Author's note: Hi, so as you know I have two other stories going on right now, but those stories both will be finished quite quickly. This story is not typical for me, I wanted to try my hand at writing something quite different for me. The rating is for sensitive material for some(to each its different just want the warning in here at the beginning) graphic violence(I think its mild but I want to make sure everyone understands some of this is dark) in later chapters, and maybe...something else.
Every character is involved in this, the story reminds me of an episode with A storyline, and a B plotline because I have mini plots included in this story that build onto the larger mystery of this story lol. Although my meager writing skills are not as good as the POI peeps who are epic :) And an FYI for everyone who may not know this, but I love writing Careese so there will be moments between them, and maybe they might eventually get together ;D
I wasn't sure about this story begged my friend and proofreader Elaine(you're da bomb :D) to read this prologue for me to see if I should continue, then I asked Sarah my bestie to give me an additional pair of eyes and a friend that's on here odalys-ortiz they all told me to post it. I'm skittish hahahahahahahaha, its just so different and I hope you guys will enjoy it. This story will be very long, hopefully you guys are in the long haul with me.
The harsh tapping of her heels hitting the pavement, followed by short gasps of breath were the only sounds that filtered through the eerily quiet New York streets. Guns drawn, adrenaline pumping, her eyes were searching everywhere for the perp. Running up to the edge of a building by an alleyway, she paused near the edge of the dilapidated brown building, breath escaping her fast. Joss looked behind her where her partner and friend was making his way up to her. She motioned, then did a count down on her fingers and after 'one' they both aimed their weapons in front of them, moving into the opening of the alley.
"NYPD, throw down your weapon and come out with your hands up where we can see them!" Fusco shouted, knowing the young male in his late teens was hiding somewhere in this dark alley because she'd seen him run down this way.
"Please don't make this harder on yourself, do as I say and maybe I can cut a deal with you," she said authoritatively, but with a touch of softness when she considered his age. Maybe he wasn't a hardened criminal….yet.
"I deal with you, I'm dead!" the terrified male voice was shouted from back in the alleyway to her left. She motioned her hand to Fusco at the dumpster in the back. He nodded, slowly moving along the shadows edging closer and closer to the stationary green dumpster. Joss continued her slow steps, stepping in broken glass, pausing.
"It doesn't have to be like that, we can protect you."
"No you can't!"
"Look, our friend is missing. You drove the getaway car, all we need to know is where you took him to, we'll do the rest," Joss called out.
"He won't be there anymore!" Joss struggled to remain patient with this young man but time was running out. The longer he was missing, the less likely when they found him, he'd be alive.
"Then there shouldn't be any problem telling me where you took him, should there?" she reasoned. "Unless you're not a hundred percent sure he'll be gone, which means I can get to him to maybe save him." Joss said from her rooted spot in the glass, her eyes on Fusco. He motioned at her as he stood just before the dumpster and she nodded, moving forward fast just as he did.
"HANDS UP NOW!" Fusco shouted as he grabbed the young male's hood. The boy let out a yelp, throwing the knife down. Fusco pushed him onto his stomach, yanking his hands behind his back, snapping the cuffs on his wrists. Fusco slowly helped him to his feet, while Joss holstered her weapon. She looked the young man in his eyes, the hazel colored eyes were wild and scared. He was taller than she was and he looked no older than fifteen, his entire youthful body trembled.
"Look Christopher, I don't think you're a bad kid. I think you got mixed up with the wrong crowd and didn't know what to do to get out of it. If you can't tell me where my friend is, could you at least tell me who it was you were working for?"
"I-I don't know, they didn't really say."
"Why did you work for them if you are so afraid of them?"
"It's my brother, Peter's fault; he got mixed up with these guys. Peter asked me to do him a favor, that they needed a driver."
"And you had no idea you were aiding in a criminal act at the time? What do you take us for kid, fools?" Fusco demanded and Joss held up her hand to get Fusco to hold off.
"You really had no idea did you, that you were being used to kidnap our friend?" He voice soft compared to the harshness from Fusco.
