I was going over the last few chapters of this and realized that I completely left a loose end hanging. I'm talking, it was glaring at me. So I had to write another chapter to insert closer to the end. Lol That's happened to me a few times with this. I'm hoping I can find something else just so I can keep it going longer. I'm pathetic. Anyway, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter! =)

Chapter Seventy Three

Sophia and Tyler stood up at the same time. He faced the door and then backed away from it, cursing under his breath.

"We should make a run for it now," she said, drawing his attention away from the door.

He shook his head. "We're locked in."

"They locked you in here too!"

"I ain't the most trustworthy they got. They wanted someone in here with you but they knew that I'd probably try to figure out a way to get you out. Looks like no good deed goes unpunished. I'm gonna get cut down by a fuckin' Dixon. It's like my family legacy or something. Jesus."

"No you wont," she said quickly, knowing that he didn't want any of this. Maybe she should have been more angry that he hadn't done anything to warn anyone about what his family had planned but really, all of this had been out of his control from the start. He didn't agree with his brother but she was sure he didn't want his brother gunned down by anyone and that would have happened if her family had been forewarned what their plans had been.

"Maybe I never believed what my brother said about what role my dad played in Daryl's mom getting killed, but one thing I know for a fact is that if you mess with them, they don't barge in asking questions. They either shoot, slash, or bludgeon, and then they ask questions. I'm gonna need my shirt back. They come in here and one of us is topless it's only gonna hurt worse."

"They won't kill you. They aren't monsters," she snapped, feeling a rush of adrenalin at the prospect of getting out. Now all she had to do was worry about Daryl getting gunned down before he could get to her. But she had all the faith in the world that he wouldn't let that happen. She worried about everyone else too. They all must be freaked out by now. This wasn't good for her mom. She didn't need the stress. She handed the bloodied shirt back to Tyler, expecting him to change his mind about putting it on once he realized how much of her blood was on it but he just slipped it over his head like he didn't even notice. It was a dark gray color now mottled with large burgundy stains.

She didn't say anything and neither did he. They both stood there in heavy silence, staring up at the ceiling as they waited for something, anything at all, to happen.

~H~

Daryl counted to 20 in his head before he tried the back door. It was locked, just like he expected but just a few swift kicks had the door swinging open with a large crash as it bounced against the wall. The room was dark but empty and he wasted no time rushing towards the entrance to the front of the place. There was a small round window set high in a swinging door, leading to the large room where the others had been gathered. He looked through it and cursed. There were still at least ten people, including the well dressed bastard that had every intentions of taking Sophia tonight. He was thinking about going out of his way to save that one for last.

He still didn't see any sign of her and he still wasn't sure if this was a good sign or a bad one. He had to make sure he didn't kill them all just in case she wasn't here. They could have easily taken her somewhere else, stashing her until her buyer came by. This thought made him spit again. To think that someone he loved, someone that was so monumentally important to him, could be treated like she was some sort of thing. Like a stolen piece of jewelry that could be sold to the highest bidder and used in whatever way the bidder saw fit.

"What now?" Randy asked, willing to take Daryl's lead in this case even though he was older and far more experienced in situations like this.

Daryl watched as the men huddled together, talking and looking towards the door. "All of'em have their backs turned," he whispered. "We can slip in and get behind that counter there for cover and just take out as many as we can and hope the element of surprise keeps us alive. Save that asshole in the suit for later."

"Aye. Good thing I didn't let myself get rusty during this dry spell," Randy muttered.

Daryl nodded grimly. "You and me both, brother."

This time is was Randy who slipped in first. They ducked behind the counter for a few seconds. It pretty much proved how stupid these men were. Buck, or any of the other members would have made sure that all the doors were covered. But the stupider they were, the faster he would get Sophia the hell out of here. Him and Randy rose slowly, making sure to keep the counter between themselves and the men. Daryl managed to take out two and Randy hit three before the others realized what was happening and started scattering. There was another commotion outside as more men started running in. Daryl cursed under his breath as a bullet whizzed by his head.

