Chapter 11 up! I can't believe how long this fic is getting. Anyway, reviews would be appreciated!! As I've said so many times before! Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed to every chapter! Sit back, and enjjoy...

Li was released from the hospital when the others left. Saying their goodbyes to Paulo, she left along with Alex and Amber and waited outside for the taxi. It was getting dark and beginning to drizzle.

Li shivered violently and hugged herself tightly, pulling her thin jacket over her shoulders. Next to her, Amber did the same. The streets were a lot less busy than theyhad been earlier, and a few people could be seen hurrying past or running quickly to their cars with their hands over their heads in order to stop themselves getting too wet. The London Eye was slowly revolving in the distance, with its lights shining brightly but slightly blurred through the rain.

The sound of tyres splashing through puddles broke the silence, and the black taxi pulled up beside the three of them. The passenger door was pushed open and the driver poked his head up at them.

"In you get then!" He called, and sat back in his seat. This time Alex nicked the front seat and Li and Amber climbed in the back, Where to?"

Alex gave the name of their hotel, and the taxi man nodded and pulled out quickly. "It was really sensible of you guys to get a taxi at this time of night. , and r -" The taxi driver remarked.

"We don't wanna know." Amber shivered.

"Well, I was just warning you. Keep off these streets when its dark. You never know what's out there.

By the time they pulled up in front of the hotel, it was raining hard. Li ran out quickly to the front door, and Alex got out with his arms above his head and opened Amber's door.

"Come on!" He yelled to be heard through the pounding of the rain on the metal roof of the taxi. Amber looked up at him, with an almost scared look on her face.

"Can't we get any closer? I'm gonna get wet from this distance." Alex took a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact that with every second Amber stayed in the car he got a bit more wet himself.

"OK, then. I'm going in." He said. Leaving the door open, he ran back inside to join Li in the warmth of the lounge. Amber sighed.

"You better get out, love. I'm not waiting all day." The taxi man leaned around to face Amber. She took off her jacket and, holding it above her head, ran to Li and Alex.

By the time Hex finished visiting his mum, it was too late to find a taxi home. Besides, his call time was really expensive after ten o'clock. With his mum in the state she was, he didn't entirely trust her to drive safely. Remembering his house was only a mile from the hotel, he decided to run home. Checking his palmtop was well and truly wrapped up and protected from the rain, he ran down the front garden and began making the journey back to the hotel.

He knew it wasn't safe to be out this late, but it was only a mile and he could probably get back within five or ten minutes. The streets were deserted now, except for the occasional man stumbling out of a pub too drunk to know what to do.

The rain was getting harder. Hex was finding it more and more difficult to see, and he suddenly slipped on a stone in the middle of the pavement. Crying out in pain and surprise, he hit the ground. Hex checked himself. He was fine, except his knees were cut and bleeding and his hands were grazed and sore from using them to sotp his fall. He quickly made sure his palmtop was OK, then searched round the ground for his mobile phone. Eventually he found it, but the shock from the fall had made it turn itself off, and the screen was cracked. Hex got up slowly and turned down the alleyway which led the shortcut through to the hotel.

As soon as he turned, he knew he should have waited and checked it was clear first. At the far end, silhouetted in the dim light from a nearby house, he could make out two giant men, trying hard not to be seen.

"What time is it?" said Amber impatiently. Li, Alex and herself were sitting in Li's room, waiting for Hex to return. For the tenth time, Alex checked his watch.

"Half past ten."

"What time did Hex leave?"

"Five o'clock."

"Shouldn't he be back by now?" Alex frowned and looked at his watch.

"He said it was only about a mile away, didn't he? That means he could easily walk back, if transport was unavailable. I'll give him a call." Alex dialled Hex's number, but it was switched off. Alex frowned.

"It's turned off!" He said, staring at the other two, "But we always have our phones on, even if on silent."

"Maybe it's out of battery, or he accidentally dropped it." Amber suggested. Alex shook his head.

"Hex wouldn't let something like that happen. Not if I know him.

Paulo smiled at the nurse who came in for a check up. She was a lot nicer than the older woman. She was attractive, and maybe only a couple years older than Paulo himself. She smiled back at him, showing off her perfect teeth. Paulo had always thought English girls sometimes looked funny, but this one completely disproved his theory. In fact, most of the girls he'd seen since they arrived in London had proved him wrong.

"And how are you feeling, Paulo?" She said, as she checkd his pulse.

"Fine, thanks. And yourself?"

"Lovely morning." The nurse replied. Paulo smiled again, one of his most winning. The nurse smiled again, this time slightly more hesitantly, and left the room. Paulo sighed with glee and sat back happily on his pillow. This is the life, he thought to himself. Suddenly his bedside phone ringing pulled him out of his dreamy state and he hastily hurried to answer it.

"Paulo?" Came the familiar voice of Alex, "Hex isn't with you, is he?" Paulo frowned.

"No. Why?" He said, twirling the springy cord around his fingers.

"He's not back yet, and he's been gone nearly six hours. We were just wondering if he dropped by to see you."

"Have you tried calling his home?"

"Nah, we were going to wait and see if he was with you first. I'll do that now, though."

