Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews of Chapter 5! I really appreciate it … well; the fic's getting a bit darker now … ;-) Hope you all enjoy it. Apologies for the lateness of posting … real life; what can ya do?

Thanks to k, Rosie, RiseAgainPhoenix, Megan, alma rates, Ice Bear, and M for reviewing! (And the comment about 'Ricky' and 'Martin' made me fall off my chair laughing! Thanks Megan … :-)!)

Chapter 6

"Hey," Danny said, almost nervously. After hearing that Ricky had been injured, Martin had spun out completely; only Danny's firm hold on his shoulders kept him from lunging at Barker and hitting the man. Danny had dragged Martin to the opposite end of the room and let him have his tirade for a minute or two, before Martin broke away and stormed down the stairs. Barker had taken that oppurtunity to get to his feet to see where the agents were; Danny had grabbed him and shoved him back down in the chair and demanded the rest of the story. Barker – frightened almost out of his wits – had quickly spilt everything else he knew about the events of that day. Danny had then pulled the man down the stairs and shoved him in the car, before turning to Martin, who was sitting hunched on the pavement, head buried in his hands.

Now Danny found himself watching as his friend's defences fell.

He didn't cry. He couldn't cry. He had to hold on to that one last thin thread of dignity … but it was hard. Ricky's not dead, he told himself firmly. He can't be. Remember that. He's not dead. Dimly he was aware of Danny kneeling beside him and putting an arm around his shoulders, asking him – something. He couldn't understand the words. They weren't important; just a meaningless babble.

"Martin!" Danny shook him, hard. "Martin!"

He was rewarded with a stare of surprise from his co-worker.

"Good to have you back. You OK?" Danny asked.

Martin forced a smile. "Yeah."

"You wanna talk?"

"No." He accepted a hand from Danny to pull him to his feet.

Danny patted him on the back. "Let me know when you're ready."

"What did Barker say happened after he treated Ricky?" Viv asked.

Danny shrugged. "Shaun took him downstairs, ordered him not to tell anyone, put the fear of God into him, and sent him off."

"How badly was Ricky hurt?"

"Steven didn't reckon it was too serious … he said that it looked bad, but was only really a graze. Still, Ricky was unconscious, and head wounds can be very serious," he conceded.

"And Martin?" Sam asked softly.

Danny grimaced. "He didn't take it well at all … he almost went into shock. He's OK now, but – well, for his sake, I just hope we find Ricky alive," he concluded grimly. "I don't know what he'll do if we don't."

"Are you OK?" Jack asked, watching the young man in front of him.

Martin nodded. "Yeah."

"Danny said you weren't."

Martin shrugged. "I was just shocked." He smiled. "No big deal."

Jack raised one eyebrow incredulously. "The way Danny described it, it sounded like a big deal," he suggested.

"That's how he saw it," Martin retorted. "I was just a bit shocked." He looked Jack straight in the eye, knowing exactly what he would be thinking. "I can still work on the case, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "I don't know, Martin. I don't –" He broke off as Vivian knocked on the door, then entered quickly.

"An anonymous phone call has placed Ricky and Alan at a house in Brooklyn," she told him.

Jack nodded, and got to his feet. "Let's go. Martin – you stay in the office."

Martin nodded. He had known this would happen. Again he cursed himself for loosing control when they brought in Barker. Still, he considered, it had been a shock.

He nodded absently as Jack warned him again that he was on strictly office duty, then watched out of the corner of his eye as he sat at his desk, as Jack, Sam, Viv, and Danny left without him. With a sigh, he began work on the stack of paperwork he had neglected for the past day.

The ringing of a phone thirty minutes later interrupted him. That damn cell phone, he thought searching through his desk for it as the ring tone grew louder and louder. At last he found it, sitting under a stack of old reports. The caller-ID told him that the call was coming from a private number; with a little trepidation he answered: "Fitzgerald speaking."

"Hey there Martin."

He dropped the phone. He couldn't help it. In a second he grabbed it back up and hissed: "Ricky?"

Ricky laughed. "That's right."

Martin closed his eyes briefly. "Where are you?"

"Nice try."

"Thanks. So, why are you calling me?" Martin wished desperately that at least one other person was in the office with him; then at least they could attempt some sort of trace …

"I want to see you."

"When?"

"Now."

Martin nodded, scribbling a note on a piece of paper on his desk. "Where do you want me to go?"

"Down the road from you there's a Starbucks. Meet me there in ten minutes."

"But –"

"Do it. I'm warning you; I can disappear extremely quickly if I need to. I have to see you and tell you something though. It's really important." Martin could hear the thinly disguised desperation in Ricky's voice.

"I'll be there," he said, listening as Ricky hung up. Martin finished scribbling the note, then walked into Jack's office and left it on his desk.

He walked towards the lift, dialling Jack's number as he did so. However, he was not surprised that Jack did not answer. He surmised that the team were in the middle of raiding the house and that Jack had turned his phone onto silent.

He reached the Starbucks a few minutes later, and sat at a table to wait. He was a few minutes early, but did not believe that it would cause much of a problem. He waited, pretending to read the newspaper, until he heard a voice behind him.

"Hi Martin."

He spun around and got to his feet as he saw Ricky. An impromptu smile broke out on his face as he shook hands with his ex-best friend. "Good to see you."

Ricky nodded. "Likewise. Let's go."

"Hang on a second," Martin said, stalling desperately. "Where?"

Ricky sighed. "There's no time, Martin. We have to go now. I'll explain on the way … I have to tell you what happened in case something happens to me, OK? Please, Martin, just come with me now."

Martin frowned, considering his options, then nodded. Jack is going to kill me …

He followed Ricky out of the Starbucks.

Jack ran a hand through his hair as his other three agents congregated on him. The house had been empty, although there were signs that Alan at least had been there; his fingerprints were all over the kitchen according to a preliminary forensics report. There was no sign of Ricky. He ran his eyes over the rest of his team, but their defeated faces tolf him all he wanted to know: their quarry was long gone.

He checked his phone quickly, and noticed that he had one missed call : Martin. He frowned as he tried the office phone but there was no reply. He ended the call and then tried Martin's cell phone; after a few rings Martin answered. "Hi Jack."

"Martin."

"I found some new information," Martin told Jack, ever conscious of Ricky at his side. "It's from a car dealer – I left it on your desk."

"OK – you aren't in the office?" Jack asked, knowing the answer but needing a reason.

"No. I ducked out for a coffee down the road."

"Starbucks?" Jack asked, his voice betraying a misture of amused and incredulous.

Martin replied sheepishly, "Yeah."

"We'll be back at the office later this afternoon."

"OK …" Martin didn't sound too happy about this, and Jack wondered why.

"Is what you found important?"

"Could be extremely important."

Jack sighed. Just tell me, for God's sake, Martin. "So you think I should go back now and see it?"

"Yes," Martin replied. He wished that he could just tell Jack: 'I'm in a car with Ricky and we're headed north; I'll call you when I know where we're headed'; but he knew that that was not possible, not with Ricky sitting right next to him listening to every word he said.

Jack sighed. "OK, Martin." He hung up. "Back to the office, everyone," he said loudly, to get his team's attention. "Martin thinks he's found something."

"Better be good," Danny grumbled.

Jack nodded fervently. Yes, Martin, this had better be very good …

Chapter 7 will be up soon! Please review :-)