Chapter 14

Emily tried to keep her voice steady as she tried another frequency. Those two in the Richmond house were not with the sheriff's office. She had seen the blood stains on the neck of one of the shirts and knew she had to find a way to get help. She had devised a plan and took the gun and three bullets from the gun case in family room and then made an excuse to use the bathroom. It allowed her to get out of the house and to the car and a radio.

The first frequency didn't produce a response and neither did the next one. She was scared but she couldn't let anything happen to Bonnie. As she cycled through the frequencies her thoughts circled over everything that had happened within the past twenty-four hours. She had been on her way to pick up Roger from the airport and then the explosion. Now it just a day full of craziness and chaos and it was scary.

She had to keep trying and a small part of her hoped that it would be Sari or Jake at the other end. She would even take the rat pack, which was them and Stanley. They always caused trouble but they were the ones that got people out of it. Mostly it was Sari since she always seemed to know what was going on and was the most inventive with the solutions. Emily could remember a time when she needed help getting out of a jam that was minor looking back now but then it was tantamount to the whole world.

She flipped it to another frequency and repeated her plea, "Come in, come in. Can you hear me?" She wanted to cry at the non response and felt her throat tighten slightly. "Is anyone out there?"

Another frequency and another dead end, "Is there anyone on this channel?"

What Emily didn't know was that the radio the two felons were using was on channel 8 and she was nearing very close to it. She paused a moment to put her knuckles to her mouth; like she was going to chew them. She took a deep breath and willed herself not to cry because she couldn't reach anyone. It was hard to think and hope when there was the lingering thought that no one was going to come and no one was going to help her.

Ems, don't worry. Even if one of us is in Rogue River or farther, we'll still come.

Emily couldn't help but smile as she remembered that. It had been a girl's day thing and they were hiking. They had provisions and everything but what they didn't count on was the road giving way and they ended up sliding down the hill. Emily ended up with a sprained ankle and Sari had a sprained wrist and she still made an effort to haul her up and back to the road. They had lost a pack in the fall so there wasn't much in the way of supplies and yet they made it and Sari kept insisting that Jake would find them.

Emily never figured out how they always knew when the other was in trouble. Yet things always seemed to work out to the point where the other brought help when it was needed. It proved handy quite a few times. Most people said that they were thick as thieves and only because it was such that they always knew what was going on.

Shaking her head and giving a slight smile, Emily tried another frequency. Again there was no answer and she tried the next. Each one was bringing her closer to the channel that the felons had their radio on. She had to find someone on one of those channels. Someone had to be on the other end of the radio. "I'm looking for the Jericho Police Department. Can you hear me? Is there anyone out there?"

It was the same on that channel. Emily was getting more nervous since she was leaving Bonnie in there alone and it wouldn't take those two guys long to figure out that something was wrong. Maybe one more channel and… She changed it, "Is there anybody on this channel? There are men here with guns. I think they might have killed the sheriff. Please somebody help us."

Emily didn't know what else to do. She was scared and those two guys had guns. They could do what they wanted. It was then that she heard a thump coming from the patrol car. It wasn't from the outside but from inside the car. She paused to listen and heard it again. It was coming from the trunk.

She was out and popping the trunk. That meant that one of Jericho's police might still be alive. She opened the trunk to find Bill and Jimmy tied up in the trunk with their mouths taped up. Jimmy was the closest so she removed the tape from his mouth. The only thing that came out of Jimmy's mouth was, "Run, Emily. Run."

It was like one of those action films as Emily stared at Jimmy and about near in a panic. The wind was picking up and making the dirt blow everywhere. She didn't know whether to run away or run back in and get Bonnie. She couldn't leave the girl since she was there with the two guys that possibly killed the sheriff. The next thing she knew, she heard a crash and Bonnie came running out of the house and those guys were after her. She knew what she had to do and she pulled the gun she had taken from the Richmond house. "Stop!"

Emily had never fired a weapon at anyone. It was typical to know how to shoot a gun. This was Jericho and people hunted. Shooting a rifle was along the same lines as learning to ride a bike. This though was different. She was shooting at someone and that meant that she would hit them and probably kill them. But Bonnie was in trouble and she wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She fired the gun at the two guys while shouting, "Stop!" She hoped that they would stop.

That wasn't to be as the one chasing Bonnie grabbed her and held her like a shield and taunted her, "Think this through!"

Emily gulped while replying, "Let her go!" She didn't like that Bonnie was being used as a shield and she wasn't going to shoot the girl. She begged, "No."

"We just want gas. Supplies, that's all this is about. It's just about fuel."

Emily had cocked the revolver and held it up ready to fire. She had it pointed but Bonnie was in the way. She didn't want to hit Bonnie and risk hurting her. But she couldn't let them get away either. "Let her go," she repeated firmly.

