A/N:
This chapter follows on from Chapter 4.
Please remember this is fiction and what Jane goes through in this chapter is not meant to be taken lightly. If anyone has suffered from a traumatic experience I'm not trying to make light of that time in your life.
There are a couple of instances of bad language and graphic scenes that are implied.
This is a really long chapter.
Thank you all for the reviews.
Chapter 7
They got a tip; that children as young as five were being kidnapped. For obvious reasons this was a difficult case for all of them especially, Jane, Kurt and Reade, who's first thought was of Sawyer, enough so each of them called Sarah throughout the day just to make sure the lively 11 year old was in fact safe and with her. In fact Sawyer was supposed to have a sleepover with his friends as part of the birthday celebrations for said friend but having her brother, Edgar and Jane all call her and ask her about her son scared her. She decided to keep Sawyer close to her and even though Sawyer hated he fact he couldn't go to his friend's party and sleepover he knew there was something going on as even though his mom was a worrywart, as his Uncle Kurt called her, he'd never seen her this freaked out before and for his Uncle, Aunt and Edgar to call it must have something to do with a case, a case with kids, he wasn't stupid. They all tried to keep details of cases away from their home but his friends would tell him some details from the news, especially since they found out who his Uncle was and the fact that Edgar was dating his mom. He stayed close to her throughout the day. They spent the day watching films and lounging on the sofa, he pretended not to notice the baseball bat that his mom kept by the couch.
The team, thanks to the brilliance of Patterson, got a possible address of where the missing kids could have been being kept. They all geared up and with additional back-up ready they all moved to the abandoned warehouse. It was dilapidated, it looked as though there was no one there and it hadn't been in use for a long time. They cautiously made their way into the building, Jane with Kurt and Zapata with Reade, while the back-up took the rear. The run down shell was just as bad from the inside. They carefully cleared each room. There were signs of some sort of usage of the place but there was no evidence of any kids. Reade signalled the others, he and Zapata found a door to the basement, and the blueprints had shown this so they were prepared for this. The back-up stayed upstairs and started to collect the evidence that could hopefully point them to the culprits of the kidnap ring. The four of them made their way down the stairs slowly, listening for anything that could let them know how many, if any people they would have to deal with. The basement wasn't in any better shape than the first floor, there was water dripping, it was dark and damp. They had to rely on the lights on their guns. They saw a few rats scurrying around; luckily none of them were unnerved by this. They cleared each room when they came to a door; again they found indications that there was some sort of activity here recently. They moved from room to room. They were in front of the last door; Reade was in front followed by Zapata with Jane and Kurt at the rear. Reade opened the door and went high and to the right while Zapata went low and to the left. Jane and Kurt quickly followed. They had hoped to find the kids there but unfortunately the room was empty just like the rest. However there were a couple of old mattresses on the floor and old food cartons, there was also a few drops of blood. They looked at each other each trying to hold in their feelings. Depressed was an understatement to how they were all feeling. They gathered the evidence and took it back so Patterson and her team could find any clues that could help them find the children. Time was running out. They called it a night when they'd been at the office for a while and Patterson couldn't give them any viable clues. They dropped Zapata off first then the three of them made their way back to Kurt's place; they all wanted to see Sarah and Sawyer. Kurt opened the door and they saw Sarah on the couch with Sawyer with his head in her lap fast asleep. It looked like they spent the day there. It didn't escape anyone's notice that Sarah had her hand on the baseball bat, a bat that was usually kept in Kurt's room. They all saw Sarah's relieved face when she saw them. Kurt went straight to her and kissed her cheek and hugged her and made room for Reade. Kurt then bent to run his hand through Sawyer's hair, which woke him up.
"Hey Uncle Kurt, did you catch the bad guys?"
"No, not this time but we're on the case and we'll get them!"
"I know you will."
Edgar was embracing Sarah, and then it was Jane's turn to comfort Sarah. Edgar had Sawyer on his lap and asking him about his day. It seemed as if Sawyer was going to fall asleep on Reade and he carried him to his bedroom after Jane ruffled Sawyer's hair in greeting. Reade tucked him in and read to him and stayed just staring at him long after he was asleep. Eventually he walked out back into the living room.
Kurt was on the coffee table facing Sarah and Jane was sitting next to her.
"He's out like a light!"
"Thanks for putting him to bed!"
"How was he when he couldn't go to the sleepover?" Reade asked
Sarah sighed.
"You know, he's smarter than he lets on. He was really disappointed, he's been talking about this party for weeks and when I told him there was a change of plan he just took it in his stride. He heard me talking to all three of you. He must have thought it was weird as you never call if you're at work and for all three of you to call it said something. He stayed close to me all day, not that we moved from the sofa much but he's at that age where he doesn't really want me to hug him all the time but today he must have sensed that I need to hold him. He also noticed the bat. He saw when I went into your room Kurt, he knows neither him nor me goes in there if your door is closed and you're not here, so when he saw me go in and come out with the bat he knew it was serious but he didn't ask, he was being so brave. I need to figure out how to make it up to him…"
"We'll figure it out!" Edgar said
"I take it, it was bad?"
"We can't really talk about it…" Kurt said
"I'm assuming it has something to do with kids though, from all your phone calls with me and the fact that you were anxious about Sawyer…"
None of the three said anything; the silence confirmed it for Sarah. She shed a couple of tears.
"Make sure you get the bastards!"
"We will!" Declared Kurt
"Reade do you want to stay the night?" Kurt asked
Sarah and Edgar looked at him as if he lost his mind, it took Reade a few seconds to decline the offer, sleeping with his girlfriend who just happened to be his boss' sister in his boss' place just seemed a little weird to him. Sarah seemed to agree thankfully. Sarah saw Reade out; Jane and Kurt pretended not to notice the hugging and kissing that was going on by the door.
Sarah closed and locked the door, double checking all the locks. She then hugged Kurt tightly.
"Thanks big brother, I know there wasn't any risk because if there was you would have sent a team of agents to protect us but I don't think having Sawyer on a sleepover would have been comforting for any of us tonight!"
Sarah then turned to Jane and grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug.
"Thank you so much for loving my son!"
"Any time!"
"I'm just going to kiss Sawyer goodnight and maybe stare at him for a while before I head to bed!"
Kurt and Jane just smiled at her and watched her enter Sawyer's room.
"I'll just get my stuff and you can have the bedroom."
"Kurt, would you have honestly been alright with Reade staying in Sarah's room tonight?"
Kurt sighed.
"I…usually no, but there was special circumstances today. I know it doesn't make any sense them not staying here together but I'm his boss and she's my sister, I think I'm allowed for a little freak out if he stays under my roof. I think all three of us would be weirded out."
"What about when they get married, you know that's looking like a real possibility?"
"It will still be weird but at least there will be no reason for them to stay here as they'll have their own place!"
"What about if you have to leave this place for some reason, would you stay at their place?"
"Nope, that's why they have hotels!"
Jane shook her head.
"I didn't say it made any sense, it's just the way it is! Give me five minutes!"
Before he could move Jane kissed his cheek.
"What was that for?"
"For being a sweet big brother, even though you would have been uncomfortable you offered to let Reade stay here…"
"Sarah and Sawyer may have needed him and he may have needed them, I'm not going to keep them apart because of my weirdness not after a day like today!"
"I know that's why you're a great big brother!"
