Chapter 48: Are you serious?

Ray and sonny sit quietly in the 4x4.
They're watching as they load Jason and CJ in the back of the transit van

"What you thinking Ray? ...Wanna do a moving Stop and extract?"

"We down in numbers without Jason and Clay" he shakes his head thinking "its a Hell of a Risk to get the two of them out when we haven't had a chance at a dry run"
He looks at Sonny "maybe we'll just follow for now then work a plan when we see where they're taking them?"

"Whatever you say Ray! It's your call! You're in charge in Jason's absence. You know I've got ya back!"

"Okay" he strokes his beard "we hang tight and follow" he's hoping he's making the right call "Get Trent and Brock to follow as back up. I'll call Blackburn get him up to speed"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Jason and CJ find themselves on the floor in the back of the van. Jason's hands are taped together but CJs are loose. They're lying face to face

"Jason are you Okay?" she's worried and wants to cry "I'm sorry"

"I'm Okay!" he sighs "You sure you're alright?"

she Nods "Kind of"
she grimaces as she tries to get turned over and moves from where she's laying on her bandaged arm. She's also trying to counter the pain in her stomach wound

"Any idea where they might take us?"

She shakes her head "No Idea!"

"Well. Hopefully after your call Rays on it!"

"I hope so! ...Do you really think they let Reuben go?"

"I don't know what to think. If they did I don't know why. Hopefully Mandy does her job makes sure they don't!"

"Oh God!" she closes her eyes as the van turns sharply causing her pain in her side again as she's thrown round.

"Hey, come we can get through this" his hands are taped but he puts them up and rubs her cheek.
She smiles at him touching his face back.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ray and Sonny are following in the 4x4

"keep back we don't want them to make us"

"BRAVO 4 this is BRAVO 2 Do you copy?"

"Copy BRAVO 2"

"BRAVO 4 it looks like we're on route to the preserve woodland Copy"

The preserve is a dense woodland area and quite remote. People use it for fishing and hunting. The roads on the way there are getting noticeably less traffic now.

"Where you think they're headed?"

"I have no idea, but you're gonna have to back off a bit now. With this little traffic they're gonna spot us soon! ...But don't lose them"

"HAVOC this is BRAVO 2 you got eyes on us? Copy"

"Bravo 2 just getting up to speed on the Sitrep then we'll be on you Copy"

"Copy that HAVOC just don't lose us. You give us any reference points they might be headed? Copy"

"BRAVO 2 I'm working on it. There are a few fishing lodges by the lake area that could be potential"

"Copy that HAVOC"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

CJ blinks as they pull her out of the darkness of the rear of the van.

She looks around she has no idea where they are. She stares at a large wooden fishing Cabin surrounded by forest all round and a lake at the front. She also notices another vehicle is already there.

"What the hell is this place?"

She hears a thud as they pull Jason out and drop him to the ground "Get up!"

Jason staggers to his feet as they shove a gun in his side and march him forward. Him and CJ look at each other trying to make out what's going on. She swallows hard she has a really nervous feeling about this.

Reagan grabs her by the back of her neck and pushes her inside.

They shove them both down in the corner of the room.

"Awwww!" She sighs the pain in the wound on her stomach is really hurting now. She puts both hands on it and closes her eyes

Jason rubs the side of his head it's sore. "CJ... You Okay?" he whispers he's concerned about her, he can see how worried she looks "we're gonna get out of here.. CJ you listening? It's gonna be alright… I promise!"

she doesn't share his optimism. She shakes her head she's not sure why he's so confident in that because she's not.

Reagan pours himself a drink and smiles at them. He thinks Jason's a cocky son of bitch, but he smiles as he can see the worry in CJs face

"Any problems?"

"No nothing I can't handle"

"Good!"

CJ takes a deep breath "Oh Shit!"
she closes her eyes as she recognises Reuben's voice coming through from the other room, followed by the shadow of his presence in the doorway.

"Catherine" He smiles "oh .. and Mr Hayes glad you could both join me"
he walks through carrying a drink. He doesn't stop smiling smugly over the rim of his glass.

"You piece of shit how the hell ….. They let you go?"

He smiles "Why the surprise Mr Hayes? ….. Catherine did you miss me?"

