Triangles 12

Jaz shivered on the cold stone ground, awareness slowly invading her consciousness. She swallowed thickly and slowly blinked her eyes open, squinting in the darkness. She could barely make out Top's unconscious—or sleeping—form next to her and a shadowy figure on his other side. It appeared they were in the same stone building they had been attempting to rescue Patricia from.

Jaz roughly cleared her throat and reached over towards Dalton, but was abruptly stopped short. "Top...Top!"

She hadn't even realized her hands were bound by chains to the wall and she pulled frantically at them, to no avail. "Top! Wake up!"

Adam's head remained bowed but the shadowy figure on his other side stirred at her movement and speech.

"Jaz? That you, girl?" Preach raised his head groggily, shaking it only to realize that intensified the pounding in his brain.

"Preach! They got you too? Where is Patricia? Are you chained?" The questions spilled out as her brain tried to process everything.

"Slow down, Jasmine. A calm mind is our best ally right now. We aren't going anywhere as of this moment."

"Right. Okay," Jaz sighed, trying to clear her brain of the fog that was currently blocking all coherent thought. "Are you hurt?"

"Just this headache that feels like my brain is about to implode. You?"

Jaz mentally checked off each of her limbs and trunk. She could feel nothing broken and even felt pretty good breathing deeply. Her head, too, felt like it was pounding out of her skull, but that seemed to be the only lingering effect of the tranquilizer that had been used. Even her clarity and normal rational thinking was coming back.

Preach called Adam's name in his soft yet booming voice. Jaz turned her neck again, straining slightly at the restraints holding her arms awkwardly at ear level. If she stretched her fingers she could just reach Dalton's hand. Her fingers reached as far as they could and she called his name too as the tips of her fingers brushed his uncharacteristically cold hand.

"Top, wake up." Jaz angled her lower body towards him and snaked her foot towards his leg. It wasn't very graceful or romantic, but she managed to make contact. "Top!" She shoved her foot in his leg, rocking it back and forth.

Adam's head snapped up and he immediately strained frantically against the restraints holding him captive. His feet thrashed on the floor and wild eyes searched the room as he called out for Jaz.

"No! Leave her alone! Jaz!" The dim light kept him from easily recognizing her sitting right beside him.

"Top, it's okay. I'm right here. I'm okay. We're going to be okay." Adam stilled the instant her heard her voice and slumped against the stone wall in relief, turning his head towards her.

"Jaz... I saw someone behind you in the woods but I couldn't warn you in time. I'm sorry..." his voice was broken and defeated, not a tone Jaz was used to hearing and it broke her heart a little.

She stretched her fingers and brushed his hand with them again. "I know. I saw them behind you too. It's okay. We'll figure out a way out of here."

Adam's hand reached up in unconscious response to Jaz's touch and he twined a finger around hers. "Did they hurt you?"

The gentle touch of Adam's pinky against her own burned like a feather of fire. Jaz blew a slow, centering breath, pulling from her sniper training to reign back her concentration.

"No, just a headache from whatever they used to knock us out. Preach is here too," Jaz motioned her head towards the older man, but the waning light made it difficult to see anything but shadows.

"Preach..." Dalton turned towards Preach, a sickening feeling in his stomach. If Preach was here, it seemed only a matter of time before the entire team was captured and they had no idea where Patricia was.

"I'm okay, Adam. Someone jumped me at the vehicle after cutting all power, even my secure connections. There's definitely trouble brewing here. Things aren't adding up right. It's almost like they knew we were coming and how to pick us apart."

"All right, you two," Adam's voice was calm and strong, back to his confident demeanor of controlled Captain. "Let's try and get some sleep while we can. Once our heads are clear, we can brainstorm about what to do next."