A/N: I'm truly, really horribly sorry about such a long wait. But, you see, there was a revolution in my country, and now we're at the brink of an open war with another country. So I'm kind of busy worrying about stuff… anyway, thank you to those of you who are still with me!

Still don't own them.

Chapter 14

Danny tensed, at first because of noticing Benji freeze, but then he heard footsteps. He looked at the blond man, as the pounding in his ears made the footsteps a bit less audible. Danny didn't know what they were going to do. He hoped Benji knew. He also hoped that this time Benji wouldn't kill anyone. He didn't like seeing people being killed, that much he had decided for sure. He shut his eyes forcefully.

It was weird: now Danny was slightly scared of looking at Benji He was a bit afraid of seeing the same murderous look on the other man's face. However, as the footsteps were still approaching – Danny felt like it was so slow, like it was taking ages – Danny's anxiety got stronger, uneasiness growing in his chest and reaching up to his throat. At this point he felt the desperate need to not be alone, for someone to be by his side. Taking a deep breath, he looked over at Benji. What he saw was not nearly what he had expected. Benji looked almost as lost as Danny was. It was clear that the adrenaline rush from a few minutes before was now gone. Benji was shaking slightly, clenching his teeth and breathing through his nose, his nostrils widening as he did so.

And it had an odd effect on Danny. Instead of just making him worry more – although it did, a bit – it also gave him a feeling that the man next to him was a human being, too, just like him. And he, too, could get scared and probably hadn't been pretending to be nice and normal before. It was like the 'normal' and the 'scary' were the two sides of one person, and those two sides switched with a silent click.

Benji was trying to think of his next actions. Should he kill the person approaching? What next then? They were going to send someone else to investigate, that's for sure. Should he just wait and take them out one by one, discreetly? Might not work for long. And what would happen to Nick once they figured him out? He looked at the building feverishly. There was no time. Just as the footsteps were right next to him, his breathing steadied: he knew what to do.

It was both slightly comforting and disturbing to Danny: he saw Benji's features harden again, which gave him a sickening anticipation of seeing death. However, the blond lowered his gun, making Danny raise an eyebrow in confusion.

Just as the footsteps got close, Benji turned round sharply and stepped from behind the corner, facing the person behind, unarmed.

"Hello!" he said with fake cheerfulness, as Danny stepped out from behind his back, just in time to see the guard.

The sight was practically comical: the man just stared at Benji, eyes wide and mouth open. Danny almost laughed: out of all faces, the identical one to the captive's was the least likely for the man to see. Danny's cheer was changed to worry quickly, as he realised that this meant for sure that these people had Nicholas. This moment of confusion was enough for Benji to grab the man's arm and twist it, letting the gun fall down to the ground from his hand. Still keeping hold on the man's wrist, Benji slammed him face-first against the wall.

"Okay," he said quietly, drawing the man's hand upwards behind his back. "You have a choice. You can tell me what I want to know and I knock you out quickly and you get arrested and face the court. Or you don't talk and you hurt a lot and probably die". There was a short movement as the man tried to free himself, prompting Benji to twist the arm more and add, louder, "You choose!"

"Who the fuck are you?" the man growled, still shocked. "You can't be… You were just…"

"Where?" Benji asked. Despite all of the training he had had, having to play a tough guy wasn't really his thing. It was wearing him off. The thought of Nick, though, gave him more strength and some kind of rage-filled energy. When there was no immediate reply, he pushed the man harder into the wall, adding pressure to his bent arm.

"D-downstairs!" the man croaked, gasping. "In the— in the cellar! T-to the right from the entrance".

"How many are there of you?"

"Ten, including me. Please—".

Benji just nodded before hitting the man in the neck with the sharp of his hand.

"Guess you can make an arrest now," he said grimly to Danny who was staring at the now unconscious thug in awe. "Sorry you didn't get to read out his rights to him. Broke the procedure here a bit".

'Procedural correctness in the execution of unquestionable moral authority,' Nicholas' voice said in Danny's head. For the umpteenth time the sergeant wondered what Nicholas would have said had he been there.

"Uh… I'm not on duty," he finally forced, realising how childish he sounded. "I don't have the cuffs or anything to… to restrain him with…"

Benji only motioned to Danny to pick the unconscious form up and drag him to the car. Soon enough they were tying him up as securely as they could and placing him at the backseat.

"They will know something's wrong… when he doesn't come back," Danny said, shaking slightly due to the shock of the past few minutes. "I mean… I don't mean you should've done something else… I thought it was amazin'… you jumped at him and he got startled 'cause you look like Nich'las… but what are we gonna do now?"

That was a good question. A question Benji didn't have the answer to. In this one day he probably pulled off more tough tricks than ever. But now, for once, he knew they needed help. The guy now sleeping innocently at the backseat had said there were ten of them, meaning now there were eight, after they'd dealt with two. He needed the guys and he needed them ASAP.

A set of noises coming from the building shook both men from their stupor. They were being approached yet again. This time there were more people nearing them…