Ty had made it down the alley near Tses's house, mentally mapping out every shortcut to the apartment Butterfly was staying at. He stopped in the middle of the alley, scratching his head. That guy Jacob had been alot of help to him, even if at first he seemed like someone else trying to play hero.

Heck, if not for him, he probably wouldn't have tried to talk to Tses so soon, even if she wasn't home. Wait a minute... Ty thought back to the window. Was it locked? He knew Tses was the type who locked the door and window when she wasn't home, but if he remembered correctly, when he'd checked earlier...it wasn't locked.

It was then that he got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Turning, the young man darted back down the alley, and into the alley next to Tses's apartment, and up the fire escape, to her window.

"Why didn't I notice that before...." he murmured, noticing the window was not only unlocked, but cracked a little. Maybe it wasn't what it looked like, but he'd left for three weeks. If anything happened to her, it was his fault. But that was over. He wasn't going to run anymore. It was time to face his problems.

Opening the window, he climbed inside, and he did a double take. On the bed was a tiger he didn't recognize...Did she find someone else?

Upon investigating the apartment, he found an empty bottle...alcohol. Great he'd driven her to drink...

Ty took a gulp, pocketing his shades and examining the room, fearing the worst...

It was dark. Not the nighttime dark, or dark room type blackness, but that can't see the hand in front of your face type dark. Tses felt her eyes staring into the emptiness, trying to make sense of where she was. Her head hurt, and her brain felt fuzzy, while thoughts seemed to wiggle through her head unevenly. She couldn't remember... she couldn't remember where she was.

Reaching into her veins, Tses pulled on the tendrils of moon energy, and let them wiggle their way out around her arms. the green snakes of light whisked across her body, and she flinched as the light pierced through her wide pupils. Around her, the glow illuminated something metal and reflective. Tses tried to move her hands to touch the wall, but she couldn't move her hands away. Looking down, she could see tight bands of rope holding her hands tightly shut. Fingers interlaced, then tied, she couldn't move them apart if she wanted to. She tried to stay calm, but inwardly, she knew this was bad.

Trying to turn, Tses felt her shoulder brush cold metal, and she glanced above her, using her personal night light to see the space. The ceiling was too low to be a cage, and as she tried to stretch her legs, she met another wall.She was stuck in a curled position, and she suddenly felt very very claustrophobic. It was like a box. A small metal box, and she had no powers, and no way to get out. Panicking, Tses slammed her shoulder into the box, and flinched with pain. Her head swam slightly, and when she took a deep breathe, it made her lungs burn a little. This place was too small, and there wasn't much air, and she couldn't get out. She thought the hospital had been the worst thing she'd been through... but Ty was there, and here, she was alone. So very alone.

Worst of all, she knew no one was coming for her, and that gave her a crippling fear she couldn't escape.

Ty's eyes met the coffee table. From here he could see that her tiger rested peacefully, sitting on something right next to....his tiger? No...that was impossible. His dad had--

"Oh ****...." Ty leaped over the couch, kneeling to get a closer look once there. Yep....their tigers. Side by side, Tses's necklace around the necks of the pair of stuffed animals. She never took that off...to his knowledge. But then again maybe she did after he did what he did. Ty's fingers carefully took the necklace, putting it around his own neck as he pocketed the tigers to reveal a note.

"Ty, we know you're a thief, and we have to say we're disappointed with what you brought last time. So we took a little incentive. Bring three hundred dollars to the address below, and come alone. This is but a small fraction of what is needed from you, but it will be enough to ensure the safety of your collateral. Should you refuse, or fail to pull through, all you'll have to remember your little girlfriend by are a couple stuffed animals, a necklace. So I hope you at least had some nice last words...."

Ty's face paled as he read over the words. The meeting point was maybe a few blocks away, but he knew what he had to do. In his wallet was 81 dollars. Taking the letter, he folded it so it was the same length as the money. Then, he dug around for an envelope and some more paper, then put it all in the envelope, pocketing it.

His gloved right hand reached into his pocket, pulling out her tiger. "Don't worry, Tses....I'm coming for you...." Putting it back in his pocket, he made his way out the window, closing it back.

