The drive back to the border was mostly in silence, save for the occasional mutter of directions from Cole. The shot up car had been ditched just a few miles away from the original firefight, the team lucky enough to find an unlocked van close by. As they pulled up into the clearing, the sun finished dipping below the horizon, leaving only the moon to provide natural light. Dante stepped from the bushes, a look of confusion on his face. As Cole stepped out, he was immediately confronted.
"What the hell? What happened to the car?"
Cole grunted. "The car's fine, we had to ditch it. Too hot. I'll make it up to you man, sorry."
As the others began stepping out, Dante noticed a crucial detail. "Hey, where's th' kid?"
Cole didn't answer him, walking past to the waiting quads. The look on Asriel's face said it all. Frisk's parents climbed up onto the second quad, with Sans getting on the back, small enough to fit. Asriel slid onto Cole's, the smaller motors revving to life. Cole switched on the quad's headlamp, gravel kicking up as he peeled back down the small footpath through the woods.
Asriel gazed at the dark trees looming all around, whisking past. His thoughts began to wander, eventually settling on Frisk. Where was he? Was he scared? Was he even alive to be afraid?
"Heads up!" Cole called back, but too late for Asriel to avoid the small branch from whipping against his cheek. He let out a little yelp, rubbing the fresh cut.
"All good?" Cole glanced over his shoulder. Asriel pulled his hand away, grunting at the small amount of blood.
"I'll be alright." Cole slowed up as the branches began to block out the moonlight, making sure the trailing quad could still see them. Cole took one hand off of the handlebars, clicking on the radio attached to the quad.
"Julia it's Cole, we're back early. We'll be arriving in a couple minutes, just so you know."
Silence greeted him. After a few seconds, Cole tried again. "Julia, you there?" More silence. Cole started speeding up again. Just a couple minutes later, the cabin came into view. Cole skidded the quad to a stop, jumping off immediately, leaving Asriel to disengage the motor. Wasting no time, he sprinted up the back steps, looking at the door handle. It was off by about an inch… Cole tried the door, hardly surprised when it crept open.
Asriel ran up the back steps behind him. Cole kept his voice down, calling back to Sans as he jumped off of the trailing quad.
"Stay with them." Sans nodded, and Asriel let a white blade materialize in his right palm, a soft white glow emitting from it. He nodded to Cole, who shoved the door open.
Inside, the lights were off, and it was eerily silent. Cole kept the pistol raised as he slowly entered into the back entryway. The wooden floor creaked under Asriel's shoes as he followed Cole in. Slowly they progressed down the hallway. Asriel gulped, keeping his blade raised, adjusting his grip. He nearly ran into Cole though when he stopped suddenly. Peering around him, he saw the same thing, the door to the guest room still open. Cole nudged it open the rest of the way with the pistol, quickly turning in. Asriel immediately followed, checking behind the door. The bed where Alphys once lay was empty.
Cole's expression didn't change though, and still no words were said as he moved back into the hallway. By now they were nearing the end of the hallway. Cole glanced to Asriel, pointing towards the living area. Asriel nodded, switching to the opposite wall. Together, they turned their corners, Cole to the kitchen, the prince to the living room. The living room was empty. He nearly jumped out of his fur though at Cole's shocked voice.
"Julia!" He switched on the light, causing Asriel to blink a few times. When his eyes adjusted, he spied Cole kneeling over Julia. She was laying on the floor, an automatic rifle beside her. It was only when he saw her chest moving before he realized he had been holding his breath. He called out the back door to Sans. "We're good, get in here!" He knelt down beside her.
"She going to be alright?"
Cole let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, looks like she was hit over the head. She'll be fine when she wakes up, bit of a headache but that'll be it." He then spotted a radio sitting on the counter. Sans couched next to his sister, glancing up at him.
"'sup?"
"This didn't come from our house." He picked it up, looking it over. He clicked a button on the side.
"Hello?"
A brief moment passed, before a voice replied, causing Asriel to let out a growl.
"Good evening. To whom am I speaking with?"
Cole glanced to the others, before looking back at the radio.
"Cole Nelson. You the guy that broke into my home?"
