Ok, subplot it is. Thank you everyone for sending in your vote! I have to wrap this up a bit sooner than I though to make the subplot work, but it will definitely be there…prepare for the twist of a lifetime!

Chapter 8

Pollock dropped his headphones on to the floor and jumped out of his chair. He had been listening to the tactical team's microphones as they approached the warehouse, and what he had heard made his heart stop. A loud, explosive sound had rung through his headphones and then the microphones, all fifteen of them, went dead. The tactical team had been a good 100 yards from the warehouse when it exploded, but Scott and Cortez…they had been inside. What happened to them?

Terrified that he could have lost two more agents, Pollock opened the door of his hideaway truck and jumped out. He sprinted towards the warehouse, completely oblivious of the oncoming traffic or the fact that he had just exposed his hiding spot to hundreds of people.

"Scott, Cortez!" Pollock yelled blindly as he ran toward the exploded building. His hopes plummeted when he saw the shape of the warehouse. The remains of the building, the back wall and half of the foundation, was still smoldering. It had been blown almost clean away. There was no way Agent Scott and Agent Cortez could have survived that.

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Jess felt the car jerk to a stop and winced when her ribs were jolted. She heard the door slam shut, and she knew she only had a few seconds before Jared Hart was going to get to her. Desperate, she checked to make sure the cell phone was on and stuffed it between the seat cushions. It was her lifeline, the only chance that she could be found, and she had to keep that hope alive. And not a moment too soon, because the second she removed her hand, the door opened. Jess could make out the sound of water, and she was overpowered with the scent of greenness. They were somewhere in the woods, she knew that, and near running water. The question was, where? And could Nicole and Antonio trace the GPS from that phone and find her in time? Or would Hart finally win?

"Hello, Agent. Feeling any better?" Hart's voice was so smug, it was almost unrecognizable. Well, then again, the overpowering pain in her head might have something to do with how strange he sounded.

"I've been better." Jess' voice sounded weak even to her ears, and she knew that

Hart would pick up on it. She was just running out of strength, time, and endurance. Jess was a trained FBI agent, and she had seen what happened to people who lost as much blood as she had. They died.

She could feel it the same way that she felt the wind and the sun on her face: her life was coming to an end. Most people don't know when they are going to die, and when it happens they are struck with a sense of surprise and dread. Jess could feel her body being drained of its will to live with every wave of pain that overtook her, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to handle much more. Her time had just run out, and her body was overworked and too burned out to fight. Right now, death would be a welcome release from this anguish. But she refused to give Hart the satisfaction of killing her, even if it meant living in agony for a little while longer.

"Well, time is up, I am afraid. I am almost sorry to see you go; it has been so much fun. But, like all good things, its time for an end." Hart reached foreword and grabbed her under her arms, slowly dragging her out of the car. Her body wilted like a dying flower. He was dragging her to her death, and she didn't have enough energy to put up a fight. Hart gave an extra tug, and her tender ribs were jolted as her back hit the chair with increased velocity. The pain was overwhelming, sweeping along her body and settling in to her bones like flaming liquid iron. The pain got too much for her to handle, and Jess eagerly welcomed the dark, cool blanket of unconsciousness. Anything, even death, had to be better than this. Her mind didn't want to die and give up, but her body wouldn't let her live through this pain much longer

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"Nicole!" Antonio called out desperately, coughing from the smoke in his lungs. He had managed to escape the building right before the explosion. The strength of the bomb had sent him flying in to a parked car, but besides a few scrapes and bruises he was fine. But Nicole had been a good yard behind him, and he was petrified that she hadn't made it. He couldn't loose her, not now, not like this.

"Antonio?" Antonio heard her voice, weak, coming from the remains to his left. Breaking in to a run, he reached the site where the warehouse had stood in mere seconds. Nicole's voice had come from the entrance of the warehouse, which was now just a pile of ashes and a few chunks of smoldering concrete. Grunting, he lifted a concrete block and pushed it out of his way. He still didn't see her.

