Author's Note: Hey guys, I want to take a minute to ask for some help. A good friend of mine and fellow Monkee fan and writer needs help. Midgie! The amazing mom is now sending her little boy off to college. He's been working for a while and doing classes at a community college, but now he's moving away to a university. He's got some money coming in from grants and loan money, but he needs a bit more. Midgie has started a gofundme to help support him. He's a good kid, hard worker, and intelligent. I wanna do everything I can to support him. If you would like to help in some small way, message either me or Midgie. Thanks!

Now, onto the fic. REVIEW! :D

Chapter 10: Preparations

They'd been in the safe house for a week now and had spent the whole time working on their skills and improving their strength. Mike and Micky had more work to do than Rose and Willow, but they quickly fell back into their stride. It was like riding a bike. They may not have done it in years, but it's something they'd never forgotten. Regaining their strength, on the other hand, was much harder to do. But they kept at it, working their muscles every day and eating a high protein diet. Micky was starting to feel the strength come back to him, but they still had a ways to go before he was at the level he used to be.

They'd decided to split up when they ran out of food; four of them would go to the store and four would stay home. Since Mike, Micky, Rose and Ginny were much more easily recognizable by the enemy, they'd agreed that the others would go shopping while they stayed back at the safehouse. They knew it would take several hours since they also decided to shop for supplies and clothing. While Willow, Piper, Davy and Peter were out shopping, Mike, Micky, Rose and Ginny were down in the basement. Ginny had finally put on some decent weight and was starting to look a lot healthier. She no longer got dizzy if she stood up too fast and she seemed to have as much energy as she was supposed to. She laughed and her whole face lit up. Her eyes shone when she smiled. Micky didn't have to worry about her health anymore.

"You sure you want to do this?" Rose asked Mike. The two were standing in the middle of the room wearing workout clothing and already sweating from lifting weights. Micky was taking a break and sat down on the bench next to Ginny. The others had left for the store half an hour ago. Mike had just told Rose to spar with him. Micky thought this would at least be entertaining.

"Yeah," Mike said.

"I'm a lot stronger than you right now," Rose said.

"It's not only about strength," Mike smiled.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you," Rose laughed.

"Are they really going to do this?" Ginny whispered with a slight laugh.

"Should make some popcorn," Micky answered smiling.

"Cute, Micky," Mike said as both he and Rose took a fighting stance. Rose swung a fist at Mike, but he expertly dodged it countering with a low jab towards her chest. Rose jumped out of the way, barely avoiding being hit. Mike quickly followed with another jab that Rose didn't have the momentum to avoid. His hit wasn't strong so she recovered quickly and kicked at him. When he swerved to avoid her feet, she quickly punched him in the gut. He landed on his back and Rose pinned him to the mat.

"I told you," Rose said. "I don't go easy on anyone."

"Are you ok?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Fine," Mike said. "Round two?"

"Seriously?" Rose laughed. "You want your ass kicked that badly?"

"I need the practice," Mike answered.

"Practice in getting your ass kicked?" Rose laughed. "Practice makes perfect."

"Haha," Mike said. "Let me up?"

"Sure," Rose smiled getting off him and extending a hand to help him up. Mike and Rose went a few more rounds, with Mike only succeeding in pinning Rose to the mat once before they stopped from exhaustion.

"Do you guys feel better?" Ginny asked smiling.

"Aside from the pain?" Mike asked.

"Feels good to let out a little aggression," Rose smiled. "On something other than a punching bag." Rose wiped the sweat from her face before turning to Mike and kissing his cheek. "No offense, honey."

"None taken," Mike answered. "I understand completely. I'm just glad I got you at least once. Doesn't make me look like a total sissy."

"Just a little bit of one," Micky laughed.

"Yeah, I'd like to see how you fare taking her on," Mike retorted. Micky was about to respond when he heard floorboards creaking above him.

"You think they forgot something?" Mike asked, though the tone in his voice was just as nervous as Micky felt.

"Like what?" Rose asked. "They had keys, money and a list when they left." All four of them listened quietly for a moment. The footsteps above them were solid and heavy. And there were more than four. The footsteps were spread out, as if searching the house.

"That's not Peter and Davy," Mike said lowering his voice now. "They have lighter feet."

"And there are more than four people up there," Rose agreed.

"They found us?!" Ginny whispered anxiously. "How? I thought you said this was a safehouse Robert wouldn't know about!"

"I don't know," Micky said reaching out and gripping her arm. He was going to make sure he stayed very close to her. "We didn't know about it; I don't know how he would have known about it."

