A/N: You guys all deserve an apology. I know I'm not good at updating, but I took longer than I thought with this chapter. I knew it'd be a while before I updated because I needed to figure out where I was taking this story, and I've pretty much figured it out now, but I decided to at least leave you guys with Tindy. I didn't expect to take this long, but I'm back. I'm not abandoning this story. I have too much Tindy head cannon for that. :)

You guys have been so patient and I'm glad that so many people, even though the show ended still really love this pair and their story and the story I've created out of some serious head cannon. Anyway thank you guys and here's the next chapter. Warning: serious Tindy fluff.

The next morning Lindy slowly woke from a deep sleep, feeling comfortable and warm.

Slowly, she realized that she was wrapped in a warm pair of strong arms. She smiled as the events of the night before came rushing back. She turned in Tommy's arms to stare at his chest. He was still asleep despite the movement she'd made. His soft breath making the hairs at the top of her head move slightly as he breathed in and out. She smiled, stroking his hair back from his face, and slowly he woke.

When his hazel eyes met her chocolate ones, a smile crossed his lips. He held her tightly and put his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her pomegranate smell in deeply, even though it was already permanently ingrained in his mind. "Last night actually happened." His voice was still groggy from sleep, but it didn't hide the wonder in it.

She laughed softly, running her hands through his hair. "Yeah, it did."

"Good. I was afraid it was a dream," he murmured, tightening his arms around her. He thought last night had been too good to be true until he opened his eyes and saw her chocolate ones staring right at him. "I still can't believe it really happened."

She put a hand on either side of his face and looked deep into his eyes. "Well, believe it," she said before giving him a long, slow kiss, making Tommy feel as though his body had lit on fire. "Lindy," he moaned. She smiled, deepening the kiss, her fingers tangling in his hair.

He drew away from her reluctantly. "If you keep doing that there's no way I'm getting out of bed today," he joked, half serious.

"Is there really a need to?" He couldn't tell if she was kidding or not.

"Unfortunately, yes. I have work today, but I really wish I didn't," he said, running his eyes over her in a way that left her feeling warm all over. She brushed a thumb over his rough stubble which had long ago grown back in.

"Too bad. I don't have work today. Lucky for me." She started to draw away from him so that he could get ready, but Tommy leaned in and kissed her, and she forgot what she was going to do. He caught her bottom lip between his teeth and she groaned, running her hand down his chest. She broke away from him, knowing that if she didn't get out of bed now, there was no way she was going to be able to leave. He groaned, reaching out for her, but she dodged him. "No more. You've got work and the last Sophia saw of me I was storming out of our apartment, angry at you."

"Sophia's smart. I'm sure she figured out what happened and that you're safe," Tommy said, with a smug look on his face.

Lindy smacked her forehead and groaned. "Ugh, you're right. Oh, god. There's no way I'm going to be able to escape her endless questioning." Tommy grinned at her.

Lindy rolled out of bed, pulling the blanket around her to cover herself as she searched for her clothes, which were haphazardly lying around the room. She had just managed to find her shirt when she happened to glance up and saw Tommy still in bed, staring at her.

"What?" Lindy asked, clutching the blanket and her shirt to her chest with one hand while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling self-conscious.

Tommy shook his head, his gaze never leaving her.

"What is it?" she pressed.

"Nothing."

Lindy walked up to his bed, standing right over him, a smile tugging on her lips. She shook her head at him. "Now you have to tell me."

Tommy bit his lip, his nose wrinkling slightly, debating whether to tell her or not. He looked cute when he did that Lindy thought. Tommy sighed, finally making up his mind, and in one swift motion he had grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the bed beside him. Lindy yelped in surprise, but the next thing she knew Tommy was leaning over her, his forearms on either side of her, caging her in, his hazel eyes holding a soft look in them as he looked down at her.

"What?" Lindy asked breathlessly.

"I was just thinking," he said, his voice low, "that you looked beautiful."

Lindy wrinkled her nose. "I'm covered by a rumpled blanket, I have a serious case of behead, and I'm looking around your room for my scattered clothes. How can I possibly look beautiful?"

Tommy shrugged. "I don't know, but all I can say is that you really really do. You look beautiful whether you're in a short navy dress, ready for a date, or in that black floor length dress you wore for the auction, or…" his gaze traveled down her body, "a bedsheet." He looked at her, wondering how on earth he had managed to go so long without kissing her. He didn't wait leaned down and kissed her.

