Title: City Under Siege
Chapter 2 – Utter Despiration
"I can handle it…he's quiet, cooperative…even with a gun to his head."
"Boss does this make any sense to you?" Jules asked. "If he was going to blow himself up why didn't he already do it?"
As soon as Donna heard Jules and Greg talking about Holt's attitude and position and then looking up to see the camera watching her, she felt her whole world freeze. This is wrong! GET OUT! Her brain shouted even before Greg had told her to. The rest of team three had already started to make for the exit but her and Jimmy were the last two out.
"What are you looking at? What?" Donna's voice hisses.
"What are you looking at Donna?" Greg asks in haste.
"A blinking camera in the ceiling."
"Donna, get out of there now!" Greg's voice frantically fills her head.
"Donna what's happening?" Ed asks in concern.
"Eddie…" Donna manages before everything changes.
They waste no time in racing toward the door, the rest of team three already nearing the entrance.
"Donna mov…" Jimmy tries.
It was surreal…something out of a nightmare…a horrific nightmare. The kind you never want to see again. Ever.
"Jimmy mo…"
She yells to her partner to move just as she hears Jimmy shouting her name seconds before their world heaves…shakes…and then finally explodes around them; her voice calling out her husband's name seconds before the wind is literally knocked and sucked out of her chest all at the same time by a heated blast on her back and painful pressure on the front. Anyone watching would see a ragdoll being casually tossed to the side; discarded after play, no longer of use.
Just as her legs had cleared the heavy door, she feels Jimmy give her a good shove to the left, her body quickly falling to the floor seconds after it gives way beneath her. She tries to call out to Jimmy to get clear but the scream never escapes her mouth as the building starts to creak and groan overhead raining bits of ceiling tile, drywall dust, glass shards and splintered wood all around her. A large part of the roof had sagged into the room a few meters behind instantly destroying the area the charred remains Anson Holt had been. But the blast wasn't uniform and a part of the wall caved in before the ceiling area she was tossed under. The wall unwillingly bears the brunt of the blast, in a way shielding her battered frame from the ceiling caving in on her and completely burying her alive.
Eddie….her mind calls out as the screams inside are silenced.
Seconds later the shouts outside ensue.
XXXXXXXX
For a few seconds Ed's world grinds to a silent halt. Another bomb had gone off. A bomb his wife was in the vicinity of. He heard her call his name and then silence. This…this isn't real. This isn't happening, he had tried to reason in those few silent seconds. But as he hears Greg utter the phrase oh my god with a heavy lament, his world comes flooding back and his heart starts to race.
"Son of a bitch…" Greg curses.
His wife.
His brother.
His choice.
This can't be…his mind spins in frantic circles. I have to help them both…I have…my wife…my brother…love them both but…Donna…love her more. This can't be.
"Greg? Talk to me…tell me…what happened."
"Eddie…she was…oh god she was right there."
"Right where? Greg?"
"Ed…"
"Donna? Donna!" Ed mentions as he pauses in his actions. He had just reached the mass of rubble his brother was trapped under when Greg's desperate plea for her to get away from the man with a chemical bomb strapped to his chest finally snapped his brain to attention.
"She was right there," Greg whispers in torment.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ed yells as his hands literally flood with a surge of superheated adrenaline and he pushes the piece of rubble away from the mass on top of his brother and then pulls back with flood eyes. "Donna!"
"Eddie I don't know anything yet," Greg states over the headset.
"Donna? Baby talk to me…talk to me!" Ed demands in emotional anger, forcing the search and rescue crew to stop and stare at the visibly agitated SRU team leader. "Donna? Donna answer me! Come on you gotta answer me! Boss…"
"Ed the front part of the building's collapsed; it's just gone. I see Richard being pulled out by one of the uni's…I don't see the rest of team three. Hang tight Eddie. Search and rescue say the site isn't stable and…"
"That's my wife!" Ed snaps before he looks at the rubble and then casts his watery gaze at the exit to the parking garage. "I'm com…"
"Ed the site is contaminated. We've all been exposed to radiation. It was a dirty bomb. No one can come or…"
"I don't care if it's contaminated!" Ed growls as he turns to look at Steve.
"If the site is contaminated then you wouldn't be allowed to help find her without..."
"I don't care!" Ed grumbles again as he shrugs off Steve's friendly touch on his shoulder.
