A/N: I had hard time trying to figure out how to end this little adventure but I think it spirals back to what I began in Sacrifice. Mild warning for implied drug usage.

The Bait Part II

Once Brody was gone, Pride raked his hand over his face. His entire team had nearly been taken out today. He didn't want to admit it but he was beginning to fear that he was going to lose Chris.

He was about to pull to his feet when his cell phone suddenly came to life sporting a blocked number.

"This is Pride."

"Open your back door," an unfamiliar voice replied.

Pride's brows pinched together. "Who is this?"

"You have a delivery," the voice said. "You want it or not?"

Drawing his weapon, he met Brody in the kitchen and instructed her to do the same. Together they made their way to the back door where Pride then held up his fingers counting to three. Slowly, Brody opened the door, weapon trained.

Their eyes widened as their so called delivery came into view. Chris was slumped barely able to stand, leaning on Ross P. for support.

"I believe this belongs to you." The trusted CI quipped as his knees started to give out from taking on all of Chris's weight.

Pride immediately took the side opposite of Ross P and wrapped his arm around Chris' torso.

"Brody, get the first aid kit and call Loretta."

"On it."

"The boy jumped out of a movin' car. I wanted to drop him off the emergency room But he wouldn't hear of it. So, I brought him here." Ross P added as they helped Chris to the futon that Pride claimed as his own.

"Ya did good. We got it from here." Pride smiled as the CI exited as quickly as he had appeared.

"I called Loretta. She's on her way." Brody said as she handed Pride the first aid kit.

She looked down at her partner noting that he was trembling violently. Aside from the darkening bruises, Chris' forearms were nothing but shredded skin and blood from where he jumped more correctly fallen out of the trunk.

"Is Laurel ok?" he asked through chattering teeth.

Brody sank to her knees and ran her fingers through his short sweaty sprigs of hair. "She's fine, save for being placed in protective custody."

Chris managed a slight nod before squeezing his eyes shut in pain. Everything hurt and to top it off he was freezing. Whatever Jenks had been giving him was starting to wear off causing a brutal attack on his system.

Brody grabbed a blanket and threw it over the lower half of his body while Pride began to cut away his black t-shirt. Chris's torso and abdomen were littered with multiple contusions and bruises, matching the ones on his face. It didn't look like he had any internal injuries, but it without an expert opinion it was hard to tell.

"Check his neck and arms for puncture wounds," Pride ordered. He wanted to know exactly how many times that bastard had filled Chris's veins with that poisoned Oxy crap. Based on the fact that they had found a syringe and that Chris was shaking Pride suspected that there would be quite a few.

Brody ran fingers along the soft tissue of his neck, inspecting every inch of skin. "I've got two, maybe three," It wasn't enough to make Chris an addict, but it was sure making him sick."

By the time Loretta arrived, Chris was curled up almost into a ball. Stomach cramps had begun to set in forcing every single muscle in his body to constrict and knot up tight. Loretta tried to give him something to settle his stomach only to have her hands swatted away.

"Chris, let her help you," Brody moved to touch him, earning a sharp jab to the chest from his elbow. "Let. Her. Help. You." She repeated, pinning his shoulders to the mattress. Chris looked her with intense yet fearful eyes. He was so much pain that he couldn't think straight and the thought of someone jabbing him with another needle was sending him into overload.

"Don't make me use you my Aikido on you," she said with a soft smile.

For several seconds he focused on her big chocolate colored irises, before turning his head away grimacing in pain. She would never know how many times he thought about her over the last couple of days. Keeping she and Pride safe had been his only sense of motivation.

From the doorway, Pride watched as Loretta began to pick the gravel from Chris' torn flesh. The injured agent had road rash all over the place. What all had he been through? Drugged, beaten what the hell else? He knew that if he asked, Chris would never tell him. Making a fist, he pounded the door jam before stalking away.

Loretta scowled at her old friend as she came out from Pride's room.

"How's Christopher?" Pride asked while Brody looked on anxiously.

"I've done what I can but he needs to be in the hospital." The medical examiner said flatly. Aside from all of the contusions, torn flesh and bruising, Loretta suspected that the injured agent was experiencing some sort of toxic reaction from the chemicals that had been forced into his system.

