I DO NOT OWN TDI OR ANY OF THE TDI CHARACTERS! What's up?! Been waiting a while for this one... SORRY! WRITER'S BLOCK! It's hard trying to keep up with, like, four different stories. GOD. YOU PEOPLE ARE ANNOYING.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 6

I gasped, pulling away and stumbling back. "Chaz!!"

He jumped away from me, shocked, swiping an arm across his mouth. "Oh...crap. Courtney, I...I'm sorry."

"Why did you just do that?!" I started dancing around like I had to use the restroom, fanning my face with my hands. "Oh my god, oh my god."

He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Uh..."

I stomped in front of him and smacked him right across the face. Then I gasped, stepping back with my hands over my mouth. Did I...did I just slap him? Huh.

He rubbed his cheek, glowering at me. "Why...why would you hit me?"

I put my hand up to soothe him, but just glowered back and shoved my hands in the pockets of my purple jacket. "Why would you kiss me? You know that I'm in love with Duncan!"

"Oooh." He put his palms out in front of him, shaking his hands, stirring up the air. "Why didn't ya tell me that before?"

I wrinkled my nose and scowled. "Wh–huh? Why should I have to explain my relationships to you?"

Angel put her hands on our shoulders. "Jeez, guys. What's with all the whys?" Chaz and I glared at her, and she shrunk back, flying away like an airborne snail.

"Well, when you hugged me like that at the airport, I thought maybe we'd give it another shot." He touched my arm, and I bitterly jerked away.

"I don't think so. I told you we'd stay friends. What, that isn't good enough?"

"Of course it is."

"Then why are you making moves on me?"

"Guys!" Our heads snapped back to Max, who was trying to break up the scene. He looked back and forth between Chaz and I. "Got it," he announced. Angel flew over to him and set a blueprint on the desk, grinning.

He grinned back, and I wondered briefly if they had a thing.

Chaz sighed angrily, clearly frustrated. "All right. Let's get this party started."

Duncan

"Shut...UUUUUUUP!"

Mike was screaming at me for the hundredth (maybe millionth?) time to shut my friggen' pie hole. I didn't care. I wasn't intimidated by this loser. I just kept smirking happily at the dude. "Why?" I asked.

Mike glanced back at that big guy, Oscar. "To hell with you and your stupid questions! You do what we say, or else!"

"Or else wha..." I trailed off as Oscar approached me, cracking his knuckles and getting ready to strike at me. And I was just chained to the wall, with no way to defend myself. He pulled back his arm, gettin' ready to sock me in the face, when I nearly shrieked, "No, no, no! Stop! Fine! I'll shut up!" Sure, that move sounded kinda gay, but I didn't want my pretty face to be all shattered and gross-lookin'.

Oscar stepped back, and Mike got an inch from me. "Next time, I won't be so nice. I might just bring D in here."

I gulped. "You sick son of a bitch." Aw, I couldn't help it. He was just so easy of a target.

He snapped his fingers, and Oscar was there, punching me in the stomach repeatedly with the force of a semi truck. His fists were like stone. Jeez, did this dude ever stop working out?

"Ah! God, stop it!" I pleaded, tears stinging in my eyes from the pain. Okay, I was sure I sounded gay now.

"Stop!" Brandi screamed next to me, making Oscar stop using me as a punching bag for a moment. "Don't hurt him! Hurt us."

Jeremy's eyes got wide. "Brandi," he muttered urgently, concerned for his well being and consciousness.

Mike's brown brows pulled up, amused. "Oh, really? Would you like that?"

Brandi nodded. What a brave chick. If anybody was getting beat up in front'a me, I'd just glance away and pretend I wasn't there. "Yes."

"No!" Jer horrifyingly looked at Oscar, frowning and shrinking back into the wall.

I sniffed, straightening back out. Blinking a few times, I watched Mike and Oscar nod at each other real quick, then they were off to the door by the mirror.

D ran in right then, grabbing Mike's shirt and jerking him down a few inches so she could talk in his ear. My, Brandi's and Jer's ears perked up, listening hard to hear what she was saying.

