Title: The Devil Wears Vengeance
Chapter 9 – Kidnapped!

Ed felt the heated blast on his back and thought that ducking into a room down the hall and opposite would spare him some physical grief. However, that turned out to be the worst move possible as in that exact moment, another explosive device, designed to explode differently went off as soon as he entered the room. His arms had come up in the exact moment to shield his face from the super-heated blast but that was all the shielding he would receive.

As the floor beneath and above him start to give way, his lips call out to his wife…followed by an anguished cry as a piece of flying debris strikes him in the mouth and nose sending a fresh spray of blood toward the adjacent wall; the blood splatter left for his wife to find later.

He squeezes his eyes shut as his body starts to fall, his mind panicking as his body starts to be assaulted on every angle from the debris hurling toward him. A chunk of wood hits the back of his head, forcing is mind further into tormented dizziness, his arms clawing at the wind as he falls, his heart begging for some kind of miracle to spare him his doomed fate as he watches large chunks of concrete loosening above him. He wouldn't know the extent of his injuries or who had set the evil trap for him until a bit later; his mind too focused on trying to picture his wife's beautiful face before darkness consumed him for good.

What happens next is expertly planned and takes seconds…but to Ed, it feels like an odd eternity.

Instead of landing on something hard, his body lands on something softer than expected and within the literal blink of an eye, wind sails past his face, the room blurs as he feels himself being pulled. Pulled? What the hell? Pulled where? And by who? His mind races to compute as he rapidly blinks his watery dust-filled eyes, his pounding head trying to send signals to his hands to lift up and wipe the dust from them so he could see better. No movement was coming; his frame still dazed and his lungs still trying to restart after being winded from the fall. To his right, his ears pick up the continued sounds of concrete crushing concrete and concrete splintering wood as they rain down from the two floors above and he can only offer a small prayer of thanks that it's not on top of him. Being crushed to death would be a horrific way to go

"He…" is all he manages, his lungs violently coughing but his brain signaling to him that for the most part his body was in working order and to get moving. That's when things changed – for the worse. He feels himself being carried and carefully placed down on something softer; a mattress, something his foggy brain would fail to discern at the moment. Doors slamming shut? Doors? Van doors? Movement? What the hell? What's going on?

Despite a painful throb in his right thigh he finally finds some strength to try to wipe the dust from his face; his brain frantically trying to refocus and get the area to stop spinning. But just as his hands try to reach his face, odd whispered voices fill his ears, dark shadows loom overhead, narrowing his line of sight and panic starts to course through his entire frame as he feels a soft but heavily dampened cloth clamped down and being held over his bloody nose and mouth; his arms held down at his sides to hamper his feeble attempt at escape.

Chloroform! What the hell?

"Hel…mmmph," is all the soft cry for help Ed can manage as his weary arms instinctively try come up to fight whoever was now trying to drug him, his head trying to twist in vain and his body rapidly losing the battle. Thanks to his frame already having the fight taken out of it by the fall from the blast and the assault from the debris; he quickly succumbs to the drugs and unwillingly becomes their helpless captive.

"Don't fight us Lane," an oddly familiar male voice registers in the back of his mind; his brain, however, too tired at the moment to correctly identify the face behind his male kidnapper.

Drugged…kidnapped…HELP ME!

"Hope you said goodbye to your husband this morning Mrs. Lane," Ida smiles as she turns around from watching Ed to looking at Donna entering the smoldering scene behind them in the side window mirror, the van casually heading away from the site and disappearing around the corner with its precious captive cargo stored inside.

XXXXXXXX

"Ed's gone…this can't be…" Donna chants over and over as she utters another gasp, the baby inside her sensing it's mother's distress and reacting accordingly. She looks up to see Wordy, despite the large bandage on his leg, disappear into the dusty opening, looking up at Tom in torment. "He can't be dead… he can't."

"They'll keep looking, you know they won't…"

"What if he's…he's under the debris," Donna lightly whimpers as her stomach tightens a bit more, Jules and Rachel now at her side as well, both kneeling on either side to offer supportive comfort.

