AN: Hey...sorry for the late update again...but at least I'm updating.

Thank you so much anaross3000, datgirl1065, Anonymously Truthful, pinkrocker12, Hershey9, ADayWithNoLaughterIsADayWais ted, thunderrussian, RisingSunset, Kickloverrrr, sweetsos209, 1379, RedisforRoses, Randomgirl111111, thebiggestLMfan, Molly127, Guest, Dance Star93, Dreaming2BAWriter, Penquinlover3333, September14Fall, Hgirl, secrets xx, krc93, StripedFuzzySocks, sad-beautiful-tragic, Rachel, Guest, Bluedog270, Guest, Parisbabe224, Kay K 430, Guest, Nerdygurlk13, Bubbles, Aqua468, JACKSON, XxawesomepopsicesxX, 88Keys and Guest, for all you reviews.

Wow, that was a lot... You're guys are AMAZING and you're the ones who keep this story going.

There have been a lot of questions about who's side Austin's really on... I've made his character confusing like that on purpose. Although after this chapter, I hope that there'll be no doubt of who he really is...

With that said I hope y'all enjoy the chapter:)

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KICKIN' IT... only my OCs...

Chapter 27

My Rival

Austin's pov.

"Hey take it easy!" I panted, catching up with the Blond in front of me. She had been running almost the whole way through the forest and I could tell that she was getting tired.

"We have to hurry." She said, although she slowed down a bit. "We don't know how much time we have until Mark returns." She had a point…but then again we didn't know if he would ever return. Maybe he'd just been picking up something by the cabin before driving back to his actual hideout… In that case Kim and I were tiring ourselves out for nothing… I chose to keep my mouth shut about that though, following Kim along the trail.

After half an hour we spotted the cabin, perfectly hidden in the deep forest. It wasn't very big and it looked to be completely made out of wood, just like the small shed to the left of it.

I was just about to discuss our possibilities to breaking and entering when I noticed Kim already running towards the door, taking all the stairs in one giant leap. I sighed and ran after her. She turned to me as soon as I got to her with a disappointed look on her face.

"It's locked."

"Well, what did you expect?" I shrugged. She shook her head and started to push on the door instead.

"You're not gonna be able to open it like that." I pointed out, trying my best to keep myself from smiling, as she kept on pulling and pushing on the door, ignoring my statement. Her stubbornness was so adorable.

She had that look in her eye that told me that it would be no use talking to her. So I just shook my head and took a look around, quickly making it around the cabin. There were three windows. One of them was blocked with boards and the other two were pretty high up on the wall, making them hard to climb through, but not impossible. I just needed something to break them with…

The shed instantly popped up in my head and I swiftly made it over to it. Maybe I could find some useful tools in there… Opening the door I realized that the place was filled with junk, but in one of the corners I spotted a shovel that would do just fine. The tricky part was to get to it…There were so much stuff in there that I had to literally climb in, knocking a few things over, while ripping my jeans.

"Great…" I mumbled before reaching for the shovel. It was still a bit too far away and as I stretched my arm out to grab it, I lost my balance and almost fell, hadn't it been for the shelf in front of me that I managed to grab a hold of at the last moment. I accidentally hit a can standing on it though, causing it to fall over and revealing its content. It took me a moment before I saw the key that had fallen out of it. Studying it, I realized that it must be the key to the cabin. I mean there wasn't any other door around here that it could possibly fit…

Regaining my balance I grabbed the key and stumbled back out again. I closed the door to the shed; not wanting to leave any trace behind me, although if someone would open it, they would notice right away that someone's been in there, tumbling around…

I chuckled as I saw Kim still trying to open the door when I returned. She's never giving up, is she?

"You might wanna try this." I said, holding up the key in triumph. She turned around, giving me a confused look.

"Where did you find that?"

"Over by the shed." I pointed towards it.

"How did you know where to look?"

"I didn't." I shrugged. "I just went over there to see if there were any tools that we could use to break through the door or a window. I found this on one of the shelves…" I handed the key to her, pretty happy to be able to provide her with it. She must be at least a little impressed….right?

"You go inside." I said. "I stay here and watch in case Mark comes back." I didn't feel safe to just walk inside without any clue of what would be going on outside.

"Okay" She agreed without questioning me, turning around.

"And Kim…" I stopped her just before she'd unlocked the door, meeting her gaze. "If you need me, just call. I'll be right outside."

She smiled at me and opened the door as I watched her from behind. She looked around the place to make sure that it would be safe, before entering, closing the door behind her. I didn't like that she hadn't left it open, but I figured that everything was alright, since she had seemed calm. Besides Mark had left so it was impossible for him to be here.

I walked away from the cabin, stopping on a spot where the suns rays burst through the foliage. The birds sang as I closed my eyes enjoying the warmth form the sun. Coming from New York, I wasn't used to this kind of heat. I loved it though.