"How the hell have they let you go? After what you did to Clay?"

He laughs "I told you Catherine, this … "he holds up the flash drive "… this list equals power & control"
he carries on drinking and smirking at her.

"Come. Have a drink with me?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think so" she looks at Jason.

Reuben stands over them both smiling. He makes a sudden grab of her neck pulls her up "that wasn't an option!"

"Why don't you leave her alone!... Haven't you done enough?" Jason struggles to try and get up. The two hired muscle in the room push him back down

"Sorry Mr Hayes that invite wasn't for you!"

CJ closes her eyes she knows Reuben is trying to mess with Jason's head "Reuben … don't!" she looks at him appealing for him to stop

He smiles

"Why don't you take it out on me … be a man"

"Mr Hayes don't worry I will deal with you in good time! For now, Catherine and I have unfinished business"

She shakes her head "What's going on?"

Reuben's at the desk. He opens the laptop and sets a drink down beside its "SIT!"

She swallows hard. She thinks about resisting and shakes her head

"I said SIT down!"

She stares at him then at the laptop and finally sits down in the chair.

He plugs the flash drive in the side of the laptop and turns the screen to face her.

"Now… time to do what you've been asked and open that file"

She shakes head. She knows the minute she opens that file Jason and her are probably dead.

"No! … You can go to hell!"

He smiles "fighting words"
he walks around the room drinking his drink "Don't make this painful. Just get it done!"

She's staring at the file on the laptop screen. Trying to find a way to stall till they can think of something to get them away.

She stares at the screen and doesn't look at him.
"Let Jason go and I'll do it!"

She gets nervous and without even thinking drinks a sip from the drink he poured and rubs her head.
"Did you hear me? I said ..Let Jason go, and I'll open it…that's the deal" she bite her lip "You have my word" she turns to look him in the eye

"C.J don't do it!" Jason shouts out

She looks up at Reuben over the desk ignoring Jason "I will. I promise. …Just let him go…. Please!"

"C.J! I said don't!"

She scratches her head and runs her hand through her hair. She holds her side. The wound is hurting really bad now especially as the cut tore slightly when they hit her.

"Is that painful?" Reuben asks her

She nods "A bit" she's confused by his concern

He looks to his muscle again and nods towards her. They drag her off the chair on the floor and hold her down.
Maybe it wasn't concern after all

"NO! ...Oh my god!... what are you doing?" she tries to get them to let go "Reuben please what are you doing?"
she panics and fights and scratches at them. "Jason…. "she screams she's suddenly frightened "let me go!... Please!" she can't breathe

"What the hell are you doing?" Jason tries to get up.
Reagan smiles and pushes him back down "STAY THERE!" He glares at Jason "or I promiseshe will regret it" he's angry and he glares at Jason

"I said leave her alone what are you doing?" He's not happy but he stays sat down. "you son of a bitch" he shakes his head "Just let her go. Take it out on me"

She shakes her head "Reuben Please! what are you doing?"

Reuben is at the drinks cabinet. He picks up the salt cellar off the tray
"I'm not messing with you any more Catherine. I warned you! I want this done" without a second chance he empties the salt straight onto her wound

"OH GOD!..arrrgghhh!" She screams in agony as the pain sears through her. She screws up her face tears fill her eyes "Arrrrghhhh"
she cries as tears fill her eyes. She can't speak

"You piece of shit!" Jason shouts ast he gets himself up. They let her go and punch him hard in the stomach, he doubles in half and crumples back on the floor
"Stay down!... I warned you Mr Hayes!"

She curls up in a ball on the floor. The pain sears through her.

Reuben bends down over her
"Now do you want this to get worse?" he strokes her hair "Catherine... Just make it easy on yourself …and OPEN THE damn file"

He grabs her hair and pulls her up.
She fights with him pulling at his hand to let her hair go. He sits her back in front of computer. She closes her eyes in pain. Holding her side with both hands trying to let the pain subside, it's taken her breath away

She looks over at Jason debating what to do "CJ don't do it! Don't give in to him"

She grabs her hair rubbing it where he pulled it and breathing through the pain and emotions. She drinks the rest of the drink trying to numb the pain. As she tries to think she really doesn't know what to do

Jason closes his eyes. He trying to think how to help her.

