Two men entered the room. Even though Danny and Tani both attempted to stand, they were helped along with one man grabbing one of Tani's arms and pulling her up and the other fisting a handful of Danny's shirt and lifting him the rest of the way. They were pushed roughly against the wall. Danny's attendant remained steadfast with his hand against his chest to ensure he didn't move. Tani's took a step back but remained close by in case needed.

"Well, boys, this has been entertaining and all, but I think we're about tuckered out and need to call it a night." Tani looked toward the still open door and took a step, testing her limits. Like she expected, a hand pushed her shoulder back against the wall. Likewise, Danny could feel increased pressure on him, as if to ward off a similar attempt.

"Nobody's leaving," the one holding Tani declared.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Danny mumbled.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Tani asked.

"Boss will be here in a minute, sweet cheeks." Danny's henchman answered and let his eyes linger on Tani. The smallest of grins displayed on one side of his mouth. "Don't get your pretty little panties in a wad."

Danny's body involuntarily pushed against the hold in reaction to his disrespectful comments.

"Shut up, Ron," the other guard spit out.

"Yeah, shut up, Ron," Danny followed up.

Ron's smile grew as he now gave Danny all of his attention. Having seen his reaction, he decided to twist the knife. "You know, I actually don't know how pretty her panties are. Maybe me and the lady can get some privacy later and find out."

That was it. That's all it took. With his hands bound behind him, he again stepped into Ron's hold to get as close as possible and brought his knee hard and fast into the man's groin. Ron cried out in agony as he released Danny and doubled over in pain.

"Danny! No!" He heard Tani call out as he took advantage of the low position of Ron's head to kick him directly in the nose which sent him flying against the back wall.

"Ah, hell no!" the other guard asserted, not knowing whether to leave Tani unattended to help his comrade or to let them fight it out. His attention alternated between the action going on behind him and the one he was responsible for guarding. He couldn't allow her to jump into the fray, so he stood his ground. He knew Ron would have the advantage if he could just shake off the initial attack.

The kick to the face had made Ron angrier. His adrenaline kicked in to match Danny's. Out of necessity, Ron recovered from the blow to the head as quickly as possible and scrambled to his feet. He had been injured and his agility hampered, however, Danny was two limbs short in this fight and Ron had every intention of making him pay for the damage and the humiliation. His face contorted from the rage and like a bull before the charge, he hesitated as he sized up his target. Danny saw it and knew he had to be on the offensive. He ran toward the man in hopes of making contact that could send Ron's head into the concrete wall.

Ron's body moved at the last second and he didn't hit his target as intended. He was off his mark but still had the momentum from the charge. Instead of the full force impact into the center of his gut he was hoping for, they both rammed into the concrete wall with a stunning blow.

Ron was able to recover some of the air that had been knocked out of him faster than Danny, possibly due to the lingering aftereffects of the debilitating blow to Danny's head a couple of hours earlier. He took advantage of Danny's defenselessness and exhausted his anger into the pummeling he gave him.

"Stop!" Tani yelled to Danny's attacker. "Do something," she then appealed to the other man who was now physically holding her back in her struggle to get to Danny. She didn't know what she was going to do if she broke free, but she had to do something. When the man holding her didn't budge, she continued in her verbal plea, "Stop it! … Danny!"

"Well, well, well, what did I just walk into?" Gabriel came through the door followed by another man.

His appearance wasn't unexpected. "Do something!" Tani shouted at Gabriel as she continued to struggle.

"Must've done something to deserve it," he said flatly as he just watched with his hands in his pockets.

"Stop!" Tani yelled again at the man punching Danny since his boss was obviously not going to do anything about it.

Gabriel let the man get in a few more hits and then he shook his head and calmly said, "That's enough."

Ron stopped with a bloodied fist in the air. He was breathing heavily and lowered his arm slowly but waited several seconds to compose himself further before he finally stood.

"Danny?" Tani breathed out, relieved for the reprieve.

"'m okay," Danny was able to mumble as he lay on the ground.

"What the hell?" She coldly demanded of Gabriel.

Gabriel sought out Ron's attention and flicked his head toward Danny. Ron acted immediately and grabbed Danny by one of his arms and hauled him up to standing and moved him back over to the same wall beside Tani. Danny's lip was now split open and bleeding down his chin. His left eye was already puffy and swelling fast. He was slightly bent over to the side and was utilizing the wall behind him to lean on.

"Well?" she continued.

