Author's Notes: First off, you all are fantastic. I am floored by all of the favorites, follows and wonderful reviews for this story. I never thought I would get this kind of a response, and I am thrilled that you all are enjoying this. Your positivity is inspiring! And my apologies in delivering this a bit later than I expected. I get distracted by shiny things.

Secondly, I am trying to respond to each of your reviews. I feel that it's the least I can do. To all of you who leave guest reviews, I want to take this time to thank you here, since I cannot respond to you personally. So, thank you!

One last thing: it was pointed out to me that the Colorado River does not go through Texas. While the Colorado River that runs through our beautiful Grand Canyon does not actually go anywhere near Texas, there is another river, also named the Colorado, that does. And, it happens to go right through the center of Austin. You can see it on Google Maps, if you feel so inclined to check it out.

Anyway, enough of my babbling. I'm sure you want to know what happens next…

He hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from hers. Ever since Cho had led him through the throng of agents about to be briefed, his focus remained on the jade orbs in front of him. Maybe, if he stared long enough, concentrated hard enough, they would magically transform into their real life counterparts. They would shine at him with their usual affectionate tolerance, and he would be able to laugh off the heavy cloud of dread that was beginning to infest his countenance.

Because it wasn't possible that this, whatever this was, could be real. It wasn't possible that Lisbon was gone. It wasn't possible that the last time he'd see her would be from the other side of a men's room door. It wasn't possible that when he'd made the choice to shut down his phone and laugh into liquid pools of chocolate brown, he'd chosen to forfeit that experience forever with his favorite shade of green. It was not possible.

For a moment, Jane came back to himself. His feet seized on the opportunity and hurried him through the crowd to Abbott's side.

"What is this?" Jane asked, flinging his arm in the general direction of the board. "What the hell is going on?"

"You need to have a seat, Jane," Abbott replied, not once looking in Jane's direction. He shuffled some papers on his podium, tapped them to straighten them out, and set them down. And still, he did not turn his head.

"No, you need to tell me what the hell is going on. Why is Lisbon on that damned board? What—"

It was then that Abbott did look up. The simmering anger in his expression stopped Jane mid-sentence.

"Jane. I am about to give this very specialized and highly-skilled group of agents the briefing that will provide them with information for one of their most important recovery operations. You want to know what's going on? Then take a seat and stop wasting my time." Abbott's eyes flicked briefly to the image of his agent on the board. "And hers."

Jane felt the blood drain from his face and this time, he was grateful when Cho once again reappeared at his side and escorted him to the cluster of chairs near Abbott's setup. He was sandwiched between Cho and Fischer. He knew that he would be as successful trying to wrangle information from Cho as he would be trying to get him to wear a foam cowboy hat and ride a mechanical bull, so he pressed his luck with the agent to his right.

"Kim, please. I need someone to give me something. Anything. Tell me what happened."

Fischer met his gaze, and the stubborn set of her jaw softened slightly as she got a look at his face. She closed her eyes and slightly shook her head, looking back down at her notes.

"We lost her, Jane. We all went in, and she didn't come out. I…we just…we lost her."

The panic that rose up in Jane would have surely burst forth if the lump that formed in his throat hadn't blocked it. That lump turned into a ball of lead and plummeted straight into his stomach as Abbott began to speak.

"At 8:00 last night, four members of my team, including myself, Agent Kimball Cho, Agent Kim Fischer and Agent Teresa Lisbon, along with 15 of Austin PD's SWAT division, conducted an organized raid on three warehouses on a set of private docks."

Abbott pulled up a satellite image of the docks on his board. "This," he pointed to a warehouse that sat nearly on the water's edge, "was the building assigned to Lisbon and three SWAT members, including Officer Heather Belding."

At that moment, the photo of a young officer filled Jane's vision. He hadn't even noticed her picture before, as he'd been so stricken by Lisbon's presence on the board. She was young, probably no more than 30. Her strawberry-blonde hair was pulled back into a sensible bun, tucked beneath her hat. Ice blue eyes stared directly into the camera, and her lips were pulled into a small smirk that seemed to defy anyone to accuse her of not earning her position.

"Agent Lisbon and Officer Belding, along with two other SWAT members, entered warehouse 1 at approximately 8:10 last night. Lisbon and Belding headed to the north edge of the warehouse. After a thorough search of the south half of warehouse 1, Officers Gostlin and Heffron exited the building and waited to reconnect with Lisbon and Belding. After ten minutes with no radio contact, Gostlin and Heffron re-entered the building and proceeded to sweep the north end."

