Sacrifice

Mmmmm, she felt wonderful, her body was still humming from the all the love making. She couldn't remember coming to Kurt's place but she must have seeing as she's now in his bed and had been for a number of hours and what was even better was the fact that he was in bed with her. She didn't remember talking to him but they must have. Things between them were only marginally better since she came back but not this good for them to be together but they were. They must have talked about it the night before but she couldn't remember one word of said conversation. All she knows is that her wildest dreams have come true and all the fantasies that she's had about sharing Kurt's bed were nothing compared to the real thing. He cherished her body and paid homage to it all through the night. She never knew that her body could tingle in so many different areas. She smiled as she felt him nuzzle his nose into her cheek, he had his arms around her they were front to front and their legs were intertwined.

"Mmmm Jane."

"Jane?"

"JANE?"

She felt something wet on her face and when she opened her eyes she realised that Kurt was no longer there, instead in his place was Allie and she was holding a water bottle over her and it looked like she emptied some of the contents onto her. So the 'time' with Kurt was just a dream. She actually thought they had a chance but it was fate playing a cruel trick on her. Now she knew why she couldn't remember the details from the night before because they never actually happened. For a few minutes she was blissfully happy. She pushed the bittersweet memory away.

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Patterson picked up her phone and dialled Kurt's extension.

"I'm watching it on my monitor! Do you have any idea who…" asked Kurt

"No, it just appeared. It is someone who has some serious IT skills…"

"Why do you say that?"

"They got through my firewalls, nobody gets through my firewalls!" declared Patterson

"I'll get the rest of the team and we're coming to you, judging from the bullpen it's only on our two monitors."

"Fine!"

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"Allie? What are you doing here?" Jane asked

Allie looked at her in a funny way.

"Where exactly is here Jane?"

Jane looked at Allie and realised something was wrong. There is no way Allie would pour water on her just for the sake of it. She must have been unconscious and Allie knew enough about her to know not to try and wake her herself. Jane took a moment to look around her and she noticed they were in a windowless room. There was a door but there didn't seem to be a way to open it from their side. The walls were decorated with slightly disturbing pictures; they looked like children's drawings which made them even more disturbing.

"Erm, I have no idea. How long have we been in here?"

"Well, I woke up about 10 minutes ago and she…"

Allie indicated with her head and Jane turned around to see who Allie was inferring to, she was shocked to see Nas there.

"…woke up five minutes ago. You are the last one to wake up!"

"Do you remember being taken? Were you with Ella?" asked a concerned Jane

"No, thankfully, Connor took her to the park as I had some work to do."

"Do you have any idea who could be behind this and what they want?"

"I have no idea who's behind this but we know what they want!"

There was something in Allie's voice that alerted Jane to a foreboding feeling.

"What do you mean?"

Allie indicated the small monitor on top of a small metal cuboid. Somehow throughout her initial inspection she completely missed the out of place monitor. As she studied it a message came onto the screen.

'One must die for the other two to survive!'

Jane looked at Allie in shock then they all heard a mechanical noise and looked back at the screen to see the front of the metal box lower to reveal a bottle clearly labelled 'POISON' complete with a skull and crossbones image.

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"Patterson! What have you got?" demanded Kurt

"From your office to here is barely thirty seconds, I know I'm good but I'm not that good!"

Weller, Reade and Zapata were now in Patterson's lab they were all focussed on the screen in front of them. They watched as Allie 'woke' Jane up, initially they thought that she was dead until the water hit her face. As soon as Kurt saw Allie, he called Connor to see if Ella was ok and thankfully she was and Connor wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

"Can you trace the feed?" asked Reade

"Oh, why didn't I think of that? I was waiting for the culprit to send me a personalised invitation!"

Reade took a step back, whenever Patterson was like this it was safer to retreat than to advance.

"Sorry! They have Jane and Allie!"

"And Nas." Whispered Zapata

Kurt was well aware that his team did not like Nas and he really hoped they would never find out that they had been an item for a few weeks. He still couldn't believe that he tried to forget about Jane by falling into bed with Nas. As a mistake, it was right up there as far as he was concerned. He knew he was deluding himself, he knew his team knew, he knew Jane knew and when he realised that she knew, it did something to him to see the hurt in her eyes. He tried to forget about that look but it haunted him and even though he and Nas were casual it felt wrong after Jane found out. It felt like he was cheating on her even though they weren't even a couple. He tried to forget about those feelings and he thought he had succeeded until Jane was showing an interest in a guy or rather a guy was showing an interest in her. Kurt knew he had no right to be jealous but he finally admitted to himself that he still had feelings for her and he blew it several times, first by being a complete and utter bastard to her since she came back and then by sleeping with Nas, someone he knew she didn't totally trust and neither does he if he's honest. It wasn't fair to keep seeing Nas so he broke it off with her. He knew she wasn't happy about it and it had nothing to do with the fact that she had feelings for him but more to do with the fact that he wouldn't be as easily manipulated now that she wasn't in his bed, another reason to regret his decision to take her to bed.

