It was an overcast rainy day. Jem walked through the streets of Charlestown to a small community ice rink to meet with his crew. They had a job coming up soon and plans still needed to be made. He opened the door with a loud squeak and walked up to his crew of Gloansy, Dez, and Doug. Doug held his head down low while Dez and Gloansy both avoided Jem's gaze, staring off into the middle of the rink. "Somebody fuckin' die or something?" Jem scoffed as he pulled a cigarette out of his pants pocket. Doug looked up at him, made a face and shook his head.

"Where you been the last 12 hours?" Doug asked seriously, crossing his arms.

"High, but the hell does it matter where I've been? You my fuckin' bitch now? Why do you care?"

"Hey, chill the fuck out," Doug quipped back. "I got somethin' serious to tell you. Now sit down and be serious. Ya fuckin' prick." Jem sat down on a part of the bleacher, but not before crossing his arms and shaking out his jacket.

"What has you all so eaten up and shit? Did Fergie finally die?"

"It's about Kate, Jem…" Doug stopped talking for a minute to evaluate his best friend's feelings. He knew she was a sensitive subject for him and it had been his fault Jem didn't see her for 10 years. Jem's eyes widened.

"Is she alright?" he sputtered, rising to his feet immediately. "Was she in an accident? Did someone try to kill her already?" He put his hands to hips and walked to the barrier of the rink. If he was going to cry he wasn't going to let anyone see. As much as he hated her, he didn't want her to die. Some part of him still hoped she had felt the same way.

"Someone kidnapped her from her room last night and murdered her bodyguard in their hotel room." He adjusted the weight on his feet. Hearing the words from Doug's mouth made his heart ache. He couldn't fight it as much as he wanted to, he was genuinely concerned. It scared the shit out of him to know he still felt that way even after the years of trying not to. His right hand aimlessly felt the outline of the silver cross pendant on his chest.

"Who did it?"

"We don't know yet, man. I'm sorry." Jem had never saved a girl more in his life. Most of the girls he used in Charlestown could handle themselves. Kate was the complete opposite. She was always so different them. He shook his head realizing that she had never changed. She was still a damsel in distress even nearing her 30's. He put his hands in his black track suit jacket before turning around to face his friends. He sniffed and looked into each of their faces.

"If we don't know what in the fuck are we doin' standin' around here with our thumbs up our asses?" Jem barked. He was angry Doug hadn't looked into it, because he came out of nowhere with news like that and no leads. "I want every assholes name that would do something like this, because you know they're from the fuckin' Town." He slammed the skating rink door open and walked down the street to the one person he knew would have anything to do with kidnapping a politician. Owen Finnegan.

Kate sat up slowly against a grimy coated wall. It was slippery and cold against her back. The floor was covered in gravel. It wasn't too cold, but it was uncomfortable to sit on. She could feel the cold through her nightgown. She cursed not grabbing something more to wear. The captors hadn't even offered her a blanket or towel, something to keep her from freezing. Her feet were beginning to turn a pale blue color. She shivered and ran her hands quickly against her arms. It was only the beginning of spring and in the middle 40's. "Just perfect," she breathed, staring at the empty room. There were no windows and only a small table and chair in the middle. The stairs sat on the opposite side of the room from her. Without even thinking she ran up the steps as quietly as possible and huddled up next to the warm wooden door. Heat poured through the crack between the door and the floor. She held her hands along the crack to feel as much warmth as possible. A board on the other side of the door squeaked causing her jump up in fear.

"What are we gonna do boys?" asked a voice. She crouched back down to try and look out of the crack. It was about half an inch, just enough for her to make out the soles of the men's shoes.

"Fuck, man, I have no idea. We were told to wait for a reward amount to be posted," answered another voice.

"Tom, I cannot wait for another day. That money don't come soon… she's dead," this first voice spoke. She felt the air escape her lungs. She had only been in office for a week and she was already wanted dead. There was no reasoning or excuse for it. All she had done was propose a harsher punishment on criminals from Charlestown, such as more community service or serving a short stint in the National Guard, something to keep the men from falling backwards.

