Act One, Scene Two
"I don't understand, what do you mean they have Danny?" Jack asked as they raced through the streets. The car they were in was small, a tight fit for four people, and Dylan hadn't exactly acquired it through legal means, but none of that mattered right now because-
"How the hell did they get Danny?!"
He turned a sharp corner.
"I found him at Taipa Marketplace. We started talking, or, well, arguing, and he was… more hostile than usual".
"But I- I thought you guys were okay now?"
"So did I" Dylan shrugged, "That's why it was weird. He kept taunting me, trying to get me to leave, so I did… And then Mabry arrived".
"Mabry?" Merritt demanded, "But Atlas said he was-"
"Meeting the Eye, I know. That was the other thing. According to the Eye, they've never spoken to him".
Lula frowned, leaning back in her seat as the car swerved around another bend.
"But then who has Danny been talking with?"
He grit his teeth.
"Walter Mabry".
As predicted, the rest of the team exploded with questions, and since both hands were currently on the steering wheel, he couldn't stop them.
"Enough!" Dylan finally snapped, "We don't have much time, so just listen to me!"
Surprisingly, they all shut up.
"He didn't know it was Mabry that he was talking to, it was a set-up. Atlas planned on exchanging the stick in return for your lives".
Silence.
"Damn" Jack finally said, "Well now I feel bad".
Lula nodded, "I mean, I didn't… I didn't think of it like that. When I said no to Walter but Danny said yes I just… I got mad".
"We all thought he was just doing it for the fame" Merritt said bluntly, "To prove that he could be a big boy too. A leader".
Dylan's hands clenched around the steering wheel.
Just how much had his actions damaged this kid?
"Yeah, well, we were all wrong" he finished simply, "When I saw Walter's men, I went back. We fought, I pretended to take the card, and I got Atlas out of there… And then that idiot decided to return the favour".
Merritt snorted, "Now that sounds more like it. 'Self-sacrificing' doesn't even scratch the surface".
I can only assume it's some sort of twisted love mentor-mentee type bullshit, but the fact is I can't accept your romantic gesture of self-sacrifice.
Dylan's hands tightened so much around the steering wheel that his knuckles turned white.
"The point is, Atlas returned and drew Walter's attention enough that I could escape. He threw me the chip, and I got the hell out of there. Now we need to get him back".
The truck ahead of them pulled into the harbour, and he quickly pulled the car to the side of the road to avoid detection.
"We'll go on foot from here".
They crept to the edge of the bank, keeping low to avoid the lights that passed overhead. A few meters out in the port stood a large freight ship. The truck pulled up next to it and Walter's men started unloading the boxes. The last thing they pulled out was a half-crumbled figure.
"Danny" Lula whispered, reaching out and grabbing Jack's arm.
There was a bag over his head, his hands were behind his back, and his legs dragged along the ground as they pulled him backwards onboard the ship.
Unconscious, then.
"Dylan, what do we do?"
He continued to stare at the far too still man as he briefly disappeared from view only to return on the other side of the deck closest to them.
"Dylan!"
He blinked and turned to face the rest of them.
"I… I don't know, I- I guess…"
He ran a tired hand over his face and took a moment to simply breathe.
"… Okay. Here's what we know. Walter wanted the stick, and he took Atlas to get it. By now, he's probably realised what happened, realised that I'm the one who has it instead. He's not going to be happy".
"Do you think he'll… hurt Danny?"
Merritt scoffed, "What, you mean any more that he already has?"
Lula gave him a dirty look but still turned back to Rhodes for the answer. Rhodes who, despite living his entire life surrounded by lies, now found it impossible not to tell the truth.
"… I think he's planning to kill him".
"There has to be something!" Jack snapped, pacing back and forth.
They'd been watching the ship for the last half hour, sitting on flattened grass and mud trying to figure out what to do. So far, no one had come to move Danny's slumped over form from the deck, and Dylan couldn't help but wish that Walter would just forget about him, as futile as it was.
"We've been over this, bro" Merritt replied tiredly, "There's a good two dozen armed henchmen onboard that boat. We can't exactly storm the place, and chances are, Mabry's got the police in his back pocket too".
"Ah, guys?"
They ignored her.
"Well, we can't just sit here either! Who knows what they're planning?!"
"We do know what they're planning" he replied, "They want the stick. Best case scenario, they hold Atlas for ransom. Worst case…"
"Guys?" Lula tried again.
"So, what, we just let him die? Wait for them to start- to start sending us… body parts in the mail or something?!"
"Of course not! I'm only saying-"
"GUYS!"
"What?!"
Lula's gaze remained fixed on the ship; her face strangely blank.
"… I think our time's up".
They all turned to find Walter re-emerge from below deck, along with a tall familiar looking man in a white suit.
"Is that…?"
"No way" Jack breathed, stepping closer.
Dylan watched as the stranger came to a stop just behind Mabry and gave a grim smile.
"Arthur Tressler".
"What the hell is he doing here?!"
"And what has he got to do with Walt?"
Lula glanced between them all, clearly confused.
"Wait, hang on, isn't Tressler that ass you guys all swindled money from?"
