Grey sat on the floor, huddled in a corner of a small room with one set of bunk beds. There were no windows and only a tiny bath. His only conscious thought was he had failed to protect his mother. He had failed to protect Ana. He was a worthless shit. He had watched the men pick up his mothers limp body that felt so cold. He had wanted to protest but instead, he just let his body sag and gave up. He said nothing as they carried her away. He wondered if they would they throw her body into the sea? The waves of pain inside his head grew in a mighty crescendo and suddenly he let out a primal scream.

Now, he was just sitting on the floor, lost in memories of his angel, the woman who raised him, the woman who never gave up on him. Sometimes, he thought he heard someone calling him, but then he'd just let himself fall deeper into his memories, memories of the most wonderful mother in the world.

The annoying voice had now morphed into voices, several voices, all calling his name. Before he could let himself drift further away, he was startled to consciousness by Taylors voice frantically bellowing, "Sir!"

Grey looked around the dumpy room and snarled, "What, Taylor?" Meanwhile, wondering where the fucker was hiding.

Then he was listening to the child Shelley. "Are you feeling better, Mr Grey?" She asked. He looked around the room, she most certainly wasn't here but then neither was Taylor. Her voice felt so comforting, so soothing but part of him was panicking, convinced his mind had crossed some unknown barrier and slipped into insanity. His heart beat began to pick up speed as he tried to remember what mental illness was associated with hearing voices. Schizophrenia, wasn't it?

"Mr Grey, soon Mara will arrive. Your girlfriend Ana is here with Taylor.

Ana. The sound of her name calmed him. Wasnt she sick though? Mara? Who the hell was that? Slowly, he remembered the nurse, and then Levi and then Schneiderman. Schneiderman who was responsible for his mother's death.

" Sir, your mother is alive. She's been flown to a hospital. Ana saw her and told me. She is definitely alive."

Grey opened his eyes and saw Mara. Of course, she was Ana's nurse.

"We need you, Mr Grey. I need you beside me, to help with the rescue. I need the CEO of Grey Enterprise Holdings. If we are going to save Shelley, Taylor and Ana, I need you."

"Sir, Shelley and I have a plan but we need your help. I will tell you when it is safe to leave your room. Mara is going to plant two small plastic explosives. Shelley will detonate them later. They are designed as a distraction. We will tell you when we want you and where we want you. Schneiderman will be taken down and Shelley will retrieve the information he has on locations of black market fission material and nuclear war heads. As soon as she is able to transmit that information, rescue forces will be on the way here.

The entertainment portion of the auction starts after lunch. We don't know exactly what Schneiderman has planned, but you can be sure neither one of us will like it. Ana is here with me and very worried about you."

Christians eyes narrow and he snarls out loud, "Protect her, Taylor. I swear, if anything happens to Ana..."

"Not to worry, sir. I will keep her safe. Please remember to stay with Mara. You can trust her. Listen to her and do whatever she says. She was an experienced field agent for Mossad. "

He looked at her then, really looked at her. He was shocked to see that look in her eyes that he occasionally saw in Taylors eyes, usually when the gun came out. It was a hard look, confident but not cocky. Cold, unafraid, purposeful, yeah, that was the right word. Purposeful. They know what they have to do and they do it. They are not afraid to die, but don't plan on it. Soldier mentality, warrior mentality, an attitude in battle that went back in time. Taylor was right, as usual. This lady knew her shit.

"Do you have a gun?" He asked.

She laughed and shook her head no.

But Taylor said she had plastic explosives! Grey didn't understand, "But Tay-" she tripped over his foot and fell in his lap, shushing him all the while to be quiet. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair and brought her face closer, whispering there are audio and video monitors in this room and not to ask any more questions that could give the game away. Then she laid her head on his shoulder and started whispering stuff that Ana said he needed to hear.

Grey wasn't sure how much time passed when he heard the door being unlocked. He looked over at Mara and she smiled and whispered, "Showtime!"

A man entered with a tray that held two sandwiches and two cans of Coke. Standing in the doorway behind him was a man with an Uzi pointing into the room. As Mara stretched out her arms to accept the tray, Grey yelled "Now!" And the guard in the doorway let out a yell and dropped his gun, holding his hand in agony. Mara did her thing and the server fell unconscious to the floor. She quickly moved to to the now unarmed thug in the doorway. He was moaning continuously now, holding his hand, in desperate pain. Mara gave him a quick blow to the head and watched him drop to the floor. She quickly restrained both men with strips of cloth from Greys shirt. Then she gagged them.