"Goddamn Mike, it's only been 12 hours an' you're ready to off her, just like that? Grow a fuckin' pair, man. She's only a politician. She doesn't know nothin' about the lives of actual people, only those fancy rich fucks she deals with…"

"She's actually a lot closer to home than you think."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"She used to date Jem Coughlin," Mike explained calmly. Tom coughed and made a loud point of clearing his throat.

"I don't think I heard you right. What did you just say?"

"She knows all about this part 'uh town, Tom. She dated Jem just before his little stint in Walpole." The men moved around the room before sitting in two chairs.

"An' you think Jem is jus' gonna let his ex-girlfriend be kidnapped? Do you know what Jem Coughlin does to people who fuck with people he loves? Are you fuckin' retarded?" A smile crept up on Kate's lips thinking of Jem busting the door and tearing everyone down in the room just to save her. He should have been used to it after the time she was in high school…

"You know Jem is gonna come for you, right?" Kate asked with a smirk as the man, Bobby Harmon, handcuffed her to the radiator in his room.

"Not if he don't know where ya are," he said with confidence, tightening the handcuffs one more notch just because of her comment. Bobby was tired of playing second fiddle to Doug and Jem. He was always looked at as the reject in the Town. It was beginning to wear on his nerves. After a lot of thought he figured in some way that by kidnapping the toughest asshole's girlfriend in the city that he could make people respect him.

"He'll find me and then he'll kick your fuckin' ass all the way to the harbor." Bobby pulled back and smacked her across the mouth hard. It sent her hair flying. Her jaw ached in pain. She felt her blood fill her mouth. She spit the blood from her mouth and hung her head. He was tired of the bullshit that Jem Coughlin had caused. He was ready to make him pay.

"Talk to me like that again and I'll blow that pretty fuckin' face right the fuck off," he growled right beside her ear. "I'll make it so the only thing Jem leaves with is a dead fuckin' body." She tensed up and sank back to the radiator in defeat. It took a few hours. Bobby left her alone in the room to drink a few beers and jerk off to the pride he had felt. He wasn't interested in trying to have sex with Kate, because he wanted to be ready for Jem. He wouldn't be able to guard himself in the middle of sex. Around midnight the door downstairs was kicked open and Kate knew her Irish prince had arrived.

"Bobby fuckin' Harmon, get your degenerate ass out here now, Jem screamed with the voice of a hundred men. Kate listened as Bobby scrambled out of the room next to her and down the stairs. "I believe you have someone who belongs to me." A gun cocked and Kate heard more footsteps stomp into the house.

"Hey, Jem. We can talk about this," Bobby stuttered. A gun fell to the ground. Jem laughed hysterically almost manically.

"You-want…" he laughed harder "…to talk about-" he stopped talking. "I'm gonna beat your ass into a fuckin' coma." She heard a lot of shuffling and crashing. Doug yelled a few times with Gloansy and then all of the movement stopped. A pair of footsteps came up the stairs as they started yelling her name… She was saved.

"You came for me," she said with tears streaming down her eyes as he pulled the handcuffs from her wrists.

"Of course I did," Jem retorted with a smile. He held her to him and smiled, gently touching the tattoo on her shoulder. "What would I do without my lucky charm?" She smiled and kissed his cheek.

And yet, here she was captured again. She always felt so weak having to depend on Jem all of the time. It had been 10 years and yet here she was… in a cold basement in her nightgown with no idea why. "Shut your fuckin' mouth and show me some respect. Fergie is the one that told me to get her, scare her into resignin' an' movin' out of here. She'll fuck up all of our lives out here. We're jus' supposed to scare her for a bit an' release her when the money gets to the account."

"An' what if Jem shows up before we get the money, huh? Did your big fuckin' Einstein brain think of that scenario? What about Jem? You think he's just gonna sit on by and let her remain in captivity? She still has his fuckin' tattoo on her shoulder, Mike."

