Hell or High Water, a fbi fanfic

NOTE: Here is my first FBI fic! I posted it in chapters elsewhere but was too much work so here is the entire thing. I LOVE Scola and there are so few others who write anything about him. I'm also a whumper, if you've ever read any of my fics from other fandoms.

WARNING: Basic spoilers for season 5 episodes that have already aired. Also, it's un-beta'd so there are some mistakes, I'm sure. Hopefully none are too bad. Also, all medical stuff I did my best with. I researched a lot and otherwise just tried to make it believable. The pregnancy stuff mirrors my own experience pretty closely however with my son who was born 7 months ago, so that should be pretty accurate. Definitely some violence but nothing too graphic, I don't think. Stuff you would see in the show, I would say.

Anyway, thanks for checking it out.

Nina was going to be pissed.

No, worse than that: she was going to be worried. At nine months pregnant, life was hard enough on her without adding concern for the father of her child to her plate. That would, in turn, add unnecessary stress to the baby. Our baby, he mentally corrected himself. Our son.

Stuart sighed as he pulled once again at the shackles around his wrists. Surprisingly, while many emotions bombarded him at present, the most prevailing feeling was that of unadulterated annoyance. He was annoyed to be in this predicament; cuffed and connected to a damn hook in a concrete, filthy floor, which had him kneeling there like a prone little child. Annoyed that the perps had been able to sneak up on him like that in the first place. Annoyed that his nice suit was now completely ruined by the blood from his head wound and annoyed that the attention of the JOC would now have to be directed at finding him.

Most of all, he was annoyed that his amazing, pregnant girlfriend would be in the position of having to wonder if he would ever be coming home. Ever meet their son.

Stuart shook his head at the thought and forced it from his mind. He had been abducted, which sucked profoundly, but he was a Federal Agent and he'd be damned if he let the fear, emotions and what ifs cloud his judgment. He knew the team was going to be looking for him: an ambush during broad daylight right beside 26 Fed would raise a few eyebrows at the very least. He also knew firsthand how effective they were at their jobs. But his best chance at getting out of here would come if he pretended as though he needed to save himself. That meant keeping a clear head, noticing every possible detail and compartmentalizing. Which he was good at.

So focus on the facts, Stuart thought to himself, clenching his eyes shut and taking a deep breath.

He had been simply walking out of 26 Fed for his usual coffee run to the nearby cart when someone had come up behind him and immediately put him in a chokehold with an unmistakable gun pressed into his back. He barely had time to react before he was being manhandled backwards towards the street and quickly found himself pulled into a van. And just like that, mere seconds, he was speeding off to God knows where with God knows who. He had, of course, tried to fight them off and would have gladly taken his chance at jumping from a moving vehicle, but a swift and painful crack to the side of his forehead with the butt of the gun previously held to his back effectively quelled that initial plan to escape.

After arriving at what appeared to be one of many abandoned buildings on the outskirts of the city, he now knew his abductors to be members of the wanna-be newest family of the NYC Italian Mafia. While the known Five Families had mostly found themselves involved in things like racketeering schemes and money laundering, the Cammaranos were trying to make a name for themselves and were trying to do so violently. The leader, Johnny Cammarano, was currently in the custody of the team under suspicion for the latest murder of a higher level member from one of the five main families, the Colombos.

With all of that in mind, Stuart's first and most reasonable guess was that they intended to swap him for their boss. Sadly, that was likely not something Isobel would be willing to do for obvious reasons, unless they truly didn't have enough to keep Johnny Cammarano in custody. But it also meant he at least had a little time to escape before they put a bullet through his head, or whatever flavor of death they were going to use.

"Gio, you almost done or what?" one of the guys across the large open area angrily asked his partner. "We've had this jackal an hour already and haven't even made contact with the feds. You know the Boss ain't going to like this timeline."

The man named Gio threw his hands in the air, "What do you want from me, Dom?! You want the signal to be untraceable but you got me in one of the worst areas of the city to pull that off with the least amount of equipment to do it. I'm not a superhuman, Dom."

Dom then plopped down pointedly in a fold out chair, "Sorry, I just want to be more comfortable as I listen to your long list of excuses. You were saying…"

Gio waved his hand towards Dom, clearly not wanting to engage any longer with him and his antics. Stuart tried not to be too obvious with his watching and listening but was learning quite a bit about his captors. Gio was evidently the brains and Dom more so the brawn. Stuart knew there were several more members of this "family," but these two were undoubtedly fairly high up there if they were, in fact, tasked with getting the boss back.

"Yeah, Gio, keep playing," Dom continued, standing up again to continue pacing. "We have a damn federal agent bleeding on the floor over there and still no closer to getting back on track."

Stuart looked directly at his chains again, knowing that the attention was back on him, at least temporarily. He definitely preferred when their bickering kept the attention elsewhere.

"Whose fault is it that he's bleeding?" Gio countered. "I'm not the one who clocked him in the head, am I?"

"That's because you were driving, not dealing with his skinny ass bucking and fighting back!" Dom yelled back, his hands waving madly in the air. "Geez, just finish the damn phone setup. And make sure it's a video call. That little head wound is the least of Agent Boy's concerns and I want to make damn sure his people know that. Honestly, maybe I should rough him up a little more before the call to make a point."

Stuart sighed deeply. There it was. They were going to attempt to video call the JOC, most likely demand a trade and happily torture him a little (or a lot) to prove their point. And apparently had enough sense to at least try to make it untraceable. With all of that now laid out, Stuart found himself coming to one particular thought: Please don't let Nina into the JOC to see whatever they had planned.

"You're telling me that a Federal Agent, one of our own, was abducted right around the corner from this very building, in the middle of the day, no less, and we have no leads to go on!?" Jubal roared as he paced through the JOC, hands firmly planted on his hips. "Go over the facts again. Maggie, OA."

"A few witnesses came forward and said they saw a short, but stocky man in a ski mask come up behind Scola, put him in a chokehold and pull him into an awaiting black van," Maggie responded quickly, her eyebrows furrowed as she replayed the incident.

"The coffee vendor claimed to have seen a gun at his back," OA added, "None of them took note of the plates on the van."

Jubal sighed as it played out in his mind's eye, knowing that this little bit of information did nothing to help Scola.

"I finally have a slightly better camera angle of the abduction, but it's still not great," Elise chimed in, sounding both excited and dejected.

"Great," Isobel said, "Put it up."

Seconds later, one of the larger screens in the room showed some grainy, rather far away footage of the small courtyard area around the corner where several street vendors and cozy park benches created a nice place for them to get away from the office sometimes and grab a bite to eat. Scola, like the rest of them, was known to go to one of the coffee vendors rather frequently and was actually supposed to be bringing Tiff back a coffee.

Turning his attention back to the screen, he saw Scola approaching the coffee stand and approximately ten seconds later, he was pulled backward into a van and off it went. It happened so quickly. The perps had definitely been waiting until Scola was as close as possible to the street before they attacked and, going in for a headlock was the best approach, unfortunately, as there was little anyone could do to get out of one. Still, Jubal had been pleased to see Scola put up a decent fight before it was all over.

"No plates and nothing for facial recognition, right?" Jubal barked, although he already knew the answer to that question. Sure enough, Elise shook her head and looked down.

"Okay," Isobel spoke up with an intentional sense of calm to her voice, no doubt trying to keep the momentum going even after another dead end with the footage. "We have to assume these guys may have known Scola well enough to know that he frequented that area, as well as an unfortunate lack of good cameras. Do we know of any threats against Scola recently? Any cases stand out, or the current one? The Mafia doesn't tend to play these sort of games any longer but this new group is definitely playing outside of those rules…"

Tiff, who had been uncharacteristically still and quiet during all of this, answered, "Nothing stands out. He hasn't mentioned any threats and none of our recent cases stand out any more than your average built in enemies after solving a case."

"Has anyone spoken to Nina?" OA asked, though his tone was a bit quieter than normal. Jubal knew the answer to that, thus far, was no. No one had wanted to bring her in just yet in hopes that he would be found quickly. Didn't want to alarm her unnecessarily. That grace period seemed to be dwindling fast and with no leads…

"We all know Scola doesn't talk about many personal things," Maggie added, "And I know we all get the occasional hate letter that we usually just set aside. If anyone would know about something like that… it would be Nina."

"She's right," Jubal said, now turning to look at Isobel who would ultimately be the one to make that call. "I don't want to involve her either but she may be our best chance at ending this if she knows about any reasonable threat."

Isobel sighed as she began to exit the room on a mission to question Nina and effectively ruin her day, "Fine, but keep digging into recent cases, especially this Cammarano family. We just arrested the boss and while I'd be surprised if they acted this quickly and in such an extreme manner, we can't rule anything out given their violent history."

"Right," Jubal said as Isobel left the JOC. "Tiff, you, Maggie and OA get back in there with Cammarano. Press him for information but don't let him think anything is wrong on our end. I want to see if he knows anything about a plan to get him out."

They nodded and began to walk out when Kelly spoke up.

"Hold on," the young analyst spoke in a tone that let Jubal know this was potentially something major. "I'm on the line with one of our tip line operators and apparently there's a video call trying to come through to us. Said it supposedly involves our missing agent.."

Jubal's stomach immediately twisted in knots. No public statements had been made, so he knew this must be legitimate and hated where it could be going. Still, it was likely a lead and at this point, he would take whatever he could get to get his guy back.

"Patch it through," Jubal responded quickly, nodding to the agents he had just told to leave, acknowledging that they could wait on the previous order. "Let's wait and see what this is. Everyone, be ready to track and analyze any information we can possibly get out of it."

And with one last deep breath, Jubal readied himself for whatever was about to pop onto that screen.

Isobel was thankful she rarely had to have conversations like the one she was about to have with Nina. Her position was not an easy one by any means, but she at least didn't have to deal directly with grieving or worried loved ones as often as she used to. She was even more grateful that it was even more rare for any conversation like that to involve one of her own agents. They all had dangerous jobs and found themselves in precarious situations from time to time, but didn't often get this far.

But today, it did. And today, she was going to have to tell one of her former agents, who was pregnant by her current agent, that he was missing and they had little to nothing to go on.

After briefing Nina's SAC and both agreeing she could reasonably be read in, only a moment or so passed before Nina herself rounded the corner with a polite smile and a protruding, round belly. Truthfully, Nina had been one of the most gifted and dedicated agents she had worked with, right up alongside Maggie, OA, Tiff and Scola. She had fit in so seamlessly with them and helped fill the gap left by Maggie's recovery. Isobel had been sad to see Nina choose to leave but, of course, it had all made sense in the end.

Naturally, being the gifted agent that she was, Nina clearly picked up on Isobel's demeanor right away as her smile quickly faded to concern.

"Isobel," she greeted, her eyes wide, "what's going on?"

"Why don't we talk on the way?" Isobel motioned toward the elevator. White Collar lobby was hardly the place to start this sort of conversation.

"Is he okay?" Nina asked as she followed Isobel. "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't about him. Unless it's my case…"

"No," Isobel said quickly but softly, sensing a bit of hope in the younger agent's voice that maybe it didn't involve the man whose child she was carrying. The man whom she, presumably, loved.

"I'm sorry but it's not about your case," she continued as the elevator doors slid closed. "We need to know if there have been any threats made towards Scola lately? Anything out of the norm that you're aware of?"

Isobel could see the slightest hint of panic reflecting in Nina's breathing and expression, although she was effectively holding most of the emotion back. Isobel knew that was one area in which Nina and Scola both excelled in: compartmentalizing.

"No…," Nina stated, "He hasn't even received any hate letters or anything lately. It's been quiet. What… What is going on, Isobel?"

Isobel sighed at yet another dead end. "About an hour and a half ago, Scola was taken from the courtyard around the corner while trying to get coffee."

Nina gasped slightly and Isobel watched as her hands immediately, and likely subconsciously, found their way to her belly. A maternal instinct, no doubt, to feel protective of the little human growing within her.

"We are still working to find any leads," Isobel continued, wishing desperately with every word that slipped through her lips that she had something, anything, more concrete to tell Nina.

"So…," Nina asked slowly as she followed Isobel to the JOC. "So he's gone but you have no idea why? Is it whatever case you're working on right now? He wasn't undercover recently, I don't think, right?"

"Right," Isobel said as they entered but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the atmosphere of the JOC was suddenly far more tense than when she had left it. And that was saying something, given that one of their own was in danger. Every person in the room had their eyes glued to one of the screens and a quick glance in that direction told her why.

There, shackled to the ground, was a video playing of their missing agent. Apart from a gash to his temple and a busted lip, he appeared to be alright and was very much alert. In fact, his gaze was apparently on someone behind the camera and it wasn't fear she saw in his eyes, it was anger. Of course Scola would be mostly angry at his captors instead of fearful.

Isobel's mind was suddenly racing; who had sent it? Why? What did they want? How long ago was this taken?

"Say hello, Special Agent Scola," a jeering voice echoed through the room, making the hair on Isobel's neck stand up. "I'm sure your little FBI buddies are happy to see you're still alive. For now anyway."

"Who are we speaking to?" Jubal asked suddenly and loudly.

Wait. What?

"Is this… Is this live?"

Nina. She had forgotten the woman was even behind her, let alone seeing her loved one chained to a cement floor and covered in blood. But she brought up the very question that had suddenly overtaken Isobel herself.

"Doesn't matter, Sport," the man behind the camera responded in a disgustingly condescending tone. Which not only confirmed that this was, in fact, a live feed but the level of confidence in the captor's voice indicated that he was either ignorant to the capabilities of the FBI or else confident that they wouldn't be able to trace the call to their location. Either way, Isobel was already racing to the center of the room to get a better view.

"Nina," she heard Maggie say somewhere behind her. "Are you sure you should be here?"

Isobel knew this was probably something she should have addressed with Nina herself, but given the circumstances, all of her attention was now focused on Scola and trying to figure out a way to get him back safely.

"I'm not leaving."

Isobel glanced back to see Maggie nod, respecting the woman's decision, while Tiff moved in close and put her hand on Nina's back in an effort to comfort the woman.

"All that matters right now is how badly do you want your guy back. And more specifically, in what condition?"

"You have my attention," Jubal responded simply. Isobel mentally applauded him for keeping his emotions out of it so as not to give the captor anything extra to use against them.

"Oh, do I? That's good, that's good," the man responded, almost sounding as though this was one big, fun game for him. "Because I must say, I was hoping it would have been one of the pretty little ladies that works in there, but little Stewie here is a spicy one. Handsome, too, I might add. It would be a shame to mess up that face anymore than we already have."

So "we" meant he wasn't working alone, which they already knew given that there had to be a getaway driver. Also, they weren't going after Scola specifically. That was a major development. That meant it had to be related to a case in which they all worked on if he would have been prepared to abduct one of the "pretty little ladies", as he had put it.

On the screen, Isobel watched as Scola rolled his eyes and shifted his body as much as his restraints would allow. She hated seeing him like that and knew the position he was in could not be comfortable at all. There was enough slack in the chain for him to move around some, but he definitely couldn't stand or do much at all with his hands.

She glanced back at Nina once again and saw her watching intently, her eyes watery and one hand firmly over her lips.

"So what is it that you want?" Jubal asked, the slightest hint of anger laced in his tone.

"Simple. You have our guy and now we have yours. So let's make a trade," the voice continued, still not showing his face. "Johnny Cammarano. He goes free."

And there it was. This was about their current case. They were dealing with the latest Italian Mafia group - or at least that's what they were aiming for - which had already shown a complete lack of fear and a tendency to kill anyone who got in their way.

"That's not exactly simple," Jubal responded darkly. "We have evidence tying him to more than one murder…"

Just then, a new figure appeared on the screen: perhaps the same one who had taken Scola from the footage seen earlier. Without any further words or warning, the man placed something against Scola's neck.

"Wrong answer."

The room was suddenly filled with the sounds of raging electricity, Scola's groans and clanking chains as the current ran viscously through Scola's body. Isobel's own stomach twisted in knots as she saw her agent violently and involuntarily convulse against his restraints to the point that she wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get a broken bone out of this.

"Stop, stop!" Jubal yelled, a sentiment shared across the room, though no one else dared to say anything and potentially risk any more harm to Scola. Thankfully, the man listened and pulled the taser away, leaving Stuart a contorted mess on the ground, laid out as best he could while still chained to the ground. The shaky but clear rise and fall of his chest proved he was still alive, at the very least.

"Electricity and metal," the man behind the camera chuckled, "that can't feel too good, huh?"

"Okay," Jubal spoke up, his resolve fading a bit as the weight of the situation undoubtedly began to jolt him. Isobel knew first hand how stressful it was knowing that someone's life and well-being depended solely on your words and actions. "We can try to make some sort of arrangement but…"

Without warning, the same horrific sounds filled the JOC once again as the man connected the taser against Scola's neck. Isobel wanted so badly to look away from the scene playing out before her, but she owed it to her agent to stay strong and know exactly what he was having to endure.

"Stop!" Jubal yelled again, a hint of desperation in his voice that matched the gasps heard throughout the room. Isobel could only imagine how Nina and even Tiff and the others who often worked closely with Scola were handling this, but she couldn't break eye contact with the screen long enough to check. Not that it would have helped anyone, anyway.

