Ok, here goes. This is the last chapter. I've written the ending three times and I'm still not satisfied with it but I couldn't figure out what to do to fix it. Let me know what you think. If you've got a better ending let me know and I'll consider changing this one.

Chapter 14: The Rescue

Tony pulled his dark green SUV into the parking lot next to Jack at 1:05 am. Before locking the car he reached into the back sea and retrieved the gear that he brought along. It was only a few items that he thought they might need and it all fit easily into a small backpack. Tony opened the passenger side door of Jack's SUV and slung his bag into the back seat. As he slid into the passenger seat, Tony nodded to Jack as a tense greeting. Jack nodded back. He was dressed almost identically to Tony right down to the old CTU jacket.

Jack spoke first. "I found a place where I can leave my car that's about 100 yards from Abby's house. It's well hidden. You can't see it from the road. Let's look at the floor plan and we'll review the plan."

Tony pulled out his copy of the floor plan of the house as Jack turned on a small flashlight. They spent the next five minutes reviewing their plan before Jack started the car and drove toward Abby's house.

Jack killed the headlights and pulled the car off the road and into a clear area hidden by trees. Before leaving the car he and Tony both checked their guns and donned black knit ski masks. Tony pulled his bag from the back seat and they began their silent trek toward Abby's house.

It wasn't long before Jack and Tony were standing in Abby's front yard. Jack made a circle around the house to make sure that the lights were all off. At the same time, Tony went up onto the deck in the back of the house to try and remove the stationary glass panel on the sliding glass door. As he suspected, the slider was connected to the security system, but the stationary panel was not. Tony took a screw driver from his bag and started loosening the first of the screws holding the door.

He had the first screw out and was starting on the second screw when Jack ascended the stairs to the deck. "All clear," he whispered.

"Good," Tony answered quietly. He removed the second screw and went to work on the third. He was shaking so badly that he could hardly keep the screw driver in the thin slot on the head of the screw but he was determined to stay focused. He was sure that Conner was inside the house and he had to remain calm if he was going to be effective.

Soon Tony had removed the fourth screw from the window and Jack helped him move the panel out onto the deck. Although they were as quiet as possible, they made enough noise to wake Scooter. He ran toward Jack and Tony as they entered the family room. As he let out his first bark, Jack picked him up and Tony held out his hand with two caramel candies in it. The dog eagerly took the caramels. Jack carried the dog into a powder room between the kitchen and family rooms. Tony dropped a couple more caramels on the floor and they closed the dog in the bathroom.

Based on the floor plan they knew that the house had a bedroom on the first floor. Tony started to move to the second floor while Jack checked out the first floor bedroom. Jack found the room empty except for some boxes. By now Tony had reached the top of the stairs. Three bedrooms were located on the second floor and all three doors were closed. Jack had seen the Hispanic woman playing with Conner in the corner room so they had decided that it was likely that Conner was sleeping in that room. Tony made his way silently down the hall and carefully opened the door to the corner bedroom. His heart nearly jumped from his chest as he looked across the room. A nightlight cast soft shadows onto the bed when Conner lay sleeping. Tony could feel tears fill his eyes as he gazed upon his son. He made his way across the room and leaned down close to check the child's breathing. As Tony heard his son's soft, rhythmic breathing, he released a breath that he didn't even realize that he was holding. He wanted nothing more than to scoop the little boy into his arms and hold him tight against his chest. Tony quickly got his emotions in check. He couldn't do that right now. He would have to wait for a little while. Conner was safe and that was all that was important at the moment.

Tony exited the room and carefully closed the door. Jack stood anxiously at the top of the stairs. He knew by the smile on Tony's face that he had found Conner. Jack smiled back. It was a relief to know that Conner was safe, but they still had a job to do and that job was not without its risks.

Now that Conner was found, they moved forward with their plan. Jack made his way to the first bedroom door. They had to assume that the Hispanic woman was asleep in there. Tony went to the door nearest Conner's room. They knew from the floor plan that this was the Master bedroom and presumably, Abby slept there. Tony put his hand on the doorknob and nodded at Jack. Jack put up one finger and then two. As he put up the third finger, both men turned the doorknobs they were holding and slowly opened the doors.

