Ryan Hardy was ready to give up. Joe Carroll's people had their hands in everything and it seemed they had eyes everywhere. Joe remained in prison and yet he seemed to have more control than any of the agents who surrounded Ryan now. They were in a frenzy swirling around the office in the Virginia prison like a great tornado. Agents flew from one desk to another, papers passing between them and words leaving their lips in a newfound urgency. First they had taken Joey, and then Ryan's sister and now Joe's people had got their hands on one of the FBI's own. Mike Weston had been missing for forty eight hours but it was clear by the smug look on Joe's face that his people had played their part in this.

Joe sat stilly in the interrogation room the agents had dragged him into. Multiple people had been in and out in the past two days but Joe hadn't given them the slightest hint about where Mike was. Even Ryan hadn't been able to get a decent word out of him so Joe remained in the room, looking at the blank walls and occasionally glancing up at the video camera in the corner. In comparison to the room with all the agents, Joe sat in peace.

"Ryan, are you listening?" Joe's lips moved after hours of silence. The sound of his voice played into the earphones of agent Mitchell who had been typing away trying to find some sort of lead on her computer. She had been close to Weston and she hadn't left her desk since he was taken. At first she took Joe's voice in her head as some sort of delusion created by her exhausted state but when Joe's voice sounded again Olivia realized he was actually speaking. "Anyone? I'd like to chat now."

"Hardy," Mitchell called Ryan over quickly. "Joe's asking for you."

No other words were needed to send Ryan out of the room and down the hall to join Joe. Two guards outside the room stopped him from entering until Debra Parker stepped out of the room after Ryan. "Let him through." she ordered. Debra knew that Joe tended to talk to Ryan more and at this point they didn't have a single clue as to where Joe's followers had taken Mike so they needed to grasp at every straw that was presented.

Ryan entered Joe's room with his shoulders squared and his head up. He couldn't show Joe that he was feeling defeated, even if he was. "What is it Joe? Bored?" Ryan snarked as he closed the door behind him, moving to take a seat across from Joe at the metal table in the middle of the room. Joe's chains shook as he moved to clasp his hands together, the metal clashing against the top of the table with a sound that would have startled most but Ryan didn't flinch. The two of them should have learnt by now that they couldn't intimidate each other and yet they both continued to try.

"Disinterested." Joe answered "Disenchanted." he answered with a sigh. "We'll bore the readers at this point, we can't just halt the rising action like this, we need to keep going." Ryan had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Joe and his book were seriously getting on his nerves.

"So tell me where Agent Weston is."

"That would be too simple." Joe shook his head. "But I may point you in the right direction, once you give me what I want." Joe's eyes lifted with a torturous gleam placed in them. The cogs of his mind were turning at a furious rate, his malicious assembly line of thoughts shining through the hollow brown spheres in his head.

"What do you want Joe?"

"Not what." Joe spoke quickly. "Who."

"I'm not bringing Claire back in here." Ryan said in a hard voice. Joe's people already had Joey so Ryan assumed that Joe wanted to see his ex-wife again. Ryan was not about to let that happen when Joe had tried to choke the life out of Claire the last time she had been put in a room with him.

"Claire? Oh Ryan, you think too simply of me." Joe's breath left his lips with a small laugh. Ryan waited on his next words, for the explanation of what he wanted but Joe hesitated. The cogs slowed and his mind focused in on one thing. His next words would be important and he wanted to make sure he phrased them correctly.

"Who is it that you want Joe?"

Joe didn't give Ryan an answer, instead he sat quietly, his mind mulling over this moment. He had waited for this day and it had come earlier than he had expected. Joe had made the plans to kidnap an FBI agent but he had been unaware of Weston and how important he would become for Ryan. It made the situation sweeter, especially because it had all happened ahead of schedule. Everything was practically falling into his lap, years of work was finally paying off.

Ryan didn't have time or patience for Joe's slow down. The ex-FBI agent slammed his hands down on the table, causing Joe to focus on him. Another laugh left Joe's lips as he watched Ryan get agitated. It was frustrating for Joe to watch Ryan act so predictively. There was a formula to Ryan Hardy that involved regret, drinking and anger. It always resulted in anger. Joe saw potential in that emotion but he wanted more from Ryan; he wanted to break him.

Today, however was not about Ryan or even Mike Weston. Joe's still eyes remained on Ryan's face as he waited for a reaction. His lips opened as if he were about to give Ryan the answer he was looking for but hesitation came over him again. The name rolled over in his mind a few times, his thoughts focusing on it and building an image of the person in his mind. It had been almost ten years and yet the picture was clear. Joe's eyes cast down at his hands to realize they were trembling. He tried to stop the shaking but the more he focused on it the more it became noticeable. Soon his chains were rattling against the table and even Ryan knew that something was up.

"Who?" he asked again. Ryan's question snapped Joe's mind away from the image in his head and his eyes raised from his shaking hands to connect with Ryan's once more. Ryan waited, his lips pressed together in a straight line as he watched Joe's open to speak a name.

"Agent Liette Arnaut."