Author's Note: I am so sorry this took so long! I knew what I wanted to happen in this chapter and I just could not get it started. Thank you all so much for your incredibly kind reviews. Please know I read them all and I am so appreciative! There's still much more to come!
Chapter 12- Fire with Fire
As the car headed towards the small warehouse district, Cabe did his best to calm himself down. He needed to be calm once they got there, otherwise he'd end up dead and so would Leah. Cabe needed to be at the top of his game. There were at least three men, possibly all with guns, he would have to go up against.
He had to be calm.
While Cabe drove, Walter and Sly prepared the thermal imager. It was, hopefully, going to help them find Leah without having to go warehouse by warehouse.
It had been almost three hours since Leah was taken. Cabe still wasn't sure why he was so drawn to her. Maybe once all this was over, he would move on. Maybe he wouldn't. He just knew he had to save her. Or at least try. She had chosen not to kill him and so she deserved his best effort.
Cabe just wasn't so sure all of Scorpion was putting their best efforts in it. They were good people, but he knew and understood that they weren't so keen on Leah.
Looking in the rearview mirror, Cabe could see Walter and Sylvester working in the middle seat while Happy and Toby were in the far back seats, talking to one another.
"You're worried," Paige said from beside him.
Cabe looked back at the road in front of him. "I'm calm."
"Hmm, yes, but still worried. They're good at what they do, you know that. They'll do their best, we'll find Leah, and then whatever happens, happens."
Cabe only nodded and focused on the road. No sense in worrying about the future.
It took only a few more minutes before they arrived at the warehouses. Cabe stopped the car, unsure of where he should go.
"Ok, Cabe. Head straight and take the first left. The warehouse three blocks down is the first one on the list," Walter said from behind him.
The car rolled forward, taking them cautiously to their first destination. The buildings passed by until they found their first one.
"Give me one second," Sylvester said as he punched buttons on the thermal imager.
Cabe slowed as much as he could, but kept the SUV moving forward.
"There are people inside," Walter said, looking over Sylvester's shoulder.
"Yeah, maybe seven on the first floor. Nothing that looks suspicious though," Sylvester said. "Probably not this one."
"Okay, on to the next building," Cabe said, pushing the gas pedal down to move them past the building.
"Take a right at the next corner and then a left three blocks down," Walter told him.
Cabe drove, his eyes looking for anything out of place, any sign of danger. They were walking, or driving, into an unknown. It made Cabe uneasy and yet he couldn't stop.
As they got closer to their next target, Cabe slowed the car again and let Sylvester do what he needed to.
"Looks empty," the young man said as they rolled past the large warehouse.
"Next?" Cabe asked.
"Go straight two blocks, take a right and then it's four blocks up," Walter answered.
Cabe headed to their next stop, knowing that there was a 50/50 chance that this would be the one. He made the turn and even before they had gone two blocks, he knew this was the one. The street was far quieter than the other ones had been, and yet one building looked busy.
"I'm picking up some heat signatures," Sylvester said, his voice getting anxious. "First floor, two people at least and one is in a chair, their body heat is less than the others. I think this is it, Cabe!"
Cabe drove by the building, giving it a quick glance over, trying to compile a plan.
"Next building on the left is empty," Walter told him.
The agent pulled the SUV into a small lot behind the building and opened the door, leaving the engine running. Everyone else piled out, waiting for orders.
"Here's how it's going to go," Cabe began.
Leah spit more blood, feeling it drip down her chin. Her head hurt and her vision was fuzzy, but she could just make out one of the goons in front of her.
"Just tell us what we want to know, Leah. Why are you making this so difficult on yourself?" he asked.
Leah laughed, but it was more of a rasp and she began choking on blood. She ungracefully hocked up a chunk of blood, spitting it on the floor as much as she could, but still more dripped down her chin. "I'm just enjoying our time together, asshat. It's been a joy," she choked out. Her chest hurt from what was likely at least two broken ribs, making it hard for her to breathe and speak.
"You're brave, but stupid. You're going to die. Just make it easy on yourself," he said, almost managing to sound sympathetic.
Breathing heavily, Leah looked up at the goon, gritting her teeth. "You don't get it, do you?" she choked out. "I am not afraid," she took a deep breath," to die. Death is nothing compared to life. I've," Leah paused to spit out more blood and try to steady her breathing. She began to worry that she might have a punctured lung. Breathing was becoming harder for her. "I've seen people I love die. I've lost everything known to man. I've been poor. I've been rich. I've been loved. I've been hated. There's nothing more for me. I'm too old for more kids. Getting married again isn't a win or lose for me. Growing old doesn't bother me and not growing old doesn't bother me, kid." Leah took another deep breath and let it out slowly. She shook her head. "Death doesn't scare me. Living does."
