Misconceptions pt. 21

Michael glanced around the tiny shop slowly, taking everything in. There were barrels of...well, some sort of creepy-crawly sea life? Piled on top of mountains of shaved ice, were hundreds of tiny fish with large black eyes. They were dead, but they were staring at him. He frowned. It had to be a bait shop! he thought, legs moved closer to a jar on the counter. There was something large and orange and spidery in it. He felt its disgusting eyeball...watching.

"Boo!" Jason laughed openly when his partner jumped a foot off the floor.

"You son-of-a-bitch!"

He laughed harder. It was entertaining that a man who would, and has, walked into a building with armed robbers, was jumpy around dead fish. "So?" he asked, getting back to business. "Does this make sense to you?" He watched McBain shake his head, and begin to walk the space again. "Me either." Why the hell would they find their computer hackers here? It didn't add up. What, they'd break into complicated systems in between selling bait? He walked toward his friend.

Michael knew this was the right place. He didn't know why or how he knew that, but he did. His mind drifted back to John's hotel room, and to when he listened as his brother told him about what he did for the FBI. How he relied on his gut? Well, he wasn't his brother, but something was screaming at him that this was where they needed to be. "Snoop around, will ya? Let's see what we find before someone crawls out of the woodwork?" He went to the front counter and rang the little silver bell. The ding sounded ominous, and he swallowed, continuing to circle the room and its disgusting contents.

He turned to the small camera in the corner of the ceilling, and he stared. They were here, and they were watching. Mike smiled softly. Good, let them watch!

John saw the tiny smirk that flashed over his brother's lips for a split second. He sighed, shaking his head. Mike wasn't going anywhere. "You?" he barked, turning to the geek at his right.

"The name is Jack!" he responded, standing and placing his hands on his hips. His eyes narrowed.

"Whatever," he mumbled. "You need to get upstairs and stall them."

"And how...?"

"I don't care how?" he interupted sharply. "Just do it, and hurry up!" The man headed toward the metal staircase, muttering to himself as he walked. "And use another one of your secret entrances," John shouted at him, meeting his glowery stare.

"What do you mean?"

John grinned. "Oh, please? You have a hidden underground computer lab built below a bait shop that is accessed by a secret passageway." He stared back. "Don't even bother trying to tell me that is your only way into this room."

Jack grinned too. Okay, so the cop wasn't as stupid as he first thought?

John's expression grew serious. "I don't want them finding this room until I'm ready for them to find it." It was an order, and it was a threat, and everyone who heard it knew. Then the man was gone.

Natalie moved until she was standing directly in front of the dark agent. "Why don't you just save time and take me into custody?" She held out her hands, offering her wrists so that he could handcuff her. She stared into his diamond eyes and felt the familiar pull. The one that kept her tethered to him. He didn't need shackles.

He watched her offer herself in sacrifice, and took hold of her wrists, leading her away from the others. His eyes darted to Balsom for a moment, who was watching with as much interest as his sister. He refocussed on the beauty before him. "You need to get out of here Natalie, and right now."

She frowned, aware that his hands fell from her. "If you don't arrest me, then they'll know that you're helping me John." Her voice grew firm. "I told you I didn't want you here, and now look!" She was mad at him.

He stood straight, preparing himself for the inevitable. "You're not the one I'm arresting." He saw the confusion on her face when he spoke, trying to comprehend the words, and then he saw the understanding.

"Oh, no! NO WAY, McBain!" She shoved him hard. It felt really good.

He blew out a quick breath and tossed his cuffs to the kid, who put them on.

Natalie felt like she was going to be sick. "Rex! What the hell do you think you're doing?" She walked up to him and clutched at the metal on his skin. "You can forget it!" She turned back to John. "The both of you."

"No Nat," her brother said evenly, "this is how it has to be." She was in shock and clearly full of every tumultuous emotion known to man because she wasn't speaking, but he could see what she was going through. It made him want to kill whoever was setting her up in the first place.

"So?" she said quietly, moving away from the two of them. "You think that I'm just going to go along with this because you say it's the only way?" They were making decisions for her again, but this was one that she couldn't live with. "To hell with you!" She spun around and bolted for the steps.

