Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in the story. Jack Bauer is from 24, and I don't own him either.
A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates and the only reason is this: I am lazy!! I wanted to have this story done before I had to go back to school, but that didn't happen. Today was my second day at school, and it sucked, just like last year. Not horrible, but still not great. I'd rather be a home sleeping than I would be at school, but nonetheless…Anyways, 63 reviews I think is what we're up to now, and I want to thank all of you, so pat yourselves on the back people!! That is awesome!! You all have made my day.
A/N2: For those of you who are Fozzy Fans: NO ONE seems to know when the new CD is going to come out. It is scheduled to come out this month sometime, but there is only about a week and a half left of this month, so I doubt very much that that will happen. I have been checking the Fozzy boards daily (I have no life), and I will let you all know when anything changes.
2:00-3:00AM
2:00 Jack wordlessly turned back to face the road. No one seemed to know what to say. Chris clenched his fists in anger. "What I wouldn't give to have Orton's head right here within my grasp right now." He thought.
"We'll find 'em Chris." Benoit said, reassuringly patting him on the shoulder. Chris snorted.
"Oh I have no doubt that we'll find them," he said. "It's whether or not they'll be alive when we find them is what's bothering me." He finished. The SUV fell silent after that.
2:04 Shawn stared out the window into the darkness that surrounded the vehicle. In a strange way, Shawn couldn't help but think of how well this signified this day and everything else that had happened.
Surrounded in darkness.
That's how he felt.
Shawn turned his attention back to what was happening inside the vehicle. Randy was talking very animatedly into his cell phone, Batista was still staring at his hands, Flair had not stopped smiling since receiving the phone call telling him that Stephanie had been apprehended, but Rebecca had remained unusually silent. There had been no snide remarks, no evil glares. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about at this moment. Was she thinking about him? Was she thinking about what he'd told her earlier? Was she thinking about all of the wonderful times that they'd had together?
Or, was she finally thinking about what she had done to their son?
Shawn hoped for the last one.
He hoped that she would think about that for the rest of her life.
He knew that she would be thinking about it when he was holding the gun to her temple, squeezing the trigger.
Oh yes, she would definitely be thinking about that then.
2:11 Jack slowed down as he started to approach the docks, killing the headlights as soon as he hit the brakes. Everyone, except Jack, crowded to the passenger side of the vehicle to look for anything, or anyone, suspicious. Chris was squinting his eyes, desperate to see something, anything, in this dimly lit place.
"Anything?" Jack asked as they passed the fourth dock.
"Not yet." Regal said, in his English accent. Chris shook his head, but remained silent. He leaned closer towards the window.
"Wait! Wait! What's that?" he yelled, pointing over to a large, black object that was just barely visible in the distance. Jack stopped the vehicle and looked over.
"Can't tell." He said.
"Head over there, will ya?" Chris asked. Jack quickly, and expertly maneuvered the vehicle over to the unidentified object. When they got close enough, Chris was finally able to make out what it was.
A black SUV.
"Holy shit stop!!" he yelled. Before Jack even had time to react, Chris had already opened the door and jumped out.
"Hey!! Wait!!" Jack yelled, flipping on the headlights and stopping to put the SUV in park. He took the keys out of the ignition, and drew his gun as everyone else was jumping out of the vehicle. By the time that he got out, Chris was already opening one of the side doors on the SUV. Jack opened his mouth to yell that it might be a trap, but then shut it again, and realized that the odds of a trap in a vehicle in the middle of a dock were very slim. Chris quickly climbed in and began looking around.
"There's nothing here!!" Chris yelled dejectedly. "Nothing here." He muttered. He sank into the back seat, all of his energy simply draining out of him. He fought back frustration and tears as Jack climbed in to sit in one of the second row seats as everyone else stood outside of the vehicle, watching. Jack stared at his gun for a moment, and then began to speak.
"Look, Chris, I know that this situation seems hopeless, but believe me when I say that I have been where you are now. I know what you are going through. I give you my word that we will find your wife and your friend. They will be fine. I swear we'll get them back." Jack said. Chris looked at him. He saw the pain in the other man's eyes, and knew that this man had been in his shoes, and was telling the truth.
He was giving his word.
The only thought passing through Chris' mind was how good Jack's word was.
2:23 Shawn was struggling against Batista yet again as he was hauled to the inside of yet another warehouse. He was really beginning to hate them.
"If you stop struggling, it generally makes things easier." Batista grunted.
"Yeah," Shawn thought. "But, that would simply make things too easy." Batista grunted again and simply tossed Shawn over his shoulder, like the proverbial "sack of potatoes". When this occurred, Shawn did give up struggling, because he knew it was useless at this point. After a few moments, he was flung back the other direction, where his rear-end was very unceremoniously met with the hard steel of a folding chair. He glared at Batista, who merely smirked. Shawn looked around at his surroundings for a while. This warehouse was not quite as big as the other, but it was filled with more things such as spare crates, random boxes, pallets, and blankets. To Shawn, it looked more like the shed that he had in his back yard than a warehouse in a city. That's when he caught sight of her.
Stephanie was lying across an upturned box that had a dirty blanket on it. She was still wearing her gown from the hospital. Shawn felt his heart jump in his throat. He knew that when she finally woke up, he was going to have to tell her that her husband, and the father of her child was dead because he had been too slow to react.
