Cyrus sat at the bar in the Hunters Headquarters, nursing a drink as he filled in Benny what had happened and how he thought he had fixed things with Theo, to both of their reliefs.

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" Benny asked. "Go home, be with Theo. There's nothing to do around here anyways."

"Aw, come on, Benny. There's always something to do around here," Cyrus objected. "And besides, now I owe you one for helping me out." Benny scoffed.

"Please, I did nothing." He poured a drink of his own and smirked. "Besides, technically you owe me two since I took Theo to that Ball."

"Damn, I'm really getting into some debt here, aren't I?"

"Just a tad." Cyrus shook his head and spun around to face the Headquarters. The rest of the Hunters milled about, more relaxed than he had last seen them. Martin and Kramer were chatting like old pals, and as glad as Cyrus was to see them getting along, he did not want to know exactly what common ground the two had. Felicia was likely in the ring in the back room, training with Mills while he coached her and told stories about the dogs he worked with outside the gang. Mills was such a soft hearted fellow sometimes that Cyrus had a hard time believing he was the only one of them that had actually done any jail time, but he and Felicia stuck close to each other. Martin thought their budding relationship was gross. Cyrus thought it was adorable. He looked forward to the wedding, although Benny said he was getting his hopes up. Cyrus disagreed. He'd seen the way Felicia's mother poked and prodded at Mills. He was stuck with the red headed fighter whether he knew it or not, and he certainly didn't seem to have a problem with it.

The irritating buzzing of Cyrus's phone interrupted his daydreaming as the screen lit up with a caller ID reading "Hot Fuzz." Cyrus knew better than to put actual names in his phone, just in case the police ever got a hold of it, so Theo's code name was Hot Fuzz, seeing as he was a part of the fuzz, and was, obviously, very hot.

But it was rare for Theo to call him when he was at Headquarters. He usually only did when there was a major problem, so Cyrus picked up, turning away from the other Hunters to talk.

"Hey The, what's up?" He said, half smiling.

"Try again," An unexpected voice offered coldly. "Not Theo." Cyrus froze, all expression dropping from his face. If someone had Theo's phone, then someone had him. And if someone had Theo...

Well then he'd have to tell Mills to start digging a corpse sized hole somewhere, as it would soon be filled by whatever man was stupid enough to mess with anyone Cyrus cared about.

"Who is this?" He growled. Benny paused, glancing over at Cyrus with a slightly worried expression. He had seen Cyrus mad before, but when someone posed a threat to Theo, well, there was nothing to compare that level of cold fury to. It was like death became an emotion.

"The name's Spiro." As he spoke, Spiro paced around the warehouse, occasionally glancing back at the chair he had Theo tied to. His partner was barely conscious, and drying blood slowly dripped down the side of his head from where Spiro had hit him. He still managed to force his head up and send Spiro a pleading, warning look, though. One last attempt to let him know he was digging his own grave without knowing it. "Perhaps you remember me from the time you poorly chose to save my life at Kramer's casino. I'm afraid that choice is gonna come back to bite you in the ass real fast, but let's just cut to the chase. I've been hunting you for years, Mossberg, and finding out that my partner was your husband the whole time was not exactly a great moment for me. But I've adjusted to that, and am willing to do whatever it takes to put you behind bars. I have Theo, and since I am thoroughly pissed at him for lying to me, I really don't care what happens to him. But I'm sure, as a kind husband, you do, so let's make a deal."

"You touch one hair on his head and I'll erase your whole fucking existence." Spiro laughed, and Theo glared at him. He wasn't sure what Cyrus had said, but Spiro could laugh it off all he wanted to. Theo knew he'd live up to the words.

"Easy there, Liam Neeson," He said. "I'm just offering you a fair trade. I'll send you an address, and you show up. Alone and unarmed, naturally, and we make an exchange. I get to finally arrest your miserable ass, and Theo walks out of this free as a bird. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like blackmail."

"Well, I did always consider myself to be someone with a brain, so yes, it is blackmail."

