The Rescue

House in the Woods - Outside

Jim's paramedic rig was already on scene back behind the perimeter when SRU arrived. Jim jogged up to Ed and shared a layout of the house he had hand drawn based on information he had extracted from Zhang. It was a good thing since no blueprints were available. Then he huddled up with the SRU teams and outlined where the guy Zhang called Master could be and gave all the details he knew about the interior based on Zhang's description.

Ed, Greg and Wordy had all patted his back and said thanks. Jules had hugged him fiercely and kissed his cheek. Her display of affection had stunned him. Before the SRU teams headed out all of Team Two had also offered one form or another of thanks. Jim could see that whatever was going on had all of SRU rattled.

As SRU headed out Jim and his partner Dave prepared their equipment and waited for word it was safe to enter. Jim had called for a second paramedic rig and air-evac based on the injuries that Zhang had related that Sam and Spike had suffered. He wanted to be fully prepared. The second paramedic rig pulled up as Jim watched the SRU teams start their stealthy approach toward the house.

Jim pulled his gaze away from the house back to his supplies double checking he had everything he might need. He was also actively pushing down his fears and concerns for both Spike and Sam. He was fortifying his medic walls and mentally preparing for having to see Blondie hurt again. Not just hurt but actually tortured again. Although Zhang had not indicated it was one of the wounds, Jim didn't think he could handle it well if Blondie had been whipped again. Not Blondie. Sam. Sam. Sam, he reminded himself.

Connor had observed the planning and was now impatiently waiting at the perimeter. He did not want to wait outside. But he knew having an unfamiliar man in the mix could be confusing and people could get hurt. So he waited.

As Connor waited he thought it strange how Ed had immediately started conversing with the paramedic. It was also strange they included the medic in a tactical discussion. However, Connor was in agreement with the medic's suggestion to do a quiet entry. It was necessary because the killer's location in the house was unknown. If the killer was with Sam and Spike and was startled it was highly likely he would kill them.

Pacing back and forth his thoughts shifted to the information provided by Pat squared. Pat squared had gotten Saul to sing like a canary in very short order. They had extracted from Saul all the details on how they had set up kidnapping. Saul indicated that there were at least eight more dead bodies he knew of those that had helped set things up. The only pieces of information Saul could not provide was how it was all paid for and the actual name of the Anagram Killer. All they were allowed to call him was Master.

Connor stopped pacing near the paramedic gurney. He turned and watched the house determining his priorities. His first priority once the house was secured and Sam and Spike received care was to confront the killer and determine his identity. His second priority would be to collect the evidence. From Pat squared he knew there would be a video room and that the killer kept videos of all his killings. Convicting him would be easy with all that evidence.

Anxiously Connor waited for the all clear so he could head in with the paramedics. That thought renewed his curiosity why a paramedic consulted on the tactical entry. Connor noticed he was now standing next to the paramedic. He picked up on a strange undercurrent.

The paramedic seemed both very reluctant and impatient to get in there. Connor noticed the man held himself very soldier like, loose but ready to spring at a moment's notice. So he ventured "So you know a bit about recon? A strange thing for a paramedic to know."

Jim glanced at the man. He had seen him on the sidelines as he had told Ed and Wordy what he knew of the interior. He could clearly hear the English accent and wondered just who he was and what he was doing here. Hell he wanted to know what here was and how Sam and Spike had become hostages. There was absolutely nothing on the news about SRU officers being taken hostage several days ago.

Blondie being a hostage brought back so many unwanted memories. Unconsciously while preparing to go in and handle Blondie's injuries Jim had slipped further into soldier mode. So instead of answering the question Jim gave a non-answer as he replied "Not from around here huh?"

Instantly Connor thought no easy mark, didn't offer any information. He scrutinized the man closely. He had single-handedly taken down an armed man then extracted information from him. Definitely not your run of the mill paramedic. Definitely had a military or police background.

Connor answered as he offered to shake the paramedic's hand "No, quite right. Sorry, name's Senior Detective Connor McGillie with Interpol Manchester, UK. I'm leading this investigation. Thanks for your assistance. I'm damn glad to finally get information leading us to Spike and Sam. I bloody well hope they are still alive. Need you and your buddies to make sure that bastard doesn't get to add to his death count."

Jim looked him over. Interpol? Death count? Interesting. Unnerving too. Did Sam get called up again? Nah if he had there would be JTF2 here now not Interpol. Just what the hell had Blondie gotten into this time? Christ trouble followed that kid.

