Chapter 3

The rest of the flight seemed to drag by slowly but finally, the four agents landed and made it to the hospital in record time. As they rushed through the doors Jai was already waiting for them in the lobby.

"Hey," he greeted softly. Frankie gave him a very brief hug and Will was the first to speak.

"So, what do we know?"

Jai took a breath.

"He made it through surgery okay. They haven't brought him back to his room yet though. I..." he trailed off to let the team process it.

The rest of the group let out a collective breath they'd all been holding.

"...The knife was just centimeters from damaging any vital organs. But they said he's going to be fine."

"Yes!" Susan whispered enthusiastically, holding back a shout.

"See, I said he'd be okay!" Will said, excited. Relief washed over him as he had been praying he wouldn't be proved wrong.

"He still got stabbed." Frankie commented dryly

"Hey.."

She shrugged, then turned to Jai. "Wait, did anyone call his mom?"

"Yeah," Jai replied. "Unfortunately she was on a trip, but they managed to track her down quickly and she is heading back. She won't be here until tomorrow evening though. She may have had some choice words though...".

"I bet." Frankie grinned.

"Anyways, she did make me promise one of us would always be in there with him until she arrives."

"Oh yeah, of course. Right guys?" Asked Will. All of the team nodded.

"Ok, Ray and I are gonna go check in with the nurse & make sure he's good to go too." Susan said, still concerned with Ray who'd had a lingering headache on the flight home.

"We are? Oh yeah, right." Ray nodded, and followed Susan.

"Anything Ollerman related that you can tell us?" Frankie asked Jai.

"Unfortunately not. That team Ray sent out has had zero luck...zero...tracking him down so far. He's become a ghost."

"Not for long. That team isn't us. Look even if it's not today, we will get him. He's not getting away from us for long." Will told them.

The doctor came out a few minutes later and pretty much explained what Jai did, and then said they could see him but one or two at a time to visit.

"You go. You were here first. I need coffee anyways." Frankie told him. Jai nodded and made his way back to Standish's room.

Frankie disappeared and then reappeared a fee minutes later with two coffees. She handed the other to Will.

"It's terrible." She told him in warning.

He took a sip. Laughed and said "Yea that's bad."

Frankie shrugged. At this point they'd probably drink it if it tasted like sewage just to stay awake.

"I don't really want to be here right now." She admitted. And Will knew what she meant. She didn't mean she didn't want to be here for Standish. She meant that she wanted to be out there looking for Alex.

"I know. But there's nothing you can do out there alone. And there's nothing any of us can do in the next few hours that'll make any difference."

Frankie didn't respond, but her silence pretty much meant she agreed.

They sat in the chairs until Ray and Susan got back. Ray got the all clear to resume normal activities but to take it as easy as he needed to. Frankie decided to go switch places with Jai. He probably needed a coffee break himself.

Frankie walked in to find a side of Jai she's rarely seen before until recently. He was sitting next to the bed, rattling on about some new tech, having an entire conversation with his unconscious friend.

"Hey." She interrupted.

Jai jumped up from the seat.

"Yeah it's your turn. I was just.."

"Waiting on your friend to wake up?Yeah..it's ok." she smiled. "Look at us now." She made a face.

"What was it you said Francesca? Caring gets you dead?"

"Yeah...I know. Still might." She shrugged.

"Worth it?"

"Possibly." She smiled.

"Yeah. Same here. And I dislike it very much." But he really didn't.

She nodded. Jai left the room, giving Frankie a soft smile on his way out. Instead of the chair, Frankie sat on the large oversized chair in the corner and kept watch from there. Everything was starting to catch up with her.

So what Will walked into thirty minutes later was Frankie asleep on the sofa and Standish tiredly staring at her.

"Well hey there bud!" Will said, forgetting to try and not wake Frankie up. He patted Standish on the leg and went to sit down in the other chair.

"Um so what's up with her?" Standish asked groggily.

Will laughed. "You realize you're the one in the hospital bed right?"

"Well yeah..obviously." His voice was certainly more rough and quiet than usual.

"She's fine..jet lag probably." And worry. He thought silently.

Frankie stirred, realized she had an audience and jumped up.

"Easy there, Standish was just admiring your softer face."

"Shut up." She mock glared at Will, then she smiled at the kid. "Hey kiddo. You know when I said not to get killed that time, it wasn't a future invitation to get as close as you could right?"

"Yeah figured that out. Thanks mom." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh look he gets that from you too Frankie."

She sighed. "Speaking of...Your moms on her way." Frankie told him.

"Oh God." Standish said, closing his eyes.

"Hey, she's your mom."

