Sorry for the long wait. I got distracted by a pretty boy with an English accent. I hope you like this chapter!

Callie came awake in stages. First, came the groggy awareness that something was not right. The second stage began when her brain kicked in and let her know that her body was not quiet up to tip top shape, with the blinding pain that put spots in her eyes when she opened briefly in shock of first registering the pain. And finally the third stage and her least favourite; nausea due to the nasty amount of pain she was feeling. Callie clamped down her mouth as she felt the familiar feeling of dry heaving followed by the acidy taste in her mouth as she fought to keep down what little her stomach had not already digested.

Her face felt like it was on fire as she cautiously rolled to her side, stretching her hand out to try to push her self up to a sitting position. She crumbled, back onto the floor in a heap as a fresh way of pain rolled over her body. Once she realized she wasn't going away where too soon, she rolled onto her back. She raised one hand up to her face, feeling the right side of her face all puffed up. The bottom of her face was covered in dried caked on blood from her nose and the spilt lip she was sporting. Her throat burned like the fires of hell, and when she touched it she bit off a moan of pain.

Callie forced her eyes open, and she swore she saw the little yellow canary that always pops up on the Bugs and Tweety Show, fly around her head. She closed her eyes again and opened them. Tweety was gone but she still saw spots dancing in her vision.

"So, sleeping beauty awakes."

Callie turned her head slowly and squinted hard to focus in on a blurrily outline of what she thought was Duke, you know considering that it was the safest bet seeing that he was still tied to a chair and all.

"Where's Max?" Callie's questions came out more like a frog's croak would sound like. She had to repeat the question several times in order for Duke to understand her.

"The mangy horse with shark teeth that you brought in?"

"Who the fuck you callin mangy?" snapped Callie glaring at him the best she could. " That dog happens to be a pure breed bull massif buddy and a better person then you to boot. Where the fuck is he?"

" I think Anderson took him out of the room after he dropped you like a sack of potatoes. " Duke replied as he watched her close her eyes again and bite her lip. She looked pretty beat up. Her wind breaker was ripped, he suppose it happened during the scrap with Markus or it could have happened when Anderson put the boots to her after she blacked out. The only thing he could do while watching the big douche lay into her lifeless body was scream at him. And that only earned him a couple more smacks in the face.

Callie laid there for a moment, feeling the dread wash over her. The fear for Max, ate at her insides at an astonishing speed. The guilt of letting him down, failing to protect him from harm burned at her. Then finally came the white hot rage towards the man that hurt Max.

You could beat her to a bloody pulp but if you valued you life, you didn't fuck with her dog. She was suppose to protect Max, he had suffered enough through his short life. She was suppose to prevent this from ever happening again.

Callaghan rule; when someone fucks with you and yours, you fucked them twice over; then you go to work on them.

Callie thought to her self grimly, she intended to make her mama proud with the vengeance she was about reek on poor dumb Anderson and his buddy's.

Callie clenched her teeth together so hard she thought she was going to crack as she rolled back on to her back and forced her self to a sitting position then a standing one. She wobbled for a minute, half sure she was going to throw up her dinner or end up face down on the floor again. But she held her ground, and stayed on her feet.

"Where did my glasses end up?" Callie tried to look at Duke but her eyes were having problems focusing.

"In the corner over there I think."

"Stupid question," Callie looked behind her shoulder as she shuffled her way over to the corner Duke mentioned.

"You want to know why I am being held on my own boat by three complete idiots? It's simple really, I in import and export business. And at times, I might bend the rules on what's considered illegal material for concerned parties with the right amount liquid funds so to speak." Duke cut off the rest of Callie's question, thinking he already knew what she was going to ask." And these fine gentleman and I use that term loosely, think I have something that they want."

"Do you?"

The question hung in the air for a moment before Duke answered it.

"I have a box that I am importing for a friend of mine." Duke said looking at her as she found her glasses. " And, I can assure you, that friend is not among one of them."