Gripping the offered hand firmly and shaking it Jim decided to answer the man's first question. "Jim Shea. Former Special Forces. Recon and unit medic were my specialties." He saw Connor's brows raise slightly impressed.

Jim continued adding his commentary on Sam and Spike's status "We'll do our best. And Blondie damn well better still be alive, else he'll have to answer to me."

"Blondie?" Connor asked as the second set of paramedics came to stand to the left of Jim.

Sighing Jim couldn't help but thinking of Sam as Blondie whenever he was hurt. He was damned glad they didn't cross paths often on the job. The last time with the redheaded bitch was bad enough. He really was not looking forward to this time from the description of wounds Zhang had given him. Jim answered "Sam. He's a buddy. We were in the same unit."

Connor could see the pain in the man's eyes. He knew nothing of their history but the look was telling. He was about to say something when one of the other paramedics asked "Sam's in there?"

Looking to his left Jim saw that Steve and Zach had arrived. "Yeah, Spike too. Me and Dave will get Sam. You guys handle Spike."

"Any idea what are we looking at injury wise?" Steve asked.

Jim said "From the little I know they've both been pretty much beat to hell for several days; likely dehydrated. I think Spike had a head wound. The guy indicated that Sam took the brunt of it. GSW to the thigh, tasered multiple times, fever. No telling what else we will encounter. I requested a dual air-evac just in case."

Steve nodded "Is the rest of Team One involved? Anyone else hurt?" What he really wanted to ask was is Jules here and is she okay? Even though she broke up with him he still cared about her. But he knew her path was not his path. He hated to admit it but her heart had belonged to someone else even though she had tried to make it work with him. Sometimes he wondered who that someone else was.

Jim grimaced as he thought injured was a relative term. When he had seen the four of them they all looked like death warmed over. Every single one of them had dark circles under their eyes. They were haggard and he knew how close they all were. So although not physically injured they were still hurt. Because just like his JTF2 unit, they were a family and when one was hurt they all hurt.

He looked at Steve and answered "Greg, Ed, Wordy and Jules are all here, but no they are not injured." Steve nodded relieved Jules was not hurt then went with Zach to gather items they might need given the injuries Jim indicated Spike suffered.

House in the Woods - Basement

With information from Jim gleaned from Zhang they were ninety-nine point nine percent sure that Sam and Spike were in the basement. Team Two was working to clear the first floor and second floor while Team One headed straight for the basement.

Wordy eased open the door and they all prepared to enter quickly. They heard the sounds of a struggle then it went quiet. Ed, followed by Wordy, Greg and then Jules bolted down the stairs. Ed yelled "Freeze SRU" as he raced to the bottom of the stairs.

As they all made it into the basement the scene that met Team One's eyes was emotionally difficult to take in. It took all their training to not react. A beaten and bloodied Sam was sprawled out on the ground not moving and a man was on his knees next to him with a gun pressed to Sam's head. Ed and Jules trained their weapons on the man.

Greg and Wordy calmly looked about for Spike not seeing him in the basement. Greg called out deadly calm "Where is Spike?"

The man was looking directly at Ed and said nothing. But Greg saw a sick smile and a quick flick of the man's eyes to one corner of the room containing what looked like some sort of well or something. Greg saw water pouring from a huge spout into the well. Greg and Wordy moved quickly to it.

Greg wasted no time in saying a single thing, knowing that Ed and Jules had the situation with the armed man under control. He saw Spike at the bottom.

Within a flash he had dropped his weapons and jumped into the three-quarters full vat. He dove down once and tapped Spike to see if he would respond. His heart wrenched when he got no response. It was then he saw Spike was handcuffed to the bottom rung.

He surface and drew in a huge breath then dove down again. He reached Spike and took his face in his hands and blew air into Spike's mouth. Greg surfaced again and gulped air. "Need key or bolt cutters, handcuffed to rung" he gasped to Wordy. Taking another deep breath Greg headed back down and gave Spike more air.

Wordy had quickly fished out his handcuff key from his tact vest pocket and when Greg surfaced pressed it into his hand. Greg went down again, blew the breath into Spike then unlocked the cuff. Grabbing Spike under the arms he kicked up to the surface. Wordy was waiting there and took a hold of Spike as they surfaced.

Greg was panting from exertion as he hauled himself up the ladder and out of the vat. Once out Greg and Wordy heaved Spike out of the vat and laid him on the ground. Wordy checked for a pulse and found none. He immediately started CPR as Greg caught his own breath.

As he watched Wordy doing CPR, Greg said under his breath "Son of a bitch." Dammit he wanted to call in EMS right now but the killer was still armed. Spike was not breathing, nor did it look like Sam was either. SON OF A BITCH he yelled in his head. He was losing two of his family. They had gotten here too damned late.