"You know, Spiro," Cyrus said entirely too calmly, Benny's eyes widening at him from across the bar. "I've been around gangs for a long time, and I've seen my fair share of blackmail. Do you want to know how it usually ends?"

"I'd love to." Spiro poked at Theo's face and his partner snapped at him, ready to bite off any finger that came too close. Just because he was tied up didn't mean he wouldn't put up a fair fight.

"Most of the time? With your balls nailed to a wall and your brain splattered on some concrete." Spiro smiled.

"Good thing I don't have any nails then. I'll send you the address, bucko. Be there by nine or I'll put a bullet in Theo's skull, blame it on you, and walk away. Your call if you want that blood on your hands." Spiro hung up, and the phone buzzed a moment later with an address. Cyrus slammed his phone on the bar with enough force to break it, and stared at the floor. Smart. He had to be smart about this. There was no room for second chances when it came to Theo's life, and he wasn't going to risk it. He took a shaky deep breath, attempting to find some bit of emotion that wasn't fury or panic. He settled on hate fueled concern and looked up at Benny.

"He's got Theo," He whispered, unable to say more. Benny glanced down at the glass he'd been drinking from and nodded thoughtfully before setting the glass down.

"I'll go get the guns," He said calmly.

"He said to come alone." Benny smiled, already grabbing the shotgun they kept under the bar.

"We're gangsters. When the hell do we follow anything the cops tell us?"

"He's willing to kill him, Benny." Cyrus said quietly, staring back down at the wood.

"We're not going to let that happen." Benny cracked open the shotgun and checked that it was loaded before knocking it shut again. He had already dropped into the blunt, cold state he had every time Cyrus asked him to fix something, and Cyrus was grateful for it. He needed someone to think about this situation without adding other emotions to it. He needed help.

But that was what the Hunters were always there for.

"But what if dragging everyone else into this is the thing that messes everything up and gets Theo killed? Maybe I should just go alone, I can handle it myself and-"

"And get arrested and then we all go to jail or worse trying to break your stupid ass out of prison." Benny laid the shotgun on the bar and gave him a pointed look. "You've got a problem, Cyrus."

"I know."

"And you're going let me fix it."

***

While Benny raided the armory, Cyrus gathered the rest of the Hunters. His worry had been replaced with cold, hate fueled rage, and he was going to use it to his advantage.

"Listen up, all of you!" He barked, standing tall as the others snapped to attention, wide eyed and awaiting orders. If only the Cardinal Rebels could see them now, Cyrus thought. They would never have dared to think about coming after Cyrus in the first place if he saw him when he didn't have the time to be nice. "What is Rule Number one of the Hunters?" He hissed.

"Don't touch the boss's man," The rest of them chorused, frowning. It was true, albeit strange and specific. Rule number one was to never harm Theo, whether it be accidentally or on purpose. Cyrus didn't care either way. You broke that rule, and you would be begging for death within five minutes.

"Exactly," Cyrus went on, his power over them radiating like an invisible crown. The Hunters stared back like loyal soldiers, awaiting their orders. "But apparently, someone has broken that rule. Our dear detective friend, Spiro, has kidnapped my husband. His instructions state that I am to come alone to retrieve him, but I say fuck that because this is my husband's life we're talking about, and I will take no chances with it. After what happened with Marcus, we know Spiro is reckless enough to kill accidentally, so we're going to deal with him before he can do that. Understood?" They nodded. "Good. It could be one big trap for all I know, but I really don't care. Our top priority is to make sure Theo gets out safely. Anything else is pointless, I'm sorry, but that's how this is going to work. Felicia, Mills, Martin, you will be in charge of making sure Spiro has no way of getting back up. The less cops we have to deal with in this, the better. Kramer, you'll be with Benny and me at the location. You'll wait outside and all of you will follow Benny's orders while I give Spiro the illusion I have come alone. You will follow his orders until I am able to give them again. Make sense?" Another round of nods. "Good. Get a gun, and let's move out."