Hope you enjoy, and thank you so so much to everyone that's been following along and reviewing!

.

.

.

Noah's eyes were fixed on the digital clock on the dashboard, watching as the minutes ticked by. Time seemed to slowed down and sped up simultaneously, pulling him in opposite directions. 10:05. Noah blinked once, deliberately, adding another minute to the tally he was keeping in his head. Five minutes since we left.

He was sitting in the passenger's seat of Damian's sports car, watching him drive the car at a ridiculous speed. A small part of him marvelled at the sheer flawlessness of the car, and at how ludicrously expensive it must've been, but the rest of him was trying not to think, not to think about anything – definitely not about what he was about to do.

Damian cleared his throat, and Noah instinctively looked over at him. The interior of the car was dark, and Noah could just make out the shadowy figure of the other man, and a head turned slightly towards him. A silence lingered, and Noah could swear he heard Damian exhale slowly before looking back at the road.

Any idea Noah had of finishing the drive in a blissful numbess vanished into smoke, and he found himself clasping his hands together before saying, "Damian?" The name came out as more of a question then Noah had aimed for.

The silence almost seemed to thicken, somehow, pressing into Noah's lungs and causing his breathing to quicken. He was about to say something else when Damian cleared his throat again and replied, "Yes?"

Noah leaned back against the leather seat, trying to organize his thoughts. He hadn't been actually expecting Damian to reply, and now that he had, Noah had no idea what to say. Questions fought for dominance in his head, and although Noah knew that he should be asking where they were going, he chose otherwise; asking about the address the Colonel had left them wouldn't change his outcome. Besides, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know just yet.

"You're working for my father." The question wasn't a question – not truly. They both knew it as a truth, a fact, and the wince it provoked from Damian, visible even in the darkness of the car, simply cemented that fact. 'Why?" Noah asked, not sure if he even wanted to hear the answer. "Was it to do with Luke… and me? Are you trying to punish Luke, for being who he is?"

"No!" Damian yelled before Noah had even finished his question. "Of course not!" One hand came off of the steering wheel, running through gelled hair with little success, before Damian continued. "I love my son, gay or straight, and I would never do anything to hurt him."

"But killing his brother, that's fine, right?" Noah asked, feeling the stirrings of anger cracking through his numb shell. "Since Ethan wasn't your son, to hell with him! To hell with the Snyder's, to hell with me; we aren't Grimaldi's, so what do we matter?"

The car jerked, as if Damian slammed on the brakes, and Noah was thrown forward in his seat. The seatbelt dug into his chest for a brief second, and then the car was driving at its previous speed, everything back to normal.

"I love my son," Damian repeated, stressing every syllable. "I love him, and I would never hurt him or his family. And how can you say that I would ever hurt a child?" Damian sounded repulsed by the very idea, but Noah refused to let that have sway over him; Dallas had described Damian's past of manipulating and acting all too clearly.

"Then explain it to me," Noah said simply, hoping his tone was as ironclad as he believed it to be. "Make me understand why you were working for my father, why you let Ethan die, why you would pay for him to hire his thugs. Was he blackmailing you?" The idea of blackmail had been floating around in his head, and a small part of Noah hoped it was the truth. Although it wouldn't excuse what Damian had done – not for a second – it would mean that Damian's actions hadn't been completely on his free will.

"No." The one word crushed any hopes Noah had, and he found his eyes focusing on the clock again. 10:10.

"Then why?" Noah asked, his tone hard. "Explain it to me."

"I don't have to explain what I do to you," Damian said, his arrogant tone failing to hide the pain and regret in his words. "All that matters is that I'm going to help you now, in any way I can."

"If you want to help me, then help me to understand," Noah urged, trying to soften his voice. "Don't let me meet my father in the dark. Don't let him hold this knowledge over my head. Don't let me die," Noah hoped that Damian didn't notice how voice cracked, "without knowing why all of this happened."

"You're not going to die!" Damian yelled, his voice more impassioned then Noah had expected. "Hell, I shouldn't be doing this, I shouldn't be taking you to Winston. But you're his son – he won't hurt you, right?"

