A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! Keep 'em coming…
xxxx
The mood in the motel room was somber. Pooch was tapping dejectedly at Jensen's keyboard, trying to find something, anything to indicate likely places that Jensen could have been taken. Aisha was nursing a bottle of tequila, knocking her head against the wall, a soft thump thump rhythm permeating the silence of the room. Clay was sitting on the couch, head in his hands as he mentally went over every scrap of information they'd gathered on the lawyer, or on Max. Cougar sat on the floor, his hat at his side, turning Jensen's cracked and broken glasses over and over in his hands.
"This is bullshit!" Pooch erupted suddenly, thrusting the laptop away from him. "How could they just disappear? No tire tracks, no trace of them on any traffic cams. Nothing in the other warehouses. What are we supposed to do? We can't give up on him, but I don't know where the hell I'm supposed to look anymore. I just don't know-damn it!"
Cougar raised an eyebrow at Pooch's outburst then turned back to the glasses before clutching them with determination. He settled his hat on his head and stood, taking in his despondent companions.
"I am going to get him," he said quietly.
"Where are you going to go?" Aisha asked, and her tone was not mocking, but concerned.
Cougar clenched his hands into fists at his side and visibly ground his teeth together before answering.
"I am not certain. But I can't just sit here and wait any longer. I have to do something."
"I'm coming too," Pooch said, standing and moving to Cougar's side. Cougar nodded once in acknowledgement, then turned to Clay and Aisha.
"Cougar, I don't know that we're going to be any more productive looking blindly for him, but if that's what you guys want to do, then I'm in," Clay said finally, and Aisha nodded her agreement.
The brief moment of silence that followed Clay's statement was split by the shrill ringing of his cell phone. Clay fished it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID, frowning.
"Hello? Who the hell is this?"
Clay's frown deepened and his voice lowered to a growl as the other person continued speaking. Clay's companions had subconsciously moved in closer to their leader, watching with growing worry and apprehension as the conversation continued.
"Max, I want to talk to him. Right now, damn it. No, I don't- okay, I understand, damn it! I understood you the first time. Just let me talk to him or I have no reason to believe anything you're saying to me."
Aisha's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mention of Max's name, and the level of tension in the room rose noticeably.
"Jensen? Jensen, are you okay? How bad is it?"
Clay's face tightened and he was undeniably concerned.
"Jensen, listen to me. You need to hang on, okay? We're coming to get you. Just hang tight. Jensen? Jensen! Damn it, Max, you had better pray to whatever god you believe in that I don't get my hands on you, because you sure as hell aren't walking away this time, you understand me?"
Clay angrily snapped the phone shut and threw it across the room, letting out a brief roar of frustration and carding his fingers through his hair before collapsing onto the couch.
"Max has Jensen," he said finally, and though everyone had figured as much from what they'd heard of Clay's conversation, the news was still sobering. "He wants us-all of us- to meet him at the Eastern docks tonight."
"What does he want for Jensen?"
"Nothing."
There was a pregnant pause, one filled with anxiety and foreboding.
"So he probably wants to kill Jensen then," Aisha said quietly, and Clay nodded miserably. Cougar's hands clenched tightly at his side and Pooch kicked aimlessly at the wall.
"In front of us. He wants to kill him in front of us," Clay said, and his voice was lower, lethal. It made it clear that there was no way in hell that was going to happen.
No way in hell.
xxxx
They shoved Jensen out of whatever building he'd been held in and half-dragged, half-carried him outside. Jensen didn't really understand what they were doing and had deduced that they were going to leave him outside. Why, he wasn't certain, but he was starting to realize that he didn't smell very good, and maybe they'd gotten tired of his stench. Or maybe they had decided to be nice and they wanted him to get some fresh air.
In the back of his mind, Jensen recognized that neither of those explanations were really plausible, but he wasn't willing, or even able to think about the implications of that fact. So instead he focused on the one thing that he was absolutely certain of.
He didn't want to die, and his friends weren't going to just let him die without a fight.
Sure, he was annoying and talked all the time and he didn't know when to shut up and he didn't have much of a filter between brain and mouth, but his team had become like a family, and they weren't going to abandon him. They might not get there in time, but at least they would fight for him. And if they were going to fight for him, then surely he could fight for himself.