Lindy sighed into the kiss. This was bliss. It had been a long time since she had felt this safe and comfortable with someone.

"You've been paying attention to me?" Lindy asked when they had finally parted.

Tommy took her hand, intertwining his fingers in hers, his grip gentle but firm. "Of course I have. It's hard not to. Even the smallest things you do call attention to you."

Lindy smiled before pulling him down on her and kissing him slowly. Tommy was sure that if somebody had held a gun to his head right then, and demanded to know what his name was, he wouldn't have been able to answer for the life of him, the kiss was so mind numbing.

He wrapped an arm around her, his lips tracing a line down her neck as he tried to tug the bedsheet lower, but Lindy held on to it firmly.

Lindy trailed her hands down Tommy's sides as he deepened the kiss. She finally broke away, leaning her forehead against his, her hand stroking the side of his face. Her eyes held so many emotions, so many words that it was as if she had actually said them to Tommy, he understood them all.

It was a promise of love and of more times like these between them. Not just in bed, but of easy banter, of support, and comfort, and playfulness. It was a promise for the future. Tommy nodded his head in understanding, placing a kiss on her forehead and another on her hand, before finally getting up and grabbing his pajamas that he kept in a drawer by his bed. He smirked when he realized he hadn't even worn them the night before. Lindy followed his lead, collecting the rest of her clothes and throwing them on.

When they were both dressed, they made their way over to Tommy's kitchen. He began to get ingredients for pancakes out of his fridge, while Lindy took a seat at Tommy's dining room table, leaning her elbows on it, watching him.

"I'm never going to be able to look at that counter the same way again," he told her, nodding his head toward it.

Lindy giggled. "Maybe later we can do a reenactment," she said smirking, looking at him with a look that sent his pulse skyrocketing. He turned back to the bowl in front of him so that she wouldn't see him blush and so that he could get the image of her the night before out of his head.

Boris came trotting into the kitchen looking as happy as his owner felt. He nudged Lindy's hand and she scratched him behind the ears happily. Tommy looked back and grinned at how normal it seemed to have Lindy sitting there in the morning with Boris, while he made them breakfast. Lindy caught him looking and smiled.

"Do you need any help with cooking?" she asked him.

He turned back to the stove quickly. "No, I'm good. You sit tight. This'll be ready in a minute."

She stared at his back suspiciously. There was something in his voice. It was the same tone of voice Sophia had used when Lindy had first moved in with her and had discovered how terrible a cook Lindy really was, but didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her the truth. But Tommy had never had any of her cooking before, so he couldn't possibly know, unless Sophia had told him about it. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yup, I'm good." There it was again.

She remembered the night she had cooked dinner for Sophia and Connor just after she had moved in. She'd made dinner and Connor had eaten a few bites before making a face and heading for the bathroom. After he had been in there for a while without coming out, Sophia had taken Lindy aside and told her the truth. "Lindy, I love you. You're a great roommate, and an all-around amazing person, but you're a horrible cook. Please don't ever cook again."

Lindy had already known she couldn't cook. Her mom and Sara had teased her about it incessantly, saying that she was unteachable, so hearing Sophia say it, she hadn't taken any offense. But it sucked that she couldn't do something nice and make dinner once in a while.

"Tommy, do you know about my cooking skills?" Tommy said nothing although Lindy knew he had heard her. "You do know, don't you?"

Tommy sighed. He had never wanted to tell her he'd tried her tomato sauce that one time and how bad it was, but it seemed like he was going to have to. "Yes, I do."

"How?" she asked curiously. Grudgingly, he told her.

"You tried it?" she sounded more amused than upset.

"Yes." He flipped the pancakes over on the frying pan.

"How was it?"

He loved this girl, but he didn't think telling her that her cooking was horrendous was going to win him any points…but they had promised that they were going to be honest with each other.

Lindy looked at him expectantly.

"It was inedible." Lindy smiled in a way that made it seem like she was used to people criticizing her cooking.

She chuckled. "Yeah, I thought so too." Wait, what?

She must have seen the puzzled look on his face because she grinned. "Trust me, Tommy. You are definitely not the first person that's told me anything bad about my cooking. It's why I rarely do it. The only reason I cooked that night was because Jake had cooked for me and my friends before and I took that as a challenge."

