Fonziebirds: Dark Mirror

[Race's Girl]

Chapter One

Somewhere In San Fransisco, California

Anthony Belagant a.k.a the Candy Man sat in quiet mediation in his inner sanctum of the old temple that he had long ago converted into his secret headquarters. No deities had been worshiped here in centuries; the only thing that was worshipped here now was power and wealth.

The Candy Man's inner sanctum was a plane circular room with walls made in plane oriental style. Lighting was indirect coming mostly from behind the walls. The only feature in the room was the mediation mat on which the Candy Man sat in the classic mediation pose. The Candy Man allowed no decoration in his inner sanctum he found the plainness of the room enabled him to focus his thoughts more.

A soft chime sounded through the inner sanctum drawing the Candy Man out of his meditation. Opening his eyes, the Candy Man spoke in a cool calm voice.

"Come in." he said. The door to his inner sanctum quietly opened and Sticky came in.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir." Sticky said apologetically.

"It's alright, Sticky," the Candy Man answered he knew that Sticky would not disturb his meditations unless it was important. "What is it?"

"The device is ready." Sticky reported smiling.

"Excellent." the Candy Man replied smiling back.

It had taken a long time for Sticky to finish work on their little device. He had begun work shortly after they had broken out of prison two years ago having been there for a year. But the Candy Man hadn't minded the wait. He had long ago learned the benefits of patience.

"Send word to our agents in Milwaukee. Have them initiate phase one of the plan." the Candy Man instructed at last.

"Yes, sir."

The Candy Man smiled as Sticky left the room. The first phase of his master plan was about to commence. Soon revenge will be mine, he thought, and this time, Howard, you and the Fonziebirds won't escape me.

Then closing his eyes, he returned to his meditation a faint evil smile on his face at the prospect of revenge.

[Race's Girl]

Chapter Two

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Charles Alan Tracy a.k.a Chachi smiled as he stepped out of the Phfister Movie House having just spent an hour and a half watching a movie that he had been wanting to see for ages. He was enjoying a rare day off from school and he'd taken advantage of it and gone to the cinema. His girlfriend Joanie Kyrano's friend, Gina Delvecchio, of course hadn't wanted to come, preferring to go to a seminar being held at City Hall about the future of computer technology. Finals were due to start next week and he was enjoying a day or two off before they started. All his revision was done and no one not his teachers, Gina or his father had had to prompt him to do the revision.

Ever since he'd returned from summer break three months ago, he’d thrown himself into his schoolwork. Some of his dreams to become a Fonziebird like his father and brothers had come true that spring break when he along with Joanie and Gina had faced down the Candy Man. But during that break, he had learned something, something that he hadn't realised before. That there was more to being a part of International Rescue than cool adventures, that it was about dedication and commitment as much as courage and bravery. He'd carried that over into his schoolwork and the results had surprised everyone. Once these finals were done, he would be able to leave school behind and be a Fonziebird full time and go to college and so would Joanie and Gina.

Smiling, Chachi walked away from the cinema heading towards the center of town. He had promised to meet up with Gina before they returned to Jefferson High School.

He had been walking for a short while enjoying the brisk exercise when he felt a tingle at the back of his neck as though he was being followed. Chachi paused and looked around and saw no one. Chachi frowned wondering what was causing him to feel like he was being followed. He had strange feelings like this about various things from time to time in his life. He didn't know what caused it and it didn't always happen but when it did, there was usually a reason.

After a moment, he sighed and resumed walking though the feeling remained there, an insubstantial feeling at the back of his mind. Try as he might, he couldn't ignore it. He stopped again and looked around carefully and again saw no one. You're imagining things, Chach. he told himself as he started walking again.

He had only gotten about five meters when strong arms abruptly grabbed him from behind. Chachi struggled in the grip of whoever was holding him, in the last three months, he'd gained a lot more height, weight and strength. And he tried to employ all of his built up strength to break free of his captor's grip. But the angle was too awkward and whoever was holding him was still a little stronger than him.

A handkerchief smelling of chloroform was thrust over his nose and mouth. Chachi tried not to breathe in but it was too late. A giddy sensation rushed through his head before darkness enveloped him and he slumped unconscious.

Chachi's attacker, a tall well built man in dark clothing, smiled and shifted Chachi's unconscious form into a fireman's carry before casually dumping his chloroform soaked hanky into the nearby trashcan before walking back with Chachi to an alleyway where he had a black van waiting.

Opening a side door, the man threw Chachi's unconscious form into the van then he quickly stripped the young Tracy of the watch/wristcom that he had been warned about. He smashed the wristcom so none of the controls would work then dropped it in a pile of trash.

Then he climbed in and carefully tied Chachi up binding his hands behind his back with zip cuffs before tying his legs together with some nylon robe. Lastly, he carefully gagged Chachi so the teenager wouldn't give him an earful if he happened to wake up before they reached their destination. After a moment, the man looked at his work satisfied that Chachi had no chance of escaping and he looked his captive over. Tall, dark haired and surprisingly muscular for an eighteen year old, how he would like to have some fun with him. After a moment, the man sighed, he didn't have time he had a schedule to meet.

Climbing out, the back the man closed the side door and went forward to the front and climbed in before starting the engine and carefully driving away.

Outside City Hall

A Short Time Later

Gina Delvecchio checked her watch and frowned at Joanie Kyrano. Where was Chachi? The seminar they had been attending had been fascinating but had ended nearly twelve minutes ago and both girls knew the movie Chachi had gone to see would have ended almost thirty minutes before. Chachi should have been here long before now. Yet there was no sign of him.

Gina was frankly puzzled wondering where Chachi was. Chachi would have contacted her or Joanie if he were going to be late for some reason. She walked a few steps away from City Hall and ducked into a nearby alley. Joanie wished there was a way she could get in touch with Chachi.

Joanie looked around carefully making sure that no one was around before raising her wristcom and sending a hailing signal to Chachi's wristcom. There was no response. Mental alarm bells beginning to ring Gina tried this time with the same result. Chachi was not responding to his wristcom.

"Chach, where are you?" Joanie said softly as she manipulated her wristcom's controls to activate the tracking beacon in Chachi's wristcom. All International Rescue wristcom's had built in tracking beacons that enable that particular wristcom and the person wearing it to be tracked down either from one of the Fonziebirds or from someone wearing another wristcom.

Gina and Joanie frowned when the display showed Chachi's wristcom was stationary in one location and that transmission was extremely faint as if the wristcom was damaged. Becoming very concerned, Gina pulled up the exact location of Chachi's wristcom. It was about two miles to the north of him just off the main street. And it was still not moving.

Mental alarm bells now ringing at full volume, Joanie began to fear the worst. That something bad had happened to Chachi.

Leaving the alley, the girls started walking up the main street towards Chachi's apparent location. It did not take them long to get to Chachi's location and maybe then find out what was going on.

Elsewhere

The man pulled the van to a stop on a disused Air Force base just outside town. A small jet was sat on the runway patiently waiting for him and his 'passenger'. Smiling the man climbed out the front doors of the van then opened the side door to see that Chachi was starting to show signs of waking up. The man frowned. That could not be allowed he had been given strict orders that Chachi was not to wake up until after he had reached his final destination.

Climbing into the back, he removed a small syringe filled with a preprepared sleeping agent from a box. Then carefully, he injected it into Chachi's arm with the result that Chachi went immediately back into dreamland.

Then, the man climbed back out of the van and hauled Chachi out of the van and again put him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He carried Chachi over to the jet and gently climbed aboard.

"Excellent, you've got him," a cold voice said from the front compartment. "Put him in one of the seats and buckle him in then return to your hideout. Your payment'll be waiting for you there."

"Yes, sir." the man replied knowing better than to argue. The man did as he was told and carefully buckled Chachi's unconscious form into one of the seats before leaving the plane. The hatch sealed behind him and the boarding ramp retracted as soon as he was down.

The man returned to his van and drove away from the disused Air Force base as the jet taxied along one of the slowly disintegrating runways before taking off and heading away on a course that would take it out of US airspace.

Back In Town

Twenty Minutes Later

Joanie and Gina followed the signal from the homing beacon in Chachi's wristcom periodically checking their own wristcoms to make sure they were still going in the right direction. Until they both came to a stop outside a shop that was currently closed for renovation. The signal was coming from somewhere around here.

Gina turned her full attention on her wristcom and consulted the display. The signal was coming from a location three meters ahead and five meters to the right. Moving quickly, Joanie moved forward three meters and looked to the right and frowned when she and Gina saw that it lead into a dark alleyway. Taking a few deep breaths to contain the rising feeling of fear that they could find Chachi lying unconscious in the alleyway, the two girls walked into the alley.

As soon as Joanie advanced five meters in, she looked around but there was no sign of Chachi. Chach, where are you? Gina thought now very worried about one of her friends. Both of them knew something had happened to Chachi, something very bad.

"Chach." they called thier friend's name but no one answered. The two walked down the alley to where it ended at the side door to the building that was currently being renovated. Nothing there was no sign of Chachi at all.

Taking a couple of deep breaths to keep calm, Gina looked around again then the glint of sunlight off a reflective surface caught her attention. Joanie squatted down and sifted through a pile of trash until she found it and her breath caught in her throat. There in the trash was Chachi's smashed and only barely functioning watch/wristcom.

For a second, Gina stared at the watch/wristcom with the shock and horror her mind not wanting to accept the evidence that she saw before her. But eventually the horrible truth really dawned on her and her friend. Chachi had been kidnapped.

Joanie leaped to her feet, her heart thudding in her chest. She had to alert someone. She had to alert the authorities. She raced out the alleyway and looked around and then flagged down a passing police cruiser.

One of the officers inside rolled down a window and looked concerned at the teenagers who had flagged them down. The officer smiled sweetly at Gina and Joanie.

"Well hello there, ladies," he said softly. "What is it? What's the matter?"