The strangled laugh that forced its way out of Noah's throat must've been answer enough, because the car slowed down on the empty road. "Noah, you don't have to do this," Damian urged. "You don't have to go to him like a martyr. I have contacts, people who can be here within hours. We can trap him, and he'll be thrown in jail."

The idea was tempting, and Noah wanted nothing more than to agree. But he knew that if there was the slightest chance that the Colonel could escape from Damian's 'help', then nothing would stop him from trying to hurt Luke, and that was a risk that Noah simply wasn't willing to take. Nevertheless, Damian's words hung in the air, tantalizing and tempting.

"No." Noah choked out, before he could loose his nerve. "I can't… I can't take that risk." Absentmindedly, Noah realized that Damian had successfully turned the conversation away from himself, but he couldn't find the strength to care.

"There will be no risk, Noah!" Damian said as the car slowed down just a little bit more. "I can make sure that Winston is caught, and put away for a very long time."

Noah was about to argue, but he realized that Damian would never understand, unless he put it into terms that Damian could identify with. "What do you love, more than anything?" Noah asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"I love my son, and the mother of my child," Damian replied almost instantaneously. "|'d protect Luke or cara in a heartbeat, no matter the cost." And even though Noah had no idea how Damian had been involved with Ethan's death, he believed him.

"I love Luke, Damian. More than I could ever explain to you, and more than I could ever expect you to understand." The words were simple, and Noah forged on. "I know that the only thing that will keep my father away from him is if he has me. I can't take the risk that he'll escape, and find Luke, and…" Tears sprung to Noah's eyes, and he hastily blinked them away, even though he knew Damian couldn't see. "I have to do this – I have to keep Luke safe. Can you understand that?"

Another lengthy silence passed, interrupted only by the purr of the car's engine. The pause had grown so long that Noah almost didn't pay attention when Damian finally spoke. "Yes," he said simply. "I understand." Without another word, Damian took a sharp left and continued driving.

Noah was still for a moment before he looked out the window. "Wait!" he said, his voice echoing around in the truck. "We're nowhere near the address that my fath- the Colonel gave to me."

"I know," Damian replied steadily. "That was where he wanted you to go; it's not where he is."

"What do you mean?" Noah asked, utterly confused. "Why would he tell me to go somewhere if he's not there?"

"The address that he gave you, it leads to an empty, abandoned lot in the middle of nowhere," Damian explained as he watched the road. "It was a test, to see if you'd brought anyone with you. He has people waiting there that would've let him know if you were alone."

Noah was still as he processed the information, but found that something in it didn't ring true to him. "My father… he was arrogant." Even now, it felt like a betrayal to say those words, to insult the man that Noah had feared, did fear. "He wouldn't think I'd go against his wishes, especially considering who he's threatening. Why would he do this?"

Damian took another right before he answered. "Noah, he's not… he's not sane." Noah's derisive snort caused Damian to correct himself. "I mean, he's less sane then he was before. He's been on the run for over a year, right?"

"Longer." Noah replied automatically, counting back to the months that Winston had been presumed dead.

"It changed him. He's paranoid about everything. Paranoia is fine, but I didn't recognize his madness until it was too late." Remorse was mixed in with Damian's accent, and Noah realized that now was the time to ask questions, while Damian was feeling guilty enough to answer them.

"Damian, tell me what happened between you and my father," Noah said, before reluctantly adding, "Please. I need… I need to know, so I can understand."

"None of it was supposed to happen like this," Damian murmured, almost as if he was talking to himself. Noah was surprised that he hadn't put up more of a fight, but realized that maybe Damian needed to explain himself as badly as Noah needed to hear the explanation. He waited silently for Damian to continue, his breathing quick and shallow.

"I've been in Oakdale for months," Damian stated, causing Noah to jerk his head the slightest bit in a surprised response. "No one knew that I was here, and I intended to keep it that way. I just wanted to see my son, my cara, and make sure they were alright; that they were happy. Can you understand that?" Damian asked, just the slightest hint of desperation in his normally polished voice.

"Yes," Noah replied, not sure if it was honesty or his own need for answers that led to his response. Either way, Damian seemed to buy it.

"I knew I'd have to leave soon, but I didn't want to." Damian's words should've sounded petulant, but instead he sounded honest, weary even. "I was looking for a reason to stay, to make my presence known to my family, when you're father contacted me." Noah had to remind himself to breathe, and to stay quiet; he literally had to choke back questions.

