Thanks for the reviews. Poor J.J. -- seems like not a lot of people care what happens to him! But I promised Radical Rachel I would update, so since I already had it written... ;)

Chapter 16. You Can

As she tried to come to terms with what Daniel was telling her, Kate found her mind travelling back in time, to the day J.J. was born. She couldn't remember feeling exhaustion as acute as she had after twelve hours of labour; a thirteenth of actually giving birth; but as tired as she was, she wouldn't let them take him from her, to put him in the nursery with the other babies, because she knew in her heart that if she did, when she came for him, he would be gone. She was always so careful, so protective and concerned: how could she let something like this happen to him?

"My baby… Jack," she said, using his real name for the first time since she'd announced it to her father, almost as soon as the doctor placed him into her arms. "Is he…? Did they…?" Her throat closed up, and she couldn't get the rest of the words out: all she could think was that she didn't have a baby anymore; she wasn't a mother; she wasn't anything, not if it was really over.

"He's fine, Katherine," Daniel assured her, and she almost didn't hear him over the sound of her own grief. "He's at home with my wife."

"How?" Some of the pressure eased off her lungs and she found that she could breathe again, until she remembered her father, lying in a hospital bed in L.A. He had to be the reason her son was safe; he'd kept his promise by taking the best possible care of him, making sure that she got him back exactly the way she'd left him.

"The men who attacked Sam came to the door pretending they were collecting for the church," Daniel explained. "He knew right away, of course, but he played along – said he was going to get his wallet, so he could hide your son, and call me. By the time I got there, he was unconscious – they tortured him, but he never gave in. Looks like he managed to convince them that someone else was taking care of him.

"I found your son behind a pile of boxes in the attic. They never knew he was there. Guess they didn't bank on Sam being an ex-ranger."

At his words, Kate felt a surge of pride. She'd asked him to do one thing for her, to protect her child, and he hadn't let her down. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked, realising that all she knew was that he'd been tortured, and that he was in hospital. It wasn't much to go on. "I mean, what's his condition?"

"He's still listed as critical," Daniel confessed, and she felt her eyes tear up again as the sliver of hope that it wasn't as bad as it sounded slipped away, "but the doctors think he has a pretty good chance. He's a fighter, Katherine – you of all people should know that."

There wasn't much else to say, so she thanked him, assuring him that she'd be home as soon as she could, but as she moved to hang up, she realised that if their pursuers had posed as charity collectors for her father, they wouldn't have any qualms about pretending to be a friend of her father's if they thought it would get them J.J. Or her.

"Wait, how do I know this isn't a trap?" she insisted before he could sever the connection either, and to her surprise, he let out a soft chuckle.

"You father said you might ask that," he said. "That's why he told me to tell you that he didn't call the police."

"What?" she asked, wondering if this was a clear sign that she shouldn't trust him. "I thought he was unconscious when you got there?"

"He was," Daniel agreed, grave now. "But when he asked me to call, he told me to tell you that the day you came to say goodbye, he didn't call the police. He said you'd understand."

She wasn't sure that she did, after all of the speeches he'd given her on civic duty, or why in all the time they'd been living under the same roof, he'd never felt the need to clear up this point, but she thanked him again, and ended the call.

She was still staring at the phone a moment later when she realised that Jack was still in the car, waiting for her to explain.

"What happened? J.J…" he began, sounding breathless and as panicked as she had, but she shook her head until she could gather her thoughts.

"He's safe – he's with friends," she agreed when she recovered her voice, and Jack slumped back against the headrest, closing his eyes and massaging his brow in relief.

"But your dad…?" he asked when they snapped open a few seconds later, remembering Sam.

"He's not doing so well," she confessed, the emotions she'd tried to suppress during her conversation with Daniel bubbling back to the surface, and he reached across the console for her.

"He could die, Jack," she whispered as he gathered her into his arms, cupping the side of her face in his palm as her head came to rest against his shoulder. She could feel the gearshift sticking into her side, but she didn't care; it felt good to be comforted by him again. His strength was one of the things she'd missed most.

"He did a good thing," he told her, stroking her hair as she clung tighter to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "He saved our son. Whatever happens, I think you know he wouldn't change it, just like you wouldn't, if it was you."

"But that doesn't make it fair," she insisted, and at that moment, it struck her that of all the people she knew, he was probably one of the few who would understand.

"It never is," he agreed, bringing his lips down to brush the top of her head. That was it; he didn't try to justify it, to offer a silver lining, and for that, she was glad.

"Come on," he said, after a long moment, pulling away from her. "Let's go find a flight home."

It wasn't until he'd set the car in motion that his words sank in fully, and it occurred to her that he intended to fly back with her. "You mean for both of us?" she asked, and he gave her a look that said she must be more grief-stricken than he'd thought.

"Of course," he said, turning to her as he stopped at the intersection at the end of Desmond's street. "Where else would I go?"

It didn't matter if they were seen together now that their game was up, but as he said it, she realised that she couldn't let him do it: if they gave up now, after everything they'd been through, then it was all for nothing. "Korea, just like you said," she told him softly.

"I can't," he said, lifting his hand to brush her cheek with his knuckles, even though she knew it hurt him to let go of the hope that they would all be together some day soon, "not when you need me."

"Yes, you can," she argued, fresh tears springing to her eyes, this time, of indignation. She couldn't stand by while they took away everything that mattered to her: her father, J.J., Jack. It had to end, and soon. "You can. One of us has to keep going – we have to take those bastards down so that they can never hurt any of us ever again."

Next chapter: Kate goes home to L.A., Jack continues on to Korea, and they get a new little helper on their quest... (Review and I won't kill Sam! Not that that ever works...) ;)