Author's Note: So Friday I went to a solo Micky Dolenz concert and he did a meet and greet before the show! I got to hug him and take my picture with him! He smiled when he saw I was wearing a tablecloth like his and signed my copy of "Remember". The show was awesome, too! I had a great time! Coco even sang "Different Drum"!

Chapter 16: Sword Fights

Metal clanged against metal as Davy and Willow fought. They were using training swords, dull but heavy. It still hurt when Davy got hit, but he didn't care. The pain only drove him to work that much harder. He knew Mike, Micky, Ginny and Rose were experiencing much more pain than he was. Over the last two weeks Davy had trained every day with Willow. He'd already had really good sword fighting skills from when he took fencing as a kid, but using a sword was a lot different. He had to get used to the weight as he swung and jabbed. But he was learning fast. He'd questioned the use of swords at first when guns were so easily accessible, but Willow told him that it would teach him how to move and react, which couldn't be taught while aiming at a target. It taught skill and discipline and sometimes swords were much better to use in a fight as big as the one they expected because a gun only had so many bullets.

Davy blocked another blow, but felt his whole arm tremble with the force. Willow was quick to react and take advantage of his momentary weakness and knocked him to the ground. Davy was also quick and countered. He fell, but he was able to take her down with him. They both got up immediately, but because Davy was smaller, he was able to regain his balance faster and swung his sword. He felt bad, but it clipped her arm just enough to knock her off balance again. Since the blades were dull, it didn't cut the skin, but Davy knew it would bruise. She countered back, regaining her balance expertly without falling. She knocked Davy down again and held the tip of the sword to his throat. He'd lost.

"Not bad," Willow said with a smile and heavy breath. She tossed the sword aside and held out a hand to help him up.

"Thanks," Davy smiled back, just as out of breath as her, if not more. "I almost had you though."

"Almost," Willow said. "But almost doesn't count in the final battle."

"I know," Davy said. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't really take his eyes off her. She was beautiful. Even covered in a sheen of sweat. "Sorry about your arm."

"Don't worry about it," Willow answered. "I didn't want you to go easy on me. I'm glad you got a good blow in, in fact. Shows you're improving."

"Thanks," Davy said. He caught himself still staring and finally tore his eyes away.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked.

"Wrong?" Davy questioned. "Nothing's wrong. Why would something be wrong?"

"You keep staring at me," Willow said.

"Sorry," Davy said blushing a little.

"Why?" Willow asked.

"I should keep my mind focused," Davy said.

"No, you shouldn't," Willow said. "If you focus your mind only on training and fighting, you'll stress yourself out. Think of it like a rubber band. What we do down here is stretching it taut, and you have to ease up. You need to focus on other things. If you don't, that rubber band will snap."

"Oh," Davy muttered.

"So it's ok for you to talk to me about something other than training," Willow said. "I encourage it, in fact."

"Talk to you?" Davy repeated, blushing again.

"Yes," Willow smiled. "That is generally what someone does who likes someone else."

"Likes?" Davy repeated. He seemed at a loss for words. He wasn't sure why. Normally he was really smooth with girls.

"Davy, you really don't have to be shy around me," Willow said. "I like you, too."

"Shy?" Davy said pretending to be shocked. "I'm not shy. Wait...you like me, too?"

"Why else would you be staring at me?" Willow giggled. "You've been staring at me since we got here. I noticed."

"Yeah?" Davy said smiling a little. She liked him too?

"Yes," Willow smiled and walked closer to him.

"Ok, so we talk," Davy said.

"We've been talking," Willow smiled.

"Yes," Davy said. "We have." He wasn't really sure why he was turning into a babbling idiot. He tried to think of something else witty to say, but couldn't. Instead she leaned down and kissed him. He felt the stress over the last few weeks slowly start to slip away. He felt like sparks were emanating from his fingertips. He felt happy for the first time in weeks. Even the strain he felt in his muscles was beginning to slip away. Maybe she was right; maybe he did need to relax a little.


