Sorry for such a delay. I ended up having to move on short notice. Finally settled back down enough to start another chapter. Tried to keep the same tone as previous chapters, but it's been awhile since I stepped away from the story line. Let me know if things don't mesh very well and I can tweek things a bit. As always critiques are welcome. Thanks.
::Matty- Basement of Field Office:
Director of Operations Matilda Webber closed the soundproofed metal door behind her with a muffled thud followed by the snick of a magnetically controlled bolt slipping into place.
If she wasn't so exhausted, she would have been impressed with the holding facilities here at the FBI's St. Paul field office. They managed to take an outwardly cozy looking building, and transform its inner basement into a labyrinth of cold, ridged interrogation cells totally devoid of any sense of time or place.
It had been 28 hours since she and Riley had left the runway back in L.A. Twenty-two of those had been spent sitting in a cold metal chair slowly chipping away at the resolve of one and then the other of the two Akhperutyun clan members involved in the ambush nearly two days ago.
She glanced behind her at the door to the holding cell she had finally emerged from. Despite being victorious, she didn't feel any pride, or accomplishment.
She was just tired.
Contrary to popular belief, interrogations wore down the lead examiner just as much as they did the subject. It wasn't just because of the enormous amount of energy required to upkeep a constant volley of 'cat and mouse' verbal traps. Instead, the source of exhaustion that ultimately lead to the breaking down of most participants was from the effects of sleep deprivation. It was as pure and simple as that.
Matilda hadn't slept in over 40 hours, but this was what she was trained to do. This was her specialty- mentally outlasting every cocky, adrenaline, and sometimes drug fueled sociopath that was set down at the examination table across from her. Sometimes the table was metal, sometimes, concrete, sometimes there wasn't a table at all, but the examinees where always the same and she always succeeded in getting the information that she needed. The trick was to get it within the time frame allotted.
She had almost taken this particular investigation down to the wire. It had required some fancy footwork by the joint Phoenix/FBI analytical team, but finally Jill had come to Matty with the key piece of information that the Director needed to tear apart the gun smuggling operation.
The two apprehended suspects were brothers.
Half-brothers to be exact, but enough blood between them to cast both men as rivals for 'Daddy's Weapons Empire'. Matty couldn't have asked for a better piece of intel. This was just the gasoline that she had been looking for to toss on the fire of what was assuredly a long standing rivalry between the two.
Once Matilda had absorbed the new data, she had quickly adjusted her interrogation technique. She began to insinuate to each brother that his counterpart in the adjoining cell had agreed to cooperate with the FBI in order to cut a deal. It had only taken 3 more sessions with elder Hyak before, in a bout of blind rage and sibling jealousy, he began unravelling at the seams at the thought that his younger brother might be trying to maneuver his way out of prison and back into the business as the main inheritor.
As with most impulsive psychopaths, Hyak gave up everything in a fit of familial revenge.
Matilda took another moment to clear her head of the ordeal before turning back to the main exit for the basement and making her way back to the Headquarter's central command and control room.
Upon her arrival, all eyes turned to her in a moment of tense anticipation.
Despite her exhaustion, she put on her best 'rally the troops' demeanor.
"We got 'em people. Tell AD Caffrey we have his bust location. He is going to love this."
"Jill, get a pen and write this down…"
::Matilda and Jack- St. Josephs Medical::
Jack's arms felt heavy. It was a familiar feeling, one that he always associated with coming back into the world of the living after a long trip to what he called 'The Big (Almost) Sleep.'
How long had he been under? Was he in a hospital, or some subterranean holding cell? During times like these, there was always a 50/50 chance he'd open his eyes up to one or the other.
He mentally prodded himself to find out which one it was this time.
He struggled to lift his heavy eyelids for a few seconds and failed resulting in a soft groan of frustration.
That elicited a voice from some far reaches of the…tunnel? No, not a tunnel, a room?
The voice repeated itself, "Jack? Can you hear me? It's ok. You can open your eyes. It's Matty…Jack…open your eyes."
Jack was thrilled that the voice was Matilda's, which meant that more than likely he was in a hospital.
Good. He didn't feel like punching through hoards of bad guys to make a daring escape right now. Nor did he think he could handle any of Mac's explosive devices rigged up to blast through…wait...
Mac!
The ex-Delta drew in a sharp breath and forced both his eyes wide open as adrenaline took over. He instantly regretted both actions as a spasm gripped his abdomen and the bright hospital lights cleaved his brain in two.
"Jack! No…no…take it easy tiger. Focus on my hand and calm down."
Jack felt the squeeze of not one, but two small hands against his right palm and forearm.
He tried to slow his breathing and again focused all his energy on getting at least one eye open to look at his boss. He had to know what happened to his partner. He couldn't bear not knowing if Mac was alive/dead, safe/missing, mending/broken…his mind was overwhelmed with so many dichotomies. Dichotomies that, depending upon which side of the fence reality landed on, would dictate whether Jack's life trajectory would take a turn for the better or worse.
He would never forgive himself if Mac was gone.
"Mm…Mac?"
Jack's heart skipped a beat as he sensed more than saw Matty hesitate. His vision was still blurry and he blinked rapidly to try to gain a better image of his surroundings.
"Please…Matty….Mac?"
The Director gave a small nod and steeled herself for what she knew she was going to have to get through next.
Determined to be strong for Jack, she simply said, "Ok", turned to the chair next to her, and used it to maneuver herself onto the edge of Jack's bedside.
She looked at him hard again, assessing how much the injured agent could actually handle at the moment.
Jack knew exactly what she was doing and with a stronger voice repeated, "Please Matilda, just tell me what happened."