"You just gotta breathe okay," Jules calmly instructs as Rachel rubs Donna's back. "For the baby okay? Just breathe."

"Ed can't be…he can't be dead."

"They'll look down there. Maybe he managed to crawl away and…"

"What if he's…he's…crushed…oh dear god what if he's…" her voice hyperventilates as she looks up at Tom, a salty crystal tear escaping her face and slowly sliding down her flushed cheek.

"Okay just deep breaths. They didn't find him so maybe he crawled away. They'll find him," Rachel repeats; behind them Spike, Riley and Greg now talking about the floor plans.

"This subbasement was added a few years back but the developer and owner had a falling out and the layout was never updated," Spike replies with a heavy frown. "And…"

"And what Spike?" Greg presses, making Donna instantly twist her head and look up at the dust covered bomb tech.

"Nothing."

"Spike, what is it?" Donna presses.

"The plans. Just another set of outdated plans and…"

"The last ones were online Spike, this time we used…"

"You have a feeling something's not right?" Donna continues to press, earning a small nod from Spike in return. "Please…whatever you can do to help them find Ed….please do it."

"Okay," Spike nods as he and Riley turn and head back to the command truck.

Donna hears the voices in the background talking, her mind trying to register search and rescue Captain Hiller's comments as his team moves about in the wreckage below, looking for her missing husband.

"Ed…talk to me," she continues to softly beg, her ears picking Jules and Rachel's continued requests for her to also think about the baby and slow her breathing. "Ed…please answer…tell us where you are…please."

Jules looks at Rachel behind Donna's back and frowns, Jules understanding Donna's torment as her mind wonders how together she'd hold it, if it was Sam injured and lost and them not knowing where he was.

"Why won't he answer…" Donna mumbles rhetorically as she looks down at the band of gold on her dusty hand. "Please Ed…please answer.

"Sargeant Parker," Hiller's voice snaps to life.

"What'd you find Captain?"

"Nothing. If your man crawled out of here, he could be in the alley way by now but he's not here. If he um…"

"If he what?" Donna firmly interjects.

"If he was crushed under the debris, we'd um…we'd know. But he's not. Aside from that smattering of blood on the wall there is nothing else except a few spots here and there to indicate that he fell down this chute and was crushed. He's just not here."

"Tom," Greg looks at Team three's team leader.

"I'm on it. Spike, Riley…put the plans on hold right now," Tom directs. "We need all hands on deck searching the alleyway for Ed."

"We'll join you," Jules nods as her and Rachel stand up; Donna staying behind with Greg and Wordy still inside the blast area with the search and rescue team; the forensic team still waiting for final clearance to retrieve the bomb fragments from the second blast zone.

Greg kneels down to Donna and looks at her in concern.

"How can he not be there?" Donna asks in wonder, her eyes watering once again.

"I honestly don't know." Greg huffs. "But we know Ed is strong and a survivor; he's got too much to live for to just quit. They'll find him."

"They have to Greg…he's my life…I can't live without him," she whispers as another long tear escapes and splatters onto the dusty ground she's sitting on. Where are you Ed?

XXXXXXXX

Pain. Waves of pain. Radiating from the crown of his head and shooting down to the tip of his feet. Darkness. Pain and darkness. Where am I…am I dead? Ed's mind ponders as it tries to move past the dizzying pangs. No…just…pain.

For a few seconds his brain replays the last few moments in the basement of the building. Finding the second bomb. Looking at the active timer. Seeing it starting to instantly decelerate. Shoving Wordy out of the room. Heading for the stairwell. Hearing a voice calling to him for help. Instinctively turning back. Wordy shouting at him. The room around him exploding and him calling his wife's name before….

Before he was falling…falling into darkness and landing on something soft. Can't breathe….can't see…can't call for help. Lungs winded…chest burning…head pounding. Taste blood in my mouth. Feel it in my nose…on my face. Pain…waves of pain. And then voices….hands…chloroform? Drugged. Kidnapped. Taken!