John had his arm around her waist, keeping her from climbing the stairs. His hold was unyielding. "Stop it, and listen!" he breathed against her ear. He pushed away the disappointment of seeing her flinch and move her head away. She hated him. "Listen!" he said again, more firmly, but he didn't release his hold. "Hear me Natalie, because this is as simple as it gets. If Mike and Cameron find us together here, then we all lose. We all go to jail." She was quiet but her breathing was loud. He could feel her chest heaving furiously. "If I arrest you, then whoever is setting you up disappears. Right now, your being on the loose is the only play we have in our favour. As long as you're out there somewhere, then they have cause to worry, which forces them to make moves." He paused, licking his lips. His stomach clenched. "Like paying someone to attack you in that damn alley."

John couldn't see her face, and was fairly certain that was a good thing because the anger that was rolling off of her was overwhelming. It was smothering, and it made his heart hurt because it was directed at him. She shifted and he squeezed a little tighter. It was too soon to let her go. "If I arrest your brother it will buy us some more time. Do you understand?"

She couldn't breathe or move. She couldn't even feel anymore. Why was all this happening to her? Was it karma for her past sins? Her eyes narrowed. "Let me go" she commanded smoothly. She waited. He released his hold.

Natalie took a deep breath, letting it strengthen her resolve. She spun around, facing John and her darling brother. "You're saying that the only hope, our one true hope, is for me to run away and let my baby brother take the fall for me?" He didn't speak. "Isn't that right, Agent?"

The use of his title was not lost on him. "That's right." His heart was thundering beneath his ribs.

"What will happen to him?"

"Nothing, if we solve this thing. He's not the one they want."

She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling a chill, but it wasn't the room making her cold, it was the situation. It was Agent John McBain. This cold came from deep inside, starting in her heart. "And if we don't solve this thing?" She could see that he didn't want to answer. "That's what I thought?" She walked away and marched up to her brother. Her eyes softened. "You don't have to do this?"

He grinned. "Like I have a choice?" He got serious. "He's right Natalie, and you know it! Now get the hell out of here, and take that phone with you. Hide."

She touched his face and leaned in, whispering in his ear. "I love you," she breathed, kissing his cheek. She straightened and met the pair of intense blue eyes that were glued to her. "Do I take the computer?"

He shook his head. "No. If you do that, then everything Jenn has done so far will be lost. We need it right where it is." The look she was giving him was so distant, so cold. It made him ache. He felt broken.

She turned away again and placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Thank you," she said, meaning it with all her heart.

Jennifer smiled and nodded. "You better get going? Kevin and Preston will show you the way."

Natalie glanced at the security monitor. Jack's arms were flailing as he talked animatedly to the two detectives. There was no sound so they couldn't hear what he was saying, but it didn't really matter anyway. She took another slow breath and went to John. He held out the phone, and she took it. His hand wrapped around her wrist, forcing her eyes to his, and she glared. There was an excruciating moment between them as they stared hard, and then she was set free. She followed the two men without looking back.

John stood where he was, staring numbly at the empty doorway for another moment. He blinked and released the lip that was screaming at him from between his teeth, and walked up to a handcuffed Balsom.

"Ouch," the boy commented, unsympathetically, "that had to hurt?" He knew that the guy had it bad for his sister, but he also knew that he was going to arrest him. Even if it had to happen it still sucked.

John grabbed the chair at his side so that he didn't do what he really wanted to do to the kid. "You ready?"

Rex nodded, keeping his gaze on the man across from him. The very pissed, very defeated man. "You know, she'll get over it. She'll calm down."

He grabbed the collar of the faded t-shirt that Balsom adorned, and forced him to his feet. "They're going to come at you pretty hard once you're in custody." He needed to stick to business.

Rex grinned arrogantly. "Yeah...shouldn't be a problem, big guy."

John got in his face. "Don't screw this up because it's your sister's neck they want in the noose!"

He was mad. "I know what the stakes are, and don't tell me how to look out for Natty! I've been doing it long before you came into the picture, so just back off!"

They stared at one another in silence. Finally John nodded. The kid was right, and his anger was misplaced. He actually wanted to ring Natalie's slender neck. "Come on." He led him toward the steps.

"Hey, what about me?" Jennifer asked, anxiously. She was standing, feeling incredibly nervous. It was weird working with the police for a change. She frowned. Well, kind of working with them anyway?

John looked into her wide eyes. "Just keep working on the computer and I'll be back in a minute, okay?" He watched her nod and resume her work. Then he continued with Rex, climbing the staircase and moving one step closer to a whole new showdown.