A few minutes later Kurt came out in his pyjamas with his pillow and blanket, Jane then went into the room and closed the door. She changed into the shirt he left for her on the bed and got under the covers and tried to sleep but it was elusive, after an hour she gave up hope of falling asleep so she picked up her pillow and duvet and carried it to the living room, she settled into an arm chair facing Kurt and managed to doze off for a while. Kurt woke up when he felt the blanket being lifted up; when he opened his eyes he made out his nephew trying to get under the covers next to him. He made it easier for him by lifting the blanket up, Sawyer got comfortable and rested his head on his Uncle's chest, Kurt's arm went around Sawyer's shoulders to keep him in place. Sarah kept on waking up and had to check on her son each and every time. It was probably the fourth time when she got up and went to check on him and nearly had a heart attack when she realised he wasn't there. His covers were thrown to one side, the only thing that kept her from screaming was the fact that she'd seen this before. Whenever Sawyer had a nightmare, he used to climb into her bed but now he was of an age where he preferred his big bad FBI Uncle to protect him from his night terrors and climbed into Kurt's bed, she was so glad that he didn't mind. She headed to the living room and was not surprised to see that her pride and joy was curled up with her brother on the sofa, what she was shocked to see was Jane in the arm chair covered in her comforter sleeping at an awkward angle. Sarah went back to her own room and decided to join the rest of the family; she got her bed covers and pillow and got comfy in the other arm chair.
Kurt woke up, surprised that he slept soundly all night, Sawyer didn't disturb him that much, and in fact it was probably due to Sawyer that he slept well. He had his nephew literally by his side for the majority of the night so he knew he was safe. He didn't want to camp out in the boy's bedroom as that may freak him out. As he glanced around the room he was surprised to see Jane in the arm chair opposite him, sleeping at an awkward angle. He got up, managing not to wake the youngest person in the room only to find his sister in the other arm chair. He tucked Sawyer back under the covers and he snuggled back into the sofa. Jane and Sarah woke up at the same time and all three wondered into the kitchen to talk.
"So…?" Kurt began
"I couldn't sleep and I thought it would be better if I was closer to you…" stated Jane
"I nearly freaked out when I went to check on Sawyer and found he wasn't there, I nearly screamed but thankfully I checked to see if he was with you and he was, I noticed Jane and thought I should join the party."
"Huh, I didn't hear Sawyer at all, he wasn't there when I went to the living room, good luck when he's a teenager and sneaks out!" said Jane
Both Sarah and Kurt shot her a look.
"Joke!"
"You two go and get ready and I'll start breakfast."
The two went to get ready for the day. By the time they were ready Sawyer was up. They were all sitting around the table as Kurt was dishing up hot chocolate chip pancakes. They all took some and added extras if they wanted it, before Kurt could eat his cell began to ring, he excused himself to take the call. Jane just sat there; she couldn't bring herself to eat the delicious food in front of her. Kurt came back 15 minutes later and was ready to leave straight away. Jane followed him.
It was nearly two hours later that Kurt got a call from his sister.
"Hey Sis, is everything ok?"
"Uncle Kurt, it's me Sawyer."
Kurt paused, his nephew never called him at work.
"Hey buddy! Is everything ok? Are you ok? Is your mom ok? Are you calling to say you don't want sweetcorn on your pizza?"
"I'll always want sweetcorn on pizza! We're fine Uncle Kurt. How's Aunt Jane?"
Kurt breathed a sigh of relief at the coded message that signified that everything was fine.
"Jane? She's fine, why?"
"Well, she was a little sad at breakfast. She just stared at her plate but she never ate one bite or had any coffee. Are you sure she's ok? She loves your pancakes as much as I do but she just looked at them."
"I'm sure she's fine, maybe she was still tired, I don't think any of us slept as well as we usually do…"
"Okaaaay. You'll look after her won't you?"
"Of course I will. Thanks for letting me know. Take care of your mom ok?"
"Of course! Take care Uncle Kurt!"
"You too, bye buddy."
Kurt was confused by the call but he put it out of his head for the moment, they were going through some of the evidence from the warehouse, it looked like it was going to be a long day. They knew they had a limited amount of time before those children were lost to them. One of the items of evidence was an empty vial and when Patterson had finished with it she was pale. She went to Weller's office and didn't even knock, she was so agitated.
Kurt looked up in surprise, even Zapata knocked before she entered, granted she didn't wait for a reply she just barged in but no one ever just walked in then he saw Patterson as white as her lab coat, this was not a good sign. She held her tablet out to him and he took it.
"What am I looking at?"
"The results of the contents of the vial you found in the basement…"
"I'm not a chemist; you'll need to break it down for me…"
"It's the same drug that was used on Jane." Whispered Patterson
Kurt just stared at the tablet and lifted his head slowly to look at the computer whiz in front of him.
"What?"
"It was the same drug that wiped all of Jane's memories."
"Why would they use that on kids?"
Patterson shrugged her shoulders as a few tears rolled down her face.
They told the rest of the team, Jane paled when she heard the news, Reade and Zapata were not much better.
They worked long hours into the night. It was nearly midnight when Kurt realised that he didn't stop for lunch or dinner and Jane had been with him and therefore she didn't stop either. He had just sent Reade and Zapata home. He and Jane were getting ready to head home when Jane spoke.
"Kurt, would you mind if I went back to my place? Alone?"
"Is everything ok? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I just need some time to myself."
"Ok, but I'm driving you there."
"Fine! But I could walk you know!"
"Not going to happen on my watch!"
He drove her back to her place and as he kissed her cheek he felt her flinch away.
"Are you sure everything is ok?"
"Yeah, I'm just really tired, I'm ready to crash, I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'll have breakfast ready for the team tomorrow!"
Jane nodded her head and left the car. Kurt watched her enter her place.
The next morning Kurt, as promised, had breakfast for the team. He noticed that Jane nursed a coffee for an hour and it took her a couple of hours to finish a chocolate muffin. It was another day of going through leads that led nowhere. They were painstakingly going through each and every piece of evidence.
"I need to stop it!" whispered Jane
Patterson heard Jane mutter something but didn't catch what she said. Kurt was a little concerned about Jane, she seemed a little disconnected from them but he couldn't put his finger on specifically what was on his mind. Patterson's tablet started to beep something before he could carry on with his thoughts.
"Guys, we have a connection. One of the chemical components that make ZIP was bought by one Dr Silas Soames…"
"How many components are needed to make the drug?" asked Reade
"Four major ones that are difficult to come by and a few minor ones that you can get at your local drug store!" stated Patterson
"Well, that's not exactly a smoking gun though!" Zapata said
"You're right but Dr Soames' sister, sister-in-law and cousin-in-law, is that thing? You know what I mean, anyway these people all seem to have the same storage locker and seeing that they all live in other states and haven't visited New York for at least a couple of years, so I think the smoking gun is in the locker. Also, there's the interesting fact that he was wired $50 000 four times in the last 18 months and these payments seem to coincide with the kidnappings."
"I've heard enough! Gear up!" declared Kurt
They were in the SUV, all four of them, Patterson was on the comms.
"Hey guys, just a heads up, I found some medical reports from Emergency…"
"How did you get those?" asked Zapata
"I just did a search for any Soames' in the last 18 months and found that one Belinda Soames was treated at Emergency two times in the time frame from the same address …"
"What was she treated for?" asked Kurt
"Well, officially she fell down the stairs twice…"
"But…?" Reade asked
"But both the doctors thought each incident was the result of domestic violence but Mrs Soames wouldn't answer any questions and didn't want to speak to the police so they had to release her."
"Are there any kids?" whispered Jane
There was silence until Patterson could get them the information.
"Yeah, there are two, a boy and girl, 12 and 7 respectively… They've both missed some school recently and I'm not talking about a day here or there, I'm talking about a week at a time, enough time for any bruises to fade I'm assuming. I think I'm going to be sick. At least the school was concerned, they started to get the relevant agencies involved. They haven't been in school since Thursday. I have a bad feeling about this."
"We're here, stay on the line." Kurt said
They exited the SUV, Kurt and Jane taking the front, while Reade and Zapata went to the rear. At the same time they all entered the house. They cleared the first and second floors systematically. It was empty. In the kitchen they noticed the door, all four stood by the door, Kurt counted down from three and on one they opened the door and went through, they rushed down the stairs only to stop at what they saw. There was a stained mattress in the corner, a shackle that had a short chain that was attached to the wall, there was also a table with a belt and a pair of shoes, all the innocent looking items had drops of blood on them. Rats also occupied the basement as well.
"Guys? Guys? Talk to me. I don't like the silence!"
