Stolen Love

~"So this is what love really feels like? Why can't this work out?" Anya said quietly, mostly to herself. Matt pushed her off him a little so he could look at her.

He was about to say something, but Anya shushed him. "Let's at least try to make the most of the time we have together." She whispered with a twinkle in her eye. Then they both leaned in together, and they kissed. Tongues explored each other's mouths thoroughly and hungrily, as if they finally broke down the wall that was standing between them.

Matt lowered them both to the floor slowly, and together they had the best night of their lives.~

~Chapter Seven~

(September 25)

"I spy with my little eye, something green…"

"The trees."

"Nope."

"The grass?"

"Nope."

"Honey, that's the only green stuff there is in front of us."

"Oh. Sorry, I cheated."

"You always cheat! Why can't you play fair?"

"Because I'd rather be doing other things."

"Like what?"

"You?"

"You are so perverted!" Anya laughed as she playfully scooted away from a mischievous Matt. They were sitting on the edge of the porch, trying to entertain themselves. The sun hung low in the clear sky, and they both knew that it was almost time for Matt to go. And Anya hated the fact that his boss made him have to pick up the money, it was his boss's idea for the whole thing!

"I don't want you to go…" Anya said looking at Matt as he shifted nervously under her disapproving stare.

"It's my job, it's only picking up some money." Matt countered as he stood up. Anya stood up quickly with him, and followed as he walked back to the stables.

"But it's not like my father to agree to terms like this! He might be planning to do something-"

"Like what? Have a sniper on a nearby roof ready to shoot me if I pick up the money?" Matt didn't even look back at her as he said that, and opened the gate to the field.

"You never know, what if he does?" Anya asked back. Matt stopped and turned.

"Then I'll be dead." He said simply, and went back to what he was doing. He had grabbed a pail of grain, and was trying to bribe Lady into coming to him. Anya watched him furiously from the other side of the rail.

"You'll be dead, then what do I do??" Anya asked. Matt grabbed Lady's halter quickly, and walked back to the stable.

"You do what we agreed. I don't come back by next morning, you grab Star and ride as far north as fast as you can. Boss will try to find where you are as fast as he can if there's any tricks. You don't know what he may do." Matt said all this while fastening a saddle on Lady's back. Anya grabbed a bridle from the wall and started putting it on Lady.

"How am I supposed to live? Why do you act as if it's nothing whether you live or die!?" She jerked the strap of the bridle to emphasize the word 'die'. Lady was startled, and began to throw a fit. Matt quickly grabbed the bridle and talked softly to her until she calmed down. He rubbed Lady's neck softly, then led her out of the stable.

Anya had backed off while Matt worked his magic, then she walked with him as he led the horse to the front of the cabin.

"Because it truly doesn't matter. I can't have you either way." Matt finally said quietly as he tied up the Paint to the porch post and looked at Anya standing next to him.

"You'll always have me, I love you Matt. Nothing can change that. Now, I'll be waiting here until you come back. You will come back, promise me?" Anya begged as he watched her.

"So beautiful…" Matt stroked her face. She grabbed his hand and leaned into it.

"Promise me…?" She closed her eyes against the warmth of his hand. Matt brought her into a warm and firm hug, and pressed the back of her soft hair.

"I promise." She sighed, and looked up at him, placing her hands on his chest.

"Thank you…" She smiled, "Now you have to come back." Matt laughed.

"Ok, I definitely will then, I wouldn't want to get the fair lady mad at me." She shook her head at the poor attempt to make her feel better, and grabbed the collar of his shirt to bring him down for a kiss. He dived down, and grabbed up her rosy lips for a deep kiss. Slightly surprised at how quick he reacted, she quickly recovered, and tried to make the kiss last as long as possible.

All too soon, Matt broke off. He gave her another kiss on the forehead, pushing her wispy hair aside as he did so, then he untied the reins from the porch post, and swung up on Lady.

"I'll be back soon love!" He cried, and made a little show for her by making one of those movie scenes where the hero makes the horse rear up. She laughed at him, and blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch it up with his hand, and he put it in his pocket. Then he reined Lady towards the forest, and galloped as fast as he could towards it.

"He'll be back…" She said quietly, and wrapped her arms around herself as she watched him ride away.

(The Park)

Matt sighed as he walked around the lake that he had kidnapped Anya from deep inside the park. It was hard to believe that all those months had already passed. And that Anya really loved him. 'Nothing is going to happen, I'll get back to her…'

He looked at his watch, then dusted off the mail uniform he was wearing. His boss had the uniform for him under the bridge where they had met earlier. 'I hate this job.' Matt complained to himself, and walked towards the exit of the park.

He saw the gate, and walked along the tree line until he was a safe distance to be able to get out of the park without being noticed. He slipped out the trees, and walked along the sidewalk, trying to act as normal as possible. He adjusted the mailbag on his shoulder as the post box came into view. He took another quick look at his watch. '8:59…'

He decided he should go ahead and check it, and he approached it at a normal pace. His heart started to beat wildly as he stopped in front of it. He opened the top of it, expecting a pain to burn in his back at any time, and reached inside. He scooped all the mail that was in there in the bag, and closed the top. Then he walked away as normal as he could.

