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Thanks to NaguraFlames, Cinnybun, and AGW. You're all awesome.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hangar X

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"Vanessa! Amai! Where are you? I'm here now!"

His descent to the underground is poorly lit and fueled by anger. He knows he could've thought about this a lot better. He's briskly going down cobblestone steps, one sealed under wooden doors that he wouldn't have found if not for a pair of crows, not even knowing whether he'll find down there what he's looking for.

But Vanessa said Amber in her letter. Amber, to him, only means Chuck's home.

If anything, the secluded location is perfect for whatever stand-off she had planned for them.

Reaching the bottom, he finds a heavy iron door riddled with intricate bolt locks, separating him from whatever's beyond it. He skims for any keypads but finds none. "Vanessa!" he screams. He pounds his fist against the door. "Open this door! I came just like you told me to!"

There's a pause.

Then, the locks begin moving.

When the iron doors finally part, it's Chuck who's standing on the other side. "Leo?" he says, puzzled. "What are you doing here? How did you find this? How did you even get out?"

Leo ignores him and charges ahead. "Where's Vanessa?"

"Whoa there," Chuck says, holding him back. He laughs. "Is everything okay? Why are you looking for Vanessa all of a sudden?"

"Because she has my dad," Leo says. Though he looks at Chuck, he doesn't see him. He doesn't see anything but his rage. "Where's Vanessa?"

"Last I spoke to her, she was leaving to speak to Amai and Nisha about something." Chuck lets him go. His brows furrow. "You said she has Donald Davenport?"

"She sent me a ransom note," Leo says. He checks his pocket to show Chuck but realizes he has left it at the house. He huffs in annoyance. "Whatever. My dad. She told me I should come here by 2, or else she hands him over to Doc to have fun with."

Chuck crosses his arms and tilts his head thoughtfully. "That doesn't sound like Vanessa."

"Everything's upside-down for me right now so I don't really know who's good and who's bad anymore," Leo says. He looks around the room bathed in neon blue lighting and strings of spotlights. Several long strides behind Chuck, he sees a door leading to somewhere. Bingo.

"Hey—Leo—" Chuck anchors him in place as he attempts to charge. "Stop."

Leo stares at him, eyes filled with surprise. It then changes to betrayal then to disillusionment then anger. "Are you in this with her?" he demands.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Why aren't you letting me go?" Leo says, trying to pull his arm away.

Chuck patiently holds onto him. "Leo, if it hasn't occurred to you by now, this is my property, part of my house," he explains kindly. "I have a right to restrict you from going to places I don't need you going into, now don't I?"

Leo continues to struggle at first, but the reasoning gets to him – like water soaking then corroding a rock solid material. Eventually, he acquiesces. He yanks his arm halfheartedly from Chuck's grasp.

"Good. Thank you," Chuck says. He heads towards the bar, one that, while a lot more modern and structured than the one in Hangar 72, is smaller. He ducks underneath it then comes up with an empty glass and a bottle of something clear. "I'll call Vanessa to see what all of this is about," he says, pouring the drink into the cup. "But before that, I think you need to drink this."

Leo eyes it suspiciously when Chuck hands it to him. "What I need right now is to see Amai, Nisha, and Vanessa."

"You look like absolute crap. A cactus in the desert looks better than you," Chuck says, a little irritated now with him. "If you're going into some kind of verbal battle with Vanessa, do yourself a favor and look at least a bit more decent."

"Not until I see my stepdad first."

"Drink this, or I'm not calling her."

Leo glares at Chuck. He really has no time for this. For all he knows, Doc is somewhere out there sharpening his scalpel and boiling up whatever concoction he's been fancying to test on a normal human.

But he's got no other way to get to her. Chuck's the fastest way to go.

So, he snatches the small glass from the ex-villain and downs the drink in one go.

It occurs to him that he could've been given something alcoholic. It tastes a little funny, like a watered-down liquefied plastic with a hint of fruity sweetness. It burns a bit on the way down, too. But he can't care about it too much. He has three women to confront.

"I'm guessing they starved you while you were being detained?" Chuck says as he returns to the bar.

Starved is an understatement, Leo thinks but doesn't say.

However, Chuck understands his silence as confirmation. He nods, his mouth hinting at a smile as he clicks on a button underneath the counter. "That's good," he says. "This works for the best, too."

Leo frowns. "What?"