"Patterson, get a forensic team out here ASAP!"
"On it! What did you find? The team's eta is 15 minutes."
"I think I'm going to be sick!" declared Reade
Reade rushed back up the stairs and out of the house, they could hear him retching outside.
"Why is Reade being sick?" asked a quieter Patterson
"It's something from a horror film." Said Zapata
"I need to stop it, I need to stop it, I need to stop it…" Jane said over and over
"We will! We're on the right track!" said Kurt
After the forensic team had collected all the evidence they could Kurt and the rest of the team went over the house once again. They started in the kid's rooms. First the girl's, it was a nice room for a young girl, light yellow with white furniture. It looked nice but there was a slight smell of urine in the air. When Zapata pulled the covers back they saw the stains on the sheets and when these were pulled off they saw the other stains. The wardrobe was full of nice clothes and she had a laptop and the latest cell, better than theirs, but that didn't make up for any of the tortures she endured in her short life. They moved onto the boy's room and Kurt started to search the chest of drawers and was shocked by what he found. He took out the kitchen knife that was kept under some underwear. He knew what it was for and the fact that the boy was only a year older than Sawyer shook him to the core. Someone that young shouldn't even contemplate let alone know how to take their life. He must have stood there for a few minutes because Jane was by his side touching his arm to get his attention.
"Kurt?" asked Jane
He turned around with the knife in his hand. The others just looked at him.
"There's some dried blood on the blade." Stated Kurt
"Dried blood on what?" asked Patterson who couldn't see what Kurt was holding.
"The knife Weller found in the son's drawer." Said a solemn Reade
Weller and Jane just looked at each other, each thinking of the 11 year old that they would be going home to at some point. Jane took Kurt's free hand in hers and he squeezed it in return. Zapata was trying to comfort Reade.
They feared the worse, that Soames' took his wife and kids somewhere, they hoped they'd be in time.
"Maybe the mom took off with them." Patterson said
"Let's hope, the other scenario is too depressing." Zapata said
They made their way back to the office after disconnecting from Patterson. The ride back was silent, each occupant was thinking of those two kids and their mom.
"They're safe and sound somewhere, their mom got them the hell out of there…"
"BULLSHIT! We're all thinking the same thing! He's got his wife and kids somewhere and making their life even more of a misery than he's done so far!"
"We'll find them!" declared Zapata
"Yeah right! After they've endured how many beatings? Will all of three of them still be alive when we find them? If by some miracle they're all alive will they want to live after suffering? You're the FBI for goodness sakes; you should have found them already! What's taking so long?" said Jane
"WE WILL FIND THEM…!" shouted Zapata
"ENOUGH!" Kurt shouted
They pulled into the parking garage of the office. The silence in the SUV was palpable.
"Jane, why don't you go and take a break, go to the gym and punch the bag or something, we're all frustrated by the fact that we haven't found any of the kids…just go and release some of that tension!"
"Fine!"
Jane slipped out, slammed the door shut and headed for the stairs without a backwards glance.
"How come she gets time off? We're all working our butts off… why does she get special treatment? Is it because she's the boss' girlfriend?" Zapata started
"Tasha…" Reade began
"No Jane doesn't get special treatment because she's my girlfriend, it may have something to do with the fact that out of the four of us she's the one that would know exactly how those kids and their mom are feeling if Soames has them! Have you forgotten what we found in that basement?"
"Oh…"
"Exactly!" stated Kurt "We need all hands on deck and if Jane needs some time to vent her frustrations before she comes back to the table then so be it! She's been wound up recently, this may help."
The three of them left the garage and took the elevator to their floor and not surprisingly Jane was nowhere to be found. They went in search of Patterson to give her more details of the search even though she heard all their conversations.
It was hours later when Reade was tired with the side glances his boss kept on giving the empty desk.
"I'm going to go and get Jane!" Reade declared
He left before Kurt could say anything. He made his way to the gym and was shocked by what he saw. Jane was literally dripping with sweat. She was soaked to the skin but she didn't show any sign of stopping. He took his cell out and rang hers, she ignored it. She ignored the ringing and the flashing lights. He took the long way to her and talked to her so he didn't startle her. She couldn't have missed him but she was in a zone he didn't realise this so when the next thing he knew she was punching him, he stumbled back, he managed to block a couple of blows to his face but one connected. It must have been that physical contact that brought her out of wherever she was. It was as if she was seeing him for the first time and she was confused why he was there.
"Reade?"
"Jabe!"
It came out like that as Reade was holding his nose and trying to stop the nose bleed.
"I'm so sorry!"
Jane took a step closer to him to help but he held up a hand to stop her.
"We beed you back ib the bullpeb, cleab up!"
Weller and Zapata raised their eyebrows when they saw him walk back into the bullpen with blood on his shirt and tissue to nose.
"I mabe the mistabe of getting too close to Jabe when she was punching the bag!"
Zapata gave him a look of disbelief but for once didn't question him and left. Weller came and stood in front of him.
"You never make the mistake of getting too close to Jane when she's training. You're the cautious one! What really happened?"
Reade had his mouth open to answer when several things happened at once. Zapata entered with an ice pack and threw it at him. Jane entered the bullpen and looked like she wanted to talk to Reade but he pretended not to notice. Patterson came running in with her tablet.
"I think we have them!"
"Who Soames?" asked Zapata
"Yeah, no, the ones who kidnap the children. I was able to hack into his emails. He receives these cryptic emails a week before each kidnapping spree! I managed to identify and backtrack from the emails and other tech speak that you probably don't want to hear right now but…there's a shell company that's part of another shell company…it has to be them, it had to!"
"Give us the information and we'll start going through it. At least if we can dismiss some properties it will narrow it down for us!" stated Kurt
Patterson gave them a list of companies to check out. All five got down to work. Patterson chose to stay in the bullpen instead of going back to her lab. After a few hours they managed to eliminate a good number of properties associated with the shell companies.
It was late, after midnight, they were all tired. Patterson had drool down her chin from falling asleep in front of the computer. Reade was trying hard to stay awake but was failing, Zapata hadn't moved in ten minutes. Kurt looked at Jane and heard her mutter.
"I will stop it!"
"RIGHT! We're all heading home to catch a few hours rest, that's an order!"
Reade took Patterson and Zapata home and Kurt took Jane back to her place, he was worried about her.
"Jane I'm staying at your place! I'm worried about you!"
"I'm fine Kurt but if you want to sleep on the sofa instead of your comfy bed then that's your choice!"
They arrived at her place in no time as there wasn't any traffic. He made her some toast, she always had bread and peanut butter in stock. He made sure she ate even though she said she wasn't hungry. That turned out to be a mistake, as soon as she finished the first slice of toast, 15 minutes after it was made, it was painful to watch her eat, it seemed as if each mouthful was a struggle, she paled and rushed to the bathroom where she threw up the toast and hot chocolate she drank. He was right behind her and he kept her hair out of face and rubbed her back with his other hand. Once she was finished he helped her clean up.
"I'm sorry Jane. I should have listened to you!"
"It doesn't matter, you were being nice. I think I'll head to bed now."
"I'll be on the sofa."
"Goodnight!"
"Night Jane."
The next morning Kurt didn't make the same mistake again. He made breakfast and didn't say anything when Jane said she wasn't hungry. He ate his toast and cleared up the rest. He kept an eye on Jane throughout the day. She didn't eat or drink anything and lunch and dinner had both come and gone, he wanted to talk to Borden about Jane but just then Patterson declared she found the warehouse where the kids were being kept.
"How do we know this is the right one?" Reade asked
Patterson looked at him in surprise.
"This has to be the one. There was a list of address connected to the person/ persons emailing Soames and we've eliminated those properties that are too small, too centrally located, it has to be this one!"
