Come For You
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters
Pairing: Tom & Rachel (as if there would be any other ;))
Rating: T (possibly M, more for language than anything else)
Author's Notes:
I was inspired by the Tom & Rachel Video "I'd Come For You" by Nickelback and "Somebody to Die For" by Hurts. The lyrics are particularly poignant and when you watch the videos (which were excellently made) you're like "damn". Plus, I live in a little world called DENIAL that the writers were stupid and killed her off.
While the show has given some dates, the writers kind of suck when it comes to continuity. Some of the things they would have the characters say didn't line up with the dates other characters gave. I've created a timeline (based on information that I could glean from the show that made sense with my research on nautical miles, ports and knots of ships).
Just one more moment, that's all that's needed,
Like wounded soldiers in need of healing
Time to be honest, this time I'm pleading,
Please don't dwell on it, 'cause I didn't mean it
I can't believe I said I'd lay our love on the ground,
But it doesn't matter 'cause I made it up, forgive me now
Everyday I spend away, my soul's inside out,
Gotta be some way that I can make it up to you now, somehow
By now you know that I'd come for you
No one but you, yes, I'd come for you
But only if you told me to
And I'd fight for you
I'd lie, it's true
Give my life for you
You know I'd always come for you
I'd Come For You by Nickelback
October 2015
FBI Agent James Ryan walked casually through the Chicago marketplace. People came up to him occasionally and said hello. He paused looking at vendors and making random purchases.
"Elijah" a voice said to him. He turned and smiled at his contact, FBI Agent Jennifer Hammond.
"Summer, how are you doing?" he replied and gave the woman a hug.
"I'm doing great. Haven't seen you in ages."
"Yeah, it's been awhile." he responded and the two continued to walk through the market. "How long you in town for?" he asked.
"Only a couple of days, I'm here on business but I heard about this place and wanted to check it out, being an immune and all."
"Well, since you're only in town for a few days, let me take you for a drink."
"That would be great." Jennifer replied.
James lead Jennifer over to a stall where a tall, domineering man sat.
"Elijah" the man said happily
"Hey, Sean. This is my good friend Summer. We met at an immune camp in Florida about a year ago. Summer, this is Sean Marlowe."
Sean stood and took "Summer's" hand and kissed it, "any immune that's a friend of Elijah is a friend of mine."
"I'm going to take her out for a drink...I'll see you later at the meeting."
Sean nodded and sat back down. James took Jennifer's hand and lead her out of the marketplace. The two didn't speak until they reached the FBI safe house.
Jennifer sat down with a laptop to begin taking notes.
"Unfortunately this group still doesn't believe that Dr. Scott is dead."
"Really? Even after all the trouble we went through to get her face on the ration card."
"They think it's a hoax. More Sean thinks it a hoax, so therefore the group as a whole believes him."
"I swear this immune group is behaving more and more like a cult everyday."
"Well they aren't stockpiling weapons, but they have been stockpiling food."
"Makes sense since even with the ration cards some people are starving."
"One other think, they've heard a rumor that the virus has mutated. Is it true?"
Jennifer sighed, "unfortunately it is. In Asia."
"Damn. Do we know what caused the mutation?" James asked.
"The Nathan James just docked in San Diego. They have some blood samples, but it's going to take time to figure out the strain and how to create a new cure."
"That's why you're here isn't it? You want to know if its safe for Dr. Scott to come out of protective custody to assist with the cure."
"That is definitely what we are hoping. The mutation is spreading quickly in Japan. Right now it's just contained there, but…"
"Who knows how long it will still there."
"Exactly" Jennifer responded.
James paused, trying to gather his words. "I'm going to be honest with you and I know that Dr. Scott is going to hate this answer, but no. It's not going to be safe for her. I'm not sure about what the UC's are saying in the other groups, but I've been doing this since we learned of the immunes and they have a god complex. They feel they are the ordained and they were immune for a reason. If they learn that her "death" was a lie and she comes back and is able to come up with a cure to the mutated virus...she's going to have an even bigger target on her back."
Jennifer sighed, "I had a feeling that would be the answer. God. I hate being the bearer of bad news for Rachel. I just hope that she never learns about Captain Chandler."
James cocked his head in confusion, "Did something happen to Captain Chandler?"
"No, nothing like that….he resigned his commission."
"What?"