Tony looked back at Jack who nodded indicating that the Hispanic woman was indeed in the bedroom. Tony did the same to let Jack know that Abby was in the master bedroom. Each man entered the room stealthily, careful not to make a sound.

Jack reached the bed in about four steps. His instinct took over as he covered the woman's mouth with his hand and then rolled her over onto her stomach and pinned her to the bed with his body. He pulled his gun from the holster and pressed it against the base of her skull. She tried to scream and to fight but knew that she could not overcome her attacker's superior strength. Jack spoke calmly and quietly to her.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to," he told her. "Don't say a word. Slowly put your right hand behind your back."

The woman relented knowing that she had been caught. Jack put his gun away and pulled cuffs from his back pocket. With his free hand, he put the bracelet around her right wrist and tightened it. He jerked her arm down along the side of the bed and attached the other cuff to the bed frame.

"This is over. We know the child is in the next room. There's a guy in the room down the hall taking down your partner right now. Police will be here soon. I'm going to uncover your mouth. There's no point in you screaming. No one will help you. If you scream, I will hurt you. Nod if you understand me." Jack watched as the woman nodded. He slowly released the hand that was covering her mouth. He noted that she no longer looked scared. Now she looked defiant. He knew immediately that this was not her first brush with the law. "I'm going to go help my partner. You lay here quietly until I tell you otherwise or, as I said before, I will hurt you. If you cooperate the prosecutor may be willing to cut you a deal. I can't guarantee that but it's a possibility."

Jack left the room and closed the door behind him. While he was taking down the suspect in the guest room, Tony was busy doing the same thing in the master bedroom. Like Jack, he had crossed the room in a few steps then covered Abby's mouth. Unlike Jack, Tony turned Abby onto her back instead of her stomach. He wanted to make sure she knew that it was him. He sat across her stomach and pinned her arms against her body with his legs. With his free hand he pulled off the ski mask and then reached into his waistband for his gun. Tony could see the pure terror in Abby's eyes when he raised the gun and held it to her face.

"I could pull the trigger right now and feel no remorse," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you?" He moved the hand that covered her mouth down to the base of her throat slightly choking her.

"Go ahead and kill me. Do you think I'm afraid of that? At least if you kill me I won't sit in prison. So, go ahead. Pull the trigger, Tony. You'll go to prison forever," Abby said defiantly. "Can you live with that? Can you live without seeing your kids grow up or without your precious wife?"

Tony glared at her. He was so angry that the hand holding the gun trembled with rage. "Why would you do this? Have you spent the last two and a half years stalking us; looking for your chance to take our son?"

"Don't flatter yourself!" Abby answered gasping for breath. "I haven't wasted ten minutes thinking about you until I saw you last spring at the Tidal Basin. That was when I realized that you played me for a fool, that you cheated on me."

Now Tony was confused. His rage began to subside slightly as he tried to understand Abby's reasoning. "I never cheated on you, Abby. Never!"

"Don't lie to me! I'm not stupid," she spat back at him. "You got married less than a week after we broke up. Your kid was born seven months later. You bastard! You were fucking her while we were still engaged! Or maybe I should say you were making love to her and fucking me!"

Tony's anger retuned. He had never cheated on Abby and to think this was all the result of her mistaken idea that he had cheated made him seethe. He pressed harder on her throat making her fight for breath. "I don't have to explain myself to you, but I never cheated on you. Michelle and I got married a week after you and I broke up because we both knew that it was what we wanted. Conner was born prematurely. He didn't even weigh five pounds. How dare you put Conner and Michelle through this because you thought I cheated on you! How dare you!" With that Tony tightened his grip on her throat and pressed the gun hard against Abby's cheekbone just below her eye.

"Tony put the gun down!" Jack said urgently from behind him. "Just set it down. I'll cuff her and we'll let the police take it from here."

Tony maintained his position as if not hearing Jack.

