Author's Note: The Muse is returning! Yay! Thank you again for all your wonderful reviews! I try hard not to beg for reviews but they really do encourage me to keep going with a story and everyone's reviews have done just that! So I hope you all know, when I say thank you, I mean it!

The Blue Line Job

Chapter Eight: Fallout

It was the siren and potholes that drove Nate back to consciousness. His chest was on fire and the air he was able to pull in through his nose smelled like plastic. An ambulance...an oxygen mask...the bright lights above him made everything hazy, including the two paramedics that darted in and out of his fuzzy vision. But there was one face, a familiar one, that he was relieved to see.

"Eliot..."

The hitter gave him a strained smile. "Take it easy, Nate."

Nate saw a flash and noticed the badge around Eliot's neck. So that's how he got himself into the ambulance. One of the medics leaned over and said something to Eliot who nodded.

"How bad..."

Eliot shifted so he crouched down next to Nate's ear. "They don't know how bad yet. You'll probably be going in for surgery when we get to the hospital."

Nate felt his earbud be removed and watched Eliot pocket it discreetly. "Can't...breathe..."

"Yeah, you took three shots to your chest but luckily they landed near your shoulder."

"Reilly?"

Eliot shook his head. "They got him."

Nate tried to lift his hand to assess the damage but one of the medics pushed his hand back down. He caught Eliot's eye. "Am I gonna live?"

"Toughest sonofabitch I know."

The ambulance stopped and sunlight flooded into the back of the vehicle. The medics and Eliot worked together to get the gurney out of the ambulance and into the hospital. Nate heard the medics tell Eliot that they would keep him updated. Nate tried to give the hitter a thumbs up but his hands wouldn't work right. One of the medics leaned down over him and injected something into the IV.

"We're going to be taking you into surgery now, Mr. Gallo. Do you have any medication allergies?"

Nate shook his head.

"Do you understand what I just asked you?"

"Yes," he managed to croak out.

"What did I just ask you?"

"If I was," he tried to pull in enough air to finish the sentence. "allergic...medications."

The nurse patted his good shoulder. "Very good. Just count backwards from 100."

Nate didn't make it past 96 before the medication did it's job.

"Is she just going to skulk around the corner or what?"

Sophie sighed. "Parker, why don't you go over and tell Jo to come sit with us?"

"Because I don't want her here." Parker crossed her arms and scowled. "I knew this job wasn't a good one."

"It's not her fault that Nate was shot," Sophie tried to reason with the blond but gave up almost immediately. Parker was starting to accept the fact that emotions were a part of life, even her life, but learning what to do with those emotions was trickier. And it was something Parker had to deal with herself.

Sophie went to stand up to retrieve Jo when she saw Hardison already going to get the distraught cop. It only took a couple seconds before the hacker returned, Jo in tow. Eliot had returned as well but a slight shrug told them there was no news on Nate's condition. Sophie fought the urge to cry.

"Hey," Eliot sat down next to her, "he was talking in the ambulance and was aware of what was going on. He even asked about Reilly. That's a really good sign."

"I know." Sophie forced a smile but couldn't hide her shaking hands.

Hardison was typing on his phone when a smile crossed his face. "Hey guys, guess who the state police just handed the case to? Bonanno."

Jo's head perked up at this. "Patrick Bonanno?"

"You know him?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah," Jo nodded, "he's worked with us a couple times. Great cop, really sharp." She looked around at the thieves around her. "Really sharp cop."

Sophie shrugged. "We've worked with him before on other cases. He's never made an attempt to go after us and since you know him, I'm sure he'll turn a blind eye."

"I hope so," Jo looked down at the floor. "I'd hate to see anything else happen to you guys. I'm so sor-"

"Hey," Eliot cut her off, "this is what happens in our line of work."

"Not all the time," Parker spoke up.

"Parker," Eliot continued, "it does happen. Nate's going to be fine. We just don't know how long his recovery is going to be but he will recover. Meanwhile, we continue with the job. Sophie'll take over."

