I don't own Blindspot or any of these wonderful characters.
After months spent trying to find peace, Jane was jarred by the sounds that assaulted her ears when she was once again in New York.
They left the airport and headed straight for the NYO. She was worried about her team…her family, but she would have been lying if she didn't admit to herself that when she realized that Kurt hadn't come for her, but because the team was missing, she'd been gutted. She'd thought he missed her like she had him…she'd thought….
"Jane?" Kurt called her name again.
She pulled herself back to the present with difficulty.
"What?" She asked blankly.
Kurt looked at her in concern.
"Are you hungry?" He repeated.
Food…she knew it wasn't a difficult question, but it was so far from important to her she didn't know how to respond.
"I guess I could eat," She finally decided.
He was still watching her with concern.
"I'll have something sent in, I know what you like," He assured her.
She watched him walk away and looked around the office awkwardly. As she expected her presence had garnished a fair amount of attention. She smiled at some people, then turned and headed toward the locker room. She knew she was running, but she couldn't have stood there a moment longer. She made her way to a changing cubicle and slid the curtain closed. She sat on the bench and drew her feet up to rest on the seat next to her.
The memories were assaulting her. Like a kaleidoscope of colors she saw once more the path that led her here. Her first day, filled with terror and anxiety, finding her way with the team…losing them, her time with the CIA, going undercover with Sandstorm, finding her away back to Kurt. Losing him…
Kurt came back out of his office after placing the order to find Jane missing. His heart felt like it was about to explode as he looked around in sudden panic. He'd thought she would follow him into the office, but she hadn't.
"Did you see where Jane went?" He asked one of the agents.
"I think she went to the locker room," She answered.
Kurt headed that way with a quick step. He wanted to run. Last time she'd left, he'd known she needed space, but he hadn't realized that that space would be so far removed from him or how he'd feel once she was gone. He'd known letting her go was a mistake immediately only to spend many frustrating months attempting to track her down and bring her back home…to him.
She'd been surprised that he was still wearing his wedding band, he wondered how she feel if she realized that not only did he still love her obsessively, but felt it even more now that he'd had to live without her. When she'd run to him, he'd wanted to cry. He knew then that she still loved him it had been there for him to clearly see. He'd been afraid he'd lost her forever. That he would never find her and when he did, she wouldn't need him anymore. He had found her and she did need him, almost as much as he needed her if her reaction was anything to go by. He wouldn't lose her again.
The locker room was empty when he pushed open the door. The longer it took to find her the more his heart raced. He checked the bathroom and came once more to stand in the middle of the empty room. He was reaching panic levels when he heard shuffling. He came to the curtain and pulled it open without even given any thought that it might not be Jane. Fortunately it was her, but although she was physically there, she seemed not to notice his arrival. The look on her face bothered him on every level. She appeared to be terrified.
"Jane," He called softly, stepping into the cubicle and closing the curtain back behind him.
She looked up at him and attempted to smile, but he knew her better than that.
"Are you okay?" He worried sitting next to her on the bench.
"I'm…" She hesitated, "A little overwhelmed."
He had to lean forward to hear her whispered confession.
"I'm right here," He assured her.
"So I guess we need to start a new tattoo database," She realized.
What was your first impression….I was terrified….
"Jane," Kurt scooted closer, "We do need to document them, but I'm right here, you don't have to worry."
"It's been three years Kurt," Jane pointed out, "How relevant could these tattoos be?"
"I don't know," Kurt admitted, "But whoever took our team, they just sent the tool we needed to unlock them now. So there must still be something there for us to find."
"Do you think the team is…okay?" She worried.
"I don't know," Kurt forced himself to admit, "We're doing all we can."
"I'm sorry you had to go so far to find me, I know how important Reed, Patterson and Tasha are. I'll never forgive myself if the delay caused them harm." Jane admitted.
"Jane," Kurt looked down at her in surprised, "I've been looking for you since the day you left. Reed, Tasha and Patterson were just taken three days ago."
"You have?" Jane looked at him in surprise.
"Of course I have," Kurt took her hand, "You're my wife. I knew immediately your leaving wasn't the answer, but I was too late, you were already gone."
Kurt's phone buzzed and he pulled it out impatiently. Seeing that their food had been delivered he reluctantly stood up and held out his hand. "Time to eat."
She took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. He didn't drop her hand once she was standing and she didn't pull away. It was a small step, but one that they both took comfort in.
Tasha looked at Reed and Patterson in frustration.
"How did this happen?" She demanded not for the first time.
"Give it a rest," Reed pleaded.
"No," Tasha argued, "I know you've been over at Quantico so you might be a little rusty and Patterson works in her lab for the most part, but I am an active CIA agent."
"So you suck more than we do," Reed agreed.
"Guys," Patterson protested, "None of us suck. Tasha you know Reed trains with you every other day, he's not rusty and I do accompany the teams into the field. You might be CIA, but we all have the same training, whoever took us knows that training and that's how they were able to get us."
"It's been three days," Tasha raged, "Why are we here?"
"I don't know," Patterson admitted.
They'd been kept together in a room with no windows and only one door. Food was transferred in through a hole in the door.
"Do you think it might be Roman?" Reed asked what they were all thinking.
