last chapter! i spent the WHOLE ENTIRE FRIGGIN DAY WRITING THIS! :D those of you who stayed with me during the very beginning, i love you o.O haha...ty sooo much for the support and encouragements! XD
Reynolds' words echoed throughout the small surrounding.
'They've got Germone.'
Vance almost bumped into the car in front of him. He turned his gaze to Reynolds. "They have who?"
Reynolds looked at his feet. "Your boss," he said, in almost a whisper, making everyone strain their ears to hear.
The quietness increased significantly. The shock was evident in their ears. It was Cal who broke the silence.
"Do they know that we know that we know where they are?" he asked.
"Probably. DeGrow said, 'See you soon', then hung up..."
The silenced stretched into a spiral of confusion.
"Wait, he knows we're going to where he is?" Grey spoke up from the back.
"Yea."
Vance hit the steering wheel with his palm. He cursed loudly. "What else did he say?"
"He said he had Germone and that they rigged the place so if we don't show up in twenty minutes, the place is gunna blow up with Germone in it."
Vance swore loudly. "Ben, where the hell are they right now?"
Reynolds looked down onto his GPS. "There in an apartment in San Francisco. It's an old beat-down apt. Not many people live there. But it's right in the middle of a busy street."
"Have they moved at all in the past ten minutes?"
"No."
"Call the SFPD and have them evacuate everyone within 50 feet of that building."
"I'm on it."
The car shot past the traffic as if it were a bullet.
-x-
Vance came around the apartment in just five minutes. Reynolds was right, it was an old beaten place. It was hard to imagine anyone living there. The street however was crowded with people. He can see the policemen working the lines as they pulled up.
"Gillian, Greg, stay in the car." Vance turned to look at Cal. But before he could say anything, Cal beat him to it.
"I'm going with you two," Cal said as a matter of factly. "You're going to need someone to see whether someone's lying, right?" That was not totally true. Cal just wanted to go because he needed to know if Vance was going to be safe.
Vance looked to Reynolds for help, but when the agent shrugged, he sighed. "We'll bring them out before it blows. You can question him them alright?" He grabbed his personal piece and shoved it in the back of his belt. He went out before Cal could say another word.
Cal was about to protest but thought better of it, knowing he won't be able to get past the policemen without a badge.
As they were going out, Gillian grabbed Cal by the wrist, barely caring he dad was in there with them. "It'll be okay." she said with a concerning look.
Cal strained a smiled. "I hope so."
As the two walked up to the crowd of bustling people, a young uniformed policeman ran up to them, in his hands carrying three bullet vests. "Agent Reynolds?" Ben nodded. "I talked to you on the phone. I'm officer Kendall." He handed them each a vest, discarding the last one onto the cruiser next to them.
"Are you almost done getting everyone out?" Vance asked the man while fastening the familiar vest.
Officer Kendall nodded. "We believe the apartment you're looking for is on the fifth floor." He glanced at his notebook. "Apartment e5."
"Damn bastard took the highest floor," Vance muttered under his breath.
Kendall opened the door for them as they came about the front entrance. "We're going to have to use the stairs. Procedure."
As the three of them jogged up the stairs, they could see uniformed officers at every floor. By the time they got up to the fifth floor, they were exhausted. Their breaths came out in short gasps.
Vance glanced at his watch. "We got twelve minutes."
Reynolds nodded. The three positioned themselves next to the door of c5. Other officers were behind them as they stood with guns at the ready.
"DeGrow!" Vance shouted. "Open the door! It's the Police!"
When there was no answer, Vance mouthed the numbers.
'One.'
Reynolds shifted.
'Two.'
Vance swiped the sweat from his brow.
'Three.'
Bang.
Vance kicked the door open and he and Reynolds ran in, guns trained in front of them.
Then all hell broke loose.
Gun shots rang out through every corner of the building. The windows shattered and wallpapers ripped through the impact of the bullets.
-x-
Cal watch from the ground, glass shattered from the highest floor. He swallowed unevenly, hoping that everything was okay.
-x-
Vance staggered back as a bullet lodged itself into his vest. However, a hot, blinding, familiar pain shot up his shoulder and leg as a second bullet pierced his left arm and thigh. He thanked God that he was wearing black, or Reynolds would have seen the blood and pulled him out. Biting back the pain, he moved on, doing his best not to limp.
"DeGrow! Evan!" Reynolds shouted as the gun shots seized. The two could hear the shuffling of feet behind them, signaling the officers entered the room.
A very shocking scene awaited them as they went deeper inside the apartment. Where they supposed a dinning table would be, Germone sat there, tied to a chair. He was shaking his head, as if trying to stay awake. But other than his ruffled hair and shirt, he seemed to be very well, untouched.
