A/N: Underline indicates typed conversation.

Chapter Fourteen

It was well past midnight and he hadn't a clue. He'd driven, hoping for gut instinct, a sign, heck, he'd settle for a phone call. He stopped at a local late night coffee joint and ordered a large coffee to go. Driving a few more minutes, he came to a decision. He would risk calling her. Pulling into a parking lot, he ran his hands shakily through his hair. He looked up to the ceiling. "I hope I'm doing the right thing," he said as he picked up his phone. As he pressed the speed dial for Sue's number, he was startled when the phone rang, so much so that he dropped it. He scrambled for the cell and answered it shouting "Sue!"

"Bobby, I need you to come to this hotel right now. Come in to the back . Room 117."

He blinked as the call ended abruptly. Grinning madly, he slammed the car into gear.

A short time later, Bobby pulled into a quiet section of town. Taking care not to attract attention to himself, he parked in a secluded area and checked his gun before he exited his car. He walked quickly to the room number Sue mentioned. As he was about to knock, the door opened and he was pulled in and shoved against the wall.

"It's okay, James. It's him."

The pressure eased off and Bobby turned to find himself face to face with a very stern looking man. The best sight he'd seen all night stepped from around the other man.

"Sue! Sheila, I've been so worried." He hugged her tight taking in the rest of the room. Tall and stony to his left, a small table with a computer, two beds, the far one with Levi and someone he recognized. Far right, small bathroom and hanging closet space.

"Air, Bobby."

He pulled back and looked her in the face. "You all right, Sue?" He didn't see any marks, only faded tear tracks.

"Yes, I'm fine." She pulled away and sat on the empty bed.

His eyes narrowed. She looked okay but there seemed to be something a tad off. Slicing a glance toward James, Bobby sat next to Sue. He tipped her chin to look at him.

"Sheila, I'm here now. Talk to me when you're ready, 'kay?"

Sue nodded. She gestured to the silent man and made introductions.

"Bobby, this is James. He's a member of Hector's unit. James, this is Bobby Manning, otherwise known to you as 'Crash'."

"Nice to meet you, mate," the tall Aussie replied as he held out his hand. He wasn't surprised when the shake was returned with an iron grip. Bobby shook his hand gingerly. "I heard, er, a little about you once upon a time. Glad to know Wreck has such a good mate to watch his back."

'Thank you.'

Bobby automatically began to sign 'Your welcome' when he threw a look at Sue.

"James doesn't speak. He signs."

"Sorry, mate." He looked chagrined. "Force of habit."

'Good one to have.'

There was an awkward silence. For the first time in a while, Bobby Manning felt like a fish out of water. Not since Sue Thomas had joined his team. He had adjusted and being around her was second nature. He didn't think about line of sight or basic signs anymore because it was a part of who he was now. But this—this would take a bit to get used to. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs. This was Sue's territory here. He'd follow her lead.

Grinning his famous grin, he declared, "Well, now that I've got my scorecard straight, no worries. What now?" He watched James talk to Sue and was surprised how much of it he could follow. She turned back to face him.

"James says that for some reason, Hector wanted to find you. He risked getting re-captured to find you. Do you know why?"

Frowning, Bobby shook his head. "Nah, I don't rightly know. I only met him once before. It was a couple of years back." He stopped when James' hands started flying again. He got most of the conversation. "Okay, it was two, two and half years back. I was in New York on assignment. I had the night off and went to one of the bars down by the Port Authority. Had just got me a beer when this bloke starts messin' with this sailor. Just bad-mouthing. He puts up with it until the bloke says something about this girl and the sailor goes bonzo. I've not seen much like it. Wipes the floor with the poor sap. When it was all over, I bought the sailor a beer and we sat and chatted for a couple of hours."

A quick flurry of hands from James.

"Wait, I didn't get that last word."

"What happened to the other guy? Did he hang around?" Sue asked.

"Nah. He left straight away. The whole place was laughing at him."

Sue turned her attention to James. He launched into an even faster flurry. Indicating his watch, he left the talking space to go check on Hector.

Sue re-focused on her fellow FBI agent and friend. "Bobby, you have to think harder here. What did you talk about that would stay with him. Something, anything…"

Shrugging in frustration, he stated, "Dunno, about our nicknames, cars, politics, girls…wait. It was odd. He flirted with and hit on every sheila in the place while telling me about this one special girl." Bobby grimaced as he remembered the turn the conversation had taken. "But there's no connection there."

"What about you? What did you tell him?"

"The usual. Job, co-workers, annoying co-workers, cars, girls." An apparent dead-end.

James rushed over to his laptop and began typing furiously. Sue and Bobby moved to stand behind him.

He's waking up…Here's what we need to do…