He wouldn't give up.
"Jensen, glad you could join me," Max said suddenly, and Jensen was startled to realize that he was now standing right next to the man who was responsible for the shithole that was their lives now. Well, standing might have been a stretch. He was sagging toward the ground as soon as Juggernaut let go of him, and he ended up on the ground next to Max's feet. In a small act of rebellion, he made sure to lean over Max's shoes to get as much blood and dirt on them as possible.
Max noticed and kicked him harshly in the ribs, shaking his shoe off and swearing under his breath. Jensen managed to roll over onto his back, gasping for air and cradling his chest as well as he could with his bound and injured arms.
"Your friends should be arriving any moment now," Max said, standing with his hands on his hips.
"Kill you," Jensen managed to gasp out, sounding far less intimidating than he wanted to. Max looked down at him and laughed.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll try. They'll likely be a bit –distracted- though."
Jensen tried to make sense of that but was simply too exhausted to try to decipher it.
"Ah, here they are now," Max said, bending down and yanking Jensen from the ground by his hair. Jensen gasped in pain, unable to even yell properly, and swayed dizzily.
"Ah ah, none of that, Jensen. I need you awake for this part."
Still swaying slightly and on the verge of passing out completely, Jensen waited.
xxxx
"Holy shit," Pooch said as soon as they approached the docks. Jensen looked terrible. His face was swollen practically beyond recognition and there was matted blood streaked over his entire body. His head was lolling as he tried to hold it up and his legs were buckled. Only Max's painfully tight grip on his good arm was keeping him upright.
"Stop, right there," Max ordered, and they stopped obediently. "Weapons on the ground."
They'd expected that of course, so they'd been sure to pack as much backup weaponry as possible into places less obvious.
"Clay, the last time we met, you left me rather, well, humiliated. I was not happy with that turn of events, as I'm sure you can understand. Anyway, I've decided that it's time for us to get even. And since you sent your little tech geek here to download information on me, I thought that this seems like a fitting vengeance, don't you agree?"
"You should have taken this up with me, Max," Clay grit out.
"Oh, but that's no fun, is it?" Max responded with a grin. He wrenched Jensen's hand up and casually snapped one of his fingers. The crack was audible and Jensen let out a strangled scream as Clay and his team all had to restrain themselves.
"You see, I don't like people who get on my bad side. And you, Clay, you and your little team, are definitely on my bad side." There was another snap as another finger was broken.
"You should have just let it go, Clay. Should have just accepted that you were beaten by someone else, should have just laid low. I wouldn't have come after you in Bolivia, you know." Another snap. "Most likely."
"But now you've gone and made me an enemy. And I am very powerful."
Another snap, another, final scream and Jensen's head lolled back as he fell unconscious.
"Damn it, stop monologuing and get to the point!" Clay snapped, worry and anger threatening to cloud rational thought.
"The point, Clay, is that this is just a taste of what you can expect. You started this little war, and I'm going to end it, one of you at a time. There's nowhere you can hide now that I won't find you."
"Listen to me," Clay began, but he was cut off as a few things happened rather rapidly. A boat came speeding up to them and Max quickly leapt on, simultaneously shoving Jensen into the water. Juggernaut and the other bodyguards opened fire on Clay and the team, as Max sped away and Jensen sank peacefully under the water.
xxxx
"I'm going after him. Cover me!" Pooch yelled suddenly, sprinting towards the water. Clay and Cougar provided cover fire for him as Aisha ran towards the marina, leaping into a random boat. She ducked down somewhere and Clay could hear the engine starting to sputter.
"What are you doing?" Clay shouted.
"I'm going after Max!" Aisha responded, starting up the engine.
"Aisha!" Clay yelled, but it was too late as she roared after Max. Juggernaut was moving away now, and Clay doggedly followed after him. The thirst for vengeance was strong, and he vowed to himself that he was going to get that son of a bitch one way or another.
xxxx
Cougar wanted revenge. He wanted it so badly that it burned like fire in his blood, and he could hardly contain himself. Still, he was worried about Jensen, and he waited until he saw Pooch pop up with the tech geek in tow before moving to follow Clay and the men responsible for Jensen's injuries.
Maybe if he was thinking more clearly, he would have realized that he should have waited to see if his friend was actually breathing before moving on.
