Grace hung up her cell phone, and distantly looked out from her car, wandering how long would take for Street to be out of there.
'How can he do this? How can he be confined in that close space for all this time after...after it...'
She closed her eyes for a moment, and her mind went strictly back to the image of her friend chained in the dark basement, with the man hitting him. To her waiting for her turn to be beaten, or worse...
'Stop!' she quickly reopened her eyes, 'Don't go back there!'
She knew she couldn't afford that.
She was still hunted by the fear. By the choices she made. By her cowardice. By her betrayal.
'Jeez, we went through hell... he went through hell! How can he do this? How can he be so strong after all he had to stand?'
This time her mind went back to the hospital room. She could see him forced in bed, fatiguing to breath, fatiguing to move.
But even then, he acted strong. He tried to hold it. He forced himself to take care of her, even after what she did.
Since the first time she visited him he was so comforting, and so encouraging.
He was there for her, despite the pain, despite the fear.
He was kind despite everything.
'I am not that strong... I am not! I wish I was, but...' She soundly exhaled.
She was looking up, snooping around, when she suddenly saw something was off.
'What are they doing there?' She asked herself, noticing some strange men walking on the correctional roof.
'This can't be right!' she thought, acknowledging the men were all geared up and heavily armed.
She immediately took her purse, and started insistently searching for something.
'Here it is!' She took out a card, and dialed the number on her phone.
'Sergeant Harrelson.' Hondo picked up, not recognizing the caller's number.
"Sergeant... It's, it's Grace, um, Grace Devemport."
'Grace?' Hondo's tone was full of surprise.
Luca raised his eyebrows, overhearing his boss pronouncing the girl's name, and approached him to see what was going on.
'Is there something wrong?'
"I, I think someone is, is trying to break in the state correctional..." she was extremely agitated, "Jimmy... Jimmy is inside, and there, there are some men..." she sounded confused.
"It's not, not good, right?"
'Calm down girl,' Hondo tried to reassure her. 'I don't follow you...'
"They are armed! They were on the roof... and now..." she tried to describe what she saw, but the panic had the best of her.
'Alright, take a deep breath, and...'
"Wait, no! No!" Grace voice sounded distant. "Nooo..."
'Hey! Grace? What's happening?'
Hondo heard the sound of a smashed window, then nothing more.
'Grace! Grace!' Hondo kept insisting, but no response came through.
"What's going on?" Luca looked at him, and his blood froze noticing his boss' horrified expression.
...
The group of armed men jumped in the visiting room, gun pointed, interrupting Street's reunion with his mother.
"What the..." Street tried to react, instinctively portending toward his mother, to protect her.
He was trying to focus on one task at the time, hardly managing to control his still hurting body.
"Don't move!" one of the bad guys immediately pointed his gun at him, while his accomplices secured the other people present.
'Not again. This. can not. be happening. again.' he thought trying to breath the stress out.
'I can't be a victim all over again.'
The men carefully inspected the room, taking a good look on every single person that was there.
They looked at each other, shaking their heads.
"Damn! She was supposed to be here!" one of them said, confirming Street's impression that they were looking for someone.
"Why isn't she here?"
"Don't get all heated up, we switch to plan B."
While the men settled in the visiting room to execute this mysterious 'plan B', Street quickly looked around, trying to take stock of the situation.
'Eight well armed men,' he looked carefully at them, 'definitely professionals,' he acknowledged seeing their gears.
'Tree guards handcuffed,' he continued his inspection. 'Three civil, including one boy, and three inmates, including mom...'
He concentrate, needing to stay practical. He knew he couldn't let his fear take over, making him a useless coward.
"Hey! Stop it!" one of bad guys yelled, pointing his gun at the kid, as he started crying.
"Leave him alone!" Street made a step forward, with his instinct taking over again.
"Stay out of this!" Another man hit him with the back of his gun, making him fell on the ground.
"Hey!" Karen immediately knelt next to him, looking badly at their captors.
"I'm okay..." he tried to keep her calm, knowing that her temper could worsen the situation.
"I'm not new to this," he spat some blood on the floor, and cleaned his mouth with his sleeve.
"Come on, move!" They made all the hostages move to the short end of the room. "Sit down there. And don't say a word."
"Now, business time." The acting boss pointed his gun on a guard.
"Where is Joanna Bale?"
'So they're here for taking this lady out?' Street thought, trying to understand what their real purpose was.
"I don't know where every single inmate sleeps," the guard's tone was a bit too arrogant.
"You think I am kidding here?" he pressed his gun against his jaw.
Street's instinct had the best of the fear once again, and he tried to get up, but his mother firmly grabbed his arm.
"Let it go, Jimmy. This is not your fight."
Street beat his tongue, trying to do what his mother said.