"He told me that he could help me," Damian said vaguely before falling silent.

Noah waited expectantly for him to continue; when he didn't, Noah cleared his throat before asking, "Help you with what?"

"He said that he could help me convince Luke to come to Malta with me," Damian clarified. "Of course, I had a preliminary background check run on him. An army colonel who'd received a purple heart and had been discharged honourably. The detailed checks took longer to run, and I didn't receive them until it was too late. I believe he had contacts that temporarily buried his record."

"What was his plan?" Noah asked calmly, ignoring Damian's last statement and feeling as if his heart was trying to pound its way out of his chest.

"He told me that he wanted to talk to you, but it had to be done in secret since no one could know he was alive. His request was for money, to pay his informants." The glow of the GPS system on the front of the car provided just enough light for Noah to see Damian shrug a shoulder. "Grimaldi Shipping's has been doing exceedingly well, and I figured that it wouldn't hurt to see if this man could help me."

"What happened?" Noah whispered, afraid of the answer. "What did my father do?"

"Nothing, at first," Damian said. "Actually, I thought I'd been manipulated. I was debating whether to leave Oakdale or make my presence known when Winston contacted me again, and said that he could bring Luke to me."

"Bring Luke to you, as in…" Noah swallowed heavily, unable to even finish his sentence; unable to contemplate what that would mean.

"No!" He said sharply, sounding offended. "Winston told me he would bring Luke to me, so I could talk to him. Convince him to come back to Malta with me."

"Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait." Noah held up a hand in reaction to his thoughts. "You thought that Luke would go with you to Malta, willingly? Damian, are you honestly that stupid?" Noah tried to repress the pang of longing that went through him as he thought of Luke – his Luke, with his warm eyes, soft hair, and even softer touch...

"He'd be happy in Malta." Damian insisted, ignoring Noah's barb. "He'd be a Grimaldi there, and he'd be respected. He would've just had to give it a chance!"

The incredulity of what Damian was saying didn't truly register in Noah's mind. He refused to let it register, because he thought the shock of it, the stupidity of it, might just kill him. "So, you get Kevin to pick him up after he's been doped up. Why would you drug him if he was supposed to deliver Luke to you, unharmed?" Noah couldn't help the bite that was in his last few words, but Damian didn't pick up on it.

"I didn't know about the drugging until after it occurred," Damian replied. "Winston had asked me for a friend of Luke's that would be talked into this. The only friend of Luke's I knew from my stay here years ago was Kevin. Winston told me that Kevin was drugged so he wouldn't remember what had happened. I think the dosage was incorrect, and caused him to hallucinate instead of giving him short-term amnesia." The casual way Damian talked about Kevin made Noah shudder.

"So the accident was just that, then. An accident." The words felt foreign on his tongue after all of the time spent chasing leads, trying to discover why it wasn't just an 'accident'. Damian nodded, and Noah was about to let the subject drop when a thought struck him. "What were you going to do about Ethan, when Luke was 'brought to you'?" Noah asked.

"Ethan wasn't supposed to be there, either." Damian stated simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I had no idea he would be there, but I never would have harmed him. Ever. And not just because he's Luke's brother," he added. "He's a child, and no child deserves to have their life ended so cruelly."

Noah's ragged breath was audible, embarrassingly loud, but Damian pretended not to notice. "So," Noah asked once his emotions were under control, "you had no intention of hurting Ethan, or Luke." Noah knew what the answer would be, but he still had to ask, to be sure.

"Never," Damian responded simply, "and I never would've agreed to any of Winston's plots if I'd known the repercussions of them." To Noah, it seemed as if Damian was trying to convince himself that he was innocent simply because he hadn't understood.

Choking back a biting response, Noah was about to ask how far away they were from their destination when another thought jumped into his mind. "What about Tony?"

"Tony… Tony who?" Damian asked, utterly perplexed. "Do you mean Anthony?"

"Yes, Anthony, Tony, whatever you want to call him." Noah said impatiently. "Were you involved with what he did?" Noah had expected the answer to be no; the guilty silence that radiated from Damian shocked him for the countless time that day. "You… you were involved with him?" Another thought came to mind, and Noah flexed and curled his fingers in an attempt to stay calm. "Did you shoot Eric, too?"