The guy stared down at her, seemingly both disgusted and amazed by her. She hoped he believed her, because she was telling the truth. She'd been alive long enough to know that life sucked. Dying was easy for the dying, not so much for their family or friends.
The family she still had mostly hated her and she had very few friends, so she wouldn't be very missed in death. Especially if they ever found out what she did for a living.
So what did she care if she died?
Part of Leah wished she had given Gallo the information before she died though. He could do good with it. He would get Andy, Sean, and the others off the street. Save some lives. More than she had ever done.
Leah's head sank down, her neck being unable to hold it up any longer. Her body screamed at her in every direction. Her list of injuries was too long to mention. She should never have told Andy she had evidence on the Irish. Dumb. She was dumb.
"What's taking so long?" the third guy asked, coming out. "Andy keeps calling. He wants it done. If she won't talk, just kill her already."
"Get it over with," she muttered. "I'm so fucking bored."
"You just keep talking shit," Chris, she assumed, said. He grabbed her by the chin and lifted her head up, squeezing her face. "I'm so tired of you."
"Then grow some ovaries and do something about it, prick," she snapped.
He stepped back, letting her face go, and backhanded her again. Leah barely felt it. Her face was so numb at this point from all of the hits she had already taken. He was going to have to be more creative than this.
Leah stared off to the right, sighing quietly. How long had she been here? How long had then been torturing her? Asking her over and over and over?
She closed her eyes, shutting the world out. Leah wanted this to be over, one way or another.
"Hands up, weapons down! This is Homeland Security!" someone said over what sounded like a loudspeaker.
Leah's eyes shot up and she sat up as gingerly as she could, looking around.
Cabe had come for her?
She tried not to get too excited at the thought, but she couldn't help it. Leah smiled; her first true smile in a long time.
This was going to finally end.
"Fuck!" one of the men shouted. Two of them took off, but Chris stayed with Leah. He stood behind her, taking out a gun and pointing it at her head.
"If you want her alive, let's negotiate!" he yelled out.
"Okay, let's talk," Agent Gallo said from the other side of the room.
Leah silently willed him to be careful. She had hoped he brought a lot of backup with him. They might only be three men, but that didn't mean this would be a walk in the park.
"You can have the bitch, but I walk!" Chris said.
"Oh, I don't think that's going to work," Gallo replied, his voice sounding closer.
Her heart sped up and her breathing grew haggard. It was getting harder for her to catch her breath.
"Then the bitch dies!" Chris screamed, jamming the gun against her temple.
"Just kill him," Leah yelled out as loudly as she could muster, which wasn't very loud. She coughed again, more bloody sputum coming up. She really needed a doctor.
"Fuck you," Chris whispered angrily against her head.
"Nah, fuck you," she said. With all of her remaining strength, Leah leaned forward and then threw her head back, hitting Chris in the face.
"Shit," he yelled out as he fell back, his gun going off.
Luckily for her, the bullet hit the ceiling high above them. Unfortunately, Leah was still strapped to the chair and too weak to do anything about it. Her vision was fuzzy after that head butt. She could hear Chris moving on the cement floor behind her.
"Don't even think about it, punk," Gallo said as he came around a box. His gun was pointed behind Leah. "Put it down or I will shoot you," he ordered, his voice calm and strong.
"God dammit," Chris cursed.
Leah assumed he put his gun down since Gallo wasn't shooting him.
"The other two…took off," Leah said, still struggling to find her breath.
"On it," he said. The older man took out his cuffs, keeping his gun on Chris. He walked behind Leah and was doing something.
Suddenly, he was next to her. She could smell his cologne. He smelled familiar. Safe.
Her head sank down again, her eyes closing.
"Hey, hey now," he said quietly, in front of her. With a finger, he gently lifted her head up. "Can you walk?" he asked gently.
Leah nodded. "Barely. One leg's broken. Some ribs broken. But I can get the fuck out of here," she said, opening her eyes to look at him. The first thing she saw was his baby blue eyes. They were hypnotizing and intoxicating. The concern on his face almost broke her heart. "You found me," she whispered.
Gallo smiled. "Of course I did." He gently let her head sink back down and then cut her out of her bonds. Helping her to her feet, the agent began leading her to the door, keeping as much of her weight on him as he could.
Leah gritted her teeth, determined not to cry out even though a horrible, sharp pain was screaming from her broken left leg. She kept as much weight on her right as she could as she hobbled from the warehouse.
They were close to the door when she spotted something from the corner of her swollen right eye. Leah looked up and saw goon #3 with a gun pointed right at Cabe. So she did the only thing she could.
Leah Hudson threw herself in front of Agent Cabe Gallo as the gun went off.
And then the world went black.