"Please help us," Gina answered in distress. "Our friend's been kidnapped."

A Few Hours Later

Chachi regained consciousness to a throbbing headache and almost total darkness. He was lying on a bed whose mattress was more springs than anything else. Chachi sat up groaning and clutching his head.

Struggling to see in the darkness and through the headache, he looked around to see where he was. He was in a stone room about three meters per side. The walls were all solid cut stone blocks aside from the wall directly opposite him which had the thick wooden door in it. Light came from a single purple tinged light stick in the corner that filled the room with an pale eerie glow that was almost impossible to see by.

Chachi frowned wondering where he was. The last thing he remembered was being grabbed from behind and a hanky smelling of chloroform being shoved over his nose and mouth. He felt his pockets to find that he still had his wallet though checking his right wrist showed his watch/wristcom was gone as well. Great, he thought, Just great. Wonder where I am?

Awkwardly, Chachi swung his legs over the edge of the bed and tried to stand up. Tried being the operative word, his legs felt like they were made of jello and he sat back down again before he could fall flat on his face.

The sound of footsteps in the corridor caught his attention and Chachi looked at the door just as the sound of multiple locks being pulled back. It appeared that his captors whoever they were, were about to show their faces.

The door opened and Chachi blinked in the bright light that suddenly flooded the cell he was in. So much light that he couldn't briefly see the face of his captor. But the voice was familiar and sent a chill down his spine.

"Hello, Charles," the Candy Man said. "Nice to see you again."

[Race's Girl]

Chapter Two

As his vision adjusted to the bright light flooding into the cell, Chachi stared at the Candy Man in surprise and a healthy amount of fear. This was the man who had three months ago invaded his home, had almost killed his brothers when he attacked Fonziebird Five and came close to destroying International Rescue forever. And all out of a desire for revenge. Revenge on his father, Howard Tracy, for leaving him to die seven years ago now.

"I wish I could say it was nice to see you again," Chachi said sarcastically to the Candy Man. "But I would be lying if I said it was good to see you again."

"Charming," the Candy Man replied. "After I so kindly had you brought here." Chachi snorted in derision.

"What do you want, Candy Man," Chachi demanded to know. "Why have you kidnapped me. You know that it won't get you anything."

"On the contrary, Charles," the Candy Man replied. "You're going to help me get my long delayed revenge."

"Never." Chachi replied firmly as he got shakily to his feet.

"Oh but you will help me. Come with me, Charles." the Candy Man ordered but Chachi did not move. The Candy Man sighed.

"Why must you do this that hard way, Charles," the Candy Man asked as a reddish glow came into his eyes and Chachi felt a force enter his mind. "Come with me." the Candy Man commanded again.

Chachi felt the force in his mind trying to force him to comply but he resisted and did not move and a look of surprise momentarily passed across the face of the Candy Man. Concentrating, the Candy Man increased the strength of his telepathic probe into Chachi's mind.

"Come with me."

This time, Chachi found that he could not resist the probe that the Candy Man was just too strong. He felt his body moving in response to the Candy Man's command. The Candy Man laughed evilly and led forced Chachi out of the cell and through stone corridors. Chachi desperately tried to stop the movement of his legs but nothing he did worked. The Candy Man's telepathic control of his body was just far too strong.

The Candy Man was aware that Chachi was fighting his probe and was surprised by how strong the will of the youngest son of Howard Tracy was. It was taking far more effort than it should have taken to control Chachi's mind and get his body to move despite the objections of Chachi's consciousness. Chachi had to have an amazing strong will and the Candy Man could not help but be impressed with Chachi's ability to resist him. During their last meeting three moths ago, he had developed a grudging respect for the young Tracy and Chachi was proving himself worthy of still more respect. Yet, that would not stop the Candy Man from using him. No it would not stop him at all. In fact, it would make things that much more satisfying at the end of the day.

Chachi found that he was forcibly led by the Candy Man's telepathic control over him into a brightly-lit room with white walls and what looked like a bed of some kind.

"Move over to the bed and lay down." the Candy Man commanded, faint beads of sweat appearing on his brow at the amount of effort he was having to expend controlling Chachi.

Chachi found his body doing exactly as the Candy Man commanded. He tried with all his might to resist but he found himself moving over to the bed and lying down.

"Turn on to your back." the Candy Man commanded and Chachi felt his body do just that. Then, he heard movement and felt clamps and straps being placed around his arms, legs, waist, chest, and a strap across the top of his head.

Chachi felt the Candy Man's presence withdraw from his mind right before he felt something jab him in his right arm and a terrible numbness filled his body until he could feel nothing nor could he move. He found he could not consciously blink or move his eyes left to right.

"You've been injected with a drug that has temporarily blocked all voluntary muscle movements," a male voice that Chachi believed to be that of the Candy Man's henchman Sticky said. "It'll also prevent you from losing consciousness. It is necessary that you be conscious for the coming procedure." What procedure, Chachi thought, What are you going to do to me?

"Begin the procedure, Sticky." the Candy Man's voice commanded and Chachi clearly heard a hint of tiredness and pain in the Candy Man's voice. Guess him using his power on me like that has weakened him. Chachi thought to himself.

"Yes, sir." Sticky replied.

Chachi heard a sound as if something was being moved over to him. Then there was silence for a moment. Then he heard the sound of something moving towards him again. Then stop and he heard a whirring as if something was being positioned. Then he heard the movement again.

He felt something first touch the nape of his neck and then blinding pain blasted through his brain as what felt line a red hot needle dug into this body up into his skull and into his brain. Had he been able to make any noise, Chachi would have screamed at the top of his lungs. The pain was unbelievable overwhelming even his natural high tolerance for physical discomfort.

The movement stopped but the pain went on and on and Chachi silently prayed and pleaded for it to stop. Involuntarily, tears started seeping from the corners of his eyes. He prayed for the welcome blackness of unconsciousness to claim him but it wouldn't come. All he knew was the pain as it went on and on and on. Every second seeming to become an hour.

And that was all he knew for what seemed like an eternity. Chachi lost all awareness of the world around him all he knew was pain.

And nothing else but pain.

Tracy Island

That Same Time

Howard Tracy sat quiet behind his desk reading a report from Tracy Aerospace, one of the four large companies that together made up Tracy Industries. Though each one was fully functional and could operate on it's own. Even one of the four companies Tracy Aerospace, Tracy Transportation Systems, Tracy Telecommunications and Tracy Pharmaceuticals would have made him a billionaire many times over. Combined, they made Tracy Industries one of the biggest companies that had ever existed anywhere in the world and made him one of the richest men in the world.

The phone on his desk rung and Howard picked it up.

"Tracy residence, Howard Tracy speaking." he said.

"Hello, Mr Tracy." a familiar voice said but it was a voice that Howard had not heard in a good long while. It was the principal of Jefferson High School, John Peterson.

"Hello, Principal Peterson," Howard said in greeting. "Has Charles done something wrong?"

"No, Mr Tracy but I want to talk to you about Charles." And Howard suddenly experienced a terrible feeling of dread deep in his stomach. Something was very, very wrong. Something bad had happened to Chachi.

"What happened?"

"Mr Tracy, I'm afraid I have some rather bad news."

Poolside

Tracy Island

Warren 'Potsie' Tracy smiled as he sat in a sun lounger watching his younger brothers, with the exception of his older brother Arthur a.k.a 'Fonzie' who was up on Fonziebird Five, playing around in the diving pool. Things had been very quiet on the rescue front for the last few weeks and they were all enjoying the respite.

The sound of footsteps approaching caught his attention and Potsie looked at the house in time to see his father come out onto the sundeck and Potsie immediately knew that something was terribly, terribly wrong. Howard had gone pale and there was a vaguely stunned and disbelieving look on his face but there was also a look of worry on his face and a hint of fear.

"Dad, what is it," Potsie asked. "What's wrong?"

Howard didn't answer his second eldest son immediately but instead looked at the diving pool where hearing Potsie speak, Ralph and Richard a.k.a 'Richie' had stopped playing around and were treading water looking at their father and both looking concerned as they could see the look on his face just as well as Potsie could.

"Ralph, Richard, can you get out of the pool please?" Howard said. Ralph and Richie exchanged a worried look but did as they were told.

"What is it, Dad?" Ralph asked worriedly.

"Boys, I'm afraid I've got some very bad news." Howard said swallowing on a lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat.

"Has something happened to Chachi?" Richie asked fearfully.

"I'm afraid so," Howard replied. "I just got off the phone with the principal of Jefferson High. Boys, I'm afraid that Chachi appears to have been kidnapped."

For a moment, there was silence beside the swimming pool as all three boys stared in shock and disbelief. It was so silent that you could have heard a pin drop. Finally, Richie found his voice.

"Kidnapped," Richie repeated his voice shaking his face gone suddenly pale. Of all his sons, Richie was the closest to Chachi. "How? By who?"

"That I don't know. All I know is that Gina and Joanie were the first to raise the alarm and that whoever it is that's taken Chachi removed his watch and smashed it."

Again, the boys were silent, they could understand that Chachi's watch would be removed and destroyed by a kidnapper and found that very worrying. As it implied that whoever had done the deed and taken their brother knew that they were the Fonziebirds and knew about the watch/wristcoms that they all had and how they could use them to track each other down.

"What are we going to do?" Ralph asked at last.

"For now we cannot do anything," Howard replied. "I'll be heading to the mainland shortly to speak with the police who are beginning a search for Chachi see if they can find who took him. You boys'll have to remain here."

"But..." Richie started to object.

"No buts, Richard. You're staying here." Richie sighed and nodded in submission. "Potsie, would you go to the hanger and prepare the jet for me?"

"Sure thing, Dad." Potsie replied wishing he could go to the mainland with Howard but he knew that he could not. He, along with Ralph and Richie, would have to remain here on Tracy Island. Whatever happened International Rescue had to remain operational.

