Hello, hello. Thank you for reading and reviewing, my fellow readers! Here's the new chapter.

Staring at the dark-furred creature, Sam burst out laughing.

A raccoon, he told himself and leaned back with great relief, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Just a damned stupid raccoon, nothing more. Nearly caused me a coronary. Little idiot.

Tilting its head to the side, the animal stared back at the human in avid curiosity. Sniffing the air, it then crept closer forward.

Sam went perfectly still when the raccoon climbed up his legs, the sharp odor of its damp fur prickling his nose.

Whoa! What the—

Baring its teeth at the human, the raccoon began to paw at the front pocket of Sam's jeans, causing him to jerk.

Son of a bitch! Get off me, you mangy cur!

Ignoring Sam's muffled cries, the small beast continued to dig around in his pocket. He could feel the sharpness of its claws even through the thick fabric, leaving scratch marks on his thigh. It stung like hell. On top of that, Sam also worried that the animal could be rabid.

What if it bit me? he wondered, trying without success to shake the raccoon off him.

With a gleeful hiss, the raccoon finally pulled out his hand and loped away. Wrapped within its small fist was the bar of 'Snickers' that Sam had purchased from the HQ's vending machine earlier in the evening. He had stuffed it inside his jeans and then completely forgotten about it when he went running after Jules.

"Hey!" he yelled as loud as the gag would allow, "Give me back my Snickers!"

He should have saved his breath because the raccoon had quickly vanished into the dark, the sound of breaking twigs the only sign of its hasty departure.

"Thief!"

Sam was so angry he let out a long scream of outrage. A full minute later, he slowly calmed down and sat slump against the tree, stunned.

Unbelievable! Robbed by a fellow human was one thing, but by an animal? On the same damn night? Maybe Jules has put a curse on me or something, he wearily thought. And god knows I deserve it.

No other thieves, human or otherwise, robbed him afterwards. Still, for precautions he quickly looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. He noticed a broken tree branch lying just a yard away. It didn't look lethal enough to be an effective defense tool, but it would have to do.

Extending his legs, Sam used his toes to bump the branch closer towards him until he could clutch the thing between his bound feet. Then he sat there and waited. If any raccoons or other vexing creatures come to bother him again, he would cheerfully use the branch to whack them over the head!

"Are you sure, Spike? You really haven't seen him?" Jules pressed again.

On the other line, the team's computer wizard audibly sighed. "Of course, I'm sure. And I know how Samuel W. Braddock looks like. He's this handsome blue-eyed blonde who does yoga or reads Jim Butcher's in his free time. So, yeah, I would know if I had seen him."

"Spike, I'm serious," she snapped. "If Sam's there with you, tell him to switch on his phone and return my calls, okay? And tell him to stop being such an ass!"

"Jules, I'm serious too. Sam is not here."

"But he always runs to you for backup whenever he stuck his foot in his mouth. You're his loyal accomplice."

A short silence from Spike, followed by, "Well, there's that, but…I'm not lying here, Jules. I haven't seen Sam since yesterday's shift, I swear. I would have told you if I had."

Suddenly disheartened, Jules sat down on her bed and grew quiet. Now things were looking more and more in her disfavor.

The moment she woke up that morning, she had called Sam a dozen times with the same result. It all went to his voice mail. Reluctantly, she figured out why Sam was giving her the silent treatment. He had an apt reason to be angry. Looking back, she realized that she might have gone a bit too far when she kicked him in the groin. No sane man, boyfriend or not, would appreciate that.

And so she had decided to call Spike, Sam's regular partner-in-crime. Those two had become so tight lately that she even suspected they went out dating together behind her back. Still, no dice. Like Spike said, he hadn't seen Sam.

"Hey, Jules. You guys fighting?" Spike softly asked.

"Why is everyone keep saying that? We are not fighting! It's just a disagreement. And who told you?"

