A/N – I know there are those of you who are anxiously anticipating the next chapter to Within, and I promise its coming! I was watching 'Hit and Run' and I had an idea run through my head of how it could have been. I've been in a pretty sappy mood over Christmas, so I figured the time is ripe for another one shot. This takes place after Sue has already been kidnapped by Dan Malone, and Jack is looking for her. Please review, and let me know what you think!
Hit and Run (Part 1)
Jack stared at the map, as if it could suddenly show him where she was, where he had taken her. As each second passed, the map didn't change, nor did the fact that she was missing, taken, possibly hurt or worse. It was his fault. He had put her in the car to protect her, after she had run to him when he had been shot. He had left her there. And then, he had to watch the car speed away, with her in the back. Jack didn't even move when he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll find her Jack," Dimitrius said, trying to comfort his friend.
"What if we don't? What if we do and she's…" He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"We don't know if Dan Malone had anything to do with what happened at the think tank. He did have an alibi, his niece's graduation…We have people looking for them – we have the license plate, the car; they can't disappear forever." Jack turned to look at his friend.
"If he is so innocent, then why hasn't he let her go?" Jack looked at Dimitrius for a few more seconds, who said nothing, and turned back to the map, praying for answers.
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Sue sat in the back of Dan Malone's car, terrified like she had never felt before. She knew he was innocent, but he was scared of letting her go, scared to trust the FBI. Sue understood that, but now, blindfolded, strewn across the backseat of his car, isolated from the world, she was left to only contemplate the horror of what might be coming next. All she knew were the bumps as they drove along what she assumed to be a gravel road, but she was otherwise forced into a world of darkness, blind and deaf to everything around her. Her head was foggy, and tired. She hadn't eaten anything but a donut in a day, hadn't slept in almost two.
She wondered if they would ever find her. If Malone would be so scared he would try to flee, and take her with him, to who knows where. What would happen to her friends? To her family? Her thoughts were jarred as the car came to a quick stop. She felt herself be flung forwards, her head coming into contact with something hard. She winced and cried out, unable to break her fall, as her mind raced to comprehend what was going on. She felt a cold wind rush over her body, followed by strong hands lifting her out of the backseat.
As the blindfold was lifted off, Sue tried to focus and gather in her surroundings, blinking at the sudden light flooding into her eyes. Her arms were freed from her restraints, and she placed her hand on her forehead, feeling the bump that was quickly forming. Her eyes were hazy, and she felt somewhat dizzy.
"I'm sorry about your head." Malone said quietly. Sue had trouble reading his lips as her eyes refused to focus, but she got was he was trying to say. She nodded, pulling her coat closer to her for warmth in the cold winter air. She watched Dan as he took his coat off and put it around her.
"Thank you." She said quietly.
"There's a car that's been following us. I don't want to risk putting your life in danger. I thought that I would be able to take you with me to New York where I could hide, then send you back, but I don't want you caught in the middle in case we don't make it that far. I gave you a mild sedative which is why you're probably feeling so sleepy." Sue looked at him, only catching certain words, forcing herself to stay awake. He looked at her, to see if she understood.
"You gave me a sedative?" He nodded.
"I'm sorry. I regret that now. I panicked, but... Look. We don't have a lot of time. There's a farmhouse about 10 kilometers down this road. I doubt they'll find you, but try to stay hidden if you notice something coming. I know you're tired and that your head hurts, but you have to keep walking and you have to stay awake. Do you understand Sue?"
"I understand." She replied quietly, processing what she needed to do. "I know you're innocent. As soon as I get back to the FBI I'm going to help you prove that" Dan gave her a small smile.
"Thank you for believing me. You should get going."
"Be careful" Sue said, but before she could say anything else, she saw Dan quickly push her down to the ground into the ditch as a sharp pain seared across her shoulder.
"Go!" He yelled. Sue saw a dark car come racing by, the front end of a gun sticking out of the front window, shots being fired every few seconds. She stayed as low as she could, as she watched Dan run to his car. As his car sped off, the other following close behind, she sat for a moment trying to gather her thoughts and catch her breath. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. She raised a frozen hand to her shoulder, and touched the sensitive skin which was stained in red. The bullet had only grazed her shoulder but with the bump on her head, the sedative, and now the pain creeping across her shoulder, Sue knew that she only had one choice. She had to make it to that farmhouse.