"You seem to misunderstand me," the unseen man said as the other pulled away again from Scola. "I'm really not requesting that Johnny be let go."

But Isobel, and likely everyone else in the room, were suddenly very focused on the man now checking Scola's pulse. Isobel's breathing stopped when his hand lingered before putting his ear close to her agent's mouth.

"I think his heart stopped," the man reported to his partner rather matter-of-factly. No urgency or concern, just a statement of fact. But for Isobel and everyone else in the room, that statement meant everything.

"Nina, you really don't need to see this," Isobel heard Tiff say, her voice shaky and filled with concern. But Isobel was fairly certain Nina wouldn't budge because Isobel wouldn't have either.

"Ugh, fine," the other man said as though it were a minor annoyance, "See if you can CPR him back, or whatever."

"If he dies…" Jubal began.

The screen changed all of the sudden and while they could still see the man with the taser now perform chest compressions on Stuart in the background, the previously unseen man had apparently propped the phone up and was now filling most of the screen with his masked face.

"Once again, you misunderstand me. You see, if he dies, then your choice will be to either let Johnny go and get your agent's body back for a proper funeral OR I can throw it in a woodchipper or maybe send it down to the bottom of the East River. Either way, I don't really care but you do. And make no mistake, even if you don't care about your agent, I have all the resources I need to keep pushing until I get Johnny back."

Just then, the man with the taser stopped compressions and rechecked Scola's pulse. Thankfully, the agent's head slowly rolled toward the camera as his eyes opened slightly, letting everyone know that he had been brought back. A collective sigh rolled through the room.

"Oh look," the other man said cheerfully, "You still have a chance to save your boy. How sweet. I'll tell you what, you have an hour to make whatever evidence you have disappear and get Johnny ready. I'll call back with your instructions and then you can either follow them, or watch Stewie, here, die the most painful death I can concoct and this time, there will be no do-overs."

And with that, the screen went black, leaving them all in horrified silence before bursting into a flurry of activity. Isobel, now thoroughly sickened to her core after watching Scola die once already, was bound and determined to get him back.

He had just died right in front of her eyes. In front of all of their eyes. And there was nothing she could do to help him.

Nina fought back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her with pregnancy hormones only adding to the battle. How could this even be happening? She had seen Stuart run into burning and exploding buildings, through waves of gunfire and chased down even the scariest of criminals. But of all things, the most danger he's been in came while trying to get some coffee.

Anger now spilled up through her throat like bile, causing her to stand up from the break room chair she had been sitting in for all of two minutes. She was no longer on this team and even though Isobel had agreed to read her in, she didn't have an actual role to fulfill, despite offering - begging, even - to help. She ended up just feeling in the way.

Yet sitting in here, away from all information, wasn't helping either. At least in the JOC she knew exactly where they were on the case. They at least had general knowledge now of who they were dealing with and that was something. Maggie and OA had been sent to push Johnny Cammarano and Tiff to dig into this new "family" and gather as much intel on them as possible.

She sighed as she placed both hands on the countertop and let her head drop, stretching out the overly tense muscles in her shoulders and neck. Nina rolled her head slowly from side to side and tried to push aside the intense tightening feeling she was experiencing throughout her abdomen. She was no stranger to Braxton Hicks contractions but this felt different. Still, the alternative - true contractions - were simply not allowed to happen right now. Not only was she only 36 weeks along, she didn't have time to go into labor with Stuart's life literally hanging on by a damn thread.

Nina raised herself up and slammed her fist on the countertop.

"Nina."

She turned suddenly, embarrassed that whoever it was had just witnessed her momentary lapse in composure.

"Jubal," she responded quickly, choosing not to address what he had just seen. Surely he would understand. "Do you have information?"

Jubal looked away for a moment, which served to answer her question. "Nothing concrete yet. They knew what they were doing with rerouting the signal so that it couldn't be traced. Elise is focusing on combing through the video to see if there's any background noise or… anything that can narrow down the search."

Nina nodded, suddenly feeling sorry for Elise who would have to watch and listen to that over and over. She wasn't sure she could do it, herself.

"Hey," Jubal continued. "We're going to find him. We… we will."

She forced a smile in response and nodded again. Despite the unspoken knowledge between them that finding him was not guaranteed, especially finding him alive, she appreciated hearing the statement aloud.. She selfishly wished making deals like trading Cammarano for Scola was something the FBI wasn't so against doing. Alas, the agency wouldn't be able to last if they turned to actions like that and she knew it.

"In the meantime, maybe you should look at going home and we will call with any updates…"

"Absolutely not," Nina snapped, coming off a bit more harshly than she had intended. "As bad as that was in there, sitting in here for the last ten minutes and not knowing anything has been worse."

Jubal nodded, "Right. Well, let's get back to it, then. We are down to 28 minutes before they call back."

That meant thirty-two minutes had passed since Scola was brought back from cardiac arrest from the very people who put him there in the first place. She swallowed hard against the nausea and followed Jubal back to the JOC, ignoring the worried eyes that immediately made their way to her from all over the room.

"Where are we at?" Jubal barked, the softness from the breakroom now replaced with determination.

"We believe the ones in the video may be Dominic Cannaverde and Giovanni Campisi," Kelly answered first, "Both have been tied to Cammerano going back years and the video appearances support their known height and overall body type."

"Great," Isobel stated, "What do we know about them? Any records of secluded, abandoned buildings?"

Kelly shook his head, "Nothing yet."

"Keep digging," Jubal said, then turned to Tiff, Maggie and OA who had just reentered the room. "What do you got?"

"Cammarano is playing dumb but clearly knows there is a plan to get him out of here," Maggie spoke up.

"But he also alluded to having unlimited resources, just like the guy who has Scola," OA added, "I'm beginning to think this isn't just some wanna-be Mafia group. They may not be established here but they may have the resources and determination to completely shake up the mob scene in town."

"I think he's right," Tiff then stated darkly. "I did some digging and found out that Johnny Cammarano has dual citizenship with Italy and flies over at least once a month."

Nina watched as Isobel straightened up at this information, "So he may have direct ties to the actual Italian Mafia?"

"Both Giovanni Campisi and Dominic Cannaverde have dual citizenship as well," Kelly added after hearing Tiff's news.

Jubal sighed and felt his grip tighten around the pencil in his hand, "That means they are likely funded overseas and know they have somewhere they can go if things get heated. We need to get a hold of Interpol and the Fly Team to see what information they have on this group. Who is Johnny Cammarano working with in Italy and why?"

Isobel nodded, "Likely someone looking to expand their own empire and what better place than New York City? To Cammarano and whoever he's working with, our Five Families are probably the mafia wanna-bes, not them."

"Exactly," Maggie added. "That's why they've hit the scene with so much violence and gunning after members of the other families. Trying to show that they are the real deal and gain dominance."

"That makes more sense," Elise stated now, drawing the attention to her. Nina noted how defeated she looked and knew it had to be from watching someone she knew go through what Scola just endured. Nina remembered hearing about Elise's experience with the bomb around her neck and how Stuart had risked his own life to stay by her side until it was all over. This had to be hard for her not being able to give him comparable support.

"The sophistication needed to route the signal of the call the way they did," she continued, "I haven't seen anything like it yet. At least not in this country. And it would have been a pretty pricey device or program. I definitely believe they have access to substantial funding."

Nina bit her lip at all of this information. This wasn't just a small group of disorganized hotheads looking to make a name for themselves. This was shaping up to be something much, much bigger.

"So setting Cammarano free…, " Isobel began, "It could ultimately be a catalyst for a violent uprising of the entire Italian Mafia within the city."

Quiet fell over the room and Nina felt the nausea try to overtake her again. This was getting worse and worse for Scola and they all knew it.

"What if they just want to get out of here and go back to Italy?" Tiff asked, sounding as though she was refusing to accept where this was heading. "Cammarano is in hot water and is clearly answering to someone back in Italy. If he goes…"

"Either way, they will be calling in fourteen minutes. If we don't agree to pass off Cammarano, or at least pretend to, Scola is as good as dead. They made that clear and I don't think they're bluffing," OA interjected, bringing them all back to the reality that their hour was almost up.

Jubal looked over at Isobel, which had everyone in the room following suit.

"Get Cammarano ready for transport," she said after only a moment, which renewed a small sense of hope within Nina. It bought them at least a little more time to try to save him. "I have no intentions of actually passing him off BUT if we can't convince Campisi and Cannaverde that we are agreeing to their terms, we lose the chance to get Scola back. I refuse to go down without a fight, he deserves that much from us."

Jubal nodded and clapped his hands together. "We all know transport is the biggest risk for us but also for them. If they're going to make any mistakes that will give up their location, it will be coming in thirteen minutes."

Nina felt her heart racing, knowing that everything was about to go down. She found herself praying and hoping that her last time seeing Stuart alive wouldn't be on some Godforsaken video call and certainly hoped she would never have to watch his heart stop beating again.

With one more painful feeling of tightening all over her stomach being pushed aside, she readied herself for whatever was about to happen.

Stuart Scola almost never thought wistfully about his days of safety behind a desk while raking in stupid amounts of money on Wall Street. He had been damn good at what he did, and that had ultimately been the very reason he wanted to leave. Interestingly enough, as his aching body tried to shift yet again in a desperate attempt to find comfort, he still didn't regret his decision to leave.

If he died today, it would have at least been after helping to save many lives before his demise. Still, he would hate to leave this world behind now that he finally had people who made him want to stick around. He wanted so badly to meet his son. To see the beautiful golden curls on Nina's head and hold her close, just one more time. Hell, he'd even grown close to his teammates and could say for the first time since childhood that he had real friends. He wasn't giving up, but he knew there wasn't a whole lot of hope either. The FBI didn't trade murderers. It was as simple as that.

He had stayed on the ground for quite a while after the call ended, just trying to breathe. He had realized immediately that the man named Dom had been doing CPR on him, which meant that the damn taser had disrupted his heart rhythms and shut it down. Which also meant that anyone watching on the other end had seen all of that as well.

So not only did his body violently ache from the electricity, he was also vividly aware of at least two broken ribs that were making it slightly difficult to breathe. No big deal, Stuart spoke to himself with an eye roll. He had eventually forced himself back into a sitting position after feeling far too vulnerable completely laid out on the ground.

"You're a tough little guy, huh?" Dom laughed as he loaded bullets into the chamber of his weapon. "I'd probably still be passed out if I were you, but then again, I'm a baby when it comes to electricity."

It was all Scola could do not to roll his eyes and smart off. What a dumb thing to say, he thought to himself instead. He'd hate it if the last conversation he had on the face of the earth came from such an idiot.

"Why couldn't you people have some longer chains or tie me to a chair like normal people," Scola questioned dryly. "My back is too old to be holding this position."

Both Gio and Dom laughed at that comment.

"So sorry we weren't more accommodating," Gio laughed as he continued to mess with the phone they had used to call the JOC with. Stuart assumed they had spoken to either Jubal or Isobel, but from the little he could hear from the other end, it had sounded more like a male voice. So Jubal. But then again, if it was truly a video call, then the entirety of the JOC had been watching and analyzing. Which brought him both comfort and embarrassment.

Dom then came and crouched down in front of him, his gun waving in Stuart's face as he spoke with his hands, "You know something, Stewie? I like you. I do. I'm so used to people crying and begging. But you? You're a regular wise guy in the face of danger and, let's face it, probable death. I like that. It's refreshing."

"Yeah," Gio piped up again, "You're far from the first bloke that Dom's killed but you were definitely the first he's ever brought back from death. That's pretty significant."

Stuart wanted to smack them both across the face for being so out of touch with reality that they thought killing and then reviving someone was in any way remarkable.

"Aw," Scola breathed through growing pain in his ribcage. "So honored to be your first."

They both erupted in laughter once more. "See?" Dom chuckled, "I like this guy. I kinda don't want to make this call now but, you know, do what you got to do."

"You gonna do the stomach thing?" Gio asked.

"Yeah," Dom shrugged, "Should do the trick. Who knows, maybe they'll follow through and actually find him in time. Anyway, you got the plane and the phone ready?"

Gio nodded. "Done! Ready for another call. Go ahead and get the van ready. I'll notify Sal and tell him we will hopefully be arriving by tomorrow afternoon, if all goes well."

Silence fell over the deserted building once again as Scola's mind went racing. It was almost time for another call, which was cause for concern on its own, but now he had to wonder what was meant by "stomach thing."

"We're ready to roll," Dom called a few minutes later as he entered the area. "Oh wait, one more thing."

Dom then walked over to Scola who wondered if the "stomach thing" was about to happen but instead, he took out the damn taser and pointed it at the agent.

"I'm going to let you stand by moving your chains to that hook," he spoke slowly and pointedly, motioning to a hook on a nearby column. Relief temporarily flooded Stuart at the idea of being able to appropriately stretch out after what felt like days crouched over. But then again, he couldn't help but feel suspicious as to why the sudden change.

"But look at me," Dom continued as if he were a mother warning her children to behave, "Any funny business and I'll tase you again until your heart stops. And even if you were to get the jump on me, and let's face it, you're already in rough shape, but let's say you do… Gio over there will put a bullet between your eyes. Got it?"

Scola nodded, his eyes locked on Dom's, whose face suddenly erupted in a big grin. "See? I like this dude. He has a set of cojones like a damn bull."

"Alright, then," Gio called out almost happily. "Let's do this."

Tiffany Wallace took a deep breath and splashed water on her face. They had approximately five minutes until the next call came in and she was dreading it. It had been so hard to watch her partner and frankly, one of her dearest friends, bound and tortured on a tv screen like an animal. She couldn't seem to shake the image of some criminal doing compressions on his chest, couldn't unhear his yells or the unmistakable sound of ribs cracking while being brought back to life.

And now what? Surrender a murderer or watch him die again?

Either way, now was the time to suit up and get going. Scola wasn't dead and she needed to keep that in mind, moving forward with every intention of finding him alive and bringing him home.

With that, she straightened her jacket and made her way back to the JOC. There, she found everyone waiting, some were messing with their computers or phones, others looking at their watch. But everyone was waiting for the call. The intensity was palpable.

Tiff found her way back to Nina, who now had Maggie and OA sitting around her as well. She found comfort in knowing that Nina was at least surrounded by the rest of Scola's team when he, himself, couldn't be there.

"Alright, listen up," Isobel called out to everyone. "We are going to move forward as though we will be handing Cammarano over today. He is currently awaiting transport with a prisoner transport team. When we get a location for the drop off or exchange, Maggie and OA will accompany them and help keep watch on Cammarano. Then, if and when we receive a secondary location for Scola, Tiff and Jubal will lead that team. During the call, we will still try to trace and otherwise get any information we can. Ideally, we find him before ever making it to the drop off point, assuming they leave him behind."

Everyone nodded. Tiff was both relieved and terrified to be the one tasked with rescuing Scola. He was her partner, so it only made sense. Not to mention he was only by that coffee vendor today because of her; she had been plagued with a headache and felt like a good dose of caffeine would do the trick but didn't want to walk to her favorite spot. Without even asking, Scola had jumped right to it, stating he wanted coffee anyway. But after searching his desk following his abduction, she saw his coffee sitting there, still full.

She sighed and tried to maintain composure. Stuart was a hard nut to crack most days. He purposefully kept almost everything personal under tight lock and key, only recently beginning to open up some with her. She had also seen a big difference in him since being with Nina. She was good for him and from what she knew of Nina, he was good for her, too.

But beyond all of that, she had learned that Stuart Scola was profoundly a good guy. A wise ass and hot head at times, sure, but he had a heart of gold. One that turned away from ridiculous amounts of money and comfort just so he could help others and risk his life day in and day out.

The kind of guy who would pretend to need a coffee just so he wouldn't make his partner feel guilty for going out of his way to get her one.

Please, please let us find him alive, she sent a quick prayer up, hoping it would be answered.

"Okay guys, look sharp," Jubal practically yelled, alerting everyone to the fact that the call was coming in. Tiff stood up straight and wrapped her arms tightly around her stomach.

The large screen came to life then and this time featured a very alive, very alert Stuart who now standing. He was still chained, this time to a pillar in the same room as before, but him standing somehow made her feel a little better. The restraints only allowed for his hands to fall about level with his head when relaxed, but they were still able to have a good view of his face. He had blood on him, though it appeared to be the same as before and fully dried. Most importantly, she still saw Scola when she looked into his eyes. The energy, the fight. They hadn't broken him by any means and that gave her the most hope of all.

She glanced at Nina quickly and thought maybe Nina was feeling the same way.

"Alrighty," the same voice from before echoed through the room. "Are you saving dear Stewie today, or will this be the second date on his tombstone?"

Tiff could have chuckled at the eye roll Stuart gave that comment, but given the circumstances, it wasn't hard to suppress.

"Cammarano is ready for transport as soon as we get a location," Jubal responded simply, choosing his words carefully given how easily these guys were set off before. . "Will you be bringing Agent Scola to this location?"

"Of course not," came the response, "Although I'm sure you knew I would keep Stewie's location a secret until we were good and gone, right? Call it insurance. And wouldn't you know, I'm a huge fan of having all of the insurance I can get."

Tiff shifted where she stood as a feeling of dread began creeping up her spine. She had a bad feeling and the man's playful, condescending tone only made it worse.