Reagan smiles
"Oh Mr Hayes. It's painful watching her struggle isn't it?" he stands his drink down and then kicks Jason hard in side of ribs.

She realises what's going on behind her as she stares at the screen before she closes her eyes tight.
The more she hears Jason groan in pain the nearer she puts her hand to the keyboard

"Alright stop!.. ENOUGH!" she takes a deep breath "I'll do it… alright..Please!.. just stop"
she wipes a tear off her cheek and puts her hands on the keyboard and starts to type the first password authentication.

She reaches for her drink again, as she does her eyes light up as she spots the letter opener in the desk tidy.
She drinks the rest of the drink down.

"Can you get me another" she swallows the last of the drink and holds the glass out to the side.

Reuben smiles at Jason "Certainly" he laughs

"CJ please stop!" he realises she's drinking too much now. He know it will make her more vulnerable

She coughs while he turns his back getting the drinks she checks behind her Reagan is in the other room and the muscle is making sure Jason stays put. She carefully and quietly slides the letter opener out of the desk tidy and into her lap and wedges it between her legs

"Phewww!" she keeps her eyes focused on Reuben steadying her breathing. He still has his back to her pouring the drinks

She continues to type the first required passwords as he sets the drink down in front of her.
She stares at the glass knowing she really shouldn't touch any more but she's finding it hard to get the thoughts of that taste out of her head, but she can't resist and takes another swig from the glass.

Jason sits himself up he's watching her intently willing her not to drink any more "CJ… Don't!"

Reuben smiles shaking his head at him and his pathetic attempt to stop her drinking
"Is it open?" he asks. He's impatient

"No" he shakes her head "I need to download the encryption software" She looks at him out of the corner of her eye "it will take about 15mins" she rubs her head

"very well" he nods "Do what you need" he turns back smiling at Jason

Jason's riled now.

She sets the programme download running. It was an extra fail safe after she added to the files when she last opened it in Harrington's office.
"Thank god I did" she thinks to herself

She takes another sip of the drink hanging her head down knowing she shouldn't but the pain in stomach is aching now but the drink is helping

"oooow!"
Two big droplet tears drop on lap. She wipes her face and looks over her shoulder at Jason.

He looks at her shaking his head willing her not to drink that drink
"CJ please" he quietly mouths to her, she swallows hard again shaking her head trying to put him doing that out of her thoughts.

Suddenly there's a loud clatter of things falling over outside. She sits bolt upright in the chair and looks towards the window

Reuben heads to look "What was that?" he's staring both ways outside. He looks at the guys and Reagan "Find out what that was!"

She looks round at Jason. Her heart is beating faster.

Reagan nods his head "You two Come on!" he's concerned "Let's see if we've got ourselves some company"

he takes the two guys and weapons with him and leaves

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

C.J gulps she's still looking at Jason.
He gives her this look that confirms what she also thinks, that maybe Bravo are here. She closes her eyes wondering if they might be okay after all

She rubs her head nervous but she's going to have to stall him
"You know what? I can't do this" she bites her lip

"C.J are you OK?" Jason calls to her

She nods

Reuben turns from the drinks cabinet to look at her. He's frowning while pouring two more drinks.

He picks up the fruit knife and starts cutting the lemon she's watching him as he turns the knife over in his hand. Something about him causes a panic inside her.

Him and Jason don't take eyes off each other as he brings one of the drinks over. Then he's next to her rubbing his cheek on hers over her shoulder, as he puts the drink he poured for her on the desk

Jason's temper is building watching. "Hey you asshole! Leave her alone … are you listening I'm talking to you"

Reuben ignores him completely as he brushes against her ear he whispers aggressively
"Yes you will!... I know what you're hoping that noise was, but No one is going to save you. So just open.. THE file!"

he brings his arms round her shoulders wiping the blade with the napkin in front of her face. She closes her eyes to him, swallowing hard, trying not to think of the knife in his hand. He senses her tension.

Then he's gone from her side and just for a second she relaxes that he's gone and as she takes a moment to calm her nerves her head is quickly turned when Jason lets out cry of pain!