Ed's pain wracked frame starts to lightly thrash, a new sensation of pain forcing him to lie still along with some heavy leather restraints holding him down. He finally forces his eyes open but all that greets him is heavy darkness.

Blindfolded. No just thick darkness. What is going on? Where am I? His brain automatically sends signals to his limbs to try to move them, his voice wanting to call out. Neither are working. His senses are slow to come back on line. His ears pick up whispered voices in the distance and his nose picks up the distinct smell of – blood? Who's blood? My blood? Am I still bleeding? Where? How bad? Anything broken? Ed wonders in a sickened panic. Where the hell am I? What's going on?

A light is flipped on and his eyes instantly squeeze shut, blinded by a harsh fluorescent light bulb hanging a few feet from his face; no warning given to ease himself from the thick darkness. If he was able to look down, he'd see that he was strapped to a medical table, his arms tightly fastened at his sides and a thick piece of tape over his mouth to keep calls for help from being heard. He tries to flex his leg but a fresh wave of pain from his right thigh at even the slightest movement, forces him to quickly subside, his lips uttering a muffled cry of anguish into the heavy tape gag.

"Awake?" A mocking voice is heard as Ed tries to twist his head to see who his demented captor might be. "Not for long."

No…wait! Ed tries, only a few muffled whimpers escaping the tape over his mouth as the damp cloth is once again clamped down over his mouth and nose and held, his body gently writhing in vain under the thick leather straps holding him in place, his mind racing with panic as to where he was and who he was being held by. Donna…please….he…lp…m…his mind once spirals downward into quiet darkness before his body goes limp and mocking laughter fills the stale air around him. But just before he complete loses consciousness, his eyes widen in horror at the object that his held up before his watery sapphire orbs.

"See you in hell Lane," another male voice is heard as a large needle is displayed and mercilessly jabbed into Ed's thick, blood soaked thigh.

XXXXXXXX

"Alley is clear."

"Front street is clear."

"Adelaide is clear."

"Site is clear…" Wordy finally reappears and tells Donna the same bad news that the rest of the team just had – Ed is gone.

"This can't be…he was injured…he can't have just…up and walked…away on his own," she slightly hiccups as she pushes past Wordy and heads for the entrance to the blast site; none of the remaining male SRU members having the heart or strength to hold her back.

"Ed…you have to answer us," she begs into her headset once more. "Please…please answer us." She wipes a few fresh tears, not wanting to appear overly emotional in front of the rest of the male onlookers around her. Donna puts on a determined face as she walks past the third room where the first bomb was, the forensic team now busily working in the one across the hall.

She peers inside to see several pieces of plywood placed across the gaping wound in the floor and feels her stomach seize once more as she spies the now dried blood on an askew piece of concrete.

"Sargeant Lane?" Captain Hiller's voice makes her slightly jump before she turns to face him. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's okay…lost in um…Captain…he has to be here," her voice dies out to a small quiver as she desperately tries to remain emotionally composed. "He has to," she states firmer, swallowing back escaping emotion.

"I understand but we've searched and we brought the dogs in and…and his trail has gone cold underground. Now it…wait…" Captain Hiller calls out as Donna turns and darts back out of the room, emerging into the last scraps of daylight and heading for the alleyway, Greg and Wordy quickly following.

"He has to be here," she keeps muttering over and over.

"Donna, we have looked…"

"He's HERE!" She snaps again and then frowns. "Wordy, you need to rest that leg," she replies with determination, her mind fixed on getting down to the subbasement and seeing for herself what Ed had to contend with. Sure enough she rounds the corner and looks at the rather hidden entryway; the door painted the same color as the building, but also not showing on the physical plans that Spike had gotten from the building's superintendent.

"He's lying."

"Who?"

"The damn super! How the hell could he not know this was here?" She growls as they head through the rather rusted entryway toward the dusty area with a few search and rescue team milling around. "Have we asked him that?"

"He didn't even know about the first bomb until the gunman told him about it."

