Chapter 2 - Guilt

A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know I took forever to update and there really isn't any excuse, except homework and exams. But I promise I'll have two chapters posted by Wednesday. By the way, thank you for all your reviews, I really appreciate them.

Disclaimer: I'd buy all the rights to Cold Case but, sadly, I am only 14 and I'm not a millionaire. So, for now it doesn't belong to me and I'm not making any money from this. I only do it for fun

"Lilly" Scotty woke up screaming her name. Or at least he tried, but his throat hurt and it came like a hoarse and it came out like a hoarse whisper. He turned around to see Vera, Jeffries and Stillman smiling at him. Lilly was nowhere in sight. He needed to find her, he needed to know she was safe, alive. However, Stillman gently pushed him back down on the bed.

"Scotty lay down you need to rest. Lilly will be coming soon, I called and left a message." Stillman told him gently. Truth be told, he was worried. Lilly wasn't answering her cell phone or her phone. Lily was a light sleeper and generally she'd hear the phone even if she were asleep. Then he saw the agitation on Scotty's face and he knew something was very wrong.

"No, you just don't understand." Scotty spoke quietly, but his voice was shaking in frustration and fear. "Lilly was with me last night, they took her."

The three men standing over his bed turned to stare at him, speechless.

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Lilly opened her eyes, she was lying on the floor of a stone-walled room, bound and gagged. It was cold and damp and looked like a basement. Her head hurt and she was dizzy, she knew she had been drugged with something, chloroform, most likely. But that was not what she was thinking about.She was thinking about Scotty and how she'd seen one of her captors beat him half to death, Oh my god, what if he was dead, what if they'd killed him after they had rendered her unconscious. She started to fight against the ropes tying her hand, but it was useless. She was still struggling against her bonds when she was interrupted by a voice, behind her.

"Well, miss Rush I see that you're now awake. Good." The voice spoke joyfully, it was almost a pleasant voice, however it had a slight coldness and a mocking tone to it. It made Lilly shudder. She needed to know who's voice it was, though. She needed to see the face it belonged to. But most of all, she needed to know why she was there. She tried to turn around, making an attempt to take a glimpse of her captor's face. But her attempts were a waste of time. When she finally managed it all she could see was a man with a black ski mask that covered his face. All that she could see was that he was an extraordinarily short man and thin as a stick.

The man standing over her crouched down next to her and turned her around again, sticking a gun to the back of her head.

"Now, don't go and do something stupid or I'll blow you brains out." And then he did something that Lilly wasn't really expecting, he began to undo the knots tying her hands.

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Stillman was sitting on the edge of Scotty's bed, watching the young detective. Scotty had his head in his arms and was shaking slightly, he looked like he was going to cry. He kept muttering under his breath. Stillman was seriously concerned about him.

"Scotty, are you okay?" Scotty looked up for the first time in a while. Colour had drained from his face and he looked scared in a way Stillman had never seen him before, not even when Lilly had been in the Mark's residence, alone with George. No, this was different. He knew what that fear was. It was the fear of uncertainty. Last time they had known what they had been facing. This time, however, they didn't know who had taken Lilly or where too. They didn't even know whether she was alive or not.

After a couple of minutes Scotty finally answered his question:

"Of course I'm not okay! Lilly is gone, and it's all my fault. She could be anywhere being hurt by someone or left to die and I can't do anything about it. She could be dead already, all because of me." Stillman knew how Scotty was feeling and he also knew that there would be no way to convince him that it wasn't his fault, but he had to try.

"Look, Scotty it isn't you're fault. You didn't take her and you didn't tell any of those guys to take her, did you?"

"No, but I might as well have. She went with them, she didn't even put up a fight, only so I wouldn't get killed."

"It was her choice Scotty, not yours." It was a comment he should not have made and he regretted it the moment the words left his mouth, for it did nothing but trigger Scotty's anger.

"OH, SO NOW YOU'RE SAYING IT'S HER FAULT. HOW DAR…" Scotty's rage was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Stillman walked over to where Scotty's clothing was bundled and quickly grabbed the phone. He passed it on to Scotty.

Scotty took the phone, hoping and at the same time fearing that it had something to do with Lil. His voice shook as he answered it.

"V-valens"

"Scotty?" His stomach turned.