AN: Sorry folks, it appears I was suffering from premature publishing disorder (DOH!) when I posted our chapter 2 because there were huge junks I forgot to put in before John wakes up the next morning. So, I've added some of them and the rest will appear in chapter 3 along with continuation of the story from John's perspective.
Chapter 2
"I discovered this place by accident." Stanton explained. "Mark kept coming back to this building over and over again and then I'd lose the signal. At first I thought it was the bug. I planted two more on him before I finally realized that this place was a NOC."
"Alright, so we need to pretend we are trying to get in there and make as much 'noise' doing it as possible. I'm assuming you have some decent firepower?" Stanton just gave him a look.
"Well then, here goes." He said, opening the car door. Stanton then opened the trunk and they both armed themselves.
"I think this little baby ought to get Mark's attention." She said, grabbing a grenade.
"Kara, are you crazy? We want to let him know we were here, we don't want to blow the whole damn building!" He grabbed the grenade out of her hand, expecting a fight and sure enough he got one. She suddenly swept his legs out from under him and he rolled backwards, bouncing back up on his feet.
"I'm the one calling the shots here remember? Now, I don't care who you think you are now, but I need John the killer back or we aren't gonna make it outta here." She said, bitingly.
"That man is long gone Kara. The sooner you accept that, the easier and quicker we can get this thing done." He answered coldly. "Now let's just do this thing. WITHOUT a grenade."
"Fine, have it your way." She retorted and threw the grenade in the trunk. He winced as he imagined what would happen if it had gone off. Kara was so damn reckless!
They proceeded to enter the building, concealing their weapons under their coats until the very last minute. As they approached the office that was the cover for the NOC, John aimed at the bottom of the class wall in front of it and fired. The shots and the breaking glass were deafening in the small space of the entry way. Four armed men burst out of a door to the right. John took out two of them in quick succession by kneecapping them and Kara took out the other two. It wasn't until he got closer to them did he notice that she'd shot them in the chest, a kill shot. Damn her! He wasn't here to kill innocent people, he just wanted to take out Snow in this kill or be killed dilemma he found himself in.
Rounding a corner, John made sure to shoot up a bunch of computer screens that were taking up most of one wall. He then pushed over two filing cabinets, spilling their contents all over the floor. He tried to signal Kara that they had done enough here, but she just took out two more armed guards as they approached.
"Kara!" He yelled during a break in the gunfire and signaled for her to exit the area. She frowned at him but started backing out. Once they made it out of the office, they quickly ran down the stairs and exited the building. Glancing at the clock on the dash as he got into the car, he saw only twenty minutes had elapsed. They may not have worked together as a team in quite some time, but the routine had all come back apparently.
"Why the hell did you kill those guys Kara?" He practically yelled.
"Why the hell didn't you? I taught you better than that. You never leave an enemy alive to shoot you in the back!" She yelled back.
"Those men weren't enemies Kara and this isn't like old times. We aren't on a 'dark' mission here. Those men had families, were sons and husbands and fathers! And you just changed all those people's lives in an instant without even thinking!" John gave her a look of disgust and turned away. He was silent as they drove to a small hotel for the night. Not for the first time, he wondered what had possessed him to ever agree to work with this cold-hearted woman.
On the second ring, Harold's surprised voice came over the phone. "Why hello, Ms. Tate. I didn't expect….." Elise cut him off, allowing her business tone of voice relay the seriousness of her call,
"Harold, I need the security camera feed from a store in Darien ASAP."
"What? Why...never mind. What is the name of the store?" Harold also dropped into business mode. He knew Elise would tell him what was going on when she could. He also recognized the lack of 'small talk' from Elise was very troubling.
Typing the name of the grocery store into the computer, Finch began to work his magic and infiltrate the security camera. "What are the parameters?" asked Finch.
"Last two hours, customer service cam feed and front register feed." Elise's voice was calm, almost too calm. Warning bells were going off in Finch's head as he began watching the feeds play across his monitor.
