"Episode 13 - As who we are." 

My hands shook, Xavier realise that. He took it out of my hand and answered it quickly. I took a deep breath, getting my nerves together.

"Nathan. Thank you for sending Lucia to me." Xavier pulled up the video, put his face on camera. "I realised that FBI knew about my existence?"

"Yes now where's my family." Nathan spoke through gritted teeth. Angry at the loss of control. Xavier flipped the switch, the back camera captured the scared little family for a brief moment before he flipped it back to us.

"Now, where's Gabe?" It was my turn to question him.

"He's here." We say the screen move. They were inside a car for sure but it was too dark to see the outside but there was. Grey eyes peered through the darkness. He had a tape over his mouth, hands tied together.

I forgot to breathe. He was alive, breathing, blinking. "Okay, drive around the car park, take the road that leads behind the stops on the left. Park in front of lit workshop. It's the only one there. I'll bring your family out and we can swap. Then you take them and go." Xavier negotiated, getting up. Leo came in, surprised by Xavier being present in the room.

"How can I trust that you won't hurt them?" He asked. Turning the phone back to his face. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I was getting him back.

"Why would we? Do you want us to?" Xavier smirked, taunting him.

"NO." Nathan looked panicked. "I just need to see them okay." He looked like he was about to cry. His chin quivered, hooded eyes sagged. He looked like he hadn't slept in months.

"My men will be watching." Putting the phone away, he ordered Leo to get his snipers to take position. "Lets go get your man and then lets get the hell out of here." Gently, he took me by my elbow and guided me outside while Nahele's team brought the hostages with us. They were still bound and gagged.

Absently, I held on the the jacket material of Xavier's arm like a child holding onto her brother. Like I used to do with Santiago. A small memory flashed but this time it was of busy road with lots of people around me.

I felt scared because Santiago wasn't there. Neither was Daddy. They couldn't come because of work. I was extremal upset but Aunt Irina promised to

"Zavi, honey, hold little Lucia's hands okay? Make sure to not let go." The voice belonged to the lady with the blue eyes. Xavier's mother. Aunt Irina's voice. Xavier was a bit older than I remember from my 5th birthday but so was I. However, it was a busy road and everyone looked tall and scary.

Suddenly, I was being picked up and ended up sitting on Xavier's folded arm. I giggled, holding on to him, excited to see mickey and minnie mouse waving hello. I waved back, overly excited. "I WANT MINNIE EARS." I shouted, clapping at the same time.

"Let's get you one before we get a picture with them." He smiled.

"We went to Disney land together." I blurted out from no where suddenly. We were waiting outside, the snow was falling heavily around us and it was the most inappropriate moment for me to smiling. I pocketed my hands in my coat, remember the times Gabe used to entangle our gloved fingers and shove it in his pocket, pulling me closer. I missed him. My heart ached, slicing in two. But the loving memory put at at ease.

"Yes." An amused smile crept up on his face. He looked pleased. "Our families were really close. Well, our fathers were like best friends so we were like family."

"You bought me mickey mouse ears." I vividly remembered. "Your mother was there. She was always so lovely to me."

"She adored the life out of you and actually..." He patted my head before shoving his hands into his own pockets. "...I bought you a lot of other stuff through out the years but yes."

"Oh my gosh." My reaction was more of realisation instead of surprise.

"Now you understand why I'm doing this for you? We are family." He breathed out the last bit. I nodded, releasing a deep breath, watching white fog swirl around in front of my face like smoke. "Don't worry, we'll get him back." He patted my back.

Suddenly, there was a crunching noise, tyres rolling on ice. We were surrounded by absolute darkness. A van rolled forward with the head lights turned off. My heart was beating out of my chest, a nervous energy vibrating out of my body. It heated me up from inside, under the layers of winter wear.

I kept bouncing on the balls of my feet. I wanted run to the van but held off. We waited until Nahele flashed a torch light at the wind shield of the van.

Gabe.

He flinched, closing his eyes, tried to use his shoulder to cover his eyes from the bright attack. His hands were bound before him where as Nathan was able to shield his eyes from the light. He crept forward.

"Did someone use the heat detector on the van?" I asked.

"Yes, no body heat detected in the back." Nahele confirmed.

"Okay." An inaudible gasp rather an coherent word exhaled from my mouth, creating a fog in front of me.

The van stopped, Nathan climbed out of the drivers side. Nahele turned the light on in the garage, the residual light illuminated the front of the workshop. It was protected by mini shed like a porch. He had a gun when he came around the front.

We moved away to reveal his exhausted family. They started to ball as they ran towards him. Nathan fell on his knees, crying. Xavier took the opportunity to opened the passenger side door to get Gabe out. I rushed out too, grabbed for him without a second thought. His steps faltered when he first got out. Seeing him stagger broke something inside me. Tears prickled my eyes.

Instinct took over, I grabbed the knife from my boot and sliced the tape that bound his wrists. Gabe shivered from the cold, teeth chattering. He took in haggard breath.

"I got you Gabe. You're okay." I put his arm around my shoulder, Xavier did the same.