"Not personally no, but I was behind it yes. Among your party should be a skeleton named Sans I believe you two have already been acquainted. I want you to pass the radio to him."
Sans suddenly jerked his head to the window, searching for something. Cole looked down, seeing a small, shivering red dot of light on his chest. He reached his hand out to Sans, who snatched the radio.
"what do you want?"
"What I want is quite simple. A prisoner exchange. Yourself and the kid's parents, for the kid. Turn yourselves in, and I shall release him immediately."
"yeah?" Sans scoffed, still scanning the treeline through the window. "and what if i tell you to burn in hell? For all i know they're already dead."
The voice crackled back. "Sans please, I'm trying to be reasonable-"
The skeleton cut him off. "you should have tried to be reasonable before getting us shot down."
He tossed the radio back to Cole. Almost immediately the voice addressed him.
"Cole, I do implore you to reason with him."
He looked to Sans, then Asriel, before replying. "...Or what? You'll kill me? No, see if you were going to do that, you would have pulled the trigger already."
"...Mr. Nelson, believe me when I say I am not a man who's bluff you want to try to call."
"Watch me." Cole glared out the window defiantly. Asriel looked nervously to Sans. Frederick and Amelie backed into the safety of the hallway as Cole continued.
"Judging by the fact that I'm not dead yet, means that you must really need this trade. So killing me isn't going to do much good about it, in fact it will only make it harder. So if you're so serious about your pathetic little threat, then take the shot."
Silence fell over the radio. Cole kept his breathing steady. He couldn't see the shooter. Suddenly, the dot left his chest. Cole smirked triumphantly as he spoke once more.
"Now you listen to me. You got me involved the second you landed in this world. You hear me? You're on my turf now, you play by my rules. You talk to me, and only me. I'll be in touch." Before he could get a reply, he switched the radio off. Asriel sprinted for the door, but Cole called out, stopping him in his tracks.
"Don't bother, they'll be gone before you can see them. We won't find them in the dark." He knelt over his sister, picking her up in his arms, carrying her to the couch. As he laid her down, Sans approached.
"how did you know they were bluffing?"
Cole looked out the window beyond. "I didn't."
The zip ties dug into Frisk's hands whenever he moved. He had given up trying to break them a while ago. The same could be leaning his head back against the metal wall of his captor's shuttle. Beside him, Alphys shifted in uneasy slumber. He glanced down at the wound, noticing the faded red spot on the bandages. He then looked to the one monster sitting guard, his gaze ever unwavering. Frisk searched the hawk's gaze as they both heard frustrated voices just outside.
"So who is he?" The hawk tilted his head, not giving an answer. Frisk shrugged.
"Well it is polite to know who's holding me hostage if he plans on killing me you know."
The hawk chuckled. "Riiight, I see what you're doing here. You know, he said you might try this. Make it personal...then toy with my feelings to free yourself. Well guess what, that ain't happening."
"And how do you know I'd try that?" Frisk countered.
"Because he knows you. Better than you know yourself. Anything you're thinking of right now, he's already accounted for. So don't, even, try." He smirked. Frisk rolled his eyes, giving up on his line of questioning for now. He glanced over as Alphys stirred. The scientist let out a quiet groan of pain as she struggled to sit herself up straight.
"Nnh…"
Frisk glanced at the hawk, before looking back to Alphys. "Hey, welcome back."
Alphys blinked groggily. "Frisk…? Wh...Wh-Where are we?" She blinked sleep from her eyes, trying to get a grasp on their bearings. Frisk looked back to their guard.
"It'd appear we've been captured." Alphys then also saw the guard. Seeing the rifle in his hands, she immediately fell still, pressing her back against the wall.
"...Right…D...D-Do the others know where w-we are?"
Frisk shook his head. "Doubt they know our precise location, I know I don't. But they definitely know we've been taken."
Trying to fill the silence, Alphys muttered back. "D-Did you m-meet up with C-Cole's contacts?"
Frisk scoffed. "Oh yeah, we met them alright."
Alphys could practically feel the tension, and gazed questioningly at her friend. Frisk shook his head.
"I'll tell you later."
Alphys gave a small nod, settling back for a long night.