Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Some things will be sectioned during this fight, so you will see different perspectives being given. Those perspectives are the people who will have big moments to deal with. There is a specific order things need to happen in.

Chapter 30 (Strength is Internal)

"The way is clear." David thanked the officer as the man led the final criminal to a squad car. His aged eyes fell onto his daughter with worry, he was praying she wouldn't lose herself in this and that she would remember why they were there. He understood her anger, and even her hatred, because he felt that himself. Even still, she could not go in with revenge on her mind.

"Let's find your sister." He took a deep breath as Tori nodded and led the group to the door. He was afraid of his own health getting in the way, but there was a new strength inside of him that was birthed by his granddaughter as well as Monica. He was determined to be there for them, and he wasn't going to let anything get in the way.

He brought his gun close to his chest and leaned sideways against the wall beside the door. Jesse did the same on the other side of the door. David set his hand on the doorknob and looked to the others for approval and readiness. Once they readied their weapons, he pushed open the door, but to their surprise, no one was waiting on the inside.

What they found was two men on the ground with darts in their necks. Tori crouched beside them and studied the darts for a minute. "Andre must have done this." David pressed his lips together and looked to the right stairwell. His instinct was pulling him in that direction, but he wasn't sure if splitting up was a good idea.

As Beck and Jade remained outside, he was certain Tori and Jesse would be teaming together to locate Holly and then Trina. David nudged Sam and motioned to the stairwell on the left. She glanced over and furrowed her brow.

"You go up the left, I'll go up the right. We'll meet in the middle and go through the second floor doorway." At some point of time during the fight outside, David spotted Holly in a third floor window. "Tori, Jesse, I believe Holly moved up to the third floor." Tori gave him a nod and glanced to the staircase leading from the second floor to the third.

"Then we'll go up from here," Tori replied, "Take any and all by surprise."

"Remember, we're here to make arrests-not to kill. Don't take any lives unless it's necessary." As the most seasoned investigator here, he felt it was important to advise them properly. "I understand emotions are high, and everyone here wants to get the job done as quickly as possible, but try and think like an officer and enforcer of the law. Don't think like a sister, a lover, a friend…think like a cop. Make the arrest, not the kill."

His only hope was that they would listen to him. He knew there would be death, there was no doubt in his mind that these people were going to have to take a life. For him, when he was on the job, taking a life was always the hardest thing to do.

The first human life he took haunted him even today. It was during an armed robbery at a gas station, and he was just a beat cop-new to the force. The man had already killed a customer and the clerk, and he had his gun trained on David. It became a matter of who was going to shoot first, and he had to take the shot.

"Let me remind you, the people in this mansion are still human. No matter who they are or what they've done to you…" He met his daughter's intense gaze and his muscles relaxed. The others understood, but he truly wanted his words to get through to her. "Once you've made the decision to take a life, you will always remember it. That kill will stay with you for the rest of your life. During my forty years as an officer, I've had to make that call numerous times-and it is not an easy call to make. That call saved many lives, but the decision always weighs heavily on you. So if you have to make that call, make it only when you have no other options left."

"I get it," Jesse remarked, "If anything shoot if they are aiming to kill."

"Yes. How many of you here has had to take a life during your time on the force?" They looked at each other and shook their heads. Jesse was the only one to confirm that he had to do it. "What happened, Jesse?"

"Second year on the force." Jesse lowered his gun and lifted his shoulders. "I was undercover, trying to make an arrest on a drug deal. The dealer figured I was undercover and pulled a gun on me." Jesse's voice trembled and he brought his hand up over his mouth. The others listened and looked on with sorrow as he told his tale. "He took a shot, fortunately I had a vest on at the time. I emptied my clip as I was trained to do. All I remember about it thinking back is the man was laying there, just a heap of blood…You're right David, you don't forget. It was the hardest time of my life."

"No doubt you had to do a lot of paperwork as well."

"Yeah." Jesse exhaled and slid his hand away from his face. "You have to explain why the gun was fired, you have to undergo investigation just to make sure the kill was legitimate…there's a whole mess of shit that you have to deal with afterwards." The man looked at Tori and nodded once. "I'm with your father. I don't want to have to take a life unless it's necessary."

"We're soaking daylight," Tori replied coldly, "We need to get this job done." She grabbed two of the handcuffs on her belt and hurried to cuff the thieves on the floor. A group of officers entered behind them and awaited orders. "Take these two out to the patrol unit. Have a medic check them for any injuries. The rest of you, search the first floor, make sure to arrest anyone you find."

With that, they were off. David hurried up the right set of stairs and carefully checked each door he came across. The last door he came to before the double doors was a bathroom, and there was a shadow of a person behind the curtain in the bathtub.

"Come out with your hands up," he demanded. The shadow moved and he pointed his gun to the curtain in case the person tried to attack. He caught the smell of perfume and analyzed the height of the shadow to be about five feet, which was indicative of a female presence. "I repeat, put up your hands and step out now."

