The room was chilly and dark as Gage sat on a chair waiting for a man named Mr. Smith to visit him. In his mind he replayed the fight over and over again, wondering why Walker said those words. Maybe it was to rile Gage up and if so, it definitely worked. But now his friend could be seriously injured and all for what? He leaned back and grimaced when it caused his soar muscles to scream at him.

In his mind he tried to picture Meaghan and Joshua, but was having problems hearing their voices. Will he ever see his kids again? How was Sydney and them coping with him missing? Hopefully the Rangers are helping his family out….

His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened revealing an average build man with a green mask over his head. "Well, 0221 you won." He allowed another man into the room then closed the door. "But you didn't bring us any money." He took out a cell phone, dialed a number then waited patiently for somebody to pick up on the other line. After a few minutes a devilish smile spread across Mr. Smith's face. "Joshua, hi!"

Gage quickly got to his feet causing the guard to move in closer. "NO! You leave my child out of this!" He ran towards Mr. Smith, but was abruptly stopped by the guard. "Josh! It's dad! Can you hear me!"

Forth Worth, Texas

It was suppose to have been a joyous occasion but like Christmas, New Years Eve just wasn't the same without Walker and Gage. Alex sat in the living room watching Meaghan play a game on the laptop while Angela helped her out. Next to them, sitting on the floor was Jaxon and Tavon playing a video game on the television. Sydney sat across from Alex in a rocker, her knees drawn to her chest as she stared at the fire burning in the fireplace. Where did little Joshua go to? Alex slowly got to her feet so as not to alarm anybody and started to search the room. Ever since his father went missing he would hide for hours on end in little nooks and crannies to get away from everybody. Unfortunately the old ranch house provided him plenty of areas to disappear into for hours.

She was about to head upstairs when the pantry door burst open and out ran Joshua holding his mother's cell phone. Tears streaked his face as he went past Alex to jump into Sydney's lap. Quickly Alex ran to the mother and child hoping everything was all right. Was Joshua injured? Did he hurt himself while….

"Mommy! Strange man just called!" He whimpered as he wiped his face with his sleeve. "Daddy was there!"

"What!" Sydney quickly brought the phone to ear. "Hello?" Her eyes widen and she quickly waved for Alex to come closer. "Yes, this is Sydney Gage. Where is my husband?" Tears fell from the corner of her eyes as a smile slowly spread across her face. "Gage, sweetie it's been so long….Okay, I will. Are you okay?" A long pause then she nodded. "Josh is fine, all of us are fine."

Alex's cell phone began to go off and she hurriedly went to pick it up. She shakily flipped it open to see an unknown cell number which could mean she was getting a call from Walker.

She pushed send then put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Alex…." It was Walker and his voice showed Alex he was in a lot of pain. "How are you?"

"I'm good." She rested against the hallway table as tears fell from her eyes. "Where are you?"

"I can't say. But I'm doing okay. Don't worry about me, just take care of Angela." He grimaced rather loudly as voices could be heard behind him. "Alex, I love you. Give our daughter a hug and kiss for me."

He let out a scream which caused Alex to slump to the ground as she tried her best not to loose control. She could hear him grunting and yelling at the men to turn off the phone. Her heart fell into her stomach at hearing the desperation in his voice. What were they doing to him? What message did they want to give her?

"Sorry about that." Said a male voice on the phone. "Your husband has stepped out of line. We had to punish him for it. You will be receiving a video in a few minutes." With that the conversation ended.

Very shakily she pulled the phone away from her ear and took a look at the screen. It finally beeped to let her know a message was coming through. After several seconds she took a deep breath and uploaded the video to her phone. It played instantly and what she saw made her wail out in emotional agony.

Though the video was low quality she could easily make out her husband sitting on a chair, his face covered in bruises and cuts. A man stood next to Walker holding a phone to his ear and a pistol to his ribs. Walker's right arm was wrapped in a bright blue cast, his left eye hidden from view because of an eye patch. What did the men do to him?

The man pulled the phone away from Walker then slammed the pistol against his head. Walker grimaced then began to shout out orders to the man filming him. This made the man next to him angry and he swiftly pulled Walker to the ground. Walker let out a loud scream as his right arm bumped the ground, but the man didn't let him recover. He continually punched and kicked Walker till he no longer moved then spat on him. The video ended with that allowing Alex to look up at her daughter.