Ed and Jules had been aware of Greg and Wordy heading to the corner of the room but were focused on Sam and the man in front of them with a gun to Sam's head. They trusted them to handle Spike while they handled the man with the gun to Sam's head.

Jules was stunned by Sam's appearance. Her heart and soul was screaming at her 'he needs help now'. Her eyes on his chest praying to see a familiar rise and fall but she could not detect one. She refused to give up on him. She would get this man away from him so Sam could get the help he desperately needed.

She was pulled out of her thoughts and back to the man as she registered he was speaking "Let me go or I'll blow his brains out."

Jules responded calmly belying her inner turmoil "Drop your gun and move away from him now."

Vlad's attention shifted from the tall bald officer he had been staring at to the petite woman he had not noticed before. Shock rippled through him "Alice? It can't be. You're dead. I killed you and Sergei. You're dead." His eyes shifted back to Sam then back to Jules. It repeated several times. His mind broke with reality and Vlad now saw only Sergei and Alice.

Connor was waiting with Jim and the other paramedics when he heard an unfamiliar voice call out his daughter's name. He started at a dead run towards the house when he heard 'I killed you and Sergei'. His gut roiling. His daughter's death had been ruled an accident. Now the Anagram Killer was saying he killed her and Sergei. He needed to be in there now.

Ed and Jules were stunned by what the man said. Ed could see the madness in the man's eyes. He wanted to shoot right now but he didn't have a clear shot to the brain stem and could not risk a twitch of the finger or Sam would be dead.

As Ed was ever so slowly trying to edge to the right to get into a position to shoot sounds of footsteps rapidly descending the stairs announced Connor's arrival. Connor raised his gun to the man and yelled "You killed Alice?"

Vlad looked at the new man and growled out "No the slut is still alive, cannot you see that." Turning his eyes back to Jules he sneered "You tried to take my Sergei. It didn't work." With his free hand touched Sam's face. "See he came back to me. He wanted me more than you."

Holy hell Jules thought. This man is insane. She knew neither she or Ed were in a position to take the needed shot so she attempted to talk him down "I'm Jules Callaghan with the Strategic Response Unit I'd like to resolve this without anyone else getting hurt. Can you tell me your name?"

Vlad looked at her "Don't go lying to me bitch. I know your name is Alice McGillie."

Jules was surprised by the name McGillie and she flicked a quick glance at Connor and saw the pale, shocked look on his face at the same time she heard his sharp intake of breath. She wished the Boss could give her guidance but he was in the vat trying to rescue Spike. She was on her own.

She swallowed hard "My name is Jules."

Yelling Vlad cut her off "No you are Alice. I'm not letting you take Sergei from me again." He yanked Sam and pulled him up on his lap closer to him.

Oh god she would not be able to convince him that she was not Alice and he seemed to think Sam was someone named Sergei. She tried "Can you tell me your name?"

"Why should I tell you my name again? You already know it. Sergei introduced us. I wish you had never come to work at the museum. You stole Sergei. I will not let you have him again. I'd rather kill him than let you have him again. You were both supposed to die when I cut his brake lines" Vlad yelled as he pushed the gun deeply into Sam's temple.

Jules was struggling with what to say next when Connor burst out "You bastard you killed my daughter."

Ed was almost in position. He was moving slowly trying not to draw the killer's attention. He heard Wordy starting to give Spike CPR. He needed to resolve this now. Could he pull the trigger now? No he could not risk it. One more half step to the right. Almost there he thought. Hang on guys almost there.

Vlad looked at the man again "Are you fucking blind. She is right there. I don't know how but the bitch survived. But she won't again. Neither of them will. They betrayed me. They will pay."

Jules saw the finger edging toward the trigger and she threw out her conventional training, it would not work with a man in this state. She called out "Don't hurt Sergei. He loves you. He wanted to come back to you. See he is with you. He left me to come back to you."

Her breath caught in her throat watching, waiting, and hoping. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ed continuing to edge into position. She needed to buy him time. Jules took a step forward and lowered her weapon. She heard the Boss slight intake of breath as he said "Jules" so softly. They all knew the risk she was taking and no one liked it.

Vlad did not flinch as she stepped closer. The bitch was coming closer. If he let Alice get close then he could take her out too. So he stayed still. His hand caressed Sergei. He thought Sergei came back.

Jules said softly "We need to get Sergei help. Can you see that he is hurt? Can you put the gun down so Sergei can be helped?"

Glaring at her Vlad said "Sergei is mine."

