A/N: Again guys, thank you all so much for the reviews/favourites/alerts and for just reading. Means a lot :-)

I want to dedicate this chapter to the person who reviews under the name 'anonymous'. I want to thank you for reviewing every new chapter. They always make me smile. I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story :-)

…...

Chapter Six

There was nothing in this world that pissed Detective Max Guard off more than a smart-ass, and unfortunately for him it sounded like that was exactly what he was dealing with. The call had been short and sweet, the voice muffled slightly by the sound of traffic in the background. Most likely taking place in a public pay phone. Tracing down the phone that the call had been made from would be child's play, but eliminating every print bar the kidnappers would be near impossible. The son-of-a-bitch got lucky...this time.

Like the voice had told him, they found the DVD in a burned out green trash can about 40 minutes walk from the Princess' apartment and half an hour from the traced pay phone outside a rundown pizzeria. Clever, but it would only be a matter of time before they slipped up.

The DVD had been rather difficult to watch. The look of fear on the young girls face as the gun was pulled out on her had been nothing short of heart wrenching. But at least she was alive.

It was around 8pm as Max sat watching the DVD for what seemed like the hundredth time. The King and Queen had been adamant that they wanted to see it, something that Max hadn't advised, but to see their little girl breathing was probably the comfort that they needed to help them sleep that night. It didn't mean that it had been easy though. Pausing the disc, Max sat back in his chair and ran a hand down his long face. There had to be something that would help him!

"Hey, Boss..." Called Conrad, the newest member of his team "We're all calling in some Chinese food. Wanting anything?"

"Huh?" Max replied, turning to look at the young man "Uh, no...no, I'm OK thanks."

"OK..." Conrad nodded "Hey, why don't you take a break from that. You've done nothing but watch it all night. Give your mind a rest."

"I will." Max assured with a small smile "I just feel like I'm missing something...That there's something staring me right in the face and I can't see it."

"Well just holler if you need a fresh pair of eyes." The rookie said with a smile before heading out the room.

Sighing, Max played the video once again, the fear in the Princess's eyes getting him every time.

"C'mon..." He mumbled to himself "Show me what it is..."
…...

Rapunzel's laughter, in Flynn's opinion, was one of the most beautiful sounds there ever was. A night which would probably have been spent like so many others; in despair and misery, had been brought to life. Brought to life by her, and her laughter. Every time she threw her head back in a fit of giggles, Flynn's heart leapt. He could do nothing but smile as her body shook with happiness, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. They had been sitting there for hours both on the bed with their backs pressed up against the wall sharing stories about their lives, and if Flynn was totally honest with himself, it was turning out to be one of the best nights in his.

"I can't breathe..." Rapunzel choked out between fits, her laughter becoming inaudible "You're a funny guy."

She obviously hadn't had a lot of male company if she thought that he was a funny guy.

"Well, I try." He chuckled softly "Hey, you wanting to head downstairs? Watch a little TV?"

"Are your friends due back any time soon?" She asked, her arms instinctively wrapping round her body at the thought of the two.

The way that he had touched her had sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't bear to imagine the look in his eyes. Filled with desire and lust. The very thought made her sick to her stomach.

"No." Flynn replied, noticing her discomfort "They're staying the night in the city."

He watched as the flash of fear that appeared in her eyes faded away, her happiness soon returning as she gave a small smile. Without answering she jumped from the bed, quickly grabbing Flynn by the hand and pulled him up towards the door. He couldn't help but find her excitement a little amusing as she stood waiting at the door for him to lead the way.

"Remember..." Flynn said as he took her small hand in his and led her down the dark stairwell "This is our little secret. Those two find out you're down here there'll be hell to pay."

"Of course." She nodded, her smile growing at the thought of getting out the dingy attic "But I hope you know, Mr. Rider, that I will be quizzing you some more downstairs."

He chuckled once more at her playfulness.

"Of course Your Highness." He replied, playing along "Just as long as you are aware, I still may not be able to answer all your inquisitive questions."

