Author's Note: This was written in an attempt to get past my writer's block for my other story. Italicized text indicates thoughts. ~ "text" ~ indicates telepathy.
xxx TTP xxx
"Cara, we don't have a choice!"
"We can't trust him!"
"Probably, but it's my only chance. You take me to the hospital and Ultra will find me."
"But he's Ultra, too."
"I know, but if we do nothing, I'm dead." It was a long shot, but it was the only option they had. He would definitely end up back at Ultra if he was taken to a hospital.
She didn't like it, but knew what he said was true. He was going to die if they didn't do something.
Reluctantly, she had Russell help her take John to Jedikiah. Obviously, they couldn't take him to Ultra, so they used TIM to find out what Jedikiah was doing. As luck would have it, he was just leaving Ultra Headquarters. They would use Russell as a distraction for the agents guarding Jedikiah's place. This should give Cara a brief window of opportunity to leave John where only Jedikiah would find him.
They teleported to just outside of the apartments. Russell rushed over and caught the attention of the guards, who had been alerted to a teleport signature nearby. He lead them away from Cara and the building. Cara helped John, who was getting weaker every moment, into the parking garage. She leaned him against the half wall near a specific parking spot.
Cara used both hands to lift his head and look him in the eyes. "You're sure about this?"
He closed his eyes and gave a slight nod. She hesitated then leaned in and kissed him.
"I love ..." she was interrupted by a car entering the parking garage. Cara jumped over the wall, making a quick get away.
When she made her way to a secluded spot, she dared to look back. "I hope you're right about Jedikiah, John." Then she teleported.
xxx TTP xxx
As Jedikiah pulled into the parking garage, he noticed a couple of intruders near his assigned parking space. He slowed down and reached into the glove compartment for the gun he had stored there for emergency situations. As he drove closer, he recognized one of the figures.
"Cara?" He sped up, but by the time he got to the spot, she had made it over the barrier. He stopped the car in the middle of the aisle and jumped out. Taking notice that the other form wasn't moving, he ran to the wall to see if he could still get a shot at Cara. He didn't see her anywhere. She was long gone into the darkness.
"Dammit," he exclaimed as he backed away from the ledge. Then he took a better look at the remaining person.
"John?" Jedikiah cautiously stepped over to the seemingly lifeless body. Even so, he trained the gun on the figure just in case. Although, once he saw the blood, he dropped the gun and ran over to the man. He worked quickly to assess the severity of the wound.
As Jedikiah found the injury, John regained consciousness.
"Jed?"
"Yeah. What did you get yourself into? What happened?" Jedikiah pressed down on the wound in an effort to stem the flow of blood.
"Owww owww owww!" John exclaimed and weakly tried to get Jedikiah to stop.
"Don't be a baby, you've experienced worse pain than this."
Soon John stopped struggling as he passed out again.
xxx TTP xxx
When John awoke, he had a hard time recognizing his surroundings.
"Where ..." he started to say, then screamed. When he tried to sit up, he had a searing pain shooting through his side. "Oh, right, that."
"Okay, no sitting up." He told himself then tried again to figure out where he was by looking around the room. This time only moving his head.
The small area was sparsely decorated, no artwork on the walls, basic lighting and shelves stocked with various supplies. "Is this a storeroom?"
He attempted to lift his head, no pain. Good. Now he was able to get a better look. It was not a bedroom, he wasn't sure what it was. He knew it wasn't a cell at Ultra. There weren't any D chips, at least none he could see. Then he noticed Jedikiah asleep in a chair in the corner. Just then, Jedikiah stirred and almost fell off the chair, waking himself up.
"Hey, you're awake," Jedikiah said as he yawned, stretched then composed himself.
"Where are we?"
"In a shelter."
"A shelter?"
"It was the best I could do under the circumstances." Jedikiah stood up and walked over to check John's injury. "How do you feel?"
"Not good, but I think I'll live ... now."
"You'll be lucky if you don't get an infection. It got a bit dicey, but I was able to handle it. You needed a hospital."
"You know I can't go to hospitals."
"True. Why here?"
"I didn't want to die, so I took a chance."
"Took a chance? How so?"
"You know."
"No, I don't."
John wasn't sure if the man truly didn't know or was just baiting him into saying it. He decided he didn't really care at this point.
"That you would help me ... would be able to save my life."
Jedikiah just grunted and nodded his head. John looked away and started to wonder what would happen next.
"Have you reported this?"
Jedikiah didn't respond, so John looked at him again. He still had trouble reading his former mentor and boss. Unfortunately, he was too weak to try and read his mind. Of course that's not really an option either, seeing how the man was quite experienced at blocking telepaths.
"No, I haven't reported it ... yet."
John felt a little glimmer of hope. "Maybe this will be okay."
"I haven't had time. First, I was busy saving your life. Since then I've been watching you, seeing how long it would take you to wake up ... making sure there were no complications."
"Where are we?"
"I already told you, a shelter."
"What type of shelter? Where?"
"An emergency shelter and, for now, it's of no concern of yours where it's located."
John's eyes started to close as he yawned.
"Get some sleep, kid."
"I'm not ... a kid ... any ... more," John responded as he fell asleep.
"Yes, you are," Jedikiah told him as he walked over to check for a fever then brushed the hair back from John's forehead.
"You need a haircut ... and a shave."
xxx TTP xxx
Cara paced in TIM's room.
"Anything yet, TIM?"
"Just as before, still no sign of him. Perhaps you should remember the saying 'no news is good news'?"
"Not now, TIM."