"What am I looking for...Oh, I see him." Tapping a few codes into the computer, the grainy video cleared up noticeably; the footage had obviously been taken by a very old VHS type camera and only converted to digital within the security office. Then, watching John and a woman who most definitely was NOT Elise, walk out of the store together made Harold sit back in his chair.
"Harold, are you there? Harold?" Elise's voice sounded strained over the phone. "What do you see? Is he with a woman?"
Sighing deeply Harold was surprised to realize that he'd been holding his breath. Thankfully Elise seemed to know John was with a woman. He would have dreaded having to tell her that despite the fact that they both knew John was not the cheating kind. Now his concern was to find out WHO that woman was.
"Yes Elise, I see her. She's about 5'7" with long dark, wavy hair. Slim build. I don't know who she is but I'll run the facial recognition software on her and I should have a name shortly." Harold answered in clipped tones.
"I'll be back in the city in about two hours. I need to know who she is and why John would leave with her..."
There was a long enough pause that Harold asked "Elise, are you still there?"
"Why would John leave with her and not call me to tell me?" The phone went dead as if she couldn't bear the answer.
The walk from the grocery store to John's car...and bike, felt like it took forever. Standing there, staring at the helmet hanging from the handlebars, Elise could feel something welling up inside, making it difficult for her to breathe. She realized she was hearing Bear whining from inside the car. Grabbing the helmet off the bike, she opened the door to the car and got in.
Holding the helmet in front of her and balancing it on the steering wheel, Elise stared into the visor. One hand slowly rubbed the top from front to back, almost as if she was touching him. Leaning her head down until her forehead rested on the top of the helmet, she gave into the emotions that were drowning her. A soundless scream echoed in her head. A single sob escaped. Raising her head, she hugged the helmet to her chest and tears silently ran down her cheeks.
Sensing her distress, Bear leaned over and sniffed and licked the tears from her cheek. His touch brought her back from the beckoning abyss. Reaching up and scratching him behind his ears, she gave him a shaky smile "We'll get him back Bear, I promise."
Throwing the helmet to the back, Elise started up the car. Wiping all evidence of the tears from her face, her eyes took on a cold, deadly glint. Blue eyes were shuttered and emotion was locked away. Her mind clicked into high gear running through different scenarios about what may have happened. So much depended on what Harold could find out about that woman. What caused her the most concern was the seriousness of what this woman represented. For John to leave and not call her or contact her in any way, spoke volumes. The only secrets they'd had between them were the full details of John's past with the CIA. She knew about his time in Delta Force but he always seemed to shy away from any discussion about his time in the CIA.
As her mind sorted through the lack of information about that time in his life, the more certain she became that this woman was from those dark days.
They arrived at the hotel where Stanton had holed up for the last few days.
"We'll have to move again tomorrow but this should be good for tonight." She told him, unlocking the door. The minute they were inside, Stanton grabbed him by the throat and pushed him off balance as he was stepping away from her, causing him to fall into the wall with a thud that knocked the wind out of him. She was on him in a second, her lips connecting with his as she gave him a passionate and bruising kiss. John cursed himself for not anticipating it. Kara always got turned on after a job. He regained his equilibrium and pushed her away. She grabbed a hold of his shirt as she fell and they both ended up on the bed. She rolled him over and he rolled her back.
"Stop it Kara! This is NOT going to happen. We were done years ago." He bellowed, pushing her off him as she moved to straddle him.
"Aw, come on John, just once more for old time's sake. You and I used to be so good together." She tried to climb back on but he'd already gotten halfway sitting up.
"No! And for the record we were not good together. You took what you wanted….To you I was a quick fuck and that's it."
"You never had a problem with that before John. Why now? We both need a release, so why are you denying it?"
John wished he could tell her the truth; that he'd been shown there was something better out there for him…..someONE better, who'd taken him as he was, emotional and physical scars be damned. But he knew if he mentioned what Elise meant to him, he'd be putting her in danger.
"Just get away from me Kara. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!"
