Loid's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he cursed under his breath. He had managed to tail his daughter until she got to a run-down factory just on the outskirts of the East end of Berlint. He had arrived just after her, and noted the empty fortified van with open doors, and saw Anya climb the near-rusted gate and dash inside the factory's front door. (Loid tsked when she did that - he would never have gone through the front door!)

He had managed to park close by, and made the rest of the way on foot, leaping across rooftops in his particular Agent Twilight style.

When his phone rang, Twilight was on the roof of the factory, looking for a way in from above. His heart stuttered at the Caller ID.

"Anya?" He answered, and tried to inject surprise in his voice. "Aren't you meant to be at school?"

"Papa, I know you've been following me."

His breath caught. She had noticed him tailing her?

But still, he tried to keep up with appearances. "What are you talking about? I would never -"

"I'm only telling you this because Damian has been kidnapped and I need your help to get him back."

Twilight hesitated. On the one hand, he needed to keep up his identity as Loid Forget, on the other hand, if the son of Donovan Desmond had indeed been kidnapped as Anya claimed, then Operation Strix was in serious danger.

He hated himself for it, but he had to ask. "Why didn't you call the police?"

She sighed on the other end of the line. "Since when do you trust the police?"

"Hmph." So it looked like she did pay attention to him after all. Twilight wondered how comfortable he really felt with that.

"Papa, I'm begging you! Damian is my friend, and he needs our help!"

"I'm really not sure that we should-"

"Look," she sighed. "I've already tried to scout the place out. There were three of them in the van, and it looks like they've drugged Damian or something because he was limp - limp! - when they carried him out of the van, so they are probably tying him up somewhere right now. There's only three floors in this thing, and while it looks dilapidated it seems structurally sound to some extent, so we should be safe to go in. There's a main exit at the front, and clearly a smaller exit in the back because that's where they took him in.

"The windows are shattered or boarded up so they are not good entry or exit points, so if we go in we would have to carry Damian out or at least take him to a place where he can recover in his own time and wake up. I can hear more footsteps inside so I'm guessing there are about five more people inside on top of the original three - their footsteps are a little heavier so I think they are hired muscle or some kind of guard. We don't have to fight them, but we can sneak past them if we need to since there are like a billion different corridors in this place. And there's a kitchen with a few special ingredients, and I can definitely use them to make a distraction."

Twilight was absolutely taken aback. He had counted on his watch that it had only been a few minutes since he and Anya had arrived - how on Earth had she managed to glean this much information this fast? On top of that, she had integrated the information in a way that was presentable enough for a spy to note the key points and create a plan of action.

He could feel himself wearing thin. He must be crazy to actually consider it, but if she was half as astute as he thought she might be, then there was a chance that the both of them could actually pull it off.

Twilight briefly considered calling in reinforcements, but he realised that he would have to explain the presence of any WISE agents to Anya and Damian. In any case, they didn't have time to wait for the reinforcements to arrive, and he had to keep his identity as a spy a secret from Anya, so any involvement from WISE would have to wait.

After a long silence, Twilight breathed a sigh of resignation. "Fine. But here's what we need to do…"

Damian's eyes blurred as he slowly came to. The blood from his nose earlier had dried on his skin, and Damian could feel a thin layer of it cracking as he moved his neck in a circle to work the creaks out. He blinked, trying to get a sense of the view in front of him, but he could only see the pinpricks of light between the threads of the sack. Damian held back from groaning. He still couldn't see anything!

But what would he have done anyway? Damian sulked to himself. It wasn't like he could be some hero that fought his way to freedom. He was just a kid against some adult men with guns. They said they wanted to get a ransom for him, but the pit in Damians stomach deepened. Would his father even care enough to pay the price for his second born son?

Damian's eyes shut against the pinpricks of light as he tried to hold back the tears stinging his eyes.

He only wanted to wait for Anya at the bus stop. He hadn't even got to say goodbye to Ewen, or Emile. And he and Anya had only just started to get comfortable with each other. It was only a matter of time before they started dating. He really wanted to live just a bit longer to be able to see that through with her.

He wanted to take her on dates. He wanted to get ice cream with her, maybe even go to the cinema again, or go on a walk to the park to take both of their dogs. He wanted to meet Bond, since he had heard all about him over the years, and Damian really wanted Anya to meet his best friend, Max. He wanted them to take a private jet to Jaris, and eat a romantic meal together under the Leiffel Tower…

And - now he didn't want to get ahead of himself here - he assumed he could then propose to her and they would get married and have an army of children. It was foolproof.

