Misconceptions pt. 23

Natalie blinked, trying to wrap her brain around the cold, hard truth of her situation. Her palm ran over her face quickly. It was after midnight and here she sat - alone in a trainyard with nowhere to go or anyone to turn to. Her chest felt weighted by the heaviness of her heart. She glanced down at the phone near her thigh, but couldn't bring herself to use it. It would be smart to use it, to just call him and get it over with, but she was frozen in place. Her mistake from the beginning had been to allow herself to lean on someone else. To depend on others. Well, she was through with that as of right now!

Her heart began to pump a little harder, as she slowly convinced herself to move forward alone. Then she hopped down from her high seat, and found her footing in the dirt below. The moon overhead was wide and bright, and she frowned. Under normal circumstances it would be a beautiful omen, but now it felt more like a hurdle. As though fate itself was trying to finish her off, by shining onto the earth and illuminating the world below. The world that she was desperately trying to hide from until this nightmare finally came to an end.

Her eyes scanned the length of the train that was serving as her own personal shield. She wasn't sure which way to go? Which path to take? If she went left she would be back in the city, wandering the streets and risking exposure. If she went right then she was at the train station, and around all the people and security that it held within its stone walls, but staying put wasn't an option either. Her answers weren't here. She sighed, feeling her body's exhaustion acutely.

An echo reached her ears, faintly hinting that she wasn't as alone as she thought or felt. There was someone walking around out here, she could hear the footsteps. Where were they coming from? It was too hard to tell. She bent and scanned the area, peering underneath the mighty metal train for a sign of life, but there was nothing. There was nothing...and...there was definitely something? Someone was out here. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, keeping her senses on full alert as she continued to search for the mystery guest.

She froze, biting down on her lip. Near the train station there was a light, a bright beam from a flashlight, glowing intrusively over the rusted steel. She remained crouched, slowly inching beneath the car at her side, blending in with the shadows of the night around her. She watched a man in uniform round the corner, joining her and walking the corridor with ease. Great! she cursed, shaking her head in disbelief. Of course this was happening to her!

Natalie didn't move. She didn't breathe, watching the rent-a-cop stroll closer. He was looking for intruders, for bums who saw fit to bed down for the night in the empty cars. She smiled softly, imagining the look on his face if he discovered an FBI fugitive on his watch. Well, that wasn't going to happen. Carefully, she continued to back away, slowly poking her head out the other side of the train. She rose into the next corridor and climbed the metal rungs of the ladder, and she did it just in time because the guard was only a few feet away. She held her breath and watched helplessly, as the probing beam of his flashlight shone below. He was checking underneath the car, and she could barely think at all.

It didn't get any easier, when another flash of light rounded the corner from the opposite direction. Her heart slammed against her ribs fiercely. Another guard joined her on this side of the train, making his rounds while she was dangling off of its side. The light at her feet continued to move, and she slipped off her shoe, sinking slowly back onto the cold dirt. The sound was muted by her bare toes. She slipped beneath the car for the second time, not entirely sure that she's actually breathed for the past several minutes? She removed her other shoe, and then quickly climbed up the train again, waiting as the other man passed by.

Her eyes were glued to the back of the guard who was now walking away from her, as she bolted into the empty car and sank into its corner. She closed her eyes, listening as the two men continued to walk the trainyard, doing their prospective jobs but they would be back and she definitely couldn't stay here. Her fingers flipped open the tiny phone and dialed before her brain even had a chance to catch up. She had to call. There was no other option now. She bit her lip again, listening to the rings in her ear.

John shut the door to the Commissioner's office tightly, and turned to face the room. They were all watching him, all waiting, and he frowned. He looked at his dad. "You wanted to see me?"

Thomas grinned, shaking his head. His son was a cocky bastard, God love him! "Why don't we do something new here, John? Why don't I listen, while you tell me the truth?" He sank into his chair, holding the piercing eyes across from him. They were bright with amusement and anger. "Well?" He watched his son lean against the door casually, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That would be new," he admitted, sick of all the posturing. He blew out a quick breath. "I went to the bait shop for the same reason that Mike did."

