None of these characters belong to me, they belong to Meg Cabot and Disney. Hell, nothing mentioned belongs to me! See if you notice the names of characters I've stuck in from some of Julie Andrews' other movies.

Joseph crouched down in front of the boys as they sat on his desk in his office. The sound of telephones ringing, computers buzzing, people briefing, guns being polished, orders being given was distant as the teams next door in the main security and intelligence wing of the palace worked desperately to locate their Queen. Philippe sipped the hot chocolate he had handed him, as did Pierre. It was 12 am, dark out side now and they hadn't been able to find her as the last of the summer rain parted the clouds and the lightening snaked its way through the openings, hindering there search severely.

"we'll find her", he promised, placing a hand on each of the boys knees, " I promise".

"where is our father?", Pierre asked pointedly, knowing that Rupert was probably too busy to care - only Joseph cared.

"he's busy, Pierre", Philippe said, as if his older brother had asked a dumb question, " father's always busy".

"look, boys", Joseph tried, his head tired and heavy from everything and truthfully, talking about Rupert's inadequacies at the moment was not top priority, " it's late, you should go to bed".

"Mama puts us to bed", Philippe said ruefully. Joseph winced, god he wished she could.

"I know, son", he sighed as he lifted him off the desk and motioned for Pierre to jump down, " but tonight, I'll do it".

Pierre could see the pain in the Head of Security eyes and as much as he knew it was there because he was as stressed as everyone else - he also knew it was there for a much deeper reason. A reason that, in hindsight, was much deeper than anyone, even Pierre, had ever suspected.

Joseph closed the door of their bed chamber behind him and leaning, exhausted against it let his eyes slide closed for just a moment. The pain coursing through him was quite unbelievable - the thought that she…… he stopped thinking it, it would be too much to contend with. Their search was proving futile. Yet, it seemed ten times worse for him. The men who were out there, battling winds and rain and silent killers to get to her were out there looking for an important, influential woman - he was here trying to track the woman that he loved.

Opening his eyes, he looked along the dim corridor towards her door. To where, behind that door she should be sleeping peacefully. Sliding the door open, he crept inside. The room smelled like her and it felt like oxygen as it rushed into his nostrils. He convulsed in the dark room, feeling utterly helpless. He'd never cried like that in his life as he lay on her bed, the tears wouldn't stop. Never had he been so weak, so failed, never had he been so in love.

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Clarisse woke, too afraid to open her eyes as horrible memories flooded her brain, the sleeping drug had finally wore off. Eventually she pried them open as she tried to sit up, her hand were tied and her mouth gagged preventing her from sitting up very comfortably. She took in the room around her. It was simple, monstrously so. The bed she occupied was situated, no squashed, into a corner. The room smelled damp and stale, fresh air being of little presence at all. The windows were dirty and from what she could make out, it was night time out side. The bars that decorated them were a threatening inconvenience.

"nice to see you awake", a voice came from the corner, causing her to jump. She turned her eyes on him, full of anger and hate. He stood up slowly and approaching her, peeled the industrial tape from her swollen lips.

"let me go!", she screamed as soon as it was gone and she could muster the courage to speak.

"fiery little madam", he laughed, " I can see what he likes about you".

"what?", she snapped, " who?"

"why Joseph", the man said. She had to wonder who he was. She didn't recognise him but perhaps it was because of the shades that shielded his eyes. Suddenly, she felt sick - how did he know Joseph?

"what", she chocked, " has my head of security go to do with this?".

"everything", he laughed, removing his gloves and glasses. He advanced forward, closing the small space between the bed and the chair. Lifting her tied hands he kissed them, mockingly.

"my name is Xavier ", he cooed, amused at the recognition and horror on her face, " I'm pleased to meet you".

Clarisse swallowed back her scream, knowing it would most likely anger him.

"Xavier?".

"yes, Xavier", he laughed, turning his back on her and returning to his chair, " you know me".

"yes", she whispered, the full enormity of the situation looming in a black wave before her, " why are you doing this?"

"it is simple, is it not?", she did not answer, for he continued, " he left me to die, regardless of the fact his sister loved me on the side of a dusty road - I will do as he done to me, I will never let the woman he loves be with him". his tone was cool, relaxed, almost serene.

"you abused his sister!", she screamed, " you are mad!". his face became angry and he flew across the room, slapping her face harshly.

"I did not hurt her - she loved me!", he screamed madly. His eyes were insane and clearly he didn't understand that Rosa had never loved him, never wanted him.

"she loved me! She loved me! She loved me!", he repeated, slapping her each time he screamed it. She fell back on to the bed shaking with fear as her faced became bloody and bruised. So this was being kidnapped, this was what she would have to endure.

