Disclaimer – If you recognize it, I don't own it.

*Notes – Sorry for the delay, and thank you so much to everyone that's been reviewing!

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Luke found himself swerving through late night traffic, his fingers tapping an anxious beat on the wheel as he thought back to his meeting with Faith. Although he was glad that it had been nothing serious – he'd driven himself crazy imagining what could've happened on the drive to the farm – it still broke his heart to know that his little sister, who wasn't even that little anymore, had to call him at nine in the evening because she had no one to talk to after a brutal nightmare.

"It was awful, Luke," She sobbed into his shoulder, clutching him like a child would hold onto their favourite teddy bear, "I could hear him screaming, and I-I…" Sobs cut off her words, and Luke had simply held his sister while blinking away the tears in his eyes. With all of the mess going on with the investigation, Luke hadn't been letting himself focus on the reason for the mess – Ethan. Part of him felt beyond guilty for leaving his family, letting them cope on their own.

"Faith?" Luke asked, his voice steady and soothing, "Why didn't you ask for mom or dad? Don't get me wrong," He said when Faith stiffened in his arms, "I'm so glad you called me. But is something wrong with our parents?"

"No." She said simply, her dark eyes focused on his, "I just… I don't want to burden them." The words caused tears to cascade down her face again, and what answer could Luke have to that? He held her until she calmed down, then made some of his 'secret recipe hot chocolate.' Although Faith scoffed at the childishness of it, Luke knew that part of her wanted to be coddled, wanted to be treated like his baby sister.

The banging of pots and pans in an effort to find the coffee mugs had brought Holden and Lily downstairs, and Luke convinced Faith to tell them what was going on. "You're never a burden to them Faith, because they love you." He reassured, smiling slightly as he remembered echoing those words thousands of times to Noah.

Noah. The name echoed through his head, and he pressed down on the gas peddle a little bit harder, desperate to get home. The windshield wipers were beating back and forth furiously, fighting a loosing battle to the rain that was pouring down. The sky was dark, and Luke knew it would be a miracle if he got home in one piece; he was definitely breaking more than a couple speeding laws.

Twenty minutes later, he found himself outside of his apartment door, fishing through his jacket pocket for his spare key. His had gone missing from his bag at home sometime last week; Luke figured he'd stashed it somewhere in the farm and forgotten where. Making a mental note to ask Holden if he'd seen it, Luke opened the door to the apartment.

"Noah?" He called out, frowning when there was no response. "Noah?" Luke said again, walking to the bedroom. Noah's truck was in the parking lot, so Luke knew that he had to be around somewhere. Maybe he's sleeping. Luke discarded the thought as soon as it came to mind. Noah would've woken up the second the door opened; he was an extremely light sleeper. And there was virtually no chance that his boyfriend had taken a sleeping pill – the brunette would only take them if he absolutely had to, saying that he hated how unaware and groggy they made him.

Luke's frown deepened when he walked into the bedroom and saw the rumpled covers, television remotes strung across the bed, and bloodied clothes lying in the bathroom, visible through the open door. Yet another habit of Noah's that Luke always found so endearingly annoying was his almost painfully perfect tidiness. Noah would insist on making their bed everyday before leaving the house, even if it was just to go the store for a milk run. A flicker of a smile came across Luke's face as he remembered the endless teasing he'd subjected Noah to.

The smile faded as Luke realized that Noah had changed out of the sweatpants and t-shirt Luke had put out for him, choosing to wear his own clothes if the open, rifled-through drawer and pile of clothes by the bed had anything to say. Luke's first instinct was to say that Noah had run away from his feelings, but he knew better then that now. After the kidnapping mess with Zac and Zoe, Luke had promised himself to trust in his boyfriend, and use logic before emotions. He still struggled when his insecurities reared their ugly heads, but he was getting better… slowly but surely.

"Now," Luke muttered to himself as he looked about the room, "Noah, Noah, Noah, you would've left me a note… ha! There it is." Walking over to the table, Luke snatched a small piece of paper off of it and read the note carefully.

