Jimmy wasn't sure exactly what woke him, but he went from sleep to full alert in a matter of seconds. The tent was silent, but a strange intermittent light bathed it in shades of blood.

The watch. His watch had zapped him. It was obvious in the way light shone from everyone's wrists. They began to shift as Jimmy lifted his wrist and stared at the dial.

Kay.

His mind was still groggy from sleep, but his body seemed to pick up on the consequences much faster because every muscle tensed painfully. Darkness stirred inside him, swirling around his mind.

"No," Jessie whispered.

The moment she did, it finally registered and he let out a curse. Kay was with their kids as well.

His first impulse was to grab his phone and call home, but they didn't have any with them. Not when they were trying to go off radar completely. The blood thundered in his ears.

"Jimmy?" Jessie's voice sounded desperate and broke through his thoughts. "Jimmy, the kids."

"It has to be something else," Tom said, his voice shaky. "They couldn't have--" He didn't dare finish because he knew as well as any of them that they definitely could have. And if Kay was in danger, there was a high chance that Christine's name would come up next, then Sarah's.

"She's here," Angie said snapping Jimmy out of his spiral of crazy consequences.

"What?" His mind finally clearing at the prospect of the kids being fine, he focused on his watch again.

Angie was right. The GPS wasn't displaying coordinates, but allowed them to see where she was on the tiny map. A few miles away from them due north-east.

"What the...?" Jerry said, glancing from on to the other.

Sam turned on a flashlight then pulled out his map and started drawing on it.

"Why is she here?" Angie asked, her voice panicky.

The question was valid, but it brought a bitter smile to Jimmy's face. Served them right for thinking they could leave her behind. But she'd somehow gotten in trouble and now they had to get her out.

"Where do you think she left the kids?" Jessie asked, though there was a twitch in her lips that indicated she wanted to burst into hysterical laughter.

"Most likely with Max," Sam mumbled.

The moment he lifted the pen off the paper, the watches stopped glowing. It hadn't been followed by a green light, so it was obvious that Kay was still in danger, but couldn't keep the signal on.

"Well, this complicates things," Sam said, studying the map.

"We need to go get her now," Jessie said crawling out of her sleeping bag and rolling it up.

Jimmy followed her lead, and they all started gathering up except for Sam who had leaned his chin in his hands and kept glaring at the map.

"How far away is she?" Jerry asked, stuffing his rucksack.

"I'm not sure. Not very far. The thing is... It's off course."

Angie froze. "Off course? Do you mean...? Sam Grant, don't you tell me you're still thinking about that stupid jewel now!"

Sam wasn't fazed by the screaming. "It is problematic. Kay is most likely at Snitch Gravel's base. If we go there now, the chances that we'd be able to return and search for the jewel in peace are practically zero."

"Are you suggesting we leave her there?" Angie shrieked.

"Not so loud, babe," Tom whispered. "But seriously, Sam, what's wrong with you? We took an oath to Kyle. We can't leave her in danger to search for the jewel even if I personally pity the guards."

Sam pressed the heels of his palms over his eyes. "You think that I don't know that? That I don't feel the same? But so much is at stake right now and this ruins it. We don't have the Agency on our side anymore. We can't afford to not get the jewel this time."

"We can't afford to abandon Kay either," Jimmy snapped. "Family comes first. Even before master plans for the good of the world."

"Our kids..." Sam's voice faded.

"We'll figure out how to continue the search for the jewel once we get Kay out," Jerry said, his tone final. "It's not ideal, but we have to do both."

This seemed to convince Sam, because he folded the map and began gathering his things as well. The tiny interruption had Jimmy cursing inside his head all throughout their preparations and even as they set out. He could see Sam's point even if he hated that the issue had to be raised in the first place.

Whatever Kay had been thinking to get her to come to Brazil on her own, it couldn't justify the mess she'd made. Because Sam was right. It would he insanely dangerous to stick around after breaking into Snitch Gravel's base. How were they supposed to just decipher historical clues and search ancient vents after most likely barely escaping death?

