Title: Never Lose Faith 2/4

Rating: PG

Setting: Mt Thomas, set a week after Jonesy's stabbing

Summary: This is basically a TJ and PJo fic (so please read if u r one of the couple's fans!) and it's based on the aftermath of Jonesy's stabbing and tells a different story of Jo's kidnapping.

Feedback: thanks guyz for all the feedback, your all so sweet! I'm not a good writer, I got a C on my last english exam! But i love BH so thats why i'm doing this.... I was gonna make this chapter short, to the point with NO romance in it, but god did that change :s oh well! anyway, here it is:


NEVER LOSE FAITH 2/4

Set after Jo's kidnapping:

Her head felt like it was been pounded by a thousand hammers at once. Her eyelids were heavy and her mouth felt dry and clammy. Suddenly coming to, she coughed and spluttered, bringing up her lunch with it. It took five minutes for the wheezing and coughing subsided before she could sit up straight and try and take in her surroundings. Her hands were tied tight behind her back and she was strapped fast to a small wooden chair. Her eyes had been blindfolded, yet she could sense she was in a dark, musty room.

Desperate to get away, she thrashed violently around, trying to loosen the ropes on her hands, yet only succeeded in bringing the chair to the ground with an almighty crash. Cursing loudly, she tried to ignore the pain in her shin as she tried to sit upright, unfortunately a feat she was unable to accomplish as she was tangled up in the now three-legged-chair. Instead, she tried to feel her way around the floor with tied hands, hoping to find the broken chair leg. After a minute or so of searching, her hands finally rested upon the missing leg. Cautiously, she wedged the broken end between her bound hands and feebly attempted to saw at the ropes restraining her. The rope was strong though and put up a good fight before finally giving in and breaking loose from her sore red wrists. Wincing in pain, she was now able to free herself from the chair and warily stand up on her two feet again. By now her head was spinning, her body ached and her vision was slightly blurred. Squinting around the room, she realised she was in a small and dark, empty cellar. She tried to turn on the light switch, but as chances were, she found the bulb had blown. The only source of light she could see came from a tiny little window in the corner. She immediately raced over to it with hope, yet to her disappointment found that it had been barred. Slowly, she began to stumble to a door at the opposite side of the room and furiously wrestled with the doorknob. It wasn't a few seconds later for her to realise that of course it was locked, she had been kidnapped after all! But why had she been kidnapped? What did they want with her?

Choosing to ponder these questions some other time though, she grabbed the broken chair leg and waited patiently behind the door. Sooner or later, someone would come and check on her, and only when that happened could she even attempt escaping. She waited patiently behind the door for what seemed like yonks, before she eventually heard the faint sound of footsteps moving towards the door. She held her breath and raised the chair leg, getting ready to clobber whoever came in. There was the rustling sound of keys and a small click before the door was thrust open and a tall dark man with broad shoulders entered. Jo reacted instantly and sprang out from behind the door and bashed him over the head, knocking him to the ground. Before he could recover though, she dashed out the door and found herself in a large kitchen. She turned into the hall and started to sprint for the front door. Suddenly she was struck down and winded, gasping for breath on the floor.

Crying in agony she looked up and noticed the man she'd bashed before walking towards her, except now he had a pool of blood running down the left side of his head. Kneeling beside her though was a second man. He was much smaller and skinnier and was in good need of a shave. Too tired to fight back, Jo lay back defeated and let the two men tie her back up. They dragged her back to the cellar, whilst yelling at each other in Italian so Jo couldn't pick up what they said. This time they moved the chair into the kitchen and dropped Jo on the hard concrete cellar floor though. As the first man left the room, the second lowered himself to Jo's level and whispered nastily in her ear, "No more escape attempts sweetheart, if you don't want to get hurt..."He smiled evilly and stood back up so he was towering over her. He gave one more sharp kick in the stomach, before leaving the cellar and leaving Jo to cower in solitude once more.

