Chapter Four

"Jack," Steve said urgently, "we need the medivac. Jaime's hurt, and -"

Thwack! Steve felt the awful, telltale burn in his stomach before his mind could register that he'd just been shot with an NSB-issued weapon.

"Oh – Jaime's hurt?" the NSB Director said mockingly. "Well, now so are you!"

Steve gasped, trying to regain his breath. "Jack, what the hell -"

"Get on the ground, Steve."

Steve stared at him in mute astonishment.

"Get down there next to your girlfriend, or the next bullet hits something a lot more vital...like her pretty little head!"

With no other choice, Steve complied. He wrapped both arms around Jaime and pulled her close, but this time it wasn't for show or part of an act. This gesture, coming straight from his heart, was meant solely to comfort and protect her. Jaime leaned into him gratefully, and the tremors he could feel in her right arm told him all he needed to know: her power source had taken a direct hit. Jaime was in serious trouble.

Hansen's datacom began crackling with life. He frowned and called to the two thugs, who were finally rising to their feet. "Cover her – close – and if either of them makes a sound, shoot her in the head."

Steve tightened his protective hold on her as both thugs pressed the barrels of their guns directly to Jaime's head, and he felt her shudder.

Hansen clicked the datacom on. "Oscar – where the hell are you? What? I'm at the Aqueduct. I high-tailed it up here as soon as I heard about King. Looks like they've cleared out, though; place is deserted. No – sorry – no sign of either of 'em, but I'm still searching. I could use some back-up. How long – great! Hey, do me a favor and kill the power when you guys get here, ok? We'll catch any stragglers by surprise. Right."

Hansen put the datacom back in his pocket. "Put them in the old elevator," he told the thugs.

"The busted one?"

"Yep. Goldman's men will never hear them through those thick double doors, and with any luck, when the power goes out, our friends here will take a nice little plunge."

Steve and Jaime were instantly surrounded by the thugs and the three other flunkies while Hansen went outside to wait. Steve was bleeding profusely, but he struggled mightily to stay conscious – for Jaime. Neither of them could walk very well, so they were unceremoniously and roughly dragged down the hall to an old, rickety elevator and thrown inside.

"Have fun, Kids," one of their captors chuckled as the thick, heavy double doors closed, trapping them inside. Steve did some fast calculating and figured that they were on the elevator that went all the way underground - under the water - and if they plunged, it would be somewhere between eight and ten stories. Survivable, but only if they were on their feet and well-braced.

"Jaime...?" Steve said softly. Her eyelids were fluttering, more closed than open, her face was very pale and her tremoring arm had become very still. Steve pressed an arm across his bleeding stomach as he gently tried to nudge her awake. Her only response was a low moan, and Steve jostled her a little more insistently.

"Sweetheart, I really need you to try and wake up," he urged.

"...can't..."

"Jaime, I need you to wriggle your toes for me. Can you do that? Jaime?" She shifted restlessly in Steve's arms, and finally did as he'd asked. "I need you to keep doing that, Sweetheart, as often as you can, please." Slowly, Jaime looked up at Steve with wide, questioning eyes. "Your power source must be damaged -" he started to explain.

"...was a trap..." she mumbled, not quite coherent.

"I know. You need to keep moving your fingers or your toes, keep a little current moving in there, so hopefully your power source doesn't die out completely." Steve knew that if it did, Jaime would have 90 minutes (or less) to live.

"You're...bleeding..." she whispered, the sight pulling her quickly into full awareness.

"I'm ok. Jaime, is your ear still working?"

Jaime frowned, quieting down to listen. "I think so. I can hear footsteps...some voices. Yeah – it works."

"Good. Now, wiggle your toes some more. Good job. Ok – I need you to tell me the very second you hear a bunch of cars pulling in, or if you hear Oscar's voice."

"K..." she agreed before starting to drift off again. As soon as her eyes closed, though, her head bobbed back up. Jaime was fighting, too. Wordlessly, she stretched out her left arm and pressed firmly against Steve's stomach, to help try and stop the bleeding. Their eyes met, with full understanding of their predicament and a silent agreement to work together, as long as they were able.

"Cars..." Jaime whispered.

"Can you stand up?" Steve asked. He got up with both arms still around her waist, but Jaime's legs wouldn't hold her. Steve would have to take the force of the fall for both of them. Not wanting to scare her any further, he silently picked Jaime up in his arms and braced himself into the corner of the elevator. "Hold onto me," he told her, just before the lights flickered and went out.

Several seconds went by, then the elevator jerked, wobbled...and began to fall.

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