Thank you all for your continued support, kind words, and interest in this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's a bit fast paced and has some nail biting moments, but I think it'll give you a sense of relief (hopefully) near the end. It's not over, though!
Myles woke suddenly at 4am, and something told him to call Bobby. He dialed and cleared the sleep from his throat. He didn't know why he felt paranoid, but when Bobby didn't answer his phone, he grew concerned. He called Jack next. No answer.
"Oh no," Myles said, leaping out of bed. He called Dimitrius.
"Yea?" D answered, sounding a little sleepy.
"Are you guys okay?" Myles asked.
"All good over here. What's up?"
"Bobby and Jack aren't answering their phones," Myles answered.
"What?" D's voice was more alert now.
"I think something's wrong," Myles said, rushing to get dressed.
"I'll call it in," D promised.
"I'll meet you there," Myles said, hanging up. He grabbed his gun, badge, and coat and rushed out the door. He berated himself for switching out with the other agent. If he had been there, this wouldn't have happened.
...
Tara awoke to her phone ringing. She flung her hand out to grab it, knocking over some items on her nightstand before finally getting a hold of it.
"Hello?" she croaked. It was 4:30 in the morning.
"Tara, it's Myles."
"What happened?" she asked, sitting up and very much awake now.
"Jack's gone."
"What?!" She panicked. Where was Bobby?
"I don't know what's happened, but I'm on my way there right now," Myles went on.
"I'll meet you there," Tara said, throwing the blankets off and jumping out of bed. She frantically began searching for her clothes. Myles had hung up, so she tossed her phone onto the bed as she ran around like a madman. She kept picturing Bobby dead in her mind, and it made her feel sick. When she finally found everything and got dressed, she grabbed her phone, gun, keys, badge, and wallet and hustled out the door.
...
Sue groaned as Levi nudged her. Then she noticed lights were on outside her room, and she sat up. She looked at the monitor and saw it wasn't lit up, so nothing was wrong with Ella. Frowning, she got out of bed and went to investigate. She found Lucy crying while D was trying to explain something to her. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she read D's lips.
"What?" she asked, making him look at her.
"Hey, Sue," he said. "Look, I have to go check out Jack's apartment. Neither he nor Bobby are answering their phones."
"Did something happen?" Sue asked, fearful.
"We don't know yet."
Lucy went over to hug Sue, and she did her best to keep it together. She kept thinking about Jack and their last conversation. She hated to think they might never talk again.
...
Somehow, Tara had beaten Myles to Jack's apartment. He got out of his car to see her trying to get past the officer on scene.
"Just let me in there!" she shouted. "I'm FBI! My partner is in there!"
Partner? Myles furrowed his brow. He didn't realize Tara considered Jack or Bobby her partner. They were a team, which made them teammates.
"I'm sorry. We are not letting anyone in there right now until the CSIs get here."
Tara was crying now. She saw Myles and hurried over to him.
"They won't let me inside," she said tearfully. "I think they're dead in there. No one will say anything!"
"Let me try," Myles said, moving past her after squeezing her shoulder. He approached the officer in charge and started to make his case. In the corner of his eye, he saw Tara watching and begin to creep past towards the stairs when the officer wasn't looking. Then she was gone.
"HEY!" the officer shouted, catching sight of her and beginning to chase after her. Myles ran after him.
...
Tara didn't even stop when the officer yelled at her. She climbed the stairs two at a time and burst into Jack's apartment at full speed. She stumbled and caught herself at the sight of the mess.
"Oh my God," she whimpered, covering her mouth with her hand. Then she caught sight of a pair of feet on the floor, and her heart stopped. She moved forward slowly, feeling her breath come in spurts. Her heart was hammering.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no..." She rounded the table and saw Bobby laying face first on the ground, eyes closed. "NO!" She dropped to her knees next to him, grabbing him and rolling him over. "Bobby! BOBBY!"
"Tara!" Myles shouted as he and the officer in charge came in.
"Bobby," Tara cried, taking his face in her hands and giving it a shake. "Wake up. Bobby! It's me. Wake up!"
"Tara," Myles said again, suddenly right next to her, his hand on her shoulder.
"Myles," she sobbed. "Wake him up. Please, wake him up!"
"Ma'am, you need to get back," the officer tried.
Tara ignored both of them and kept rocking back and forth with Bobby in her arms. She clutched him to her, not caring that his blood was getting all over her. His face was bruised and bloody. He had cuts on his arms too. There weren't any signs of a gunshot wound, though, which gave her hope.
"Bobby," she said. "I'm here. I've got you. Wake up. I need you to wake up!"
