Yeah...things continue to get more complicated. I hope it is holding your interest. Thanks very much for reading. :)

Misconceptions pt. 24

Rex lay on his back, staring up at the smooth, cement overhead. He wiggled a little in an attempt to get comfortable, but promptly gave up the effort. This cot was never going to be the slightest bit comfortable no matter what he did. His wrist draped lazily across his forehead, and he sighed, starting to go stir crazy. This wasn't his first stint behind bars, far from it, but it has been awhile. He forgot how boring a cell could be. And me without my deck of cards!

A sharp clink found his ears as it echoed down the cold walls. He turned his head, waiting to get a glimpse of who was coming to see him. He frowned, sitting up slowly as his guest arrived.

"Open the door and leave," the voice barked, issuing a clear order to the officer at his side.

The man shook his head quickly. "Can't. If you go in there, then I stay right where I am. Those are the rules." He tilted his head slightly, staring into a set of bright, angry eyes. "Sorry, sir."

John focussed on the young man with the gun. The one he needed to ditch. "Listen kid, I think I can handle things from here. Just open the damn door." He watched him do as he was told, but he didn't make an attempt to leave the cell block. "I said, get out."

"No sir." he refused, stubbornly. He knew who this was, and he didn't like it, but he wasn't about to get fired.

A hand slowly slipped into a pocket and pulled out a badge and ID. "Do you see this?" John asked evenly. The uniform nodded. He stared directly at the young man. "Mine is bigger than yours." After another agonizing moment, the officer backed up and finally left the basement. John walked into the cell and found Rex waiting on him.

"It's about t..."

He stepped into the kid's face quickly, staring hard into wide, surprised eyes. His gaze lowered briefly, giving him a good look at the bleach stain on the collar of his t-shirt. "There are cameras in here, Balsom."

Rex blinked, fighting the instinct to look for them. "Okay."

"She called, but the connection was crap."

He licked his dry lips, feeling his heartbeat pick up. She called! "So the fact that we're talking means no microphones, right?"

John clutched the cotton on the boy's chest and pushed him backward, slamming him roughly against the bunkbeds that lined the wall.

"Jesus!"

"Sorry, but this has to look good."

He blew out a quick breath. "Tell it to the gashes in my back!"

John released his hold and took a single step backwards, but he continued to pin him with a forceful stare. "Shut up and listen! That cop went straight to the commissioner, so we don't have much time." He saw the look of surrender that was reflecting his way. "I couldn't make out much, but she's in trouble. She was asking for help."

Rex shoved him. "What the hell do you mean she needs help? Where is she?"

"I don't know, damn it!" He was extremely irritated. "If I did I wouldn't be here with you, would I?" He shook off his anger. There wasn't time for it. "I need to know where she would go? Where she might be?"

Rex paced the tiny space for a moment. "I don't know for sure?"

"Then give me your best guess!" he shouted, lifting his hands to his hips. The door down the hall was opening.

"Maybe the railyards?" he mumbled, feeling confused. Was he doing the right thing here? Telling this man where to look for his fugitive sister?

John walked up to him again. "I'm gonna get you out of here, but you need to go home. You can't go looking for her, do you hear me?"

"Forget it!" Like hell, McBain! He found himself pressed against the wall again.

"They'll follow you, Balsom. I'm gonna make sure that they follow you."

He swallowed, finally understanding the Agent's plan. He lowered his voice. "You better get over there. You said she needs help."

He grabbed his shirt and began to aggressively work on the kid, when some hands came in and pulled him away. John didn't fight them as he was lead out of the cell, which was locked tightly behind him. He found himself looking into a familiar set of blue eyes, and they were really, really pissed. "What?" he asked, feigning innocence.

Thomas stood straight, staring at the door that his stranger of a son exited through. He ran a hand through his thick hair and walked back to his chair, sinking into it slowly. "Well that went well?"

Eve went to the nearest seat and joined her deflated husband. "It's getting harder to reach him, Tom." He just nodded. "How the hell can we fix this?"

Mike stood silently, watching his parents as they discussed John and his future. As they worried about him and tried to handle the situation. It made him mad. "You know," he began, walking closer to the large desk, "I've always understood where you guys were coming from when it came to John. He just left. He disappeared and he never looked back, and I blamed him for that too." He stared at his mother, who was watching him closely. "He was running away, and I saw how much it hurt you. How you held your breath when the phone rang, hoping it was him?" He looked at his father. "How you were terrified that he'd change into someone you couldn't recognize when he picked up that badge?" He shook his head, cocking it to the side slightly. "Only what I finally realize is, he's not the one who's changed at all."

Tom frowned. "What are you talking about, Michael?" He lost his temper, and his voice boomed in the tiny office. "He's throwing his life away for a manipulative bitch! She's using him!"