"NO, Peter just asked me to help him; he's my older brother so I said yeah. I don't get to see him that much; I didn't know what they were doing until I pulled up where they told me to. I climbed out of the car and that's when they pulled the guy out. I thought he was dead." Joss shared a look with Fusco.
"He's not, right?"
"I don't think so. I was freaking out and Peter warned me to keep my mouth shut about what I saw because his friends wouldn't think twice about killing me."
"Okay do you have anything else you can tell us that will help us?"
"Um, I don't think Peter or his friends were going to be holding onto him for very long."
"What do you mean?"
"Peter said that the guy would rake them in some big dough, which they needed for something, for what I-I don't know."
"Oh god, there was a bounty on his head." Joss whispered turning to look at Fusco.
"Look kid, we mostly buy your story, but for you to get out of aiding and abetting, you need to show us where you took our guy." The young teen shook his head frantically. Joss needed the kid to focus, he seemed like he wanted to do the right thing.
"Come on Christopher, we need your help to save a man's life!"
"What about my brother? What happens if I show you where they took that man, they might kill him?"
"We can protect you and we can try to protect your brother, it's all I can offer you. But this man's life most definitely is in danger and you could save him. Now Christopher, will you help us?" She demanded of the teen. He nodded his head a little; she could see the fear in his eyes, but also a hint of determination. He was going to help them. Joss felt real hope for the first time since he went missing. They escorted the young kid with them back to Fusco's cruiser when she dialed the familiar unknown number.
"Yes detective, please say you have a lead on Mr. Reese's whereabouts?"
"We caught the kid who drove the getaway van and he's going to show us where he drove John too. How about you and Shaw, anything?"
"No, nothing! Give me the address detective and we'll meet you there." Finch's voice was high with worry.
"Better yet, be outside the police station, we'll pick you and Shaw up there."
"See you then." He hung up with her and Joss eyed the young boy in the back seat. "We are picking up some friends of mine; they'll help protect you and your brother." The kid nodded his head without saying another word. "Police station, Fusco," she said her nerves frayed and her senses on high alert. They were going to get John back, they just had to.
Fusco drove himself, Carter, 'Einstein,' wonder woman, and the stupid kid out to what had to be Timbuktu; he seemed to be senselessly driving to nowhere until, out of the blue, appeared some remote and very rundown old mill. It had seen better days, several windows appeared to be broken, the white concrete looked permanently stained with swirls of pale yellow as if it was decaying. All in all it should be demolished. Of course wonder boy had to be held at a place that would surely fall down around their heads the moment they entered.
"Here kid really, and you didn't think it wasn't on the up and up?" Carter shot him a look to shut him up which he did; she was already too worried about Mr. Happy to cause her any more grief. Carter should really get her head examined, it was clear to him that her feelings for wonder boy weren't strictly platonic. He should have guessed way back when, when he caught her referring to him as 'John', but tiny moments since then held more precedence, leading him to believe something was going on between the two. Although it was none of his business if she had the joneses for wonder boy it was up to her. Mr. Happy was different around her, something that was akin to almost normal human interaction. If he remembered correctly he thought he saw a smile escape the usual stoic man when Carter gave him one of her lectures on police procedures. She could drone on and on about procedures, he knew because he had been on the receiving end a time or two from her himself. But wonder boy would break each and every procedure she told him about, probably just to piss her off.
Fusco pulled the cruiser to a stop a good thirty yards from the place that, if one strong gust of wind came, it probably could knock it over. They all slowly climbed out of the car except the kid that was handcuffed in the back.
"You two detectives take the back entrance, Finch you're with me while I'll take the front," Shaw immediately directly. Fusco eyed G.I. Jane as she drew her gun out.
"Listen lady Rambo, how about Carter and I take the front while you and 'glasses' here take the back entrance." He wasn't about to take orders from some lady who figured she had a place with them. If she wanted to be a part of their weird little side project than she needed to earn her place. She wasn't going to bark orders at them; the only person who got to do that was Mr. Happy. He earned their respect; her, not so much.