Tommy placed the finished pancakes on a plate for both of them and slid hers in front of her, along with the syrup and a mug of coffee. "Well, you don't have to try to cook to impress me. There's plenty of things that impress me about you that make up more than enough for your lousy cooking."

Lindy grinned, looking into his eyes. They stayed like that until Boris nudged Tommy's hand, breaking him from Lindy's magnetic pull. He fed Boris and then sat down across from her, pulling his own plate and mug of coffee in front of him.

"Oh, my God," Lindy said through a mouthful of pancakes. "These are absolutely amazing." Tommy smirked through his own mouthful of food. "Seriously, Tommy. Where did you learn to cook?"

"My mom made sure me and my brother knew how to cook before we moved out, and I picked up a few things here and there." He shrugged. "I don't always like to eat takeout."

Lindy raised an eyebrow. "You have a brother?"

Tommy took a sip of his coffee before answering. "Yeah, he's older than me. He's already married and has a kid."

Lindy's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into her hairline. "You're an uncle?"

Tommy smiled fondly. "Yeah. My brother and sister in law have a cute blond haired, hazel eyed, four year old girl."

"Let me guess, "Lindy said smiling. "The blonde hair is the mother's and the hazel eyes are your brother's."

Tommy smirked. "Yeah. Hazel eyes run in my family."

"Do you see your family a lot?" Lindy asked curiously.

"Yeah, I see them every few months for Sunday dinner."

Lindy stared down at the table. "It must be nice," she said wistfully. Tommy glanced at her. She looked fine, but he could tell there was a lot of turmoil beneath the surface. That there was a sense of longing. That she wanted to have a family she could go to for Sunday dinners too. Maybe she still could.

"There's something I want to say," Tommy said at the same time that Lindy said, "I want to talk to you about something." They both stopped and stared at each other. Tommy laughed softly. "Ladies first."

"No you. I think mine will take longer."

"All right," Tommy said seriously. "When we were talking about Sara last night…" Lindy nodded, encouraging him to go on. "You're right. You do deserve answers. You've been waiting for them for a long time." He looked her right in the eye. "You should go to California and find your sister."

Lindy froze, her mug halfway to her mouth. "Really?"

"Yes." She smiled and it made Tommy realize how wrong it had been to keep her from doing this. "But I'd like to go with you. Like I said, we don't know what can happen and I don't want you to be alone to find out whatever it is that you find out. I want to support you. I want to be there with you every step of the way."

"Thank you." Lindy nodded. "And okay, you can come to California with me." Tommy grinned, happy. "If…" If? "You get a protective detail."

"Lindy-" She held up a hand, stopping him.

"Just hear me out, Tommy." He clamped his mouth shut. He knew how she could be. He didn't want her mad at him again. When he didn't say anything, she went on. "You know better than anyone how dangerous Bubonic is. I don't understand why you're being so stubborn and putting yourself in so much danger when you can have someone watching out for you. A protective detail is meant to keep a barrier between you and Bubonic. He's already knocked you out twice-three, if you count the Reconnoiter party."

"I know, thank you for the reminder."

"Stop being so stubborn, Tommy. You're putting your life at risk without having a protective detail. Sophia and I had one when Jake was terrorizing us."

"Yeah, and look how well that turned out. The killer turned out to be right under our noses."

"But we got a pretty good deal out of the whole thing," Lindy raised her eyebrows at him suggestively and he had to laugh.

She was right. The officers on duty had both fallen in love with the people they were supposed to be protecting. He and Yeager were complete goners. He quickly turned serious again. He could see no judgement in the way she was looking at him, just worry for his safety and complete trust. The words just poured out of him.

"I don't want a protective detail because it would be like waving a white flag at Bubonic. It would be like saying you won. I am scared of you." Lindy felt her heart clench. She hadn't quite realized just how much of a psychological affect Bubonic had had on Tommy. She berated herself for not realizing it sooner. He always acted like nothing bothered him, but she had always felt like it was all just a front he put up.

"Tommy," she said, reaching over and taking his hand. "It's okay to feel scared. It's perfectly normal. I would be more worried about you if you weren't scared."

"But that's the thing, Lindy. I don't want to be scared. I don't want to live in fear."

Lindy got up and went over to his side of the table and wrapped her arms around him. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared too," she murmured into his hair.

"Why are you scared?" Tommy asked, squeezing her hand. "He's after me."

