A smile fit for the devil splashed across Callum's face as he came to rest against the rail as close to the helm as he could get. While he didn't particularly care what it was they were discussing, he did need to know what the topic was. He didn't give Cross and his team enough credit. Mackenzie had proven better at deduction than he'd anticipated and Judson himself was more than a merely focused man; he also trusted his life to his crew. Despite his original shell shock behavior Gabriel was now showing signs of anger and disdain. There had to be a way to make the kid fear him again. Obviously being in the same area wasn't enough anymore. The fact that their cabins were next to each other should've been enough to keep the kid afraid of him for a long while.

But Gabriel wasn't that same ten year old he was the last time they'd met. He was now young man who had grown tougher in his time at sea than he ever could've playing prep basketball in some spoiled private school. He needed to find a way to turn Gabe back into that frightened ten year old boy he knew and gave up all those years ago.

****

"Damn it!" Gabe threw his wrench across the engine room floor. The up grades Judson=d asked him to do weren't going well. They would've gone better if they were docked somewhere, not out to sea. Leaning against a wall, he took several deep breaths counting to ten before letting them go. Relaxing some he ran his grease covered hands through his dark hair making it look almost black.

"I still get to you, do I?"

Addison's voice jerked Gabriel from his task at hand so fast that he practically needed a decompression tank. Narrowing his brown eyes at his foe, Gabe snorted a laugh, "don't flatter yourself." He managed to find himself.

"What scares you, now, Gabe, if I don't?" Callum moved closer to the wall that Gabe still leaned against.

"I got over the monster under the bed a long time ago," his voice was so low and venomous that he scarcely even recognized it as his. Not the smartest choice of words, Gabe. He chided himself after he saw the amount of anger that Addison was barely able to contain. Gabe wanted to laugh at the image his brain had concocted of the red faced Addison. In his mind it a was a bulled faced man charging him at full steam, clouds of steam pouring from his ears behind the horns that turned back with anger. Instead of the image his brain made up, a red raged Addison moved on him faster than the bull in his head.

In the instant that it took the words he'd said to leave his mouth and the image to form and play in his head, Addison had him pinned to the wall that he'd been leaning against. The inward smile Gabe had was gone, wiped out by the force of air leaving his lungs. His brown eyes widened in horror of what was happening and his current lack of oxygen. A single tear threaded its way down the soft silky skin of Gabriel's cheek.

That's more like it. Thought Addison as he merely held the smug young man against the wall. He could've let go and allowed Gabe to fall to the ground and gasp at air like a fish on a boat deck gasping for water, but he wanted to hold the kid close to him. He wanted Gabriel to know that he was the one in control, not Judson Cross, not Mackenzie Previn and certainly not Gabriel Patterson. That needed to be established before he could continue with his plan.

"The creature that lives under your bed, I am not," the words slithered off his tongue and into Gabe's ear. His smile broadened when Gabriel went completely rigid im his grasp. The breath that he was fighting so desperately to catch froze in lungs the moment that the icy breath carried the words to his ear.

Callum twisted his long thin fingers deeper into Gabe's shirt, taking joy in every small sound the kid made. His smile spread like jam on toast as the thought occurred to him that he could do whatever he wanted to Gabe at that moment and no one could stop him; or perhaps it was the chance that Cross or Previn could come along at any moment that gave him that little tingle of excitement down his spin. Either way, Gabriel Patterson would learn who had the power and where he stood in the grand scheme of things.

Seeing the fire of pleasure burning in Addison's eyes, Gabe slammed his own shut. He felt small and weak with Addison holding him into the wall like a rag doll. His mind was a jumble of thoughts about his current predicament and the time when he was ten and Addison had kidnapped him. Why now after I finally put all of the bad memories behind me? He thought as his hands suddenly shot up and gripped Callum's. He had to fight back. He wasn't a child anymore, no matter how many times he'd been referred as a kid.

"Don't be foolish and go around locking doors behind you." His smile turned even more twisted and evil, if that were even really possible. His grip loosened on the front of Gabe shirt, allowing the young man to breathe a little easier for a split moment.

