City Hospital: Sean Mason
21 hours missing

Sean didn't think about what it was that he was doing, he didn't want to think, afraid that if he did he'd stop. He knew that the chances of him finding Tony Preston were very slim, he had to try though, for his daughter. When the lift arrived at the top Sean struggled with the catch on the door, there was little leverage as people weren't meant to ride in these lifts. Eventually he managed it and with relief he clambered out stretching, five floors might not be a lot but in a slow cramped old lift it could seem like forever.

After a moment he was ready to go, he held the gun in one hand and the torch in the other, just as he reached forward with the torch hand to open the door it opened. Sean stared at the man who'd entered in shock and the man who'd just entered stared at him. Sean regained his senses before the man did kicking him hard in the kidneys and then bringing the butt of the gun crashing down on his head. He hadn't had to find Tony Preston, Tony had come to him. Sean knew there was no way he'd be able to go back down the way he'd come. Backup wasn't here yet, so there was a chance that nobody was watching the elevators. Since the power was out they wouldn't be working, unless you manually restarted them, which was what he was going to do.

Sean stuck the gun in his waistband and bending down hefted an unconscious Tony Preston into a fireman's lift, he ignored the gun that Tony had dropped, leaving it where it fell. Staggering slightly with the load Sean walked to the nearest elevator, once there he began the complicated process of manually restarting the elevator and then overriding the settings so it would go down to the ground floor, otherwise known as the old surgical ward. After a stressful five minutes in which he jumped at the slightest sound he managed it. The doors pinged open. Sean rolled Tony Preston in and walked in, he didn't have to bother with any buttons because the destination was already set. There was no going back now.

City Hospital: Jack and Sam
21 hours missing

Jack and Sam rounded the corner just as Sean walked into the elevator, in the darkness they didn't know who it was, the doors closed before they could get there. Sam reached for the button to make the elevator come back but Jack stopped her.

"Wait. He's fiddled with this." Jack pointed at the open service hatch and the exposed wires.

"You think it's booby trapped?" Sam asked, Jack looked up at the lights which showed which floor the elevator was on, it had gone to two and blinked off.

"No it's probably just to get it to work without the power," Jack said with rather more conviction than he felt, sighing he slammed the service hatch closed then nervously he straightened up and pushed the elevator button, the elevator started to climb back up. "They have their own generators but they're not set for use, the point being if there's a powercut it could be dangerous," Jack explained, not sure where that bit of useless trivia had come from. While they were waiting for the elevator to collect them Jack attempted to radio in their discovery, position and intentions to Danny and Martin - he couldn't get through.

The elevator arrived and when the doors opened without an explosion of some kind both Jack and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. They entered the elevator, the doors closed automatically and they started their descent. Jack tried again to raise Danny and Martin on the radio, while he was concerned he was sure that they were both fine, he'd try again when they got to their destination. Both Sam and Jack readied their gunsin preparation for an ambush. Jack looked at Sam and tried to smile encouragingly, this was probably the most stupid and risky escapade they'd ever done, needs must though, they had a little girl somewhere who in two hours would be dead if they didn't find her. That was enough to make them take all the risks in the world.

City Hospital: Eddie
21 hours missing

Eddie was startled from his reverie by the noise of the elevator, he jumped up and pulled his gun out of his waistband reminding himself not to shoot until he knew who it was. Tony would be coming back down soon and he didn't want to hit him by mistake. Damn stupid FBI agent, hadn't got a good shot at Tony so had winged him several times, making it not bad enough to catch him but bad enough he needed to go to hospital. Nervously Eddie moved to the door, leveling his gun at the elevator so he could shoot anybody who wasn't Tony. The elevator doors opened and out walked Tony, Eddie sighed a sigh of relief and was about to call out to him when he saw that Tony had a gun pointed at his back. Without thinking Eddie stepped out of the doorway and into the corridor, he leveled his gun at Sean so he had a clear shot.

"Drop the gun or I'll shoot," Eddie told him willing his hands to stop shaking so if necessary he could follow through on the threat. Sean turned to look at him surprised, seeing that it was Eddie and not the FBI the surprise quickly turned to anger.

"You drop the gun or I'll shoot your friend," Sean threatened looking Eddie hard in the eye. Eddie gulped knowing that Sean would follow through with his threat even if it was his last dying act.

They'd taken his daughter, his flesh and blood, they'd wronged him and he was out for revenge. Suddenly a rare flash of inspiration came to Eddie, he backed away still holding his gun on Sean, Sean looked at him knowing he was planning something but not sure what, powerless to do anything anyway. Sean watched as Eddie disappeared for a second, when he returned Sean knew he'd lost. He was holding Emily, pointing his gun at her.

"Drop the gun or I'll shoot," Eddie repeated his threat. Sean looked at Emily, her eyes were full of fear, he held them communicating without words that it would be alright. Then resigned he dropped the gun and kicked it away. Tony then turned to face him, his eyes burning with hatred. He kicked Sean hard winding him, he then started dragging him towards the room Eddie had re-entered. Tony now had an added bonus, rather than just killing Emily and making Sean find the body just as it was too late. He could make Sean watch her die just as he'd had to watch his daughter die.

