Author's Note: Thanks to the guest in the last chapter who reviewed! It is listed in the Monkees thread, but it's rated "M" and the automatic filters set the list to K-T. But I do appreciate the support!

Chapter 4: A Little Help

Mike followed Micky into the shack, worried about leaving Davy and Peter in the car, but Mike knew Peter shouldn't move around until he got treatment. They'd told Peter and Davy to honk if they saw anyone coming. He made sure they weren't followed, but he couldn't be too safe. They were right outside the shack and could run to the car if needed. Mike and Micky walked inside with one last look at the car. The inside of the shack was worn and dust was gathering on most of the surfaces.

"I think we should start over there," Micky said pointing to a shelf in the back that had no dust.

"Good idea," Mike said seeing another shelf nearby without dust. "This one's bare too; I'll check this one." There was a small box and several books on each shelf. Mike started with the box and saw it was lined with papers, small knives and throwing stars. He took the papers out and carefully read them. They were letters. Letters to him and Micky. In case she couldn't tell them what she wanted to, she'd written it down. It broke his heart a little, but he knew he had to save these. He prayed he never had to give them to Micky.

"Mike, look at this," Micky said. Mike stuffed the letters into his pocket and grabbed the weapons in case they needed them before walking over to Micky.

"What did you find?" Mike asked.

"Pictures," Micky said. "Of my father. They must be recent though. I don't remember that scar." Mike peered over Micky's shoulder at the photos. There was a scar on Robert's arm that did suggest the photos were recent. "I don't recognize where these are, though."

"Wait," Mike said as Micky flipped through some of them. "Does that look like that old soap factory we played a couple years ago?"

"Maybe," Micky said squinting at the building behind Robert.

"It was abandoned a few months ago," Mike said. "The owner died and there was no one to take over, so it just went under. It'd be a perfect place to hide out."

"It's worth a shot," Micky said. "What did you find?"

"Weapons," Mike answered. He wouldn't bring up the letters unless he had to. "I don't think there's anything else to find. We need to get Peter to your cousin."

"Yeah," Micky agreed shoving the pictures into his pocket. "Let's get going. We can check out the soap factory in a few hours. It'll be dark enough for us to sneak in without being seen." Mike and Micky made their way back out to the car. Peter's wound had stopped bleeding and he was just sitting in the backseat of the car now. Davy was looking around nervously.

"How do you feel, Pete?" Micky asked as they drove away. Mike knew exactly where he was going so he could pay attention.

"It hurts," Peter admitted honestly.

"We'll get you help," Micky said. "I'm so sorry you guys got dragged into this. I honestly didn't see this coming. I thought they'd leave us alone."

"You didn't do this to us," Peter said.

"How far to your cousin's?" Davy asked.

"Not far," Mike answered. "We should be there in fifteen minutes." They drove the rest of the way in silence. Mike glanced at his friends periodically as he drove. He could tell Micky's mind was racing and he could see the guilt plastered on his face. Davy and Peter seemed to be in a bit of shock; unsure whether to believe what they'd just been told. Mike couldn't blame them. If he hadn't grown up around it, he wouldn't believe it either.

"Peter looks a little green," Davy said as Mike pulled into the driveway of Micky's cousin.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Peter answered.

"Just hang tight," Mike said. "We're here."

"Mike, it might be better for you to knock," Micky said going to Peter's side to help him out of the car.

"Right," Mike said and walked quickly up to the door. The door opened only a few seconds after he knocked.

"Mike?" the woman on the other side asked. She had long, curly, brown hair and big brown eyes. She stood there looking confused.

"Hey, Piper," Mike said. "Sorry to barge in, but we kinda need your help."

"We?" she asked. Mike moved aside just as Micky walked up holding Peter who was falling limp.

"Piper, I know you aren't exactly happy to see me, but Peter needs help," Micky said. "He got caught in a crossfire and we can't take him to the hospital."

"You got your friend shot?" Piper asked still standing in the doorway.

"Yes, we messed up," Micky sighed. "Can you please help him? I don't care what you think about me, but you can't turn away an innocent person in need, right?"

"Get in here before the neighbors call the cops," she said stepping aside to let them in. The area wasn't as populated as the city, but there were a couple of houses that could hold prying eyes. Micky helped pull Peter inside who was looking even worse than when they pulled up.

"Thank you," Micky said.

"Don't thank me," she said. "Just go get my medical kit in the bathroom under the sink."

"Right," Micky said and dashed off after lowering Peter onto the couch. Davy sat down right next to Peter on the couch looking incredibly worried. Piper carefully unbuttoned Peter's shirt and pulled it away from his shoulder just enough for her to inspect it.

"It doesn't look that deep," Piper said after a few moments. "It just grazed the top of his skin. You got lucky, Peter."

"I feel sick," Peter mumbled.

"Not on my carpet," Piper said before turning to Davy. "You, go in my kitchen and get me a bowl."

"Uh…" Davy said looking like he didn't want to leave Peter.

