Twenty-Four

Thank you for all the great reviws ;)

This is right off the press (Yes, I was up really early)

Please R/R

Calleigh was sleeping peacefully. The quiet room felt nice. Soothing. She was bundled tightly in the warm blanket. Her only form of comfort. Martin had come back with sandwich. It was good.

Martin Sharova wasn't evil.

But he wasn't a delight either.

She sighed and used her left hand to pull the blanket even more over her petite frame. The velvet comforter felt so delicate underneath her fingertips. She shuddered. The velvet felt cold. It gave her a bad feeling. Something was telling her that things were going to change. That she wouldn't be treated like this much longer. They still wanted Eric. She knew how this would work. They will treat her like before.

The door hitting the wall behind it jolted her up. Her ribs screamed at her in protest. She yelped and used her left arm to wrap around her sides. Aleksandra stood before her. The woman had nothing but a murderous look in her eyes. This wasn't good. Aleksandra quickly moved over to her, "Get up!" her words were harsh. Calleigh didn't have time to breathe before she felt Aleksandra grab her bad arm and pull her out of the bed.

She was strong.

Calleigh looked up and saw Isaak walking through the doors. He was nothing but an obedient man afraid to get killed. The woman tightened her grip around Calleigh and moved her towards the door, "Tie her!" she yelled at Isaak. Calleigh noticed the rope in his hands. Speaking English to another mob member was uncommon for Aleksandra.

She screamed when Isaak grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, "Wait!" Calleigh turned a bit to see Aleksandra with a sickening smirk on her face, "Removed the bandages and get some alcohol," Calleigh raise her eyebrows, but then felt the bandages covering her small wrists being torn off by Isaak. She knew what they were going to do.

"Where's Martin?" Calleigh took note of the quiver in her voice.

Aleksandra smirked, "You'll see him soon," she uncapped the bottle and poured it over the cuts. Calleigh cried out. Then Aleksandra placed her hands on the cuts and squeezed them, pushing the alcohol deeper into them.

Calleigh wanted to kill her.

…

Eric sat beside Nirvana's bedside quietly. He was instructed to not move around because of the possible chance of being lightheaded. Nirvana was currently getting his blood. He watched the bag. The thought of his blood in there made his stomach churn. The way the blood slightly stained the once clear bag was sickening. Not to mention the amount of blood was in that bag versus the amount that already went into Nirvana's body.

Oh, and he was nearly arrested.

Luckily Horatio came and helped him. He shouldn't have done that; he lost precious time, which he did not have, by trying to get things settled with the government. Nirvana's odds were increasing with every hour. That was the only good news he'd received in the past eight hours.

No sign of Calleigh anywhere.

"How is she?" Eric looked up at Horatio. Horatio was holding two large cups of coffee and had recently taken off his jacket.

Eric nodded, "She's getting better," he looked down at her small hand, "She has a good shot now," Horatio smiled.

"Detective McAlister is a fighter, Eric, don't forget that," Eric wished he was saying that about Calleigh. Truth to be told, Calleigh was a fighter and she wouldn't go down without a fight.

The real question was, how long could Calleigh stay with them before the finally decide to pull the trigger?

Then everything he lives for will be gone. Three lives in the hands of criminals. Criminals who will not back down from a fight and that will never betray their mafia. That's what made the Russian mob so frightening. They're unpredictable and the scariest.

They're trained to kill.

Born to kill.

"She'll pull through," Eric took one last glance at Nirvana before he got up, "I'm going for a walk," he pulled on his jacket then took one of the cups from Horatio's hands, "I'll be back."

…

Calleigh cried out when she felt herself being pushed onto the cold stone floor. She didn't have the chance to break her fall. Both hands were bound behind her back. She yelped when her left elbow hit the concrete. She quickly rolled on her back and looked straight at Aleksandra, who was smirking in front of her.

Then everything was dark.

She heard nothing but her own breathing and the beat of her heart in her chest. Then she heard a groan. Why would someone even be down here? Calleigh walked over to the noise on her knees. She wished she could outstretch her hands to feel for whoever was possibly in front of her.

"Calleigh?" a thick Russian accent was the source of the groans.

Martin.

Aleksandra had gotten to Martin and beat him. The closer she got, the more her stomach churned. Martin had bruises covering his entire face. Cuts marking around his face, neck, and torso.

Aleksandra also branded him like he was some sort of cattle.

Rage coursed through Calleigh's veins. How dare she treat a human being like this! Martin wasn't bad. He just didn't know better. When he started trying to save her and her baby, Aleksandra steps up and decides to do the job. A job that she'd probably do well.

"I'm here," Calleigh wished she could grasp his hand and tell him it'll be okay. That he'll be fine, "You're gonna be okay."

He shook his head, "No I—," his voice hitched in his throat, "Not," he finished. Tears were blurring his vision.

Calleigh backed away slightly. She watched Martin's chest rise and fall. She listened to the breathing until it stopped. Everything stopped. Even time.

"Martin?" she got nothing.

She moved closer, "Martin?" her voice became more worried and nervous, "Martin!" she used her good shoulder and bumped him slightly, "Oh god, Martin," tears were streaming down her face.

She looked up from the ground to the lifeless corpse.

"She'll be stopped…"

…

Eric hurried down the cold streets. The young doctor slipped a piece of paper. An address. A chance to where Calleigh might be. A chance meaning she could still be alive.

He couldn't get any more details out of the doctor. Sarnoff's men could be watching from anywhere. They could lip read, and if they could lip read, they'd know what he and Eric shared in the cafeteria.

He quickly turned down an alley, slipping slightly on the snow, before he stood up quickly and continued. He saw a couple of large men. He wondered why the police have not done anything about the mob. Did they scare the police?

The man by a door started going towards Eric. His fists were wrapped. He was a fighter. Eric didn't show any fear towards the man. He kept on moving. Eric was ready.

He was ready to meet death again…

…if it meant she would live…

I'm too tired to have anything clever to say. Baby's kicking woke me up and I already had this written.

I can't even tell...it is a cliffy?

Leigha