"Thank you, Potsie," Howard replied. "Richard, I want you to take Fonziebird Three up to Fonziebird Five and bring Fonzie back here to the island."

"Sure, Dad." Richie replied.

Listening to his father, Potsie was quietly very worried about Chachi and this whole situation. Whoever had kidnapped his baby brother had shown by the actions that he had taken when Chachi had been kidnapped that he knew he was challenging more than just the Tracy family in taking Chachi. He knew that he was challenging International Rescue as well.

"Now I need to go let Fonzie know what's going on." Howard said before heading back inside the house.

The Candy Man's Base

Somewhere In California

Chachi was barely conscious only the drug that Sticky had injected into his system preventing him from seeking refuge in unconsciousness. The pain blasting through his head seemed to set fire to his very thoughts and he prayed that it would stop. He had no idea how long this pain had been going on, but it seemed to be forever. And there was the fear about whatever the Candy Man was doing to him. Was the Candy Man hoping to somehow turn him against his family? Chachi knew he would never do that, no matter what the Candy Man did to him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Chachi heard that whirring noise again despite the haze of unbearable pain tearing through his brain making thinking about anything virtually impossible. After a few more moments, he felt something being pressed against the side of his neck and he heard a hiss. And darkness rushed up to greet him and Chachi gratefully surrendered to the bliss of unconsciousness.

Sticky smiled as she completed the procedure on Chachi and withdrew the extremely slim needle-like object that had thrust its way up into the core of Chachi's brain to implant the product of their little device into him.

Reaching over to side table, he picked up a pressure injector filled with a different drug combined with a counter agent for the drug he had injected Chachi with earlier so he would remain conscious though unable to move and in intense pain from the procedure. Pressing the injector against the side of his neck, he released the chemical into his blood stream and Chachi immediately fell unconscious.

Sticky then picked up another device and pressed it against the nape of Chachi's neck sealing the small puncture wound where the needle had entered his body. There could be no trace of what they had done to him if the plan was to work properly. And the drug she had just injected Chachi with would wipe out all memory for the last four hours. When he woke up again, Chachi would have no memory of having been here or of the procedure.

"Procedure complete, sir." he reported to the Candy Man.

"Excellent, Sticky. Are you sure he won't remember what's happened here?" the Candy Man asked.

"Positive, sir." Sticky replied smiling.

"Very well. Have him returned to Wisconsin and have our operatives their move up to phase two." the Candy Man instructed.

"Yes, sir."

[Race's Girl]

Chapter Three

Tracy One

Tracy Family Private Jet

It was a very worried Howard Tracy who came down the steps that had deployed from the side of the Tracy family jet. During the flight here from Tracy Island he hadn't been able to stop thinking and worrying about Chachi and the fact that whoever had kidnapped him seemed to know of his connection to International Rescue.

Howard wondered who it was who had kidnapped his youngest son. He had known for a long time that his sons were targets for would be kidnappers. There were any number of criminals who would have grabbed the boys given half the chance just for the chance to try and exact and exorbitant ransom from the Tracy family fortune.

And then there were the enemies that Howard had made over the years building his corporate empire – some of them quite powerful. Some of the more ruthless ones wouldn't hesitate to grab one of the boys to get to him. But as far as Howard knew none of them knew that he and the boys were the Fonziebirds – they would have used it as a blackmail weapon long ago if they had known – so they wouldn't have known to destroy Chachi’s watch.

The removal and attempted destruction of Chachi’s wristcom seriously narrowed down the list of suspects in Howard's mind. In fact, he could think of only one person who could have been behind the kidnapping of Chachi and would have known to destroy Chachi's watch.

And that individual was Anthony Belagant a.k.a the Candy Man.

Howard shuddered at the thought that his families arch enemy the man who'd already tried to destroy them and International Rescue once could be the one behind the kidnapping of Chachi. The stuff the Candy Man could do to Chachi – or make Chachi do with his mind control abilities – did not bare thinking about.

A car pulling up brought Howard out of his increasingly dark thoughts – for which Howard was actually grateful. The driver and passenger doors of the car opened and two people got out. One was in a police uniform the other wore normal clothing though Howard knew he was almost certainly law enforcement as well either with the police or with the FBI.

The two men came forward to meet up with Howard.

"Mr Tracy," the man in the suit said holding out his hand. "I'm Detective James O' Hara, I'm in charge of the investigation into your son's disappearance."

"Nice to meet you," Howard replied shaking the detective's hand. "Have you found anything?" he asked as they walked over to the car.

"We found a chloroform soaked hanky in a bin next to the alley where your son was apparently abducted," Detective O' Hara said as he went around to the far side passenger door allowing Howard to open the one on the driver side. "We believe it was most likely used to render Charles unconscious."

"That would fit with Charles," Howard replied. "He wouldn't go with someone who could potentially do him any harm willingly."

"I see. Other than that we have found nothing yet though we did find traces of DNA on his mobile that doesn't belong to Charles or those girls, Joan Kyrano and Virginia Delvecchio. We're hoping there is enough for the lab boys to identify as it's possibly Charles's kidnappers. But rest assured, we're doing all we can to find Charles and get him back."

"I hope so, Detective." Howard replied as he got in the car.

"It would help if we knew who would want to kidnap your son," Detective O' Hara answered as he to got in the car and sat down next to Howard. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not really." Howard replied wishing he could tell the detective the truth but he didn't dare. The fewer people who knew about the Tracy families connection to International Rescue the better. Though if push came to shove he would tell the detective alone about who they were.

The police officer climbed in the front and started the engine.

"We'll be taking you straight to your hotel," Detective O' Hara said. "I can arrange for you to speak with Gina Delvecchio and Joan Kyrano if you wish."

"I'd like that." Howard replied.

"I'll arrange it."

With that, the car drove off heading out of the airport.

Disused US Air Force base

At the same time that Howard was speaking with Detective O' Hara, the same man who had initially abducted Chachi stood waiting patiently outside his van on the disused airbase where he dropped off the dark haired teenager. He now waited for the arrival of the jet that was bringing the teenager back.

Initially, he had thought he was going to be ordered to dispose of the teenager's body but instead he had been told that the teen was alive and was to remain that way. The Candy Man's instructions had been very specific and the man knew better than to deviate from his orders. The punishments the Candy Man dished out for failure or disobedience were severe and could leave you pleading for death, just like the rewards he gave for success and obedience were generous indeed.

The sound of approaching aircraft engines caught his attention and he looked down the slowly disintegrating runway towards the east to see the jet had been expecting dropping out of the darkening sky on final approach. The man smiled grimly and waited for the plane to land.

A few minutes the plane a sleek, fast jet was down on the ground and had taxied to a stop in front of the man's van. The man moved up to the side of the jet as the hatch opened and the ramp was lowered to the ground.

A moment later the powerful and intimidating form of Eugene, one of the Candy Man's senior lieutenants and enforcers came down the ramp carrying Chachi's still unconscious form in his arms.

The man followed as Eugene carried Chachi to the side of his van. The man opened the side door and gently laid Chachi inside.

"He's all yours," Eugene said. "You know your orders."

"Yes, sir," the man replied grinning evilly. "I'll 'process' him." And have some fun in the process, the man thought to himself.

"That's right," Eugene replied. "But watch yourself, Leo, we don't want any permanent damage."

"I know, sir, there won't be any permanent damage done." Leo replied.

"Good, make sure there ain't. Because if there is, it'll be the boss you'll answer to."

Leo gulped and internally shuddered in fear at the thought of facing an angry Candy Man. He had seen what the Candy Man could do to people and was not at all keen to experience the Candy Man's wrath himself.

"Okay." Leo replied.

"Good." Eugene said. Then Eugene turned away and walked back up to and aboard the jet.

Leo Dennings for his part made sure that Chachi was securely bound and gagged before closing the side door of his van. Then he went to the driver's door and got into the van himself.

He buckled up before starting the engine and shifting the gears into reverse and began carefully backing away from the jet. As soon as he was clear, he returned the gears to normal driving mode and turned away from the jet and drove away towards the gates of the long abandoned airforce base.

Aboard The Candy Man's Jet

Eugene sat down in front of the radio as the pilot began taxing along the runway to take off. Taking a breath to compose himself, Eugene called base and spoke directly to his master.

"Sir, phase two's been implemented." he reported.

"Excellent, Eugene." the Candy Man answered sounding very pleased. Eugene smiled glad that his boss was pleased.

If all went well, their plan for revenge was about to enter it's first active phase.

[Race's Girl]

Chapter Four

The first thing Chachi noticed when he regained consciousness was that it was cold, the second that something was over his eyes making it impossible for him to see anything. But what he noticed most of all was the pain.

His head was pounding with what felt like lightning arcs of blasting through his brain seeming to set fire to his very thoughts. The pulsing throbbing coming from the back of his neck only made the pain tearing its way through his skull worse.

Chachi groaned in pain and tried to his hands to cradle his throbbing head. Tried being the operative word as he found that his hands were bound at his sides and that he couldn’t move them or his arms at all as they were bound with what felt like a jacket.

"Ah, good, you're awake." a cold voice said. Chachi felt the blindfold over his eyes be taken off. And abruptly the darkness, which had filled his vision, was replaced by harsh artificial light.

Chachi groaned in pain as the light sent red-hot needles of pain shooting down his optic nerves into his already pain-fogged brain. Chachi closed his eyes against the additional surge of agony.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" the cold male voice said sounding completely unconcerned about the pain Chachi was in.

Chachi opened his eyes and determinedly ignoring the pain that was tearing at him turned his head in the direction the voice was coming from and for the first time Chachi saw the face of the man who had abducted him.

The man was tall at least six foot five and he was very big. His shoulders were broad and his body rippled with huge lean muscles. The form hugging black clothing the man was wearing highlighted his physique even more strongly. He had a handsome face though it could have been carved from granite given the lack of expression it showed and the man's piercing blue eyes were cruel and uncaring.

