Author's Note: I apologize for the long delay, guys. I would say we're about halfway through now, but don't quote me on that! LOL. A lot of you are going to be mad at me for a little while, but please hang in there and trust me. That being said, I hope you enjoy!
~JP

True North: part 38
By Jaclyn Parker

As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes.
~Mel Brooks
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Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Janet looked around the long line of people in front of her towards the bank counter and sighed. Okay, maybe it hadn't been the best idea to try and do this during her lunch break but she was just so excited that she had decided it was worth a try.

Her normal paycheck wouldn't have caused her to do anything more than stick it in an envelope and deposit it in an ATM like she usually did but this was anything but her normal paycheck.

Ever since she had cooked dinner for them the first time back around Christmas, Henry and Vienna had both been asking her for her "famous" lasagna recipe. At the beginning of the New Year, she had been encouraged by a friend to give it to them to re-create for the diner but to do it only if she received a portion of the profit each time it sold. Two and a half months later, she had her own personalized Italian section of the menu that included her lasagna, stuffed shells, veal and chicken parmesans, and tiramisu. Needless to say, the first real paycheck showing the profit of that venture combined with her normal salary was clutched in her hand.

Glancing down at the check again Janet couldn't help but grin.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely worth the trip to the bank." She muttered to herself, shuffling forward when the line began to move while mentally applauding that friend's nudge in the right business direction.

Feeling her cell phone vibrate, she lifted it up to read the caller ID on the front display screen. Her grin widening, she eagerly flipped it open.

"Well, hello there. I was just thinking about you." She said into the phone receiving a chuckle in return.

"Well that is always what a guy like me likes to hear from a beautiful woman like you." Craig said, as he relaxed in the airport waiting area chair. Casually roaming his eyes around where he waited to board his flight, he smiled as he realized how happy he really was to speak to her.

"Flatterer." Janet sniped, but there was a smile in her voice.

"But that's why you like me so much." Craig immediately said back.

As Janet laughed she also shook her head. It was funny how easily they bantered and how fast he could make her smile.

In the short few months that she had known Craig Montgomery, she felt that she had seen a side of him that few people ever really did. That's not to say that the things she had been told by people like Vienna, Henry, and even Margo once were easily forgotten. There were times that she wondered what she had gotten herself into and if being involved with him was smart or safe. But then she would see those glimpses of true remorse that everybody else refused to see and she knew that she couldn't just abandon him like everyone else had.

"Did you hear a word I said?" Craig's voice broke into her thoughts and even though he couldn't see her Janet blushed.

"If I say no, what are you gonna do? Hang up on me?" Janet asked, the teasing lilt immediately back into her voice.

"No, but I might just take this present I got you and return it before I get on the plane." Craig said and let out a small laugh at the quick intake of her breath on the other end.

"You're coming home?" Janet asked.

Craig blinked a couple times and then bowed his head. He couldn't begin to describe the feeling that came over him at her words. It wasn't the present that she sounded excited about but the fact that he was returning to Oakdale. It had been a long time since he felt that the word "home" was an accurate description of the place he rested his head at night.

Clearing his throat he spoke into the phone when Janet said his name, questioning if he was still on the line.

"Yeah, I'm coming home. I have solid evidence that Lucy is bringing Johnny back to Oakdale and I'm going to be ready and waiting to get my son back."

"Craig that's fantastic! When are you getting in?" Janet asked, peeking again to see how many more people were ahead of her. There was only a handful left and glancing up at the giant clock on the wall she relaxed, seeing that she still had a half hour left of her lunch break to go.

"My flight gets in around five." Craig said, double checking his airline ticket.

"Great! How about you stop by the new apartment and I'll make you dinner?" Janet said, already mentally preparing what she would make. He did seem partial to her manicotti and it happened to be one of Liberty's favorites too.

Knowing that she would be able to afford it now, Janet had finally moved out of the Lakeview into her own large two bedroom apartment about two weeks ago. It was extremely nice for Liberty who finally had her own space to retreat to, especially when it came to her mom's new "friend". That being said, her daughter had come around to seemingly accept Craig more and more in the past month or so but a little bribery in way of a favorite dinner couldn't hurt.

"After not seeing you for a week and a half, dinner isn't exactly what I had in mind." Craig said, his voice low and clear in intent.

