A/N: It's been a while, don't kill me. I've just been extremely busy and stressed lately.

*Danny*

Thunder raged in the distance while I stood outside. Even though I knew we had to come up with some sort of plan, I didn't want to risk the lives of my friends. However, regardless of any route we went, I knew the fact that my friends would be hurt was inevitable. The LAD would continue to torture every one of us until we were consumed by insanity or, even worse, we would die by their hand.

As a former member of LAD, I was always told to leave the gang was death. For a while now that death sentence has lingered over my head, mocking me. I was tired of it, I had enough. It was time to fight back. Since Raimundo came into this gang, things began to look up a little, because everyone's spirit was lifted, even though the LAD was out for our blood. Somehow, the young teen managed to pull the gang back together just before it completely fell apart.

However, now the threat from LAD was doubled. Both Raimundo and I were former LAD memebers that had escaped from the ruthless gang with our lives barely intact. I was reminded of all the times I spent trying to escape, all the times I fought for my life against them, all the pain and suffering they caused me. It was time to take all the pain to them. Everybody surely agreed, after all, they were tired of the LAD, too. Yet, we had to be careful. One wrong move, one mistake, and everyone here, everyone in this small family, would be slain without a second thought.

"Deep in thought, eh, Danny?" Robert asked as he stopped next to me.

I nodded, "I'm just trying to think of a way I can get everyone out of this alive."

"You'll need more people for one." My friend supplied.

"And where can I get the people from?" I asked.

Robert smiled and held out his arms, "Let's see. You have a friend who is the leader of another gang that can tag along with you. All you need to do is ask."

I sighed, "I can't ask that of you and the others, Robert."

"Of course you can! After all, friends do anything for each other, right?" He asked.

"They don't run into battles when it's not their own." I replied, not really wanting to get him involved. "It's our problem not yours."

Robert shook his head, "You do realize that you can't win this on your own, right?"

I wanted to argue with him, but I kept my mouth shut. He was right, we couldn't win this on our own. I sighed, "I don't know, Robert. I just know that we can't keep running from them."

"Is the whole gang running from them or is it just you?" Robert asked.

I looked at him, "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not afraid of them!"

Robert gestured to where the others were, "Anytime you give the signal, they'll fight. You can see that they're ready for whatever happens next. They're just waiting on you. Question is, will you give them the signal to make a stand and fight."

I became frustrated at my own weakness and my inability to hide it. "Yeah, I'm scared of the LAD, terrified actually. But I'm not afraid of what they'll do to me, I'm afraid of what they'll do to them. To my friends. Don't you understand that? If I take them to face the LAD head on, how many do you think will survive? If they die, their blood will be on my hands. How can I handle that? Do you really think I could watch my friends be slaughtered the whole time thinking I forced them to their death? What am I supposed to do?" I noticed I was yelling when I finished, but I didn't care.

Robert didn't seem stunned, "Just remember what I said, kid. I know how you are, after all, you learned how to survive from experience and what I taught you. I can't imagine you would back down from this." He smacked my shoulder, a gesture of friendship and comfort, then he gathered his gang and left.

I looked at my friends. I didn't want to take them to their death, what kind of pereson would I be if I done that? Briefly, I remembered what Robert said. "Anytime you give the signal, they'll fight. You can see that they're ready for whatever happens next. They're just waiting on you. Question is, will you give them the signal to make a stand and fight?"

I noticed it began to rain. That statement seemed to be repeated right into my ear. I knew my friends would be by my side, they would always be with me. However, I couldn't let them risk their life to end something I began. As their leader, I knew what I had to do. As their leader, I was going to protect them until the end. I turned my back on the gang and walked onto the street, heading for the one place I knew I had to go. On my way, I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and typed a message before hitting send.

*Kimiko*

After we said our goodbyes to Robert and his gang, we all just tried to relax the best we could. However, it was difficult considering the LAD were out to kill us. Somehow, though, we all managed to find comfort during the cruel time. A burst of thunder made the house shake and the electricity flicker. I grabbed a flahlight from the storage room and kept it by my side in case the power went out.

As I was about to leave the storage room, Jermaine stopped me. "Have you seen Danny?"

I shook my head, "He was outside talking to Robert earlier, but I haven't seen him since."

"We can't find him." Jermaine stated.