"Nic? Speak to me!" He called out again, his eyes searching for her. He refused to loose her after he had finally found her again. After Phoenix, he had spent years in a dating haze. No one had ever lived up to Nicole, and Antonio didn't think anyone ever would. If they all got out of this alive, wild horses couldn't keep him from telling her his feelings.

"Here!" Nic's voice came from underneath an FBI SUV, a few feet behind the actual explosion site. His heart lifted, and an unintentional smile took over his face. She had escaped the direct explosion; she wasn't hurt badly, it at all.

"Cortez!" Antonio spun around to see Pollock, advancing towards him rapidly. "You alright? Where's Scott?" Pollock leaned over to catch his breath as Antonio answered.

"Scott is under that car. She sounds fine, but I haven't seen her yet, sir." Both men walked over to he car, and Pollock squatted so he could see Nicole face to face.

"You alright, Agent?" Antonio looked under the car as Pollock spoke, not trusting Nicole to honestly describe her situation. She has so proud, and so determined to find Jess, she wouldn't say if she was hurt for the life of her.

"I'm fine, sir. Just my arm…I think I sprained my wrist in the fall. Nothing an ACE bandage won't fix." Nicole crawled out from under the car as she spoke. Clutching her wrist to her chest, she turned to face Antonio and smiled slightly. He looked her over, checking to make sure she wasn't lying. Her hair was a mess, there were ashes on her face, and she had scraped the side of her face on the concrete. Besides that, and an obviously inflamed wrist, she seemed fine.

"Good, Agent. Both of you, head over to the medic and get cleaned up. Now." Pollock looked sternly at them, and no matter how reluctantly, they knew they had to listen.

The medic has just finished wrapping Nicole's wrist when a phone rang.

"Cortez?" an unfamiliar voice called out from the FBI tactical team at the crash site.

"Here!" Antonio called out. The man walked towards him and handed Antonio a cell phone.

"It's for you, from AD Pollock." Antonio looked at the phone, puzzled, and answered it.

"Hello?"

"It's Thea. I have been monitoring Jared Hart's cell phone use. Before, nothing. Now, his GPS is on and he is in a fixed location."

"You know where he is?" Antonio's voice was excited, and Nicole walked over to him quickly. Had they finally gotten a break, and found Hart?

"All we can get is that he is somewhere inside Kingstown National Wildlife Reserve in Northern Virginia. That's all we can get, but I will keep probing the signal for something more specific."

Antonio hung up the phone and turned to the man standing near the medic's station.

"Bring me a laptop, as fast as you can." Antonio's voice was hopeful, and Nicole's pulse began to flutter.

"Jess?"

"Somewhere in Kingstown National Wildlife Reserve." Antonio's voice was hopeful, but Nicole could see the worry in his eyes.

"Where?" She had never heard of that place, and it had to be big. There wasn't enough time to search the whole thing…they needed a fixed location. Jess, if she was even still alive, didn't have much time. She had lost too much blood; that stain on the floor was humongous. Thinking about Jess like that, dead or slowly wasting away, was making Nicole queasy. She shook her head, and concentrated on finding Jess instead of worrying about her. There would be plenty of time to worry when Jess was back.

"It's in Northern Virginia, and Thea couldn't get a definite location on the GPS." Antonio said a quiet thank you and accepted the laptop. "That is what the laptop is for. I am going to cross-reference Jess' vision and the map from Kingstown Reserve." Antonio's fingers sped across the keys, and Nicole found herself holding her breath in anticipation. There had to be something, there just had to. Jess' visions had never let them down before, and Nicole refused to let this be the first time.

"Got something!" Antonio called out in a triumphant voice. Nicole whipped her head around, and glanced at the springs.

"I wondered when we came to the warehouse why there was nothing to do with the 'bread' part of Jess' vision, but now we know why. Baker's waterfall is only three miles from the entrance of the Reserve." Nicole's face broke out in to a smile and she jumped up.

"Lets go." Her voice was laced with steel and raw determination, and Antonio followed her wordlessly to the car. He knew that anyone who got in Nic's way now was a dead man. She was out to protect Jess, and Jared Hart…beware.

