Backlash: Chapter 4: The Rescue

11/10/10

It's official: I've lost my mind. Heck, anyone would if they'd been stuck in a basement for days on end. I've lost track of time; everything just seems to blur together. I hope they find me soon. I can't wait to see Josh's smiling face again. When I see him again, he will be tackle hugged. I'm pretty sure I've memorized all of the lines from the movies I've watched while I'm here and all of the lyrics to my Tokio Hotel songs. Come on guys, where are you?

…...

They were up before the crack of dawn. It was ten minutes by foot and five minutes, if that, by car. They decided to drive, but park a block away. Maybe they'd get lucky and be able to drag Damien back to D.C. for prosecution.

"Are you sure we can't just do this my way?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. We don't want him dead, we want him alive," Nate said. "You can't exactly successfully incriminate a dead man."

"Fine," Josh said resentfully. "But if this doesn't work, we will do it my way."

"Fair enough," Nate told him. "Now, enough talking. Let's go do what we came here to do."

And they were on their way to rescue Tiffany and, hopefully, arrest Damien as well.

X X X

Ten minutes later, the trio was standing outside Damien's house.

"When do we make our move?" Jake asked.

"NOW!" Josh exclaimed.

"I agree," Nate said. "For the sake of whatever's left of her sanity, the sooner the better."

Josh was excited now; they were finally going to get his girlfriend back from him.

"Let's go then," Jake said.

They made their move, walking up to the front door and plowing through it as if it were made of butter. Damien was waiting for them. He was just sitting on his brown couch like nothing was wrong.

"Took you long enough to find me," Damien said. "Get lost a few times?"

"Oh shut up!" Josh yelled at him. "Where is she?"

"Somebody's got a temper," Damien observed.

"Can I just shoot him?" Josh asked, annoyed at Damien.

"No, we need him alive," Jake said.

"Not even in the foot?"

"If he tries to rabbit on us, yes. But it can't kill him. Otherwise, no."

Josh smiled. "WHERE IS SHE?" he shouted at Damien.

"Basement," was his one word reply.

"Jake, stay here and watch him. Josh, go get your girlfriend back," Nate instructed them.

If it was possible, Josh's smile stretched from ear to ear. He ran off, followed shortly after by Nate.

"You're under arrest for kidnapping the director of a federal agency. Hands behind your back..." Jake was almost yelling at Damien, but he was cut off as Nate walked out of earshot. As he walked down the stairs to the door, Josh had his weapon aimed at the door handle.

"Don't shoot it. Unless you want to scare her half to death," Nate said softly so as not to startle Josh and cause him to fire. "Just kick down the door. It's easier, slightly quieter, and won't scare as much as a gunshot."

Josh obliged and door down. When they entered the room, they were greeted by Tiffany's startled expression, which turn ecstatic when she saw Josh, whom she then tackled to the ground.

"Uh, what was that for?" Josh asked her.

"It's a tackle hug, silly," she replied

"Can I get up now?"

"Yeah, sorry."

They got up and hugged. It was then that she noticed Nate standing in the threshold of the door.

Thank you she mouthed at him. Nate just nodded and gave her a smile. He then left to give the two of them a chance to catch up.

"It's so good to see you again," Tiffany told him.

"Same here," Josh replied.

"How are you?"

"Pretty good. You?"

"Shaken up a bit."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little unnerved."

"Josh, Tiffany, get up here fast," Nate yelled from upstairs. They ran up the stairs after grabbing Tiffany's few possessions from the small room. The sight that greeted them was that Nate kneeling on the floor next to Jake's unmoving body, shaking his shoulders and shouting, "Jake, wake up!"

"What happened?" Josh asked.

"He got away," Nate said unhappily.

"How?" they asked him.

"I don't know. He apparently knocked Jake out before he had a chance to cuff him and he ran," was the dismal reply.

"Uhh, oww. Where am I?" Jake asked, sounding half asleep.

"Damien's house in Harlem," Nate told him.

"Where's Damien?"

"He got away."

"How?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

"I...," Jake started before he got a glassy look in his eyes, which quickly faded. "I remember now."

"Hands behind your back," Jake told Damien.

"It won't work, you know," Damien calmly told Jake.

"What won't work?"

"Arresting me."
"Yes it will."

"No, it won't," Damien said. He got up and threw a punch at Jake.

"Really? You're going to fight me?"

"Uh, yeah."

"You won't...," Jake said before Damien, quick like a ninja, moved behind him and struck a blow to the back of Jake's head. Jake didn't even have time to blink, much less defend himself. While Jake was out cold on the floor, Damien left and got in his car. He drove north, the last place NCIS would look for him. He was 30 miles away by the time Nate found Jake out cold on the floor.

"That's close to what happened between Damien and I at Tiffany's," Josh said. "He definitely has his own fighting style."

"If underhanded knockouts can constitute a style," Nate commented.

"So now what do we do now?" Josh asked.

"We go back to D.C., rest for a day or two, then start a search," Nate said.

"Mustang's gone," Tiffany observed as they left the building.

"He probably took it because it'd be easier to track him from the contents and the built in sat nav system," Nate explained.

"The what system?" she asked.

"Satalite navigation system," he simplified. Upon seeing a puzzled look on her face, he simplified it even further. "Built in GPS."

"Oh."

"We'd be able to see where's he's been in his car. Make it very easy to track him."

"Can we possibly stay here for a few days?" Tiffany asked.

Quite possibly only a handful of people knew what she'd want to do in Harlem. Nate and Josh were included in that handful.

"Go ahead. But you have to take Josh with," Nate responded, knowing he'd eventually cave if he said no and she started to beg. Only two people he knew had that ability: Tiffany and Caitlin. Caitlin's was worse than Tiffany's in that it takes most people a matter of seconds to cave.

"Thanks! Come on, Josh. We're going sightseeing and then a quick trip to Brooklyn."

"Wait, you may want these," Nate told her, handing over a gun, wallet, and cell phone. "You left them at home. You're going to want the badge for Brooklyn."

"Let's go!" Tiffany and Josh left in pursuit of sightseeing, while Nate took Jake back to the hotel room and set him in bed. Nate, having a few hours to kill, decided to wander into town for an hour. He left a note on the bedside table and left.

. . .

Roughly four hours later, Tiffany and Josh came back from sightseeing. Nate was sitting on the couch watching Psych.

"Hey," Nate said

"Hey," they replied simultaneously.

"Where's Jake?" Tiffany asked.

"Resting from his incident with Damien."

"Still?"

"Yeah, he came back, laid down in his bed, and went out like a light."

"When do we leave for D.C.?" Josh asked, changing the subject.

"Uh, tomorrow, if you guys want."

"Sure, that'll work."

They packed their bags and went to sleep. At around 06:00 the next day, they left for the airport. At 09:00, they arrived in D.C., but not after they spent at least half that time waiting. They went to their respective houses to get some sleep and show up for work nice and early the next morning. The question running though everyone's head; Where is Damien now?