Chpt. 8 APOV:

"How's he doing Ana?" Jason walks into the apartment.

"His fever is staying down," I sigh rubbing Teddy's back. "He's still not eating very much, but he's taking in the pedialyte thankfully. Dr. Grey said as long as he's taking that in that I shouldn't worry."

"Having a sick child is never easy Ana," he sits down on the other end of the couch. "I remember when Sophie was little, the first time she sneezed we freaked out and rushed her to the doctor convinced she was sick. Of course she wasn't, but as new parents we didn't know that."

"I probably would have done the same thing," I giggle.

"The first time she ran a fever I remember freaking out," he admits. "It was the middle of the night, the doctor's office was closed so I wanted to rush her to the emergency room. Sophie's mother was much calmer than I was. I remember pacing the floor waiting for the on call doctor to call us back and walk us through what to do. The fever came down pretty quickly, but I don't think either of us slept that night."

"She was okay though right?"

"Yup, we brought her into the doctor's office the next morning when opened so she could be seen. Turns out she had caught some infection from day care, nothing serious but it was definitely scary for us. Within a day she was completely back to normal and two days later back at day care."

"I hope whatever Teddy has is gone that quickly."

"I'm sure it will be; the fact that his fever came down so quickly is a good sign," he assures me. "I know you're new to being a parent Ana, but you're doing an amazing job. Teddy is really lucky to have you."

"Thank you Jason," I struggle with being called a parent. "Half the time I have no idea what I'm doing."

"None of us do when we first have a child Ana," he chuckles. "You learn as you go. You'll make mistakes and learn from them. The two of you will learn this role together. Babies don't come with instruction books that tell us how to do everything the right way."

"Maybe they need to," I joke.

"I need to get back to work, but you're doing an amazing job Ana."

I watch as Jason walks out of the apartment struggling with his earlier words. I never thought of myself as a parent; even after learning that Kate had declared me Teddy's guardian if something should happen to her. I still think of myself as Teddy's aunt, not as his parent even though I know he's mine and that I'll never let anyone take him from me. I haven't thought much about long term, but I know whatever our future holds I'll be raising Teddy. So, I guess Jason was right…I'm Teddy's parent.

I don't know why it's taken me this long to realize it, but this little boy who is sound asleep on my chest is now mine. It's scary to think of being solely responsible for him for the rest of his life. I mean, technically I won't be completely alone since my dad will always be there for us but it still comes down to me raising Teddy on my own. When this nightmare is over and we're finally free to move on with our lives I'm going to need to figure out what that looks like. I'll have to find a new place for us to live as I'm sure the apartment I rented will be long gone along with all of my stuff. Then of course a job and a day care center for Teddy while I work. I hate that so much is unknown right now; I have no idea how long we're going to be in hiding for or if we'll ever be able to stop looking over our shoulders. What if this is never over? What if Jason's team doesn't find enough to bring to the FBI? What if the FBI isn't beyond being bought out? What if-

"Ana?" Jason's voice thankfully pulls me from the what if game my mind was playing.

"Sorry," I quickly wipe the tears from my cheek that I hadn't realized were falling.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Dr. Grey is here, she's speaking with Mr. Grey right now but I'm sure she'll only be a few more minutes."

"Thank you, I'll change him and be out in a minute."

Teddy whimpers when I lay him down on the changing table, obviously not happy with the change in position. I change his diaper as quickly as possible and the moment I bring him back to my chest, he quiets back down. By the time I enter the main apartment, Dr. Grey and Christian are sitting at the breakfast bar talking.

"Ana, how are you dear?" Dr. Grey stands to greet me when I approach. "How's the little guy doing?"

"His fever has stayed down, the medicine seems to be helping," I explain. "He's not taking in much formula, maybe an ounce here and there. I'm still giving him the pedialyte like you said too."

"Good, good," she rubs his back. "The fact that the fever went down is a good sign. Do you mind if I take a look at him? You can hold him while I do."

I nod and she immediately pulls a stethoscope from her; Christian and I both watch as she listens to his back and then his chest. Teddy thankfully seems unbothered by what she's doing; he remains content in my arms until she looks in his ear.

"What's wrong?" Christian asks when Teddy lets out a cry clearly indicating he's in pain.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Seems this little guy has his first ear infection," Dr. Grey says sadly. "Do you know if he's had one before?"