Looking at him, Chachi found that the man gave him the creeps. There was something about him an air of menace and strength that was very unsettling and the vaguely lustful look in the man's eyes as he gazed back at him made Chachi's blood run cold.

"Who are you?" Chachi demanded of the man putting on a brave defiant front determined not to let his captor see that he was afraid or intimidated in any way.

"Who I am isn't important," the man replied. "What's important is you've got information that's gonna be really profitable for me."

"What are you talking about?" Chachi asked though he had a fairly good idea what information this creep was after. He wanted the secrets of International Rescue and somehow this creep had probably found out that he was a Fonziebird.

"Don't play games with me," the man answered. "I know what you are, Charles Alan Tracy. I know you're a Fonziebird." Chachi laughed.

"Me, a Fonziebird," he said incredulous. "I think you've got me mixed up with someone else." The man rolled his eyes.

"Must we do this the hard way?" the man asked and Chachi was sure that he saw a look of glee in the man's piercing but cold blue eyes as he spoke.

The man moved off out of Chachi's field of vision and for a few moments, Chachi heard him moving about behind him. And then the man reappeared holding a silver metal rod. Chachi's brown eyes widened as he recognised an electric cattle prod.

"Now tell me all you know about your fellow Fonziebirds and your technology." the man said moving in close.

"I already told you I'm not a Fonziebird," Chachi replied. "I don't know anything about them than anyone else."

"Wrong answer." the man replied and pressed the tip of the cattle prod against Chachi and pressed the trigger. And an extremely painful blast of electricity convulsed Chachi's muscles and despite his high natural tolerance to pain, Chachi cried out in pain. After about two seconds, the pain stopped as the man withdrew the cattle prod.

"Tell me about the Fonziebirds. Where is your base?" the man questioned again.

"I don't know." Chachi croaked back as he struggled to get his breath back.

No matter what this man did to him, he could not and would not betray International Rescue. The consequences that could result from Fonziebird technology falling into the wrong hands were really too terrible to consider. Chachi knew that he could not let that happen even if preventing it cost him his life.

"Why must you be so stubborn?" the man asked then pressed the cattle prod against Chachi again and again pulled the trigger.

Chachi convulsed violently and cried out in agony, feeling as if his whole body was burning with the terrible pain brought by the electric shock. On top of the pain in his head the pain from the shock was too much for his battered body to take. Darkness raced up to embrace him and Chachi gratefully gave himself up to the welcome bliss of unconsciousness.

Leo withdrew the cattle prod and frowned when he saw Chachi slump unconscious in the chair. He was doing what he was ordered to do, asking the questions he had been told to ask, giving the impression he had been told to give. But now he worried that he might have been a little too enthusiastic in carrying out the Candy Man's orders. Had he inadvertently caused Alan serious physical injury something that the Candy Man had flatly forbade him to do for some reason.

Cautiously, Leo approached Chachi and carefully felt for a pulse at the dark haired teen's neck. To his absolute relief he found one there. Chachi had merely passed out from the pain of the electric shocks on top of his headache. He wasn't in danger of facing the wrath of the Candy Man.

Leo pulled back and studied Chachi's unconscious form for a few moments trying to come up with another way of carrying out his orders. Then Leo grinned as the answer occurred to him and he wondered why he had not thought about it before. It would be forfililng the Candy Man's orders to cause Chachi suffering without inflicting permanent injuries and would be very pleasurable for him in the process.

He looked at Chachi and gave a cruel smirk even though Chachi was unconscious and thus could not see it. This was going to be so much fun.

Howard Tracy's Hotel Room

Howard looked up when he heard someone knock on the door to his hotel room. Sergeant Royce, the police liaison officer assigned to Howard, got up to answer. Royce opened the door and went outside for a few moments then came back in.

"Mr Tracy, there's someone here to see you." Royce said, her voice cool and professional.

"Who is it?" Howard asked curious as to who it could be. He had already spoken to Gina and Joanie lready though the girls hadn't been able to shed anymore light on Chachi's disappearance which hadn't put Chachi's mind at ease one bit.

Though talking had given Joanie and Gina a chance to show their own feelings about Chachi's kidnapping. The teenage girls had broken down and cried on Howard's shoulders terrified that they might never see him alive again.

It was a feeling Howard understood as the longer Chachi remained missing, with out any word from whoever had kidnapped him the more likely it was that Chachi hadn’t been kidnapped by someone who was after money. And it was getting increasingly likely that Howard could find himself in the situation that every parent feared the most. The death of a child.

"A Laura Elizabeth Creighton-Ward, sir." Royce replied. Howard's eyes widened in surprise for a moment at that. But then he realised that it was no surprise that Lori Beth was here. Lori Beth would have come running to his side the moment she heard about Chachi's abduction.

"Let her in," Howard said. "Then can you leave us alone for a bit?"

"Of course." Royce replied with a smile.

With that, Royce went back out into the hallway. A moment later, the door opened again and Lori Beth Creighton-Ward – heiress to the Creighton-Ward coffee house, close family friend and number one agent for International Rescue – came in dressed in a sleek travel suit which, like Lori Beth's entire wardrobe, was bright pink in colour.

"Hello, Lori Beth." Howard said.

"Hey, Mr Tracy," Lori Beth replied closing the door behind her she had left Tom outside in the hallway with orders not to let them be disturbed unless it was important. "I came as soon as I heard," Lori Beth continued. "Has there been any news?"

"No." Howard replied turning away and going over to the window and looking out at the darkness of night that had fallen a few hours ago. The knowledge that Chachi was out there somewhere alone and in the hands of someone who was probably working for the Candy Man – if Chachi wasn't in the hands of the Candy Man himself – chilled Howard right to the bone. And despite the fact that he was tired, Howard knew he would not sleep until Chachi was found and returned one way or the other.

Lori Beth guessing Howard's thoughts came up and put a comforting arm across his shoulders. Though he was hiding it, Lori Beth knew that Howard was terrified that he might never see his son again. She had known Howard long enough to be able to see through the calm always in control mask that Tracys had this habit of wearing. She could see that Howard was terrified that whoever had kidnapped Chachi would kill him before they could find and rescue him. And she knew that if the worst did come to pass and they found Chachi dead that Howard would probably not withstand the loss.

Lori Beth wished that there was something she could do, something she could say to ease Howard's fears. But she knew that there was nothing that she could say. All she could do was to be here to offer silent comfort and support. She smiled when she felt Howard begin to respond, some of the tension left Howard’s shoulders and he began leaning slightly against her accepting the offered comfort.

The moment was broken when a knock came at the door. Lori Beth lowered her arm and she and Howard turned to look at the door.

"Come in." Howard called. The door opened and Detective O' Hara followed by Sergeant Royce and Tom came in. And Howard could tell immediately that there had been a development.

"Mr Tracy," Detective Howard said. "There's been a promising new development in your son's disappearance. The report from the lab boys has come back. We've been able to identify the DNA on the mobile that wasn't Charles's, Joan's or Gina's and the DNA on the chloroform cloth that didn't belong to Charles, Mr Tracy, we know who has your son."

[Race's Girl]

Dark Mirror

Chapter Five

Howard Tracy's Hotel Room

Howard stared at Detective Howard in surprise and delight that they had been able to find out who it was that had abducted his youngest son so quickly. Though it seemed longer, Chachi had only been missing for twelve hours.

"Who is it?" Howard asked bracing himself for the worst.

"The man's name is Leo Alexander Charles Dennings," Detective O' Hara said. "A former marine who has a criminal record as long as your arm. He used to run a local gym and was once an upstanding member of the community until his real nature was discovered."

"Which is?" Howard asked.

Detective O'Hara looked uncertain he didn't know if he should tell Howard this now but after a moment decided that maybe he should to give Howard forewarning of what might have happened.

"Dennings is something of a predator," O' Hara said at last. "When's he's abducted people in the past, he has been known to assault them in a sexual fashion."

Lori Beth gasped when she heard that and realised that if he was still alive then Chachi could be being horribly abused by Dennings, a glance at Howard's suddenly pale face showed that he knew it too.

"Do you know where he is?" Howard asked and although his voice was calm, Lori Beth and Tom knew him well enough to see that he was struggling not to break down.

"We're not sure," O' Hara replied. "Dennings hasn't been seen at his apartment for several days, we've already checked. We've put out an APB and a request for information. If Dennings moves, we'll find him."

"In time?" Howard asked.

"We'll do our best, Mr Tracy!" Detective O' Hara replied.

"I suppose that's all I can ask," Howard replied with a sigh. "Is there anything else?"

"I'm afraid not," O' Hara replied. "Try not to worry too much, Mr Tracy, we'll find Charles." Try not to worry, Howard thought. Chachi's been kidnapped by a monster. What am I supposed to do?

"I'll try, Detective." he said aloud.

"We'll keep you advised," O' Hara answered. He looked at Howard sympathetically he could see how desperately worried about Chachi he was. He couldn't blame him he would be the same if one of his own kids was in Chachi's position.

"Thank you, Detective."

O' Hara gave Howard a final reassuring smile then he turned and left. Royce followed him out knowing that Howard would probably want to be alone with the brunette who had obviously come running over here from Milwaukee to be at his side the moment she had learned about Chachi's kidnapping. Royce wondered what it would be like to have a friend who was as caring as Lori Beth obviously was. She imagined it would be quite wonderful.

Tom remained behind after the detective and the sergeant left the room. Until that was Lori Beth mentioned for him to wait outside as before. Tom nodded indicating that he understood the silent command from his mistress then he turned and also left the room closing the door behind him before taking up station in front of it.

As soon as the door closed behind Tom, Howard's shoulders slumped and he noticeably started trembling as the reality of what Detective Howard had said and the realisation of what Chachi could be going through started to really set in.

Seeing that Lori Beth gently took Howard's arm and led him over to the bed and gently made him sit down on the end. Then she sat down beside him and waited for the inevitable.

