NYC, New York - July 17, 2012 - 1614 hours

Throughout the past eight years, Hans had not found Elizabeth or her son. Elizabeth never remarried, nor had she ever heard anything of Hans' whereabouts. She'd kept an eye on arrested criminals in Denmark, but nothing ever showed up. Presumably, Hans had fled Europe. She had no worries, though. Chances were one in a million that Hans went into hiding in New York City, or that he'd find her there. There was only hope that she wouldn't be that one.

Elizabeth and her son, Ryan, strolled down the sidewalk, on the way back to their apartment after Ryan's last day of school.

But an uneasy feeling washed over Elizabeth as they continued their journey home. It was an indescribable feeling, and she couldn't shake it. She constantly checked their surroundings, but found nothing worth her suspicions. Perhaps she was only being paranoid. At least, that's what she told herself.

"Mom, is everything okay? You look awful pale," Ryan asked, pulling her out of her daze.

"Oh, I'm fine, darling. I just didn't eat much for lunch," Elizabeth lied to assure him, gently running her fingers through his auburn hair, much like that of his father.

When they arrived at their apartment, Elizabeth pulled out her keys from her bag and walked inside her apartment with Ryan following.

The last thing they remembered was shutting the door behind them and the smell of chloroform soaked into cotton.

— § —

Elizabeth woke slowly to the sound of a crackling fire and cool leather on the side of her face. Then reality slapped her in the face and she sat up with a start. A man stood a few feet away, pointing a pistol at her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a radio.

"She's awake," he said into it. Then he returned the radio back to his pocket.

Elizabeth looked around the room. The room had a high ceiling and a big fireplace across the room that contained a roaring fire. She was sitting on a black leather couch with an elegant coffee table about two feet in front of it.

Moments later, she heard a door open behind her, followed by footsteps that grew louder as they approached and stopped directly behind her.

"Long time, no see, Amanda."

Elizabeth cringed inside and gripped the couch with her fingernails. For eight years, she hadn't heard that particular thick Danish accent, nor had she been called Amanda.

"What are you doing, Hans?" Elizabeth asked through clenched teeth.

"Tell me, Amanda, why did you leave me like that? You never gave me a chance to explain," Hans asked without answering.

"I didn't need an explanation. At first, I didn't know what was going on. The bloodstains on your clothes and your panic haste to get out of the country frightened me. I went to a friend's place. I considered coming back, but I decided to check out the local news in Denmark. An article said that an Alexander Fahlcon was found guilty for murder, but I'm no fool, Hans. The bloodstains on your shirt were my first suspicion. Then you break this Fahlcon out of prison? I don't think that's a coincidence. The way you wanted to flee the country told me everything I needed to know. Now, where's my son?" Elizabeth asked, glaring at Hans, who walked to her side.

He tried to touch her cheek, but she jerked her head back. "You're smarter than I thought, Amanda."

"Don't call me that," Elizabeth hissed, letting that crack on her intelligence slide.

"Oh, yes. You go by Elizabeth, now. That made it a hell of a lot harder to find you, by the way. And it is you who will be taking orders from me, my dear," Hans replied with an egotistical smile on his face.

"What orders? Where's Ryan?" Elizabeth asked again, fighting to hide the tears from her voice.

"Don't worry, Amanda. Our son is in a safe place at the moment—"

"My son," Elizabeth corrected sternly.

Hans shrugged. "Whatever helps you sleep at night. You see, this 'Alexander Fahlcon' . . . we haven't gotten along very well since Denmark, and I am going to get my revenge on him once and for all. And you're going to help me," he explained.

Elizabeth impatiently rolled her eyes. "And why would I do that?"

"You know, Amanda, Ryan is a very good boy. Well-behaved, good grades. It would be a shame if anything happened to him," Hans threatened, examining his fingernails.

Elizabeth tightened her grip in the couch in her attempt to refrain from strangling Hans.

"You wouldn't dare," she replied through clenched teeth with rage and fury burning in her eyes.

"Try me," Hans replied, unfazed by Elizabeth's anger.

Elizabeth's jaw fell open and she scoffed incredulously. "What the hell happened to you, Hans? You used to be so caring, so loving. I knew you'd changed, but I didn't think you'd be so heartless as to threaten your own son."