"All right, yes, I'll hold." Randy said into his cell phone. Shawn turned and stared at him. Flair was strutting his way over to Stephanie as Rebecca walked in the warehouse like she was in a dream. Randy shut the door after she walked in.
"Just go and sit down somewhere, turn over a box or something." He said. "Natche!!" He yelled. Flair stopped strutting and turned to look at him. "Sit down!" he said. Flair shot him a look and reluctantly went and sat down. Batista went over to sit by Stephanie. Shawn watched with curiosity as he took her pulse, and even let her head rest on his leg like a pillow. Shawn couldn't help but let his brow furrow at that one.
Was Batista in love with Stephanie?
Was that why she had been kidnapped again?
Shawn shook hid head, and turned his attention back to Randy.
"Yes! Yes, I'm still here." He paused. "OK……got it, thanks." He said, and then flipped his cell phone closed.
"Time to play a little game." He said.
2:36 Benoit, Regal, Matt and Chris were all still sitting in the black SUV when the cell phone ring pierced the silence. Jack fished in his pocket and tossed his cigarette on the ground, crushing it under his boot as he answered.
"Bauer." he said.
"Is this a Mr. Jack Bauer?"
"Yes."
"Hey Jack, how's it hanging, boy? Bet you're wondering who this is huh?"
"Just a little." Jack said.
"Well, I'll give you a hint. It's the same man who killed one of the people that you were supposed to be guarding and kidnapped the other from right under your nose." Jack turned to look at Chris, and was suddenly wishing that he hadn't put out the cigarette yet.
"Randy Orton." He said, catching Chris' attention. Chris quickly climbed out of the vehicle to stand next to him with anxious eyes.
"Very good!" Randy said sarcastically. "Now, I have a proposition for you. I have in my custody two people. Two people that were very important to the late Chris Irvine. People I don't think that he would've wanted to be hurt. These people are his lovely wife Stephanie and his best friend, Shawn Hickenbottom. Understand so far?" he asked. Jack rolled his eyes. Smart ass.
"Yes." He said.
"You're a fast learner, Jack. Now, my proposition is this. I will trade both Stephanie Irvine and Shawn Hickenbottom for a private helicopter for five people to Costa Rica. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Now, here is the kicker. I want you to do this without telling or involving anyone else that you don't have to. I don't want anyone tagging along. Otherwise, someone is going to bite a bullet-got me?"
"I got ya." Jack said. "I need something from you, though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, if you want this helicopter, I need to know you're location so that the pilot knows where to pick you up." There was a silence on the other end for a moment.
"We're at Dunlop Plaza, building 7A. If I find out that anyone else knows this location, they both die, and I'll be placing a call to your daughter." Jack felt his heart stop beating momentarily.
"Don't bring my daughter into this."
"Don't tell anyone about the address and I won't have to." Randy said.
"When should I have the chopper arrive?"
"7:00, Jack. Not a moment earlier." He said, and hung up. Jack slowly flipped shut his cell phone. He looked at Chris.
"Your kidnappers are dumb asses." He said. Chris smirked.
"Yeah, I guess it takes one to know one. Just because they're dumb doesn't mean they're not strong, though. What's going on?"
"He wants a chopper at Dunlop Plaza building 7A at 7:00AM." Jack said.
"He's using my wife and Shawn as leverage, isn't he?"
"And my daughter." Jack said. "I have to call it in, but by the time that chopper is there, we're already going to have wrecked the place. Start working on a plan."
2:46 Shawn watched Randy as he walked outside with Flair after getting off the phone with Jack.
"Dumb ass." He thought. He turned to stare at Rebecca. She was staring right back at him, and apparently not liking what she was seeing. Shawn couldn't say that he disagreed with her. He was a firm believer in God and all of His holy ways, but he simply hated this woman for what she had done to him. He hated her guts, and was already plotting her death in his mind. He knew that he would be committing a sin, and was mentally debating on the subject when Rebecca stood up and walked over to him. She knelt down in front of him.
"Shawn." She said quietly, bringing him out of his daze. "I know that you hate me right now, which is just fine, because I hate myself as well." She locked eyes with him. "What you said sunk in. I have to pay for what I've done, and I will. Don't condemn your soul for what I've done. It was never your fault. I got possessive and jealous, and now I am paying for it. However," she said, standing up before him, his eyes following her.
2:57 "However, I'm going to meet my fate now, instead of later." Shawn began to shake his head, when she stopped him. "I'm going to hell either way, Shawn," she whispered. "Might as well get used to the temperature, right?" she said, and pulled a pistol from behind her. She pointed it at her temple.
"Rebecca, what are you doing?" Batista asked, getting ready to stand up, when she pointed it at him.
"Don't get involved in this, Dave." She said, and turned the gun back to her. Tears were welling up in her eyes.
"I always loved you, Shawn. I just screwed up. I screwed up bad." She said. "I love you." She whispered, and before Shawn could try to react, she pulled the trigger. Her body slumped to the floor and the gun went spiraling across the room. Shawn was screaming through the duct tape and staring at her in horror. Blood was splattered on the floor, some on Shawn's face and clothes. Before Shawn could really register anything but horror, Batista was already there, screaming her name, and then rushing for Randy.
2:59 "I love you too, Becky." He thought. "I love you, but you didn't have to do this……I never meant this………I'm sorry." Shawn watched in a daze as more blood gushed out of her head and wondered.
3:00 He wondered if his soul was damned after all.