"OK. Let me know." Paulo sighed again and hung up, but this time it wasn't quite of bliss.

Amber and Li waited anxiously for Alex's response. When he shook his head at them hopelessly, they knew immediately what the answer was.

"He could still be at home, remember." Alex said, trying to reassure the two girls. He found Hex's home number in his phonebook and called it. Amber knew he was trying to be hopeful, but she couldn't help remembering what the taxi driver had said earlier..."A lot of young people your age don't bother, and then they're the ones who become victims of crime. Like mugging, kidnapping, drugs..."

Surely Hex would know better than to wander the streets at night? He had been living here all his life, and he was usually the one who knew most about stuff like this. Amber bit her lower lip and tried to push her thoughts to the back of her mind.

After a few seconds, Hex's mum picked up the phone. Amber listened to Alex's answers, and it was obvious what was going on.

"Hello? Can I speak to Hex please? OK, no worries. Thanks, bye." Alex sighed and hung up. "I didn't want to worry her by telling her that we don't know where he is. I guess she's got enough on her mind." Amber nodded.

"Where the hell is he, then? Try calling again."

Hex quickly ducked behind a green bin to watch the two men. He knew that if they saw him, they'd probably try to get rid of him. He strained to hear the conversation over the sound of the rain, and caught a glimpse of their dark forms.

"...got to move. I'm pretty sure they knew."

"How do you know?"

"They asked for you! They gave me your name and said you were a friend of theirs. Somehow they know you're staying here."

The larger man swore fiercely. Hex bit his lip. That man must be Brody, and the other must be the hotel manager. He glared at Brody's back. It was a foolish schoolboy gesture, but it was the only way he could express his anger at the man who took his younger brother in the current situation. If things were different, he thought, I'd go out there and beat him up myself. And I'd have Paulo behind me, too. Hex grinned in spite of himself.

"We'll have to move them both. The kid and the man with the money. Once we're somewhere else we can carry on." Hex had heard enough. Now they knew for sure that Ben and Jack were definately together, and it assured him to know that Ben wasn't alone. He realised that it might be a good idea to follow Brody back to wherever he was keeping Ben and Jack, but he couldn't do it on his own. No matter how he felt about it, he knew it was dangerous and foolish to do something like that.

Silently he crept up to a nearby doorway to shelter from the rain and got out his phone. After a few valuable seconds, he managed to switch it back on and quickly dialled Amber's number.

Amber jumped when her phone vibrated in her back pocket. Hope suddenly filled her, and she grabbed it and answered it immediately.

"Amber?" Came Hex's voice. Amber sighed with relief and signalled to Alex and Li that he was OK.

"Yeah, that's me. Where the hell are you?"

Hex's voice was hushed. Quickly he related to her his current situation and Amber's eyes grew wider with every sentence he said. "OK, we'll be right over - " Hex suddenly swore, cutting her off.

"They're coming. Gotta go." He whispered, and hung up.

Hex darted round another corner to watch the men go. Tempting as it was, he knew it was too dangerous to follow them. Even so, he watched them go in a general direction before coming out of his hiding place and heading back to Alex, Amber and Li.

They were all sat up waiting for him when he returned. He gave them a grim smile before perching himself on Li's windowsill.

"They're definately both together, Jack and Ben. They mentioned it. They also mentioned moving someplace else." He said, picking at a stray bit of paint on the wall.

"Moving again? That's not so good," Amber remarked. Hex nodded grimly. Alex grinned cheesily.

"Maybe it's in Northumberland, or Argentina. Or maybe even China." He said. Amber and Li laughed out loud and Hex shook his head.

"Thank God," he said, "I hope it's miles away." Amber laughed again.

"What did take you so long anyway?" She said. Hex shrugged.

"Lost track of the time," he replied, telling the absolute truth.

"Anyway... more to the point... we should act fast if they're going to move soon. And especially as we don't know where they're going to go. But I'm just sooo tired..." Li yawned, cutting off the rest of her sentence.

"You're right," Alex said, "We should all get some sleep. Tomorrow - " he said, aiming a glance at Hex - "we can go to the hotel we found and hopefully follow them somewhere." Hex nodded, and sloped of to bed. A couple seconds later he was followed by Amber and Alex.

Paulo had a restless night. His head was hurting like hell and he just wanted to get out, to be with the others again. Sure, he thought, the nurses were nice enough. He grinned to himself when he remembered the young one who'd come in earlier. But none of them were as nice as Li. Or even Amber. He longed to be back with his friends again./

Almost on cue, the nurse entered again. Paulo quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He listened as she busied herself about his bed, making sure everything was OK.

Then she left, and Paulo relaxed. He wondered if Hex was back yet. He decided to call Alex and find out. Using his bedside phone, he called the hotel, not even caring what time it was./He was so bored, he didn't have anything else to do. And besides, Alex had said he'd let him know if Hex returned, and if Hex hadn't returned yet then Alex would still be up now. Probably.