"Stop!" A female guard protected her colleague.
"I'll check on the computer."
"Smart girl," the man nodded, helping her lift.
"And don't try anything stupid," he glanced at his second in command, who was pointing his gun on the hostages.
"Do you understand me?" he made her sat in front of the computer, and freed her hands.
"There she is," the guard pointed at the computer's screen.
"Alright, block B, cell 15, " The man made a sign to his mates, and got out with four of them.
"You," he pointed at the guard. "Open the gates, let's go!"
...
At the SWAT HQ, Hondo's yelling at his phone drew his whole team attention on him.
"What's going on?" Deacon approached him as concern filled the room.
"It's Street, isn't he? He is in trouble again, right?" Luca asked, anxious.
As no response still came through the phone, Hondo hung up, and tried to call Grace back.
"Voice mail, damn it!"
The whole team was standing by Hondo, staring at him, worried by his eager tone.
Chris and Luca looked at each other, impatiently waiting to know something more.
"Incursion at the state correctional," Hondo finally spoke up. "At least, it appears so."
"We have to move!" Chris was staring to lose control, "Now!"
Deacon and Tan looked at their teammates perplexed.
"Street is in there..." Luca explained them.
"What?" The two raised their eyebrows, even more confused than before.
...
'There is something odd here, something I can't explain...' Street's was hardly trying to understand what was really going on there, when his expression suddenly changed.
"Let's go, love," another man got in, pushing a girl in front of him.
'Oh no, no no!' Street winced immediately recognizing Grace.
"What do you have there, Nine?" the man who seemed to be the new leader of that small group asked him.
"Just a little rabbit," he pushed her along with the other hostages.
"She was out there, trying to call the police."
"Hey, hey," Street promptly got to her, apprehensive.
'It can't be!' he thought. 'She was here because of me... Why I keep putting her in this kind of mess!'
"You ok?" he gently put a hand on her face, starting to check on her.
Grace could only nod, unable to say a single word, and fighting hard to not cry.
"What did he do to you?"
"Shut up! Keep your hands on you." Nine said to him, holding his rifle firmly in his hands.
'One, we have a little problem here,' the new acting in command said through his radio. "Someone already called the police, we don't have much time."
'Don't lose control, Two. We are prepared for every scenario.'
...
As the Swat Team was almost ready to go, Hondo went to inform Cortez on the situation, to gain the green light for going out.
"Okay, you sure this is an actual situation?" she asked, worried as they all were.
"You know Grace, and where she comes from, there is not a single reason for her to make up a story like this." Hondo explained his reasons, trying to maintain the calm. "Not after all she and Street went through together."
He paused, looking her straight.
"She sounded really scared, Jessica."
"Yeah, okay. Go check the story, but be careful." She stopped him to exit her office. "You can't intervene till we know something real, understood?"
He got out eagerly directing toward his teammates.
"Hondo, there you are, we have a call," commander Hicks crossed him in the corridor.
'C'mon, not now!' Hondo exhaled, knowing he could not refuse to go were his commander sent him.
It was his job.
"A guard from the state correctional says something is wrong there."
"So it's an actual thing?"
Hicks stared at him, raising his eyebrows.
"We were already getting there for a direct report."
"Fill me in."
"Street and his friend, Grace, they are there. He was inside, in visit when she called me from the outside, claiming an incursion, but then the line went dead." Hondo explained as they entered the garage.
"This can't be good." Hicks sighted.
"I'm worried guys," Luca intervened.
"Street is unarmed, and still convalescent. He is not ready to jump back in the action!"
"Yeah, I just hope he doesn't get himself in more troubles..." Chris added, settling in the van, desperately trying to stay focused on the mission.
"You think he will be good in there?" Chris was obviously apprehensive.
"Unless he decide to play the hero... yes," Hondo said, putting all his attention back on their job.
"Come on, you know him." She continued. "He would do everything to protect his mother. And with Grace caught up in the mix too... there's no chance he will stand back."
"He is well trained, like the rest of us." Deacon added. "Just give him some credit."
Luca couldn't say a word, trying to concentrate on driving.
He knew that what he had to say about Street's current conditions would only put flesh on the bones of his already nervous colleague, and worsen the already tensed atmosphere.
"I mean, being held hostage again, less than a month after..." Chris sighed.
"The torture..." she whispered.
"He is probably freaking out right now. I mean, who wouldn't!"
Luca couldn't help but recall the time spent trying to comfort his friend.
'And you haven't seen him last night...' he thought, completely helpless.
"We will get to him before he can even know, ok?" Hondo looked straight at her.
"Just focus now, this is our job, we know how to do this."
...
Street was closely staring at his captors, trying to find a way out.