Abbott paused to remove his glasses and pinch the bridge of his nose. Jane followed his every moment, not wanting to miss a detail, not daring to risk not hearing a single word. His heart felt like it was only moments away from bursting out of his chest. He couldn't wait to get out of his seat and do something, yet he couldn't move.

"It appears," Abbott continued, "that whoever owns these buildings was either expecting us, or anticipating a run in with law enforcement at some point. Our communication system was disabled by an as yet unidentified device. Lisbon most likely called for assistance, but we were unable to hear her."

Abbott walked back over to the board, touching the screen and making Lisbon's picture appear next to Heather's. Jane was once again struck by the overwhelming need to move. He stood suddenly, attracting the attention of the crowd of agents.

"When are we leaving?"

The agent held Jane's gaze. "As soon as I'm done with my briefing. Now if you would just—"

"What's left to tell? We obviously have to go back and search the docks. You missed something—we need to go! Now!"

Once again, the two men engaged in a battle of wills. This time, however, Jane refused to back down. The tension in the room was almost palpable, until Abbott finally sighed and looked away.

"Fine," Abbot sighed. He gathered his papers together and motioned to the other agents to head out. "We'll finish the briefing en route. Jane, you're with me."

Jane turned and hurriedly made his way to the garage, only making it about ten steps before Abbott's hand landed heavily on his arm.

"I am going to make this very quick. You are not the only one here who wants to see a successful recovery here."

Jane opened his mouth to argue. Lisbon was more than just a recovery. Abbott silenced him with a quick hand gesture. "However, I would advise you to remember who is in charge here. I will allow this one indiscretion to go formally unaddressed because I understand the motivation behind your behavior. But what you need to understand is that it is my job to make sure that both Lisbon and Belding get home safely. This team is our best chance at a positive outcome for both of them. I am not going to take unnecessary risks to their safety, so if you cannot maintain some semblance of objectivity, I will remove you from this case. Don't test me."

The only sign that Jane was annoyed came from the slight clenching of his jaw. He gave Abbott a terse nod and headed towards the garage to join the rest of the team.

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The ride over to the docks was the longest car ride of Jane's life. Even with the sirens blaring and lights flashing, he felt like they were crawling along at a snail's pace. Abbott was droning on in his ear, as he finished his briefing, via speakerphone, to the agents in the other vehicles.

Jane tried to pay attention, he really did. But he didn't care about the specifics of what happened last night. As far as he was concerned, they were not going to help bring Lisbon home. What they needed to do was just get there and tear the damn place apart. And if that didn't work…

He swallowed, hard. If that didn't work, he didn't know what he would do. There had to be something there. He wasn't prepared to accept any other possibility.

His thoughts wandered to the last time he saw her, but more specifically, the look in her eyes as he went about procuring his company for the evening. At the time, he had been thrilled at the jealousy they were projecting. Now, they haunted him. Ghosts of their hurt and resignation drilled little pinpricks of pain into his soul.

What was wrong with him that he had been pleased to see her in pain? For so many years, he had been so reluctant to do the things that he knew would hurt her. Why was this time different? What kind of person did that make him? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

What he did know, with absolute certainty, was that when they did find her, he would do whatever he could to make sure he never saw that look in her eyes again. Whatever direction their relationship might take, whether she wanted him or not, he would do his absolute best to bring her happiness. He'd just have to find her first.

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This time, when the caravan of SUVs reached the docks, there was nothing subtle or quiet in their arrival. Tires screeched on pavement, and agents poured from the vehicles with guns at the ready, their footsteps quick and calculated in a lethal ballet.

Jane was out of the car before Abbott could even shift into "park." Though he wasn't used to wearing a vest (another one of Abbott's victories for the day), he was still able to beat the rest of the team to the front of the warehouse door.

A sharp yell from Cho was the only thing that stopped him from yanking open the door and barreling through it like Rambo. Without the M60 machine gun.

Cho was the second one to reach the door. He nodded towards the building. "We need to secure the interior first. Once we're clear, we can search without getting out heads blown off. Wait here."