Howard struggled to keep his compose as visions of Chachi being abused by Leo Dennings filled his mind. The thought that his son was being horribly and cruelly violated by a monster was too horrible and painful for him to bear. Why is this happening, Howard thought. Why Chachi? Why anyone?

A sob broke through his disintegrating composure. A second sob followed and in seconds, Howard was crying full force his composure swept away by the tidal wave of emotion triggered by Detective Jefferson's words.

It was what Lori Beth had been waiting for. Gently, she brought Howard in close to her and felt his head rest on her shoulder as he latched onto the offered comfort his whole body shaking with anguished sobs.

"It's okay," she said softly. "Let it out, Mr Tracy, let it out."

And Howard did just that.

Tracy Island

A Short Time Later

Potsie wandered nearly aimlessly down the corridors and hallways of the Tracy villa. The villa was mostly dark and quiet with everyone but him having retired to bed and to uneasy sleep.

Potsie knew that he should be in bed as well but despite being exhausted he couldn't sleep and he knew why. It was because Chachi had been kidnapped by a man they now knew to be a sexual predator.

Lori Beth had called them a short while ago and filled them in about Leo Dennings and Potsie almost wished that she hadn’t as it had only made his and his brothers worries and fears for Chachi’s safety worse. And it had especially affected him.

Being the second oldest, Potsie was very protective of all his siblings but especially Chachi since he was the youngest. The fact that Chachi had been kidnapped at all worried him deeply and it made him angry. Angry with himself that he hadn’t been there to stop the kidnapping hadn’t been there to protect his little brother from harm. Along with that anger came a bitter sense that he had failed Chachi. And now Chachi was paying a terrible price, suffering horribly, for his failure.

Potsie eventually sighed and headed back towards the wing of the house that held his, his father's and his brother’s bedrooms. Despite his emotional torment, Potsie knew he had to sleep. He soon reached the bedrooms only to freeze when he heard something coming from the direction of Chachi’s room. Listening carefully, Potsie was sure he could hear the sound of someone sobbing.

Cautiously, Potsie went into Chachi’s room and saw a single figure cuddled up on the bed sobbing quietly and murmuring and even though there was only pale moonlight coming in, Potsie knew who it was.

"Rich." he said softly. The figure on the bed immediately straightened and awkwardly stood up and seemingly embarrassed turned around and in the moonlight, Potsie saw the silver tracks of tears running down Richie’s cheeks.

"Potsie, what are you doing up?" Richie asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Potsie replied coming in and closing the door. "Can’t sleep?" Richie shook his head.

"No," Richie replied. "I try but everytime I fall asleep, I dream. Dream about Chachi. He’s being hurt, violated by that…that monster, terribly violated. I want to go help him, to get him away from the guy hurting him. But I don’t know where he is to do it." As he spoke, Richie started sobbing again.

Potsie moved forwards and sat down on the edge of the bed before gently pulling Richie down beside him and then into a hug.

"I know, Rich," Potsie replied not commenting on Richie’s dreams. "I want to go help Chachi as well."

"Will we ever see him again, Potsie?" Richie asked fearfully now crying full force into his older brother’s shoulder. Potsie knew what Richie meant by that. It was a fear he and everyone else here shared that Chachi could eventually end up being killed by Dennings.

"I don’t know, Rich," he replied honestly feeling his own tears come. "I don’t know." he repeated.

[Race's Girl]

Chapter Six

Dennings Hideout

Chachi curled up sobbing on the battered moth eater bed that he had woken up, as his captor left the room. He felt dirty, worthless and violated as he curled up into a ball pulling his knees in close to his chest and wrapping his aching bruised arms around them all the while crying like he hadn’t since he was a little kid.

When he had come around after loosing consciousness as a result of the repeated electric shocks his captor had subject him to, he had found himself stretched out on this bed, no longer bound. But he had found that his clothes had been taken off, and neatly piled up on a nearby table. But before he could retrieve them, his captor had come in, also wearing nothing in the way of clothing. It was then that Chachi knew that he was in deeper trouble than he had previously believed.

What had transpired in the following two hours was an experience that Chachi could only describe as pure hell. His captor had viscously launched a dangerous assault on him, when he had fought back to stop the horrific violation of his person, his captor had hit him hard and repeatedly, punching him and hitting him until he was too numb from the pain fight back anymore. However his captor hadn’t escaped unharmed. Chachi had gotten in a few good blows himself. The attack that had followed had been just that little bit more viscous.

Now his captor had apparently satisfied himself and left the room, leaving Chachi behind, a shaking, sobbing, humiliated wreck. I’m sorry, Dad, Chachi thought as he hugged himself and sobbed, imagining what his father would say if he could see him now and his inability to stop his captor. I tried to stop him but he was too strong for me.

Chachi tried to pull himself together to stop crying like a little baby. It was stupid, pathetic and weak and like all Tracys, he hated showing weakness. But try as he might, he could not stop. He was hurting too much both physically and mentally. If anything, the attempt to pull himself together just made him cry more strongly.

Continuing to hug himself, Chachi cried himself to sleep.

A Short Time Later

Dennings opened the door to the room he was keeping Chachi in and went inside. He had just finished getting dressed after having a shower to ease the pain from the bruises Chachi had inflicted on him during his attempt to stop his fun.

The teenager’s strength had during his fun had surprised Dennings. Few teenagers Chachi’s age were that strong; it was rare to find it even in teens that went to the gym regularly as Chachi obviously did. You only got the kind of powerful but lean muscles Chachi had one way and that was by lifting weights on a regular basis.

Dennings went over to where Chachi was lying curled up on the bed, obviously asleep. He contemplated roughly waking Chachi up denying him the peace of sleep – it would further torture the young Tracy. But in the end, he decided against it.

Now that he had inflicted a considerable emotional trauma on Chachi, Dennings knew that he had to check on something involving the young man and it would be easier to do that while Chachi was asleep and unable to offer any resistance.

And while Dennings would enjoy beating down Chachi’s resistance again, it could accidentally clue the sharp and intelligent young man that there was much more going on here than a kidnapping for information. And Dennings was under strict orders from the Candy Man himself not to allow Chachi to get any hint that there was more going on than met the eye.

For a few more moments, Dennings just stood there. Looking down on Chachi’s sleeping form. Then he sighed softly and turned away and walked back to the door.

Leaving the room, Dennings moved through the corridors of the derelict building that served as his hideout. Entering another one of the rooms which he used as a storeroom, Dennings went over to a set of shelves and began looking through the items stored on the shelves. Finding what he was looking for, Dennings took a small black case off the shelf and carrying it in one hand, turned around and left the room. He moved back through his hideout to Chachi’s room and went back inside.

Chachi was still out cold when he re-entered the room and Dennings smiled as he walked back to Chachi’s beside, had the young man woken up while he was away then things would have been very awkward.

Dennings put the case down on the table beside the bed and opened it. Inside were two small round sensor pads and a small electronic pad.

Dennings turned back to Chachi and gently turned the young Tracy over onto his back. He was careful to ensure that he didn’t make the move rough enough to wake Chachi. Taking the sensor pads from the case Dennings gently placed one on each of Chachi’s temples. Then he picked up the small pad and turned it on.

The pad lit up and Dennings operated the controls in the first command sequence that Sticky had had him memorise. For a moment nothing happened then the display lit up with readings from the sensor pads on Chachi’s temples. Dennings smiled evilly when he saw that the readings were what he had been told to look for by Sticky. Everything was proceeding as planned so far.

Dennings pressed some more buttons in the second command sequence that he had memorised. For a moment, a burst of tightly encoded data flashed across the pads LCD screen then it stopped and a green light flashed on the display. At the sight of the green light, Dennings smiled again before turning the pad off. Then he carefully removed the sensor discs from Chachi’s temples – making the young Tracy moan softly and almost awaken as he was doing so – and put them and the pad back in the case and closed it.

Then Dennings sighed knowing that his time to have fun with Chachi was over, it was regrettable. But Dennings did have his orders and he knew better than to disobey the Candy Man. He now had only one thing to do before he had forfilled those orders. With another sigh, he picked up the case and left the room leaving behind a still sleeping Chachi who had no idea what had just been done to him.

Sometime Later

Chachi groaned softly as he stirred from a deep, uneasy but thankfully dreamless, sleep. He opened his eyes and groaned when he saw that he was still in the room where he had, Chachi shuddered not even wanting to think it.

Chachi closed his eyes again and almost started bawling again as a flashback of the attack burst through his awareness bringing with it phantom versions of those horrible sensations and the feel of his captors body against his. A sob escaped Chachi’s lips and he curled up into a foetal position hugging himself trying to steal himself against the unwelcome intrusion of memory.

After what seemed like an eternity, the flashback ended. But Chachi remained where he was quietly hugging himself, sobbing and shaking with reaction. I've gotta get out of here, Chachi thought. I can’t take this much longer.

Slowly, he managed to pull himself back together and uncurled himself before scanning the room looking for a possible way out. The room he was being kept in was a plain concrete walled room, there were windows but they were very small and high up, even if he could reach them he would never fit through them. Looks like my only way out it through the door, he thought.

Sighing, Chachi looked around to see if there was anything here that he could use as a weapon to escape with, his captor was after information about International Rescue so Chachi doubted very much that his captor would let him go without a fight. He swiftly noticed that there were two items in here that could possibly meet his needs.

The first was the table where his clothes still sat neatly folded up. But a thorough look soon ruled that out as the table was securely bolted to the floor. The second was a metal and plastic fold down chair; bits of rope on the floor around it showed that it was probably the chair he’d been tied up in earlier.

Chachi smiled softly as he noticed that the chair was not bolted down like the table. The chair wasn’t the ideal thing to use to get out but it would have to do. Carefully, Chachi first sat then stood up; only just managing to surpress a groan as his battered, abused body protested the movement. His face a mask of determination Chachi ignored the pain and moved over to the table and retrieved his clothes before returning to the bed and getting dressed again.