"That's good enough for me. GEAR UP!" declared Kurt
It was close to nine o'clock, they had the cover of night to help them. Patterson couldn't see any security cameras as they would look to conspicuous on a rundown building. They took the building Kurt and Jane leading one team in the front while Zapata and Reade led the second in the back. The teams cleared the first floor while the four of them started to make their way down to the basement. They heard movement and slowly walked towards the only door. Kurt had his hand on the doorknob and turned it and pushed the door open slowly. What they saw was a shock. There was a young girl around 12 years old tied to a chair with a needle to her throat held by a man standing behind her. She had tears running down her face. They noticed there were about four other kids in the corner, huddled together on a mattress. They were dirty and crying.
"Put your guns down or the girl won't remember her own name ever again!"
The four of them were calculating the possible outcomes. There were an additional two guys in the room and it seemed as if they were unarmed which was a blessing. They probably assumed that they wouldn't need any fire power against the kids as they had their fists. From a quick glance a few of the kids had visible bruises. The benefit from working as a team for so long was the fact that they didn't need words to communicate, they knew Jane would take care of the imminent threat to the girl. Kurt, Reade and Zapata slowly put their guns on the floor. Jane kept hers trained on the man behind the girl.
"Jane!" Kurt said
"Close your eyes!" Jane said
The two other guys were coming closer to get their guns, as soon as the girl closed her eyes Jane shot the guy behind the girl, never once taking her eyes of the girl. Then things moved quickly. The other children were screaming. The two other guys were still going after the guns, they were not the smartest, and when Kurt and Zapata went had to hand with them. Reade made sure he was between them and the other kids. One of the guys managed to back hand Zapata and she went flying into a wall and was out for a few seconds. Jane went after the guy who was intent on finishing Zapata. Kurt was causing as much pain as he could to 'his' guy. Two down and one to go. They were all mesmerized by the fight that was going on between Jane and the remaining man. Zapata was up again and went to untie the girl.
"That's Soames!" said Zapata
Jane saw red and thought of his wife and kids and that basement. She thought of that knife that his son kept the knife with dried blood on it. She kept on seeing those things. She couldn't stop hitting him, she didn't want to stop. He had some skills but she was making more contact than he was.
"Jane, end it now!" Kurt ordered
Jane punched upwards towards his chin and his head snapped back and he fell to the floor. The teams that were above made their way to the basement in time to remove the three men. The next thing Jane knew she was being hugged by the girl that was tied to the chair. Jane patted her hair awkwardly and looked over the girl's shoulder to see that Weller had two kids in his arms and Reade and Zapata each had one around their waist.
The kids were checked out by the emergency services. They were dehydrated and malnourished. It turned out that the drug was going to be used to erase their memory so they could be adopted overseas. The children refused to leave the team until their parents arrived. Patterson took a picture, there were two gurneys, Kurt and Jane on one with three kids and Reade and Zapata on the other with the other two kids. The reunion between parents and kids was so emotional that no one had a dry eye. Once the kids were taken to the hospital after hugging the team several times; the team helped collect evidence they were at it for at least 45 minutes.
"At least we stopped them!" stated Zapata
Kurt whirled around to face her and grabbed her arms tightly.
"What did you just say?"
"Weller! What the hell?" Zapata asked
"ZAPATA, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Kurt asked again
"Weller, you're hurting her, let her go!" Reade said
"Tasha, what did you say?" Kurt begged
Something wasn't right both Zapata and Reade knew it but they couldn't figure out what the problem was.
"I…I said 'at least we stopped them'!"
Kurt let her go and looked around but he couldn't find what he was looking for.
"PATTERSON!?"
They saw the blond look up in confusion at the shout.
"What?"
"Ping Jane's cell. NOW!" Kurt ordered
Patterson knew not to mess with that tone and began typing something on her tablet.
"She's at the office, your office specifically!"
Patterson looked up in confusion.
"Why did she leave? Why didn't she let anyone know? How did she get back so quickly?"
The next thing she knew they were all running towards their SUV and she followed and managed to get in just before it started and they were on their way back to the office.
"Weller, what's going on?" Patterson asked
Kurt remained silent, he was too busy trying to make it back to the office in the shortest time and he had the sirens on. They could all tell that he was scared or terrified seemed more apt.
They got the office and Kurt left the SUV and ran towards the elevator, the three of them followed him. Luckily Patterson had the forethought to have someone waiting in front to take care of the vehicle. They piled onto the lift and it seemed to take forever to get to their floor. As soon as it stopped Kurt rushed to his office, he wished he didn't delete the app that connected the cameras in his office to his cell, he opened his office door and switched his desk lamp on, and he didn't want to use the overhead light lest he frighten Jane. He could make her out, she was sitting in between the wall and the couch, she was on the floor, her knees to her chest and she had a gun in her hands. The sight scared him silly.
"I need to stop it. I need to stop it. I need to stop it. I need to stop it…"
Jane kept on chanting the same thing over and over. Kurt slowly made his way to her careful not to startle her. Eventually he was kneeling in front of her.
"Jane. Are you ok?" whispered Kurt
"I need to stop it, I need to stop it…"
"Jane what do you need to stop?" Kurt tried
"I have to stop everything!"
"Can you be a little more specific?"
"I need to stop everything!"
"Why?" Kurt tried again
"If I stop this then he can't hurt me anymore!"
"Who's he?" Kurt asked, he had a feeling he knew but he prayed he was wrong
"Keaton!"
"He can't hurt you anymore!"
"Yes he can! As long as I'm alive he can!"
"Jane you're fine. You escaped, he can't hurt you anymore!"
"Yes he can. He hates me. I went to my happy place every time he touched me. That's the only thing that kept me sane."
"Where's your happy place?"
"In my mind, somewhere where he can't touch me!"
"What's in your happy place?"
"You!"
"I'm here now Jane!"
"Are you? Or is this my happy place. If I end it then he can never hurt me again. He can never hurt you again. I will not let him hurt you!"
"How can he hurt me?"
"If he takes me again, I couldn't bare it if he used me to get to you. You deserve to be happy…"
"You make me happy!"
"I just bring pain to everyone I care about. I need to stop it…"
They watched as Jane brought the gun up, Kurt put his hands on her arms and he felt her shudder. He slowly moved his hands down to hers and when his met the gun he firmly took it from her grasp and held it backwards and he felt someone take it from him. He let out a breath. She wasn't focussing on him even though he was right in front of her. He took his bullet proof vest off and managed to pull Jane forward a little and he stepped behind her and sat down, he pulled her towards his chest. He had a leg stretched out on either side of her. He wrapped both arms around her, one around her upper chest the other around her waist. He held her tightly to him. He kept on talking to her. The others were staring in shock. Reade was the first to snap out of it. He took the blanket and placed it around the both of them.
"Jane, talk to me, tell me about your happy place." asked Kurt
He had his head by the side of hers.
"What do you want to know?" Jane asked quietly
Even though Jane was talking quietly everyone heard what she was saying, the others were just quiet and still in shock by what almost happened.
"Tell me everything!"
"Well we're married, we have a four year old daughter and I'm pregnant with twin girls!"
"Wow, that's a lot to take in. What type of father am I?"
"You were happy when I told you I thought I was pregnant. You were incredibly sweet; you went out right there and then and bought six different pregnancy tests. You wanted to hold the sticks for me as I peed but I drew the line at that. You stayed in the bathroom with me though…"
Kurt chuckled at that.
"That's good to hear. Where were Sarah and Sawyer? Spending the night at Reade's?"
"No, they lived with him since they got married a few years earlier. Sawyer was so happy when they got married I didn't think I would ever see him happier but when Reade adopted him I was proven wrong. Sawyer loved calling him 'dad' at every opportunity. Reade loved it as well!"
"That's great to hear! So was I with you with every step of the pregnancy?"
"You were very attentive. You came to every appointment if you were free. You missed the first one but that wasn't your fault. Although I thought I was going to have to kill you!"
Jane rested her head against his left arm and Kurt rested his against hers, he wanted as much body contact as possible.
"Why? What did I do?"
"Well, I always thought that you would love any child we would have…"
"I would!"
"Yeah, that's not the impression you gave when we went to find out the sex of the baby!"
