A/N: Last chapter - except for an epilogue next week :)

Chapter 21 – I'll Take Your Deal

About ten minutes later Regulus had to turn over, his arm aching from the awkward position it had been forced into because of the cuff. He looked around for something to cover himself with - he didn't want Barty to see more than he had to. He spotted his boxers on the floor out of reach, so he used his feet to pull up the sheet pooling at the end of the bed. And then he froze. Barty's discarded shorts lay on the bed next to him, and out of the pocket peaked the top of his cell phone.

Regulus did a double take, holding his breath for a moment to listen hard. The water was still running in the bathroom. He reached down and snatched the phone, unable to fathom his luck. However, a second later his stomach sank. It was coded, of course. A new sob escaped him. How could fate be so cruel – giving him hope and then snatching it away? Twice today. He pulled himself together and stared at the display. It asked for six digits. Which numbers would Barty choose? He actually remembered the code for Barty's old phone, but that was only four numbers. They had been 0102, Barty's birthday. Regulus tried those four, adding the year (99) as well. Wrong. He swore silently. Then another idea hit him. He had two more tries and this was as good a guess as any. 100599. Regulus' birthday. He stared at the display as he saw the code accepted. However, there was no time to rejoice in his luck; Barty could be back any moment. He heard the water turn off next door. He had to hurry! He was about to dial 911 but then stopped. He was afraid Barty would hear him talking, so instead he typed a quick message to Remus' number.

Barty took me don't know where but there's a yellow house opposite and two fat gnomes and street starts with rose. Call police he has a gun. Don't answer this text or he will know!

He sent the text and quickly deleted the thread to hide what he had been doing. Panicking, he heard the bathroom door open and he scrambled to put the phone back in the pocket.

o0o0o

Remus heard his cell beep and he quickly picked it up. It was from an unknown number, but when he read the message, he nearly dropped the phone.

"What is it?" asked Sirius, who sat on the other end of the couch. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"R-Regulus just texted me!" Remus shouted, not realizing how loud his voice was. He sat with his phone in shaking hands, staring at the text.

"What?" gasped Sirius. Then he felt relief flood over him - his brother was alive! "Where is he? Where the fuck did he go?"

Remus handed the phone to Sirius and bit a hangnail. "Barty took him," he said as James and Peter came into the room to see what was up with the agitated voices.

"What?" James exclaimed.

"That fucking creep!" growled Sirius. "What the fuck did he take him for? Revenge, or what?"

"Because he wants him back!" cried Remus. "What does it matter? We should call the cops! Does anyone know where this place is?"

"I don't know - you're the local!" said Sirius.

"Could be Rosewood," said Peter, who had also grown up in Columbia.

"Yeah?" said Sirius, turning to him. "Well, let's go there!" He raced into the hallway and jammed his feet into his sneakers.

"Sirius, wait!" said James, going after him. "I bet there's more than one street starting with 'Rose'. And we don't even know if he's still in Columbia. Who knows where that fucker took him? He's been gone for weeks!"

"We should call the police!" said Remus agitatedly. "Regulus said so, and he's right. They'll know what to do. They have all the right resources."

"Yeah?" Sirius turned to him. "I'm not waiting another second to go find my brother now that I've got clues! I thought you'd be just as eager, being his boyfriend and all! I thought you loved him!"

"I DO love him!" Remus retorted. "I want him back and I don't want him hurt in the process!"

Sirius pushed past Remus, heading for the front door.

"Hey!" said James and stepped in front of the door to block it. "I can't believe I'm the one to has to be the voice of reason. We can't just rush out like headless chickens. We'll have to check how many streets start with 'Rose' before we go looking."

Sirius sighed and ran his fingers though his hair. "Fine! Fine. Let's look at streets, then."

o0o0o

They set out a bit later, having decided to systematically go through all the possible streets to look for the yellow house with the fat garden gnomes.

They had printed out a city map and highlighted all the streets starting with Rose (11 altogether) and planned in which order to check each one. James was driving, Sirius next to him with the map, Remus and Peter in the back seat.