"What? No!" Damian defended, "Wait, Eric was shot? As in the Constable that Winston was bribing?"

"Yes. He might be dead, for all we know," Noah stated grimly, realizing that he had no idea whether Eric was dead or alive. Although they weren't on the best of terms, Noah didn't want the other man to die, especially considering that he would be leaving a little girl behind. Shaking his head to focus his thoughts, Noah asked, "What about Tony? What did you do to him?"

"I talked to him," Damian responded. "That's all. Winston informed me that in order for Luke to be brought to me, Luke's car would need to break down. I wasn't able to tamper with it, because it was always parked at OU, and I wouldn't fit in there. I did some background checking, and I found Tony. He was perfect – he was in some club with Luke, he had a background in mechanics, and I decided to talk to him."

"And?" Noah asked, "What did you learn?"

"He was crazy," Damian said honestly, the car slowing as it drove down a road covered by trees. "It didn't take long to convince him to help me." There was no regret in Damian's tone, no words to show sympathy at how messed up Tony had been, and still was.

"You manipulated him to the point that he had a mental breakdown." Noah spat out, a small part of him mourning for his friend, now lost in his own consciousness. "Do you not regret that?"

Once again, silence was Noah's only answer. He was about to say something else when the car slowed, then came to a dead stop. Confusion only lasted for a few seconds before reality set in; they were here, and he was about to see his father.

"This is as far as I can take you," Damian said, his voice seeming too loud, too stiff. "Follow the road for another few minutes, and you'll see a house. It'll be old, abandoned, but don't let that fool you; I have no idea how many men Winston brought with him."

"He'll be alone," Noah said, not sure how he knew that the fact was the truth, but knowing that it was anyways. "He wouldn't want anyone else to… witness, this. He sees me as a shame; he'll be alone. At least until he does whatever he wants to me." Unless he's changed, a small voice whispered in his head, unless you don't know him that well anymore.

Damian killed the engine, and the air around Noah was plunged into silence. Damian clicked on the overhead light, and Noah blinked against the harshness of it. Blue eyes were looking into his, and Noah found himself struck by the physical similarities between Luke and Damian. But that's all it is – physical. Luke…

Damian was saying something, Noah noted absently. His ears felt like they had been filled with cotton, and a tingling panic was beginning to spread across his body.Fight it back. I have to be strong.

"Pardon me, sir?" Noah asked reflexively, barely noticing that he was giving respect to a man who definitely didn't deserve it. All of his focus was on breathing, listening, and not thinking of what was to come.

"Are you sure I can't convince you not to do this, Noah?" Damian asked, enunciating clearly.

"I'm sure." Noah replied, ignoring the screaming voice in his head, begging him to go home, to go back to Luke. "Now, I should go. Thank you for telling me the truth, Damian… goodbye." Noah placed his hand on the door of the car, trying to gather the courage to get out.

"Noah, wait!" Damian yelled, his voice echoing. "If you insist on doing this, then take this." Reaching into his pocket, Damian pulled out a single object and gingerly placed it on Noah's lap. "I don't know if it will help, but at least you'll have it."

Noah picked it up, turned it over once in his hands, before slipping it into the waistband of his jeans and pulling his shirt over it, hoping the lump wasn't too visible. "Damian… thanks," Noah repeated, a hint of sincerity in his voice. There were thousands of questions he still had for Damian - how did he know his father was here, why was he helping him, what was he planning to do with Luke in Malta, did he approve of Luke being gay - but all he had to say was, "Take care of Luke for me if I don't…" Noah took a deep breath, "if I don't come back. Tell him that I love him, and not to blame himself for any of this.

"I will, Noah," Damian replied solemnly, before adding, "You're a good man. Don't forget that, no matter..." The rest of the sentence hung in the air between them, thick and suffocating. 'No matter what he does.'

"I won't," Noah responded, feeling that fear tingle across his fingertips. Without saying another word, Noah took one last glance at the clock before stepping out of the car, slamming the door shut and making his way up the dark, shadowed road.

10:45.

---

Feedback is love!