Okay so i know i said i'd get this up over the weekend...but Monday is pretty close to the weekend, right? I sat down to skim through the chapter and post it on Saturday and i started rethinking something about it...so i mulled it over a little since then but ultimately decided to keep the chap as it was. I wrote it this way back when i came up with this whole part, so i'm leaving it.

I thikn maybe i'm just getting apprehensive because, alas, we are nearing the end! what what! This story has kind of been my little baby for quite a while...my past time that I've plugged away at, and I know I'll miss it.
Do not worry, though, if you're a fan...i'm 99.9% sure there's a sequel. i've contemplated leaving it but have already started typing up a sequel so I'm pretty sure I'm going with it because, well...I'm just not done...? lol, craziness heehee

But enough of that, on with chapter 27...

Not Any More
I'm so far down, away from the sun
That shines to light the way for me
To find my way back into the arms
That care about the ones like me
'Away From the Sun' by 3 Doors Down

Natalie sat on a cement floor shivering. Her hands were cuffed behind her back securely as they had been the entire time she was in there; she wasn't sure how long that may be. She sat in only her bra and underwear as her clothes had been discarded not that long after she was forced inside.

She'd been treated roughly but hadn't been violated like she had been the last time. Ethan said something about not being into forcing chicks, and she hadn't seen Riley yet…hopefully it'd stay that way. She had been knocked around some, though; she had some bruises and scrapes. Mostly she'd been yelled at and threatened. The threats on her life obviously hadn't been carried out yet but she wasn't in much of a position to doubt them.

One of the doors slammed open and she jumped.

"Come to check on ya, princess," Ethan strolled in casually, squatting down in front of her.

She was already huddled up to stay warm and she pulled her legs tighter to her chest to block herself from him.

"Aw, now don't be like that," he chuckled, rubbing her legs with his rough hands. "Aw, ya really are soft…if you let me at ya, I might let you go, huh?"

Natalie blinked away tears and shook her head.

"What's that? Couldn't hear," he smirked, pushing his hand up her thigh.

She shook her head again more urgently since she couldn't talk because of the tape over her mouth.

"Ungrateful bitch, aren't ya?" Ethan spat, slapping her across the face before grabbing her jaw to slam her head against the wall and make her look at him. "Bet you thought your boy would be here…guess he ain't comin' for ya, doll face," he laughed at her. "So you might be changing your tune pretty damn soon here."

She shook her head as much as she could in his hold.

He'd constantly been telling her Billy wasn't coming, that she wasn't anything and she was stuck, but she refused to buy into it. She couldn't let herself. Besides, if Billy didn't give a shit, why would they have bothered with her? They wanted Billy to show up because they wanted revenge after he'd killed their boys…they were just fucking with her.

Billy would come. He had to. Right?

24 damn hours. That's a long ass time. Billy wondered if it felt longer to him or Natalie…maybe he didn't want to know.

He was sitting in the chapel of the abandoned mental hospital - The Office. Heco had found the junkie friend of another junkie, and this tweaker dealt with Ethan directly more than once. The boys were down the hall pumping every bit of information he had out of him. Billy had been there, naturally, but the more it dragged on the more he just wanted t kill the druggie, and that wouldn't help.

Natalie's purse was on the floor in front of him; he'd gone through it a couple times by now, just to see her stuff and convince himself she was okay. She had to be. She'd been a little fighter though everything, had trooped right through, so she had to be alright.

Christ. She didn't deserve any of this shit…she didn't do anything. All she did was give two shits about him and look where she ended up.

He wasn't sure what he'd been thinking going and dragging her into this life. He just couldn't leave well enough alone.

The girl was fighting her parents, saw a counselor, got molested on the street, and now she was kidnapped - and for what?

He was going to make it right. He was going to get her back and kill every last one of them. He never should've let up after sinking the first couple bodies. They thought Ethan and his guys had run off to an easier city, but clearly not. How could he have been stupid enough to make that mistake…

'That's rookie bull shit,' a voice in the back of his mind scolded him; the voice sounded suspiciously like that of his father.

He was lucky Bones hadn't shown up yet raising hell about empty corners, but he just didn't give a shit right now. Not one.

The chapel doors flew open and Billy hardly blinked.

"We got it, man," Bodie called to him. "Billy?….yo, you comin'?" he asked frantically; he was ready to roll because he knew this could have just as easily have been Angela - he needed Natalie to be okay, too.

That was a stupid question so Billy didn't even respond. He just stood up and folded the picture he carried, tucking it back safely into a pocket. It was the one he'd taken from her father's PI folder, and he'd been staring at it - the girl in that picture better be in one piece when he found her.

