So Far From Grace [1 of 6]
Summary: A raid on a Sandstorm location goes terribly wrong, and Kurt blames himself. And then he disappears.
There's no one here except you and me
But you're so far away
And I don't recall this place where I somehow
Fell so far from grace
- The August Empire | Hyperion Street
They had no idea where he was. He was not picking up his phone, and once Patterson found it and tracked it back to his apartment, they found it tossed onto his bed, along with his badge, access card and side arm. But he was not there. There were no signs of foul play or a struggle, and one of his neighbors confirmed he'd seen him leave a few hours earlier. He left on his own, didn't seem to be in trouble, and there was no one with him.
They knew they shouldn't exactly start panicking yet - he was very much capable of taking care of himself - but still, after the day they'd had, something felt off.
He'd led a raid to a Sandstorm facility. Their intel was solid. They had surveillance footage and images that proved Shepherd and her people had been using this location for weeks. They had proof that Shepherd herself had arrived there earlier that morning. It was the most solid lead they'd ever gotten since the raid on the farmhouse. There were twenty four agents in the operation.
Only ten made it back to the office. And it was all on him.
They had arrived at the location to find no one and nothing. Patterson swore that no one had left since the last time they had eyes on the place. But the warehouse was empty. It looked like it had not been used not in hours, but in years. And as they stood there, staring around them in confusion, his phone rang.
He knew Shepherd would spare him. He was still crucial to her endgame after all. And so every other life that was lost, that was on him. And there were a lot of lives lost in the minutes that followed. It was an ambush worse than the one at the farmhouse, and with the phone pressed against his ear, Kurt Weller had to watch his agents go down, one after the other.
"Don't worry," Shepherd's voice came through the speaker on his phone, "I'll let you keep a few of them. I won't kill them all."
He wanted to move, to get him men and women out of harms way, but he couldn't.
"I'll spare her, too," Shepherd said, and Kurt looked towards Jane as she stood frozen in place, her vest covered in little red dots. Snipers. And the message was clear. Any move he made would send a shower of bullets in her direction.
"But just for now," Shepherd said, "I've seen the way you look at her. She might come in handy later."
"I'm glad to see that not everything I taught her has gone to waste. She can still wrap a man around her little finger with just one look," Shepherd taunted as another shooter took down another agent.
It was a game. And his hands were tied, forced just to watch.
And so there they were, almost three hours later, back at the NYO, but Kurt was no where to be found. It was chaotic, no one knew what they were supposed to do, especially about their missing assistant director.
Nas and Tasha took charge. They issued an APB, tasked what limited resources they had to try to track him down using street cameras, to question people around his neighborhood, do anything to try to find him. The only other option was that Shepherd had him. And they were not willing to accept that. Jane stood and watched as everyone scrambled, trying to figure out what to do and as everyone took the task they were handed and rushed to work. She watched them for a moment and then walked towards Tasha and Nas.
"I'm going to head out for a bit," she said and the two other women turned to her in shock. Now was not the time to take a walk.
"Where are you going?" Tasha asked.
Jane thought for a moment and then said, "I think I might know where he might be."
"Then tell us!" Nas said, "We'll send a team."
"No, I think I better go alone," Jane admitted.
Nas shook her head. "That's stupid," she said, "you're not going alone. At least not without back up."
"Look, Nas, I'm only telling you that I'm going so that you don't think you need to start looking for two people instead of just one. I'm going. Alone," she said adamantly.
"But what if you-"
"I'll be fine," Jane said. She grabbed her jacket off her chair, "I'll bring him back," she said over her shoulder as she walked away.