A/N: Another chapter for you as a thank you to everyone who reviewed.

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This was a really terrible idea, he'd known it from the outset and if it had been anyone else's suggestion he would have been furious with them for even considering it. It went against everything he'd been taught at Quantico and experience told him it could only end badly but right now he wasn't thinking like an F.B.I. Agent, just a parent trying to protect a small, defenceless child… No, make that two defenceless children and a woman he cared about very much.

He'd taken a circuitous route into the city and at this moment he was parked under a street light, disabling both the LoJack on his car and the GPS tracking system. Sliding back behind the wheel, he removed the cell-phones from his pocket, switched them off and took out the batteries before consigning them to the glove-box. He leaned back in his seat for a few minutes to try and find some sort of inner calm, knowing that he needed to be at the top of his game, if anything went wrong he was well and truly on his own. For a split second he was tempted to call the whole thing off and return home but images of the four of them together in the playroom strengthened his resolve and he pulled into the traffic once more and headed towards the river, following the directions he'd been given.

Stopping in the lot of a dark and deserted industrial estate Jack took out a flashlight, playing it across the soulless buildings. It was cold and wet and the wind howling across the empty space seemed determined to keep him away from his destination. An icy blast down the back of his neck made him shiver so he took a moment to pull up his collar with unsteady fingers before continuing his search. Convinced he'd been led on a wild-goose chase, he was about to leave when the narrow beam reflected off the red sign he'd been told to look out for. He wasn't sure whether to be glad or sorry he'd found it but having come this far he had no intention of turning back.

Opening the passenger door, he picked up the small package from the seat and started what could in all probability have been his last journey on this earth, save one, and that didn't bear thinking about.

The appointed meeting place was an abandoned warehouse and as he entered he drew his weapon and disengaged the safeties before picking his way through the debris scattered over the floor and offering up a prayer of thanks as the moon came out from behind the clouds to filter in through the broken glass panes above, affording him just enough light to see by. Moving cautiously he scanned his perimeter for any signs of life and raised his gun when he spotted a shadowy figure above him on one of the criss-cross of metal walkways.

"Hey, I come in peace." The unmistakeable voice of Anthony Capono echoed off the walls.

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe that. Let me see your hands, now."

Tony laughed but did as he was asked. "Yeah, I'm carrying, I'd be a fool not to but I don't intend to use it, at least not today."

"Come down, slowly."

"I'm happy here, thanks. You want to talk, you come up."

Jack reckoned that he'd already done one foolish thing today and gotten away with it and he wasn't sure he should push his luck any further but if he'd wanted to, from where he stood, Capono could easily have shot him when he came through the door.

"Where..?"

"Ladder, to your right..."

Taking each rung steadily, he tried to hold down the feeling of dread that was welling up inside him but by the time he reached the top, he was in a cold sweat and breathing heavily.

"Bit out of shape there aren't you Hudson?" The smirk Jack loathed was plastered all over his face. "Spending too much time behind a desk these days?"

Annoyance flared in him but it was easier to let him believe he was right, than confess to the chronic fear of heights that had always plagued him. "How would you know that?"

"You looked the type. Got a bit of a limp there too, I see. They'll be putting you out to grass before you know it, not fit for purpose, and with nothing to show for all the years but aches, pains and a crap pension that won't even cover the hospital bills."

"Maybe, but at least I'll be able to walk out with my head held high."

"Way over-rated in my opinion. I just do what I have to, to get by."

"And never mind who gets hurt?"

"Finish the job and move on. Regrets'll kill ya."

Jack's voice was deathly calm, betraying none of the emotions churning inside of him. "And what about those you leave behind, like Carina?"

"You know about her?" He shrugged. "Sabrina came to see you then? Carina was an accident. You know… heat of the moment and all that."

"And Sue and Laura..?" Despite his best efforts this time he couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice.

"Still carrying a torch for her, aren't you Jack?"

"What?"

"You think I didn't notice all those longing looks when you thought no one was watching? Pity the feeling wasn't mutual. I needed her for a case I was working on."