"It's good to see you again, too, Miss... Rey," he snarked. "Or can I call you Tani? You can call me Mr. Waincroft or Gabriel or even John if you like."

"How 'bout I call you asshole."

"Now, that's not very nice."

"Kinda difficult to be nice when you're kidnapped, tied up, thrown into a… " She scrutinized the room. "... a whatever the hell this place is, and then get beaten while you're defenseless."

"I'd never let anybody hit you. I still have a soft spot for the ladies."

"You know what I mean."

"Bullshit," Danny mumbled from his injured mouth.

"What?" Gabriel had heard but wanted to hear his gall again.

"You heard me. I call bullshit. You don't care. Man or woman, dudn't matter. 'member what you did to Kono?"

"Oh, yeah. That. Good memory, Detective. That was an unusual but necessary exception."

Danny giggled. "Exception, huh? Then, I tell you what. Why don't you be Mr. Chivalrous and let Tani go? I can imagine why we're here and you don't need both of us."

"What?" Tani exclaimed and started shaking her head. "Hell, no. I ain't going anywhere without you."

Gabriel stepped closer to Tani and looked her right in the eyes. Her guard backed up to give him room. "Don't worry, love. He knows very well he's not calling the shots and neither of you are going anywhere."

A nauseating flutter roiled in Tani's stomach. The room was already warm enough, but an internal burn that felt like a fever started to work its way to the surface. It was slow at first, but the wave gained strength. "That day in the hospital, that day we first met… You know what? That's too nice. The day you finagled our meeting so you could use me, you told me you had been married once. Remember? If you really were married, I sure do feel sorry for her."

Gabriel bristled.

"That she had to put up with the likes of you."

"Tani," Danny warned under his breath.

"What woman would want to be with a low life scum like you?"

Gabriel stepped close to Tani and hooked her chin in the grasp of his hand. "That's enough." He squeezed until her face contorted in his grip.

"What's the matter? Can't stand to hear the truth," Tani pushed out. One by one, each release felt good. She felt as though she was taking back some of what had been taken from her. "Is this how it was with you? Was she forced into the relationship?"

"Shut up," he growled.

"Tani, don't," Danny tried again.

"Bet she loved it when work called you away. Bet she took advantage. Maybe stepped out?"

Gabriel's hand that had been holding Tani's face was pulled back into a fist ready to make contact with her stomach. Tani braced, but smiled at the same time. She felt she had won in his weakness.

"Gabriel!"

Hearing Danny call his name and remembering their words moments earlier, he calmed and let the tension fall from his arm. Then, in an instant, he reengaged and released his pent-up energy into a punch to the side of Danny's face. He started to fall but was held up by Ron who revealed his amusement of his boss's action. "How's that for chivalry?" he taunted.

"Asshole!" Tani screamed out.

Then, Gabriel reared back and hit him one more time for good measure. Danny slumped to a point that Ron didn't want to try to hold his dead weight up any longer. He let him slide down the wall to the floor. Fresh blood flowed from the lacerations on his face.

"Emilio, you still got that length of rope?" Ron asked Tani's guard.

Emilio started to shake his head when the other man that came in with Gabriel piped up. "Here." He pulled some heavy corded jute from his rear pocket and tossed it to Ron.

Ron began to use the rope to tie Danny's ankles. "Won't be kicking anymore now, will ya?" he provoked, still miffed at his attack.

"Just your ass… as soon as I get the chance," Danny grumbled.

Ron smiled and pulled the tension on the last knot one more time to make sure it was as tight as he could get it. "Whenever you're ready," Ron replied and stood. He received a satisfying grunt from Danny when he gave a swift kick of his own into his side.

Gabriel backed toward the door and snapped a wide angle shot of both of his prisoners. "That's on you," he addressed Tani as he arched his eyebrow and tipped his head toward Danny. Before leaving, he took a few seconds studying each of his men, one at a time, looking them up and down. Speaking directly to Emilio, he said, "You'll do," and he exited the room. His three goons followed. The door clanged shut.

"Shit, Danny, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just couldn't help it. It just spewed out. Are you all right?"

Exhausted, spent, sore as all-get-out, crushed, and dispirited, he opted for a simple nod as he opened and closed his mouth to manipulate his aching jaw to see if he could make it work with some semblance of normalcy again.

Tani looked toward the closed door. "They'll be here soon," she talked herself into her own assertion. "You'll see."

Danny knew who she was referring to and knew she was convincing herself, not him.

"They're on this," she continued. "We won't be here much longer."

~to be continued~

\,,,/BronsonL