"Fuck you John. I'm sick of this crap, you may think you've changed but I know you better than that. I know the real you, the guy who assassinated his targets over and over again. For years! No matter how much you try to deny it, you're a killer and you'll always be a killer."
John's face was a blank mask but part of him knew she was right. He had so much blood on his hands, there was no way he'd ever be able to make up for it. But that didn't mean he shouldn't try, that he should resign himself to the outer darkness as Kara had.
So he said, quietly and firmly, "You and I Kara, were a mistake. We should never have let it happen." He walked over to the nightstand, saying "I'm going to call the front desk and get another room."
"Keep telling yourself that John, maybe someday you'll convince yourself." She said bitterly and sat on the bed watching as he called the front desk.
The government firewalls the CIA employed were no match for the Harold's hacking skills. Going straight to the CIA data banks, he used a sophisticated facial recognition software that he'd created to find a match. Since the only serious, deadly and secret part of John's life was the CIA, it seemed reasonable to start his search there. He knew that that part of John's life still had a strangle-hold on him. He also knew that the only thing that could pull John away from Elise would be something from that terrible time.
Within ten minutes the program had found a match. Kara Stanton. Taking his hands off the keyboard, Harold dropped them into his lap. A frown appeared on his face. Kara Stanton? But she was dead; she died after shooting Reese in Ordos. Placing his hands on the keyboard again, he leaned towards the monitor to study her face. That most certainly was the woman in the video with John. But how was she alive? And how did the Machine not know she was a threat to John?
To say he was concerned was an understatement. This was most unusual. This had never happened before. Sliding into 'admin' mode, he questioned The Machine about Kara Stanton and her whereabouts after Ordos. Information popped up on his monitor immediately. Information he had not seen before. He'd been following John Reese for quite some time before that fateful mission to Ordos. He knew John had been shot by Stanton on that mission; he knew he'd escaped but badly wounded. And then of course there was his subsequent rescue of Mr. Zhang. But nothing had come to light about Stanton so he'd assumed, apparently incorrectly, that she'd been killed in the firebombing she had called down on herself.
Following a hunch, Harold typed 'Kara Stanton, asset' and hit enter. Coded information began streaming across his monitor. Adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose, Harold began to read and discovered that Stanton had suddenly 'dropped off the grid' after Ordos. How was that even possible? His Machine saw EVERYthing. What else might The Machine have missed? This was simply inconceivable!
However, a more pressing matter would have to take precedence over investigating the anomaly. Returning to the matter at hand, Harold continued to read the information on Stanton until it ceased right after Ordos. No visuals, no emails, no security camera videos, nothing. It was like she had fallen off the edge of the world. What happened after to Stanton after that fateful mission is what Harold felt was the clue as to why she had contacted John now. He realized he needed quicker access to government files than he was currently able to take time for through his hacking skills. It seemed it was time to call Carter in on this in her new capacity as FBI liaison with the NYPD.
"Hello Detective Carter." Harold's not so calm voice came over the phone.
"Harold! So good to hear your voice! Is everything ok? You sound worried. Is it John? Elise or Grace?"
Taking a deep breath, Harold tried to control his rising concern about John's abduction. "Detective, John does appear to be in a spot of trouble and I need your assistance and your access to government records. I think you will be able to find out specific information faster than I can hack it due to your current position within the FBI."
"You know I'll do what I can for you. What do you need my help with?" Carter asked; every sense on high alert. It must be bad if Harold was coming to HER for help.
"I'm going to send you a security camera feed of the woman who kidnapped John. I already know her name..." Carter sputtered and interrupted Harold, "John was kidnapped by a woman? Are you kidding me? And Elise let it happen?"
Once again Harold had to take a deep breath and work to remain calm. "Yes Detective, a woman kidnapped John, but not just any woman. She is Kara Stanton, John's old partner in the CIA. And to answer your question, Elise was not with him. So, I need to know what information, if any, the FBI has on Stanton."