But Jerry was also right and he was very aware of it. They had no choice. No matter what, whose fault it was and how insane it had been, they couldn't leave Kay. Especially because a nagging part of Jimmy wondered if it was even Snitch Gravel who had captured her and not the Agency. It could also be something in the jungle itself, but with Kay's previous experience, he really doubted that.

The darkness and rain made movement slow and nerve-racking. Sam kept checking the map, switching course from time to time, seeming more upset with each deviation from their target. Jimmy could see his point, and the prospect of an oncoming battle was making him jittery.

Then, just like the red light had come, so did the green light. They all froze, glancing at their watches where Kay's name danced in a confirmation of safety.

"Um... What?" Angie stared from the watch to Sam and back. "What does this mean?"

"That maybe she's not in immediate danger anymore," Jessie said. "That's what I'd do. But this doesn't mean we shouldn't get to her. It's two in the morning. Something is definitely wrong."

Jimmy couldn't agree more. Kay being there in the first place was wrong and they couldn't leave her, even if she'd somehow managed to escape. That would put her out in the jungle at night, by her self. But, strangely enough. her coordinates hadn't changed.

"We keep going then," Sam said.

So they continued their trek, moving slowly and inefficiently, both because of the exhaustion and the worry. Jimmy kept breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down, control the serum. It was too rampant, too chaotic to channel properly and he couldn't afford to stop and try to get himself in the right mindset. After all, their watches could go off at any moment again. There was no scenario in which Kay could truly be out of danger.

The sun began to rise a little after 6 a.m., but it didn't improve their pacing. The vegetation was wild and stubborn, the path they'd chosen unchallenged, and it only heightened their frustration. After a quick break for food and water, they started off again, silent and vigilant.

What felt like a little over an hour before noon, Tom suddenly stopped. Sam veered a second before bumping into him, his eyes still on the map.

"What gives?" he mumbled.

Tom shushed him. Jimmy's muscles tensed and he moved from his place in the back, towards them. By the time he reached Tom, he could hear the shuffling of vegetation, too. He could tell it wasn't the rain or any animal. They weren't even trying to keep it down.

"Move ba--"

A loud bang tore through the natural sounds of the jungle. Before Jimmy could even register where the sound had come from, something heavy hit him in the chest. He groaned and stepped back, fighting the urge to cross his arms in front of his chest, because it had obviously been a bullet and he was wearing the vest.

"He's still on his feet," a gruff voice said from somewhere in front.

"I said get back!" Jimmy stepped forward.

Sam scurried behind him, but Tom didn't listen. He dropped to one knee instead and took out his guns. They still couldn't see anything. Then, the first thing that appeared between the vegetation were three double-barreled shotguns.

Jimmy's eyes widened, but he didn't get to even inhale before the weapons unloaded into his chest from less than three feet away. His entire body shot back and crashed against the nearest tree. He couldn't breathe. It felt like everything inside him had broken.

There were more shots, sounds of a scuffle, grunts and groaning. He fought to regain his composure, his control over his body, but his vision was black, everything throbbed and a sense of nausea crawled up his throat.

No. It couldn't end like this.

The serum stirred again, forced him back to his feet. Once vertical, the spots in front of his eyes faded.

"He's up again!"

Another bullet struck his torso and immediately knocked him over. Sucking air through his teeth, Jimmy rose to his hands and knees, his teeth clattering together.

It had been a trap. They'd been expecting them. They knew Kay had called them there. There was no other explanation. But they were wrong in thinking any of that mattered.

He zeroed in on the man closest to him who was trying to immobilize Angie. He crouched, then tackled them both to the ground, rolling over to give Angie an escape. Before the goon knew what hit him, Jimmy knocked him out and rolled back into a crouch, searching for his next target.

"Stop it right there!" One of the men with the shotguns had noticed him and aimed again.

Jimmy feigned to the left, and once the barrel of the gun followed his movement, he sprinted in the opposite direction and rammed himself against the guy. They both fell over, Jimmy on top. He yanked the shotgun out of his hands and rammed its butt into his forehead. A cracking sound sent a shiver down his spine, but he was too out of it to control his strength.