"You were admitted to St. Joseph's emergency room two nights ago with a stab wound to the abdomen, a dislocated left hip, two fractured ribs, and a concussion. The latter three injuries where likely due to your fall from the Wabashi bridge, while the former is assumed to be the handy work of Alex Temar, though we can't be sure without a description. You have been under since your emergency surgery after a police officer brought you in."
Matilda hesitated as she remembered how close they had come to losing Dalton.
She then looked directly at her agent. "How much do you remember of your encounter on the bridge?"
Jack was frowning, "Temar?...But, Temar was ahead of me…..he…"
Jack trailed off as he began to realize the full scope of what had really happened.
"It was an ambush wasn't it. We weren't chasing Temar, we were chasing a decoy. The Armenians lured us onto the bridge right into the hands of that faceless butcher."
"Would you be able to reconstruct a description of the man that attacked you for our files? It would be the only eyewitness description ever recorded of his identity."
Jack closed his eyes in concentration, 'It was an older man that collided with me. I remember thinking that he drew himself in too close under the circumstances…and.…something sharp hit my side. I looked up at his face and he was smiling. I couldn't understand why he was smiling. He…"
Jack squeezed his eyes tighter for a moment, but then shook his head in defeat, "Maybe a partial description. His thin smile is the last thing I remember until..."
He paused again in thought, "…until Mac found me along the river."
"How did I end up in the river?"
Matilda's single minded focus faltered a little. She didn't want to have to relive the events on the bridge any more than Dalton, but she knew it was important for both Phoenix and the injured agent to construct as accurate of a timeline as possible. Not only for the records, but also to ground Jack in reality. In her experience there was nothing worse than not knowing.
She cleared her throat and answered, "Temar heaved your body over the side before Mac could get to you."
The realization hit Jack like a sledge hammer. That was a very high bridge over very cold water.
"Jesus, I should be dead Matty."
He shifted his gaze toward the ceiling, but was contemplating something a thousand miles beyond- a thousand regrets, a thousand things left undone and unsaid. This latest mission had nearly stripped him from everyone he cared about.
He whispered more to himself than anything else, "I shouldn't be alive right now should I?"
With a voice that masked the emotion she felt inside, the Director of Operations answered the rhetorical question, "I would have to agree with you except your pathologically optimistic partner went against direct orders and decided that he could simultaneously take out Temar and improvise an Olympic worthy high-dive to save your hide at the same time."
That instantly snapped Jack back to the present.
"What!"
A shrill beeping sounded next to Jack causing his boss to jump in nearly as much alarm and anxiety as he himself suddenly felt.
Dalton quickly realized he needed to calm down before every nurse on the floor injected him with whatever 'sleepy-time cocktail' they had used the last time he had shown any agitation.
After a few seconds, he was able to slow his heart enough to silence the monitors much to the relief of his bedside companion.
In quiet anger fueled by a growing sense of guilt, the older agent continued, "Mac did what?"
Matilda was finding it hard to keep her tone professional. All she could see in her mind's eye was first one and then another of her agents falling to what was surely their deaths.
She took a steadying breath, "When Mac couldn't reach you at the railing in time, he launched both Temar and himself over the edge after you. Somehow he was able to locate you in the water and drag you to shore."
Jack had a momentary flash of waking up on the silty beach with Mac's bloody face hovering over him. Jack closed his eyes and couldn't stop a shiver that ran through his limbs, which threatened to set off a whole new series of spasms along his side.
"How bad is he hurt Matty?"
At the moment Jack couldn't fathom the possibility that his best friend was actually gone.
His heart simultaneously leaped with joy and then plummeted as Matty replied, "It's pretty bad Jack."
Mac was alive at least, but it didn't sound promising. Jack's emotions were in turmoil. He didn't know what to feel.
"Aside from what appears to be a stab wound to his left shoulder, again attributed to Temar, Mac's main injuries are internal. He sustained a skull fracture presumably during impact with said assassin as they hit the water's surface. Two of his ribs also punctured his right lung causing traumatic pneumothorax. They were able to quickly remedy the lung collapse in the ambulance, but they ended up having to transfer Mac to Northwestern's Neurosurgery Center in Minneapolis for his head trauma. They have stabilized his other injuries, but they are having to induce a coma until they can find a way to relieve the build-up of intracranial pressure."
The Director risked a glace at her agent's face after her rather dry and clinical report.
It was then that her heart finally broke.
Dalton looked so lost.
She reached down for his right palm again to offer support as he weakly scrubbed away a stray tear off his chin with the knuckles of his left.
"I'm so sorry Jack."
"When can I see him?"
"I've already arranged a room for you on Northwestern's ICU ward, but they won't permit us to move you to Mac's hospital until we know your kidney and liver functions are normal and that you are clear of any signs of pneumonia."
Jack made a motion to protest, but Matty quickly interrupted, "Jack, listen to me. Temar nearly gutted you. I know how worried we are about Mac, but before you woke up 10 minutes ago, the rest of the team were just as worried about you."
She let that sink in before continuing, "Please trust me when I say that I am trying to get you to Mac as soon as humanly possible. You just need to trust me."
The slight pleading tone in his boss's voice was so uncharacteristic that Jack was sapped of all his fight. He didn't even try to hide a second and third tear that escaped his now closed eyes.
"Ok. I trust you, but I need to be there for him Matty. He needs me as much as I need him. Don't let me fail in protecting him again. Please."
"I know Jack. I know."
Matilda Webber sighed as she moved to prop her back against the headboard beside her best agent. Neither of the two time hardened operatives said another word as they both settled down to wait for something, anything the happen.
Time, it would seem, was going to pass in agonizing slowness.
Will start on next chapter soon.