I don't own Blindspot or any of these amazing characters…
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Happy Birthday Sissygirl28! :)
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"I don't know why I had to come," Rich hissed at Kurt and Jane.
"If we're really lucky," Jane insisted, "Both you and Patterson can be working on cracking Dominic's phone."
"Are you kidding?" Rich scoffed, "When have we ever been lucky? We're more likely to be killed."
"Rich," Kurt chided.
"You know I'm right." Rich insisted, "That's probably why you brought me. I'm expendable."
"You're not expendable," Jane denied with a sigh.
"Sure, you say that now…" Rich continued, "But you think I don't know that if the bullets start flying you're going to save each other first?"
Kurt couldn't even argue he'd do whatever it took to keep Jane safe.
"Neither of you is protesting..." He shot them both a look of outrage.
"You know better," Was the best Jane could do.
"Lame," He accused her.
"Come on Rich," Jane cajoled him, "You don't need to be saved. You're more than capable of taking care of yourself."
"I saved you," He reminded her, bolstered by her encouragement.
"See," Kurt said, "You've got this."
Seeing the look they shared Rich glared at them, "You both suck."
"We love you too," Jane said unoffended.
"If I die I'm haunting you." Rich warned them.
"Could you be any more annoying dead than you are alive?" Kurt questioned.
"Let me rephrase that," He said with tone, "I'm going to haunt your bedroom. No more alone time for the two of you."
"We'll try to get you out of here alive," Jane promised.
"You sacrificed yourselves for Patterson," Rich continued to complain. "She told me what you did in Iceland. Is it wrong that I think it's kind of hot that you took hostages?"
"Completely and totally wrong," Jane agreed.
"Bet you didn't think so at the time," Rich insisted, "Admit it, Kurt was hot as a hostage taker, I wish I could have seen that."
"He was kind of hot," Jane admitted, looking over at Kurt with a smile.
"Really?" He demanded, "Don't encourage him."
"Sorry," Jane immediately reeled it back in.
"So are we just going to walk up to the front door?" Rich asked them from the back seat.
"No we're going to repel down from the roof," Jane denied.
"Repel…" Rich's consternation was evident.
Jane started to laugh.
"Are you messing with me?" Rich hissed.
"Aren't you the guy that base jumped off the roof to escape?" Kurt reminded him.
"Yeah," Rich agreed, "But I chafed something horribly."
"Was it worth it?" Jane looked over her shoulder at him with a smile.
"Of course," Rich agreed, "Because I was getting free and pulling one over on the two of you. This time I'm chafing myself to get killed! That's a completely different set of circumstances, much less desirable."
"There won't be any chafing," Kurt insisted.
"Oh," Rich asked sarcastically, "You expect to get killed on the roof before we go down?"
"What's going on?" Jane finally asked him seriously.
"Don't you ever get tired of being bait?" Rich demanded.
"We aren't bait!" Jane protested.
"You are," Rich insisted, "We are. I know both of you struggle to sleep worrying about the other and yet you constantly volunteer for the most dangerous missions. What's wrong with you?"
Kurt and Jane shared a look.
"What?" Rich demanded.
"We know what we can do," Kurt insisted.
"We've lost so many important people already," Jane told Rich, "We don't want to lose anymore."
Rich was looking at them with new understanding, "I'd say that was sweet, but then I remember I'm with you and back to being expendable."
"We need you to sell that this is how we're breaking into the system," Jane reminded him.
"Would you rather it was Patterson?" Kurt asked him.
"Of course not," Rich denied, "Unless she volunteered?"
At their look he let it drop.
"Chafing huh?" Jane started to tease him.
"Well some of us have…more than others." Rich insisted.
"More?" Jane looked back over at Kurt to see him roll his eyes.
"Yes, more," Rich insisted haughtily.
"Maybe you just had the harness on wrong?" Jane suggested kindly.
Rich's look said it all.
"We'll do our best to keep you alive," Kurt insisted, "The chafing is all on you."
"Figures," Rich looked resigned before telling Jane, "You'll probably help him with his chafing…you know…unless he doesn't have more…"
Rich glared at the impatient look Kurt shot him in the review mirror.
