"You mind if I go with you to the hospital?" Steve asked Mark the next morning.

"Not at all." Mark smiled. The drive to Community General was quiet, both Sloan men lost in their own thoughts, thankful and relieved that Jeffrey White was finally in custody and off the streets but still concerned about the FBI team members who had worked so hard with them to catch the guy.

Steve's thoughts also drifted to a place he hadn't planned on visiting: if he had been in White's shoes, if his childhood lifetime sweetheart had suddenly just dumped him for no reason, how was he sure that he wouldn't have reacted the same as White? Sure, he would've been furious and deeply hurt, maybe to the point of rash behavior, but murderous revenge? If the shoe were on the other foot, would Steve had taken matters into his own hands the way White had? Surely not, the question lingered in his mind. In the back of his thoughts he truly felt sympathetic to White's pain of rejection from the woman who had betrayed him. But then, every time Steve thought of how many bodies he'd had to find, how many innocent women that were not Charlotte Wilby had had to fall victim to White's ritual, how worried his new friends had been when the scoundrel had taken Lucy and Sue hostage and broken Jack had nearly crumbled when he'd thought he'd lost Sue forever, and now how the decent guy was needlessly lying near death in a hospital bed, all of Steve Sloan's protective cylinders started rolling again, and the anger at that formerly phantom killer would return.

Mark also thought of Jeffrey White. Maybe he could talk to him, maybe bring the criminal down to a reasonable level. In Mark's eyes, Jeffrey White was a very sick man, at least that was the term he personally used, and he wondered if he could've treated the guy's symptoms had they met long before now. He wished they had, then maybe all of this waste of precious life wouldn't have happened at all!


As they walked out of the elevators at Community General and headed toward the doctor's lounge, they found Tara there at her laptop. She sipped her coffee then smiled as she saw them. "Hey, guys." She spoke cheerily. Steve couldn't help smiling back at that contagious grin of hers.

"Tara, have you been in here all night?" Mark asked.

"I guess so." Tara shrugged. "At least it's where I found myself when I woke up this morning."

"How are your friends?" Mark asked again.

"Sue and Lucy are both resting comfortably." Tara answered with satisfaction. "I think they were completely exhausted. Dimitrius and Myles both left last night, but they should be back any time. But...nothing new with Jack yet." Her face fell.

"I'll go look in on him." Mark offered.

"Thanks." Tara slightly smiled and took another sip of her coffee. Steve was reluctant to go, he wanted to stay in here with her, but out of concern for his other friends, he followed Mark to the ICU. They passed Amanda on the way.

"Morning, guys." Amanda smiled. "I'm leaving in a few minutes. I promised CJ that I'd take him to the soccer game today, and with the manhunt we've been on, we haven't spent as much time together as we've tried. Now with White in custody, maybe my son can get a break."

"Well, you two go and have a good time." Mark smiled. "How are our patients doing?"

"Sue and Lucy are both resting. Poor Levi was famished. You know, he hadn't eaten at all since Sue had been kidnapped?"

"Poor dog." Steve muttered.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that too much." Amanda smirked. "I gave him what was left of Lucy's BBQ from yesterday. He scarfed it right down! Plus, Delores offered him some waffles and bacon from the cafeteria this morning." Steve's mouth watered at the thought.

"I don't think Levi will ever go back to regular dog food again!" Mark laughed.

"I don't blame him." Steve stated casually. "So, nothing new on Jack?"

"I'm afraid not." Amanda shook her head solemnly.

"Okay, thanks, hon." Mark patted her arm.

"Sure." Amanda smiled.

"Tell CJ we say hi."

"Sure will." Amanda said and walked away.


Mark and Steve entered Jack's hospital room and found Bobby slouched in the same chair he'd been in the night before. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and his face was drawn with anxious exhaustion. "Bobby?" Mark asked quietly, after reading the vital monitors keeping Jack alive. Bobby slowly glanced up at them.

"Oh, hey there." He tried to smile. "You guys back already?"

"Already?" Steve raised his eyebrows.

"You two should've gotten a rest." Bobby said groggily. "I can sit here with Jack."

"You look a mess." Steve pursed his lips. Mark came near and touched Bobby's shoulder.

"Bobby, how many winks of sleep did you get?" He asked, though he knew the answer to that already.

"Mmm." Bobby rubbed his eyes. "Ahh, maybe about an hour ago, around two or so."

"I'd say about half an hour, about 2:30, four hours ago." Mark corrected him. "You need some rest."

"Don't worry about me, mate." Bobby whispered, shaking his head. "I'm fine. You should concentrate on Jack."

"We will, but right now we're gonna concentrate on you." Mark said. "Steve, could you give him a hand? I'll stay with Jack for a while. Put Bobby in my office, he can lay on the couch."