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Jack sat in front of his computer. Hours had past and nothing. Lucy had finally fallen asleep, exhausted on one of the bureau issued cots. Like him, Levi wouldn't eat or sleep, only sit with sad eyes and watch Jack as he would occasionally type. Every once in awhile, Jack would reach down and pat his soft fur, forcing him to remember why he was there, and how he wasn't going to give up until he found her.
"We have a lead!" Myles shouted as he quickly hung up his phone. Jack jumped from his desk over to where Myles was, Bobby, Tara and Dimitrius quickly following. "A farmer was on his way home and noticed first a grey sedan matching Dan Malone's vehicle description and got partial license plate. Mr. Wilson also noticed his car stopped at an intersection near his house, and said there was a man and a blonde woman talking. He said traffic isn't very common out there, and when he heard the Amber alert on Malone's car when he got home afterwards, he had a gut feeling maybe he should call it in."
"Let's get going." Bobby announced, not wanting to waste any time. They all rushed out the door, hoping that Sue was alright.
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Each step she took felt like a ton of bricks were strapped to her shoulders, as if it would be the last step she would be able to take before passing out. All of her efforts were put into just taking one more step. It must have been a few hours already, and she knew that at the rate she was going, those 10 kilometers were going to take awhile. But she had to make it. Sue had bundled her scarf and pressed it against her shoulder to try and stop the bleeding, but couldn't find the strength to hold it on any longer, letting it flutter to the ground as she continued. She just had to make it; she had to keep trying.
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"This is the intersection where Mr. Wilson said he saw the car." Myles announced, looking up at the crooked rural road sign.
"Look at the skid marks, over here." Bobby said, walking around. "And look over here – I think there were two cars here; the treads are different! This one must have come up pretty fast." He turned to look at Jack, but saw him crouched down near a ditch. "What is it Jack?" Dimitrius and Myles turned as well to look at their coworker.
"Blood." He said quietly, his stomach dropping. All of the three other men rushed over.
"There are shell casings here too." Dimitrius said, picking them up with gloves and sticking them into evidence bags. "We'll get a forensic team down here right away." He signaled to the other officers to tape off the area.
"Mr. Wilson's farm is only 10 kilometers from here. We should talk to him; ask him more questions, and see if maybe he can identify Sue and Dan Malone from pictures." Myles suggested. Jack just nodded, but couldn't seem to move his eyes away from the blood that stained the gravel. Bobby came up quietly beside him,
"We don't know if it's hers mate. Don't give up hope yet." Jack didn't say anything.
"I think I found her scarf!" Myles yelled from slightly up the road. Something had caught his eye, and surely enough, it was a woman's scarf, looking just like the one Sue had the day she had been taken. "I found it caught in the tree over here."
"Is that blood?" Bobby asked quietly, looking at Jack whose face grew paler.
Myles bagged the scarf and handed it off to one of the officers to give to the forensic team when they arrived.
"We don't know what's happening yet." Dimitrius said, as objectively as possible, mostly for Jack's sake. "I think its best right now if we just go talk to Mr. Wilson, see if he can help us in any way. Okay?" Bobby and Myles both nodded, but Jack did nothing, only stared off into the distance, down the road towards the farmhouse. The four of them then made their way over to the car and got in, hoping that Farmer Wilson would have anything for them that might bring them closer to finding their friend.
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Sue thought she felt some rumbling under feet. Knowing it would use almost all the energy she possessed, she knew she had to hide, in case it was the men chasing Dan, who had shot at them earlier. She stumbled her way into the cold, wet ditch and lay her body as close to the frozen ground as she could. She could feel the mud caking against her pale and tired face, as she saw a dark blur of a speeding vehicle pass.
The fatigue of what had happened, along with the combination of the sedative Dan had given her, the bump on her head and the wound on her shoulder, Sue couldn't muster the strength to get up again. As her consciousness began to slip, her body shivering in the cold, Sue wondered if anyone would ever find her, or even she would even wake up.
