"And none of you have any idea who might have taken them?" Korn asked as he sat behind his desk at the citadel with Gwen's parents sitting on front of him.

"I wish we did. But no." Gwen's dad said as he held his wife's hand. "After the last incident, Sania and I haven't been looking for hand outs. Nor have we been cutting corners. Our business has been strictly by the book. We couldn't risk someone coming after us again."

"And what about Trish's family?" Korn asked as he continued to jot down some notes. "I know that they have worked with you in the past on various projects for their hotels. Do you know of any other connections between both of your families?"

"None that we can think of. And they're just as lost as we are." Sania said as she looked down. "Especially after heightening the security at their hotels after the explosion.  We thought that everything would be okay after that.  Apparently it wasn't enough since none of us were prepared for something like this."

"No one can ever be completely prepared for the unknown."  Korn replied in a lower tone.  

"Where are her parents now?"  Korn asked as he glance back up at them.

"Reggy and Denise are at the police department as we speak, filing a missing person's report on Trish." Gregory replied as he slightly squeezed Sonia's hand .

"Did they go down there by themselves?" Paul asked from behind Korn as he leaning up against the wall with his arms and ankles crossed.

"Their lawyers are with them." Gregory answered calmly. "They certainly didn't want to be misunderstood as they filed the report."

"That can certainly happen in cases like these." Paul said in a low tone as he dropped his head.

"We'll take a look into their case as well." Korn said as he gave Paul a firm look before he turned back to Gregory. "And we will be in touch after we find out more information.  In the meantime, I recommend working out of your home until she's found.  It's easier to protect you when your only in one location."

"We will.  And thank you." Gregory said as he stood up. "You have no idea how much this means to us."

"Think nothing of it." Korn said with a slight smile as he stood up as well. "I'm always willing to help out an old friend."

Gregory's frown changed as he gave Korn a relieved look. "I'm glad that you think of me as such."

Korn simply nodded with a smile. Paul then escorted them out of the office and back into the front waiting room. He then quickly introduced them to the security team that had be assigned them. They both gave Paul a nervous look. But they didn't argue as they let the detail escort them out of the office.

Paul then turned and headed back into Korn's office. Korn only gave him a quick glance as Paul walked over and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of him. And as Paul sat down, Korn turned back to his computer as he started to draft an email to his usual contacts who handling high profile cases. He wanted to have a surveillance team on their house and at the sorority house where both girls had been living while on campus.

Paul sat there quietly for a moment as Korn typed away. He tried to concentrate on who he trusted enough to run the investigation. But the more and more he thought about it, the more he remembered what had happened to you. Which made him second guess every team that he put together.

"Have you figured out who you want to head this up?" Korn asked without looking away from his screen.

"Not quite." Paul said as he slightly dropped his head.

"Why the hesitation?"

"I don't know if I trust anyone enough to handle this case properly."

"Not even Nix?" Korn asked as he gave Paul a quick glance.

"That's not really his forte."

"Maybe not. But he did a great job of getting our kids back to Insomnia safely."

"Being attacked in a moving vehicle isn't exactly what I would call 'safely'."  Paul replied as he make quotation marks with his hands.

"No one could have foreseen what was going to happen that night and you know it."

"Maybe, maybe not. Not still."

"Then what do you suggest?" Korn asked as he slightly sat back and looked at Paul.

Paul knew who he trusted more than anyone. Even though he already knew their work load was heavy. But he just didn't want to take a chance on anything happening to the girls. Especially with you being so close to them.

"I want my team to take it." Paul replied as he looked up at Korn.

"But your team is already stretched thin between the investigation into the parking garage and the hotel bombing." Korn replied as he watched Paul. "Besides, aren't you still going through rehab from the incident with Ifrit?"

"The garage isn't as high of a priority since no one was hurt.  At least not until the auto shop is done doing their inspection of each vehicle." Paul answered before he looked down. "And hotel case went cold after the sniper blew up the hotel room.  There wasn't much left to look at."