"Right." Steve nodded and took Bobby's arm. "Come on, let's go."

"Look, Doc, I'm fine, really." Bobby yawned.

"Bobby, listen to me." Mark said quietly. "When Jack wakes up, do you want him to rant on you for being too tired to visit him?" Bobby weakly chuckled. "You go get some rest. We'll let you know the minute there's any change in his condition. Don't worry, I'll be here with Jack. You go with Steve, go on."

"Mph. Maybe a little cat nap won't hurt." Bobby sighed.

"Come on." Steve grinned and helped the Aussie to his feet.

"Aaahh." Bobby grunted, stretching his numb muscles. "Thanks, Doc." He wearily walked out into the hall with Steve.

Mark lingered glancing at the machines to see if there was any difference since he'd first come into the room. There wasn't. He gazed down at the lethargic, vibrant young man living on assisted life support. Mark felt his forehead and sighed as the fever was still intact. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Don't go yet, Jack." He said grimly. "I know you can pull through this. The Lord's not through with you yet. You have too much to live for to die like this. Come on, Jack. Fight it! You've got to."


Though Bobby argued that he was fine, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the sofa arm. Steve heaved the Aussie's long legs onto the furniture then, after shaking his head, left Mark's office. He reentered the doctor's lounge. Tara was still there. She glanced up at him with a smile then turned her eyes back to her laptop. Steve wistfully smiled back and poured himself a cup of coffee. "You just never stop, do you?" He remarked.

"Huh?" Tara raised her eyebrows.

"I mean, your little side-kick there. He goes with your everywhere, doesn't he?"

"Guess so." Tara shrugged. Steve came over and sat down on the couch beside her.

"You know, I never stopped to realize how excellent a woman could be if she really set her mind to cryp...cry..."

"Cryptology." Tara grinned, finishing for him.

"Yeah." Steve nodded. "I'm not trying to be forward or anything, but speaking for myself, you're a wiz at this cryptology stuff."

Tara chuckled. "Thanks. I've always been enthralled with international espionage. When I was a little girl, I'd enjoy playing things like Invisible Link and Decode the Rings while the other girls played house." Steve laughed.

"I used to play cowboys and Indians, or cops and robbers." He stated. "I was always the cop or cowboy. I remember, when I was six-years-old, my mom made me a Superman sweater. Dad says I wore it for a whole week. He says I thought it made me indestructible." Tara grinned.

"Look, uh, Steve..." Tara began slowly. "I just want to be upfront about something. I...I do have a boyfriend." She bit her lip. Steve's face fell and he sighed heavily.

"Oh." He mumbled, then cleared his throat to try and hide his disappointment. "T-that's great. W-what's his name?"

"Stanley Abbott." Tara answered quietly, feeling bad for the obvious hurt she read in his body language. "He works for NSA. He's a code breaker. We've worked in cryptology together, when he's been in town."

"I see." Steve nodded and decided he'd better get out of here.

"Hey, wait a minute. Please?" Tara asked, gripping his arm. Steve grimaced and stared at the floor.

"What is it?" He asked glumly.

"Could you sit down for a minute?" Tara begged. Steve begrudgingly complied and sat back down, but he shifted to the other end of the couch. "Yes, Stanley and I get along great and I really enjoy his company."

"I'm glad to hear it." Steve lied flatly and started to rise again, but Tara shoved him back.

"But, we aren't entirely exclusive." Tara tried to sound reassuring. "And to be honest, I would truly enjoy getting to know you some more."

"You would?" Steve finally faced her again, perking up a little.

"Yeah." Tara nodded. "But since we've only just met, I think we'd better try to keep this in a respectful, casual, friendly, team relationship. Are...are you okay with that?"

Steve pondered what she'd said. He already had a feeling now that Tara and himself wouldn't end up together down the road, yet he still had the yearning for her company and the desire to get to know her better. If they were to remain strictly friends, he guessed he could learn to live with that. "How would Stanley feel about that?" He asked nervously.

"If we keep it casually mutual, I think he won't object." Tara smiled.

"Er, maybe we should check with him first?" Steve persisted.

"Maybe you should talk to him instead of me." Tara suggested. Steve felt a hot flash.

"Oh, I...I don't know about that." He protested.

"Know what? I think he'd be intrigued that you considered his feelings first before jumping into this." Tara snickered.

"You...you think so?" Steve stuttered, a mixture of hope and dread wallowing in his stomach.

"You won't know unless you ask." Tara smiled widely. "Here's his number." She handed Stanley's business card to Steve.

"Okay. I'll think about it." Steve gulped. Just then, Jessie poked his head inside.