Remus was on the phone to the police, informing them about the text from Regulus. When the call was finished, he looked up. "They say they'll get on the case immediately and warn us to not go looking ourselves, because it's a hostage situation and Barty is armed, like Regulus said."

"Fuck if I'm just gonna sit on my arse waiting for the coppers to finish their donuts while my brother is being abused by that bloody psycho!" said Sirius.

James sighed. He knew the smart thing to do was to listen to the police, but he knew his best friend well enough to know that there was no stopping him. Instead he said, "Sirius - if we find the place before the police, then we don't just barge in. We call the police and wait for them to come do their work, alright?"

Sirius nodded but his eyes told a different story and James called him out on it. "Alright, Sirius?"

"I'm not gonna wait outside," Sirius finally said after a minute. You go ahead and call the police, but I'll go get my brother."

"Yeah? So you're just gonna barge in and make chaos? Maybe get yourself or Regulus shot in the process? The police have professional hostage negotiators. There's a reason for that!"

Sirius pointed at Remus but looked at James. "You think he will just stand and wait?"

"Yes, because Remus uses his head and he knows it's the right thing to do! He doesn't rush headfirst into things without stopping to think about the consequences!" James thanked God that Sirius was British and hadn't thought about getting himself a gun like most Americans would automatically do in a situation like this. And James certainly was not going to bring up the idea. He could easily picture his hotheaded friend bust into the house and start a shoot-out.

"We probably won't find it before the cops, anyway," piped up Peter, trying to relieve the tension.

After that there was an awkward silence for a long while before Sirius suddenly screamed and pointed. "There! That must be it!"

James stepped on the breaks. Had they really already found it? It was only the third street they tried. He eyed the house. "We can't be sure... there's lots of yellow houses and lots of people have garden gnomes."

"It's here!" said Sirius and opened the car-door.

"Sirius, wait!" James called, but Sirius was already out on the street.

There were three likely houses, but one had kids' toys strewn out in the front yard and another had several cars parked in the driveway. The third one had a rental van sitting out front, so Sirius ran to that one and hammered on the door.

o0o0o

Regulus' was woken from his sleep by noise from upstairs. He listened intently as the hammering and shouting went on a few minutes. Next thing Barty came rushing in, white in the face and gun in hand. He tossed Regulus the keys and ordered him to uncuff himself. "Now, get some clothes on."

"What's happening? Is someone at the door?"

"Get some clothes on and do as I say!" barked Barty.

Barty had allowed Regulus a shower after his own and given him a fresh pair of boxer shorts, but otherwise he was naked. He looked around, spotting a T-shirt hanging on a chair. He moved over slowly to put on the shirt, eying Barty, who had the gun pointed at him.

"Come," said Barty and backed up the stairs and all the way to the living room, gun still raised as Regulus followed him at a distance.

There was still hammering on the door and now Regulus could make out the shouting as well. "REGULUS! BARTY, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHITE - I'M GONNA KILL YOU! REGGIE!"

"SIRIUS!" screamed Regulus.

"Shut up!" snarled Barty, looking horrified. Then he rushed forward and grabbed a tight hold of Regulus' hair and jammed the barrel of the gun into his neck.

"Go away, Sirius!" Barty barked. "Regulus is with me and it stays that way! He loves me and none of you can do a thing to change that!"

"Regulus?" Remus' voice could be heard from the other side of the door. "Are you hurt?"

Regulus had to bite his cheek to prevent himself from answering. The sound of Remus' voice sent his pulse skyrocketing, he could feel it pounding in his throat where the gun was pressed to his jugular.

"Barty," said James. "The police are on their way – you aren't gonna win this."

"LEAVE!" yelled Barty. "I have a gun, and if you come in, I'll shoot you!"

"LEAVE, Sirius!" shouted Regulus, knowing that Barty wouldn't shoot him for sending his brother away. "Don't come in! Just go!"