As soon as he was dressed again, Chachi retrieved his sneakers from under the bed and put them on, before again standing up and once again determinedly ignoring the pain in his body moving across the room. This time till he was beside the chair. Then he carefully folded down the chair so it was easy to pick up.

Ignoring the pain plaguing his body, Chachi picked up the folded down chair and headed over to the door to wait. A grim smile appeared on his face as he heard footsteps approaching the room where he was being kept. He moved quietly to the side where the opening door would shield him from his captor’s sight until the last possible moment when it would be too late.

For a moment, the footsteps stopped and then there came the sound of a lock being turned and then the door started to open. Chachi readied the chair as the door opened. His captor dressed in the same black clothes as he had seen him in earlier started to come back into the room.

Chachi waited until his captor completely entered the room before swinging the chair at the back of his captors head with all his strength or with what strength he could muster from his weakened body.

His captor hearing the movement started to turn away but it was too late. The thick plastic of the seat smashed into the back of his captor’s head with a resounding crash. His captor crumpled to the ground unconscious like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

Chachi dropped the chair letting it fall to the ground with a loud crash. For a moment, he stood there looking down on the unconscious form who’d abducted him, who’d violated him and for a second thought about doing more than knocking him unconscious. Realising what he was considering, Chachi shuddered in revulsion and turned away from the body of his captor and ran out of the room into dark and cheerless corridors.

Looking around, Chachi saw a faint, faded fire exit sign. Chachi followed it until he came to a half-open fire exit through which a soft breeze was blowing into the stuffy interior of where ever he was. Chachi made his way out through the half open door and stepped out into a world lit by the eerie twilight of predawn.

Chachi looked around and was surprised to find that he knew where he was, that he knew what this place was. He was inside an old chemical plant outside Milwaukee, it had gone out of business a few years ago and had stood derelect at the mercy of the elements ever since. The main highway ran right past the place Chachi saw it regularly whenever he, Joanie and Gina left Jefferson High which was only a few miles up the road from here.

Chachi took a deep breath and then started running again along the road out of the plant. He had no idea how long his captor was going to be unconscious so he wanted to get as far away from here as possible as quickly as possible before his captor woke up.

Twenty Minutes Later

Dennings groaned as he regained consciousness to a dull, throbbing ache at the back of his skull. Awkwardly, he climbed back to his feet and swayed drunkenly for a moment before regaining his balance.

Then when he was sure that he could move without falling over, Dennings began looking around for any sign of Chachi. But there was no sign of him anywhere in his hideout Chachi was gone. Well I was looking for away to let that kid get away without realising that I’m letting him go, Dennings thought. so nice of him to ‘escape’ on his own.

Dennings sighed, wincing at the pain at the back of his skull and went in search of a cold compress.

A Few Minutes Later

Dennings holding a cold compress to the back of his head sat down at the radio and deactivated the security lock that prevented unauthorised use. Then he switched the radio on and sent a hailing signal to the Hood.

For a moment, nothing happened and then the radio came to life and Dennings heard the voice of the Candy Man himself.

"Yes, Dennings, what is it?" the Candy Man asked.

"Sir, it’s done. Phase three has begun." Dennings reported to his boss.

"Excellent, Dennings," the Candy Man answered sounding very pleased. "You've done well and will be generously rewarded."

"Thanks, Boss."

[Race's Girl]

Chapter Seven

Chachi ran along the side of the quiet highway for he didn’t know how long, the golden light of dawn shone on the highway casting deep shadows but he paid it no mind. He just kept running, adrenaline banishing the pain from his battered abused body. Mindless in his desire to escape, to put as much distance between himself and his kidnapper as possible, before his kidnapper awoke.

Ahead, Chachi spotted the familiar turn off for Jefferson High School, if he could reach there, then he would be safe for now at least until he could go home. Reaching the junction he turned in the direction of Wharton and continued running, pushing his body for just a little more speed. The vast campus of Jefferson High was only three to four hundred metres down the road from the junction, far enough away that the noise of the road which would in an hour or two becoming busy with traffic would not reach it.

After a couple of more minutes of running with the only noise he could hear being the calls of birds in the morning chorus the gates of Jefferson High came into view. With the small security pillbox near them always manned. Chachi sighed in relief as he approached the gates and came to a stop. As he did so he felt the surge of adrenaline that had fuelled his escape fade away and terrible exhaustion take its place, exhaustion and pain as his body decided he was no longer in danger.

Chachi groaned and felt himself crumple to his knees before collapsing completely, as darkness raced up to envelop him. Faintly he heard a shout and through the darkness beginning to obscure his vision he saw the guard on duty in the pillbox running his way. Then darkness enveloped him completely and carried him away into a world where the pain in his body and mind didn't exist and there was only peace and rest.

Howard Tracy’s Hotel Room

Two Hours Later

Howard was awoken from a fitful sleep by the sound of someone knocking on the door for admittance. He barely remembered last night after Detective Jefferson's visit and the devastating news that the man who had kidnapped Chachi was a sexual predator. He remembered breaking down and crying on Lori Beth's shoulder but he didn't remember anything after that. He certainly didn't remember going to bed unless he'd cried himself to sleep and Lori Beth had then put him to bed on her own or with Tom's assistance.

Throwing the bedclothes off himself, Howard rubbed the sleep from his eyes and noticed that he was still in the clothes he'd been wearing last night though his shoes had been taken off. Howard carefully got out of bed and made his way to the door and opened it, wondering who it was. He wasn't surprised to see that it was Tom.

"Mr Tracy, Dectevie Jefferon's here to see ya." Tom said and it didn't escape Howard's notice that there was a hint of anger about something in Tom's voice. His Brooklyn accent was slightly stronger as it always was when Tom was angry about something.

"What does he want, Tom," Howard asked. "Is there news about Chachi?"

"Yeah." Tom said though he did not want to elaborate on what that news was at the moment.

"Let him come in, Tom," Howard instructed a chill of dread suddenly running down his spine. "And then go and get Lori Beth." Tom bowed slightly.

"Sure, Mr Tracy." Tom said and withdrew closing the door behind him. Howard went over to the living area and sat down bracing himself for potentially some bad news. News that he feared was Detective Jefferson coming here to tell him that they had found Chachi's body, that Dennings had murdered his youngest son.

Howard shuddered at the very thought. Don't think that way, Howard Jefferson Tracy, he told himself firmly, Chachi's alive. Until you're told otherwise, Chachi's alive. He clung to that thought and the desperate hope that his youngest son was still alive as a drowning man would cling to a life preserver. Chachi had to be alive, he had to be because he didn't know what he would do if he weren't. How he and the rest of the family would cope with the loss if Chachi were to be dead.

A knock on the door brought Howard out of the increasingly bleakness of his thoughts and fears for which he was infinitely grateful.

"Come in," he called. The door opened and Detective Jefferson came in along with Sergeant Royce and Howard knew immediately from their posture that Chachi was alive, that they weren't coming here to say that he was dead. Still, Howard remained tense as their posture did indicate that something was still wrong.

"Good morning, Mr Tracy." Detective Jefferson said.

"Good morning, Detective," Howard replied. "Mr Parker tells me that you have some news about my son."

"Yes, Mr Tracy, we do," Jefferson answered. "Chachi's been found. He turned up outside Jefferson High School. Apparently, he escaped Dennings on his own. He collapsed within moments of being found."

"Collapsed," Howard repeated even as joy that Chachi was indeed alive and away from Dennings filled his being, though it mixed instantly with concern and fear. If Dennings had done something to Chachi then when Howard got a hold of him, Dennings was going to wish he was dead. "Is he alright?"

"We don't know yet," Detective Jefferson admitted. "He's been taken to Phfister General Infirmary to be examined there. Two of my officers are there as well keeping an eye on him while the doctors assess his condition." Howard stood up from his seat a determined look appearing on his face.

"Take me there now," he said without realising it using the commanding tone that he had always had, something only sharpened first by being in the Air Force, then building his business and later founding and being the commander and chief of International Rescue. "I want to see him."

"Of course." Detective Jefferson replied slightly intimidated by the command presence the man in front of him was suddenly giving off. There was no doubt about it; Howard Tracy could be one intimidating guy when he wanted to be. Though at the moment Jefferson could see that Howard's commanding presence was unintentional and was probably being used as a shield to hide his true feelings.

"We've got a car ready outside," Jefferson continued, "We can take you to the hospital immediately. Do you wish to wait for your friend?"

"That won't be necessary!" Lori Beth's calm, refined Wisconsian voice said from behind him making Jefferson jump. He turned around and was surprised to see that the young socialite was already dressed and ready to go and looking as beautiful as always. He would have expected her to take awhile to get ready just like he hadn't expected her movements to be so stealthy. He immediately made a mental note not to underestimate Lori Beth; something told him that it could potentially be fatal to do that.

"Let's go, Detective," Howard said drawing Jefferson's attention back to him. "I want to see my son."

"This way." Jefferson replied and led the way out of the suite the sounds of footsteps behind him letting him know that he was indeed being followed.

Phfister General Infirmary

One Hour Later

Howard paced restlessly around the relative's waiting room that they had been whisked into when they'd arrived at the hospital. The doctors were still examining Chachi and wouldn't let him see his son until after they were done. They hadn't been given any information at all so far and that did not sit well with him, it didn't sit well at all. He wanted to go out there, wanted to see Chachi and see him now. He didn't want to wait any longer but he had no choice, no choice at all.

Lori Beth watched Howard pacing around without comment, she could tell it was helping him with his nerves and with his worry. Though he wasn't really showing it she could tell that for one of the few times in all the years that she had known him, Howard Tracy was scared and feeling helpless. She could only imagine what he was going through as he was facing at the moment one of any parent's nightmares. Not being a parent herself – though she hoped to be a mother someday – she had no real understanding of what Howard was feeling at the moment.

