"Barry. Barry wake up! Barry, Tara's missing, you have to wake up!"

Emily's words slowly began to penetrate through her friend's alcohol fogged brain, but it was her insistent shaking that really did the trick. With every jolt, his queasy stomach began to protest.

"Damn girl! Stop shaking me! Oh, I think I'm gonna puke!" he exclaimed, his face turning ashen in color. He pulled himself to his knees, half-crawling, half-dragging himself towards the nearest trash can. The others woke to the sound of his retching.

"Emily? What's going on?" Aaron asked, materializing behind where she knelt, his hand coming up to gently squeeze her shoulder.

"Tara's missing. I don't know, I heard some kind of noise, like one of those things outside. Only a lot closer, like it was inside the building, and it woke me up. Anyway, when I got up to look around, she was gone."

"Why didn't you come get me? You shouldn't be poking around this place in the middle of the night all alone," he chided.

"Well I didn't go very far now did I?" she asked angrily. She was really put out by his assumption that she wasn't capable of taking care of herself. "I thought maybe she'd just gone to the bathroom or something, so I looked there first and didn't find anything. Then I heard sleeping beauty over here snoring away, and he was the last person to see her, so I figured I'd wake him up and ask."

"Does he know anything?" Aaron asked, wisely trying to keep the subject on Tara when he saw the glint of anger in her eyes brought on by his previous statement. Mentally he slapped himself for his stupidity. Rule number one, never insult a feminist by suggesting she needed a man to protect her from things that go bump in the night.

"No. He hasn't stopped puking his guts out long enough to say anything."

A few minutes later, Barry heaved himself into a sitting position, looking up at the group forming around him. "Just give...give me another minute...and maybe a mint...if you have one," he panted pleadingly.

"Barry," his friend gritted out threateningly, as Thomas and Matthew joined the others in a semi-circle that was slowly tightening in around him.

"Okay, okay," he said, rubbing his temples in a vain attempt to ease the throbbing that had started up there, making his head feel like it was going to explode. He barely bit back a laugh as he envisioned what the reactions of his companions would be if something like that happened. "The last thing I remember was after you three left the roof last night. Tara was pretty upset, so I thought that maybe a little drink would make her feel better. So we went down to the restaurant and raided the wine cellar. If you can call it a wine cellar."

"That's it?" Emily demanded.

"What was she upset about?" Thomas asked, his voice filled with fatherly concern.

"I'd rather not say."

"Spill it Barry, it could be important," Emily insisted.

"Okay. But just remember that you asked for it," he groaned, wishing he was feeling better so he would actually enjoy spreading gossip the way he usually did. "She's pissed off that all the eligible men around here seem to be fighting over you and forgetting that she's a hot little available dish herself. Oh. And I think she's suffering from some serious boob envy too."

"Look, why don't we head on down to the restaurant and look for her there," Thomas said, taking charge and changing the subject when he saw Emily's face go up in bright red flames. For their part, Aaron and Matthew both shifted uncomfortably a step away from Emily, and refrained from making eye contact with anyone.

"No. Wait," Barry said quickly. "The roof. I think I remember going back up there after we got the wine. Something to do with Guns N' Roses. I just wanted to make her feel better, that's all."

"By getting her drunk?" demanded Emily, finding her voice once more. "Really great decision there Barry. Next time, maybe you should just take her for a stroll down the block if you're that anxious to try and kill her."

"Hey, maybe it wasn't the best idea on my part, but you've got no right getting pissy with me about it," he lashed out at her, grasping his head as it pounded agonizingly. "I'm not the one shaking my ass like some kind of bitch in heat making all the men drool over me, tormenting a young girl who just wants a little bit of attention."

"You bastard! I've never done anything like that before in my life!"

The two friends glared at each other. "Look, standing around and arguing isn't going to help us find her any faster, so let's split up and go look. Thomas, Aaron, why don't you go check out the security office and the roof. Barry, you can stay here in case she turns up. Emily, you and I will go check out the restaurant," Matthew announced, trying to discharge the situation a little bit. Aaron shook his head slightly and grinned as he began making his way towards the main door, impressed over the way the paramedic had maneuvered it so that he could be the one alone with Emily. Mentally, he slapped himself again. He really needed to stop thinking about her so much, right now finding the missing teenage drama queen had to be his top priority.

