''What do you mean we're not allowed to follow!'' Elena shouted and Hunter ran his hand down his face. Ever since the nod from the soldier, the group had been determined to bring Dean back by the end of the day. And according to Hunter, the only way to do that was if the girls weren't around.

''Elena maybe he's right…'' Kelly said a little frightened as Elena turned to give her a glare.

''Let me guess, you too'' she hissed at Kharma and Kharma shook her head no.

''Where you go, I go babygirl'' she said, making Elena calm down a little.

''Elena if they catch you…'' Roman didn't want to use the word.

''You'll get raped'' Punk helped him out and achieved a glare from his teammates.

''What? Say the truth when no one else does'' he shrugged and it went quiet.

''This was my idea, I demand that you take me with you'' Elena continued where they had left off and Hunter gave her a glare.

''Exactly! This was your stupid idea! It's your fault that I lost a soldier and for what?! I swear that if I lose another man, I'll kill you myself'' he hissed.

''Usually, the deaths are on me… Orton is on you'' he added.

''Hey!'' Roman and Seth yelled in tone. Elena held her gaze on Hunter.

''Good luck'' she whispered, turned and walked away.

''Well you did it'' they turned to face Kharma.

''You broke her'' she said, glaring at Hunter.

''Hope you're pleased'' she continued and followed Elena. Kelly took her side.

Elena didn't walk far and when she couldn't see her friends anymore, she took her seat; placing her back against a tree. Soon Kharma and Kelly joined her but they were careful not to sit too close; giving her space.

''I tried to save him'' Elena suddenly said and they looked at each other.

''You did everything you could; unlike he'' Kelly tried.

''This is war; he's just upset'' Kharma added.

''I want to go home''

x x x

''Roman?'' Kharma said, looking against the direction where the noise had come from. No answer.

''Seth?'' Kelly said scared. No answer.

''Probably just an animal'' Elena shrugged and they nodded. The noise cracked again and the girls stood.

''Not an animal, but close'' a man said, behind him five more appeared; NXT.

x x x

''I think Alex would like her'' one of the men nodded against Kelly and she crawled closer to Elena and Kharma where they were tied.

''Dips for the brunette'' another said, walking over to Elena and lifting her chin up. She gave him a glare and he chuckled.

''Feisty'' he grinned and she twisted her head out of his hold.

''What's that?'' he noticed the chains around her neck in the movement and fished all four up.

''Don't touch them!'' she hissed but he didn't listen. He started to observe them one after one; to him they were just numbers but he liked that it bothered her.

''Let me see that!'' another man said and pushed the one that were teasing Elena aside.

''Hey, she's mine'' he grumbled as the other soldier took one of the tags between his fingers and started to observe it. His eyes widened.

''This is Austin's'' the soldier said and Elena stared at him.

''How do you know that?'' one of them asked, she wondered the same. Military tags don't have names on them, only numbers that represents each soldier.

''I know his numbers by heart'' the man replied, now glaring at Elena.

''Why do you have it?!'' he yelled and she tensed in fear.

''He gave it to me'' he narrowed his eyes on her.

''You knew him?''

''We were imprisoned together'' she decided to tell the truth.

''Bullshit! Why would they lock up one of their own?!'' he hissed and she sighed.

''I defended him'' she said and he looked at the other two girls, they nodded.

''He was nice'' Elena added and he turned his gaze back to her. He then returned to the tag, Elena didn't know if he believed her.

''Can I get it back?'' he looked up at her again and frowned.

''Why on earth would I give it back to you?! It belongs…''

''I promised to give it to JoJo'' she interrupted him and he stared at her. If he didn't believe her before, he sure did now.

''And the other tags?'' he suddenly asked and she looked at him. He picked up her hint and untied her wrists.

''These belongs to me,'' she showed him Eddie and her dad.

''And Bob Orton'' she showed him Randy's. He nodded and to her surprise; he gave Austin's back.

''What are you doing?!'' one of them yelled and he raised his hand. Elena got the impression that this was NXT's 'Hunter', only kinder. He stood.

''Take her'' he said and they grabbed Elena.

''No!'' Kharma and Kelly objected but in vain.

''Sir, what do we do with them?'' he turned to the girls.

''Let them go, I only want her'' he referred to Elena and she stared at him. Although, she would not object if that meant saving her friends.

The soldier released Kharma and Kelly and with a nod from Elena, they ran away.

x x x

''This is suicide'' Punk hissed.

''There is no way…'' John agreed with him. They were staring down at the camp, now realizing the size of NXT.

''Look for Ambrose and we'll take it from there'' Hunter said and they searched for the lunatic.