Sirius stood still for a second, then anger resurfaced and he rushed forward, slamming his shoulder into the door. There was the sound of a crack, but the door stayed closed. James and Remus reached for Sirius, but before they could grab him, he had rushed forward again. This time the door gave way with a sickening crash and Sirius fell to the floor half-way in. Before he could pick himself up or the others enter, Barty backed away to the wall, the barrel of the gun pressed hard into Regulus' throat.

"Don't come any closer!" he warned in a high-pitched voice. "If you do, I'll shoot him, I swear it!"

"Get that fucking gun away from my brother!" Sirius yelled but didn't move.

James helped him to his feet and got him to back out to the porch. "Listen, Barty," he said, holding up his other hand in an appeasing gesture. "Like we said, the police are on their way. You don't stand a chance in hell. The only way you're getting out of this is we make a deal: let Regulus go, and we won't stop you on your way to your car. If you're quick you can get away before the cops get here."

"Just... please let Regulus go, Barty," Remus pleaded, feeling helpless. He knew if he tried to get to his boyfriend, Barty would likely shoot Regulus, so he stayed put, hoping to God that he would listen to reason.

Barty bit his lip, then said, "I'll take your deal, with a minor change: Regulus is coming with me. We love each other. We're soulmates and we'll never part again. So back away so we can get to the car, yeah?"

Sirius was about to say something, but Remus put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay... okay, just don't hurt him," he begged.

"Back off," ordered Barty. "Farther. Farther!"

"Are we just gonna let him take my brother?" Sirius asked James and Remus incredulously.

"Don't do something stupid, Sirius," said James and put a hand on his friend to prevent him from suddenly having a go at Barty. "He's crazy. Crazy enough to shoot him. Or one of us. We'll get him. The police will get him," he continued in a low voice so Barty couldn't hear. "We'll give them the license plate."

"Don't you fucking hurt my brother, you bastard!" yelled Sirius while he backed away along with James and Remus.

When they had reached the far end of the front yard, Barty walked Regulus toward the van, the gun still pressed to his throat. When they reached the car, Regulus stopped and gained eye contact with Remus. "I'm sorry, Remus," he said, tears running down his cheeks. "I love you."

He felt Barty freeze for a long moment. Then he leaned out so he could see Regulus' face. He watched his tear-stricken cheeks and followed his gaze to where it was resting on Remus. Then, with a heartbroken sigh he let go of him and stepped back. "I get it... I really don't stand a chance with you, do I?"

Regulus looked at him, the sight of utter pain and defeat on his ex's face actually made him feel sorry for him. He shook his head. "No, Barty. You don't."

"Go, then," said Barty and lowered his gun.

Barely able to believe it, Regulus ran to the others, right into the arms of Remus.

Remus slung his arms around Regulus and hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe. He buried his face in the crook of his neck and felt Regulus' tears soaking the fabric of his shirt.

Sirius, James, and Peter just stood there gawking at the scene. Barty looked so heartbroken as he stood there with dull eyes and the gun dangling from a slack arm.

"Let's go," said James, giving Sirius' sleeve a tug. "Just leave him be."

"Regulus, wait!" sounded Barty's voice.

They all turned, and Regulus, who still stood hugging Remus, turned in his grip to look at Barty, who had raised the gun again, pointing it at him.

"I get it that you don't want me," said Barty. "But you destroyed my heart… and... if I can't have you, then he can't, either."

Regulus was slung sideways to the ground, as if someone pushed him, just as a loud crack sounded, echoing off the buildings on the street. He was surprised at the loudness of the shot. He could hear people screaming, muffled by the deafening effect of the shot so close to his ears. Why didn't it hurt anywhere? Was this what being shot felt like? You didn't feel anything at first because of the shock and adrenalin, or what? A groan behind him made him turn on the ground. Remus had sunk to his knees, gasping for breath. Then Regulus saw a dark spot rapidly spreading on Remus' light blue polo, and he realized that it was him and not himself who had been shot. Remus must have pushed him to the side to save him.

"Remus," Regulus gasped as he moved over to his boyfriend. "Remus, are you…" he was going to say "hurt" but that was stupid, because of course he was hurt – he had a hole in his chest!

