A/N: the name "Travis O'Reilly" wasn't my idea, it's a fan name that stuck. I took it from PeggsterLover's fics. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Chapter 10

Sergeant Travis O'Reilly was sitting at his desk in deep thought. It was long past the end of the working day but he seemed not to notice the time. That morning they had found their undercover officer dead. There was still nothing from the other officer, and Travis had seriously begun to fear the worst. Rubbing his eyes, he decided to go and see Danny the following day. He still felt kind of guilty for making up such a horrible lie about his best friend's death. Maybe it wasn't a lie now, a voice whispered in the back of his head, but he ignored it. As long as there was no evidence of that, he chose to believe Nicholas was alive and well. Just as he was going to leave, his phone rang.

"Sergeant O'Reilly," he answered automatically.

"Excuse me," the unknown voice on the other side sounded unsure. "This is Detective Sergeant Dickenson. I don't know how to take this and what happened but I got a note with your phone number and…"

Travis tightened his grip on the phone.

"And…?" he repeated encouragingly.

"Well, it says that the Met officers who came to my office at 2 p.m. may either be working for criminals or leading to someone working for criminals. It also says 'We've been looking in the wrong place. The bigger gang keeps the mole. Might need help'. Signed: 'N. A.'".

Travis sighed. So Nicholas was alright.

"Can you tell me the names of those officers?" he asked.

"They were Sergeant Watt and Constable Gollings," the DS was proud of his memory. He had always been good with names.

"And who gave you this note?" Travis wondered. He wanted to be sure that Nicholas was fine.

"That's the weird thing about it," Dickenson replied. "I don't know. Someone put it into my pocket. I guess it was the guy we've arrested earlier today. Those two came to transfer him and took him with them after some private talk…"

Travis tensed. This didn't sound good.

"Thank you, Detective Sergeant," he collected himself. "You've helped us a lot".

Travis disconnected. He needed to find Watt and Gollings. His thoughts about getting some sleep were forgotten. Maybe Nicholas was somewhere near…

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Soon the Met Sergeant was reading some new reports, drinking his umpteenth cup of coffee. Sergeant Watt… Constable Gollings… found dead in their car earlier that day. Both shot in the head. Travis rubbed his face. There was also some blood on the passenger seat, which didn't belong to either of the officers. It had been sent to the laboratory, but Travis was pretty sure he knew whose blood it was.

Anyway, he was determined to have a talk with whoever sent them after Nicholas. Sorry, Danny. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day… I hope you are coping well. Travis felt bad about not quite keeping the promise he had given to Nicholas but he reckoned Angel would understand. Too many things were going on.

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Nicholas couldn't stay awake for more than a few minutes. Someone was trying to shake him, which sent pain through his entire body. He just wanted them to leave him alone. Whenever he opened his eyes, he heard someone's voice. But he couldn't make out a single word of it, his eyes rolled, and there was darkness again.

The gang's senior was panicking. He had never thought that his over-cautiousness could restrain him, but it now was. He didn't know what to do. Whether he was supposed to try and get Shaun back to his senses so that he could ask him some very good questions, or just leave him and run…

They were in a new hideout, and the atmosphere of panic was all around the place. Eventually, they decided to wait for a while.

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Sergeant Daniel Butterman was back at service. Tony Fisher was now filling in for Nicholas and it kind of felt like the times when Danny's Dad had been there. Minus the serial murders, of course.

After seeing Nicholas he didn't quite know how to feel. Nicholas was alive. Danny felt like he would never ask for anything for Christmas. What else could he possibly be asking for?... But he was still in danger. And that thought just wouldn't leave Danny, filling him with worry and not letting him sleep at night.

It had all lasted until one day Danny decided he couldn't go on like this. He needed to do something. He found Travis' card in his pocket. He didn't remember taking it, but everything in those days had been like a blur anyway. Having taken a deep breath, he dialed the number.