"Relax!" Mike yelled. "Re-fuckin'-lax. If Jem shows up, we'll kill that piece of shit." Kate crouched back down the steps and curled back up into the corner as the men talked. Jem would be there soon. She knew he would be. Even if he didn't, she knew Doug would. They wouldn't let her stay locked up like this. She shivered harder and watched her breath manifest in the air and disappear. This was by the far the worst condition she had been in in the four times she had been abducted. The door opened to the basement and a bowl and bottle of water was sat on the top step.

"Come eat up, bitch," yelled Tom as he slammed the door. She waited at the bottom step to make sure they were far away before climbing up to grab a small bag of chips and the bottle of water. Some meal. She didn't complain that she was being fed at least. No one else had fed her before. She ate slowly and drank even slower. Her eyes became heavy as she leaned against the wall, about to drift off to sleep. Kate pulled her knees up close to her body, wrapped her arms around them, put her head down on top of them, and said a small prayer.

"What the hell do you mean, 'I don' know where she is'," barked Jem, pulling back his fist to punch Owen in the face one more time. He knew deep down in his gut that if anyone had the balls or the man power to kidnap someone of Kate's status it would be Owen. Doug sighed and grabbed Jem's fist before he could strike Owen again. He paused and stared at Doug with a scowl on his brow. Doug knew that beating the hell out of Owen wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"Look, Owen…" Doug started, looking around the room at the pictures of Owen's wife and kids. "This girl that Jem's lookin' for is a part of his family. She means a lot ta him and it'd be in your best interests jus' ta let us know where she is." Owen let out a long sigh and rolled onto his back. His red hair was matted with fresh blood from a cut on his forehead, his eyes were beginning to bruise, and he was pretty sure his left arm was broken in a couple of places. He didn't know where the girl was, but he said the only thing he could to get Jem to leave him alone.

"I heard a few guys the other night talkin' about a big sum of money people give up for a politician. They shell out more money than they know what to do with if somethin' happens to one of those blood suckin' assholes," Owen explained. "I overhead 'em at the strip club a few blocks from 'ere. I think they're names are Tom and Mikey or Tommy and Mike… somethin' like that. I don't talk ta people around there much, they ain't good for nothin'." Doug nodded over at Jem as they both made eye contact. They left promptly without saying another word to Owen. That's just the way things were. The strip club, The Kitten, was completely full. It was the only one in Charlestown and being a Friday night, everyone was in the mood to get high and crazy.

"Pussy's full tonight," Gloansy joked as they entered a smoky hallway that lead to the main room with the stage. Doug gave a disapproving glare to Gloansy as they all entered the room. A girl was up on the stage dancing while random girls danced in between the crowd to the man with the highest amount of cash in his pocket, mainly men that girls knew had hit a big sum of money from a heist earlier in the week. Word traveled around Charlestown fast. Two extremely skinny girls approached the men topless with only thongs and heels on. They were the regular strippers of Jem and Doug's choosing.

"You boys score big today?" the blonde asked, licking her lips as she looked at Doug.

"Nah, we're here for a couple of fuckin' douche bags who might have kidnapped an old friend of ours. You ladies heard of any guys named Tom or Mike?" Doug replied, scoping the room for anyone, as if the sign would be right above their heads pointing out who they were. The brunette looked at Jem and smiled.

"What's the matter, baby?" she asked in a coo, approaching Jem to try and hustle him into staying for a while. He flinched away from her touch and glowered at her.

"Don' fuckin' touch me," he spat. She backed away slowly and held her hands up.

"I heard of 'em, but they usually don't come in until Saturday nights," the blonde explained, keeping her eyes on Jem. She knew all about his temper and didn't want her best friend harmed in the middle of his warpath. With a quick swipe of her hand she pulled the brunette behind her and pointed back behind the stage. "The regular girl they use is back there. Her name is Jasmine. She's went home with one of 'em before go ask her."

"Thank you," Doug replied, slipping her a twenty before they walked back to the dressing room. The dressing room was dark, pill bottles of every drug known to man littered the tables amidst make up, straighteners, curling irons, fake eyelashes, bottles of liquor and packs of cigarettes. A Hispanic stripper stood at a vanity, messing her hair, checking out her backside of her costume when she noticed the men walking towards her. She threw back a shot glass and greeted them.