"I get it," Jubal quickly responded, no doubt sensing something as well. "No need to bring him to the initial meeting, but how do we know you'll hold up your end of the bargain?"

"Oh, you don't," he continued in that dumb playful tone, "But I plan on giving you an incentive to trust me."

At this point, the phone was put down, still pointing at Scola, as the man re-entered the scene, no longer wearing a ski mask. "I imagine you've already figured out who we are so there's no need to hide anymore. Don't worry, I won't ask for you to turn your camera on," he added with a chuckle.

"So we are supposed to trust you because you showed your face?"

The man, who she knew to be Dominic Cannaverde, then laughed again like all of this was just a big, fun game. "No and honestly, it's not so much trust as it is desperation. You see, over the years, I've learned a lot about the human body and what it can endure and what it can't."

He was now slowly walking towards Scola, who kept his eyes trained on Dominic, hatred clearly radiating through them as a culmination of all the emotions he was undoubtedly feeling. Tiff, herself, felt mostly fear. They all knew something bad was about to happen to him. It felt almost inevitable.

"That's a great story," Jubal said quickly, trying to derail what felt like a freight train that was gunning for their coworker and friend. "But I thought we were about to give you back your boss? What's the location, Dominic?"

But Dominic didn't seem to be paying Jubal any mind, even after the use of the man's name. He came to a stop right in front of Stuart who stared right back into his eyes. She found herself both terrified for him but also proud of how strong he was. But then Dominic slowly pulled out a knife. It almost looked like one you would find in a kitchen; maybe about six inches and medium thickness. But Stuart still didn't break eye contact.

"Did you know that there is a spot in the abdomen, riiiight abouuuut here," he continued, the knife now hovering over Scola's lower stomach area, "that if you were to, I don't know, be stabbed or impaled or something, you would miss all the vital organs and arteries? Yeah! Even in a skinny guy like Stewie here." He then turned from the camera and said the next bit directly to Scola: "You might want to try to relax for this. It won't hurt as bad…"

Tiff knew what was coming, as everyone else probably did as well. She glanced at Nina who now had tears rolling down her face as she held on tight to her belly with one hand and tightly gripped Maggie's hand with the other.

"Wait!" Jubal tried to stop it, but it was too late. They all watched in absolute horror as Dominic thrust the knife into Scola's stomach, causing their friend to cry out and double over as much as the restraints would allow. Dominic then backed away, leaving a full few of Stuart as he tried to maintain his breathing, the knife still planted firmly in his body.

"Dammit," Jubal breathed, "You didn't have to do that!"

"Maybe not," Dominic responded, the light tone now replaced that of determination. "But now you're on the clock. You should have just enough time to get Cammarano to the MacArthur Airport, you'll know where when you arrive, and then come find your boy before he bleeds out. I was nice and have given you a fighting chance, given the placement and I'll even leave the knife in. You're welcome."

Jubal looked at Maggie and OA and mouthed, "GO!"

But Tiff couldn't look away from Stuart. She could tell he was fighting hard to stay conscious and upright as he swayed, head held low and fists clenched above the shackles. Her heart ached for him and she wished with everything inside of her that she could be there to help him.

With OA and Maggie now running out, Tiff remembered Nina was also having to experience this as well. She finally broke her gaze with the screen and could see Nina sobbing, but something was different about the way she was holding her belly.

"As soon as we are in the air, I'll tell you where Stewie is," Dominic continued as he gathered a bag from a fold up chair. "Hell, I'll even keep the camera rolling. Why not? Good luck."

Tiff turned back to Nina after seeing the men leave the screen. She didn't want to turn away from Scola but something was definitely wrong with Nina.

"Nina… what?"

"Dammit," she whispered, clearly in pain as she breathed in through her nose and out from her mouth several times, her eyes clenched shut. "I think I'm in labor. No, no, no!"

Tiff's stomach dropped as she looked at the screen and then back at Nina. What was she supposed to do? She grabbed the woman's hand and looked her in the eyes. Clearly this was too much stress on the woman and it had sent her into early labor. Tiff should have known to push harder for her to leave.

"But, isn't this too early?!"

Nina nodded quickly, "I still have four weeks. Four weeks… oh my God, he's dying!" she wailed quietly as she glanced back at the screen, still being careful to not disturb the work that was being done to find him.

"No, no. We will get him but we need to get you to a hospital so they can maybe stop the contractions," Tiff said quickly as she looked around the room. She knew she couldn't leave just in case they got a lead on Scola but she also had to get Nina to safety and protect her and that baby. If - no, when - they got Stuart back, she wanted to make sure his girlfriend and child were okay, too.

"I don't want to leave him," Nina sobbed quietly, still glancing at the screen with the most broken expression Tiff had ever seen on the usually stoic agent.

"You have to, Nina. You have to!" Tiff looked around the room and noticed a few people were looking at them, one of which was an intern who Tiff had spoken to on a few occasions. She liked the young woman well enough and thought she was going to make a good analyst one day. Tiff motioned for her to come over, which was followed immediately.

"She may have started early labor," Tiff told her quickly. "We need to get her to a hospital now." The young woman nodded quickly, her eyes wide. Tiff was glad she had chosen the right person to help

"Nina, can you walk?" Tiff asked, to which Nina shook her head as an affirmative. She stood up from the desk she had propped up on and held her belly tightly. Tiff then noticed Isobel watching them, to which Tiff motioned that the situation was being handled.

Normally, they all would have jumped to Nina's aid but given that their agent was slowly bleeding out on the screen before him, as long as Nina was being cared for, they had to stay focused.

With Nina now gone, Tiff felt a renewed sense of determination to find him before he bled to death. She got as close to the screen as possible and tried to focus on his surroundings. Maybe there was something they were missing that would alert them as to his location.

"Dammit," she heard Scola breathe, hissing in pain and now completely alone.

"Maggie and OA are still at least twenty minutes out and there's some definite traffic along the path, even with sirens, it may slow them down," Kelly stated.

"Keep working on the trace!," Jubal sounded off, "Elise? Anything?"

"I… I can't trace it," she said shakily, "But I think I may still be able to hack into the phone he's using and turn on the speaker. Since the call is open… I think it could work."

"So he would be able to hear us?" Isobel asked, everyone now perking up at the thought of at least letting Stuart know they were there and to keep fighting.

Elise nodded and Jubal stated, "Make it happen!"

"Hey guys," Tiff heard Scola and her heart skipped a beat. For the quickest moment, it almost felt like he was fine and in the room with them. "I don't know if you can… uh…hear me or if you're still there but um… Okay I think we drove for maybe a half hour at most after they got me. And… I think I'm near water, which I know isn't overly helpful. Uh… sorry, it's getting a little hard to focus."

Pride welled up inside of Tiff as she saw him not only fighting against some awful physical pain but also mentally managing to keep a level head and provide them with information that could save his life.

"Got it!" Elise called excitedly, sounding hopeful for the first time since all this began.

"Scola!" Jubal yelled immediately, "Scola, can you hear me?"

To their absolute delight, Scola lifted his head slightly and looked towards the phone with a pained, yet still charming smile. "Jubal. That you or an angel?"

Everyone chuckled and Tiff joined them while also fighting back tears. He really was one of the strongest people she had ever met. Now if only they could find him.

"Scola, we are going to find you," Isobel now chimed in before turning to the room, "Set up a thirty mile perimeter from here, he's likely somewhere in there. Look for secluded buildings near water."

"Hey… uh," Scola started, his voice sounding weaker now than it did before. "I… I think I hear a helicopter in the distance. That wouldn't be my rescue party, would it?"

Jubal suddenly jumped and ran over to one of the analysts before calling back to Scola, "Not yet, pal, but we're coming." He then turned to the young man at the computer and instructed, "Pull up a flight tracker log and notate all choppers currently in the air within or near the perimeter."

"Look for any near a body of water…," Isobel added. Tiff could now feel the flurry in the room of finally having a lead on where he might be.

"Here! This sight-seeing flight is near the East River - didn't he mention throwing Scola in the East River earlier?" Kelly called out.

"He did? I don't remember that one…" Scola breathed slowly, sounding almost intrigued by the fact that he didn't remember that specific threat. He wouldn't, of course, given that he had been technically dead when the threat was made.

"Yes!" Jubal cheered, his fist pumping slightly in the air.

"And this building… there are many abandoned ones down there but this one is owned by a company out of Italy."

"That has to be it, Jubal and Tiff, go get him!" Isobel ordered, the first smile Tiff had seen from her all day plastered across her face. "We're coming, Stuart!"

With one last look towards the screen, Tiff followed Jubal out the building, silently praying they could get to him in time.

This sucked. It all sucked.

Turns out being electrocuted and stabbed were truly awful things to experience, not that he had ever cared to try them out. But being electrocuted, stabbed and then being forced to stand and try to maintain consciousness or else risk positional strangulation was even worse. And here he thought standing would be better than the previous position he had been in.

His body, in all honesty, was done. He wasn't exactly a spring chicken anymore, even though he could run, jump and tackle with the best of them. But this was a lot to ask of a 40-something year old body, even for him. And if it was up to his body alone, he likely would have already passed out at the very least.

But his mind wasn't done yet. He knew his team was likely on their way and he had to fight to be alive for them when they got there. He was so thankful he could now hear them; that honestly was likely the main thing keeping him going at this point. Something told him that it was Elise and he would have to thank her for that later.

"Maggie, OA, we may have a lead on Scola, stand by and take your time getting to the drop point," he heard Isobel state through the little phone several feet away from him. It wasn't exactly easy to hear when they spoke, especially with his ears starting to ring some and the clanking of his chains, but he was able to keep up so far. "Are you still with us, Stuart?"

He shifted against his chains and willed himself to keep standing despite his body begging to give out.

"Still just… hanging out," he chuckled tiredly. Humor and wise cracks were one of his coping mechanisms and hearing some chuckles on the other line helped his resolve.

"Hopefully not for much longer," she responded, "Jubal and Tiff are ten minutes out and they have an ambulance coming along that has your name written all over it."

He normally hated ambulances and hospitals but in this case, even he knew when he desperately needed help. And as he became aware of the fact that he wasn't hurting as much as before, he knew his time was quickly running out. He glanced down at the knife still in his gut and felt his stomach twist as bile rose up in his throat. He tried to turn away from the camera as he threw up, suddenly feeling embarrassed that all of this was on camera. Still, it made him want to stay strong that much more.

"Hey, uh… question," he started once he had regained his composure, wondering if this was something he really wanted to ask. "Nina… did she… did she watch this stuff?"

There was a pause on the other line that told him the answer. He should have known they would have contacted her to see if she knew of any threats against him. And then of course she would have demanded to stay. As much as it pained him, the idea of hearing her voice now also provided far more hope and joy than he would have ever dreamt possible.

"Is she there?" he asked quietly, "Can I…?"

Another pause, which now had him concerned.

"She's uh, she's not here currently."

Scola frowned to himself. Surely they wouldn't have sent her out in the field to come get him and he couldn't imagine she would have left the JOC unless watching him get stabbed was just too much. He wouldn't have blamed her but at the same time, it just didn't sound like Nina.

"Where is she?"

Another pause.

"Isobel," he said again, fear now flooding his veins. "Where is Nina?"

"The hospital," Isobel finally responded. "Likely nothing, but she may have been experiencing some contractions."

Suddenly the room began spinning and Stuart felt his face turn blood red, steaming with fear and anger. Those bastards did this to her. To their son. She was there alone, worried and it was too early. If the baby came now…

"Stuart? Stuart! Stay with us," Isobel yelled through the phone, bringing him back to reality to realize he was now shaking uncontrollably as the chains clanked loudly against each other.

"I gotta get out of here, Isobel," he stammered, trying to keep his mind straight. "She needs me…"

"Yes, she does. Which is why you need to calm down before you pump the blood out even faster."

She was right. He could feel the warm patch surrounding the knife growing bigger and bigger, and with it the chance of him making it out alive got smaller and smaller. He tried to control his breathing but was finding it more and more difficult as his broken ribs seemed to put pressure on his lungs every time his knees gave out under his weight.

"Just a little longer," he whispered to himself, fighting to stay awake. "Isobel, I'm sorry. If I don't make it… tell Nina…"

"No," Isobel said firmly. "You can tell her yourself. Tiff and Jubal should be pulling up now."

"Isobel, we are 5 minutes out from the drop zone," he vaguely heard Maggie state on the other end through the comms and wondered if the whole team had been listening the whole time.

Isobel then responded, "Let us confirm that we found him. Hold off and be prepared for a fight."

Somewhere in the distance, Stuart thought he may have heard a door open, footsteps and familiar voices. But it was all starting to run together now as his head throbbed and vision blurred.

You're almost there, Stuart, he reminded himself as the steps got closer. He was vaguely aware that his legs had fully given out and it was getting harder to breathe. One thing was for sure: if he was only imagining the commotion around him, then he was as good as dead.

Jubal always enjoyed kicking in a door; there was something so primal about it. Especially on a day like this, knowing that the door could be standing in between them and a severely injured friend and teammate, it just felt good to kick it in. Release a small portion of the immense tension that had been building up.

It was your classic abandoned building, not far from the river. He, Tiff and the rest of the rescue team burst in and fanned out, making sure to clear the area as they entered. Given that it was such an open area, it didn't take long to find their missing agent on the other side of the building, literally hanging.

"Stuart!" Tiff called out after clearing the room.

Jubal sprinted alongside her as he informed Isobel, "We got him! Call off the drop. We got him."

But as they got closer, Jubal feared they may be too late. Scola was now fully limp, his body pulling dangerously at his shoulders and hands.

"Dear God," Jubal breathed as he slowed down, not wanting to hurt the man any worse than he already was. "Get the medics in here now! Isobel, work on an escort for the ambo! I don't want him stuck in traffic when we get him down."

Tiff nodded to Jubal as her fingers left the side of Scola's neck. The look on her face was stern and uneasy. "He has a pulse, but it's weak."

"Okay, we can't wait any longer," Jubal said as he turned to one of the agents who carried in a toolbag, "I'm going to lift him as gently as possible, then cut him down. Tiff, straighten out his legs so we can lower him down."

They made as quick work of it as possible. Jubal got behind the wounded man and carefully wrapped his arms as high up on Scola's chest as possible.

"Watch his ribs," Tiff cautioned, "I know at least one of them broke during compressions."

Jubal nodded, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. It would have been so much easier to lift him from the waist area but between the ribs and the knife still stuck in him to the hilt, just under the armpits would have to do.

"3, 2, 1," Jubal led, lifting Scola as gently as possible given the awkward angle while the other agent went at the chain with a bolt cutter. Seconds into the rescue attempt, Scola began to groan as his head rolled along Jubal's shoulder.

"Hey, Stuart," Jubal spoke softly, not wanting to spook him any. "It's Jubal, I got you. We're cutting you down."

"You smell good," Scola whispered with a grin, using his humor to diffuse the moment. Which it did. He glanced at Tiff who shook her head and chuckled as they finally cut him loose. He groaned again as Jubal and the others lowered him to the ground.

"Damn, that hurts," he sighed, his hands now lying on his chest, his wrists angrily red, blistered and bleeding. For the life of him, Jubal wouldn't have been able to guess exactly what was hurting the most.

"I know," Tiff said softly, her eyes wandering down to the knife sticking out of her partner. "Help is coming now, ok? Hang in there."

"Any… any news on N…," he started, his voice hardly audible now. Something was wrong. Between his eyes rolling back and the increasingly labored breathing, time was running out,

As if on cue, the ambulance crew came running in and immediately got to work. Tiff tried to stay as close to Scola's head as possible, speaking softly to him even though he didn't seem to be conscious any longer.

"Jubal," Isobel came through his ear piece, echoing through the phone in the room as a reminder that the JOC was still watching. "Maggie and OA arrested Dominc and Giovanni. They are all heading to detainment now." Jubal nodded and ran his hand through his hair.

"Good, that's good," he responded absentmindedly, his focus still primarily on his injured agent now being loaded onto a gurney.

"How is it going there?" Isobel continued.

Jubal shook his head. "He… he's alive. But they did a number on him."

It honestly seemed as though Scola was declining rapidly. Just as they had him strapped down, the lead paramedic began rechecking Scola's vitals instead of running off towards the ambulance, which told him something was definitely wrong. And the rapid, shallow breathing coming from the gurney's occupant confirmed it.

"Oh man," the medic breathed to herself, "Tension pneumothorax. Oxygen and needle decompression, now!"

Tiff bit her lip and stepped back allowing plenty of room for the professionals to work, both hands on her head. They watched as the medics carefully placed an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose and cut open his shirt, revealing angry bruising on his chest, not to mention a better view of bloodstained skin and dressings from the now stabilized knife. It was all Jubal could do not to look away as the large needle made its way into his side. Seconds later, however, a hissing sound could be heard and Scola's breathing finally normalized a bit.

"Good, let's go," the medic told her partner, and off they went. Leaving Jubal, Tiff and the others standing in their wake. Jubal looked at Tiff who appeared completely shell shocked. She looked at him, her eyes wide and filled with tears.

Jubal nodded, letting her know he understood.

"Good work, guys," came Isobel's voice softly. "We'll meet you at the hospital."