"Amongst other things" Dylan finished dryly, "… I think Walter's his son".
"What?!"
"Just when the hell were you planning on telling us that?!"
"Not cool, dude!"
He held up a placating hand.
"Look, I didn't know it myself until now. Not for certain".
"But you had your suspicions" Merritt said, as observant as ever.
"… It was something that Atlas mentioned" he admitted, "Back at the marketplace. He said… He said 'he knows what you did'".
"Danny knew?"
Dylan shook his head, "I don't think so. Not really. It just… It got me thinking".
"About?"
He looked up grimly.
"About who hates the Horsemen enough to go through with all of this".
"He's awake!"
Lula's sudden exclamation had them all turning back to the ship. Danny was, indeed, awake, and very clearly shooting his mouth off as usual if the beating Walter's thugs were giving him was any indication.
Walter moved to stand next to Tressler, and despite the fact that they were too far away to make out his expression, Dylan could just tell that the bastard was grinning.
"What do we do?" Lula asked again.
"Does the Eye have anyone in Macau?" Jack questioned, "Anyone that could help us?"
"Probably" he allowed, "But no one that could get here quick enough".
Walter had moved back to Danny's side, and Dylan felt a twisted sort of pride well up inside of him as he saw the boy struggling against his captors.
They hadn't lost him.
Not yet.
"Tressler wants my head on a platter" Dylan said, "We're performers. Proud, egotistic, we need to be adored to feel powerful".
"Speak for yourself" Lula muttered, but there was no heat behind it.
"The point is, he'll expect us to jump into the limelight" he explained, "Walter knows that we know he has Danny, but he doesn't know that we know about Tressler".
"So, you're saying that they won't kill him?"
"… No" he reluctantly said, "They'll still try, at least. But they won't do it quietly. Tressler will want to… make a show out of it".
"And it looks like we've just got front row seats" Merritt said, voice suddenly hoarse.
Dylan quickly turned back to the ship as one of Walter's thugs came forwards with-
"No".
-a concrete block.
"He wouldn't".
He had straightened up and stumbled to his feet before he realised what he was doing.
"Dylan?"
Another man brought forth a chain.
"Dylan!"
His fears were only confirmed as Danny started to urgently fight back against the men holding him, men that were dragging him ever closer towards the block and the chain and the-
The padlock.
"… They're going to drown him".
"This should bring back some childhood memories for that leader of yours," Walter said as one of his men awkwardly shuffled forward with a concrete block, "I can only hope that he'll be the one to find you".
Danny was yanked to his feet and hauled down the length of the ship. His head was still too fuzzy to immediately put the pieces together, but once he saw another man heading his way with a rusty old chain, things started to click into place.
He immediately began struggling.
The men holding him swore in Cantonese as he pulled away from them, until one of them managed to kick his legs out from under him. The chain was looped through the hollow cavity of the concrete block, and the other end was wrapped tightly around his left ankle.
"Would you like some tea?"
"Oh, thank you!"
He blocked out Tressler's voice as he fought with an urgent desperation that he'd never felt before in his life.
An old padlock was clicked shut, securing the chain to his leg.
He couldn't die now, not when the team was still in danger. Dylan could take care of himself, and the others too, to an extent, but he didn't know if they'd found each other yet, and the stick that Dylan had was fake and the real one was in a box only Danny knew the location of and without that chip the other Horsemen were as good as dead and-
One of the thugs pulled him to the edge of the freight ship where there was no railing and he balanced precariously on the edge.
"You ready?"
Walter made a grand gesture.
"Over to you".
The thug shoved the concrete block overboard.
For a split second, there was nothing.
And then, everything seemed to happen at once.
There was a sharp jerk on his ankle, rusty metal biting into fragile skin, then he was yanked forward, arms flying behind him as he tried to grab onto something, anything, but found only air. There was a haunting laugh, a brief feeling of weightlessness, and then-
Snap.
He didn't even have enough time to scream before icy water filled his lungs.
"DANNY!" Jack screamed, leaping forwards, loud enough for Dylan to worry if they'd been heard, and close enough to the waterfront that Merritt had to reach out and yank him back by the scruff of his neck to stop him from toppling over the edge.
They watched in horror as Atlas was pulled below the surface of the sea, dragged deep down into its murky depths from which he couldn't return.
"Uh, okay, okay, we just- we have to- we gotta- gotta get a- a- a boat or- or something!"
It was the first time they'd ever heard Merritt stutter.
"The life guards!" Lula burst out, "They- They have a- a lifeguard, right? They have to!"
Jack nodded frantically.
"Yes! Good! Exactly! There's- There's gotta be a- a- a coast guard or- or something like that, something that- that- that- Dylan, what the fuck are you doing?!"
He'd already shrugged off his jacket and was busy trying to untie his laces.
"Going after him" he said brusquely, finally giving up and just yanking his shoes off.
"What? No! You can't, you- you- you'll drown!"
He gave them a sharp if somewhat frantic look.
"It's already been two minutes. We'll be lucky if Danny hasn't drowned by now!"
Their silence was the only confirmation he needed.
He ran to the edge of the bank, took a deep breath, and jumped.