Mike put both hands on his head, ruffling up his dark brown hair. I just now noticed he has a red streak on the side. Weird.

Oscar said, "Are you sure?" in a gravely voice that reminded me of Cyborg from Teen Titans, only deeper, to D, and she kicked him in the gut to make him quiet.

"Hell yes I'm sure, you egghead. Now get to it!" She let go of Mike's shirt, him stumbling backwards and starting toward Jeremy. Oscar followed, gripping the chains holding Jer to the wall and ripping them out.

"Hey!" Jer landed on his ass on the cement floor and groaned, Oscar grabbing a fistful of his shirt and lifting him. "What're you doing? Put me down!"

Oscar kneed him in the chin to shut him up, carrying him horizontally through the white door where D stood.

"Guys, help!" he shouted to Brandi and me. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Where were they taking him, anyways? Were they gonna torture him? Set him free? Kill him? But better him than me, right?

"Jeremy!" Brandi shrieked. "What did you do with Jeremy?!"

D smirked and looked amused, a look she had clearly adopted from Mike. "Who knows? Okay, I know. But I ain't tellin'."

Brandi kicked and pulled in her restraints. "You can't do this to us! Let us go, or else!"

"Or else what?" D put her hands behind on her hips, pacing in front of the mirror. "You'll scream? I can put a field around you. Problem solved. At least it would keep you quiet."

I snorted. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

She was taken by surprise at my question. "Well you should know, Duncan. I'm closer than you think."

I cocked my head to the side. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

She waved a hand in my direction, blowing me off. "Just shut up."

"Like hell I will!"

She glanced over her shoulder and smirked at me. "Seems 'hell' is your favorite word. Funny. It's my brother's, too."

Brandi grumbled to my side. "Knock off the mind games! Just let us go! Why do you even need us here?!"

D accidentally bumped into a little white table under the mirror as she paced, a purple iPod Nano clattering to the floor. "Ugh, crap," she muttered, bending down to pick it up.

"You better let us g–" I glanced down and noticed a small crack in the wall by my ankle chains. Huh? I strained to get a better looked, but D was up too fast. I snapped my head back against the wall. I couldn't let her see what I'd discovered. Hey, that crack might be the only chance I've got at escaping this hellhole. Okay, I say hell a lot. Sue me.

D glanced at a silver clock on the wall and sighed. She put her wristwatch up to her mouth and started talking into it. "Hey, uh, Mike," she whispered. "Need you to come back to room 4." She scoffed harshly when he answered. "Because I said to! Who said you can think for yourself? Right. Nobody! Now get your ass over here!"

Tears streaked across Brandi's cheeks. "Please!" she cried. "Just tell us what you did with Jeremy!" What a drama queen.

I looked at where Oscar had ripped Jeremy's chains from the wall. I looked even closer, and noticed that that's where the crack over by me had come from. It had cut across the wall in an oblong way, going around Brandi and stopping by me. Is it just my imagination, or did the world think I deserved one today?

"Hey!" My eyes shot back over to D, who had yelled, staring at me questioningly.

I kept my gaze glued to her. "So, um...nice, uh, powers. What else can you do? My girlfriend's got some power over fire. And, uh, has telekineses."

She looked at me in annoyed disbelief. Then she smiled smugly. The face reminded me of someone... "Well, I've got my forcefields. Then comes my forcethrows, where I basically shoot a strand of invisible power through the air at something, say, your stomach." I glowered when she mentioned her attempt at crippling me. "And to top it all off, I turn invisible."

I frowned and ran my tongue over my teeth. "Huh."

"S'fun having powers." She kept on smiling evilly, but her eyes were soft and sad, and she mumbled, "But it'd be even more fun if my brother knew. Knew what he was in for, too."

I was confused, and about to pumble the enemy with questions when Mike walked in just then, the door clicking and closing behind him. "Whadda ya want? I'm kinda in the middle of something very, very important," he barked impatiently.

