"She's gone."
"She decided the CIA suited her best. "
These words kept repeating themselves in Kurt's head. The same head that threatened to explode under the assault of emotions barging in. Concern first, for Jane, fury towards Carter, self-loathing, and more. You name it, everything was there, even betrayal. He knew he didn't have any right to feel that one, but it didn't make any difference.
Sure, he should have told her about the Isotope test, but her leaving the team, leaving him, was way out of proportion, If what Carter had said was true, which couldn't be. And back to fury...
Weller's phone started ringing while he was still on the sidewalk, trying to process everything. Caller ID said Reade, so he answered.
"Where are you? You need to come back here ASAP. " his teammate almost shouted.
"Reade, Jane..
" I know Jane is gone, but that's not our only concern right now. Guerrero has just been found dead, Kurt. And it was not a heart attack. Someone killed him inside the FBI. All hell's breaking loose here, you need to hurry!"
"I'm on my way. "
How could Reade already know about Jane?
Would that day ever end? He wondered. Yesterday had been such a victory, how could today be so disastrous? He remembered holding Jane's hands on the plane and felt the dread insinuate itself in the image. Would he ever have a chance to be close to her again?
As he maneuvered the car to get back, he prayed he would start getting some answers soon.
There were always a lot of people at the office. Agents coming and going, assistants and directors, analysts.. But the moment Guerrero had been found on the floor with his throat cut, the place had just become crazy. Every agency was here, trying to put the blame on everyone else before an investigation could even start. Power hungry people recognized that as an opportunity to shine, others just wanted to save their neck. The result was that Mayfair had been battling against everyone for the last hour and not one member of the team had had the opportunity to approach her yet.
Kurt was greeted by a very anxious Reade and a visibly shaken Zapata. Good thing about having been a team so long, they didn't wait a second to start filling him in.
Long story short, while he was in traffic that morning, some papers were delivered personally by Mayfair's superior. These papers emanating from the CIA, stated that in light of the evidence discovered by the Isotope Test, Jane Doe could not be officially recognized as an American citizen, even though that was a possibility. And since Jane Doe herself manifested the will to cooperate with the CIA, she would not be considered an FBI asset anymore. The CIA would assess what needed to be done concerning Jane Doe from now on. In other words, Jane was theirs.
Mayfair had not been happy about it to say the least but the director stood his ground, reminding her that this only concerned the woman herself. They still had the scans of the tattoos and that represented a lot of work. If she was not ok with the new situation, he could easily find another team, and another assistant director, to take on the job.
The director hadn't even bothered to close the door of the office for that part. It was clear for everyone Mayfair had not been given a choice.
She was asking Reade to find Weller and Zapata when the second bomb of the day was delivered as the news of Guerrero's death.
Weller sat down. They had made it official. The CIA and the FBI had agreed, you take the girl, I'll take the scans. He was horrified. He had always known there was a good dose of politics in these organizations, but it had never really bothered him, it had never kept him from doing his job. It had never kept him from a person he cared for.
Zapata was the one to say out loud what everybody thought :
" What do we do now? "
" We find her. "
His colleagues shared a look.
"What if she doesn't want to be found? Shouldn't we focus on Guerrero? "
Kurt knew deep down they had a point but he was still angry at them for stating it.
" So now we believe everything the CIA says? Now we leave members of the team behind? That's the way it's going to be from now on? "
" Calm down Kurt, intervened Reade, you know that's not what she meant."
" I will find her, even if I have to do it on my own. And then, if she looks me in the eye and tells me she prefers to stay at the CIA, only then will I believe it. Are we clear? "
Reade and Zapata nodded.
" As for Guerrero, find out what you can. I don't like the idea that it is so easy to kill a top priority suspect inside this building!"
Weller was still waiting for Mayfair to be out of the storm when Patterson approached him. She seemed even worse than that morning, if possible. She stared at her shoes, took a deep breath before looking up :
" I am so sorry, it's all my fault, if I hadn't taken that tooth.. I never imagined they would.. "
" You only did your job, it was not your fault. " Funny how he could repeat these words he had heard so many times without ever believing them.
"I tried thinking about anything that could lead us to Jane. I put an alert on facial recognition for about everywhere I could, tattoos also of course. I think I might have a sample of her voice somewhere that could be useful too.
Unfortunately she doesn't have a bank account or a cell phone and well, the CIA knows how to keep low, but I am not giving up! "
Kurt was surprised, he had never pegged Patterson for a rule breaker and she was taking big risks going against both the FBI and the CIA's will. He had thought he would have to convince her and here she had already taken matters into her own hands. Maybe it was a good time to suggest something else.
"Maybe trying to find Jane is not the best way to start. Carter knows where she is, we need to monitor him. He might lead us to her. "
Patterson didn't even blink,
"Yes, that makes sense. I don't know how yet, but I will find him, and then we will get back Jane. "
He didn't know what to do except nod. He knew she was trying to convince herself as much as him, but at that moment he didn't have much assurance to give.
He wished he could believe this was going to be easy.
He wished he could believe she was safe with Carter.
He wished he could believe he would find sleep that night.
But wishes, it seemed, didn't usually come true for Kurt Weller.
They seemed to have completed whatever tests they wanted to do to her because Jane didn't have to put on the hospital gown after the first week, and it had been a long week.
That day they said, since some of her memories could potentially come back, they wanted to try to find some triggers.
They sat her for hours in front of a computer and made her listen to every language on earth, then music, TV, news, anything. It was exhausting, and nothing more they stuffed her head with images and sounds, the more frustrated they seemed to become until they sent her back to her room.
Next day, they said maybe physical stimuli would be more efficient. She didn't like the sound of that. But they only made her use equipment of every kind, and put her on simulation courses : cars, planes, boats. She now knew she could do a lot of things, but she had no more memories than before.
On day three, she waited but no one came. She looked at the walls all day and maybe it was the worse thing they had done to her yet. With so much time to herself, her mind was free to go where it pleased, and it always went to the same place. It went to him.
How could she miss someone so much when they had only known each other for a short time? How could she regret leaving so much and be confident it was the only thing to do at the same time? Would he welcome her if she ever got out of here, the man whose name was tattooed on her back?
The day after, Three men came for her. That was unusual since she had only had one before. And the hospital gown reappeared. She tried asking what it was for, but she got no answer. That much had not changed.
The room she was taken to resembled a hospital room. And the bed had straps. This time she didn't think twice, she started kicking and took down two of the men before the third managed to drug her. They put her on the bed, and a man in lab coat explained, although it was a bit outdated as a procedure, they wanted to try electroshock therapy. Oh not too high he assured, but it was worth a try.
Worth for who she would have asked if not for the gag in her mouth.
Second week ended with as much results as the first one: none. Jane realised if things kept going this way she might not survive week three.
Author's note: I know I am being terribly cruel to Jane but stay with me a bit longer I promise things will get better, eventually!