"Yes." Korn replied as he looked down as he recalled the horrific sight of black smoke pouring out of the shattered hotel window. "I suppose your right."

"And don't worry about my rehab." Paul continued as he crossed his legs. "I've been finished with that for a while now. And besides, who better to investigation this then the team that knows both of the families."

Korn paused for a moment as he looked at his friend. He knew that Paul was extremely stubborn when it came to his health. And barely ever let anyone know if he was struggling or not. And his team was the best investigation team on the force.

"Alright." Korn said reluctantly. "But don't go putting you or your team into a dangerous situation."

"There's always a chance for that." Paul said as he stood up to leave. "You know that better then anyone."

Korn gave him a sigh as Paul left the room.  Unfortunately I do.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

AFTER enjoying your picnic lunch, you and Ignis put everything back into the basket. A rare cool summer breeze blew your hair gently across your face. But you barely noticed as you just absently moved your hair back behind your ear. All you could think about was Gwen and Trish.

Which made you feel guilty that you had just had a peaceful meal in the park with Ignis. While they were going through, who knows what. You closed your eyes as you remembered the tearful faces of her parents. They were so desperate as they stood pleading to your dad for help.

Dear six keep them safe.  You silently prayed as you slowly exhaled.

You were so deep in thought that you slightly jumped when Ignis wrapped his arms around you. But then you curled up in his arms as you tried to fight back the fear of never seeing them again. Ignis seemed to understand as he held you close.

"Don't worry love. They'll find them." He quietly said as he slowly rubbed your back. 

"But what if they're too late?" You fearfully asked as you placed your hands on his.

"We can't lose faith." He softly replied in your ear. "I never lost faith in getting you and your dad back. And I'm not about to lose faith in finding them."

You relaxed in his arms and absently watched a couple joggers in the distance.  "I hope so."

Ignis slightly squeezed as he gently kissed your temple.  "How about we head over to Jason's place?  That will hopefully answer a few of our questions."

"Alright."  You softly replied.

Then the two of you gathered up everything and headed to the car.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

Gwen wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious. The lack of windows in the dark cell made it impossible to know what time of day it was.  All she did know was that her head was throbbing and her vision was still a little fuzzy as she fought to open her eyes.  But as her vision slowly started to clear, she glanced around the room, and noticed saw that the guards was gone and that there was someone cowering in the corner of the cell.

Gwen stared at the person as she tried to clear her head. "Trish?! Is that you?"

But the figure didn't answer as they sat on the floor with their arms wrapped around their legs. Gwen rolled to the side so that she had her legs folded underneath herself. But as soon as she did. Her head started swimming and her ears started throbbing. She quickly bowed her head as she fought off the wave of nausea that started to take over as the whole room started to spin.

"It's best to sit still." She heard a sweetly accented, female voice say from the another side of the room.

"You hit your head pretty hard against the wall."

Gwen swallowed a few times as she tried to keep her stomach down.  Then she glanced towards the voice.  She wasn't sure who was talking.  But she was pretty sure that it wasn't Trish.  And she certainly wasn't about to trust anyone other than Trish at the moment.

"And just who the hell are you?"  Trish growled as her eyes finally focused on the cell across from hers.

"I'm afraid I'm just another victim in this fucked up place." The woman answered in a bitter tone before she moved into the faint light of the hallway. "But not for long.  Not if we work together."

Gwen was stunned at first by what she saw. For the woman looked old and dirty with her torn clothes and dark sunken circles around her eyes.  Her faint blonde hair laid stringy and unkept around her face.  Gwen then gave her a confused look as she seemed to recall her picture from somewhere.

"And just how are we suppose to do that sherlock?" Gwen heard Trish voice asked in a raspy tone. "If you haven't noticed, all three of us are restrained and locked up in fucken steel cells. It doesn't seem possible to escape from this hell hole."

"But that's where your wrong."  The women said as she eagerly got into her knees and smiled at them.  "I believe that if we work together we can escape."

"How?" Gwen asked as she started to size up this strange woman.