"The gunman who is now dead? Where the hell is my husband?" Donna half shouts and then quickly subsides, shaking her head but still unable to calm her heart rate or get the churning in her stomach to subside.

"We are now treating this as…"

"A missing person? Who would blow up…and then kidnap…" her voice wavers again as she shakes her head and enters the area that Ed had fallen into.

"Donna, he's not here. They would have found him if…" Wordy's voice trails off as he looks at the two large pieces of concrete. "At least he wasn't…"

"Crushed. I know and thank god for that but still…where is he?" She asks sadly as she quickly looks away and then down. It was faint but noticeable to anyone looking.

"What?" Greg asks in haste as Donna leans in and looks at the floor a bit closely.

"It's just…" she mumbles as she straightens back up and then looks at the forensic van on the other side of the opening. "That van…"

"The forensic team? What about them?" Wordy questions.

"Donna…" Greg starts, making her look at him in wonder.

"No not that one…what if he was dragged to another…a waiting van and…"

"They'd have had to time it pretty good to be here when that thing blew," Wordy muses.

"We have no other answers. Look at these odd drag marks…no blast damage on this side of the room and if you look up…this whole side was spared."

"So someone pulled him out."

"You suggesting they were waiting for him?" Wordy dares to utter.

"I don't know…I…I don't know," she replies in a soft whisper; her mind once again in anguish at the thought that someone was waiting for Ed to drop through the floor and then kidnap him in his injured condition. But why? And where did they take him? And who could it be?

"Boss I heard that," Spike's voice comes over their head sets. "Riley is looking at the last call's plans and trying to see if they were tampered with before we pulled them up online. I'll start working on the traffic camera's in the area. They do have a few hours head start but…"

"But it's a place to start," Greg agrees as he looks at Donna and nods. "Cover all angles. We will find him."

"You know he might have been temporarily dazed and perhaps someone helped him and then took him to the hospital? If he's unconscious, he couldn't call anyone," Jules suggests.

"Winnie…" Greg starts as he pulls away from Wordy and Donna; Tom heading toward them from the outside search area.

"Wordy….this can't be happening," Donna laments softly as she turns and looks up at her husband's best friend in misery. "How can we not know anything?"

"I think the hospital angle is the most likely right now but we'll let Winnie confirm that," Wordy tries to assure her; his own mind not really fully certain.

"He's injured and…" she stops to take a deep breath, her core literally on fire.

"Ed wouldn't just crawl away to…"

"Bleed out?" Donna ventures in torment.

"No. He would never do that," Wordy insists. "Probably someone under here…saw what happened, got Ed out in time and…"

"Why were they here?"

"I don't know…I'm guessing," Wordy shrugs with a small grimace.

"Wordy, I'm sorry…you need to get off that leg."

"I need to find Ed."

"You both need to just relax and let everyone else take care of this," Tom tells them with a serious expression. "Wordy…Donna…I know telling you both to go home and rest there is moot. Let's all head back to the barn and….and figure out what we know and what is missing."

"Tom…"

"Ed would want that and you know it."

"That isn't fair," she tries to smirk; the resulting facial expression turning out more of a grimace than anything.

"Then do it for the baby," Tom kindly suggests.

But as she feels the little one inside her continuing to rebel at all her growing stress, she knows she has to remain calm, focused and in control of her emotions. Doing serious harm to their unborn child is the last thing she wants.

"Okay," she finally resigns as the three of them head out of the damaged room and rejoin Greg in the waiting SUV in the alleyway. Donna casts a teary gaze out the window of the backseat, glancing at her wedding ring and praying to god that Ed was alive and okay. Ed…where are you? Please….where are you?

XXXXXXXX

The next moment Ed dares to open his eyes, he quickly wishes he hasn't as his head starts to pound heavily once more and his entire frame instantly begs for some relief. None would be coming – at least not right away. His mind replays the two male voices, the fresh drugged cloth and the large needle. He utters another muffled yell into the thick tape fixed over his mouth, his nose flaring as his lungs desperately try to take in a full breath of air, even stale, but are still unable.