"No, I mean he hasn't had an ear infection. Kate would have told me; she called me after every doctor's appointment he had to tell me how he was doing. She never mentioned an ear infection or him being sick at all."

"That's good, that means at least so far it's not a recurring problem," she checks his other ear once he stops crying. "The other ear is clear which is also a good sign."

"He doesn't need to go the hospital then?" I ask cautiously. I have no idea how we would do that without raising flags.

"No," she smiles. "A few days on an antibiotic will be all he needs. I brought his first dose with me-"

"How did you know what to bring?" Christian asks.

"Antibiotics are good for several different things, so even if it wasn't an ear infection chances are he would have needed the same antibiotic. I'll write him a prescription-"

"It can't be in his name," I quickly interrupt.

"Not a problem, I'll write it in a different name," she assures me. "Someone will need to take the prescription to a pharmacy and fill it. He'll need five days of antibiotics but you should begin to see an improvement in him as early as tomorrow."

"Really? That quick?" I ask.

"Yes, but be sure to finish the antibiotic anyway; it'll continue to fight the infection to insure it doesn't return."

"I'll give the prescription to Taylor, he'll see that it's filled," Christian says.

Grace writes out the prescription, putting it under a false name before handing it over to Christian who quickly takes it to Jason.

"Thank you Dr. Grey, I'm sorry to ask you-"

"Don't you apologize dear," she interrupts. "Your priority should only be keeping yourself and that little guy safe. I'll do anything I can to help you both. And please call me Grace."

"Thank you, I appreciate more than you know," I'm touched at her words and her actions. I can only assume that she could get into trouble writing a prescription for someone who is using a fake name. The fact that she's willing to risk that simply to help two people she doesn't know, I'll never understand.

"I hate to warn you Ana, but you're probably going to have a rough night with Teddy tonight," she says. "Babies often find it very difficult to sleep with an ear infection. Avoid laying him flat because chances are that will make it worse. If you can, have him sleep in a swing-"

"I don't have one."

"That's okay, the bouncy seat should be fine," she assures me. "By tomorrow night he should begin sleeping better and probably the following night he'll be fine to move back into this crib."

"I can manage for tonight," I say confidently. I don't care if I have to walk the floors all night, as long as Teddy isn't in any pain I'll do it.

"How about you let me check your ribs while I'm here?"

"Oh…I don't think-"

"Just for peace of mind, please?"

"Okay."

"We'll bring Teddy with us, we can prop him up on Christian's bed while I take a look," she suggests.

I follow Grace into Christian's bedroom; this is only third time I've been in here. The first was right after we arrived in Seattle where Grace checked over my injuries. Earlier this week I came in to gather his laundry and dry cleaning which were picked up while Christian was at work. Grace arranges the pillows on Christian's bed and I prop Teddy up on them so he's sort of sitting up on one; the others surround him so if he slides over he won't go off the bed. I hold my breath waiting to see what he does, to see if the position bothers him, but he just simply looks around the room staring at everything.

"Why don't you just lift up your shirt?" Grace suggests.

I cringe, but do as she asks. The bruising on my ribs and back have become worse in the last few days whereas the bruising on my face has finally started to lessen. It's been almost a week since…it happened, I thought I'd be getting worse rather than better.

"It looks as I expected," she says surprising me.

"Really? It looks worse than it was when you were here last."

"It does, but that's because the injury is just now moving to the surface," she explains. "Bruising this deep often takes several days to come to the surface. The bruises on your face weren't as deep since there's not as much muscle there, so they began to heal much quicker. Within two or three days you'll barely be able to see those. These on the other hand," I hiss when she touches one of the bruises. "These are probably going to take another week to completely disappear."

"What the fuck?!" Christian's booming voice surprises all of us from the doorway.

"Christian!" Grace reprimands him. "Now you scared Teddy."

I quickly pull my shirt down and take Teddy from the bed, soothing him. He immediately settles down in my arms which instantly relaxes me.

"I wanted to check Ana's ribs and back," Grace explains. "You weren't in your office or else I would have checked with you before coming in here."

"I was with Taylor," he says through clenched teeth. "Did…they do that to you?"

"Yes."

