Ryan sat next to Chip's bed and held the unconscious man's hand as she watched the declining vitals on the monitors.

"Any word from Lee yet?" she asked as Jamie came over to jot some readings down on his chart.

"No."

"It's been two days. He needs to be here."

"I'm sure he's doing everything he can; we just have to have faith that it will work. There's really nothing else we can do," offered the doctor.

"I should call his parents." Ryan however made no move to leave the ailing man's side.

The Captain had disappeared two days ago much to the alarm of the staff and crew at the Institute. It didn't take Jamieson long to figure out where he would have gone. Part of him wanted to strangle the Captain for undertaking what was most likely a dangerous endeavour; but another part couldn't help admire him for his loyalty and dedication to the crew and his friends. There was really nothing any of them could do now but sit back, wait and hope for the best.

The worst part was explaining to Nelson why his boys were not at his bedside. When he learned of their current predicament he was very determined to do something; Jamie had had to engage in world war three to keep the man from taking off on some mission to rescue Lee from himself. Will would have loved nothing more than to send the Admiral after Lee, but he wasn't willing to let Nelson kill himself in an effort just to make it to the parking lot. There was no way the man was in any shape to help the Captain out; and so with great reluctance he'd spent most of yesterday keeping the Admiral contained in Med-bay.

To make matters worse, if that was even possible at the moment, their current exec was missing as well. Jamie sincerely hoped that Crane had had a moment of common sense and taken Lyndon with him; two had a better chance than one at succeeding. With all the patience he could muster, Will kept one eye on his patient and one eye on the door for any sign of Captain Crane and Commander Davenport.


Goon 2 reached into the trunk of the car and tested the prisoner's restraints. Satisfied they would hold no matter how hard the man struggled, he hauled the man up and threw him over his shoulder. The parking lot was empty except for the one car and there was nothing in sight for miles. The old abandoned warehouse was deteriorating, but would fit Alexi's purposes.

Once inside, Goon 2 through his burden to the ground and went back to the door to chain it shut; they had to be certain that their prize would not get away. Alexi sat on a wooden chair in the middle of the large space and waited for the affects of the tranquillizer to wear off.

Lee awoke to the searing pain in his arms generated from them being pulled behind his back. The plastic ties were cutting into his wrists, and he wiggled his fingers to try and restore some feeling into them. The motion did not go unnoticed and Crane groaned as the thug hauled him to his feet and deposited him onto the chair opposite Alexi. He blinked in an effort to clear the blood that had run into his eye from the gash on his left temple. When his vision cleared, Alexi's wide grin greeted him.

"Captain Lee Crane, of the submarine Seaview, and ONI agent extraordinaire; we finally get to settle this."

"And just what is all this?" demanded Crane.

"The final performance." Alexi pulled out a revolver and dumped the bullets into his hand. He held one up so Lee could take a good look. It didn't look like a regular bullet; it appeared to have some sort of liquid in it.

Alexi gestured to the object in his other hand. "This is quite the technological wonder; took them years to perfect it but they finally managed to do so. This bullet contains a much faster acting version of the poison that I gave to Charles. Instead of days the subject has mere hours, assuming they don't die from the bullet wound. I plan on giving each one of your friends a demonstration." His next words were punctuated by each bullet being replaced in the revolver. "Every. Last. One!"

Giving attitude to the man holding you prisoner and threatening to kill you is probably not the greatest idea, but Lee was going to go for broke. "You brother was an incompetent lunatic and deserves to rot in prison!"

"Oh, I don't think he's going to be there much longer."

The sound of a car engine grabbed Crane's attention. He watched the side door as he heard a car door slam and footsteps approach. The heavy metal door creaked open and the new arrival walked inside. Lee's blood began to boil.

"How could you?" Crane hissed at this newest betrayal.

Alexi's eyes lit up with glee. "Oh, don't be so hard on him Captain. I'm sure I gave him no choice."

All Lee could do was sit there and glare at Lyndon who offered no excuse or showed any sign of remorse for his forthcoming betrayal.