Thank you CheekyClaudine, Maashmellow, TajiaK, Alexis Black-Reigns, Skillet's Lady Goddess and nikki1335 for last chapter's feedback. Mwah!

"She hasn't called." Seth paced back and forth in the middle of Stephanie's living room. "She hasn't called, Stephanie." He shook his head, digging his fingers into his hair with frustration. "Something's wrong. I can feel it."

"We don't know that," Stephanie tried to placate him, but to no avail.

"What do we know, then?" he snapped, "She's been gone for over an hour! She's out there on her own. I know she can handle herself, but I should be out there with her. I should have insisted." He glanced over at his phone for the millionth time in ten minutes, but the device remained lifeless on the coffee table. It was all he could do not to kick the piece of furniture across the room. "Dammit!"

Stephanie put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Hey, hey. Calm down. Take a deep breath," she said, waiting for him to do so. "Look, you're worried, and that's understandable. But she's told you to wait. She knows what she's doing and I'm sure she'll make contact." When Seth shook his head, unconvinced, Stephanie sighed. "Fine, let's give her another ten minutes. If we don't hear from her afterwards, then you can do whatever you want."

Before Seth could make another response, his cell phone went off. He immediately snatched it up, studying the I.D.

LILY

Seth felt relief flood through his body. Quickly, he put the phone to his ear. "Jesus, Lily, took you long enough. Where are you-"

"Hello, Rollins."

At the sound of that voice, he felt the world around him screech to a halt. His heart literally stopped within his chest. No. No way. Not him. Anyone but him.

"Orton." He finally forced the name out of his mouth, his voice barely a whisper. Stephanie stood by with wide eyes. Orton, the coldest, sickest bastard she'd ever met. And he had Lily. The older woman shuddered to think what was happening to her right now.

"You sound surprised to hear from me," Randy said to Seth. "Expecting someone else?"

"Where is she?" Seth spat.

Randy feigned innocence. "Whoever could you be talking about? Oh, you mean Lily, right? She's here. She almost threw me off with the wig, but you never ignore a pair of legs like that, do you?"

As this conversation was going on, Stephanie motioned for Seth to put the phone on speaker. She rushed out of the room and returned with a briefcase, which she dumped on the coffee table and clicked open, setting up the contents in the box.

"I hope you're not trying to trace this call," Randy went on, and Seth could hear the evil smile in his former colleague's voice. "I destroyed the tracker and disconnected the wavelengths. You can't find me unless I tell you where I am myself."

At those words, Stephanie made an annoyed sound and tossed her arms in the air helplessly. The briefcase was of no use to her, then.

Seth gripped the phone so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "If you hurt her, Orton, I swear to God-"

"You, my fugitive friend, are in no position to make threats or demands."

"Where is she?" Seth repeated. He could feel his knees weaken, his body filled with dread at the thought of Lily in Orton's grasp. Even as strong and skilful as she was, she was no match for this maniac.

"I told you, she's here," Randy replied. "Don't believe me? Fine. Come here, beautiful. Your boyfriend wants to talk to you."

For a moment, all he heard from the other end of the line was dull static. Then, there was the sound metal scraping concrete, like there was a struggle going on. And then he heard her anguished scream. Randy was torturing Lily. Tears sprang to Seth's eyes. He could hear her trying so hard not to succumb to the pain, not to scream again. "Let her go, Randy!"

"You know I can't do that."

Fucking bastard. "Can't, or won't?"

"They're paying good money for both your heads, you know. I don't need it, but I sure am gonna have a hell of a time peeling the pretty flesh off Lily's bones while I wait for you to find me. Perhaps I'll start with a finger..."

This time a mewling sound could be heard, which built into a cry of agony, and Seth felt something inside of him die.

"Feisty, isn't she?" Randy remarked. "I love it when they fight. Killing them makes it that much sweeter. You know exactly what that feels like, don't you Rollins?"

Seth was trembling now. "Fine. If you want me, you got me," he started. "Where are you? I'll come to you."

Randy roared with laughter, the sound as pleasant as fingernails scraping a chalkboard. "Oh, Seth. Where's the fun if I told you where I was? I must say though...if you were here, you'd probably be feeling a little nostalgic. But something tells me you'd have forgotten by now, and even if you haven't, you'd be too late." He chuckled. "Well, at least you got to say goodbye to Little Miss Blondie Bitch."

And the line went dead.

The phone slipped from Seth's numb fingers, cracking against the floor. But he didn't notice; his heart had started beating again - only it was fast, much too fast; thudding so rapidly he was sure it would explode. His legs finally gave way, and he slumped against the armchair of the sofa, hot tears blurring his vision.

"He'll kill her..." his voice was a soft, anguished whisper, "he'll make her suffer first...then he'll kill her...fuck..." The room was spinning, his lover's screams still ringing in his ears. He was sure he was about to throw up, or even worse, pass out.

Stephanie was by his side in an instant. "Hey, don't you dare, Seth! Don't you dare fall apart, not now! Lily needs you. Orton may be unstable, but he's a determined son of a bitch. He would have found a way to take her no matter what you did. It's up to you to find her."

She was right. He was of no use to Lily in this state. Straightening himself, he murmured, "I've got to make a few calls. I have to leave right now, and I can't come back. I can't stay here any longer." He looked down at Stephanie. "And honestly, neither can you."