Clicking on the video link that Harold sent, Carter saw a very casually dressed John in a grocery store. How domestic he looked! And so normal! But Carter's musings were cut short when a woman with the long, wavy dark hair approached John. Frowning slightly, Carter leaned toward the monitor and watched John and the woman. John's body language screamed barely controlled rage, something Carter had only seen in Reese in situations where Elise's safety was a concern. The woman seemed overly friendly and smiled too much to be truly sincere in whatever she was saying. Carter got the distinct impression that if they hadn't been in a public place John would have physically attacked the woman.
"Who did you say this woman was?" She asked.
"Kara Stanton, John's ex-partner in the CIA," came the quick answer. Finch was already working on trying to gather more information.
"She worked with John and with Mark Snow?" asked Carter.
"Yes Detective, they were a team. Why are you asking?" She now had Finch's undivided attention.
"This may be the woman that Mark Snow was talking about."
"Talking about? Detective, when did you talk to Mark Snow last?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought John would have already told you about the close call I had with Snow and a woman shooter." She told him.
Her reply with met with silence from the other end. "Harold? Are you still there?" asked Carter when the silence became too long.
"Yes Detective I'm still here. It seems that Mr. Reese neglected to mention that you had talked to Agent Snow or that you'd told him about the meeting." Replied Finch. "How long ago was this?"
"About 2 weeks ago. Why do you think he didn't tell you?" Carter's tone had a definite worried sound to it now.
"I have no idea Detective, but I'm sure John had his reasons. Although I wish he had told me. I was under the apparent misconception that Kara Stanton was killed two years ago in Ordos." Explained Harold. "I do wish he had told me, we could have been a bit more prepared for her eventual re- appearance. From all previous information I can find, Kara Stanton is a formidable woman and not to be taken lightly."
"So the woman who took John is his formerly dead partner from his time in the CIA? That doesn't sound good. How is Elise handling this? We need to get ahead of this as quickly as possible."
"I'm not really sure. She and I have only spoken for a total of ten minutes after she discovered he was missing. She should be back in NYC within the next two hours. Can you get me any information in the FBI data base on Kara Stanton and her possible whereabouts? We need to know just who we are up against and what her motivation is in capturing John."
Carter leaned in even closer, trying to memorize the woman's face and her movements. So THIS was the 'she' was that Snow had spoken about and that John had told her a little about at the diner the next day. Apparently John had not told Harold or Elise about their meeting at the diner, though. She wondered why. Why keep two of the most important people in his life in the dark about a possible danger?
Hanging up the phone after talking to Finch, Carter typed in her password and waited for the security checks to verify. Her curiosity about this woman who used to work with John was matched only by her puzzlement about the fact that John had not told Harold or Elise about her run-in with Snow...and the woman. John always had a reason for doing or not doing something, he seldom left any detail unfinished; but to not tell Harold and Elise...there was something dark here, something very, very dark...she could almost feel it.
As her security check cleared she immediately began trying to gather information about Kara Stanton. After wading through even more security checks to get access to shared info from various law enforcement and military sources, she was finally able to access some additional information. It appeared that this Stanton woman had been in the Marines before the CIA. She was a decorated veteran with deployments all over the world in some of the most intense hotspots. Reading the commendations from her superiors, Carter was impressed with the dedication Stanton showed to her job, her country and her fellow Marines. Carter could easily see how she'd come to be noticed and sought after by the CIA. Information after she left the Marines and joined the CIA became sketchy, as was the norm when working for 'The Company'. But the FBI had its ways, so there was at least some information.
The information was kept pretty current right up until a mission in Ordos in 2010. Reading the spotty information, Carter was able to ascertain that Stanton was MIA and assumed dead. Her body was never found after bombardment by friendlies while on a Black Op. After that though, nothing.
Sitting back in her chair, Carter frowned and started drumming her fingers. What felt familiar about these dates? Why did Ordos sound familiar? It had to be because of John. If he and Stanton had indeed been partners, then this might have been where they parted ways. Carter knew very little about John's time within the CIA but she knew the dates sounded right.
