I sat quietly the rest of the ride, silently planning, and holding Jared's hand. He stayed wide awake and alert. Constantly glancing to the terrorists, he even positioned himself so he was partially blocking me. My mind kept wandering to Julo's reaction to my last name. Could he be working for Paul? I couldn't tell but it seemed the best assumption at the time. Once I had that thought down I wondered why he hijacked a plane? Ransom? His debut? I couldn't be sure and there probably wasn't anyway to trick it out of our captors. Every time they shuffled it gave away they were just pawns waiting for their masters next move.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, I slowly checked it only to find it was from Adam.

'Are you crazy?' He texted.

I smiled, so he had figured it out.

'Just a little, but when is that ever changed? I'm doing this for many reasons. I'm fairly sure this is Slater's doing but I'm also sure he doesn't know I am here.' I replied, watching for others movements so no one saw me.

Several minutes later he replied:

'So you were the one to tip of the news? Fairly sure? Suze this is too far this time.'

I frowned:

'Yes, I did. And yes, this job never has a 100% guarantee unless you count you'll always take risks, and it will always be for the best. I'm not losing a husband and a teammate.'

'You've put Jared on the line, what if he gets hurt?' He texted, I sighed.

'If your going to risk asking me these pointless questions. Stop. Now is not the time to be pondering what if's like that. I've discussed it with Jared at length. We all know what's at stake here Adam. Control your post and take care of everyone there. Agent Out.'

He would know better than to respond after that. I pocketed my phone just as one of them walked past, glancing at me. I yawned, looking away.

'She is awfully calm, unlike these kittens' He said to one of his friends in Spanish, Jesse had been teaching me much and I learned on any free time I got.

'You're awfully stupid, unlike others,' I mocked loudly, making him whip around.

'What!' He growled walking towards us, Julo cut him off, murmuring to him quietly. After he settled, Julo turned to me,

'Be wise American, and shut up,'

I snorted, and turned away.

'Movies' these days give them such false security,' Julo shook his head, glancing at me.

'I'd like to shoot her first, show the kittens how scared they ought to be,' Another growled.

'That is Boss's decision, not ours,' Julo snipped.

Jared looked at me in warning and I glanced sideways, mouthing the words I'm sorry. He gave a quick nod but a stern glare. I gave a quick nod, looking to the window. Hormones, hunger, and helplessness where affecting me and I closed my eyes to do some deep breathing exorcizes.

The next hour was tedious and many people fidgeted, several had to go to the bathroom. Even one of the stewardesses threw up from having a panic attack.

Jared never wavered for a moment and I saw the old spark in his eyes. The reason he was a great agent and would always be. When he was in the field on a mission he seemed to transform to the coughing old man to a sharp eyed hawk ready to defend and react in a moments notice. Strength and courage that resided in his beating heart was eternal and ever forthcoming. I felt the tears come to my eyes and silently apologized for putting him in this situation. As much as he loved the thrill of working, it would never compare to the love everyone felt towards him and the want to keep him around for another half a century.

'Are you sure you want to come? It's dangerous, more so than anything we've ever done,' I looked at him sternly across the small metal table.

'I've lived a good long life love, and I've been loved by many. I've protected more lives than I can count in Russian. I'd rather go in battle than sleep, like the best of the warriors of this world. You need to worry about the danger to your little one inside of you. Not this old bag. Take care of yourself and I'll be right beside you. Trust me like I am trusting you Suze, things always work out, no matter what the outcome.' He smiled his grandfatherly smile and I knew there would be no reasoning with him. Sighing I reached out a hand and smiled,

'That's what I needed to know,'

'Good, then lets get this show on the road,' He clapped his hands and then took mine as he stood.

Jared tapped my hand to rouse me from my memories, I glanced around to see pale faces. Then I realized we were at an angle and declining from the skies. They were getting ready to land. I looked at the captors who looked relieved to finally be on solid land.

"Are you alright?" Jared whispered to me.

"I will be," I promised, smiling weakly.

"Tell me if you need anything," He turned to look at me.

"I will," I nodded.

He turned back, not fully reassured. Within minutes the plane jolted and slowed, dust kicking up and making it hard to see anything outside the windows. Julo turned to that anxious faces,

"You will stand one at a time, I will tell you when to get up. You will walk straight through the door and down the stairs. You will walk through the doorway and into the room. You will not talk to anyone, and you will not leave that room unless you are ordered to. Nod if you understand me," he watched as each one nodded then proceeded to open the door.

The first seven went obediently but when a mother tried to walk with her young child two of the guards started protesting.

"You can't expect her to leave her child," Julo tried to reason with them.

'You have grown soft,' One of them spat in Spanish.

Julo without hesitation hit him in the shoulder with his gun making the man curse aloud.

'You have grown annoying,' He spat back.

The others walked, flinching at the littlest movement. Finally Jared and I exited, the room they sent us in was fairly nice but the stench of dirt, alcohol and blood was unmistakable as a nearby door opened and two burly men waddled in, looking over the huddled crowd.

"Hello, my newest pets," A mellow voice chimed from behind them.

My breath caught and my eyes narrowed, the voice like a bad memory. I put a hand on my growing belly without thinking. I had been sure this had all been Slater but it didn't stop me from becoming furious. Jared tensed too, the lines deepening in his face as he scowled.

"Welcome to Brazil,"