"And that's why," she said softly. It was a little weird to admit her feelings for him, but she realized that they had been there all along for some time now. It was the reason why she'd felt her chest tighten when Vivian wanted her out of the room at the hospital and the relief she'd felt when Tommy said they wouldn't work out. "I don't want to lose you, Tommy. I don't want Bubonic to take you away from me. I mean, after all, I just got you."

Tommy's breath hitched. He stood up and took her into his arms. "You're not going to lose me," he told her seriously.

"That's not really something you can keep your word on, Tommy. I've learned the hard way that you can always expect the unexpected."

Tommy pulled her close and buried his face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in. "I'll try my very best then," he murmured.

After a while he pulled away, his brow furrowed as he considered something. "You know," he said looking at her. "You're right. I am a giraffe. At least I especially feel that way when I'm with you."

Lindy smirked and pulled him closer so that their lips were only mere inches apart. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He leaned in about to close the remaining distance between them, but Lindy put her fingers to his lips, stopping him. "Not until you agree," she murmured.

Tommy sighed. He couldn't say no to her. She was looking out for him, and he knew that it was in his best interest, and her lips were right there. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll get the protective detail."

The way she grinned swept away any of his last fears and doubts. He knew he was doing the right thing. "You're perfect," he told her, leaning in to kiss her. The words coming out before he fully thought them through.

Lindy stiffened in his arms and he drew back. "I am not perfect," she said quietly, not looking at him. Tommy mentally cursed himself as he realized what was wrong. What he'd told her sounded like something that Jake would say.

"You're right," he said, looking into her eyes. "You're not perfect. You're completely reckless, you're stubborn as hell, and you never listen to me." Lindy frowned. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. "But, you're also smart, you're beautiful, you're incredibly brave, and you'd do anything for the people you love." He tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her ear. "No, you're not perfect, Lindy. But you're my perfect."

Lindy stared at him completely stunned. Nobody had ever said something like that to her. Never. Then she realized something. "You were describing me that night at the club and at the art auction, weren't you?"

Tommy grinned, looking smug. "Sure was."

Lindy grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt and kissed him. Tommy smiled against the kiss, holding her tight against him.

"I love you," Tommy told her softly, earnestly, looking deep into her eyes, making her breath hitch. How was it that Tommy could turn her from a rational thinking human and into a puddle? Tommy took her silence as hesitation. "I don't want you to feel pressured into saying anything you don't mean just because I've had a long time to come to terms with how I feel about you. Tell me when you're ready." He felt deep in his heart that she would one day say it back.

She leaned her forehead against his. "The last thing I feel is pressured by you, Tommy." Tommy held her against him, just looking into those chocolate eyes that made everything else fall away.

The way Tommy smiled made her feel as though nothing else mattered.

Tommy chuckled softly. "What?" Lindy asked, feeling self-conscious.

"It's just…" Tommy chuckled again.

"What?"

"The thing is," he said, his eyes roaming over her face. "That before, I was always angry at myself for feeling like this about you because I felt like I was betraying Ben." Tommy paused. Lindy nodded at him to go on. "Now, I can't seem to shut up about how I feel about you. I tell you everything I'm thinking, when before… I couldn't even admit it to myself."

She brushed a piece of his hair back from his face, her face taking on a melancholy look. "How long have you known, Tommy?" She didn't have to elaborate. She wanted to know how long he had had feelings for her.

Tommy was quiet for a minute. "It's hard to say. When I saw you at the club, you looked so hypnotic under the lights, dancing without a care in the world, and I was already making my way to go and talk to you for m mission, when Ben came out of nowhere, and struck up a conversation with you." Tommy's eyes took on a faraway look and she knew he was being transported back in time. "To say I was mad would be an understatement…for more than one reason," he said, his eyes roaming over her face, "but I sucked it up. And then we started working together. When I saw you on dates with other guys and how much attention they gave you…it bothered me. I was jealous. Even though I had absolutely no right to be."

He looked down at their intertwined hands. "But I didn't know for sure until I got out of that ship and I saw you standing there on the other side waiting for me." He looked into her eyes. "I knew then I had feelings for you." And then it was confirmed by a psychic, but he didn't tell her that.

Lindy processed what he had just said. She had been relieved to see him get out of that ship safely. Insanely relieved actually, but she hadn't realized what it had meant at the time.