"Craig!" Janet said and blushed again. "You know I meant it when I said I wanted to take things slow. Especially after…"

"Slow. Fast. Upside down in a swing. You name it, I'm game." Craig said, not allowing her a moment to mentally slide back into memories of what had happened in the fall with Jack.

"Craig!" Janet exclaimed a little louder than she meant to, but she knew instantly the real reason he had said it. Smiling in appreciation she added, "You're horrible."

"And you love it. See you around five-thirty, Bella." Craig said and hung up, not giving her a chance to reply.

Janet closed her phone, looking at it a moment and shaking her head. But the smile that was on her lips betrayed her true thoughts.

Seeing that during the tail end of the phone conversation she had moved to the front of the line, Janet's eyes scanned the tellers. Finally she saw the one, just to the left of her, look up and wave her over. But before Janet could head in that direction, a movement behind her caught her attention as did something hard pressing into the small of her back.

"I have a gun and I won't hesitate to use it." A low voice said in her ear and every muscle in Janet's body stiffened. "Now we're going to move to the teller nice and slow or your little boy-toy on the phone won't have anyone to come home when his plane touches down tonight. Got it?"

Janet forced her body to stop shaking and nodded her head slowly, before closing her eyes and sending up a quick prayer.

At the same time, oblivious to the action going on only a few feet away, Jack stood behind about five people and stared at his shoes. He had seen Janet only a few minutes ago and his stomach had jumped into his throat. Jack didn't consider himself a coward but when it came to confrontation with women, other than Carly that is, he found he really didn't enjoy it. Upon hearing Craig's name exclaimed from her lips a few moments ago, Jack had further cemented the idea that it was best to just hope Janet didn't notice him and hopefully deposit the money he had in his wallet into his account before things got ugly.

But still, Jack couldn't help but look up to search out his ex-fiancée and when his eyes landed on her his senses immediately went on alert. The man behind her was pressed into her back tremendously close and Janet was holding her body very rigid. Her eyes were darting around and Jack could detect a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. The man behind her shifted slightly to push her forward and all of Jack's instincts became alive when he saw the flash of a gun barrel. Unfortunately it was a moment too late as the man reached the counter, shoved Janet into the ledge with one hand and fired a shot into the air with the other.

"Everyone down on the floor and nobody presses the silent alarm button." The man said and blew a sharp whistle with his lips.

Three other men moved within the bank; two of them had been standing in line and one was over by the doors acting like he was filling out a paper slip. All three now wore ski masks and had pulled guns from random ficus plants that were placed around the bank.

As Jack followed the rest of the patrons in the position of sitting or kneeling on the ground, he frowned as he watched them. It didn't take a genius to realize that if they had guns already planted that meant there was someone on the inside. His eyes scanned the room and sure enough one of the tellers, a young redheaded woman, was watching avidly with no fear whatsoever.

"Hey Bonnie, how bout you get that nice little gold key to the vault in back and come gimme a kiss?" The leader called to her and she sent him a saucy wink before strutting over to a shaking bald headed man with the name tag that read "Senior Bank Manager".

"Thanks, Bob." She said, her voice lilting and a smile on her face. The poor man said nothing but closed his eyes in disgust. Whether it was with himself for thinking he should have seen through this woman's plot or at what was happening, was up for grabs.

Looking around covertly, Jack tried to spot the two security guards that were supposed to be in the bank. Landing on two motionless bodies in uniform, neatly tucked way in a corner, he immediately realized the situation had just gone from bad to worse. Thankfully he detected both of their chests moving which meant they had probably been injected with something or just made immobile by some sort of stun gun.

Jack's eyes flew over to where Janet now sat at the leader's feet, her knees pulled up to her chest and her own eyes squeezed shut tightly. They opened suddenly and connected with Jack's own gaze. He could see the fear in them turn to recognition then to hope then back to fear again. She glanced up towards the man standing by her with the gun and then back to Jack, her eyes conveying the obvious conflict in her mind. She wanted to get out of there in the worst way but even after all that had happened between them, the thought of Jack playing hero and getting hurt or killed made her queasy.

"Hey Clyde!" One of the other men's voices calling out broke the nonverbal conversation that Jack and Janet were having and caused all eyes to go to him.

"Yeah, Butch?" The leader said back and looked over at the man talking.