"Have either of you ever cheered before?  Or done any type of gymnastics?" The woman asked as she glanced between Gwen and Trish.

"Sure. When we were in middle school." Gwen said as she slowly sat back on her feet.

"But that was years ago." Trish added in a dark tone. "And how the fuck is that relevant?"

"Because I have a plan." The woman replied with a smirk that seemed to suddenly familiar to Gwen.

"Do we know you?" Gwen asked as she tried to recall where she had seen her before. "I swear that I've seen your face before."

"I highly doubt that." The blonde replied as she slightly shook her head.  "You both look like high school students.  I haven't been in high school for years."

"Don't you remember?" Trish asked before she nodded towards the older blonde.  "We saw her picture on the news.  She had been reported as missing a few weeks back.  All they found of her was her car red corvette outside of the city."

Gwen's jaw dropped as she recalled the news break. The woman before her, had never reported back to work after her lunch break. They had searched her house, but never found anything. And her red corvette hadn't shown up until days later. But it seemed that the case had run cold when the police stopped asking for any information to help find her.

Fuck.  Gwen thought as she sat back on her heals.  This just got so real.

The ride over to Jason's house was quiet as Ignis drove. The only sound was the radio as it played the latest pop rock songs that were making the charts.  But you didn't really hear any of them.  You only stared out the car window, lost in thought as the car flew through the city streets.

I wonder if they took her back to Niflheim.  Back to those cold steel cells.  You thought as you felt a chill ran down your back.

Then you slightly jumped when you felt a hand cover yours.  But after realizing that it was Ignis', you wrapped your hands around his.  You knew that he was just trying to comfort you.  Even thought he was nervous himself.  Which of course he would never admit to.

Once Ignis pulled into the driveway, you could already see Jason's car parked next to a solid black truck and SUV.  As you got closer, you could see that the SUV belonged to the city police.  The truck however wasn't one that you had ever seen before.  And the almost pitch black windows made you wonder even more who it could possible belong to.

After entering the mansion , you heard voices coming from that main sitting area in the center of the building.  And when you entered the room, you saw a well dressed, middle aged man sitting on the couch across from Jason and Brady as two police officers flanked him on both sides.  The man had short brown hair, a dark complexion, and was dressed in a dark blue suit that seemed to accent his strong demeaner.  He had his legs crossed and a notepad in his hands as he took down some notes as he asked his questions.

"And you haven't heard from her since she left here last night?"  He asked casually as he watched Jason.

"If I had, you wouldn't be here."  Jason replied bluntly as he was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

You could tell that Jason wasn't to pleased with the visit.  Which told you that he hadn't been the one to invite him over.  And even Brady's stance wasn't any better as he sat in the chair next to the couch.  It appeared as if both of them were on the defense as they stared at the men across from them.

You heard Ignis clear his throat as he announced your arrive to the group. The police officers looked at the two of you as you both stopped just inside the door. The guy in the suit however never took his eyes off of Jason and Brady as they kept their eyes locked on him.

"I see that you have some guests."  Ignis said as his moved his glasses further up on his nose.  "Should we come back later?"

"No need.  They were just leaving"  Jason said in a firm tone as he slightly tilted his head at the detective.  "Unless of course you still have questions for us?"

"No, I think we're done here for now."  The man replied as he put his pen in his inside suit pocket before he stood.  "But should we need to talk to you again...?"

"Then you can talk to my lawyer.  He'll be sure to answer any further questions that you might have."  Jason said as Brady stood up and handed the guy a business card.  "I'm sure that your very familiar with him."

The man's eyes slightly grew as he looked at the card.  But he quickly recovered as he put the card away with his pen.  Then he straightened up as he adjusted his tie.

"We'll be in touch  Mr. Skylar."  The man said as his slight nodded at Jason.

"We'll see."  Jason said in a flat tone.

Then without any further words, the three men left the room and head out the front door.  You watched them as Ignis guided to you the couch that was now unoccupied.  None of them seemed familiar to you.  Which was strange since you thought that you knew everyone on the force.  But then again, it was a very large division with several departments located all across Insomnia.