He could not imagine his future without her.

And he certainly never imagined a future where he got kidnapped and threatened and punched in the face -

But he was coping, really, because on some level Damian still thought that he must be trapped in a nightmare, and that this wasn't really happening to him. This was happening to someone else, and he was just a passenger in this stranger's body until the ordeal was over.

Damian had a very particular childhood - that of a rich child who had every basic need met, but still ached for his parents' love and attention. He supposed that nothing traumatic had really happened to him since he couldn't pinpoint any specific incidents.

But this was an incident, and Damian's sheltered nervous system was not used to this level of non-academic stress. So it shut down, and left Damian feeling like none of this was really happening to him. It was as if his body knew that he couldn't fight, and couldn't run, and decided to play dead instead.

Damian's instant defence was to rationalise anything and everything, but his body couldn't be rationalised at this time, so he ignored it. He could stare death in the face if he believed that he wasn't really about to die.

On some level, Damian realised that he had been left to ruminate for some time, and he hadn't even heard a peep outside of the godforsaken sack on his head. He was sitting in a chair with his ankles and wrists tied down with the same scratchy rope as before, and if anything he could move even less than he could in the van. They must have taken advantage of his unconscious state to make sure that he couldn't kick anyone in the face again.

Finally, some footsteps emerged from his right, and Damian unconsciously turned his head so that he could hear better.

"Hey, Adam, Lance, the brat's awake," called one of the lackeys.

"You idiot," hissed the driver. "You ain't s'posed to use our real names!"

Damian knew he should be scared, but he was also fucking furious. Absolutely fucking furious. He felt the fury rising and before he could stop it, it came out of his mouth in a rush:

"My father will hang you for this! Don't you know who I am? I'm Damian Desmond, son of Donovan Desmond and I am going to make sure that you never see the light of day-"

"What's that?" said the driver - the one called "Adam", Damian realised. "This little snot nosed brat is the kid of the National Unity Party leader?"

He leered at Damian, which just infuriated him even more, then he grinned widely at the others. "I reckon that means he's worth an extra few dalc! Whaddya say boys? Should we raise the ransom?"

Steam poured out of Damians ears.

Well that didn't work.

He wanted to kick and scream, but obviously throwing his family name around was getting nowhere. Even more embarrassing, his family name actually made it worse. He couldn't believe it. What was the point of being a Desmond if it didn't immediately make people respect him?

Damian started as he realised - these assholes didn't care that he was a kid, and they didn't care that he was a Desmond. So how was he supposed to get out of this?

Shouting at them didn't work. Kicking the guy in the face didn't work. So what now?

Damian pouted for a few more minutes while he watched the guys get to setting up what looked to be some kind of recording equipment. He chewed the inside of his lip as he watched them work.

On some level, Damian knew that if he stayed quiet, then the most desirable option was that they would blackmail his father, his father would pay them money to get him back, and he would be returned all safe and sound, no harm done.

But his father would be furious with him for getting kidnapped no doubt, and for wasting the Donovan inheritance on something so pitiful. It was embarrassing that he got caught, and he wasn't sure if he really wanted his father to know what had happened. Damian bitterly remembered when at six years old his school bus had been hijacked by terrorists, and Donovan didn't even bother to show up to check on him after.

Plus, deep inside, Damian wondered if his father even wanted him back.

But that was a thought he couldn't bear to acknowledge. He buried it again, and put a lid on the box.

Out of the corner of his eye, Damian saw a flickering light, and he glanced quickly towards it.

He almost choked on his spit.

Anya fucking Forger was waving a tiny mirror at him, clearly trying to get his attention.

His first thought: What the hell is Anya doing here? She's going to get killed!

Then a smaller, darker thought: She's going to get us both killed!

He could have sworn that he saw her glower at him after that, or it could have been a trick of the shadows. Damian cast a glance towards the kidnapper crew, who he realised were still busy with the technology and wires. Recorder cameras for the masses had only just come out in the last few years, so maybe they weren't quite used to the tech yet. Damian rolled his eyes. These guys really were amateurs.

Anya mouthed at him from a distance, and he peered at her to try to understand the words: Are you okay?

Damian inclined his head towards the kidnappers, as if to say: What do you think?

Anya nodded sagely and tried to make a few hand gestures, which only got Damian more confused. Seeing his confusion, Anya rolled her eyes and mouthed something along the lines of stay put.

Well duh. Where else was he going to go?

