Chapter 4

Disclaimer: On the first three chapters, nothing's changed. Mild language warning.

Dido's White Flag provided inspiration for this chapter.

Summary: Time has passed and there is no advancement in the case, Calliegh is still in captivity.

Calliegh looked up in the mirror, seeing a faint ghost of the person she used to be. The grime on the mirror couldn't hide the pain of living without him. She turned off the water, and knocked on the door to let her captor know that she was finished. He unlocked the door, and opened it slowly. Before she could get out, he slipped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. They matched the pair of shackles that he had attached to her ankles before she got up out of the bed. He led her to the bed, and she sat down. She felt the tears surface as he attached her to the bed post . Thoughts bombarded her mind, was Speed looking for her? How long had she been gone?

At first, she didn't remember much as she came out of her chloroform induced slumber, but as she gained her bearings, she realized she had been abducted. When she woke up, she saw that she was in a small room with one window, and that she was tied to the bed by her wrists. The room smelled of moth balls and years of dust that she could see collecting on the tiny vanity that was opposite the bed. She tried to get out of the binds but it was no use, they were tied tight. She struggled more, going nowhere. Fear rose in her, she wasn't used to being in positions that she couldn't control. She let out a fierce scream of agony, she was trapped. She laid there in silence as the sun went through different phases. When it got dark , she heard keys then footsteps as they approached the door. As the door opened, Calliegh got a good look at her captor when he switched on the light. Shocked, she drew in a ragged breath. She knew this man from somewhere. She saw the apron that he wore and the name tag. She couldn't place him but he seemed very familiar. He cooed over her then let her go to the bathroom, taking rigorous precautions to prevent her escape. When she returned he tied her back to the bed. Calleigh's first day in captivity would mirror the ones that came afterwards.

She lost track of how long she had been with him, but her days were nothing if not routine. He had started to bring food for her before he left for work, and when he returned, he would let her go to the bathroom. The nights she spent not sleeping , but imagining the grief Speed was going through. She missed seeing his face, his warm brown eyes that melted her, and his touch that sent electricity through her. When she did sleep, she dreamt of the time she had spent with him. She also dreamt of getting back to him. When she awoke, harsh reality flooded her . She didn't know how or if she would get out of this.

Today, she had questions for her captor. She at least wanted to know why he chose her.

" Why?" Calleigh asked , her throat thick with emotion. She had not spoken a word since she awoke, and it startled him.

"Wh-What?"

"Why? Why did you take me?"

" Because you like me. I know you had a boyfriend, but you showed me the most attention. When you came in the Bistro , you made it your business to speak to me. So I thought that I could take you away from there, and we could be happy," he replied slowly.

Instantly she remembered who he was. Therrin. He was the bus boy at the Bistro that she and Speed went to for meals. It was a quaint place and the atmosphere is what drew her there. Sitting here in the dusty room, she wished she had never stepped foot in the place.

" Therrin, I was happy in my life. Why would you think that I needed to be taken away from it?"

He shuddered when he heard her speak his name and smiled widely, "Because, I saw how you really felt. When he wasn't looking. The sadness that you carried with you. Someone so beautiful shouldn't be so sad."

" I wasn't sad. I was in love. That man, my boyfriend, he made me the happiest that I'd ever been in my life," Calliegh replied feeling anger rise in her. This man took her from the best thing she had. " I don't know you from a can of paint."

" No..."

" I love him. Not you", she replied coldly.

" Not true! Not true! Not true!" Therrin repeated. He shook his head violently. Then on impulse, he struck Calleigh on her cheek. " Now you see what you made me do? I don't want to hurt you. I love you."

Calleigh turned her face to his revealing the bright red spot that was forming on her cheek. Her eyes were moist with tears, " Therrin, let me go. If you love me , let me go."

" I can't let you go , Calliegh. I love you too much. I want you to stay with me forever," Therrin replied calmly. " Don't try anything. I don't want to hurt you, but if I can't have you no one will.

Calliegh closed her eyes and let the tears drop. Forever. She already felt like she'd been here an eternity.

S/C

I will go down with this ship

and I won't put my hands up in surrender

there will be no white flag above my door

I'm in love

and always will be

Dido White Flag

Speed turned over in his bed to hit the alarm clock. Wiping his eyes , he sat up to look at the time on the now silent clock. 5:30 am. He turned on the lamp on his night stand and his eyes automatically went to the picture of Calleigh. She had a beautiful smile on her face and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He picked up the picture and lightly touched her face , tears coming to his eyes. She had been gone for six weeks, and there was still no sign of who could've taken her. Six weeks without Calleigh. It was a living hell.

He put the picture back in it's place on the stand and got out of bed. Often in the stillness of the morning, he could hear her whispers, they haunted him daily, following him as he worked. He tried to ignore them, but it was pointless. A part of him was gone.

As he always did, he took a shower and prepared for work. He had been cleared in the course of the ongoing investigation, and he was given a write up for punching Seager, so he was allowed to return back to active duty.

It had not been the same since , she had been gone. His job meant nothing to him now, the only reason he was there was to fill up space in his life as well as get any information about Calliegh .He walked by the ballistics lab slowly as he did everyday , unaware that he was hoping by some miracle, she would come out to greet him. But he was wrong, she would not be there. He continued to walk slowly, deliberately through the corridor. His thoughts lingered on her , his heart breaking at the thought of what she was going through. More than anything, he prayed that she was alive and being treated well. Despite the lack of evidence, Speed had never given up hope that Calleigh would be found. He couldn't . His heart would not let him surrender just yet.