It was the last thing on her mind but Sophie realized Eliot was right. The job needed to be finished and it was going to be even harder since the mark was dead. Actually, it just might be easier now that she thought about it. The only other person who knew of Reilly's dealings, and most likely the extra bank accounts, was the slacker stepson. Putting the squeeze on him would be all too easy. But that was something that she could discuss with the team when they all were assured Nate would be alright.

Sophie looked over at Jo, who had pulled her legs underneath her and was trying to find a comfortable position for her injured arm. The woman looked exhausted, dark rings under her eyes and the color of green looked washed out. She couldn't let Jo down. None of them could, Nate would insist on it. Sophie could see him now, giving orders and directives from his hospital bed. Tears sprang to her eyes and she tried to swallow them down. A hand squeezed her shoulder and she looked over to see Eliot.

"I mean it, he's going to pull through just fine."

She patted the hand on her shoulder. "Thanks."

Hardison perked up. "I smell soup."

Sophie turned around and saw Susan, Amber and Meg making their way towards the waiting area. They were all carrying bags and Sophie could smell what Hardison had: chicken soup. Susan gave them all a shaky smile as she set the bag down and started pulling out containers.

"We came as soon as we could," she said.

"As soon as Grandma could thaw out some of her homemade chicken noodle soup," Meg added.

Hardison was already grabbing a spoon. "Thank you, Nana."

Sophie took the offered container of soup but couldn't bring herself to eat any of it. She was thankful to see Parker accept a container of food even though the blond thief was still glaring at Jo. Hardison and Meg had their heads bent over his phone, soup sitting abandoned on the cheap plastic table. She was thankful that Hardison had a distraction now, it would keep the wisecracks to a minimum which meant Eliot's temper wouldn't get tested.

And Eliot, she glanced over to see him still sitting next to her but staring at Jo. She didn't have to have years of experience at reading people to know what was behind that look though, she had to admit, it was the first time she had seen it on Eliot's face. There were certain cases they took on that touched all them a little more than others and she knew of a couple that had affected Eliot on a deeper level. But never had she seen a look of absolute concern cloud over his features. She could chalk it up to him worrying over Nate but no, she knew better. She only hoped that he was aware of what was developing.

Jo was so thankful to see her mother appear in the sterile waiting area of the hospital. She knew her mother would show up but she was happy to see Amber and Meg had tagged along. She helped her mother pass out the food before settling down next to her nieces. With everything that had been happening, she felt out of touch with them.

"How was school today?"

Amber shrugged. "Okay. Nothing major to report."

"I got a B on my english report," Meg added. "And Kayla broke up with Simon because he was talking to Judy over IM last night. Nothing bad was said but it just pissed off Kayla."

Jo waited for more but Meg had become distracted by whatever Hardison was doing on his phone. She waited until Meg looked up at her and Jo smiled. "Go ahead."

"Thanks," Meg scooted down a couple seats to where Hardison was sitting and it didn't take long until both of them were engrossed in a game.

Jo turned back to Amber. "You never did show me your dress."

"I can show you tonight. Is Mr. Ford going to be alright?"

"Eliot seems to think so but we're still waiting to hear from the doctor."

"Don't look now but Eliot is staring at you."

"Amber, we're not in high school."

She grinned, making her look so much like her father. "I am."

"But I'm not." Despite having no intention to check out Amber's statement, Jo cut her eyes over to where Eliot and Sophie were sitting. She stayed focused on Sophie but also noticed Amber was right, Eliot was looking at her and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"I think he's kind of cute." Amber still had that cheeky grin on her face.

"I think you should stick to boys your own age."

Amber tore off a piece of bread and popped it into her mouth. "You have to admit, your dating life sucks."

"I wasn't even aware I had a dating life." Jo fought a grin. This was the way Amber and her usually conversed. Jo saw her brother in Amber every now and then but mostly she saw herself: smart mouthed, confident and mischievous. All those things had been lost now except for in moments like these.

"Well, you don't have one, Aunt Jo. Hence the sucky part. Besides, my graduation party is two weeks away and I expect you to bring a date."

"Do you, now?"

Amber nodded. "Want me to ask him for you?"