He glanced at his mother again. "I remember my brother. What he was like, and the things he did? He's still the same guy - slightly impulsive and very intense, passionate about the law and his job and serving the public, stopping the bad guys." His voice softened slightly. "He's the same."

Tom stood from his chair. "What are you saying, Mike?"

He stood straight, meeting his angry father in the eyes. "I'm saying that you two are the one's who have changed. All this time, it was you."

"What?" Eve stood too.

"Pop, you never wanted the FBI for him, and have been pissed that he didn't listen. That he left and he never looked back, and that he's done well." He wasn't going to stick his head in the sand anymore. There was too much at stake for his brother. "You've hated that he lived his life despite your expectations for him."

He focussed on Eve. "And you never wanted him to leave. You'd lose your baby and didn't want to let him go. So, you tried like hell to keep him home." He chuckled and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Me, I was angry. He disappeared and so I stopped making an effort. I let him go." He stepped away and paced the space slowly, feeling their hurt as it followed him around the room.

Eve felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest. "It's not that simple, Mike. He's made some bad choices."

"Yeah, but he hasn't really had anyone to turn to for advise, has he?" He stopped moving and stared at them both. They were, for the moment, eerily silent. "He believes that Natalie is innocent, and despite his questionable involvement with her, he's sticking to it. He really believes it."

Tom felt a calm wash over him, numbing him. "You're not a kid anymore, Michael. She's playing him, working him."

He shook his head. "No, pop. John's not that stupid...and he was right. Somewhere along the line we turned our backs on him, all of us." He could see his mother vehemently disagreeing with a shake of her head. "Yes," he insisted, feeling ashamed. It was all true.

"Michael, honey..." she began, stopping abruptly when the door to the office opened. She swallowed the lump in her throat as Cameron and an officer entered.

"Not now!" Tom yelled, wanting to hit something, or someone.

"Yes sir," Jason insisted, wishing he could erase this whole nightmare for his surrogate family. "John's downstairs with Balsom and he's working him over pretty good."

"What?" Everyone cleared out of the room quickly, heading for the latest drama to unfold. Tom grabbed his wife's hand as they walked, needing the contact desperately.

Michael led the entourage, growing angrier by the second. Here he was defending his ass of a brother, and pushing his own parents in the process, and for what? So that John could go downstairs and break policy yet again? So he could look even more out of control with this case than he already does? He stormed through the bars and entered the cell block with a purpose.

He found the agent illegally in the cell with his suspect, shoving him hard against the wall. His men dragged him out and locked the door, securing the scene. He took a deep breath, and then another. His anger was very clear to anyone who looked in his direction, and it only got worse when he heard the taunt.

...What?...

Michael hauled his fist back and struck his big brother in the jaw, hard.

It took a second to really believe that he just got punched out by his baby brother, but the throb in his jaw was evidence enough. "What the hell?" he shouted, shaking his head in an attempt to shake off the pain. It wasn't working.

Mike got in his face. "What the hell were you doing in there John, and don't bother reminding me that this is your case, because you know damn well you shouldn't be in there alone!" He wanted to hit him again.

John frowned, slowly moving his tender jaw in a circle. He stood tall. "I'm letting Balsom go."

Everyone chuckled, even Tom.

"I'm sorry, what?" he repeated. Clearly his brother has lost all touch with reality.

He scanned the crowded cell block slowly, taking a good hard look at everyone in the space. Then he turned back to Mike. "Let's talk about this elsewhere." It wasn't a suggestion. He walked out knowing everyone would follow. They did.

Once out of earshot, he turned to his father. "Just listen. That little ass down there knows where she is? He knows."

"Forget it, John," Tom replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's a good idea."

He smiled bitterly. "You haven't had a good idea since you got to town, John."

Eve stepped forward, putting a hand on her husband's arm. He looked away sheepishly, allowing her to join in the conversation. "Is this idea on the level?"

He blew out a breath, ignoring the sharp twist in his gut. "Your constant disappointment in me is touching."

She stepped closer, holding his challenging stare. "That's not what I meant!"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter." He addressed the entire hallway. "He'll lead us to her, and this will finally be over." No one spoke. "It's a risk, but we've got nothing right now. I think it's worth it?"

Cameron couldn't take it anymore. He walked closer to the Fed. "I bet you do."

John tensed, staring hard. "Meaning?"

"I think that was her on the phone earlier, and I think you've cooked something up with your boy in there." His hands went to his hips. "That's what I think."

"What phone call?" Tom asked, feeling more and more nervous by the second.

John shook his head slightly, keeping his eyes trained on the pain-in-the-ass detective. "I had a call earlier, but the connection was bad. I couldn't make out who was on the other end."

"Convenient."