"Tony, it's not worth it. You'll lose everything. She's not resisting you; the situation is under control. If you kill her you'll be charged with murder," Jack said trying to reason with him. It reminded him of that moment years ago when he was holding a gun to Nina's head in the garage at CTU while Tony and George talked him out of killing her. He had never wanted to kill anyone as much as he wanted to kill Nina at that moment. He knew how Tony felt right now. He knew how much Tony wanted to pull that trigger.

"Tony, Conner's asleep in the next room. A gunshot will wake him up. It'll scare him. Put the gun down and go to Conner. He needs you Tony. You don't want him to see you taken away in handcuffs. Give me the gun and go get Conner."

Tony was beginning to hesitate now. He never moved off of Abby, but he glanced over toward Jack once or twice. Jack could see that his tactic was working so he continued. "Come on, Tony, give me the gun. It's over. We've got her. That was our objective. I've got her covered," Jack said as he trained his gun on Abby, "now put down your gun and cuff her."

Tony continued to hold his gun on her. His breathing was rapid and shallow. He finally squeezed his eyes shut and lifted the hand that was pressing on her throat. Abby gratefully gasped for breath. Jack moved in closer as Tony pushed his gun back into his waistband and he pulled handcuffs from his belt. He released Abby's right hand from where he had it pinned to her body and encircled the wrist with the handcuff. He climbed off of her and pushed her forcefully onto her stomach then jerked her left arm from underneath her and attached the other cuff to it. Abby's body relaxed and she breathed deeply finally able to get enough air.

Jack holstered his gun and put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "It's over," he whispered. "Go ahead and get Conner."

"No," Tony said shaking his head. "I want him to sleep as long as he can before I wake him to take him home. I'll call the police and get this straightened out first." Tony took out a cell phone and dialed Lt. Landsman's number.

The phone rang several times before it was answered. "Landsman," said the voice rough with sleep.

"Lieutenant, this is Tony Almeida."

"Mr. Almeida? It's 2am. Has something new happened? Why are you calling me?"

"I found my son, Lieutenant," Tony told him.

Landsman was awake and sitting up now. "Where did you find him? Is he alright?"

"He's fine, no thanks to you," Tony said bitterly. "He was exactly where I told you he would be. Abby Clark had him."

"Where are you now, Mr. Almeida?"

"I'm standing in Ms. Clark's bedroom. She's handcuffed and an accomplice of hers is handcuffed in the next room."

"Why are you calling me? You need to call the local authorities so they can arrest her. I'll get a judge to extradite her to Maryland tomorrow morning."

"The problem, Lieutenant, is that since you wouldn't have your men investigate Ms. Clark, I had to take matters into my own hands in order to get my son back. So, I may have entered Ms. Clark's residence illegally."

"You broke in?"

"You could say that," Tony said coolly.

"And now you expect me to do what, Mr. Almeida?"

"I expect you to run interference with the local police, Lieutenant. I want to make sure my partner and I aren't charged with breaking and entering. We're more than happy to give the credit to your officers and the local police or even to the FBI, if you like. We just want to walk away without any charges hanging over our heads."

"Making all of that happen isn't as easy as it sounds, Mr. Almeida. If the local police decide to charge you, you'll be out on bond in less than 24 hours and I suspect a jury would be very sympathetic to your case."

From the moment he met Landsman, Tony knew the man was ambitious. He was young to have already made lieutenant and Tony was sure that he hoped to be a captain before he turned 40. Tony decided it was time to exploit that weak spot. "Unfortunately Lieutenant, if either of us is charged, my wife is going to go straight to the media and make sure that she tells them how you refused to follow up on my suspicions regarding Abby Clark. She's very articulate. She'll have those newsmen eating right out of her hand. The police commissioner is going to ask for an investigation into her allegations. If you're lucky you won't have to resign, but you'll never make captain."

Landsman was silent. "This may take some time, Mr. Almeida," he said after a few moments passed.

"I have time. My son is asleep so I'm more than willing to wait for a while," Tony said smiling with satisfaction. "Tell the local police not to use any sirens. I don't want them waking Conner up."