Grey watched her stand, cool and calm, her breathing normal. She reached down and touched the gun before picking it up. Then checking gunman, she pulled out 2 additional clips of ammo, checked the hallway and they left.

Fifteen minutes later, on a lower deck in the aft section, Mara pulled Grey into a utility closet. She ripped off her sneaker and pulled out the innersole, then peeled off a thick strip of plastic explosive that had been shaped to fit her sneaker under the innersole. It had the consistency of modeling clay. She pointed at the pipe near the ceiling that contained the electrical wiring that ran from stem to stern and asked him to mold the plastic to the top of the pipe where no one would see it.

Then they promptly headed up. The ship was approximately 130'long and at least 30'' to 35' across at the widest point. It looked like a small cruse ship. The aft part of the ship had an open dining deck, bar, pool and spa. There was also a dancing area. Mara was guiding them to a small lookout deck located behind the wheelhouse but overlooking the open area below. The open area below is where Schneiderman would hold his 'entertainment'.

Mara pointed out the fire hose in its plexiglass case. She pointed out the water valve and Grey nodded his understanding. She pointed as crew members started appearing on deck.

Grey heard Taylor tell him they were on the move. Shelley was still physically out of it but mentally aware. Grey was looking anxiously for some sign of them when he heard a sound and turned in time to see an armed sailor drop to the deck they were standing on. He gasped in alarm, but Mara reassured him all was fine and he should get his fire hose set up.

Down below, Taylor carried Shelley in his arms as she whispered in his mind, "Remember, first chance you get, go for it. We may never get a second chance. Anger him, enrage him, anyway you can. Make him want to come at you. I need you holding him, skin to skin for at least 3 seconds, preferably 5-10 seconds. You'll know I am in because the link will fade. I will need all of my strength to get the information we need about the location of the weapons and to transmit it to Levi.

Taylor nodded. He saw Schneiderman coming out of the elevator and heading towards him. "This may be our only chance," he said silently, "Be ready." He added. He eyed the man striding confidently to him, backed up by two hulking armed body guards. He so a rattan cushion loveseat up against the bulkhead. There were several of them scattered around the deck but this was the only one Taylor was interested in.

"Look!" He thundered at Schneiderman. "Look what you've done to her! She's dead, you no good fucking son of a bitch!" And with that he tossed Shelley's limp body to the loveseat almost 10' away. Then he charged Schneiderman. The guards had pulled their guns and almost immediately dropped them.

Taylor flew at Schneiderman, grabbed his bare neck with both hands and squeezed. In his head he started counting one Mississippi, two Mississippi until he reached twenty. Then he felt a water cannon knock him off his feet and hose him across the deck. He was half across the deck when he realized there was someone on his back and began to feel the pain in his throat. One of the security personnel must have leaped on his back and tried to strangle him. Now, although the strangle hold was broken, the thug was ready to apply it again. Taylor grinned, this would be fun and he didn't have to worry about holding back.

The sound of a distant explosion sent whatever crew was left, scattering. Taylor climbed off his latest victim and looked around for the next one, but they were all scrambling to get away. Then, he heard the familiar sound of a chopper approaching. He looked up to see Stephen, Grey's personal pilot bring Charley Tango down for a landing on the helipad.

A quick glance up showed Grey and Mara headed to the helipad. He ran over to a corner and found Ana holding Shelley in her arms, hiding behind the loveseat. Taylor took Shelley just as Grey appeared and picked up Ana. They hurried to the helipad, where Levi and Welch stood, both armed, protecting them as well as the chopper. Over head, soldiers were rappelling down from a hovering chopper that proudly showed the Union Jack.

Once everyone was strapped in, Taylor took one last look at the deck as Charley Tango eased up into the sky. It was now crawling with British soldiers, and a Russian chopper was hovering nearby, waiting to land.

Taylor looked around the small cabin. Grey and Ana seemed back to their old selves, kissing and hugging and moaning, oblivious to everyone else. Mara and Levi were holding the still unconscious Shelley, but only appeared mildly concerned. Welch was busy looking into his phone, and typing away furiously. Things were definitely getting back to normal.

Welch smiled at text on his phone and then handed it to Taylor. It was a text from Gail. It said " Tell him I am waiting, whenever he gets here. Tell him I love him and can't wait for him to get home."

Taylor quickly texted back, " I'm safe and can't wait to be home in your arms again. Love you, baby, T."