---Davy 's POV---

I just...couldn't understand. One moment Laura and me were laughing as we walked towards the car, Laura punching me on the shoulder as I had shot a teasing wink at my man. Josh had laughed out loud, probably getting the attention of the whole student body as his features lid up and making him even yummier.

And then...one phone call. I saw his grin falter before Josh's eyes grew cold and calculated, waving us over as he agreed to whomever was calling and then tossed our bags in the car, ordering us inside as well.

It was the fastest car-ride ever, with him spewing orders through the phone and telling Richard to forget about the groceries and get on the street. Mind you, there were a ton more of cursing and expletives in that one little sentence before he hung up and cursed even more.

Now, I felt distant of the others around me, hell, I couldn't understand what they were talking about anyways. I took in the ruin that once was our living room. Couches were tossed over, pillows cut open, books strewn over the carpet and stepped upon.

Samuel and Richard had replaced a few couches and placed Ellie and Laura on it, trying to calm them down.

Sage.

Big brother...why did he have to be alone? I knew it wasn't Declan's fault; he didn't know the Black Sun was going to come straight down here and kidnap Sage. I glanced at Declan and noticed the red rims underneath his eyes and the slight wobble of his lip and I knew our family wasn't the only ones suffering.

"We need to get a hold on ourselves! Sage isn't getting any better with our tears!" Josh snapped and I had the urge to walk over and slap him silly. We just learned that our brother, our rock and father figure all rolled into one, that he was kidnapped. And Josh told us to get over it?!

As I spun around, ready to give him a piece of my mind, I saw Declan shove him away before my mind made the connection. Oh. He was talking to his team. I gasped and Josh staggered back, holding his jaw while Declan glared at my man while Samuel quickly stepped between them.

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down! Just put yourself in my fucking place and tell me you wouldn't fucking cry!" Declan shouted out, startling me because honestly? He had never raised his voice and the volume he produced now was shocking. Josh looked right about ready to react, maybe throw a punch himself but thankfully Samuel stopped those two from rolling around wrestling.

"Are you two out of your minds? You know better than to provoke him Josh, and Declan, " Samuel turned around with a disappointed look in his eyes, which seemed to hit home. "I expected more out of you. Sage isn't helped with you two coming to blows."

At the mentioning of my brother, Declan's face drew blank while Laura sniveled quietly in her corner before she took Ellie upstairs. I stalked away from the arguing Seals and used this time alone to think.

I knew Sage; he was more than capable to defend himself, so he could have kept any attackers out until the guys arrived. So why didn't he? Something just doesn't seem quite right...

My eyes landed on the doorway to the kitchen, a frown sliding over my features. The kitchen wasn't as destroyed like the rest of the house, several cabinets were hanging crookedly but for the rest, it seemed pretty untouched.

Wait a second...

"Uhm, guys?" If it was any other situation, I might've laughed with their scrambling footsteps and curses as they crashed into one another. My eyes widened as the barrel of a gun was shoved against my nose, making me look cross-eyed for a second before I glanced up to the sheepish smile of Josh.

I crossed my arms and looked pointedly at the gun, which was still shoved into my face. I could do well without that, thank you very much! He seemed to get the silent hint as he quickly clicked the safety pin back on and chuckled nervously.

"Sorry...I'm a bit jumpy."

Chuckling, I nodded once. "Yeah, I can see that. The reason why I called you guys was because I remembered something." Walking around the counter, I placed both of my hands on top of the kitchen isle as the three soldiers all watched my every move like hawks.

"You see, when Dad had us and left to war, he had ordered a custom-build panic room for this house.  He wanted to know that if something happened while he was gone, we would still be safe." I recounted the way dad had drummed it into our mind where the panic room was and how to open and close it.

"We've never had to use it before but something tells me-" Declan gasped before interrupting, "Sage. He could've used it to get away from them. What are you waiting for, open the fucking door!"

Rolling my eyes at his impatience, I reached for the electronic key I wore as a necklace and swiped it over one of the cupboards of the isle. A dry click echoed through the room as Declan rushed to open the door, revealing a small staircase downstairs. I already knew now that Sage wasn't there, especially when he didn't answer to Declan's calls.

Richard and Samuel pushed past him, pulling their guns as they made sure no-one was down there. I could here a soft gasp coming from the stairs before Richard popped up, carrying...

"H-he....he saved our evidence?" I couldn't help but feel deflated, as I had silently hoped Sage had made it onto the panic room. No doubt he had been saving as much of the guys' research and evidence against the Black Sun, before they had overwhelmed him. But why was his laptop here too?

As if hearing my thoughts, Sage's laptop was quickly opened before Richard was typing away on the counter, ignoring everything else. I watched him for a second before glancing at Samuel as he came up with a bunch of papers and pictures.

You could tell Sage had been in a hurry; several of the papers were folded or bunched together. Several of them had tears on the sides where they had caught between the books shoved between them but that really didn't matter.

What mattered was that we didn't know where Sage was.

---Declan's POV---

This isn't real. No. No. No! This can't be happening!

I barely registered the rest of the team as I cursed myself over and over again. Who's dumb idea was it to leave Sage all by his lonesome? Mine. And who's idea was it to call everyone to go to Samuel.

Three guesses.

Now Richard was doing the best he could to see what Sage has left for us. Most of our research was tucked safely away, as well as several notes. All that I could hear now was the soft muttering between Josh and Davy and that persistent tapping sound of Richard's fingers on the keyboard.