As much as it pained Jane wait, he recognized the logistics in Cho's words. Getting shot would not help Lisbon. So, he stood outside and waited. And waited. It was times like this where he wished he had been certified to carry a weapon. Not that he would be able to effectively use it in a high pressure situation, but it might at least get him in the door.

He was just about ready to start reciting the U.S. Presidents by height when he heard someone give the "all clear." When he entered the building, he immediately turned and headed to the area that Lisbon had been just a few hours before.

His eyes scanned the stacks of crates, the high metal walls, the wooden floors. There had to be a clue somewhere. What had she seen?

He watched the other agents scour the floors and walls, checking for trap doors and false walls. Other agents were prying open crates, and yet more agents were sweeping the area with high tech gadgets that Jane couldn't even guess the purpose of.

Twenty-five minutes later, they had still found nothing, and Jane's patience was wearing thin. He'd circled the north end of the building for the umpteenth time, and everything looked the same. With a frustrated sigh, he leaned against the nearest stack of crates. He looked toward the ceiling, almost ready to make a plea deal with whatever deity Lisbon believed in. It was then that he noticed something strange.

"Cho! Over here!"

Cho materialized at his side almost immediately. "What did you find?"

"Look," Jane pointed upwards, to the top of the stack of crates. "With the way these crates are stacked, it's very unlikely they would be able to stay upright. See? That top one sticks out just a little too much."

"Right. Let's get these crates open." After a couple of failed attempts, Cho stood back with a puzzled look on his face. "Any other ideas?"

By then, another group of agents, including Abbott, had gathered to see what was going on. At his inquiry, Jane repeated his observations. After he'd finished, Abbott hoisted himself up on the bottommost crate on left. Jane, taking his lead, went around to the right and did the same.

"Boss?" One of the other agents inquired. "What are you doing?"

"I want to tip this over. And if I can't, I want to find out why. I suggest everyone back up."

The agents did as they were told, and watched as Abbott and Jane tried to topple the crate to the ground. It wouldn't budge.

"There's got to be something here," Jane said. "None of the other crates are like this. That has to mean something."

He started feeling around the edges of the crates, searching for any abnormalities. Abbott saw what he was doing and started exploring the other side. Cho and Fischer joined in and took the bottom crates.

Within a few minutes, they heard a click, and the door that was hidden in the center of the stack swung open. Despite their triumph, no one smiled. With guns at the ready, they entered the door.

As they neared the bottom of the stairs, Jane noticed something that made his heart leap into his throat. On the floor, close to the wall, was a small pool of blood. It was no bigger than his teacup saucer, but it might as well have been an ocean for the fear it instilled in him. He pointed it out to Abbott.

"Yep, it's definitely blood. Fischer, take a sample and make sure our techs know this is their top priority. Everyone else, let's see what we can find."

A thorough search of the network of underground tunnels and rooms yielded nothing useful to aid them in finding Lisbon or Belding. It looked as if everything had been cleaned up and moved out. What were once most likely store rooms had been emptied, files moved and any residual traces erased. One of the tunnels ended in an abandoned house on the other side of the river, which was most likely how they had managed to move everything without being seen.

Abbott ordered a complete forensic sweep of the entire setup, but no one was optimistic that they would find anything useful. They headed back to their vehicles, energy drained and spirits low.

As they climbed back into the SUV, Fischer tried to be reassuring. "Jane, our crime scene techs are the best of the best. If there's something to find, they'll find it. We'll bring her home."

"But what if we don't, Kim? What if it's too late?"

Fischer looked away as Jane closed his eyes and leaned his head on the window. He felt as if his heart was splintering into tiny fragments. What if he had failed her this one last time? He'd taken so much for granted lately, something he'd sworn to never to again. Would he never get the chance to set things straight with her, to right all of his wrongs?

His fingers massaged his suddenly aching temples. He had to have that chance. There couldn't be any other outcome.

Except, his subconscious reminded him, there could be.

The ringing of Abbott's cell phone broke him out of the beginning spirals of despair. After a brief conversation, Abbott radioed to the other vehicles to continue back to headquarters without them. He turned on the lights and sirens, pulled a U-turn, and proceeded to speed in the opposite direction. Off of Cho's questioning look, Abbott replied.

"That was Austin PD dispatch. They found Officer Belding."

Here we go! Next up, the identity of Lisbon's kidnapper. Please review and let me know how I'm doing. Until next time! :)