"What was your great big plan, Crocker?" asked Callie as she placed her glasses on her face. The frames were a little bent, but she was pleased that the lenses weren't cracked. She really didn't have the money to get them fixed and it wasn't like she had a health care plan. Let's be real here, she didn't even have an id that had her birth name on it.

"I had one." Duke scowled at her, as she shuffled her way over to him. " And it didn't involve you charging in a playing white knight that's for sure."

"You don't do the damsel in distress well do you, Crocker?" Callie bent down, cursing softly under her breath at the pain it caused. She look at the knots that were keeping Duke tied to the chair. There was no way she was going to be able to get him free with just her hands.

"I, am hardly a damsel in distress." Duke assured her as he felt her cool hands touch his arms just above where his hands were tied. He had lost feeling in the hours ago, but he could still feel above the wrist, and he liked the way her small hands felt on his skin.

"Says the man tied to the chair." Callie smirked, torn lip panging with the effort. " You wouldn't, you know just happen to have a knife lying around this junk heap do you?"

"Junk heap? Watch you mouth, little girl." Duke was insulted. Sure his boat wasn't the most expensive but she was sea worthy and tested. A little rust added character, and he himself had fixed every dent, crack and broken valve on her. He was quiet protective of the only lady in his life.

"Or what, Crocker?" asked Callie as she moved around to face him. " Your going to magically going to get yourself untied and what, spank me? Hardly. You didn't have shit, and you know it."

" Didn't figure you liked that kind of kink, neighbour." Duke gave her a crooked grin " But I'm happy to oblige."

"So I've been told." Callie confirmed, giving him her own crooked grin. "Now, my actual question was I attempting to ask you before you interrupted me with your 'It's no their box' speal'"

"But it's not!"

"Does it look like I fucking care?" Callie looked at him," Cause I really don't. Are we moving? Or is that just my head messing me?"

"They left the dock a couple hours ago." Duke told her, as she sat down on her knees and bent over to check on the knots that held his legs to the chair. "Don't sit yet. I need you to get up and go over to that wall over there."

Duke nudged his head towards the left wall.

"Are you serious?" Callie was answered with silence. She frowned, and got up with much pain. She slowly walked over to the wall that he indicated. "Of course you would be."

"Run your hands over the paneling." Duke instructed, as he watched her with one eye. " No, over a bit more, to the right. That's it. Feel that seam? Push hard on it."

Callie felt a small seam, with her fingers. It ran length wise down to the floor. She pushed hard, but nothing happened. She turned to look at Duke with a look of expectation.

"That's a girl." Duke nodded, " Now slide the panel over to the left."

Callie placed her hands back on the panel and did as she was told. She was surprised to feel the panel give away, and slid to the left to reveal a sawed of shotgun, two hand guns, shells for each gun and a machete.

"Expecting friends I see."

"You can never been to careful in my line of business." Duke watched her pick up one hand gun, his 9mm and load the weapon with a familiarness he would not have expected of her. She clicked off the safety, holding the gun in her hand she picked up the machete with the other.

"Clearly." Callie made her way back over to Duke. She placed the gun beside her as she crotched down beside the back of his chair. Callie braced the tip of the blade against the rope at the base of his left wrist and began to saw. She ground her teeth together and held her breath when the pain from the jerky movements blinded her for a moment. The knife slipped and nicked Duke's arm. The watched as the thin cut welled with blood and bleed out.

"Do you think it is too much to ask, for you not to cut off my hand?" Duke hissed as he tried to turn his head enough to glare at her.

"Would you like to do this?" Callie shot back, glaring at the side of back of Duke's head. " Oh, wait, that's right, you can't."

"Why don't you do that freaky hand shit you did before?

Callie breathed in hard and closed her eyes. Well, she in the shit now, wasn't she? He was never suppose to see her use her power. Every part of her survival instinct, screamed at her to stand up and press the barrel of 9mm to the back of his head and pull the trigger.

The only good witness was a dead one.

And if she didn't kill him, there was a long list of people who would. At least death by her hand, would be quick and merciful.

"I think you got knocked around more then you think." Callie said as she started to cut the rope again. " Cause, I think your more then delusional, your talking crazy."

