Few Notes:

-Thanks again for the reviews. I'm much obliged.

-I have no exact timeline to place this story in. I still haven't watched season 2, as they're still showing season

one here in Kuwait.

-Pairings? Yes, I made my mind about that, especially after watching last week's episode

RED REVENGE

Part 4

The room never looked that small or felt that stuffy to Mary before, but today it did. She took a deep breath and fought for the hundredth time that evening to stop her tears from falling.

"Mary?" Nessa announced her presence as she approached her gently.

"Yeah," brushing the tears that managed to escape down her cheeks, Mary turned to face her friend.

"Feeling any better?"

"Yes, much better thank you."

"You're lying," Nessa stated as she eyed her critically.

"No, really, I'm..." Mary trailed of.

"Listen," Nessa offered, "You haven't eaten a thing since morning, why don't we go grab something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," the thought of food upset her and she made a good effort not to show that on her face.

"Mary,"Nessa rebuked softly, "not eating will not help Danny."

"I know, I'm just not hungry realy!"

Nessa sighed. "Just talk to me then, it's better to let someone know what you feel."

Mary looked at her for a long time, her eyes held sadness, grief and lots of fear. "The thought of what he might be going through is driving me crazy," She finally admitted, "What if he...What if they...?"

"Stop it, Mary," Nessa snapped angrily, "Stop doing this to yourself. And besides, you shouldn't give up on Danny that easily."

"We had a fight," Mary carried on, ignoring what Nessa was saying, "just before he went on that date with Delinda. I...I said lots of nasty things to him; things I didn't really mean, but I thought it was okay because he'll be coming back and then I can say I was sorry...Now I might not get that chance. I was so stupid. I should've apologized before he left...I...".

"Mary, stop doing this to yourself. It's not your fault."

"But, I have to tell him," Suddenly the tears she was trying so hard to hold, fell down washing her face, "I have to tell him that I still love him, Nessa. That I never stopped loving him, Ever."

Nessa said nothing. She hugged her as Mary cried bitterly in her arms.

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"Danny, So we finally meet," Daniel greeted with a smile.

The two thugs dragged Danny in, one of them grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head up,forcing him to look directly at their boss.

"How do you feel, Danny?" Daniel asked in fake concern as he leaned carelessly on his desk, "Let me introduce myself, I'm Daniel Exvandour."

Danny glared at him long and hard, his eyes full of hostility and spite.

Daniel laughed aloud. "Is this what they call a killer look, Danny?"

Danny remained silent.

"Come on, you don't want our first meeting to end like this, do you Danny? Talk to me."

"Is she really dead?" Danny finally asked.

Daniel gave him a blank look, then when his two thugs burst with laughter, he smiled. "I get it you mean Ed's daughter, Delinda. I'm happy to tell you she's still alive, you see Peter and Oxi here like to tease alot."

For a moment, Danny didn't know whether he should feel angry or relieved . He chose the latter. A quiet moment passed and Danny closed his eyes for a lengthy part of it when a dizzy spell threatened to loll him to the ground. He didn't know if the spell was caused by the drugs they gave him, or the lie he'd been told.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" Danny demanded angrily when his head finally stopped spinning.

"What do I want?" Daniel mused, "This question seemed to pop up alot these days. You see Danny, Ed Deline did something unforgivable ten years ago and I'm here to make him pay for what he did."

Danny narrowed his eyes at the man, not at all surprised to hear his confession. "So, it's revenge you're after."

"Exactly," Daniel answered him with a smile.

"Ten years is a long time, don't you think?"

"That fact only made what he did all the more unforgivable."

"I still don't understand why I'm here?"

"Come now Danny, you're smarter than this. Of course you know why you're here!"

"You're going to use me as a bait?"

"Not quite," Daniel smiled again, "You see, if you really want to hurt someone, you hurt the people that one cares about the most. I know that for certain. And since I really want to hurt him, I decided to go after the ones he loves."

"Love! Ed doesn't 'love' me, it's more like he hates me!"

