“Yes, Lily, where did you take the kids” Quinn sits forward on the edge of the recliner “where are they”

Lily grinds her teeth, looking ashamed, they are behind the headboard”

Sammy and Junior, spring their gaze up, holding their breath.

The men storming the room tearing the room apart

“Sir” one of the men whisper into Quinn’s ear, leading him to grin sinisterly

“Right” Quinn waves him away, having stepped closer to Lily “I want to believe you Lily”

“SLAP!”

Lily, still standing but with a welt on her cheek “this is your last warning, where are those kids”

“I told you they are in behind the headboard” Lily shouts, glaring at Quinn.

“SLAP”

“And I am telling you, they are not there” Quinn looks down on Lily who bends leaning on the table to keep herself standing “Now, you tell me, or I will kill that precious boyfriend of yours”

“Then kill me because I already told you!” Lily clenches her fist “I don’t know what else you want from me”

Quinn ticks his tongue as he waves his people out of the apartment “I gave you, your last chance Lily” Quinn rubs his wrist “and yet you still disappoint” Quinn snaps his fingers leading Lily’s cheek to ache in agony having her blood curdling screams echo through the apartment

“Dad, please” Lily topples to the ground “I… I re… re…ally don’t k... know... w” Lily gasping from air between whelps of pain as she feels an indescribable pain originating from the slaps Quinn landed on her cheek.

Lily’s vision darks as she hears Quinn tick his tongue before slamming the front door behind him as he leaves.

“Lily! Wake up Lily”

“Junior, here” giving frozen corn to Junior, Sammy looks respectfully towards Lily

Junior, with a sour expression” she should have just ratted us out if she knew how dangerous he was” Junior lifts Lily to the couch and rests the frozen corn on her cheek.

“She didn’t rat us out which is surprising” Sammy smiles recalling how fast Lily’s thinking was “to think she would flip her headboard around making it look like only one headboard has a cubie underneath”

“Yea, but at what cost” Junior sneers as he frowns at the unconscious Lily “Sammy, you don’t understand”

“Hum? What don’t I understand” Sammy crosses her arms taking a seat on the floor, as she leans against the couch.

“When somebody is at their best, at their strongest and they are stronger than me” Junior explains “I cannot hear their thoughts nor feel their emotions” he continues glancing at Sammy who is nodding along "But, when that person’s constitution weakens so do their talents” Junior looks back at Lily brushing her hair to the side “meaning I can both hear their thoughts and feel their emotions at their point of weakness”

Sammy flinches looking back at Junior “wait does that mean you felt all the pain she felt!”

Junior shakes his head “no Sammy, feeling their pain and feeling their emotion is different” Junior sighed as he recalls Lily’s overwhelming fear, anger, and sadness “pain was the last thing she felt” he shuttered away her lingering emotions as he stands “Sammy, I think we should go right now" 

"Now? while dragging Lily with us" Sammy shuffles to her knees, placing her hands on the arm of the couch "I think that is going to be a bit difficult even with the two of us" 

"No, I mean... we leave Lily here" Junior faces away, as Sammy stares daggers into his back "she has already done enough for us"

"NO! No way!" Sammy stands "are you kidding me" She swivels Junior to face her "you are right about one thing, she has done enough for us" Sammy lectures "now it's our turn to help her" Sammy notes Junior's pained expression.

"You don't get it Sammy, I cannot hear her scream like that again" Junior sighs choking back his cracking voice as he covers his eyes "she didn't just scream out loud, her whole body screamed in pain, anger, and sadness" Junior's fist clenches "her agony echoed through me"

Sammy hearing his tone crack and his buried face as he avoids her eyes takes him into a hug "I don't understand completely but I do know that if we leave her she will be all alone when her father comes back" 

Junior flinches at the thought "right, you are right Sammy" He exhales deeply in defeat

"Of course I am" Sammy playfully sports a smug smile "I am your big sister, I am always right" 

Junior chuckles softly noticing Lily groan "Lily!"