"Fuck Ana," he runs his hands through his hair. I can't tell what he's thinking; obviously he's angry but I know that's not everything.

"Language Christian! There's a child in here," Grace hisses.

"It's fine Grace, I think we have a little while before we need to worry about Teddy repeating us," I try to joke to lighten the mood.

"Okay," Grace says after several minutes of silence. Christian is just standing in the doorway with his eyes on me, not saying anything. "I think I'm going to head home then and get some sleep before my next shift. Ana there's a cream that you can get to help with the bruises or anything with aloe in it-"

"If you text it to Taylor mom he'll pick it up, he left just now to head to the pharmacy," Christian says.

"I'll do that," she smiles and kisses Christian on the cheek. "I expect to see you next Sunday for dinner, Christian. And Ana?"

"Hmm?"

"I'd like you and Teddy to come as well-"

"Wait…what?"

"We have a family dinner on Sundays when I'm not working," she explains. "Nothing big so you don't need to worry. Christian's dad, brother and sister will be there but that's it."

"I…I don't know."

"Talk to Taylor, if he doesn't think there is a security risk, I'd like for you to come," she walks over and hugs me. "It would be good for you to get out of the apartment, I'm sure you have to be going a little stir crazy in here. We're plan dinner outside if the weather is nice; I'm sure Teddy would enjoy playing in the grass."

"I don't want to impose-"

"You won't be," she assures me. "The bruises on your face should be gone by then so no one will know what happened. Make up any story you want as to how you know Christian and why you're in Seattle, just fill me in before dinner so I know what's going on. Dinner is at six, but come around five. I'll see you both then."

"I'm sorry about that, I'll call her and cancel when the time gets closer," I say to Christian once Grace leaves.

"No, I think you should come," he surprises me by saying.

"You do?"

"Mom's right, you're probably going stir crazy in here. I know I would be if I were stuck here, not able to leave for days on end."

"I'm fine really-"

"If Taylor says there isn't a risk, I'd like for you to come to dinner."

"Um…okay."

We just stand there staring at each other, neither of us saying a word. Teddy is content in my arms since he's upright and the medicine is still working to keep his fever at bay.

"I'll take Teddy back to the apartment," I say realizing we're still standing in the middle of Christian's room.

"Those bastards…they did that to you," he nods towards my ribs.

"They tried to get me to tell them where my dad and Teddy were," I shrug.

"Fuck Ana," he hisses.

"I got away at least," I remind him.

"They're never going to get to you again," he says although I'm not sure if he's trying to convince me or himself of that.

"We'll see," there's no point in arguing as I know I won't win.

"Never, Ana," he says firmly.

"Thank you…for letting Barney and Welch help me. I appreciate you getting involved when you didn't need to," I walk by him stopping to squeeze his arm hoping to show my gratitude before I head back into the other apartment.

That night is as bad as Grace said it would be; I ended up sleeping on the couch in the living room, sitting up with Teddy on my chest. Unfortunately he wouldn't stay asleep in the bouncy seat for more than an hour at a time, whereas if I held him he would sleep much longer. It was uncomfortable for me, but as long as Teddy wasn't in any pain it was worth it. My sleep was broken; I don't think I ever really fell into a deep sleep. I was so worried that Teddy would roll off of me or that I would slide down on the couch and hurt him.

I don't get very much done the next day; I swear I'm more like a walking zombie from the lack of sleep. The only good thing is that the medicine Grace gave Teddy seems to be helping and by noon he's starting to take more formula at each feedback which relieves me. He was eating so little that I was worried even though Grace told me not to worry as long as he was drinking the pedialyte. When he finally crashes, in the bouncy seat just as Grace predicted he would, I take a quick shower and also head to bed not caring how early it is.

Flashback (possible trigger warning)

"Tell us where he is," the last word is accompanied by another kick to my ribs.

"I…I don't know!" I scream for probably the hundredth time. I don't know why they won't believe me that I don't know where my dad took Teddy. "He didn't tell me where he was taking him!"

"You lying bitch!" He steps on my wrist, putting his entire weight on it until I scream and then he has the nerve to fucking laugh at me.

"We'll find him, we always do," he sneers. "No one can hide from us, not for long anyway."

"He's just a baby! Why can't you just leave him alone?"

