric and yanked backward.

This time it was Wilder's turn to curse as he crashed back down to his knees, having lost all the momentum he thought he gained in the past few seconds.

Wilder's leg shot back, clipped Danny in the jaw and made his head snap back. Wilder continued to claw his way down the hall, finally able to get upright and run a few meters. A few seconds later Danny was back on his knees and trying to get upright and pursue Wilder.

With a heavy pant Danny got to his feet and then raced after Wilder. Wilder quickly ducked into a darkened alcove as he tried to remind himself of where his traps were. He knew eventually the net would close around him and he'd either be able to take him and Danny out in a blaze of anger or he'd end up in jail and that wasn't something he wanted or desired.

Better to die free than live a caged animal was his motto.

Danny busted through the small door with his left arm, his mind offering an inward curse as he felt a small trickle of blood slide down his bare skin under his shirt. With the gun still in his right he told himself that he just needed to fire off a shot, wound Wilder anywhere and then try to get him unconscious. He had left his cuffs in the car, having told himself that if Wilder turned the tables he didn't want to end up cuffed with his own cuffs like when Wilder kidnapped him and put him in the boat.

"It's over Wilder!" Danny shouted as he spied Wilder ahead of him. But he had underestimated his surroundings and now cursed himself as he started to fall behind. With a slight limp in his leg from the fall earlier that had now manifested itself from the fall through the floor and the tumble with Wilder, his body wanted nothing more than to shut down.

Hurry Jamie…hurry your ass up!

XXXXXXXX

"Okay…you two go aro…Jamie!" Parker called out as he was forced stop mid-instruction as he watched the youngest Reagan pull away and raced toward the entrance of the large, condemned apartment building that Danny had tracked Wilder down into. But he remembered how Jamie was wracked with guilt when he rushed after Danny the last time without waiting for backup and then how Wilder got away.

And he had promised Jamie he wouldn't let that happen again. So he told the next senior officer to complete the rest of the instructions and hurried after Jamie.

"Jamie!"

"We're out of time!" Jamie looked at Parker in frustration as he pulled his gun. "And don't…lecture on waiting," Jamie huffed as Parker's dark brows shot up; Danny's voice silently coming to the fore.

"On two."

"Just…go careful. Wilder has had time to prepare traps."

"Copy that."

On the silent count of two, Parker and Jamie disappeared inside. Both of them anxious to end Wilder's evil reign once and for all.

XXXXXXXX

Danny rounded the corner and watched as Wilder tried to get to another small door and disappear. He pushed himself a bit harder and once again his body slammed into Wilder's. The motion forced them to hurl through the small door and land on the rotten floor.

However, both of them had misjudged their combined weight and within seconds found themselves taking a tumble into the darkness and heading for the abyss below through another rotten floor; one that Wilder had purposed softened. The gun came loose and clattered away from Danny's grasp and forced him to now rely on brute strength. That…he didn't mind.

Wilder had had a few things in place but because Danny had surprised him, he had failed to get all his traps ready and so now had to pay the price along with the man he wanted to capture and torment once more. But that plan would have to remain in his mind only as a few floors up his world was rapidly closing in on him.

Danny and Wilder parted from the other and rolled onto their backs for a few seconds as fresh shooting pains started to assault both of them. However, time was rapidly running out for one of them, and neither of them wanted to give up and let the other gain the upper hand.

Danny's balled fist shot out and punched Wilder in the side. While Wilder countered by sending a painful strike to Danny's recently injured side. Wilder's grin widened in the darkness when his knuckles came back with a fresh feeling of crimson sludge on it.

"Oh Danny boy…I got you."

Danny didn't reply. He merely gritted his teeth and sent his leg outward. It caught Wilder right in the groin and forced him to yelp in pain and roll away from Danny. With his eyes mostly adjusted Danny shot to his knees and then tackled Wilder. The two of them slammed back down to the rotten floor, the boards creaking under their weight.

"No bastard…" Danny huffed as he punched Wilder in the jaw once more. "I got…you…it's over."

One more punch and Danny felt Wilder's frame go limp in his grasp. Wilder was a master of playing possum so Danny knew he couldn't rest for even a second and balled his fist once more. But Wilder also heard the faint sirens overhead and had to try to get away and get down his rabbit hole.

Wilder's fingers scrambled along the floor boards until he found a small but sharp object and instantly brought it up and tried to jab it into Danny's thick thigh.

Danny's body jerked in response and pulled back slightly which allowed Wilder to punch his very weary frame in the side and make him falter to the side. Wilder kicked at Danny once more. Danny grabbed his foot but his fingers slipped and it actually helped propel Wilder into the air a bit, thus setting him free of Danny's grasp.

Wilder bolted for the last door while Danny's mind commanded himself to get up and RUN….

XXXXXXXX

Jamie's eyes instantly spied the gaping hole in the floor and directed Parker to be careful and watch every step. He quickly looked around and then spied the stairwell sign and motioned for Parker to follow him. With their guns drawn they carefully entered the stairwell and then started to descend. But a few stairs down, Jamie's foot accidentally triggered one of Wilder's traps and if not for Parker's quick thinking to pull him back, Jamie's leg would have been shot full of nails.