Jubal nodded again, "Yeah. Let's go, Tiff."

Nina sighed for the millionth time that day, her heart still beating faster than it should. It had been an hour since she left. An hour since she watched someone stab the man she loved. Immediately upon her arrival at the hospital, they had hooked her up to an IV and several monitors.

Apparently, the stress of the day had, in fact, led to early contractions and even made her water break. It wasn't like what she had seen in the movies; it was hardly even noticeable to her. Regardless, they had given her medicine and even a steroid that was intended to help her son's lungs develop quicker, in case he made an early appearance.

"Hey there, Nina," her on-call nurse, Ashley, stated cheerfully as she entered the room once again. The maternity center staff seemed to enter non-stop. "How are we doing?"

Nina forced a smile as best as she could. "Fine. Is there any chance I'll be able to get out of here soon?"

Ashley bit her lip apologetically, "Afraid not. Goodness, do you normally have such a high heart rate and blood pressure?"

Nina shook her head quickly. "No… no. I'm just nervous."

"Honey, there's no need for that!" Ashley responded kindly. "Baby looks great on the monitor still and if anything starts to happen, we will just get him out of there. Contractions have also slowed a bit with the medication, but, with how far you've dilated along with your vitals…"

"No, you don't understand," Nina said sadly… but she stopped immediately when her phone began ringing. She jumped when she saw it was Isobel and nearly pulled her IV out. Ashley looked on with concern but said nothing and continued to do whatever it was she was doing with one of the machines.

"Isobel."

"We got him, Nina. We got him."

Her monitors began beeping faster, again gaining the attention of her nurse, but she didn't care. She immediately began sobbing in relief. "He's alive?!"

There was a slight pause before her response, "Yes and he's being transported to the same hospital, but as you know, he got it pretty rough so I don't know when you'd be able to see him…"

Nina nodded and wiped her eyes, now noticing that the doctor and another nurse had now entered the room, all staring at her.

"I understand," Nina said quickly, trying to regain composure. "Thank you."

"Of course and Nina, I'm sorry but he knows you're there and why," Isobel continued softly. "We were able to speak to him while trying to get to him and he asked about you… wanted to speak to you but when I told him you weren't here, he knew something was up."

Nina felt her heart break a little more at that knowledge. She hadn't been there when he needed her and he instead had to spend those horrifying minutes worrying about her and their baby.

"Right," she said softly, looking at the medical personnel around her. "I have to go."

She put the phone down and sighed, the day's stress releasing from her a bit.

"Ms. Chase," the doctor began softly, "I'm not sure what's going on but the stress you're under seems to be affecting both you and the baby. He's okay currently, but we would really like to keep him in there for as long as possible. In order to do that…"

Nina nodded and quickly interjected, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I, uh," she stopped for a moment, trying to consider how much to divulge. But, considering that she was likely going to need their help and understanding when Stuart was ready for visitors, it was worth getting it all out on the table. Besides, these people had already seen every inch of her physically, it only seemed fitting that they knew more about her personally. "My boyfriend - the father - he and I are FBI Agents and he was… injured in the line of duty today…"

She started to trail off as the damn tears started welling up once again. Man, she hated these hormones. She also noticed the looks on the staff's faces turn from stern to concerned.

"But," she continued quickly with a big, watery smile, "They just found him and he's alive. They're bringing him here."

Silence fell over them for a moment as they took in the information.

"Wow," Ashley spoke first, "that's… I'm so sorry. So he's okay then?"

Nina bit her lips and looked down, "I don't know, but he's alive. He uh, he got it pretty bad."

The doctor now nodded and looked over Nina's chart, "So his situation is what triggered the contractions?"

"Well," Nina clarified, "It's kind of a long story but… we saw everything that was happening to him and I was doing alright but..." she trailed off, the same scene of the knife plunging into his stomach replaying over and over. "But then I watched him get stabbed," she whispered absentmindedly, forgetting to censor her own words a little better.

"Oh my God," Ashley breathed.

"Yeah," Nina sighed, pulling herself back together. "I read about Braxton Hicks contractions and was hoping that's all they were but... I guess that was all just too much for me."

"Honey, that would have been too much for anyone."

Nina smiled nervously and looked down, wiping more tears away. It felt a little wrong telling them any information but at the same time, it was almost cathartic. Besides, it didn't give away any pertinent case information and again, she needed them to understand.

"I know he's probably going to need surgery and recovery and whatever else," Nina continued, "But will I be able to visit him when it's time? Do you think I can hold off on giving birth until he can be here? I… I don't want to do it without him."

They all looked at her with kind expressions and in that moment, she knew they would at least do everything they could to help them.

"Well," the doctor stated, reviewing her chart again. "We will check again here soon, but the contractions have eased off some and you've been holding steady at five centimeters. Baby can handle a lack of amniotic fluid for quite a while, but the risk of infection does increase. Bottom line, I don't think you have long before active labor takes over - maybe a day or two at most - , however, I promise we will try to work with his medical team and arrange something if at all possible. Our first priority, of course, is the health of our patients."

Nina nodded quickly, "I understand. And what about my son? I know I keep asking but isn't this too early?"

The doctor half-shrugged in a supportive manner, "You're thirty-six weeks and two days, which is early but between the steroid shot for his lungs and the ultrasounds, your son has a very good chance at not needing any NICU time. Then again, some babies born full term need a little extra help. But I have delivered many 36-weekers who were perfectly fine."

Nina felt the stress roll off of her a little more. She knew there were still many questions and scenarios at play but there was at least hope now. Hope that Stuart would be fine with time. Hope that their son would be born safely, albeit earlier than expected and hope that his daddy would be able to see his entrance into this world.

"But for right now," the doctor continued, "Let's just focus on you, your baby and keeping your stress levels as low as possible, okay? If you want to hold off on labor, calming down is a must."

Nina shook her head in acknowledgment and took a deep, steadying breath. If Stuart was able to go through all that he did and manage to stay alive and level-headed, the least she could do was get her emotions in check.

Hang in there just a little longer, little man, she silently willed to the small life inside of her. Daddy's trying his best to be here.

OA and Maggie both hurried along the hospital corridor towards the surgical waiting room, hearts pounding. It had been over two hours since taking down Scola's captors and ensuring that Cammarano got back to lock-up without any further incident. He and Maggie had only hung around the JOC for a short time before leaving to join the rest of the team as they waited for word on Scola's condition.

When they arrived, they were immediately greeted by Tiff and Jubal, both of whom were sitting silently, dried blood still staining their clothes.

"Hey, guys," Maggie said softly.

They both half-smiled and nodded at the newest members to their silent vigil. OA found a chair in the small waiting room and sunk into it. What a day, he lamented to himself. This definitely ranked as one of the worst days on the job he'd experienced. True enough, there had been some awful days, arguable worse than today, but this was up there. It was one thing to have a friend and coworker get hurt on the job, it was something totally different to watch them be tortured in real time and have no idea how to help. That feeling of helplessness is something he hoped to never experience again. Hell, he would rather take Scola's place than to have to watch someone else he cared about go through something like that.

"We brought some extra clothes," Maggie offered a bag filled with some FBI sweatpants and shirts they had found in the cabinets. Isobel had told them it would be helpful to bring them so that the others wouldn't have to sit there while wearing Scola's blood on their clothes; a constant reminder of the horror they had rolled up on.

This job was hard, for sure, and sometimes downright scary, but he wasn't hurt or taken during a raid or anything like that. They took him while he was just trying to get some coffee.

"There's a set in there for Scola, too," Maggie added with a half-smile. "Hospital gowns suck."

They all kinda chuckled and agreed. The gowns were awkward but it was more so the feeling of vulnerability and being so exposed that always made him want to put on real clothes as fast as possible. And something told him Scola would absolutely feel the same; not just because he always seemed to be dressed to the T, but also because the man was about as buttoned up and closed off as one could be. OA imagine he probably was very aware that the entire JOC would be watching his torture sessions… mentally, this would be a lot for Scola to overcome. And OA couldn't blame him.

"Where's Isobel?" he asked, trying to pull himself out of his own thoughts now that he actually had time and silence to truly reflect on the day. On his own feelings. On how easily it could have been him, or Maggie or anyone else in those chains today.

"Trying to see if she can get some information," Jubal sighed, checking his phone once again. "It feels like it's been forever."

"When you got there," OA started, considering how he was going to word the next part, "Was… was the knife the worst of it? From what we heard on the comms, he was at least somewhat conscious."

Tiff shifted uncomfortably, evidently not quite ready to relive whatever they had seen. Jubal shrugged half-heartedly.

"It, uh, he had basically passed out when we got there," Jubal began, his eyes downcast and OA could imagine how it must have looked with Scola completely hanging by nothing else but his wrists. "But yeah," he continued, this time with a surprisingly little smile, "He woke up for a bit. Told me I smelled good."

They all chuckled then, even Tiff lit up a bit. It was good to know that even with all of that, Stuart had managed to keep positive spirits.

"His lung collapsed, I think," Tiff said quietly. "The knife was left in, which looked scary as hell but would have helped with the bleeding so hopefully that won't be too bad. But I was more worried about whatever was going on with his breathing."

Silence fell over them once again before Maggie softly offered, "He's going to be fine. I mean, I knew he was a tough dude but… well, we all saw. Scola's going to pull through this. And we will all be there when he does."

OA perked up at that, "Wait, where is Nina?"

He watched as Tiff and Jubal looked at each other, and OA immediately knew something was up.

"What happened?" Maggie questioned as well, looking concerned. Maggie hadn't gotten to know Nina quite as well since it was mostly during her recovery, but OA could tell she respected Nina. They all did. She was a damn good agent and one of the only people OA had ever known to make Scola seem more human.

"She's here," Tiff answered, "But she started having contractions, especially after seeing… the second call. I just checked in with her a few minutes before you got here. They have slowed down the contractions and they are okay, but she and the baby have to stay under constant monitoring. The baby could technically come any time now."

"Isn't it too early?" OA asked, his stomach now twisting at the idea of something happening to Nina or the baby, especially considering Scola would have to wake up to that kind of knowledge.

"It's not ideal," Jubal spoke up, "But our son came at 36 weeks and was fine. Every baby is different, but he should be okay."

"Yeah, but I'd hate for Scola to miss the birth of his own son," Maggie added, expressing a sentiment they all felt. Alas, there was nothing they could do.

"Isobel," Tiff said quickly, standing up as the SAC entered the room. "Any news?"

Isobel took a deep breath and nodded. "The doctor will be out shortly to discuss specifics but overall, he's been moved to the ICU for observation. Surgery went well. He's going to be okay," she finished with a smile.

There was a sigh of relief that radiated through them all. Slowly but surely, this bad day was starting to get a little better. "After we're briefed by the doctor, they said he will be allowed one visitor at a time until he's able to go to a regular room."

"Yes," a new voice came, alerting everyone to the entrance of the doctor. "We are hoping Agent Scola will be able to leave the ICU in a few hours, if everything goes well. I'm Dr. Wells and I'm the surgeon assigned to his case. I understand he went through quite the ordeal today and, honestly, it shows. He has multiple injuries, including some to the wrists and hands. They should heal up nicely in time but his next doctor will be able to brief you more on that. As for me, my focus was on removing the knife as well as addressing the collapsed lung that was caused by a fractured rib. The knife wound was simple enough, thanks to it missing most of the important stuff as well as the fact that it was never removed. He did require a transfusion for the blood loss, but otherwise we shouldn't have any other issues from that injury, other than infection if the blade was contaminated. We will, of course, be monitoring for that."

OA took a deep breath as he was listening, trying to remember what Isobel said: he was going to be fine, even though the medical assessment sounded pretty rough.

"Now, for the lung: When he arrived, an emergency needle decompression procedure had been rightfully administered by EMS, we simply converted it to a chest tube that will help keep his chest conducive for a complete healing of the lung. Generally, a couple days to a week is enough to see great improvement but we will monitor that as well and remove the tubing as soon as we can. Bottom line, he's on the road to recovery, it's just going to take some time."

They all nodded, thankful for the reminder. But OA remembered when one of his buddies from the military had needed a chest tube and that thing had been pretty brutal.

"Thanks, Doctor," Isobel stated on their behalf.

"Sure," he responded with a polite nod. "A nurse will be out in a moment to get his first visitor. I wish you all the best."

'Right," Isobel stated, turning to the rest of them as the surgeon walked away. "Jubal and Tiff, why don't you both get out of those clothes. I'm going to update Nina and see if there is a way she would be able to come visit; it would likely do both of them some good."

As Isobel walked away, leaving the four of them to figure out the next steps and most importantly, who would be going first.

"I'm going to actually head back to the office to close up a few matters, then home," Jubal began, "I'll be back up either tonight or tomorrow, just depending on who is able to stay with him. I want to try to make sure he doesn't spend too much time alone unless that's what he wants. Keep me posted."

OA nodded, "You got it."

Tiff suddenly looked down at her blood-stained shirt and OA could tell she was struggling with all of this. Scola was her partner, afterall, and she had not only seen the same videos the rest of them had, she also had to deal with the aftermath.

"I, um, I'm going to change and then, I think I need a little air," she said, shame clear on her face. "Could… could one of you go first? I just, I just need a little time."

Maggie immediately responded. "Of course we can. And look, you've been through a lot today, too. It's okay if it feels kind of overwhelming. We will take the first watch and give you a heads up on what to expect, okay?"

OA nodded in agreement. He understood completely and he knew, undoubtedly, that Scola would understand as well. Tiff thanked them, took the FBI sweats and walked away.

"Man," OA said once she was gone, "Must have been pretty bad in there."

Maggie nodded and bit her lips, "Yeah, but he's okay. That's what matters."

"Stuart Scola?" a nurse asked, now entering the room. "We're ready for one visitor."

Maggie and OA looked at each other before she said, "I'm actually starving… haven't eaten today. You good for a few?"

"Yeah, I got it," he turned to the nurse and said, "Let's go!"

He began following the nurse through the double doors as she began explaining the rules and what to expect.

"He just woke up, though he's a little out of it from the drugs," the nurse explained. "Please be very mindful of the various tubes and machines, especially the chest tube. He definitely won't thank you if you pull it out," she kind of chuckled awkwardly at that comment, OA just kept listening. "He is on a high-flow oxygen mask for now, so he should limit talking as much as possible. Truthfully, I imagine he will be moved to a regular room before too long. He seems determined to get out of here as soon as possible."

OA chuckled this time, "Yeah, that sounds like him."

The nurse slowed down and motioned into a dim room, "Just press the red button if you need anything. We will be monitoring his vitals at the nurses' station as well."

OA nodded and walked into the room, finding a chair already placed by the bed. He looked at the bed's occupant and saw Scola slowly rolling his head towards OA, a slight smile evident in the corner of his eyes. One of the injured man's highly bandaged hands then raised slightly in a half-hearted wave before dropping back down as though the action had used up too much energy.

Damn, he looked like hell. He wasn't wearing a hospital gown and instead just had a blanket laying over him from his waist, down. OA assumed it was so that the medical staff would have easy and quick access to the multitudes of bandages and tubing that seemed to cover almost every inch of him. Specifically, the large tube protruding from his side that was helping remove the stuff from his chest that wasn't supposed to be there.

"Hey, man," OA greeted, mustering up a smile.

With clenched eyes, Scola brought the same bandaged hand up to the mask on his face and awkwardly pushed it aside.

"Nina?" He breathed, "These docs won't tell me anything."

OA stood up and gently helped him put the mask back on before responding, "Isobel is updating her now and I imagine she will come back with an update herself. But last accounts are that she and the baby are fine, just being monitored in case anything changes. Oh, and the baby is still very much… inside."

Scola stared at him for a moment with glassy eyes, working hard to process this information through the murkiness of all the medication in his system. Finally, he nodded and closed his eyes, relief clear in his features.

After a few moments, OA figured he had fallen asleep so he eased himself down into the chair, standing watch until Maggie was ready to come in. He thought about Tiff and then looked up at Scola. He could understand her being nervous to see him; hell, even OA was finding this harder than expected. Scola was… hard to describe. The kind of person who you expect not to like, but then end up liking very much. The kind of friendship that you never saw coming and yet never want to lose once you realize it's there.

"The case?" Spoke a highly muffled Scola under the mask, but still audible. OA snapped his head up from the phone and shook his head.

"Dude, you should be getting some rest," he laughed. "But the case is fine. They found you before we got to the drop point so we arrested the assholes instead."

He listened, nodding his head, before staring at the ceiling blankly. OA felt as though something was on his mind but didn't know how to address it, especially considering there were probably a lot of things plaguing him right now after everything he'd been through.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" He questioned softly, "Or is there anything I can get you?"

He shook his head slowly, "Worried… Nina." He then turned to look at OA, "I should be there."

OA sat up straight and looked the man in his eyes. He respected the hell out of Scola, now more than ever after seeing how he handled himself, but the last thing he wanted was for the man to be plagued with unnecessary guilt.

"Listen," he started seriously, "She's safe and in the best place for her and the baby. You, on the other hand, need some serious recovery but you won't get that unless you rest. Let your body heal. The faster you do that, the faster you can be with her and, eventually, your son."

He looked at OA for a while before nodding sadly. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to rest until he had a more recent update, OA quickly sent a message to Isobel.

