A/N: This fic was written for the Whumpexchange Secret Santa. My giftee was the wonderful Marie The Wandering Whumper. Her prompt was collapsed building. While the story veered quite off of the original prompt, I tried to encompass as much as possible. I hope you will all enjoy.

The fic is completed, chapters will be posted daily. Unbetaed for time reasons. Please be gentle in criticism as I am not a healthcare professional, nor do I have any practical knowledge about legal, police or other work depicted in the story. Thanks for understanding:)

Underneath

There was something exciting about going against Lanke, Connor thought. The man was a jerk and for a moment Connor almost missed their good old Dr. Stohl but only almost. The scary thing was that Lanke could be equal part brilliant and competent or a total idiot who saw only his own goal and sadly it was not always in agreement with the patient.

Connor grimaced at the thought of having to go into outright war with the man, but at the same time, he was looking forward to it. The fact Ava seemed to appreciate him being a bit more pushy and standing up for himself and his patients made Connor that more convinced he was doing the right thing. Now he only needed to convince Sharon Goodwin of that as well.

With a sigh, Connor discarded his scrubs and reached for his shirt. His shift was up and he was hungry, having missed lunch due to an emergency. He noted the door to the changing room opening but didn't look who came in. Sooner he got out, sooner he could get some food and maybe a glass of Scotch on the rocks at Molly's. He felt like throwing darts and chatting with the guys, letting off some steam, knowing well that Ava was on a double shift and would be staying behind.

Thinking about the devil... a pair of gentle hands wrapped around his chest just as he was finishing buttoning up. A smile crept onto his face as he felt a warm breath brushing at his ear and a familiar weight resting on his shoulder.

"Careful, nurse Susan. What if someone saw us?" he uttered in a secretive voice, even as he took one of the hands in his own, pulling it towards his mouth and giving it a light kiss. The other hand of course went for his ribs and Connor pulled back with a mock startle that quickly changed into a chuckle when he saw Ava's raised eyebrow.

"Really? You're ditching me for a nurse that is twenty years my senior?"

"What can I say. I like older, bossy women," Connor quipped with a smirk, this time expecting the slap on the shoulder.

"Oh, you want bossy? I can do bossy," Ava said with a smirk of her own and Connor felt his pulse quicken. Without much thinking he grabbed Ava's hand and pulled her closer, their bodies flush as he gave her a hot kiss. She responded in kind and for a moment the hospital around them seemed to vanish. Until somewhere a child started wailing. The sounds came rushing back at them and with a sigh they pulled apart, faces flushed.

"Oh well, you will have to show me later I suppose," Connor said, his voice reflecting the regret about having to wait. Until Ava waggled her eyebrows and pursed her lips.

"Maybe I can show you tonight."

"Well, I'm all up for kinky Ava, but I'm pretty sure you might be missed for your second shift."

"What if I told you there's no second shift? I have to finish some paperwork, but it seems that Dr. Latham will take over the night shift."

Connor frowned, a bit surprised at the information.

"Really? Why?"

Ava looked a bit affronted.

"I would've thought you would be a bit happier about me having a free night?"

"Oh no, I am happy," Connor said with a smile, giving her a quick peck on the lips to appease her. "I'm just wondering why would Latham want to take a night shift all of a sudden. It's not his style."

"He didn't tell me the details, but it seems his mother in law is visiting and she and his wife planned a ladies night. Latham seemed a bit scared by the concept."

Connor chuckled.

"Yeah, that I can imagine," he said with a laugh. "So, anything special you want to do tonight?" he asked, eyes twinkling with mischief. Ava ran her hand over his chest with a seductive smile.

"I can come up with a thing or two. Provided you'll give me an hour or so to finish some paperwork."

Connor grimaced at the word paperwork, but nodded.

"Sure, perfect. If you want to stay inside it gives me plenty of time to get us some good wine and take out."

"That sounds nice," Ava agreed then with a sigh pulled away and headed for the door. „I'd love some white wine tonight," she said from the door and left Connor to finish dressing.

Few minutes later, Connor was walking towards his car in the hospital parking lot, thinking what take out would go well with white wine and whether he should stop at the shop or just get home and order everything. He was parked on the further end of the parking lot today as there seemed to be some work being done on his usual parking spot when he arrived in the morning. It was a bummer, especially as he didn't like to keep his expensive car further away from the security, but he was already running late in the morning and didn't have time to go looking for a better spot. So he was relieved to see his car still in place and intact as far as he knew. He was almost at the end of the lot and in the darkness of the night the lamps were casting strange shadows. For a second Connor had a feeling that someone was behind him so he turned around, but the lot was empty. Most of his colleagues from the morning shift had already left.