Vance walked forward, carefully, checking the floor for anything rigged. When he got to Germone, he got down on his good leg and shook his shoulder. "Germone."
Germone's head shot up. "Vance," he said. "Thank god your here. Untie me, will you? I can't feel my hands."
Reynolds motioned for the officers standing behind and they stepped forward and got to untying him.
As the officers worked on untying Germone, he leaned forward and breathed in hard.
Vance looked at him, concerned. "You okay? What did they do to you?"
Germone sighed. "They started questioning me and all. I really don't know what I told them, forgot."
"How long they had you for?"
"I don't know...two, three days?" He breathed out heavily.
Vance nodded. He looked at the officers to see if they were done, but the two officers were still trying to cut the thick rope.
"Vance."
Vance looked down to see a different glint in Germone's eyes. He couldn't quite put a finger on it but it was... unlike Germone.
"I got to tell you something." His voice was dropped in a whisper. Vance was sure he was the only one who could hear. "There's no bomb in here. It was all a fake. And they haven't a grudge against Lightman."
Vance furrowed his brows. "What?" His frown showed now. "This whole thing started because they wanted Cal dead. What are you talking about?"
Germone looked around, as if waiting for a ghost to pop out. "It wasn't them." The police officers finally got the binding off. Germone gave a breath of relief and stood up. He was on his feet for five seconds before stumbling. Vance caught him just in time.
"Who was it?" Vance asked. He was more than confused.
Germone smiled, a very creepy kind of smile. "It was me."
Then all of the sudden Vance's stomach burst into pain. Frozen to the stop, he didn't know what to do. He didn't hear a gunshot, or anything at all for that matter. But the pain was there, the hot, searing, white, blinding pain was there. He slowly looked down, just in time to see Germone's hand pull away from beneath the vest, a knife coated in blood in his hands.
Germone leaned forward and whispered. "He took everything away from me when he told my boss about what I was planning on doing about a bombing that went wrong. That's one reason why he left the Pentagon on his own two feet. I had to work my way up from rock bottom. The day before he left, he was supposed to come report to me...then I saw a boy." He smiled. "And I thought 'what better way is there to pain a man then to take is own son away.' So I took you and brought you to the Pentagon. I knew he would never step foot there again. But I guess when you turned against me, my plan was failing. You started asking about your dad and I was sure I erased your memories of him. So I set out to kill him. But since your his son, that'll do better."
Vance staggered back, clutching his hand to his stomach, his eyes wide with pain and surprise. Germone was still smiling, the knife now dripping his blood onto the floor.
Reynolds, who was engaged in a conversation with an officer nearby, say Vance fall and immediately went over to his side. He was a foot away when he saw Vance staring at Germone wide-eyed and mouth agape and Germone smiling back, a knife in his hands. Ben put the two and two together faster then his eyes moved. He raised his gun and pointed it at Germone. "Don't move."
The officer who was talking to him before saw this and went over, his own gun trained at Germone. Ben bent down to Vance, whose hands were dripping of blood.
"Vance. Vance..."
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth in pain. "Hmm."
"C'mon." He turned around and shouted, "Officer down!" Ben put an arm around his back. He then noticed Vance wince and looked at his arm. "Your shot!"
Vance managed a small laugh and groaning at the pain that went through his body. "Yea. Good eye, Einstein."
Ben frowned as he saw Vance's leg. The boy was loosing blood, a lot of blood. He pulled Vance up gently and Vance leaned on him for support. When Ben looked back, Germone was handcuffed, the knife in the hands of a police officer and was being led away. He barely noticed Vance trying to speak to him. "What was that?" He leaned in to hear.
Vance's voice was so small, he found it very hard, even though his ear was now almost touching Vance's mouth. "G-Germone played us...all." Cough. "It ... wasn't DeGrow who wanted...Lightman dead. It was...him."
Reynolds stared at Vance in confusion. "Why?..."
"I don't know..." He groaned as they made their way through the door of the apartment. "There's no...bomb."
"Bastard!" Ben muttered. "But why'd he stab you for?"
"Cause I'm his son," he huffed.
Ben didn't say anything about that. He stayed quiet. "Well you're going to be okay." There was no reply. "Vance?" Ben strained his neck to see the boy who was leaning on him. His eyes were closed and sweat caked his face. "Vance!" He didn't even stir. "Shit." Ben picked him up and started running.
-x-
Gillian had just finished telling Cal that Vance knew about ... the secret.
Cal sat, shocked. He'd been trying to keep that secret a secret for 14 years. Not that he wanted to but...still it was a bit shocking. "How...?"
"Evan told him." Gillian sighed. "He kind of announced it actually." She felt so bad at that point, she felt like dropping dead.