Whimpering in pain, Jo crawled over to a corner and let the tears she had held back roll down her cheeks. It was just her luck that she had been kidnapped, without a hope of escaping. Nothing ever ran smoothly for her. Why was she even here? She hadn't done anything wrong had she? Nothing made sense. Had PJ found her to be missing yet? And what about the others, what were they doing? Sighing softly, she crawled up in a tight ball to keep warm and prayed with all her might that her friends would come and find her. Somehow, somewhere they would, she convinced herself over and over again. These thoughts ran through her head for hours, until finally the depth of sleep finally overcame her...


Tess fumbled with her keys, trying to open her front door while Evan watched over her. His gaze made her feel weak at the knees, and in a moment of clumsiness, the keys slipped from her fingers and hit the ground. Feeling slightly silly, she bent to pick them up. Unfortunately Evan got to them first and gave them to her, with a great big smile on his face. As their hands met, she gazed up into his eyes and became caught up in the moment. Unable to move under his spell, Evan moved in closer and closer until he was only a hair's breadth away from her lips. Her heart beat faster and faster as she felt the warmth of his breath on her cheek. Slowly he brought his hand to her cheek and brought her lips up to meet his. As they kissed, a sweet sensation unlike any she knew before filled her entire being. Totally mesmerised by him, she fell into his strong grip and gave into his passionate kisses.

Quickly she unlocked the door and they moved inside, where Jonesy pushed her gently against the wall. His hands began to wander down from her face, exploring every curve of her body. As his hand reached for the buttons on her top though, Tess was suddenly jolted back to reality. She pushed Evan away from so he stumbled backwards and clutched his side in pain.

"Oh god, Evan I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" she inquired, knowing that it really was a stupid question to ask.

As the look of pain gradually left his face, he replied, "yeah, yeah I'm fine."

Desperate to get out of the room as soon as possible, she tried to change the subject, "umm... yeah... so Hayley's old room is free, so you can sleep there, umm... you know it's getting rather late, I think I might just go to bed..."

The unimpressed look on Jonesy's face plainly showed he had not bought it... "Tess it's nine! You can't tell me that is late! Every time I get close to you, you turn away and make up some excuse to get away from me. You have no idea how much pain you've caused me, always pushing me away, and marrying HIM! God Tess, I just don't know how much more I can take..."

His words cut deep at Tess' heart, especially since every word he spoke was true. Her cheeks flushed bright red and she couldn't control the tears that spilled down her face. Turning to face Evan again, she replied between sobs, "I'm sorry Evan... I know I've hurt you, but I've been through hell too! I just can't do this... I promised myself years ago I'd never loose myself to someone again... not after last time... sorry..."

"Tess..." he started to say, but the rest she didn't hear as she had just slammed her bedroom door closed. Collapsing on her bed, she cried out her heart's contents, until she had no more tears left to shed. Evan loved her, and god she loved him too, but how could she give in to him when last time she had been shattered into a thousand pieces? Would he follow in the same footsteps as Jack? There was no way of knowing for sure, but she was better off safe then sorry. Love just wasn't worth the heartache...

Hours later, Ben and PJ were driving home, after one very long shift...

PJ was sitting quietly in the passenger seat, watching each tree and lamp post whiz past, completely unaware of Ben's reckless driving. Ben (who was rather sleep deprived) was zooming around corners and almost topping the speed limit in a pretty bad mood. They had stayed on at the station for 3 hours after their shift, waiting for Jo to come and take over.

"When I get my hands her..." threatened Ben, who had just cut another corner.

"Come on Ben, she probably just forgot", reasoned PJ.

"That may be so, but we rang home AND her mobile at least a thousand times! I'm not gonna do a shift for her again!" yelled Ben, as he turned the curve into their street.

"Yeah well we'll talk to her when we get home, but it really isn't that big a deal Ben..." said PJ, while Ben slowed the car and pulled up into their driveway.

They both jumped out of the car and walked up onto the verandah, where Ben pulled out his keys. He leaned over to put his key in the lock, yet was surprised when the door just swung open.

"PJ..." muttered Ben, suspecting foul play.