The older woman frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Finding a pen, he quickly scribbled down something on a piece of paper and pressed it into her hand. "I need you to go pack a bag for yourself. If you don't hear from me by evening time, you need to follow the instructions I just wrote down."

Stephanie quickly read the first couple of lines and looked back up, incredulous. "What? I can't just leave," she protested.

"I know you have unfinished business with Hunter," Seth interrupted softly. "That's the reason you've been here all this time. I know you're not really retired. I heard you talking to Lily," he clarified, and Stephanie's eyes widened. "You have to get out of here. I've compromised you, and I'm sorry I have. But leave Hunter to me. I'll handle him, I promise." His eyes bored into hers. "I need you to do this, Steph. Trust me. It's the only way you'll ever be safe. Do you understand?"

With a defiant gaze fixed on the younger man, it was a while before the older woman replied. "Fine. But if you're going after Randy, you sure as hell can't go unarmed. I'll round up a bag for you."

"Thank you," he said gratefully. He watched her leave before looking back down at his phone. He didn't want to make this call. He didn't want to have to get them involved. But right now, he had no choice.

"Roman, it's me. Get Dean with you. Please. I need your help."

Nearly an hour later, a black Range Rover with tinted windows pulled up beside him, in the spot under the bridge where he was waiting. He opened the door quickly and slipped inside the back seat without a word.

Dean's arm was across the steering wheel as he peered at Seth through his sunglasses. "You do know we're risking our asses for you, right?" he smirked.

A smile spread across Seth's handsome face at the sight of the two men sitting in the front. He'd never been happier to see them. "I know. Thank you for meeting me."

Roman went straight to the point. "You said you couldn't talk over the phone. What is it?"

Seth's face fell. His heart physically ached just thinking about it. "Lily," he whispered. "Randy's taken her."

At those words the tension in the car ratcheted up several notches. Roman and Dean stared at each other, and then at Seth. A sigh escaped the Samoan as he ran his hands through his hair. "Shit."

"I was hoping you'd know where he took her," Seth went on, trying to keep his emotions to himself. It was hard, knowing his girlfriend was out there somewhere with that psychopath.

"You know we're not exactly buddies with Orton," Dean pointed out.

Seth shrugged. "I don't know anything anymore these days; after all, everyone else seemed to be in on trying to eliminate me and Lily before we even knew our true identities."

The two agents looked at Seth in confusion before comprehension dawned on them. "Wait...are you saying..."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. The Authority and F.L.O.R.A. knew about Lily and me from the get-go. They watched us get together, and they've been trying to get take us out ever since we began our relationship."

Roman shook his head, astonished by what he was hearing. "We swear to you, Seth...we knew nothing about that."

"I believe you," Seth assured them. "Stephanie is alive."

This time both men nearly fell out of the car. "She's been dead for years!" exclaimed Dean.

"She's alive, and Hunter has been lying to us all for years." Seth then retold Stephanie's conversation with Lily. He then went on to explain Lily's plan to contact Jasmine and Randy's phone call. "I need to find her fast, or he will kill her," he finished.

Seth's story about Hunter and Stephanie had Roman and Dean reeling, and the former Authority operative could see the hazy cloud of deceit finally lift from their eyes. The three men knew what they were about. They lied and killed in the service of liars and killers. But Hunter had taken charge of The Authority for his own personal gain, abused his power by using his subordinates to cover up his own indiscretions - everything the Code stood against. It was hypocritical, unforgivable. But they would go back to that later. There was another loose cannon that needed their attention.

"What Randy said on the phone," Roman said, deep in thought, "Feeling nostalgic. What's that about? Randy isn't exactly the sentimental type."

"Dunno," said Dean, "Nostalgia means there's memories involved, good ones. So the place he's keeping Lily means something significant to him. But what? And what's it got to do with Seth?"

They sat in silence, thinking, when all of a sudden, Seth gasped out loud. "Son of a bitch."

"What?"

He turned to Roman and Dean with wide eyes. "Remember where you found me? That night all those years ago?" he said, his voice growing with excitement. "I thought there was a robbery, and then Cody appeared from nowhere and kicked the shit out of me. I remember Cody bragged about it for weeks, and he made sure Orton knew every detail because he wanted to impress him so bad. You know how that punk worships the ground Orton walks on."

As realization dawned on Dean, Roman had his iPad out, his fingers swiping and jabbing on the screen. "Well I'll be damned, it still works."

"What?" Seth looked over the big man's shoulder. "What works?"

"Back when we found you, I left a satellite tracker in the area for surveillance purposes," said Roman. "It's been dormant for a while but it's still functioning after all this time. Brilliant." He pointed at the screen as he spoke. "You see that little building there? That's where we carried out our mission that night.

"Oh yeah," said Dean. "There's a row of interconnected basements, about five in number, if I recall. Ten feet below surface and sound-proof. Our target was harboring prostitutes there. You think that's where Lily's being held?"

"I'm sure of it," answered Roman, pausing when Seth climbed out of the SUV. "Hey. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find her." And he had to hurry. Maybe if he got there quick enough, hopefully he would stop Randy on time.

"By yourself? Seth, let us help you," Dean said, "We can't let you go in there blind."

"No guys, not this time. This is my fight." He shut his eyes briefly, as Lily's smile flashed before his eyes. "Besides, you've done more than enough for me already, both of you. I just hope I'll live long enough to repay you."

Thoughts?