"Put the weapon down. It's over."

Jimmy whipped around, still straddling the goon, shotgun pointed. Eye Patch watched him unimpressed and it became clear why. The men around him were pointing guns at Tom and Jessie. Tom had blood on his face which he was trying to wipe off with the back of his sleeve. Jessie fortunately seemed unharmed, except from the pistol pointed at her temple. Sam, Angie and Jerry sat on the ground as well, threatened by guns by the remaining goons.

"I said, put it down." Eye Patch nodded towards the man threatening Jessie. "You know we can hurt you."

"Where's Kay?" Angie asked.

Eye Patch threw her a fleeting glance. Jimmy wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he looked older, the white in his hair overtaking the black. He also had bags under his eye, appearing exhausted and in no particular mood for what he was doing.

"We're taking you to her right now," he finally answered. There was no triumph in his voice, no gloating.

"Is Snitch Gravel here?" Sam asked.

There was a slight pause which had the hairs on Jimmy's neck stand on end. He knew why Sam was asking. Because being captured by Von Crooken and being captured by Snitch Gravel were two very different things. There was also the matter of Snitch Gravel's promise to Kyle, his veiled warning that if they would be attacked, it wouldn't be on his orders.

"Obviously," Eye Patch finally said, though it didn't sound reassuring at all. "Let's move out. And in case you attack us or try to escape, we will shoot you."

With slow movements, Jimmy tossed the shotgun aside and got to his feet. His ribs protested at the movement and his breath turned wheezy. Jessie stood and rushed to support him.

"Don't do that," he hissed.

"They already got us. They're not going to shoot me once it's clear that we're coming along," she said, not bothering to keep her voice down. "After all, why drag us through the jungle when we can carry ourselves?"

Her affirmation got a grumble of agreement from a few of the goons and Jimmy wanted to kiss her for being so smart. Instead, they all got to their feet and huddled up together before setting off after Eye Patch.

"Are you okay?" Tom whispered the moment they started walking. "You took a damn arsenal to the chest."

"I'll live," he mumbled, even if breathing and talking felt like arrows piercing his side. "What about you?"

"Not the first time I got punched or kicked in the face. I'll be fine."

"What are we going to do now?" Jerry asked.

"Let them take us where we needed to get in the first place," Sam said. "This way, we won't need to figure out how to get inside. And afterwards...Well, we'll figure it out once we get there."

Sam made great point, so they just walked. There was no use giving the goons a hard time as long as they kept to themselves. They kept going in silence for another few hours. Jimmy tried very hard to control his limp and appear unscathed by what had happened, but it became increasingly harder as they trekked on without a break. Jessie seemed to notice because she snuck under his arm under the presence of a comforting cuddle in order to hold him up.

Grateful, he squeezed her against him and walked on, focusing on his body, trying to will the tension out of his muscles.

The sun began descending, and once Jimmy guessed they had about an hour's worth of light left, what looked like a bunker came into view.

The entrance of the building was guarded by two men, but they barely made a move as Eye Patch led their sad little party inside. Cool empty corridors greeted them on the other side and it was a blessing to be out of the humid jungle air. They kept silent as the goons led them down the hall, then to the left, and deeper inside the bunker. Finally, they entered a huge room with two large cages inside them.

The one to their right, which seemed larger, was empty. The one right in front had a single occupant. The sight of him turned Jimmy's vision red instantly.

"Matthews, you fucking moron," he said between his teeth. "What did you do?"

Eric Matthews snapped out of his initial shock, his eyes wide and fearful. "I'm sorry, I didn't know--"

"You brought Kay here?" Sam asked, his tone low and deadly.

"She asked for my help. I just--"

Tom shot towards his cage, but two of the goons grabbed him before he could rush past Eye Patch.

"What did you think?" he called out, the rage in his voice mirroring the one inside Jimmy's chest. "That you'd score points with her this way? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Look, if I wouldn't have come, she'd still be here. Alone."