"I do what I have to do to get what I want. Even if it means resorting to drastic measures," Hans replied.

Elizabeth looked at the floor, breathing deeply in attempt not to pass out. She cringed and closed her eyes. She couldn't cry in front of him. "What do you want me to do?" she asked slowly.

Hans smiled. "Follow me."

Elizabeth stood with her chin held high, trying to muster up the last bit of dignity she had left, and turned to Hans. He offered his hand to lead her out of the room, but Elizabeth eyed it as if it were a dead rat and walked around him.

Hans lead her into a dimly lit room with a large screen on the far wall.

"I have formulated this plan to the last detail, so listen carefully. I'm giving you all the information you need to know to complete your task," Hans explained, picking up a small remote. The screen came to life and a man appeared on the screen. "This is Fahlcon. He only goes by 'Skipper' now. He is the leader of the following men: Rico, demolitions expert. Private, the rookie. He's the easiest to manipulate. If all else fails, just tug on his heartstrings a bit. And this is Kowalski, he's the one you're going to go after. Skipper is too smart to trick. You'll use Kowalski to get closer to Skipper. He won't suspect as easy if the relationship between you and him is indirect," he said as he shifted through the slides with the remote. "When you get the chance, you'll plunge this through his heart," he added, pulling a dagger out of his pocket and holding it up in its sheath.

Elizabeth stepped back with her hands up. "Hans! You want me to kill him?! Why can't you do it yourself?!" she exclaimed outrageously.

"Because, Amanda, I am not able to get close enough. Remember your son," Hans threatened.

Elizabeth forced back her tears as she slowly curled her fingers around the dagger and took it from Hans. "So, what am I supposed to do?" she asked slowly and firmly. Another slide appeared on the screen, this one of a building.

"This is the apartment building these men reside in. I have booked you for the apartment next to theirs. It's your job to take it from there. Understood?" Hans asked.

"Yes, but how exactly do I do that?"

"I have a taxi waiting for you outside. I have provided you with some useful supplies in your luggage. With it you will find a portfolio of what you will use as your life story," Hans instructed.

Elizabeth nodded and turned to leave, clenching the dagger in her hand and reminding herself that she had to do this to save her son.

"Oh, and Amanda," Hans called. Elizabeth merely stopped turned her head to where her ear was facing his direction, rather than her eyes. "Our son. You're doing an amazing job raising him. I could not have asked for a more suited mother."

Elizabeth fought the urge to use the dagger to stab Hans instead and left without another word.

— § —

Hans entered his bedroom and shut the door behind him, taking a deep breath. When he walked to his dresser, he took a long look at himself in the mirror.

He'd done a lot of lowdown, dirty things in his life since the Denmark incident, but this had to be the worst. Of course, he was only bluffing when it came to threatening Ryan. He was his son and he would never so much as lay a finger on him. But this would still hurt him, even if it wasn't physical. Amanda was right. He was a monster. Did he really hate Skipper more than . . .

. . . more than he loved Amanda?

It seemed crazy, even to Hans. After all of these years, he was still hopelessly in love with her. But if he loved her, why was he putting her through this?

Because it was Skipper's fault he was in this mess in the first place. He couldn't get close enough to kill him, and he'd already lost Amanda, anyway. If she really believed that he would do something unthinkable to their son, he knew then and there that nothing could be done to get Amanda to love him again. She deserved better anyway. What more did he have to lose?

Something about that argument seemed wrong, but he convinced himself to believe that it was a good enough reason. He'd tried for years to get back at Skipper for everything he'd made him lose.

Hans sat on his bed and looked at the photo of his wife on his bedside table. A few moments later, the man who'd informed him Amanda was awake entered his room.

"Sir, Ms. Taylor has left for Manhattan as requested," he informed him.

Hans nodded. "Good," he replied without looking at him.

"What about the boy, sir? He's not being easy," the man told him.

Hans smiled slightly. "He's being raised by Amanda. Of course he's not being easy," he replied with a slight smile, remembering how that was one of the things about Amanda that he fell in love with. "Tell him I'll explain everything to him soon. And give him an ice cream. Chocolate with M&M's, but only the red ones."

"May I ask why so specific, sir?"

Hans turned back to his picture of Amanda. "Just a hunch."