As soon as he was a safe distance from the park, he ducked into an alley and stripped the uniform off, he had his old clothes underneath. He tossed the uniform aside, and began searching through the bag. His eyes stopped on a peculiar package. He picked it up, and turned it over. It was unlabeled, and he opened the corner of it so he could look inside.

'Yup, that's definitely the money.' He looked at all the 100 dollars bills that appeared in just that corner. He stuffed it in his overcoat, and took off his gloves, and put them in his pocket. He left the rest of the mail next to the uniform, and took off towards his regular meeting place with his boss, under the old bridge.

After a few hours of hard walking, he finally got there, and he saw his boss, just standing there, leaning against the wall while lighting a cigarette. He turned as he heard Matt's footsteps, and pushed himself off the wall. He had finely cut and styled white hair, and the wrinkles on his face showed that he was well over 50. He was slightly overweight, and was wearing all black, similar to Matt's attire.

He smiled as Matt approached, and threw the cigarette on the ground.

"Hey kid! You got something for me?" Boss asked gruffly. Matt glared at him, and reached in his overcoat, and handed him the package. Boss took it, and started walking away, using a slight gesture to tell Matt to follow him. Matt looked around, then followed hesitantly. Boss's BMW was sitting a little ways from where they met, and Boss put the package on the roof of the car, and opened it. He separated the money in four different piles, and handed Matt one of them.

"There you go, 25%. Now listen," Boss opened the back seat car door, and put the rest of the money in there. Then he turned back to Matt, "we have the money now, you're a free man kid." Matt nodded.

"Free, that means I don't owe you anything and that I don't have to do anything else you tell me too, is that right?" Matt held out his hand to complete the deal.

"I just need you to do one more thing," Matt's hand lowered slowly, "the girl is no more use to us now, shoot her so she can't talk. Then, you're completely free."

"Whoa, shoot her? You told her father-"

"I lied, what can I say?"

"Why kill her? She hasn't done anything to deserve that!"

"Why are you protesting? You aren't getting involved are you?" Boss raised his eyebrows. "You never talked back before. I don't care if you screw her a while, but I can't have anyone get involved with my business!"

Before Matt could control himself, he punched Boss as hard and directly in his face as he could. Boss literally left the ground, and slammed back into the car, slamming the door shut. Boss yelled out in pain as he crumpled to the ground, holding his nose. The men in the front seats of the car started to get out, but Boss raised up one hand to tell them not to.

"You NEVER talk about Anya that way. Yes, I am involved, and I'm NOT shooting her. Take this back," Matt threw the money at Boss, causing it to scattered everywhere. "Having her love is all the payment I need." He spat down at Boss, and walked off slowly.

Boss glared at the back of Matt's head, then got up painfully and got in the back of the car. He still held his nose, which Matt had obviously broken and reached for the shoulder of the man sitting in the passenger seat in the front.

"Follow him, get me the girl." Boss said as he hatefully watched Matt through the windshield. The man nodded, and got out, and closed the door slowly so Matt wouldn't hear.

(Later that night)

Matt finally exited the forest, and the cabin came into view, with a candle burning in one of its windows. He had ridden very slowly, thinking about all that had happened earlier that day. He was proud of what he had done, but also a small fear began to creep up in his conscience. 'Surely Boss isn't going to let me off the hook that easily…'

He kicked Lady lightly in the sides, and he trotted the rest of the way towards the cabin. He tied the horse to the porch post slowly, and straightened himself up, unaware of the shadow moving quickly towards him. Matt knocked on the door, and put on a big smile as he swung it open.

Anya was sitting in the rocking chair next to the fire, and apparently was reading a book until he knocked, for it was now in the floor next to her as she stood up happily, about to greet him.

"Honey, I'm home!" Matt jokingly said as he opened his arms for her to rush into. But instead of going into his arms, she stopped halfway as Matt's head suddenly jolted forward, and the smile suddenly left his face. Matt had felt a huge surge of pain in the back of his head, and he slowly reached back to feel the source of it. As he drew his hand back, it was completely covered with blood. Anya watched in pure horror as he did this.

"Wha…" Matt sputtered, then he dropped to his knees.

"Matt!!" Anya screamed as he fell forward on his face, and Matt fell into a deep pool of darkness.

(Two days later)

'It hurts… Anya… Footsteps…Come back to me…What happened?' Matt was starting to wake up, but from the pain he was feeling, he would much of rather of been knocked out still. It felt like the entire back of his head was being stabbed constantly with knives. He lifted his heavy eyelids, and a bright light flooded into his aching eyes. He closed them quickly, and turned slowly over on his side.

He once again tried to open his eyes, and succeeded this time in keeping them open. His vision was blurred badly, but he could tell that it was early morning, and that his cabin was a wreck. He groaned and tried thinking about what happened the other night.