"Eddie…I swear as soon as…"
"Boss I can't….Donna? Baby you gotta answer me, please just answer me," Ed begs as he pulls away from the team trying to rescue his brother. "You gotta talk to me, please just say…something," he continues; the pleading tone in his voice forcing all absent members of Team One to pause in their actions.
"No," Jules whispers over her headset, looking to Spike at her right; Sam and Wordy in the other SUV.
"Donna! You answer me now okay?" Ed tries to demand; his angry frustration getting the best of him. "Talk to me! Please…talk to me," he tone sways from outright anger to abject misery.
"Roy! Can you feel my hand?" Steve's voice cuts into Ed's verbal misery, forcing his watery blue eyes to where Steve had crawled under the supported wreckage to see how Roy Lane is faring; the other four fire fighters gently removing the rubble and car parts.
"Roy…hey buddy," Ed leans in and gently touches Roy's neck; Roy's eyes opening as a response. "You're gonna be okay."
"Donna?" Roy asks in a soft whisper as he hears the torment in Ed's voice. "I heard…"
"We uh…we don't know yet."
"She's…gonna be okay," Roy tells Ed as Ed looks at his brother with a heavy frown. "Too stubborn to die…perfect match," he concludes with a small smile.
"I uh…I can't…she won't answer."
"Okay Ed, you gotta move back a bit," Steve gently implores.
Ed steps back, puts his right hand to his headset and continues to call out to his wife in utter desperation. "Donna you gotta answer me okay? You answer me and I'll…boss…"
"Eddie, the hazmat crews are here and the search team will need to be suited up before…wait…"
"What?"
"I see…its Rachel. Rachel…here let me…hold on just take it easy. You need to put pressure on that."
"How is she?"
"Looks like...yeah a broken arm and she's banged up pretty good."
"Where's Donna? Did she see Donna?" Ed queries in frantic agitation.
"Eddie, Donna and Jimmy were with Holt…they were in the same room. She was trying to diffuse the bomb when…" Rachel's voice dies out.
"When what?"
"There was a camera. The bomber was watching," Greg admits before Ed's lips utter an angry curse that echoes off the cold cement walls.
"It was a trap," Wordy's sad whisper interjects. "Eddie…"
"Donna, you answer me right now," Ed demands as he turns and looks back at Steve who was now trying to get some tubing under the wreckage to help his brother. "Donna…tell me what to do. Come on baby…talk to me," he continues to plead. "Boss this can't be happening."
"Just a few more minutes Eddie and when the smoke dies down I can tell you more," Greg tells him in truth as Ed turns back to Steve and the progress to help Roy.
"Move faster!" Ed shouts as Steve simply gives him a sympathetic nod.
"We're working as fast as we can."
"Sorry. I know I…." Ed's words die in his mouth as he shakes his head and looks away and then back at Steve as they prepare to move Roy out from under his car wreckage.
"The wreckage is stabilized. Okay lets get the spinal board in there and get him out," Steve directs as Ed hangs back to watch, his lips calling his life's name over and over and his heart aching at getting only tormented silence in return.
"Ed…"
"You're almost out buddy."
"No…come closer," Roy begs with a soft whisper as he quickly leans in closer. "You…get this guy."
"I gotta find Donna…"
"She's okay, you know that. Get this bastard Ed. You…get him," Roy's voice finally fails as he gently coughs.
"Ed we gotta get in there and get him out."
"Okay," Ed replies as he steps back once more.
"Okay let's get him out stat!" Steve shouts as they prepare to pull Roy free.
"How is he?" Ed asks as he remains fixed in place before taking a few small steps toward the wreckage and helps pull his brother free. Ed looks down at Roy's painful expression and feels himself grimace along with his brother.
"Roy can you feel this?" Steve asks as he pinches Roy's toes after removing his boots.
"Yes," Roy replies weakly as he looks up at Ed.
"His spine's okay and that's a good sign. Can't tell the extent of the injuries and he probably has internal bleeding. We'll do our best to get him into the OR stat but today…"
"I know," Ed sighs as he kneels down beside his brother as they work to prepare the rest of him for transport. "Not aliens this time."
"Anything?"
"I um…I don't know they uh…they won't…you're going to be okay."
"Go find her."
"Roy."
"You find this guy…nail his ass to the wall," Roy states firmly as eye's gently water. "You get him Ed."
"I will but uh…"
"Donna's strong…she'll be okay," Roy gives Ed a firm nod. "Ed…"
"Yeah buddy," Ed looks back in misery.