Sending an inquiry for more information, she got an immediate reply to refer any further inquiries to Special Agent Donnelly. THAT caught Carter completely off guard. Donnelly was still after the 'man in the suit'...when did he become interested in Stanton? Had Donnelly been able to connect Reese to Stanton?
John hung up the phone harder than necessary due to his frustration. There were no more vacant rooms in the hotel. It appeared there was some sort of convention, something called Comic-Con the kid at the front desk had told him excitedly, going on in the building across the street. So, he found himself stuck in this hotel room with a woman he trusted not at all.
Getting up with a sigh, John grabbed a chair from the small table in the room and carried it towards the bathroom.
"What are you doing John?" Kara asked puzzled.
"I'm going to sleep in the tub."
"Are you kidding me with this? Just sleep in the bed here. I promise to keep my hands to myself."
"Thanks for the offer." He said with a bit of sarcasm. "But I've slept in tubs before Kara. Now, good night."
"Suit yourself." She answered, reaching back to unzip her dress.
John grabbed the extra blankets from the bed and was in the bathroom before her dress hit the floor. He propped the chair under the door handle so that he'd hear it if Stanton tried to get in. He folded as much of his large frame as would fit into the tub and propped his head up against a pillow. It wasn't the most comfortable of sleeping positions but it was a sight better than waking up wearing a bomb jacket like Mark. As he lay there, he couldn't help but think of Elise. Where was she now? What was she doing? It was hard to believe that just this morning he'd woken up to her sleeping beside him. They'd made love several times and it seemed as if they could take on the world together. But now he was sleeping in a cold, hard bathtub and wondering to himself how much of what Kara had said about him was the truth.
Roaring out of town and heading back to her beach house, Elise had to make herself slow down. Getting stopped by the local police would not help her right now. Her mind was already back in NYC trying to piece together anything John may have mentioned about this unknown woman. At least unknown to her but obviously not to John, she contemplated. He'd told her very little about his time in the CIA, yet he'd told her quite a bit about his time in the army, as a member of Delta Force. Probably told her more than he should have. But he always seemed to side step anything that had to do with 'The Company'. Could it be that this woman was from one of those times in his life?
Becoming more frustrated by the minute by the lack of info John had shared, Elise found herself pushing the accelerator down harder. The Porsche grabbed the road and picked up speed quickly. Feeling the power of the engine helped satisfy her need to hurry, to do something. Once out of the city limits, on the two lane blacktop, she let the car fly down the road. Using the GPS, she was able to locate the 'hidden' driveway and turned in. The twisty driveway, which had seemed so beautiful before now, seemed to take forever in taking her back to the house. Parking the car outside, she de-activated the alarm system and ran into the house with Bear close at her heels. Taking the lead, Bear quickly checked the premises for John while at the same time checking for strangers. Not finding John, Bear went in search of Elise.
Finding her upstairs Bear stayed by the door, sensing her anxiety. Elise packed one small bag and was ready to go. Thankful that she had already 'cleaned up' the house while waiting for John to return, there was little she had to do except close up. She'd been so pleased with herself when she tidied up everything. John was always after her to pick up after herself and put things away when they were in his loft. The thought almost brought on a fresh spate of tears but she took a deep breath and locked it inside.
Locking the doors to the deck and walking back downstairs, she walked out on the porch. Her time alone here with John seemed so short...3 days...all they'd had together was THREE DAYS! It was so wrong! So unfair! They'd been through so much together and now it was being torn away by that woman! John was hers, he belonged to her and no damn ghost from the past was going to take him away from her!
Turning on her heel she walked back into the house and locked the door behind her. Closing the blinds on all the windows, she gathered up her bag and walked out the front door without looking back, thinking that this was just a house, not a home, without John.
Elise barely remembered the drive back to NYC. Her mind was in turmoil, going back and forth between barely contained anger and barely contained despair, two emotions that were not helping the matter at hand...finding John...and that woman. Resisting the urge to call Harold, she talked to Bear who was a very good listener. Telling him things that she wouldn't or couldn't tell Harold about how she felt about John. It felt good to put into actual words how much he'd come to mean to her and what a difference he'd made in her life.