"Alright," Mike interupted, joining in the fun, "let's just take a break for a minute." He stepped between his brother and his friend. "Cam, you don't know who was on his phone?"

Cameron was pissed. "Yes I do, and so do you! The girl isn't the biggest player in all this, Mike."

"Back off, right now!" His pulse was racing through his entire body. "That's enough, Jason."

He refocussed on the old man. "Why don't you ask your son where he got that phone?"

"What?"

Jason moved his eyes from one McBain to another. "He met with a Secret Service friend, who left him a tiny little mystery package, one big enough to hold a cell in it."

John grinned, amused by this entire show. "Clever. I guess you have me all figured out detective?" He needed to get the hell out of here. Natalie was in trouble and he still had to find her.

Eve was confused. "What are you trying to say Jason?"

His eyes softened, hating to blurt out the difficult truths regarding her wayward son. "I'm saying that he's using that phone to stay in contact with Buchanan."

She frowned, glancing at John, and then Cameron again. "Well that's easy enough? Run a trace."

John pushed down his own disappointment. The sorrow of finally feeling disconnected from his own parents. "You're welcome to try," he said confidently. There was no point in worrying, because the phone was untraceable.

Tom stepped up to John and stared into his cold eyes. He couldn't deal with this anymore, he just couldn't. It was too hard, too much. "We're not letting Balsom go." The case was what he would focus on.

"Yes we are." He turned around and continued to walk upstairs. "I make the decisions, remember?" He stared at all of them. "He's walking and that's the end of it." Then he issued orders to have his prisoner released.

His heart was pounding uncontrollably, and he felt sweaty. This was getting worse for his family by the second, but he couldn't help any of that. He had to focus on Natalie now. So he set his plan in motion, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach as his mother and father walked away from him. They disappeared into the office, leaving him alone with his brother. Cameron thankfully went to his desk, giving him a temporary reprieve from his constant interference. He bit his lip and looked at Michael. "You got something you want to say to me?"

He did, but he didn't know where to begin? The only thing he could do is concentrate on what was in front of him. It was a start. "Are you going to be leading the operation on Balsom?" he asked, trying really hard to be helpful. It wasn't easy. He wasn't convinced that Cameron was wrong about the accusations he was flinging.

John swallowed. He hadn't expected that. "No," he said softly. "You'll do that. I know you won't blow this thing, and I need someone I can trust." He felt horrible. Talking about trust when he was using him as bait. As a distraction from his true purpose. The guilt didn't sit well at all.

Michael's suspicions reared their ugly heads, along with his anger. "Where are you going to be? I mean, if you feel this strongly about th...?"

"I'm heading to the bait shop and the computer. That's the key to freeing her, Mike." At least that was partially true. "Just," he paused, "just do this for me. It's important." The tension was thick, as they stared at one another in stoney silence. It felt as though an eternity passed, but finally he agreed with a nod. John felt his lungs fill with air again. "Thanks," he said softly, walking out of the station. He didn't have anymore time to waste.

Where the hell are you Natalie?

Thomas was in his chair again, slowly lifting his gaze to the watchful eyes of his beautiful wife. She was resting on the edge of the desk, staring down at him with concern. He closed his eyes when her tiny hand caressed his face.

"He's not going to stop, babe," she said, stating the obvious. He nodded, keeping his eyes closed, and she sighed. "He's going to keep pushing the boundaries until he crosses a permanent line, and then he's going to be lost."

"I know," he answered, though he wasn't sure where the sound came from? It wasn't his usual voice, but more raw. He finally reopened his lids and met her gaze. "I have to stop him, Eve. For his own good, I have to stop him."

She held her breath, feeling the fear that was ripping through her body, turning it cold. "What does that mean?"

He rose to his feet, taking her hands and clutching them tightly. He continued to watch her, feeling her breath on his skin. "It means I need to have him removed from this case."

Her eyes were wide. "Fire him? You want to get him fired?"

He frowned. "I don't WANT any of this!" His heart was pounding. "He can't get arrested, that'll end him."

She processed everything that she's learned over the past couple of hours. Her mind was spinning with Michael's words, and Cameron's. John's. She wanted to cry, but now was hardly the time for that. He was staring down at her, waiting, and she knew that he would only go forward if she supported his decision.

She thought of everything that was wrong with her family, and the one thing that was making it worse. Natalie Buchanan. That woman had a hold over her boy, and now he was in trouble and he would keep getting in trouble. Her eyes shimmered with the tears that she wouldn't allow to fall, and she nodded. "Do it."

He bent and kissed her softly. He picked up his phone, telling himself that this had to be done. It was the only option. It would save his son from himself. His heart hurt as the call transferred to his son's acting supervisor.

I'm sorry, he thought, speaking the traitorous words that made his soul ache. This was the right thing to do. It was right.

It's right!