"What did I do?"
"Well as soon as we were told that we were going to have a daughter you were silent. I mean not even one word. We went back home and all the way back you didn't say one word. I didn't realise that you wanted a son so badly!"
"I have to admit that doesn't sound like me. Our child, half you half me would be loved regardless if they were a boy or a girl…"
"Well before I could knock some sense into you, thankfully I didn't get to it…"
"Why?"
"Well, you went to your laptop typed and printed something off. You brought it to me and I was fuming. I was going to kill you slowly and painfully when you shoved a pen in my face!"
"Why?"
"You wanted me to sign the paper!"
"What did it say?"
"It took a few seconds for the anger to disappear. I read the paper and I fell in love with you all over again!"
"What did I type?"
"It was a contract of sorts!"
"Contract? What were the terms?"
"Well, if I signed it I would have to uphold certain things…"
"What things?"
"1. Our daughter wouldn't be allowed to date until she was 20.
2. Our daughter wouldn't be allowed to have a cell until she was 18.
3. Our daughter could only wear skirts and shorts which were knee length or longer. She would also not be allowed to wear any tops that showed her midriff.
4. Our daughter wouldn't wear a bikini until she moved out of the house.
5. Our daughter couldn't be a cheerleader as the uniform contradicts the 'skirt rule' as in number 3.
6. I and Zapata have to teach our daughter all the martial art skills that we possess.
7. I have to teach our daughter all the languages I know.
8. I have to ensure that our daughter doesn't give you the puppy dog eyes when she wants something.
9. Our daughter is not allowed to drive until she's at least 18 and only on the condition that Zapata is not the one that teaches her.
10. Our daughter is not allowed to get a tattoo until she moves out and if she ever does I'm never to ever tell you!"
"They seem like suitable conditions!"
"Oh please! I laughed in your face and pulled you down for a kiss."
"Did you ever sign it?"
Kurt loved the sound of this world and wish it was in fact their reality.
"Of course not, I screwed it up and threw it away!"
"Just like that?"
"Well later on I may have gone through the bin and took it out and took a photo of it and sent it to Sarah, Zapata and Patterson…"
"Oh god!"
"Yep, they made your life a misery!"
"Why would you do that?"
"Because you needed to see how insane you were being! Plus it was funny. You were freaking out. It also showed me how much you cared about our daughter, you already put a lot of thought into that list, granted it sounded a bit antiquated but I knew there was no way you would implement any of those conditions apart from the fighting and language ones!"
"So the rest of the pregnancy was fine?"
"Yeah, I had the usual cravings; you went out at 3 am to buy me stuff. I didn't want to wake you but you caught me just as I was about to leave to go to the shops, oh my, I don't think I ever saw you that mad before. I was trying to help. You had a long and tiring day and I didn't want to disturb you…"
"Damn straight! It's my job to take care of you! I want to go on the late night or early morning craving runs!"
"That's what you said! You also said the same thing to Sarah!"
"Sarah was pregnant again?"
"Yeah, she and Reade were so happy their son was born a couple of months after our daughter. If you thought they were happy, Sawyer was over the moon at being a big brother."
"I bet he was!"
"We were all concerned that he may feel left out with both of us having new-borns at the same time but he loved it. You and Reade spent a lot of time with him so he knew he was still loved. He loved the babies a little too much!"
"What do you mean?"
"Well right from the start they both loved him. They would fall asleep straight away for him. We were all shocked."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, we were all happy that he bonded with both of them but he'd rather spend time with them then go out with his friends. We were all concerned and we talked to him about it."
"What did he say?"
"He said he wanted to spend as much time with them because he wouldn't always be there for them, then he mentioned the 'c' word!"
"What 'c' word?"
"College! He said there were only a few more years before he left and he wanted to make sure that they knew he did love them and didn't just leave them! I swear there wasn't a dry eye when he finished."
"Wow!"
"Yeah! Zapata wasn't happy with the pregnancies though!"
"Why?"
"Well there were a few reasons. First of all you, Reade and Borden were driving me, Sarah and Patterson nuts respectively!"
"Patterson?"
"Yep I had another month left when she found out she was expecting as well! All of you were being so overprotective that she became our dealer!"
"What contraband did she get you?"
"Whatever we wanted! You only 'allowed' me one bar of chocolate a day and a packet of chips every other day. You didn't allow me to have any fast food…well at least that's what you thought! Zapata was an angel! She managed to get the greasiest burger and fries delivered, oh and the pizza with triple cheese mmmmmm but I have to say the fried chicken was my favourite and our baby daughter loved every single bite! You never found out until now. She kept a stash of chocolate and chips in her desk drawer and I was allowed, no ordered to raid it whenever I wanted. Sarah had it much easier as she didn't work with Reade but Zapata took care of her as well! Every Monday Sarah received a delivery of chocolate and chips. Zapata also created an account for Sarah with a delivery company and Sarah had to use it even though Zapata paid for everything, Sarah wasn't too happy about that but if she didn't then Zapata would tell Reade that she was eating the food anyway and he would be on her case anyway, so whenever your sister had a craving for a 'banned' food according to her husband, she ordered it and ate it at work! It was easier with Patterson as Borden was with patients at certain times so all the deliveries were timed when he was busy."
"Are you telling me that neither I nor Reade noticed all these take away deliveries?"
"Well as Zapata had more experience since you went all 'nuts', she had everyone in the office in on it. The food came in boxes that looked like stock…"
"Oh and I suppose we didn't notice the smell?"
"Well when some office staff order in the same food you would smell theirs not Patterson's!"
"Huh!"
"Yep! Zapata had our backs and we were eternally grateful!"
"Although, I think we freaked her out…"
"How so?"
"Well, right from the time we announced that we were expecting, or even before, you seemed to be out of sorts. We didn't realise that she was that seriously concerned. She cornered you as soon as we told everyone about the baby. She was worried that there was something wrong with me and or the baby and it was playing on your mind…"
"What was the issue?"
"Well I wish I could have seen her face when you told her, you didn't want to but she was really worried…"
"Told her what?"
"That I literally couldn't keep my hands off of you!"
"WHAT?!"
"You were 'out of sorts' because I kept you up most of the night as I couldn't get enough of you. I was insatiable!"
"Really?"
"Hmmm! It was supposed to start in the second trimester but it started straight away for us. At first it was from when we got home to the early morning then it escalated to several times in the morning before work as well. One time we were running late and when we arrived Zapata had a huge smirk on her face, then she said in front of everyone 'Weller, you're going to have a little one to dress soon, it would be good if you could dress yourself by the time she arrives!' at your confused look she told you that your shirt was inside out! From the second trimester onwards we were late a few times a week. We made up the time each day but we would blush bright red when we arrived. It was so embarrassing that everyone knew what we'd been up to. Reade would have to meet Sarah during the day if he was free but his nights were really busy! Borden and Patterson had no shame! She would drag him into any cupboard to have her way with him. You caught them a few times exiting the cupboards but you pretended you didn't see anything!"
"Ok, I really don't need to know about everyone's sex life, especially my sister's, thank you very much!"
"Well then you, Reade and Borden really put your foot in it!"
"What did we do?" Kurt asked wearily
"Well, Zapata was ill one day and all three of you saw her running to the bathroom and she threw up…"
"Ok and?"
"Well she was seeing this really great guy and you three got mad on her behalf and assumed, wrongly I may add, that she was pregnant!"
"Uh-oh!"
"Yep, so you three ordered the guy into your office, he was part of the accounting team, and threatened him that he better be a decent father to the kid!"
"Zapata didn't try and kill us?"
"She was livid; she had to take several pregnancy tests in front of the guy, who is now her fiancé, before he believed that she wasn't pregnant! She played the long game, she thought the fear that you three had of what she may do was better than anything that she could come up with!"
"Remind me never to mess with her! So what's our daughter like? What did we name her?"