"Damn…this guy doesn't play around," Parker cursed as Jamie quickly pulled his flashlight to inspect the rest of the stairwell.

"Radio the others…stairwells are booby-trapped," Jamie growled. "We'll have to find another way down."

"The hole in the floor…so if that didn't work he would have found another way to hobble Danny," Parker mused as they reentered the main floor hallway. "He doesn't want to kill Danny, only hurt him or slow him down so he can…"

"He's not gonna win this time," Jamie promised with an angry hiss.

"Well…we gotta find a way down without taking either stairwell or jumping down into…there," Parker stated as he peered over the edge of the hole and into the darkness.

Jamie quickly looked around for something…anything he could use to help. Finally he saw something. "Parker!" He exclaimed as he rushed toward the waiting box.

Parker saw what Jamie had in mind and rushed to help. "This just might work."

"Hurry!"

Hold on Danny…we're almost there!

XXXXXXXX

The next room Danny chased Wilder into had a bit more light and he was able to see where Wilder was headed. His mind pushed past his aching side and told himself that he was so close. So closed to having it end on his watch and that's what he had to focus on.

Danny didn't care that he didn't have his gun, as he would use brute force if he had to to bring Wilder to justice. As much as he wanted to put Wilder all out of their misery's he had to find a way to stop him so that whoever was upstairs, Jamie he hoped, would arrive in time to help with the final takedown.

"Wilder! It's over! The building is surrounded!" Danny called out just as he closed the gap on Wilder.

Wilder too had started to feel the folly of his ways having gone amuck thanks to Danny's surprise and his body started to falter. He knew Danny didn't have his gun and that afforded him one last – opportunity.

But he had to try to get some ground on Danny. So just as Danny neared, Wilder stopped suddenly and dropped his shoulder. The move caught Danny by surprise but Danny was no stranger to an opponent pulling a fast move and was able to counter by tossing his arm around Wilder's shoulder, his fingers latched onto his neck and pulled.

Wilder cursed loudly as he found himself falling to the floor instead of being able to escape. Danny twisted his arm around but Wilder which made Wilder cry out with pain and that enabled Jamie and Parker to hear where they were. Wilder countered with a kick to the back of Danny's wounded thigh, which caused Danny's frame to falter backward.

Just as Wilder brought his fist back down on Danny's injured thigh, Danny was able to step to the side and the fist only did minimal damage the second time. Danny brought his knee up and clipped Wilder in the jaw. His fist quickly followed and punched him in the gut which sent him backward.

He finally felt that he was gaining the upper hand this time and didn't let up. His body wanted nothing more than to just collapse but his fist drove another firm punch into Wilder's gut.

Another hit but it wasn't until both Danny and Wilder heard Jamie call out to them in the distance did a few moments pause ensue.

"Jamie!" Danny shouted with a ragged gasp.

"There!" Jamie gestured to Parker who hurried after Jamie to rescue his brother.

"It's…over…Wilder," Danny hissed as he delivered one more blow and then eased up slightly.

"I…give…up," Wilder panted as his allowed his body to fall limp to the floor. The words forced Danny's mind to offer a warning that Wilder had given up once before and he better be careful until Jamie was there at his side and Wilder was outnumbered.

"Damn right….bastard," Danny panted as he leaned in a bit closer.

But just as Danny leaned in closer, Wilder pulled his last weapon….a small hidden knife but one that could still do some damage. His free hand seized Danny by the neck just as the blade pressed against it and pulled Danny in closer.

Danny's hands gripped Wilder's shoulders, thus inadvertently taking away the clear shot that Jamie would have had at Wilder.

"I'll cut…" Wilder started as Danny closed the gap a bit more. This forced Wilder's hand with the knife to bend at an odd angle which moved it away from Danny's jugular and instead nicked a small piece of flesh but didn't do any damage.

"It's over…bastard!" Danny hissed in confident anger.

Jamie's footsteps neared, his gun drawn and ready.

Wilder's dark eyes narrowed as they locked with Danny's in contempt.

Danny's returned a look of hatred but victory.

Jamie rounded the corner.

Wilder's mouth opened.

Danny tried to pull back to give Jamie a clear shot.

Jamie entered the room with his gun drawn; Danny shouted at his brother to shoot. Jamie fired off a shot at Wilder's shoulder which thankfully missed his brother and forced the two of them to break apart.

"No, detective…the game will…continue," Wilder whispered to Danny just before his body fell to the floor. He landed on his back just as Jamie with his gun drawn.

Wilder landed on the floor and looked up at Danny and winked. In his mind…the game wasn't over…just on hold…for now.

"It's…far from over."

A/N: So…I had waffled on Wilder catching Danny again but figured Jamie was too close to make Wilder escape with him and keep it credible and then I was torn about killing Wilder b/c he's just too delicious a baddie to meet a simple end in a shootout. so he can either die in jail or…is this part of Wilder's twisted plan? is Danny safe now that Wilder is caught? Or….will Wilder find a way out of jail and take Danny when he's least expecting it? Hehe well I blame all you dear readers for making me find a way to keep this story going on longer and of course keep you all on edge ;) so would love your thoughts and hope no one is disappointed but I promise the Danny angst and whump isn't over just yet. Please do review before you go and thanks so much!