He chuckled. "Ed called me, gave me a heads up. He was with the Boss when they saw the Brallaghan's short drama in the parking lot."

Brallaghan? Jules groaned. Who do they think we are, Brangelina knock-off?

"You guys are a bunch of gossiping old hags, you know that?" she retorted. "Go watch E-News or The Kardashians, why don't you?"

Spike just laughed. "Not as interesting as watching you guys driving each other crazy."

"You're a riot." Jules rolled her eyes and ended the call.

Glaring at her phone, Jules then thought of calling Sam's sister. Natalie had moved out of his apartment months ago, but she frequently dropped by to eat dinner with him. She might know what was going on with her stubborn brother. However, Natalie was highly protective of him. She would always take his side of things, no matter what. And God knows when the Braddocks' shield was up, nothing short of a nuclear explosion could bring it down.

Mr. Callaghan suddenly appeared at the doorway. "Hey, Jules. You're ready to go?"

Jules looked up, puzzled. "Ready to go where, Daddy?"

"We planned this last night, remember? We're going to see your Mom this morning."

"Oh, right. I'm so sorry for keeping you," said Jules, feeling slightly guilty for almost forgetting her promise to accompany him to visit her mother's grave that day. "Why don't you wait in the car, Daddy? I'll be over shortly."

"Okay," he replied with a frown. "Is everything alright, sweetheart?"

"Um…yeah. Sure."

"You don't sound like it. Your boyfriend still giving you trouble?"

"No, nothing like that. I can't get ahold of him, that's all."

"Then dump him."

She gaped at him. "Daddy!"

"What?"

"I've already dumped him once. I'm not dumping him again."

"Why not?"

"Well, because…" She narrowed her eyes at her father's big knowing grin. Snatching her purse, she then headed for the door. "You know what? I'm not gonna waste my time fretting over him. Let's go see Mom now."

He laughed. "You go girl."

Of all the drawback of being tied up, nothing beats the inability to answer the urgent call of nature.

Sam squirmed in great discomfort. He woke up to a bright sunshiny day…and a very full bladder. He had been holding his water for such long hours he thought he would burst. He didn't think he could hold it any longer. Sooner or later, he would have to let go.

And so, though terribly mortified, he did just that. The crotch of his jeans was quickly soaked through, embarrassing him even more. The last time he had peed in his pants was over twenty years ago. He was about ten at the time, visiting the local zoo with a group from school.

It had all started at the reptile exhibit. A snake handler was showcasing an albino python to the visitors when the man playfully draped the snake over young Sam's shoulders. That was when Sam first knew he suffered ophiophobia, a fear of snake. He shrieked so loud that his fellow schoolmates also ran off screaming. The excursion had been instantly cut short, for he could no longer walk around in soiled pants.

As Sam grew older, his phobia slowly receded. He still broke into sweats whenever he came across that particular reptile, even if it were simply a documentary featured on TV. During his stint in Kandahar, twice he stumbled upon a sidewinder. He didn't actually run away shrieking, but he was certainly not laughing when he shot them dead. At least he had stopped peeing in his pants.

Until now.

Overcame by shame so deep, Sam suddenly got angry. He was furious from his total indignity, his complete haplessness. Yanking against his bonds, he roared out his rage. He cursed the taxi driver, over and over. He cursed his own sloppiness and stupidity for letting all this to happen. On and on he went, screaming at the surrounding woods.

As the human continued to go berserk under the tree, a lone raccoon looked on with a sneer on its face, amused.

After his phone conversation with Jules, Spike had decided to check on Sam at his apartment. Expecting Sam to be home, he grew concern when the other man didn't respond to the doorbell. Spike pressed the bell again. As before, it went unanswered. And so he knocked, calling out Sam's name repeatedly.

Still no reply.

