"Where's Dougie?" Danny walked up to Tom behind the stage as they prepared to go on. "I've been looking for him for almost an hour now…I can't find him."

"Last I saw he went to go change." Tom frowned. "You've really not seen him since?"

"I haven't." Danny shook his head.

"Have you asked Harry?"

"Harry hasn't seen him." Danny shook his head. "Tom, I'm starting to get worried."

"Have you tried calling him?" Tom asked, frowning.

"Yeah, he's not picking up." Danny ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head again.

"Hey, have you found Dougie yet?" Harry rested his head on Danny's shoulder as he entered the room. "Oh come on, what are the worried looks for, he can't be that far! Just call security, have an alert out for him; he's gotta be in the building."

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "That's probably a good idea."

"I'll go and get someone," Tom offered. He moved towards the door of the room, but before he had a chance to get there, it opened.

"Looking for this?" One of their security guards entered the room, kicking the door shut behind him. He pulled Dougie into the room with him, holding a gun to the young blond's head. Dougie's hands had been tied behind his back and the man had his free hand over Dougie's mouth.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, being the first one to sober up to the sight.

"What does it look like?" The guard asked. "I'm calling the shots."

"Oh shit…" Danny let out a low gasp. "Look, he's just a kid, ok? Don't hurt him."

"He's 19," the security guard shrugged. "Not really a kid anymore, is he?" Dougie let out a muffled whimper as the man jerked him around. "Now shut up and listen; if you do as I say, maybe, just maybe he won't get hurt." The man jammed the gun against the underside of Dougie's throat. Dougie squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stay as brave as possible.

"What do you want?" Danny asked. He didn't like seeing his best friend at risk.

"You," the man jerked his head at Danny. "You are going to go out and tell everyone that the show has been postponed due to sudden illness on Dougie's part. Tell them that he's come down with a bad case of the stomach flu and that this show and the shows for the rest of the week will be rescheduled."

"Consider it done." Danny nodded. "And then?"

"And then little Dougie and I head out of here while you three scrape up ten million in American 5's, 10s and 20s."

"Wait." Tom spoke for the first time. "Tom's right, Dougie's just a kid. Take me instead; I'm worth just the same."

"Didn't you idiots think for even a second that maybe I chose Dougie because he's the baby?" The man scoffed. "He's the youngest, he'll bring me the most reassurance. I know that none of you want cute little Dougie to get hurt. Your intentions are noble, Fletcher, but a waste of breath. Dougie will be safe and sound once I get the money and not a minute sooner. Now you two," he gestured to Tom and Harry, "sit down. Jones, do your job. Once I've heard that you're done, I'll take Dougie out of here – remember, one misstep, if you tell anyone about any of this, you can say goodbye to him." The man smirked as Danny headed out towards the stage door.

"Dougie," Tom whispered, looking at his friend. "You're going to be ok, alright? We'll do what he says, I promise." Dougie opened his eyes slowly, allowing Tom to read the fear and sadness in the young bassist.

"Shut up, Fletcher." The man shook his head. "Dougie doesn't belong to you right now, you don't have the right to promise him anything."

"He doesn't belong to anyone." Tom stood up. "He's-"

"Sit back down, or do you not understand? Poynter here will pay for any wrong move that you make." Tom sat down again, glaring at the man.

"It's done." Danny came back in, eyes twitching angrily. "The lie has been told, just let Dougie go – we'll give you the money, we promise."

"I'll let him go," the man began, pulling Dougie towards the door, "once I have the money." He pulled the door opened with the hand holding the gun and prepared to leave before turning back around. "Keep your boy Tom in check, he doesn't seem to understand how this works. You do as I say, you get Dougie back alive and well. You start setting toes out of line and bad things start happening to him, things that I can't go back on." With that being said, the man pulled Dougie from the room and down towards the staff parking lot of the venue. He threw Dougie to the ground, keeping the gun on him as he opened the trunk to his car.

"Don't do this," Dougie pleaded. "Please, I-"

"Shut up." Dougie's words were interrupted as the man grabbed a roll of duct tape and wrapped it around Dougie's head three times, silencing him. "You're NOT allowed to tell me what to do or question it." He set the gun down and grabbed Dougie by his bound wrists. "DO NOT struggle, got it?" Dougie nodded, flinching as the man tied a dark bandana over his eyes. Dougie let out a cry of surprise and fear, though it was greatly muffled by the tape as the man grabbed him around the middle and picked him up. As promised, Dougie didn't put up a fight as the man stuffed him into the trunk. The boy flinched as the trunk slammed shut, and he gulped in fear as the car started moving. Everything around him was dark and cramped, just adding to the fear radiating through him. He willed himself not to panic, trying hard to keep calm, but as the car drove further and further away from the things that had once kept him safe, he couldn't keep the fear from taking over, forcing him into the throes of terror.