"It's dad, isn't it?"

Alex gave her daughter a big hug and slowly nodded her head. "Yes it was." She pulled back to get a good look at Angela's tear streaked face. "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Sydney bit her lower lip as she hugged Joshua tight to her chest. "They will come back to us, Alex. I know they will."

Two Weeks Later

Being in solitary confinement was a new experience for Walker and it took all he had to not let his emotions get to him. He was rather bitter and wanted to snap at the men who checked on him daily. It has been a month since he was captured and he was right now unsure if he would really see his family again. At least for the few weeks he was in solitary it gave him plenty of time to heal and rest up. If he was to fight again, he now knew what he had to do and was more mentally prepared than he was when he first got here.

The door to his cell opened and Walker quickly got to his feet with his left hand going to his head. For his right he held it tightly to his abdomen to show his guard he wouldn't do anything with his injured arm. His guard, a young man named Doug came into the room carrying a semi-automatic rifle in his hands. He waved Walker forward, the latter obeying without any argument.

"Turn left." Said Doug as he led Walker down the hall. "You get to see Bradshaw today."

Walker made his way through the halls till they came upon the infirmary. Here, he was led to a room off to the side then told to sit down in the only chair available. Doug took some shackles, secured Walker's legs together then left the room, locking the door behind him.

Within minutes Bradshaw came through the door with Galloway right behind him. Both had manila folders in one hand and a medical bag in the other. The first up was Bradshaw who took out a pen light and checked out Walker's left eye.

"There is definite scarring on the cornea." He moved the light from side to side and Walker followed with both his eyes. "How is your vision out of that eye?"

"It's there. Everything is cloudy though." Walker took a look at Bradshaw to see the man taking notes. " Will I still fight?"

Bradshaw nodded. "I'm going to give you the okay." He sighed heavily as he crossed his arms. "You have just enough vision out of that eye to spot movement. That's enough for me." He gave Galloway a nod. "You're turn."

Galloway stepped up to Walker to study the cast on his injured arm. "How's the pain?"

"Tolerable."

"I see no swelling." He gave a nod of his head. "0535 is okay to go back to the cell. I'll take an x-ray of the arm at the end of the week." He wrote down a few notes in the folder then opened his case. "I need to get a blood sample from you."

The door opened and in walked Mr. Smith wearing his green mask. "0535, I see you have healed from your injuries. How do you feel?" Walker nodded his head. "Listen, I didn't mean to throw my temper out like that." Another man came in with a chair and placed it in front of Walker. "Galloway, go ahead and take the blood."

Since there was a cast on Walker's right arm, Galloway took the blood from his left. Walker cringed as the doctor pulled the needle out of his vein and told him to put pressure on the wound. Wonder what his test will say? It's been a long time since Walker had his blood drawn so anything could have happened.

Galloway put the vial into the bag then snapped it shut. "Okay, going to give you a clean bill of health. We're going to take you to see Doctor Rios so he can get a look at your teeth." He nodded at Mr. Smith. "0535 is all yours, sir."

When both doctors left, Mr. Smith sat down in front of Walker. "You're behind now and it's all because of my anger. You will have to fight tomorrow and win in order to catch up." He took a deep breath as he leaned back into the chair. "I'll let the guards escort you to Rios."

XXXX

The cell seemed to get smaller every day and Gage's mind began to see and hear things that wasn't there. He only had the personal hygiene products he needed daily and a thin blanket to sleep with it. Problem is, it got so cold at night he found it very difficult to allow his body to relax. Which meant many days without sleep which added to his delirium. He thought he had a stronger mind than this, but his time in solitary has proved him wrong.

He paced the small space once more, his twentieth time doing so since he awoke this morning. On Gage's next lap the cell door creaked opened and he instantly went to attention. His guard came into the room carrying handcuffs and a long piece of fabric.

"You know the drill." Said his guard.

Gage did and he turned around so his hands can be secured behind his back. Once the cuffs were on, the fabric was tied around his eyes so he couldn't see where they were going. The guard spun Gage around and pushed him forward. Gage moved his feet knowing if he didn't obey he would get a strike to the ribs.

His flip flops hit against cement each time he took a step and if today was like any other they were leading him to the restroom. Sure enough he was prodded to go to the left and cement turned into tile. The cuffs were taken off his hands as he was told he had only two minutes to freshen up.