"Okay—"

"They treated me worse than an animal! How was that a good thing?"

Chuck sighs. "I didn't say that was a good thing."

"Yes you did. You just—"

The door near the bar suddenly opens.

"There you are," Leo hisses upon seeing Vanessa and Nisha. He surprises Vanessa by advancing quickly towards her. "Where's my stepdad?"

"Okay, first, can you back up for a minute?" Vanessa says, holding up a hand to stop him from getting any closer. She catches sight of his clothes and the offended expression furrowed in her features slowly vanishes. "Those lowlifes. What did they do to you?"

"Never mind what they did to me," Leo says. He pauses and forces himself to breathe. All of this anger is making his head swim. "How could you do this to me? I get that you're mad about what happened at the Hangar, but how can you pull my stepdad into this? I thought you were better than that."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Amai kidnapped Big D. You sent me that..." Leo shuts his eyes tightly. After hours of food and water deprivation, his body's starting to ask back something from him now. His head is hurting, and all the faces and lights are starting to blend together. Not right now, he tells himself. Big D is still in danger.

"Leo...Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he snaps. He blinks back the tilting images in front of his eyes and looks at Vanessa straight. "You sent me a ransom note. In the package. With the bird."

"A bird?"

"A flower," Leo corrects himself. He shuts his eyes again. What's wrong with me? He huffs out a breath, forcing his body to cooperate a little longer. "It's one of the orchids I gave Amai. The note says 'Amber, CA – Chuck's place.' Get here by 2 AM...or else...Doc...My stepdad..."

"2...AM?"

"PM."

"Hey. Seriously, are you—"

Leo steps away out of Vanessa's reach, which doesn't seem to have been a good idea considering he now feels as if giant rubber bubbles are expanding inside his head. "Don't," he breathes out, grabbing onto a nearby chair to steady himself. "Just—"

Vanessa observes him for a quick moment then looks at Chuck. Still confused, she tells Leo patiently, "Leo, I didn't send you anything. Nisha, Seo Woo, and I have been planning to intercept your transport all morning. We're supposed to be rescuing you."

Lie or truth? Lie or truth?

Leo's grip on the chair tightens a little when he realizes his lungs have adopted a shallower, steadier pattern, one that's definitely not suited for a person awake. Work, you dumb things! he chides. He takes a deep breath. "Liar," he manages to breathe out.

"I'm not."

Leo doesn't see the worried gazes both Nisha and Seo Woo direct toward him. He doesn't see the accusatory look Vanessa shoots Chuck's way either. Like earlier, all he's preoccupied with is one thing: remaining on his feet long enough to find his stepfather.

He opens his eyes and focuses on the door the three came from. He needs to check if his stepdad is there. He needs to see before he believes Vanessa.

"Leo—"

"...out of my way," Leo says, weakly pushing Vanessa out of the way.

"I'm telling you, he's not here!"

Leo staggers, fights the building headache and the dark spots flashing in front of his eyes.

"Leo."

He takes three more steps—but each only takes him closer and closer to the ground.

"Ooh."

"Hey!"

Leo feels as if he took a dive into a pool of Jell-O. He hit the ground face first, but he doesn't feel it. He doesn't feel the pain or hear the sounds outside his slowed down world. It barely even registers that someone has turned him downside up and is holding him in their arms.

He only picks up the hint of citrus, green tea, and a spice he's smelled in his favorite bakery when he was little but can't remember the name of.

It's defined and strong, yet comforting at the same time. It reminds him a little of third grade, of the teacher who told him after class that it's okay to cry when he gets hurt. It reminds him a little of Douglas, when he took him out for coffee during one of the worst days in his life.

It reminds him of the snowy forest up in the mountain, when he thought he was going to die at the hands of Titan Red because no one listened to him but was saved instead.

It reminds him of that. It reminds him of that a lot.

"Sunbaenim..."

"Chuck! What did you do?" he hears Vanessa's voice somewhere in the distance. A shadow towers over him, and he guesses from the shape that it's her.

There's a reply, an inaudible grumble that's lost to the fading world. Then, in a cold, detached, and unfamiliar tone, "It's better if he can't fight it. Our plan will go a lot smoother this way."

Plan? What plan? he thinks.

But he falls into a deep sleep before any answer can come.

Penultimate chapter: Chapter Twenty-Seven - It's All Just A Dream