Jane was struggling not to laugh.
"I promise to help you with your chafing," Jane assured Kurt.
Kurt turned toward her in surprise before he began to smile.
Rich huffed in the backseat while Jane and Kurt shared their moment of silent communication. Looking away he shook his head, they really were just too adorable. He hoped they all lived through this terrible idea…
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"This is a terrible idea," Patterson told Reade and Tasha.
"Well," Reade rebutted, "It's all we've got."
"Setting up half of our team as bait is going to get someone killed," Tasha agreed.
"It's a little late to change anything now." Reade insisted.
"We just need to hurry," Patterson said as Reade disappeared over the roofs edge.
"You're next," Tasha insisted.
Patterson didn't hesitate, stepping into empty space she descended down to Kurt and Jane's balcony.
Tasha did a final sweep of the roof before she lowered herself down.
"I think we're clear," Reade assured them as he popped open the balcony door.
"We'll sweep the interior," Tasha assured Patterson, "You get started."
Patterson didn't argue with her, but set up her computer quickly.
Once they cleared the apartment Tasha looked over at Reade. "I can't believe how normal everything looks…"
Reade stopped to look at her, "Why is that?"
"Why is what?" Tasha didn't understand.
"Kurt was presumed dead for months…why didn't anyone come in here to take everything away?" Reade worried.
"They knew Jane was alive…" Tasha realized, "They left it this way as a trap!"
"We need to get out of here…" Reade was already moving back toward the living room.
"Guy's," Patterson was looking down at her computer in alarm, "We have a problem…"
"What is it?" Tasha worried.
"The second I plugged in the phone, it was bricked." Patterson explained.
"They were waiting for us to try this." Tasha realized.
"We have to get out of here," Reade insisted grabbing Patterson's computer and herding the others toward the door. The rope fell down from the roof just as they reached the railing.
Sharing a look Patterson whispered, "This is so not good."
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They had just lowered their rope over the side of the building when Kurt's burner phone began to ring.
He reached for it in concern. When he saw Allie's number his stomach sank. She would never risk calling him if it wasn't an emergency.
"Is Bethany okay?" He answered immediately.
"She's fine," Allie assured him, "But you and your team are about to be taken into custody."
"What?" Kurt looked over to a worried Jane. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder when he realized she was worrying over Bethany.
She's fine… He mouthed to her.
The relief on her face made him love her even more if that was possible.
"You're apartment was wired in the hope that you would go back for something, */which apparently you have. The Marshall's have been called in to do the take down." Allie warned him.
"You know they're going to figure out you warned us," Kurt worried.
"You and Jane are Bethany's parents every bit as much as Connor and I. I know you're innocent, you need to go."
"They're going to be coming for you too," Kurt worried.
"I've got this Kurt," Allie insisted, "Get going.."
Kurt didn't waste any time, "We've got to go."
"What's going on?" Rich demanded as Kurt pulled the rope back up and threw it in the bag.
"The Marshalls are moving on our apartment," Kurt explained.
"It was a trap," Jane realized, her stomach sinking.
"Call the others!" Rich insisted even as they made their way back down the service stairs.
"Jane," Kurt worried, "Call with your phone. I don't want the number Allie dialed being linked in any way to our apartment."
Jane did as he asked.
"They aren't answering," She worried.
"What now?" Rich demanded.
"Now we become their backup," Kurt insisted.
"We can't shoot any US Marshalls!" Rich argued.
"And we won't," Kurt agreed.
"So what?" Rich asked impatiently, "You're going to say pretty please?"
"We'll think of something," Jane said with determination.
"And I was thinking this couldn't get any worse!" Rich said to himself.
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They didn't stand a chance.
Reade was on his knees, hands restrained behind him, Tasha and Patterson on the ground beside him.
The apartment was swarming with US Marshalls and he knew it was only a matter of time before Madeline got her hands on them.
Tasha and Patterson weren't saying anything, but he knew what they were thinking. They were done…
Suddenly there was a commotion at the door. All activity seemed to stop and then the CIA was there.