"How did you even know about it, brother?" he asked, wanting to believe him. But he didn't. He didn't believe him. "How did you know about them?"

John paused, meeting one set of eager eyes after another. He continued to lean easily, propping himself up as though he hadn't a care in the world. As though she weren't out there somewhere on her own, feeling betrayed by him. He glared at the Chief of Detectives. "They're in the Quantico database, Mike. This isn't their first time." He refused to look at his mother, who he knew shouldn't even be in the room, but no one, including himself, would be able to get her to leave.

Tom leaned forward. "Buchanan wasn't there?" He sounded as skeptical as he felt.

"You know, this is beginning to feel like an inquisition." He stood straight. "Is that what this is?"

The tension in the room was growing thick, making it hard not to effect those inside. Eve walked up to John, refusing to turn away from his outrage. She slowly looked to Cameron. "Jason, what about the computer?"

That was it! John felt the last of his restraint evaporate along with his calm. He watched his own mother walk straight for him, but address Cameron. She wasn't interested in his answers at all, and that was the final chink in his armor. "Get the hell out!" he boomed, causing his brother and father to stand abruptly. He saw the shock on his mother's face.

"John..?"

He held up his hand. "Cameron, get the hell out of this room right now!" He was going to have a chat with his so-called family.

Jason's back straightened. "What? Forget it!"

He reached up and rubbed the back of his stiff neck. "This is a family matter, so get the hell out or I'm going to throw you out on your ass!" He wasn't kidding, and he knew that everyone knew that.

The detective turned his eyes toward his partner. "Mike?" He had every right to be here, to hear what was going on? This was a police investigation.

Michael nodded at his friend. "Just do it, man." He could see that he was pissed. "Jase, let me talk to my brother."

Cameron refocussed on the Federal McBain, glaring openly. He wanted to punch him in his troublemaking face, but he didn't. Instead, he surprised himself by walking from the room and slamming the door behind him.

John turned around, finding his mother, father and brother. "I'm getting sick of all of you treating me like I'm some idiot rookie. Somehow, you keep forgetting that this is my case?" He looked at his wide-eyed mother. "And you're not even supposed to be here!"

She glared right back. "You're ruining your life, John!" He laughed, and she grabbed his arm, forcing his eyes back to hers. "You are ruining your life for a woman who doesn't deserve it."

He smiled softly. "Nothing is ruined, ma. Just what do you think is going on here?" He scanned the room, making sure to have their undivided attention. "Mike? Pop?" He sighed, feeling a little sad that things had to come to this - that the truth of everything had to come out, but maybe..? Maybe it always did? "You think that I'm so busy having sex with Natalie that I can't think straight, right? That I've got my head so far up my ass I can't see what's right in front of me?" He chuckled, and pulled from the firm hold of his mother's hand.

Then he stared from one to the other, travelling the room slowly. "You know you're right..."

"Jesus, Johnny!" Tom blurted, before getting cut off abruptly.

"Shut up, pop!" He saw him open his mouth in anger, but John no longer cared. "Shut up!" He did, and he continued. "You're right to consider her a suspect. The evidence, all of it, points to her. But what you are blatantly ignoring is all the evidence that points to her innocence, and you're doing that because of me...because you're so scared for me."

Michael walked closer. "What are you talking about, John? There is no evidence saying she's innocent."

"Nothing concrete, no, but there's tons of it, Mike." He could see a look of contrition on his baby bro's face, and it warmed his overworked heart a little. "She's a Buchanan. If she's guilty, then why the hell is she still here? Why not just board grandpa's jet and leave for parts unknown? The answer is, because she's not built that way. It's not who she is, she fights."

Eve hugged herself. "Maybe she doesn't want to leave you?"

He laughed again. "Right, because we're all about each other. I keep forgetting that. She was beaten in that alley the other night. That's one hell of a coincidence, isn't it?" He looked at his father. "Maxwell said that a woman hired him to beat her up. Any thoughts on why someone would do that, Commissioner?"