"I doubt that." Duke replied as he felt that godforsaken rope give way. His arms felt like dead weight as he stiffly pulled the around, from the back of the chair. He rubbed his hands together, trying to get feeling back into them. " I know what I saw, and you dear neighbour threw a man that out weighed you by at least 60 lbs into the air with nothing more then a push from you hand."

Callie stripped off her torn windbreaker, lifted up the bottom of her tank top that she slept in, and tucked the gun into the waist band of her trackers, at her back. She moved around Duke, til she was facing him. She crotched down and gave him a hard look as she took his hands from him. She took his right arm and started to massage feeling back into his arm, working down from the elbow to his hand.

"I need you to clear the cobwebs out of your head Crocker, and listen to me real good." Callie looked at him, with hard eyes. She reached up and brought his face real close to her own with on hand, the eye he could see out of was starring into her's unblinking. " You never saw anything. Your mind is playing tricks on you due to large amount of physical abuse it's sustained tonight. Do you understand, me?"

Duke starred down at Callie. Her face was so close to his, if he moved just a fraction of an inch downward, he would feel her plump lips on his. But considering he was sure, that he saw the thought of putting a bullet into his head cross her mind a few times, he really didn't think acting on his sexual impulses with her would keep him breathing any longer then sitting in that chair waiting for those idiots to make up their mind where to dump his body.

Duke said nothing, while Callie switched arms, and worked around his cut. It had stopped bleeding but was red with anger. He had started to get the painful pins and needle feeling back into his right arm, and he flexed his hand to help with the process.

"I know what I saw."

"If that's so, then a smart man wouldn't mention it again." Callie replied as she ducked her head, and stilling her movement. She looked up, glaring at him hard. " And a smarter man would have never mentioned it to begin with."

"I can help you." Duke lean down, reaching out to her, trying to pull her closer to him. " I know people."

"Crocker, feed that bullshit to someone who cares." hissed Callie as she moved away from him. She stood up and backed herself away from him, and the door. She reached around and grasped the handle of the gun, removing it from her pants. She held it at her side, in a silent warning. " You can't even help yourself."

Duke said nothing, clearly this was not the situation in which he had time to convince her, he meant no harm. After all, wasn't Haven the place where the troubled flocked? He stood and walked over to his secret hatch. He ran his hand down over the panel, before reaching in and grasping the shotgun. He loaded it with ease, then leaned it up against the wall. He loaded the other hand gun, checked the safety before placing it at the small of his back. He covered the gun with his shirt.

"It seems this is a conversation best had at another time, don't you think?" Duke asked her, giving her one of his trademark smirk's. " I was thinking dinner, tomorrow?"

"Your out of your freakin mind, Crocker." Callie stated. How in the hell did she get herself into this things? Small towns were suppose to be sleeping, boring and non eventful. This was not suppose to happen. She was suppose be able to disappear after Chicago. This was not disappearing.

"I was thinking, lamb shanks with asparagus, and a nice lemon sauce."

"I'm not going to be here tomorrow. " Callie put her finger on the trigger, and debate raising the gun and pulling the trigger. She could end it all right now, but that left her with an unseemly disadvantage with Duke's friends upstairs.

She needed him alive for the time being. And that ate at her.

"I think you are." Duke smiled as he cocked the shotgun. " You need to tie up loose ends, after all why would burn an good fake identity when you can just eliminate the paper trail."

"You realised that you just made yourself one of my loose ends?"

"I don't think you'll kill me." Duke moved towards her. His muscles were still stiff and screamed at him for the quickness he forced himself to move with. His long, lanky legs ate up the ground between him and Callie. " You need me, neighbour."

"For now." Callie held her ground as he crowded her. She would not take a step back, she refused be intimidated by him. " I need you for now."

"Well then, lets get this show on the road." Duke grinned at her. " I need to go shopping for lamb."

Callie glared at Duke's retreated back as he opened the door and left her standing in the room alone.

" I hate lamb." she muttered to no one as she followed him out the door.