Landsman disconnected without saying goodbye.

"All taken care of," Tony said to Jack with an air of satisfaction.

The police arrived in about a half hour. While they waited for the police, Tony sat on the edge of Conner's bed and watched him sleep. He called home and talked to his father to let everyone there know that Conner was fine and that they would be back home in a couple of hours. Michelle was still sleeping and Tony instructed them not to awaken her.

Once the police arrived, they took statements from Jack and Tony. Abby and Octavia were both placed under arrest. The captain of the local precinct in Virginia who had talked to Lt. Landsman spoke with Tony.

"I don't like this arrangement, Mr. Almeida," he said frankly. "I've known Mike Landsman for years. Our jurisdictions are geographically so close that we end up working together from time to time. I agreed to do this because I don't want him to end up looking bad, but for the record, I'm not happy about it."

"Understood," Tony said succinctly. He really didn't care whether the captain was happy or not. He had his son back and he and Jack weren't being arrested. "I'd like to take my son home now. Are Mr. Bauer and I free to go?"

The captain nodded. "I have a medic waiting outside if you'd like to have your son checked over."

"We didn't hurt him!" Abby snarled from the kitchen where she stood handcuffed. A young officer was about to take her outside to the waiting car. "I made sure he was well taken care of," she said almost as a matter of pride; as if taking good care of him made up for kidnapping him.

Tony never looked at her. He thanked the captain and shook his head. "We'll take him to his own pediatrician in the morning. After all he's been through, I'm not sure that I want someone he doesn't know poking at him in the middle of the night." Tony turned and started to make his way toward the stairs.

"Captain," said one of the officers, "what should we do with the dog?" Scooter was still locked in the bathroom and was scratching and yipping, hoping that someone would let him out.

Abby spoke first. "Tony," she called. He hesitated but finally looked back at her. "The dog belongs to Conner," she said with downcast eyes. "I bought the dog for him and they love each other. They've played nonstop for the last two days. Take the dog with you."

"Do you want the dog, Mr. Almeida?" the captain asked. "If not, he'll be taken to the nearest shelter."

"If Conner wants to keep the dog, I'll take him," Tony said as he started up the stairs. Abby's unexpected moment of humanity, her almost motherly instinct toward both the dog and Conner surprised him. She had been so cold and defiant since the moment he pulled the gun on her that he wondered what happened to the woman he had loved a few years ago. She had always been warm and sweet. It would have never occurred to him that she could have turned into someone who could inflict so much pain. He shook his head unable to comprehend.

Despite how tired he was, Tony ascended the stairs quickly. He made his way quietly into Conner's room and sat down on the bed. He gently shook the little boy's shoulder. "Hey Buddy," he said softly. "Conner, it's Daddy. Wake up, Buddy."

Conner yawned and stretched and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"That's it, Conner. Wake up. Daddy's here. It's time to go home, Big Guy."

Conner finally opened his eyes and took a second to focus. "Daddy!" he squealed as he jumped up into Tony's arms. "Daddy, I missed you!" he told his tearful father.

"I know, Buddy," Tony told him as he wiped away tears. "Mommy and I missed you, too. Are you okay? Did anybody hurt you?"

Conner looked confused. "I'm okay. I had fun but I missed you and I missed Mommy."

"I'm going to take you home to Mommy right now, Conner."

"Did you see my new doggie? His name is Scooter. Can I take him with me?" Conner asked.

"Do you want to take him home with you?"

"Yes!" Conner said happily. "Do you think Mommy will like him?"

"I think Mommy will like him," Tony said with a smile. He wished he was as sure about that as he sounded. Michelle had enough work around the house without a dog but under the circumstances he didn't know how to refuse Conner. "I'm not so sure Lily will like him," Tony said suddenly thinking about Michelle's white cat.

"I think they'll be friends," Conner said with an air of authority.

Tony couldn't help but smile as he picked his son up and carried him down the stairs. Jack met him when he reached the bottom step.