"Junior, Sammy" Lily smiles dimly "I'm sorry... if I scared you back there"

"Even when you felt such agony you still apologize" Sammy shares a befogged expression "You are really weird"

Junior and Lily chuckle as Lily sits up "how long have I been out" 

"We found you about twenty minutes ago" Sammy glances at the microwave clock 

Junior replaces the corn back on Lily's cheek "That also means your father has been gone for about thirty-five, forty minutes now"

Lily fluffs her hair to the other side of her head, shuffling in her seat "again, you kids do not deserve any of this" Lily looks off into the distance with a glazed look on her face.

"Is that look for your boyfriend" Junior pries getting nudged by Sammy.

"why would you ask her that"  Sammy thinks towards him.

"You don't have to worry" Lily smiles "I didn't pick you over him nor him over you" Lily glances towards the door "I didn't have to" she states taking a stand, before walking over towards the door. 

Sammy and Junior share a shutter, seeing her reach for the doorknob "Lily, what are you doing" Sammy frowns, furrowing her brows, as she blocks Junior. 

Meanwhile, "What in the world happened in here" Quinn fumes with a raised brow "It looks like a tornado blew past and wiped out all my men" 

"I apologize sure" one man in a black suit shifts "Ethan escaped"

"So, a tornado really did blow past here" Quinn chuckles "leave him alone, I guess I do owe Lily an apology, let him go shall suffice" he waves in dismissal

"Hello father" Becca stands ashamed in front of Quinn 

"Becca, haven't I told you already, you were no match for Ethan" Grumbling in annoyance upon seeing Becca with a broken nose "go to the healer, be sure Lucas and Kyle don't come grumbling to me for you being a reckless woman that can't take rejection"

"Yes father" Becca frown, grumbling herself

"And I told you before" Quinn snaps his fingers as she feels her throat close up as she gasps for air "you are to call me boss, not father, only my dear daughter can call me that" 

"y... yes boss" Becca gasps as Quinn snaps his fingers letting her take a breath "I understand... boss" her groan under her words as Quinn walks away. 

Back with Lily, "this is Ethan, he is-"

"He is your boyfriend" Junior tone snips 

"Yes, he protected you, Junior, when we were taken" Lily explains "now that my dad knows about Ethan and I, he won't let Ethan back in the ranks but, that also means we have another hands helping" 

"Helping with what exactly" Sammy questions "Why have you been hiding your talent from your family"

"Yea, from what it sounded like-" Junior chimes in "your family looks down on you for not being talented" 

"You told them?" Ethan looks with disappointment "how can you be sure you can trust them, Lily"

"I didn't tell them everything" Lily defends as she cups Ethan's cheek "and, it's not like we have a whole lot of options"

Junior shifts away looking annoyed, while Sammy bites her tongue as she notices Junior walk away.

"Sammy, Junior" Lily calls their attention "I don't know what he wants nor does Ethan but we do know that he is a very dangerous man that will stop at nothing to get what he wants"

"So does that mean he will continue to hunt our parents and us down" Sammy argues 

"We will always be looking over our shoulders then" Junior adds facing back towards Lily

"Lily isn't there anything we can do to get away from him" Sammy clasps her hands with pleading eyes.

"There is two things" Lily states "the first is pretty much unthinkable" she shakes her head in dismissal "and the other is even more unthinkable" 

"And those are?" Junior steps closer "we have to hear them to know how unreasonable the choices are"

Lily sighs in defeat "the first have him find your parents and the second is to beat my father" 

Sammy, Junior, and even Ethan look at Lily as if she has lost all reason.

"I knew that pain was unreal, she must have lost her mind" Junior shrugs as he plops down on the couch

"Lily do you even hear yourself? Turn our parents in?" Sammy shares a perplexed expression 

Ethan examines Lily after noticing the welt on her cheek "Pain! was this your father again!" Ethan's expression darkens as he grips her cheek "I vote that second option"