A knock came from the door and Howard paused in his pacing as the door opened and a young black woman in a doctor's coat came in. She closed the door and smiled warmly at Howard.

"Mr Tracy?" she asked.

"Yes!" Howard confirmed.

"My name's Doctor Lancaster," the doctor said. "I'm in charge of the medical team that has just examined your son."

"How is he?" Howard asked.

"Perhaps it'd be best if we sit down." Doctor Lancaster suggested. Reluctantly, Howard went and sat down beside Lori Beth, he didnt like the sound of this at all. Doctor Lancaster took a seat nearby even as Lori Beth gently put one of her hands on Howard's left shoulder comfortingly.

"Well then, Doctor." Howard prompted inwardly bracing himself for the worst.

"Mr Tracy, I'm afraid your son's in quite a bad way," Lancaster replied. "He's sustained numerous blunt force trauma's to his body consistent with being repeatedly kicked and thumped. It's a miracle that no bones have been chipped or broken given the force he was hit with. As it is the damage is all soft tissue damage that will heal in time though it will ache for a week or two. And that's all we've detected evidence that Charles has been tortured." Lori Beth gasped and Howard went a little pale.

"Tortured, how?" Howard asked.

"We believe with electricity," Lancaster said. "There are electrical burns on his left side. From the look of them, I'd say that someone torched him either with a tazer or an electric cattle prod. The burns are not severe and will soon heal but it would have been very, very painful for him and that's not all. During our examination, we came across all the hallmarks of a rape, there's no doubt that sometime during his captivity, Charles was subjected to a massive sexual assault."

"I see." Howard replied outwardly calm but inwardly filled with rage that someone had done this to his son. The beating and torture were bad enough but the rape made it worse, much worse because it had violated Chachi in perhaps the worst possible way. Dennings had better hope that he never got his hands on him because Howard would not be responsible for his actions if he did.

Howard closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to keep his temper from showing, he couldn't loose his cool now when all he wanted to do at the moment was scream. To let the anger show.

Lori Beth looked at Howard and could tell that at the moment he was like a volcano about to undergo a cataclysmic eruption, she saw through his always in control Tracy mask and could see all the fury that Howard was keeping inside. A fury she too felt, the Tracy boys were like family to her, for Chachi to have been treated this way filled her with rage. If she ever found this Dennings character then God had better show him mercy because she would not and a look at Howard showed that he would show no mercy either. In fact, he looked like he wanted to strangle Dennings with his bare hands.

Howard opened his eyes again.

"Can I see him?" he asked in a calm collected voice that was in its way more threatening and frightening than a bellow.

"Of course," Doctor Lancaster replied. "We've given him some sedatives and pain killers so he's fast asleep at the moment. But you can see him by all means."

"Thank you." Howard said standing up.

"This way please," Doctor Lancaster answered standing up. "I'll take you to him."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Mr Tracy, do you want me to call the guys and fill them in before I join you?" Lori Beth asked.

"If you wouldn't mind, Lori Beth!" Howard answered.

"It's no problem, I'll go do it now then come and find you!" Lori Beth replied standing up. Howard looked at her and smiled his thanks; he fully realised that Lori Beth was offering to go and call the boys so he could have some privacy with his youngest son. Lori Beth smiled back. Then, Howard turned back to the doctor.

"Lead on then, Doctor." he said. Doctor Lancaster smiled then led the way outside into the corridor and through the hospital to the private room where Chachi lay asleep.

Lori Beth, for her part and accompanied as always by Tom, headed for the closest videophones so they could call Tracy Island and fill the rest of the Tracy boys in on what had happened to Chachi. She wasn't looking forward to it but they had to be told, they had to know. And she guessed that Howard would be in no fit state to tell them after he had seen Chachi. So she would tell them.

Chachi's Hospital Room

Doctor Lancaster led Howard into Chachi's room.

"I'll leave you alone with him now," she said. "Myself and the police'll be just outside if you need us."

"Thank you, Doctor." Howard replied. Lancaster smiled and left closing the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, dreading what he would see, Howard approached Chachi's bed and carefully pulled the sheet back so he could look upon the whole of his son’s body. And instantly saw red. Chachi's flesh was covered in bruises where he had been hit, bruises which now turned his skin a myriad of shades of black, purple and blue. Chachi's left side was covered over with a dermal regenerative bandage to deal with his electrical burns from where the monster that had done this to Chachi had tortured him with a cattle prod.

Slowly, he put the sheet back as it had been and pulled up a chair so he could sit down besides Chachi, as he was doing so, he heard Chachi murmuring in his sleep.

"It's alright, Chachi, I'm here." Howard said softly and gently took his youngest son's right hand and although Chachi was unconscious felt faint pressure on his hand in return. Chachi seemed to quieten with the contact and sleep peacefully. That's it, Chachi, sleep tight, he thought, You're safe now, I'm here. As soon as the doctor's give the okay, I'll take you home then you'll be even safer. That monster's not going to get near you again. You're safe. Just rest, Baby. Rest.

Tracy Island

Five Minutes Later

Potsie watched as Loir Beth's image vanished from the vidcom screen in his father's office. They had all gathered in here as soon as the signal from Lori Beth had been received and they'd all heard what she had said, what Chachi had been put through by Dennings.

It was horrifying to say the least and Potsie couldn't help but feel responsible. He was the second oldest; Like Fonzie, it was his job to protect his siblings from harm. Yet with Chachi, he had spectacularly failed and allowed Chachi to be taken by a monster that happened to look like a man. The rational part of his mind told him that as he was hear on Tracy Island, thousands of miles from where Chachi was, he could have done nothing to prevent it. But his heart, burning with rage at what had happened to Chachi, couldn't see it, couldn't believe it. He was sure that if he'd been there he would have been able to do something to stop Dennings.

"Damn him." Potsie said angrily standing up literally shaking with barely suppressed anger. He wanted to hit something, anything but preferably Dennings, to let it go, let the anger out.

"So help me if I get hold of Dennings, I'm gonna," Fonzie's voice said sounding colder than arctic ice as it always tended to when Fonzie was well and truly livid, tears of pain and rage could be seen running down Fonzie's cheeks. It was the only outward sign of Fonzie's inner rage, at the volcano that was ready to blow inside of him. If he ever got hold of Dennings, then he would definitely not be responsible for his actions.

Sitting next to him, Richie was doing the same, crying softly to himself, even more upset than anyone else and there was the fact that he'd known somehow, known from his nightmares last night that Chachi was being hurt, being violated. How he'd known he didn't know, just like Chachi, he just knew things from time to time though not as often as Chachi seemed to but it didn't matter. He'd known and not been able to do anything to stop it.

"Get in line, Bro," Ralph told Fonzie with anger in his voice as like Potsie, he literally trembled with suppressed rage. "Get in line."

[Race's Girl]

Chapter Eight

Chachi's Hospital Room

Sometime Later

He was running, seemingly through a maze of corridors that had no end. The cold, cruel laughter of his captor echoed everywhere and he knew that he wasn't far behind. He had to get away, he had to find away out, he couldn't let his captor hurt him again.

He turned another corner and a room was ahead at the end of the corridor. Hoping that he had at last found the way out he ran towards it and felt his hopes crumble when he saw that it was the room he'd been kept in again.

He spun around to run out again but the corridors were gone, there was only the door, the terrible door that his captor came through. As he watched the door opened and his captor came in a sneer on his face.

"No escape, Charles." his captor's voice said as he approached and Chachi threw his head back and screamed in terror…

…and awoke with a jolt, shaking and sweating and smelling of fear and panic. A hand touched his shoulder and he screamed in terror fearing that it would be the man who'd kidnapped him again.

"Easy, Chachi, it's alright, it was only a dream," the familiar warm voice of his father said. "It's alright, you're safe."

"Dad." Chachi said, his voice shaking as the realisation that he really was away from his captor that he hadn't dreamed his escape sank in, emotions began welling up inside brought forth by the nightmare and the knowledge that he was safe. His eyes began to sting with tears and a sob escaped his lips as the tears began to fall in silvery rivers down his cheeks.

Howard gently released Chachi's shoulder and stood up before moving to get up as far as he could onto the bed with him, gently he reached out and brought Chachi into a comforting, loving embrace. The same kind he had used on all his sons when they were children and upset, especially if like Chachi had now, they had just woken up from a nightmare. Chachi buried his head in his father's chest and continued to cry the whole of his bruised, battered body shaking with sobs.

"It's alright, Chachi," he said softly into his youngest son's ear while stroking his short dark hair reassuringly, "It's alright, just let it out."

Chachi clung to his father as hard as he could and just continued bawling like a little kid. Part of him told him to remember that he was a Tracy that he shouldn't be like this, shouldn't show weakness but at the moment, he didn't care. He was hurting so much and in the arms of his father felt safe enough to let it show, let some of the anger, hurt and humiliation show. He felt his father stroking his hair and rocking him gently which told him that it was okay to cry so he didn't do anything to stop the tidal wave of emotion welling up from inside.

"I tried to stop him," Chachi said between sobs. "I tried, but he was so strong. I couldn't, couldn't stop him."

"I know, Chachi," Howard replied. "I know you tried."

"He wanted to know," Chachi sobbed, "He wanted to know about us, when I didn't tell him, he…" Chachi's voice trailed off as he didn't want to say the word, he just started crying that little bit harder into his father's shirt.

Inwardly, Howard frowned, so that was what Leo had been after, why he'd kidnapped Chachi. He wanted to know about International Rescue and when Chachi had refused to tell him anything, he'd tortured and raped his youngest son. But how had Leo known that Chachi was a Fonziebird? Howard put that bit of the puzzle out of his thoughts for now. It was something to deal with later. Right now, Chachi needed him and for now that was all that mattered.

"It's alright," Howard said softly into Chachi's ear for the second time, "It's alright, he's not here now, he can't hurt you again. Let it out, Son, just let it out. You're safe, I'm not going to let him harm you ever again."