"I have far more experience dealing with this sort of thing and whoever has John could be military trained. If we want to get him back, we need to-" Fusco opened his mouth to argue some more with wonder woman that she didn't have any more rights to wonder boy than they did when Finch spoke up.
"Please, we all care about Mr. Reese, let's just get in there and find him." Finch sounded worried sick, like a mother hen searching for his missing baby chick. Fusco rolled his eyes. Most likely wonder boy was waiting for them and had taken out all the bad guys one by one and was just about to exit to come greet them with his usual dry humor. Fusco wasn't going to budge on the fact that Carter and he were going in the front. Shaw sensed his distrust of her and motioned for Finch to go with her to the back entrance. Fusco and Carter moved to the front entrance, she on the right side of the door and he on the left with their guns drawn in front of them. He was going to move when she gave the order. She motioned with her index finger, Fusco whirled out, kicked the door in, and she moved in first. He moved in aiming to her right making sure no one popped out to clip her. They both lowered their weapons as they eyed the giant empty space in front of them with silent worry.
"I guess we missed the action," Fusco sighed as they saw six men, varying ages and sizes, all lying on the cold cement floor, unmoving in the old rundown mill. It was just one gigantic room; Fusco watched as the backdoor was kicked in and Shaw appeared first, following closely behind her was Finch. They slowly made their way to stand near the bodies. Joss had squatted near the first one to check for a pulse and shook her head. He, for his part, looked around the lone chair that had chains with locks on the front two legs of the chair and a chain wrapped around the top of the seat, lying where someone had once sat. Joss was staring at the lone chair as well, knowing it was where John had been sitting.
"I'm taking it these are the men that were hired to grab John?" Finch said quietly as they eyed the dead men.
"All killed execution style." Carter's voice was low and gruff.
"Most likely their only job was to grab John because whoever wanted John wanted to remain invisible. They used some dumb criminals in need of money to do it for them, then killed them because they were loose ends." Shaw stated curtly.
"How did they get the drop on John; I've seen him in action before, wonder boy can handle himself even outnumbered?!" Fusco asked it as more of a rhetorical question than one needed an answer.
"I overheard some of it, detective," Finch commented. "We had been conversing about the latest person of interest to look into when I heard some noises in the background. John made a gasping sound, I could swear I heard some of the men say something about tasing him again."
"Taser gun will do it; Reese had no chance to escape. The best he could do is try to fight when he regained his faculties, but by then they probably had him restrained," Shaw stated as she squatted down to inspect the chair and chains. "Chains have blood on them," she announced unemotionally. Fusco took a sidelong glance at Carter as she turned to look away and he thought he saw a flash of unshed tears in her eyes. "We need to take a good look around this mill, maybe whoever took John left a clue; it's highly unlikely, but we have to try." Finch looked positively green at the fact that all their leads for John had all but dried up. But right now Fusco was far more concerned with how Carter was taking this. Her shoulders were slumped and the determination was gone from her dark eyes.
"Fusco, the only people that could help us find John are dead," Carter said dejectedly.
"We'll find him Carter, he'll be annoying you with his illegal activity soon enough, and he'll be my bane of my existence again," Fusco said, laying a hand on her forearm, and she nodded her head as they all slowly began looking around the mill in hope of some sort of clue to the whereabouts of John Reese.
Author's note: The story has a big mystery to it that will not be explained right away...if you guys enjoy I'll try to post the first chapter soon because this leaves off on a pretty big cliffie at the get go :D btw: the title, was also something else I was worried about, but thanks Elaine for assuring me its a pretty good title you are the bestest.
If you are waiting for new updates for the other two stories, they'll be coming one tomorrow for Unexpected Moments for sure, maybe even a new one tomorrow of Its Not Over. I try to pace myself, though this story has wrapped around my brain and squeezed till it forced me to write it out.
Thank you for reading as always I appreciate it. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this.