"Should Sundance, Jesse, and I collect cell phones now?" Butch asked and Clyde smiled.

"Beautiful idea. Way to stay on the ball." He commended.

Any doubts that the man being referred to as Clyde was the ring leader disappeared in Jack's mind as he watched Butch puff up slightly with pride at the words of praise.

Jack knew he only had a matter of moments as he silently opened his phone. For the first time, in a long time, Jack thanked God that he had teenagers and had been forced to learn the act of text messaging. As he blindly typed, he made sure his eyes didn't betray his movements. Hitting send, Jack risked a glance down to confirm the text had been sent to his entire Oakdale PD contact list before slipping the phone battery out of his phone and into his pocket. No sooner had he done that then he felt the barrel of a gun pressing against his head.

"Your phone, Dipshit. Give it up." The man referred to as Jesse growled at him. Jack handed it to him wordlessly and when the thug tossed into his partner's bag without checking it, he noted with some inner satisfaction that his theory that "Clyde" was the only smart one in the bunch was apparently correct.

"And just to prove to you that we aren't shitting around here, I'd like to make an announcement." Clyde spoke up and nudged Bonnie, who was now curled into his side. "Go ahead, Baby. Pick a hostage, any hostage."

Bonnie's eyes gleamed as they scanned the room. Jack's heart skipped a beat in natural fear when her gaze landed on him for a brief moment before moving on again. He started let out a small sigh of relief that seemed to stick in his throat when he saw who she had decided on.

"Her." Bonnie said, pointing a red manicured nail at their feet causing Janet's eyes to widen and her entire body began to shake.

"No. Please no." Janet whispered, the normally feisty Italian woman not able to hide the absolute terror in her voice.

Jack felt his body poised to jump up, knowing that he wouldn't be able stand by and let them hurt her. His heroics ended up not being necessary as Clyde shook his head and pushed her pointed arm away from Janet.

"Not her." Clyde said and bent down to run a finger down Janet's cheek causing her to lean away. "I like her."

Jack felt his stomach turn over as he watched Janet struggle to stay calm.

"But Clyde…" The red head whined and the man whirled on her.

"I said no!" He yelled at her harshly and Bonnie flinched. Clyde immediately appeared to soften and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Just think of all the fun we could have first, Baby."

Bonnie's eyes seemed to glaze over and then looking down at Janet again she let out a smile that caused both Jack and Janet's blood to run cold.

"Yeah…" She whispered and then giggled. "We could have a lot of fun. I wonder if Little Miss Italiano here likes pain."

"We'll find out later. I promise." Clyde said and winked at her. Then he waved his gun over the room and nudged her again. "But now you have to pick."

"Oh, I don't care." Bonnie replied, sighing as if in boredom and then twirled a finger in the air. "Meeney, miney, moe!"

She pointed to a man in a charcoal business suit sitting cross-legged about five feet from Janet. The man looked up and his eyes grew wide.

"Please don't! Please…"

He didn't even get the rest of the sentence out before a quick popping noise erupted from the ring leader's silenced gun and screams from the hostages sounded out. Before anyone could blink, the man in the business suit was writhing on the floor clutching his bleeding thigh as his cries of agony echoed in the now virtually silent bank.

"Oh my God, what are you doing?" Janet cried, not being able to hold it in as she watched the dark red blood pool on the marble floor. As scared as she was, she instinctively made a move to go help him but was stopped by the muzzle of a gun sliding into her line of vision.

"Stay still, Bitch, or it won't matter how much fun I think you'd provide later on. I'll kill you right here and right now." Clyde growled and she heard the seriousness in his threat.

Reluctantly Janet moved back into her sitting position, drawing her knees up again and forcing herself to look away from the man bleeding to death in front of her.

Jack had used this distraction to slowly creep closer to where Clyde and Bonnie were standing. He froze now, sitting in a head down position like the rest of the group and listening for his next opportunity.

"Okay, Bonnie, ready? You, Sundance, and Jesse take the duffel bags and go get the money out of the back vault. Five minutes. No more, no less. Got it?" Clyde said and Bonnie nodded, kissing the side of his face before she and the other two men disappeared behind the counter and into the back of the bank.