Reuben has stabbed him in the leg with the fruit knife

"JESUS! REUBEN STOP! …Oh my god... Please ...Reuben please stop!"
her breathing is rapid now. Her brain trying to process what he's done "For god sake! What the hell was that for" now she does cry "Oh my …God!" she sees the blood pouring from Jason's leg.
His face contorted by pain and he's got a blood covered hand holding the wound

Reuben laughs "I thought that might focus your attention" he's angry now "If you don't want him to suffer more then get the DAMN file OPEN"

She's shaking wildly unable to get a grip on what's happened.
Then seeing Jason holding his leg she's off the chair and lunging at Reuben with the letter opener "You son of a BITCH!"
Full of fury she stabs It hard in the side of his neck.

In reaction to what she's done his arm flings out to defend himself.
It knocks her back to the floor.
She's slightly winded but she watches as Reuben drops to the floor in front of her, his hand on the knife in his neck, his eyes wide open.

He gags for a bit from the blood in his throat.
Then there's this silence. All she can hear is her own heavy breathing.

She wipes her nose on the back of her hand she's shaking like mad She sits back on her heels staring at his body in front of her.
She swallows hard waiting for any further reaction from him, none comes.

She tries to calm down and catch her breath
"Phewww!" she shakes her head as her attention leaves the body in front of her "Jason!"

A mild panic ensues as she scrambles across the floor to him and starts to tend the wound.
She rips at his pants where the knife went in then undoes his belt and pulls it through the loops.

Jason's laid back his eyes closed trying to deal with the pain "it's okay...I'm sorting it"
he looks at her then at the wound. She puts her hand on his face rubbing his cheek "come on help me"

Taking his belt she pulls it round his leg pulling it round tight to stop the bleeding

"Hold that!" she gives him the end of the belt to hold.

She looks around for something to use on the bleed. She runs to the bathroom and finds some towels.
She holds one on the wound for the bleeding trying to stem it as it's quite bad

"You Okay?" she nods at him "Jason?... are you Okay?"

He nods "Yeah I'll be okay" he grimaces as he tries to move his leg "We need to get out of here"

"Alright... Give me a minute we need to fix something on this wound" she pads it out with towel and tears some strips to tie it in place then she picks up the knife Reuben used on his leg and cuts the tape round his hands.

"Can you stand on it?"
She helps him up. It's a bit of struggle. He's limping bad and his weight on her is heavy "Come on!" she looks to the window she's checking here Reagan and the other guys are

"We'll go out that back way" she points through the kitchen area and out the back door, there's a short piece of dirt land to cover to get to the cover of trees

"Which way?"

"let's get in the cover in those trees...Hopefully that was the team and they'll find us!"

She gulps and they're both in pain and it's a struggle to get across the ground her hearts in her throat hoping they don't get spotted.

"Keep walking" Jason reassures her as best he can. He can sense her fear it's the same fear he has that Reagan will spot them before they make cover.

They keep at a pace it's not fast but considering the injuries they have it's what they can manage They must have walked about 15mins it's about all they can manage.

"I need to stop" her breathing is laboured as she lifts Jason's arm from her neck "pheww!... Sorry!"
she lets out a sigh a relief to have his weight off her shoulders.

They're in a small clearing area they can see some of the sky through the trees. They sit themselves down both exhausted.

"let me look" the wound is still bleeding but not quite as much.
She keeps the belt round and pressure on the towel which she refolds to put a cleaner bit direct on the wound.

Her hands are covered in his blood and she looks at them. "oh my God! Shit" it's taking all her energy to sort him out.

"Hey CJ... just calm down"

she's shaking with adrenaline He puts his hand on her face and she nuzzles in to his touch. Closing her eyes "I wish this was over!... I wish were were back at the house ...in bed" she smiles. She's exhausted and lets out a deep long sigh as she leans her head on his shoulder

"Hey come on" He grimaces. Each movement now causing a shooting pain through his leg.