It had been a few days since they left John at Jedikiah's and not knowing his condition was getting to her. After Russell evaded the guards, she had him stand watch nearby while she returned to the Lair.
The next day Russell reported that nothing happened. Jedikiah didn't leave the building and Ultra didn't storm into the place, so he really wasn't sure what was going on.
At the time, Cara took that as a sign that maybe John was right; Jedikiah would take care of him. But after not hearing anything from John himself, or the others she had sent to provide surveillance, she started to worry again. She tried not to think about why John hadn't contacted her.
xxx TTP xxx
"John," Jedikiah said as he tried to wake the man. "John, you need to eat something to get your strength back."
John opened his eyes to see Jedikiah leaning over him, tapping his face. "Okay, okay, I'm up ... I'm up."
Jedikiah then set a tray on a folding chair by the bed. On the tray was a plate with a sandwich and a glass of water.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"About 12 hours."
"No wonder I'm hungry." This time he was able to sit up with just some mild discomfort.
They sat in silence as John ate. Once he finished, Jedikiah removed the tray.
Returning a few moments later, Jedikiah asked. "How do you feel?"
"Better," John replied, laying down again. "Not as much pain as before."
"Good."
There was another silence. This one a little more awkward than the first.
"So," John started. "What happens next?"
"You tell me," Jedikiah replied.
"No, sorry, I'm not up for that game. Just tell me."
"What do you expect me to do? I can't just let Ultra's most wanted go, now can I?"
"Well, you could ... but it is highly unlikely." John sighed. "I had hoped you might."
"And why would I do that?"
John's response dripped with sarcasm. "Out of the goodness of your heart."
Jedikiah just rolled his eyes, stood up and said, "Get some rest."
"There's nobody else around. They don't even have to know I was here." John said trying to plead his case to Jedikiah's retreating form.
As Jedikiah closed the door, John heard the sound of a lock clicking in place. He sighed once more and thought, "maybe this was a bad idea."
xxx TTP xxx
Jedikiah arrived at Ultra Headquarters. There were a few questions about where he had been the past couple of days, but he easily deflected any suspicion.
xxx TTP xxx
"This is strange," TIM announced.
"What is?" Cara replied.
"I'm picking up signs of a break out ..."
"That's not strange," Russell interjected.
"That's not the strange part, Russell, it's the location ... the break out appears to be at Jedikiah's residence."
"What?"
"There are indications of a break out at Jedikiah's apartment building."
Cara closed her eyes to see if she could sense anything. She picked up a faint signature. It was so faint she couldn't make out who it was.
"Somebody is there, but I can't tell who it is. The signature is weak."
"Ultra should be all over that. Are they on their way?" Russell was very suspicious of this news.
"Now that is curious. No, they are not. They don't seem to be aware of it."
"How could that be?" Cara was very skeptical.
"It's a trap, that's how it could be," Russell stated.
"I'll check with Stephen."
~ "Stephen ..." ~
~ "Not now, Cara. I'm at work, training." ~ He sent as he prepared to battle Hillary.
~ "It's urgent. Find out if Ultra is doing anything around Jedikiah's apartment." ~
~ "I'll see ... what ... I can ... do." ~ He closed the connection, so he could concentrate on his fight.
xxx TTP xxx
A couple hours later, Stephen was finally able to get the information Cara requested.
~ "Hmmm ... That's odd. The only thing I see is that there are half the guards watching Jedikiah's than usual. Only two, when it's supposed to be four." ~
~ "Okay, thanks Stephen." ~ Cara replied then turned to Russell.
"Let's go."
Russell jumped up from the couch and responded, "Where are we going?"
"To find the break out at Jedikiah's."
"Oh," Russell replied, stopping in his tracks. "Are you sure? It still seems like a trap."
"I don't think it's really a break out," Cara said.
"So it's a trap, then why go?"
"Because I think it's John."
xxx TTP xxx
Cara and Russell teleported onto streets on opposite sides of the building. They had agreed to meet outside the parking garage after verifying how many guards were on duty. If it was as Stephen had said, they would take care of the guards then enter the building. If not, they would high tail it out of there.
Russell was able to easily knock out his guard. Cara disabled hers, but it took a little longer. They met up outside the garage then slowly made their way inside, making sure to watch their backs and check around corners.
Cara mentally tried to reach out to whoever was there, but was blocked.
"Heads up, Russell," Cara whispered. "D chips."
"I don't see any," Russell replied.
"Me neither, but something is blocking my powers."
They walked through the parking garage, hesitating only once when Cara was distracted by the blood stain on the wall and ground where she had left John. At the other end of the garage, they found a few doors.
"Which door should we choose, boss?"
Cara studied each for a moment, then noticed a spot on one. She went over to study it.
"Is this blood?"
"Sure looks like it to me."
Cara ran over to the door and tried to open it.
"Of course it's locked."
"Allow me." Russell set himself then used a swift, quick kick to break down the door.
"John!" Cara rushed into the room, grabbed him around the neck and pulled him into a hug.
"Cara?" John returned the hug using one arm. "How did you find me?"
"TIM."
"What? How?"
"We don't have time for that. Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I can," He stood up and lost his balance. Cara caught him. "Maybe with a little help."
"Okay, come on," Cara stood next to him and let him lean on her for support. "We need to get out of here. There's no telling when the guards or Jedikiah will return."
As they rushed out of the room and through the parking garage, John was finally able to figure out where he had been ... the shelter was in Jedikiah's apartment building. Then the other piece fell into place. There was only one person who could have accessed TIM to leave the trail. He also understood that even though the man let him go this time, there was no guarantee it would happen again.