"Richie." Hands were tugging at his arms and legs, removing the chains but still the teen couldn't summon the energy to move. Finally the blindfold was removed and he stared up into MacLeod's apprehensive visage. "Richie? Are you hurt?"

Shaking off his lassitude, the teen answered in a small voice, "Naw Mac, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, tough guy?" Mac reached out his hand to touch Richie's shoulder, but the teen hopped off the bed.

"I'm fine! God just leave it alone!" Richie was suddenly inexplicably angry, pacing in front of the bed but keeping his head down. "Can we just leave?!" Suddenly the teen stopped and stood with a hand on his hip and the other over his mouth.

"Sure…of course." Duncan was confused by the teen's sudden outburst, but attributed it to the trauma of being kidnapped. He attempted to lead the boy out of the room with a hand but Richie kept just out of arm's reach. His movements were erratic, first the teen hung back as if not wanting to leave the room and then rushed from it like he'd been bitten. Several times, the older man saw him pause, turning almost towards Duncan as if to speak, but then Richie would continue walking.

They drove in silence. It was unnerving to Duncan, the only other times that Richie had been this quiet were when the teen had royally fucked up or at least thought he had. The immortal sighed. It would be like the boy to blame himself for getting kidnapped. "Richie what happened, when you were kidnapped?"

The boy feigned nonchalance answering with is own question, "What happened to the woman who was helping him?"

Duncan frowned, unsure of whether the question was meant to distract him from the real issue. "She got away." He shrugged, but noticed that it seemed important to Richie. "Why?"

Now it was Richie's turn to shrug, his body drawing even further away from the Highlander, squishing himself into the car door. "No reason…we uh…she had sex with me."

Duncan laughed, he couldn't help it. "Only you," he said after a moment. He was completely caught off guard by the outburst that followed.

"Fuck you! It's not like I was participating, I was tied down just like you found me!" Duncan was stunned. Richie leaned forward to rest his head in his hands, rubbing his forehead absently.

"Richie, don't talk like that!" He was stunned. Richie knew better than to say something like that. What exactly had gone on back there?

"Just forget it." Richie was still steaming. The immortal was saved from having to respond as they were pulling up next to the store.

Again, Richie rushed out of the car but stopped at the apartment door, shifting from one foot to another. Duncan knew that Richie wasn't waiting for him to catch up. The kid turned back a final time before racing through the door. When Duncan got inside, he didn't see Richie and then Tessa ran into his arms and he forgot about the kid for the rest of the night.

Meanwhile in Richie's bedroom, the teen was just sitting on the side of his bed. He could barely look at Mac or Tessa, afraid that they would see how pathetic he was; he crawled onto the bed in his clothes, wanting only to disappear. God, Mac had even laughed, no normal guy would say no to sex…As soon as his face hit the pillow however, he jumped back up. The mere feel of the mattress under him made him feel as if he was still there, still trapped, with that woman touching him…

He fled into the bathroom, practically falling onto his knees in front of the commode just in time to throw up what was left in his stomach. As soon as the spasming of his stomach stopped, he got gratefully into the shower. Belatedly he realized he was still wearing his clothes. He sank to the ground in defeat, covering his face with his hands. "Godammit! I can't do anything right apparently." An interminable amount of time later, he stood up and peeled off his sopping clothes. He just didn't know what to do with them. He couldn't put them in the laundry basket; they would make everything else in there wet and moldy. He could hang them over the shower rod but he didn't want anyone else to see them and wonder why they were wet. He ended up putting them in the trash; he didn't particularly want to ever see them again anyway.

He walked back into his bedroom, taking care to avoid the spot on the floor that squeaked. Once inside, he just stared at his bed though. He wandered over to his dresser and got out a pair of pajamas he had never used. Tessa had bought them for him. Then he went and sat in the chair in the corner. He couldn't seem to get comfortable enough in it to sleep, but eventually exhaustion won out.