Jimmy didn't doubt that, but he still wanted to strangle the guy. For some reason, the goons seemed to care about him, because they didn't let them punch the sense back into him. Instead, they piled all of them inside the empty cage and left them to it.

"I know you're mad," Eric said the moment the door closed after Eye Patch. "But we have more urgent matters. They took Kay away sometime during the night and I have no idea where she is."

"Thanks for the info. We wouldn't have figured it out, what with the empty cage," Tom said, his tone viscous.

"I really didn't mean to cause trouble."

"Shut up already, it doesn't matter anymore," Sam said. "Just let us think for a moment."

Jimmy was grateful for the silence and for the fact that he could finally sit down. His entire body still ached, and even if the situation felt a little dire, they did get a breather which they should take advantage of. Especially if they wanted to break out of there.

As if reading his mind, Angie headed for the wooden door on the other side of the cage and glanced out through the tiny barred window.

"It's too dark, but there might be a corridor on the other side."

"Perfect." Jimmy shifted and winced. "Give me a few moments to pull myself together and that door is going down."

"I think it's a good idea, but I also think we should all rest a bit longer." Jerry sat down and glanced outside the bars. The dying light flittered in through another small, rectangular window on the opposite wall. "Isn't it odd that we have no guards?"

"We had no guards in Japan, so I don't tend to find this over joyous," Tom mumbled. "Which is also why I don't want to stay here more than absolutely necessary."

"We won't. We're getting Kay and getting out," Sam said, taking out his map again. "We'll have to double back quite some distance."

"Could we please stop thinking about the jewel for a moment?" Jessie asked. "Let's make sure that Kay is fine first, okay?"

"Good point," Tom said. "Yo, idiot Matthews, was Kay fine last you saw her."

There was a short pause in which Eric probably considered whether he should ignore the insult or not. "Yes, she was fine. She told me to rest. I fell asleep and when I woke up, she was gone."

"Very useful, thanks."

"That doesn't tell us anything," Angie grumbled, turning towards the wooden door again.

The sound of the door opening cut off the rest of the conversation. Two men came in, their faces impassive and bored and headed for the other cage. Sam stood and walked to the bars.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Eric protested, and there was the sound of a struggle.

"Look at him, complaining that we're taking him out of the cage," one of the goons said. "Stop squirming or we'll shoot you."

"Where are you taking him?" Sam asked.

The goon that was still outside the cage turned to him. "How much do you care?"

"Enough to ask."

The man shrugged. "Boss told us to take him out of here." And with that, he turned his back towards them and then accompanied Eric across the room.

He threw them a mournful look, but there was nothing they could do, especially because they didn't know what this meant. Jimmy just hoped they weren't taking him behind the building to shoot him.

Once the door closed, the room was once again drenched in silence. The last rays of the sun sank beneath the small window, leaving everything in shadow. For the next few minutes, they strained their hearing, hoping the silence wouldn't be broken by the sound of a gunshot which might indicate that Eric's adventure was over.

"What now?" Jerry asked when nothing happened.

No one got to answer as the sound of footsteps suddenly came from the other side of the wooden door. That didn't feel right. Jimmy muscles tensed painfully and he pressed his back against the bars and forced himself back to his feet. He'd barely became vertical when the door opened, filling the cell with neon light.

Two people stood beyond the door. One was Kay, a bright smile on her face, her eyes shining with anticipation. The other was someone Jimmy never thought he'd see again.

"Kyle?" Jessie breathed.

"Hey guys," he said with the grin Jimmy had always imagined he'd have on if they found him. Silently laughing at them for ever thinking anything could ever kill him.

Jessie cried with joy and threw herself in her arms while Angie hurried over to hug Kay. Before Jimmy could do more than take a few steps, he found himself in the middle of a confusing sandwich where everyone was hugging everyone and the weight of the word lifted a little bit off his shoulders with every passing second.

Kyle was alive. They were back together, back in the game. The emptiness inside him slowly filled as he came to terms with the fact that his big brother was real and not a hallucination brought forth by exhaustion and too much hope.