"Agents, where are you going?" Pollock called out as they ran past him. Nicole turned around and ran backwards as she replied,

"We found a lead on Jess. Baker's falls, Kingstown National Wildlife Reserve." Nicole and Antonio sped out of the parking lot so fast the wheels screeched and dust flew up around them. Right now, they didn't care because Jess needed them, and they could finally help. Finally, they could put an end to this nightmare and bring her home to the people that love her.

It was a good two hours later when the car pulled up near the falls. Nicole climbed out of the car and drew her gun. Removing the safety, and quietly instructing Antonio to do the same thing, she advanced on the falls. They had parked in a concealed location in the woods, a good four yards from the actual falls. Nicole couldn't wait to sneak up on that bastard and give him a piece of her mind. As far as she was concerned, if she had to kill him for 'resisting arrest' she wouldn't even blink twice. Jared Hart had tortured and terrified her partner and best friend…and tried to kill her and Antonio.

"Nic." Antonio whispered and gestured her over to him, a little to the left of her. He was standing in front of a car. The back door was wide open, and there was a puddle of blood in the backseat. Bile rose in Nic's throat, and she lifted one shaking hand to her mouth. More blood…more of Jess's blood. Would this nightmare ever end? Would Jess ever be free of this awfulness?

"Oh, god. She's still bleeding. Bad." Nicole's voice was hollow with suppressed pain. What if they had reached her too late?

"But she's alive." Antonio was right, Nicole knew it deep down, but she couldn't help the sinking feeling in her stomach. Something, besides the obvious, was wrong. Her heart was full of so much anguish it seemed to spill over, and she didn't think she could keep from crying much longer. But right now, she had to focus on finding Jess alive and brining her home. Her tears could wait until after Jess's agony had ended, until after Nicole knew she could hug her friend hello.

"The door is open; either meaning Jess managed to escape or Hart took her somewhere." Nicole glanced at the ground and gesticulated to the drag marks. With one finger over her mouth to show silence, she and Antonio followed the drag marks closer and closer to the falls. When the exited the clearing and were directly in front of the raging fall, Nicole let out an instinctive gasp of horror. Jess. She was clearly unconscious, and even from the other side of the waterfall, Nicole could see the blood that caked her body. Her hair was matted in it, her chest was coated in it, and even the grass around her seemed darker. She had lost so much blood…Nicole didn't know if she could even make it to the hospital. Nicole's chest tightened at the very site of her, and silent tears rolled down her face. She was so livid at how Jess had been treated, so scared for her friend's health. Seeing the agony Jess had to have experienced and noticing how deathly ill her friend was only made Nicole more hurt, and more determined to make Hart pay for everything he had done.

"Jess." Nicole cried out, her voice full of such pain it cracked suddenly. Before she had a chance to make her way over to Jess, Hart walked out from behind the bushes.

Quick as a blink, Nicole raised her gun and fixed it on his chest, almost daring him to let her shoot.

"FBI, you bastard. One movement, one eye twitch, and I will blast you from here to Sunday." Her voice was pure iron, and the only evidence of her pain and emotions were the tears that steadily trickled from her eyes.

"I wouldn't become to trigger happy if I were you, Agent Scott. Not if you want your partner back." Ignoring her gun, Hart advanced towards Jess. With one leap, he had his foot on top of her bloody torso. "You see, all I have to do is move her ever so slightly and your severely weakened friend is sent tumbling in to the waterfall. There are rocks down there, Agent Scott. Big, pointy rocks that will tear her body to bits."

Nicole glanced from Hart and his authoritative position over Jess to Antonio beside her, to the rocks and rushing water below. If she did shot him, he could easily have time to sent Jess to meet her watery grave. If she didn't…he could still kill Jess. Could she decided, shoot or not, knowing that her decision could cost Jess her life?

Hahaha, cliffhanger again. Subplot will be beginning next chapter…thank you to everyone who let me know your opinion! Updating later this week…