Bear was non-judgmental in the best way. His eyes watched her closely and every time she mentioned John's name, his ears perked up and his tail wagged. Amazing how Bear had bonded with John so quickly! But then again, John was an amazingly compassionate and caring man. She was sure that animals were able to pick up on it. Plus, she felt like she and John had bonded just as fast after their first auspicious meeting, his head in her lap after he jumped through her car window. They'd both resisted the attraction for months but neither was strong enough to resist the other for longer. And now that bond was in jeopardy and it was stretching her ability to lock down the emotional side of that bond and let loose the lethal side of herself to deal with this threat to her happiness.
Feeling calmer and much more able to handle things, Elise pulled into the garage under the library. Getting out of the car she left the keys in the ignition since the library was secure. Letting Bear out the other side, she realized she was going to have to 'introduce' Bear to Harold. This was going to prove quite interesting because Finch did not strike her as the 'dog-loving' type. Getting into the elevator, Bear was eager and ready to go wherever she led. So far he had followed all of her commands perfectly. Despite the fact that he was a big dog, he'd been trained to protect and trained well. For the first time, she found herself wishing they'd tried to find out more about who his previous owner was. Instead, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to themselves, they'd gone back to the house. Along the way, John had taught her a few commands in Dutch as they walked along the beach. She found herself smiling for a moment as she rode up to the second floor, a quick jab of pain as she remembered John laughing at her pronunciation. Closing her eyes for a moment, she willed that part of herself behind the locked door of her sanity.
Opening her eyes as the elevator came to a stop, she gave Bear the command to stay. As the doors opened she took a deep breath and stepped out, not seeing Harold immediately. She called Bear to her and walked toward the area that John called 'HQ'. She could hear muted voices talking and Bear immediately went on alert and moved closer to her, almost taking the lead. Grabbing his collar, Elise walked through the door into the room that she'd first seen when John had brought her here to recover from her gunshot wound the night they'd met. Shaking her head side to side, she knew she had to stop associating everything with the two of them; it was getting her nowhere and was getting in the way of working to get John back.
Taking a deep breath and shutting down the screaming in the back of her mind that threatened to overwhelm her, Elise held her head up, put on her 'let's do the job' expression and walked into the room. A small smile appeared on her face for a moment upon seeing the array of people in front of her who were willing to go to battle for John: Harold, Zoe, Joss and Lionel...all the people that John held dear were gathered together. There WAS strength in numbers and strangely, comfort.
They were all huddled around Harold who was typing away on his computer. Information was streaming on three different monitors. Finch was keeping his eye on the door, waiting for Elise to appear. His security system had alerted him that she was in the garage. Catching sight of her standing in the doorway, Harold stood up and said "Miss Tate...Elise. I'm glad you made it back to the city safely."
Zoe looked up when Harold spoke and gave a small gasp. Elise looked so small, pale and in pain standing in the doorway. Her dark blue eyes looked too large for her face and the shadows under eyes gave her a haunted look. Hurrying around the desk, Zoe stopped in front of Elise and looked closely at her. Elise met her gaze unflinchingly, saying everything Zoe needed to know, without words. They'd been friends long enough to know that as much as she wanted to hug Elise, it would be the wrong thing to do.
"Elise..." Zoe said with a question in her voice.
"Zoe." answered Elise in a surprisingly normal voice.
A low growl could be heard behind Elise as Zoe took another step towards her. Turning around, Elise spoke the command to stay to Bear. She knew she had to bring Bear in, but was concerned about him meeting so many new people all at once.
Hearing the growl, Zoe backed up a couple of steps and looked at Elise with a frown on her face. Looking behind Elise she could just make out the silhouette of a dog or maybe even a wolf judging by the menacing growl. It was big, no matter what it was.
"What is that?" asked Zoe with a raised eyebrow.
"This is a new friend that John and I made while we were...away." Trying to keep her voice neutral was harder than she thought it would be. "He's a Belgian Malonois. He's well trained but only responds to Dutch commands. John..." her voice almost cracked, but she regained control of herself and continued, "….taught me a few words in Dutch and so far he's been good at following my commands."