She didn't want to get into a standoff and she was about ready to beg when the guy holding Bonnie pulled out his gun. The way he was holding it wasn't reassuring. He could easily point it at her the way he was holding it. He could also drop it but that wasn't likely. She pleaded, "Please, please, let her go."

It was not to be as Emily watched as the guy holding Bonnie hostage take his gun and put the barrel towards her temple. She didn't want this to happen and she ended up whispering her protest as the guy asked her, "Is this what you want to see? Are you ready to talk now, Miss?"

Emily kept her gun pointed at the guy. She felt tears prick at her eyes. "Please, let her go."

She didn't see the other guy had gotten into position to shoot her. Her attention was focused on the guy that was holding Bonnie hostage. She didn't want to shoot. Bonnie was in the way and she could get hurt. She just wished that someone would come and help.

Suddenly a shot rang out causing Emily to turn her head. That was when she saw Jake. He had his weapon poised at the other guy that had been going to take a shot at her. At that moment, the guy who had been holding Bonnie hostage shoved her aside and started firing at Jake. Emily jumped when she heard another gun go off and the dirt blew up near the guy's feet. The guy didn't expect it and jumped when another shot hit near his feet. He looked around while pointing his gun at the one that was firing at him.

The guy spotted Jake firing next at him and started firing at him. He followed Jake while firing his gun but completely forgot that someone else was shooting at him. Emily watched as Jake ran and fired but that was when she saw the other person circling around the other way. It was Sari and she was firing a gun with a shoot to kill expression on her face.

Both Jake and Sari circled bringing the guy to point his gun right at Emily and she went with reaction. She pulled the trigger and hit the guy. He was down and he was dead. Emily couldn't believe it as she gasped for air. She had just killed someone. She felt her body go numb and she didn't hear anyone. If she did it sounded muffled until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Ems.

She had just killed someone. She shot and killed someone. She needed it because she and Bonnie were in danger but she had hoped that someone else was going to come and help them. Maybe Stanley would come. But…

Emily.

Emily looked to see the warm brown eyes of Sari looking at her. Sari was there. She had come for her. "Sari?"

"It's going to be okay Ems. I promise. Right now we got to get inside. Come with me?"

Emily looked at the proffered hand extended towards her. She remembered when they were stranded. Sari offered the same hand at her and asked her to come. She didn't order but ask and Emily remembered her response that day. She put her hand to her head and ran her fingers through her hair. This was so unreal.

"Babe. Babe. We've got to get inside before the rain, okay?"

Emily turned to see Jake looking at her. Sari was looking at her as well. Her hand was still held out towards her. Emily looked at the hand and nodded as she put her hand into Sari's. She let Sari guide her and pull her towards the storm cellar while being tailed by Jake. The wind was picking up but Emily let Sari guide her and prompt her to run and follow her into the storm cellar.

"That's it. Come on Ems."

Emily allowed herself to be led down the stairs into the cellar. Once inside, she pulled Sari towards her and hugged her. She held on tight to Sari and breathed in deeply. She still couldn't believe what she had done.

~0~0~0~0~

Sari knew that they would make it to the Richmond farm. They had to make it and get everyone into the shelter before the rain came. She checked the gun that she had found and made sure it was loaded. It was a nine millimeter, pretty much what could be considered standard issue for the sidearm on a soldier. The primary was another story.

She had her gun ready and was out of the truck with Jake close on her heels the moment he brought Shep's truck to a stop. She turned towards Jake and said, "Go direct approach and I'll flank. We'll catch them."

"You sure that you were peacekeeping?" Jake gave a grin as he checked his ammo.

"Maybe," was all she said when she went around the house to catch them on the backside.

It was a good thing she took the flanking position. It gave her time to provide a distraction. She didn't want to risk shooting Emily as she was in a standoff with one of the guys that killed the sheriff. So she went with the path of least resistance and that was to go for the feet. She certainly had him jumping when she moved with Jake after she heard the first shot and the gunfight was on.

It didn't hit until after it was done that they had directed the fire towards Emily. Sari knew that it was worthy of being investigated by her team if they were still around and it were in a military zone. She felt bad about it but she had to brush it aside since they had to get Bill, Jimmy, Bonnie and Emily into the cellar before the storm hit. So she went up to Emily sine she noticed that she was in shock and tried to get her to focus.