We searched for ten more minutes and Clay and Raimundo even went outside in the pouring rain searching. I heard the door open and they returned without Danny. Before they closed the door, my phone rang once. I took it out of my pocket and opened the text message I received. "It's from Danny." I was confused, why would he send a text message. I began to read the message out loud:

Guys,

If you're looking for me, just stop. In the end, this was my decision, not yours. The LAD has existed for too long, it's time to bring them down. If you're reading this, I'm sorry. I couldn't ask you guys to risk your lives fighting them, what kind of leader would I be then? Clay, I want you to take care of everyone. If things go wrong, if I don't make it out of this alive, I want you guys to get out of here, don't risk fighting. Finally, I want you guys to know that you've been the best friends somebody like me could ask for. Stay sharp, you never know what's around the corner.

Thanks for everything,

-Danny

My phone rang once again and I opened the next text I got, then pretended it was nothing. The others began to go out the door, but I stopped one person. "Raimundo, I need to talk to you."

He looked at me and saw the urgency in my eyes, then nodded. When the others were gone, I opened the other text message and handed my phone to Raimundo. He read the message and I saw his eyes fill with disbelief. "No, there's no way." His eyes began to water and he closed the phone and handed it back to me. "He's lying. It can't be true."

"I'm sorry, Rai." I stated sincerely.

He wiped away the tears in his eyes, "It doesn't matter right now. We just have to find him, maybe he'll explain..." Raimundo walked and stepped outside. He stopped and stood in the rain. Raimundo shook his head, trying to rid his jumbled thoughts.

*Raimundo*

I didn't want to believe it, but I knew it was most likely true. Danny was with the LAD when they murdered my mom. He was in my house when they killed her. I clenched my fist and thought of everything Danny had done for me. He gave me a home, friends... a life with what seemed like another family. However, the picture of my mom's dead body resurfaced in my mind. I wanted to scream, to tell the world that it wasn't true, but now wasn't the time. I wiped away the two tears the slipped down my face, "Find the others, but don't follow me."

"What are you going to do?" Kimiko asked me.

I looked at her, "I'm going to bring him back." I turned and began to run, the rain stinging my skin. I ran toward the one place I thought I would never return. The rain blinded me along with the flashes of lightning. Regardless, I continued to run as fast as I could. Eventually, the rain came down so hard that I couldn't see five feet in front of me. Briefly, I saw the headlights of a car and heard the blare of a horn as I nearly ran into it. I ran into a fence and held onto it for a moment, trying to figure out where I was.

A loud noice echoed in the distance. Some people would mistake it for thunder, but I knew better. After all, after living with the LAD for years, it was hard to mistake a gunshot for thunder. I turned toward the noise and began to run again. Another gunshot sounded, then another. Finally, I could only hear the rain coming down and the booming thunder.

I memorized the location of where I thought I heard the gunshot and found myself in a small alley surrounded by abandoned buildings. I cautiously walked forward, looking for any sign of a threat. Two figures laid a few feet apart, unmoving. I quickened my pace until I was finally able to identify the two figures. One was the LAD member Marcus and the other was Danny.

"Danny." I stated and crouched next to him, hardly able to see. When I put my hand on his shoulder, I felt something warm and sticky: blood. I strained my eyes and moved a little closer so I could see where the blood was coming from. In Danny's chest was two wounds and I noticed his breathing was sharp and shallow.I took off my wet shirt and done my best to tie the material around the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Then, I grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and tried to call an ambulance. Only then did I realize there was no signal and the storm probably messed up one of the cell phone towers. I cursed and gently picked my friend up.

"What's wrong Pedrosa, afraid of a little blood?" A voice said from the shadows.

Even though I recognized the voice, I couldn't place the name. "Go back and tell the Boss that-"

Another voice replied, "Why don't you just go ahead and tell me while I'm standing here?"

I turned to see the Boss himself. Once the rainfall began to decrease, I was able to see his face clearly. His face was contorted with rage and his eyes glowed with the thought of pain. I glared at him and found that I was no longer afraid of him.

The Boss smiled, "We're going to kill you, kid. You and Danny are going to suffer with every moment you're still alive, we'll make sure of that. Look at it this way, at least you'll get to see your mom on the other side."

I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth while trying to find a way to escape. With Danny on the verge of death, I couldn't waste any time fighting. The only thing close to me was a fire escape, but I didn't think I could get Danny there by myself. Frustration began to course through my veins. To make things worse, more of the LAD members walked into the alley.

"Let's face it, Raimundo. You and Danny aren't getting out of this one alive. I told you, to leave the LAD is to die." The Boss grinned, "Kill them."