OA: News on Nina and the baby? He's asking and can't get rest.

To his surprise, he received a reply within two minutes.

Isobel: No change, which is good. She and the baby are on constant monitoring and her nurse is worried that visiting him might stress her more. I personally am worried that not seeing him may be even worse.

OA looked up at Scola and could understand that. Honestly, if it wasn't for his chest down, which was engulfed in wires, tubes and bloody bandages, he wouldn't look so bad. The oxygen mask was also a little off-putting but not horrible. Still, OA wasn't sure what was best. Then an idea came to him.

OA: What about a video call or even just phone? I'd have to help him and it would have to be quick because he's on oxygen but… it may help them both.

Isobel: Is he okay with that? His nurse? I'll check with her nurse.

OA: I'll check with him but it may be best to ask the nurse for forgiveness, should it come to that.

It took a few moments before she responded, evidently speaking with the nurse.

Isobel: Okay, as long as he's up to it. I cleared it with her nurse but she wants to be present in case she needs to step in and end the call. I haven't told Nina, in case Scola doesn't want to be seen like that just yet.

OA nodded, thankful for how she was handling the situation. Truthfully, he didn't know how either of them would handle this but he knew that if it was him, he would be dying to see his loved one. Even if it was quick. And after what Scola went through, seeing and talking to his person may be exactly what he needed to relax some.

"Hey," OA said softly, "Are you up for a video call with Nina? Or phone?"

The answer was immediately written all over the man's face. It almost seemed as though some of the glossiness was cleared up at the thought of speaking with her. He slowly brought his hand to the bed controls and, through clenched, pained eyes, brought himself into more of a sitting position. OA knew the motion had to have been painful, given everything that was going on in his midsection. He then brought his hand back up to remove the mask when OA stood up and stopped him.

"Listen," OA started, "I didn't clear this with your doctor so it's going to have to be quick because you need that oxygen and the last thing Nina needs to see is you on the brink of passing out or something, got it? This call is to help you both relax and rest because she's worried about you, too."

Scola nodded in understanding, "10-4, boss. But I'm still going to take this off for the call," he said while still wearing the mask. "If I start to look or s-sound bad…"

OA smiled and replied, "I got you."

He knew how badly Scola wanted to be with Nina, or at least talk to her, but respected that he didn't want to give her anything else to worry about.

"Actually," Scola said suddenly, eyebrows furrowed, "how do I look?"

OA shrugged and answered truthfully, "Neck, up? Not too bad. A little drugged but fine. Neck, down? Like you survived a run-in with the mafia."

Scola nodded and raised his eyebrows, "Kinda sounds badass."

OA laughed out loud, "It was badass, dude. Horrific, but badass."

Scola chuckled slightly but his gaze lingered on OA for a moment, something like sadness present in them. OA wondered what was going on in his mind but decided to put it aside for now. The sooner they did this call, the better.

"You ready?" OA asked.

"Ready."

Nina sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Over the span of her career, she had been in some pretty difficult and scary situations, but there was something about all of this that felt so much harder than any of that.

She was stuck in a bed with tight straps holding two monitors snug against her belly, one monitoring contractions and the other monitoring her baby's heartbeat. She also had an IV that had been used to administer fluids for her dehydration when she first came in and they were keeping it in place, knowing that it may be needed at any time. She had to stay in the bed, on her back, except for bathroom breaks. All of this was frustrating and uncomfortable enough, especially for someone who didn't normally sit still for long periods of time and definitely considering she was NOT a back-sleeper.

But when you add the fact that all she wanted to do was be by Stuart's side and keep their baby in until it was a safer time to come out… this was torture.

Nina immediately berated herself for that thought. No, she corrected herself, being electrocuted and stabbed is torture. Not this.

The only comfort was knowing that she still hadn't progressed any further with labor but it also wasn't slowing any either. That meant this baby was coming soon, just would he wait long enough for his dad to be there, too?

Nina took another steadying breath and tried to push it from her mind as she looked at Isobel now reentering the room. The SAC had been the one to inform her that Stuart was out of surgery and everything had gone well. Which was wonderful news, except he was still in the ICU and apparently had some concern relating to his breathing, which wasn't even something Nina was aware would be a problem based on what she had seen. Still, she just tried to focus on the first part: he was okay and recovering. Done. Now if only she could convince her nurse or doctor to let her go visit him…

"Nina," Isobel stated softly. "OA is with Scola right now and he's up for a quick video call. Are you okay with that?"

Nina felt an immediate elation rush through her veins, followed quickly with nervous excitement. Of course she wanted to see him and the fact that he was even awake and alert enough to do a video call brought so much relief, but she was still a little afraid of what she would see on the other end. She couldn't even remember a time when he was sick, let alone needing the ICU.

"Yes! Absolutely," Nina responded, despite her nerves.

"Here are the rules," her nurse, Ashley, interjected, though a smile was plastered on her face. "My priority is you and your baby so if this starts to stress you out any, I will suggest you end it pretty quick, okay? My only goal is to keep Baby in as long as possible, which will hopefully give Dad enough time to recover and be here in person when it's time, okay?"

Nina nodded quickly, understanding why the nurse was setting such rules. And Nina also knew that her own first priority was whatever was best for her child, which was staying in the womb longer. But if she could just see Stuart and replace the last image of him hunched over, practically dangling by his wrists after having been stabbed…

Suddenly, Isobel's phone began vibrating with an incoming call. Nina did her best to keep her heart rate in check, thankful that her own heartbeat wasn't being constantly monitored like the baby's was. Isobel handed the phone to her with a smile so that she could answer it when she was ready.

She couldn't quite describe the emotion that washed over her the second she pressed the green button and was greeted by the grayish-green eyes of the man she had come to love. She never, ever expected to be in a position in which she felt this strongly about a man, having convinced herself long ago that love was dangerous and messy. And yet here she was, the danger and messiness definitely involved, and yet she wouldn't change the love for anything.

He looked tired, but otherwise mostly normal besides the bandage on his temple.

"Hey," he breathed, beaming at her. "How are you?"

She laughed and swiftly wiped away tears. Damn these hormones, she thought to herself. But even so, it seemed so crazy for him, of all people, to be asking anyone else how they were doing.

"Fine," she answered. "I'm fine. We're fine."

He smiled again and nodded, his eyelids dropping a little more. She could tell his breathing was a little labored but it didn't seem to be bothering him much.

"How are you?" she pressed, knowing that the worst of his injuries were not in view and he didn't even seem to be the one holding the phone.

He shook his head absently, "I'm good. Seriously, d-," here started, pausing to take a shaky breath. "Don't worry about me."

Nina frowned some as he seemed to be trying to suppress a cough. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal but today, everything felt worrisome.

"So," he breathed, pausing for a breath, "He's coming s-soon?"

Nina nodded and felt another tear roll down her face. "Yes. I… we're trying to hold off so you can be here."

He smiled again and joked, "Just cross your legs and you'll be f-fine."

That warranted a chuckle from all the women in the room, reminding her that this conversation was far from private, but she didn't care. This was still Stuart. The wise ass whom she fell for.

"Seriously," he said a moment later, suddenly looking more tired than he did in the beginning, "Just take care of y-you and little man. Come hell, h-high water or the mafia, I'll be there when it's t-time. I promise."

But before she could respond, he started coughing. Nothing horrible but the next thing she knew, the camera turned away from him and was replaced with OA instead.

"Hey, Nina," he said softly with a slight smile, "He's good but the nurse just came in and… we didn't exactly clear this." He feigned a scared expression as though they were in trouble but Nina knew it was more than just that. She also thought he was helping Stuart with something, most likely an oxygen mask, based on his movements and the rushing sound of air she could now hear on the other end. Either way, she knew Stuart wasn't in wonderful shape, however, their short conversation reminded her that no matter what, he was about as resilient as they came and really would be okay.

"Alright," she responded as she watched OA walking into the hallway, giving her a quick glimpse of Stuart who did, in fact, have an oxygen mask on now along with a LOT of machinery hooked up to him. "Um, thank you."

"Yeah," he spoke a little louder than when he was in the dim room. "Look, he's got a bit of a recovery but he really is okay. I mean it. He's just worried about you, so take care of yourself and that baby. We got him, okay? And if you want someone with you, you got it."

She smiled again and nodded. "Thank you."

"Oh, there's Maggie," OA said, studying his phone. "I think she's going to sit with him now but… oh," he said smiling, looking into the room he had just left. "Looks like he's finally getting some sleep. We'll keep you posted, okay?"

She nodded again and hung up the phone. It wasn't ideal, it wasn't perfect, but for the first time all day, she felt exhaustion take over her without the pressing adrenaline that came with fear and worry. She was mentally and physically exhausted and knowing that Stuart was relatively okay and resting, surrounded by his teammates, made her feel like she could get some rest, too.

Day two.

Tiff sighed inwardly as she made her way to Scola's new hospital room, recently acquired after making enough improvements to leave the ICU. He was her partner, and yet she hadn't managed to be there at all during the first day of being in the hospital. In fact, it was already afternoon on his second day. She honestly wasn't even sure he would remember her being there when he was initially found. He had been pretty out of it.

She wouldn't be surprised if he was a little upset with her but at the same time, she had planned on coming back last night, only to realize that visiting hours ended at eight. And then Isobel had come this morning to get a statement from him for her report, followed by Jubal, which left her showing up later in the day.

Perhaps as punishment, Tiff had barely slept at all. She kept waking up in a cold sweat, the images of Stuart's lifeless body hanging from the chains with a bloody knife in his gut still playing on repeat every time she'd managed to drift off. It felt ridiculous for her to be the one suffering from mild PTSD and yet that was exactly what it felt like. Why couldn't she just pull herself together?

Why did the idea of visiting him still make her nervous to the point of feeling nauseous? Maggie and OA had both reached out to her and said the same thing: lots of machines but overall, he looked okay and still acted like Scola. Not some broken, tortured ghost of the man they once knew. No. It was just Stuart.

And as she stood in front of his hospital room, she still had to fight back the waves of nausea threatening to overcome her. She said a quick prayer, knocked on the door and went inside after she heard his unmistakable voice hurriedly call out, "Come in!"

Tiff wasn't exactly sure what she had expected to see, but it most certainly wasn't this. There, on the bed, was Stuart, but he didn't at all look like he'd been on the brink of death the day before. In fact, he was sitting up, feet on the ground, as he painfully tried to get what looked to be a shirt ready to put on. Already sporting a pair of FBI sweatpants, he looked up at her and some of the tension seemed to dissipate from his pained features.

"Tiff," he breathed, his heavily bandaged chest heaving at the effort of getting dressed, "Thank God. I could use some help. This damn tube…" He motioned at his side, which had a large tube coming out of it. The sight made her stomach turn uncomfortably.

"What are you doing?" she asked, noticing how much he seemed to be struggling to breathe normally, let alone get fully dressed. "You look awful… should you be doing this?"

He stopped for a second and looked at her, his eyes tired and pain-filled, but pleading. "Nina messaged… The baby's coming," he answered quickly before coughing. "I gotta get down there," he finished after taking several breaths of the oxygen being pumped into her nose from the nasal cannula.

She felt her heart racing. There was no way any doctor was going to allow him to go anywhere in this condition, and yet there was no way Stuart was going to miss this moment. Miss being there for Nina while their son was born. Regardless, she went over to him and grabbed the shirt, slowly straightening it out while she further assessed the situation.

"Does your doctor know what you're doing?" she asked carefully, sensing that he was already on edge.

"I told the nurse," he answered after coughing again, "She said she will ask the doctor. But I'm not asking anyone… I'm telling them I'm going. I just wanted a l-little help."

Tiff took the shirt in her hand and laid it on the bed beside him.

"Stuart," she said softly, trying to reason with him and she took in his appearance further. "You have an IV in your arm and a tube just under your armpit. This shirt… Not going to work."

He just bowed his head as he took in deep breaths in through his nose, and out through his mouth. "Then I'll wear the damn gown."

He was looking worse and worse, his movements slower and his resolve waning.

"Stuart…"

"No," he interrupted, "Tiff, I promised her."

"I understand," she said as she came to stand directly in front of where he was sitting on the bed. "You've overcome so much to be here. If the baby is coming now and you do something to prolong your stay here… or worse… how will that help Nina or the baby?"

He looked up at her for a moment then back at the ground.

"Mr. Scola?" a new voice came. Tiff looked to see a doctor and a nurse both walking in. Stuart's head shot up and it almost seemed like he was about to stand but then thought better of it.

"Yeah," he breathed, Tiff now noticing him actively trying to look better than he did a moment ago. She could have chuckled at how stubborn this man was, but she kept it to herself. "Are you going to help me get down there?"

"That won't be necessary," the doctor responded, "I called the maternity center to verify her approved HIPAA contacts and to see if there was anything we could arrange for you to be there, but it appears as though Ms. Chase has been taken to surgery for an emergency cesarean section."

The heart monitor in the room suddenly started beeping doubletime at the news and this time, he leapt to his feet, "What?! Why?!"

Tiff placed her hand on his bare shoulder when she saw him swaying slightly. She had no clue how he was even standing, especially as the memory of how she had found him popped into her head once again. Then again, adrenaline and fear can be pretty powerful.

Thankfully, she was now joined by the nurse who was helping to steady him.

"Please," the doctor responded hurriedly, her face now slightly concerned. "It's a very common and safe procedure. The labor wasn't progressing quite as quickly as was needed and the baby was starting to show slight signs of distress. They decided the best course of action was a c-section."

"Most likely, they will both be fine," the nurse now stated, sounding flustered. "But you will not be if you don't get back in that bed. You almost ripped the chest tube out and you did rip out the IV."

But Scola wasn't rushing to sit down, instead surveying the doctor as though the words weren't processing. Tiff knew his mind and his body had to be in complete shock. No one should have to go through what he did at the hands of those scumbags, but then to have to also deal with the birth of his first child, worrying about his girlfriend, all while being physically incapable of being there for either of them… that was too much for anyone.

"Stuart," Tiff said softly. "She's going to need you. Please listen to the doctor."

He nodded slowly, and then allowed Tiff and the nurse to help him sit back down. "How long until… I know anything? When can I see her?"

"The surgery itself is usually only 30 minutes or so," the nurse responded. "But it can vary depending on the patient's needs."

"Now, I have spoken with the Maternity Center and we have come to a pretty reasonable agreement," the doctor added, almost as though she were scolding a child. "But I need assurances that you're going to follow the rules."

Scola and Tiff both frowned, "What agreement?"

The doctor smiled slightly, apparently proud of whatever plan they had come to. "After surgery, she will be taken to a recovery bay before going back to her room. They usually try to keep this area private for new mothers, but it's designed to be able to accommodate multiple beds. Which means that you can be there when she wakes up while still receiving the treatment that you need."

"It's not ideal," the nurse chimed in, "but at least for that hour or so while she's in recovery, you can be with her and potentially the new baby, depending on his or her needs."

Stuart nodded slowly and Tiff watched him carefully, unable to pinpoint how he felt about this plan.

"Let me reinsert your IV, make some calls and I'll be back to wheel you down in just a moment," the nurse added before they both left.

Once the IV was back in place and they were gone, it left Tiff and him sitting in a thick silence. She felt her heart pound against its confines as she tried to decide what to do next. What could she possibly say to make any of this make sense? How could she help him?

"I feel like I've failed them," he eventually breathed silently, his eyes still glossy and staring at the floor.

Tiff frowned and snapped her head in his direction now, "What are you talking about? How in the world have you failed them?"

"I told her I would be there."

"And you will be," Tiff cut him off, completely overwhelmed at the idea of him putting himself down for any of this. "Did you think you could have made her labor go better if you were there in person? Or maybe you thought you could magically heal your wounds?"

Stuart still didn't say anything and Tiff could tell he was struggling mentally.

"If you want someone to blame," she stated firmly, "Blame me."

That got his attention. He looked up at her, genuine confusion plastered on his whiter-than-normal face. "What do you mean?"

"The only reason you were in that courtyard was to get me coffee," she said simply, and with it a fresh wave of guilt. "I found your full, still warm cup on your desk after you were taken. You heard me say my head hurt and I wanted coffee, and you went. But had I insisted that I go myself…"

"Then it might have been you in this bed," he said, still looking at her like she was insane. Like how dare she even consider that possibility.

"Exactly," she continued, "And Nina probably wouldn't have gone into labor and I wouldn't have to see the image of you half-dead, hanging by your damn wrists every time I try to sleep."

He just stared at her, his expression now softening. She honestly didn't know if she should be saying this to him, but he had to understand…

"Tiff…"

"No," she interrupted. "I know logically, it's silly and even harmful to think that way. To carry a burden that I can't change."

"And that you shouldn't carry in the first place," he interrupted this time, his brows furrowed in concern. "You didn't ask for me to go. None of this is your fault."

"And you didn't ask for any of this either," she added. "In fact, you fought hard to stay alive and get to this point. That's more than a lot of people would have done, and Nina knows that. So let's just both try to focus on that."

He watched her for a moment before nodding and looking down. It was slightly uncomfortable but she was at least pretty sure she had gotten through to him.

"Thanks, Tiff," he eventually said quietly. She just looked at him and smiled with a slight nod. "But, uh, you should stop dreaming about me."