"I know. I know. You care about Sergei. Let us get him the help he needs. Put down your gun. Please" Jules intoned and took another step closer. She was so close to Sam now. She desperately wanted to reach out and touch him. From this distance she saw that his chest was actually rising and falling ever so slightly. Relief so intense pounded in her head it almost made her dizzy, Sam was still alive.

She reached out her hand palm up toward the killer "Can you give me your gun? Sergei needs help now. You don't want Sergei to die."

A sick expression creased Vlad's face. In a blink of an eye he lunged and had his hands wrapped tightly around Jules throat and was squeezing the life out of her. Three shots rang out. Vlad fell to the ground screaming and withering in pain.

Ed raced for the subject and had him cuffed in the next instance. Greg and Connor were racing to Jules and Sam. Greg was yelling for the EMS to enter.

Jules was gasping for air. It hurt to breath. Her head was swimming as she struggled to fight off the blackness trying to envelope her. The last thing she saw was Connor's face above hers. She registered the compassion and pain just before her eyes slipped closed.

Ed was at Sam seconds after cuffing the bastard. He could care less if the man bled out. He had wished he had a kill shot in sight but he couldn't with the man on Jules. He took out the knee cap knowing that it would be painful. He had registered two other shots and guessed they came from Greg and Connor.

Checking Sam for a pulse Ed swore vehemently when he found none. He started CPR. Wordy and Ed's gazes met across the room as each worked valiantly to revive their friends. They broke the eye contact as they heard footfalls on the stairs and glanced in that direction. EMS, thank god help was arriving.

As Greg reached Jules he saw Ed starting CPR on Sam. Son of a bitch. He knelt next to Connor who was next to Jules. "Jules come on open your eyes. Come on Jules stay with me." He lightly tapped her cheek. He got no response. He checked her pulse, rapid but strong. Greg looked to Connor and saw the man was beyond pale.

Connor had watched as the man seized Jules around the neck and choked her. That bastard had killed his sweet daughter Alice. Now he was killing Jules. He could not allow that. He had fired. He had aimed for the man's head but he had moved at just the last second and so it hit him in the shoulder. He wished he had killed the bastard.

He watched as Jules lost consciousness. He could see the finger marks around her slender throat. It was testament to the crushing grip the bastard had on her. Connor looked at Greg and said somewhat shakily from the rage and concern he was feeling "Windpipe, I think her windpipe might be bruised or…" He couldn't bring himself to say out loud crushed.

Greg reached out and delicately probed her neck. The red welts of the fingers that had brutally cut off her air were making themselves known. He placed his hand under her nose waiting to feel her breath. A few tears slipped from his eyes as he felt the warm moist air emitted from her nose. "Jules help is coming. Stay with us." He brushed a wayward strand of her hair away from her face.

Looking at Connor, Greg knew they needed to talk but now was not the time. It would have to wait for later. This whole thing was weird and convoluted. He was saddened to hear that the madman had killed Connor's daughter. He wondered why the man thought Jules was Alice and Sam was Sergei. But that would have to wait.

Greg looked at the man that had wrought all this harm. The man was crying out in pain from three gunshots; his having hit the man in the back on the right side. It would have been a heart shot if the man had not moved at the last moment. Greg felt not an ounce of sympathy for him. He should but he didn't. It probably had to do with the fact that he was responsible for three of his family now fighting for their lives.

Steve, Jim, Dave and Zach raced down the steps. The scene was hectic. Holy mother of god Steve thought as he saw Ed and Wordy performing CPR, Greg kneeling close to Jules and another man cuffed but bleeding and screaming. He froze not knowing who to go to first.

Jim took in the sight and allowed his medic persona to fully take over. He headed straight for Sam. He knew he needed to treat him the other medics would take care of the others. Sam was his brother and he would not fail him. He took in the two gunshot wounds, holes from the taser leads, the bruised torso and face. Christ he looked bad. But what scared him the most was Ed was preforming CPR. He knelt and began working to stabilize Sam.

Dave who did not have a personal connection with any of them called for more paramedics. He saw the indecision on Steve's face. He knew Steve knew this team. Dave took charge "Steve, take the female SRU officer. Zach take the other male SRU officer. I've got the subject." All three headed toward their patients.

Steve reached Jules. He did a quick assessment seeing her unconscious state and the blood across her chest and legs. He then asked Greg "What happened to her?"

Greg answered "Choked. Passed out. Blood is not hers."

Steve gently probed the neck. He didn't like the swelling he felt. "I need your help. I need to intubate her. The swelling if it gets bad enough can restrict her airway." With that he set about performing the tracheal intubation to secure Jules airway with Greg's help.