He floated through the day, not saying much to anyone, but focusing on the task at hand. Even though his mind centered on the cases that continued to pour in, his heart was elsewhere, searching for her. At lunch, Eric entered the trace lab, concern written all over his face. Before Calliegh had disappeared, Speed's appearance was borderline. Now with her gone, Eric saw as his friend paid less attention to himself, letting his stubble grow into a step less than a beard and his clothes looked as if he pulled them from the bottom of the pile.

" Speed, you want to go somewhere for lunch?" Eric asked lightly.

" Not really. I got a lot of work to do here. Besides, I'm not hungry," Speed replied not looking up.

" Speed , you gotta start looking out for yourself, man. You look like death warmed over,"

" You know Eric, talk to me when someone you love is snatched from you. Till then, leave me the hell alone," Speed said baring down on him. He looked away from Eric and sighed. He didn't mean to come off like a jerk, but his emotions were all out of whack. "Look man, I'm sorry. Sometimes, I get so angry. I should've been more careful, more watchful. I miss her , Eric."

Eric crossed the room and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, " Speed , I know you are upset, but unless you are psychic, you couldn't have known that this was going to happen. Who knows how many people go through the day not knowing that they are being watched. But what's important is that you continue to live your life, so that when she comes back, you guys can pick up where you started."

Speed looked at Eric in amazement. He knew how to help. " I'll take you up on that lunch. But Delko, I'm picking."

"Why do you get to pick?"Eric asked feigning disappointment.

" Because, I am the only one between us who has taste. If I leave it up to you, it will be hamburgers and french fries. You lack culture," Speed said taking off his lab coat. He was starting to feel a little better. "And, I know just the place. Calliegh and I used to go there all the time."

" Really? You sure you want to go there," Eric inquired. He didn't want Speed to get distraught in public.

" Yeah. She loved it there. They have the greatest food. It will be nice to be around people that she interacted with."

" Alright. Let's go then," Eric said walking out of the lab, with Speed not far behind. He still held on to her in his heart, but now, maybe the pain would subside as he ventured into the land of the living.

S/C

Before he left the house, Therrin made sure that she was tied tightly. The scene replayed in his mind driving him mad, she couldn't leave him. He would kill her before that happened. As he drove back into the city, he lingered on the moments when he watched her sleep. She never slept well, but the nights that she slumbered calmly, he would stand over her and watch as her chest rose and fell with each breath. He was so in love with Calleigh Duqunese, his mind knew nothing else. As he pulled his car up at the Bistro, he was making a mental list of things to get from the store. She would need to be bathe and her hair washed, and he knew exactly what products she used.

He worked diligently, almost with a spring in his step as the day progressed into the looming lunch hour. Mr.Sampas , the manager ,noticed how happy Therrin was and smiled to himself. Therrin had had it bad in the past, and it made him happy to see Therrin happy.

" Therrin, I've noticed over the past six weeks as your work has picked up. You seeing somebody?"

Therrin thought hard about it, he couldn't let on about Calliegh, " Yeah Mr. Sampas, I am. She's beautiful."

"Really? Do I know her?"Mr. Sampas beamed.

" She was a regular here. But she eats somewhere else now," Therrin replied smiling. He thought of his precious Calleigh at home.

" You'll have to bring her around sometime, Therrin. Are you ready for the lunch rush?" Sampas said clapping his huge hand on Therrin's shoulder.

" Yes, sir!"

" Good, cause here they come," Sampas said walking to greet the customers as they filed in.

Therrin looked in the waiting area and lost his breath. It was him! He looked a little different, but he was sure that it was him. He had with him a tall cuban, and they were laughing as they followed the hostess to his area.. From the back he watched as he and the cuban continued to talk and laugh. He sure doesn't look like he's missing her, Therrin said to himself. After their order came, Therrin walked out to clean the tables surrounding them. As he worked, he noticed as the cuban was still talking, but he had stopped and gazed off into the distance. He's thinking about her! How dare he! She's mine! Several people looked at Therrin as he had broken a plate. He noticed as the man continued to look at him half smiling, through his pain riddled eyes. Therrin walked to their table , picking up the dishes that were being discarded.

" Oh! Hi Therrin. How are you doing?" the man said.

" Fine, Mr. Speedle. Where's that pretty lady you used to come with ?" Therrin asked lightly . He knew very well where she was.

" It's Speed, remember Therrin?" Speed said intentionally ignoring the second question. It had hit him like a ton of bricks. " This is Eric Delko. I work with him at the lab."

" Mr. Delko," Therrin replied extending his hand.

" It's Eric. Tell the cook that the food's good here, would ya?" Eric said as he pushed his fork in his mouth.

"Sure will. You gentlemen have a nice lunch, ok?" Therrin said as he picked up the dishes. How clever he had been, to walk up to the love of her life and present himself. He didn't know anything. All had gone to plan.

Speed's eyes gravitated to Therrin's neck ,seeing the dainty necklace that he wore. He could swear he'd seen that very same necklace on Calleigh's neck. He shook himself out of his funk and smiled back at Therrin. There were thousands of necklaces like that in Miami. He watched Therrin intently for the rest of his time there. Something was not right. When he was in here previously with Calleigh, he saw the way he reacted to him, and the sadness that the young man held in his shoulders. Now , he was holding conversations with him and the sadness was no longer there. It was replace with joy. Speed held on to the thought as he and Eric paid for their meals and headed back to the lab. The outing was theraputic for Speed, he felt as if he could breathe without his heart breaking. He was rejuvinated as he started the Hummer. When the engine roared to life, he heard a familiar song as it blasted through the radio. It solidified how he felt about Calleigh and his renewed quest to find her.

I will go down with this ship

I won't put my hands up in surrender

There will be no white flag above my door

I'm in love and always will be.

TBC...