A/N: Thanks once again to all who reviewed!

Sara awoke when she heard a knock at the door. It wasn't a soft knock, it was more of a loud pounding noise, as if someone or something had rammed into the door. Rolling over a little, she turned to see a still-sleeping Nick next to her with his arm wrapped around her. Frowning a little as she knew she would have to move his arm, she gently removed the hold he had around her waist and sat up, stretching and yawning as she got to her feet.

Running a hand through her messy hair, Sara looked over at the clock in the living room trying to determine what time it was. It was dark, so it was either late at night or early in the morning, she deducted. Looking at the clock she saw that it was 10:32 pm. Tilting her head, she walked over to the door, wondering who would be there so late at night.

...and completely forgetting that there was a possibility that her brother was the person behind the door.

Not bothering to ask or think twice about who could be behind the door, Sara slid the chain off and unclicked the lock, cracking it open. Opening the door, she was surprised the see no one behind it. Maybe it was just the wind, she thought. Or maybe a bored kid running around late at night looking for kicks. Sighing, Sara walked outside and closed the door softly so as not to wake Nick. She decided she would get some fresh air while she was awake, she needed it.

Walking over to the railing near her apartment door, she put both hands on it, slightly leaning forward as the bold night breeze blew against her face. Brushing a stubborn strand of hair away from her face, she tucked it behind her ear and looked down at the ground. She did a double-take when she saw something that caught her eye. It was a cigarette, she knew, she had seen enough of those in her lifetime. But...something was a little off. It looked as though it had just been thrown on the ground, and smoke was still erupting from the very tip of it, which was slowly becoming a small pile of ash.

Sara had to think about this for a minute. Maybe someone just walked by and threw it on the ground, that was normal, there were thousands of smokers in Vegas. But...there was also something eerie about finding that since she had just gotten a knock on her door and opened it only to find no one behind it.

Shrugging it off, Sara was about to go back inside when she felt hands wrap around her. One hand clamped itself over her mouth and another held tightly onto her arms. Her eyes were wild, searching around for some sort of figure in the distance, and she shuddered when the familiar smell of alcohol and cigarettes filled her nostrils from the breath of the person holding onto her.

"Hey Sis..." Daniel started. "Did I scare you?" he asked her. "Sorry 'bout that...but you see, the date of this whole little operation has been moved up..." he said. "So you know what that means?" he asked, looking at her. "That means that you're going to have to help me a lot sooner than we first expected..." he told her.

Sara mumbled something, and he heard her say something about the police. Laughing quietly, he told her, "Sis...no one's going to help you. And you won't need help unless you make this complicated, you know that, don't you?" he asked. "Just like when we were kids, remember? You didn't need any help unless you got in Daddy's way and he got pissed. Well, this is the exact same thing, except now you won't need any help unless you get in Danny's way and he gets pissed."

"See, Sara, I've got this all planned-out..." Daniel said. "We've got a car, we've got the drugs, we've got the gun. All we need is someone who's going to make sure that this whole thing is...discreet. And how lucky am I to have a sister in your profession?" he asked with a smile, finally removing his hand from her mouth.

"You can't do this..." Sara said. "I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm an adult."

Daniel just laughed. "Yeah, you're a big girl now, you're in the big leagues, congratulations. Tell me something, Sara- if you're so grown-up now, why can't you take care of yourself? Why do you have to have this...guy...staying with you all the time to wipe up your mouth when you spit up?" he asked.

Sara froze, her eyes widening. He didn't just say that, he couldn't know about Nick. How would he know Nick was in there? She was so sure that Daniel hadn't seen Nick when he had come into her apartment that night, she was sure of it!

"Yes, I do know about the little boyfriend," Daniel said. "And let me just tell you something- you do anything to mess this up, Sis, and I mean absolutely anything, little Nicky goes bye-bye."

"Leave him out of this!" Sara said. "Don't you dare bring anyone else into this, this is between you and me!"

Daniel rose his hand and struck her across the face, watching as her head quickly shot to the left at the impact of the back of his hand connecting with her face. "I know you didn't just tell me to not do something, Sara. You don't ever tell me to or not to do something, you hear me? I'm the big brother, the big hancho, the man, the guy in charge, the boss. Understand?" he asked. "Because I'm not going to tolerate imperfection or insubordinance in this operation. This has to go smooth as silk, hear me?" he asked.

Sara turned back to look at him, fear in her eyes. What was she going to do? She knew she wasn't going to be able to do this, but at the same time she didn't want to invoke anymore of her brother's wrath...and she couldn't risk what he might do to Nick. "I understand..." Sara whispered, bringing a hand up to lightly brush against her cheek.

"Good," Daniel said with a smile. "Come on, then, the car's waiting," he told her. Heading over to the car, he reached into his pocket and took the keys out. Sara was hesitant, not making a move. Maybe she could run off...or maybe she could run back inside her apartment to call the police. Making her decision, Sara quickly reached a hand out to the doorknob when she felt cold hands wrap themselves around both of her arms. And these weren't her brother's hands.