He was alone. Shaking his head, Connor turned back towards his car. He noted there were two other cars parked on each side, one of them a bit too close for comfort. Connor reached his car and first thing he did was check the passenger side for any scratches or dents... the small Chevy was parked in a way that the opening door could have left some damage. But there was nothing and Connor scoffed at his own paranoia. Something made his skin crawl and he couldn't put his finger on it. He just felt a chill run down his spine and he really hoped it was the hunger and weariness after a long day rather than a start of a cold.

His phone beeped with a message and Connor pulled it out to look at it, while also taking the keys from his pocket. He was standing by the driver's door, one hand poised with the keys to unlock the car, the other thumbing down to read the message. It was from his sister Claire, but Connor didn't get to open it.

There was a sound of a car door opening just behind his back... the van's door slid aside and Connor turned his head to look, almost dropping the phone, startled. He barely managed to turn his head, when a pair of gloved hands grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled back. The phone fell from his hand, cracking on the pavement, but he still clutched the car keys. He was thrown off balance, his body smashing against the side of the van momentarily as the other person tried to pull him inside the van but couldn't manage. The momentary startlement turned into panic and as instinct kicked in, Connor started to fight back.

He tried to turn around and look at his attacker, but there was a heavy weight on his back as he was once again slammed against the car and a meaty arm curled around his neck, pushing against the windpipe.

'What the fuck?' Connor's mind screamed at him but he was unable to make a sound as the arm kept pressing down. With the adrenaline setting in, Connor started trashing around, kicking at whatever he could reach, using his elbow to slam into his attacker. For a second there was a pained grunt as his elbow hit the target and Connor felt the grip let up a bit. He used the small space and leaned his legs against his own car door, giving a heavy push and sending both himself and his attacker crashing against the side of the van and partially inside it through the open door. The grip on his neck relented and Connor scrambled to get off of his momentarily winded attacker. What he wasn't counting on was a second man to be in the van already. Well, maybe man was a bit inaccurate. It was more of a teenager... with wild, scared eyes that made Connor pause. That was a mistake he realized when he saw the teen move quickly and felt a jab of a needle in his shoulder. Connor grabbed the hand holding the needle, but not before the plunger was pushed and he felt the content enter his body.

"What-?" Connor pulled the needle out and threw it away, ignoring how it rolled out of the van and down onto the pavement. He didn't feel any different and couldn't really tell what was in the injection but he knew he didn't have much time to ponder it. He had to get out, get help, before it started working.

The teen didn't say a word, just watched as Connor tried to get out of the van. But he took too long and the other man was already back on his feet. Connor couldn't see his face, the man had a black ski mask hiding it but it was apparent that he was in good physical condition and was driven by some deep anger. Connor managed to push him off as he grabbed his arm, but the lack of space between his car and the van played against him this time. The attacker was blocking his way back towards the hospital and turning the other side would mean to expose his back once again to attack.

Connor didn't know what to do, but the adrenaline pumped hard through his veins along with whatever drug was in the injection. He charged and head butted his attacker, trying to roll over him and run towards the hospital, calling for help. Unfortunately, even though he managed to push the attacker down, the guy grabbed his leg and sent him sprawling painfully on the asphalt as well. The breath was knocked out of Connor as he fell and before he could get it back there was someone heavy lying on top of him, blocking his movement and making it damn hard to take in any breath.

Connor still struggled, trying to push the man off, but as the seconds ticked by, he could feel his strength waning. The drug... whatever the hell was in that injection had started working. Connor still kicked and tried to head butt his attacker, but the man was holding steady, aided by his younger companion and Connor was lacking air. He was also lacking the will to fight and after a minute or two which seemed like eternity to the doctor, he gave up. There were dark spots appearing in his field of vision... it was as if the lights in the parking lot were going out, one by one, until all he could see was dark gray. The sounds dulled and the feeling of panic slowly dissipated. It was as if someone had thrown a sack over his head. He could see, hear and feel, but everything was muffled, in the background. It was happening to someone else. Connor felt as if he was floating over his own body, a disinterested observer.

He knew he should be scared as he felt his body being hoisted up and pushed inside the back of the van. He could feel haphazardly tied rope pulling his hands backwards, he could hear the two men cursing and looking around the parking lot, making sure they weren't seen. The masked man then jumped inside the back of the van, sitting down next to Connor. The van door slid close and the teenager must've been behind the wheel because Connor heard the car start and could feel the vibrations of the engine running through his body laying on the cold floor.

"Let's get the hell out of here," the other guy said pulling of the mask from his face. Connor should have been scared to death at that point. He had a good view of the face, familiar in some ways. He knew that meant they were planning to kill him. But the drug coursing through his system didn't allow for fear or for clear thinking. Connor lay there on the floor, listening to the laughter of the man as he rolled around hitting the walls during every turn of the car. Sometime during the ride Connor's eyes slipped closed and he knew no more.