Disclaimer see chapter 1

Massive thank you to my beta anmodo, and thank you to everyone that has reviewed.

Chapter 6

FBI HQ NY – Jack's office

Sunday 2300 – 523 hours missing

After what felt like a lifetime, Jack found what he was looking for. The pulse was weak and rapid, but it meant that Danny was alive. Danny's breathing was way too shallow. Noticing that Danny was shivering, Jack shrugged off his coat and carefully placed it over Danny. He quickly pulled out his cell and phoned the emergency services followed by Sam, not wanting to leave Danny alone.

Sam had been waiting for this phone call for 3 weeks, but she never knew how she would react; now she did. She made the short distance from her desk to Jack's office in record time--where she saw Jack sitting next to a figure. As she crossed the room, she saw who it was and what kind of state he was in; her legs nearly buckled.

Sitting on the end of the couch, Sam gently moved Danny's head so it was resting on her lap and stroked his once soft brown hair, which was now matted with blood. Looking over Danny's body nearly brought her to tears. There wasn't an inch of his body that she could see that wasn't marked in some way. She wanted nothing more than to hold him in her arms and take all the pain away. Casting a worried look at Jack, Danny was still unresponsive. Sam continued to stroke Danny's hair and tried to get a response from him. "Danny, Danny…its ok, you're safe now…come on Danny please open your eyes." She was desperate now. He finally had come home to them, and she was terrified that he would now die in her arms.

Danny heard a familiar voice and knew he should go towards it, but he was so tired and scared. It was probably another of Molotov's tricks, he thought. He lay there debating whether or not he should go towards the voice, the pain, the torture. Maybe Molotov would go too far this time, and then it would all be over. Yes, going towards the voice would be good. He doubted he would be able to stay conscious for long anyway. He slowly opened his eyes, and waited for the hell to begin.

Jack saw Danny's eyes beginning to flutter open. Placing his hand on Danny's shoulder, he tried to persuade the younger agent back into the world of consciousness. "That's it Danny, open your eyes for me." He watched as Danny's eyes slide in and out of focus, finally focusing on him.

"J-jack?" Danny asked weakly.

"I'm here and so is Sam. Just relax ok. The paramedics will be here soon." replied Jack. Once he got his hands on the people that did this to Danny, he thought, they would wish they were dead.

Why was Jack being so nice to him, Danny thought? It had to be a trap or maybe he was hallucinating. Either way, he had to risk it and tell Jack about the attacks. He felt someone running their hand through his hair. It felt good. Slowly moving his eyes towards the owner of the hand, he saw Sam.

"Danny, its ok. Just relax and hang in there, understand?" Sam said as she wrapped her hand around his and squeezed it. "Just hang in there, Danny." This was some trick Molotov was playing on him or a new interrogation technique, Danny thought. Just tell them the information, his mind told him and it will be all over. He wanted to believe them but the constant doubt told him this was a dream. He would wake up in the torture cell, with Molotov or that animal, Dropshot, standing over him with a syringe, laughing manically.

He started to panic. He felt his breathing increase to short, rapid bursts. He closed his eyes to try and close out the pain. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and a persistent voice. "Danny, look at me!" He slowly opened his eyes again to see Jack. "Take it easy. Just relax. Danny, I need you to take slow breaths." Jack watched as the younger agent calmed down. "That's good…Danny…that's really good."

"Jack, I'm sorry I messed up. I'm sorry I didn't escape before. I'm sorry I am not strong or tough enough—"

His sentence was cut short by a bout of coughing. Jack was shocked by this statement. He looked at Sam who still had tears in her eyes.

"Danny, you didn't do anything wrong," Jack paused, "You are brave, tough and strong to escape. I don't know many people that could of done that, Danny."

If this was a hallucination, it was a damn good one, Danny thought. As least, he hadn't failed Jack. He felt he was getting weaker. He knew he didn't have much time left as he felt his life slowly ebb from his body. He needed to tell them about the attacks—knowing it would probably use the remaining strength in his body. "Jack." Danny's voice was barely more than a whisper now.

"Yes," replied Jack. He had to lower his head towards Danny's as his voice was so faint.

"People that held me….terrorists…" Danny said, his speech rapidly deteriorating with his strength. "Terrorist attack…….M-monday….N-new York, E-ebola." It was becoming harder and harder to breathe.

"Its ok, Danny. Take your time." Jack replied. He squeezed Danny's hand hoping this would encourage him. Damn, he thought, he had forgotten how stubborn and tough Danny Taylor was.

It was a while before Danny felt he had the strength to continue, "The virus i-s at….. a-abandoned w-warehouse, o-old Nike." Danny didn't know if he could finish before his body gave out, but he had to. "P-poughkeepsie, u-upstate"

He had now served his purpose. He was too tired to fight the impending darkness. He just wanted to slip into an eternal slumber, away from the pain, away from everything. He closed his eyes.

"Danny, Danny…come on…stay with me," Jack said. Where the hell are the paramedics, he thought. He was terrified that Danny would die here in his office. "Danny, where were you held?" Jack didn't care if Danny answered his question, but if it was enough to keep Danny conscious that was good enough for him. He was surprised when Danny opened his eyes again.

"Roosevelt C-city, N-new J-jersey, b-bricks, n-no w-windows." Danny closed his eyes again. Jack looked up at Sam, who had been quiet through this whole exchange. Tears stained her face. Where the hell were the paramedics?

TDC….