After the men left, Dan and Amy left the money for the bill and left immediately. They got outside as the car turned at the alleyway. Dan broke out into a sprint, and Amy tried her best to keep up. His long legs, however, were much more used to running than hers.

"Where'd they go?" he asked, panting as he stopped to take a rest.

"I don't know," she replied shortly, her voice restricted, tired. "Wait, I see their headlights. That way." She started jogging towards the light, Dan walking quickly behind her.

"I don't see them" Dan said, squinting through the darkness. "I think we lost them."

Amy sighed. "I told you this was a bad idea," she muttered, putting her hands on top of her head as she caught her breath.

"A very bad idea," a new but familiar voice interjected.

Amy held her breath. They were caught - again - and by the same person. "We were -" Dan tried explaining but was caught off.

"Lost?" the man asked, as if expecting it. "Are you ever not?" His voice was mocking and cold. He was no longer going to be fooled by these two - whoever they were.

"This is our second time," Dan tried arguing.

"But her third," he said, nodding towards Amy.

She gulped as Dan turned to look at her. "What do you mean?" he asked, looking at his sister rather than the man, however.

"I caught her around one of the entrances the other night, as if you didn't know," he sneered. "She claimed to be lost. I figured she was much too weak to be a threat." He paused, glaring at her through the darkness, which made her shiver involuntarily. "But I guess I was wrong."

Dan turned back to the stranger. He looked dejected now, as if he knew their end was coming and there was no way to lie their way out of it. "What are you going to do with us?" he snapped, irritated at himself for giving up so easily. "Kill us?"

Amy held back a gasp. What was Dan doing?

"I'm supposed to," he admitted. "But -"

"You three!" someone shouted from behind them. The stranger - although he wasn't exactly a stranger after three consecutive meetings - turned around.

"I'm handling it," he snapped back at them.

A group of men approached them, further aggitating the man in front of them. In the moonlight, Amy saw as his dark eyes set in determination. It was as if he had something to prove.

"I don't think so," one of them sneered.

"We're going to have to put the three of you into lockdown," another said, his voice cold and emotionless.

"What?" the man demanded. "What do you mean? I wasn't even doing anything?"

They shook their heads. "You can't be trusted."

"I've been a Vesper all my life, and I still am treated as a foreigner," he snarled.

The group was silent for a moment then went on to grabbing them roughly. Dan tried protesting a bit, while Amy decided it would hurt less to not struggle under their strong hold. Ian, however, wouldn't go down without a fight.

"What are you doing?" he yelled, breaking free once. "You can't just lock me away!"

"Don't make a scene, Ian," one of them scowled.

Dan and Amy's eyes locked at the sound of his name.

"I've spent all of my life fighting for the Vespers! Why would I betray them?" he demanded, frustrated and confused. "Why am I the suspect?"

"I told you," someone suddenly said. "I told you to kill them the next time you saw them."

"Kyle -"

"But you obviously hesitated or something, therefore making you a suspect," he finished. "That's why we have to take you down."

"I was going to!" he insisted. "I just wanted to talk to them!"

Realizing he wouldn't stop fighting, one of the men injected something into his system. Amy and Dan couldn't make it out, but they knew its purpose: to numb Ian.

Suddenly, their mission had gotten ten times more complicated. Not only were they captured - and maybe soon to be killed, even - but they had found one of the most important Lucian agents that had gone missing with his mother years ago. And not only did he not remember being a Cahill, but he was sure that he was a Vesper.

After they were thrown into dark cells, each seperated by cold, steel bars, Dan and Amy sat, staring at Ian's unconcious body.

"Do you think it's really him?" Amy finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Probably," Dan answered. "No one's as persistent as a Kabra."

"Or evil," she murmured under her breath.

"What is he doing here?" he asked, still baffled by the sight laid in front of him. "I mean, now that my guess was right, I can't help but be confused. Why does he think he's a Vesper?"

Amy thought about it before reaching a conclusion. "The Vespers are known for their brainwash. They can convince an innocent man to admit to murdering ten different men - men he's never even seen. Isabel probably took him here when she escaped, and they brainwashed him into thinking he's a Vesper."

"But why does he hate us then?" Dan asked. "He was a Cahill, too."

"He probably doesn't remember," Amy said with a shrug. "They could've pushed those memories to the back of his thoughts, or covered them completely with lies." She sat there on the cool tile floor, staring at his collapsed figure. "He's been missing for so long, and they probably repeatedly put him under the process. He probably only knows us as the enemy now, without any recollection of being a Cahill."

"Wouldn't he be confused that he doesn't remember anything from before being captured?" Dan persisted. It just didn't make sense to him. Maybe Ian going over knowingly made sense, but brainwash? It seemed unreal.

Amy shook her head. "Like I said, they could make it so that he wouldn't even wonder about his prior years. Or they could cover them with lies of a fake childhood." She saw Dan's horrified face and nodded somberly. "They're that powerful."

"Well, this is going to be one wild story to tell the others when we get back," Dan muttered, leaning back, tired.

"If you ever get out," Ian's harsh voice rang through the cell. "I can only hope that never happens."

A/N: If you're wondering why the Vespers were so insistent in punishing Ian, even though he was only talking to the Cahills - and not nicely either -, it's because they all know that Ian was a Cahill. Obviously, they thought he might have regained his memory and was conspiring against the Vespers, which is why they put him away. But Ian doesn't have a clue.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it. Please point out any mistakes. :)