It's been quite a while………..school seems like a bad excuse, though it's the reason for me not updating for so long………that and writer's block.

Hope you'll like this one. I actually didn't want it to be too emotional, but, at times, I think that I kinda, like………missed the spot. Please tell me what you think about it, okay? Cause that would be really really nice, ya kow? And I know that you're nice people, aren't you?

Have fun reading this one!

Miami Nights and Dawns

"Hey!" Lilly yelled once the jerks pushed her roughly into the guest room that was meant to be hers for this night. She heard the key being turned around in the lock, the sound of footsteps walking down the hall and finally fading away into the silence of this house. The girl looked around: the room was richly furnished, just like the other ones she had already seen. Wooden floor, a giant wooden wardrobe, a desk, nightstands, dressers, white carpets, paintings, a king-sized bed……….her eyes widened. There, on the white covers of the bed laid her bag. Her bag. She had assumed that they wouldn't give it back to her, but there it was………and hopefully, it would still contain her cigarettes!

Her heels clacked on the floor as she went to sit down on the bed and before grabbing her bag to search for the packet of cigarettes, she bent down to take off her shoes.

"That's better",she murmured while flexing and stretching her toes a little. Reaching out for her bag, Lilly didn't even bother to take a look into it, she merely turned it upside down to let everything that was in there fall down onto the covers in front of her. Eying the items to check, if everything she remembered having put into the bag was still there, the girl already picked up the packet of cigarettes.

"Agenda, some tampons, my sneakers, purse, condoms",she cocked her head slightly to the side,"seems like everything's still there." Of course, the blonde had forgotten to take her cell phone with her and now, wanted to kick her butt because of that.

There was a big window to the right side of the bed, but no proper windowsill for Lilly to sit down on. Fortunately, there was a low backed couch standing in front of the window on which the blonde kneeled down while opening the window without having any problems at all. The thought of climbing out of the window and running like hell occurred to her mind, but once she had opened the window, she heard some growling and rustling of leaves coming from the bushes a couple of yards away from the house.

"Shit, he's got some dogs",Lilly bit her lower lip before rolling her eyes. She really could have guessed that herself! Why would her window be open and not locked, if Verone wasn't aware of ways to keep her from escaping?!

She sat down on the soft material the couch was made out of and opened the packet in her hands. A lighter and six cigarettes left. So, she had smoked 13 cigarettes within the last two months……….not all that bad.

Lilly usually smoked whenever she was close to hysterics or on her period………rarely when she was with her friends from "The Club", although Will, Spike and Mouse did it regularly, but, like Sugar said: "If you don't wanna do somethin', then, don't do it. If others wanna do somethin', then, let'em do it. If others want you to do somethin' you don't wanna do, then, kick their asses!"

The blonde smiled. Sugar could always make her smile or laugh, that was why the black woman was her best friend, her heart- and soul-sister.

Lighting the cigarette and taking the first drag, Lilly eyed her left hand in which she held the smoke. She had a – how Spike put it – "bloody sexy way to hol' a fag", it had never really occurred to her until he had said that. Lilly always held her smokes with the left hand, between the tips of her middle and ring finger, because the blonde didn't gave anybody the finger, no, she would give two fingers, her middle and her ring. It was a strange habit of hers, but she didn't care.

She inhaled deeply and let the aroma of the tobacco some time to unfold its soothing flavour in her lung before breathing it out through her nose.

"How can I get outta here?"She whispered while shifting a little in her position to get a better view on the scene in front of the window.

She was on the first floor, but climbing down wouldn't be a problem for her, down there were some bushes, some trees……..the dogs……..and a little building that seemed to be some kind of garage due to it having three gate-like doors on the front-side. A garage meant cars, cars she could easily hot-wire and then escape with. There was no such thing like a gate in front of the house, at least she had seen none. But how to get down there without anybody noticing?

Wait a moment, Lilly rested her elbows on the narrow windowsill and frowned, all I need to do is to distract them for a little while, I wouldn't need more than two mintues to get into one of the cars standing on the drive and to hot-wire it when everybody else would be occupied with something happening behind the house from where nobody would see me. This building down there might be a garage, a garage with cars in it. Cars mean petrol. I got a lighter, she turned around to view over the wardrobe, the dressers and the nightstands, he wouldn't be a good host, if there wasn't any kind of bar in each of his guest rooms, would he?

With that thought in mind, she finished her cigarette and pushed its end down onto the white windowsill to see the hot ashes leaving a dark imprint on the white varnish. The blonde then closed the window and got up to search for the bottles of alcohol she would need to make her plan work out the way she wanted it to.

"Here, man",Roman placed a bottle of Corona on the table in front of Brian. They had gone into the kitchen, or more precisely, Roman had dragged the blonde man out of Lilly's room to put some distance between him and the familiar items reminding him of the girl. Not that there were no things within the kitchen area which wouldn't do the same, but the black man had figured out that there were at least less of Lilly's personal items than in her room.