"Get them out of here." Xavier barked. We entered the garage, moved past the SUV and towards the bench we were previously sitting on. Putting him down on the bench, I grabbed the electric heater that was connected to the wall and brought it in front of him. Xavier took off his jacker, put it over him. On the way, Gabe had taken off the strip off his mouth. His lips were chapped, skin dry as autumn leaves. I finally took his face in my palms, trying to warm up his face with the heat from my body.

"Babe, look at me." I tried to make him look into my eyes, tried to get his attention. He was shaking. Also, he was probably dehydrated and starving. "Gabe, baby look at me." He finally did, grey eyes lit by yellow fluorescent light. "You're okay." I tried to reassure him.

I kept stroking his face, feeling the ice cold skin against my hand. He blinked, eyes widened in realisation. What the fuck had he done to him?

"Elena?" He whispered, like a prayer. Like he couldn't believe himself.

"Yes baby, it's me." I nearly cried. I didn't want, I didn't want to look weak but I could help the lone tear that slid down my face without my consent. "You're safe now." Something clicked inside him. He spurred into action.

"You're okay?" His voice was hoarse. "You're okay." The second one was a clear statement. He grabbed me, pulled into a bone crushing hug. I held on to him, never wanting to let go.

"Oh God!" He kept repeating it to himself like he couldn't believe it. I stroked his hair to the base of his neck in a comforting manner. His fingers pressed into my upper arms, as he squeezed tighter. We stayed like that until he stopped shivering. "I'm so glad you managed to escape. I couldn't have you going through what you did as a kid." He sounded so desperate, it pulled at my heart.

"Xavier came. You remember the security he spoke of. He came with him and found me like that. He helped me get you back too." I told him, clinging on to him. My knees were hurting from kneeling on concrete for so long but I ignore the dull ache.

"What? How, why?" He pulled back, finally looked into my eyes. His eyes made my heart race. I didn't know I held on for so long without him and now that I had him, I didn't know how to act. But I know one thing for sure, I never wanted to let go.

I was never going to take him for granted.

Footsteps approaching us stole our attention away from the vulnerable moment. Gabe stiffened, on guard.

"Guys, do you want to go back to my house and freshen up or do you want to leave right now?" Xavier walked in casually. Gabe relaxed, understanding dawned on him.

"Thank you for saving her." He heaved, like he couldn't breathe. Xavier gave him a kind enough smile before moving closer.

"Do you guys want to leave now? I mean the state or tomorrow morning?" He asked.

"We should get going now?" Gabe tried to stand but stumbled. His stomach growled.

"Maybe we can get going tomorrow. Why don't you eat-"

"I can do that on the way. I just need a shower and we can get something to eat on the way." I helped Gabe stand, Xavier grabbed onto his shoulder, making sure Gabe didn't topple over.

"Okay, we can get to my-"

"NO!" Gabe tried to shout but his voice box gave out. "Jude is on his way. Nathan kept me drugged most of the time but when I came to it, I heard him talking to someone on the phone. When he stopped, I asked him why he's doing this." We helped Gabe walk towards the garage. The men were getting into position to get going.

"He said that Jude took an interest in Nathan because he visited Mason Capone after I killed someone in his office in self defence?" He was probably trying to remember the name of the man. His memory was still foggy from all the drugs in his system.

"Markus Alverzo."

"Yes him. Jude was suspicious about why Nathan let me go so quickly. Usually there's a bit more investigation. He found a video of me and Nathan speaking in one of the board rooms. There were no sounds but it made Jude suspicious. He got his men to find things out more about Nathan Ross and the techs found that he was also investigating the death of Mason Capone and all that crap that went down at the place where you were kidnapped. Remember?"

"Yes." We got into the SUV. Gabe sat in the middle, he was still shivering. Xavier didn't have a coat on and when I saw that Gabe started shivering again, I took mine off and laid it over his thighs. He tried to deny it but I wasn't having it. Vincent and Leo got into the front seats. Vincent started driving.

"So?" Xavier asked from the other side, wanting him to carry on.

"Nathan said that Jude tapped his phone and when I called, even with a blocked number, they heard the conversation and took his family, threatened him to track me down. Nathan somehow managed to negotiate with him about brining his family down here because after he got his family, he was going to leave the country with them." Gabe's stomach grumbled again.

"That doesn't sound like a shot caller. I mean he bent to Nathan's negotiations?" Xavier deducted.

"I said the same thing to Nathan. He said that he knew Jude would just kill his family if he didn't push. If he was here and his family was in New York, they'd be dead. So, he told Jude that he knew about the state we were in but didn't tell him the town. To keep some bargaining chips. He told Jude that he'd come look for us and to get his men to bring his family down too. Once the exchange is done, he'd leave." Gabe put his head back, finally being able to breathe properly.

"Jude's obsessed with me. He would agree to any deals that would deliver me to him." I concluded.

"Yes. After Nathan sent Jude the confirmation that he has me. Jude said he's coming down. He might already be here. I don't know. Everything is a bit foggy so I'm a bit lost about time. Maybe it was 2 hours ago or 10. I'm not sure. That's why we have to leave."

