Then the gloved hand vanishes into the darkness. She swallows, trying to get some moisture into her dried-out mouth...she feels the tape still there, gluing her mouth shut. She looks all around, awake now...but can't make anything out. She looks in the direction where the form was, but doesn't see anything now.

She listens...and hears movement, in the same general area...then a low, hushed voice... then another. She furrows her brow, squinting...and as she concentrates, the tiny bit of light leaking into the room from outside starts to reveal details...

...the tall form again...definitely a man...and...a smaller, petite form...a woman...?

Just then, a beam of blinding, white light cuts through the darkness and hits Tea squarely in the eyes...she gasps, startled, as her eyes snap shut. She dips her head down, keeping her eyes shut tightly, reeling from the brightness.

Then a deep, masculine voice calls to her, from behind the light. "Tea."

Tea shakes her head, still recovering. Slowly, she blinks...then looks up, gradually. She squints as she looks in the direction of the voice...and after a few seconds, has to look off to the side to avoid the light.

The voice speaks again "Tea...can you hear me?"

She hesitates, not knowing what to do...she tries to move her arms, but they're tied to the chair she's sitting in. Her left leg is also tied to the chair...but her right leg has been put back in the brace, and it sticks out straight in front of her. She shuts her eyes again for a second, bewildered and terrified. Then she takes a deep breath...and opens them again.

Still looking away, she nods.

"Good," the voice says. "Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully. You're being held here against your will, and for that, we apologize."

Standing in the shadows, far behind the light...Roseanne stifles a laugh. Dean shoots her a look, and she bites her lip, shrugging. He shakes his head at her, continuing to speak to Tea.

"You won't be held a minute longer than is absolutely necessary. We're aware of your condition, and have no intention of harming you...that is, unless you try to escape, or alert anyone to your situation. Do we understand each other?"

Tea listens carefully, trying to place the voice...it's a professional, almost pleasant-sounding one...but it's totally unfamiliar.

She nods again.

"Wonderful. Now...you must be starving."

The light shuts off, suddenly. Tea blinks again...she hears movement as she tries to adjust to the darkness. She feels a rush of air around her...then something comes down over her eyes, pulling her head back slightly...she feels it tightening, and being tied behind her head. She tries to open her eyes...but can't see anything...she can only blink, with the dry, scratchy cloth so close to her eyes, blindfolding her.

Dean comes around from the back of the chair and slowly squats down in front of her. He looks at her carefully for a moment...making sure she can't see through the blindfold. He holds up a penlight and moves the tiny beam back and forth, to see if her head turns with it...but it doesn't.

He turns it off, then reaches out. "I'm gonna take this tape off your mouth. You WILL NOT scream, and you WILL NOT speak unless spoken to, is that clear?"

She doesn't answer. Roseanne walks up silently, and stands next to him, looking down at Tea.

Dean speaks quietly, calmly. "Tea, you're a smart woman, I know you are. So I'm not gonna waste time screwin' around. If you won't acknowledge, the tape stays on, plain and simple. If you wanna play it that way, fine...I don't think you can really afford to, but it's your choice. So what's it gonna be?"

Tea sighs, knowing she has to eat...and if she doesn't get water, she'll dehydrate, fast. She fidgets around...then nods.

He moves closer to her, reaching out for the tape. "Okay. Now I'm gonna pull this off...it's gonna smart."

Roseanne makes a face as he grabs a corner of the tape and pulls hard...Tea gasps, flinching as the tape rips away from her face. She sits there, gaping, smarting...she starts moving her jaw around, loosening her mouth up. Dean crushes the tape and tosses it aside, then turns to look up at Roseanne.

"Go ahead, turn the lamp on."

She nods, then walks over to a floor lamp by the table, turning the dimmer switch up...the room gradually fills with a soft, white light. She brushes her hands off, and reaches for the bag of fruit on the table. She grabs an apple and starts to cut it up into slices with Dean's pocketknife. She puts the slices in a napkin, and grabs the bottle of water sitting on the table. Dean watches as she walks back over...then he stands up, using a chair for support. He turns the chair around and faces it toward Tea. He steps back as Roseanne walks over, and sits down on the chair.

Roseanne looks at Tea for a moment. Then she glances up at Dean, who gestures for her to go ahead. She sighs, then pops the top off the bottle of water. She pulls the chair closer to Tea, and reaches out, hesitantly, not really wanting to touch her...finally she tips Tea's head back, and tugs on her chin a little so her mouth opens. Tea squirms nervously, dodging her...Roseanne backs off, then looks up at Dean, who speaks softly.