"Emilia is a daddy's girl through and through! She adores you as much as you adore her! You can do no wrong; it's so sweet to watch. When she sleeps on your chest it's the most adorable thing. You used to talk to my stomach every day. You would kiss it in the morning and evening. You read her stories when she was still inside. Even when she was born you read to her. She couldn't understand any of what you were saying but she recognised your voice. She's my co-conspirator, when you're going to work late I get her to bring you something to eat and you eat it in front of her under her watchful gaze, she refuses to leave until you've cleaned your plate. It's great having a day care in the building. You always check her wardrobe when she has a nightmare and under her bed. Even though you never find anything she knows that you're going to bring her to our room. She's the spitting image of me but personality wise, she's all you! She's stubborn! She'll get this look on her face; it's a mirror image of yours. It's funny when you two are trying to get your own way…"
"Who wins?"
"Seriously? Emmy of course! She just looks at you with those big green eyes and you cave! Thankfully she isn't using her power for evil yet, heaven help us when she's a teenager! She's just started to tear up as well, I'm wondering if Zapata had anything to do with that."
"Are the twins ok?"
"Yes, we were shocked when we found out it was twins, you said you were outnumbered by girls and it wasn't fair! You were joking; you said it with a huge smile on your face. I remembered after Emmy was born, you were so caring. You never sat still throughout your paternity leave, you were so attentive. After I got the go-ahead after the six-week check-up I felt so unattractive but you never looked at me differently, you still had the same look in your eye when you looked at me. It made me feel so loved. You still cuddled me every night but you wouldn't take it any further. I had to jump you a week later as I couldn't wait for us to be intimate again. The reverence you showed my body that night was amazing, I've never felt so loved. I was so lucky that you loved me." Jane said sadly
"What about your other happy place?" Kurt asked
"You mean this one?"
"Yeah."
"What about it?"
"Well, what makes it a happy place?"
"It's real. I can see us getting married and having kids one day, even though we haven't gone on a date yet!"
"Why do you say it like it's a bad thing?"
"I can't be responsible for you losing someone else that you love…"
"What do you mean?"
"When we marry, if we're lucky and we're blessed with kids, he'll use them against you. Do you really think he'll leave me alone? He'll wait. He'll always be after me. He could use our kids against you. I'm not going to sit back and wait for him to take our kids. It would kill both of us. So if I end it now then you'll be spared the heartache of losing a child…"
"Jane…" Kurt said in an anguished voice
He had tears rolling down his cheeks. The despair in her voice was his undoing. She thought about it in detail. The life that they had in the other reality sounded so nice, he wanted it but he also knew what she said was the truth; Keaton would never leave her alone. He wasn't about to let her leave him. They would fight Keaton. Jane fell into a fitful sleep. He didn't remove his arms from her at all.
It must have been hours later when he heard her raspy voice.
"Weller?"
"Hmm?"
"Why is everyone asleep on the floor in your office?"
"What do you remember?"
"We found the kids…I shot a guy I think…and I had a nice dream…"
"What was the dream about?"
"Erm…us." Jane whispered
"You mean you, me, Emmy and the impending twins?"
Jane gasped in shock.
"How do you know about that? I dreamt of being in your arms all night, I assume it wasn't a dream then?"
"Jane I want you, us to talk to Borden…"
"Why?" Jane asked wearily
"We need to talk about the last few days…"
"What did I do?"
"I think you got a little confused with what was happening! Do you trust me?"
"Of course!"
Borden came in an hour later. They moved the meeting to his room. All of them were there. They didn't want to let Jane out of their sight. Weller started to tell Borden what happened and the others added their own observations when it was relevant. Weller ended with the bit about the gun and talking to her about her happy place.
Jane was shocked by what she heard; she didn't recall the part with the gun. She remembered feeling out of sorts the last few days but couldn't understand why. Kurt kept physical contact with her; he kept a hold of her hand, and every so often would squeeze it as if to confirm that she was still there. The others looked like they had a hell of a night as well. They were all scared for her.
"Well from what you have recounted it seems as if Jane was suffering from PTSD…"
"What?" Weller asked
"Can any of you pinpoint when Jane's behaviour changed?" Borden asked
"Well, it must have been when we went to Soames' place; he had…stuff in the basement, stuff that may have reminded Jane of her time with…"
"No, it was earlier than that!" stated Kurt
"Agent Weller, you have more information?"
"Sawyer called me at work. He knew there was something wrong…"
"Sawyer how?" Zapata asked
"Jane loves my chocolate chip pancakes but she didn't take a bite, Sawyer thought it was weird. She also didn't have any coffee…"
"You did not notice this?" Borden asked
"I took a call in the bedroom; I didn't want Sarah and Sawyer to hear. We kind of freaked them out the day before. I didn't pay attention, as soon as the call was finished we were out of the door, I assumed Jane ate. Sawyer called me later to ask me if Jane was ok and I knew there was something not quite right but I couldn't put my finger on it."
"Did something happen that morning?" Borden asked
"No, it was a regular morning. If we're all at home we'll have breakfast together. I cook, I like to…"
"What happened the previous day?"
"We went to check out a possible location of where the kids may have been kept…" Zapata stated
"What did you find?"
"Nothing!" said Reade
"Nothing? Nothing at all?" asked the dubious doctor
"There was nothing there, it was abandoned, and we were late by a day maybe two." Reade insisted
"Humour me; please describe everything that you saw, every minute detail."
Kurt began and the others chimed in. Borden was listening but he was also paying attention to Jane. He saw her twitch when they mentioned the basement.
"Thank you! I think being in that basement triggered something…"
"What?" demanded Kurt
"Jane, would you like to tell your team what prompted your recent behaviour?"
"The smell. The smell of damp. I felt as if I was back there. He was baiting me and saying that none of you cared. I must have felt that on some level which is why I punched Reade and snapped at Zapata. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I thought this was too good to be true." whispered Jane
"Were there any other signs?" Borden asked in general
"Jane started to call me Kurt."
"Well is that not your name?" Borden asked
"It is but she called me that before everything happened. When she came back she always called me Weller even after we started getting closer again. I just didn't put it all together. She called me Weller again this morning."
"She's not suicidal Agent Weller."
"How do you know?" asked Jane
"Because you could have committed suicide a number times already since that day in the warehouse but you didn't. You managed to give clues to your team but they didn't have the knowledge to decipher your clues, now they do!"
"So the next time we go into a place that has damp we have to let Jane punch me, snap at Zapata and call Weller Kurt?"
"That is an exaggerated simplification, but in essence yes!"
"Please explain doctor." Stated Kurt
"You need to listen to Jane. You need to know when things are not quite right. She may have another episode tomorrow or next week or next year! We don't know when or if it will happen again but you have all seen Jane not be herself, so you know how to deal with it if it happens again."
"How do we deal with it?" asked an exasperated Zapata
"You keep physical contact so there is something tangible to keep her here, you talk to her let her know that you're there for her…"
"Supposing she only responds to Weller that way?" asked Patterson
"I have no doubt that if Agent Weller wasn't available, that one if not all of you would have had the same idea. You would have held her so she wasn't a danger to herself, you would have talked to her…"
"How are they supposed to distinguish between me having an episode as you call it and me being in a mood?"
"It will be in the subtle clues, like your nephew witnessed, or the fact that you call Agent Weller by his first name all of a sudden. I am sure that the team will ensure that you do not suffer for a long time if this was to happen again."
Borden watched as the team took in the information.
"Jane, do you think that it was just random that the two physical altercations that you have had have both been with the male members of the team?"
"I don't follow the question."
"Well, let's take the first physical confrontation, some may say, and none of those people are in this room right now, some may say that Agent Weller should have retaliated when you attacked him in the gym…"
"It was my fault, I surprised her…" Kurt interrupted
"Agent Weller are you actually saying after being tortured for three months that Jane wouldn't be acutely aware of all her surroundings? Wouldn't you have a heightened sense of self preservation and always be on the 'look out' for any potential threats?"
Borden let that sink in.