Keaton looked down at the three of them and then told the Marshalls, "We've got this."
"You don't have authority here," The agent in charge of the Marshall's warned him.
Keaton just looked at him.
"I said…we've got this." He repeated, the look on his face convinced him.
As the Marshall's filed out, Keaton wasted no time getting the three of them on their feet.
"Keaton," Tasha started.
"Now's not the time," He warned her as they moved through the building to where they'd parked their vehicles.
Tasha held her words, but she shot Reade and Patterson a look.
Kurt watched as the others were taken out of the building and looked over to Jane and Rich.
"The CIA is taking them," He worried.
"We can shoot the CIA," Rich said, his time spent with them still fresh in his mind.
"We can't shoot them," Kurt denied.
"So what do we do?" Rich argued, "If they get away from here, you'll never find them. We need to move now."
"Seven of them," Jane noted, "Three of us. We can take them."
Just then Keaton came into view.
"It's Keaton!" Jane looked over at Kurt.
This had all just become seriously more complicated.
"I thought he was transferred to some faraway place," Rich argued.
"What if we take out the vehicles instead of the people?" Jane suggested.
"We can't lose them if they don't leave," Rich said excitedly.
"We can't do it here," Kurt argued, "You know backups on the way."
"What if we lose them?" Jane worried.
"We won't," Kurt assured her with a gentle hand on her arm.
They quickly made their way back to where they left their car.
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Reade, Tasha and Patterson were all placed in the back of Keaton's vehicle. Tasha frowned because she realized that this was an anomaly. They should never have been transported together.
"You need to coordinate the teams at the other's apartments," He told the man in the front passenger seat.
"I can do that from here," The Agent assured him.
"You need to do it personally," Keaton insisted, his voice leaving no room argument.
"Yes sir," The Agent got out of the vehicle and headed over to the other SUV waiting.
"Jake," Tasha started again.
"If I'm going to ruin my career and put my family into hiding," Jake interrupted her, "Could I do it with a little peace?"
"What?" Reade demanded.
"I've been monitoring Allie Knight's cell phone," Keaton explained, "Tonight she called Kurt to warn him about the raid. I decided to intervene."
"This is going to cost you your career," Tasha warned him.
"Yeah, well working for a corrupt government isn't exactly doing it for me." Keaton told her as he pulled to the side of the road.
"What are you doing?" Patterson worried.
"Waiting for Weller and Jane to catch up," Keaton explained, "They've been following us since we left the building."
The car pulled in behind them and Kurt and Jane approached the vehicle, guns drawn.
Keaton rolled down the window, "We don't have time for this." He warned them.
"What's going on?" Jane worried.
"I'll explain everything to you," Keaton assured her, "But not here. Follow me I have someplace we can go."
Kurt looked over at Jane and she gave him a nod. She trusted Keaton, but this wasn't her call. Looking into the back seat she looked at Reade, Tasha and Patterson.
"We're good," Tasha assured her.
Jane and Kurt moved back to their car.
"What's going on?" Rich demanded, "Why didn't you do anything? This is our chance, he's alone, we can definitely take him."
"He's helping us," Kurt explained.
"Helping us get ambushed," Rich insisted, "He's leading us into a trap!"
"Do you want out?" Jane asked Rich seriously.
"NO!" He denied, "We're in this together, even if I think this is a mistake."
"Thanks Rich," Jane told him sincerely. She understood just exactly how terrible the CIA black site was. The fact that he was willing to risk going back to one to help them said a lot about how much he'd changed.
Keaton pulled into an old abandoned warehouse just outside of town.
"That wasn't your best idea," He told them once the cuffs had been removed from the team. "What exactly were you trying to do?"
"We had Dominic's phone," Patterson explained, "It would prove that Madeline was running things, but we needed to hack into it. We didn't have the computing power to do it so we were going to use the hard wire in Kurt and Jane's apartment to utilize the FBI servers."
"Did it work?" Keaton asked.
"No," Patterson denied, "They were waiting for that. They bricked the phone."
"Now what?" Keaton worried.