There was that wise-ass grin that Tiff was scared she'd never see again at one point. She chuckled and shook her head. For the first time since all this started, some of the pressing weight she'd been feeling faded away. Maggie and OA had been right: this was still just Scola. Her partner and friend.

"Seriously, though," he continued, his eyes now back on the floor, "I'm sorry you all had to watch that and uh, if it helps, I felt a lot better when I realized you and Jubal had shown up."

She smiled and nodded again, "Yeah? Well, it wasn't fun to watch but if they hadn't done it that way, we may have never found you in time."

It was true. As awful as it had been to sit in that room and know there was nothing they could do to stop the torture, it was also the only reason he was able to relay information to them that led to them being able to pinpoint his location. Life was funny that way; the very things designed to break you down were oftentimes the opportunities to build you back up stronger. It didn't necessarily make all of this better, but it did make it easier to stomach and maybe even move on from.

"Mr. Scola?" the nurse said happily, now reentering the room and pulling her from her thoughts. "Surgery went great and they are about to move her to recovery."

Tiff smiled really big and watched her partner's expression light up as well.

"And my son?"

"He's alive and they are assessing him now," she added, "But so far, it sounds like he is doing just fine, too."

Stuart looked back at Tiff, nervous excitement etched his features.

"Go!" Tiff responded, motioning for him to lay down properly on the bed. "But you better listen to your nurse, got it? And tell Nina I said hi."

Stuart nodded again and allowed the nurse to prepare him for transport. Tiff took that opportunity to make her way to the door and with one last smile and wave, she left behind her partner, excited by how his life was about to change forever. And as she made her way to the exit, she mused once again at how life had a funny way of turning some of the worst moments into some of the most beautiful ones.

It was the beeping. That was the very first thing that Nina registered through the thick fog that was currently engulfing her mind. It was steady; reassuring. Then came another feeling, one she had never experienced before. Her legs, which already felt numb and distant, also had a rhythmic feeling of tightening and releasing, as though something were giving her lower extremities hugs.

That's when it hit her… it seemed like only moments ago she couldn't feel her legs at all as the epidural worked its magic; doing its job while her body, on the other hand, failed to push her baby out.

Emergency c-section.

Suddenly the steady beeping was speeding up and she knew right away where she was. The only question was, where was her son?

"Hey, Nina," she heard someone say. And even though the mental fog was still very dense, she knew that voice immediately. And this time, it wasn't being heard through a phone.

Her eyes snapped open and first went to her belly, noting that while it was still very large and misshapen under the hospital blanket, it certainly did not protrude as sharply as it did when it housed her son. He was out.

"Nina, hey! It's okay, you're okay."

She turned her head in the direction of Scola's voice and was immediately greeted by his concerned expression. But she returned it in kind, no doubt, as she drank in his appearance.

A nasal tube running beneath his nose and over his ears stood out first, indicating that his breathing still wasn't quite right. His face looked so pale against his dark, unkept hair and bruise-like circles under his eyes. His gaze, normally strong with wide, penetrating eyes, was uncharacteristically weak with eyelids drooping far more than she had ever seen them. She also could see a tube coming out from under a blanket and into a machine that was attached to the side of his hospital bed, but thankfully, she couldn't see any of his chest/abdominal wounds. Finally, her eyes made their way to his heavily bandaged hands, which were oddly holding on to a heap of blankets laying across his chest.

She squinted then, trying to blink away the blurriness that kept trying to overcome her vision and figure out exactly what was going on…

"You okay?" He asked softly, worry etched in his features. "The nurse will be back in just a minute."

He then coughed slightly, but the way he instantly looked down at the blankets on his chest made her realize that wasn't just any mound of blankets…

"Is that…?"

His wide grin confirmed it. "Yes," he breathed, beaming from ear to ear. "You did it, Nina. He's perfect."

She grinned and tried to sit up a little more to see the little bundle laying on his chest. Something welled up in her the moment she caught the smallest glimpse of a little cheek.

"He's a little guy," Stuart continued, "Five pounds, eleven ounces and eighteen and a half inches long. His breathing is good but having a little trouble regulating his body temperature. They said skin-to-skin is good for him and heated blankets."

Nina took in the information, her heart still pounding as she tried to comprehend everything, all while drinking in the sight of her newborn son being held by his daddy.

"But he's okay?"

"He's doing just fine, mama!" a new voice called, as a sweet, older lady came into view. "And so are you. Your monitors look good. Can you feel your legs?"

Nina nodded, now realizing that her legs were, in fact, being routinely compressed and released by some sort of compression socks similar to when they took your pressure.

"Yeah, we will leave those on for a little while longer," the nurse added, noticing Nina looking at them. "They help keep the blood flowing. Can you wiggle your toes?"

Nina thought for a moment and willed her toes to move and thankfully, they did even though there was still a disconnect between her brain and her lower half as a whole. She imagined that was why she wasn't feeling any pain in her abdomen.

"Great!" The nurse said after seeing the digits wiggle slightly. "Alrighty, well as much as I hate to take him from dad, this would be a great time for him to meet mom, especially if you're wanting to breastfeed."

She felt her heart rate quicken again. It was something she had been going back and forth on for a while. She knew there were a lot of benefits to breastfeeding but it also seemed so daunting. She looked at Scola who simply shrugged and nodded reassuringly. She knew he would support whatever she chose.

"I'd like to try, I guess."

"Wonderful," the nurse responded. "I'll have a lactation consultant come by and help you get started, if you'd like. Even if you only get the colostrum in him, it is packed with some of the best nutrients for him. But always remember, fed is best. As long as his tummy gets full, that's what matters."

Nina smiled and nodded, thankful for that reassurance.

"I'll see if I can track her down and give dad a few more minutes."

Nina turned her head again towards Scola as soon as she left.

"I can't believe it," she said finally, breaking the peaceful silence of the room. "He's here… and you're both okay."

Stuart nodded with a smile before looking down at his son - their son - again.

"Listen," he said, his features now a bit more sullen, "I think I may be stuck in here a little longer than you two. This tube…"

Nina nodded, noting a sense of guilt in his tone.

"That's okay," she said quickly. "I just want you better. After everything…" Nina looked down at her feet, reliving the awful events she had watched play out on the JOC screen.

"Yeah, but now you need help, too," he added, "And I'll be in here. But I've already messaged the team and they will help you whenever you need it. Plus, I've been researching!"

He then used one bandaged hand to hold up a phone. Not his regular one, but the one Maggie had brought from the JOC for him to use since his had been destroyed.

"I ordered an automatic recliner that you just push a button and it slowly sits you up or down. Your stomach muscles are going to be very sore so a lot of people said this was a life saver to sleep in for the first week or so after a c-section," he continued, looking somewhat excited, somewhat exhausted and sad. "And I know we didn't finish the crib yet so I found something called a Halo Swivel Bassinet…? Another item many c-section moms swear by. Both will be delivered tomorrow and Tiff is going to swing by the apartment and let them in."

Nina watched in amazement as he rattled off this information, pausing to catch his breath from time to time. She also noticed his breathing getting faster but just assumed the amount of talking was taking a toll. Either way, she couldn't help but be amazed at how much he was trying to make happen for them.

"I'm sorry I didn't consult you first," he added quickly, "I just wanted to make sure that you guys could function alright when you get home. Especially since I may not be there."

Her initial reaction to this new information was to tell him he didn't need to do all of that. She was used to taking care of herself and certainly being in control of the major items that she would use, especially for her child, but looking at him now, none of this was from a place of control or the classic male ego. No, this was coming from a man who was trying to deal with the guilt he was feeling in the only way he could.

"Thank you," she said finally, pleased to see his reaction soften some as he was no doubt expecting a little blowback from her.. "You didn't have to, but I'm glad we will have something when we get home. And who knows, maybe we will all go home at the same time!

He smiled in response, but the look on his face held a sadness that told her that probably wasn't going to happen.

"I'm sorry," he said eventually, "I keep replaying it… if I had just fought a little harder when they grabbed me.."

"Stuart, dont," she interrupted. "This isn't your fault…"

"I know," he sighed, his gaze falling back on the small bundle on his chest. "I just… I don't want to leave you guys."

Nina felt tears burn her eyes as she witnessed the emotion radiating from such a normally stoic man. She knew this moment - him being able to stay here - wasn't going to last long based on him still being stuck in that bed and frankly, how bad he looked. She wanted nothing more than for him to be there with them in her hospital room as they witnessed all of the firsts with their son. Hell, she just wanted to hold his hand again; a hug. To touch him and know that all of this was real.

"I don't want you to leave, either," she responded softly, choking back the tears. She didn't want to upset him any more than he already was. "But it won't be for long. And now we will have extra time off work to recover, right? I might even let you borrow my fancy recliner."

He smiled sadly at her attempt to make a joke. "Yeah."

"Alrighty," the nurse announced happily as she returned. "The lactation consultant will be here shortly. And it's time for this sweet baby to meet his mama!"

Nina watched as Stuart smiled at Nina, genuine happiness at Nina finally getting to hold their son. The nurse went over to him and began moving the blankets around.

"I'm going to go slow," she told him, "I don't want to mess with any of your wires. Hmm," she said suddenly, the back of her gloved hand now touching Scola's neck. "You feel really warm."

Nina frowned at the statement, but didn't have long to dwell on it as only a moment later, the older woman was gently helping move Nina's hospital gown off her shoulders so that her son could be placed directly on her chest. The tears were instant as soon as the warmth of his little body made contact with her. As she gently wrapped her arms around him, he made this smallest, cutest little whimper that made her heart flutter. She looked happily over at Stuart, who smiled warmly back.

"He is perfect," she whispered, looking at his cute, tiny nose. "Nathan," she said finally. They had been going back and forth between Nathan and Daniel, but looking at him now, it had to be Nathan. She looked over at Scola for confirmation, who smiled and nodded. "Nathan Douglas Scola."

She stayed in this moment, just soaking in this sweet little boy on her chest. She didn't even notice that the nurse was now taking Stuart's vitals.

"Hmm," she said as the screen displayed the results. The concerned sound of her voice grabbed Nina's attention as she looked at the screen on the machine. A temperature of 101.6, blood pressure of 96 over 65 and heart rate of 95. She didn't have to be a medical professional to know something wasn't quite right.

"Okay," the nurse said, "We should probably get you back up to your doctors. These are signs of a possible infection.

Nina watched concern spring into his features, "Infection?" He repeatedly nervously. "What… do you think it'll make the baby sick?"

But the nurse shook her head, "That's not likely, but we will monitor him extra closely. But right now, we need to make sure you are okay. I'm going to call a transport team."

Nina watched her go, her eyes wide and tearing up at the thought of him leaving. She also noted a certain sense of urgency in the otherwise calm woman that made her nervous. She looked over at Scola again, who was looking more worn down than before. But more than that, he looked sad.

"Do you feel okay?" she asked, absentmindedly stroking the blanket that was still wrapped around Nathan. She could see him looking more and more ill by the minute and tried to keep the fear that something was very wrong at bay.

"I'm okay, Nina," he said, almost convincingly, with a smile. "Just send me pictures and videos as much as you can, okay? I'm not great at messaging back right now," he continued, as he held up his swollen, wrapped hands, "But I'll have it by me."

Nina bit her lips and nodded. "Of course, yeah. I promise. But you better be okay. Promise?"

As the nurse now reentered, this time with two more people in tow, Nina knew that their time together as a brand new little family was up. At least for now.

"I love you," he said softly, his breathing now noticeably faster at a time when it shouldn't have been. "Both of you."

Nina watched as they rechecked his vitals, noting that his temperature had already gone up some, and prepared his bed for transport. She nodded and tried to focus on his assuring smile. "We love you, too."

And then he was gone, leaving her with Nathan and the nurse, who she now knew was named Meg.

"Hey," she spoke up soon after they were gone, "he's going to be okay, right? They'll just fight the infection and he'll be good."

Meg nodded and smiled, "He's in very good hands. Oh look, here's Ms. Lacy, our lactation consultant!"

Nina proceeded to greet the newest person warmly, but couldn't shake the feeling that Meg had purposefully tried to avoid a direct answer. With a deep breath, Nina reminded herself that there was nothing she could currently do to help him and forced herself to focus on her son and learning what would be the first new parenting skill of many.

Maggie was feeling pretty happy, which was saying quite a bit given the events of the last couple of days. Every case had its own challenges, but anytime a friend, coworker or family member was involved, it hit differently. Especially when you have to watch them literally be tortured.

Add Nina going into labor… Let's just say she was thrilled to finally have a moment to breathe and appreciate a win. Scola had messaged the previous afternoon that both Nina and the baby were doing wonderfully and he was on the mend himself, as they all knew, so yeah, it was a pretty good day.

Given that it was Saturday morning, no active cases and they all wanted to check in with their friends, Maggie had agreed to accompany Tiff and OA to the hospital so that they could visit. Scola hadn't responded since the night before, which was likely due to getting rest, but Tiff had already informed them that he was having to stay in his own room until he was well enough to come off of the chest tube. Maggie could only imagine how hard that would be for him and since neither of them had an abundance of family that could surround them at a time like this, it seemed fitting for them to all come by.

Besides, the last time they had heard from Scola, he had practically begged them to be there for Nina - if she wanted/needed the help, he had been sure to say - and they were all happy to oblige.

"Let's go check in with Nina first," OA said, "I messaged her and she already said it was okay to visit. Scola must still be asleep or something."

Tiff and Maggie nodded and followed him towards the Maternity Suite. She felt excitement bubble inside of her as she noticed the wall art shift to beautiful black and white images of newborns. There was a time she had dreamed about having a child of her own with Jason, but that life felt so distant now. Still, it didn't change the fact that she just loved babies. After seeing so much depravity in adults, it was nice to be in the presence of pure innocence sometimes.

"Come in!"

They heard Nina call as soon as they knocked on the door.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted happily, looking a little tired but otherwise beaming. Maggie had been uncertain if Nina would be comfortable with her being there, given that she wasn't quite as close to Nina, but that fear was immediately pushed aside. There was nothing but warmth in that room and Maggie could understand why Scola had fallen for her.

"Oh my," she heard OA gush happily as he approached the little bassinet that held a sweet, tiny baby. "He is precious!"

"Thank you," she smiled, biting her lip. "You guys are welcome to hold him. My only rules are to wash hands and no kissing."

Maggie nodded, agreeing that those were pretty basic and understandable rules. She watched as, surprisingly, OA was the first to wash his hands and gently lift the newborn from the hospital bassinet. It was as though he has been waiting for the go-ahead. Watching him brought up emotions Maggie hadn't expected and couldn't quite explain, but it felt nice all the same.

"Is that some dark hair I see peeking out?" Tiff asked, now examining the little guy.

"Yeah, and lots of it," Nina chuckled. "I guess he may get that from Scola."

Maggie smiled in response but sensed a hint of sadness in the statement. They all knew this moment should have also included their friend and partner, beaming with an expression that they seldom saw Scola wear.

"Tiff said he got to see him, right?" Maggie responded, trying to remind them all that Scola had at least been able to meet his son already and see Nina. "Was he happy?"

Nina grinned genuinely again, "He was actually the one holding him when I woke up. I never would have guessed when I first met him, but fatherhood suits him. He was so happy while holding him. And he apparently managed to order some things for the apartment…"

"Yes," Tiff laughed, "I'll be swinging by after lunch to make sure it all gets inside and set up for you guys. He reminded me like five times yesterday."

"I'm sorry," Nina said quickly, looking almost embarrassed. "You really don't have to do that. I can call a moving company or something…"

"Of course not," Tiff interrupted.

"We'll be there, too," OA added, "It won't take but a second to get it set up."

Maggie nodded, "Yeah, we want to help. Scola would do the same for any one of us."

"Well, thank you," Nina responded, looking down. "None of this has really gone as planned."

Tiff placed her hand on Nina's shoulder, "Life rarely does. Although this was a little out there.."

They chuckled, albeit with a touch of sadness. What else could they do? What happened, happened and they all knew it could have been any of the team being tortured on that screen the other day. The perps were just waiting to get one of them off guard and by themselves. Scola had been the lucky winner.

"Have any of you heard from him lately?" Nina asked after a moment of silence. "He hasn't responded to me since last night and I've been sending him pictures and texts…"

Maggie frowned and looked at the others, all of whom were shaking their heads. Maggie, for one, hadn't actually talked to him at all. The one time she saw him at the hospital the day of the abduction, he had mostly slept the whole time. And the little bit that he was awake, he had been stuck under the oxygen mask. Still, they had enjoyed watching The Andy Griffith Show together until visiting hours had ended.

"No," Tiff answered, "the last time I heard from him was yesterday afternoonish."

OA stood up from the rocking chair and started to bounce the baby who was beginning to fuss ever so slightly. "I wonder if his phone died?"

"Maybe," Nina responded, but she was clearly worried.

"Hey," Maggie spoke up, realizing that she could be more helpful than standing awkwardly in Nina's hospital room, "I'll go ahead and check on him. I'm sure he could use a friendly face and I'll see what's going on with his phone."

"Thank you," Nina responded warmly.

Maggie smiled and nodded before turning to leave. It took her a moment to navigate the large hospital, noting that the Maternity Center was purposefully built a good distance away from the main hospital, even though it was all still connected. No doubt to help keep some of the hospital germs away from the newborns.