"So what are you saying? I wanted Weller to attack me? I staged the whole thing?" Jane asked incredulously
"You may have been testing Agent Weller…"
"Testing him for what?"
"To see if he would harm you like your captor. Subconsciously, you needed to know if you provoked the team leader would he retaliate in kind. Would you be sent back to the CIA? What did you find out Jane?"
Jane sat there flabbergasted.
"Jane? What happened? Did Agent Weller retaliate? What did Agent Weller do when you, mistakenly thought, he was attacking you?"
"He…he just took it. He let me hit him." Said Jane reverently
"So Agent Weller cannot defend himself from a single attacker with hand to hand combat?"
"Of course he can!"
"Why did he not stop you from making contact with him?"
"He let me hit him."
"Did he try to restrain you in any way?"
"No, he defended himself and he kept on calling my name but he made no move to stop me…"
"Maybe Agent Weller is not in peak physical condition if he can't stop you from hitting him…"
"Of course he is, he let me punch him. He was well within his rights to punch back but he didn't."
"Your team leader, even after being provoked, didn't harm you physically. That was your first test for the team. You knew if the team leader didn't harm you, even when it was justified, then the others also wouldn't and if someone disobeyed the order from the team leader you knew they would be dealt with. You needed to be sure about this before you opened yourself up to the team again."
"Why did I hit Reade?"
"Who is second in command?"
"Reade." Jane said
"Exactly! You needed to know that the next person in charge would also not turn you over back to the CIA if things deteriorated. What did Agent Reade during your altercation?"
"He didn't do anything but defend himself…"
"So Agent Reade is incapable of subduing a female in hand to hand combat?"
"He knew there was something that wasn't right…"
"Why do you say that?"
"Reade doesn't particularly like getting involved with hand to hand even though he's really good at it. When we spar it's an even match. His reflexes are really good and he is a quick study, he picks up new techniques in no time. When we spar there's no holding back! We always carryon until one of us quits but as we're both a little stubborn…"
Weller, Zapata and Patterson snorted at this
"… that doesn't happen. Weller has to order us to stop. We're not allowed to spar between 9 and 5 as others want to use the gym and 'we take too long!" Jane rolled her eyes at the last bit
Weller had a grin on his face and Borden tried to keep a straight face.
"Reade could only take me down if I was having a bad day and he was incredibly lucky…"
"Oh please!" interrupted Reade
"…but that day he just let me take my frustration out on him."
"Another test past by the team!" declared Borden
"Ok, how was I testing Zapata? I know for a fact that if I was to strike her she would give as good as she got…"
"Damn straight!" chimed Zapata
"Exactly!" stated Borden
Jane face palmed herself.
"Can you please explain?" Jane whined
"Well everyone knows that Agent Zapata would never back down from a fight…"
"And…?" Jane asked
"Well, even in your subconscious you knew that so any physical contact wouldn't have been a surprise however verbal assaults are a different thing."
"I don't understand." Stated Jane
"Well when someone expects physical brutality and they receive it, it becomes the 'norm' as it was although if that tormentor was to change their method of attack to verbal, then the victim would be so shocked that the verbal abuse may make a deeper impression than the physical, the truth can be said of the reverse…"
"So if Zapata…"
"Verbally abused you, this would have a bigger impact on you than the bruises she can inflict as you are used to those and expect them when sparing."
"Huh!"
"What did Agent Zapata say to you in the SUV on the way back to the office that day?"
"She kept on saying 'we' as if I was part of the team…"
"You are Jane!" Zapata declared emphatically
"You wanted to see what would happen if you pushed Agent Zapata away."
"What about Patterson?"
"Really?!" exclaimed Borden "She was the first person you tested. You trusted her with a task that would help you. You asked her to help you avoid your team leader and she didn't ask you any questions, granted she knew why, she came up with a solution which helped you and she didn't reveal your 'request' until much later and that was reluctantly and because she's a romantic but if things remained the same then Agent Patterson would still be keeping your secret and Agent Weller would be none the wiser!"
"I didn't realise…"
"You are a team of individuals but a team nonetheless. You will have disagreements, it's only natural. It's how you deal with them that will determine the strength of your bond. Your team have shown you that you are part of the same team. When you woke up earlier what did you notice?"
"Everyone was sleeping on Weller's office floor."
"If they didn't care then why would they do that? Did Agent Weller order them to stay?"
"No…"
"So?"
"They chose to stay."
Tears began to run down Jane's cheeks as she realised that she was a fully-fledged member of the team.
The session ended soon after. Weller gave them the rest of the day off and invited them back to his place for breakfast, they declined, and they all wanted their own bed. Reade made sure that both Zapata and Patterson got to their places and then he went to his to crash. Weller took Jane back to his place, he cooked scrambled eggs and toast for both of them. He got some spare clothes of his; for Jane to change into and directed her to the bathroom. She came out 15 minutes later, Weller took her to his room and tucked her in with a kiss to the forehead, he then went to use the bathroom and clean up.
He sat on the sofa pretending to watch what was on the screen; he kept on seeing the gun in Jane's hand, kept on seeing the results if he was a few minutes late regardless of what Borden said. He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear Jane enter the room. He only noticed her when she was right in front of him, which startled him.
"Hey, you couldn't sleep?" Weller asked
Jane shook her head.
"Why don't we watch a film? Any specific one you want to watch?"
Jane shook her head again. She got comfortable on the sofa while Kurt went to select a DVD. Jane snuggled next to him when he returned to the couch. Her head was on his shoulder as the menu came up. Kurt moved his arm so he could wrap it around Jane's shoulders so her head was now resting on his chest. Kurt selected to play the film and they both settled down to watch. He noticed that Jane's breathing evened out before the end of the opening credits, he rested his cheek on the top of her head and closed his eyes for a second and breathed in her scent.
Sarah and Sawyer opened the door to the apartment and they were both shocked to see the sight in front of them, not that Kurt and Jane being together was a shock, but the fact that they were sleeping with their arms around each other and the fact that neither seemed to have heard them enter. Sarah knew something had happened from the brief conversation with Edgar earlier but she didn't know the details and thought she would probably be better off not knowing. Sarah hung up their coats and got started on making dinner with her son's help. They tried to be quiet but they weren't silent and still the couple on the sofa were in a deep sleep. They began to stir when they smelled the gorgeous meal that was being prepared.
Jane snuggled into Kurt again but forgot that it was Kurt. When she raised her head and realised her 'pillow' was the man that she was in love with she went bright red. Kurt kissed her forehead.
"Hey, you ok?" Kurt asked
Jane nodded and grinned in embarrassment when her stomach growled in response.
"Dinner's going to be ready in about twenty minutes if you two can pull yourselves away from the couch!" Sarah hollered from the kitchen
Kurt leaned his forehead against Jane's.
"There's one good thing about having an annoying sister!"
Jane slapped his chest.
"I heard that!" Sarah declared
"Is that Reade's lasagne we smell?"
"Yeah, I think I've finally got the hang of it, fingers crossed."
"It smells gorgeous Sarah, thanks!" said Jane
"It does smell good brat!"
Sarah stuck her tongue out at her big brother and he just smiled.
"Sawyer, here, made the salad all by himself!"
"Mom! It's just a salad!"
"It doesn't matter. You put a lot of effort into it and you should be proud of it!"
Sarah ruffled Sawyer's hair and he rolled his eyes at his Uncle and Jane, they both smiled in response.
They sat down to dinner and enjoyed the meal, both Kurt and Jane had second and third helpings while mother and son had seconds.
"That was great, thanks guys!" Kurt said
"You're welcome!"
"C'mon Jane, we'll clear up and let the cooks rest."
They cleared the table quickly; Jane washed the dishes while Kurt dried them. They settled on the sofa again with Sarah and Sawyer. Sawyer was on one side of his Uncle while Jane was on the other, they settled down to watch something all but Sarah fell asleep and she took a photo of the adorable scene.