"Davy, the kitchen is through there," Mike said pointing through a doorway. Davy finally got up and disappeared just as Micky came back.

"You guys wanna tell me what happened?" Piper asked. Micky placed the kit next to her and opened it. She immediately pulled out a small brown bottle.

"It's complicated," Micky said as she poured the liquid over Peter's wound. Peter hissed in pain and tried to jerk away. Mike and Micky held Peter down so she could finish disinfecting Peter's wound.

"If you want my help, you need to talk to me," Piper rebutted opening the kit and pulling some gauze and tape out.

"We just need you to take care of Peter," Micky said. "You don't have to help us with the rest."

"Micky, I never said I didn't like you," Piper said pushing the gauze into Peter's shoulder. "I was just surprised to see you, that's all."

"I'm confused," Micky said. Davy walked back in and handed a large bowl to Mike who set it next to Peter on the couch.

"You honestly think I'd ever for a second think you murdered anyone?" Piper snapped. "You should have trusted us to help you instead of running away. That's the only reason I'm mad at you."

"I…" Micky said sounding surprised.

"Rose is missing," Mike said as Piper put tape over the gauze pad on Peter's shoulder. "She went after the man responsible for setting up Micky and now she's gone. I was talking to Micky when they barged in our house looking for us. Peter got caught in the crossfire."

"Who did she go after?" Piper asked.

"My father," Micky said. Piper froze for a second before turning to look at Micky.

"Are you sure?" Piper asked.

"Rose is," Mike answered. "He did some things to her, too."

"And you're sure she's missing and not-" Piper started, but Micky cut her off.

"She's not dead," Micky said. "He'd send a message if she were. We'd know."

"Ok," Piper said calmly. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small black container. When she opened the container there were small vials and a needle. "Do you have an idea where to start?"

"We found some pictures she took," Mike admitted. "Seems to point to an abandoned soap factory."

"Whoa, whoa!" Davy said jumping over to Peter as Piper moved with the needle towards Peter. "What are you gonna do to him!?"

"It's morphine," Piper said. "He's in pain and this will help him."

"It's ok, Davy," Micky said. "If I didn't trust her, I wouldn't bring you guys here. She's not gonna hurt him."

"I'll be ok, Davy," Peter said. Davy backed away and let Piper give him the pain killer.

"He'll be ok," Piper said. "He just needs to rest. I'll give him more later. For now we need to come up with a plan."

"Our plan is to sneak in there in a few hours and save my sister," Micky said.

"Just the two of you?" Piper asked. "Alone? How long has it been since you did any work like this? You both look like limp noodles. He'd snap you in half."

"Ok, then, what do you suggest?" Mike asked.

"You need help," Piper said.

"We can't take them with us," Micky argued waving at Davy and Peter.

"You wouldn't let me help you five years ago, you need to let me help you now," Piper said.

"Ok, that's not fair cause I thought you were on my dad's side," Micky said. "It's not like you talked to me. And you were against me and Ginny from the beginning."

"I wasn't against you, I just wanted you to be careful," Piper said.

"Whoa, knock it off," Mike exclaimed. "We can deal with this later, can't we?"

"Sorry," Micky said. "Of course. I'd love to get your help, Piper, but I can't leave them alone right now either."

"You won't," Piper said. "I can put in a call to a friend. She can help us and her father can watch your friends."

"Why can't I help?" Davy asked.

"Because we're going up against trained murderers," Mike said. "It's way too dangerous."

"But I want to help," Davy said.

"You can help by taking care of your friend," Piper said. "That bandage will need to be changed in about 4 hours."

"But-" Davy protested.

"This is nothing like we've done before, Davy," Micky said. "You are going to get yourself hurt, or worse."

"And what about you!?" Davy argued. "I don't recall ever seeing any fancy moves like I saw from you two last night in the two years I've known you!"

"We were dealing with morons, Davy," Mike said. "When it came down to it, Micky and I always found a way to get out of it our way if we couldn't the clumsy way. We had to make it seem like we were incapable of fighting. If we didn't, we would have been exposed and targeted long before now."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked. "You faked everything we've done? How?"

"The gunfight in the saloon with Bessie," Micky sighed. "Do you really think Davy could have shot that gun out of that dumb buffoon's hands?"

"But-" Peter and Davy looked confused.

"Micky did it," Mike said. "His aim has always been impeccable. He saw a gun behind the bar and carefully took the shot. You two were too busy ducking for cover to notice."

"Mike took down that spy by twisting his ear," Micky said. "It's a pressure point move we learned when we were ten."

"Most everything else took brain over brawn, so we just chose to outsmart instead of outfight," Mike said.

"This is very, very different, Davy," Micky added. "Please, just trust us. Stay here and take care of Peter."

"Ok," Davy finally relented. Piper was looking at them quizzically.

"We'll tell you about all that later," Micky said offering what Mike could tell was a forced smile.

"Ok," Piper said. "I'll call my friend and we can leave when she gets here. I have weapons in the trunk at the base of my bed. Help yourself."