Yeah and I love her. But she's gonna be so extreme about this, like crazy Frankie levels of mad. Just warning you."

"Hey! I'm remembering that for later when I can hit you again."

He and Will laughed.

"Ow ow...okay I shouldn't have laughed."

Will shot him a concerned look. A moment later, Susan & Ray appeared.

"Ohhh your awake! I wanna hug you but I don't wanna hurt you."

"Do it anyways." Standish told her.

She reached over and gently hugged him, mostly leaving air between them so not to lean on him.

"Worth it!" Standish muttered. Ray stepped around Susan.

"Look, I brought you jello and didn't steal it."

"Uhh wow..thanks man."

Will looked around the crowded room.

"Ok, well Frankie come on we don't want the doctor coming to yell at us. Glad your awake kiddo." Will patted his arm."I'll be back in a few ok?"

Standish nodded as Frankie followed Will out.

Frankie & Will exited the room into the hallway where Jai had walked back up.

Jai told them he was gonna go home for a few.

"I need to do the same." Frankie agreed. And a shower and change of clothes.

Before she gets a step away, Will stops her.

"Hey.."

"What?" Frankie turns back around.

"I know now isn't the time but..."

"Then don't Will. I'm going to go, can we just do this later?"

"It doesn't have to be now but we do need to talk."

She sighed. "I know. But not tonight ok?"

He nodded, accepting that what happened between them is low in priority next to Standish and finding Ollerman. He just didn't want to go backwards with her either.

Frankie smiled at him "Thanks. See you in the morning."

She left briskly. Will watched her go, and maybe she was running again, but at least this time she seemed to be willing to not go too far. She was willing to postpone the discussion for a later time. Maybe if they could find the son of a bitch who'd made all this happen, the Frankie from 24 hours ago would be there waiting for that next step with him.

Sure, she'd been right when she said there was a connection between them. He'd known it since he'd performed emergency surgery on her in a kitchen. She'd let go and trusted him to take care of her and they'd barely known each other. There was something about the pull that was there whenever they looked directly in each other's eyes. But Will never really thought about being more than a partner with her until a little later. He seen brief signs of it, a spark in that bank vault. A spark when they'd survived that bomb defusing. But then Frankie had to go and kiss him and open his mind up fully to all of the possibilities. Sure, she'd kind of cheapened the moment when she used sex to get information from that jerk at the wedding. And being fresh off the Gigi-Ray betrayal, he probably took it too hard. But now he knew her better, knew that when she had feelings, real ones, she found a way to run off and self sabotage them. Frankie had apologized in her own way. He probably shouldn't have walked away in the bar that time. But they'd come a long way since then. She'd come a long way since then. Will knew going forward with her now would be risking his heart even more than he had in his past relationships. She was someone completely unlike those he'd ever been with. And because now he really did see what they could be like together, it made things more real. Now if he could just convince her that whatever they started in Prague was a good thing, that they could be happy together.

But Frankie didn't go home. She finds herself at the door of the torn up Dead Drop. She breathes deeply and heads inside.

It's still a mess, not like anything could've changed. She wished she could wake up and the past few days hadn't occurred. That her and Will had had a peaceful night over Chinese food, talked about work, talked about fate. Closed out the night with drinking and talking. No sudden relationship changes. No Ollerman holding their friends hostage in their home away from home.

She knows they should all walk away from this place, find a new one...but other then her little apartment, this was her new home. Ollerman was probably licking his wounds, if he made any moves it wouldn't be soon. She pulled out her phone and made a few calls.

When she hears a noise at the door behind her a few minutes later she jumped and was about to reach for her gun, but stopped when she seen it was Jai.

"What are you do-?" She started.

"Same as you I'm guessing."

She laughed.

"So...what are you thinking." He asked.

"We could get it fixed up."

"Is that smart. For us?"

"For now. He knows we're looking for him and this time he's down an inside man. Maybe we can recreate this place, at least until we find a new one."

"Ok."

"Really?"

"Hey I like it here too. You call the crew in, I'll handle security. Assuming the director approves."

"He may not, but I'll let Ray deal with that once we've already started." She smirked. "Besides I already made a few calls."

"Were you going to tell anyone."

"Sure...after it was done. They'd make a big deal about it."

Jai smiled. "These people made us too soft Francesca."

She sighed. "I'm not soft."

"No..but softer. I didn't say it was a bad thing."

"I know."

"I've got ideas. First off...that entrance has to go. No one should be able to just walk in. I don't think the closed sign was very effective."

"Agreed...but I'm going to go now. I really do need a shower and I'll leave the brilliant technobabble for you to think about." She gave him a sincere smile, squeezed his arm and walked passed him to the door.