Luke

Something came up. I'll be back. I'm not sure when.

I love you so much,

Noah.

After scanning the paper countless times, Luke knew something was wrong. Noah's usually impeccable printing was messy, as if he'd scrawled it, and after studying the scratched out writing for nearly half a minute, Luke made out 'don't worry, I'll be fine.' Why would I worry if nothing's going on?

Folding the note and placing it in his pant pocket for further inspection, Luke scrutinized the room slowly, looking for anything that could hint at where Noah was gone. A careful look at the TV revealed that the DVD player was on, and the remote had been used; it was lying on top of the bedding.

"Wonder what he was watching?" Luke mumbled to himself as he grabbed the remote and casually flicked the TV on. Without warning, the Colonel's face flashed onto the TV screen, causing Luke to jump in shock. He scooted to the back of the headboard, unaware that he was copying his boyfriend's actions from just hours ago.

Winston's face was frozen, a malicious smirk fixed on those thin, pale lips. Luke waited for a moment, waited for his heart to stop trying to pound through his chest, before swallowing heavily and pressing play.

"And I'll see you there, son." Winston said, his voice sounding close enough to cause Luke to instinctively recoil. The screen went blank, and Luke stared in shock before realizing that he'd reached the end of the DVD.

He skipped through scenes mindlessly, rewinding to the beginning, all the while wondering where Noah had gotten the disc. Did Winston drop it off here? No, that doesn't make sense. Oh god, Noah… The full impact of what was going on smashed into Luke, and he found himself grabbing his phone and speed dialling Noah's number, his hand shaking as he held the phone to his ear.

The phone rang and rang, until Noah's cheery voicemail greeted him. Luke groaned before shoving the phone back into his pocket and realizing that the DVD was ready to be played. Shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath, Luke found himself hitting the play button once again.

A close up of the Colonel's face appeared on the TV screen once again, and even though Luke was prepared for it, he couldn't help the strangled gasp that rose from his throat. He forced himself to take a deep breath and focus, turning his attention back to the TV.

There was a rattling sound, and the image of Winston jerked as if someone was adjusting the camera. Moments later, the camera stilled, and the Colonel inhaled a deep breath that resonated in Luke's head like a gong.

"Hello, Noah… son." Winston said. Luke instinctively looked at the door before realizing that Winston had assumed that Noah wouldn't have told Luke about the DVD, and thought he was speaking to his son alone. And he was right. A white hot flash of betrayal swept through Luke's body, and he forced himself to push it away. Luke knew Noah better than anyone, and he knew his stupid, gullible, idiot of a boyfriend was probably just trying to protect him; that didn't mean that he wasn't going to be in the doghouse when he came back. He has to come back…

"By now you know that I'm not dead. I'm sorry to have deceived you son, but it was necessary: for me, for you, for us. The fanatical glimmer in Winston's eyes was apparent even through the TV screen, and Luke found himself wrapping his arms around his legs, knees tucked tight to his chest.

The Winston from the DVD continued to talk, and Luke refocused his attention just in time to catch the last half of the man's next sentence. "… also necessary for you to come join me, to come with me so we can be a family, a proper family." Every cell in Luke's body went on red alert, and his breath escaped his body like he was punched in the gut. Noah, Noah no… you didn't believe this, did you?

"But that boy, that deviant, he's given you the wrong idea of family." Winston spat out the words 'deviant' and 'family', making them sound one of the same. "They've wrecked their son, destroyed him, and I won't let them do the same to you!" The last words were yelled, and spittle flew from Winston's lips to the camera lens, leaving specks of saliva behind. "You will come back to me, boy, and I'll make a Mayer out of you – even if it kills me."

A relieved laugh bubbled its way out of Luke's throat as he realized that Noah was fine – he had to be. He'd never fall for this.

Luke's hopes were crushed into a thousand tiny pieces when the Colonel smirked and continued. "Just in case you don't know what's best for you, I've taken matters into my own hands. You say you care for that Snyder boy, don't you?" The question sent raw fear prickling up Luke's spine, and the room's temperature seemed to plummet until he was shivering, shaking.

