Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE OC. There. Done. Please review, and I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was busy. Sooooo....R&R! This chapter is going to be a very dramatic(I hope) one, *shifty eyes* so enjoy! There's a bit of language, because A.J.'s a swearer.

The car ride to Elk Lake was silent. Seth just stared out of the window, trying to take in all of what was happening. Kirsten was trying to be strong for her family and for Ryan. She knew if she cried in his presence it would make him feel even worse, so she tried to prepare herself for any condition that Ryan might be in. She was driving, because she didn't know if Sandy was ok. He had barely said anything while they were counting the money, and he had sat in the car without a word. They arrived at Elk Lake and saw a ratty looking truck on the grass. They didn't even bother to look at the license plate. They had enough to think about anyways.

The stopped the car and Sandy turned to his wife and son. "Do you want to stay here?" Kirsten gazed at him determinately. "Not if my life depended on it." Sandy nodded reluctantly and stepped out of the car. Seth and Kirsten followed him. Seth was scared that maybe it was all a trap, and that the man that had kidnaped his brother would shoot them all on the spot. But they didn't hear anything except the sound of the water beating against the grainy sand, and the sound of the nocturnal animals coming out to eat. Seth looked at the truck intently. He couldn't see anything through the tinted windows, but he imagined Ryan inside. It killed him that his brother was so close to him and yet he couldn't help him.

A.J. looked outside of the truck and heard the car stop. He loathed the Cohens. They were rich, kind, and happy. Well, they probably weren't happy today, but most of the time they were. He saw them walk out of the car, but they did not advance towards his truck. "Ok, Dawn. Stay here, and if anything happens, start the car right away, and I'll be back soon." Dawn gave him a kiss and Ryan scowled. "Thank you babe." she whispered in his ear. "For what?" he asked, confused. "For not killing him!" A.J. regarded her with a bit of sympathy. "Yeah." he said.

"Come on, get up kid." he growled, completely changing his previously kind voice. Ryan sat up painfully and groaned. A.J. helped him up roughly, and Ryan carefully stepped out of the truck. A.J. once again left the door open. He slightly pushed Ryan, and the boy stumbled forward, almost tripping over his feet. He started limping, and A.J. helped him walk quicker. Ryan kept his eyes on the ground, so he didn't notice when A.J. drew his hand back to shove him forwards. The push came as a surprise to the teenager, and he tripped and fell to the ground. He coughed hoarsely and laid his cheek on the soft grass.

"Ryan!" whimpered Kirsten, shocked at the mistreatment of her son. Seth looked surprised as well, his eyes darting back and forth from his mother to Ryan. Ryan heard his name being called and looked up carefully. "Mrs Cohen? Seth?" He was suddenly very worried. Sandy, alone, he could deal with being in temporary danger, but his best friend and his foster mother were too much to handle. "Get out of here! It isn't safe!" he grumbled, his voice as loud as he could make it. His outburst was received with a kick to the ribs, and he shut up immediately. But the kicks didn't stop. A.J. kicked him a few more times, before a distraught Kirsten shrieked out: "No, please leave him alone!". Ryan turned over onto his back, since the pain in his stomach was too intense. He then turned to the side and pulled his hands up to his face.

Sandy stared at him intently, not making a noise or saying a single word. Kirsten was trying to get closer to Ryan, inching her way towards him while keeping an eye on A.J. Seth had stayed completely quiet, like his father, but the difference was that Seth looked as if he was about to explode, biting his bottom lip so hard that a small trickle of blood came out. He didn't mind the pain. It was taking his mind off the fact that the boy he thought of as a brother was lying on the ground, wounded, and he couldn't do anything about it. Kirsten got to her knees and crawled decisively over to the boy. A.J. wasn't paying attention to her. He was looking at the man in front of him. Sandy. He made it a point to showcase his prized possession, the gun, so that the man with the large eyebrows wouldn't take this as a big joke that shouldn't be taken seriously.

"Hey, sweetie." whispered Kirsten, taking Ryan in her tiny arms. "You okay?" Ryan still didn't like that she was there. He was so scared that A.J. would freak and kill them all. She helped take the rope off his wrists, and the rope that had been there left a red indent on his wrists. Kirsten hugged him, and Seth who had been considering the situation, saw a flash of pain cross Ryan's face. "Ow." he whimpered. Kirsten loosened her grip. "I'm sorry hon." she murmured, trying to comfort him. She wiped his face with a few extra napkins she had in her pocket, and he moaned in pain when she touched his nose. "Sorry...it's gonna be ok." she whispered again, kissing him on the forehead. He painfully shook his head. "No, no it's not." He was in some serious pain, and Kirsten blurred in front of his face. "Ryan? Ryan can you hear me?"

Kirsten had been a little loud and had interrupted the stare-down between Sandy and A.J. He suddenly turned to face her, and pointed the gun at the both of them. "Get the hell away from him!" Kirsten jumped at the voice, but instead of leaving Ryan, she clung to him, and said a soft "shhh..." in his ear when he whimpered quietly. "Get away from him now!" said A.J., getting closer to the two of them. Ryan stretched out to push Kirsten away. He knew full well what A.J. was capable of, and he would never risk Kirsten's life, or Seth and Sandy's for that matter, just so he could get a hug. A.J. shoved Kirsten out of the way before Ryan could do it politely, and picked Ryan up by grabbing his sides and pulling him up. Ryan felt his already pained ribs push into him, and he screamed in pain. Seth ran over to his mother to help her up, while A.J. once again turned to his gun for help.