D rolled her eyes dramatically. "I gotta pee. Watch the prisoners."

"What?!" He threw up his hands. "Oscar's instigating a very difficult part of the procedure right now! I left him for this? Wait until Zeke hears about the shit you put us through and caused!" He reminded me of Bummer from Stoked, the way he ranted at everybody.

Growling at him, Brandi and I felt a wave of fury in the air when D went transparent, apparently kicking him over and jumping on his back.

"Damn it, D! I hate it when you do that!" Mike was shouting as she yanked back his arm. "Let go!"

"Make me!" we all heard boom through the room, though didn't see anyone say it. Whoa. D's powers are so awesome. Too bad Courtney can't do that.

Courtney.

I have to think of a plan to get me and Brandi outta here. Eh, Jer's as good as dead, so I'll leave him out. Maybe, if I can think of a plan and we can escape, we can snag all the people that Brandi said's trapped somewhere in the building. And what about that Zeke guy? What kinda powers does he have?

D finally turned visible when Mike shout out "D IS THE COOLEST PERSON ON THE PLANET!", with a satisfied look on her face. "That's better," she swooned fakely, jumping up and making her way to the side of the room she she could exit and pee.

A loud shriek in agony rang through our ears, Mike shooting back through the door before she could leave.

D glared furiously after him, rolling her eyes again and shoving her purple headphones in the sides of her head, cranking up her iPod's volume.

"That was Jeremy!" Brandi whispered frantically.

I swallowed and nodded, keeping my eyes on D, who was just pacing around, listening to her music. "Listen," I whispered back, someone flipping a switch and my brain glowing with idea. "I have a plan."

Brandi nodded urgently. "Okay. What is it?"

"Keep quiet." I could barely hear my own voice. Y'know, this is just total bullshit. I don't wanna be here. And what the hell was up with Jeremy's scream? Were they torturing him? Killing him? But the perfect escape plan was being formulated in my head – wow. I hadn't even known I knew that word. "Here's what we do. Mike can see through walls, right?"

"Right."

"Then we take out him first, when D over there leaves the room. If we strike her, he'll just find out as soon as we do it, sending in an army of bigass dudes to kick our asses."

"How're we supposed to do that?" she asked, eying D suspiciously. "We're stuck."

"There's a crack." I wiggled my foot around to show her what I meant, feeling the wall give a little when I moved. "If I can get Mike right in front of me, I'll pull free and knock him out."

Courtney

I exhaled murderously as I walked beside Chaz through the streets of downtown Phoenix. It was so dirty, and there were little shacks everywhere, with rusted, flat-tired cheap cars in the driveways or hanging onto the street from the sidewalk.

Chaz kept glancing over at me and shaking his head. I couldn't help it if he was pissed off! It's not like I lead him on! Did I? No! That's...that's outrageous. He knew that Duncan was my boyfriend. That's what this whole thing's about! He's helping me save my boyfriend! Then he just grabs me and kisses me. What the heck was that about? I mean, it's not like I didn't...enjoy it. Sure, it felt wrong and sour since my lips belonged to Duncan, but it had lots of memories flooding back into my head.

FLASHBACK

"Aw, what'd you get me?" I asked him. Chaz was smiling sweetly as I shook the small package and rattled it in my hands.

"Unh, unh, unh," he chuckled, placing a hand on my arm to stop me. "That's cheating."

It was our eight-month anniversary, and he had given me a little present wrapped in the most pretty magenta paper with a light pink bow crowning it. I was just about to turn sixteen, and he had turned seventeen a few months before.

"So...is this for my birthday, or did you actually remember our little GF BF anniversary?"

He chuckled again, his smile crinkling his eyes. "Both. You don't mind if I combine then, do you? I mean, if you want me to, I'll go–"

I cut him off when I kissed his cheek. "Chill. I don't mind, really." I grinned as I pulled the ribbon off the small box slowly, sliding my nail under the edge of the wrapping paper to carefully tear it off. I gasped when I reached the silver package inside, my eyes wide with wonder. "What did you get me?" I choked "It looks so fracking expensive!"

