"You're too young to let the world break you."

walked towards his father's hospital room, his heart slowly sunk to the bottom of his stomach. Each step he took felt like he was dragging led, his pace slowing as the room came into view.

He was awake. His father was awake.

Falcon could barely breathe. Memories filled his head and he started to question why he was even doing this. Why was he going to see his father when he knew he was awake? Why did he care?

For the life of him, Falcon couldn't think of an explanation for his actions. He felt obligated to do it; he was his father, after all.

Falcon finally reached the door to his father's room and his feet were suddenly frozen. He could hear low murmuring coming from inside. One distinct voice. One that was most definitely not his father.

Someone was already there.

Falcon took in a deep breath before pushing the door open. Every cell in his body tensed as a familiar face came into view; his jaw clenched and his hands formed fists at his sides.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Falcon shot daggers across the room towards his brother's smug face.

"Can't a son visit his father?" Kace grinned.

Falcon felt adrenaline pulse through his body, urging him to flatten the man's smiling face.

He decided to stay quiet and turned his eyes towards his father instead. Colour had returned to his once lifeless cheeks and the dark circles that had once been a permanent fixture on his face had vanished.

Falcon felt the urge to ask if he had woken up, but his pride wouldn't allow him to utter a word to his brother.

After a few minutes of silence, Kace spoke again.

"How's your little girlfriend?" the question had Falcon's burning gaze turning back to him in seconds.

"None of your business," Falcon growled.

Kace held his hands up in mock surrender.

"I mean no offence," he smiled. "It was just a question."

Falcon walked forward till he was towering over Kace by a few inches.

"You don't ask about her," he hissed. "You don't talk about her. You don't even think about her."

He emphasised each point with a harsh shove at Kace's chest.

"Or what?" Kace grinned up at him. "You'll hurt me?"

Falcon's teeth ground together as every cell in his body screamed for blood.

"Till you wish you were dead," he growled.

Kace chuckled slightly, taking a step away as he rubbed at his stubble jaw.

"Whatever you say little bro," he shrugged nochalantely.

Falcon took in a deep breathe; his patience wearing thin.

"Look," he said lowly. "I don't know what kind of fucked up ideas you have to get me to come back to the gang, but keep her out of it. I swear to god Kace. You touch her again and I'm going to fucking kill you."

The grin on Kace's face seemed to grow at his words and Falcon felt his chest tighten.

"Don't you worry about that," Kace held his hands behind his back and watched Falcon like troublesome kid. "I'm not worried about you coming back."

Kace chuckled as Falcon's brows furrowed in confusion.

"The fuck are you on about?" Falcon gritted out, fear filtering through his body like molten lava.

"I found something a whole lot more valuable than you," Kace took a step back towards the door. "The family thanks you for bringing her to our attention."

It all clicked inside Falcon's head just as Kace reached the door of the hospital room.

"You bastard!" Falcon flung himself towards Kace before he could escape.

Falcon's forearm met the skin of Kace's neck, knocking the breathe out of his brother's lungs.

"I told you not to fucking touch her!" Falcon yelled in Kace's face.

All his brother did was let out a chocked laugh.

"My hands are clean in this," his words were hoarse and he sucked in a breath of air as Falcon pressed down harder on his throat. "The boys wanted to have some fun first."

Without hesitation, Falcon slammed the back of Kace's head into the wall and let his unconscious body slide to the floor. He was out of the door and racing down the stairs before he had a chance to even think about where he was going.

He knew where the gang house was, but was Kace really stupid enough to bring Freya to a place Falcon knew?

There had to be another place. Somewhere Falcon didn't know or wouldn't go to.

He was already running out of time. He had to find her. Fast.

~🎀~

Waking up on a cold, hard floor wasn't something Freya had ever had to get used to. Even the last time she had been kidnapped, Falcon had made sure she was as comfortable as possible in that little basement.

Last time she had been kidnapped.

God. Her life was turning into some kind of never ending drama series. Was this going to become normal now? Was this the price she had to pay for being with Falcon?

She just wanted to go back to how it used to be. Before she knew Falcon, before she knew Kace, before she was involved in or knew anything about gangs. She was so sick of this.

But then again, she couldn't imagine being without the people she had let along the way. How boring and lifeless would she be without Falcon? Would she have finally given in and dated Penn? Where would that have left her? Married to an abusive, cheating husband who only cared about her money?

And what about Glenn? Where would she be without the man her heart had claimed as her father? Without his constant sarcastic comments and wise eyes?

Freya slowly opened her eyes to a dark room and her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach.

She wouldn't be here, that's for sure.

Freya shook the thought off. She wasn't going to think like that. Right now, she just needed to concentrate on finding a way out of here.

She knew Falcon would come for her, but she didn't know how long that would take. She had to find a way to help herself, even if it was only a little bit.

First thing was first, where the hell was she?

Freya pushed herself up from the ground, cracking her neck to rid it of the tension that had settled there. The ground was damp, as if something had been spilled on it a while ago and was never cleaned up. There was also a stench attached to the place.

It almost seemed familiar to Freya, but she couldn't quite place it.

She slowly walked forwards, her hands stretched out in front of her, waiting till she made contact with the wall. Her thighs hit something first and she held in a hiss of pain as her leg throbbed at the collision.

She slid around whatever she had crashed into and found a wall behind it. She blindly felt along the textured surface until she came to a sudden dip in the surface. The texture changed on this new surface and Freya instantly knew what it was.

A door.

She let her hands drift down in search of a doorknob and finally was able to wrap her small hand around the cold metal.

She turned it, only for it to resist a millisecond later. Freya could have sworn in that moment.

She was locked inside a room she couldn't see anything in. She didn't suppose they had turned on the electricity for her?

She travelled along the wall again, searching for any sign of a light switch. When her search came up negative, she tried again, and again, and again, until finally she realised that there was, in fact, no light switch and no way out of that room.

She slumped against the wall, holding her head in her hands as her temples began to throb. Her muscles ached and her emotions were hanging by a thread. She didn't know how much more of this she could take in one lifetime.

She slid down the wall until she was met with the cold floor once again. As much as she was beginning to hate being the damsel in distress, she just prayed Falcon figured out where she was.

But she had the sinking feeling that this time, they weren't going to be so lucky.