"Do you want to try the truth now?" Cameron asked, sternly. This Jack character has been blathering on about his new and improved life in the growing bait industry, and he was sick of it.

"Look," he began, "I don't do that anymore. I mean, do you see any electronics laying around here? My last stint on the inside was the last." He swallowed, finding the eyes of the other detective. The one with the same annoying stare as the Fed.

"So you don't mind if we take a look around then?" Mike suggested easily. "You're willing to cooperate?"

"Fully."

Mike grinned as he stepped closer, staring the man down. "See? Now I know you're lying, because you've never cooperated with anyone in your tired existence."

Jack grinned back, sick of this cop. Sick of all the cops. "Well if you think I'm lying, you're welcome to prove it."

"Careful what you ask for, Jack," a voice said from behind. The trio turned to find two new additions to the party. John shoved Rex through the open wall.

Cameron shook his head in disbelief. "You're not even trying to hide it anymore, are you McBain?" It was obvious he was working with the redhead.

Michael walked up to his brother, and he was angry. "What the hell are you doing here, John? What's going on?"

John frowned, irritated. "What's going on is an arrest?" He looked into his brother's challenging eyes. "You remember what that is, right Mike?"

He stood straight. "You're telling me that you found Balsom but not Buchanan?"

"I'm not telling you a damn thing if you're going to stand there and interrogate me." He was tired of having to fight his way around this town. "If you want to know something then ask, but don't bark at me! I don't like it!"

Michael stared at his brother for a minute, trying to decide if he would listen to him. He glanced at Cameron, who clearly didn't buy a word of it. "Alright John," he finally conceded, "talk to me. When did you get here? How did you find this place?"

John grabbed Rex and navigated him around the counter. He stopped when Jason stepped in his path. "I'll tell you everything, but let's do it at the station." He held the detective's aggressive glare. "It stinks in here."

Cameron chuckled. "It sure does. You seem anxious to get out of here. You wouldn't be hiding your redhead somewhere, would you?"

"His redhead?" Rex exclaimed, laughing. "He wishes."

"Shut up, Balsom!" both McBains shouted in unison. John refocussed on Cameron. "She's not here."

"I believe you," he confessed, surprising everyone in the room, "but she was. She definitely was." He moved around the two men and walked to the entryway in the wall. His eyes scanned the dim, tight passage. "So tell me agent, what's down there?"

John blew out an aggrivated breath. "The computer for one."

"What? Brother!" Mike walked closer. He looked directly into his bright eyes. "Was she here, John? Is he right?"

"Yeah he is, but she was already gone when I got here." He stared back, ignoring the nerves that were gripping him from head to toe. "Look, damn it! I came here the same as you, looking for that ass!" He pointed toward Jack. "I found him and a woman deconstructing the computer downstairs. I didn't find the girl." He watched Michael closely. "That's it."

Mike ran his hand over his face, feeling torn. He was sick of feeling that way. "Call it in, Cam," he instructed, taking the boy from his brother. "I've got Balsom."

John let him haul the kid out of his grasp. "I'll meet you at the station."

"What?" There was that irritation again. "We're leaving now, John!"

"No, I'm staying. That computer is down there, and so that's where you'll find me." He walked up to Cameron, who was still near the wall.

"Why don't we grab the machine and take it downtown with us?" Jason suggested, keeping his eyes on the agent.

"No," John said, firmly. "If you've got a problem with that, then you can take it up with my bosses, but it stays right where it is."

Michael absorbed everything slowly. "Why, John?" He wanted to know what his brother wasn't saying to him?

He stared evenly. "Take the kid in. We'll talk when I see you later." Nobody moved. "Trust me, Mike."

He felt as though his heart was going to burst. Trust me? It wasn't supposed to be this hard. Trusting one's own brother? "Sure," he said, turning to his friend. "Stay with him, Jase. I'll be back." He took the suspect to his car, and they headed to the station in silence.

The weight on his heart was getting heavier by the second. John felt betrayed. He shouldn't, and he had no right to, but he did. His own brother was sicking this...detective on him. Not really trusting him at all. It hurt a lot. He walked through the corridor, wishing that this nightmare would finally end. Natalie was out there somewhere on her own, and whether she wanted it to be true or not, she needed help. He was going to help her if it was the last thing he did.