"Should we try and fight through them?" Rose whispered.

"Ginny, can you tell how many there are?" Micky asked.

"I can try," Ginny said. She closed her eyes for a few moments and they were all silent while she concentrated. Micky knew she could sense if someone was in another room, but he didn't know if she could sense how many.

"There's a lot," Ginny said opening her eyes after a minute. "At least 20, maybe 30. They're outside, too."

"We can't fight that many," Rose said.

"There's gotta be an escape down here," Mike said quietly. "They wouldn't build a safe house without multiple escape paths."

"I think it's through here," Rose answered quietly walking toward the wall where the weights were.

"What about the others?" Micky asked. "We can't just let them come back to this."

"We know where they went," Rose said pushing on the wall to reveal a secret passage. "We find them before the Templars do and we leave. We can't take on that many men on our own. Even with Ginny."

"I don't have my full strength back anyway," Ginny said. "I can try and fight with my powers, but I can't do much."

"It's fine," Mike said. "We find the others and we regroup."

"Lead the way," Micky said motioning for Rose to start down the passageway. Mike followed close behind her and Micky made sure Ginny stayed in front of him. He closed the passageway behind them and hoped they could at least keep that a secret. The passageway had rounded walls made of stone, like a small sewer tunnel. Within five minutes, walking slowly and cautiously, they'd made their way to the end of the passageway. At the end there was a ladder leading up to a hatch.

"Wait a sec," Mike said. "Ginny, can you sense if someone is out there?"

"Yeah," Ginny nodded and closed her eyes. A second later, she opened them again. "I can't sense anything."

"Rose, you go first, just to make sure," Micky said. Rose nodded and ascended the ladder. She opened the hatch slowly and peered out. After a moment, she opened it all the way and reached down to help Ginny out who'd followed behind her. Mike followed closely behind. Suddenly, just as Mike reached the opening, Micky heard a scream. Mike and Micky quickly clamored up and out of the hole only to find two men standing in the setting sun holding Ginny and Rose. Both girls were unconscious and both had a sharp, large knife held at their throats. Micky didn't recognize the man holding Rose, but as soon as he saw who was holding Ginny, his blood boiled and his fists clenched.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," his father said pushing the knife into Ginny's neck.

"What did you do, Robert!?" Mike demanded.

"Relax, they'll wake up," Robert smiled. "Amazing how quickly a little chloroform works. It was easy, really. There's a little talisman I stole from a shaman that blocked your little girlfriend's ability to sense me. I knew you guys would want to leave through that little secret tunnel once we invaded. All I had to do was wait for the two of them to come out."

"Why not knock us out?" Mike asked.

"I wanted you both to see this," Robert laughed.

"I will kill you," Micky seethed. "Let them go."

"That's cute that you think that, son," Robert smiled. "But no. You're going to come with us."

"How did you even find us?" Mike asked as an armored car pulled up. It looked like the kind that delivered money to banks. Micky guessed it probably was. The doors opened and half a dozen men with automatic guns climbed out. "This isn't a safe house our sector of the Brotherhood even uses, let alone knows about."

"No, but it was all too easy to extract its location from an Assassin in the area," Robert said. "Including this little escape hatch. "It took time to find just the right one, but it was worth it. Now, get in."

"What makes you think we're going anywhere with you?" Micky sneered.

"Because if you don't, your sister's blood will be strewn across this forest," Robert sneered. Robert's men pointed their guns directly at Mike and Micky.

"There's no sign of anyone else," said a man coming from the house. "We checked the tunnels. Their vehicle isn't here either."

"The others probably left for something," Robert said. "Just leave them. They aren't worth our time. I got what I need." Micky felt relieved that they were at least going to leave Peter, Davy, Willow and Piper alone. "Get in the van and if you even so much as try to fight me, my boys will shoot you."

"You wouldn't want to kill me," Micky said.

"I could if I had to," Robert snapped. "But as it turns out I need you. I don't, however, need Rose or Mike."

"So then let them go," Micky said.

"They're my leverage, boy," Robert sneered pressing the knife deeper into Ginny's neck from anger. Micky saw blood slide slowly down the blade. "Get in the van, now."

"Micky…" Mike said softly. He knew what Mike would have said if the pair could speak freely. They were outmanned and outgunned. Literally. They had no choice but to do what they were told. If they didn't, Rose would die. Micky reluctantly and slowly walked toward the van.