"Hey, Little Man!" Jack said putting his arms out to take Conner. Jack adored Conner. The little boy was as close to a son as Jack thought he could ever hope for. He and Audrey already had two girls and Audrey was currently pregnant with their third child, another daughter. This would make a total of four daughters between his two marriages. When they saw the ultrasound images of the baby that Audrey was carrying and realized that it was a girl, Jack sighed contentedly and decided that it was time to stop trying for a son.

"Uncle Jack!" Conner shouted back and reached out for Jack. "Are you going home with us?" he asked as Jack took him from his father's arms.

"No, I'm going home to Aunt Audrey and Susie and Maggie. Maybe the girls can come over and play this week."

"Okay, they can play with my new doggie," Conner said excitedly.

"Sounds like a deal," Jack told him.

Conner struggled to get out of Jack's arms and down to the floor. "Where's Scooter?" he asked. "Scooter! Scooter!" he called as he ran toward the kitchen. He could hear the dog barking behind the bathroom door. "Who put Scooter in the bathroom?" he asked indignantly as he tried to open the door. "He doesn't know how to use the potty."

Tony and Jack looked at each other and laughed as Tony opened the bathroom door and the dog came running out. "God, it feels good to laugh again," Tony said. They both watched Conner who was now sitting on the floor hugging Scooter. For his part, the dog seemed to love the attention. "Thank you for everything, Jack. Michelle and I owe you more than we can possibly ever repay."

"I'm just happy you got Conner back safely," Jack said sincerely. "Seeing him safe is all the thanks I need. I'm going to head home. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Tony found a sweat shirt for Conner and pulled it on over his pajamas. Then he gathered his son into his arms and took him outside to his SUV which one of the officers had retrieved from the park where Tony had left it. He buckled Conner into his car seat while another of the officers brought Scooter out in his crate and put him in the rear of the SUV. Conner drifted off to sleep as Tony drove home, a drive that seemed to take forever. Tony couldn't wait to get Conner home to Michelle.

It was almost 4:15 a.m. when Tony and Conner arrived home. His parents and Leslie and Danny Dessler were all waiting anxiously for their arrival. A very sleepy Conner couldn't understand all of the fuss that was being made over him. He just wanted to see his mother who was still sleeping and didn't know of her son's safe return.

Tony carried Conner triumphantly up the stairs to the master bedroom. "Okay, Tiger," he said as he put Conner on the bed next to Michelle. "Wake Mommy up."

Conner put his face close to Michelle's and rubbed her cheek with his small hand. "Mommy," he said, "Mommy, wake up."

Michelle stretched, "Yes, Conner," she said reflexively. Her eyes fluttered open and the memory of all that had happened in the last two days came flooding back. She looked at her son in disbelief. "Conner!" she cried as she pulled him into her arms and smothered his face with kisses. "Oh, Baby! You're home! You're safe! I love you so much! I missed you, Sweetie!"

"Ow, Mommy, you're squishing me! Let go," Conner said as he finally had enough of his mother's kisses. "Guess what, the lady gave me a dog! Do you want to see him?"

"A dog?" Michelle asked looking from Conner up to Tony and back again. "What kind of dog?"

"A little white one. His name is Scooter. I'll go downstairs and get him." Before Michelle could say another word, Conner vaulted off the bed and ran down the stairs.

"Where did the police find him? I didn't hear the doorbell. When did they bring him home? Are they still here? What's this about a dog?" Michelle peppered Tony with questions. She stopped suddenly after really taking a look at Tony. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"The police didn't find Conner, Jack and I did," Tony told her.

"You found him? Where was he?"

Tony sat down on the bed next to Michelle. "Abby had him. I suspected it after she interviewed us today. Chloe did some checking for me and some things just didn't add up. The police refused to question her, so Jack and I took care of it ourselves."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Michelle asked him.

"Honey, I'm sorry. You had so much to worry about that I didn't want to add to it. If Jack and I were wrong and Abby didn't have Conner, you would have been devastated. I hated keeping it from you, but I felt like it was the best thing to do at the time. Please don't be angry with me."

"How could I be angry with you? You brought our son home," Michelle said as she wrapped her arms around Tony and kissed him.