His stomach tightens as he tries to move, agitation wanting him to throw up but the tape ensuring the acidic bile is merely sent back down to his stomach, burning his lungs on the way and forcing him to curse once more. Unlike last time when he was actually able to open his eyes and blink, this time he feels a piece of thick black fabric pulled across tightly them forcing him to remain in darkness against his will.

Despite the pain in his chest from a few either broken or cracked ribs, his wrists are bound with duct tape behind his back and he can feel he's only wearing his sweat soaked tee-shirt and boxers. His feet are free, but his elation at perhaps trying to bring his bound wrists over his feet and attempt escape despite the pain, is short lived as he tries to move one and hears a distinct rattle. What the hell? I'm chained to the floor?

His right leg throbs again and as he moves his leg on the cold stone floor, his bare skin brushes against warm, sticky sludge. Blood! Is that mine? Am I bleeding in that leg? His mind races back in time to the moment he was captured by Ida and his right leg was deliberately cut by her, coming dangerously close to severing the main femoral artery and threatening him to bleed out in seconds. Was his leg reinjured in the fall? Did they stitch it up? Or merely leave it unattended to? Why the hell am I here? Where's here? What's going on?

HELP ME! Ed tries to yell, his chest starting to cough and his eyes watering under the thick fabric as his ribs painfully knit upon heavy exertion. His pounding head wearily slumps back down onto the cold stone floor, his body trying to shift to a better position. The faint taste of copper still swishes around in his mouth and he once again curses the tape gag as he's unable to spit out the bloody residue, not really wanting to swallow it back down.

Ed's mind tries to take stock of all his injuries but with almost every part signaling a throng pain, it's almost hard to pinpoint exact injuries. But something else is now troubling him. What was in that needle? Drugs? A slow acting toxin? Something to keep him alive but just barely?

Donna….please baby…please you hafta find me….please…his mind begs in misery as he tries to shift a bit more. With his wrists tied tightly behind his back, rolling onto them wouldn't be comfortable, but with his chest feeling like it was having continued pressure applied, rolling onto his stomach to give his side some relief isn't an option either.

HELP ME! Ed tries to call out again, his mind begging for some relief from his physical torment. He had just survived a bomb blast down a story, falling on concrete and being assaulted by wood and the fall; the last thing he had wanted or expected was to be kidnapped and then wake up half naked, bound and gagged with no idea of where he was or who had taken him. He knows he's running on adrenaline right now, but that and the shock residue from the accident itself would soon wear off and then if he wasn't given a blanket would start to feel his nerves taking over.

HELP ME! He tries again, working himself further into a useless sweat; his efforts weren't about to result in any kind of rescue or relief.

Ed stops his left leg from moving, bringing the heavy chain to a stop as he picks up some shuffling heading toward him. Hello? Anyone there? Hello? Help me!

The shuffling stops a few feet away and despite his obvious vulnerability, Ed feels his entire frame seize with tension.

"Awake at last," the male voice greets in a low tone, his voice cleverly disguised at the moment. "Comfortable?"

Ed feels his teeth grit under the tape gag and his fists tighten behind his back. But as predicted he shakes his head 'no'.

"Good," the voice sneers; his captor's reaction making Ed curse under the gag. "Your set up is only temporary, so don't get too used to that position."

LET ME GO! Ed tries to demand, garnering himself only a low mocking laugh.

"Sorry…can't hear you."

Bastard…Ed inwardly groans as he feels his stomach wanting to lurch from the heated agitation churning inside. Where am I? Who are you? Why have you kidnapped me?

"Hope you don't get cold or are um…afraid of rats," the voice snickers as he leans in closer and mockingly pats Ed on his cut cheek. "But you're a big boy right? You can take it."

WHAT DO YOU WANT? Ed tries to yell, his brain instantly berating his actions as his lungs start to heave, and his chest burns from the pain of the few broken ribs. Please…Ed begs in remorse as his face comes to rest against the cool stone floor again. Please…let me go…I need a hospital…I need my wife.