"Are you hurt?" Remus choked as Regulus gently pushed him down onto his back.

"No, but..." Regulus pressed his hand against the wound on Remus' chest, meaning to stop the bleeding. "But you..." He looked into Remus' eyes and saw how unfocused they were, as if he was about to lose consciousness. "No... no, no, no - somebody do something - SOMEBODY HELP HIM!" he screamed.

Regulus had barely registered the sound of the gun going off again when Sirius jumped Barty to wrestle it away from him. Now Sirius was pinning him to the ground, a wild expression on his face, while punching him in the face repeatedly. He halted when he spotted the gun on the ground, then picked it up and pointed it at the half-unconscious Barty's face.

"Sirius, no!" said James, carefully taking a step forward. "Don't! Don't do it!"

"He tried to kill my brother and shot my friend!" Sirius said through gritted teeth, his hands shaking a bit.

"And he's going away for that. You don't wanna go away too, do you?"

"They're not gonna put me away for defending my brother!"

"This has nothing to do with defense - it's revenge! He's defenseless on his back – if you shoot him like that it's an execution!"

Sirius clenched his teeth and then put the gun down. "I hope they lock you away for life, you piece of shite!" he barked and punched Barty one more time.

Remus coughed and a bit of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. "I'm glad you're okay," he said and tried to smile at Regulus. "That's… what matters."

"HELP! HEEELP!" screamed Regulus, looking around desperately to see that several neighbors had come out to see what was going on, but scared to get too near. "SOMEBODY HELP HIM!"

Someone had obviously already called for help, because the sound of several sirens was drawing closer.

Peter kneeled next to the boys on the ground staring at the dark spot on Remus' shirt rapidly spreading. "Oh, fuck," he gasped. "Fuck, Remus..."

Suddenly the front yard was full of uniformed people.

"Come, son, we need to take care of you," said one of the paramedics, trying to lead Regulus over to one of the ambulances while two others were tending to Remus.

"What? I'm not going anywhere. I'm fine!"

"You were held hostage for two weeks. I'm sure you're not fine. Let's just take a look –"

"No, I'm not fine - because my boyfriend is lying bleeding out on the ground!" yelled Regulus, pulling away from the man's grasp. "Help him!"

Sirius came up and wrapped his arms around his brother. "Easy, Reggie. He'll be fine. They're sorting him out now, yeah?"

Regulus pressed his face into his brother's chest and sobbed violently. The paramedics were shielding the view so none of them could see anything of Remus apart from his feet.

Sirius shushed his brother while looking in the direction of Remus. "It'll all be alright," he said, trying not to let his voice break. Truth be told, he was scared it wouldn't be.

o0o0o

While Remus was in surgery, the police tried to get Regulus to give his statement. "No! Not while my boyfriend is being operated on and I don't even know if he'll survive!"

"I understand you're upset, son, but it's important that we get your statement so we can charge Crouch. You don't have to come to the station - we can do it here at the hospital while you're waiting for news about your boyfriend."

"I don't want to talk!" said Regulus, getting more agitated and afraid he was going to start crying again.

"Can you give us a minute?" Sirius asked the officer.

"Alright. I can go interview the other two boys in the meantime."

Sirius pulled Regulus aside and let James and Peter tell about the shooting. "I get it, Reggie," he said. "But we can't do much else but wait and they need to know what happened. The bastard is going away because he shot Remus, but they also need to know what he did to you. I want him punished for all of it."

"I don't care what he did to me," said Regulus and felt tears start running down his cheeks again. "What he did to Remus is worse."

"He was trying to kill you, Reggie. If Remus hadn't taken the bullet, you would've… I could have lost you."

"It would have been better. All of this was my mess. Oh, God, this is all my fault. If he..." Regulus started sobbing. "If he d-dies then that's on me. My fault. I might as well have shot him myself!"

"No, Reggie. None of this is your fault. It's that mental fucker's."

"I'm the one who made Barty this way! I drove him mad – you saw him. He wasn't like that before. I could just have gone back with him and none of this would have happened!"

"That's bollocks, and you know it. You had no way of knowing what a mental bastard he was and that he would do something this outrageous."