"It's too risky." Pride argued knowing that Baitfish was probably still on the prowl. He could get to Chris in a hospital, but he wouldn't dare try to attack Pride here, not in his own sandbox. "I'll take care of Christopher my own way."

Loretta's eyes narrowed, slightly. She didn't like what Pride was proposing but given the fact that Chris didn't seem to have any life threatening injuries at the moment she would go along with it for now.

"And the other?" Pride added.

Loretta had drawn a few vials of Chris' blood to check for any foreign substances. "I should have the results of the toxicology report by morning. Until then, I gave him an injection of Phenegran. I also have him on 1000 ML of Levaquin and a saline drip.

"If it is as you suspect, I'll start a rapid detox treatment as soon as possible. But until then I want his temperature and his blood pressure checked and recorded every 3-4 hours. You'll also need to watch him for signs of seizures and convulsions."

"We can do that," Brody chimed in, as Loretta started for the door.

"I'll take the first watch," Pride said after seeing Loretta to her car.

Brody's raised her eyebrows causing her forehead to crinkle, "Are you sure because I don't mind."

"Get some rest," Pride smiled touching her shoulder. "I have a feeling that it's going to be another long night."

After Brody had retired to the couch in the conference room, Pride stepped back into the room off the kitchen where he slept and pulled up a chair next to the futon. For the moment, Chris appeared to be lucid so he needed to take advantage of it while he could.

"Christopher, I need you to listen to me," he said garnering the younger man's attention. "I need you to tell me everything you can about Jenks. Everything you saw, everything you heard."

Chris closed his eyes for moment and swallowed. Judging by the sound of Pride's voice the man was in obsessive mode. Not that he could blame the man. Jenks had now almost killed Laurel twice. He wouldn't be surprised if both he and Laurel ended up on the man's wall of crazy.

"I don't know, King." He said still shivering. "I was pretty much blindfolded the whole time. The only thing I remember is waking up in the trunk of a car. "

Pride tore his gaze away from his trusted friend. Chris was holding something back. "Why'd you call Ross P?"

Chris flicked his tongue over his lips. It hadn't been until after he'd fallen out of the car that he realized that he'd had his cell phone with him the entire time. It had been obviously ploy from Baitfish in effort to get Pride to come running. So, had the fact that Chris had rather easily been able to get away. Deep down Chris knew that Baitfish could have murdered him on the spot without so much as a blinking.

"I don't know," he lied, earning a murderous look from Pride.

King grabbed the young agent by the shoulders, looking him directly in the eyes. "After 10 years you don't know? You mean to tell me that after all we've been through you don't trust me enough to have your back when you're in trouble?"

"That ain't it, King," Chris's voice cracked.

Pride's eyes were still flashing with fire. "Then what?"

Chris hung his head, feeling as if he had somehow failed his friend. "He wanted you."

Pride wrapped a hand around Chris's neck and pulled him into his shoulder. He could tell that Chris was trying to keep it together but given all that he'd been through it wasn't working. The poor battered, sick agent was quickly turning into a hot mess.

"I'm sorry King. I was only tryin' to protect you and Laurel."

Of course, it wasn't Chris, it was Jenks. It was what he had been doing all along and unlike himself, Chris had refused to be the bait and had been protecting his family all along.

"Now don't forget, Brody and Linda, and Loretta and Sebastian," Pride grinned as the younger man hiccupped into his shoulder. King waited a few moments and then slapped the young agent on the back.

"Let's get some coffee in ya." He wasn't going to wait for Loretta to decide about so called rapid detox he was going to help Christopher through it the old fashioned way.

Coffee? This was going to suck.

The following morning Meredith Brody was awakened by the sound of Pride's snoring. My God the man had the power to wake up the entire city with that she thought pulling her pillow over her face. Then she remembered Chris. If she could hear Pride from all the way up in the conference room, then her partner mostly likely had it tenfold.

Dressing quickly she padded down to the kitchen and quietly entered the room where Chris was being sequestered.

Pride was sound asleep in the chair still sawing logs while Chris was lying on his back, with one hand tucked behind his head, staring straight up at the ceiling. Gently, she nudged the older agent, prompting his eyes to spring open. "Pride go get some rest. I got this."