It took precious seconds to a minute to get Emily to cooperate with them and finally get them all into the cellar. Sari could hear the rain hit the door the moment Jake shut it but her attention was focused on the fact that Emily was holding her in a hug. It was a little disconcerting since Sari knew that Emily merely tolerated her presence and was polite to her growing up. She was never rude to her but she was hardly welcoming; she wouldn't be the first person to invite her to a slumber party even though they would help each other out like they did when they got stranded on a hike once on a girl's day out. But Sari wasn't going to push her away and hugged Emily back to soothe her before releasing her.

The first thing to do was to get things set up for the storm which included light and then checking up on Bill and Jimmy since they had injuries from being hit and then stuffed into the trunk. She left Emily sitting to think about things for a moment while she went to help Jake light a few lanterns and find the first aid kit. She sat down next to Jimmy and Bill and began to clean the cuts and look at them to make sure nothing serious was happening.

She didn't meant to eavesdrop when she heard Emily ask why Jake was still there. She heard Jake try to be reassuring and saying that he was there to keep her safe. It was she looked away the moment Emily said that no one was safe around Jake before she went over to a corner to be by herself. She focused on finishing cleaning Bill's cuts and said, "There. You're done."

"Thanks Sari," Bill replied with a despondent tone.

"Next time, try not to get stuck in a closet or a trunk. I can't keep beating up the prom queen to get you out," Sari replied with a slight smile before she nudged Bill on the shoulder. She kept the smile even though Jimmy was chuckling slightly at that.

Bill felt his lip twitch and he choked out a chuckle. "Yeah." He looked down at his hands and sighed. He and Jimmy had been caught off their guard and could have been killed by those two escaped prisoners. They came close to dying.

Sari looked at Bill and put a hand on his shoulder, "We were lucky today. And I am grateful."

"How can we be lucky Sari?" Bill looked at her.

"That we're here and alive. Maybe a little beat up but alive." Sari stared back at Bill. She looked away and at nothing in particular before saying, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You know what, Bill. About five years ago."

"Fine time to bring that up," Bill countered with a slight teasing grin.

"Yeah well it doesn't take much to start the thinking." Sari looked back at him with a grin.

Bill couldn't help but chuckle. Her leaving like she did was something that they needed to talk about. They were friends from senior year onward and when she left… She could have done it better. "Yeah I've been doing that a lot too and I wished it could have been better."

"I wished the same. I know a note is sucky," Sari agreed, "But… I had to leave. Not much choice in that."

"Can you tell me why?"

"I could but my question to you would be if you believed me." Sari looked at Bill with a look that could have been harsher but it wasn't. It was more of an acceptance of things as they stood with Jericho and she was prepared for the thought that she wouldn't be believed.

"That your stepdad ran you out because he didn't like you?" Bill leaned forward so he would be able to whisper it. "Yeah I would." At her look he added, "I figured it out after prom. It's why…"

Sari gave a smile at that. She knew now why Bill would often come around when Jake didn't. She patted his shoulder, "Thanks Bill."

"You're my friend, Sari," Bill replied with a firm look. "No matter what. The day you stood up for me… It spoke volumes. And it didn't hurt that you helped to beat up the prom king and queen." He grinned at her.

Sari chuckled as she looked downward. That was one of the better moments since it did feel good to deliver the hurt back since she has always done the turn the other cheek thing. She nodded, "Yep that was great. I really am sorry Bill."

"Hey, you're here now and… it's good that you're here." Bill looked at her with a look that said that he meant every word that he just said. He was glad that she was there and that her sister had someone in her life to look after her. He held up one of his hands in a fist.

Sari chuckled and bumped her fist against his. It was something they did when they decided to just be friends. Since then they would give that sign when they were just hanging out with each other. It was a sign that things were on the mend between them. She took a deep breath and looked up as she listened to the rain falling from above. The storm was pretty intense; she had forgotten how the storms in Jericho played out but she didn't forget the times that she actually played during a spring shower from Denver. There were a lot of memories here.

"You think everything will be okay once the storm's over?"

Sari turned to look at Jimmy looking at her. She looked up at the ceiling of the cellar and listened and put her hands on her hips. "Well… just follow what the procedure is before planting." She shrugged her shoulders. "Not an expert on that sort of thing." She stood up and turned to look around. There were a couple of lanterns lit to give light and a couple of blankets. She went to go get them and passed them out.

Sari passed by Jake and didn't say anything but she handed a blanket to Emily. She offered it with a smile of reassurance and kept it when Emily accepted it with a muted thanks. She nodded, knowing that Emily needed time to process the fact that she had just killed someone even if it was in self-defense. It wasn't an easy thing to process. She would know since the first person she killed was insurgents on Afghanistan. You never forgot your first.

She moved onto Bonnie and handed her a blanket. She took a seat next to Bonnie and asked, "You okay?"