They all left the office together, heading towards the stairwell at the end of the corridor. Thomas was the first to spot the elevator doors standing ajar, revealing the inky blackness of the empty shaft. When they'd cut the power to the elevator, they also cut off the service lights that would normally shine inside. "Hey, how did those get opened up?" he asked.

A low moan rose up, echoing from inside the darkened shaft.

"Sonuvabitch. Did one of those things get inside here?" Aaron demanded, confusion spreading across all their faces.

"I think it's Tara," whispered Emily in horror.

"Someone get a flashlight," Matthew ordered, crouching beside the shaft. Thomas sprinted the rest of the distance to the security office, returning swiftly with a couple of flashlights. The four of them crowded around the entrance, following the beams of light as they darted around and finally settled on the shape of a body lying prone below. Another moan echoed up through the shaft as the body slowly its shifted position, letting out a hiss of pain as it looked up at the beams of light and the shadowy figures outlined in the door.

"Oh please, somebody help me!" Tara's voice called out weekly.

"Thank god, she's alive," Emily breathed, her free hand involuntarily squeezing that of the person closest to her. Aaron smiled at her touch.

"We're lucky, the elevator is stuck between the second and third floors. It was a pretty good distance to fall, but not necessarily lethal. She survived it anyway," Thomas said.

"Now we just need to get her out of there," Aaron said, shining his flashlight in and taking a good, hard look around the shaft once more. "We've got two options. Either turn the power back on, bring the car down to the second or third floor and lower her through the roof access hatch, or else pry open the doors on the third floor, climb down and lift her out. My votes on the second option."

"I'm with Aaron, if we turn the power back on, all it would take is having one of those things down in the garage bumping the call button and we'd all be dead," Emily declared.

"Majority rules," Matthew said. "Emily, stay here, talk to her, let her know help's on the way. Aaron, see if you can get that third floor door pried open, Thomas we'll go get some supplies from the department store, ropes and what not to get her out."

It was nearly sunrise by the time they'd gotten Tara out of the elevator shaft and could tend to her injuries. The most serious ones that they could see, were a dislocated shoulder and a busted ankle. The rest appeared to be superficial bumps, bruises and scrapes. Despite her pain, she was momentarily in heaven, surrounded by Aaron and Matthew, the center of their attention as they prepared to pop her shoulder back into place. Thomas joined them, holding her legs steady as Aaron helped her into a sitting position, firmly holding her there, while Matthew prepared to manipulate her arm. "Now, you're gonna feel a little twinge," Matthew said as he suddenly wrenched her arm up, popping the shoulder back in smoothly. Her agonized shriek practically deafened everyone in the room. "Shhhh...it's all right," he said softly, wishing he had something stronger than an aspirin to give her for the pain. "The worst of it's over." While he went to work, creating a makeshift sling that would keep her arm pinned to her side, Aaron slowly backed away.

"That was more than just a little twinge," she cried, biting her lip.

"If you don't need me any more,"Aaron drawled out.

"Thanks, we've got it covered," Matthew said, concentrating on his task and murmurring comforting words to the girl.

"I'll help him with the ankle," Thomas added. Without a backward glance, Aaron disappeared, heading towards the stairwell. Barry moved in beside Tara and took her hand.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," he wailed pitifully.

"Yea, it is," she agreed, big, fat tears rolling freely down her face.

Aaron located Emily up on the roof. She'd dragged a sleeping bag up there, and that's where he found her as she lay, watching the sun rise up into the sky.

"Nice view you've got here," he called out. "Mind if I join you?"

"It's a big roof," she replied, still staring at the sky.

"Yea, but there's only one comfortable seat," he said, standing beside her and gesturing towards the sleeping bag and giving her a sad puppy dog kind of look. With a sigh, Emily sat up, scooting over and making room for him beside her.

"So, how's Tara doing?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Everything seems to be fairly superficial. I think she'll be okay, unless she's got some internal injuries we don't know about."

"What are the chances of that?"

"Couldn't say, I'm not the medic around here."

"Point taken."

"So are you really that enthralled with the sun, or is there some other reason you won't look at me?" he asked.