"Leave me out of this." Luke whispered to himself as the on screen Winston paused dramatically, a weak yet successful attempt to increase the sick suspense. "No," he corrected himself, "leave us out of this. Noah…" Luke's voice trailed off until it was nothing but a whisper in the air.

"If you don't come to me within four hours of seeing this video, I'll have him killed. No, not killed," Winston added suddenly, a twisted glee entering his eyes, "I'll have him tortured, then killed. Sinners and converters like him deserve it." The raw belief in Winston's eyes was disgusting, and Luke felt bile rising in the back of his throat. He swallowed it back, his breath coming in shuddering gasps.

"Don't believe that I can do it?" Winston asked, a hint of a mocking laugh in his voice. "Don't think I'd follow through? Trust me son, nothing would make me happier then to rid the world of that pervert." Once again, a sour taste rose to Luke's mouth, accompanied with an unreal pang of horror that his death was being talked about, so casually.

A change in Winston's tone caused Luke to reluctantly raise his head, yet another sense of foreboding filling his body. The Colonel sounded as if he was reading off of a piece of paper as he said, "August 22nd. You left your apartment at 9:00AM. You went to Java for ten minutes, and picked up two coffees. You spent half an hour at your apartment before leaving with that boy to go to that farm. You spent seven hours at the farm. You spent an hour at a pond on the property, then you went into the house for the night. You left the next morning at 7:00AM."

Luke stopped moving, stopped breathing – just stared at the TV screen. He knew his thoughts should've been chaotic, but instead there were four words repeating themselves, over and over again; he was following us, he was following us, he was following us…

Luke vaguely heard Winston describe the clothes they'd worn, the places they'd been, all with a smug, triumphant look on his face. When he issued a threat against Faith and Nat – how does he know their names? – Luke hurled the remote against the wall, vaguely registering the dull thud that echoed through the room, and the rather large dent left behind.

Even though Luke's world was crashing around him, the TV continued to blare, and Winston continued to taunt him. "Don't even think about going to the police, Noah." Winston stated, that same smug grin on his face – Luke wanted to wipe it off himself. "They won't help you, and by the time you arrive at the station, Snyder will be gone. Snatched right from his apartment." Winston proceeded to rattle off the addresses of the farm, the apartment, and Lily's house, Luke growing paler with each word. "I'll be able to find him, no matter what you do. So unless you come to me, he's going to die."

Luke pressed pause, a trembling hand clapping over his open mouth. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god…" he found himself chanting, his fear for himself ranking lower than his fear for Noah. "You went to him, Noah no… no no no."

Luke didn't know how long he sat, staring at the frozen image of the Colonel before he summoned his courage and pressed play again, terrified as to what he was going to hear. Each new sentence from the gray-haired man caused a hitched breath, but Luke slowly realized that the threatening was over. Instead, Winston was giving Noah directions on where to meet him.

He rattled off an address – somewhere just outside of Oakdale, Luke realized – then said, "Don't think of bringing anyone else. I'll be able to see them, and I'll be gone before you know what's happening. It won't be that bad," Winston said suddenly, a demonic smile on his lips, "in fact, you might just have fun. Four hours, Noah… and I'll see you there, son." There was a click, then the screen went blank. It's over.

On legs as shaky as a newborn colts, Luke stepped off the bed and manually turned off the TV before running a shaky hand through his hair. The surreal quality of the past half an hour was slowly fading, and a desperation to find Noah, to save him, rushed over Luke until he was hardly aware that his hand was on the door knob to leave the apartment.

He needed to find Noah, but that need was warring with his instinct to protect the rest of his family. 'Faith and Nat, mom, dad… they don't know. What if the Colonel goes after them?' The thought was an ugly one, and the idea of Winston anywhere near his baby sisters set fire to Luke's veins. The thought was plausible though, and Luke punched the door as he tried to figure out what to do.

