A/N: I am so, so, SO grateful to those who are still following this story! And thank you for the reviews, they inspire me to go on! Hope this chapter won't be a letdown to you…

I still own nothing.

Chapter 16

There are moments in everybody's life when one feels completely alone, abandoned and forgotten. Nicholas was probably more familiar with the feeling than anyone he knew. In the past few years it had subsided significantly, but now it was rapidly coming back, probably enhanced by the fact of not just being alone, but dying alone, with no certainty about whether his friends were going to even find the body. There was no point in trying to fight – that would only prolong his pain. He started remembering the people he knew and mentally apologising for everything. He apologised to his colleagues at the Met for failing the operation before it had even been started. He wondered what they might be thinking about his abduction by now… His mind then drifted to Danny, his chest filling with even more heaviness than he thought was possible. He imagined Danny checking his phone for any news from the Met, waiting for him to come back as he had promised… He mentally apologised to his partner for not keeping his promise. And then there was Benji. His little brother Benji, who probably knew more about these people than Nicholas or any officer in the Met did. He apologised to Benji for not being strong or smart enough and not coming up with something to do… And potentially compromising Benji's secrecy.

Slowly, even those thoughts were going away, and his mind became empty. Thinking was taking too much energy away from him, he didn't have enough of it. He was already losing too much strength trying to breathe, his body giving an agonising shudder every time. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see this place again and hoping it all to end soon. Somewhere in the distance, probably outside, there was some noise. Nicholas knew the sound, it was painfully familiar to him. However, it took him very long to identify it as gunfire.

He vaguely heard footsteps but didn't have the energy to think or feel anything about it. He didn't have the will or strength to go on and endure more and more pain. He just wanted to sleep and let this all end. He was tired. The sound of approaching footsteps faded into the silence as he finally let the darkness swallow him.

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Danny was panicking. It was the same panic that had taken over him one night years ago at the Sandford castle. Back then he had figured out what to do to save Nicholas' life. Now he had to figure out what to do to save Nicholas' brother. He remembered the former situation for a bit, hoping it would inspire him, but his mind was blank. These people were not like the NWA. He didn't know which was scarier – these armed bandits and murderers or the murderers who happened to be Danny's relatives and family friends... And then there was the sound. The sound of an approaching car.

It didn't take the sergeant long to make sure those were his new FBI friends. Without wasting a second he tightened his grip on the second gun which was still with him, took aim at the goon facing Benjamin and fired. Good thing that goon was so tall – less worrying about possibly hitting Benjamin.

Benji was preparing himself for a lot of pain, his mind making everything around fade to dark, when suddenly after the sound of a gunshot, his interrogator fell down, blood flowing from the wound in his shoulder. The agent felt something inside him burst, the gunshot being like a signal for springing into action. Suddenly his world exploded with colour and sound. Swiftly, he turned to the second goon, who was just taking his gun out, and knocked him down with a punch to the face before the trigger could be pulled.

The thunderstorm of bullets that followed was deafening and felt like it lasted much longer than it really did. Benji received a painful blow to the jaw with a gun, his lip splitting instantly, and started to keel over. In the time it took him to recover he saw his attacker fall down with a bullet hole in his forehead. He was vaguely aware that his friends were finally there and that it was them who had started the shootout. He was lost in this mess of shooting, still dazed after the punch to the head, knowing perfectly well that in this situation he could be hit not only by an enemy, but by a friend as well. By this point there were way too many people around, as the goons must have been joined by their friends who had been staying inside. Another bang – and he felt something burn through his bicep. It took him a few seconds to see that it was, indeed, a gunshot wound and feel relieved that it was through and through, with no significant damage. His vision a bit blurred, he managed to make out quite a large silhouette dashing towards the building's entrance. Without thinking much, he grabbed the nearest gun lying on the ground next to him, not knowing if it was even loaded, and started to follow the silhouette he knew was Danny's.

He felt someone's arms grabbing his legs and pulling him down. He fell down and tried to shrug away, but the grip loosened after another gunshot. Benji got up as fast as he could and ran to the building, eager to find his brother and at the same time slightly afraid of it.