A/N: Urg. So my home computer crashed the other day, and I'm trying to fix it. It's on a reboot loop that makes me want to throw it out of the window. Thank GOD the laptop works. I've fixed it before, so let's see if I can get some kind of lucky this time..In the next chapter or two, a special someone returns! I know I lied when I said I'd include Danny in the last one. I forgot..but here he is! R&R and stay beautiful! Spanks :{)
"This is the memory, this is the curse of having too much time to think about it. It's killing me, this is the last time, this is my forgiveness..this is endless..."-Mayday Parade
Danny woke up, feeling like every single nerve in his body was on fire. He felt as if every bone in his body was broken, too. Some of them probably were. Gently, he made the move to sit up, but found that his back gave out on him. He thudded to the ground again.
"Son of a bitch," he moaned, trying again. He lifted his hands, and-His hands. They were no longer bound. With great difficulty, he found that his feet were no longer bound, either. But they wouldn't have just untied him and left him to escape. With the closest thing to joy he'd experienced since he'd been taken hostage, he realized that he could now remove his blindfold. Just raising his hands above shoulder height took his breath away, so he did it quickly and ripped it off. There was barely any light, but it still hurt his eyes. They felt swollen, and they were puffy to the touch. He must have looked like a monster. And then he saw the cage.
Tentatively, still in pain, Danny reached out and brushed one of the metal bars with his hand. He was in a cage. One that he barely fit in. If he'd been successful in attempting to sit up, it wouldn't have matter anyway. There wasn't enough room for him to do much anything. His stomach growled, distracting him. Danny couldn't recall the last time he'd eaten anything. His stomach folded in on itself. He hadn't been this hungry since...Since then. But he'd survived it. Just like he would survive this. He caught the tiniest flicker of light. Eagerly, his eyes found it. The key.
Linda had given up trying to fight the officer that was keeping her in the squad car. Instead, she had taken up pounding on the windows and shouting at Frank, Jackie, anyone who would let her out of the car. It was impossible for her to just sit while everything seemed to rush on without her. She saw a crime scene tech carry a clear evidence bag past the car. She saw the clothes in them and knew that they were Danny's. She saw the blood spattered on them and screamed. She gave up and just crumpled in the backseat. They'd found his clothes. She didn't know exactly what that meant, but she knew that it couldn't have been good. Not at all. She was just so worried. Linda lost track of time. She jumped when the door to the patrol car opened. Frank slid in beside her and closed the door behind him.
"What happened? What did you find? Is he okay?" She attacked him with questions. Buying time, Frank took her hand in both of his.
"We found his clothes and his cell phone. The clothes were stained with blood. We won't know for sure until they're tested at the lab, but it's believed to be Danny's blood. The cell phone's been wiped clean, except for a few partials, but those belong to Danny," he explained bluntly. He knew that she would want him to tell her everything they had found out. And he would. Everything except the video. She didn't need to see that.
Jackie had surrendered the cell phone and the remnants of the black garbage bag. She'd had to keep shaking herself to go on while supervising and questioning anyone who had been in the area during the previous forty minutes or so. The majority couldn't recall a thing, but one or two vaguely remembered a black car. Praying to God that she'd get lucky, she discovered an ATM and an electronics store close enough nearby that their cameras might have picked up a license plate. She placed her hand on another detective's shoulder-A Detective Shaun Winston. He would be working closely with her during the investigation.
"I need you to see if you can pull the footage from that ATM and see if the store over there is willing to hand over their security tapes. If you're feeling lucky, check the red light cams and see if they ran any red lights hauling ass outta here," she instructed. Shaun nodded and was off. Curatola sighed and put her hands on her hips, scanning the area. If Danny were there, she wouldn't have even had to explain what she wanted done. One of them would already be on it, and the two of them would be back to arguing over coffee in no time. Only this time, her partner wasn't by her side, working this case like the other half of her brain. This was because Danny was this case. That was why she had to crack it. And fast. A hand touched her shoulder, and she whipped around, heart racing.
"I'm sorry," Frank apologized, seeing that he'd frightened her. Jackie waved her hand.
"No problem."
"You'll keep me updated?" She nodded rapidly.
"Yes, sir."
"Good luck," he said, and then he was gone.
"Thank you," Baker finished, hanging up. The Commissioner sat down in the car, and the driver began to take them back to the office.
"Commissioner, I have a press..." she trailed, suddenly catching sight of his face in the mirror. She stopped and looked down for a moment. She'd had her fair share of seeing the Commissioner somewhat worried, but never anything like this. It was as if he had aged ten years in the hour that they had been at the scene. But that was expected, she guessed. She didn't have any children of her own, but she was sure that if she had, she'd be just as concerned as he was now. It had shaken her to hear the news. If the police Commissioner's son could be kidnapped, then how was anyone who worked with him safe? But as days had gone by without another attack, she had begun to relax. But only slightly. After the assassination attempt several months ago, she was always concerned that if she even left the Commissioner for a moment, something like that could happen again. And it would be her fault. Again. She wouldn't have that.
"I'll re-schedule," she announced, picking up her cell phone again. If she hadn't looked up, she was sure that she would have missed the momentary relief on his face.
Danny had no concept of time. There was no light to judge by, no sounds, no anything. Just silence. Silence and dimness. In all of this, he was grateful that it wasn't pitch black this time. He could faintly make out shapes in the darkness. He had no idea what time it was, but he knew that he'd been working to get the key for at least a half hour. It had felt like a half hour, anyway. The closer he got, the further away the key seemed to go. It didn't help that he felt as if he were going to pass out any second from the pain and hunger. But Danny Reagan did not give up. Because Reagans didn't quit. It wasn't in their blood. Finally, his index finger crossed the gap. He flung it back in a single motion, and then reached again. This time his hand easily closed around the key until it bit into his palm. He didn't care. He'd found his way out.
Finding the lock was the easy part. It was right next to his head. He could reach out and touch it with minimal pain. As he held the key, a thought flashed by in his mind, so quickly that he had almost missed it. Wasn't this all just a little too easy? They had just happened to leave the key right in front of him? The lock had just so happened to be so easy to reach? This could be a setup. But he shook the thought from his head. Even if it was a setup, what was the worst that could happen? He wouldn't be able to get out? Grunting, Danny forced the key to fit into the lock. When it didn't fit, he figured that he had put it in wrong the first time and tried again, this time in a different direction. He pushed at the bars. Nothing.
"No," he murmured, trying again, "No. Don't do this to me. No. Come on," he pleaded, bowing his head in sadness when he realized that it wouldn't work. They had left the key on purpose. He'd been set up.
"Damn it!" he screamed. He didn't care who heard him. He was alone, anyway. It had been stupid of him to think that he could actually escape. But he wasn't about to give up. No, he'd find a way out. He would escape.