He dropped back behind the counter, flinching at the cacophony of gunshots behind him. When he looked over he was horrified to see that Randy was holding his shoulder and there was blood flowing between his fingers. "Fuck," he growled.

Randy grinned because he was a crazy bastard. "Just a flesh wound, kid. Now what?"

All of a sudden there was a roar sounding from outside. It wasn't thunder. It wasn't rain. Daryl couldn't believe what he was hearing. The gunfire had stopped for the moment but the walls nearly shook with the sounds of all of the motorcycles that had just pulled up outside.

"I might have sent a text while me and the boy were waitin'. Not that I doubted you... Nah, that's a fuckin' lie. I doubted you," Randy winced as he tried to move.

"Fuck..." Daryl muttered. "I was just thinking that I should have done that myself. I just thought I needed to do this one on my own."

"Yeah, well, that was a dumb plan," Randy hissed between his teeth. He patted Daryl's leg affectionately.

Daryl shook his head. The bullets were no longer flying so he quickly crawled around Randy and then looked up over the counter. A shot rang out and he had to drop back down, cursing loudly. He stayed down as more gunfire sounded from outside. He could only hope that they didn't lose any men but the likelihood of their luck holding out like that was slim.

He listened carefully and when he heard the sound of the door being kicked in, he leaped up and over the counter, hoping Randy wasn't crazy enough to follow him. If he didn't go now, while they were distracted, then he would be trapped back there until it was over and he wasn't about to let the others possibly die because he had made a stupid call.

Buck was there, gun in hand but Daryl didn't waste any time staring at the man or even checking to see who had come in with him. He saw out of the corner of his eye, that someone had their gun trained right on Buck. Daryl dropped to his knees and got off two shots before he felt a mild sting in his upper arm. He cursed but was thankful that he had taken the hit in the arm and not the chest or the head.

He didn't glance at the wound because he already knew what had happened. He looked up just in time to see Buck put the muzzle to the shooter's head and pull the trigger. The chaos seemed to dissolve as quickly as it had started and the room grew strangely quiet. The men were out gunned and outnumbered and gave up quickly after they started dropping like flies. Now all he had to do was figure out where Sophia was. One of the reasons he didn't want a bunch of people involved was because if she was in another room in this building, which was likely, then she could possibly get hit by a stray bullet. But if the others hadn't came then they could all be dead so he was grateful.

"Don't you ever do anything this fuckin' stupid again. If you do I swear I'll beat you so bad you'll wish one of these bastards would have killed you," Buck growled.

"No time to listen to your shit, Buck. I still don't know where the hell Sophia is," he said, standing up and cradling his arm. Buck looked him over but it wasn't too bad. He'd only been grazed. It probably needed stitches but he would live.

"Where is she?"

Daryl looked up and saw Damon coming towards them. He should have known that the kid wouldn't have stayed out there. Daryl intercepted him, placing a hand on his chest. "You keep your head or you get your ass back outside, you got it?"

Damon followed as Daryl walked across the room, stepping over the dead and dying. The man in the suit was sitting in a chair that one of Buck's men had ordered him to, not looking as terrified as Daryl wanted him to look. The guy looked up, seeming more annoyed than anything else. "If you're two little groups are finished playing, I came here to do business. I'd like to take what I came for and be on my way. I don't have anything to do with whatever this is."

Daryl's hand itched to go for his gun but he didn't grab it. He wanted to watch this guy bleed. Instead he glanced up at Damon. "I need you to do me a favor."

Damon looked at him, nodding vaguely.

Daryl motioned towards the guy in the chair. "I want you to break this man's nose."

The man looked up sharply, his face paling. "Wha-"

Daryl didn't even flinch as Damon's fist connected with the man's face, the pop and crunch of the cartilage snapping in his nose was like music to his ears. He knelt down in front of the man and forced him to look at him. "Which one of these assholes did you do business with? Who put her up for sale?"