"I swear to God if they did anything to her...."

Tses tried to keep calm, but her heart kept beating faster and faster. She felt like she was going to throw up, but she forced the nausea down. In her mind, she search for some answer, some memory, and they slowly pushed through the haze of her brain like pain pushing through a drug.

It was mid January, and Tses had given up hope that Ty would come back. She was glad she hadn't seen Butterfly in awhile, because she would have no answers for the girl. She had no answers for herself. No matter what she did, she couldn't get rid of the ache in her heart. She missed the kid, and she was hurt by him. She finally got the courage to admit her feelings, and he dumped her. What kind of person did that?

She was starting to settle in for the night, three little tigers sitting on her bed watching her with bead eyes. She patted the head of the one furthest to the left, the one she'd rescued from the trash. She'd cleaned it the best she could, and hoped she could get it back to him someday. It meant more to him than she did, and even if he was mad at her, he deserved to get it.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, the pattern unfamiliar, and Tses moved slowly to the door, cautiously undoing the bottom bolts. She let the chain stay locked, and glanced at the unfamiliar face on the other side. "Is your name Tses?" The stranger said, and Tses squinted at them suspiciously.

"Whose asking?"

"I work with a private investigator, we've been trying to locate you... there was an accident, a while back, and a young man named Ty was injured. He asked for Tses, but with no name and number, it took us a while to find you... He is currently stable, but we don't know for how long, and he's been in and out of consciousness for a while... We came to notify you, and take you to him if you'd like." Tses felt her head swimming at the words, and she quickly unbolted the door. Hope blinded her cautious nature, and she felt fear grip her.

"Take me to him." She said quickly, trying to keep her face straight, but hoping it hadn't taken to long. He had to be ok, right? Without bothering to lock the door behind her, Tses followed the man into the hallway. They were starting down the stairs when something struck her from behind, and then the memories disappeared.....

What had happened? Where was Ty? Was he ok.... it was a trick. She felt tears prickle her eyes and she slammed her back into the trunk again. Her hands clenched, and she tried to yell, but something was in her mouth, stopping the sound. Her nerves were still waking up, registering little things, trying to communicated. But they were getting drowned out by the pain in her heart that was suffocating the rest of her thoughts.

He wasn't going to come, she'd just gotten herself kidnapped, and now she had no way of getting free. She was trapped... trapped, and claustrophobic, slowly drowning in her own fear.

Ty shut the window tightly, unable to lock it from the outside, but he left her apartment mostly as she normally would have; even to the point of throwing that bottle in the trash. As Ty shimmied down the fire escape, his thoughts roamed free. His Dad and that other guy only wanted money. They'd been stalking him, to the point of where they knew where he was, what he did, and who he was close to. And now they had one of the two people he cared about the most.

As he made his way down the alley, one thing bothered him though. There was no sign of a struggle. Ty knew if they tried to take her by force, she definitely would have put up a fight. But not a single thing was out of place. His fists clenched and his eyes narrowed into a scowl as he put the shades back on, navigating the streets he knew so well.

Finally, he found himself in front of an old curio shop. The door was unlocked, and Ty made his way inside, the smell of dust and mothballs hitting him like a ton of bricks. It was one of those places that had everything you didn't know you wanted. Nick nacks, lucky charms, ventriloquist dummies...

On the counter, he saw a stack of 'novelty' money. At first glance it looked like real money, but in truth it merely had the owner's face and the shop name on it. Brushing off the dust he, turned around and slipped a stack of it into the envelope.

"Glad you could make it." Ty whipped around, glaring at the source of the voice. "Meet us upstairs."

Ty walked up the stairs, one hand gripping the envelope, hoping his sleight of hand had gone unnoticed. His other hand was in his pants pocket, fist clenched around his pocket-knife. At the top of the stairs, he found himself in an apartment that smelled worse than the room downstairs. His blood ran cold when he saw his father, but no Tses.

"You have what we asked for?" His Dad asked, voice soft.

"Yeah...right here," he showed the envelope, pressing his back to the wall and keeping his eyes on both men.