They hurried downstairs and out front where all their cars were waiting.

"You," Billy pointed at Vince, waving him over.

They held a hushed conversation and Bodie watched, figuring he was making sure, again, that this outsider knew the score.

"You good?" Bodie rose an eyebrow when they got in the car.

"I'll be fucking good when we get these fuckers"

Bodie nodded and they raced off to the warehouse.

They cursed the fact that they hadn't found it sooner. They should've known, really. The shit-hole was dilapidated, past condemned, but their latest informant happened to know the two-level basement had transformed into a new drug den. They manufactured there and a bunch of the guys lived there, which was why they hadn't been able to track all of them based on living in the city. Billy knew he should've thought of something like this - they themselves used the abandoned hospital for the same reason: no one was going to come poking around places like that.

Heco led the way and Billy had to admit he'd really redeemed himself from a lot of shit by finding that rat.

The warehouse was almost out of town. Nothing looked unordinary about it. It was almost perfect. Perfect until the fuckers inside decided to invite hell in on themselves. Well, Billy had found them and he was sure going in.

"Best way in?" he demanded, checking his guns.

"They park their cars over there where the roof ain't caved in and there's stairs," Heco pointed. "But there's an exit 'round the other side leading straight to the basement…like cellar doors of whatever they're called."

"Good. Split 'em," he pointed at Bodie, who quickly told everyone who was going where. "Alright, don't bother showin' mercy; they've been up our asses for too long. If you can leave Ethan alive, do it; if Natalie ain't in there I'm beating him to an inch of his life til he talks. Everybody clear?"

They nodded.

"Watch your asses then," he added before they wall wordlessly split.

They knew what had to be done. No one took their turf, and no one touched what was theirs.

No one.

Natalie could hear guns and she was panicking. Her heart raced first with excitement that someone had come for her, and then in fear because she didn't know how this was going to turn out. She'd been waiting for this but now she was realizing this could end badly….very badly. People were going to die but there was no telling who. Not yet.

She could hear shouting and gunfire and the racket of things breaking. The continuous nose frightened her but she tried to remind herself that if people were making noise it meant there were people alive…she just hoped it was the people she wanted.

She longed to be able to scream, to yell for help so they'd know where to find her more quickly but the long strip of tape stopped her. For a moment she told herself she should get up and get out of the room, but she had no protection against stray bullets and probably wouldn't be able to move too fast, so maybe it was smarter to stay where she was.

One of the doors sprang open again and she jumped, eyes widening in fear when a tall man with long hair who she had only see once thus far stalked over to her with long, purposeful stride. He grabbed her and hauled her to her feet, reaching behind her to unlock the handcuffs. She swung out at him but he grabbed the fist before it touched him and backhanded her roughly.

"Don't push me, bitch! You're lucky Ethan wants to kill you himself…more trouble than your worth," he shook his head, grabbing a fist full of her hair to force her across the room.

Her hands flew to his hand on the back of her head, clawing at it to try to get him to loosen his grip - it felt like he was about to pull the hair clean out of her head. Her eyes watered even more and she grunted when he pushed her back to the ground, her knees slamming into the hard floor.

Piping ran along this wall and he quickly secured her hands again so that the chain of the handcuffs was around a thick pipe.

"Can't have ya getting away," he sneered at her before making a quick exit.

He left the door open behind him and the melee sounded louder than ever without the barrier. She soon registered that noise was getting closer; most of the action must be on the same floor as her now. Frantically, she raised her head towards her hands and got her fingers under the tape, peeling it away.

"Help!" she began screaming, repeating herself over and over.

Natalie knew there was a chance no one would even be able to hear her but she was sure she'd go crazy if she just kept sitting there listening. She clanged the metal of her handcuffs against the pipe but wasn't sure if this, either, would be heard.

"Help?…what do you need help from?"

Natalie sighed in a defeated way when Ethan came back in. He tried to look measured and in control but he was panting…it really must be chaos out there. He closed the door behind him and came right over to her, his suntanned face covered in thin perspiration.

"So what do you say, we leave your dead body for your boy Billy to find? Hmm?" he grinned sickly. "Or maybe I shoot you somewhere so you'll bleed out slow…maybe you'll even be alive when he gets you, but you'll just bleed to death chained to that wall while he watches. Which do you prefer?" he asked, squatting down next to her. "What it comes down to is do you want to feel no pain, or do you want a chance to say goodbye…" he toyed with her mind.

Natalie looked away from him but he grabbed her neck and wrenched her closer to him.

"Well, what'll it be, bitch?" he spat in her face.

Natalie sputtered for air as he pinched her airway dangerously tight. He let go when she started to worry for her consciousness and she blinked rapidly, sucking in air deeply.