The moment the hand twisting his shirt tightly about his chest and neck released its grip, a second stronger grip wove its way through the dark curls of his hair at the nape of his neck. The face belonging to the hands began to laugh and was coming closer to him. No, he was being pulled closer to it. Fear hit him hard when he realized what was going to happen. He had to do something, there was no way in hell he was going to let this monster do anything to him. Not like he did the first time. Then he was small and couldn't fight back all that well but no he was just a few inches shy of Addison's height, he could do something. Being around Mac for all these months, he'd picked up a few moves from her arsenal of assault tactics.

Addison's face loomed before him almost like a balloon. He could feel the hair twisted around Callum's fingers pull from his scalp; he winced at the pain. He had to wait until he was a little closer before making his move. Almost there, just a second longer. Now, he yelled at himself as he let his fist fly.

Blood flowed freely from the gash in Addison's nose where Gabe's punch had landed. He hissed in pain as he let go of Gabe. Growling Callum lunged at Gabe faster than before. His fingers like hungry claws reaching for whatever they can get hold of. He wasn't seeing anymore, his nose stung and his eyes hurt from the punch Gabe had given him. Finally his finger claws had hold of something. Something soft and tender. Forcing his eyes to focus he saw that he'd found Gabe's throat. A wicked smile planted firmly upon his features once again, Addison locked his hand harder on Gabe's young tender throat.

Greedily his thin fingers bit deep into the tender flesh of Gabe's throat, while his eyes feasted hungrily at the sight of the helpless young man seated on his knees at his feet. The panic Gabe wore in his brown eyes like sparkling diamonds only fed the devil inside, fueling his desire to master the simple child before him. Callum's smile faded a bit when he saw that Gabe's eyes were beginning to cloud over. The kid'd lose consciousness at any moment, he needed to stop before he killed him. He didn't want that, not really. Carefully he pulled Gabe up to him. Loosening his grasp a bit he guided the young man closer to him.

Gabe wanted to fight back, but he couldn't. He felt slack. He was helpless to fight against anything Addison wanted to do to him. He watched through glazed eyes as he was pulled closer to Addison, until they were nose to nose. The smile permanently etched across the older man's face grew fuzzy as he felt himself slipping away. It was that second that the grip on his throat was gone, replaced by something worse than the vice grip on his neck. He couldn't see anymore, mostly because he didn't want to. He almost knew what was going to happen. A jolt shot through his body the moment he felt the dryness of Addison's lips touch the soft tender flesh of his forehead. He wanted to throw up, run, do something, anything, to stop the madman whose ruff lips were pressed firmly against the center of his forehead, but his lungs were still fighting for air. Finally the harsh flesh of Addison's lips were gone his forehead, and his eyes began to slide back into his skull. "That's my boy," his voice hard and rasped as he spoke.

With glassy eyes Gabe watched as Addison left without even sparing a backward glance at his handy work, muttering something to himself about tranquilizers. Anger began to rise in Gabe's numb body at the word tranquilizers. He knew that Callum would use them on him so that he couldn't fight back, not that he'd ever really quit. Despite the sudden surge of anger coursing through the cells of his body, Gabriel still couldn't make his limbs want to move.

It felt odd to him that he was in no pain, he just couldn't make himself move. Maybe it was his unwillingness to surrender to the ever-changing shades of gray and black that danced before him that was making it hard for his body to respond. Maybe I should just lay still for a few minutes, he thought as he continued to make his arms work at least. He had to get to Judson and Mac before Addison did anything to them. He had to move there was nothing else to it. He had to make his muscles work.

Finally, he thought as his arms at last responded and began to push him up from the floor. Slowly he was able to make his legs work and with the help of the wall Gabe made his way from the engine room to the stairs. He had to get to his crew mates.

****

Callum Addison was up to something more than actualizing a vendetta against the Patterson's. If he was just fulfilling some sick notion that revenge was best served cold, Mac would have to hand it to him on his planning. No, there was something more at work. He was too meticulous to merely be out for revenge. He'd planned everything. Hiring them of all the boats to take him to Italy. Why choose them for a simple one way trip that didn't involve some sort of adventure? Sure it was just dumb luck that he happened upon the Vast Explorer and Judson Cross and the son of a very wealthy family as part of the crew. Mackenzie smirked to herself as she stared off into the vastness of the ocean waters surrounding them.