"Yeah. I don't know the details. I heard something about a court martial but yeah he resigned and if Rachel finds out…"
"She's going to insist that he can protect her. She has that much faith in him."
Jennifer shrugged her shoulders, "She loves him, of course she has complete faith in him. That's why I hate telling her this. The last six months have been hell for her."
James took Jennifer's hands in his and squeezed, "Just remind her that while it is hell being away from the person you love, she's alive and well, I'm sure if Captain Chandler knew she was alive and her staying in protective custody kept her alive, he'd want her to stay with us."
May 2017
Today was one of the days that Jennifer Hammond hated working for the FBI. The cyber attack had crippled portions of the database and the bureaucracy was driving her nuts. As the special agent in charge of the protective custody unit, it was her job to ensure that their mainframe held. The FBI used to have hundreds of people in protective custody, but due to the red flu, they were down to under a hundred, but those hundred most definitely couldn't have their locations and new identities compromised.
She had been fighting with the director to get more of their "tech-savvy" agents involved in maintaining the server but the director felt that "other areas were of utmost importance." While she understood where he was coming from, it was her job to protect these people and if the server fell, well then she failed at her job.
She sighed as she leaned back in her chair and hung up the phone. She rubbed her face, stood up and went over to the window. It was a beautiful day out in Virginia. There was no snow and the high was going to be a balmy forty-five degrees.
While she didn't tell the director, her worry was Rachel. Rachel had now been in protective custody for two years. It had been a very long and very hard two years for Rachel. While Jennifer was no longer her handler, she knew that they were working on the transition of moving Rachel out of protective custody as the virus had been eradicated and the famine was ending. As details were being worked out, information had yet to be communicated to Rachel.
After the Nathan James made port in San Diego in July 2015, it had taken the CDC about two weeks to isolate the cause of the mutation. Unfortunately by then the mutation had made its way to the United States. James was right in the god-like complex from the immunes. They began quoting the bible and how they were the "chosen ones". The virus, while not at pandemic proportions this time, did kill. It struck those who had limited or compromised immune systems, especially children, elderly and those with other illnesses (autoimmune disorders, cancer, etc…). While it took the CDC considerably less time to create a new cure than it took Rachel to create the first one, three months, over five thousand died. Panic swept the already fragile United States again and the world.
During this time Jennifer made constant contact with Rachel, who was absolutely devastated that she couldn't do anything to save these people. All Jennifer could do was assure her that the CDC was doing their job and that if she came out of protective custody her life would be in more danger due to the immunes.
In late October 2015, once the new cure had been circulated, Jennifer was optimistic that Rachel could come out of protective custody by December. Until crops began dying.
The Red Rust began much slower than the virus. At first farmers yields became less and less. Farmers then began reporting to the US Department of Agriculture that a red "film" began to appear on the crops. By November 2016, 100% of wheat and rice crops had been affected and 90% of corn crops.
James and other UC's had been reporting for years that immune camps across the country had been stockpiling food. The FBI didn't see this as a harmful endeavour as people hoarded before the red flu and they would hoard after. When the crops began to die, the immunes came out again citing the bible and how they would continue to survive this next battle thrown at them because they were indeed the chosen ones. For reasons unknown to even James, Rachel's "death" became a rallying point of the immunes. With her "gone" there would be no one to help destroy the red rust. Those who believed that her death was a lie began "digging" around in hopes of proving the truth and then doing what Curtis had been unable to do..kill Dr. Rachel Scott.
Rachel was beyond livid when Jennifer told her, in no uncertain terms, that she would be remaining in protective custody for the foreseeable future. In her anger, Rachel pointed at that she isn't a botanist. Jennifer had to remind her that she is a virologist so tracing the source of the virus and breaking down it down to its DNA components and working with a botanist is something she could still do. She also had to be reminded of the threat that immunes were making in discovering where she was and killing her "for real" this time.
Jennifer was broken from her thoughts when her door opened and a man ran into the room.
"Adam, what's wrong?"
"They've broken through our servers. They know where everyone is."
"Shit!" Jennifer said. She ran out of her office to the nearest elevator, Adam following her. She punched the up button.
The two agents made it to FBI Director Edward Wilson's office in record time. Jennifer didn't even bother waiting for his secretary to check to see if he was available before she barged through the door and shut it quickly behind her.
"Protective custody servers have been compromised. Whoever hacked the system now knows that Rachel Scott is alive and where she is."
"Bob, I've got to go." Edward said and hung up the phone.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" he asked Jennifer.
