Johnny stood frozen in the middle of the living room, eyes wide as the door was flung open and his parents were forced to stand against the wall.

“No! For fuck’s sake, sir…they’ve done nothing wrong,” he protested as he finally found his voice. Two soldiers stood with their rifles aimed at his mom and dad who stood with their arms around each other. Jason Berry stood opposite, expression cold, hard, as he glowered at the younger male.

“I am aware of that, Jonathan. Nothing is going to happen to them. But, you are coming with us.” Jason’s voice was clipped, brooking no refusal.

“No…I can’t go back there,” Johnny couldn’t prevent the whine in his voice. “Please…” His knees buckled and he grabbed onto the back of a chair. “Please…I can’t…” He didn’t care that he looked weak; he felt weak so it wasn’t like he was lying to himself.

Jason growled low, “You either come with us willingly, or you will be shot.”

Mary gasped and whispered, “No…” Frank held her firmly as he knew there was nothing they could do.

Johnny looked over to his parents, anguish written all over his face. He had known that the happiness and contentment he felt couldn’t last. Sure, Matthew had done a good thing in returning him to his family, but at the same time, Johnny had known it was a doomed exercise. It couldn’t last; he knew The Creed would be after him to return him to the Hell that was the Astor.

It had escalated suddenly. He and his family were enjoying a meal together when the sound of several vehicles pulling up in the driveway had caught Johnny’s attention. With a single glance out the window he’d recognised The Creed’s trucks and he’d set his knife and fork down, feeling sick to the stomach. He’d been of two minds: Make a run for it, or stay put. The first option sounded good, but there was no way he could escape. The second was the wiser option, though it wasn’t any better.

And so, here they were.

He swallowed hard looking at Jason. “Alright…alright…” He didn’t say anything else, just stood and turned, placing his hands at the small of his back.

The click of cuffs around his wrists made him shudder as he stood there. The soldier gripped his left bicep firmly and pulled him passed his parents. Frank reached out to him and pulled him into a hard embrace as the soldier stood back to give them space. Jason observed the family in silence as Mary joined her husband in holding their son.

“Keep your chin up, son,” Frank said firmly. Johnny nodded as he squared his shoulders. “That’s my boy.” There was a very slight tremor in the elder male’s voice. “We’ll see you…” He hesitated as he glanced at Jason who just scowled in response. Frank looked back at Johnny. “Just stay strong, ‘kay?”

Johnny nodded again then allowed himself to be led out of the house. He looked back over his shoulder to see his parents framed by the front door, holding each other. His stomach clenched to see them there. He tore his gaze away from them and submitted to the soldier who steered him to the truck and got him to climb in. He didn’t look out as the truck started and rumbled out of his driveway.

* * * * *

Johnny stood staring down at his feet, ignoring the jeers of the other inmates as he was processed. His heart was in his mouth and a dark foreboding settled over him as he knew there would be no Shadows to help pull him out of his funk.

Last he’d heard as his escort lead him to solitary was that The Creed were considering going after Matthew – the guards were muttering about it and Johnny knew there would be many an inmate who would be secretly pleased about that. Matthew had put a lot of them away and some of them were the type to hold grudges. And, considering the nature of what his friend was up to, it was no wonder The Creed were deciding to crack down on him. What bothered Johnny though was how fast it had all happened. He knew Matthew had been extremely careful and hadn’t toldanyone about what they were doing…

“Oi, Johnny boy, you hear what Shadows’ lovely wife told Berry?”

Johnny blinked and glowered at the guard who was processing him. “Don’t you say anything bad about Valary.”

The guard laughed, harshly. “She’s paid by the Mayor, sonny. You think she would risk losing her job by keeping her mouth shut about illegal activities?”

The muscles in Johnny’s neck tightened and he shook his head angrily, clenching his fists. The guard took a step back just as another raised his weapon and aimed it at him. Johnny held up his hands and backed down. He knew he wouldn’t win a fight with a guard, though he really wanted to hit the guy for even suggesting that Val would rat her husband out.

“So,” the guard asked again. “You hear?”