She giggled once again as Flynn carried on leading her through the house towards the living room.

The living room, in Rapunzel's opinion, was probably one of the worst rooms in the house. Like many of the other rooms it was scarcely furnished with only a coffee table, a battered brown couch, a large empty cabinet and an old portable TV that sat on some boxes filling it. The walls were stained that same sickly nicotine yellow, a large painting of a forest gracing one wall a little lopsided. But the worst aspect had to be the suffocating smell of smoke that caught in her chest as she entered the room, something that she struggled to hide as she began to cough.

"Sorry..." Flynn said a little sheepishly as he opened a window "Bad habit."

"Yours?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

"Guilty." He replied, motioning for her to have a seat "Don't worry. I won't light up in front of you."

Smiling at his chivalry Rapunzel fell onto the lumpy couch, stretching her legs out before bringing them up under her body once again. She watched as Flynn took a seat next to her, switching on the TV before turning slightly to face her. The butterflies in her stomach were going wild as he stared at her. His hazel eyes full of curiosity and wonder. How she loved those eyes. They burned deep into her. The only eyes that had gotten to see the real her in a very long time.

"So..." Rapunzel began, scooting a little closer to him "You know about my family, you know about my friends...lets find out a little more about you. Where did you grow up?"

Where did he grow up? That was a question he probably could answer. So far all he had really shared about was fun times through high school and memorable times with his brother. Even if he wasn't her kidnapper, delving into his back story was something that he would probably think twice about doing.

"Where did I grow up?" Flynn replied back with a smile "I was born and bred in DC. Been there all my days."

"Was it fun?" She asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"It..." Flynn began, struggling to find the right words "It was...challenging, let's say...Things at home were rarely good and I was a bit of a 'well known troublemaker', cops words not mine." She couldn't help but giggle a little once again, Flynn's heart doing that same little jump "But I guess for the most part it was a fun enough place to grow up."

"What type of trouble did you get into as a kid?" She asked, bringing her legs out from under her body and pulling them into her chest "Anything serious?"

"Ah, just kid stuff really." Flynn said, sitting forward a little "Stealing, drinking, vandalism. Thought I was a tough guy. I was in more fights than I care to remember."

"What about as you got older?" She continued.

"I'm scared to tell you." He said with a nervous laugh, struggling to look her in the eye "Let's just say I did a lot of things I'm not proud of."

"Well..." Rapunzel began with a soft smile, leaning forward a little to meet Flynn's eyes "We can all do things that we're not proud of. Doesn't change who we are as a person, and...I kinda like you. So I doubt that anything you say will make me think any less of you."

"...Rapunzel...You do realize that I just snatched you off the street." Flynn chuckled, bringing another soft giggle from her lips "You're not actually supposed to like me."

"What can I say!?" She smirked "I've always been a little unconventional."

He couldn't help but laugh a little. She truly was turning out to be one of the most extraordinary people he had ever met, and with that he knew he was able to share.

"Ok..." Flynn said with a deep sigh as he began to dig through his well buried memories "...I guess it was kind of inevitable the route I was going to go down. Life at home had been kinda tough. My Dad had always been a bit of a bully, and I guess my Mom just couldn't take it anymore...After she left he hit the drink quite bad, pretty soon finding that knocking the living hell out of my brother and I was his new favourite past time." Rapunzel gasped, her hand flying to her mouth "...I must have been around 15 when...when I started 'experimenting'. Trying to block out the pain. Nothing really heavy to start with...a bit of Pot, then a little Speed...then a lot of everything...By the time I was 20 I found myself sticking my thumb in my mouth and blowing until the vein in my neck was visible enough..." She was silent, staring at him with sad eyes. Flynn couldn't help but feel shame and embarrassment "That's when I knew I had a big problem. I would have stolen your last dollar if I knew it would help me get a fix."

"How..." She began with glassy eyes, her voice cracking "How did you get clean?"

