Jeffrey didn't know what to do with himself. For some odd reason… He didn't want to be in the room with Sandy, but he didn't want to leave him alone at the hospital either. He stood in the hallway, unaware of the time passing. It all seemed to meld together as he was lost in his thoughts. And then he saw the man on the stretcher. He moved over to him, looking at how beat up he was. "Is he going to make it?" he asked Ed.

"Jeffrey, get out of the way…" Ed answered.

Jeffrey watched as they wheeled him away. He pulled out his cell phone and called the AD for the second time today.

"Hello…" the AD answered.

"I need you to get that newbie on the phone…" Jeffrey said, sounding half-exasperated. "I need permission to cut a deal. I'm going to get a confession…"

"O'Neill, what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Alex is here…" Jeffrey said. "They just brought him in on a stretcher… How much you wanna bet that Jack is the one that beat him up?"

"You're still at the hospital?"

"Yes…" Jeffrey said. "Come on… Just do this for me and I can get a confession…"

"I will try, but there is no guarantee…"

"Good…" Jeffrey said. "Call me back when you're done." And with that, he hung up the phone.

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"All right…" the AD said. "It's done… No immunity though… Three years is the absolute lowest that he's willing to go…"

"Thank you so much…" Jeffrey said. "I'm going to call you back once I get in his room…"

"What?" the AD said. "Why?"

"I don't have a recording device with me…" Jeffrey said. "I'm going to leave you on the line so that you can record it from your end…"

"Are you sure that you know what you're doing?"

"Yes…" Jeffrey said. "Just listen for my call…" He hung up the phone and walked over to Alex's room.

"Jeffrey, you can't go in there…" Ed said.

"Why not?" Jeffrey said. "Aren't they done working on him yet?"

"Yes, but…"

"Then why can't I go in?"

"Because you have no business being in there!"

Jeffrey glared at Ed. "I have official FBI business…" he said. "Now tell me, is he awake?"

"Yes…" Ed answered.

"Is he coherent?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yes…" Ed answered again.

"Then I need to talk to him…" Jeffrey said.

Ed shook his head and walked away.

Jeffrey pulled out his phone and called the AD.

"O'Neill?" the AD said.

"Yeah…" Jeffrey said. "Do you have it recording?"

"Yes…" the AD said.

"Good…" Jeffrey said. "I'm going in…" He opened the door and walked into the room.

Alex looked up at him. "You…" he said. "What're you doing here?"

"You look bad, Alex…" Jeffrey said.

"So…" Alex answered. "What's it to you?"

"I can help you…" Jeffrey said.

"No you can't…" Alex said.

"I can plead you down Alex…" Jeffrey said. "I can keep Jack away from you…"

"What makes you think that I want to be away from Jack?" Alex asked.

"How about the fact that he bashed the side of your head into a wall?" Jeffrey asked.

"He didn't mean to…" Alex said.

"Oh really?" Jeffrey asked. "Then why are you in this hospital bed?"

Alex swallowed nervously.

"I can plead you down to three years, Alex…" Jeffrey said. "I can make sure that you're kept away from Jack while you serve your sentence… I know some guys inside… I can put you with one of them… Jack will never hurt you again… And you'll be out in three years… If you're convicted at trial, then you're looking at upwards of twenty-five… And a good chance that Jack will be there with you through the whole thing…"

"I love Jack…"

"Jack wants you dead!" Jeffrey said. "When you go back there he is only to get more and more violent with each passing day…"

"No!" Alex said. "He didn't mean to…"

"Alex…" Jeffrey said. "This is the last time that I am offering this to you… If you value your life you will take my offer… You will serve your three years and you will testify against Jack, Vinnie, and Brad… You will be protected on the inside… And once you get out, you won't need protection because Jack will be locked up for life…"

Alex looked up into Jeffrey's eyes, lost in his momentary contemplation. "You can really keep me safe?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Yes…" Jeffrey answered. "I can…"

"All right…" Alex said. "I'll do it…"

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