"Hand it over, and we'll get to returning your collateral," the other man Ty only assumed was Steve answered.

"Collateral?!?" Ty snapped, voice raising a bit. "You kidnapped my girlfriend. You didn't steal my car, a TV, or my puppy dog. That was a living soul, not to mention one I love very much," his voice was dark as he spoke. "I'm not falling for your tricks this time. I wanna see her first."

"Ty, you'll get her when you hand over the money."
"Then we'll go over the other part of the agreement."

"No. I want to see her first. I wanna know you haven't done anything to her. Where is she?" Ty's grip tightened on the knife in his pocket, eyes scanning the room.

Time felt infinite and unmeasurable. Every second ticked past, and her panic never lessened, only grew. A few times, Tses lashed out and tried to break the container she was in. But as her energy dwindled, and her oxygen vanished, Tses was left dizzy, weak, and staring into the emptiness around her. Her glowing energy had long since flickered out, her brain unable to control it, and she curled, pressing herself into the smallest corner of container she could. She felt small and insignificant, and most of all, she felt alone. She didn't remember crying, but her pants were stained with teardrops and damp to her touch. For the first time in her life, Tses felt herself surrendering. She wasn't getting out of here. She was going to die like this.

The fabric in her mouth keeping her from yelling tasted bitter and soaked up her saliva, making her mouth feel dry and her throat burned a little. As she laid there, she twisted her arm just enough to grip the back of the cloth, and started to pick at the knot. It hurt her muscles to twist that much, but as the cloth finally fell away, it was worth it. She coughed slightly, making faces and trying to clear the taste from her tongue, then breathed in air greedily. It just made her feel dizzier though. There wasn't enough air. She may as well have been buried alive.

You gotta focus Tses... you can get out of this..." Her mind tried to whisper, but Tses just shook her head and laid it against the cold metal.

Why fight... he's never coming back. I'm alone, I'll always be alone....

Her hands had small rope burns from tugging against the bindings, and they were starting to tingle with pain. Her ears didn't hear much, but there were voices oh so distantly. Her brain just shoved them away though. Alone alone alone....

Then, somewhere in the distance she heard a voice that seemed familiar. To her dizzy mind, it seemed like the slightly delirious imaginings of her terrified brain, but she strained her ears to listen. You kidnapped my girlfriend...soul...I love very much..." It couldn't be.... It couldn't be him. He didn't care about her anymore. He'd left her, stood her up, abandoned her during the hardest time in her life. What type of person did that? Why would he care about her now.

Alone alone alone----

"Ty..." She tried speaking, but her voice hardly made a sound and burned her throat. "Ty!" She said, but it was only a little louder. This wouldn't work. She had to think of something.

"Love her, huh?" Steve spoke. "We've had her almost a day and a half and you're just now getting here? Surely it didn't take you that long to get three measly bills."

Ty tensed up, glaring through his shades, looking at Steve, who was wearing one of those black suits, and his dad, who was wearing a collared shirt and jeans--and Ty's jacket. "Look, I never said I was the best boyfriend in the world. I took some time to myself after that stunt you two lovebirds pulled last time we met," he snapped, then turned and locked the door with an audible click.

The room was small. Where they were looked like a one-room apartment, similar to Tses's but not quite the same. The only window was boarded up, and unless they had backup scrunched up in a cabinet somewhere, he was alright. He noted an old bed, a dresser, and a trunk.

"Look, Son," his Dad started.

"No. You look. You've put me through too much **** already. I wanna see my girlfriend, and I wanna see her now."

Steve stepped in. "You will. As soon as you give me the three bills. And agree to do a job for us. Your old man here owes me alot of money. About a hundred times that, actually. You do this, you'll get her back, and once I get my money we can all go about our lives as normal."

"My life's never been normal. Maybe I was dragged into this by being his...spawn...but she didn't do anything to you two." He looked at his father. "You. What the hell is going on here anyway?"

"I had a gambling problem, and got myself into debt. So deep I couldn't get out. So deep he won't kill me because then he'll never get his money. After I lost you, I soon lost everything else."