Tom moved around his large desk and took a seat on it. "You think someone is setting her up?" His heart was aching. "When did you deduce this, when she was taking her bra off for you in your hotel room?"

John felt as though he was just smacked across the face. He held his reply back with a bite of his lip, and lowered his eyes to the floor for a second. "Like I told mom, what I do and with whom is none of your business." He wanted to put his fist in his own father's face. What was happening to them?

"Well, at least you've still got enough sense to keep your mouth shut about that night."

Michael moved closer to his brother, not particularly liking his father either at the moment. "Tell me why you really think she's innocent, John?" He watched him closely. "There's more, something you're not telling us."

He nodded slightly, focussing on his brother. "Yeah. The computer."

"What about it?" Tom snapped, feeling more afraid than he ever remembered feeling before. He was losing his son, and didn't know what to do about it?

John ignored his parents and continued to talk to his brother. "Jennifer found something on it, an address that isn't supposed to be there. She's following its path, tracing it, and it'll lead to whoever really did this thing, Mike." He took an even breath. "I know it will."

He nodded. "That's why you wouldn't let us bring it back to the station, but then why the hell didn't you just say that?"

He stood straight, holding the blue eyes sharply. "I guess I was pissed that my own brother wasn't interested in listening to what I had to say?"

"Have you thought about what will happen if the computer trace doesn't pan out?" He wanted to help him, but he also wanted be a realist. Things did not look good for Natalie Buchanan's future.

Have I thought about it? It's all he's thought about. "The computer stays where it is," he ordered softly. "I have a friend helping Jennifer and Jack out right now."

"A friend?" Eve asked, drawing the irritated stare of both of her boys.

Mike sighed. "A Fed, ma."

John turned to his mother, and glanced at his dad. He couldn't very well avoid them forever. "This isn't about Natalie or me, or any feelings we may or may not have for one another."

Tom walked over to his wife, staring hard at his oldest boy. "Then what is it about, John?"

He felt his heart rate increase, and he frowned. "It's about what's right. It's about finding who really committed this crime, and it's about helping an innocent woman." There was that tension again. "Since she topped your suspect list, you've zeroed in on her, and stopped looking for other possibilities. You became judge and jury, whether you intended to or not. Well, I'm not going to let you arrest her for something she didn't do." He walked closer, staring at the both of them without hesitation. "This is about doing my job. If you hadn't written me off all those years ago, then maybe it wouldn't be so hard for you to trust me now?"

Eve reached out, but he stepped away. "John?"

"Don't!" he said, moving toward the door. "We're done here." He looked at his brother for another second, and left the stifling office behind. He only got about two feet before he had Cameron in his face. "They're all yours."

Jason blinked, refusing to budge. He watched the agent's eyes widen slightly when his phone rang, and then he watched him slowly answer the call.

"McBain?" The connection was not a good one. "Hello?" he said, straining to hear her voice at the other end.

...John?...

He heard his name and allowed himself to breathe. "Yeah, McBain here." He continued to stare at the nosy detective who wasn't budging from his path.

...thank g...can't t...

"I understand," he answered, trying not to panic. "I didn't catch that."

...can you h...me?...

It was a clear, warm night. Why the hell was the connection so bad? "Say again?" He inched away and turned his back, but Cameron was holding his ground.

...I need...r..help. Can...u..e...me?...

The line went dead and he felt as though his heart stopped as well. She needed his help, that much he got loud and clear. He turned and looked at his shadow. "What?"

Jason stared hard, feeling his gut twisting tighter with every tick of the clock. "She hang up on you?" he asked, knowing it was her. This man was a liar. He was still in contact with Buchanan and he was helping her, but he was also Mike's brother - Tom's son. "That family in there loves you man. You better start getting your shit together, for their sake." Then he walked over to the office and stepped through the door.

John released the breath that he was holding. She needed him, but where the hell was she? Where would she go? He had absolutely no idea where to even look, but maybe her brother did? He bolted for the cell block. He and Rex were going to have a chat.