Mike was growing worried. It had been almost a full day since they'd seen Micky. He knew they'd have to perform surgery on Micky and that it would take a while, but he was beginning to grow very worried. Even though neither of them said anything, he knew Ginny and Rose were just as worried as he was. Ginny had told them to let Mike rest his mind a little before trying to dive back into another memory from his ancestor or whatever it was, but Mike found himself drifting back to what he'd seen. What did it all mean? What was that man trying to show him? He finally decided to try and sleep. He hadn't shut his eyes for longer than a few minutes when he heard the lock on the door open. He immediately sat up and watched Francesco and a few other goons walk in with Micky on a stretcher. Even though the sight of Francesco terrified him, he breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Micky. He was unconscious, but alive.

"Micky!" Ginny exclaimed and dashed over to him as the goons transferred him from a stretcher to a bed.

"Leave us," Francesco said. The tone of his voice sent chills down Mike's spine. The goons nodded and left when Micky was in the bed. Rose moved to the foot of the bed Mike was lying on to get a better view of Micky, but seemed hesitant to get too close to Francesco. Mike couldn't really blame her; the stories they'd heard about this man proved how brutal he was. "His bandages will need to be changed every 4 hours. He's asleep for now because of the anesthetic, but he should wake up in a few hours. It took quite a lot to save him, but the bullet somehow managed to miss every major organ. Missed his lungs and his heart. Tore just through his shoulder. Some would call that lucky."

"Some?" Mike asked standing up next to Rose protectively.

"I don't believe in luck when there are witches around," Francesco laughed.

"You think I did something?" Ginny asked. "I can't because of the poison in the air, remember?"

"Then how did that bullet miss so many vital organs?" Francesco asked.

"That asshole was just a bad shot," Rose offered.

"Standing right next to Micky?" Francesco scoffed. "I doubt it. Then you factor in that man had been hunting deer and other animals since he was 10 years old. He wouldn't have missed."

"He was angry," Mike said. "People make mistakes when they're angry."

"Maybe," Francesco said. "But again, I doubt it."

"I can't do anything," Ginny repeated standing up to square off with her father. "Don't you think if I could, I would have tried to get out of here by now?"

"Your mother tried," Francesco said closing in on her. "She tried valiantly to use her magic, but she couldn't. It was fun to watch her struggle, but in the end I was stronger. I told her if she tried to escape, I'd kill her whole village. She didn't dare try to escape, but she still tried to fight me off. And when I held her down, she fought even more. It was that fight that aroused me more. No matter how hard she fought, I still took her."

"Shut up," Mike said not wanting Ginny to have to hear any of this.

"It's ok, Mike," Ginny said. "He thinks he can hurt me like this, but he can't. I've heard it all before. My mother was a hero. She could have escaped, but she didn't. She suffered to save her family."

"Until she found out she was pregnant with you," Francesco sneered. "Then all she cared about was her freedom. She tried for months unsuccessfully. I had to keep her sedated, which spoiled a lot of the fun. She even tried to kill herself. Told me she'd rather kill you than let me harm you. Looks like she failed there, too."

"Shut up, you son of a bitch," Rose snapped. Before Mike could stop her, she'd pushed past him and shoved Francesco. Mike tried to grab her before Francesco retaliated, but he wasn't fast enough. Francesco spun around and slapped her hard across the face. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground, hitting the side of the bed as she tumbled. Mike was instantly by her side, cringing at the loud crack that echoed through the room as the bedpost splintered.

"Watch your tongue!" Francesco snapped. He seemed to calm instantly as he kneeled down to their level. "You think what Robert did was bad? Robert was nothing compared to what I can do. I taught him how to torment in the last five years, little girl. Everything he put Ginny through was at my advisement, not his own. What you experienced as a child was nothing compared to what I can do to you. You'd do best to remember that."

"Leave them alone," Mike said. "Ginny didn't do anything. She can't. She's tried. Your guy just missed. He was angry Micky killed his brother and had an unsteady hand. It happens. Deal with it."

"You naive little boy," Francesco smiled. "You don't really know who you're dealing with, do you. Your mother did."

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked, his breath catching in his throat at the mention of his mother.