"It's just water, it's alright."

Tea holds herself away for a moment...then gradually relaxes. Roseanne reaches out again, gently touching Tea's chin and tipping her head back, bringing the bottle to her lips. Tea feels the nozzle, and a tiny drop of water on it. She takes a deep breath, and starts to drink...the cold water flows out of the bottle and rushes down her throat, cooling her off. She sucks down as much as possible...when the bottle gets down to about half-full, Roseanne pulls it away.

Dean leans back against the table, watching as Roseanne brings a slice of apple to Tea's lips. Tea backs away from it at first...then licks her lip, and tastes the juice. Roseanne tries to feed it to her again...this time she takes it, gently nibbling. She recognizes it...and when Roseanne tries again, she takes the whole thing. Roseanne watches Tea carefully as she feeds her the rest of the apple, her expression cold, with a hint of an evil grin.

She gives Tea a bit more water to wash down the apple, then wipes her mouth with the napkin. She gets up, putting the chair back. Dean walks over to her and pulls her aside, whispering in her ear.

"Thanks. Why don't you hit the rack for a while, I'll stay up with her. You can take over when it gets light."

Roseanne nods, then kisses him lightly on the mouth.

Dean grins at her. "Go on, I'll see ya in a few hours."

She smiles back, then walks over to one of the cots, lying down and curling up for a nap. Dean takes the gun out of his belt as he walks back over to the table, limping slightly without his cane. He sits down and puts his feet up on the table, adjusting the ace-bandage guard on his knee. Then he folds his arms across his chest, gun in hand, as he settles back in the chair...and just watches Tea, silently.

Tea picks her head up, noticing the movement she was hearing has stopped. She looks in Dean's general direction, but can't see a thing. Without thinking, she opens her mouth to speak...

"Ah-ah-ah---" he says quickly, cutting her off.

Tea shrinks back from the voice, startled.

"I didn't say Simon Says."

She shuts her mouth, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself...but it doesn't work. Her eyes hurt from holding tears back...and she sighs heavily, finally letting them fall behind the blindfold. She bites her lip to keep from making noise.

Dean watches her without a word, listening to her jagged breathing...she sniffles, dipping her head down and wiping her face on her shoulder. His face shows no signs of being affected by her crying...but after another moment, he takes his feet off the table and gets up, slowly. He walks over and looks down at her, as she cries softly.

Tea hears him moving around, but keeps her head down. He turns around and grabs a napkin off the table. He steps closer to her and touches the napkin to her cheek...she jumps back.

"I'm just trying to wipe your face."

Behind the blindfold, Tea shuts her eyes, not wanting him to touch her...but she's helpless to do anything. She sighs again, relaxing somewhat and lifting her head. Dean gently dabs the napkin against her cheeks, soaking up the tears. He crushes the napkin and tosses it, then leans back against the table, folding his arms.

Tea sniffles, her tears dying down now. Finally, Dean speaks up again, quietly.

"Well, I have to say, you've been pretty cooperative so far. So I guess I should return the favor."

She looks in the direction of his voice, listening.

"Go ahead, talk. I'm curious to hear your voice anyhow."

On the other side of the room, Roseanne moves herself around to the bottom of the cot, trying to hear them. Tea opens her mouth, and swallows hard, finding it difficult to form a sentence after not talking for so long.

"W-w-wh-why...why are you...I mean, wh-what do you want...with me?"

Dean tips his head slightly, taking in the sound of her voice...not quite what he imagined, but close.

"Hmm...good question. I think you already know the answer, though."

Behind the blindfold, Tea furrows her brow...she shakes her head no.

"Oh, come on, Tea...you're an intelligent, learned individual...go with your instincts."

She thinks...then shrugs. "What...money?"

"Ding! You ARE correct, suh," he says, jokingly. She sighs, shaking her head.

Dean grins at her. "What?"

"Nothing," she mutters.

"No, no, no...it's not nothing. Tell me."

She takes a deep breath, tossing her head, her temper rising suddenly, overtaking her fear.

"Why? Like you care."

He does a take. "Whoa, look out. Guess I'll have to tape your mouth shut again, huh?"

"Go ahead," she says, indifferently.