"I don't give a fuck who is he, my orders are my orders girly. Now tell us where the fuck he is!"

The punch to my face has the entire room going black; my head bounces back against the hard floor. I can't move, I can't think. I feel them dragging me back to the pole; they tie me to it again but not before punching me in the stomach causing me to double over in pain. I scream out in pain but they just laugh, almost as if they get off on hurting me. Who the fuck does that?

"We can do this all day, bitch," the one promises.

"Tell us how to get in touch with dear old Daddy and maybe we'll go easy on you," the other suggests.

"I'm supposed to call him when I get to the first stop," I cringe as I tell them our plan. I need to do something, because if I have no doubt they're either going to kill me or torture me until there's nothing left.

"I knew we'd break you," one of them fucking laughs at me.

"What's his number?"

"I don't know," I sob.

"Fucking liar!" he kicks me repeatedly until I lay on the floor, in a ball trying to avoid his blows all the while my arms are tied behind my back around the cold metal pole.

"It's true," I pant no longer able to take a deep breath without pain. "The number's in my phone. If you get me my purse I'll give it to you."

I know they don't have my purse; I'm pretty sure that's why they opened the door when we were driving. I can't tell them the number even though I know it; they can't know that I know it. I need to convince them that they need to get my phone; even if it only buys me enough time to figure out something else. With some luck, maybe they'll both leave to go get it.

"Fuck!" The one screams.

"I'll go find it," the other one volunteers. Their voices become lower, I think they're maybe walking to the other side of the room.

"Don't have too much fun with her while I'm gone," I hear the other chuckle.

"Hey the boss said he didn't care what shape we kept her in," the other reminds him. "As soon as he gets that little bastard he's going to tell us to kill her anyway. Might as well have some fun with her while we have her."

"Save some for me."

End flashback (end possible trigger warning)

I wake up panting, searching the dark room still expecting to be in that filthy warehouse. I jump out of bed and check on Teddy who, thankfully, is sound asleep in the bouncy seat in the middle of the room. I grab the baby monitor and rush out to the balcony where the cool air hits me as soon as I take a deep breath. My ribs protest it, but breathing the cool air in that deep helps. I rest my arms against the cool railing and lower my head to them, slowly trying to rid myself of the memory of that day.

"Ana?"

Fuck…for the second time he's out here before me, seeing me like this. I liked it better when he showed up after I was already out there. Once I had rid myself of the effects of the nightmare, when I just needed to forget about everything going on for a little while. I hate that he's seeing me like this; it shouldn't matter but it does.

"I'm…fine," I say.

My body tenses when he places a hand on my lower back, but I don't push him away. I force myself to not think about that day, to not feel their touch on me when Christian starts to rub my back. The cool air on my skin keeps me in the present; it's a direct contrast to the damp, warm air that was in the warehouse. He doesn't say anything but slowly leads me back to the chair that I usually sit in when we're out here. He simply hands me a glass of bourbon, which I gratefully take; I feel him watching me as I take a drink.

"Okay?" he asks.

"Thank you," I nod.

He pulls his chair a little closer to me, but unlike last time he doesn't sit in the chair with me even though a part of me wishes he did. He takes the other glass and simply sits back in his chair, looking out at the skyline. I copy his move, slowly feeling the tension from the nightmare leave as the warmness of liquor spreads through me. Neither of us say anything, words aren't necessary. We stay out on the balcony, in the cool night air, until the sun begins to rise at which point we both simply get up and head back into the apartment. I have no idea how long we were out there but surprisingly I feel well rested and almost relaxed as I head into the apartment.

I check on Teddy even though the monitor shows he's still sound asleep, obviously catching up on the rest he lacked over the last day from his ear infection. I take a quick shower and just as I finish dressing Teddy wakes up. I have him changed, fed and playing in his seat just as Jason and Christian return from their run. As is their usual routine, they split up and head for the shower before returning to the kitchen for breakfast. I'm just about finished with Christian's breakfast when Jason rushes into the room and I can tell just by looking at him that's something wrong.

"What is it? Is it my Dad?"

"He's fine…at least as far as I know," he assures me.

"What is it Taylor?" Christian sets his phone down and looks up.

"Junior returned home late last night-"

"And? It's a day earlier but what's the big deal?"

"He's gone already."