"Yes" Agent Adam Richman told the director. "There is something else though." he paused before continuing, "whoever this person or group is, they targeted the protective custody servers, they wanted to know who was in protective custody, their new names and locations."
"Has there been any leaks? Does anyone know that Dr. Scott is still alive?" Edward asked Jennifer.
"Not that I'm aware of. The last I spoke to James replacement in the immune group was that while some, mainly the leader Sean, believed that Rachel is still alive, they were more in-line with the thinking that she is dead. Overall, most believe what the media reported over two years ago."
"Pull as many field agents as you can get and get all the people in protective custody relocated immediately."
Jennifer nodded and rushed out of the room with Adam on her trail.
Once the door closed, Edward picked up the phone and dialed a number he had long ago memorized.
"Yes, please tell President Oliver that I will be in Saint Louis in approximately three hours...yes, you need to cancel any meetings he has at the time, this will take priority." Edward told the recipient on the other end, then hung up the phone. He called out to his secretary and told her to contact the airfield and get the jet ready to leave within the next thirty minutes. On the ride to the airfield all Edward could think was about the conversation he had to have with the President and it wasn't a conversation he wanted to have.
Author's Notes
June 2014- The Nathan James leaves Norfolk
October 1-18, 2014: Tom and crew learn about virus, deal with the Russians and get to Gitmo and meet Tex. The Arctic to Gitmo would take about 10 days traveling at 25 knots. They spent a few days at Gitmo.
October 19-26, 2014: Episode 4. The ship gets damaged and in the episode it takes them one week to make it to the island and another 7-10 days (10 days for the purpose of this fiction) to fix the ship. It is close to a month since they found out as Danny tells Tex in episode 4 that they have known about the virus for almost a month.
November 5, 2014: In Episode 5 Tom does an audio recording and he says "November 5".
December 5, 2014: Based on the flashback in episode 7 which says "6 months ago". Logically makes sense due to how long it would take the ship to get from the Arctic to Cuba (12-24 days based on speed), to Nicaragua (1-3 days)
December 6-18, 2014: Episodes 7-8 covered a couple of days with getting to Jamaica and then Tom and Tex being captured by the Russians. The trials started in episode 9 and would have taken a few days to get everything squared away (getting volunteers, doing the interviews and getting the blood-work back. Rachel states that the trial will last 3 days). We learn Kara is pregnant in episode 9, she is probably about 8 weeks. The Nathan James makes it back to Baltimore and it takes them a few days to get the ship back.
December 18, 2014-January 1, 2015: We know from episode 3 of season 2 that the Nathan James doesn't leave Baltimore right away. They worked with the military (Air Force, Marines, Army) personnel there to reestablish order and they also needed to mass produce the vaccine (which Rachel was unable to do on the ship). We also know that during this time that Ashley, Sam and Jed stayed on board the Nathan James in Tom's quarters, so I'm sure Rachel checked them out and knows who they are.
January 2- February 21, 2015: Season 2. The Nathan James stops in Norfolk and is there for a couple of days to allow family members to be found. Kara is said to be 16 weeks pregnant in episode 10 by Ravit (which would be around February 5). Michener talks to Tom about the ship arriving in Vicksburg on the 18th (no month given), in Memphis on the 20th and in Saint Louis on the 21st.
February 24, 2015: Rachel shot (A season 3 episode "claims" in is on 12/24, which just doesn't logically make sense).
July 28, 2015- season 3 begins, episode one states that it has been 154 days since the Rachel has been shot and "killed".
August 2015- September 2015- season 3, another guestimation based on where the Nathan James went (Asia) and that they were held captive and everything that happened in the season. From what I've read, I can't figure out if a new "cure" was developed for the mutation.
September 2015- Tom resigns his commission
February 2017- 16 months later (some sites say 16, some say 18, for purpose of this fiction, it will be 16 months). We know from episode 1 that Tom has had no contact with anyone for 16 months.
February 2017- March 2017- season 4. Tom reaffirms his oath to the Navy. Again another guestimation on how long they were "doing their thing" to defeat Velleck and get the seeds back to the US.
May 2017- season 5 "starts". Tom is now an Admiral (along with Mike) and that there will be a cyber attack possibly facilitated by a group known as El Norte for some unknown reason. We can tell from the preview that the famine has been abolished and everything seems to be going well. It probably would take a couple of months to get that all squared away.