After a minute arguing mildly with the hotel manager, he was put through to Alex. Alex didn't sound happy. After a few minutes, Alex explained that yes, Hex had returned, and yes, he was sorry he didn't call earlier but he'd forgotten. Satisfied, Paulo leaned back on his pillow and looked at the clock. It was 3:15am. He grinned contentedly and sighed. Maybe he should try and sleep now. If he got out of hospital tomorrow, they'd be having a big day.

Alex's alarm clock rang at 6:30 the next morning. He knew it was early, and he knew for sure that Amber wouldn't be happy, but they had a long day ahead of them. If they wanted to get to Jack and Ben before they moved on, they would have to act fast.

Half an hour later he met the other three in the downstaits cafe for breakfast. Amber was scowling and moaning continuously about having to get up so early, while Li smiled secretly to herself and Hex sat, looking bored and restless.

"Oh my gosh, you guys. So I was asleep having this great dream, and then Li comes bounding in singing 'Rise and shine...' even though its raining, and suddenly I have to be down here! I didn't even get a chance to shower." Li laughed.

"Get used to it, Amber. I was born in London, you know." She grinned. Before she was born, Li's parents had been zoologists travelling the world, and they just happened to be in London when Li was born. Once she'd grown up a bit, they continued their work.

"What?" Hex stared.

"Yeah. I was born here but it was before all the big stuff came around, like the London Eye and stuff. But we moved before I was four. I can't really remember it. Although - can we go to Harrods sometime? I have a few vague memories of that place."

Hex shrugged. "When's Paulo allowed out?"

"We can go see him on the way to Jack and Ben's place. If he's allowed out then, we'll take him." Alex said, setting his glass of orange juice down on the table.

"Jolly good," said Li, clapping her hands together and standing up."Shall we be off, then, fellows?"

"Can't I just go and do my hair properly? I won't be a minute." Amber whined, and dashed up to her room before the others had a chance to protest.

"Meet you outside!" Alex called. The other three made their way to the payphone just outside the front door and Hex called a taxi. Ten minutes later they were joined by Amber, and five minutes after that a black taxi pulled up beside them.

"Hop in," called the driver. Hex could have sworn he recognised his voice from somewhere, but he was too tired to place it. He climbed in the back between Amber and Alex while Li grabbed the front seat.

"Where are you guys off to?" asked the man. Hex noticed he had an American accent, but so? A lot of taxi drivers were from abroad, as it was easy work to get.

Alex gave the name of the hospital.

The taxi man nodded. Hex glanced at the man's reflection in the mirror. He was wearing dark sunglasses. Because he was in the middle seat, it looked as though the man was looking straight at him when he looked in the mirror. Hex narrowed his eyes and tried to place where he recognised the man from. He had short blond hair and a wide set jaw, and his voice was strangely familiar. But Hex still couldn't place him.

They turned a violent right and Amber was thrown up against Hex.

"Sorry," she muttered, picking herself up and sitting upright. Hex coughed and rubbed his shoulder.

Li also thought she recognised him, and she discreetly studied his profile when he wasn't looking. If only they knew where he was from, she thought.

"Morning, Paulo!" called his nurse cheerfully when she came in the next morning. Paulo replied as she walked over to the window. She smiled and spread them apart to reveal a beautiful view... rain upon rain upon rain. Paulo shook himself mentally and reminded himself not to let his imagination get carried away with him.

"You're allowed home today, if you want. Just take it easy, OK? And I might not see you before you leave, so if not..."

"Really?" Paulo was shocked. The nurse nodded. He smiled. He'd never learnt her name. "OK. Thanks for everything." He said, and gave his most winning smile again. The nurse smiled again/

"It was a pleasure." She said, and turned and walked out the door. Paulo wondered when the others would come.

The other four members left the taxi man waiting outside and located Paulo's room. Paulo was up and dressed, waiting for their arrival. Li gave a whoop of delight and ran up to Paulo, throwing her arms around his neck. Alex grinned.

"You feeling OK?" He said, glad to see how well Paulo was looking, once Li had released her grip.

Paulo smiled. "Yup. Never been better." After greeting Hex and Amber, he followed the others to the parking lot, where the taxi was quickly turning around. Hex took this opportunity to talk to the others about his suspicion.

"Not sure if this was just me," he said, "but did any of you recognise the driver?"

"Yes," Li said immediately, "I think we should be careful with what we say around him." Hex nodded, and Amber and Alex agreed along with Paulo.

When the taxi man returned, they all jumped in.

"Where to now?" He said, looking at Alex in the passenger seat. Alex squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of the man's eyes behing the dark glasses. He then gave the name of the suspected hotel, and the man grinned widely. He flicked the childlock switch. Slowly he removed his glasses and looked at each of his five passengers in turn.

"Sure thing," he drawled, "I'll take you there whether you like it or not!"

It hit all five of them at the same time.

The man opened the glove compartment and pulled out a gun. "And don't you go trying anything stupid, OK?" He pointed the gun at Alex, "Or it's goodbye to young blondie here."

It was the same taxi driver who had driven them to 31 Kindle Road, all that time ago.

Oh I'm so eevil... it's been so exciting with all these new fics coming up that I decided I had some competition! Please review. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Review me and I'll review you?

Spinkle22 :P