By the grim look on PJ's face, Ben realised he was thinking the exact same thing. Slowly they stepped inside the hall and were shocked to see furniture thrown all over the place and a shattered vase on the floor. Panicking, PJ rushed up the stairs and started looking over each room. Nothing had changed in PJ's room or Ben's. Heading for Jo's room, his stomach took an almighty lurch as he opened the door. Sure enough, it was the same as before, but one thing was missing. Jo. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, he rushed back hoping it was Jo. To his disappointment though, it was just Ben.

"PJ I've checked everywhere downstairs. Nothing's missing and only the furniture has been wrecked. I can't find Jo though..." said Ben grimly.

"She's not here Ben, she's gone! I've checked all the rooms..."

"What about Marco?" interrupted Ben hastily.

Expecting the worst, PJ ran over to Marco's room and barged in. As if confirming PJ's worst fears, Marco was not there either. What was unusual though was that his room was completely bare. The wardrobe, desk and bed were all still there, but not a single possession of Marco's was left. They scaled the room from head to toe but there was nothing to be found.

Jo was missing and Marco had left. Was it just a coincidence that Marco left, right when Jo disappeared or was there something more to it. PJ sat himself down on the stairs and stared blankly at the wall. How could this have happened? Where was Jo? Had Marco taken her, or did he just happen to leave at the wrong time? If he had left though, surely he would've contacted one of them or left a note. Marco was caught up in this somehow.

Seating himself next to PJ, Ben closed his eyes and listened to his friend's short raspy breaths. After a few minutes of silence, he looked up and said softly to PJ, "I've run Tess mate. She's alerted the team and they're heading over now..." when PJ didn't answer, he continued, "They'll find her mate..."

"Will they Ben? She could be anywhere! We don't know if she's hurt, or even alive for that matter! The only clue we have is Marco and god knows where he is now!" retaliated PJ as he stormed back downstairs.

Once he reached the lounge room, he picked up the phone and dialled Marco's mobile number. When there was no answer, he tried over and over again. On the fifth try, he slammed down the phone and sat on the floor with his back against the wall. His beloved Jo had gone and there was nothing he could do. He had never felt so helpless in his life. Jo was everything he had to live for, and if she'd gone... he didn't want to think about it. Suddenly he remembered the red notes. They had received three threat notes and he had ignored them. Marco had claimed he knew nothing about them, but now as he recalled it, Marco did seem rather edgy after reading the notes. It had all been his own fault, if he'd payed a bit more attention he would have realised the threats were real and done something about them! It was too late now.

Standing up, he headed to the stairs and called Ben down. As he came, PJ headed out the front door and across the lawn, leaving no choice but for Ben to follow him. Sure that PJ had lost the plot, Ben called out to him, "PJ what are you doing mate?"

With a quick glance back, PJ yelled, "The neighbours would have seen something" and ascended the stairs of the house next door.

Ben and PJ both knocked on at least 3 doors each before gathering again in their house and comparing notes. "Ok Miss Mac, and Mr Howard both recall hearing a lot of shouting but that was all I got from them. The other two neighbours aren't home. What did you get PJ?" questioned Ben.

"Miss Maudie also heard shouting, but Old Stan reckons he saw a blue car drive away. Mrs White also saw a blue car though and she said it was an old Mitsubishi. She also caught a bit of the numberplate. The first letter was ÔE' and the numbers were Ô312', her birthday".

"Great work PJ, I'll phone Tess straight away." Replied Ben as we walked off to the phone.

Sitting back down, PJ looked over the notes he'd made. Two neighbours remembered seeing a blue car, probably a Mitsubishi. With most of the numberplate, they could easily find the owner and hopefully they'd lead him to Jo. They also had to find Marco, and when they did, he was not going to get away so easily. He was now determined to find Jo. After all, if he lost hope, what else did he have? He couldn't loose faith... not now, not ever. He'd find Jo if it was the last thing he did.


Ah I shouldn't have done this... I have an essay due in 2 days which i really need to do :S

Oh well, and btw, i'm trying to make this equally PJo and TJ... so don't yell at me if you think i put in too much or little of one couple! Hopefully you don't realise i'm bias! I generally sail one ship and send catapaults at the other, so to sail both ships smoothly is rather a challenge! Can't tell you which couple i hate though or i'm gonna be bagged...

P.S. There'll probably only be two or three chapters more...