Chapter 3

When they got into the car, Nick quietly called Connor using his mobile and left it on muffling the sound as Connor answered it. Then he turned to Helen who had Stephen laid down with his head on her lap and the gun pointed at Stephen's head. He looked really worried.

"Why are you doing this Helen... Why have you taken Stephen hostage and taking us to some random place?" he asked so that Connor, who was listening in on the other end of the line, could know what was going on.

"Because I don't want to be alone!" she replied flatly.

Connor had just heard everything that was going on and had motioned to Abbi to join him.

"What should we do? It sounds like Stephen is in real trouble!" asked Abbi worried.

"You call for support and I'll track them using Nicks mobile," he replied his own worried expression mirroring Abbi's.

"Okay"

"Good get back up and I'll start tracking them!" he said and Abbi rushed from the room, clearly worried about Stephen.

They finally arrived at their destination. It was an old deserted farm building in the middle of no where. Tom got out and pulled Nick out of the car while Helen made Stephen get out, the always so close to his head.

"Tom, take Nick inside and find something to tie him to!" she demanded turning back to Stephen, "You and me will follow!" Stephen scowled at her. She pushed him forward into the building.

Tom was already tying Nick to a leg of a table. Stephen was taken to a chair and strapped into it, the tape from his mouth was removed. He licked his lips, the tape had sucked up all the moisture leaving his mouth bone dry.

"Right, boys," she said looking at both of the men. "In a few hours an anomaly will appear here, and we're going to go through it!" she started laughing and went over to Stephen. She looked at him with a smile on her face, he turned his head away from her but she pulled it back. She looked at him for a moment longer and then she kissed him. He tried to pull away but she was strong.

"What's the matter Stephen, don't you like me any more?" she smirked and then walked away. Stephen looked over at Nick, but Nick averted his gaze straight away.

"Go to hell Helen!" snapped Stephen. She got up and stormed out of the room, angry.

They stayed there for ages not knowing what was going to happen next. Suddenly Helen came rushing into the room.

"Which one of you boys called for help? Huh, which one?" she spat. When neither answered she went over to Stephen, cut the straps holding him in place and pushed him to the ground. Then she straddled him and began to punch him in the face, over and over again. Stephen cried out in pain as each blow was landed. She stopped and looked towards the door. Stephen could feel the blood running down his face and into his mouth. He felt sick, very sick. He was then pulled to his feet and a gun was shoved to his head he winced again at Helens firm grip. When he looked towards the door, he saw soldiers standing there, their guns aimed and ready to fire.

"Let go of the hostage!" the soldier at the front said.

"No, come any closer and I will shoot him." she replied, pulling him back further and pushing the gun harder into his head.

"Just give up Helen," said Stephen in a weak voice.

"Shut up, or I'll beat you again!" she replied in a hoarse voice.

"Come one, we all know you don't want to do this!" Nick called from where he was slouched.

"Try me!"

"Look lady, you're going to lose one way or another, even if you kill the hostage we will still come after you, and we will get you!" called the soldier.

"Unlikely! If I go, Stephen comes with me!" she shouted, starting to back up. Suddenly Stephen saw his chance, he put his foot and leg behind Helen's and tripped her up. As she fell he grabbed the gun and pointed it at her.

"Don't move," he said calmly. Then soldiers were there picking her up and putting her in handcuffs and taking her outside. Stephen dropped to his knees weak and shaken from what had happened. Then a hand gripped his shoulder, he turned and saw it was Nick. Nick put his arm round Stephen. He fell into Nick's strong hold, feeling extremely tired already a darkness was taking over Stephen's mind, but he welcomed it without struggle, he was looking forward to rest. He took a final glance at Nick, then everything went black.

When Stephen opened his eyes everything was blurry. It took him a while to focus on his surroundings. He was lying in a hospital bed. Around him were nurses and doctors. There was also Nick, Abbi, Connor and Lester.

"How are you feeling? The nurse said you collapsed from stress and the beating that Helen gave you!" asked Abbi, her hand in his own.

"I'm fine now," he replied squeezing her hand tightly.

"It's good to have you back!" said Nick, and everyone agreed, even Lester which was a big surprise to him "The government have taken Helen and her helper to prison and they should stay there for a while." They chattered for a bit about what happened and Connor explained how they found out about what was happening and tracked them down using Nick's phone.

"Look, I'm sorry for what Helen did to you because of me calling Connor!" said Nick, looking down at the ground.

"Hey it doesn't matter, you saved us! That's what counts." he reassured him. A smile came onto Nick's face. Soon after everyone left.

Stephen was back at his apartment, three days later, sitting on his sofa, thinking about what happened, when the door bell rang. He was wary of answering it, so he took a gun this time. When he opened the door Abbi was standing there. He put the gun away and let her in. When he got into the living room, she leaped into his arms and gave him a massive hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" she whispered into his ear. She let go then and looked into his eyes, he looked back, just gazing at her beauty. Then she reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. In that one moment it felt like the world had come to a stand still, it was amazing. She broke away and looked at him again. Then he bent down and kissed her deeply, she kissed back. They stood there for ages just kissing. When they broke apart he felt sad.

"I should be going!" she said nervously and headed for the door.

"Um...Abbi... I don't to be on my own tonight, could you stay a while, I'll cook you tea if you like?" he asked her in a quiet voice.

"Of course, I'll just phone Connor to let him know that he'll have to cook his own tea for once in his entire life." she replied with a smirk on her face. They both started laughing.