"So you married her?"

"I think you know by now that wasn't exactly on the level although if I hadn't already been married, it might have worked out. As for Laura, Sue always wanted kids and the 'family man' cover worked great for a while, so where was the harm?" His smug attitude was killing Jack and he wanted to hurt the man right back.

"What about your wife in California and four kids, is it?" The smirk disappeared and he knew he'd hit his mark.

"You've talked to them?"

"Not yet."

The man shook his head. "And you won't, you're too soft for that. The one thing I learned about you all those years ago… You'll go out of your way to avoid hurting innocent people. It's a weakness Jack, something we can't afford in our line of work. Me on the other hand…"

Something inside of Jack snapped and he grabbed the taller man by the lapels. "You, Capono..? You're scum and a disgrace to that badge you like to hide behind and someday soon it's all gonna to catch up to you and I just hope I'm there to see it."

"Never happen." In one sudden, forceful movement he brought up both arms and broke Jack's grip on him. "We make this exchange and I'm disappearing for good. I have a place staked out where no one's ever going to find me. What's with all the hostility anyway, this deal's good for both of us. You get all the information you need to take down a drug cartel, not to mention a list of rogue agents and come out of it with another gold star and I get what I want. We all live happily ever after."

"You threatened my family and scared the life out of a four-year-old girl and for that I could kill you myself."

Tony looked almost insulted. "I didn't threaten anyone, especially not a kid. You may not think much of me Hudson and I guess I can't blame you for that but I would never..."

"Then what do you call this?" Reaching into his pocket Jack took out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to him.

"I didn't write this."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I didn't even know you had a daughter."

"And I suppose you don't drive a black SUV either…"

"A beat-up Mustang but I do have my heart set on a Ferrari," he grinned and then his face became serious again. "Look, if you don't want to take my word for it then ask Sue. This isn't my handwriting."

Jack just stared at him.

"But…" he studied the note more carefully using the small flashlight he'd produced from his pocket. "I think I know whose it is."

"Tell me!"

"Where's my laptop?"

The thought that they'd both been set up and Sue, Jilly and Laura were at home alone sent chills down his spine but he pushed it to the back of his mind. "What's on it that's so important you'd risk coming back to D.C.?"

"…Enough evidence to bring down most of the faces on the F.B.I.'s Christmas list."

"Then come in and we can…"

"You're still not getting it are you Jack? What I have is going to net me enough money to live in luxury for the rest of my life."

"You mean blackmail?"

"I prefer to think of it more as an insurance premium."

"And you're prepared to live the rest of your life looking over your shoulder?"

"It's a rush like no other. So, where is it?"

"We don't have it."

Capono's expression turned menacing and his eyes were as cold as ice. "You know something, I've played nice so far but I have friends who can hurt people in ways you can't possibly imagine and not give it a second thought and they don't give a damn about how old their target is or how long it takes..."

Jack's blood ran cold and he knew he'd lost. "This is a clone of the original hard-drive… It's the best I can do."

"How did you...?" He answered his own question. "Sue." He tried to take it but Jack wasn't letting go.

"I have your word? You'll stay away from Sue, Laura and Jilly?"

The taller man nodded and reached for the drive again but before he could take it the sound of a gunshot echoed around the empty building and he slumped against Jack, knocking him off-balance.

"Tony? Damn it!" As he tried to push him off so he could defend himself, there was a second shot and he felt the bullet slam home, the force knocking him backwards over the railing and sending him crashing down onto the rubbish below.

Acting on instinct, he tried desperately to get to his feet so he could scramble to safety but the fall had winded him and the pain from the shoulder wound and the other injuries he'd sustained hampered his movements. He could hear footsteps approaching and managed to turn just in time to see Richard D'Angelo standing over him, gun drawn. Everything began to blur until there was only one vision left in his head… that of a tearful child standing alone by a freshly dug grave, clutching a teddy bear. I'm sorry JillyBean… I'm so sorry…

He saw the muzzle flash, his ears registered the shot and his world went black.

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