''Do you really think they have him walking around?'' Seth said after a while and Hunter shook his head no.

''Slavery for sure'' they turned to stare at him.

''How do you know?'' Roman asked.

''That's what I would do'' they stayed quiet, returning to their search.

''Perhaps…'' Punk said pointing and they followed his direction. There were black dressed bodies, lifting boxes. Seth and Roman couldn't help but smile, knowing how much their brother hated boxes.

''That's perfect! If Dean is there we…''

''I said don't touch me!'' their eyes widened.

''You've got to be kidding me!'' Hunter hit the ground in frustration as the others stared down at Elena.

''I said careful with her! She's a guest'' the NXT soldiers grumbled something at the command and Elena looked around. She was all alone.

''What do you want from me?'' she turned to ask and the men started to chuckle.

''You'll see in time darling'' one of them replied.

''Boys,'' the commander said warningly.

''Let's get you something to eat huh'' he placed his hand on her back and she tensed, not liking his touch.

Up on the hill, Seth tightened his fist.

''So what do you say? Chicken? Meat? Or…'' suddenly the girl froze and he looked confused at her.

''Sweetheart?'' he said but she didn't move. She then whispered something.

''What?'' he said, she looked like she had seen a ghost.

''Dean?!'' she shouted out this time and someone turned around. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened.

''Dean!'' she ran up to him and two meters away, she jumped up into his embrace. He caught her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her tight. He couldn't believe that it actually was her.

''I can't believe it,'' she pulled her head away to look at him.

''I was so scared that…'' he pressed his lips against hers and she widened her eyes in surprise. He shoved his tongue into her mouth and searched for hers, finding it; she returned the kiss.

From the hill, Seth witnessed everything as he felt an ache in his heart.

Eventually, Elena pulled away to catch her breath and Dean slowly placed her down. He cupped her face.

''What are you doing here?!'' concern laid behind his voice as he started to comprehend everything.

''They took me'' she turned to the soldiers that were staring at them.

''You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend sweetheart'' the leader grinned and Dean placed protectively his arm in front of Elena.

''Let her go'' he said and the man's grin faded. He observed them for a while.

''Did Austin tell you something else?'' he said and Dean frowned confused as Elena shook her head no.

''But you placed the pieces together, didn't you?'' he continued, smiling and Elena hesitated before nodding yes. A sigh escaped between the man's lips and silence followed.

Elena then lifted the chain over her head and pulled Dean's arm aside. He looked at her surprised and when she started to walk he grabbed her wrist. She turned to see concern on his face.

''It's okay'' she said. He hesitated, but let go and stayed alert.

''Like I promised'' Elena said, handing over the tag. The commander took it with a nod.

''Thank you'' he said and she walked back to grab Dean's hand; showing her intention. The man looked at them for a while and eventually, he nodded his approval. Elena dragged Dean with her and as the soldiers made a move; their leader raised his hand.

''Let them go'' he commanded and stunned, they obeyed.

x x x

''What the hell happened?!'' Dean said when they no longer could see the camp.

''Remember Austin? He gave me his tag and asked me to give it to his lover; JoJo'' Dean frowned confused, that didn't say him anything.

''First, I didn't understand why their commander knew all his numbers and why he yelled at me and reacted as he did and why Austin spoke in the way he did when he asked me'' she paused, Dean still didn't follow.

''It wasn't until the soldiers said his name that I understood'' she looked at him and he looked like he was placing the pieces together.

''What was his name?'' he asked and Elena smiled.

''Joe'' silence followed.

''Well would you look at that… a commander and his soldier…'' Dean said and Elena nodded in agreement.

''We should have offered him Hunter'' Dean grinned and Elena chuckled over the fact that Dean actually made a joke over this.

''I really did miss you'' she smiled and he looked at her. He leaned in and just when their lips were to connect, a scream echoed.

''Elena!'' Kelly attacked her with a hug and Kharma joined in.

''Brother!'' Roman pressed Dean into a hug as well and banged him on the back. The lunatic did the same, realizing how much he had missed him.

''Ambrose'' Hunter greeted him with a nod and John and Punk grabbed his hand and bumped their shoulders against his.

''I never would have thought you'll come back for me'' Dean raised his eyebrows and Roman chuckled, pointing at Elena that was pressed between Kharma and Kelly.

''She didn't accept a no'' he shook his head and Dean looked at her, a smile crossed his face.

However, it soon faded.

''Long time brother'' Seth said and Dean narrowed his eyes on him.

''Dean, he actually had a big impact in this'' Roman tried but Dean gave him a glare, so he decided to stay out of this.

''No time for this, let's go before they see us'' Hunter hissed.

Look who's back! Did you miss him? ;)