I am going to activate the trigger warning here for the rest of the story, so you've been warned.

"What?" Barney asked, shocked. Lee was on the phone with him while he was waiting for the doctor to finish stitching up Rita.

"I don't know what to do," Lee said, rubbing his head hard. "From the looks of it, it's got something to do with Katie's mother, but I haven't been able to ask her questions."

"I'll be there very soon," Barney said. "Want me to call in the guys?"

"Put them on standby. Until I know what's going on, there's no sense in everyone hanging out here in limbo."

"All right. See you in a bit."

Lee hung up and started to pace. Eli's screams were playing over and over in his head. He couldn't take it anymore. The police had come and gotten his statement. They would get Rita's later. He still felt really cold from his unexpected swim.

"Mr. Hendricks?"

Lee swiveled to see the doctor standing there looking at him. It still felt weird to use his real last name, but he didn't want Eli to get picked on for having "Christmas" as his last name.

"Is she all right?" he asked, feeling worried.

"She's fine, just resting. How are you? She mentioned you were in the water too."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Hypothermia can take thirty minutes to kick in sometimes."

"We got out fast enough and dried off in a hurry. I'm a little cold, but I feel fine," Lee told him.

"Well, your speech is good, so that's a good sign. If you were slurring, I'd be concerned," the doctor smiled grimly.

"What about Rita?"

"She's all right. They got her warmed up nice now. You can go see her," he said, gesturing. "She should be all right to leave here in an hour or so. It was a clean shot, so no surgery required, just stitches."

"Thanks, Doc," Lee said, moving past him. He found Rita sitting up and twisting her fingers.

"Lee," she said as soon as she saw him. He went over to her and hugged her tightly.

"You all right?"

"Oh my God," she cried. "Eli."

"I know, I know."

"What are we going to do?!"

"Barney's coming," Lee said quietly. "We'll figure it out."

"What if they hurt him?" she whimpered. "Or kill him?"

"I don't think it's him they really want," Lee said, smoothing her hair. "I think he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So it's Katie they wanted?"

"Tom seems to think it's got something to do with Theresa. I'll contact her in a bit and ask her some questions."

"She'll just lie," Rita said, grabbing his hands with hers. "We'll never see him again."

"Stop that," Lee warned, giving her a small shake. "Of course we will."

"Excuse me," a woman's voice said. They both turned to see a female officer standing there. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need Mrs. Hendricks's statement now."

"Okay," Rita nodded.

"I'll call Tom," Lee said, giving her a quick kiss before leaving. He pulled out his phone and punched in Tom's number angrily.

"Hello?"

"Tom, it's Lee. What's going on?"

Tom sighed loudly.

"Hang on," he said. Lee heard him leave and go to another room, a door shutting in the background. "Theresa won't give details. She won't say anything. I have no idea what's happening. I'm scared, Lee."

"I hear you."

"Why would they take Katie? And Eli? I don't understand."

"Obviously they're going to use Katie to get your wife to do whatever it is they want her to do," Lee said logically. "Eli just happened to be with her. Maybe they thought they were siblings."

"What are we gonna do?"

"I've got a plan, Tom. Just try to get more from your wife."

"Okay."

"Talk soon," Lee said, hanging up. He pressed his fist into his forehead, trying to breathe. The statistics for children being killed within three hours of abduction were pretty high. He just hoped that this was not the case for him.

...

Theresa was enraged inside. So Antonio thought he could use her daughter to force her to make the deal. What a low blow that was. The police had finally stopped grilling her, but she knew Tom would be at her next. She had done well to keep this all under wraps for now, but she knew once the digging started, it wouldn't end until someone was revealed.

"What are you not telling me?" Tom asked on cue once she was alone. She shifted.

"Nothing, Tom."

"Theresa, don't lie to me. Why was our daughter kidnapped?"

"For our money? I don't know, Tom. The police said they'll most likely contact us with their demands shortly."

"I don't believe you for a second," Tom said, staring at her. He knew she was lying. She knew why Katie was taken. And Eli...oh God. Tom knew Lee would probably kill him if is son died because of something Theresa knew about.

"I need a drink," Theresa said, getting up and going to their bar. Her hands were shaking. She knew Katie would be terrified. She downed a shot, feeling it burn down her throat. She would not negotiate. She refused to be blackmailed. She waited for them to call because she knew they would. She thought of her burner cell in her room. They'd probably call that first. She just needed to get to it without someone seeing her.

...

Rita was released a while later, and Lee rolled her to the exit in her wheel chair. Then he realized his truck was back at the cottage.

"Need a lift?" Barney asked, coming into view. Lee felt relief upon seeing his friend. They helped Rita into Barney's rental car, and they headed back to the cottage.

"So, what happened?" Barney questioned. Lee filled him in quickly. It was painful to talk about.

"The police say we'll probably be contacted with demands soon," Rita explained. "But what worries me is, what if they just kill Eli because it's Katie they really wanted?"