At first I hadn't liked the idea of going here, but it had actually been a pretty interesting morning. Not to mention all the time I got to spend with Kim. My lips formed into a smile as I thought about the blond beauty. She was truly something extraordinary. Even though I could get a little frustrated by her, I really admired her determination and courage. She had insisted of going here, although she knew that the chances of meeting Mark, the man who tried to kill her, were pretty big. Mark was the main reason I didn't like this, but after seeing him driving off my worries had faded a little and I felt that both me and Kim were pretty safe at the moment.

I threw a glance at the cabin, wondering if she'd found something that would be useful in her search... My smile faded as I was reminded of the reason why we were here. The reason Kim refused to turn back…the reason the sickening feeling also known as worry lingered in my body…Jack.

I knew that Jack was in trouble and that he most likely needed help… but a part of me wished that we would never had gone here and that Jack would never be found. Ashamed of my selfish thoughts I turned my attention back to the forest. Selfish…that's what I was… Jack was a nice guy and he didn't deserve to go through whatever Mark had done to him. I didn't know what Mark had been up to or why. All I knew was that he had been mad enough to shoot Kim. I shuddered. Just the thought of ever coming eye to eye with Mark scared me. I couldn't imagine how Jack's doing, being forced to stay with him….We were doing the right thing here…I knew that. It's just that, I've seen the way Jack looks at her. I've seen the way he acts around her… All of that would have been ok with me, if it wasn't for that way she looked at him…that's what really worried me.

The sound of a car approaching in the distance pulled me out of my thoughts. Quickly realizing that someone was coming and that that someone most probably was Mark I turned on my heel and ran as fast as I could back to the cabin. I had to get Kim out of there…

I practically threw the door open and bolted inside. But I didn't get very far until I froze to the spot, eying the scene before me.

Kim was sitting on the floor, next to a boy. I figured the brown haired boy must be Jack, although I barely recognized him. His face was covered with bruises and blood and the tear streaks down his cheeks were shimmering in the dim light.

"Oh God…" I mumbled quietly, not at all prepared that Jack would be there, not to mention the horrible state he was in. It was hard to believe that it was the same boy who had been annoying me with his cockiness and overprotection of Kim, a little more than a week ago. He had been so full of life and energy, and now…now he was just lying lifeless on the floor, crying…

Kim was holding his head up as they both turned their attention towards me. I felt really awkward, realizing that I had been interrupted something by the look on Kim's face. She had been crying too, I could tell. No wonder really…If I was feeling this bad about witnessing this, then I can't even imagine what she must be going through… After all Kim and Jack were as close as two friends could be…a bit too close for my likings…

I locked eyes with Jack for a brief moment. His brown pools were like empty holes with nothing but pain showing in them. My stomach turned, despising my own thoughts. How could I even be thinking about how bad I wanted Kim to be mine instead of his, that I'd almost wished we wouldn't find him? I opened my mouth to say something, but before any words could escape my lips, Jack threw himself from the wall and into Kim. She had been looking at me and him suddenly bumping into her caused her to fall over. Jack didn't seem to notice though as he kept trashing around like crazy. It wasn't until now that I realized that his hands were cuffed and attached to the wall next to him and his legs were held together by a chain, tightly wrapt around them. He now seemed to use every bit of energy and strength that he had left to break free.

"Jack calm down." Kim said as she sat up again. "You're hurting yourself…please Jack, stop…" I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was scared, and frankly I was too. My feet seemed to have been glued to the spot and I was unable to bring myself to do anything. I'd never seen anyone act like this before and I didn't know what to do. Kim was able to think though and she jumped on top of him, holding him down. "Please stop…you're scaring me." Kim tried to reason with him as she struggled to hold him still until he finally stopped abruptly, panting hard. Kim seemed tired as well as she rested her forehead on his temple, trying to catch her breath. "It's ok Jack." She whispered so quietly that I barely could hear it over Jack's sobs. "Everything's gonna be ok. Just hold on a little longer…please." She was still lying on top of him, holding him. My heart ached of seeing them so close to each other and I felt a bit awkward. I was truly the third wheel here.

"It's ok. I'm here…I'm here." Kim continued to whisper soothingly, which seemed to have a calming effect on him.

After a few seconds I'd finally recovered enough from the shock after witnessing Jack's mental break down, that I was able to use my brain again. Remembering the luring danger outside, I swiftly made my way over to them.

"Kim?!" She looked up at me surprised. "We gotta go." I said and bent down to pull on her arm, knowing that she probably wouldn't move from him, without some kind of physical force. My prediction turned out to be correct as she wrenched her arm out of my grip.

"I'm not leaving him." She said, clinging to him.