"I want to go home." Chachi whimpered through his sobs.

"And we will go home, Chachi," Howard replied. "We'll go home soon. For now, just let it out, Im here." And Chachi did just that, if at all possible, his tears got heavier as he gave vent to all the anguish, all the pain, hurt and humiliation, while feeling comforted and safe in the arms of his father.

Sometime Later

Howard left Chachi's room and leaned back against the corridor wall and closed his eyes with a sigh. Chachi had cried for ages, cried as he hadn’t for a very long time, cried until he finally fell asleep.

Seeing Chachi in so much pain, hurt so badly had been very hard to bare, all he'd wanted to do while he'd held Chachi was scream. Scream his rage at what had been done to his youngest child, scream his rage at a world where such things were allowed to happen but he hadn't. He'd kept it in for Chachi's sake, there would be time for him to deal with his own anger and pain later, all that mattered at this moment in time was getting Chachi through this.

And that Howard knew was going to be a long, hard road for all of them but especially for Chachi. It would be along time before Chachi recovered mentally from this experience, the physical wounds would heal quickly but the mental wounds would take longer, much longer. Though getting Chachi home would be a good place to start from, there he would have his whole family around to help, to comfort, to support, to help him heal.

"Mr Tracy." Lori Beth's voice said softly from close by. Howard looked over in the direction that Lori Beth's voice had come from to see that accompanied as ever by Tom, Lori Beth had just come around the corner and was now looking at him in concern.

"I'm okay, Lori Beth." Howard replied though there was no conviction in his voice, he wasn't okay, his soul was both aching in sympathy for Chachi's and burning with rage and hatred for the man who had done this to Chachi. He wanted blood, he wanted revenge and he wanted to throttle the monster in human form that had abused his youngest son. But he knew he couldn't do that, it would make him no better than Leo but how he wanted to do it.

Lori Beth looked at Howard carefully, she could tell that he was lying, that he wasn't okay. Like any parent whose child had been abducted, let alone abducted and abused, he was experiencing a roller coaster ride of different emotions. Relief and joy that he had Chachi back alive, horror and outrage at what had been done to Chachi, rage at the man who'd done it, anger with himself as a parent for allowing this thing to happen, for allowing Chachi to be taken in the first place. Still she didn't push him on it; she'd learned long ago that if you tried to push Howard on anything, you would run right into his stubborn streak. The boys were the same.

"How's Chachi?" she asked instead, from the damp look of Howard's shirt, she knew already that Chachi had been crying.

"Not good, Lori Beth," Howard replied sadly. "He's asleep at the moment finally but he's been hurt so badly that I don't think it'll be a peaceful sleep, he's already woken up once screaming. I need to make arrangements to take him home."

"Okay," Lori Beth answered. "Let's arrange that. Tom?"

"Yeah, Lori?" Tom asked.

"Stay here and keep an eye on Chachi while me and Mr Tracy go and see about his discharge." Lori Beth instructed.

"Sure thing, Lori." Tom replied with a slight bow to his mistress. Howard smiled slightly knowing that Tom would keep a very close eye on Chachi and ensure that no one got near him.

"Let's go then, Lori Beth," Howard said pushing away from the wall he had been using as support. "The sooner we get to the admin area, the sooner we can get Chachi out of here and safely home."

"Lead on then, Mr Tracy." Lori Beth replied. Howard smiled and turned around and started walking away from the room where Chachi lay asleep. With a smile, Lori Beth followed hoping they would soon be leaving the hospital altogether, taking Chachi home to Tracy Island where he could rest and recover from his terrible ordeal.

Tracy Island

One Hour Later

Ralph walked with purpose and direction through the hallways of the Tracy villa heading for the gym, which he knew, was where his quarry would be. He couldn't wait to tell him the good news, the news that dad had called a few minutes ago with. Chachi was coming home and coming home today.

Entering the gym, Ralph walked through it, passing all the treadmills, bikes, stair master and skiing machines, passed the free weights and weight machines, to the far side of the gym where he knew he would be. As he approached, he heard repeated dull thuds. He turned a corner formed by one of the weight machines and there he was.

For a few moments, he stood there just watching as his brother moved repeatedly hitting the punching bag, moving with easy grace as he repeatedly punched and kicked the bag with all his strength. The movements were so fluid, so artistic and graceful that for a moment, Ralph was content to watch. Watch and admire the fluid but powerful movements. After a moment, he coughed to get his brothers attention.

"Pots," he said but Potsie didn't seem to hear him he just continued pounding and kicking the bag, his skin flushed and caked in sweat, his muscles bulging and rippling in exertion. "Pots." he repeated more loudly. This time, Potsie stopped.

Potsie turned in place and looked at him, his chest moving up and down quickly as his lungs worked rapidly to keep his muscles charged with oxygen.

"Hi, Ralph," Potsie replied and gestured to a side table where a towel and bottle of water had been placed. "Would you pass me the towel and some water, please?"

"Sure." Ralph answered not minding shortening Potsie's name one bit, they all had their nicknames for each other which in his and Richie's case involved being called Ralphie and Rich respectively. Calmly, he walked over to the table and retrieved the indicated items and offered them to Potsie as Potsie took off his boxing gloves.

"Thanks." Potsie said wiping some of the sweat off his brow with the towel before putting it across his shoulders before taking a swig of water from the bottle which was meant for gym environments and had a straw-like tube at the top. The fresh water felt cool and wonderful as it ran down his throat, he had been pounding the bag so hard, imagining it to be Leo in his mind's eye, that he hadn't noticed he was getting thirsty. After a moment, he stopped drinking and turned his attention back to Ralph.

"What did you want, Ralphie?" he asked.

"Dad just called," Ralph answered, "We did try to call you but you must have been too lost in pounding the bag that you didn't hear your comm. Feel better?"

"A bit," Potsie admitted. "I wish it was Leo that I was pounding but since he's not here, the bag has had to do."

"We all wish it could be Leo, Bro," Ralph replied smiling. "But then we'd end up having an argument over who'd kill him first."

"True," Potsie agreed. "Though you can bet dad would beat us all to it. So what did he want? Dad, I mean?"

"I know who you meant," Ralph replied. "He's coming home with Chachi."

"Really! That's cool! When?" Potsie answered.

"They'll be leaving the hospital in about fifteen minutes," Ralph answered smiling. "So they should be back here in about two hours. Assuming they don't hit heavy traffic in Milwaukee."

"Great. Then we better prepare for them." Potsie said.

"Yeah. But you better have a shower and get changed before you do anything." Potsie looked down at himself and saw that both the T-shirt he was wearing and his sweatpants were dark with sweat and clung revealingly tight to his body. Now that he thought about it he did feel very hot and sweaty. He looked back up at Ralph and smiled.

"You know, Ralph, you're right that would be best."

Phfister General Infirmary

Twenty Minutes Later

Howard watched carefully as Chachi gingerly climb into FONZ1. The bruising in Chachi's battered form was starting to come out, so all of Chachi's movements, normally so fluid and effortless were slow and painful. They'd only gotten Chachi this far with the aide of a wheelchair as Chachi just couldn't stand up and walk for more than a few minutes at a time thanks to the bruising and the pain in his side from the burns inflicted by the cattle prod.

Chachi sat down in the back of FONZ1 with a relieved sigh and wiped the sweat that had been gathering on his forehead away with one sleeve of his shirt, even as he panted. He had no strength at all now, escaping from his captor, whose name he now knew to be Leo had depleted the last of his reserves. His body was exhausted and hurt and he felt every bruise in his body along with a dull throbbing pain in his left side. He was so tired that even his normal high pain tolerance wasn't there, his body wanted to rest, to sleep, to heal but the trouble was he was afraid to sleep. Because when he did succumb to sleep the nightmares and Leo were always waiting there, emerging from the dark spaces of his memory to taunt and torture him more.

Howard climbed in after Chachi and sat down beside his son and looking worriedly at him, he could see the lines of exhaustion and pain in Chachi's features. Chachi hadn't slept well at all, waking up every half hour or so screaming from nightmares and as a result was feeling the pain of every bruise and wound his body had taken in his recent, terrible ordeal. He could only hope that when they got home, Chachi would be able to sleep at least semi-normally, if he couldn't, they would have no choice but to sedate him so his body could rest. Howard didn't want to do that but he knew that it might come down to it.

Chachi leaned against his father's side, seeking warmth and comfort from his parent, something Howard was more than willing to provide. Gently, he reached out an arm and put it across Chachi's shoulders and pulled his youngest close to him, Chachi leaned into his side and relaxed completely, the contact with his father making him feel completely safe. He knew he was safe in FONZ1 anyway, still the contact with dad made him feel even more secure.

Lori Beth climbed aboard and sat down beside Howard before Tom climbed into the front of the car and the roof and doors closed. She would be taking Howard and Chachi to the airport so they could take Tracy One home to the island, she herself would then go out to Jefferson High School and pick up Joanie and Gina before following them to Tracy Island.

"To the airport, Tom." Lori Beth instructed Tom though it wasn't really necessary as Tom knew where they were going.

"Sure thing, Lori." Tom replied as he started the engine and put the car into drive mode before gently beginning to drive away.

A short distance away sitting in a parked car as if he was waiting for something a man smiled as he observed the bright pink car pull away from the hospital. Excellent, he thought. The boss'll be pleased. Reaching out, the watcher took a small mobile phone from a side pocket the man dialled a familiar number and waited.

After a few moments of waiting, a small dark haired man answered the hail.

"Yes, Carson?" Sticky asked from the small screen.

"Tell the boss phase three is complete, phase four has begun." Carson replied and Sticky smiled at him crookedly.

"Excellent, the Candy Man'll be very pleased," Sticky answered. "You'll be greatly rewarded." Carson smiled back just before Sticky disappeared from the screen.

Still smiling, Carson started the engine and drove away leaving Phfister General Infirmary behind him.