“No,” he replied shortly.

“No? Well, this is good. She told Berry everything.”

Johnny frowned. “No…she wouldn’t do that to Matt.” His gaze hardened as he glared at the guard. “There is no way…”

“Believe what you want, kid. Berry knows everything and Shadows will most likely face the firing squad when he’s caught.” The guard finished checking his details then nodded to the other guard. “Cell 76. Secure him.”

The guard with the gun prodded Johnny in the back, pushing him toward the entrance of the block. “Move it.”

Johnny grunted but assented to being steered to his cell, tuning everything out as he went.

* * * * *

“Fu-uck…what? Frank, slow down…tell me again what went down…” Matthew brought the car to a halt outside the front of their house, cell phone pressed to his ear, brow furrowed in anger.

Val glanced at him sideways, watching the look of sheer and utter violence in his eyes. It made her feel decidedly nervous of him. Their nice weekend had turned sour as on the Sunday, he had gotten a call from the Seward’s that had thrown him out of his relaxed mood. Something about Johnny being taken by The Creed. That had put Matt on edge and now they were home after having hurriedly packed and left late that night.

“Matt?” Val mouthed, questioningly. He held up a finger as he continued to listen to Frank, then he nodded tightly after a moment and clicked his phone off, tossing it onto the dash.

“The Creed has Johnny.” His voice was flat, but there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. Val shivered.

“What’re you thinking?”

Matt’s jaw tightened as he looked out at their house. “I need to go see the General again.”

Valary blinked. “What for?”

He met her curious gaze. “He said something odd about Johnny…and I need to figure out where he really stands in all this.”

“Eskino?”

Matthew nodded and returned his gaze to the front of the house, stroking at his chin absently. Val sighed and reached out to touch his arm. He shivered slightly, glancing at her, a tired smile making its way to his lips. She tilted her head. He smiled a little more then sighed.

“You can come with?”

Val leaned her head on his shoulder, holding his hand. “Sure.”

He squeezed her hand then switched the car off. “Come on, let’s unpack first. Then I’ll call him.”

* * * * *

Eskino sat opposite his brother in the opulent living room of his grand home. The other male frowned in consternation at the news he’d just passed on.

“You didn’t have a hand in any of this, did you?”

The General shook his head as he shifted his cane against his left leg. “You know I didn’t. I would keep that young man out of The Astor if I could.” Elijah narrowed his eyes then grimaced, nodding.

“True. Just like you did for me.” He looked over to where Melissa had walked in with a tray of drinks. His assistant froze when she saw the General.

“General…”

Eskino smiled genially at the young woman. “Ah, I remember you.”

“As do I, remember you,” she replied stiffly.

Elijah murmured, “Be nice, Melissa. He is my brother.”

“I am aware of that, sir. But…you know our history.”

Eskino considered her. “That was more Matthew than me.”

She gave a curt nod and set the tray down before turning to walk out.

Elijah shook his head. “You’ll have to forgive my assistant…she’s still very sensitive about all that.”

Eskino smiled sadly. “I don’t blame her, Eli.” He steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “We gave her a hard time…Matthew…” he trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Elijah made no comment and took a drink, holding the other one out to his brother.

“Thanks. So, what do you plan to do without Johnny?” Eskino opened his bottle and tipped it to his lips as he asked the question.

His brother shook his head slowly. “That’ll be up to Matthew to figure out.”

The General frowned, knowing that his former T-One would not take kindly to the situation at hand. He leaned back as he set his bottle on his knee a thoughtful expression on his face. Elijah lifted his eyebrows at him, but he just gave a smile and looked toward the large windows.

“I want to know something, Pete.” Elijah finally said, breaking the silence that had formed. Eskino nodded without looking his way. “Whose side are you on?”

The General’s face didn’t change but something flickered in his eyes as he shifted on his seat, still without meeting his brother’s gaze.

Then he said, quietly, “Why ask something you already know the answer to?”

Elijah’s jaw tightened but he didn’t respond as he knew that was as close to an answer he was going to get. However, considering who his brother was, that was no surprise.