"Just a little utter and total embarrassment over what Barry said earlier, maybe."

"Nothing to be embarrassed about. I don't think you prance around here shaking your ass for me and Mattie's enjoyment. Not that we don't enjoy watching you walk," he added lamely. Open mouth and insert foot, he thought to himself. Way to go Aaron.

"Ah. But you do think I'm some kind of bitch in heat though, is that it?" she asked, finally daring to look him in the eyes.

"Now you're putting words into my mouth," he said. "You're no bitch in heat, and I think I can safely say that neither me or Mattie feel that way."

"Mattie. I've never heard you call him that before."

"That's because I just made it up. And for the record, I'm not much of an ass man myself. I guess you could say I'm more of a leg and chest man," he said, making them both laugh.

"So what's your story Aaron? Really. I mean, I know the little tale about the crazy ex-, and how you ended up here with us, but what's the rest of the story?"

"Not much to tell really."

"So tell me anyway."

"Well, for starters, I was born and raised in a little town called Sierra Vista in Arizona. Right next door to Fort Huachuca, well, the town really exists because of the fort. Anyways, I guess my real dad was a soldier stationed there for awhile. He knocked up my Mom when she was sixteen, and by the time she realized she was pregnant, he'd already received orders and had moved on."

"Did she ever tell you who he was? What his name was? Did you ever look for him?"

"No, no, and no. If she knew who he was, she never told me. I always got the impression that it was a one night stand, and she was too drunk to remember anything about it," he said softly.

"Oh, Aaron, I'm sorry."

"No reason to be. We managed to get by, the two of us. When I was ten she met First Sergeant Harrison Forrest, assigned to Charlie Company, 40th Signal Battalion. He was fifteen years older than she was, and it was love at first sight. They got married about four months after they met, and he legally adopted me. They were together until they got killed in a car wreck three weeks ago. That's what I'd gone home on leave for. The recall came about an hour after the funeral service. It was good timing really, by that point it was just dealing with all those well-meaning friends and relatives, constantly asking every five minutes if I was okay, if there was anything they could do for me. I kind of took it as a blessing to be called back here, anything to get away from all that."

"What about the rest of your story?" Emily asked, taking his hand and toying with his fingers, making him smile. "That was more of an abbreviated story about your parents, I want to know about you."

"Noticed I kind of left that part out, huh?" he asked with a grin. "Not much to say, I joined the Army when I was seventeen, went through basic the summer before my senior year of High School. Planned on pulling a four year hitch to get the GI Bill, and go back to college. Ended up going career instead, been in for damn near half my life now. End of story."

"Not. So where have you been stationed, oh, old and wise one," she teased.

"Thirty-four is not old," he said with a laugh. Let's see, obviously you know about Fort Pastor, my other CONUS assignments were Fort Leonard Wood, Fort Knox, and Fort Benning. OCONUS, I did a year in Korea, and pulled a few tours in Germany."

(A/N: CONUS is short for 'Continental United States' conversely OCONUS is short for 'Outside the Continental United States.')

"You get around."

"I guess you could say that."

"So what assignment did you like the best?"

"Probably Mannheim or Wuerzburg in Germany."

"Ever married?"

"No."

"Ever engaged?"

"Nope."

"Any significant other waiting out there for you?"

"No, and even if there had been, I really don't think the chances are good that she'd still be waiting. Unless it was to eat me, and not in a good way either," he said with a grin.

"Not funny," she said, laughing anyway. "So..."

"So, isn't it about time for me to have a turn at asking some questions?" he said, cutting her off.

"Not much to learn, but go ahead, ask away."

"Boyfriend?"

"No."

"Husband?"

"Yea right," she said, rolling her eyes and making him laugh.

"I find that really hard to believe."

"What?"

"That a woman as beautiful as you isn't married or with someone."

"Oh, that was good. You should have warned me and I could have wore some boots or something."

"What do you mean by that?" he laughed.

"Well, if I'd know the bullshit was going to be this deep, I woulda wore some boots," she said.

"It's not bullshit," he protested. "I'm totally serious here." She shook her head, looking out at the sky once more. He reached out, and hooked a finger under her chin, turning her face back towards him. "I'm serious," he whispered, a split second before his lips came down on hers.