A couple of days after Soames' arrest Kurt received a phone call to let him know that he was found dead and the inmate that committed the murder confessed straight away. The team was shocked by the latest development but none of them were sad at the demise of Soames. Patterson looked deeper into the non-connection between the Soames and the inmate, it took her a little time but it turns out that the inmate's three children had money put into a trust for their college education. This trust was set up an hour after the murder was committed. The inmate was in for several life sentences already and another one wasn't going to make much of a difference. He wasn't talking but the team assumed he didn't know anything anyway.
It took them a month but they eventually found Soames' family, the whole team put in extra hours to find out what happened to the three missing members of the family that was in addition to the tattoo cases that they worked on in between.
Patterson found them near Las Vegas. The whole team went out to meet them. They found them in a park. The brother was sitting on a blanket doing his homework while an older woman they assumed was Mrs Soames stood by a younger child on the swings. When they got closer they saw Robert freeze as if he could sense something, he looked up and saw them coming. He calmly put his books down and stood up so he was between his mom and the strangers that were walking towards them. His mom had her back to him but the sister saw and came to an abrupt stop. The mom turned around and ran so she was in front of her son.
"Go and see to your brother, now!"
The boy stood there for a few seconds before he reluctantly moved to his 'brother'.
"Who are you? I'll call the police…"
"My name is Kurt Weller I'm with the FBI. This is my team, Jane Doe, Agent Zapata, Agent Reade and Agent Patterson…"
"What does the FBI want with the likes of me and my nephews?"
"…We've been working on a case and thought you may like the information we have for you?"
Kurt handed her a folder and when she didn't reach for it he placed it on the grass and took as few steps back as did the rest of the team. They all knew it wasn't going to be an easy meeting. They watched as she turned around to see that her 'nephews' were fine, the elder one was protecting the younger one who was straining to see what was going on, she then took a few tentative steps to the folder and picked it up. When she opened it and looked at it she was in shock and stood there completely still then she collapsed to her knees in tears. The elder boy quickly came running to her side to help, Reade was quick and quickly picked up the photos and death certificate before the boy could see.
"Aunt, Aunt, what's wrong?"
The 'Aunt' kept on sobbing.
The boy looked at Weller and demanded to look at what was in the folder, this seemed to bring the 'Aunt' out of her state.
"NO! That's not for you to see. Jess baby, come here."
Both boys stood still, the younger one turned to the elder one who in turned looked at his 'Aunt' then at Weller and his team and once he seemed to find what he was looking for he nodded to his 'brother' who took slow steps until 'he' was by their sides looking up at Weller with wide eyes.
"These are nice people from the FBI…"
Jess looked at her brother in question.
"They're like special police."
She nodded her head then looked at Weller again.
"Robert, Jess, we don't have to be careful anymore. Your daddy isn't going to hurt us anymore and these kind people came to tell us…"
"What happened?"
"We arrested your father and while he was in prison someone didn't like him and hurt him badly…"
"Can I have a look?" Robert asked
"NO!"
"NO!"
Weller and the mom said at the same time.
"Why?"
"You're too young, if you still want to when you're older then I'll show them to you but you don't need to see that now."
"Oh baby, you can grow your hair again…"
The mom was there touching the very short hair on the girl. It looked like her brother's haircut, short back and sides, Sawyer had longer hair than both of them.
"You mean I can wear dresses again? I don't have to pretend to be a boy anymore?"
"No, never again!"
"YAY!"
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" the mom directed at Weller and the rest of the team
"It's our pleasure!"
"Please come back to our place for some coffee…"
"We don't want to impose…"
"Please, we would like to thank you properly…"
"PLEEEEEEEEASE?" added Jess
Weller turned to the rest of the team who shrugged their shoulders.
"Ok, but just for a little bit we don't want to take up a lot of your time."
The large group went to a small apartment and even though it wasn't large it was a home. It looked like Robert slept on the sofa; he quickly picked up his bedding and took it into the only bedroom. Jane, Zapata and Reade sat on the floor, Weller sat on the sofa, and Patterson sat opposite on a chair. Jess was offering everyone homemade chocolate chip cookies. After everyone had a glass of water, they insisted that was fine, Jess shocked everyone by sitting on Weller's lap. Jane and Zapata were openly grinning at Weller's shocked face, fair play to him though; he put an arm around her when it was obvious that she wasn't going to move. Patterson unashamedly took a photo.
"Jess hasn't been comfortable around men for a long time, she always assume they're all like her father…so it's a shock that she's taken to you so quickly…" said Mrs Soames
"She's wasn't the only one!" Zapata muttered
Jane blushed at the comment.
"He's nice!"
"How do you know that honey?" Patterson asked
"Because you all like him. You can see!"
Kurt had a smug look at that reasoning.
Jess tugged at Kurt's shirt to get his attention.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Jess asked nodding towards Jane
Kurt went red and hesitated answering. Jane was also red.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Of course!"
Replied Patterson, Reade and Zapata when Kurt didn't answer straight away. Jess whispered something in Kurt's ear that the others couldn't hear.
"You know she would look just as pretty if she wore pink or green or something other than black and grey!"
Kurt opened his eyes wide and when his eyes met Jane's he looked away quickly. He didn't know how to respond to the young girl on his lap. When Jess didn't get a response from him she took matters into her own hands and went to sit in between Jane and Zapata.
"I think you would look pretty in brighter colours! I don't want to wear boy colours anymore! Why don't you try pink? Or green?"
Jane sat there with her mouth open, Zapata and Patterson, who had moved to the floor to be closer to the female contingent, took her tablet out and Jess got caught up in picking out outfits for Jane to wear. Patterson, Zapata and Jess had a great time looking at clothes. Weller in the meantime had a word with Robert. He gave the pre-teen all their numbers and promised that they would always answer if he, his sister or mom needed them. Weller also got Robert to promise that he would never hurt himself again and would talk to someone if he needed to. When they left, Weller gave Mrs Soames the contact information for a few therapists that Borden recommended.
It took the team a while to get back to their old rhythm, they were all very observant of Jane which drove her mad. Weller insisted on staying with her whether it be at her place or his. More often than not they would end up on the sofa together. But things came to a head one day.
"Weller, we need to talk!"
"Ok, what about?"
"You!"
"Why?"
"You've been great and so supportive and I love sleeping with you each night!"
Weller smirked at the comment and Jane went red.
"You know what I mean! But you can't be with me 24-7!"
"Why not?"
"Well because I need to be able to be by myself. You've been spending every spare minute with me, which I love but you haven't spent any time with Sarah or Sawyer. I don't want to be responsible for coming between you and your sister and nephew…"
"But…"
"Weller, how will we know if I can cope with anything that may or may not happen if you're always with me? I need to be able to cope by myself or see if I'll be able to seek help when I need it."
"Do you have to be so logical?"
Jane shrugged her shoulders.
"Fine from tomorrow I'll stay at my place by myself, well with my sister and nephew!"
"C'mon, you know you've wanted to go against Sawyer and that new game you got him!"
"That's not the point. On one condition though, you use the key whenever you want."
Jane agreed.
It took Jane three weeks to use the key. They sill went out together and she even had meals at his place with Sarah and Sawyer but he always drove her back to her place, placed a kiss on her forehead and cheek and pulled her door closed an went back to his place. He woke up one morning to find her on his sofa in a deep sleep. When she woke up Weller was sitting opposite her on the coffee table with a coffee cup in his hands. She sat up and took the cup from his hands and inhaled the scent. Weller grinned.
"Why didn't you wake me up? I could have slept out here and you could have had the bed!"
"Weller, I'm not going to chuck you out of your bed and this couch is comfy!"
"But…"
"No, no buts. I used your key, the last three weeks have been so boring, at night at least! I like spending time with you; can we go back to the way things were before I had a meltdown?"
"Jane you didn't have a meltdown…"
"I liked where we were heading before. We would spend some nights together, granted in separate rooms but at least we were in the same place. I like having breakfast with you and you, Sarah and Sawyer. Some nights we would be at our own places but that was okay as I knew we would spend the night together soon."
"I would like that!"