He snorted and balled up the paper into a little wad, tossing it in the trashcan next to the park bench we were sitting on. "You haven't even seen it yet, Courtney, jeez. Open it."

I bit my lip, flicking the edge of the metal clasp on the front side of the shiny box, the lid popping back and revealing the inside. I gasped again, my hand fluttering up to my chest. "Oh, Chazzie! It's beautiful!" I reached in and snatched the gorgeous gold necklace from the plush pink velvet carefully, it sparkling and shimmering in the sunlight.

"Do you like it?" I could barely hear him. I was speechless. The gold necklace was so intricately designed and engraved. It was my name in cursive, chain hooked to the C and the Y. At the very end of the chain, was a thin strip of flat metal, with C + C sketched in elegantly.

"Oh my god. Chaz, I love it!" I wrapped him in a giant hug, kissing his cheek over and over. I was only fifteen, so I hadn't gotten into the real making-out stuff yet.

He laughed as kissed my lips softly. "And I love you. I always will. Nobody else."

Two weeks later, I grinned as my mom drove me to his house. "Thanks Mom. Won't be long." I jumped out of the still-moving car, sprinting up to Chaz's front door and knocking excitedly, bouncing around.

"Why, hello, Courtney," his mother, Laurie Ebony, greeted me, tugging off a couple of blue oven mitts. "How nice to see–"

"Is Chaz home?" I asked, peering around her rudely. "I have to tell him something real quick." I squeezed the Green Day tickets in my hand. He was going to be sooooo surprised! Green Day is his favorite group!

"He's actually in the backyard," Mrs. Ebony replied. "You can let yourself in through the–"

"Thanks!" I bolted around the side of the house, pushing my white, glittery scarf with stylish, fraying ends over my shoulder to keep from flying off as I ran. I got to the gate and reached beyond the top to grab the latch and push it open. I shoved through, making my way across the trendy boulders they had in their side yard, jumping off one and landing in the grass.

Chaz was sitting in the garden swing about twenty feet away, talking to someone.

His little sister, I thought. He's so sweet and caring. I decided to sneak up on him, and I tiptoed through the wet lawn, not being spotted be either him or his sister. I got to the swing, biting my lip to keep from giggling, and peered around. My face fell, and I dropped the concert tickets. He wasn't talking to his little sister. He wasn't even talking. He was majorly lip-locking with this girl a little older then me, with long platinum hair and a bright blue minidress.

Her green eyes popped open, and she gawked at me in shock. Chaz paused, following her gaze and slowly turning around. He gasped and immediately stood up. "Courtney, this isn't what it looks like."

Tears were welling up in my eyes, so I just shook my head, leaving the tickets in the grass and running as fast as I could back to my mom's car. I didn't care how stupid I looked. I just wanted to get away from Chaz. Chaz and his lies.

END FLASHBACK

I shuddered and mentally shook myself, wrapping my arms around my aching chest. Glancing over at Chaz, I saw him staring in front of him with sad, regretful eyes. I wondered for a moment if he had been thinking about that same afternoon. Without thinking, my mind-hands slapped me, and I abruptly stopped as the group continued on, my cheek burning. "Jesus, Courtney. Get a hold of yourself!" Of course Chaz wouldn't be thinking about that. Sure, we've tried to remain friends, but he'd always do something to make me lose my trust for him. And he'd always end up begging me to forgive him, and I always did. Now, I wasn't too sure if I could forgive him. Not after that kiss.

I wouldn't forgive Chaz after that kiss, WOULD YOU? ~I'M RUNNING A POLE!~ (A stupid one at that. WHAT? I'm bored.) At the end of your reviews, PLEASE vote for if you'd forgive Chaz or not. I'll tally up the scores and put 'em in the next chappie! Just put a CHAZ: NO, or CHAZ: YES at the end. Ya don't have to. Just bored OKAY?! PEACE! One more thing...you guys've seriously not figured out who D is yet? WELL?? IT'S SO OBVIOUS!