City Hospital: Jack and Sam
21 hours missing

Just as Tony and Sean disappeared into one of the old operating rooms the elevator doors opened again. Jack turned his torch off and watching the shadows for movement stepped out of the elevator, Sam covering him. When nothing happened he waved for Sam to move forward. The door to the old operating room wasn't quite closed and both FBI agents could clearly see the chink of light escaping through the crack in the door. Using SWAT hand signals they got into position. One last time Jack attempted to radio in before giving up, the batteries must be dead, they would go on alone they had after all got this far.

With Sam beside the door Jack got ready to storm in. It wasn't the best setup, the best setup would need more than two agents, this was the best they could do. Using hand signals Jack counted down with his fingers, three, two, one. When he had a clenched fist he stormed forward and kicked the door in. His knee screamed in protest and he reminded himself that he really was too old for kicking down doors.

On entering Jack scanned the room for threats, he saw a man pointing a gun at another man wearing an FBI windbreaker. Jack didn't hesitate, he aimed and fired. Eddie fell down, a small hole appeared on his forehead, that small hole rapidly expanded exploding most of the back of his head. Sam, who had entered a split second after Jack, aimed at the man perching on the old operating table, she knew from photos to be Tony Preston, there was just one slight problem with her firing. Tony had his gun out and pointing at Emily Mason, he stared Sam right in the eyes daring her to pull the trigger, daring her to risk it.

The sound of Jack's gunshot echoed around the small confined room. Jack who after noting that Eddie was dead had turned looking for another target, he too had his gun pointing at Tony Preston, he like Sam didn't dare pull the trigger. Once the echo's had subsided Tony smiled moving his eyes between Sam, Jack and Sean, who all stared at him.

"Guns down please," Tony ordered in a quiet, calm, pleasant tone of voice that didn't suit the situation at all. Jack and Sam exchanged a glance and both lowered their guns together. "Unchambered, unloaded and with the safeties on please. We wouldn't want any accidents would we?" Tony continued.

Jack bit his tongue and did what he was told, this guy was certainly crazy, grief had obviously unhinged him, he wasn't stupid though. Crazy not stupid. When both guns had been made 'safe', Tony motioned for Jack and Sam to chuck them in the corner by the old sink.

"Very good, now hand me you radio."

Resigned Jack handed him the radio, Tony looked at it for a moment, perhaps trying to see where the off switch was. Then suddenly and violently he smashed it down on the operating table again and again, only stopping when it was completely smashed.

"Sit down please," Tony ordered in the same unnerving polite tone of voice as before.

With a little difficulty Jack sat down, his knee was being awkward, it didn't want to bend. Little did Tony Preston know it, but by making him sit down he'd effectively removed Jack from the fight.

"You two FBI agents." Tony pointed with his non-gun hand at Jack and Sam. "What are your names?"

"I'm Special Agent Jack Malone," Jack told him, thinking fast trying to think of a negotiating technique he could use.

Unbidden the memory of the last time he'd had to negotiate a hostage situation came back to him. He'd been on the inside then too, also with a man consumed by grief. Jack tried to clear his mind, he didn't want to remember that unless it could help here, it made him think of Sam and one of the biggest mistakes he'd ever made, going back to Maria.

"I'm Special Agent Samantha Spade," Sam identified herself, trying to block out the memories that were flooding into her consciousness. She didn't want to remember Barry Mashburn, she didn't want to remember the bookstore, she didn't want to remember what it felt like to be shot with her own gun. Memories and regrets wouldn't help here, in fact they'd hinder her, providing fear and hesitation.

"Well Samantha, Jack. This has nothing to do with you. This is between me and him." Tony pointed at Sean. "You see he did something to me, he took something away, the most precious thing in the world. My daughter. He has to pay for that in kind."

"Let me get this straight you lost your daughter, you blame Sean, meaning his daughter has to die," Jack summarised desperately trying to buy time, time that would allow Danny and Martin to . . 'Oh shit' Jack thought, We're on our own. Nobody knows that we're down here.'

"That's right Jack," Tony told him, he then turned to face Sean and his face contorted with hate. "I told you that night long ago you'd have to pay. Did you think I spoke lies?" Tony stood up suddenly yanking Emily with him, he was holding her up by her arms twisting them making her cry out behind the gag in pain.

"I didn't kill your daughter Tony, a hit and run driver did. Why don't you go take it up with him? I did everything I could to save your daughter, everything. I worked over an hour trying to bring her back, the recommended time is twenty minutes. I did everything possible for your daughter, it was just too late. That's not my fault, like I said take it up with the guy who left her there for dead," Sean reasoned, staring at Tony Preston's now emotionless face, desperately looking for any trace of understanding. "If you still blame me that's fine. Everybody always blames the doctor, that's why we have so many lawsuits against us. Take it out on me though, you can kill me, do what you like, just do it to me. Leave my family out of this," Sean pleaded, praying to every god he knew but knowing that they wouldn't make any difference. There was only one man in the world with the power to save his daughter, that man he'd just begged.