"I don't think they'd want to do that," Barney reasoned. At least, he hoped not. "They also just might let him go if they don't need him."

"Nobody's that nice," Lee said. They arrived back in no time, and Tom met them at the door.

"Who are you?" he asked Barney.

"He's a close friend of ours. He can help," Lee said.

"By all means," Tom nodded. "We can use all the help we can get."

The three of them followed Tom to the living room where police were setting up the phone tapping system and Theresa was sitting rigidly on the couch. Rita was furious at her, so she refused to even look at her.

"We should set this up at your place as well," an officer said to Lee. "In case they call you."

"I don't even know if they know who Eli is," Lee replied. The officer pursed her lips.

"It would still be a good idea," she insisted.

"All right. We'll pack up our stuff and get out of here," Lee nodded. Barney stood with his arms crossed, observing.

"Excuse me," Theresa said getting up and going to the bathroom. Barney couldn't help but overhear the sound of something vibrating in her pocket, so he waited a moment before following and hovering outside the bathroom door. It was hard to hear, but he could still hear something.

"You've no right," she was hissing. "I told you, you can't blackmail me, not even with my own child. I don't care what you do to the boy. If you touch my Katie, I will kill you." Barney stepped back just before she yanked the bathroom door open. He watched this awful woman go back to her couch and act sad. He felt sick inside. She would let anything happen to Eli simply because she didn't care. He went to join Lee at the door.

"Sorry about all this," Tom was saying to them. "I really am. I...I wish I could go back in time and redo it." Barney saw Rita give Lee a look, and he shook his head ever so slightly. Barney wondered what that was about.

"We'll find them," Lee promised, and he meant it. They went to their truck, and Barney got into his car. He reminded himself to ask Lee what the look was about from Rita and to tell him what he'd heard Theresa say.

...

Once the police were finished tapping into their phone lines and left for something to eat, Rita lit into Lee. She didn't even care that Barney was sitting there. He had told them what he'd overheard, and both of them were extremely on edge and angry.

"We could call him," Rita urged. "Tell him what's happened. He can go back..."

"No," Lee shook his head vehemently. "We are not getting him involved. And besides, we still wouldn't remember it happened."

"He'd call us and warn us," Rita went on. "Please, Lee."

"It's not a good idea," Lee said firmly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Barney asked. Both of them looked at him. Lee then realized that Barney had no clue because after the first time he'd told his team about Rita's ability to reset the day, William Cage had reset everything, making it so that Barney was back to having no idea about the ability.

"All right," Lee said. "This is going to sound very strange, but everything is true."

"Just tell me," Barney said impatiently. Lee looked to Rita.

"During the War, I gained the power from the alien race to reset the day 24 hours back and live the same events over and over again," she started. "I lost the ability through a blood transfusion. Cage...he got the ability months later, and I guess when the Omega...that's the alien leader...died, he absorbed the Omega's blood and can still reset 24 hours back if he dies."

"And you want him to reset so you can save Eli," Barney nodded. It sounded mind boggling, but aliens were aliens he guessed, and if such a power existed, then it did. He knew Lee and Rita wouldn't make this up.

"Yes," Rita nodded.

"It doesn't change Katie's abduction, though," Lee argued.

"It could."

"No. They wouldn't believe us, and we'd get locked up in a crazy house," Lee said.

"So you'd rather Eli die?" Rita asked, crying.

"No! I'm saying if there was no ability to reset, then we'd figure it out the normal way," Lee insisted.

"The boys want to help," Barney added. "We've done cases like this before."

"We have," Lee nodded. "I remember the boat, Rita. All I gotta do is go to the marina and ask questions. One thing will lead to the other."

Rita gritted her teeth but didn't argue. She still thought Cage could help them, but then she remembered she had no way of getting a hold of him. He hadn't exactly left a forwarding address. She felt very hopeless then. Lee pulled her into a tight hug.

"I will find our son," he promised. "I swear."

"Hey, Toll," Barney said into his phone. "Yea, we're gonna need you guys. What? All right then." He hung up and within minutes, there was pounding on the door.

"What...?" Lee asked.

"Apparently they didn't want to be on standby," Barney said, going to open it and revealing Toll, Gunner, and Doc standing there. Thorn and Mars were there as well. John had retired not too long after the incident where his girlfriend was almost killed, forcing him to betray everyone. Galgo and Luna were on a different mission currently.

"What are we looking at?" Toll asked immediately as soon as he saw Lee.

"Six men. A very nice high speed boat," Lee answered. "I'm on my way to find it right now."

"We'll come with," Toll nodded.

"Thorn, you and Mars stay here with Rita while she waits for a phone call," Barney instructed. "Thorn, work your magic when they do."

"Got it," Thorn nodded.

Lee went out to his garage and down to where all his weapons were stored. He picked up his knives, looking at them. He didn't think he'd ever need them again. He strapped the belt on and grabbed more things he needed. He joined Barney outside when he was done.

"Ready?" Barney asked.

"Let's do this," Lee answered, and the hunt began.