Falling Asleep on a Stranger

Last night Tony and I had gotten to another hotel in Redding, where Jaime's hideout was supposedly located. We didn't check into a hotel this time, because I didn't want to have to spend money if I didn't want to. My car was pretty comfortable anyways.

We had just pulled into a little rest station off of the highway around midnight and Tony was climbing into the trunk to grab a pillow and blanket to share.

"I can't find anything," he said, his voice strained because of his position. I chuckled and sat up to take a glance back there for the things I was looking for.

"There," I said and pointed to my right, where a blue blanket was crumpled into a ball.

"Cheater," Tony mumbled and grabbed the blanket. I reached for the pillow I had tossed in at the beginning of our little road trip and laid it down over the backseat.

"Recliner?" Tony asked and I nodded before looking for the lever. I saw it and pulled sharply, Tony leant down until the seat was almost flat.

"And voila, a bed." I teased, laying down in the middle and throwing my arms behind my head. Tony turned and shot me a glare.

"Now where the hell am I supposed to lay?" he whined and curled up next to me, wrapping his arm around my body and pulling the blanket over us in the process.

"That's fine," I laughed and scooted over a little so he had room. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to relax myself. I needed to get to sleep somewhat early tonight, because tomorrow was going to be do or die. Tomorrow, we'd go to Jaime's hideaway and steal Vic back. I didn't know how we were going to keep Jaime off our trail, though. I didn't want to think about that part.

Tony shifted next to me, tightening his grasp on my body and making me shiver. I opened my eyes and turned to look at him staring out the window.

"Hey," I mumbled to catch his attention. He looked up at me.

"What?" he said with a little smile.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked. He shrugged and returned his gaze to the window.

"Nothing, really. I'm trying not to think about tomorrow but it's not working."

"Why don't you want to think about it?" I whispered. Tony sighed softly and looked back at me, pursing his lips.

"I didn't tell you this before, I didn't want you to worry..." he started. My eyes widened.

"What? What's happening?" I shrieked, fearing the worst. He shook his head frantically.

"Mike, no, listen to me, okay?" he cooed, rubbing his hand against my side soothingly. I took a few deep breaths and focused on not getting upset.

"Okay, go on," I whined.

"So, um, I don't know exactly what he's planning, but I know Jaime is completely insane and thrives off of other's suffering. So if you see Vic still alive tomorrow, I don't want you to go running up to him because that would... Tip Jaime off. I'm guessing he wants one of you to suffer, and the only way he knows how is to make one of you watch while he kills the other." he said reluctantly.

"What? That's..." I started, but I didn't have words. What kind of sick person does that?!

"Look, that's not... That's not everything. The other thing is if we get Vic-"

"When." I corrected. I wasn't leaving here without him.

"Right, sorry. When we get Vic, um... Jaime doesn't just drop the hunt. Um, he usually goes after the people. So..." he paused to give me a worried look.

"What is it?" I asked, anxiety killing me.

"He usually... Either kills the retakers- that's us," and he pointed to me and him, "or he kills the person the retakers took back."

"Why? What's he do this for, anyways? I don't get what kind of sick-"

"He does it for money, Mike." Tony said. That stopped me dead.

"Money?" I repeated. Tony nodded his head.

"Don't ask me how he knows your family's got money, though, I don't know. We just do. When I still helped with his killing sprees, he handled the part of finding the target and I handled the, er... Reeling them in, I guess you could say."

"But Jaime did all of that with my brother..." I said in realitization.

"That's cause I told him I was cutting clean. He did too, but I mean, we see how well that worked out..." he scowled and looked back out the window.

Tony was clean. Completely clean. It all made sense now, why he was helping me, everything he was doing. I sat up and flung my arms around him tightly, hugging him as if I couldn't let go. He laughed a little and his arms found their way around me, and he started rubbing my back soothingly.

"Hey, it's alright, we'll find Vic. It's three against one." he reassured.

"No, it's not that. I-I just wanted to say thank you, Tone... I don't know what i'd do without you." I mumbled. He squeezed me tighter and kissed my cheek.

"Anything for you, Mike," he smiled.

~

I walked into the place hand in hand with Tony. The set of steel double doors in front of me was what separated my brother and I from getting out and away from here as soon as possible. I slid the door open, trying to be completely silent in the early morning wake, and looked around the dim room.

The first and only thing i spottedwas Vic leaning against a concrete wall, his expression one of anguish. His arms slung from metal, rusted shackles that hung from the ceiling and made a clinking noise at even the slightest movement. He looked so weak, as if he hadn't eaten in days, and his clothes had been ripped and his body bruised and torn.

I gasped at my brother, feeling both anger and sadness flood my veins. I wanted nothing more than for him out of this wretched place. Tony and I couldn't see anyone else in the room, not even Jaime, so we snuck over to Vic silently and tried as fast as we could to get those shackles off his wrists.

"Thought you could steal your brother from me without letting me find out?" a voice breathed behind my neck. I jumped and flipped around, seeing Jaime with an evil grin plastered on his face. I never knew it before, but I could tell now that he was a maniac.

I tried to talk, but all that came out was a stutter. "I- I, uh, n-n-"

"Well, what do we have here?" he said wickedly and lifted my face to make his eyes look into mine. He then pushed my chest and I fell back into the wall with a huff.

"You're gonna die first, Michael," he taunted and pulled something out of his pocket. I couldn't see what it was but it shone in the light, and I realized. It was a knife.

"And i'm gonna let Vicky here watch."

"No!" Vic suddenly screamed, and I couldn't find my voice because the next thing I felt was something sharp stabbing my chest. I looked down, seeing only a red film, and fell to the ground.

"Ah!" I screamed and flung up from my nightmare. I sat straight up and looked around frantically, remembering that I wasn't in some corridor and instead in my car, safe and sound.

"Mike! Mike, shh, it's okay," Tony whispered next to me, and began to rub my back. I was so overwhelmed and scared I curled into myself and started crying.

"Mike, Vic is gonna be okay, I promise, baby," Tony murmured as he cradled me in his arms. I was shaking from my sobs and I couldn't talk about my nightmare, so I clung to Tony's shirt tighter and let my tears flow freely.

~

I didn't sleep much after my nightmare, I was still scared something else was going to happen. Tony had comforted me until my eyes were dried out and my throat hoarse and he stayed awake, trying to help me not think about it. I wasn't in any condition to drive, but we needed to find Vic. I had to.

I got into the drivers seat and started the car, taking a deep breath and concentrating on staying awake. Tony didn't say a word about my dream, just told me which way to go and held my hand the whole way there.

After probably half an hour of driving, we got to the place Tony had directed around 10. I was ready to go in there, because if what Vic was going through was anything like my dream it would only get worse, but Tony wanted to wait.

"Why are we waiting again?" I complained. He just shook his head and stared out the windshield.

I sighed and closed my eyes, preparing myself for the worst and trying to stay calm.

"Okay." Tony said. I looked over at him and nodded.

"Yeah?" I asked. We got out of the car and stood for a second before taking a step to the big green door in front of us.

This was it. Now or never.

Do or die.