A/N: Okay, this chapter is definitely my work. All of it. Well, except the Bible verse.
Ugh. My head is killing me. Alex felt something on her forehead, something hot and sticky. Great. My head is bleeding.
Alex tried to move her hands to wipe it away, but for some reason she couldn't move. She tried to groan, but it sounded muffled to her ears. Okay. They tied me up. At least they didn't blindfold or gag me. Yet.
Alex glanced around her tiny prison. No windows, just a small fan in the corner of the room. How nice of them.
Where am I? She resisted the urge to cry. I've faced down gangs with more people than the entire police force. I've dealt with kidnappers and mass murderers. Then she realized that that was exactly who these men were. The urge to cry was even stronger now.
She managed to glance down at her watch. Eight o'clock. I wonder what Jack's doing now.
Jack. The thought of him brought tears to her eyes again. She had talked to him about this latest case before… well, before this. The last thing he said to her was, "This isn't on you, Alex." This isn't on me. All those people that were killed "isn't on me." I could have stopped it, and I didn't.
Her thoughts went back to Jack. Surely by now he's discovered I'm gone. This is probably tearing him apart. Poor, compassionate Jack. He had that rough edge to him, but deep down, he really cared about people. She saw that when they prosecuted Nurse Gloria for sterilizing young women without their knowledge.
She remembered when she first came to Homicide from the major cases division. She was green, almost fresh out of law school. And here she was, in every ADA's dream job.
She remembered Jack's reaction when she promised that one mother justice for her son. She knew then it might not be a promise she could keep. But she made it anyway. Boy, he was furious, wasn't he? She almost laughed. It wasn't so funny back then.
Alex sighed loudly. She heard voices outside her little holding cell. She began to feel that unmistakable panic rising from her stomach. Oh, God. It wasn't a curse. It was a prayer. What are they gonna do to me? Please, God, don't let them hurt me. She could feel the hot tears running down her cheeks. "The Lord is my shepherd," she whispered. "I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures…"
The door opened, and two figures loomed ominously before her.
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…"