He couldn't tell his dad, he knew that; Holden wouldn't let him find Noah, and would insist on calling the police. His second instinct was to tell Jack and let him arrange police protection, but he knew that Jack would feel obligated to tell his dad, and wouldn't let him go. He needed someone who would let the police know what was going on, without stopping him from saving Noah.

An answer dawned on him, so obvious that he couldn't believe it had taken him so long to figure it out. Grabbing his phone, Luke dialled the police station and waited impatiently until someone picked up, three rings later.

"This is the Oakdale Police Department, how may I help you?" A feminine voice said, official yet kind.

"Hello, I need to talk to Officer Dallas Griffin." Luke said, hoping his voice didn't waver. "Can you connect me to him?"

"Just one second," the receptionist said, "may I ask who's calling?"

"Tell him it's about Noah Mayer." Luke said simply, his fingers drumming impatiently on the table.

"Just one second," she repeated, muffling the phone with what Luke assumed was the palm of her hand. Moments ticked by, and Luke realized he'd been put on hold. He was about to slam down the phone and go to the station himself when he heard Dallas say, "Hello? Noah?"

"Dallas, it's Luke." Luke said, his words tripping over themselves in their attempt to get out. "Look, I know about what you and Noah were doing, I know about all of it. And Noah…" Luke took a deep breath, trying not to choke over the words, "Noah's father was behind it."

"Colonel Mayer?" Dallas asked, his voice reflecting his shock. "How? I mean…"

"I don't have time." Luke said simply, hoping that he didn't sound too rude, but too far gone to truly care. "He's gone to see his father, and he's in danger, Dallas. I have to go find him, or he's going to kill Noah." Luke knew he was stretching the truth, but he just. Didn't. Care. Noah was in danger, his sweet, perfect Noah, and he was going to do whatever it took to get him back.

"What do you need?" Dallas asked simply, obviously ready to do whatever Luke said. "Tell me, and I'll make it happen."

Luke took yet another deep breath before explaining to Dallas what he needed. "Send a patrol car out to the farm," he said, hurrying to continue, "and tell my family you received an anonymous threat against them. The Colonel… he threatened them, and I can't have anything happening to my family." Luke stressed, his voice breaking ever-so-slightly. "If they – when they ask about me, tell them that I'm fine. Make up a lie, I don't care."

"Are you going to be fine?" Dallas questioned, not contracting Luke's orders. The part of Luke that wasn't in a full blown panic attack over what was going on felt his respect for Dallas skyrocket at his ability to listen to a civilian, and to trust him, trust Luke.

"I'll be fine." Luke said grimly, fully aware that he could be lying through his teeth. "I'm going to go save Noah."

"Luke…" Dallas said hesitantly, "let me come with you. I can help you, I can…"

"No!" Luke yelled violently, before apologizing. "Sorry, it's just that… he'll know if you're there, and I can't afford anything happening to Noah. He's my life, Dallas," Luke said simply, blinking past the tears blurring his vision, "and I'll do whatever it takes to get him back."

"Understood." Dallas replied, his voice low. "Do you need, a weapon or anything? I can supply you with one."

"Isn't that illegal?" Luke asked, confused.

"It's illegal as hell, Luke," Dallas said, a small tone of amusement in his otherwise worried voice, "but I'll risk it to have you both come back safe. So, you do you need a gun?"

"No." Luke answered, "my aim's not accurate enough for it to make a difference. Besides, I can't risk having him search me, and find it, and take it out on Noah." Luke choked out Noah's name, the one word bringing more emotions to him than he knew possible – fear, love, fear, worry, fear…

"Fine." Dallas said shortly, his clipped tones an obvious attempt at being calm, "be careful, Luke. Don't make me regret this."

"I won't," Luke swore, "Noah will come back." Luke didn't add that he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to say the same thing about himself. He knew that the only thing Winston wanted more than his son back was Luke dead, and Luke was willing to exploit that as far as he needed to.

Anything's worth having Noah safe. Grabbing an umbrella to shield off the rain, Luke left the apartment, climbed into his car, and started driving to the address Winston had left, knowing that things were going to end – for better of for worse.