The team watched and listened as Jane and Allie talked. They all noticed that Nas was off to one side watching the scene in front of her.

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"So why the three of us?" Allie asked

"Well we all have one thing in common…" Jane began

"What's that?" asked a perplexed Allie

Jane looked at her as if she had three heads. She must know about Nas she thought.

"Well, Kurt of course."

Allie scrunched up her nose in confusion.

"Huh? I get you and me having a connection to Kurt but what does Nas have to do with it? I could understand if Zapata, Patterson or Reade were here as we're all close to Kurt but why her?"

Jane blushed and just kept eye contact with Allie until she understood. When she did her mouth dropped open in shock. She turned to Nas.

"KURT AND YOU?!" said an incredulous Allie

"Allie…" Jane began

"Well it's not serious!" declared Allie

"How do you know that? Does Kurt tell you everything?" demanded Nas

"No he doesn't. Why should he? We're friends and nothing more but let me ask you a question, how much time have you spent with Ella?"

Allie smirked at the obvious dig of the question as Nas tensed up.

"Exactly! You haven't! If you were important to Kurt he would have found a way for you to spend time with his daughter! You're a flash in the pan!"

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Kurt winced at Allie's blunt speaking. He didn't really want to turn around and look at his team either. He just closed his eyes in defeat.

"Well boss when you decide to mess up you believe in 'going big or going home' don't you?" asked Zapata

"Tasha!" exclaimed Patterson

"What? You're both thinking the same thing but I'm the one that says it!"

There was a few seconds of silence at Zapata's declaration. In truth the team did know about Kurt and Nas and even though they were still mad at Jane they couldn't believe that Kurt moved on with Nas of all people. They secretly hoped that they two would sort out their differences and get together but until Kurt let go of his anger that wasn't going to happen. They each saw the hurt in Jane's eyes when she realised that Kurt and Nas were intimate. Truth be told none of them wanted to see those two together, it was unnatural, it was just wrong. It was always supposed to be Kurt and Jane not Kurt and Nas. The team only tolerated Nas because of Kurt but they could only handle so much. She was cold and manipulative. Whatever they thought about Jane, and that was changing daily, she truly cared about Kurt and would sacrifice herself for him in a heartbeat whereas Nas would sharpen the knife before she buried it in his back. Their silence spoke volumes to Kurt and it made him regret whatever it was between him and Nas even more, which he honestly didn't think was possible because he regretted it so much already.

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"Allie!" exclaimed Jane

She couldn't stand the NSA agent but Kurt was with her and she wanted him to be happy and if Nas made him happy then so be it! She couldn't understand why Allie was being obnoxious, she was usually very nice.

"Jane how much time do you spend with Ella?"

"Erm, not that much!" Jane said trying to deflect the mounting tension

"Really? So you don't accidently bump into Connor when he goes to the park with her?"

"That was only a couple of times and he was as shocked as I was!"

"Hmmm, I could believe that but do you deny spending time with them when you do bump into them?"

Allie watched as Jane blushed.

"It would be rude to just walk away without saying 'hello'!"

"Mmmmm Hmmmm! You know you could just come with Kurt or the rest of the team to visit Ella…"

"I don't think that would be a great idea. Kurt would have a fit if he knew I've spent any time with Connor and Ella and I don't want to impose on the team's time with WJ!"

At Allie's baffled looked Jane explained.

"Weller Junior!"

"I think you have as much right to spend time with her seeing as you spoil her!"

Jane blushed even more.

"W…w … what do you mean?"

"Don't play the innocent with me. I always used to get two packages from Patterson on the first Monday of every month and I would always call her and thank her. Then a couple of months ago I got only one package, I didn't think anything of it. I opened it and it was full of the usual cute stuff for Ella but when I phoned Patterson to thank her she had no idea what I was talking about. She didn't have enough time to send that month's parcel. It didn't take her long to figure out that it was you sending the second package! Why do you think I created the WhatsApp group where all the team are members? It was the only way I could make sure you received regular photos of Ella, obviously I had to let the rest of the team know why I was inundating them with photos…"

Jane blushed and lost all her colour within a few seconds.

"…by the team I mean everyone apart from Kurt! Seriously if you look up 'stubborn' in the dictionary then you'd see a picture of him there as the definition!"

"It's complicated."

Allie looked at Jane until Jane couldn't take it anymore and begun to squirm.

"Actually it's not complicated. Kurt Weller is just an obstinate man!" declared Allie

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Kurt turned to look at his team and they all quickly averted their gazes.

"Seriously?" Kurt asked "Why didn't any of you tell me?"