She felt a cold breath on the back of her neck as her arms were brought back to her sides. Whoever it was who had grabbed her was silent, but it finally struck her who it was that was holding onto her. This was the guy from the bar all those months ago, she recognized the heavy breathing and...the feel of his hands.

When Sara didn't appear around the corner, Daniel frowned and got out of the car, walking back over to the apartment door. Frowning when he saw her still standing in the same place as before, he shook his head. "Sara..." he sighed. "I knew you were stubborn, but...this is ridiculous," he told her. "Anyways, I believe you and he have already..." he smiled. "'Met'."

"H-How would you know?" Sara asked, cursing when she noticed the frightened trembling tone to her voice.

"Oh, well, you know, I heard about your little altercation at the bar that night. You see, Jace is actually one of my friends, and when he came back with a black-eye that night I just had to ask what happened," he shrugged. "So he told me that he went to a bar and ran into a tall brunette, long legs, brown eyes. And then he said that when you two were still getting...acquainted, some Texan stepped out of the bar and ruined it for him, slugged him. So I made the connection, knew it was that Stokes guy and of course, who knows his sister better than her own brother? I told Jace he could come along tonight and help...keep you in-line if you didn't follow orders."

Jace just smiled, leaning his head toward her ear. "We're going to have a lot of fun tonight," he whispered.

Sara felt a shiver run down her spine as she again felt his breath hit her neck. This was seriously not good. Now she didn't only run the risk of being beaten to a bloody pulp if she didn't do what Daniel asked, but she also ran the risk of being raped by one of his partners.

"Danny...you don't have to do this," Sara whispered. "I'm your sister, don't you remember all those good times we had together? Playing outside, or, or stealing a cookie or two before dinner?"

Daniel laughed. This was a sickening laugh, a laugh that was harsh to the ears- a laugh so bitter and hoarse and crackily that it would make a mirror break. "Sara, you haven't changed a bit," he told her. "You've changed a bit on the outside- height, weight..."

"And some really nice cleavage," Jace added, his arms holding tightly onto her waist.

Daniel laughed again. "But as I was saying, you've changed a bit on the outside but on the inside you're just the same. You're still that frightened six-year-old girl I saw hiding in her closet with her stupid teddy bear all those years ago because Daddy was home," he said. "You need to change, Sara, you really do, or people are going to walk all over you your entire life. Kind of like right now, huh?" he asked with a smile.

"I'm not going to let you do this!" Sara yelled.

"Oh?" Daniel asked. "And how are you going to stop me?" He watched as Sara remained silent. "Seriously, I'm itching to see how you would stop me. Jace, let her go for a minute." Jace just groaned as he reluctantly removed his hold he had around her waist. "Alright, Sara," Daniel said. "Show me." Without any warning, Daniel slugged her across the face, watching as she groaned and fell against the apartment door. "What are you going to do, Sara?" Daniel asked. "What are you going to do? I'm here, hit me! Hit me, protect yourself, fight back!"

Sara just looked up at him in disbelief as she wiped a drop of blood from her mouth. He was insane, he really was turning into their father...and it really seemed like he was trying to make her become her mother, as well.

Just as Daniel was about to throw another punch, the door was thrown open and the sound of a gun cocking filled everyone's ears. Sara looked up in relief as Nick's figure poked through the door and stood right in the doorway with his gun drawn, trained on Daniel. "You get the hell out of here right now!" Nick warned.

"Nick..." Sara whispered.

"It's okay, Sar..." Nick told her, holding his hand out to her. "Come on, it's okay."

Sara was about to accept the hand extended to her when he saw a man standing behind her. "No!" Jace yelled. "No, she's mine!"

Nick quickly trained the gun on the man that was standing behind her. "Don't you even think about it, you sick bastard," he hissed, grabbing onto Sara's hand and pulling her towards him. Helping Sara to her feet, Nick wrapped a protective arm around her waist. "Did he touch you?" he whispered into her ear. Sara just shook her head. "I'm sorry..." Nick whispered. "I wasn't able to get to you before he hurt you."

"It's okay," Sara whispered, clinging onto him tightly.

Daniel smiled. "So what now, Nicky?" he asked. "What now? How do you know that I don't have someone somewhere with a gun trained on you right now?" he said. "How do you know? And you only have one gun and there's two of us, think about it," he told him.

"There's two of us, too.." Nick said.

"What?" Daniel asked. "Don't tell me that you're counting Sara." He just laughed another bitter laugh. "Sara is not a person, she is not an equal to you or I. She is a tool, and nothing more."

Nick growled, holding onto her tightly. "Don't you dare say that, you son of a bitch! She's a lot more than you'll ever be!"

"Oh, Sis, are you going to let him talk to your big brother like that?" Daniel asked with a frown.

Sara, still holding onto Nick as tight as she could, felt a new-found confidence in herself. "Yes."