"Nearly…lost it all today."
"I know…I know. You're going to be okay," Ed leans in, taking his brother's hand and giving it a firm squeeze.
"Go find…Donna."
"Okay," Ed nods as he slowly stands up, the transport team standing with him.
"Love you brother."
"Love you too," Ed whispers as he watches Steve cover Roy and then turn back to him with a determined expression.
"Your brother is going to be fine. Go get your wife," Steve gives Ed a firm pat on the back.
Ed gives Steve a determined nod before he turns and races back up the exit ramp. "Boss I'm on my way," Ed tells his superior in such a tone that tells Greg in that instance to argue back would be moot. "Anything?"
"Still trying to find Gary and Riley," Greg refers to Team Three's Tactical expert Gary and Spike's counterpart, Riley. "They're um…still missing in the rubble. Tom's on his way here. I just called him."
"Boss…"
"Ed, we don't have the bomber in custody yet and until we do…"
"Don't you dare lecture me about the priority of life code. My wife is…Donna answer me," Ed's attention shifts from talking to his boss to pleading with his wife. "Donna you gotta talk to me. Tell me you're okay. Please tell me you're okay. Donna!"
XXXXXXXX
'Donna Sabine I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?'
'Yes.'
Eddie…Donna's mind fixes on the happy thought moments before it replays her team confronting Anson Holt, seeing the bomb, the rest of the team puling back, Jimmy at her side and then seeing the camera. RUN! GET OUT OF THERE NOW! MOVE!
Am I dead? I feel pain…numbness…ringing…silence…pain…silence…pain…I must be dead….but maybe not…the bomb…I see the bomber…he's watching…it's a trap…RUN! Jimmy….move! Am I dead? Where the hell am I?
Eddie…her mind calls in darkness once more before her world finally comes back to her; wracking her with pain and torment.
"Ahhhh…" her lips offer a painful moan as she tries to take in a deep breath but stops with pain in her chest.
Her eyes slowly flutter open and try to look around; darkness is all that greet her. At first panic seizes her as she thinks the darkness is from her eyesight being damaged. But as she focuses on something to her right – a small glint of light, she realizes the darkness is in fact man made and her sight is at least intact.
"Eddie…" she softly croaks as her hands try to move up to feel her body to see what state of despair she's in. She starts with the top of her head, cursing the fact that the headset is missing along with her baseball cap, not realizing they were a few feet away under some concrete debris – useless. Her fingers feel some sticky ooze around her forehead and her brain swiftly and correctly assumes its blood, her blood. She wipes the substance on the top of her uniform and continues; but as soon as she feels a pang in her back, she tries to shift to a better position but is unable.
"Oh…damn," Donna gently curses as she tries to pull her leg free. She feels her toes wiggle and takes immediate comfort in the fact that her spine hasn't been damaged to the point of her being paralyzed in any way. But breathing is labored and she now wonders if a rib hasn't broken and punctured a lung; if that was the case she could still die.
"Sniper…breathing," she whispers hoarsely as she tries to pull back. The space around her is blanketed with debris but as soon as she moves the pressure from the busted wall on her chest eases and breathing isn't as shallow. "Thank god," she utters as she starts to feel the dark space around her.
"Eddie…baby you gotta come get me," she groans as her head starts to pound and she feels her heart start to race. She closes her eyes and gently rubs her temples, bumping her right elbow on a piece of the wall and cursing the fact she can't move very well.
"Jimm…" she tries and then coughs. "Jimmy!" She tries once more; her voice blanketed and muffled by the slabs of concrete on either side; her lungs constricting as she sucks in dry dust and particle contaminants.
'Donna…get out of there now!'
'Donna, what's going on?'
'Eddie…!'
Her voice recalls Greg's frantic plea and her voice calling out to her husband before time started to warp past, sending her flying into the wall and then dropping her like a rag doll onto the floor; her arms coming up instinctively to protect her face but her body uncovered and vulnerable.
The ringing in her ears refuses to settle long enough for her to know if they are looking for her outside. What is going on? Where is the rest of my team? Did Ed find Roy? Is he on his way here? She knows the layout of the University and tells herself if she could only pull herself out of the area she's in they'll find her faster and she can help them find Jimmy.
He was right beside me….no to my right…no wait he was…her mind frantically races to recall where her temporary team leader had gotten to in the heated commotion. But once again she can only curse herself as her left leg refuses to budge from the area it's trapped.