"Don't go anywhere now," his male captor's voice taunts before Ed hears footsteps heading away from him.

NO! COME BACK! Ed yells once more in vain, only muffled cries escaping past the thick tape gag. Donna…his mind laments as he tries to get his stomach to stop sending up bile. Donna…help me.

XXXXXXXX

Donna's hand continues to tenderly rub her enflamed belly, her mind angry at herself for giving in to panic so easily. So far Ed had been missing a few hours and the so far he hadn't turned up at any hospital.

Sam, Gary and Richard had returned with a name of the dead gunman and were on their way to check out his apartment to see if they could find any useable information. Wordy, Tom and Greg were working with Spike and Riley at the barn.

Riley had found out that the plans from the last hot call hadn't been updated but that merely came across to him as a negligent clerk who had the new ones but had forgot to upload them properly.

Winnie was still continuing to monitor the hospitals and medical clinics, in case anyone by the name of Ed Lane had turned up; as well as they were now monitoring his credit cards; his phone was found busted in the wreckage but his wallet had been taken with him.

Jules had brought her a protein smoothie, something to keep her and most importantly the baby nourished because Donna was refusing to eat anything of substance.

Spike was still working on the traffic cameras, confirming that a few minutes after the initial blast was felt, a covered van was seen leaving the area; the driver's face unseen but a license partial plate was seen and a trace was now being run.

"Okay so here is what I have so far. A few minutes after the blast, this dark navy van is seen leaving. The driver's face isn't seen but we do see dark hair and a neck so we can confirm a while male with dark hair."

"Half the city," Donna mumbles dryly, garnering a small groan from Spike. "Sorry."

"What else Spike?"

"I was able to follow the van to this building warehouse where it disappears inside. About ten minutes later, this blue sedan leaves and is eventually found by…Samtastic…"

"What?"

"The man who supposedly kidnapped Ed is the same man…"

"As our shooter?" Donna asks in shock. "What? Our dead gunman kidnapped Ed?"

"Spike I want that location checked for…"

"Unis have already checked it boss," Spike interjects in haste. "It's a large warehouse with one entrance and exit. The van is still there and it's being checked for prints as we speak. There's a bit of Ed's blood inside…at least I'm assuming it's Ed as it was on the floor and um…and it pooled not run. I've checked the security footage surrounding the building for the next few hours and…nothing. We followed the car and there were no stops along the way until he was stopped at the point here," Spike pauses. "A traffic cam shows the car stop and then a few minutes later the driver slumps over."

"Expertly shot through the open window," Riley adds, "from an angle that wasn't captured. Ed wasn't in the car when it was found by Sam and we watched the footage. No one came for the body until Sam and no one came for anything in the car until Sam arrived…Ed wasn't in the car when it was found."

"This is nonsense! Ed didn't just disappear into thin air!" Donna snaps. "He's there…somewhere! They didn't look hard enough!"

"What else do we have?" Greg presses Spike.

"Nothing. Everything traces back to the man who is lying in the hospital morgue," Spike replies with a heavy frown and an exasperated sigh.

"I refuse to believe my husband just up and vanished! And he wasn't taken by aliens!" Donna states as she looks at the quiet members of the SRU before her; each looking back with an expression mixed with guilt, wonder and remorse. "He's not…gone. He can't be. He…can't."

"Oh but he is gone my dear Mrs. Lane," Ida's voice cackles from her vantage point across the street, peering into the wide open windows of the SRU building and relishing in the strained torment of a woman's desperate search for her injured and missing husband now supposedly brought to a dead end by her own doing.

"And soon…you'll join him…in hell. Goodbye."

A/N: eeks! Okay but you are loving the peril right? (admit it you are all as twisted as I am lol) *oh Alice what have you done!* (see I can blame my muse for all this hehe) of course Ed isn't gone for good, but how will they put two and two together? What other clues are still to come? How will this affect the Lane baby and what will Ed's reaction be when he learns who his real captor is? Hope you are all still liking this so please do review before you go and thanks so much!