Author's Note:
I had this whole chapter written down, but my computer crashed, and I lost it. So I had to rewrite it, but it turned out much worse than my first draft. My apologies!
Ha, I realized how Hulk-like I made Joe in the first chapter. I'm really sorry about that.

Nick refused to be consoled as the afternoon wore on, sobbing pitifully into my shoulder for what must have been hours. I tried my best to console him, but my efforts were in vain. I could do nothing but hold him close and stroke his hair, murmuring useless words of comfort.

"Calm down, Nickie. It's going to be okay." I attempted to reassure him for what was probably the hundredth time today.

The smell of death hung heavy in the air. Raoul's dead body lay off to the side, his mouth agape and eyes frozen open. It hadn't hit me until now, but I had actually killed a human being. I never imagined I would have to capacity to do so, despite all the "killings" I performed in simulations back at headquarters. But I had hoped and prayed that it would never come down to this, and I would never have to take another life. Disgust and shame mixed, and I pulled my hands away from Nick, not wanting to touch him with the hands that had killed another man.

Nick's sobs eventually died down and were reduced to sniffles. Finally, he looked up at me, his face stained with dirt and tears.

"See? You're doing fine, Nick."

He took a deep breath, easing himself up on his knees and trying to balance himself until he finally was able to sit upright, shaking only slightly.

I gave him an encouraging smile. "How're you feeling?"

His eyes met mine, and his lips formed one word: "Kevin."

I wanted to kill myself. This whole time, I had been so occupied with Nick, that I had completely forgotten about my older brother.

"I'm sure he's fine," I said confidently, though something tugging at my heart told me otherwise.

Nick shook his head and looked down, fresh tears beginning to emerge.

"Nick, don't worry. Kevin's strong, I'm certain he's –"

"They hurt him, Joe." Nick spoke softly.

"What?" I stood up, alarmed.

"I…I was in the same room as him… they asked him for the lock combination… he didn't know, and… and they hurt him."

"Nick, I need you to calm down. Don't cry, okay?"

He drew in another shaky breath, but nodded. "I won't."

"Atta' boy, Nick-o. Now, just stay here."

I made my way over to Raoul's carcass. I sent a little prayer, asking God if he could forgive me for what I had done to the man. Then, I searched his pockets, and it wasn't long before I found what I was looking for – a ring with several keys hanging from it.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do." I spoke in a low, even voice. "We're going to unlock the door, find Kevin, and we'll be out of here in no time. I bet that in just a few hours, we'll be having burgers and fries at McDonald's."

Nick smiled at my attempts to make light of the situation and nodded.

"Just stay behind me. If anything happens, just run as fast as you can."

He looked at me uncertainly, but there was trust in his eyes. "Okay."

"We're gonna get through this, Nick. We'll be fine."

"I know."

I ruffled his hair lovingly. "Let's go."

I helped him to his feet, supporting him until he was able to stand and walk without too much difficulty. Then, I chose a random key and shoved it into the lock on the door. To my surprise, it clicked and the door opened on the first try.

I squinted against the bright light of the hallway, giving my eyes a few seconds to adjust. I looked around, making sure the coast was clear.

"Ready, Nick?"

"Yeah."

I stepped outside the room, with him following close behind. To my dismay, the hall was lined with hundreds of doors. Searching through each one would take forever.

"Guess we should start looking," I said, not looking forward to the task at hand.

"Wait," Nick piped up, "I think I remember what room it was."

"How could you have remembered?" I looked at him in disbelief. "You were blindfolded."

"Yes, but I counted the steps."

I had to smile. Leave it to Nick to be so observant. Even when he was being dragged down the hall, bound, gagged, blindfolded, and fearing for his life, he still managed to count the steps he had taken.

He closed his eyes and took exactly fourteen, evenly spaced steps as I followed. Then he turned, faced the door in front of him, and opened his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure this is the one."

"Good job." I gave him a pat on the back, and turned the doorknob. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked, and swung open easily.

The room was dark, just as the one I was locked in had been. I could make out a huddled figure in the corner. "Kevin?"

"Joe?"

Nick let out a squeak at the sound of our older brother's voice and flung himself at him.

"Kevin, I'm so sorry! I won't leave you again!"

"Shh, Nick, it's okay." Kevin wrapped his arms comfortingly around Nick and whispered to him, just as I had been doing earlier.