"That's a good boy," Robert laughed. Micky wanted to strangle his father right then and there to make him stop laughing, but he knew he couldn't. For now he had to cooperate. For now, his father had won. Mike walked over to the van and stood next to him. They were about to climb in when Micky heard a thump. Mike groaned and slumped over into the van. Micky barely had time to register that one of his father's men had hit Mike over the back of the head with a gun before he was hit himself. He blacked out before his body hit the ground.


Several hours later, Davy and Peter returned to the safehouse. They walked in and only noticed that Micky, Mike, Rose and Ginny were nowhere to be found. Peter didn't think anything was wrong at first; perhaps they were just down in the basement. Peter set the big load of groceries that had been weighing his arms down on the table with a thud.

"Don't break the eggs," Piper warned as she set her arm load down on the counter.

"I won't," Peter smiled. "Eggs are on top."

"Guys, we're back!" Davy hollered down to the basement once he'd released his pile.

"This is the last of it," Willow said plopping another pile down.

"Guys?" Davy repeated after a moment or two of silence.

"I don't think they're down there," Willow said peering down into the dark basement.

"Where are they?" Piper asked frowning. "Micky!?" When they got no reply, the four of them split up and searched the house. Fifteen minutes later, they'd met in the kitchen again. Peter was about to voice concern when William burst through the door in a panic.

"You guys need to leave," he said. "Now."

"What? Why?" Willow asked.

"One of my colleagues was tortured and killed," William said. "We only found him this morning. He's been dead for a week."

"That's awful," Davy said. "But what's that got to do with us?"

"They torture for information," Willow said solemnly.

"They kill when they get it," Piper agreed.

"Which means they know where you are," William said. "We need to leave."

"Too late," Piper said. "The others are gone."

"Gone?" William asked.

"We can't find them," Peter said. "We went shopping and they aren't here. You don't think…"

"Isn't there an escape in the basement?" Willow asked. "They'd have been down there and maybe they just escaped or are hiding in the tunnel."

"Yes," William said. They all followed him in silence down to the basement and through the escape tunnel. There was no sign of their friends anywhere, but they followed the tunnel to its end. When they emerged, they all began looking around. It was dark now, so Piper and Willow turned on small pocket-sized flashlights and searched the area.

"No-" Piper said trailing off as her light shined on the ground not far away.

"Tire tracks," William said peering at the ground. He knelt down to inspect the imprints. "Fresh. Couple hours old. Big vehicle."

"Guys," Willow said holding up a small cloth. She waved it under her nose carefully.

"What is it?" William asked.

"Chloroform," she answered.

"Is that...is that blood?" Davy asked looking down not far from where the tire tracks were. "Please tell me that's not blood."

"It's not a lot," William said after he looked. But Peter's blood was still cold. His friends had really been taken. "They're not dead."

"Gee, that's such a comfort," Piper snapped.

"What do we do now?" Peter asked.

"There's not much we can do," William sighed. "They're still outcasts. Assassin's won't scramble to help them. Not even Rose. And no one is convinced Robert is a traitor. They think he's a bad father, but not a Templar. So we won't be getting any help."

"Way to instill confidence, Dad," Willow muttered.

"I get it," William said. "I do. But I'm not going to sugar coat anything. This is really bad. We have but one option. I will go try and look for them. I'll find out where he's keeping them. You need to make sure the four of you are ready when I do."

"But-" Willow started.

"Willow, honey, I know you want to help, but these boys are all we will have when we go against them," William said. "I need to trust that you and Piper will teach them what they need to know. If we go charging in unprepared, we'll be slaughtered."

"He's right," Piper said. "And it won't go any faster if we all look for them anyway. Your father has better contacts and resources than we do."

"So where do we go?" Davy asked.

"We stay here," Piper answered. Peter and Davy were about to protest, but she held up a hand and silenced them. "I know it sounds counterintuitive, but trust me. If they'd wanted to grab us, they would have. I doubt they saw either of you two as a threat. An oversight I hope to throw in their faces. And they'll think we're going to run for the hills. So they won't look for us here again anyway."

"She's right," William said. "But you can't leave. If they see any sign of activity, they'll know you stayed and just kill you for the fun of it. I will bring food and supplies. I will check in by phone twice daily. Just be ready when I find them."

"We will," Davy said defiantly. Peter could tell Davy was more angry than scared. That's how Davy was. A fighter right to the end. Peter wasn't. He was terrified and he thought any moment he'd throw up or his legs might suddenly stop working. He tried to summon the strength he'd need to save his friends, but for the moment, he was incapacitated by fear.