"How did you sleep?" Brody asked quietly sliding down on the edge of the futon when Pride had left.

Chris turned his head toward her giving her a bewildered look. "Are ya kiddin' me? With all that ruckus goin' on?

"That's why I thought I'd come down and rescue you," Brody grinned as she reached for the tympanic thermometer and blood pressure cuff.

"God Bless Linda for putting up that for all those years." Chris said stifling a yawn. He was so damned tired but given all of the coffee that Pride had made him drink and the man's snoring, sleep was out of the question.

"Well I guess we don't have wonder why she left him," Brody quipped quickly taking Chris's vitals. She made a note to tell Loretta that his temperature was 101.5 and his blood pressure was just a little elevated.

Sobering, she placed her hand on his warm cheek. "You really scared me this time, Chris."

Reaching up, Chris pulled her hand away from her face and held it tightly against his chest. "I scared myself."

Brody looked down at their hands. "I've got to admit, jumping out of moving car, that's not something I would have done."

"In case you're wondering it's not something I recommend. In fact, now that I think of it, it was pretty stupid," he replied rubbing the pad of his thumb along her palm.

"You need anything?" Brody asked. "I can call Savannah for you if you'd like."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Shoot, I can't believe you lead Laurel to believe that there is somethin' going on between Savannah and me."

"You'd rather, I told her about you and me?" Brody said huskily. For the moment, there was nothing but flirting and banter between but eventually it could turn into something else if they acted on it. But for the now she was content that her partner was alive.

"No," Chris answered quickly.

Brody let a long sigh escape. "Well, speaking of Laurel. She's been worried sick about you. You need to talk her as soon as you're able."

Chris nodded. He couldn't fathom letting the young woman see him in his current condition but he would make a point to get together with her as soon as he was back on his feet.

Several days later…

There's someone at the door for you baby brother! Cade LaSalle howled as he looked down at the dark haired woman standing at the door. Placing his hand against the door jam, Cade let his eyes roam over this charming looking new woman. She was a little old for his baby brother, but none the less she was beautiful.

Maybe Chris's tastes in women were changing?

"Who should I say is callin'?"

"Linda"

Cade touched his index finger to his lips. He was on the verge of having one of those moments. "I don't recall, Chris datin' anybody with dating anyone with that name, recently. But um…he certainly should be cause you are very lovely."

"Linda Pride," she corrected watching his face flood with embarrassment.

"Pride you say, your name is? Well, come on in!"

Cade escorted Linda into the living room and then promptly walked out the front door, hoping to save face while Chris fumbled about trying to pull his battered body out of bed. Haphazardly, he threw on a pair of cargo pants and the new black t-shirt, Brody had bought for him to replace the one that Pride had cut up.

"Who is it, Cade?" He was still raking a t-shirt over his head when entered the living room.

"Linda," she smiled watching his oh shit expression flood his face. It wasn't that she and Pride had made him choose a side when they separated, but Chris had always belonged with Pride, so the choice had been clear.

"Hey Linda. How ya been?"

"I think that question would be better coming from me." Linda moved closer, and cupped his chin. She needed to inspect the bruises on his face. Although they were fading, they were still there and that pained her. He'd taken the brunt of Baitfish's wrath to save Laurel.

"I remember the day Dwayne first brought you home," she said taking a step back. "I remember hoping to God that Laurel didn't end up with anyone close to the likes of you."

Chris looked down at his feet as an embarrassed version of his signature grin spread across his face. He could hardly blame Linda for thinking that way. He'd been pretty wild and careless back then.

"And now I won't accept anything less," she added. "You saved Laurel's life."

Chris shrugged, trying to be modest. "It's nothin' King and I don't do for each other every day." Why would she think Laurel be any different?

Linda reached up and touched his cheek. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Chris said as her arms found their way around his neck. "I'd do anything for you and King. Laurel too."

They were family.

A/N II: I included Linda in this chapter for the obvious reason and because a very young Lucas Black and the actress who plays Linda once starred together in series called American Gothic. They played cousins. Paige Turco's (Linda) job was to look after LB's young character, Caleb. Very short lived I believe but you can catch clips of it on You Tube.