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Jack watched out the window of the SUV, and could see the old red farmhouse approaching. Endless thoughts of where Sue was, if Dan Malone was still holding her captive. What was going on in her head? Was she scared? Was she alone? Was she hurt? As Jack's thoughts continued, the knot in his stomach grew and grew. As every second, every minute past, the further away she could be from him.
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Sue didn't know how long she had been lying in the darkness. She was shivering in the ditch, her shoulder and head throbbing. The light had dimmed, and Sue estimated it had to be late afternoon. Night would be falling soon, and Sue didn't know how she would find the farmhouse in the dark. She had been out for hours, but at the pace she had been going, 10 kilometers was quite a distance.
Part of Sue wanted to give up, just lay in that ditch until someone came across her weary, exhausted body. But it was something else that gave her the strength to bring herself from up off the ground. She thought of her mom and dad, and her brothers, and of Levi; her coworkers and friends, Myles, Bobby, Tara, Dimitrius, Lucy…and Jack. She thought about Dan and how she may be the only one who knew or believed of his innocence. Somewhere, she found the strength to crawl back up to the gravel road and shakily start to walk towards the red farmhouse. She was surprised to see how close it was; at the rate she felt she could walk, only maybe a half hour away. She was going to walk until either her legs stopped working, or she passed out on the side of the lonely road.
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The interview with Mr. Wilson didn't tell them much other than what they already knew, other than the fact he had almost positively identified the two people he had seen as Dan Malone and Sue. The four men made the way back towards their SUV. It was slowly getting dark, the sun starting to drop behind the endless horizon, and with it, Jack's hope for finding Sue alive.
"He promised to let us know if he saw the car again. Maybe they're hiding in the area?" Myles offered as a suggestion, watching Jack. He had been silent the entire time they had talked to the farmer. Bobby added on,
"Plus, he said they were talking. Sue looked unharmed and not even upset…" Jack's attention drifted as he noticed something down the gravel road. He wasn't too sure if his eyes were deceiving him. He started walking towards the road, and the moment he realized, he started running as fast as he possibly could.
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Sue knew she was getting closer but she didn't think she was going to make it that far. She felt tears welling in her eyes. Everything was getting hazy and out of focus. Her legs felt like they didn't belong on her body any longer. She thought she saw someone coming towards her. She had to hide. She couldn't let them find her. Her attempt to move towards the ditch again failed, as she slid to her knees. The person was moving closer, almost where she was. She gave up. There was no way she could escape him.
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Jack saw her as she collapsed to her knees. He pushed himself further, until he reached where she was, sliding to the ground, pulling her body to him.
"Sue? SUE?" He said frantically, holding her face his in hands, wiping the mud away with his hands. Her eyes were fluttering. She was still with them.
Sue opened her eyes just enough to see a familiar face, searching hers, full of worry.
"Jack?" She whispered. She struggled to keep her eyes open, to prove to herself that she wasn't dreaming. He had found her.
"I'm right here. It's going to be okay. I'm right here. Stay with me." She faintly nodded, clinging weakly to his arm, noticing the emotion in his eyes. All she felt was relief. Bobby and Dimitrius caught up with them, dropping to the ground quickly, crouching by Sue. The SUV was coming up close behind, with Myles behind the wheel, talking quickly on his cell phone.
"Is she okay?" Bobby asked quickly, his eyes scanning her injuries – the black and blue bump covering her forehead, the dried blood on her shoulder. Her eyes were open, but barely, focused only on Jack's face. Bobby took off his coat quickly, noticing how she was shivering, her hair and coat wet and covered in mud, putting it over top of her.
Jack didn't say anything, only looked at Bobby, who knew exactly what he was thinking. Dimitrius had something pushed against her shoulder, taking her pulse at the same time, and was obviously watching her breathing, assessing her condition. Myles jumped out of the SUV, leaving the police lights blazing.
"Ambulance is on its way. They should be here soon." He said, shocked at Sue's disheveled body. He stayed standing, keeping a vigil watch for the ambulance. Jack wouldn't tear his gaze away from Sue, her eyes barely open, but locked on his, as if it was the only thing keeping her in the conscious world.
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To Be Continued…