"Why? And deprive Ella of the really cool stuff that 'Aunt Jane' buys her?" asked Patterson "No way am I going to be a party to that!"

"I wasn't going to take all the stuff back or anything…" denied Kurt

"What were you going to do?" asked Reade

Kurt stood looking at them and he opened and closed his mouth several times but no sound or words came out.

"Exactly!" said Zapata

"Jane would do anything for Ella and you know it!" declared Patterson

"She loves your daughter almost as much as you do! Even after we've all treated her like crap!"

Kurt closed his eyes.

"I've royally f *$ed up haven't I?"

"That's an understatement boss!" Zapata said

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"Let's look for a way out!" Jane said

"Well it quite clearly states that one of you have to die for two of us to survive!" stated Nas

Neither Allie nor Jane could resist rolling their eyes at Nas' interpretation of the cryptic clue. Neither of them missed the fact that Nas was going to be one of the two that survived.

Jane and Allie began to walk around the room and inspect it. They tried the door but it didn't open. They took a closer look at the pictures and shared a look before bursting into laughter.

"I swear if Ella draws anything like this I'm taking her to a psychiatrist straight away!"

"I'll come with you! How can any parent be ok if their kid draws something like that?"

Allie shrugged her shoulders.

"Drawings are a valid way for youngsters and adolescents to show their true feelings…" Nas began

Allie and Jane shared another look and quickly looked away before they laughed.

Jane heard Allie whisper.

"If these are her drawings from when she was a kid then she's not going anywhere near Ella, I don't care how much Kurt loves her. NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN!"

Jane covered her mouth to stop the laughter from escaping but she did agree with Allie.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kurt winced again as the rest of his team chuckled at Allie's reactions.

"Patterson any luck yet?" Kurt asked

"Actually I triangulated the …and you really don't want to know what I did, suffice to say that I narrowed it down to the warehouse district…"

"Great! We'll head over there and you can direct us when you get a better location…"

"Fine but take the tablet and I patch the live feed to it so you know what's going on."

"We have to make a detour to the armoury!" stated Zapata

Kurt and Reade gave her a look and she rolled her eyes.

"Do you really think we'll get to the place and the key will be waiting in the lock for us?" Tasha said sarcastically

Reade and Weller shared a look which Zapata saw.

"I saw that!"

They winced at her comment, she was a short person but you didn't want to get on her bad side. They made their way to the armoury and collected some items that they may find useful.

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'One must die for two to survive'

The message was still on the monitor however now there was a timer; it was counting down from 30 minutes. Allie and Jane just looked at each other. They then began to furtively search for a way out. Half the time had elapsed when Jane gave up; they were locked in a windowless room. There was nothing in the room that they could use to help them get out. She swiped the bottle straight after the timer had started when Allie had her back turned to her. Jane was sure that Nas wasn't going to say anything about the bottle; if anything Nas would help her drink the poison if she was given the chance.

"I think it's a lost cause!" stated Jane

"We can't just give up!"

"Allie, c'mon, we've been all over this room several times and there is nothing to do or use to get out of the room…"

"What are you trying to say?"

Before Jane could answer Allie snapped her head back to the box and saw that the bottle was no longer there.

"Jane, give me the bottle!"

"No!"

"Jane, you are not going to sacrifice yourself for us! Nas talk to her!"

"If she wants to do this for us why should we stop her?"

Allie shot her an incredulous look.

"Are you serious? Why should Jane give up her life for us?"

"It doesn't have to be Jane, you could do it…"

"NO!" shouted Jane

"Why?" rebutted Allie

"Because I of all people know what it's like to grow up without a mother…"

"Ella will have Kurt, Connor and you!"

"Allie, do you really think there are any circumstances that Kurt and or Connor would be happy with you giving up your life and Ella growing up without you?"

Allie's silence said it all.

"Exactly!" said a triumphant Jane

"Ok, why can't 'Miss Happy' over there take it?" asked Allie

"Kurt needs her." Whispered Jane

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"NO!" shouted Kurt

"Weller?" asked Reade

"No, I don't need Nas; we broke up weeks ago…"

"This is why you shouldn't keep things so private…"

Kurt shot Zapata a look that could kill if he had the power.

"What I'm just saying! If you were a bit more open then Jane wouldn't be about to take the last drink of her life for you so you could be happy!"

"Zapata!" said Reade

"Fine, shutting up now!"

"Can't you go any faster?" demanded Kurt

"The sirens are on and I'm going as fast as I can!"

"I'm not going to lose her. I can't lose her!"

Tasha and Reade shared a look in the mirror and Tasha tried to go a little faster. She and Reade knew that if anything happened to Jane then they would lose Weller as well.

