Angel turns around without having headed more than twenty feet into the tunnels. She walks past Jadi and River without saying a word, and catches the stumbling, bleeding, bruised, battered body of the Doctor as it collapses once more to the ground. She checks for a pulse.

 "I believe he's dead," she says.

 River rushes to the Doctor's body. Filled with much concern, she presses her head against his chest and listens. She knows the Doctor can't be dead as she strains to listen for any beating from either of his hearts.

 "Two hearts," Jadi explains to Angel as River moves her ear to the other side of the Doctor's chest. River strains to hear, but she senses the faint pulse from at least one of the hearts. She looks up at Jadi and Angel.

 "It's okay," River says to the other two. "He's still alive."

 Luke turns around and looks at Angela. "Nothing," he says to Angela's surprise. "We do nothing and wait. We can't go back to Club Feel because Mammon will be waiting for us and we can't go to the Catacombs because it's too dangerous." Angela nods and concedes with Luke's decision however contrary to what she feels within herself about the Doctor. She wishes Jadi were here and that they've never came to this place, but it is too late now. The only thing she can do is wait and hope that the Doctor and Jadi are okay, where ever they are.

 \\Oh, how did I get myself in this mess?\\ he thinks to himself. His mind is a blur and jumble of thoughts of the last few hours that occured. Whoever his torturer is, he knows that he must escape him.

 Ray looks through his bloodied eyes and tries to ascertain the room he's in. It's bare except for a solitary white hard slab with a light over it. He knows that he's chained to the wall at his wrists. If only he could...

 Ryan Purity comes into the room again. Raymond doesn't know how long ago Ryan had left as there is no way to tell. Ryan comes over toward him.

 "Well, Raymond," Ryan says as he looks down at his victim's face, "are you prepared to tell me the truth?

 Raymond tries to speak and finds the words barely coming out. "I-I I've t-t-told y-y-you the t-t-truth. I've told it to you over a dozen times now - each and every time I've been able to."

 "And I don't believe the truth that you have to tell," replies Ryan. "I suppose I'm a hard one to convince, but frankly, I don't care what you say. I'm a madman at heart."

 Angel just observes River; the woman's emotional responses towards the Doctor says they are old friends, or perhaps even more. It's something that even Angel takes more than a shine to. She knows she once had feelings - and still does if she wanted to show them - but that was a time long ago.

 The Doctor, now propped up by Jadi and River, slowly wakes and opens his eyes. Things are still fuzzy by a bit, but luckily he still has sight and can see some generally fuzzy shapes. "Wh-where am I?" he says with a groan.

 "Shhh," River purses her lips and begins wiping off the Doctor's brow, "don't speak. You're safe with Jadi and me."

 The Doctor strains to hear River. "R-River? You're here to h-h-help me at last?" he asks.

 "Yes, Doctor," she says reassuringly. "It /has/ been a long time."

 "How do you know the Doctor will still be there?" Luke asks from the kitchen. He roots through the refrigerator trying to find something that doesn't have a layer of mold on top. He brings out two oranges that seem to be fresh and then throws one to Angela. "Catch," he says as a warning.

 Angela catches the orange almost by instinct. She inspects the fruit and decides that it's edible. At least having something to eat would be betting than nothing at all. Her thoughts keep on turning back to the Doctor and Jadi. How are they doing? Will she ever be able to see them again?

 She looks over to Luke. Luke seems like a nice guy and all. It's the case where one isn't supposed to judge the book by its cover. Luke has the outward appearance of a late 20th century pimp, but he's really a nice guy. Without him, Angela wouldn't have escaped from the clutches of Ryan Purity. She doesn't like Ryan. Ryan is the complete opposite of Luke, and a madman to boot.

 All these thoughts swirl together in her mind as she faints on Luke's apartment floor.

 Raymond looked at Ryan. "Why?" he questions weakly. "I told you everything I know."

 "Everything isn't enough!" Ryan shouts even louder. "I want you to squirm."

 "That's enough!" said a voice from behind. "I think you had enough for one day."

 "But--" Ryan turns to face Tony Mammon, the owner of the joint.

 "No 'buts'. Now get out of here," Tony says as he goes over to the tortured figure. "I want to deal with Raymond myself."

 Ryan grumbles as he leaves the room, but he knows that orders is orders. Resigning himself to that fate, he hopes that there would be some pretty girl in Club Feel to hit on.

 Tony sees Ryan exit the room and close the door. He then turns to the tortured figure of Raymond, River's husband and says to him, "Now, love, would you mind telling me why you came here?"

 "It's okay," the Doctor says weakly. He turns over to Jadi who was looking concerned after all this time. "Jadi, it's good that you're here as well. Where's Angela?"

 Jadi looks at the Doctor and says, "I don't know. We got separated back at the club."

 The Doctor just nods his head in reply. "That would be expected. I suppose we should go back--" Interrupting the Doctor, Angel comes running back the group. "I just heard other footsteps not too far away from here," she says to the Doctor. "It must have been the guards that were pursuing you earlier and they managed to catch up with us."

 River gets up and goes to Angel. "Well, what do we do?"

 "If we don't get out of here soon," Angel says hurriedly, "we may not get out alive."

 TO BE CONTINUED...