Noon

While Wyrdmann was shooting questions at Frank, who didn't have any satisfactory answers, Danny was grimly plotting the criminal's downfall. Nicki would have to play a vital role in it, and, judging from Harold Wyrdmann's deranged fixation on his poor brother, so would Jamie. But was he up for it? Although his heart surprisingly screamed that he should trust Jamie, Danny couldn't be sure. The guy hadn't even moved during the last few minutes.

I'm sorry for involving all of you on this suicide mission, Danny thought and then moved forward with his plan by carefully nudging Nikki. "You need to spill the coffee on your shirt", he mumbled without moving his mouth, daring a quick glance in his niece's direction. She nodded immediately and Danny couldn't have been prouder, although he felt a pang of guilt when he thought of the change this ordeal was invoking in his niece.

"Insult me", she whispered back, causing Danny to slightly recoil in confusion. This time, Erin caught on faster than him. Her expression had spoken of insecurity when she'd listened to Danny's order, yet she seemed resolved to help.

"How dare you rat out our family? I raised you better than that!", she hissed, just loud enough for Wyrdmann to hear. The criminal, however, seemed too intent to interrogate Frank further to be bothered by the bickering. Nicki was stammering quietly, but Erin's voice rose as she became more angry.

"Ungrateful brat. You're nothing but a worthless traitor."

"I-I... didn't..."

"Bitch!"

"Stop it! Stop shouting at me!" Nikki had gotten up in an abrupt motion, which made Harold divert his attention towards the fight. He saw the tears in the girl's eyes while also taking in the other family member's guarded expressions and Danny knew he had swallowed the hook, line and sinker. Perhaps Erin hadn't been quite in character, but who cared? Certainly not Wyrdmann. Meanwhile, Nicki licked her dry lips and tried a shaky smile at the criminal.

"M-May I?" She pointed at the coffee pot and the colorful mugs in front of it. Gracious to his newly found ally, Wyrdmann nodded.

I hate this, Danny thought and kicked out at the girl just as she was picking up the cup. The hot beverage drenched her reddish top and dark jeans, also eliciting a small scream from Nikki. Oh, be careful there, young one. Don't overdo it, Danny mentally warned her. He quickly had to cover his own bases, though, because Wyrdmann's wrath turned on him.

"Don't try anything like that again. You won't like the result!", he threatened and pushed the gun at Danny, then reconsidered and targeted Jamie with an evil wink at the big brother. "If you misbehave, I'll hurt him." Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw Jamie flinch in fear and in that moment, he decided that whatever else happened, he would kill Harold Wyrdmann tonight.

Jamie, on the other hand, tried his best to stay invisible and out of Wyrdmann's way. He couldn't stop thinking about that man's hand on his naked flesh and about Nikki's shout. His family had seen it. Now his worst nightmare had come true. How was he supposed to go on, knowing that his family had watched... it. Nikki had tried to be kind, no doubt – but was she was telling the truth, however improbable it seemed?

Enough with the whining. Quit it! He'd been so busy feeling sorry for himself that he'd missed minutes of what was happening. Giving himself a mental slap, Jamie tried to ban the thoughts of the torture sessions from his mind and focus on the proceedings.

"I... um, I have to go. Go change. This...", Nikki was crying, apparently distraught from previous the fight with her mother. Harold seemed completely charmed whereas Jamie suddenly had his doubts about Nikki's emotional plea. Something about her posture... the quivering lip, the huge eyes, hands clenching and unclenching... no. He hadn't been her favorite Uncle for years without getting to know her intimately. Nikki was playacting, meaning his family had a plan. Which was good, because Jamie didn't know how much longer he could take this.

"You can't go upstairs alone, little one. You might be tempted to do something stupid", Harold said soothingly and waved his gun around. Nikki didn't seem daunted by the weapon, instead batting her eyelashes at him and replying that perhaps he could accompany her.

"No, that would involve leaving the rest of the family... unsupervised."

"B-but! But I can't stay like this", Nikki pleaded and suddenly Jamie knew in which direction she was pushing Harold. Upstairs. Moreover, the clever manipulation seemed to be working, because Wyrdmann commanded them all to get up and form a line, then march up the stairs towards Nikki's room. And with every step, the tension seemed to increase as a tingling energy began to fill the air. Jamie stopped short as soon as they reached the hallway on the first floor, partly because Wyrdmann signaled for them to halt, partly because Danny was giving him that look. The one he'd seen countless times, the one that meant he was supposed to act. Nicki too seemed to be stalling, slowly making her way over to the closet and fidgeting with the lock before opening it. For an instance, Jamie didn't have a clue what was expected of him, then he caught Danny staring pointedly at Wyrdmann.

Immediately he put two and two together: they want me to be a distraction. Which was smart, the rational part of his brain argued, but which also made his heart stop for a moment as a jolt of panic raced through him. Being the bait would put him into the most uncomfortable position, because all he could think of was the one burning question occupying his mind. When he couldn't come up with anything else and the seconds stretched into eternity, Jamie suddenly decided to damn it all to hell. He would not under any circumstances disappoint the trust his big brother had placed in him. God knew he'd worked hard to receive it in the first place. So without thinking, he took half a step forward, forced a smirk on his face and engaged Harold in a friendly conversation.