"Maybe," Patterson agreed, "But for what purpose?"
"To get to Jane," Tasha insisted.
"When was the last time any of us saw Jane?" Reed pointed out.
"So maybe not Roman," Patterson said in frustration.
"Then who and why?" Tasha worried.
"Kurt will be looking for us," Patterson assured the others.
"Just what he needs," Reed worried, "First Jane, now us."
"Do you think that maybe Jane didn't leave…maybe she was taken?" Tasha suggested with a scowl.
"No," Patteson denied, "I tracked her flight out of New York."
"Why would she go?" Tasha demanded in frustration.
"Something was going on right before she left," Patterson told them, "She wasn't acting like herself. Then Allie filed for full custody and Jane decided to leave."
"Allie filed for full custody?" Reed asked in shock.
"She did, but once Jane was gone, she dropped the petition." Patterson told them.
"That's why she left," Tasha sat down heavily.
"They could have fought for custody," Patterson argued.
"You really think that Jane would let Kurt risk losing his daughter for her?" Reed demanded.
"No," Patterson agreed.
"Why are we just hearing about this now?" Tasha demanded.
"Well," Patterson reminded them, "You both left. I don't see you like I use to anymore."
"We're still family," Reed insisted.
"Distant relations," Patterson accused them.
Reed sank down next to Tasha, "I hate working at Quantico."
"Well," Tasha admitted, "Keaton is no Kurt Weller."
"If we ever get out of here," Patterson suggested, "You should try to come back."
"Then what?" Tasha asked her.
"Then we find Jane." Patterson insisted. "Kurt's been a wreck without her."
"If we ever get out of here," Tasha looked at her friends in frustration.
"When," Patterson insisted.
"When," Tasha agreed with a smile.
Kurt stood next to Jane while her new tattoos were scanned into the computer.
He studied the body he knew so well and yet not at all. She had her eyes closed and he wanted nothing more than to wrap her up and take her home. He couldn't do that and they both knew it.
Once the procedure was complete, he insisted she be seen by a physician. He'd noticed that she'd lost weight and she hadn't had any to spare. He paced outside the door while she was seen. When the doctor appeared he had a troubled expression on his face.
"What is it?" He demanded immediately.
"She's malnourished and although the new tattoos aren't causing her any discomfort, I worry about the extensive use of the ultraviolet ink. Based on the fading of the lines, I would say it's less than six months old." He explained.
"What?" Kurt looked at the doctor in shock.
"It's hard to see the outline of the new tattoos with all of the ink she already had on her body," The doctor agreed, "And eventually it will fade completely, but I've never come across anyone with this amount of UV ink on them. Since it was done all at once, I worry about the cost to her health."
"You're saying that all of these tattoos are new?" Kurt demanded in incomprehension.
"Yes," The doctor confirmed.
Kurt pushed past him and into the examination room. Jane was sitting on the gurney, looking off at the wall in disbelief.
"Jane?" Kurt moved to stand in front of her.
"They're new," She whispered looking up into his eyes in fear.
"I know," Kurt confirmed pulling her against his chest and rubbing her back.
"I don't remember getting them," Jane whispered against his neck.
"It would have taken weeks for them to heal," Kurt worried.
"Kurt," Jane pulled back and looking up into his face, "This is why I left."
"What?" Kurt didn't understand.
"I kept blacking out," Jane admitted, "At first it was just a few minutes, then hours. I couldn't remember where I went or what I did."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kurt worried looking down into her frightened eyes.
"I was afraid that Remi was coming back, or the zipp was making me forget." Jane admitted, "But I've lost weeks of my life."
"When was the last time it happened?" Kurt demanded crowding closer, entering the personal space he had claimed so long ago.
"After I told you I was leaving," Jane admitted, "I didn't intend to disappear completely. I remember walking out of the apartment and then…nothing. I woke up in Nepal, I don't even know how I got there."
"Are you telling me that I watched you climb the side of that mountain, without a rope, all the while you were having blackouts?" Kurt demanded with a tick in his cheek.
"You watched me climb?" Jane was surprised.
"I've followed a lot of false leads since you left," Kurt admitted, "When I saw you half way up the mountain, I knew that this one was real, that I had finally found you. Then I had to watch while you risked yourself climbing…only to find out about your blackouts now…" He trailed off, unable to continue.
"Once I was with the monks," Jane explained, "I didn't have any more spells."
"I don't think they were spells at all," Kurt denied, "I think you were drugged."
"Kurt I don't remember getting any of these tattoos, nor spending any time healing from them…what else happened that I don't remember?" She worried.
Remembering just how extensive the new tattoos were, he felt his fist clench at the thought of his wife being unconscious while someone had such intimate access to her body.
"Jane," Kurt didn't know what to say.
"Why is this happening?" Jane felt her lips tremble.
Kurt pulled her against his chest and held her tightly, "I don't know, but we're going to find out together."
Jane looked up at him with wet eyes before nodding and looking down.
Kurt wanted to lean in and closed the distance between them, but he knew she was vulnerable and it was his job to protect her. Even from himself. He didn't know what happened before and he didn't know what was coming next, but he did know that this time he would keep her by his side. This time he would hold her tighter and not lose the most vital person in his life. This time he would keep what was his.