"He does love you Danny," Daniel said evenly, "He loves you like a son, and you know that."

Danny stared at him silently.

"You want to know what I plan to do? I will destroy everyone and everything he holds dear, then when I'm through, I'll kill him."

"What a cowardly way to do it," Danny spat angrily.

"You dare call the boss a coward?" The two thugs, Peter and Oxi instantly shook him viciously, dugging their fingers painfully in his flush, their fists ready and waiting for the order.

Daniel shook his head at his two men, denying them the pleasure. "And why would you say that, Danny?"

"And what would you call someone who beats a helpless woman and kidnap an innocent man beside a coward and a low life."

Daniel frowned angrily. He left his desk and walked to Danny, and the next thing Danny felt was a powerful blow to his face that successfully split his lip and almost sent him off his feet, if not for the strong arms of Peter and Oxi. "You better learn to speak to me with respect, boy."

Danny glared at him hatefully. "Ed won't let you get away with it. He'll come after you."

"That's the point, Danny," Daniel regained his cool and smiled, "Now, I promised Ed to let him talk to you as soon as you woke up, and Danny, I'm a man of my word."

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Ed was on his way to the hospital, when his cell phone started to ring. He stared at it dreadfully for a second before snatching it up.

"Yeah."

"Ed," Daniel's now familiar voice greeted, "How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"You still want to talk to Danny?"

"Yes," Ed said in eagerness he could not hide, "Let me talk to him."

The next thing Ed heard was Danny's voice. "Ed?"

"Danny," Ed felt relief wash over him upon hearing the younger man's voice, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Danny swallowed, "How's Delinda? I'm... Ed, I'm so sorry I couldn't protect her."

"She's okay, Danny. It's not your fault so don't blame yourself," Ed didn't like the guilt he heard in Danny's voice. It was the last thing Danny needed right now. "Listen to me, I'll get you out I promise. All I want you to do is hold it together for a while, and Danny, don't give them any reason to hurt you, do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"Good. Now, can you give me anything I can use?"

But just then the phone was snatched away from Danny and switched off.

"Danny!"

"...".

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"Well that was pretty generous of me, don't you think?" Daniel asked right after the call ended.

Danny said nothing. Daniel walked to him, and grabbed his chin, yanking Danny's head upward, forcing him to look in his eyes. "I really hope you understand, there is no hard feelings, but you must suffer. Unfortunately, your only mistake is that Ed likes you."

Daniel produced a long knife from his pocket then, and moved it towards Danny's face. He smiled when Danny tried to flinch away. The knife slid down and traced a path from Danny's throat to his shirt, then Daniel pulled, tearing the shirt off Danny's chest. The shirt, torn to pieces, fell easily to the floor. Daniel then motioned to his men, who upon seeing his signal, dragged Danny outside Daniel's office down the long stairs and to an empty cold room occupied only by big metal rings that dnagled dangerously from the ceiling. The room was cold, damped and smelled of rust and dust. Danny didn't like it one bit.

"What.." Danny tried to speak, but was instantly poked in the head by a gun, urging him to keep moving and to keep his tongue at rest. They shoved him roughly inside the room then bluntly gainst the dirty wall, with his head facing it.

Danny had decided to take Ed's advice and not do anything stupid that might urge those men to harm him, but when he realised that they were going to chain him and hang him by both arms from the ceiling, he lost it. He struggled viciously against the two armed men and successfully landed a punch to the face of one of them and a solid kick to other's leg, but in the end, they managed to overpower him. The one called Oxi used the end of his gun to deliver a nasty blow to Danny's temple that although did not knock him out, managed to daze him and turn his body to a rag doll, that was easily handled by the two thugs.

When they finally finished, a shirtless Danny was hanging from the ceiling by long hard chains, his bare foots hanged an inch from the floor. Danny's head was just starting to clear off when Daniel walked in.

"You should understand that this is necessary."

"Wha..?" Danny tried to make sense of the words through the thick fog that clouded his vision and mind.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Daniel said in fake regret, "I honestly planned to give you this day as a present, to get acquainted more and all, but you forced me to this. You see kid, I don't like people with attitudes, and you have to be taught a lesson."