"You have to if you wanna save him!" I blurted out a little harsh, but I was desperate to get her out of there before Mark could get to us. Thankfully I had been convincing enough for her to stand up. I pulled on her arm again. "C'mon!" We'd lost so much valuable time and I prayed to God that it wasn't too late.

"Don't leave me." Jack begged, surprising me. I hadn't really expected him to speak.

"I'll be back soon. I promise." Kim reassured as I frantically tried to get her closer to the door. She just wouldn't move fast enough.

"We gotta hurry!" I almost yelled knowing that every second counted.

As if things couldn't get worse, Jack rolled over and looked at us.

"Please don't go." He begged. I could hear him rattling the chains behind us. He was probably wishing more than anything that he could come with us, but that was impossible at the moment. We needed to get away. If not, we would be trapped in here by Mark and if that happened Jack would surely have no chance of getting free anytime soon.

I didn't have time to explain that to him though and he started to panic.

"Don't leave me!" He cried. "Please!" I ignored it as all my attention now was on the car that I could see through the door that had been left slightly opened. My heart raced. Mark was already here. Frozen to the spot, I didn't notice that Kim had pulled away from me and was rushing through the door until it was too late.

"Kim no…" I tried to warn her. She obviously didn't hear me, as I had spoken too quiet, not wanting Mark to hear me. At the same time she made it through the door I reached out and closed it behind her. My mind wasn't really aware of what my body was doing at that point. I just instinctively felt the need to close it in an attempt to hide.

Immediately feeling like a coward, I debated with myself whether I should go out to her or not. At first that seemed to be the only good idea…but I found myself too scared to open the door and reveal myself… Again guilt and shame filled me. Why couldn't I be brave like Kim?

Realizing that Mark didn't know who I was and that I was there, I came to think of that I might be able to help without needing to get outside anyway. He would be outside busy dealing with Kim… leaving me the opportunity to come up with some sort of plan… I don't know if I made the right choice, but at least it made me feel a bit better… I was worried that Kim would get hurt though and I knew I had to think of something fast.

I turned my attention to Jack, who was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling, still crying while repeatedly saying the words 'please don't leave me' to himself.

I made it over to him, to take a better look at him. He didn't seem to notice that I was there at first, as he looked right through me. I felt sick, watching him. He looked even worse up close. How could anyone be so cruel to do this to anybody?

I didn't know Jack that well, but from the moments we've spent together and from what everyone has told me I'd gotten the impression that he was a strong person, both physically and mentally and to see him all broken like this was really disturbing. It felt as if the hope was already lost. Maybe we were too late after all…

"Jack?" He stopped mumbling and looked at me. I was a little surprised that he seemed so alert all of a sudden and I didn't really know what to say. The silence was soon broken as Jack chose to speak though.

"Why are you here?" He asked weakly.

"We're here to save you." I said, trying to make him feel better. He closed his eyes and I smiled, believing that I'd succeeded. I was wrong though… With a swift movement he rolled over to his side and placed his face in his hands, sobbing again.

"Please don't…" He had to make a pause to catch his breath. "…say stuff like that…" I frowned, surprised by his words. "...It hurts so bad…" He whimpered.

"Why? Don't you wanna get rescued?"

"More than anything…" He spoke into his hands, his voice shaking.

"Then why are you so sad?" I asked, noticing that the chain around his ankles was only kept in place by a carabineer.

"…'cause it'll never happen." He wept, even though I was already crouching, unwrapping the chain that held his legs together.

"Of course it will." I reassured him and threw the chain aside. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Because you're not real…" His body was trembling slightly as he still kept his face hidden from me. I felt really bad for him. Was he so beaten up that he no longer could tell if the things around him were real or not?

"I'm real." I said. "Can't you feel me?" I placed my hand on his leg, shaking it lightly to make my point. When he didn't show any signs of noticing me, I grabbed the leg for real and moved it slightly apart from his other. "I already removed the chain, see."

Jack slowly brought his head up, glancing at me through blood shot eyes.

"You're real?" He sniffed.

"Yes" I smiled at him, before eyeing the handcuffs, frowning at the sight of how badly they'd injured his wrists. By the looks of the secure attachment to the wall, it wouldn't be easy to free him. I stood up searching the place with my gaze.

"Do you have any idea of where the key might be?" I asked him. He didn't respond right away, eying me as if he was still trying to comprehend that I was really there. "I'm gonna need it to unlock those." I said, nodding towards the cuffs.

"Mark has it." He replied quietly, letting his head down again. I let out a sigh. Of course he would have it. Makes sense, really. The problem still remained though…

Maybe if there was a screwdriver or something somewhere, then at least I could disconnect him from the wall and he would be able to leave this place.

"Where is he?" Jack wondered, sounding worried. I gave him a questioning look, not knowing what he was talking about. "Where's Mark?" The knot in my stomach grew as I suddenly remembered that he was just outside...and worse yet; Kim was there with him.

