Note: I apologize for the delay. New schedule...

Chapter Six: Hell Bent on Saving Me

The wind howled through a broken window, sending the shards of paper along the floor into a frenzy. He shuddered, wondering what it looked like outside. Was it day or had the sun set and turned the sky dark? He'd lost track of time, no longer sure how long he had been away from the real world, for he did not think of the damp, dark place as part of the world. At least it wasn't a part of his usual life. He was used to getting up and going to work, talking with his clients and getting them the best that he could for pay most other lawyers would laugh at, then he would return home. Of course, there were those moments that he spent with Martin. That had been a big change in his life. In the beginning he had been so uncertain, so afraid to let his feelings take root but over the last month he began wondering about the future, about where they would be in the next few years. Thoughts like that kept him from going insane in the current situation.

For the umpteenth time he struggled against the rope that bound his wrists behind his back. He knew that there was no way he was going to get free; the knot was a piece of work. But the movement kept the blood circulating, kept his arms and hands from going numb. He stretched his legs out in front of him, amazed that they hadn't tied rope around his ankles. He was free to get up and walk around as he pleased. Not that it matter all that much. The only door to the room remained locked so there was little chance that he could just walk out and get help on the street. Wherever he was, though, he knew that he was still indeed in the city. Over the hours he'd heard the thrumming of music, the cries of a baby, a heated argument between lovers, and someone had turned their television up rather loud. Combined with the broken window and the decrepit appearance of the room he figured that they- whoever they happened to be- were keeping him in a rundown apartment building, the last stop before people ended up on the streets.

As he struggled to his feet and began walking around the room like a caged tiger he wondered for the hundredth time if this had something to do with his work. Had he pissed someone off because he didn't get them the settlement they wanted? He tried to wrack his brain, going over the last few months in hopes of recalling some angry client that escaped him but to no avail, he could think of no one. So he started to think that maybe it was someone on the receiving end, someone that he got money from. Not that anyone living in a place like this could have a lot of money. That thought brought him to a stop. Maybe that's what the whole thing was about. Someone lost a fortune to one of his clients and then found themselves living in this building…if it had been him he'd be pretty pissed.

Enough to kidnap the lawyer responsible?

He sighed, resting against the wall. His gaze shifted over the windows that made up most of one wall. Someone had taken their time to paint them black so that anybody inside couldn't see out. They didn't want him to know exactly where in the city that he was and that made him curious. Maybe he was somewhere he knew. The window to the far left was broken in the upper corner but he couldn't see much but darkness through it. Another building? The night sky? An alley? It was hard to tell.

All of a sudden there came the sound of a key turning in the lock. He let himself slide to the floor. Last time they had caught him standing they forced him to the floor, a gun pressed against his head. Though he didn't believe they meant to kill him he wasn't about to give them any reason to. Settling on the dirty carpet in a room that was getting chilly he waited. One of the guys walked in, the cliché black ski mask covering his facial features. That didn't matter. Danny could tell by the color of his skin and the sound of his voice that he was Cuban by birth, probably raised there most of his childhood. It was one more minor detail that he stored away in his mind for when he got out of here. And he would get out of here. He would…

"And how's the little prisoner doing today?" the guy said in a gruff voice.

Danny only grunted in response. He knew that they weren't interested in his well being.

"Do you think anyone is going to come to your rescue? Do you think anyone cares?"

He narrowed his eyes, a touch of anger in his voice. "Martin will come for me. He won't stop until he finds me because he cares. And when he does find me you guys are in for a world of hurt. We're talking serious time behind bars."

The kidnapper laughed. "Martin…you mean that FBI pretty boy? The one that works for the Missing Person's Unit?"

Danny could feel the increase of his heartbeat.

The kidnapper stepped closer. "Why do you think you're here, lawyer? Did you honestly think this was all about you? You're a nobody, just some lowlife that couldn't make it in the world. Nobody cares about you. Not even that boyfriend, that pretty boy, of yours. He isn't even trying to find you."

He closed his eyes so as to not let the anger gain control of him. He had to keep his wits about him if he wanted to make it out of here in piece and alive. "Martin will find me. He'll go out of his way to save me. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Delusional idiot," the kidnapper muttered as he left the room, locking the door behind him.

Danny was happy to be alone once again. He was free to think in the silence of the room. And though he knew he loved Martin he wasn't exactly sure how the agent felt about him. What if they were right, what if he was a nobody? What if no one was looking for him? He shook his head, driving those thoughts from his mind. No, he couldn't think like that. He would be found and it would be Martin that rescued him. He knew that the agent had troubles of his own but there was something special between them, something that he was going to believe in even if he was the only one. He closed his eyes, letting his head rest against the peeling wallpapered wall. In his mind he pictured Martin, his smile and the way it would light up his blue eyes, the way he could make Martin shiver by talking to him in Spanish. He clung to these moments like a life preserver because at the moment it was all he had.