I am terribly sorry for the long wait, but I am seriously struggling with this story, which is why the chapter won't come as fast as I would like to. I maybe even put it on hiatus, but I'm not entirely sure. I'll let you know, though, and apologize beforehand. Again, this chapter was beta'ed by the amazing DragonFriend95. Thank you so much.

Disclaimer: see Chapters before.


12. Walking tall against the rain

Half an hour later, Ryan and Nicole stood in front of the HQ. The bad guys were still handcuffed, and both Nicole and Ryan held their guns to the baddies' head. The situation outside the lab had calmed down. Apparently the "boss" of the gang had told his people to go away from the scene of the exchange. All members of the gang had left the place. Nicole and Ryan had told the patrol cops to leave as well. Ryan couldn't believe how smooth everything had gone. He had thought at least one of the patrols or anybody around, maybe even Frank, would call Horatio, or the IAB, or anybody to stop them from this nonsense. But as soon as the people had learned it was Michael Travers and his life this was all about, they had immediately done what they were asked to. Apparently, Michael Travers had many friends around. Probably more than me… Ryan thought. He was nervous like he always was when he was facing a major confrontation. And again, he was alone. Almost. They were all alone. Just them, their captives, and the car that was slowly coming closer.

It stopped in front of HQ. Ryan felt Nicole tensing up and saw the grip around her gun becoming tighter. She murmured, "I hope for the sake of you guys that they haven't roughed him up too bad, 'cause that will end bad for you…"

"You better believe the lady…" Ryan added. "And don't try anything stupid while we're at it."

The men didn't react. Then the door of the car opened. Two men got out, both of them broad- shouldered, and wearing sunglasses. And between them stood Michael Travers, pale as death. This didn't come as surprise to Ryan. The guy had just survived being shot, and now, he was in the hands of some people who weren't kidding about killing him, if it was necessary. But apart from his paleness and a split lip, Travers looked unharmed. And, more surprising, he didn't look the least bit scared. His eyes were still as lit up as ever, and he managed to stand on his own two feet. Ryan had to give credit to the lab tech. For somebody who had never really been told how to act during a kidnapping, he did pretty well. His hands were tightly bound together behind his back. He had a hard time getting out of the car, but when one of the guys wanted to grab his arm and drag him out, he said, "Thank you, but I'd rather have you not touching me." The man didn't.

Now one of them came closer and said, "Je suis content de voir que nos amis sont bien. J'espère que vous n'essayez pas de nous... fooler..." He grinned when recalling Nicole's mistake earlier. "Alors… Faisons l'échange. Je veux que vous laissez mes hommes partir. Après, je vais vous donner votre laborantin..."(1)

But Nicole was not in the mood for nice exchanges in French. "I tell you how this works. First, I get my lab tech, then you get your guys."

The man laughed, "You really zink it's you who is making ze rules. Mademoiselle, I tell you that zis is not the ze time to make me furious. I 'ave other business to do…"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say, you might wanna enjoy time with your lab tech while you still can… Maintenant, baissez vos armes. Si vous essayez quoi que ce soit, je vais tuer votre laborantin et puis vous." (2)

Ryan looked at Nicole to find out what the guy had said. Not only did he hate such situations, but not understanding what the people involved were saying drove him mad.

Nicole looked back and said, "Let's drop the guns…" She put her gun back in her holster.

Ryan did the same. "I hope you know what you're doing..."

The man smiled, "Good decision. Now, undo ze 'andcuffs."

"First, you put your gun down." Ryan said. He was tired of doing what the French guy wanted.

Put apparently, the French guy was as tired of waiting for them to do what he wanted. He motioned to the guy standing right to Travers. That guy nodded and punched Travers right in the guts. While Travers tried hard to not land on his face, the spokesman said, "Zis is still harmless. Now, undo the 'andcuffs."

Without giving Nicole the chance to react to what had just been done to Travers, Ryan said, "Okay, okay. We'll undo the handcuffs." He knew it could be a fatal mistake. He knew that it was possible that as soon as those guys were with their friends, the friends would kill them immediately. But it was the only way to get their lab tech back. Of course, it wasn't really his plan to die right here right now. But after that experience with the Russians, he knew everybody deserved being rescued. His team had not helped him, but he would help Travers, even if it cost him his life. He owed that much to Nicole, the only one who had been looking for him and had helped him afterwards. He only whispered, "I hope your boss is for real, because if I notice he's trying something, you'll be the first to go, you understand that?"