"It'll be a shame to kill something so pretty," he sighed, stroking her throat softly with his thumb and shoving his gun under her chin. "Should've had better taste in men, sweet thing…."

He grabbed her hair to yank her head back and trace the column of her throat with the barrel of his gun. She shivered uncontrollable from fear and cold, and a tear fell down her cheek when she blinked. She heard some commotion but it seemed so far away; she supposed she was past caring. She was waiting, wondering if she'd feel anything…she hoped she didn't hurt too much.

"Look who came to join the party," Ethan drawled, pulling her hair to jerk her head to the left.

Billy stood in the doorway, door wide open and gun raised out in front of him. His face was hard and emotionless, but she still sobbed in relief to see him. His eyes darted down to her and his mouth twitched before he looked back at Ethan.

"Whattcha gonna do, Darley?" Ethan challenged, shifting so he was mostly behind Natalie.

Billy just stood there, arm still out as he sized up the situation. He wasn't exactly in an ideal position in the room…

"Your girl and I were just having a little conversation," Ethan continued to talk, forcing Natalie to look at him again.

Natalie grunted and was upset that Billy wasn't in her line of vision anymore because he was a sense of security even though she knew she was still in danger.

"Talking about how she's gonna die"

"Hiding behind girls now?" Billy ground out.

"Whatever works," Ethan shrugged carelessly. "Your boys killed my cousin…maybe I take your woman and we call it even…"

"Better fuckin' think again"

"…she is a sweet little thing," Ethan sighed, pressing the gun into her cheek. "She was happy to show me just how sweet, weren't ya? We had a lot of fun together; I see why ya keep her around," he taunted Billy.

Billy's jaw clenched and his fingers tightened around his gun .

"So lower the gun, Darley; we both know I've got the advantage here," Ethan instructed. "I'll blow another hole in her face, you know I will…"

Billy slowly lowered his arm some, conceding to the face that Ethan had him in a bind here.

Ethan chuckled and slowly stood, gun still pointed straight down at Natalie. She wanted to run, to get away, but all she could do was shrink back against the wall.

BANG!

Natalie gasped audibly but felt no pain, so her eyes automatically went to Billy. He was standing as rigidly as ever but as she whipped her head back in front of her, Ethan was crumpled to the ground and blood was pooling.

"Oh God," she breathed, crowding against the wall.

She didn't understand what happened; Billy's gun still wasn't fully raised. She looked to him again and he was staring across the room; following his gaze she found Vince in the other doorway with his gun raised straight in front of him.

"Vince…"

What was he doing here? He looked at her but then someone shouted behind him and he ran off down the hall.

Billy was in front of her now, standing near Ethan's body. He kicked the gun away from him and made sure he was dead, though Vince's shot looked thorough.

"Billy," Natalie whispered, reaching towards him the best she could.

He finally looked at her again and took the hand that was trying to extend to him, and he squatted down next to her.

"You're okay…" he exhaled deeply.

"Yeah, I'm okay; I'll be okay," she nodded, squeezing his hand.

He stroked her face, wiping away the long streak on her face from her tears, and she didn't even care that the gun was still in his hand and was now near her face. Billy was there and that's what mattered.

He circled an arm around her and pulled her to him tightly. Natalie melted against him, a feeling of safety starting to settle into her. She sighed shakily, willing herself not to cry.

"Thank you for coming," she sniffed, burying her face in his chest.

"Oh course I fucking came," he pulled back and cupped her face to make her look at him.

"…Billy, what he said…what Ethan said, it was a lie. We didn't…we didn't do that," she felt the need to assured him.

"I know," he told her firmly.

"He didn't…I mean, nobody even touched me like last time. They took my clothes, but they didn't…"

"Okay. It's alright," he promised, dropping a light kiss to her lips. She tried to reach to him but couldn't, whimpering in frustration; she just wanted to hold him and get out of there.

He turned his attention to the handcuffs now and yanked on them in frustration.

"Does he have the keys?" he asked, looking back at Ethan.

"I don't think so…some guy with long hair; I don't know him," Natalie sniffed.

"Alright…I have to go find him," Billy told her slowly.

"No…no, please don't leave," she shook her head quickly.

"I ain't leaving; I'm coming back. But I need these keys…"

All new tears welled up but she nodded and didn't let herself protest when he stood up away from her. He shed his coat quickly and draped it over her.

"Don't look at him," he instructed, catching her glancing at Ethan's lifeless body.

She nodded and he paused, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead for a long moment. He stood up then and hurried out.