He held the gun to Ryan's temple. Sandy, who had been trying to stay calm, took the suitcase full of money and opened it. Inside was all the money that they could pack in it. "There. There it is. Just take it and give Ryan back, please." he pleaded with A.J., who now had Ryan in a choke hold, the gun still pressed against his head. He grabbed the suitcase and put it carefully in the back of the truck. He crept closer to the Cohens. He really wanted the kid to die. He hated him so much. He subconsciously pressed harder with his choke hold. He heard Ryan cough gruffly. It almost made him sad that his family had come through with the cash. I'll have a little fun with the Newport jackasses" he thought.

"Please give him back." begged Sandy once again. "You know, I just thought of something." replied A.J., completely ignoring Sandy. "This kid knows my name..." Kirsten face sunk. She knew that knowing a criminal was dangerous, especially when he had a gun pointed to your head. "He knows my FULL name." added A.J. "And I'm worried that he'll tell the cops. Wouldn't you be?" There was no response. "I think that the minute I let him go, you're going to take him to the hospital." Sandy looked at him in a way that showed he was stating the obvious. "And don't get me wrong, even I would, if I were in your position. I mean this kid is pretty banged up. But then the cops will come, and they'll have a whole lot of questions that I think Ryan will feel safe to answer..." he said, choking Ryan once more. The boy raised his hands weakly up to A.J.'s arm to try to pry it away from his neck. He coughed a few more times and A.J. loosened his grasp.

"What the fuck is your problem?" asked Seth suddenly, shocking both Kirsten and Sandy. "Excuse me?" asked A.J., as though just taking notice of the boy. "How can you stand there, threatening the life of a kid? Of a kid that hasn't even STARTED his life? He's SEVENTEEN! He's not even old enough to legally purchase beer! He has so much ahead of him, and you're willing to throw that all away, without a care in the world...over money?!" A.J. looked him angrily as Ryan stared at his brother. "Seth." hissed Sandy, looking back at his son. "Shut up. Now" But Seth continued. It was like he was being possessed and he couldn't stop talking, which seemed to happen a lot. "No, do you think it's fair that you can stand here and kick MY brother's ass just because you have a gun? And well, a few muscles, but mostly a gun?" Kirsten echoed her husband's hiss. Ryan suddenly spoke up. "Seth, I really don't want to die, so could you please, just shut up?" Kirsten answered Ryan's plea herself. "Ryan, you are not going to die." and Sandy responded to her reassurance with a less encouraging: "Unless Seth keeps on talking!" A.J. had finally had enough. He snapped. "Everybody shut the fuck up before I fire a warning shot into his pretty little head." Silence all around. Seth finally stopped talking, and Kirsten was deeply troubled by A.J.'s words.

A.J. was glad that they had finally shut up. "You know, kid, you really helped me see the light." he said sarcastically. "I think I'll kill him, and all of you." he said, a smirk on his face. Ryan murmured out a quiet "no..." and put his hands back to A.J.'s arm, trying desperately to free himself. "No, don't hurt them!" he screamed, trying his hardest to stay awake, to keep fighting. Sandy unexpectedly stepped forward. "You will not hurt Ryan, or Seth, or Kirsten." he said conclusively. A.J. laughed. "No, here's the deal. You kill me, and they all go free." Ryan continued to struggle at his words as Kirsten let out a little gasp. "Sandy you can't do that!" she said, coming close to him. A.J. seemed to like the idea. "There's still the matter of Ryan knowing my name." he said. "I won't say anything, I swear. You don't have to hurt anybody!" yelled Ryan, tears forming in his eyes as white spots blotted out the Cohens. "Sure I do..." whispered A.J. in Ryan's ear. He held the gun up to Sandy's head. Ryan, with all the strength he had in him, grabbed a part of the gun and pushed it upwards. It fired into the air. A.J. let go of the choke hold he had on Ryan, and Ryan shoved Sandy to the floor. "Get down!" he yelled to the other two Cohens.

Ryan, on one foot, managed to get a few more shots fired. He knew that A.J. only had one round, so he just needed to get rid of the bullets and then they could all take him. A shot fired into the ground, and suddenly A.J. kicked Ryan in the leg. He let out a very loud scream and crumpled to the ground. Kirsten couldn't help the tears running down her face as Sandy sat on the ground in shock. A.J. pointed the gun at Ryan and fired. The three Cohens jumped. Seth got up, staring heedfully at his best friend. "He has always had your back. He's helped you from the beginning, even when you didn't help him! Don't just let some loser kill him now and ruin your friendship forever..." he mumbled, trying to give himself courage. His mom and dad hadn't even realized he was standing. They were still transfixed on Ryan, who was grabbing his stomach in pain. Blood covered his hand.

A.J. was getting ready to shoot him again, this time in the head. He had closed his eyes when he shot before, hoping he wouldn't have to shoot again. He closed his eyes once again, and heard the teenager groan in pain. He put his finger on the trigger.

Seth had made up his mind. He threw himself savagely on A.J., and the gun went off. It hit the ground, and so did A.J. and Seth. "Ow!" said Seth, his arm twisted uncomfortably underneath him. A.J. shook himself off and grabbed his gun off the ground. Dawn had already started the truck, and he could have just run in. He stood there with the gun pointed at Seth. He fired. The gun clicked, and nothing came out. "Shit." he mumbled, and ran over to the car, jumping in. The car drove off, leaving three Cohens and a very wounded Ryan behind.

How was that, huh? Ya like? I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter. Is Ryan going to live? What's wrong with Seth? Is Dawn killing herself with grief, or is she too drunk to care?