Is my leg broken? No I can flex my knee. My ankle! Is my ankle broken? No I can…wait its…oh damn my leg's cut. Her throbbing head slumps back down as she takes in a deep breath. But in doing so feels another sharp pang and knows that something internal isn't as it should be.
"Oh damn…Ed…I hope you're…on your way here. I know you'll find me…I know it," her voice is swallowed up by a sharp gasp of pain. "Ahhhhhh oh god that hurt."
XXXXXXXX
"Donna!" Ed continues to call out to his wife over their headsets as he nears the blast zone at the University; his ignorance at her missing headset only serving to fuel his agitation. He brings the SUV to a screeching halt, jumps out and races toward the yellow police line that Greg and the survivors of team three were waiting behind.
"Greg!"
"Eddie you can't…someone stop him!" Greg shouts as two uniformed officers waiting before the yellow line rush in to stop Ed from crossing it.
"Back away now," Ed demands in anger as Greg looks at him from a distance with a concerned expression.
"Hazmat is here and…"
"I'm coming to look…" Ed jerks his arm free and heads toward the tape but stops; both officers getting a nod from Greg to back down. "Where is she?" Ed asks as he looks from Greg to the other members of team three.
"We don't know," Rachel replies in remorse as she supports her broken arm as the onsite medic hurries toward her and Richard who had just been pulled out.
"The search and rescue team is suiting up. They can't go…"
"To hell with th…"
"Eddie you can't."
"Greg I'm searching for my wife," Ed implores as he turns to look for the search and rescue team.
"Eddie…Ed wait…ah damn," Greg grumbles as he watches Ed storm toward the search and rescue team, flashing his badge and demanding a suit.
"I need to find…Donna? If you can hear me I'm here…I'm right outside," Ed talks into the mouthpiece of his headset. "If you can hear me, I'm right outside and coming in," Ed finishes and then looks at the leader of the search and rescue team.
"Constable Lane, I'm Captain Towes."
"I'm here to help search for Donna Sabine. She's SRU Sar…"
"Sir, I understand your anxiety but…"
"Do you? Is your wife trapped in there?" Ed counters sharply before he reluctantly backs down. "I need to be apart of this," his tone drops back down to a pleading beg. "I don't care if I'm exposed I need to be there and this is not a request."
Ed turns and looks at Greg who can only shake his head as the medics approach to first take Richard who had cut his leg pretty badly, and Rachel; still looking for Gary and Riley. They'd be taken to the medical triage center at the ACC where they'd be treated and decontaminated at the same time; but for the most part all three were now out of commission.
"Sargent Parker?"
"Boss I need to do this," Ed states in a quiet tone as he pulls back for a few moments and talks to Greg on his headset.
"Eddie what if…"
"She's not dead," Ed hisses in anger.
"I don't want to believe that either but what if she is and you're the one to find her. My friend I wouldn't wish that on you. We've already faced enough death and destruction. She was right there and…"
"It's possible that she survived Greg and you know that."
"Okay but if not and you're the one to find her…"
"I saw Roy who…"
"Wife is a lot different than a brother; we both know that. You have a lot more invested emotionally," Greg gently reminds him.
"I have to be there Greg, you know that. I need to do this. I know what to expect but you can't turn me away now. Not now," Ed shakes his head and glares at Greg in determination. "I'm going in."
The search and rescue commander looks at Ed and then at Greg, who pauses before slowly nodding.
"Only until we have a line on the real bomber."
"I'm no…"
"Ed, if we get a line on the bomber you know your first dedication is…"
"I'm not leaving until I find her Greg. The rest of the team…"
"Needs you," Greg interjects as Ed grabs the hazmat suit and starts to roughly pull it on. "Team one is almost here and…"
"I'm not leaving until…" he pauses as his voice cracks. "Greg I made a promise to always keep her safe and I…I'm not leaving until I find her. Don't make me break that vow. I'm going in."
Greg can only watch as Ed, who had fully suited up, ducks under the yellow police caution tape and heads first of all for Greg.
"Go easy okay?" Greg reminds him as Rachel slowly limps over.
"Where was she?"
"Her and Jimmy were…they had cleared the doors but um… I don't know," Rachel replies tearfully.
"We found one alive!" One of the search and rescue team members calls out, forcing Ed to turn and sprint toward the team dressed in the special outfits as they emerge.
"Donna?" Ed asks hopefully as he pushes past one and looks down at the person lying still on the carrying basket.