"Now we find another way," Kurt assured him.
"Why are you helping us?" Tasha asked Keaton.
"Before I even landed in my new duty assignment, I received the alert to be on the lookout for you. That's when I knew Madeline was making her move. When the word came down that you'd been taken out by a drone…let's just say things changed. Madeline has a lot of pull in the government, but she wasn't aware of all the classified information about exactly what each of you has done to protect this country. There was no way anyone privy to that information believed the bullshit they were pushing. You aren't exactly alone out here, but until we can find proof, we have to go along with the status quo. All under the caveat that nothing happens to any of you, we break protocol to keep that from happening. The people working behind the scenes to clear you are your backup when you need it, even if it means turning our back on everything else." Keaton explained.
"Was Allie a part of this?" Kurt worried.
"Yes," Keaton confirmed, "She's already established covers for each of us. Sara and Sawyer are in our own version of witness protection. She and Connor are taking Bethany tonight. We won't see them again until we take Madeline down. My family is underground too and I'm helping you."
Kurt looked away when he realized that even his ability to talk to Bethany by video was now gone. Jane reached over for his hand. He enveloped hers and held on tightly.
"Do we have anyone left on the inside?" Patterson asked him.
"We have a veritable army on the inside," Keaton assured her, "But we can't afford to give up any more of them and still come out on top."
"What do we do now?" Jane asked them.
"We still have to crack the phone," Patterson explained.
"I thought you said it was bricked!" Keaton reminded her.
"I cloned it before we went in," Patterson assured him.
Keaton looked immensely relieved.
"What else can we do?" He asked them.
"I have an idea," Tasha told them.
"What is it?" Kurt asked her.
"Madeline killed her husband," Tasha explained, "She poisoned him. If we steal his body…"
"No," Rich denied immediately, "Not doing that…"
"Rich!" Patterson chided.
"Have you not seen any of the movies where some stupid idiot goes into the grave yard, digs up the zombie that then eats their brains?" He demanded.
"You think that our brains are going to get eaten?" Jane repeated incredulously.
"Okay," Rich conceded, "Maybe not eaten, but he's been dead for quite some time, that's not going to smell good."
"If we take the body," Kurt argued, "She'd just claim that we tampered with it. It could destroy the evidence."
"If we don't take the body," Tasha argued, "She'll definitely destroy the evidence."
"What if we don't take the body," Jane argued, "What if we just…move it."
"Move it where?" Tasha asked her.
"Into another grave in the same cemetery," Jane suggested.
"Like a bait and switch?" Patterson confirmed.
"She wants to play the shell game with the body!" Rich was delighted.
"I wouldn't put it that way!" Jane denied, "But yes."
"That might work," Keaton agreed, "If we move the coffin, but don't open it, they can't claim we tampered with the remains."
"Sounds like we have a plan," Kurt smiled over at Jane in approval.
"This is still going to suck," Rich reminded them, "Now we have to dig two holes!"
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Later that night Jane walked over and sat down next to Kurt.
"You okay?" She worried.
"It could have been much worse," He reminded her and himself.
"Allie's going to take good care of Bethany," Jane assured him.
"Allie blew cover to help us and now she's on the run with our child," Kurt shook his head.
"She's strong," Jane reminded him, "She's not going to back down and just watch all of this happen."
"It would have been safer," Kurt argued.
"That's not who she is and not who your daughter will grow up to be either." Jane reminded him, "You're surrounded by strong woman who love you."
Looking into her compassionate face Kurt pulled her in closer.
"I know how lucky I am," He admitted, "But I just want to protect our family."
"And we just want to protect you." She reminded him.
"This is going to be hard," Kurt admitted.
"But I've got you," Jane reminded him.
"I've never needed you more," Kurt insisted as Jane engulfed him in her arms. She shared his heartbreak and she was determined to be the strong one now. He needed a place to be vulnerable and she hoped her arms were always ready to catch him when he fell, just like he was always there to catch her…
"I love you," She whispered into his neck.
His arms tightened around her and even though she couldn't hear it, she felt his lips whisper his response against her neck.