"Attempting to figure out my plans, are we, Ms. Previn?"

Collecting herself from the slight surprise Addison=s presence gave her. "As a matter of fact," she turned to face the menace of a human being. "I am. Why don't ya save me some time and tell me what it is?"

"I could tip my hand and let you in, but that would put me at a bit of a disadvantage. And I can't have that." He leaned his hand against the rail, not taking his eyes off Mac once. "What is it that you really want to know, Mackenzie?"

"How do you know Gabe?" She folded her arms across her chest, challenging him to give her an answer she'd buy into.

"I knew his mother many years ago."

"Why'd you kidnap him?"

"Is that what he told you?" his voice a mock of disbelief at what he was hearing.

"Oh cut the crap, Addison. We both know that there's a reason why Gabe turns into a statue around you. Gabe I trust. You I don't. So just tell me what you did to him?"

"I can assure you, Ms. Previn, that I haven't done anything to hurt young Gabriel."

"You're one sick son of a bitch, you know that, right?" He was just a disgusting beast, she thought to herself as she walked away from him, not waiting to hear the lie he'd tell to cover up what was left of the mask she was ripping off. If she couldn't get the story and the truth from Addison, if he even knew what the word truth meant, she'd just have to get it from Gabe.

****

"Mac." Judson's loud hush stopped her dead on her way to check on Gabe in the engine room.

"Yeah" She was annoyed by something, he could tell from her sharp tone.

"Where's Gabe? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Last I knew he was in the . . ." a noise at the bottom of the stairs ensnared her attention, causing her to motion for Cross to be quiet. Almost cat like she moved closer to the stairs and then to the top of the landing. "Judson," her voice was steely and full of anger. At the bottom of the stairs was a semiconscious Gabriel. Startled by Mac's angry tone Gabe jerked his head in her direction, revealing a small gash above his left eye. That was the last straw! She thought as she backed away from the stairs and headed full of fury and angry steam at Addison. "Take care of him. I'll see to our guest."

He's going to regret this! The thought thundered through her core as she marched toward Callum and the rail he leaned against a smug smile painted across his thin lips. His thin painted on smile brought a malevolent smile to Mac's soft pink lips. He was about to be thrown overboard and he's smiling like a shark about to devour a surfer. His smile only became deeper with every angry step she took.

Without a sound she drove her fist solidly into Addison's face, connecting with a sharp pop to his eye. Her smile stopped when her full steamed effort only yielded a soft grunt. Her disappointment grew when Callum only made a half-hearted attempt to defend himself; throwing a weak left hook. His half heartedness in fighting her made her anger grow more than being bit by a snake. Come on! she thought bitterly as she kicked him in the knees sending him to the deck with a loud grunt. Fight back, damn you! She grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him to his feet.

Pivoting heavily Mac pulled and twisted Callum, pinning his spinal column to the rail. She could feel the hard resistance of Addison's vertebra as they refused to wrap around the white painted metal of the rail. Just a little more force and she wouldn't have to throw the detestable man over. The thought of breaking his back before tossing him helpless into the ever ending blue of the sea made Mac grow cold. Killing the poor excuse of a human being that was now dangling over the rail of the ship would actually give her great pleasure.

Killing Addison would turn her into him. The thought of becoming the type of person who'd prey on the weaknesses of others made Mac's stomach lurch. This creature had hurt Gabe; she could feel his back displace as she leaned him further over the rail. But the kid was all right. Damn it, she hated that killing Callum would do no good for anyone.

"Do it," a hard rasped voice broke through her blind fury.

"You want to die?" Her jaw was nearly locked shut.

"Not really, but you do want to kill me." He looked at her, a smile still panted firmly on his lips. She was much more beautiful when she was angry. "I hurt the kid and now like any older sibling you want to hurt me. Last time only his mother was this upset."

"Touch Gabe again and I won't even think about the consequences of killing you." Jerking her arm back she let go of Addison.