"Well, Harold. Now that we've got time to chat - did you or didn't you? Rape me, I mean." His voice was shaking during the last part, but he didn't retreat when Wyrdmann's slimy eyes landed on his body although the darkness in the man's eyes made him shudder all over. Breathe. Just breathe, he told himself and fixed his stare on his captor.

"Sweet Jamison, and such bravery. Our time together sure seems to mean a lot to you."

Jamie clicked his tongue and tried hard not to look at any of his family member's astonished faces. "Yeah, well, from the looks of you, you don't care much about personal hygiene and I wouldn't want to be diseased, you know?" He didn't even feel scared at this point. It was like he was reading a script from a movie. It was just a role he was playing, and knowing what would come next surely helped a little. It still hurt though, when Wyrdmann pistol-whipped him again and sent him sprawling on the floor. To Jamie it nevertheless felt like a victory, because with Wyrdmann's seething frame standing over him, nobody paid any attention to Nikki. Whatever the plan was, Jamie hoped they'd get on with it. A vicious kick to the stomach turned him over so he was lying on his back.

"I... didn't mean to... insult your pride", he ground out, then seemed to reconsider and smiled just as meanly as his kidnapper. "Actually, I did. And I'm not sorry." Harold laughed and bent down to press the metal of the gun into Jamie's cheek. For a moment, Jamie froze and closed his eyes in defeat, then he opened them again and they went wide. Nikki was standing behind the criminal, feet apart and arms outstretched. She was pointing a gun at Harold Wyrdmann, who still hadn't noticed anything, too fixated on his prey.

Jamie reacted before Wyrdmann got a chance to turn around. Pushing with both feet, he sent the criminal stumbling towards the stairs and thereby put himself out of the line of fire. "Shoot!"

Nikki didn't react to the command, instead staring like she was hypnotized. A part of Jamie was glad that his niece couldn't do it. He saw it in her eyes. Unfortunately, so did Wyrdmann, who was picking himself up off the floor with an evil grin on his face. Danny and the rest of the family watched the drama unfold with horrified expressions, too far away to interact. Now Wyrdmann was standing again and his weapon was trained on the girl. "I believe I told you what would happen if you misbehaved", he drawled. Jamie could see the muscles in his arm tense and knew what was about to happen. He'd shoot Nikki.

"No!" Jamie lunged for the criminal and grabbed his weapon just as a shot was let loose. Plaster rained down on them when the bullet embedded itself into the ceiling while the desperate struggle continued. Jamie knew that Wyrdmann was stronger than him, but he wouldn't release his grip on the gun. Suddenly the criminal managed to clip him with his elbow. Dazed, Jamie fell and Wyrdmann straightened himself. The winning smile got stuck in his throat, though, when another body collided with his. Frank had used the time to inch closer and then had then thrown himself forcefully at the man. Together they tumbled down the stairs in a mess of arms and legs. The gun was lost somewhere along the way.

"Dad! Are you okay?", Jamie and Danny shouted in unison. The man in question slowly rolled away from the criminal, groaning but tiredly holding his hands up. "I'm fine, boys." Harold was bleeding from a wound on his forehead, just getting his bearings again. He moved into Frank's direction, but Danny's firm order stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't make a move or I'll shoot you", he growled. Jamie noticed how his brother was struggling not to pull the trigger of the gun Nikki had given to him, so he walked over and leaned in close. "He's not even worth the effort."

"Yeah, I know, kid."

"Do you?", Jamie asked sharply. His brother seemed to snap out of it and quickly glanced at him. Then he nodded, emotions crossing his face and disappearing behind the professional mask as suddenly as they'd come. Jamie recognized some of them as vengefullness, rage and in the end, understanding and a sense of clarity. At that moment he knew that Danny was going to be okay. He let his big brother take care of things and moved to sit down against the wall. Exhaustion didn't even begin to cover it.

At some point, Erin cut him free and Linda called the police. They took Harold Wyrdmann away. The ambulance arrived and the paramedics checked them out. Nikki and the other women were fine, Danny was a little bruised and Frank had dislocated his right shoulder during his fall down the stairs. They wanted to examine him, too, but Jamie insisted that he was fine. Only after Danny told him to stop being a diva, he let the men do their work.

"You're experiencing a light case of shock, probably due to a mild concussion. Other than that, you're fine", the paramedic declared and put a band-aid over the abrasions on his cheek after cleaning them out. It stung, but Jamie hardly cared. When they were done, he wordlessly shuffled into bed.

His Dad woke him two hours later. "Son?"

"Yeah?" Drowsily, Jamie opened his eyes, realizing that he'd slept peacefully for the first time in ages. He blinked and saw the love shining out of in Frank's eyes.

"Whassup?", Jamie mumbled, burying his head in his pillow like he'd done when he was ten years old. His Dad chuckled. "Nothing. Go back to sleep. I'll wake you again in a few hours. The doctor said we had to, because of your concussion..." Jamie was already half-asleep before Frank even finished. He felt his dad's hand smooth back the hair on his head and smiled. It felt like home.