'Come on, Jim. Think, there must be something you can do.'
'She's not in her cell.' A pissed voice sounded from the radio.
"Dam it!" Two yelled impatient.
"Ok, hold on One, I'll make a guard talk!" he said to his boss, and headed toward the captured guards.
"Let's try this again," He approached them. "Where is Joanna Bale?"
'No, it can be that simple,' Street had to close his eyes, to not see what was coming between the captor and the guard.
'They can't be doing all this just for one single lady detained in a minimum-security facility.' He clenched his fist, trying to maintain the control.
"Hey," Street reopened his eyes, and drew his mother attention. "Do you know whose that lady is?" he asked in low voice.
Karen thought about it for a moment.
"She's quite new here, I think she arrived just last week."
"Last week?" Street surprised tone drew the bad guy's attention on him.
"Quiet!" one of them yelled at him.
"Don't make me say it again!" He made a step toward them, intimidating.
'No, there's definitely more," Street barely noticed him.
'They are too well organized. This can't be an improvised situation.' Street brain was working at the maximum speed, but the solution still wasn't clear to him.
"She is not in her cell," Two continued. "I'll ask you only one more time: Joanna Bale, where is she?"
The guard spit at his captor foot, making him lose his temper an hitting him in the face.
Street bit his tongue again, with his blood boiling in his veins, feeling powerless.
He knew that if he drew the attention on him, he would risk to involve his mother or Grace, and he couldn't allow that.
'I have to do something, I can't stay back, I can't...' he looked down at his strongly shaking hands.
"So? Still nothing to say?" Two made a sign to one of his man, that approached the hostages, and grabbed the kid.
"No, no, please," the boy's mother cried, not letting him go.
The man tore the kid from her arms, and took him in front of the guards, pointing the gun on his head.
"Where. is. Joanna. Bale?" Two said, impatient.
Street couldn't hold back anymore, and jumped on his feet, feeling the urge to protect the boy.
"We have a hero here, uh?" Nine hit him violently in the stomach with the back of his rifle, causing him to immediately fall down, totally out of breath.
"Stop!" Karen yelled furious.
"Mom... don't..." Street barely forced his voice out.
"Bale works at the library, you'll find her there," she harshly added, trying to protect her son.
"Thank you lady," Two smirked.
"Ahg..." Street crawled back to his place, with Grace helping him.
She was not controlling her nerves anymore, not wanting to watch him suffer like this all over again, and she starting lowly sobbing.
Street's head was pounding, and he still had some difficulties breathing, but he had to act strong for the people he cared about. He had to put his feelings aside, he had to be the rock Grace needed, and he had to be lucid enough to prevent his mother's bad temper to worsen the situation.
'One, this is Two' the man immediately opened the comms with his boss, 'Target is at the library. I'll make your way clear from the computer here.'
'Copy that. We're on our way.'
"Hey, how did she end up in here?" Street whispered, taking advantage of the men's distraction.
"The lady they are searching for..." He continued, noticing his mother perplexed look. "What did she do?"
"Shoplift, or something like that, I think," Street's mother replied, "What are you trying to do? You have to stay out of this!"
He looked at her helpless, and laid back on the wall, concentrating on his respiratory rate in the attempt of controlling the pain he still had in his chest.
'It doesn't make any sense!' He though, clueless. 'There has to be more!"
...
Swat team arrived at the scene, and settled their base camp outside the correctional parking lot.
"So, what's exactly the situation here?" Hicks and Hondo approached the first responders.
"We only know someone is inside, but every time we try to get closer, someone shots at us," the officer said.
"There's a sniper up there?" Hondo looked up, starting to understand how serious the situation was.
"Yes sir, but we can't confirm his exact position, I'm sorry.
"My partner," he glanced toward his patrol car, where another cop was sat. "Was hit in the vest."
"He is okay now," he added noticing the swat members' worried look. "It's just a bruise, but after that we could just patrol the exits, waiting for you."
Hondo nodded, but before he could say anything they were approached by a man dressed in a correction security guard's uniform.
"Fortunately he didn't care about me when I first tried to get in..." he said looking up.
"I'm Simons, I called you as soon as I noticed there were troubles here," he added.
"Call me Hondo. What did you see?"
"Not so much I'm afraid..."
"How many of them there are?"
"Don't know, sorry, I didn't actually see them."
The Swat members carefully listened to him.
"I was running late for my shift, and when I tried to get in, no one opened the gate for me. I looked in, trying to acknowledge what was going on, when I saw my colleagues were not in their established positions, and I stepped back to call for backup."
"You did the right thing." Hondo stated.
"Now we're gonna need a detailed map of the building."
"I'm on it." Hicks made his way to get it.
Luca approached his boss, followed by the others.
"What's the plan?"