"Are you okay, Kev? Oh, God, this all my fault!"

"Don't say that!" Kevin hugged Nick closer and kissed his forehead tenderly. Only when Nick looked up at me in alarm, as if he was afraid of what I would say, did I realize that my two brothers were in love.

Now it all made sense. They would always insist on sitting together at every meal, the secret glances they stole at each other, the way they spend almost every second of the day together. Hell, Kevin had even let Frankie have his room, moving in with Nick instead. It was wrong on so many degrees – they were my brothers, for crying out loud – but the sheer happiness and worry for Kevin in Nick's eyes was enough to dissuade my doubts.

"It's okay." I shrugged. "If you guys love each other, then I guess that's that."

Nick sighed in relief and buried his face into Kevin's chest.

Kevin spoke. "You're a good brother, Joe."

"Yeah, thanks. But as touching as this has been, don't you think we should be getting out of here?"

"Oh, right. Problem is, I'm kind of stuck here." He nodded at his feet, which were chained to the ground.

I sorted through the key ring and held up a small, silver key. "You think this is the one?"

He shrugged. "Give it a go."

I stuck the key into the lock, and to my relief, the cuffs sprang open.

"Thanks." Kevin rubbed his ankles.

"Don't mention it. You okay?"

"You should ask Nick if he's okay."

I turned to Nick, confused. Nick clung onto Kevin's shirt tighter.

"They touched him, Joe," Kevin said softly.

"What?" Anger began to rise in my throat. "Those sick, sons of –"

"Joe, don't," Kevin said warningly, "You're upsetting him."

"How could you, Kevin?" I exploded, "How could you have let them? You're his older brother, for Christ's sake, you're supposed to protect him!"

"Stop yelling!" Nick cried suddenly, sobbing. "It's not his fault! He was tied up, he couldn't do anything!"

He was right. It was wrong of me to expect so much of Kevin, when he was as helpless as the rest of us.

"I'm sorry, Kevin, I didn't mean it."

"Forget it." he smiled, but I could tell he was hurt and that guilt was weighing him down.

I reached out my hand to help him up, but a sudden shadow blocked out all the light from the door.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, boys." A soft, silky voice glided smoothly through the air. I turned around slowly and found myself face to face with four men.

"Who are you?" I demanded, standing in front of my two vulnerable brothers.

The man who spoke chuckled. "My first name is of little consequence to you, but you may refer to me by my last name, Sullivan."

"Sullivan." I spat the name out like a dirty word. This was the guy who was responsible for infiltrating countless high security government databases, acquiring priceless information on merely a whim. He was the one who had executed the heist that had resulted in the briefcase being stolen from the embassy. A genius who abused his powers, consumed by greed. Now, the only thing standing between him and the money was the lock – and us.

He smiled widely at me, revealing rows of misshapen, crooked teeth. I surpressed a shudder. "You must be Joseph. I assume you've made acquaintances with Raoul?"

"Yes," I said, unable to keep the sarcastic bite out of my voice, "We're great friends now. In fact, we've got a round of golf scheduled for tomorrow afternoon."

Sullivan opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes lit up as they fell on Nick. "Oh, how nice to see you again, Nicholas!"

Nick shrank back, and Kevin wrapped his arms around him protectively.

"You don't need to be afraid of me, my dear boy." Sullivan knelt down and stroked Nick's cheek with a long, pointed finger.

"Don't touch him!" Kevin shoved the man away. "Haven't you already done enough?"

Sullivan's face hardened momentarily, but them eased back into a smile. "I was only just getting started," he murmured, eyeing Nick hungrily, "I only got to have a little bit of fun before I gave him to Raoul. It was a good of me to do so, considering his death…" he let out a sigh. "Raoul was one of my most loyal men. I'm going to miss him dearly." He raised a hand, and before I knew what was happening, two strong pairs of hands gripped my arms, shoved me to the ground, and pinned me down.

"Get off of me!" I yelled, struggling wildy. Another man had separated my brothers and was now holding Kevin against the wall, leaving Sullivan to seize Nick by the arms and twist them painfully behind his back.

Nick whimpered, but didn't struggle, though was clear that he was terrified.

"I'll see you two boys later," Sullivan smirked, dragging Nick out of the room and slamming the door behind him.