Jack's heart began to pound as he realized he now had a time limit. Suddenly he felt a vibration on his hip and stiffened. It stopped and then a moment later came again. Jack waited patiently when it ended again but it didn't buzz another time and he clenched his jaw, before very slowly adjusting his position to a crouch.

"Hey, what the hell?" The man name Butch said loudly and all eyes flew to the air vents where a soft fog of smoke was rolling in.

Jack sprung to his feet and charged at Clyde before the thug could fully understand what was happening. Jack's body slammed into his and they both hit the bank counter, Clyde full on the ribs and Jack on his left shoulder. Because he had the element of surprise, Jack was able to cause the gun to clatter to the ground and take Clyde down to the floor.

The man struggled to get Jack off of him but the rage that Jack had towards the heartless criminal consumed him and in one swift movement pounded Clyde's head down to meet the marble floor. The fight immediately left the robber and he lay still, as Jack turned and grabbed the gun to raise it towards a stunned Butch.

"Oakdale PD! Put the gun down and get down on your knees, hands behind your head! The bank is surrounded by police and SWAT and you will not get out of here if you resist!" Jack growled, his voice automatically reverting to his old FBI days.

The man must have sensed the sincerity in the threat because he only hesitated a moment before complying with Jack's orders.

A few minutes later all five robbers were in custody with Clyde sporting a large bruise on his forehead but still able to glare at Jack anyway. Dallas Griffin and a few members of the SWAT team had managed to get in the back and thwart Jesse, Bonnie, and Sundance as they tried to rob the vault. The hostages were given back their cell phones and after giving their statements, many of them had thanked Jack profusely before promptly disappearing.

After shoving the last perp into a cop car and talking with a couple of the other officers, Dallas wandered over to where Jack was now talking to Margo on the steps of the bank. He stopped and looked Jack up and down.

"How long you been on the force, man? You seriously can't send a better text message than that?"

"What? You seemed to understand it fine." Jack said glancing at Margo who tried to look as stern as Dallas.

"Oh excuse me. You're just lucky there were 5 of us trying to figure it out. Do you know how confusing it is to get something that reads 'Bank Rob. 5 prp. No Phone. 2 Buzzes. Guns.'!" Dallas exclaimed.

"Eh, it worked didn't it?" Jack said shrugging, then wincing as his shoulder reminded him of the football tackle he performed earlier.

"Dude, if you weren't a ranking officer I would so kick your used-to-be FBI butt." Dallas said and then grinned, before he mock punched Jack's uninjured shoulder. "I'll catch ya later, okay? Try not to get mugged on your way home."

"I'll do my best." Jack said, grinning back and then gave the "guy nod" as Dallas headed back to help take the perps in.

"You should get that shoulder looked at." Margo said as Jack circled his arm gingerly.

"Nah, I'm okay. The paramedics checked me out, said it was only a slight contusion. Nothing they can do for it. Told me to ice it and if I feel the need, wrap it later to reduce movement for abut 24 hours." Jack said, mentally noting that as the wisest course of action when his shoulder gave a twinge again.

"Well, you want company for the ride back to the station?" She asked and he shook his head.

"I'm gonna wait here and make sure…everybody…gets home okay."

Margo's eyes traveled over to where Janet was finishing up giving her statement and then looked back at him.

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"It'll be fine. I think after that I'm gonna stop by Milltown; see my kids."

"Just the kids?" Margo said knowingly and Jack just gave a small enigmatic smile. Margo sighed and placed a friendly hand on Jack's arm. "Just be careful, Jack. I don't want to see you get hurt again which is what normally happens when you get sucked back into Carly's vortex."

"Hey, life with her might not always be easy but it's the only one I want." Jack said and placed his hand over his friend's. "But thanks for looking out for me."

Margo sighed again, knowing that once again there was nothing she was going to say to sway his mind. And she had to admit that, while Carly was not on her list of favorite people, the woman had been trying hard to stay out of trouble and get her life back on track. As long as she stayed out of Margo's way, all was fine in her world.

Jack had just said goodbye to his chief when Janet walked up to him.

"Hey, everything go okay?" Jack asked her and she nodded.

"Yeah, it was pretty straight forward, ya know? Just tell them what those scumbags said and did, sign a piece of paper, and possibly testify." Janet said, brushing her bangs out of her face with a shaky hand.

