I was blown away with the story titled 'Penance' which was submitted by lochness20. A brilliant story. I had an idea to after Chapter 7 of Penance to take the story in another direction. I hope that Lochness20 doesn't mind but below is the beginning of where I thought to take it. The paragraph in italics is from 'Penance' and sets the scene.

Kurt paced across his living room as he jerkily dialled the phone again. Still no response. Logically if Jane was with Roman then she wouldn't answer but he didn't feel very logical right now. When he had gone to bed, Jane lay safely beside him. In the middle of the night, he had woken up to find himself wrapped around her. But in the morning the bed was empty and the sheets were cool. He continued to fight the panic. She had left a note, one shitty brief, unhelpful note.

Kurt, Roman called. Thanks Jane.

When he finally tracked her down he was going to give Jane a stern lecture on the importance of descriptive note-taking and the necessity of physically telling him when she was going to disappear. Kurt resorted to pacing while he waited for her to return.

Chapter 1

What felt like hours later, Kurt was still pacing back and forward in the living room with the phone clenched in one hand and his other hand tightly clenched into a fist. He heard what sounded like scratching at the front door. His ears pricked up and all of his senses were on full alert. Ever the FBI agent, he swiftly unholstered his gun and stood beside the door. The scratching continued or was it tapping?

With his heart beating rapidly he ventured to the peep hole to peer quickly into the outside hallway. For a moment, he could see nothing and then just as he was about to return to the side of the door he saw a shoe on the ground, a black army boot. He moved his body a little closer to the door to get a better look and realised that the boot was connected to a leg. Someone was lying on the floor.

He stood back from the door. The cogs in his brain clicking away while he assessed the situation. Without any further pause, he brought his gun up to point at the door and swiftly swung the door open.

His mind working overtime when he realised what he was seeing. Lying there on the floor was Jane, semi-conscious, her leg splayed at an awkward angle and blood, so much blood seeping through her white shirt. Kurt quickly knelt down beside her head and cradled her face in his hands. Jane's skin was clammy and pale with a bead of sweat covering her brow. "Jane! Jane! What happened?" There was no audible response from Jane. With his heart hammering Kurt carefully lifted Jane into his arms, being mindful of her broken ribs that had just started to heal. It was then that Jane let out an almighty groan. Her left leg dangling and swaying as he started carrying her down the flights of stairs to the garage where his car was parked.

Jane's head was cradled in his arm, her face pressed against his chest. Kurt murmured soothing tones in her ear. "It's okay Jane. I'm with you now. I'm going to get you to the hospital. Just hang in there Jane. Everything is going to be fine. I'm here. You're safe now."

After carefully laying Jane down on the back seat of his SUV Kurt clambered as quickly as possible into the driver's seat of the car. He slammed the car into drive and headed for the hospital. Kurt gripped the steering wheel and fought the rising panic. His mind a swirl of emotions, his body starting to tremble with the shock.

Kurt didn't take the time to park the car, he drove straight to the entrance of the hospital, slammed on the brakes and without a beat he jumped out of the car and carefully lifted Jane from the back seat back into his arms. Jane groaned with the pain and started whimpering with her eyes firmly closed.

Kurt pushed his way through the front doorway of the hospital and scanned the room for help. "Someone! I need a doctor now. Someone help me!" As if on cue a doctor rounded the corner of the hallway, took in the situation and immediately motioned for Kurt to place Jane on the closest bed. "I'm Special Agent Kurt Weller and this is Jane. She is an FBI asset that has been injured on duty. She was recovering from some previous injuries which you will have on her medical file but she has sustained further injuries earlier this morning." With a nod the Doctor asked Kurt to take a seat in the waiting area while they assessed Jane's condition.

Kurt couldn't sit still. He returned to pacing, pacing the small waiting area. His mind a jumble of thoughts and emotions. He decided he needed to call the office and update them on the situation. "Patterson, it me, Kurt." Kurt said in a stern but calm voice. "Jane was contacted by Roman earlier this morning and she disappeared off the grid for a few hours. She made it back home but she's been injured. I'm at the hospital now waiting to hear what her injuries are and how bad it is. Can you let the team know?" With an audible gasp Patterson assured Kurt that she would pass on the information. "You let me know if we can do something Kurt. Tell Jane to hurry up and get better, we miss her." With a murmur of agreement Kurt clicked the phone off and continued his well-worn track in the waiting room, pacing back and forth …

Finally, the doctor strode purposefully into the waiting area, eyes firmly focussed on Kurt. "We've assessed Jane. She's suffered abrasions to her torso. We've removed several small pieces of shrapnel and sutured the larger wounds. She also suffered a concussion and has a rather large bump on the side of her head. The x-rays identified that she has suffered quite a significant break in her lower leg bone. Due to the swelling, we haven't set a full cast on her leg but rather a makeshift half-cast which will keep her leg immobile until the swelling goes down. Once that's occurred she will be fitted with a cast for 6-8 weeks. Based on her injuries, it is in my opinion that Jane sustained these injuries from some type of explosion. That would explain the shrapnel and abrasions to her torso." Kurt breathed out a ragged breath, not realising that he was holding his breath for the duration of the doctor's diagnosis.

The Doctor continued, "Now my understanding is that you were Jane's primary carer while she was recuperating from her previous injuries. I would like to keep her in overnight to monitor her concussion but I see no reason why you can't take her home again tomorrow morning. She will require some assistance doing normal every day activities but once we fit her full cast on her leg she should regain more of her independence." Kurt nodded his head and sighed with relief. "That's no problem Doc. Can I go in and see her now?" The doctor lead Kurt to Jane's room and motioned for him to enter. Kurt stood at the doorway, pausing for just a moment to regain his composure and to steady his shaking hands …