A/N: I own nothing, sadly.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

"Radio Speak"

20. Captive Prt 2

"You're wasting your time kid. The key's not on the counter."

Rad looked over at the caged man with a slight scowl, though his eyes were blazing silver. "Then pray tell, bastard, where is the key?"

"That tall guy has it, he keeps it on a string around his neck." The man said.

Rad let out a groan. "You want me to go into the figurative lion's den? Why don't I just use one of these to break the lock." he picked up one of the carving tools. He knelt down in front of the lock and was about to hit it when a grimy hand grabbed a hold of his wrist.

"You said it yourself not to make so much noise." The man smirked as he threw the words Rad had said earlier back at the blond as he let go of his hand.

Rad took this time to get a good look at the captive. Aside from the brown eyes, the man looked about 18 with red hair which looked like it hadn't been washed in days. In fact, his whole appearnace spoke of not having washed for a while. Despite Rad's distaste for men, he couldn't help but feel a small swell of pity for him.

"Alright, I'll go get the damn key, but if I die, you're gonna die." he warned.

The man shrugged, looking resigned. "I've had a goo 18 year run."

Rad put the tool back and crept toward the house. He quietly looked around before spying a cellar door. 'If it feels too easy, then it must be.' he thought and prepared himself for any traps as he the cellar door.

He crept into the cellar and saw that it also had tools in it. He looked around the room carefully as he sensed the energy was still upstairs. His hand felt along the wall as he walked to the door across the room.

His eyes continued to flicker around as his hand rested on the door knob. As he turned the knob a sudden click from above made him look up to see a net. He jumped back to avoid it just as it fell. It clattered to the ground and Rad stepped around it and cautiously opened the door, making sure to stand on the side. It was a good decision as a bunch of arrows fired from an automatic crossbow and were embeded into the wall.

Rad left the cellar and made his way the stairs. He pursed his lips as he tried to walk carefully up the stairs. His face contorted into a scowl as his resolve strengthened with each step. He heard heavy snoring and moved stealthily to the main bedroom where the giant slept.

Rad saw a string with five keys on the bedside table and felt his irritation rise.'Bastard didn't say there was more than one key.' he brushed aside his irritation and quietly approached the table.

He reached for the string, and just as he was about to get it, a large tan hand wrapped around Rad's smaller wrist. "When did you know I was here?" he asked moodily.

"As soon as I heard my traps go off." The man answered and jerked Rad closer. "You're alot smaller than the last hero I had to deal with."

Rad scowled as he inconspicuiosly reached for on the blue clips on both sides of his belt. "And you're a murderer." he spat.

"So you figured it out huh?" Diomedes asked.

"Wasn't that hard once I saw what was inside the mares trauffe." Rad growled. "Tell me, how many poor people did you kill to feed those mares?"

"Hmm. Including the ones I'm going to kill? 23. That's 18 in the last two weeks I've been here, and I'm sure even you can figure out the last four." Diomedes smirked.

Rad's eyes hardened as he figured it out. 'There are three innocent people living next down, one man tapped in the cage in the barn, and then there's me.' His free hand wrapped around the clip he'd been going for. "You're right, I can figure it out. Now I also know how many pieces to chop you into!"

With that he pulled back his clip, it changed into a bronze sword, and brought it down.