"Hey, you might not have to. We have plenty of other evidence and a lot of other eye witnesses. In my experience they'll probably plea out and there won't even be a trial." Jack said, trying to reassure her.

"Jack, I…my first thought was how I told Craig I was going to make him dinner tonight. That he was going to be so disappointed when I wasn't there. I mean, I know it is stupid and irrational, but…" Janet started to say but shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. Jack frowned harder at the mention of Craig, but he let her continue knowing that she had to let it out.

"But then all I could think about was Liberty. About how I wouldn't be able to see her face or hear her voice again. I wouldn't be able to finish watching her grow up and go to college. Or see her fall in love and get married and have babies of her own."

Janet shook her head again, obviously having trouble processing what had just happened.

"How…how could they stand there waving those guns and shooting people as if it was nothing? We have lives; I have a life! A really good one now and they were just going to rip me away from that without even thinking twice!"

As Janet choked back a sob, Jack frowned and instinctively pulled her into a hug. He knew exactly what she was talking about. The depravity at how human beings could hurt and kill other human beings for fun never ceased to disgust him. And even though he was a trained officer of the law, thoughts of his family always ran through his mind at times of crisis; especially thoughts of his kids. Jack knew the moment it all started to really sink in for Janet. Her entire body began to shake and her breathing began to change.

"Oh, God, the look in that woman's eyes, Jack. I can see it every time I close my own. I don't think I've ever seen someone look like that before. She really wanted to hurt me." Janet cried into his chest, her hands gripping the back of his shirt in a death hold.

"Janet, you need to breathe. It's okay, just breathe." Jack said and tilted her chin so she could look in his eyes. "Come on, with me. That's it nice and slow."

Janet took deep breaths with him and soon she could feel her heartbeat start to slow. Her brown eyes sparkled with unshed tears and she let out a soft smile.

"Still playing hero, huh, Jack Snyder?" She said and Jack smiled back.

"I guess I've got a complex or something."

Janet gave a small laugh and wiped the last of her tears off of her cheeks. "I'm okay now. You don't have to drive me home. In fact, I should probably head back to work."

"Janet, come on. I'm sure Henry won't mind you taking the rest of the day off. Besides, don't you have a special dinner date tonight?" Jack said. While he wished she had found someone other than Craig Montgomery to move on with, by the blush that crept up on her cheeks he knew that Janet was happy with her choice.

"I, uh…" Janet hesitated and Jack shook his head.

"You just went through an ordeal that no one should ever have to go though. Trust me and spend the rest of today with the people you love."

"Like you're going to do?" Janet asked with her eyebrow raised knowingly.

"Hopefully. If she's home." Jack said slowly and she nodded her understanding.

"Take care of yourself, Jack Snyder." Janet said softly.

"You too." Jack answered back.

Janet leaned forward and pressed her lips to his one last time, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jack held her close and kissed her back, letting the past go in one final gesture. In that instant they both knew that what they had was really gone and this was their point of closure for things that weren't meant to be.

However, their moment looked like anything but goodbye to the cameras capturing it on film for local news stations or to the bystanders that were gathering around the roped off area of the bank. As the news reporters suddenly surged forward and began shouting questions at the survivors and police still left, the bystanders remained behind.

The sudden onslaught startled Jack and Janet out of their farewell embrace and both turned wide eyed expressions towards the shouting mass. Something behind them caught Jack's eyes and for a brief moment he thought he saw Carly's face staring back at him from the crowd of onlookers still remaining by the police barricades. Janet's grip tightened on his arm, causing Jack to quickly look down and reassure her before returning his attention to the crowd. But when he scanned them again, Carly was nowhere in sight.

"Did you see…?" Jack started to ask.

"What?" Janet shouted, cringing as the questions from the reporters grew in volume. Jack's fellow Oakdale officers were now forcing the news people back, creating a small window of escape.

"Never mind," Jack shouted back, shaking his head to dispel the lingering thoughts of Carly. "Let's get out of here while we can."

Janet nodded her agreement and ducking their heads they rushed forward towards Jack's waiting car, eager to leave the whole mess behind them.

From her spot hidden deep within the crowd across the street, Carly watched them drive away, her entire body shaking with a mixture of pain and rage. She took a deep breath, brushing away the one lone tear she allowed to slide down her face before breaking away from the haven of the others and silently making her way back to her own car.