"ANYA!" He realized what had happened, and stood up quickly. His head swum, and he staggered sideways to the counter. He breathed heavily as he leaned on it for support. He could hear his heart thumping in his ears loudly, and his vision was still blurred.

"They took 'er, I'm so 'upid, why did I take dat risk??" He asked himself out loud, then he noticed that his words were seriously slurred. He froze, then he reached back to touch to back of his head. As he felt to thick-caked blood on the deep wound his eyes widened. 'I'm lucky I'm not dead, but will this leave permanent damage?'

He took a deep breath to steady himself, then he looked around slowly. Everything seemed to blur together as he did this, and his gaze stopped at the corner where the bed was. As his eyes focused, he noticed the sad dried up body of his fish Buffy on the floor. He started to feel true and deep hatred at his boss.

"They 'ook my girl, and they killed my 'ish, now I'm mad." Matt swung around towards the open door, and started towards it. He used the wall to help him walk, and he looked outside. Amazingly, Lady was still standing there patiently. She had the grass to eat next to the porch, and water had collected in a bucket under the porch.

"'Ey girl…" Matt said soothingly, and stumbled towards her. His sudden motions slightly startled her, but she seemed to calm down as he patted her neck, and she allowed him to drag himself up on the saddle. He wriggled the reins from their loose tie on the post, and turned her around in the direction of town.

"We 'ave a little visit to make." He said firmly, and road off.

(In the White House)

"Sir, we still haven't had any reply, there's no word about Anya." A spokesman from the communications room sadly informed the President. Sharp bowed his head, and waved the man away. Derek was standing off to the side. He had rarely left the President's side since Anya's kidnapping, and he was trying to help in every way he could.

"She could still be alive, maybe they're just waiting to make you really worried and desperate…" Derek suggested hopefully.

"We'll they're doing a damn good job of it." The President said bluntly. Derek became quiet and closed his eyes. 'Where are you Anya? I know you're still alive…'

A soft knock came at the door, and Bob came in. The President looked up questionably.

"Sir, someone is at the gates saying they think they can help with the finding of your daughter." Bob said while taking off his security hat at the helpless site of Sharp.

"Send them away, all those kind of people want is a reward, we get those everyday. You should know better than to inform me of it."

"Mr. President, this one is different. He's riding a horse and seems to have a massive injury on the back of his head. Maybe he does know something…?" Bob said.

The President thought for a moment at the unusualness of the person Bob spoke of then sighed. "Send him in, I'm willing to take a chance." Bob nodded, then left for a moment. He returned briefly, with an exhausted and blood covered man.

By this time, Matt didn't even have the will to walk anymore. His vision was so blurred it everything looked the same, and his speech was getting so that hardly anyone could understand him. But all the same, he was able to look the President straight in the eyes determinedly.

"Anya…" Matt choked out, and the President stood up. Derek looked Matt up and down curiously.

"Yes, what about her? Do you know something??" Sharp drilled hopefully. Matt nodded slowly.

"Anya… Boss took…" Matt licked his lips. 'I've had better days.' He thought stupidly as he tried to make sense of his words.

Everyone in the room froze as Matt said the key word, 'BOSS'. Sharp flew from behind the desk and grabbed Matt's shoulders.

"Take your time kid, do you know where she is?" Sharp asked desperately.

"I-" Matt's eye's rolled up, and he collapsed. Bob took on his full weight, and lowered him slowly to the floor. Sharp, and Derek also went down to the floor with Bob and Matt. Bob lifted Matt's head gently to examine the injury and cringed.

"He seems to have suffered a severe head injury, it's amazing he's stayed consciousness for this long. We're going to have to get into a hospital quick!"

"And give him the best of care," The President looked at the rugged form of Matt and smiled for the first time since Anya's kidnapping, "I know he can help." Derek nodded in agreement and looked at Matt's face. 'Seems familiar…'

~* Myuhahaha, a dramatic turn of events! I hated to do that to poor old Matt…LOL, Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are the greatest! Thanks for reading, and please review!

Phoebe Love- Wow, thanks for the compliment! I was trying to make sure that the relationship between the two wasn't too rushed, I'm glad you liked it!! Thanks so much for the review! And thanks for reading!!

Infallibleamour- Your favorite chapter eh? LOL, I'm glad you liked it so much! Thanks for reading and please review!

HeartandSoul- You loved it?? YAYAYA! Thank you!!! Oh, and when are you going to post up a new chappie on Green Eyes? I can't wait for it! Thanks for reading and please review!!

Evilcleo- Hehehe! Thanks for reading!!

RoxyGurl911- You liked the flashback? Thanks!! I worked really hard on it to get it right, LOL. I'm glad you liked that chapter so much!! Thanks for reading and please review!!

Tchi-tao- LOL, I'm glad you liked the 'action'! And I'll definitely keep writing, this is the first story I'm going to finish! Thanks for reading and please review!!

Fuzzinuzzi421- Steaming hott!! LOL, Glad you liked it! Here's your chappie for ya! Thanks for reading and please review!