Damon

The Ten Men were whispering as they huddled together, Damon and Cleo standing off to the side.

"I'm so sorry, Cleo, I - I'm still confused, I guess - you're my daughter." He gazed at her, speechless.

She was about to respond when McCracken swept in. "Now, this won't do," he said. "Really, I must say that I'm impressed. Damon, the long-lost daddy of this traitor?" He seized Cleo's arm roughly, dragging her so that he stood between father and daughter. "What a turn of events. How perfectly charming."

He did seem genuinely put off, which was good, but also angry, which was bad.

"Right. As much of a tearjerker as this is, I've no time to spare for such sickening, emotional reunions. Hand it over."

"What?"

"The button. Hand it over."

"I - no. What are you going to -"

With a bored expression, McCracken seized it and, in a split second, had it pointed at Cleo. "If you want to keep the girl, you'll let me keep this," he said, idly stroking the side of his face with his free hand.

Damon's heart was pounding. Cleo looked so helpless, so frightened, and there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he would have his revenge. How to go about it, though, was another story. The art of knowing when to act and when to stand by waiting for a more profitable opportunity is one no doubt best known to crooks and criminals such as himself, and so through gritted teeth he said, "Fine."

McCracken's finger still hovered over the button.

"I said fine!" yelled Damon, reaching for his daughter.

"Oh, please, as if I'd use it on that pathetic little thing." McCracken stowed the button away in his breast pocket, chuckling to himself. "You really must be less jumpy." He was met with a stony glare, and after a moment sighed. "Very well." At the snap of his fingers, five Ten Men marched over and snatched Damon, while another five tied Cleo's hands together. Grinning at each other, as McCracken stood smugly and watched, each group brought all five of their handkerchiefs down on their appointed victim, and the ties between father and daughter were broken once more.

xxxxx

He woke up several hours later, though to him the passage of time was frozen, as is generally the case when one has been knocked out cold and awakens in a dark cellar. Disorientation being another characteristic of such scenarios, he looked about wildly, unseeingly, before remembering what he had gotten himself into. A wave of guilt subsumed him. He hadn't told Cleo, but he's been watching her for a good number of years now, not knowing who she was to him, and the shame that this fact caused was unbearable. How could he have stalked out his daughter, tagged her, bugged her phone conversations, reported to McCracken, and appointed her to be Mackenzie's target – all without thinking twice? Shouldn't he have felt something? Some hesitation? Anything?

She was so lively by nature. When she first met Sticky, her true personality showed through: warm, strong, loving, compassionate. Only he could see the torture lurking behind those gorgeous hazel eyes as she befriended the boy, and he now realized that it wasn't only the betrayal causing her pain: she genuinely cared for him. When she disclosed her true identity to the others, some terrible cloud seemed to descend upon her. It was because of his actions that she became the trembling, powerless little girl that she was now, that the Ten Men had put to sleep without batting an eyelash, whose struggles were futile.

(Never fear, dear reader - please be assured that Cleo will recover and, I daresay, surprise even herself with her own strength. All in due course.)

So consumed in his own thoughts was Damon that he didn't hear the sound of whispering until a hand crept up to touch his arm. With a shriek that was remarkably feminine, he tried to regain his composure while a voice said,

"Excuse me, but are you - I can't help but notice that you haven't been bound and - well, we have, so perhaps you could - if you don't mind?"

He paused to collect his thoughts and realize that, as unfortunate as it was, this was indeed real life. "Oh, of course," he said, gingerly taking the arms proffered to him. They were thin, almost bird-like, and chafed from repeated attempts to escape. In only a moment he had unknotted the ropes.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, silhouette moving as she rubbed her wrists up and down. "I haven't had feeling in my hands for what feels like forever."

"Yes," said Damon, unsure of what else to say.

"How rude of me!" she exclaimed suddenly. "Rhonda, will you pass me a match?"

A match appeared and sparked into life. She reached expertly into the shadows and quickly lit the wick of a white candle, then placed it in a rusty tin dangling from a wooden post in the center of the room.

Now Damon could see the two women before him: they both looked exhausted, with bags under their eyes and unkempt hair. One was tall, angular, with dusty red hair and a sallow complexion, and the other was much smaller, with ebony skin and eyes that shone out of the blackness.

"I'm Rhonda, Rhonda Kazembe," she said presently, "and this is Pencilla."

"You can call me Number Two," Pencilla said.

Author's note

So it looks like two important characters have returned! I'm sure more will resurface in future chapters. Thank you ever so much for your reviews; they really mean the world to me. The fact that you are all so supportive and fond of my writing makes me extremely happy. This may be preemptive, but I was thinking that, seeing as you have all said that my writing is nearly as good as Trenton Lee Stewart's, once I've completed this story - well, it's nearly a novel by now! - I might go back and revise everything and make a little hardcover book out of it (most likely using or something similar), which I would gladly sell online on for a very minimal price. If you think you would be interested in it.

I do apologize profusely for my slow updates. I do have a relatively busy life, and just returned from a month of traveling to various places, so it's really all been a whirlwind and downtime minimal. I've also been working a lot on my music (I'm recording an album next year) so, busy busy! I will try to write as quickly as I can though, and post at least a chapter a month, if not every two weeks or so.

Quick shoutout to user khdayskh1314, your review made me smile! Never fear, there will be plenty of Kaynie fluff. I'm a little iffy on the rating, because I had it rated as T and that bothered some people, but I think kissing is still K-appropriate, and if not I will change the rating because of course a kiss or two is inevitable!

Sorry for the absurdly long author's note. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and keep being wonderful and reviewing and such!