A heavy hand coaxed me to the couch and forced me to take a seat. Looking up, I looked straight in Samuel's stern yet compassionate gaze. "Listen here Declan, y'all need to calm down.  We can stand here yappin' and cryin' all day, but if we wanna help Sage, we need to have a plan, ASAP."

My mouth opened, an angry reply ready to slip past my lips before I clenched my jaw and took a few deep breaths. As I settled down in my seat, I realized Samuel was right; I wasn't thinking straight and right now, we needed our heads on a swivel.

The couch dipped and I gave a wry smile when Davy flopped beside me. "So....any ideas how we're gonna kick their asses and get my brother back?" He asked, glancing at me from under his curls and flashing a silly look my way.

I chuckled despite myself and shook my head. "Not yet. But I'm working on it." I added silently as I rubbed my hands over my face furiously. Shaking my head slightly, I stood up and faced the others.

"Let's face the facts here. Viper, what happened at school?"

Samuel instantly straightened with a look of approval on his face as he rubbed over his chin. "They attempted to take Ellie, two men armed and one female in the get-away car. I took one of them out, the other managed to escape with the woman."

"Remember the car?"

"Yeah, but I reckon it's a rental." He stated with a pointed look and I agreed. "Still, even rental cars leave evidence. We need to find out where the car was rented from so we now where they came from. After that, we'll need security feeds from any store or gas station close enough to the school."

Josh instantly jumped up and grabbed for his phone. "I'm on it. I'll let the guys at base run their faces through our database as well." I nodded and paced on the spot for a moment before turning back to Samuel.

"How are your injuries?"

He rolled his shoulders and winched slightly before he rubbed over his thigh. "I'm fine, I won't be able to go straight to the frontlines or run a marathon, but I can still fight." He reassured before glancing at the stairs, no doubt concerned about the girls.

"Shit!"

At his shout, we all spun around, drawing guns and trying to locate the possible threat. Richard didn't even respond to our reaction; instead, he gawked at the computer screen, gaining our attention by his own strange behavior.

When I faced the screen, my own jaw slacked and I had to stop myself to have the same reaction like Richard. It seemed that Sage has been busy these past few days and I was taking a wild guess, but judging by the grammar errors in the last sections of the documents, he had used this shooting to get a break-through we so desperately needed.

I took one look at Josh and Samuel before I flipped my cellphone open. "HQ? We need a meeting, right now!"

---Sage's POV---

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

What the hell...happened?

Thump-thump, thump-thump.

Ugh, my head is pounding...I can hear my heart...thumping in my ears. But what...happened? And why...can't I...see anything?

"Ugh..." My mind was sluggish, lethargic almost. Even the simplest actions like trying to blink or straighten out the mess that resembled my thoughts seemed impossible. It was hard to breath, the air that tickled my throat stale and dry, forcing me to cough.

I need to...think.... about what happened.

Forcing myself to calm down and focus, I searched my memory for a clear image, trying to put every picture in the correct order. Right now everything seemed to blend together in a sickening wave of sound, scents and sight.

I...I remember that Declan was urging me to stay home, make myself useful while he went somewhere...but where...was it the store? No... Ugh, why can't I think straight?! A shiver raced over my body, making me aware that I was laying sideways on a cool surface, curled up and hands behind me.

I-I'm tied up?

Stretching my fingers, I indeed felt the rough texture of a rope digging into my skin. My hands were bound together by the wrists and judging from the way I was forcibly curled up, they were connected to my ankles as well.

I lost focus on my body and blinked a few times before realizing I couldn't see anything as well. Why didn't I realize this sooner? A small part of my mind that seemed clearer whispered the answer to me.

Concussion.

That explained why my head was pounding like crazy with each thump of my heart, why I felt so dazed and why I felt the growing need to throw my guts up. Instead of doing that, I took deep breaths through my nose and breathed out slowly through my mouth while I tried to remember what happened.

The school...Samuel had called and needed help at the school. I could remember that Declan reassured me Ellie would be fine, as long as I focused and pulled my mind of things.

So I did...I- I finished cracking the code and had made a program to...to....to do what exactly?

Damn it!

Okay, not important. So I did something and then? A car...there was a car coming up the driveway and I had known it wasn't the others. It drove too fast and stopped suddenly to be Declan and the others.

Running...I had been running to the HQ upstairs, collecting all the data from the computers and stuck it in my laptop, I think? My headache wasn't helping me and I quickly stopped trying to remember exactly what I took. I know it was a lot, since I had nearly tumbled down the stairs with my load.

I had forgotten several notes, they weren't too important but still.... I had put everything in the panic room just to be sure and fully intended to join later, when I had the last bit from upstairs.

So stupidly, I had ran upstairs and went to collect the last bits of information...and when I had turned, those men stood behind me. The ringing in my ears grew louder as my memories faded, but I still felt the despair in that last moment, the anger at myself for not going into the panic room and most of all, the heart-ache of not seeing Declan again.

My stomach wobbled and shifted, the nausea growing even more when I imagined what my family must feel now...how Declan would react.

Oh Declan...

Suddenly I felt like I wanted to cry, though I hardly ever cried. The last time I did was when team Wolfpack delivered the news of my dad's passing... The concussion was messing with my body and mind, throwing me off and making me feel sick.

And I knew, I just knew that the Black Sun was going to do their best to squeeze every drop of information out of me. I was their prisoner, and unlike prisoners of war, I didn't have any rights.

I wriggled around as best as I could until I felt a wall brush against my head and continued working myself up until I was in a sitting position. Trying to escape was futile and stupid, I knew that very well. But I also knew that the guys would come after me.

I only needed to survive and keep my lips sealed until then.