Before taking out his lock pick set, Spike gave his surroundings a cursory look. Assured that the hallway was clear, he expertly worked on the lock. Seconds later he was in. He quickly went through every room but found no trace of his friend. What truly puzzled him was there were no obvious signs that Sam had returned home last night. The bed was still precisely made, military style. No dirty clothes lying around. No leftover food on the counter.

Spike wouldn't deny that his teammate was basically a neat and orderly person, but there should be at least an indication that he had used the shower that morning. Instead, the floor and glass doors of the shower stall were completely dry. The bathroom itself looked undisturbed with no lingering scent of Sam's favorite shampoo or aftershave.

Strange, Spike thought with a frown. If he's not here and not with Jules, where in the world would he be?

Taking out his cellphone, Spike dialed up a number. It was immediately answered.

"Spike, hi."

"Hey, Nat. Sorry to bother you."

"You're no bother at all, Spike. You know that. How're you doing?"

"I'm fine, I'm great. Umm…I'm calling to know if your brother's with you."

"Sam?"

"You have a brother other than Sam?"

He heard her laughing. "Of course not, silly. Well, I haven't seen him for days. Besides, I'm with the parents here in Ottawa. The General's orders."

Spike winced. "Ouch. What have you done now?"

"Nothing. Which means, I didn't do exactly what he told me to do," she replied, laughing all the harder. "Don't worry about him. I can handle my Dad."

"Yeah, I bet."

"So, what's wrong with Sam? Why are you looking for him? Aren't you supposed to see him at work?"

"Team One is off duty the entire weekend. Something's wrong with his phone. I can't get through to him. And no one seems to know where he is."

"You think he's in trouble?" Natalie sounded anxious.

"Oh, no no. I believe he's fine, just unreachable for the time being. You know how your brother is. Look, I don't mean to make you worry, Nat. I'm sure he's off somewhere amusing himself."

"I thought he's with Jules."

"Well, he pissed her off big time yesterday. So go figure."

"Ah, I see. Anyway, just let me know if you see him, okay?"

"Will do. Talk to you later, Nat."

Pocketing his phone, Spike gave Sam's apartment another once over. Nothing seemed to be out of place, except for the owner.

Where the hell is he?

Hours slowly crept on.

Due to sheer exhaustion, Sam started to nod off in the afternoon heat. But he briskly shook himself awake when he was besieged by strange erratic dreams. Unfortunately, staying awake also meant painfully aware of his suffering. His belly was rumbling with hunger. He felt so thirsty that it even hurt to swallow, so parch his throat was. And the gag was not helping him any. After that screaming frenzy, both corners of his mouth were now chafing and bleeding.

Sam wearily shook his head, feeling sorry for himself. He honestly didn't know how long he could endure the growing torture. He knew that a human body as fit as his can survive about eight to fourteen days without food or water, but what of his mind? He was certain that he would be driven to madness even before the day ended.

Testing his bonds for the umpteenth time, he whimpered as he felt the sharp biting sting against his already battered wrists. He stared at his bare feet, which still clutched the stupid branch. They looked awfully pale. He bet his face didn't look all that rosy either.

This brought his mind to Jules' lovely features. She rarely put on any make-up, yet somehow her high cheekbones always had colors on them, particularly when she laughed or when she was pissed. Especially when she was pissed

Thinking about Jules, Sam felt a stab of remorse for jerking her chain earlier. If he had not provoked her with his stupid comments, making her mad, he wouldn't have been in this predicament. He brought all this onto himself. There was no one else to blame.

I'm sorry, Jules. I was such a jerk.

With those thoughts, Sam then made a vow to himself. No matter what hardship he would face within the following hours or most possibly days, he would not give up hope. He would remain resilient and stoic. He would persevere until he was finally found and rescued.

He would continue to stay alive so that he could personally apologize to her.

TBC...

See? I'm kind enough not to leave that at a cliffie this time. ^_^

p/s : Has snybody seen the trailer to the new Bourne movie? Ooh, I just can't wait. Jeremy Renner is freaking awesome!