Natalie closed her eyes so she didn't have to see Ethan, and the scent from Billy's coat surrounded her. Smoke, maybe some alcohol, and just…Billy. Whatever smells made up his life, his essence, she could take it in and maybe relax a little.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, though she was sure I had to have been quiet a while. She just kept her eyes closed and focused on breathing steadily.

"Nat…"

She gasped and jerked up. Vince was hurrying to her side, kneeling down beside her and producing the little silver key to unlock free her hands. He hugged her quickly and she hugged him back with her now-free arms.

"Vince, you're here; oh my god…"

"Yeah I'm here…I'm sorry about what I said; I'm so sorry; I'm just glad you're safe…"

"I know - wait, where's Billy? Where is he?" she demanded, pushing him away.

"They're having a little issue - two guys barricaded themselves in somewhere; he's helping' 'em out. I'm just gonna get you outta here where it's safe, okay? C'mon."

Natalie nodded and rose slowly, puling the coat on the right way. It was too big but it kept her warmer and covered her…and it was Billy.

"You can walk right? You're okay?"

Natalie nodded affirmatively and he curled his arms around her shoulders to lead her out. She jumped when she heard yelling but Vince's tightened his arm on her.

"It's okay. You're fine; I got you," he promised, moving them cautiously down the hall.

They almost literally ran into Tommy rounding a corner and she jerked violently; even Vince raised his gun in caution.

"Just me, bro. Hey baby girl. You get outta here, yeah?" he winked at her before loping off to the others.

They didn't see anyone else as they slipped upstairs and then up through some cellar-like doors. Her feet were freezing as Vince led her across the frozen ground but it really only mattered that she was out of there. He helped her into a car she knew was Jamie's, and they took off without a word.

She relaxed into the seat; she was safe…finally so safe. She was exhausted, though, but she could barely close her eyes because she was so on edge. They continued for quite some time….kept driving and driving.

"Vince, where are we going?" Natalie sighed.

She knew they had been driving for over an hour and she was getting tired against her will.

"Goin' to a little motel. The plan was get you out of the city quick just in case, you know? Ain't takin' any chances this time…I got an outline of what happened before."

She nodded slowly and soon drifted off in her seat.

"Natalie…girl, we're here"

Vince prodded Natalie gently and she slowly opened her eyes. Her head was resting against the cool window and she sat up slowly, looking around. He held up the room key he'd just retrieved and she nodded tiredly, letting herself out of the car to follow him inside to their room. It was small but it had two beds…oh, wow, a bed. She wanted to sleep for hours…days, even, and forget this whole thing.

She used the bathroom first, and then eyed the shower…maybe she needed a shower first. Natalie stripped her minimal clothes and basked in the hot water. It stung her scrapes and lifting her arms hurt her side, but the fresh feeling of washing off compensated for that. When she exited, sweat pants and a t-shirt were sitting on the counter; she didn't even question the fact that planning had gone into this and clothes were here.

"Hey…was that Billy?" she asked quietly when Vince was hanging up the phone upon her reentering the room.

He shook his head.

"Well…has he called? Is he on his way?" she blinked slowly, sitting on the bed that Vince wasn't perched on.

"He ain't coming, Nat…"

"What? Oh my god, is he okay?" she jumped back up.

Vince was silent, staring at the floor.

"Vince!"

"…he's fine…he just ain't coming."

"…what?"

"He had me bring you here rather than bring you himself. You're safe here, you can recoup, and then we'll go home…but not with him. Not with him anymore…"

"You're lying," Natalie shook her head, backing up to lean against the wall.

"Nat…"

"…you're lying, and he's going to be so mad at you," she continued to shake her head.

But his eyes were earnest and tears slowly made lines down her face.

"So what now," Heco asked Billy as they headed up the stairs of the warehouse to get outside.

"We torch it," Billy told him, face set.

Burn the collapsing, unused warehouse. No one would give a shit. It would burn level to the ground, nothing but ashes, and no one would care…no one would even look beneath the burnt remains.

He was decided, his face a detached mask.

"Let it burn…it'll be like none of it ever fuckin' happened"

So i hope you liked the update; shoot me a review to let me know. I appreciate all the review i've gotten so far - thanks for the support =)

Also, since I mentioned a sequel earlier, I'll just let you know that when i come up with a title for it, I'll be sure to post it on this story for a head's up...and then maybe a link to it when i finally start getting it up here...that way anyone who's subscribed to the story and would want to read the sequel will be able to find it very easily. I'm very reluctant to let this story stand alone and create a whole new story...like i'm afraid people won't find it or something lol. Because everyone's who's been reading/reviewing on this story has been really great so i want to keep you updated if you want updated!

Anyway, the next chap shouldn't be too long in coming.