He squats down, slowly, getting closer to her...and lowering his voice to a whisper.

"Listen, Tea...I know what you've been through. I know a LOT about you...and believe me, I have no intention of hurting you. I actually admire you...very much. Your husband's a VERY lucky guy."

She sniffs at that, shaking her head. "Don't you mean a very RICH guy?"

He stares at her a moment, an eyebrow cocked at her. Normally, verbal sparring annoyed him. But trading wisecracks with Tea was much more interesting. He could already tell she was not to be underestimated...here she was, tied to a chair and blindfolded, not knowing what would happen to her...and she was fearless, coming right back at him crack for crack. He smiles to himself, finding her to be extremely intriguing. He lingers on her a little longer...then stands up, slowly.

"All you need to know is that once we get what we want, you'll be released. And how you're treated until then...is entirely up to you."

Tea says nothing, and just clenches her teeth, her fear replaced with anger. Dean reaches behind him and grabs the duct tape. She hears the sound of tape peeling as he rips a piece off. He steps over to her and turns her face forward, slapping the tape down over her mouth before she can say anything else. He whispers to her, his face close to hers.

"Well, it was nice to finally hear your voice. But I'd say that's enough for tonight."

She turns her head sharply, pulling out of his grasp. He grins at her as he starts to walk away from her.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll talk again."

Roseanne watches from the cot, as Dean limps back behind the table, putting his feet up and settling in the chair again. She looks over at Tea, who just sits, silently, her face turned away. Roseanne looks between the two of them, suspiciously, wondering what was said. Her eyes focus on Dean, who, in turn, focuses on Tea. Roseanne shuts her eyes, praying in her mind...

Please God, don't let him screw this up...don't let him get suckered by in by Tea...he can't. He just can't.

Then she lies down, trying to sleep, her mind preoccupied now. She knew Dean was a professional, and she knew the plan was the most important thing to him. He wouldn't risk it all by getting personal with Tea...would he? She closes her eyes and rolls onto her side, wrapping her arms around herself...trying to clear her mind of the doubt that's starting to grow.

****************************************

Several hours later, Todd sits in Joely's kitchen, working on his second cup of coffee as Starr eats her cereal across from him. She stuffs a big spoonful of Marshmallow Krispies in her mouth, chewing and swallowing.

"What're we doin' today, Dad?"

He looks at his watch. "Hmm...dunno...thought we could drive around a little before we have to go see the new house. Wanna do that?"

She nods, chewing. He smiles at her, finishing off the coffee...then he gets up, going over to the sink and rinsing the cup out. He grabs the cell phone off the table, then walks around behind Starr, bending down and kissing her head.

"Finish up...I'm gonna go call Tee."

Starr nods again, humming to herself as she eats. Todd walks out of the kitchen, and into the living room, dialing Tea's office. He paces around as it rings a few times. Finally, Tea's assistant, Jeff, answers.

"ADA's office."

"Yeah, Jeff...Delgado there?"

"Oh, hey, Todd...actually, no, she's not."

"Oh. She in court?"

Jeff flips through the calendar. "Uh...no, not today. She probably just got held up...I'm sure she'll be here any minute. You want her to call you?"

Todd makes a face, thinking. "Hmm. Uh...no...no, thanks."

He punches the end button, then immediately dials her cell phone number.

Back at the empty penthouse, Tea's phone starts ringing inside her purse.

Todd paces around as it rings...and rings...and rings. He holds the phone away from him, looking at it strangely, then punches the end button again. Starr walks up to him, with Fred and her backpack, ready to go. She notices her dad's look, and tips her head.

"You okay, Daddy?"

Todd snaps out of his train of thought and looks down at her. He nods, squatting down and fixing her overall buckles.

"Yeah."

"How's Tee?"

He sighs, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Actually...I didn't talk to her...can't seem to find her," he says, a little worried.

"Did you call her little phone?"

He grins, nodding. "Yeah, I did...but she didn't pick up."

He shrugs. Starr shrugs too. "Maybe she's exercising today."

Todd thinks...then nods, thinking she's probably right. Tea probably had to go to PT this morning...and couldn't very well answer the phone while doing it. He smiles at Starr, pointing at her.

"Y'know...you're probably right. Good call," he says, standing up.

Starr beams proudly. Todd cracks up at her, holding his hand out for her to grab. She takes it, skipping to keep up with him as they head out to the car.