He got no answer. The men were just walking slowly over to their boss. When they arrived, the boss laughed, "I love making business wiz you." He motioned to the guy standing right to Travers again. "I want you to know that I am a man of honour, despite what ozzer people say." The guy sliced the bounds around Travers' wrists open. Travers rubbed his abused hands and muttered a low 'Thank you'. When the guy shoved him forwards, he slowly, just as the bad guys before, walked over to Nicole and Ryan. The boss laughed and said, "Well, I say good-bye for now, but we'll surely meet again before the day is over. And I guess zan the bell tolls for you…" They got into the car and drove away.

As soon as they were around the corner, Nicole rushed over to Travers, "Mikey, are you alright?"

Travers managed a brief smile, "I daresay I had better days, but I'm alright. Just a bit dizzy."

"Don't worry, I'll bring you to hospital…"

"Did they find the piece of suit?" Travers asked.

Ryan shrugged, "As far as I know, they didn't."

Now, a slight grin appeared on the lab techs face. "I thought so. Walter called me earlier today, said he couldn't reach any of you. He said he found blood on the suit and brought it over to DNA lab…"

Ryan looked at Nicole, "How come we didn't know?"

"We were sitting in the restaurant chatting about life's hardships. And since Walter couldn't reach us, I guess Valera couldn't either. There's always bad reception in that restaurant." She picked up her phone, "I know Frank has brought her home after they got out. Golly gosh, can you imagine just how smooth it all had gone. I guess that's only possible in Miami."

"Yeah, 'cause anything's possible in Miami…" Ryan grinned.

"Even the most unrealistic things… Maxi? Are you alright? Thank God. Listen, the piece of suit Walter has handed you earlier, where is it? Are you sure the guys didn't see it? Have you processed it already? Well, then I guess you have to come back and do it, it's urgent. I know it's almost 10 PM. Don't worry, they're gone. I'll guard the door to your lab myself with an MP if that is what you want! Okay, take your time, I'll bring Travers back to hospital and then I'll pick you up. Yeah, I love you too. Bye bye." She hung up. As she turned around, both Travers and Ryan were looking at her. "What?"

Ryan grinned, "You do love Valera? Don't let Delko hear that…"

"Don't let your boyfriend hear that…" Travers murmured.

Nicole looked at them, "And while you're making fun of me both of you imagine what that would look like. Come on, Mikey."

"I'm not going back to hospital." he said. "You have heard the guy. He's got other business to do. Who knows what that business is... You might need all hands on deck. And I'm feeling okay. Really."

Nicole nodded, "Okay. Then I'll go and pick up Valera."

Ryan shook his head, "I'll go and pick her up. You need to call your 'friends'. You know, friends from the dark side. We need to know what les invincibles are planning. Talk to your friend from the habaneros; ask him if they plan any get-together anywhere. If so, les invincibles might plan to crash the party. With la famiglia completely gone, they are the last ones that could endanger them…"

Again, Nicole nodded, "Okay, right." She sighed, "Do you think we can stop them?"

Ryan shrugged, "We have to try, at least. You have heard your friend; les invincibles are way more dangerous than any other gang. I mean, what did he say? They like to leave behind mutilated bodies? We need to try our best and stop them."

"Okay. You're right. I'll go and call him. You pick up Maxie." She turned on her heel, the phone already back in her hand.

Ryan turned to Travers; his face had turned a dangerous grey shade. "Hey, man, you sure you can do this? You look bad…"

Travers breathed out loudly, "They like to leave behind mutilated bodies? And you tell me only now?"

Ryan frowned, but then he grinned, "Just imagine we had told you before… I'll pick up your girlfriend's… girlfriend. Have a cup of tea."

"Yeah. I'll probably do that…"


(1) I'm happy to see that our friends are well. I hope you're not trying to fool us. (…) So, let's make an exchange. I want you to leave our guys. After that, I'll give you your lab tech."

(2) Now, drop your guns. If you try anything, I'm gonna kill your lab tech and then you.


As I said, I might put this on hiatus, but I don't know yet. I have started on the new chapter, but it's going slowly and it's hard. Nevertheless, I have also started on a new storywhich progresses quite well, so it's not like I'm off for good.