Author's Note: Just wanted to mention that some of my flashback sequences will now include alternative views on what happened during a scene or a missing scene.

Chapter 3

"Diana! Diana! Skouris! Wake up!" Tom screamed.

"She's going into pulmonary arrest," a paramedic said as he removed the oxygen mask and replaced it with an intubation tube and a bad. "Mr…"

"Baldwin. Agent Baldwin." Tom answered.

"Agent Baldwin if you want to help out, the best thing you can do is stay back."

Hesitantly Tom let go of Diana's hand and sat back as the ambulance driver hit the breaks and door opened. The doctors where waiting and the stretcher was pulled out of the ambulance, the paramedics followed, and Tom trailed behind.

"Diana Skouris, Homeland Security, thirty-six years old, shot in her apartment. Went into pulmonary arrest enroute, we fitted her with an intubation kit. Lost consciousness enroute due to blood loss.

"How many pints of blood do you think that she's lost?" one of the doctors asked.

"Two to three pints," one of the paramedics answered.

"Okay, call the blood bank and tell them we need two units of O neg. Call surgery and tell them we have a possible perforated lung. In the meantime start a line of antibiotics and pray." The doctor ordered to the rest of the staff as she piled on gauze pads in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

Suddenly an inaudible moan graced the doctor's ears. Diana's eyelids fluttered as she opened them and tried to speak, failing because of the tube.

"Agent Skouris, don't fight the tube," the doctor ordered. Looking up the doctor realized that Tom was standing on the other side of the hallway. "Sir, do you know her?"

"Yes, I'm her partner, Agent Tom Baldwin," Tom said.

"Can you just come here and talk to her?"

Tom nodded as he moved towards the stretcher, taking Diana's hand. "Hey, it's okay. You went into pulmonary arrest in the ambulance. They had to intubate." Tom explained as he caressed her crown and in doing so lulled her into a peaceful sleep. It's okay, everything will be okay, Diana."

Immediately afterwards the monitors next to the bed began to change rhythm and suddenly turned into a single flat line.

"She's in v-fib," the doctor said. "Get the paddles."

"God! Diana, please don't die on me," Tom said.

FLASHBACK

Outside of Orson Bailey's cabin, the cabin has begun to shake, Orson starts screaming.

"Tom, you nose," Diana said just before she realized that her ear was bleeding. She screamed in pain as Tom broke down the door. Soon after Diana entered the cabin. "Whatever you are doing Mr. Bailey, stop it! Stop it now!

Diana fired her gun with closed eyes and when she opened them again she saw Orson lying on the floor in pain.

Tom entered the cabin and walked up behind her. "I'll go call an ambulance."

"Okay," Diana nodded as Tom left. As Tom pulled out his phone he heard Diana's voice. "We're going to get you some help Mr. Bailey. Just please don't die on me."

END FLASHBACK

"Charge the paddles to 360," the doctor ordered. "Clear."

Diana's body jumped as the wave of electricity coursed through her body. The monitor began beating again in its rhythmic tone.

"She's back," the doctor said. "Get her to surgery."

"Everything will be okay, Diana," Tom said as he kissed her hand realized that the phrase 'everything will be okay' had become his mantra. "Everything will be okay."

The doctors wheeled Diana to the elevator and when they told Tom that he couldn't follow them, Tom turned around and left knowing that Ryland was her emergency contact.

"How is she?" Ryland asked as Tom walked through the hall back to Diana's apartment.

"She's in surgery right now but she went into pulmonary arrest and then v-fib," Tom reported.

"So in short, not good. Does she know about Maia?"

"Yes, she had a brief bout of consciousness before her pulmonary arrest and I told her. I contemplated lying to her, but you know how she hates being lied to."

"What can I say, Skouris likes honesty."

The two men entered the apartment and were greeted by a large puddle of blood in the kitchen.

"It looks like so much," Ryland said.

"The paramedics estimated her blood loss to be between two and three pints."

"So, lets reconstruct the scene. Given the way the room is set up, it appears that Diana was baking cookies. Why...?" Dennis sighed as he remembered. "Maia's birthday is next week."

"She's turning nine."

"I can't do this. I can't try to solve Maia's kidnapping or Skouris's shooting. Dammit, I should have never put her on this case."

FLASHBACK

Diana is sitting at her desk holding a pen in her mouth as Dennis walks in with Tom trailing behind him.

"Diana Skouris, Tom Baldwin. You two will be one of the teams investigating the 4400." Ryland said.

"Skouris, ex-CDC right?"

"Yeah, I've heard of you two," Diana sighed as she shook Tom's hand. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Ryland asked.

"He went MIA once who's to say that he won't do it again?"

"Umm…me?" Tom posed.

"Diana…" Ryland began.

"Is this the point where you give me the 'Be a good soldier' speech?" Diana asked.

"No, this is the point where I say that you are my best field scientist and Tom is my best investigative agent and together you're gonna make a good team." Ryland said.

"Well, this should be interesting."

END FLASHBACK

"She would have wanted to investigate anyway," Tom said. "And besides if you hadn't who's to say that Maia wouldn't have attached herself to Diana anyway."

"You're probably right," Ryland said. "Boy did I call it or what?"

"I'll admit it was a shaky start but it turned out okay. Now lets try to give this story a happy ending by finding Maia."

"That little girl loves Diana so much.

FLASHBACK

Ryland is sitting in his office watching the surveillance video taken a week ago by the security camera of Maia Rutledge's release from quarantine.

"I have to see the doctor every week?" Maia moaned innocently.

"I know, it doesn't sound like much fun to me either," Diana said kneeling down to Maia's level but hey you get to live with these lovely people and that beats a bunk in quarantine right?"

"Besides there's nothing we can't handle, right Maia?" Mrs., Griffin asked.

"That'd be nice."

"Well we better get going, it's a long drive," Mr. Griffin said.

Diana gets off her knees as Maia turns to her. "Well see each other again."

"Yeah, next week," Diana said.

"Sooner than that," Maia said.

Ryland switched off the tape and smiled as Diana walked into his office.

"Ryland you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Dennis said as he handed her the form she had given him earlier that day. "Here's the signed approval you asked me for."

"Thank you sir," Diana said as she accepted the paperwork.

"No thanks necessary, just take her home."

Diana exited his office, and Ryland smiled again.

END FLASHBACK

"I don't know," Ryland said. "Maybe it was a mistake to let Maia come live here."

"You can't blame yourself, that little girl was lonely. But I swear if anything happens to either of them I will kill whoever did this."

"That's not going to solve…" Ryland began as his cell phone rang. He answered it, "Ryland…Wait. What happened?...Okay, we'll be right there."

TBC