"Alright, Lance! I'm just about finished over here with the camera, you ready to get the script?"

Lance shoved a script in front of Damian, and he looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "You seriously expect me to read this?"

Lance brought out a gun and clicked it against Damian's forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, Damian saw the red light of the camera flicker on, showing that it was recording.

"Alright, alright! I'll read it. Damn. Okay." He cleared his throat. "Help. I, insert name here, have been kidnapped." A whack against his head. "Ow! Fine! I, Damian Desmond, have been kidnapped. Please forward one hundred thousand -"

He gave a withering glare to Lance, who still held the gun against his head. "One hundred thousand dalc? You've got to be kidding me. You think I'm only worth one hundred thousand? My father is the leader of the National Unity Party!"

His heart hammered against his ribcage. What am I doing? Why am I saying this?

Lance waved his gun again at Damian, the message clear between them. Go on.

"Fine, fine - one hundred thousand dalc, or I will die at the eleventh hour on Sunday morning. What? Are you serious? You're seriously going to kill me, Damian Desmond? Did I mention that my father-"

After Loid detailed the plan to her, it was go time. He continued to infiltrate the building through the roof, and quietly took care of the heavier muscle on that side of the building, while she moved through the factory from the ground floor. (That way, Loid reasoned, she would be able to escape easily if she needed to. She grumbled about it but didn't complain that much about it in the end).

Anya was quite impressed with herself, if she could say so. She had managed to gather a fair bit of intel, and obviously hid from Twilight how she had managed to gather it, so it made her sound a lot more astute than she obviously was.

She managed to navigate the ground floor without too much issue, and by herself just in time before one of the lackeys had turned the corner.

The main job of hers was to find Damian, and somehow signal to Twilight where they were while he was on his way down from the top level. Anya, foolishly, had already told him where she thought he was being held, but he didn't know that was based on a rough guess of hers based on what direction his thoughts were emanating from.

Clearly, the kidnappers were not actual professionals, because Damian was actually only on the first floor. In almost no time at all, Anya managed to swoop through the ground floor without issue, and had snuck her way around the corridors, listening out for his thoughts or any indication about where he was.

Luckily, she heard voices - angry ones.

The kidnappers seemed to be angry at each other, or Damian, she couldn't really tell - but she drew closer to get a better look.

She nearly gasped out loud to see Damian tied to a chair. They had removed the bag from his head, but he still looked like he was in a sorry state, with dried blood covering most of his face and dripping down towards his chest.

He doesn't belong in this world, she realised with sudden and absolute clarity.

She wanted to shout to him and tell him that everything would be alright, and that they were going to get him and have him back before the bell went off for third period. But for this to work, she needed everything to go according to plan.

She waited until the backs of most of the kidnappers were turned, and she brought out the mirror again, trying to flash it in his direction. Luckily, it worked to get his attention.

What the hell is Anya doing here? She's going to get killed!

And after another second: She's going to get us both killed!

Anya glowered at him, but quickly shook out of her irritation. She had a mission to complete.

Are you okay? She mouthed.

Damian's eyes widened, and he nodded his head at the kidnappers. She would have got the message anyway, but she heard his thoughts add: What do you think?

Anya sighed, and pocketed her mirror. There were three guys there, so she wasn't sure if she would be able to take them all at once, assuming that Twilight never managed to make it to hers. She tried to gesticulate to Damian to signal that help was on the way and she needed him to stay put and not get any more hurt than he already was, but he looked at her with such confusion she had to stop herself from laughing.

She tried again: Stay put!

Damian seemed to get the message, and Anya took that as her signal to go and get everything ready. She found the kitchen not too far from where Damian was being held hostage.

Now, how did that peanut bomb recipe go?

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Writing this has been the highlight of my month ahahah

Although Damian is not having a good time, and we're touching on some serious tones, I did also want to try to balance that with a bit of comic relief to try to diffuse the tension. On this note, apologies for some of my crack writing xD I really couldn't help it, it made me giggle. Let me know if you recognise the tiktok meme in this chapter!

ALSO - I think it is pretty much canon that Anya ALWAYS knows when Loid is tailing her. This time, she just happens to cash in on that knowledge and use it to her advantage.

Finally - if you're wondering why Loid actually agreed to help her, I just want to highlight that I imagine Loid's style of parenting is... shall we say, unique? In the same way that Anya doesnt really have a concept of romance, Loid also doesnt have a concept of normal "parent" behaviour, so he is a little bit less worried about Anya's safety than MAYBE he should be, lol