"He's outside." I said, frantically looking around, trying to think of something.

"Does he know you're here?" Jack was getting more anxious as he noticed how stressed I became all of a sudden.

"No, not me…" I answered. By coincidence I spotted a small item on the window ledge above the place where Jack was lying on the floor. Recognizing the item as a key I instantly reached for it. Could it possibly be… I didn't want to get my hopes up and I told myself that the key probably was meant to unlock something somewhere else. But there was a chance that this key would unlock the cuffs. It was small but I had to at least try it.

"…he's only seen Kim." I said, while leaning over him. My hands shook slightly as I tried to work as fast as I could. "We have to get out and help her." I hoped that my words would bring him his spark of life back. It looked like he'd given up. I had expected him to be excited when I told him that he wasn't gonna have to be stuck in this misery anymore, but instead he just lay there not seeming to care. He didn't even seem to care that I'd mentioned Kim. That scared me to be honest, as I was fiddling around with his restrains. The key didn't fit the cuffs, but it did to my relief, fit the padlock that connected the handcuffs to the hitching ring. Within a second he was free…or at least as free as possible at the moment…

The problem was that Jack didn't react. He still lay on the floor not even trying to get up.

"C'mon Jack." I said, shaking his shoulder gently. "It's time to go."

"I can't…" He whispered, staring into the wall as new tears were forming in his eyes.

"Yes you can. Why wouldn't you…?" I was a little unsure of what to do. I'm not the comforting kind of guy and watching people cry made me uncomfortable, especially another guy… but I knew that he needed help and at the moment I was the only one who could provide him with that. "I've removed all the things that held you down." I said, hoping that he would realize that it was indeed possible for him to leave.

"…Alan…" He mumbled, covering his face with his hands.

"Alan?" I was confused now. Did Mark have a partner? In that case we were in trouble… Kim was in trouble... "C'mon Jack, we gotta go." I pulled on his arm, but he pulled back. Desperate as I was I got more assertive with my tone. "Mark's outside and Kim's there. You've got to come! Are you just gonna lay there and feel sorry for yourself?!" I shook him quite violently, trying to get him going. All I did was to piss him off though. "You can't give up now! Not without even trying!" His head shot up suddenly and he looked me straight in the eye.

"Don't you think I've tried?!" He raised his voice, making me back off a little. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "Don't you think I've tried…" He repeated, more softly this time. "Don't you think I've tried to fight him off? Or to leave?"

I believed he had. I'm pretty sure that many of his injuries he'd caused himself as he'd most probably been putting up a fight. I didn't blame him though. I would have done all within my power to leave a place like this. "I can't take him…" Jack sniffed, resting his head back against the floor again.

"Of course you can take him." I said, not really believing my own words. If Jack had been the way he used to be, there is no doubt that he would've taken this guy down easily…but under the circumstances, I wasn't so sure. "Jack, Kim nee…"

"Kim's dead!" He cut me short, hurt showing in his expression.

"No she's not." I shook my head. Had he actually believed that? "She was just in here. Didn't you see her?" He looked at me in silence, blinking away a tear. I swear I could see his brain working, trying to process what I'd just said.

"You mean…you mean you saw her too?" I could hear a small beam of hope in his voice and I smiled. Finally he seemed to get it.

"Yes. Now c'mon." I stood up and reached out my hand for him to grab. "She needs our help." He still looked unsure and I wondered what it would take for him to realize that we had actually come for him and all this would come to an end…

As on cue, a shriek was heard from outside, piercing our ears. The voice had a female ring to it and there was no doubt of whom it belonged to. It worked as a trigger for Jack to burst into life. He shot up from his lying position, ignoring my out stretched hand, which he would've needed, because he had as much control of his body as a new born calf when he stumbled to his feet. It looked kind of funny and in another situation I would have laughed, but knowing the background story it was only sad to watch. I reached out and grabbed his arm to support him until he'd found his balance.

"Take it easy" I mumbled, just before another scream was heard making my heart race.

"KIM!" Jack screamed back as he pulled out of my grip and headed for the door. I smiled, following him. Finally, he's back.

OK so Jack is finally free, but now Kim's in trouble instead... and Austin turned out to be a good guy, a coward- yes, but still a good guy...even though Jack never really liked him...

So my dear readers we are starting to get closer to the ending of this story. Only four chapters left... I've sort of come up with a sequel though. I have a whole notebook filled with ideas for it, but I haven't started to actually write it and I'm not entirely sure that I will. Depends on you guys a little, to be honest... There's poll on my profile where you can vote, whether you'd like a sequel or not...or you could just let me know through a review...

I'm gonna write as fast as I can to get the next chapter up asap...

See you on the next chappie:)
/MJ