"You were five when your parents died, am I right?" Francesco said standing up, that twisted smile still clinging to his face. He was enjoying this. Mike wanted to rip his throat out. "But then again, they didn't just die. They weren't even murdered. They were slaughtered. Did you ever find out who did it? Or why?"

"It never mattered," Mike lied, not wanting to give Francesco the satisfaction. Mike stood up and tried to hide the shakiness in his voice. "They were killed by your people because they were saving other people's lives. That's all I ever cared about."

"Leave them alone," Ginny pled.

"Not just my people," Francesco said ignoring Ginny. "Me. Your mother hid you with Diana after I slaughtered her husband. Then she gave herself to me."

"Mike, don't listen to him," Rose said, pulling herself back up to stand next to Mike. "He's lying."

"How would you know?" Francesco sneered. "You were a little girl weeping for the loss of a father she never even knew."

"I don't really care if you're lying or not," Mike said, trying again to sound convincing. Inside his stomach was in knots. He felt dizzy and anger surged through him. He fought to keep his fists from clenching. He didn't know if Francesco was lying or not, but he didn't care. How dare anyone speak about his parents like this. "I made peace with their death a long time ago."

"I'm sure you did," Francesco said. "You must not have had a choice. But they didn't just die. Your mother had the same fire as Ginny's. While surrender usually takes the fun out of things, I still found a way to have fun with it."

"Shut up!" Rose roared and lunged at him one more time. Francesco moved to grab her forcefully, but stopped suddenly. Rose had taken a broken piece of wood and shoved it as hard as she could into his abdomen. It wasn't a death blow, but it was enough to severely wound him. "I've had enough of listening to your lies."

"You little bitch!" Francesco roared in anger. Mike pulled Rose away as Francesco lunged for her again. Francesco missed, but didn't falter. As he moved closer to them, he pulled the piece of wood out and thrust it at Rose. Mike pushed Rose to the ground and took the blow himself. Pain seared through his whole body as the wood splintered through his skin. It didn't go in deep because Francesco didn't use his full strength, but it was enough to nearly knock Mike to his knees.

"Mike!" Rose yelled.

"Guards!" Francesco yelled and two of the goons immediately came back in. "Take her upstairs to my room."

"No!" Mike yelled. He pushed the pain away and tried to get to Rose before the men, but Francesco stopped him.

"I warned you both," Francesco said gripping Mike by the throat.

"Don't!" Ginny said. "Leave them alone!" Mike's vision started to blur, but he watched as Ginny grabbed a knife off one of the goons now manhandling Rose and held it to her throat.

"Don't be stupid, Virginia," Francesco said not lessening his grip. "You kill yourself and I still hurt them. On principle alone. You'll be dying for nothing." Ginny realized he was right and dropped the knife. Mike and Ginny could only watch as the men carried Rose from the room, kicking and screaming. Francesco threw Mike to the ground and picked up the knife Ginny had just dropped. Mike scrambled to get up, but he was too late. Francesco was already at the door by the time had even gotten up.

"Rose!" Mike screamed. He couldn't let this happen to her again. Mike ran to the door, but Ginny stopped him.

"Don't," she said firmly as the door slammed closed behind Francesco. "There's nothing you can do!"

"I have to help her!" Mike yelled.

"You can't!" Ginny argued. "You're hurt; you need to sit down!"

"Rose!" Mike yelled again. His eyes burned with tears. He'd not done anything for her years ago when Robert had hurt her and he couldn't do anything for her now. He knew Robert had already touched Ginny when they were first taken. Micky had been shot and Ginny severely whipped. He was supposed to protect them and he was failing. Mike crumpled to the ground, losing all energy as tears fell down his face. He barely noticed Ginny kneeling next to him. He barely heard her tell him that what she was gonna do was gonna hurt. When she pulled the piece of wood from his side, he gasped in pain and collapsed. He slowly started to fade from consciousness, but he heard himself whisper Rose's name over and over again in a feeble attempt to help her. He closed his eyes as Ginny moved his shirt up to look at the wound and treat it. He felt the cold floor beneath him and finally passed out.