Mike groaned as he awoke, trying to place where he was. He couldn't. He panicked for only a second before he realized he was still with Jakes. He breathed a sigh of relief. "J-Jakes?" he asked.

"Yeah?" the man asked, looking at him in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I d-don't feel so good," Mike said. "I think… I think I'm going to throw up." Jakes bolted up out of his seat and grabbed the bucket that was by his bed. Mike leaned over and vomited, gasping for breath. "I d-don't...where are we?"

"We're in the hospital. Just take a deep breath, right now I'm the only one who knows where you are. Do you want some water?"

"Yeah…. You're the only one? Right now?" Mike asked, picking up on those key words. For his ordeal he was going to act entirely like how Levi would act, because right now he wasn't a federal agent.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about that," Jakes said as he handed Mike the glass of water. "I want someone to be here 24/7, but I can't be - I'm not superhuman yet, unfortunately."

"Really?" Mike asked, sticking out a smile.

"Yeah...I know, I know. It's a loss."

"I just….who would be here? I d-don't want Ryan…."

"Ryan?"

"H-he works in the police station… B-Braxton paid him $200 to drag me back that first night…"

"Oh...No, it won't be Ryknow Nathaniel has helped you in the past; what about him?" He was also thinking of Naomi, his immediate partner, but sensed that the kid would probably trust Nathaniel more.

"Yeah….I like Nathaniel," Mike said as he looked out the window. He was silent for a minute before asking, "Jakes….What happened to Braxton?"

"We arrested him. Hey, Levi-can I ask you a really sensitive question?"

"W-what?"

"Were you raped or sexually assaulted?"

Mike's breath stopped and he paled. "I-I…. what?" he asked.

"One of the nurses ran a rape kit without my permission, unfortunately, Levi it turned up positive."

Mike's entire world collapsed right then. He was a shitty FBI agent. FBI agents don't get raped. They don't get pinned down by criminals and they don't allow criminals to hurt them. They don't… he swallowed hard as tears ran down his cheeks. "A-are you sure?"

"Unfortunately, yes, Levi," Jake said softly. "Do you know who might have done it?"

"N-no! I w-wasn't raped…."

"Do you think Braxton could have done it?"

Mike's blood stopped cold. Matt had been the one there - but he had been totally out of it - had Briggs slipped in and out of the room? Oh, God. No wonder why Briggs wasn't surprised-he'd done it!

"We found his DNA evidence on you," Jakes said.

"W-what?" Mike said, slumping down. "H-how-"

"There was some blood from him on the back of your neck, and some hair."

That didn't necessarily prove Briggs had done it. Did it? He'd taken three showers - how had the blood stayed on? He didn't realize it was from Briggs patching him up. He swallowed hard, his throat completely dry.

Nowhere was safe. He had to….he couldn't….

"I c-can't… D-don't… I d-don't…."

But Briggs had patched him up. Could it be from that? Maybe. He just felt so blindsided, so empty. He swallowed and shook his head. "I c-can't talk about this."

"I understand," Jakes said softly. "Don't worry. You won't be going back to him."

"R-really?"

"Not as long as it's within my power."

Mike nodded halfheartedly. So he'd be going back tomorrow, probably. Whatever. "Okay. I'm going o sleep now." With that, he pulled the pillow over his head and groaned.

Jakes frowned as he flipped open his phone and started making calls. They were going to need all the help he could get on this one.

## break ##

Paige and Johnny sat down on the desk in front of Clarke, Mike's handler. "You have to pull Mike off of this case," Johnny said.

"No, I do not. He is monitoring Briggs."

"He may be monitoring Briggs, but we can do that," Johnny said as he began to lay out the pictures that he had with him. "This is Mike. He was beaten up by Briggs."

"Briggs is allowed to assault Mike."

"This happens every night," Paige replied. "And we also know that Mike was just kidnapped by someone. We just rescued him, but-"

"He knew the risks of taking the case."

"He didn't even want to take the case, did he?" Paige asked, snapping. "You forced him to take it. You knew he wanted to get transferred to DC."

"Why did you want him on the case?"

"Because he's the best person on the job. Now I have given Briggs a free license to do whatever he has too for the case-"

"Look, Mike needs pulled out - his health is at risk."

"Didn't you hear me?" Clarke said, standing up. "I don't give a shit. He knew that was a risk at the start of the case, and he agreed. I said it was either this case or I'd be happy to put him filing papers in my office."

"That," Paige said, "Is blackmail. What did you really tell him?"

Clarke looked at her. "I told him that he'd either be filing papers and doing desk work or he'd go on this case. It was his choice to work the case, and he will continue to do so. I have told him that if he drops this case, he will be arrested for interfering with a federal investigation."

"Yeah. His choice. Bullshit. Thanks, we'll be leaving." Johnny gathered up his papers. "By the way, we will be reporting this to the department of internal affairs."

"Go right ahead. They won't find anything," Clarke responded, frowning at that comment inwardly. At least he'd covered his tracks well.

Johnny just shook his head and followed Piage out the door while dialing the department of internal affairs on his cell phone.

## break ##

Charlie came home and sat down on the couch in exhaustion. Johnny and Paige, despite the fact that she hadn't announced her presence, came down instantly. "What happened?"

"We arrested sixty-five men. We did not arrest Bello, or his boyriend, Matt. Briggs is arrested. Guys, they're charging him with rape."

"What?! Why?"

"Because they don't have any proof that he didn't do it and found DNA evidence on - oh. Um, they're saying Mike was sexually assaulted."

"By Briggs?"

Charlie nodded. "That's what they're saying. Of course, they know the evidence isn't scale tight. They're also thinking someone else might have sexually assaulted him, but it was Brigg's blood and hair on his neck. So they can't prove anything. Briggs said he patched Mike up and that's probably where it came from."

Johnny groaned. "Damn it."

"I really don't think Briggs did it - he was ready to kill Matt - who had held Mike hostage - when he found out. It took two officers to hold him down."

Paige sighed. "How many people are on the run still?"

"Thirty key players, including Matt and Bello."

"Oh, boy," Paige muttered. "We have our work cut out for us."

## break ##

Briggs clenched his fingers as he looked up at the door. Ryan was there, unlocking it. It seemed he had slipped through the team's radars. "Come along," he said.

"Come along? You mean I get to get out of here?" He asked as he smirked. Maybe now he could go apeshit on Matt.

"Yes. We have work to do."

The two of them walked out of the building, and Briggs thought to himself: now here's where it gets interesting.

## break ##

a short chapter, but better than none at all. I shall attempt to apply to your reviews tonight even though it's 11:00 - I really do appreciate them!