When she finally found her way to the room Tiff had told her belonged to Scola, she was surprised to find it empty and being cleaned. Surely she has just misheard the number…

"Stuart Scola?" Maggie told the man at the desk when she finally found her way back to the reception area.

"Hmm," he hummed, clicking away at his computer, "Looks like he was recently taken to the ICU, which can be found on the 6th floor. Just take a left out of the elevators and you'll see someone there to help you further."

Maggie frowned as her heart rate picked up. She knew for a fact that he had been removed from the ICU due to positive progress, why on earth was he taken back?

She considered questioning the man further but decided her time would be better spent getting to the 6th floor. Upon arriving, she found the receptionist immediately, thanks to the man's directions.

"I was told Stuart Scola was brought here."

The lady smiled and also referred to her computer. "Yes, he was recently brought up here. Are you family?"

Maggie nodded, "Pretty much. I'm listed as one of his approved contacts. Maggie Bell."

She specifically remembered the day they had all come together and decided to put each other on medical approval lists for scenarios such as this. When you were partners on a job like this, the last thing you wanted was to be denied information during an emergency.

"Right," the woman said, "Let me inform his medical team that you're here and someone should come out soon."

She nodded but couldn't bring herself to sit down. A few floors below her sat a woman and a baby who very much needed Scola to be okay. Hell, the whole team did. They were close, for good reason, and to realize all of the sudden that clearly he wasn't as okay as they had thought… Besides, he was a damn good agent. The city was better off having him around.

"You're here for Mr. Scola?"

Maggie turned to see a man who seemed to be a doctor.

"Yes, how is he?" Maggie immediately responded. "He was doing better. Why was he brought back to the ICU?"

The doctor nodded and motioned for her to come with him, "Let's walk and talk."

Maggie nodded and followed him through the double doors.

"I'm Doctor Hollander," he said as they navigated through the sterile smelling hallway, no black and white baby photos to lighten the ambiance. "Mr. Scola was improving, however, he began to present with symptoms of an infection. It progressed quickly and was determined to be sepsis."

Maggie almost gasped, knowing that sepsis was a very serious complication to have.

"Thankfully, we did catch it very early and rapidly started him on a broad spectrum antibiotic and fluids," Dr. Hollander continued, "This has slowed the progression, however, we are waiting on the tests and cultures to hopefully pinpoint the exact source of the infection which will allow us to take a more targeted approach to his care."

Maggie nodded and came to stop outside of what she assumed was Scola's room. "So he will be okay then, right?"

The doctor half shrugged and clarified, "The next 12 to 24 hours will be critical. Given his injuries, we have a pretty good idea of what is going on but the longer it takes to find the source, the worse his prognosis becomes. We are actively trying to prevent him moving into septic shock, and have decided that we need to sedate him."

Maggie frowned and suddenly felt very defensive. For some reason, that suggestion sounded so extreme. "Sedate him? Why?"

Dr. Hollander sighed and shook his head, "It's not my first choice normally and I'm hoping to keep it relatively light to avoid using a ventilator, but due to his high fever and the infection overall, he's experiencing confusion and is mentally altered at times. It's to be expected, especially considering what he went through while getting his injuries, as well as the fact that he has a newborn downstairs, from what I'm told, yes?"

Maggie nodded slowly, trying to keep up with the new, somewhat scary information the doctor was telling her. This was not at all what she had expected to find when she had volunteered to check on him.

"Well all of that seems to be creating a lot of stress for him and while I'm sure he's normally very good at handling stress, given his profession, the infection is preventing that. And if I'm honest, we will need all conditions to be as perfect as possible to prevent permanent damage - or worse - while we try to fight it off. As such, sedating him will allow his body to finally relax some and focus on the fight of his life."

Maggie sighed and realized this was probably the third fight of his life in a matter of days: he'd already technically had his heart stop, then stabbed and now sepsis.

"Would you like to visit him before we administer the sedative? He's not contagious," the doctor asked, causing Maggie to suddenly wish she hadn't been the one to come check on him. It was nothing against Scola because she very much cared for him, she has just never been great with hospitals and seeing people she cared about in them. She always felt like she became awkward… OA was so much better at this kind of thing.

"Um, sure," she responded, "Are you about to sedate him now?"

"Very soon, the nurse is preparing the medication."

Maggie nodded, trying not to convey how nervous she felt. It seemed ridiculous knowing she felt less fear at the idea of going undercover with some real baddies than seeing Scola injured and sick.

"Okay, well as I mentioned before," the doctor continued as he looked into the room they were standing in front of, "he is experiencing moments of febrile confusion and altered mental state. Nothing too alarming from a medical standpoint; meaning he isn't lashing out or physical. Just seems worried and unsettled. Again, I imagine it stems from a very real place."

Maggie felt the hints of burning in her eyes as she took in his words. Scola was worried, confused and alone. And for whatever reason, it worked out that she was the familiar face he would see before they put him to sleep for God only knew how long.

"We will be in shortly, but press the button if you need us sooner."

Maggie nodded and walked in, finding herself uncertain of where she should go exactly. The bed was right there, along with a very active occupant, but he was surrounded with even more machines and IV stands with fluid bags than before. She finally located a spot that she'd have the least amount of risk of messing something up.

As soon as she came into view, Scola's distant, fevered eyes found her. Her initial reaction was that of fear; his face didn't look like Scola at all. The man normally had wide, alert eyes and seemed to be analyzing everything. The man in the bed seemed to be fighting to keep them open and focused. He still had the nasal cannula, although she saw a new full oxygen mask waiting on the table beside the bed, along with a few other instruments, meaning he was likely about to "upgrade" to the mask.

"Maggie," he breathed, reminding her that all else aside, this was still Scola and he apparently wasn't completely out of it mentally.

"Hey!" She said suddenly, trying to force a reassuring smile.

He looked at her for a moment and let out a half cough, half chuckle. "I must… look as bad… as I feel."

It took her a moment to register what he was saying. It wasn't just his rapid breathing that was making it difficult, it was also the fact that she wasn't expecting him to be this lucid. As soon as she realized the joke he was making, it also alerted her to the fact that her bedside manner was as bad as she was thinking.

"No! No, I'm sorry," she stammered, "You look fine… Well, you know."

He smiled sadly and thankfully moved on, "Nina? The baby?"

"Both are great," Maggie responded, thankful that he was still quite coherent. In fact, she found herself wondering if sedation was the best plan after all. "I was actually just there with OA and Tiff. Everyone is good, they just miss you."

He closed his eyes for a moment, although they continued to dart around beneath the lids.

"I just… I can't keep my mind… together," he said finally, sounding both frustrated and slightly defeated. "I keep… flashing back. And it's not real. Nina… she's okay. The baby… he's out, right?"

Maggie felt her heart break a little, knowing that he couldn't even remember holding his son. Or at least, couldn't determine if it was real or not. Suddenly, her own anxiety didn't matter. She just wanted to comfort him so that maybe, just maybe, he would be at ease when they put him to sleep.

"Yes, Stuart, he's out and he's perfect," she said, coming closer to him and resting her hand on her shoulder. The movements seem to help him focus on her. "Nina is fine; motherhood looks so good on her. And all of us… we are going to be there for her, for your son and for you. I promise. You don't have to worry about anything other than getting better."

He stared at her for a while, just breathing as sweat ran down his tense forehead.

"They're going to give you something that will help you rest," she continued, feeling as though he may be understanding her pretty well.

"I know," he said, now breaking his eye contact with her and looking away. "But… what if I don't… wake up?"

The breath caught temporarily in her lungs at the blunt question. Honestly, that was always a possibility, especially given the seriousness of his condition with sepsis, but she didn't want him worrying about that. Not now.

"Of course you'll wake up," she replied quickly, "The doctors here are wonderful and they seem confident they know what's causing the infection, so they'll treat it and you'll be fine. But your body needs rest and you haven't been able to get much of that."

He closed his eyes again and nodded. She softly rubbed his shoulder, which felt impossibly hot against her skin, as she tried to think of anything else to offer him as comfort.

"Okay, ma'am," Dr. Hollander announced softly as he entered the room, "it's time."

Maggie nodded and looked back at Scola, hoping that he had fallen asleep on his own, but no such luck. Worried, wide eyes stared back at her. He then brought one of his bandaged hands to her forearm.

"If something… happens," he started through the heavy, fast breathing, "tell my son stories about me. But… only cool ones."

His attempt at a smile didn't keep the tears from burning her eyes. There was no way she was going to be the one to hear his last words. Wasn't going to happen.

"Stuart, you'll be able to embellish your own stories to him one day," she half-laughed back, trying to keep the mood as light as possible.

"Tell Nina… I love her," he continued as the medical staff came closer.

Maggie bit her lip and nodded, "I'll tell her and that you'll see her soon."

He smiled and then she was lightly guided away by a nurse.

"We will see how he does with visitors in an hour or so, after we get him settled," she said once they were back in the hallway. "He won't be fully sedated so sometimes visitors seem to bring comfort to them while asleep, sometimes not as much. We don't want him trying to fight to wake up because we are trying to avoid full sedation and the need for a ventilator."

Maggie nodded, "Right, okay. He, um, he's going to be okay, right?"

The nurse smiled warmly, "That's the goal. He's still young and in great shape, plus he had clear injuries that are the likely culprits. Particularly the knife wound. But if you're the praying type, now's the time."

Maggie nodded and as soon as the nurse was gone, she no longer tried to fight the tears. He was going to be okay. He had to. But in the meantime, how could she possibly deliver this news to Nina and the others? Did Isobel or Jubal even know? Would the hospital have called them?

Pull yourself together, she thought to herself. With a deep breath, she wiped her face and decided a quick trip to the bathroom to clean herself up would be best before going back. Her plan was to be truthful, but look optimistic. Because there was plenty of reason to believe Scola was going to be completely okay. She needed to convey that.

After fixing her face the best that she could, she made her way back to the Maternity Center, although the black and white newborn decor didn't bring her the same kind of joy as it did before.

"Come in," OA answered this time when she knocked on Nina's door. When she walked in, she saw Tiff now holding the baby while OA sat on the couch and Nina seemed to be sleeping.

Such a peaceful sight, Maggie thought sadly. She was about to basically drop a bomb on it.

"What's going on?" Tiff asked, clearly sensing what Maggie was feeling.

She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head slightly, not knowing how to start or if she should just wait and let Nina sleep.

"What?" Nina said then, as if she had a sixth scent. More than likely, she just couldn't enter a deep sleep, especially with people coming in constantly. "What's wrong?"

Well this was already not going well.

"Nothing," she said quickly, but then chastised herself. That wasn't exactly truthful. "Well… he, um, he has an infection. Sepsis."

Nina gasped and OA said up straighter. "Septic shock?" He asked seriously, no doubt having experienced fellow soldiers with that very condition. By the looks of it, his experience with the illness had not gone well.

"No," she responded, trying to recall all of the doctor's words. "Not yet. They are treating him with a broad antibiotic and a bunch of fluids while they try to figure out the exact cause of the infection, which they feel pretty certain they'll be able to do, and then they will treat it."

"Did you talk to him?" Nina asked quietly.

"Yeah, is he okay?" Tiff asked, "Shouldn't one of us be with him?"

Maggie took another deep breath, reliving the conversation she had experienced with Scola, trying to figure out the best way to answer those questions.

"I did speak with him," she started, "and he… he has a very high fever so he's a little out of it. He was asking about you and the baby," she said to Nina with a forced smile.

"I told him you guys are okay and that we are all here," she continued, trying not to focus too hard on the tears now spilling down Nina's face. "They - the doctor - decided they would sedate him. With the fever, he can't focus and he can't really always figure out what's real. With everything he's been through and worrying about you and the baby…"

Nina looked down and cried silently. OA had that serious look he always got when he was concerned and Tiff just focused on the little sleeping baby in her arms.

"Hey," Maggie said quickly, realizing she was just upsetting everyone. "I know it sounds kind of bad but the doctors seem really confident and you guys know Scola, he never sits still on a regular day. He just needs to rest while they treat him. They said they will see how he does with visitors in about an hour."

Nina wiped her face and nodded. "Thank you."

Maggie nodded, "He also wanted me to tell you that he loves you."

Nina smiled again and wiped away fresh tears. Maggie wasn't sure if that brought her comfort or more sadness, but it would have felt wrong to not pass that along as Scola had asked.

"I'll head up in an hour," Tiff said then, still watching the bundle snuggled against her chest.

"He's going to be okay, guys," OA added after a few moments of heavy silence. "When I spoke to him the other day, he reminded me how badass it was to survive the mafia so, you know, the dude's a badass. He's got this."

They all chuckled and settled in, silently hoping that he was right.

Stuart was pretty sure he was well past his all night drunken bender type days. Past the evenings of drowning the loneliness or emptiness that would come with the job he used to have with expensive bottles of scotch. Feeling pointless and like he was a bad person for raking in money, often at the expense of others whose faces he would never even see.

And yet here he was, feeling very similar to the way he remembered feeling so many mornings back then. His other life. He felt heavy and groggy, like the effort it would take to so much as open his eyes wasn't worth it. A steady, dull ache in his head further supported the notion that he was desperately hungover but still, it just didn't make sense. He wasn't that guy anymore. He loved his job, loved his girlfriend and hell, he was even a dad now…

Dad.

Nina.

Nathan.

Hospital…

The fog that clouded his mind immediately began to clear as the events of the past few days flooded his mind. And yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite bring himself to open his eyes or even move his fingers. He suddenly felt horrifically claustrophobic in his own body.

What was going on? Be rational, he told himself, trying to keep his nerves and fears in check. He most likely was still in the hospital, which would explain why he felt the way he did. He stopped for a moment and focused on what he could hear: beeping, a telltale sign that he was right about being in the hospital. But there was something else… it sounded like talking but he couldn't quite make out the words. There were different voices; familiar voices…

"Yeah, but we just had Italian yesterday," one of them said as the Charlie Brown sounding mumbles of the voices finally cleared and he could make out words.

"But it's Italian… you can never go wrong with Italian," another voice said. Maggie. That was Maggie.

"Maybe," OA countered, "But that new place in Chinatown has been killing it lately. You can't deny that."

"He's right," Tiff now said, and somehow hearing her voice especially brought him comfort. They all did, but Tiff probably knew him better than any of them and he regularly entrusted her with his life while in the field. "That chow mein was next level."

"Okay, okay," Maggie resigned, "but does anyone know if Nina likes Chinese?"

Silence followed but Scola wouldn't have listened right away anyway. They mentioned Nina which meant she was okay. She had to be okay enough to eat, at least. The last he remembered, she had come out of surgery and the last image he had of her was cradling their beautiful, tiny son. He tried even harder then to open his eyes or make any kind of movement to tell them he was there. He could hear them and had so many questions…

"She should be back any minute," Tiff said, "we will let her be the deciding factor."

"I still feel like one of us should have gone with her," OA added quietly.

Where did she go, Scola wondered. Wasn't she still in the hospital?

"You know Nina," Tiff countered, "it's just the restroom. I think she's finally feeling well enough to do things on her own and besides, the baby is in the stroller so no heavy lifting."

"Yeah," Maggie spoke up, "She's probably happy to be able to walk around some after the week she's had. I'd be climbing the walls if I were stuck in a hospital room or an apartment that long."

"Yeah but it's not like Scola's apartment is tiny…" OA laughed now, soon joined by the others.

Stuart listened but couldn't make heads or tails of any of this. What did she mean by the "week" Nina had experienced or being in the apartment? How long was out?

"The real question is will she leave him long enough to go to the restaurant and eat?" Tiff asked, and somehow he could feel their eyes all turn to him. He felt so strange and so vulnerable being able to hear them clear as day, but not react in any way.

"Yeah," OA added, his tone now softer, "It would be our luck that he would finally wake up when no one is here.."

There was a silence then and Stuart used it to focus all of his might on moving ANYTHING. Eyelids, fingers… anything. He was beginning to feel so tired again, but he had to fight it. Had to come out of this funk and finally feel like a human again. Had to figure out how much time had passed and what all he had missed.

"Wait, did you guys see that?" Maggie asked now, which made his heart monitor pick up speed ever so slightly. Maybe it was finally working…

"Yeah," Tiff said excitedly now. The next thing he knew, a petite hand slid into his own. "Stuart, can you hear me?"

He still couldn't quite bring himself to open his eyes yet, but there was something about the warmth of Tiff's hand against his own that seemed to awaken his body slightly.

"Hey!" she said suddenly after he managed to tighten his hand around hers. "He squeezed my hand. Stuart, can you open your eyes?"

Yeah, well, he'd been trying to do that, he thought to himself. Still, it did suddenly seem a little easier to control his body than it was before.

"Hey, Scola," OA said now, "You with us, man?"

With one last push of strength and will power, he finally managed to crack his eyes open. Though the light that flooded his vision was almost unbearable and made the dull ache in his head become a bit more piercing.

"Dim the lights a bit," he heard Tiff quickly say, no doubt observing the painful tension that was most likely written across his forehead. Thankfully, the direction definitely made a difference when he tried to open them again. It took a moment and several blinks, but he finally managed to open them and keep them open.