"No, I don't need this right now",Brian shook his head no while combing his fingers through his hair. He couldn't stop thinking about his baby. Was she scared? Was she injured? Was she…….with Verone? This thought in particular made him want to throw up. Fortunately, Rome was with him, so that he wouldn't do anything he might regret later on.

"C'mon, man, ya need to cool down a little",the man opened the bottle with an opener he had spotted near the sink, then, sat down on the chair opposite to Brian's, taking a sip from the Corona he had opened for himself.

"He's got her and you tell me to cool down?"It was a mere whisper, he was tired and therefore, his voice was quite raspy. Brian felt so exhausted, so helpless. He rested his forehead against the palm of his left hand, his elbow on the table. All he wanted to do was to wake up from this nightmare, to walk into his sister's room and to lay down next to her sleeping form, one arm around her waist just to feel that she was really there and if she woke up, he would pull her closer and tell her to go back to sleep.

"Ya need to cool down, so that we can think of somethin' to get her outta that shit",Roman swallowed down another mouthful of the cool liquid while looking Brian straight into the eye. His former friend looked so different, his whole appearance had changed because of the current situation. The usual spark in his eyes was gone, his eyes themselves seemed to be rather gray than light blue, even the way he sat showed how beat he was………so Roman had to convince Brian that it would be of no use for Lilly, if he didn't snap out of this mood. Of course, he himself was worried like he hadn't been for a long time, after all, it was his Kitten these guys had dared to kidnap and they would have to pay for it, but he would need Brian's help to do this because of him knowing Miami and the people who could possibly help them.

"You're right, bro",suddenly, the blonde sounded very determined and took a sip from his Corona, swallowing it down,"first thing we gonna do, is to contact Markham and Bilkins. They can reach Monica and if Lilly's at the compound, Monica can help us getting her outta there. Then, we gotta work on the cars, build in some extras we need so that things work out the way they're supposed to."

"That's it, man",Rome grinned, nodding his head slightly yes,"they won't know what hit'em."

"I hope so",Brian said while staring out of the window. He always sat with his back to the door, Lilly usually opposite to him so that they could look at each other without having to turn their heads to the side. It was funny, but they didn't sit in the kitchen very often, yet, both of them loved it, because it made things seem more ordinary, it reminded them of the time when their life had been more ordinary; they would get up early, have breakfast together, at times, Brian would even drive Lilly to school, in the evening, they would eat dinner and talk about stuff………

We haven't done that in a while, now, Brian thought, I don't want us to grow apart, but when it comes down to certain topics like school or her friends, she's……….quiet, as though she doesn't want me to know. Once, that's been different. When Cathy's still been alive. Lilly was better back then, she had somebody she could actually talk to………somebody her age.

When Brian had gotten his sister's custody rights and she had moved in with him, there had been a girl living at the other end of the street. Cathy. She had been Lilly's age and in the same class, as well. Cathy's father had beaten her and her mother who had been living in a new and better relationship for several years when Brian had turned 21. So, the girls had had something in common, something they could help each other dealing with. They had spent every free minute together, stayed over night at he other one's house……….they had done pretty much everything girls from the age of 11 to 14 would have done.

Lilly's really been better back then. Happier, more willing to trust people and to talk about her problems, but then………..Cathy died. At the age of fourteen. Got shot, although the bullet hadn't been meant for her……….my baby has changed since then. For the worse. It's easy for her to make friends with pretty much everybody, but she doesn't want to, not anymore. She's too afraid of anybody getting that close to her ever again. That's why she never talks about school unless I ask her something. She doesn't want me to worry. Her report card's gonna be decorated with lots of A's and few B's……..maybe she gets straight A's, only to show me that I don't need to worry about her. I'm gonna ask her, if I can take a look at her yearbook, then, I'll know how things are………..how many people have signed it. So, maybe it's not nice to control her like that, but I don't have many other options left. I have to talk to her after all of this is over. She really needs to be more around people her own age.

"Ya still there?"Roman asked while eying the blonde suspiciously.

"Yeah",Brian finished off his Corona with several deep gulps,"just thinking",standing up, he took the empty bottle and put it into the sink,"time to sleep. Couch's no problem for you, is it?"

"Wasn't planning on taking Kitten's bed, if that's what ya mean",swallowing down the last amounts of beer himself,"bathroom and couch?"

"Oh, yeah",the blonde scratched his neck,"bathroom's to the right, couch's in the only room without a door. Can't miss it."

"Thanks",Roman left the kitchen and Brian went to look out of the window. It was deepest night outside, yet, the street lamps which were standing on the sidewalk next to the beach cast a weak light onto the sand and the waves coming out of the black mass of water. Sighing, he turned around to get some covers and a pillow for Rome.

When he opened the wardrobe in his room, Brian caught a glimpse of his nightstand where the short letter-or note? He didn't know-Lilly had written a couple of days ago was still lying.

Don't be afraid, baby. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, ever.