"Can't believe he did this!... I'm so sorry"

"It's Okay!... We got this" he tries to reassure her.
Though if he was to admit they're not in a great place right now

"Shit!... Phewwww!" she breaths slowly as they relax for a moment "Now what?" she looks at their surroundings. She has no idea where they are in relation to anything. They have no phones or equipment and it's getting dark. They'll never be able to cover this terrain with Jason's leg in the dark

"What the fuck are we going to do?" she gets upset

"Hey!...come on... we'll be okay!... Just calm down" Jason rubs her neck trying to comfort her. He can see she's struggling "Shsssh! come on where's the real CJ she can cope with this?"

She nods the stress has got to her and she knows it
"It's getting dark, we're not going to be able to go further with that leg of yours"

"No, you're right!... we'll have to wait it out then we'll walk out at first light"

She could do with the rest anyway She leans back and lets out a long sigh.
She shivering with the cold now that they've stopped. She's only wearing the T-Shirt she put on this morning

"You cold?"

She nods "Yeah a bit... No actually I'm really cold!"

"Come here" she cuddles in beside him and he rubs her bare arms to get the circulation going and warm her up

"You are cold! ...Are you Okay?"

"I'll be fine" she snuggles up against him and he wraps his arms round her.
She grimaces at the wound as her stomach is aching more now "Oh, shit!" she holds it putting pressure on it trying to alleviate the soreness and the ache

"Here...let me have a look"
she looks away trying to grit her teeth to the pain as he looks at it "That's not looking too good now.. it's really red and sore.. we need to get it sorted"

"It'll be fine" she swallows hard "it does now hurt now but I'll be alright. It'll pass"

He puts his hand on it and she presses on his hand with hers. That slight pressure takes the ache away.
As the pain subsides she closes her eyes and drops her hand from his. "phhewww"

He runs his hand over her stomach. The moment gives her a warm feeling which is a relief as they lay silent in the cold darkness. She gulps as he feels him run his hand across her skin gently and tenderly massaging her stomach.

There's an air of tension then Jason finally speaks. He shifts position as his leg aches
"CJ... errmm you did you.." he gently circles his fingers on her stomach " .. errrm… you know?" he pauses "I know this probably isn't the time for talking about this but ermm did you do that test?"

She gulps hard knowing what it is he's asking. She bites her lip then nods "Yeah I did!"

She sits up and resting her elbow on her knee she rubs her forehead with her fingers.
She swallows hard before she can get her words out "Look I'm sorry…" she shakes her head "…It's not your problem... I'll take care of it when we get back. really ... itt's not gonna be your problem...I'll sort it "

She's embarrassed to look at him. She shakes her head. "I can't believe this got so out of control.. I'm sorry"

"Hey!" he pulls her chin round to look at her "this is my problem too... I was part of this!"

"I just should have been more careful.. after what happened before.. I should have known better" she shakes her head a big tear runs down her cheek she wipes it with the back of her hand

"We both should have Okay?... It's not your fault"

She sits there quiet looking up at the darkness in the trees. Shaking her head "I'm such an idiot"

He holds her cheek "Anyway who says... it has to be a problem?"

She looks at him confused "What?..Jason what are you saying?"

"I'm saying …" he pauses "would it be so bad"

"What're you saying….? "she frowns "you mean... are you serious? Jason... you mean you wanna have this?"

"Yeah!" he thinks for a minute "Maybe I think I am" he smiles as he brushes her hair off her face

She continues to frown studying his face trying to see in the dim light "you're really serious? You want this? … I mean this and us?" she laughs still frowning

"It's not so ridiculous is it? I mean we can do ..us? right?"

"I don't know!... maybe?" she shrugs "it not something I've given any thought to…I mean …serious and us... don't normally go together?"

He laughs

"What you are laughing at?" she frowns at him puzzled

"I don't know ….." he grimaces at the pain in his leg

"you Okay ?"

"Yeah I'm okay... can't believe we're here in the dark and cold talking about being normal!" he laughs as he pulls her in closer and kisses the top of her head. She looks up to him her big blue eyes gazing into his.
He smiles at her watching him and leans forward and gives her a long tender kiss.

She smiles, and shivers again

"Come here you're freezing!" he keeps rubbing her arms. "you're really cold now" she closes her eyes. She feels secure and safe wrapped in his arms.

She must have fallen asleep as she opens her eyes Jason's trying to sit up "shhhhh!"