"that will teach you", he breathed, running his fingers through her hair and kissing it, " never to speak out of turn".

Xavier moved away from her and to the cracked mirror that hung on the wall. He smoothed down his hair and tie, looking utterly respectable and as he finished, he turned to her.

"you will die and he will see it", he smiled, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to say, " and I - I shall enjoy it". he swiftly moved across the room and pulled open the door of it, locking it behind him.

Clarisse curled up into a ball, wishing this was all some terrifically terrifying nightmare- it wasn't. she cried then, unstoppable , breath -preventing tears.

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Joseph picked up the phone and as he did, it chilled him to the bone. The voice, he recognised as the man who had taken her from him.

"Joseph", he swam down the line, " do you want to hear her scream?"

"no!", Joseph answered immediately, " no, what do you want?". All the men in the office stopped to look at him, screaming down the phone line - Martin was the one with the savvy to record the call and make an attempt to trace the number.

"I want to see you suffer", the caller answered. The voice, it was familiar but It seemed like a distant, old familiar, not a fresh one. Joseph pushed that thought aside, it was his mind playing tricks on his tired hopes.

"is that all you want?", he questioned in frustration, " why didn't you kill me?"

"because if you watch the woman you love suffer, it will hurt more and knowing she loves you back…………..", and with that, the line went dead.

Joseph cringed as everyone in the base stared at him while they listened to the recording. They were shocked to hear the revelations in the callers last words, shocked at his madness - how on earth could they suspect the Queen loved Joe, that was stupid! They laughed hardly, but returned instead to trying to find the man who now held her captive.

Joseph slowed as he neared the kings office that night, finally the king had called for him - at 3.30 in the morning. The stale smell of cigars and books hit him as he entered the room. It was dull and for that, he was glad. His eyes were puffy and red from crying and lack of sleep and as much as he wasn't shocked at the fact he'd cried he was a man and he didn't like to show weakness - certainly not in a situation like this. The caller had unsettled him even more, this was no stranger - this was someone he knew.

"Joseph, Joseph…", the King tried, pulling him from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Your majesty", he muttered, tiredly, " I'm sorry - so much to think about". Rupert nodded and motioned to the seat before him, Joseph sat quite gladly.

"she's still missing", Joseph stated, " and the man who has her has proved elusive, even to us". he lied, still niggling that somewhere in time, he'd met the man who was holding her captive.

"is there anything I can do?", Rupert questioned, almost as helplessly as Joseph answered.

"no sir", he sighed, shaking his head, " perhaps your sons could use your support".

"they are home?", he questioned, a little shocked. Joseph resisted the feeling to shout at him for his ignorance of his two children and his wife.

"yes sir", he sighed, " I need to return now".

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As Joseph threw himself down on his desk chair he was finally alone. They had made little progress. That point sent dread through him. The mans voice was accented in a Spanish tone, and if he took her over the border it was out of there hands. That thought he could not deal with and for a moment, he rested his head on the desk - trying to fight sleep but it was no use and slowly he slipped into the most fitful sleep of his life.

He woke as Mr Marchand burst through the door, startling him awfully.

"Joseph! Joseph!", he whined, " the phone, it's him, pick up the phone!". Joseph lunged forward to the phone on his desk and quickly lifted the receiver.

"Joseph?", the caller crackled, distantly.

"who are you?", Joseph questioned, this time coolly, timely not agitated and despaired.

"that you will find out soon", he snickered, " she is quite the fiery lady", he added. Joseph winced, he couldn't quite detain his meaning.

"what do you plan to do to her?", he questioned, his stomach retching.

"I plan to make her suffer, that, I though was clear".

"it was", Joseph chocked, " what must I do to save her".

"you can do nothing Joseph", he laughed, " you can do nothing. You will know were to find me something you often forget, I am a creature, I am no human. Not any more - I am near your second home and you know me well……", and again he was gone. Joseph's frustration grew.

He banged his fist on the desk in frustration - it was utterly impossible to find him, and what kidnapper would want to give his identity away anyway. This was what puzzles him, this man wanted to be caught - wanted to be know, wanted to be glorified but he was no rebel. He was deadly, fascinating almost in his madness. He wanted Joseph to see her die and that tormented him - he knew him! He knew him! And that played over and over and over again in his tired head. This person wanted revenge and in his sick, unconventional way he was having it. Little by little, he was giving himself away and by the time he was revealed, Joseph had the terrible feeling the monster intended that Clarisse be dead.