The sound of somebody banging on the door made Brian snap his eyes open and jump out of his bed.

Lilly, was everything he could think in that particular moment. His baby might have managed to escape!

But opening the door of their apartment, he saw Monica standing in front of it, wearing a light blue nike-top, some black adidas-hot pants and a pair of sneakers. She ran past him into the hall and he closed the door. Brian could tell by the haunted look on her face that something had happened. Was his baby……….?

"What's it? What are ya doin' here?"He demanded to know immediately. "Where's my sister? Did you see her? She okay?"

"What are you talking about?!"Her expression didn't change, yet, confusion was added to it. "Brian, they're gonna kill you. I heard him telling Enrique and Roberto. Once you finish the run, they're putting a bullet in your head."Monica really didn't understand what Brian's sister had to do with the situation.

"He asked, if our sis is okay",Roman came out of the living-room, already dressed.

"What's that talk about your sister?"Suddenly, Monica's eyes widened in shock, realization hitting her. "He's got her?"

"You didn't know?"Brian ran a hand through his hair. "You sure you heard him right? He really didn't mention her? Not at all?"

"No, I swear."

"Hey",Rome stood at the kitchen window,"Verone's boys is outside."

"They don't know",the woman said as though trying to defend herself,"I snuck out."

"What the hell are they doin' here, then?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're guessing."

"Okay",the blonde man stopped the upcoming argument and straightened his blue shirt he had slept in,"go stall'em",he told Roman,"go stall'em for, like, two minutes."

The black man pointed a finger at Monica: "Check her, homey",before leaving the apartment to meet Enrique and Roberto on the staircase. He grinned when seeing them; it seemed as if somebody had given them quite a hard time: their faces were covered in bruises.

Brian shoved Monica into Lilly's room.

"Alright",the woman raised her hands,"this isn't about being a good cop or doing your job. They're gonna kill you. You gotta pull out."

"You mean that I shall watch how he kills my baby sister instead of me?!"He wasn't yelling, yet, his voice rose a little.

"No, I…..",she could only imagine what the man in front of her was going through. Monica herself didn't have any siblings at all. "I can get her outta there."

"Really?"His eyes were filled with hope while his expression spoke of doubt.

"Yeah",they heard the voices of Roman, Enrique and Roberto getting louder, coming closer.

"Tell me that you don't make that run, Brian. Your sister's fine. I won't let anything happen to her, I promise. Just don't make that run."

Before actually knowing what he was doing, Brian bent down and kissed Monica.

"Take the fire escape and shut the window once you're outside."

"Be careful",she whispered and went to the window while the blonde walked back into the hall and shut the door behind his back. Not even five seconds later, Roman and Verone's boys were standing in front of him and an evil grin cossed his lips.

No messing with my baby, he thought when he saw their bruises but then, he got furious because they might have hit her, too, and nobody hurt his Lilly, nobody.

Then, Roberto pulled out his gun from underneath his shirt and pointed it at him and Roman while Enrique started searching through the five rooms of the apartment.

Everything happened very fast. All of the sudden, the men were at each other's throats and Brian yelled at Enrique to put the damn gun that he was holding to Roman's temple down, although the blonde himself had Roberto's head at the end of his gun.

At times like that, Brian was quite content about the fact that the majority of the people living in this building had to work at this time of the day or simply didn't care. That was why he had taken the apartment in the first place: people who didn't care wouldn't cause any problems for Lilly and him due to them not asking questions.

"Enough",a voice echoed through the hall. Brian looked up and there he was, Verone, standing in front of the still opened door,"enough."

Enrique tried to argue but was cut of by his boss. "Shut up. It's over. Come on. It's over. Let's go."

The men let go of each other and while handing the gun back to Roberto, Brian eyed Verone's face. He had a slightly purple bruise on his left cheek.

"If you dared so much than touching her",blue eyes narrowed, showing nothing but hatred and rage.

"Now I see where she's gotten her temper from",Verone smiled at the memory of the girl's hot mouth before she had slapped him,"don't worry, Mister O'Conner, your sister is safe as long as you fulfill your job. Once you finish the run, you get her back. Without one missing hair, of course",he put his hands into the pocket of his trousers. Such beautful long blonde hair. I wonder, if she's a natural. Well, there are certain ways to find out………….certain places to find out……..if she isn't shaven, of course, though……….

"I'm glad to see you boys are getting along so well",he said, his attention focusing back on the situation while his employees were walking past him,"because tomorrow, Roberto and Enrique'll be riding along with you. Just so we don't have any problems. I'll see you guys in a bit." He then turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

Brian was about to run after him, but Roman held him back by blocking the way out of the apartment.

"We gotta think, homey",he told the blonde.

"We need to get Tej",Brian finally nodded, praying that it was the right thing not to have run after Verone.

I might die doing this, that's okay, as long as she survives. I love you baby, I'm gonna come anf rescue you. I promise!

Please review………….please?