"Maybe you shouldn't have found me again. In fact, the only reason we're even having this conversation is Tses."

"I know," Steve answered. "That's why we took her..."

Sadly, Ty didn't hear Tses calling for him. But he stood there, tensed and planning his next move. Actually he didn't need either of them to find her. He could use his power and easily tell, if he touched the right object. The only downside to that is he didn't have any more aspirin...

It was hard to breathe, let alone think, but Tses couldn't stand another minute here... She felt trapped, so trapped, and the fear was debilitating. It was like when the house caved in around her when she was 9. She remembered the pain and the burning, then she remembered how trapped she felt. No way out, no way to escape. She was just trapped and alone, and now she was feeling those memories flickering back.

Alone alone alone.

She didn't know what day it was. She didn't know how long she was here. She couldn't tell how long passed between Ty talking and her trying to respond. Time meant nothing right now. All she felt was fear. All she knew was fear. It was taking over, a panic attack that was impossible to free herself from. But she had to do something. Had to act. She had to get out.

Throwing her remaining strength against the ropes on her hands, she tried to try her hands apart. One of the weaker strands of rope snapped finally, and it was enough to pull her palms apart, just barely. It would have to do. Slowly forming a tiny little explosive orb, she tried moving it towards the tiny hairline crack where the roof of the trunk was sealed closed. Her hands kept shaking through, and before she could get it where she needed to, she dropped it, and the little glimmering orb of light fell. Oh shit...That's gonna hurt...

Her eyes widened with fear and she quickly braced herself as the energy threw her back against the wall of the trunk. Pain exploded from her shoulders old injury, and the box shifted ever so slightly as she whimpered slightly in pain. Her brain was swimming with stars from the force, and she sank back, out of effort to fight. Closing her eyes, she started sinking backwards towards unconsciousness. Her hands were wet with little flecks of blood from tugging against the ropes, and her body ached. But she had tried. She had found.

Now she just had to hope Ty found her. So she wouldn't have to be alone alone alone...

Ty jumped when the trunk moved, coupled with the noise. Luckily for the young man, so did the two older men. That had to be Tses in there...there was no other explanation. "Tses!" he yelled impulsively, thinking fast. In the same instant, he had his blade out, and he leaped at Steve. The man fell onto the floor, throwing a punch at Ty's face, the ring on the man's finger cutting the redhead's face a little. Ty's blue aviators fell to the floor.

In the next instant, Ty's knife found Steve's chest, and he pulled it out, leaving the man lifeless as Ty stood to his feet, his eyes glaring at his dad with hatred. But his Dad was....smiling?

"Ty! Thanks...I'm finally off the hoo--"
"Cut the crap and open the trunk," Ty spat.
"Steve had the keys...but I wanna clear some things up first."
"Nothing to clear up. You abandoned my sister, you abused me, you cheated on Mom, and you kidnapped my girlfriend."
"You don't understand."
"I don't care!"
"You're starting to sound like your moth--"

Ty didn't know what happened exactly in the next moments. The next thing he remembered, his dad had fallen to the floor, bloody nose and with Ty's knife in his chest. Rubbing his aching face, finding blood from the ring's cut, he staggered to Steve's body, pulling out a key ring and walking to the trunk.

Then, he fumbled through each of the fifty-bajillion keys, until he found the one to open the trunk. "It's always the last one..." Ty murmured as he opened the trunk, then paled at what he saw.

"Tses! Oh God...I'm so sorry...." he murmured over her motionless body, a tear falling from his cheek onto her. "It's all my fault..."

Tses heard noises... Yelling voices, distantly, but getting closer. And she heard his voice. Between one flicker of thoughts and another, she heard Ty getting closer. He was coming for her, she knew it now. But she couldn't quite get herself to move. It was like swimming upstream, clinging against the current of fear and the burning in her lungs for air.

Then, the lid opened.

Light flooded in and air did as well. For a few seconds, Tses's body was too stunned to respond. Then she coughed, breathed deeply, and sucked in the fresh oxygen reaching her. She opened her eyes, squinting against the light, and trembled slightly as she saw the fuzzy outline of red air in the cascade of light dots. It was him. It had to be. But why was he here? He hated her. He left her. Why was he here now? "Ty?" She said quietly, voice hardly a whisper.