"With a lot of difficulty." He replied, the sadness evident in his own voice "If it wasn't for Eugene, my brother, then I don't know where I would have been today...Probably rotting in a grave somewhere...I owe it all to him and the Big Chief In The Sky...I was quickly dying, and he never gave up on me..."

"You sound close." Rapunzel said with a soft smile, a silent tear running down her cheek "Where is he now?"

Dying...

"He's...He's..." Flynn could feel his own tears burn the back of his eyes.

He wasn't about to cry in front of a princess...He couldn't...but unfortunately he didn't have much of a say in that, and pretty soon found his tears were falling. With her heart wrenching, Rapunzel leaned over and took hold of his hand, squeezing it gently as she waited for him to continue.

"He's sick..." Was all he could blurt out as he composed himself "Really sick..."

"What's wrong with him?" She asked, worry dancing in her emerald eyes "How sick?"

"He's...He's got a brain tumour." Flynn managed to reply, trying hard to keep his tears at bay "A tumour that my insurance 'won't cover', and if I don't get $250,000 dollars together for the operation soon then...He'll be dead..."

Realization hit Rapunzel as she watched Flynn angrily wipe his tears from his eyes. She wasn't there because a couple of guys wanted to take advantage of her wealth. She was there because a desperate man wanted to save the only family he had left.

"So you though that by kidnapping me, you would be able to get the money in time to save him." She said softly, Flynn unable to look her in the eye.

"...Yeah..." He finally whispered, looking down at his lap "I just wanted to save him...He's my best friend."

He felt awful, expecting Rapunzel to yell at him, wish his brother dead and tell him that he would never see the money, but he was wrong. Instead, he felt her squeeze his hand even more. Looking back up at her he was surprised to see her giving him a sad looking smile, some more tears running down her cheeks.

"Thank you for sharing with me..." She finally said "I know it must have been hard."

"Thanks for listening..." He said with a small smirk "And...for not judging."

"Never, Rider." She replied, smiling a little "...I promise you, you'll get the money. Ok? I'll make sure of it."

"What?" Flynn said in confusion "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." She nodded "I won't let you lose him."

"Rapunzel...Thank you! "To the Princess's surprise, Flynn pulled her in for a hug, wrapping his arms round her waist and pulling her in tight. She couldn't help but smile, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him back "Thank you..."

"No problem, Rider." She laughed softly.

Pulling back slightly, Flynn couldn't help but look into Rapunzel's eyes. Again he was caught off guard at how beautiful she was and ever so slowly, he reached up and brushed some stray strands of hair out of her eyes, tucking them gently behind her ear. A little alarmed at his boldness, Flynn quickly drew his hand away, a little embarrassed at what he had done.

"I'm sorry..." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"It's Ok, Rider..." She smiled "...I don't mind."

"...Call me Flynn..."
...

Who did he think he was? Telling him what to do. If Flynn said 'Jump!' was he supposed to say 'How high!?'. Not on his fucking life was he about to bow down to him.

Downing the last of his beer Scott slammed the empty bottle onto the bar, nodding for the tender to push another one in his direction. To say that he was pissed was an understatement. Nobody dare tell him what to do, let alone what not to do. As far as Scott was concerned, Flynn was in serious danger of getting his ass kicked.

"I'm gonna kill that Rider." He spat to his brother before taking a swing from his new bottle "I'm gonna kill him! Him and that little bitch of his."

All Mike did was nod before taking a chug from his own drink.

"We need to watch him, Mikey..." He said keeping his voice low "The minute he gets that money he'll roll over on us. Keep every penny for himself. Doubt he even gives two fucks if his brother dies or not...Well, not if I have my way he won't. If I have my way, I'll make sure he doesn't see a penny of it. Even if it costs me a bullet or two..."
...

A/N: I know, kinda short, but I hope you all liked it. I've ran out of pre-written chapters, so I'm having to write every chapter as I go now, but I know where it's gonna go :-)

Reviews make me giddy, so please leave one and tell me what you all think. Thank you :-)