"They seemed pleasant."  Ignis said in a flat tone as the two you sat down.

"Far from it."  Jason said as he rolled his eyes.

"Why were they here?"  You asked.

"Hmmm."  Jason groaned as he leaned his head back and ran his fingers through his hair.  "Why indeed. Besides trying to accuse us of having something to do with Trish and Gwen's disappearances."

"What?"  You asked in shock as you stared at him is disbelief.  "But you had gone to them to look for her?"

"That wasn't the campus police."  Brady answered in a low tone as Jason slowly rubbed his eyes from exhaustion.  "They stopped by the house after we got back from talking to the girls at the sorority house.  Someone there must have told them that we had stopped by."

"That still doesn't make sense."  You said as you shook your head.  "Why would you go to them if you had had anything to do with that.  Wouldn't you be in hiding instead?"

"That's what I asked him."  Jason as stared up at the ceiling.  "But of course he didn't reply.  So I don't know why they came here like that."

"Indeed." Ignis repeated as he started to rub his chin as he started to get lost in his head as he milled out the situation.  "Perhaps it was to just follow-up on a lead from Trish's parents.  They had gone to the police today.  Maybe the police just wanted to verify their story."

"By accusing us of hurting them?"  Jason asked as he gave Ignis a slight glance.

"That does make sense.  You were the last ones to see them after all."  You said in gentle tone since you didn't really didn't like the idea that anyone would accuse them of doing anything to their own girlfriends.

"I hope your right."  Jason replied as he sat back up and leaned forward to lean on his knees again.  "I would hate for them start chasing after the wrong guys and let the really culprits get away with this."

"Here too."  You replied with a worried smile as you saw the huge bags under his eyes as he looked back at you with pure exhaustion. "But you must have learned something when you went around talking to everyone?"

"Unfortunately we didn't learn anything."  Brady said as slightly dropped his gaze.  "No one seemed have seen them after they left here."

"Oh."  You replied as you started to feel uneasy about the whole thing.

But then Jason's phone started to ring.  He quickly pulled out his phone and looked at the name.  But the frown on his face told you that it wasn't either of the girls.  But he still answered the phone.

"Jason here.  How can I help you sir"  He answered.

He then paused as the person on the other end talked.

"We do."  He said as he sat up.

"Of course Mr. (L/N)."  He said as he looked right at Brady.  "I'll have my security team send over a copy of the footage to you right away."

Brady then nodded at Jason and quickly left the room.  You watched Brady leave as Jason continued to talk.  It seemed that your dad had something in mind if he was calling them.  Which made you slightly smile as you could practically picture him on the other end of the phone busy at his desk as he started to gather up all of the information.

"Well it seems that your dad is on to something."  Jason said as he hung up his phone and placed it on the table.  "He just called and asked for a copy of our surveillance videos from the night that they were here.

"That's my dad for you."  You replied with a smile.  "He's through if anything else."

"Well let's hope that he is able to figure this out rather quickly."  Ignis said as he stood back up.  "In the meantime, we should all keep our eyes and ears open for anything unusual.  Something may show up that might lead us to them."

"Of course."  Jason said as he watched Ignis turn back to you.  "Are you leaving already?"

"Unfortunately yes."  He replied as he held his hand out to you.  "(Y/N) and I have a rehearsal dinner to get ready for."

"Right."  You replied as you took his hand stood back up yourself.

"We'll keep you informed of anything we hear."  Ignis replied as he glanced back at Jason and Brady.

"Here to."  Jason said as Ignis started to lead you towards the door.

 "And hey," Jason started to say which made both of you glance at him.  "Thanks."

"For what?"  You asked.

"For helping us look.  And for not believing  that we would have anything to do with this."  Jason replied with a grateful smile

"Anytime."  Ignis said with a smile.