Dannny raised his head slowly. "I didn't mean to..".

"It's too late Danny," Daniel cut him off quickly, then address his two men, "Keep it in the middle guys!"

Danny watched wearily as the one called Oxi produced a brass knuckle from his back pocket and wore it, both he and Peter looked thrilled for some unhuman reason. They approached Danny with two big evil smiles. Danny caught his breath, readying himself for the inevitable.

The first blow from Oxi hit him square in the chest and stole his breath away. Danny gasped in pain. The next blow came, then the next.

Daniel sat on a wooden chair in the corner of the room watching with interest, as the blows kept flooding down on Danny's chest and sides, hardly giving him time to breath.

Danny was a trained marine, he had experience, and he prepared himself for the coming pain beforehand, but it wasn't enough. As blow after blow came crushing against his middle, Danny felt his determination and will slip and fade away into the endless shower of pain. After ten consecutive minutes of beating, Danny found himself wishing for unconsciousness or even death to claim him. And surely, but slowly, he started to fade away into blessed darkness.

There was a moment of peace that enveloped Danny as the beginning of oblivion surrounded him, but it was short lived, for just when the world started to fade, Danny was jolted back to reality by sudden splash of freezing water, that left him gasping and coughing excitedly. When the fit passed, Danny was aware of unbearable pain shooting through his middle side, and he shut his eyes momentarily to escape it.

"You disappoint me kid! I thought you were tougher than this!" Daniel sneered.

Danny managed, with great effort, to raise his head through the haze of pain and look at the three men standing before him, smiling at him with contempt. At least the beating was over, Danny thought and closed his eyes tiredly.

"Hey," Daniel grabbed him by the hair and forced him to open his pain-glazed eyes to look at him, "don't worry, I'll send someone to check you over. You see kid, I don't want you dead, my intention Danny, is to break you. And break you, I will. That's a promise."

Danny tried to close his eyes again, only to be forced to open them by a rude shake. "You see, you didn't learn your lesson, Danny. I didn't say it was okay to go to sleep yet," Daniel told him, "And this is just the start. I'm not finished with you Danny, nor am I finished with Ed's daughter Delinda, and I didn't even start with his wife..and you won't believe what comes next." Was the last thing Danny heard, before darkness finally sucked him into its depth.

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Delinda looked worse awake, especially under the lights of the hospital room. Ed couldn't help but wince upon seeing his daughter's face.

"I know I look bad, but you didn't have to act like it," Delinda teased. She looked tired and weak, but she was smiling which comforted Ed a great deal. He hugged her carefully, so not to cause her already sore body further pain.

"How are you feeling now?" Ed wanted to know.

"I'm fine Daddy, don't worry."

"Good."

"And I'm ready to tell you what happened," Delinda added when Ed remained silent.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am," Delinda assured him, "I need to tell you..It might help Danny."

Ed nodded. "Did you get any names?"

"No." Delinda shook her head regrettably.

"Do you remember their faces?"

"Yes I do."

"Can you describe them?"

"I think so."

"Good," and with that Ed left the room and returned after a minute with a man behind him. "This is Arthur, a friend of mine. He's an artist."

Both Delinda and Sam who was listening to the whole conversation, looked at him quizzically.

"He'll try to draw their faces as you describe them."

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An hour later, Ed left Delinda's room with enough information to start his investigation. Detective Wilson from the police department was outside waiting for him.

"Mr. Deline, can I.."

"No, she's not ready to talk yet," Ed cut him off rather rudely.

Wilson frowned. "Mr. Deline, I hope you'll leave this matter solely to the police. Believe me, it's better for all."

"You do your job detective Wilson," Ed eyed him solidly, "and I'll do mine." And with that Ed turned his back and walked away.

TBC

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P.S. I wrote this while my mind was busy planning my coming trip to Europe, so it probably came out a little shallow and distorted. I will re-read it when I come back and most likely rewrite some parts.

-If you're interested in more, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.