"Wait a minute, what the fuck are you talking about?" Damon snapped.

Daryl gave him a hard look. "Calm your nuts, kid."

The man pointed to another group that was being bound by Buck and a few others. "The one talking to the ogre over there."

Daryl met Damon's eyes. "Don't fuckin' touch him, you understand?"

Damon looked like he was either going to kill the man or throw up on his shiny shoes but he was holding it together so far so Daryl walked away, planning on finding out where the hell Sophia was so they could get out of this place. Carol was probably about to lose her mind worrying.

Before Daryl could even say anything to the man that was pointed out to him Buck was shoving a key into his hand and pointing to a door at the back of the room. "She's down there in the basement. There's one guy in the room with her but he isn't suppose to be any trouble."

Daryl met his eyes, not needing to ask the question he was dreading the answer to. Buck shook his head. "The creep wanted her clean. They haven't touched her."

The relief that washed through him then nearly brought him to his knees. He hadn't been one hundred percent positive she would even be here and he had convinced himself to expect the worst once he did finally find her. But she was here and she was safe. He told Damon to hold on while he checked something out. He didn't want the boy with him, just in case. He couldn't trust these people, even though at the moment he wanted to. He wanted to believe without a shadow of a doubt that she was okay. And if she wasn't okay, he would deal with it. He would deal with it by himself instead dragging the boy into it.

He spotted the door and scowled. It wasn't original. They had added this and it made him sick to imagine what they may have used it for. How many other girls had been brought here. Girls that didn't have people like Daryl to look after them. He shook the thought away. He had a responsibility to his family. He couldn't save them all. He twisted the key in the lock and nearly ripped the door off the hinges.

She was standing at the back of the grimy room, leaning heavily against the wall. The first thing he noticed was the mark across her face and then the blood on the floor in the center of the room which he was sure came from her. There was a guy standing a few feet away from her that didn't look much older than Damon. And Daryl didn't care. All he could think was someone had hurt her and someone needed to pay. He reached for the gun at the small of his back as his eyes locked onto the guy's but he didn't have a chance to do anything.

Sophia was pushing away from the wall and rushing towards him on unsteady legs. "Daryl, stop. He didn't do anything. He was trying to help me."

His eyes flicked to her right before she slammed into him. He wrapped his arms around her but the gun was in his hand. "If he was so fuckin' helpful then what happened to your face?" He asked, forcing himself not to squeeze her too to tight.

"It was his brother. It wasn't him. He wanted to get me out of here but there were too many of them. They locked him in here with me just to get him out of the way. Please," her hands went to his face, forcing him to look her in the eye. "He didn't want this."

Her eyes were huge, filled with tears and broke his heart in half. He nodded. "Okay. Whatever you say, alright."

She broke down then, huge shuddering sobs that shook her slender frame so hard that he couldn't have let go of her, even if he had wanted to. His hand went to the back of her head and she whimpered. He grimaced and moved his hand away. The boy in the corner stayed where he was, head down.

"We need to get you to the hospital. Get your head checked out. Your mama's already there," he said.

This got her to calm down a little. "She's there? Is something wrong?"

Daryl shook his head. "Nah. False labor or some shit. They just wanted to keep her there for observation. If she ain't been asleep then I bet she's about to rip my face off for not answering my phone." He looked up at the kid. "Get your ass upstairs. My dad will tell you what you need to do."

He held on to her with one arm and fished his phone out of his pocket. He turned it on and immediately it started going haywire with all of the missed calls and text messages. He looked down and read the first one and then dropped the phone on the floor. They had just made it to the top of the stairs. "Oh God... No, no, no. That ain't how this was suppose to happen..." He didn't realize he was talking out loud until Sophia was looking at him worriedly.

Damon and Buck showed up then and could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong. The first thing they both did was check Sophia over before she threw herself at Damon.

"I gotta go," he breathed. "Now."