After he used the restroom and washed his face, Gage tied the cloth back around his eyes then waited for his guard. The door opened and his hands were once again secured behind his back. This time, instead of turning right, his guard made him turn left. Where was he going?

After walking for several minutes Gage was prodded to go right which he did without argument. Here, the cuffs and blindfold were taken off while Gage was told to sit down in the chair before him. Once his guard left Galloway came in with a black bag which he placed on the small table next to Gage.

"How are you feeling, 0221?" Gage just nodded his head. "Well, you took a pretty bad beating a week ago. I'm surprised your not in a lot more pain."

"It was nothing I couldn't handle." Gage watched the doctor put on gloves then take out a piece of plastic tubing. "Will I be able to go to the room after this?"

"Sure can." Galloway tied the tourniquet around Gage's arm then slowly drew some blood out. "You're a little behind, but you'll be able to catch up."

Fort Worth, Texas

The atmosphere at the Company was very somber and all Trivette could really do was just sit at his desk and play with a paperclip. It has been two agonizing weeks with no sign of his two friends, which could only mean bad news. Let's just hope Walker made it through the beating all right, but something worried Trivette. When he watched the grainy footage he saw that Walker had a cast on his right wrist. Will Walker get the proper care or will the men holding him hostage make him suffer?

He took a deep breath, threw the paperclip back in its holder then slowly got to his feet. Even though it has been over a month the FBI hasn't given up and had actually set up a temporary headquarters in an old office building down the street. He should see if they found out anything or if any fights were scheduled for tonight.

As he made his way through the Company several Rangers looked up at him then back down at their desks. He knew many had hoped to find Walker and Gage much sooner and since they didn't moral has been way down. How could he ever get his men to lighten up? He feared many Rangers will remain rather depressed until Walker and Gage came back to them.

Once outside he rested his hands on his hips, took in the brisk winter air then started to walk down the street. With it being mid-day on Sunday not much traffic was around making the streets rather empty. He made his way down the broad sidewalks, his mind on Walker and Gage. Wonder where they were at right now?

After a twenty minute walk he came across a two story, red brick building with a solitary guard stationed out front. Trivette showed the guard his badge and was quickly ushered inside. The building had sat empty for several months causing it to reek like must and mold. But thanks to painters, the smell was quickly masked by fresh coats of primer paint.

He made his way through the vacant hallways till he reached a large conference room in the back. Here he could see several dry erase boards, tables and corkboards all with various information on them. He made his way through the maze of tables till he came upon Carter's desk. The man's head was resting on his hands and he appeared to be sound asleep. Poor guy, must have been here all night.

Trivette gently nudged the man's shoulder. "Carter, wake up."

Carter's head quickly snapped up, a red spot on his cheek telling Trivette he had been asleep for awhile. "When did you come in?"

"Just a bit ago. Have you been here all night?"

"Yeah…." Carter stretched then popped his back against the chair. "My fiancée is hoping I come home soon." He shook his head. "So far she understands why I'm gone all the time. Just don't know how much longer she will tolerate it."

Trivette sat down on the edge of the desk and picked up a piece of paper. "Sage Thompson? Isn't he one of our suspects?"

Carter nodded. "Sure is." He rocked his chair onto it's two back legs. "Guess what?" He picked up another piece of paper. "He decided to leave daddy's money behind and join the military. Actually called him up myself and apparently he was tired living the way he was. Wanted to change his life around. So, he is now off our list."

"That's good news!" Trivette beamed and ran up to a dry erase board. Here he wrote next to Sage Thompson's name: Military then pointed to the remaining names. "Anything on Ian Humphrey or Joseph Case?"

"Nothing yet." Carter stepped up to Trivette and shrugged his shoulders. "Those two still pay their taxes and appear regularly at country clubs.

"There has to be something we're missing." Carter rubbed his face then tapped Joseph Case's name. "Something doesn't seem right about this guy." He went over to a corkboard just dedicated to Case and on it was several pictures showing the man doing mundane chores like shopping or driving his car. "He disappears for weeks on end, reappears for several days then vanishes again. My men loose him every time."

Trivette slowly nodded. "Okay, let's put him as the number one suspect. Let's keep a closer eye on him." He wrote a number one by Case's name. "Hopefully he'll slip up."