"Look Mommy!" Conner said in an excited voice as he and Scooter ran into the bedroom. "This is Scooter." Conner tried to pick up the dog to put him up on the bed.

"Let me do that, Buddy," Tony told him. He set the dog on the bed and Conner climbed up after him.

"Do you like him?" Conner asked.

"He's adorable," Michelle answered as she patted his head. "Just what we need," she said sarcastically as she looked at Tony. "I sure hope Lily likes him."

"I couldn't say 'no'," Tony said looking at her with that irresistible look in his eyes that always melted her heart. "Lily saw him downstairs and she just turned over and went back to sleep. I guess she thinks if she ignores him, he'll go away."

Tony and Michelle looked on as Conner, whose sleep had already been interrupted twice, curled up in the middle of their bed with his head on Michelle's pillow. He had his arm around Scooter who looked like he had also found a comfortable place to spend the night.

Tony smiled at Michelle. "I think we've been kicked out of our bed," he said.

"I don't think so," Michelle retorted. "Conner, you can sleep in bed with Mommy and Daddy tonight if you like, but Scooter's going to have to sleep on the floor. I'll get you your teddy bear to hug and I'll get Scooter a blanket and a pillow. Would that be okay?"

Conner yawned. "Okay, Mommy," he said having suddenly become quite sleepy. He released his grip on Scooter and Tony took the dog off the bed.

Michelle retrieved Conner's favorite teddy bear from his room and an old baby blanket and a small pillow for Scooter. She tucked the bear under Conner's arm as he drifted off to sleep. Meanwhile, Tony tried to convince Scooter that he should be happy with the pillow and blanket on the floor. He looked unhappy and kept walking back toward the bed in hopes that someone would pick him up because it was clear even to Scooter that his short little legs didn't allow him to jump high enough to reach the bed. He finally poked the blanket with him nose and tugged at it and moved the pillow until he was satisfied and then laid down in his new home.

Tony got ready for bed while Michelle lay next to Conner tenderly stroking his hair and memorizing every inch of his face. Tony came out of the bathroom still drying his face and neck with a thick towel. He looked down at Chelsea who was asleep in her bassinette next to the bed and then at Conner. He smiled at the children and then at Michelle. "We do good work," he commented to her with a smile.

"They're both perfect, aren't they?" she said lovingly as she pushed one of Conner's curls behind his ear.

"For two people who seem to work so well together, we both made a mess of our lives when we were apart," he said as he sat on the bed and shook his head. "How could I have ever proposed marriage to someone who was hateful enough to kidnap a child? I can't believe she had it in her to do something like that. I'm sorry, Michelle. I feel like this is all my fault. If I had told you before I left LA that I still loved you, none of this would have happened."

"Tony, you can't possibly blame yourself for what Abby did. And as far as almost marrying her, my track record isn't much better. I married Bill."

"At least the man didn't commit a felony!" Tony exclaimed quietly.

"Maybe not a felony, but what he did was pretty cruel. I will admit that I had no business staying in the relationship with him when all I wanted was companionship and I knew full well that he wanted a long term commitment, but intentionally making me pregnant was pretty callous."

"Thank God we found each other again," Tony whispered as he leaned across Conner to kiss his wife. He knew it sounded trite, but she was his soul mate and the love of his life. Like all other couples, their relationship had its high points and its low points. It took them time to realize that it was the high points that got you through the low points and that the low points would make you stronger if you just let them. Their love was strong and it was enduring. They both understood that only after being apart and searching in vain for love, that it had always been right there for them; waiting patiently for them to recognize it.

Without another word the two lay down with their son between them. They each put a protective arm across him and let their hands rest on each other. Tonight they would be parents with both of their children close by. Tomorrow night Conner and Chelsea would go back to their own beds and Tony and Michelle could again be lovers. They would remind themselves that they had just been through one of those low points; a point so low that they both prayed they would never experience it again. At the same time, they knew that if they let it, getting through that low point together would make their love so much richer, so much stronger, so much sweeter.

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