"Oh, excuse me." He grinned mischievously. Steve picked up on that tone and look and squinted a warning to the young doctor. "Can I get you anything, Miss Williams?"

"Tara." Tara corrected him. "No thanks. I'm good."

"Well, I better get to the station." Steve cleared his throat and stood up. "Uh, I'll see you later."

"See ya." Tara waved.

"What? Does her alluring smile give you butterflies?" Jessie whispered naughtily as Steve stepped into the hall. Steve pursed his lips in aggravation.

"Zip it, Jess." He commanded.

"Ah," Jessie's eyes lit up. "So she does give you a funny feeling. Yeah, I see what's going on."

"I'm warning you, Jess..."

"Dr. Jessie," Jessie squeaked, pretending to be someone else. "Oh, you hear that? I have rounds to do. Bye!" And he quickly skedaddled away from the detective. Steve rolled his eyes. Then Jessie quickly turned back toward him. "Need a temporary loan for The Red Gardenia?!" He teased.

"Get out of here!" Steve hollered, picking up a clipboard from inside the lounge and tossing it directly at Jessie! As Jessie ran off laughing heartily, the flying object smacked dab right into...Myles! He and Dimitrius had just been walking toward the lounge when Steve threw the board.

"Oohhff!" Myles groaned as the board smacked him in the face.

"Whoa, hey. You okay?" Dimitrius asked with a grin. Myles huffed and headed straight toward Steve. He rolled his eyes and handed him the chart.

"Where I come from, we do not assault hospital visitors with standard equipment!" He grumbled.

"Sorry about that." Steve bit his lip. "I didn't mean to hit you. I was, uh...aiming for someone else."

"Agent Leland, do you need a hand?" Susan asked as she walked up to them. "Here, let me get you some ice."

"I'm fine!" Myles growled, shoving her hand away.

"I'd better get out of here." Steve said quickly. "Let me know if there's any change."


Mark was still sitting in Jack's hospital room, praying, watching, and hoping. He'd lost count of how many times he'd done this with Steve his own son. He couldn't quite explain why, but he felt a sense of obligation to the young man who lay just a few feet away from him. Maybe it was because of how much Jack cared about people; maybe it was because he was from out of town and Mark sensed the need to be hospitable; maybe it was because of Jack's tenacity, determination, but also compassion he held for the people he tried to protect, so much like his son, Steve. Actually, all the FBI agents were like that, but Mark felt especially drawn to watch over Jack in his fragile condition. He sincerely hoped that Sue and Lucy both would continue to sleep for a while longer, they needed all the strength they could get. and Mark wasn't looking forward to seeing the disappointment in their faces, especially Sue's when they saw that Jack was still in a coma.


Down at the police station, a tall, dark-skinned, bald man in a business suit approached Cheryl's desk. She glanced up as she heard his approaching footsteps. Unless she was mistaken, she was sure she'd never seen him before. "Excuse me?" The visitor said to Cheryl.

"Yes, sir? Can I help you?" She asked.

"I was told I could find a Lt. Sloan here?"

"Sure. He's right over there." Cheryl pointed. "The dark-haired guy in the purple shirt."

"Thank you." The man said and walked over to Steve's desk. Steve was working on his report on the capture of Jeffrey White. "Lt. Sloan?" The visitor asked. Steve glanced then stared up at the large man he didn't recognize. The guy's eyes gave you the impression that he could see right through you.

"Yes. That's me." Steve replied with caution, scrutinizing the man suspiciously.

"Ted Garrett, FBI. Task force supervisor, DC bureau." Ted answered, showing his creds.

Steve raised his eyebrows and rose out of his chair. "Oh," he replied. "Lt. Steve Sloan, LAPD, homicide division." They shook hands. "I take it you're here regarding Jeffrey White?"

"Yes, that's part of the reason." Ted sighed. Steve was a little wary of this stranger. Was the guy going to accuse him and the whole precinct of incompetence, getting Jack shot, and was he threatening to scandalize them? "I'm actually here about my special agents."

"Yeah." Steve cleared his throat. "You see, about that..."

"How is Jack?" Ted interrupted Steve.

"I'm sorry, sir." Steve shook his head. "I'm afraid he's the same. But I can guarantee you without a doubt that he's getting the best possible medical care in the state! My father, Dr. Mark Sloan and my good friend, Dr. Jessie Travis are both seeing to his needs. And I can assure you Jack couldn't be in better hands!" Ted stared blankly at him before speaking again.

"I want to know what happened before I go see him." Ted said.

"I'll fill you in."

"And what's the status on Jeffrey White?"

"He's in isolation, sir and under a cinder around the clock security."But I think you'd better come with me and speak with my supervisor, Captain Newman."

"Good idea." Ted agreed.