"Want me to take your car from you your last week in high school?"

"I'll let you ask him then." Amber pointed behind Jo. "The doctor's here."

Jo stood up but was suddenly overcome with doubt. Nathan's team might not want her listening in to the diagnosis. Well, if they didn't want her there-

"Jo, come on."

She looked to her right so see Hardison waving her up to the group. She fell into place between Hardison and Eliot. She would have to thank Hardison later.

"Mr. Gallo is out of surgery and in the recovery room. He has three gunshot wounds but we were able to extract all the fragments. We'll be sending them over to the forensic lab so they'll be able to match the bullets with the gun used in the shooting. The first bullet went clean through his shoulder, the second one just grazed the side of his chest but the third one collapsed his right lung. We're going to need to keep him here for a few days to watch that lung and make sure pneumonia doesn't set in."

"When can we take him home?" Sophie asked.

"I would say about four to five days. If you have any questions, you can always ask the nurse on duty. If you'll excuse me, I have a few more patients from the shooting today."

They all nodded their thanks as the doctor moved off to another part of the waiting room. Four or five days and Nathan Ford and his team would leave Fitchburg. Jo didn't blame them, not in the least, but she felt the odd pinprick of disappointment. She would miss them and the seamless way they had started to blend themselves into her family.

Eliot came up beside her. "Why don't you go home with your mom and get some rest?"

"I think I will. Tomorrow's a work day, for me at least."

"7 to 7 shift, right?"

Jo started gathering up the empty soup containers. "I wouldn't worry about showing up, Eliot. Your team needs you now. I'll just tell everyone that you went back to Boston early."

"Yeah, I go back to Boston the day after Reilly is shot. It just wouldn't look right. Besides, you need a partner watching your back now more than ever."

"I don't think they would try anything with me this early. The way Reilly ran things, they'll be scrambling for a few days."

"Let's hope so."

Jo made sure they all had her number and promised they would call her if anything changed or if they needed something. She didn't want to admit it to anyone but she was happy to be going home, getting a hot shower and falling into bed. But when she walked outside the hospital and saw one of the department's squad cars sitting there, she became immediately suspicious. Her mother and the girls were standing by Amber's car, having an argument with one of the Sargents from her precinct. When she got closer she saw it was Brian Howard, Reilly's right hand man.

"Brian," Jo had to shout to be heard over her mother and Brian's argument. "What's going on here?"

He turned from her mother and gave her a razor blade smile. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"How's that?"

Brian held up a piece of paper. "I have a warrant for your arrest, Officer Wyatt."

Jo felt the blood drain from her head. "What? What for?"

"Let's see," Brian unfolded the paper. "Conspiracy to commit murder, hire of a contract killer, first degree murder-"

"You honestly think I put a hit on Chief Reilly? You're out of your mind, Brian."

Brian held up the warrant. "DA doesn't think I am."

Jo watched him pull out his handcuffs and take a step towards her. She pointed to her sling. "Really? You're going to cuff me with my arm in a sling?" Jo turned to her mother. "Mom, just take the girls home. I'll get this sorted out."

Her mother gave her a weak nod and started herding the girls into the car. Jo started walking back to Brian's squad car. She started to turn to say something to him when he shoved her into the car.

"Shut up, Wyatt."

Jo choked back a cry. Her face had connected with the roof of the car and she felt her nose break. If he wanted to play rough, so could she. Jo took a defensive stance but Brian had unlatched her sling, letting her arm drop before wrenching it behind her back. She bit down on her tongue until she tasted blood to keep from emitting a noise. She felt a couple stitches pop open.

"Is this resisting arrest, Office Wyatt?"

"More like police brutality," she shot back.

"Well, here comes my favorite part of this, Wyatt. You have the right to remain silent..."

She tuned him out as he rattled off the rest of the miranda rights. It was too late to contact her union rep or even a lawyer. She would have to spend the night in lock up. The only good thing was she didn't have to worry about Nathan's condition. He would be fine. She rested her head on the cool glass on the squad car and closed her eyes. So this was what rock bottom felt like.