Later that night, you found yourself standing outside of the Citadel's chapel. You could just barely hear the priest's voice as he was giving the guys instructions in the chapel. You were standing in front of the reception line as you waited to walk in. Tracy was right behind you, followed by Gina. And Mary was last with her mom at her right and her dad at her left.

They all seemed to be enjoying themselves as they talked together. You, on the other hand, were lost in thought as you recalled the events from earlier in your head.  Everything around you seemed blend into the background as you remembered the anger and anguish you saw in Gwen's parents and in Jason. You had never seen them so worried before.  And it made your heart ache for all of them.

"Explain to me again why I'm the flower girl?"  You heard Gina asked as she broke you out of your own thoughts.

"Why not, dear."  Mary said to her in a kind tone as she moved a stray strand of Gina's jet black hair behind her ear. "You are the youngest and prettiest little girl I know.  And your going to love who we choose as our ring barer."

"Yeah right."  Gina replied in a sarcastic tone as she turned her back to Mary.

"Are we ready, honey?" You heard Mary's dad ask as he smiled at Mary with his dark brown eyes and peppered hair.

"More than you know, dad." She replied as she beamed back at her father. "More than you know."

"Alright then. Now that everyone is in place, let's begin." Mary's mom replied with a warm motherly smile.

Then as if on cue, you heard music start to drift out of the room. Immediately your heart started to pound in your chest as you started to get nervous. You turned back to the door and closed your eyes. Then you took a deep breath as you steadied your nerves. Then you opened your eyes and stood up tall.

"I guess that's our cue."  Mary said which made everyone go quiet again.

Suddenly the chapel doors opened up wide in front of you. Your heart practically stopped as you stared at the very elegantly decorated room. You had no idea that the citadel had such an gorgeous chapel.  And the golden trimmed walls seem to shine as the overhead lights burned brightly above your heads.  You simply couldn't help but to be amazed with the beautiful décor.

"Wow." You practically whispered as you looked around.

"(Y/N)." Tracy said in an sing song tone as if in a dreamscape. "Your suppose to be walking."

"Oh. Right." You quickly said as you nervously looked forward again as you realized that they were all staring at you.

That was when you looked over and saw Ignis watching you as he stood beside your dad who was beside Korn. You felt your heart start to pound as he watched you. He looked more mature and handsome as he stood as tall as your dad, only more trim in the waist.  He then gave you a slight smile as he slightly narrowed his eyes. Which made you slightly smile back as you slowly walked one foot at a time down the isle.

It almost felt like a dream sequence as you kept your eyes on Ignis as you slowly moved down the isle.  Except, as you smiled at him, you couldn't help but to think about what Loqi had said to you the day before.

"I know more then you think...

"I know that your perfect boyfriend isn't as perfect as you might think he is......

"I don't have to stalk him to learn anything about him. All you have to do is go on social media these days......

"Your rich boyfriend has been cheating on you. It's all over Share Time. He's been chasing some bleached blonde chick at his college. Every time she turns around, he's right there. It's actually kinda pathetic.........

"Alright. I guess seeing is believing then........

You dropped your gaze to the floor in front of you as you reached the front of the isle. There has to be some explanation. There just has to be.

"There is.......

"But I don't think you'll like the answer......

You took a deep breath as you turned away from him and headed to your place in front of the chapel. After you turned back around and stood in place, you kept your eyes averted from his. You couldn't bare the thought that Loqi could be right. But those pictures that he had shown you were real.

I wouldn't be worried if he hadn't freaked out the way he did. You thought as you started rubbing your hands in front of yourself.

"O.M.G. Are you kidding me right now?" You heard Gina ask in shock which jarred you out of your thoughts. "Him? Are you serious right now? Why him?"

"He was actually a last minute change." Mary said as she gestured to Jeff, the flirtatious valet that use to hit on you all the time. "My nephew and the my niece were suppose to fill the roles of flower girl and ring barer. But my nephew got the chickenpox from school and gave it to his sister."

"So that's why I'm your flower girl?" Gina asked as she gave Mary a stunned look.