Zach arrived at Spike just in time to hear the coughing as Spike started expelling water. They rolled Spike to his side to facilitate the exit of the water and prevent him from breathing it back in. Coughing spasms lasted for quite some time. Zach looked at Wordy and said "Good job. Hold him on his side while I get the pressure bandage on his arm and get some vitals." The two worked together to stabilize Spike for transport.

Dave went to the cuffed man as Bradley, Mike and Curtis from Team Two approached too. Dave looked at Bradley "I need him uncuffed to treat him."

Bradley looked with disgust at the man on the floor. More than anything he wanted to put a bullet between his eyes but instead he said to the man "Don't move. I'm going to uncuff you so the medic can attend your wounds." Then Bradley looked to Mike and ordered "Mike cover me. If he so much as moves and inch take him out. I will not risk anyone else getting harmed."

Mike nodded to his Sarge said "Copy that" and aimed his MP5 at the man's head. It sucked that this bastard would get to live. Even though he would spend the rest of his life in prison for what he had done, he would still live after he killed so many. As his Sarge crouched down to undo the cuffs Mike was silently yelling 'Move dammit, move just one muscle. Give me a reason to shoot you now you fucking bastard'. But he didn't think the man would be stupid enough to move with an MP5 directed at his head.

He was wrong. As soon as the first cuff was unlocked the man growled and lunged at the paramedic. Dave was couched next to the man and reeled backwards at the attack. Mike placed a single bullet between the man's eyes.

There was a collective sigh that was emitted from those in the basement. No one would say it out loud but every last one of them thought 'good the bastard's dead'.

Dave sat on his ass staring at the dead man before him. The SRU officer had likely saved him from some injury. He swallowed hard and scrambled to his feet. The adrenaline rushing through him he was shaky. Curtis put an arm on Dave's shoulder and said quietly "He doesn't need your services now. Go help our guys."

All focus was now on the injured SRU officers.

Dave joined Jim who seemed to have the worst injured officer. Jim glanced up and saw Dave. "I've done all I can here, we need to transport him now. Get the backboard." As Dave raced off to get the backboard Jim focused on Sam. It was bad.

Jim watched as Ed slowly squeezed the bag helping Sam breath. Sam's pulse was way to slow and erratic. With the two gunshot wounds he had lost a lot of blood. Jim felt swelling on the side of Sam's head and wondered if there was internal swelling too.

Adjusting the flow of the IV Jim heard Ed's soft concerned question "He's gonna make it right?"

Jim looked at Ed "Truth?"

Ed steeled himself, squeezed the bag again keeping the rhythm Jim had instructed "Truth."

"I don't know. I just don't know this time. He's a fighter but there are so many injuries that I don't know the extent of the the damage. We don't know how long he went without breathing. We just need to hope we got to him in time" Jim said flatly protecting himself by staying completely and deeply in medic mode.

The next ten minutes was a flurry of activity as Sam, Spike and Jules were prepared for transport. Sam and Spike via air-evac and Jules was taken by ambulance with Wordy riding with her. As much as Ed and Greg had wanted to go they had to remain. They had discharged their weapons and had to meet with SIU before they could go.

Inspector Stainton approached Greg and Ed who watched the ambulance leave "Parker, Lane let's go. I'll make this as quick as I can so you can head to the hospital."

Greg looked at him with a tight grimace "Alright." He turned to follow Stainton and had taken five steps when he realized Ed was not following. He stopped and said "Ed." Ed did not acknowledge him. Louder Greg said "Eddie, let's go." Still no response. He looked at Stainton "I need a minute."

"Protocol. No talking …" Stainton started but stopped at the glare Greg gave him. "Alright, but just a moment. I'll meet you at the car."

Greg returned to Ed and placed a hand on his shoulder "Eddie?" He turned so he was in front of Ed and he could see his face.

Unshed tears welled in Ed's blue eyes. His voice soft and croaky Ed said "I should have stopped her. I should have just shot the bastard before he attacked her. I could see he was unstable. I should have stopped her. Sam and Spike. Dammit. It's my entire fault we should have never split up that day. Spike and Sam would not have been taken if we hadn't. Dammit. None of them are breathing on their own. We could lose every single one of them."

Unable to find the right words because he felt the same guilt and fear Greg simply stared at his friend. They both saw the pain and guilt they shouldered. It weighed heavy threatening to drag them both under. Finally Greg got out "Let's get SUI over with so we can be there for them. They are gonna need us now."

Ed nodded and the two of them walked toward Stainton.