"Although you've irritated me and have caused me endless pain, it didn't matter. One day we were working together at the precinct. You were making a point about something or other and I looked over at you, and it just hit me. I was in love with you." He brushed his thumb across her cheekbone. "I didn't let myself accept my feelings, but when we kissed at that apartment… I knew I couldn't deny it anymore, even though I tried to. And then you were taken, and I went crazy when I saw that creep about to brand you."

Lindy flinched. She still got nightmares about that night. In them, Tommy never reached her in time. Seeming to sense this Tommy tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. Lindy breathed in Tommy's smell, calming herself.

"I don't play by the rules when it comes to you, Lindy," he murmured. "I'd do anything and everything to get to you on time, to keep you safe. I want you to know that." Lindy nodded against his chest, feeling what he had always wanted her to be. Safe.

They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other until Boris, who was probably bored out of his mind from watching them, nudged his head between the two of them. They disentangled themselves from each other, laughing. "I have to go," Lindy said regretfully. "Sophia will be wondering where I am and you've got to get ready for work."

Tommy started to protest and lean toward her but she put her hands against his chest, pushing him back, although he hardly budged and she wasn't really trying. "Go shower and get to the Cyber Unit," she told him in a mock stern voice.

He raised his hands in surrender. "All right," he said, pretending to sound defeated. "I'll go." She turned to leave and just as she reached the door, he caught her wrist, spun her around and kissed her against the door. She smiled into his kiss as if she had expected this. She let herself get lost in Tommy's warmth, the feeling of their lips moving over each other's, and the press of Tommy's body against hers. Tommy broke the kiss first. "That was-" He couldn't seem to finish his sentence.

"Yeah." She glanced at the watch on Tommy's wrist and the time on it brought her out of her reverie. "Okay," she said, pushing him back. "Now I've really got to go and you really have to go get ready or you're going to be late."

He glanced at his watch too although he didn't appear fazed by what he saw, but he humored her. "You're right." He gave her another quick kiss and walked backwards toward his bathroom, his eyes never leaving her, a goofy grin on his face that she was sure matched hers. "I'll call you later," he told her just before he shut the bathroom door after him.

Lindy waited a beat, hearing the shower start, to make sure Tommy wasn't faking her out and would come rushing back to kiss her senseless again. When she was sure he wouldn't come out she crouched down in front of Boris, who she had already grown to love, and ruffled his neck. He licked her face happily goodbye, knowing she was leaving.

She finally made her way out of Tommy's apartment, but not the way she had been the night before, angry and hurt at Tommy, and fully intending never to come back. She knew now that she would definitely be coming back in the future.

She headed down the stairs feeling like she was floating and wondering how much she should tell Sophia. She just hoped that what had happened between her and Tommy wasn't written all over her face.

Just as she reached the second landing –there were five floors to the whole building and Tommy lived on the top one- she saw something out of the corner of her eye detach itself from the shadows and rush towards her. Instinct made her take a wild step back. Hands caught at the empty air where she had just been standing.

It was a man dressed in dark clothing and wearing a menacing expression on his face. Lindy didn't know who he was, but she didn't wait around to find out what he wanted. She turned on her heel and ran up the stairs she had just come down from, taking them two at a time. She could hear the stranger's heavy footfalls clomping up the stairs right behind her.

She felt fingers catch at the ends of her hair. Lindy's adrenaline was pumping. She still had another two floors to go, but she needed to slow the guy down and buy herself some time. As she rounded another flight she stopped and waited.

The man's footfalls were loud enough that he hadn't heard hers suddenly stop. As soon as she saw the man round the corner, she kicked her foot out as hard as she could. He had been going so fast that his velocity had carried him square into Lindy's boot. Her heeled boot connected with his chest, the force of the kick sending him sprawling on his back. Lindy turned and fled, running faster, pushing herself harder toward Tommy's apartment, her safe haven.

She was positive she had winded him and although that may have deterred most people she had seen the determination in his eyes. He was dead set on a mission. For her. But who could be after her? Who had sent him? Clearly, he had been waiting for her, but he was in Tommy's building. Had he been following her? No. The answer came to her almost immediately.

It was Bubonic. He must have been watching the building to figure out when to strike, and then decided to go after her? She wasn't sure what his plan was, but she knew she had to escape before she got into his clutches.

Just as she though that, Tommy's apartment door came into view. She felt an overwhelming sense of relief. She was so close. She put on a burst of speed. Her hand reached out for the doorknob.