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"You know I'll always love Kurt, without him I wouldn't have Ella and she's my whole world, I can't imagine my life without her. I love him but I'm not in love with him…" Allie had just started talking there was nothing to do but listen to her, not that it was a chore for Jane, she liked Allie. "…There was a time that I thought that maybe Kurt could be 'the one' but do you know when I changed my mind? When I saw you two together, I knew there was no hope for me. Not once in all the time we knew each other, Kurt and I, did he ever look at me the way he looked at you Jane! From that moment I knew we were not supposed to be together at least not long term. I wanted someone to look at me the way he looked at you. We had fun, that's all it was, and then I met Connor. Since the day I met him I knew he was special. He looked at me the way Kurt looked at you and I looked at him in the same way. Then I found out I was pregnant. I broke it off with him even though I was already in love with him. He's almost as stubborn as Kurt, almost! He was adamant he wanted to know the real reason why I ended it between us, he was so insistent that I blurted it out 'I'm pregnant!', obviously he was shocked, we'd only been together for a couple of months when I dropped the bombshell on him. It would be bad enough if it was his kid but the fact that I was pregnant with another man's child was even worse. When I told him it wasn't his as I was further along than we'd been together I expected him to leave but do you know what he said?"

Jane shook her head, she never heard about her and Connor before.

"'When's our first appointment?' I looked at him as if he lost his mind. I spoke to him as if he was not right in the head, I spelled it out to him in simple words and his response just left me speechless, 'this baby is half you, I'm already in love with you now there will be more of you to love!', I cried and cried. I tried to get him to leave but he wasn't having any of it. He bought a baby book, he bought another copy for Kurt when he knew Kurt wanted to be part of Ella's life, it's the book they both quoted to me. It was both the sweetest and most irritating thing EVER! If I didn't already love Connor that would have sent me over, not once has he ever treated Ella as if she wasn't his. I'm amazed that Connor and Kurt have bonded over Ella. They're as thick as thieves! They both agree that Ella will not date before she's 25!"

"Good luck with that! You may need to get Sarah, Patterson and Zapata on bored to help you when the time comes."

"It would be better if Ella also had you in her corner!"

Jane just smiled a sad smile.

"I'm pretty sure having me on Ella's side wouldn't help her at all in fact I think I would hinder her!"

"Kurt's stubborn! He's not the only one though! Seeing as it's only us three and the girlfriend over there is not going to admit it to anyone outside of this weird room but just for me can you please just admit how you feel about Kurt?"

"Why?"

"Why not?" countered Allie

"Does it really matter?"

"When Ella asks why her daddy isn't married I would like to say that he loved someone who loved him just as much and because of that no one else can hold a candle to her and he loved her so much he would rather be alone…"

Jane cleared her throat and kind of felt bad for Nas as Allie just dismissed her from Kurt's life.

"Please? Don't make me lie to Ella."

Jane took a deep breath.

"You're right!"

"About…?"

"I love him ok? I love Kurt Weller. I love every stubborn bit of him but I also betrayed him, ask Nas!"

"Look, I have no idea what went on between you and the team and I don't want to. All I know is that you love him, Ella and the team. He loves you…"

"He hates me, again, ask Nas. I want him to be happy; having me dead would stop the pain I caused him and the team. It's probably the answer to everyone's problem. I've always expected to die, every mission I come back from is a miracle, and I'm just dying a little earlier than anticipated. He'll be happy."

"You're wrong!"

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"C'mon, c'mon!" demanded Kurt as they raced down the corridors. Reade had the tablet now.

They reached the correct door after they followed Patterson's directions. Kurt and Zapata didn't even bother to wait they placed the plastic explosive around the edges of the door they knew time was of the essence and once Reade confirmed that none of the women were close they blew the door. Kurt rushed in without waiting for the smoke to clear and stopped suddenly when he saw Jane lying sprawled on the ground, Allie was sitting with her knees up to her chest and she was sobbing. Kurt slowly walked towards the body on the floor. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He collapsed to the floor by Jane, he tentatively touched her hair hoping that she was just playing a really sick joke on him but she was completely still. His fingers found her cheek, she was still warm but his touch had no effect, she didn't flinch from him or lean into him. She was still. Completely still. She was at peace at last. She gave her life for the mother of his daughter and for the woman who she mistakenly thought he was in love with. The truth was the woman he was in love with was laying in front him and she never knew what she meant to him. He leaned down so he was closer to her and he said in a clear voice so there was no doubt.

"I love you Jane. You were the only one I loved. I'm so sorry for being too stupid to admit it before it was too late. I hope you're finally at peace now, you deserve it."

He kissed her forehead and placed a quick kiss to her lips. Reade and Zapata watched Kurt say goodbye to Jane and neither of them could stop the tears rolling down their faces. They could hear Patterson sniffling in their ears. The only one with dry eyes was Nas but you'd have to have a heart to have feelings and Nas didn't.