"I brought you all to the house. I texted Remus - I should've known you would come." Regulus hiccupped. "I should have tried calling the police instead!"

Sirius put both hands on his brother's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Stop blaming yourself. If Barty had heard you calling, he would have killed you. Remus is not the only one who could have lost you. I could too. I would have done the same as Remus if I'd been the one standing with you. Remus isn't a victim – he made a choice. Because he loves you."

"I wasn't his choice to make! He had no right to do that!" Regulus suddenly yelled and stepped away from Sirius. "He had no right to take my place like that! Don't you think I love him too? Where was my choice? He had no right to do that without my permission!"

A nurse came rushing over. "Honey?" she said, putting a hand on Regulus' shoulder. "I think you need to sit down for a bit. Come with me, I'll take you somewhere quiet and get you a tranquilizer, okay?" she smiled.

o0o0o

After what seemed like days a doctor came out and called for them. They followed him into a room, Regulus feeling like he could barely breath, waiting for the verdict.

"How is he?" asked Lily. "Is he going to be alright?"

The doctor adjusted his glasses and nodded. "He had a collapsed lung and significant internal bleeding, but the operation went well, and he is stable. He is resting right now but you can go see him if you're quiet."

"He'll be fine?" said Regulus, feeling his body sagging in relief. "Promise?"

The doctor nodded. "You can never be a 100 % sure, of course, but unless unexpected complication occurs, then yes."

"You go see him first," Lily smiled at Regulus.

Regulus was glad that the others let him go in first. Remus looked pale and fragile in the white hospital bed. He was sleeping; probably still had some anesthetics in his system, not to talk about pain killers. Regulus wanted to hug him but didn't dare touch his body out of fear of hurting him, so he just sat down and took his hand, kissing his palm and weeping silently.

A nurse came in after knocking lightly on the door. She smiled at Regulus while she checked the IV.

"When will he wake?" asked Regulus. "When can we take him home?"

"Perhaps in an hour, perhaps a few more," she smiled. "I don't know when he can go home. Time and the doctors will tell. Shall I send the others in? I think they're anxious to see their friend."

Regulus nodded.

A few minutes later the others came in. "Why isn't he awake?" James complained.

"Anesthetics, James," said Lily, rolling her eyes. "It takes a while getting out of the system. You should know that, doing chemistry."

"Well, I'm not studying doctoring, am I?"

Remus stirred about an hour later. When he opened his eyes, everyone was hovering over him so he got a little startled. "Where…"

"Morning, hero," smiled Sirius. "You're at the hospital. Doctors sorted you right out."

Regulus squeeze his hand. "Are you okay?"

Remus turned his head and smiled at him. "I am now."

"Okay, guys," Lily said, sensing that Regulus and Remus might want a bit of privacy. "Let's go grab some food. We'll bring you something, honey," she smiled at Regulus and pushed the others out.

"But he's awake now!" Sirius complained.

Regulus gave Remus a gentle kiss once they had left. "Do you remember what happened?"

Remus closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember. "I remember pushing you to the ground when Barty pulled out the gun," he said and frowned his brow. "I must have been shot? Did he really try to shoot you?"

Regulus nodded, tearing up again. "Yeah... I guess something clicked when he finally understood that I loved you and not him."

Remus smiled softly and caressed his cheek. "I'm sorry you had to endure that, darlin'." He scooted a bit over and patted the bedside. "Come sit. "

Regulus eyed the place Remus' hand was patting. "No. No, I don't want to risk hurting you. You need to mend properly. Are you in pain? Should I ask for more morphine?"

"No," Remus said and shook his head. "I just miss being close to you, but you're probably right. It's too risky. "

Regulus leaned in and gave Remus a long gently kiss. "I can do that, though. Your mouth is not hurt," he smiled.

Remus reached and took Regulus' hand. "I'm really tired. Will you be here when I wake if I just shut my eyes for a bit?"

"Of course. I won't go anywhere. You need to sleep."

Remus smiled softly and let his eyes drift shut.