Just as her fingers brushed it, she felt a sharp pain as she was yanked back by her hair. She cried out in pain. She half turned, her arms flailing, trying to punch her attacker. He caught her arms with one hand as he clamped his other one over Lindy's mouth, preventing her from screaming. The man pulled her roughly toward the stairs, trying to make his way down, dragging her along. Her mind turned into panic mode. She was about to be kidnapped.

She forced herself to calm down. She needed to come up with a solution. She found herself frantically thinking back to Tommy's self-defense lessons. Take in the situation, and try to see if there's anything around that can be used as a weapon. Her eyes darted around. There was nothing. Only a mirror on the next landing and a fake potted plant next to it.

When she had been in a bear hug at the museum, she had used her heel to break her attacker's foot. Right now she was in an awkward position, with her shoulder against the man's chest and her face almost pressed against it. She forced herself to stop flailing because as Tommy had told her, an attacker wants to tire out its victim. She needed all of her energy to get out of this situation. They were already heading away from Tommy's apartment. She needed to somehow alert Tommy about what was going on.

She needed to get her back against the man to escape using the bear hug. Despite her awkward position, she squirmed, managing to shift her weigh around, and managed to kick the man in the shin. She heard him let out a grunt of pain. She bit his hand, and on instinct he uncovered her mouth, swearing.

"Tommy!" She screamed now that her mouth wasn't being covered.

Too late, she remembered that he was in the shower and wouldn't hear her. She was getting desperate. The man tightened his arms around her, pinning them in place and punched her in the side, winding her.

"Shut up, you bitch," he hissed against her ear. "You're already enough trouble as it is. This was supposed to be easy."

Tommy's words floated in to her head from that self-defense lesson, which right now felt like a lifetime ago. People will expect you to be an easy target because they think that they'll be able to overpower you. Prove them wrong.

Prove them wrong.

Lindy felt a wave of anger hit her. There was no way in hell she was going anywhere without a fight. She had already shown this guy that she was not an easy target. Well now she was going to make sure he never forgot it.

She heard Tommy's voice again. Try to bang your head against their nose which should break it if you do it hard enough, the pain should make them lose their grip on you.

She squat down, and the man followed her down, trying to keep his hold on her. As soon as he did, she threw her head back and felt it connect with his nose. She heard a satisfying crunch and she knew she had managed to break his nose. Reflexively, he loosened his hold on her, howling, momentarily forgetting he wasn't supposed to draw attention to himself or the situation. Lindy broke free and elbowed the side of his head. The man fell. Lindy dashed toward Tommy's apartment. They had managed to make their way down a flight of stairs during the struggle.

"Tommy!" she screamed. "Tommy! Help me!" She knew he may not hear her, but maybe someone else who lived in this building would. It was still early. Some people would still be sleeping or just waking up. Someone had to hear her. They had to.

She'd just started up the stairs, when she felt something catch at her ankle, sending her crashing down onto the steps. Lindy felt instant pain as her body collided with the stone steps, her head smacking against them.

The man's face loomed over hers, a sneer on his face. There was a disturbing gleam in his eyes. Lindy felt a bolt of fear shoot through her. She knew then that she wasn't going to get away. She started to scream but the man placed a rag over her nose and mouth, and a sickly sweet scent invaded her senses. Chloroform.

The scream was trapped in her throat. The man lifted her roughly by the arm, her bruised body protesting. He grabbed her hair, making her look at him. The blood from his broken nose smeared his face and the cold, unforgiving expression in his eyes, making him look truly frightening. "It ends here," he hissed. He wrapped an arm around her neck and dragged her backwards.

She couldn't fight anymore. The chemical was making her mind foggy and her body heavy. She was on the edge of losing consciousness. She had to somehow let Tommy know that she had been taken.

Her hands went to her neck, pretending to scrabble at the man's hands to loosen his hold on her. The man pressed the rag almost savagely closer to her face, almost as though he wanted to cut off her oxygen. Black was creeping in at the edges of her vision, but she couldn't give in to it now. She needed to do this. She finally managed to unclasp her USB necklace, the one she never took off, unless she absolutely had to. Lindy hid it in her hand, and as they passed another landing, she let it fall.

Hoping to distract him from the clatter she was sure it would make when it landed, she summoned the last of her strength and kicked him hard on his shin, the same place as before.

"Bitch," he growled, but he sounded smug. "But don't you worry. I'm taking you to someone who'll know how to deal with you."

She could no longer feel fear, only numbness. Just before the darkness took over she heard the distant sound of barking.