"Tara," Myles said loudly, squeezing her shoulder hard now. "We have to let the paramedics work on him." She looked to see that they had indeed entered the building and were waiting. She looked back at Bobby.
"Don't you dare give up on me," she ordered, gripping Bobby's face again. "I'm right here. Just wake up."
Myles went to pull her up when Bobby suddenly coughed.
...
"They have to be all right," Lucy said to Sue as they sat side by side on the couch. "They just have to be."
Sue didn't say a word. She hadn't told Lucy about Jack kissing her. She wasn't about to either, but it was all she could think about. How could it be that after things finally start to happen for them, he gets taken away from her? She clenched her fists. It was bad enough to lose her best friend all those years ago. To lose Jack would be double that pain and then some.
Levi resting his head on her knees made her come back to the room. She put her hand on his furry head absently and tried to be comforted. She tried to think positive. She kept her hope alive.
...
Bobby groaned as he opened his eyes. His head felt as though it had been beaten with a two by four, and his breathing was coming in shallow spurts. He wasn't sure what was going on or what exactly happened to him. All he remembered was a loud flashbang when he had bent into the fridge for something to drink. Then he had been jumped. He'd fought back hard and lost. After that, darkness.
Now, he became aware of someone's hands on his face and their voice in his ears, which were still ringing a little.
"Bobby? It's me. You're okay," they said.
He blinked and waited for his eyes to focus on their face. Then he saw her.
"Tara," he managed to say. What was she doing there? They would hurt her too.
"We really need you to move now," someone else said. Bobby tried to look. Every sound was muffled for some reason. He chalked it up to the stun grenade.
"I'm right here," Tara's voice said. He felt her take his hand as she shifted to let the paramedics move in. He felt hands surveying him and checking him over.
"Ah," he hissed when a hand pressed on his ribs.
"Probably bruised. Possibly broken," a paramedic was saying.
Bobby turned his head and found Tara, and he just kept looking at her as the medics worked. She had tears in her eyes and tears streaking her cheeks, but she was smiling at him. He felt like everything was going to be okay.
...
"Bobby's okay," Lucy told Sue, who felt relieved.
"And Jack?" she asked.
"He's missing."
"No," Sue said, clutching her face with one hand.
"We're going to find him, Sue," Lucy promised. "We have what Renner wants, remember? We have Ella."
"He'll want to make a trade," Sue said, getting it.
"I think so," Lucy nodded. "Jack is tough. He'll be all right. This will be over soon."
Sue had to believe her. She took her friend's hand in hers and held onto it tightly.
...
"I'm going with him," Tara said after they loaded Bobby into the ambulance. They were taking him to the hospital to get checked over better. The medics declared no life-threatening injuries, though, which made Tara feel extremely relieved.
"Okay," Myles nodded. D was talking to the officer in charge in the background. It was clear Jack had been kidnapped, which made Tara's relief over Bobby being okay short lived. She climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat beside Bobby, reaching to hold his hand again. He opened his eyes to look at her.
"I guess they got the jump on me," he said.
"You're lucky to be alive," Tara told him.
"The others?"
"All dead," she answered. It confused her. Why did they leave Bobby alive? Or did they think he was dead?
"Geez," Bobby grimaced. He felt terrible.
"If Myles had taken the late shift, he'd be dead," Tara said somberly. She knew Myles was thinking it after he'd received the report that all other FBI agents had been killed.
"Jack?" Bobby asked, feeling horrified suddenly.
"They took him," she answered.
"Well, we have to find him," Bobby said, growing anxious. He tried to sit up, but she held him down.
"We will once you're cleared by a doctor," she promised. "Myles and D are on it."
Bobby nodded slowly before settling back down. He felt terrible for letting Jack down. He hoped nothing would happen to him. He'd never forgive himself if something did.
...
Jack opened his eyes to find himself in a windowless room. There was no furniture either, just a door in the wall. He winced as he looked up at the ceiling. The blow to the back of his head had hurt. He rubbed his neck absently as he pondered about where he was. He thought about Bobby and felt dread inside thinking his friend had been killed. He had expected Renner to come for him, but he hadn't expected such an orchestrated attack. He hoped Sue was safe with Ella. He knew Renner would be in touch with someone about his demands. If all went well, then this would be over soon. Jack reached to take off his shoe and dug down underneath the sole, pulling out the small device he'd tucked in there earlier that night. It was the reason he had felt confident about everything. Of course, he was regretting not telling anyone about it, but they'd find out soon enough. He had it so that Tara would get notified immediately. He switched it on and put it back into his shoe, leaning against the wall and sighing.
Now all he had to do was wait for Tara to get the notification that his tracking device had been activated.