An ire silence slid inside the car. I held onto Gabe, rubbing his arms making to he was warm enough. I played the reasoning through my head over and over again.

"Nathan was smart. He knew where we were. I mean the town. He knew that because he knows that Xavier lives here. Hence he sent us here but didn't tell Jude straight away. He used Jude's obsession for me against him, taking his family away from New York and near Jude meant taking away some of the power that Jude had.

"Nathan made a ruse about finding us, buy more time and once he had Gabe and sent Nathan a confirmation picture, Jude was hooked and he was on his way. Hence, he would literally give Nathan whatever he wanted. Jude is on his way while his men keeps Nathan's family hostage until the exchange happened."

"I don't think he would have just handed Nathan's family over, just like that." Xavier frowned.

"Me neither but he didn't have any more choice. He was doing everything he could to buy time." Gabe chimed in, his hand slid down, took mine in his and interlaced him tightly. I looked up at him, my internal organs flipped but I tried to keep it together. I tried my hardest not to cry in front of other people. I wanted to be alone with him.

I ached to be alone with him.

"Where are they now?" I leaned forward to look at Xavier. "I mean Nathan and his family."

"My men put the family in the van and Nathan drove away. I made sure to keep his phone so I can get the conversation he had with Jude. I need to get it to the techs so they can get the GPS tracker out. I turned the phone off for now. Just in case." He was thinking ahead and I liked that. I was calm under pressure and he thought better after a crisis was resolved. It was a good tactical combination.

I could see Xavier's proposal much more clearly now. It would make sense for us to team up and return to strengthen the Empire and go after Jude. I was practially sitting on Gabe by the time we arrived at Xaiver's home.

"Why don't you shower, get dressed. I got couple of my men to bring over Lucia's and your clothes when we were looking for you. Shower, get changed and then we're leaving straight away." Xavier got out of the car, shaking like a junkie.

He practically ran up the steps of his house and inside.

We followed suit with Leo, while Vincent parked the car. When we entered, I heard Xavier giving order to get the call logs and recordings after they disabled the GPS tracker. I took Gabe to the guest room, where I got cleaned up myself. Entering the en-suite bathroom, I turned the shower on for him before taking off my jacket and the bulletproof jacket.

"That looks good on you." He commented as he shed the dirty clothes. I finally faced him. We were alone in a room behind closed door. My breath hitched when I looked at his raw wrists. He took off his T-shirt he wore the day before when he was kidnapped. The pants had dirt on them.

"Gabriel." I whimpered like I was struck in the chest. He tilted his head, looking at me with longing.

"You did good." He slowly stalked towards me, greyish hazel eyes darked. "Thank you for saving me." He was close enough to grab me by my upper arms making me cry out like I was shot. Flinching, he dropped his hands.

"Are you okay?" Concerned marred his face. Without asking, he carelessly un-tucked my t-shirt from my pants and pulled it over my head to find my arms wrapped in bandages. A couple of spots were tainted by blood.

"Elena!" He gasped, like it was him he was hurt.

"Lucia." I took his face in my hands and made him look into my eyes. He was confused at first but understanding dawned on him. "I'm not going by my captive name any more. I'm done being Elena Capone. I was never Elena." My heart broke. For the little girl. For the man I loved in front of me.

"I want to be with you Gabriel. I mean for real." I choked as I drew him closer. My stomach twisted in pain. "As Lucia Catalan and Gabriel Hayes. Not our alias names or by my given name as Elena. I want the real me with you."

He cupped my face, used his thumb to swipe away the tears from my face. I didn't even know they leaked out.

"I can't live without you." I heaved, my stomach lurched me forward and into him. "I love you." I paused. "No, It's not love." Desperately, I kept roaming my hands around his body, to make sure he wasn't a dream. "It's more than that. When you were lying on the ground, unconscious, I told you I loved you but I know that it's not just love. What I feel for you is dangerous. It makes me want to do things I didn't even know I was capable of."

"I know." He whispered, his breath fanned over my lips.

"I told Nathan that I'd sell his daughters to men like Jude just so that I could have you back. ME! I genuinely would have followed through my threat if something happened to you. Even though I suffered as a child, I know first hand what men like Jude does to little girls yet I was not afraid to make sure that they suffered because you suffered." I was planted against his body. "I couldn't get my revenge on Nathan so I chose them."

"I become a monster when it comes to you. I have no concious when it comes to you." I whispered Still not ashamed of the treats I made that evening. "My sanity depends on you Gabe."

"I know." He grazed his lips over mine. My body sizzled. My bra constricted. "I feel the same way about you. I killed one of the security techs point blank because he knew you were taken and did nothing. He was really young as well." He sighed. "I glad you feel that way because I feel that way about you too."

"I don't even understand this feeling." I confessed. The barrier I put up to cope was now breaking down.

"It's obsession. I am obsessed with you." I gasped when he confessed, scaring and arousing me at the same time. He was right. It was obsession and they were deadly but so were we.

"I am obsessed with you too."