The sight that he was greeted with was certainly an interesting one. Normally, staring up at the faces of people he cared about, all while they stared right back down at him would be slightly disconcerting. But the relief and sincere joy that was evident in their beaming faces made it more tolerable. He was happy to see them, too, it's just that he was generally a fairly private person. Didn't particularly like a lot of attention on himself. B

"Hey," Tiff said softly.

He swallowed and attempted a smile back, "Hi."

He frowned slightly at the sound of his own voice; Raspy and hardly recognizable as his own at all. But they didn't seem to mind.

"Should we get the nurse?" Maggie asked suddenly, looking at OA and then Tiff. "We should probably get them, right?"

"No," Stuart breathed finally, earning a look of confusion and concern from all of them. The idea of being poked and prodded by medical staff was not at all what he wanted right now. If something was wrong, he would know it by either the way he was feeling or else by one of the many machines still hooked up to him. No, all he wanted was his people around him. And hopefully, very soon, that would include Nina and Nathan.

"Not yet," he pleaded, to which they all nodded.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, tension draining from him.

"Did he go to sleep again?" OA asked quietly then. Scola snapped his eyes open again, wondering if they had been closed longer than he thought. He was honestly getting tired of losing track of time.

"Apparently not," Tiff responded with a grin, her hand still firmly holding Stuart's. "How are you feeling? And answer truthfully, since you don't want us to get the nurse."

He smiled slightly, knowing that she always had a way of cutting through his bull and getting right to the point. Truthfully, he didn't feel that horrible. He certainly didn't feel great, but he honestly felt like he had just gotten over a really bad case of the flu. "Feel weird. A little sore but ok… how long?"

They all looked at each other for a moment, then back at him.

"Five days," Tiff answered.

Five days? How could it have been that long!? Five days since he had seen Nina. Five days since he had met his son for the very first - and only - time.

"Do you remember what happened?" Maggie asked now, but there was something in her expression that stood out to him. He thought back and suddenly realized why she had that look. The conversation wasn't completely clear, but he vaguely remembered talking to her before all the memories stopped. He remembered her being there and he remembered being afraid that he wouldn't wake back up. He suddenly felt a little embarrassed for having shown that fear, especially to Maggie who always seemed so steadfast and fearless, but a raging infection-induced fever will make a man forget to hide his emotions.

"Yeah," he answered, his eyes diverting to the ground, "I do now. And, uh, thanks for being there."

She smiled somewhat slightly and nodded. "So… the infection is gone, then?"

"Yep," OA replied, "They got it. Not going to lie, it got pretty scary there for about a day but you finally turned a corner once the medicine started kicking in."

"And then you just decided to be lazy for the next three days, or so," Tiff added jokingly, effectively relieving some of the tension that had built up in the room. "Nah, turns out your body must have known you wouldnt take it easy so even after they eased off of the sedatives, you kept sleeping."

He took in the information, still finding it so surreal to hear all of these things that had happened to him, but not remembering any of it. And poor Nina. What had she been going through during all of this?

"Nina?" he asked after a moment or so of silence, "Has she and Nathan been alright?"

"Absolutely," OA responded, "She's a natural and Nathan is precious. Sleeps a lot like his dad."

Stuart chuckled slightly and felt a little more at ease than he had since coming to. True enough, he would have loved to have been there when the team, his second family, met his son but knowing that they had been there for Nina brought him more peace than he could put into words.

"Oh," he said shortly after, "Nina loves Chinese food."

The looks on their faces was priceless.

"Wait," OA spoke up first, "You heard all of that?"

He just smiled in response, deciding to let them wonder just how much he had been able to hear.

"Heard what?"

Nina.

Stuart felt his stomach flutter at the sound of her voice. He turned his head towards the door, the motion making him dizzy for a moment, but he didn't care. Once he steadied himself, he was rewarded with one of the most beautiful sights: Nina standing in the doorway, her hair half up and sporting a dark green, long dress and a denim jacket. It wasn't something he normally saw her wear but imagined it probably felt better than jeans on her healing c-section incision. Regardless, she looked nothing short of amazing. And beside her was the stroller they had bought two months earlier while out shopping one day. He distinctly remembered how foreign the idea of being a parent had felt that day, and yet now here they were, their son riding in that very stroller.

To top it all off, the giant smile that spread across her face the moment their eyes locked was enough to make him feel like he could get out of his bed and pull her into an embrace that he would never want to pull away from. Alas, he knew his body wasn't quite there yet and even if it were, the various tubes and wires scattered over and in his body would have made it difficult.

"You're awake!" she exclaimed as she pushed the stroller into the room. He could see that her movements were a bit more strained than normal, but she seemed surprisingly alright. Especially considering the last time he remembered seeing her, she was still groggy from a major surgery. Then again, that was Nina. Always tougher than she looked.

"How are you?" Stuart asked, holding out his hand that Tiff had let go of at some point. As she grabbed it, he noticed that everyone else had backed away slightly, giving them space. "And Nathan?"

Nina chuckled and shook her head, "We're just fine. He's perfect and the things you ordered for the apartment were perfect… Just ready for you to be home, too."

Scola smiled and nodded. He couldn't verbalize just how badly he wished he were home as well. Hospitals were awful and he had never been in one this long. Even though he couldn't remember most of his stay, he could feel it in his bones that he had been here far too long.

"Me too. When will that be, by the way?" he asked, looking around at all of them. It became clear they didn't know either.

"Well, now that you're awake, I imagine the doc will be able to shed more light," Maggie answered. "You, uh, you still have a lot of machines hooked up to you so at least long enough for those to come out and make sure you can function on your own."

Tiff shrugged and nodded, "But you're past the worst of it and I think most of these things were because you were asleep for a while."

"Yeah," Nina said, a slightly sad smile on her face, "You're even thinner than you were when this all started. I think some of this is for nutrients."

"And output," OA added simply. Stuart looked at him as he considered those words before rolling his eyes and sighing as understanding struck; he undoubtedly had a catheter inserted into a spot that should normally never have anything in it. Instantly, it was as though he could feel the intrusion and desperately wanted out of the hospital more than ever.

"Anyway…" Tiff said loudly, indicating that they were perhaps overstepping a little and making him uncomfortable. Stuart found himself suddenly grateful that she understood him so well. It wasn't anything against him or anyone else, but hearing all of these things about his own body, knowing that it was knowledge for everyone, did make him feel even more vulnerable and on display. "We are going to get some food and I imagine you might want to stay now, huh?"

Nina just beamed back and replied, "Yeah, I'm going to stay"

And as much as he wanted her to stay with him longer, he turned to her and said, "Why don't you go and get out some? I'll be okay."

She shook her head, "No, I've been waiting for this moment for a week. When there was no more danger or wondering if we were all going to be okay. So I want to stay and Nathan will be waking up soon. I want him to spend more time with his dad."

Scola had come to know Nina well enough to sense when something was set in stone and no longer up for debate. He just nodded and squeezed her hand slightly. Having her there did make everything better and if she insisted on staying, he certainly didn't mind having her there.

"Well then we will bring you back some food," OA added as he stood up and straightened his coat. "We are getting Chinese so message what you want and you too, Scola, if your doc clears it."

"Something tells me he's not quite ready for Chinese food but yeah, let us know," Maggie added with a chuckle. She was probably right. Stuart was fairly certain he hadn't had real food in a week and while he did feel an odd hunger pain, the idea of food - let alone rice and noodles - made him a little nauseous.

"I'll let you know what we find out," Nina answered for him. "Thanks, guys."

"Yeah, thanks," Scola added as he slowly lifted a hand in an attempt at a wave.

As soon as they were gone, a peaceful silence fell over the room, leaving only the sounds of beeping and soft snores from the tiny human in the stroller. Stuart felt her hand tighten around his and noticed that she was now looking down. He also noticed her breathing change a little and realized there were tears rolling silently down her face.

"Hey," he said softly, tugging on her hand, "What's wrong? Nina…"

She sighed and looked up, shaking her head as though she were ashamed. "I'm so sorry. I thought the hormones would magically go away when he was born but…"

She let go of his hand and proceeded to use hers to wipe her face and regain composure. He watched her, knowing that this was more than just hormones. He had read up on postpartum depression during his studies of pregnancy and parenthood almost every night before bed for the past several months. And given the stress of everything that had led to Nathan's birth and having to do the first week largely by herself, he wouldn't blame her in the least if she was struggling.

"Nina," he breathed, his own eyes burning, "I'm so sorry you've had to do all of this by yourself…"

"No, it's not that," she interrupted, looking him in the eyes. "I… I was so worried about you. For so long, Scola. Every time I turned around… the videos. God, the videos. What you went through… I don't know how you seem okay with everything but I watched you die. And get stabbed. Then get one of the worst infections you could possibly have. And then you wouldn't wake up and the doctor's didn't know why…"

Stuart felt his stomach twist in knots as he watched her unload all of these emotions that she had likely been bottling up, trying to function while also adjusting to life as a new mom. She seemed to think what he went through was harder, when in reality, he couldn't imagine what she had gone through. He wouldn't have been able to handle watching her on that screen. Hell, it would have killed him to watch any of his teammates be tortured to the point of cardiac arrest, only to be resuscitated and then stabbed. It wasn't fun living through it and he imagined it would be brought up more than once during his therapy sessions, but he didn't feel like he got the worst end of the deal here. In fact, given the choice, he would go through it again to avoid having to watch someone else he cared about experience it.

"I just…" Nina continued, "Seeing you awake… I don't know. I feel like I've just been on autopilot because I had to be, you know? Nathan needed me to keep it together."

"And you did a great job," he reassured softly. She smiled through her tears. "Nina, I can't imagine what you went through, having to watch it."

She laughed in an exasperated kind of way, "I just had to watch! I didn't get stabbed or electrocuted! I'm sorry… I shouldn't even be putting all of this on you right now."

"Don't be sorry," he said quickly, knowing that she needed this conversation to happen in order to start healing and he was more than willing to be uncomfortable for a moment to give her even a little peace. "And don't think for one second that what I went through was worse. I'd do it over a thousand times before I'd watch you go through it. And that's me being selfish. These wounds will heal and we know going into this job that bad things can happen to us. But having to watch it happen to someone we care about and not be able to help them? That's the real torture."

She watched him, tears steadily spilling out and somehow making the blue of her eyes even more vibrant.

"But I'm fine now," he continued softly, his hand reaching out until she grabbed it again. "And I'll be out of here soon. And Nathan is here and he's healthy. We're okay, Nina. We're all okay."

She nodded and took a couple of deep breaths in a row while he did small, comforting circles on her hand with his thumb. He suddenly knew he had to actually hold her, so with his free, albeit tightly wrapped hand, he reached the bed controls and sat himself up a little more. It was slightly painful but bearable. He then let go of her hand and slowly shifted himself to the side, giving more room on the side of him that had the least amount of wires. The movement definitely tired him out quickly, no doubt from having very little movement otherwise for several days, but he was determined.

"What are you doing?" she asked, watching him closely.

"Come here," he said, holding his arm out and tucking the IV tube out of the way as best he could.

"Scola, I'm going to hurt you somehow."

He frowned and shook his head. "Stop it, I'm good. Come here. Just for a minute."

She considered it for a moment more before carefully and slowly getting on the bed beside him. Within a minute, Stuart felt peace wash over him as she gently rested her head on his shoulder. The smell of her shampoo flooded his senses and he took it in greedily. This was the best medicine he could ask for. Seeing his team was definitely up there, but this was everything.

Just as he was getting comfortable enough to maybe fall asleep again, a small, adorable little cry broke the silence. But it didn't upset him in the least. Instead, he felt excitement as he remembered that Nathan was, in fact, here. Nina's head popped up and she sighed happily.

"Time to eat," she said as she got up just as carefully as she had sat down. "I have to admit, though… I needed that. Thank you."

He smiled and nodded in return, "I did, too. I guess we need to get used to sweet interruptions, huh?"

"Yes," she said with a genuinely happy laugh. Stuart watched as she gently lifted their little boy out of the carrier and he loved every minute of it.

This wasn't a normal start to a new family and was so far from how they had imagined it, yet it was still beautiful in its own way. He loved them so much and given that just a week ago, he had been forced to acknowledge he might never get the opportunity to experience this at all, he couldn't feel anything but pure joy at the scene playing out before him.

"After I feed him, he's all yours," she said pleasantly as she took a seat in the nearby recliner and put the breastfeeding cover over her and Nathan. "If you're up to it, that is."

He couldn't imagine anything else he'd rather do. He simply nodded and relaxed a little into his pillows.

"This will take a little while so get more rest," she added, apparently noticing that he was getting tired. Still, he didn't want to waste anymore time sleeping. "But you better wake up this time."

He chuckled. "Promise."

With that, they both settled into the peace of the moment and he could only hope that, with time, they would both be able to heal from the trauma they had faced and focus on building their new, beautiful little family. He then closed his eyes, and welcomed what he decide would have to be a quick nap.

—- EPILOGUE: FOUR WEEKS LATER —-

Stuart sat in his car for a minute, taking a deep breath as he prepared to return to 26 Fed for the first time in over a month. He hadn't made a point to get there very early to allow car prep time; he didn't need it. Sure, he had a little anxiety about returning, but it wasn't based on a fear of getting hurt again. That was always a possibility with his job and Nina and him had both agreed that he would just do his best to stay safe. But after a long discussion, they realized that having Scola out there, working to keep the city a little safer made their little family feel safer as well.

So going back was a no brainer, which meant the risks were inherent.

He had already completed a basic psych eval over a virtual session with a psychologist and had been cleared to return to desk duty. He also knew it would take a little while to go through refresher training, weapon qualifications and an additional, more intense psych evaluation before returning to the field, but that was okay.

Trust the process.

No, it wasn't any of that stuff that was causing the anxiety. Not really. The thing that made him nervously straighten his tie for what was probably the fifth time since arriving was the fact that the last time most of these people had seen him, he was bleeding out and hanging by his wrists on a screen in the JOC. It wasn't the first time that they had seen something bad or scary happen to a coworker, but it was definitely the first time it had happened to him. And he knew the things they had seen were specifically meant to be shocking to all of them.

He knew it would be okay and knew this anxiety was irrational: he considered many of them his friends and knew they would probably just be excited that he was able to return. But the attention his arrival would get and the potential for concerned gazes and thick silences in which they tried to decide whether or not to say what was on their mind made him feel uneasy. He just didn't want them to treat him any differently. Wanted to pretend like it was business as usual, even though that wasn't exactly the case.

It'll be fine, he reminded himself. Just one awkward day at most.

With that, he took another deep breath and made his way into the building. Walking in and seeing the elevator immediately made him feel a little more normal. The past month had mostly been at home with him being released from the hospital two days after he woke up. And it had been such a lovely month filled with lack of sleep, all the baby snuggles and lots of diaper changes. He actually quite enjoyed this whole dad thing, especially given that he got to do it alongside one of the most amazing women he had ever met.

But still, there was a part of him that was happy to get back to what he was so used to doing. His wounds were just scars now; stories of something that had happened to him in the past and that's exactly how he saw it. The past. But getting back to work felt like the final piece he needed to finally move forward with the new normal.

As he rounded the corner from the elevator, he knew something was up when he couldn't see anyone in the hallway.

"WELCOME BACK!" the entire JOC bellowed as he entered the large room and saw multiple beaming faces staring at him. He couldn't help but smile and look down. It was a lot of attention, yes, but it was from people who cared about him. People who had helped get him home to meet his son and fight another day. People who had gone through a lot themselves and were probably glad to replace the last image of him they had seen.

Within minutes, he was steadily getting pats on the shoulder, one-armed hugs and even a full blown hug from Elise. He imagined she had been one of the people to replay the videos of him being tortured over and over to find clues, so it would make sense that she was particularly happy to see him back and looking normal. Besides, they had developed a closer bond after the bomb incident.

Kelly eventually broke through the crowd and handed him a card. Stuart opened it up and read the line, "Congratulations on your new bundle of joy" in fancy lettering but under it, in handwritten letters, "and for surviving the mafia!"

He laughed out loud and enjoyed seeing the multiple signatures from all of the JOC members, including his team, Isobel and Jubal.

"Thanks, everyone," he said, closing the card and shaking his head. "I will say, it was a little strange knowing everything was being watched but it was also a relief. Partly because I knew I wasn't alone but also because I knew you guys would find me. And you did. So thank you, truly."

There was a quick round of applause again and thankfully, Jubal then stepped up and took the attention away from him.

"Definitely glad to have Scola back in one piece and excited to see how he does hanging with us in the JOC for a few days," he grinned as he gave Stuart a side-eye, almost as though it were a challenge. "And, ironically - and sadly - enough, we have a case to solve. An ICE agent was abducted and found murdered on a subway less than twenty-four hours later. We need to find out who, what, when, where and why."

Stuart could feel eyes pressing in on him and while he had to admit a case like this in which another agent was not as lucky as he was did hit a little differently now, it only made him want to do his job better. At the end of the day, Stuart believed that when bad things happened, people could either choose to be a victim or an overcomer.

And come hell or high water, he was going to be an overcomer.

END NOTE: There you go! Congrats if you managed to stick around for the whole thing. And if you enjoyed, please leave a comment and make this tired mama of three a little happier haha.