By the time they'd had their fill and had all settled down, Jimmy's head buzzed and new energy flowed through his body. Who cared that he was half-broken? Kyle was with him and together they could do anything.

"So, yeah, I can't really remember how I got out," Kyle was saying. "The best guess I have is some trap door from the chess room into some tunnel, but..." He hesitated a moment, as if unsure how much he should be saying. "Things got pretty weird after that."

"That's actually the next best news after Kyle being alive," Kay said. "Snitch Gravel is basically on our side now. He's going to help us overthrow the Agency."

"And we've got the jewel," Kyle threw in.

"Um, what?" Sam asked, most likely feeling like his purpose was gone.

"Yeah, Snitch Gravel and I got it and I'll tell you all about it..." Kyle hesitated again. "The thing is. We're locked in here for the moment, but..."

Jerry huffed. "Locked in? With you and Jimmy here?"

"It's a bit symbolic actually." Kyle let out a sigh. "We are going to get out without having to smash our way through anything. As you can notice, there are no guards."

"Why?" Tom asked. "What's really going on?"

Before Kyle could answer, there was the sound of a door opening on the other side of the bars, followed by shuffling footsteps. Then, all of a sudden, the lights turned on.

Jimmy sucked air through his teeth and closed his eyes. Tom cursed and the others grumbled, but once they all settled down and got used to the light, what awaited them on the other side shocked all protests out of them.

Draped in a heavy cloak, with his hood protecting his identity, stood the faceless stranger who had saved almost all of them at some point. The man who had given Jimmy the serum and the pill that drove him mad.

"What the...?" Tom asked, his voice so low on the last word, it was inaudible.

"I'm guessing you are surprised to see me," the stranger said, his voice hoarse and even, much like it always was. Only the sneer lacked from it.

"Stupid of us since you keep turning up everywhere," Sam said. He frowned in thought. "Except, this time, none of us are hurt."

"Very good observation," the man said.

The finality in his voice brought Jimmy back to Japan, right after Master Kato's death when, for a moment, he'd been sure he knew his identity.

"This time," the man continued, "you don't need me. But after all this time, I believe a settling of score is in order. I have come to claim the favor you owe me."

The words prompted a fight impulse in Jimmy, even if he wasn't sure why. The man had every chance to let them die. The chances that this favor could harm them were very slim.

"This is going to be interesting." Tom crossed his arms over his chest, bringing his tattoos in full view.

Jerry turned to him, bewildered. "Interesting?"

"Well, yes. How often do you get to see how much your life is worth?"

Angie put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Jessie moved next to Jimmy, too, and wrapped an arm around his waist. He appreciated the contact. It silenced the storm inside him.

"You're probably going to find it anticlimactic." The man now sounded amused. "Because my favor may seem like nothing to you, but it means everything to me."

Sam stepped forward, stopping right in front of the bars. "Okay, say it. What do you want?"

The man reached out a hand from the fold of his cloak, grabbed the edge of the hood and shook the entire thing off.

Jimmy's jaw dropped. Now that he could finally see the man's identity it became crystal clear and obvious. But it still shocked him to the core.

"Fucking hell," Kyle whispered. "How did I miss this?"

"No way," Tom breathed.

Jimmy closed his eyes, but when he opened them again, reality stayed the same.

Snitch Gravel stood before them, wearing black jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt, his face filled by a reluctant half-smile.

"All I want," he said. "Is for you to listen."

End of Part III

KABOOM! We have the identity of the hooded man and admit it! It makes so much sense.

Now that part IV is coming, all the answers shall be revealed, starting with this one. I hope you're ready because now everything will finally come to light.

Were you expecting the reveal? The favor?

Also, there was a fairly big clue as to the identity of the hooded man in every blurb. In case you haven't noticed, every quote before the blurb belonged to Snitch Gravel except the one for Too Young which was by the hooded man. Now why would that be? 😂

I'm so excited and scared at the same time and really hope you enjoyed this chapter. On to the next!