Ty stopped crying when she spoke and he looked down at her."Tses! Are you alright? I'm so sorry for leaving you...and forgetting our date...and getting you into this mess...I didn't mean for any of this to happen..." He noticed her hands were tied, and he grabbed the knife from the body, using it to cut the ropes on her hands. Then, he folded it and put it in his pocket again.

Usually, he would have looked away out of shame. But he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Mostly he was thankful she was alive. But another part wondered if she even wanted to see him again after what he'd done. His green hoodie was stained with a little of his blood, from the trickle running from the scratch on his cheek. His left eye was still blackened, but he didn't care. He'd get the shades on his way out. Right now....he was just thankful to see her alive.

At first, Tses felt like she was in a daze as she sat up. Her head spun after laying down from so long, and she rubbed her hands, flinching at the raw rope burns and cuts on them. But then she listened as Ty spoke and apologized.

She looked at him, face blank, eyes lost, and she was searching, searching for something. Perhaps she was looking for those angry feelings she had felt towards him. Perhaps she was looking for the girl who had been stealing cars, robing convenience stores and even got drunk. But all she felt was small and terrified and alone.

Alone.

And she found herself throwing her arms around him, as tears sprang from her eyes. She clung to him like she would loose him forever if she let go; she clung to him like she would vanish off the earth, a tiny vapor of a person just trying to affirm this was real, she was ok. She was so afraid, and right then, she wasn't the tough little thief she tried for so long to perfect. She was just a girl, and she needed him. "I thought you'd never come back." She said, voice flooding with her emotions.

Ty was very surprised by her reaction, but he hugged her back, just as tightly. "I can imagine..." he murmured. "My dad came back into my life...only to give me this," he pointed to his black eye, "and to rob me blind...get money...After that night a few weeks ago....I hid. I stayed at Sanctuary like...all the time. Brooding, thinking, wondering who I even was. I stepped outside for the first time today and met Jacob. He encouraged me to find you and make things right as soon as possible...but I was too late...." He closed his eyes as tears began to flow again.

"It was stupid, and it was selfish. If I'd have been there it wouldn't have turned out this way....I'm so sorry...Tses..." he took a breath, then looked into her eyes

As Ty returned the hug, she felt like a giant weight had lifted from her shoulders. After all the searching and fighting and pain and anger, he was back. They were going to be ok. She was going to be ok. He was sorry, and he was back, and if he ever left again, she'd kill him. But right now, she just wanted to stay there in his arms. She didn't care if there was blood or if there had been a fight or if they were who knows where. She had Ty back, and that eased her tormented mind. She sniffled through the tears, glancing as he motioned to his eye, then burried her face against his shoulder so her head was tucked under his chin.

"You could have said something... anything... even left a dumb note or something. Even though I can't read 'em, least I know you tried... least I'd know you were ok... we looked all over for you, and Butterfly.... but you were gone..." She wiggled her way out of the trunk, and was kneeling on the ground in front of it now. If she could help it, she'd never be caged like that again. But her mind was still rattled by it, and she couldn't stop shaking.

His regret echoed through her head though, evident in his voice. He felt bad. He hadn't meant to hurt them, and most of all, he came back. She slowly lifted her head and looked up at his eyes. She didn't glance away this time, she just wanted to see him. Remind herself he was real and his feelings weren't something she imagined.

"I know..." Ty murmured, not letting go of her, but helping her out of the trunk. "I haven't seen Butterfly yet, either. That's going to be the first thing I do after we get back to your place and after I get cleaned up..." He just held her close, nuzzling the top of her head.

After several moments, he released the embrace, walking to his fallen shades and putting them back on his face. Then, he went back to his father's body, wrestling the jacket away from it and draping the denim over his shoulder. "Oh!" Ty pulled her white tiger out of his pocket, handing it to her, then he took her necklace from around his neck, putting it back around hers.

"I believe those belong to you."