"What is it?!" she whispers his tension puts her on edge

"Quiet!"
They both sit and listen to the silence then they hear the rustle in the trees

He puts his finger to her lips gesturing her to be quiet. They hear another rustle. She holds her breath

"Who?" she whispers

He shakes his head "not sure"they sit still and quiet. Then they hear the radio mic call
"BRAVO 2 this is BRAVO 3 I've found them"

They both let out a massive sigh
"Sonny!" she smiles as the relief washes over them seeing Sonny standing there

"You two good?"

Jason nods "Yeah what kept ya?"

"Yeah we had few problems to take care of first Boss! I blame Ray" he smiles

"looks like you took care of one by yourself?" he looks at CJ guessing that was her handy work with Reuben

She nods.

Trent arrives he's not far behind in the trees.
He sees the wound on Jason's leg "let's get a look at you" and he starts to look at the leg

"How is it?" Jason grimaces in pain

"It should be okay...doesn't look like it hit anything major. Bleeding seems to have slowed for now. Though you look like you've lost quite a bit of blood" he frowns as he lifts the towel off "let's get it dressed and cleaned up ...take it from there"

She shivers again.

Ray's caught them up. "Brock's still checking the area out with Cerberus"

Ray sees her shivering. He takes his jacket off and puts round her shoulders as she's really shaking quite a bit from the cold now

"You alright?" Trent looks at her

she nods. "Actually I don't feel great, but I'll be okay!"

"Trent you need to take a look at she's okay... That wound wasn't looking great"

"I'm Okay! Just let him sort your leg first" She's gone pale

"Let me just take a quick look just be sure" She leans back as Trent has a look "Hmm!... no that's not looking good. Looks like a bit of an infection setting in there! We need to get back and get that sorted"

"She alright?" Jason's worried now

"Think she will be... I think she's suffering a bit of shock we just need to get you both back ASAP"

"Reagan you get him?" Jason looks at Ray

Ray shakes his head "no slippery snake got away" he frowns "We'll find. Brock's looking with the dog now"

"Oh, shit!" C.J cries

"It's Okay! we'll get him" Ray reassures her "Hey!... Let's get you two back to the cabin and the vehicles first, then get out of here"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They make a slow walk back. C.J walks behind Ray who leads. Jason's being carried between Sonny and Trent. Brock and Cerberus securing the rear.

They've picked nothing up with regards to Reagan's location.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They arrive back at the cabin. Reuben's body still lays there on the floor.

the Warmth of the cabinis welcome. She stands and stares at what she did.

Sonny pulls the throw off the couch and covers the body "Don't wanna be looking at that piece of Shit!"
He glances at CJ watching her staring at the body "hey come on snap out of it... He's not the first person you've offed"

She nods "I'm fine...just tired"

"OK we'll get back" Jason still takes control "Sonny you drive C.J back in the Jeep. The rest of us can go back in the van. That way I can lay flat with my leg then"

"Good idea" Trent agrees "I can get a line of fluid up as well. You need one!"

"sure, thing Boss" Sonny nods. Not that he ever wants to spend time with C.J but under the circumstances he'll do it.

"You Okay with that?" Jason frowns at her. "Hey CJ you alright?... Trent... she doesn't look well"

"sure whatever" she looks at Sonny. She'd rather be with Jason than Sonny, but she knows Trent needs to sort his leg "I'm good .. don't worry about me"

"come on let's get you back and checked out make sure everything's OK!" he smiles she knows what he means

she nods and smiles finally it feels nice to something good to look forward to. She closes her eyes as he kisses her head.

"I need the bathroom before we head back"

"Okay!"
Ray goes through with her to check everything is secure. They don't want any more surprises

As she follows Ray through

"Where's the laptop?" she frowns

"Laptop?" Ray looks confused

"Reagan…He's been back here! Reuben's laptop's gone. It was on the table"

"you stay here!"

Ray and Sonny check the other rooms "Brock!" Ray shouts "see if Cerb can pick up anything up. Reagan's been here"

Nothing surfaces but the vehicle that was here when her and Jason first arrived, Reuben's vehicle, has gone.

"Shit the Son of a bitch got away" Ray shakes his head