"Yeah." Mary said with a sorry smile.  "I hope your not upset."

But Gina's stunned look didn't even flitch as she just stood there.  That was until Jeff walked up and took her hand.  Then he bowed deep and kissed her hand.  Gina could only stare at him as he looked back up at her and smiled.

"I must say, that you look stunning tonight."  He said in his usual flirtation voice.

Gina blushed as she looked down and replied shyly.  "Thank you."

Jeff then took her hand under if arm and slowly started to walk her down the isle towards us.  You smiled at them as they exchanges the occasional shy smile to each other.  They did look awfully cute together.  You just hoped that it would last for a while this time.

After they reached the front of the room, the music changed to the traditionally wedding march song.  Everyone turned to face Mary at that point as she slowly started to walk down the isle with her parents on either side of her.  Even in her slim pale pink dress, she looked stunning.  And the smile on her face was full of love as she kept her eyes locked on Korn's for the rest of the rehearsal.

~~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

After  leaving the chapel, everyone headed to the four-star restaurant that served the best chicken alfredo that you had ever tasted.  Which made you quickly pull out your book and jot down some notes for later.  Ignis couldn't help but to smile at you as you wrote everything that you could about the meal in your book.  But he didn't say a word.  Not even as you shyly put your book back in your purse.

"Sorry, old habits are hard to break I guess."  You shy replied.

"There's no need to explain it to me, love."  Ignis replied with a smile.  "I sometimes find myself doing to same thing."

"Really?"  You asked as started to twirl some of the long noodles onto your folk.

"Of course.  All good recipes start with great ingredients and a bit of inspiration."  He replied with a smile.

His smile warmed your heart as you smiled back.  "Yeah.  I guess they do."

The rest of the dinner was filled with happy chatter from around the table as Mary's parents asked questions about everyone.  Which lead to some interesting topics from the adults as they tried to explain to them how everyone knew each other.  Most of conversation was light though.  And it certainly didn't go anywhere near the recent events that were still going on.  Not that you didn't blame them.  That would have been really uncomfortable to explain at the dinner table.

After dinner was completed, you rode home with your parents since Ignis had to drive his uncle home since he had been drinking during dinner.  But you didn't mind.  You were tired after the day's events.  And you wanted to be alone for a night as you tried to sort out everything in your head.

The last thing you remembered before you passed out for the night was a simple text from Ignis that made your heart soar.  "I shall see you at the chapel at 8 o'clock."

That you will.  You thought to yourself as you slowly closed your eyes as you drifted off to sleep for the night

That night you dreamt of your own wedding to Ignis.  The chapel had been filled with beautiful  (your favorite flower) and satin white lace that lined the isle. Your long white dress seemed to sparkle like a diamond as the sun shined down on you as you slowly made your way down the isle towards the priest and of course Ignis.  But then right as you were about to reach him, the bleached white hair girl walked right past you and up to Ignis and wrapped her arms around him as she pulled him in for a kiss.

You stopped in your tracks as you stared at them as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and passionately kissed her back.  Then she pulled away and smiled at you.

"I'm sorry.  Was he yours?"  She said as a large handle suddenly appear before her.

"Well not anymore."  She said with a smirk and pulled the handle back.

And with that, the floor opened up below you and dropped you into pure darkness.  You screamed out to Ignis but he never looked at you as he wrapped his arms around her tighter and started to kiss her again.  Which was the last thing you saw before you quickly sat up in a cold sweat.  Then after a quick glance around your quite room, you laid back down and stared at nothing before breaking down into silent tears.

**********Author Notes**********

Ever have one of those dreams where your falling?  Only to wake up safe and sound in your room?  I have had that one multiple times.  And even on the floor a few times when I actually fell out of bed.  Which at least made sense at why I felt like I was falling.

But will our heroine be able to keep herself from falling into despair as the thoughts of her friends and the pictures of Share Time swirl around in her head?  Or will she be consumed in the darkness?  Keep an eye out for the next chapter to find out.

Thanks for reading.  :)

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