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Clarisse again, woke from a drug induced sleep. Groggy and sore, every bone in her body ached as she tried to sit up. She startled as she realised her cell had changed. It was no longer the concrete room, it was an improvement - if only slightly in what seemed like a helpless situation. It was an apartment, homely and comfortable - it made her feel cold inside.

She was alone again, something that often had appealed to her but now, now it was dreadful. She knew his return was imminent and that petrified her. She was afraid of what he might do and, over the last forty eight hours in his clutches she had learned he was ruthlessly insane and evil - something that she had felt first hand. The cuts on her hands had stopped bleeding, now congealed and gory. Her face was swollen, painful and tender as she winced in pain each time he hit her. Nothing could prevent his sick game and she found herself wishing it was all over - wishing the inevitable, wishing she were dead.

He had recorded her screams last night as she suffered at the hands of his thugs. They had beaten her - nearly until she though she was dead - she wasn't sure what it was but somehow, she felt as if she might just be - or she wasn't. nothing had any borders now - everything merged into one monstrous black wave and she felt everything she was suffering magnified because nothing was real anymore. She was in some parallel of the real world - some hell that gripped hold of her.

The only thing she could remember or feel that was good was Joseph and what they had managed to build over their short time of recognition. She knew that somewhere, he'd be doing all he could to save her - unaware that it was pointless, because she was dead anyway - dead to the world. She slipped into unconsciousness at that last, unwavering thought - he loved her.

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It was late morning now and nothing, nothing had been advanced. Joseph looked up from his chair to the exhausted people before them.

"come on", Franz suddenly urged relentlessly, " there must be something you can think about". Josephs head shot up and he glared at him questioningly.

"what do you mean?", he questioned, inching a little over the desk.

"well obviously the caller has a grudge against someone - namely you!", he almost cried out, tiredness obvious in the young security man's eyes. Joseph hung his head, confirming something they all suspected. Fear, now was something that had encased every fibre of his body. Whoever it was wanted to hurt him, and they were more successful in this torment than in any other endeavour.

"I know him", he whispered, " but I don't know who he is!".

Even to himself, he sounded mad but that was the only way he could put it. He didn't know who this man was but he knew him - somewhere in time this man had known him, had seen him - had obviously hated him. Never in his life had Joseph been so frustrated but utterly helpless.

"Think Joe!", Franz commanded, " come on, think!". The room was silent as Miss Sherman came in with the mail. She timidly handed a bundle to Joe, which he cast aside - reading not something he felt up to at the moment but something caught his eye. Suddenly he was shuffling through it, ripping open the black, attention seekingenvelope at the bottom.

The game is up - just like it was for me, many years ago. No more waiting, only suffering. She will endure suffering of the highest degree - while you stand helplessly bye . You know me, so well do you know me - yet you are ignorant. Come to me this evening, I'm right under your nose - in fact I live right next door.

Yours,

With pain and grief.

The recorder tape fell out of the envelope, making a hollow sound on the floor as it did. He reached down and picking it up put it in the tape player, without even thinking about what could be on it. He clicked play and then as it reached his ears, after a horrific pause - he threw up. Her screams reverberated round the room as he was sick, her begging for her children staying in his tortured mind. Franz ran forward and clicked it off as he picked the sobbing Joseph off of the floor. Something was torturing him, more than they could ever realise - maybe the callers unbelievable revelations weren't as mad after all.

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As he sat back down, Joseph read and read and re read it until he felt numb, the screaming on the tape still resonating in his head. Next door? What did he mean, next door? The only next door……………. Joseph flew out of his seat and stood up. The screaming seemed to fade a little more as he realised he might, just be able to save her.

"it's all too easy!", he vented, making for the armoury, " Franz and 10 of you, get riot gear on - Squash, get back up and get the cars ready for 15 men. Follow me but stay back when we get there - I want to look as if I'm on my own". They done as they were told but doubting his ability to see straight due to lack of sleep and lack of energy they were desperate to argue.

"Boss? Boss!", Squash question, more than agitated, " are you sure 'bout this, are you right?". Joseph turned to him, eyes blazing with determination as he loaded his gun.

"the person who has her lives next door to me in my apartment in Pyrus, that's how he knows me!". Joseph knew that wasn't entirely true. Of course this person had made it obvious his apartment was next to Josephs and that unsettled him - what kidnapper wanted to be known? He had never met the person that stayed in the apartment next door - he never even knew it was occupied but just now, that wasn't what mattered, getting to her was his sole intention. He knew, if he was too see the face of this man in his horrifying glory, he doubtlessly would.

Ahh, what did you think/

Oh please r&r, I think I'm going to post the next chapter today - if I get round to it!

Yours,

M