A/N - So, so sorry for last chapter's cliffhanger...especially sorry for disappearing after said cliffhanger. RL reared its ugly head and the boys and loyal readers suffered. Thanks to all of you who are still following this thing. Hope it's worth the wait.

The cold men dragged Rusty down into the tunnel, into one of the side alcoves, tied him up and left him there. A big burly guy named Otto stayed to watch him, but the rest headed down into the tunnel to load up the cache of weapons. Otto was nervous. The boss wasn't gonna like this at all. That alone made him nervous. Plus he knew this kid. He was Margie's kid, the one who used to go around to card games with Rocky, before the boss took care of him. One thing to rough up a couple of nosy kids, make sure they mind their own business, it's done. Over. But this kid...Otto had worked with the boss for a long time. He knew he was interested. Interested in lots of ways.

And that made him nervous.

Rusty was furious. He was furious that he hadn't thought about an alternate exit in the tunnel. He was furious that he hadn't paid attention to that black speedboat approaching. He was furious that he hadn't been fast enough to get away from these men.

And he was terrified. He was terrified that the last he'd seen of Danny was his friend being dragged into a shed by two of the cold men; That his shouts had cut off so abruptly; That all he could think about was Danny going through something horrible; something like what had happened with Rocky...broken fingers, sharp knives, burning cigarettes. Being terrified made Rusty furious.

While Rusty's mind was racing through all these possibilities, his body was at work. He was able to slip out of the ropes pretty easily (a nod of thanks to Louie LaFlamme, the boardwalk's resident escape artist, who'd taught Rusty some tricks) but he didn't think he could slip past the guard. Maybe the giant man would get sleepy or distracted, but right now Rusty stayed still and tried to be invisible. Maybe they'd just forget about him. He told himself all these things, but didn't really believe it.

He listened carefully to the sounds coming from down the tunnel. The men were emptying the room of the weapons. They were working quickly, but like on the little island, they were grumbling the whole time. Rusty caught some names: Otto, Frankie, and The Boss. He heard unclear mutterings about some rogue ATF agent and the Colombians.

After about 90 minutes, the scuffling sounds stopped and the tunnel was quiet. Had they finished and really just left him here? It would be a relief if they had, except of course that they didn't know he'd freed himself. If they'd gone, they'd done so knowing they'd left a ten year old kid tied up underground on a deserted island. They'd meant for him to die. And that meant that they didn't expect Danny to get out either. Oh god...Danny.

He was just about to get up and head for the exit when the big guy, Otto, came back into the room. He pointed his flashlight right in Rusty's eyes. Rusty quickly grabbed his own wrists tightly so Otto wouldn't know he'd untied the ropes. Otto grabbed Rusty's chin...like he needed to make sure he had his full attention. Well he had it.

"Ok kid. Here's the deal. We radioed The Boss from the boat. He's upset that you and your preppy pal are messing around out here. Makes a bunch of us nervous. We know who you are. We know you're Rocky's kid and we know he couldn't keep his mouth shut until we taught him a lesson. Frankie wants you both to disappear. Permanently. Doesn't want to risk you squealing." He let go of Rusty's face and turned off the flashlight.

Otto continued in a soft voice, almost a whisper, "I happen to agree with Frankie." He walked around the room, coming to a stop behind Rusty's chair. He laid a hand on Rusty's shoulder and rubbed it absently.

Rusty's heart was pounding. He no longer thought he was going to be left down here in the darkness. He was sure his neck was going to be snapped any second now. His instincts screamed at him to run, but he couldn't. Not while Otto had a grip on him.

"But, here's the thing, kid." Otto turned the light on again, and walked around to face Rusty. Rusty could see the deadly serious look on the big man's face. "The thing is, The Boss has taken an interest in you. He remembers you from that night."

Rusty shuddered. The cold man with the dead gray eyes. He must be The Boss. The one who'd looked at him...that way.

"He's interested in you. Very interested. So. You live. Your pal lives. For now. But you keep absolutely silent about everything you've seen and heard. And when the Boss sends for you, you'll come. You come immediately. You'll do what you're told. Get it?"

Rusty just stared.

Otto, suddenly, dangerously right in Rusty's face screamed, "I said Do YOU GET IT!"

Rusty nodded quickly, "Yeah. Yeah, I get it."

Otto stared for a few moments as if gauging Rusty's sincerity. "Good."

Then he started to leave, but paused at the doorway. "Kid. Do not think you can con your way out of this. We are serious men. We do not get taken by anyone. Especially a couple of kids." And he left.

Rusty sagged back on the chair, absently rubbing his face where Otto had squeezed his chin. He started to count in his head, to gauge when enough time passed that he could leave and go find Danny, when he heard a scraping noise coming from the blackness outside the door.

He slid back into the darkness and waited. The sound was coming closer, accompanied by a breathy wheezing. Maybe Otto changed his mind and was coming back to kill him. Or to take him to the Boss.

Maybe whoever it was, or whatever it was, would pass by.

Rusty concentrated on being still and invisible.

It was drawing near.

Closer.

...Closer...

Just as the thing drew up to the doorway, it paused. Rusty held his breath. Then, suddenly, he was knocked to the ground. The breath woodshed out of his lungs and he tried to catch his breath.

Something had grabbed his arms and was tangled in his legs and he couldn't move. But he heard...he heard his name.

"Rus. Oh god Rusty I thought...I mean...I couldn't ... And the men..and"

"Danny."

And they clung together in the darkness, together.

xxxx