Giving the command to Bear to 'come', Bear came out of the shadows and sat down next to Elise. Ears straight up, he was taking in every sound and smell his nose twitching with all the new and different scents, eyes intensely following any movement. Scratching him behind the ears Elise used the Dutch word for 'friend' and gestured to Zoe and the others. She knew her accent was terrible and hoped that Bear was smart enough to understand.
Carter came around the desk and stopped about five feet in front of Elise and Bear. Serving two tours in Afghanistan, she was familiar with the military dogs and their training. Repeating Elise's word for 'friend' but with the correct accent, Bear's tail made a slow wag.
Elise looked up at Joss with renewed admiration. She should have known that Joss Carter would recognize the type of dog Bear was and how to speak to him. Relief swept through her, knowing that someone else was able to also 'speak' to Bear. After being introduced to everybody, Elise once again gestured to Bear to stay so she could go check out what Harold had found out about that woman who'd taken John.
Using a version of Carter's access codes, Harold had been able to hack into the FBI data base to pull the information that Carter had been looking at earlier in the day. Leaning in, Elise was impressed with the background information on Stanton. By reading and rereading every entry, she was getting a good picture of the woman who had waltzed in and taken John out of her life. She was impressed with Stanton's history in the Marine Corp. She could see why John would be drawn...closing her eyes for a moment, Elise slammed the door shut on that line of thinking and continued to evaluate the information as the picture of Kara Stanton became clearer.
Everybody was offering different opinions of what Stanton was up to and why she took John. No one would actually say out loud about WHY he had left with her, telling no one in the process. There was a huge amount of available information but nothing recent or anything pointing them in a specific direction. That part truly concerned Harold. He was still trying to figure out how Stanton had been 'invisible' to his Machine. He really needed some peace and quiet to figure that part out. He felt it would be the KEY to finding out what Kara Stanton wanted with her ex-partner.
"I still don't know why John didn't tell you I spoke to Mark Snow and that woman. At least I'm assuming that's who it was." said Carter. "I gave him Snow's ID badge. I asked what was going on..."
The rest of her sentence was cut short by Elise grabbing her by the arm. "What did you say? You knew this woman was here? You told JOHN?" Elise said through clinched teeth, glaring at Carter.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on Elise! I thought he'd told you and Finch! I wasn't hiding anything! I didn't know he hadn't told either of you until I mentioned it to Harold this morning!" She spoke soothingly while rubbing her arm "Look, I know you are upset. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I really thought he would have told you, considering who she is...or was, to him."
"No, he didn't." Whispered Elise as she turned away. It was getting harder and harder to keep up the facade of being in control. This new information only made it worse. Bear, sensing her distress, whined from his spot by door, but did not move. Looking at Bear brought tears to her eyes. She needed to get out of here. Just for a little while. Turning back toward Harold, she saw they were all looking back at the monitors and the information trickling in from all the different sources. Only Zoe made eye contact with her. Nodding her head towards the hall, Zoe started walking toward it. Elise met her half way.
"Elise, why don't you go to John's apartment..." seeing the pained look in her eyes, Zoe back tracked and amended her suggestions, "or go to my place and take a shower and relax for a few. Nothing is going to happen today and hopefully not tonight. John hasn't even been missing…um, gone for 24 hours yet. Whatever this woman has planned, she's going to have to convince John to help her and I don't think that's going to happen very quickly."
Pressing her key into Elise's hand, she said "I'll tell everybody where you are. You're as close as your phone after all." Zoe smiled at Elise. Elise just nodded and stepping around Zoe, she turned and left, taking Bear with her.
Back down in the garage, Bear jumped back into the front seat and Elise climbed in and shut the door. Gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white Elise stared out over the hood of the black Porsche.
"Where are you John? Talk to me...help me find you. I know you, I know how you mind works, talk to me." Turning the car on, she slowly drove out on to the street and headed straight to Zoe's apartment.