Bonnie sighed and nodded before signing that she was still a bit shaken. She knew that Sari would be able to understand her since she spent most of her time with Stanley and on the Richmond farm occasionally helping out. She liked Sari and was glad that she was back in town and she signed that she was scared.

"Well you did okay," Sari replied, making sure that Bonnie could see her lips. She signed what she could to help with what she was saying. "I am sorry."

"Why? You didn't hurt Jimmy and Bill and try to take gas," Bonnie replied.

"No but…" Sari would have said more but instead was quiet and patted Bonnie the shoulder. "You're right," she corrected as she smiled at the girl. She adjusted her position to wait out the storm. If anything they would be stuck in there until morning. She stuck out her legs and crossed her arms and sat to think.

Sari wasn't too concerned about Ryan at the moment since she knew that her sister would be in town hall with the Greens or in the basement of their house. More likely she was with the Greens since she had been more or less living with them while Social Services had been tracking her down. She was worried because of the storm and the fallout but she knew that Ryan had a good head on her shoulders and she had spent time making sure that she could look out for herself. It was the least she could do even though her parents would have made sure that she had everything she wanted. Her main thoughts though were on the people in the salt mine.

The salt mine was a good idea since it could hold a lot of people but… She looked away at the shadows playing on the wall. She remembered that mission rescuing the teachers from the girl's school. It was a harrowing ordeal, mostly for the teachers since they weren't used to combat and survival like the team was and their tagalong CIA friend.

They had to take refuge in a cave and it was pouring rain. There were insurgents and they were miles from the rendezvous LZ… It made you feel a bit isolated and very thoughtful of your life. She certainly heard quite a bit from those teachers. They never regretted being the teachers to the girls' school even though they faced the possibility of death. That was real courage Sari thought. Sitting there now in the cellar, it had her thinking about them.

"You should talk to Emily."

Sari looked at Bonnie and then glanced at Emily. She shook her head, "She's not ready." She looked at Bonnie and continued, "I'll talk to her when she wants to. It takes a while."

Bonnie looked over at Emily and then around. Everyone was huddled around and just waiting out the storm. She was worried about Stanley and hoped that he would come. She looked at Sari who was looking around like she expected something to come out of the shadows and it surprised her since she didn't remember her doing that. But it was reassuring. In her own way, Sari was reassuring her that it was going to be okay. She looked around and noticed Jake was staring at nothing and she bumped Sari on the arm. When Sari looked at her, she gestured over towards Jake.

Sari knew when she was being manipulated into doing something. She looked at Bonnie and made a slight face at what the girl was doing and made to move. She sidled up next to Jake and bumped his shoulder, "Why the long face, JJ? We made it and the town is safe."

Jake had been well aware what was going on. He just preferred to be lost in his thoughts since he wasn't sure how to process what Emily said to him. He had watched Sari check on everyone and make sure they were okay for their stay in the cellar during the storm and his lip twitched at that. She was always the one to check on everything and often it came with the cost of getting into trouble herself. He would know.

"I overheard what Ems said," Sari's soft voice offered in a whisper.

Jake looked at her and teased, "Can't tell anybody anything with you around."

Sari smirked at that, "Well not my fault someone taught me the art of sneaking around." She hummed as her smirk turned into a smile. She took a breath and wrapped her arms around her knees and looked in the same direction Jake was. "I never felt unsafe with you around even with all the crap we got into. And… it was better when you gave Paul a piece of your mind."

"Still believe that?"

"Never stopped."

Jake shifted to look at Sari as she stared at nothing in particular. He didn't notice that Emily was watching the pair of them talking lost in her own thoughts. His attention was on his childhood friend. "Why?"

Sari shifted to return Jake's gaze with one of her own. She rested her chin on her knees. "Because… you're a good person JJ. I honestly thought that when we first met and it never changed." She shifted and looked forward. "Things are going to be different now. People are scared but… things will work out."

"Already planning ahead I see," Jake teased as he assumed a similar position. It allowed him to lean into her and she did the same. "You know I was supposed to go back to San Diego but… I'll stay."

"Probably a good idea. Town's gonna need everyone with what they can." Sari sighed as she listened to the rain. "I'm glad you're back JJ."

"Me too."

They sat there in companionable silence listening to the rain pouring down. Neither of them expected events to turn out this way but they did. While it looked like there would be some hard feelings because of the past, they both got the sense that things would be different; that the past wouldn't matter as much especially when it meant that the town's survival depended upon it. Jake looked at Sari and felt contentment that he had his old partner back. It had been five years and he realized that the void he had was because he didn't have the person that always had his back. Now he did. What would happen next? That was anyone's guess.

A/N: And that's a wrap for Forces Collide folks. I finally finished it after hitting a brick wall of writer's block. Thanks for reading and enjoy.