"Interested in a dance?" she asked seductively, grabbing the collar of Doug's jacket.

"Nah," he answered calmly, pulling her hands down from his collar. "We're here about a couple guys that ya dance for. A stripper out there said ya dance for 'em often. Mike and Tom?" The girl froze for a minute and looked between Jem, Gloansy, and Dez.

"Don't even think about runnin'," Jem warned, pulling out his gun slowly from the waistband of his pants. The girl scoffed at him and sat down.

"Like I'd run from Jem Coughlin. Momma didn't raise no fool, baby." She pulled a brush through her hair and pouted her lips. "I've messed with those fools before. They pay nice, but they ain't much ta look at."

"Do ya know where they live at?" Doug asked curiously, leaning in to look at her face in the mirror. She shrugged and turned to look at him, her arm hanging over the chair. No information was free in Charlestown. He sighed and pulled out a twenty. Jasmine laughed and pushed the money back towards him.

"Information like that is gonna cost a lot more, honey. They're my best payin' clients and by tha looks of things, it doesn't exactly look like you boys are headin' over ta eat corned beef an' hash," she whispered with a sly smile on her face. Doug rolled his eyes and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. Her brown eyes looked at the money than Jem's face. He stared at her seriously, hatred filling them faster and faster as the seconds ticked back. He knew it was important to get to her as soon as possible. The longer she was out of their hands, there was more a chance for them to do harm to her. She pulled the money out of his hand slowly. "Whatever they did it's important ta ya, huh, Jem?" she asked curiously. She couldn't resist a moment to razz the most feared man in the Town.

"You have no fuckin' idea, bitch," he answered between his teeth. He leaned in closer. "If she fuckin' dies in the middle of this round about bullshit you're playin' I'll kill you and everyone you love." She held her hands up and leaned back. That answer was a lot worse than the one she expected.

"Calm down, Jem. Don't get your shit all twisted. For Christ's sake, they live in a small house just by the bridge. Union and Main," she sputtered. Jem left the room quickly and headed straight for the car. Doug ran out behind him with the guys in a hurry.

Kate had no idea what time it was, due to the fact that there were no windows and they hadn't opened the door to drop off any more food. The door upstairs busted open and she knew in heart exactly what was going on. She fumbled herself to a standing crouch as footsteps stomped across the floor. "Kate?" yelled a familiar, angry voice. "Kate, please tell me where tha fuck you are." Her voice faltered as she tried to call out for him. Footsteps came barreling down the stairs and guns were fired. There were two large thuds on the floor. Mike and Tim had met their demise. Her legs forced her up the stairs to the wooden door. She knocked hard. The adrenaline rush made her body warm a few degrees and she finally piped out a few words.

"In- here," she yelled, still pounding on the door. The door opened and a rush of hot air splashed against her body, she stumbled for a second, but hands caught her. Jem fell to the ground with her.

"Are you alright?" he asked anxiously looking over her body. "Get her a fuckin' blanket. She's like a fuckin' corpse." Doug fled the room and grabbed a quilt off of the couch. He tossed it over to Jem as he removed his track jacket and wrapped it around her chest.

"Just tired and cold-" she whispered between her bluish colored lips. Her teeth chattered as she held a hand up to his cheek. "I'm sorry," she breathed, the tears of guilt running down her cheeks. Her heart burned at the guilt from never reaching out to him, never finding him again, letting him waste away all of those years worrying about her. She broke his heart and she had no reason to. He fought the urge to cry like hell. He couldn't be angry with her in the state she was in. Jem's hand wrapped around her's and he swallowed hard. "I'm so sorr-"

"Just be quiet for now. You need ta calm down and reserve your strength, alright? We'll talk later." She nodded and leaned her body against his before falling asleep. "I'm glad those mother fuckers are dead," he seethed, holding her with both of his hands.

"We need ta get her to a hospital, Jem," Doug stated calmly. He nodded and stood up, with her in his arms bridal style.