"That arrogant bastard."
Greg, who was pacing outside when Gillian had asked to speak to Cal alone, came running back, flinging the door open. "There out!"
The two nearly flung out of the car just in time to see Germone coming out with a smug smile and handcuffed. The trio was more than confused. Next came out a running Ben, who was holding an unconscious Vance. Gillian gasped, Cal froze, and Greg stared, wide-eyed. Before any of the three had a chance to move, Reynolds put Vance in a waiting ambulance and it sped away, sirens wailing louder than a roaring lion. Reynolds turned and saw them. Sighing, he walked towards them, already knowing the questions they were going to ask and not knowing the answers.
"What happened! Is Vance okay?" Cal said, eyes wide in haste.
Reynolds rubbed the back of his neck, not sure whether to tell them. But he thought against it when he realized Cal was Vance's dad, and the fact that he was a lie detector. "He has multiple gunshot wounds to the arm and leg, and a stab wound to his stomach."
"A-a stab wound?" Gillian asked in utter shock. Cal went silent.
"Yea...Germone...uh...stabbed him."
"Germone?" Cal almost shouted. "Why the hell would he stab Vance for!"
"I...I'll explain on the way to the hospital."
-x-
By the time the four of them arrived at the E.R. Reynolds had filled them in on everything that happened. Mostly Cal was silent, cursing a few times, but he was silent. When they rushed into the busy door, a young nurse instantly came running to them.
"Mr. Reynolds?"
"Yes," Ben answered.
"Officer Kendall said you'd be coming. Agent Vance is in the O.R. at the moment. Their doing everything they can to-"
"Is he going to live?" Cal cut in.
The nurse looked hesitant, but put on a forced smile and said, "We're not sure, but we shouldn't think about the worst."
That didn't seem to reassure Cal much. He was about to take all his frustration out on the young nurse, but Reynolds pulled them all to a set of waiting chairs, thanking the nurse. They sat and waited for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the doors opened and a doctor in scrubs walked out, looking very grim.
"Mr. Reynolds?" He asked.
All four stood and Ben nodded.
The doctor sighed and looked at his feet. "I'm sorry."
Cal's heart dropped to his shoes. No...no no no no no! He could be dead. Not before Cal had a chance to talk to him again! He hesitantly sat down and stared in front with eyes the size of saucers. He hadn't even...
"There was too much blood loss..."
Gillian gasped and tears threatened to fall. Greg and Ben stayed silent and stunned.
"...we did every we could..."
"No you didn't!" Cal roared. He once again rose from the seat and was grabbing the doctor by the collar. "If you did everything you could, he would still be alive!"
The doctor looked away but allowed Cal to take his anger and frustration on him. Reynolds pulled him away though. He had a feeling Cal would hit the poor man. He sat Cal back down and made sure he could control himself. Foster sat down next to him and tried to confront him.
Emotions were running freely in his mind at that point, he didn't know what to feel. He felt numb. Utterly, blankly, numb. This couldn't be happening. He was aware of Gillian's hand on his back but he didn't feel it. Instead, he blocked out everything and everyone in the world and shoved his head into his shaking hands.
Ben and Greg watched as Gillian seemed to confront him and the waiting room soon covered itself in grief.
-x-
5 Years Later
Cal Lightman stared down at the tombstone which read. 'Vance Pierce'. It should say Lightman, he thought. He put down the bouquet of flowers onto the foot of it and kneeled down.
"Hey," he said into thin air. It had been five years. Five years since he lost the son who didn't know him. He'd come here every two weeks. He'd come and talk to him. "So...I got some news for you." Cal swallowed. "Gillian and I got married last week." He pursed his lips. "It was a small wedding...wish you were there." He breathed into his hands, for it was winter, and therefore, very cold. "We're thinking of adopting a baby, you know, since she can't..." He felt like somehow Vance was acting as a father to him instead of the other way around. But at the moment, he didn't care.
Since that day, Cal had closed himself off. Gillian had spent every single day to get him to open again. The office was was more silent but since their wedding, it was bustling again. He loved her. More than anything in the world. So when the night Gillian came knocking on his door, a bit drunk, and said she divorced Alec and asked if she could crash at his place, he was a bit concerned but overly excited.
"Honey..."
Cal looked up and around. Gillian stood there, a concerned and caring expression on her face. "It's...time to go."
Cal smiled. "Alright. I'll be right over. Just give me a second, yea?"
Gillian smiled. "Alright. Just don't take long." She turned around and walked back to the car.
Cal turned around again. "Well, I gotta go now. I'll see you next week, son."
And with that, Cal stood up and started his walk towards the car.
THE END! :D