"Eddie?"
"Boss, it's Gary. Is he alive?" Ed answers Greg and then looks up at one of the searchers.
"He has a pulse but he's not responding. We won't know anything more until we get him some help."
Ed stands aside and watches them carry Gary past, Spike's voice already filling the airways asking about Riley, his friend and fellow electronics expert-counterpart who's still missing.
"Don't know yet Spike but as soon as we have word we'll let you know."
"Boss I'm going in," Ed tells Greg as he falls in behind two other search and rescue members. "Donna, if you can hear me I'm here. Baby I'm right here okay? I'm here…I'm outside. If you can hear me you gotta call out or make noise…please just let me hear your voice. Yell, scream, curse…whatever, just let me hear you."
Ed's fists tighten at his sides as he nears the entrance to the laboratory at the university and tells himself that he'll be okay. But as soon as he actually steps inside and is hit with the pungent smell of burning electrical components, charred human remains and of course musty devastation.
"Stay behind us," Captain Towes of the search and rescue team reminds Ed as he looks at them with a deep frown but can only nod.
"Donna? We're inside the building…can you hear me? If you can just…call our or…just say something so I can hear you. Please let us hear you," he begs as they near the entrance to the room they had tracked Anson Holt to.
"This area bore the brunt of the damage," Towes explains to his team, Ed listening; but at the same time his eyes and ears were looking for one thing and one thing alone – the sign that his wife was alive. "Constable Lane…"
"Captain Towes I'm coming with you, I need to find my wife."
"This is going to be a tricky process. We have to shore up this area before we can go any further otherwise this whole area will come down on my team and I can't take that chance. But at the same time we are racing against the clock because of the radiation. It won't be easy."
"Okay," Ed manages softly as he stands back; praying for them to hurry. "Donna? Please answer me and tell me to stop being so bossy," he concludes with a small sniffle. "Come on baby you can hear me, I know you can."
Ed's eyes pull back from the team to his left and focus on the darkened mass of rubble to his right; the left of the entrance to the room that Holt's obliterated remains would be found in. Come on baby…where are you?
"Donna!" Ed yells out loud.
XXXXXXXX
Eddie? Donna's mind snaps out of her pain-filled stupor as she thinks she hears her husband's voice calling her name. Eddie was that you? Oh god really is he here? Please let him be here….
"Ed…die!" Donna tries; but dust instantly seizes her throat and forces her lungs to constrict and her body to want to recoil. She cries out in pain as her hands try to wrap around her stomach, her head starting to pound and heart feel heavier in her chest. Have I lost a lot of blood? Why do I feel like this all of a sudden?
Eddie! She hears his name again and curses the fact that she has nothing on her to even use to bang the cement to alert her husband to her location. "Eddie!" She tries once more, her chest heaving and her body sinking back to the floor in frustration. Her right hand rubs her wedding band and her mind finds inner strength and peace in that moment, her brain telling her to hold back her tears and continue to slow her breathing until she was rescued. Help was here. She had to hold on.
"EDDIE!"
XXXXXXXX
For a split second Ed halts his actions of removing debris and stares at a small hole of light coming through the mass of rubble before him and feels his heart lurch. "Donna? Donna!" He calls out as he starts to move a bit faster. But fate was about to step in and ensure that the day would be fraught with more heartache and frustration before hope and rebuilding would take over.
Three voices speak at once forcing Ed to freeze in place.
"Boss we might have a lead on who the real bomber is," Spike's voice fills the headsets.
"Eddie, Tom's here to take over the search for Donna," Greg speaks next. "You gotta find this guy and stop him now!"
"We found someone!" Towes calls out.
Ed looks at the entrance to where Tom was suiting up and then turns back to Towes with a racing expression.
"Boss I'm staying," Ed manages firmly.
"I'm giving you a direct order Ed."
"Greg," Ed starts in a serious tone. "I'm staying."
A/N: Hope you are all still enjoying this AU rewrite of the FP finale. I know this chapter was heavy on the emotional angst but it was supposed to be right? Roy is okay and enroute to being patched up along with the other remaining members of team three. So who's been found? Riley? Jimmy? or Donna? (one of them will die (okay one of the two men lol) but who?) Would love your thoughts on what you think Ed might do. Will Ed disobey Greg and give the reins to Sam? Or will he actually leave Donna to have Tom find her? Please do review and let me know and thanks so much!