The woman did as instructed, holding her hands up in the air. She had a pistol in her right hand and a knife in her left. "Step out of the bathtub." He spread his feet apart and narrowed his eyes as the woman once again did as ordered. "Put the weapon on the floor, and kick it to me."

She was a young woman, and he recognized this criminal as someone he arrested on one of his last cases. This was Krystal Allison, she robbed a gas station at gunpoint, but didn't take a life. When he arrived on the scene with his partner, he could see how fearful she was, and thankfully, that same fear was present on her face today.

"I-I was just released," Krystal remarked, "I don't want to go back to jail. I'm sorry. I really am." She put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. He holstered his gun and moved her wrists behind her back, holding them together as he handcuffed them. "Am I in trouble?"

"You're being arrested for aiding a wanted murderer, Holly Malone." The girl started to tear up and set her head on the wall.

"I didn't do anything. When the police arrived I hid in the bathroom because I was scared. I don't want to go back to prison, please. She made me work for her."

"You will be given the opportunity to have a lawyer if you can't afford one for yourself, and you don't have to say anything that you are not comfortable with saying." He did feel for the girl, but it wasn't his job to let her go. "Can you tell me what I am to expect on this floor?"

"I'll tell you anything to help. There are three others on the second floor. Nora Dershlitt, Tyler Matthews and Andrew Ebony. Nora's leading the charge. First floor…Ralph, Hector and Jeremy are guarding the kitchen. Third floor has four people on it, I think, but I heard fighting up there."

"Okay, thank you." He grabbed her arm and guided her out of the bathroom. Two officers had climbed the stairs and stopped in front of him. "Before I hand you over to the officers, do you know the whereabouts of Gary Malone?"

"I think he might be guarding this floor, but I'm not sure."

"Okay. Go with these two. Thank you for your cooperation, Krystal." He waited for them to take her off and turned around with a frown, Sam had already gone ahead without him. "Damn, I didn't want anybody splitting up unless they had to."

He grabbed the radio from his waist and made his way through the double doors while speaking into it. "Detective Puckett, do not get too far ahead. All detectives and sergeants in this building, be aware, I have received information pertaining to the criminals that are scattered around the floors."

After giving the information, he returned the radio to his waist and looked up in time to see someone rushing in his direction. Caught off guard, he was shoved back against the guardrail.

"Shit, my back!" He clenched his teeth as searing pain shot through him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Gary staring back at him. "Gary? You…" Gary's right hand clenched around David's throat and the man blew out several puffs of air.

"You look weak, David. The years haven't been kind to you, but I'm still strong."

"We'll see who's strong." David grabbed Gary's wrist with both hands and held his breath, fighting against the pain in his body and using all his strength to push the man away.

"You shouldn't have come here, Dave. I didn't want to have to kill you." Gary's left hand covered David's face and started pushing him back, forcing painful shocks in his neck.

On instinct, David kicked his knee upwards and struck Gary in the waist. The man released him and took a step back, holding his stomach and taking a deep breath. David straightened himself with a heavy pant and rubbed his neck.

"We were friends once Gary. How could you do this to me?" They were close in their college days, then inseparable in their days at the academy. It felt like an eternity ago, however. "Time may have taken my strength away, but you've become withered and wretched."

"You want to know why? How far back are you curious to know?"

"I want to know why you took my daughter. I know why you started fucking my wife behind my back-" Gary broke out in laughter and spread his arms out to the sides.

"Enlighten me? I almost guarantee you have no idea." David stepped to the side, circling around so that his back would be to the wall in case Gary thought to charge him again. "Though it might have more to do with the lack of attention you paid her."

"She was violent, angry, abusive…of course I was going to divorce her."

"Exactly, so she found someone better. And clearly…" Gary's eyebrow rose and his eyes scanned David's thin body. "Someone who could stay in shape through the years." Gary folded his arms and David lowered his voice. He kept his anger inside, knowing that resorting to violence on impulse and seeking revenge would be the wrong way to do this.

"We don't have to do this Gary, we're both more mature than this." David removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt and tossed them down to Gary's feet. "You were a good cop once."

"And of course you're going to arrest me." Gary's head rolled to the right and his eyes narrowed. "I've spent nine years trapped in a loveless marriage to a woman who hated your daughter so much that she wanted to keep her stuck in a basement for twenty years. Obviously I'm the one that held the gun to Robbie's head, forcing him to kidnap your little girl. So you're going to arrest me and I'm going to spend the rest of my 'golden years' in prison."

"You know if you cooperate, you could get less time. Even if you use a plea bargain, or testify against Holly." He raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath. "You know the system, you know how this works."

A violent sneer spread across Gary's face as he straightened his head up. "I also know you're not as quick as you used to be." David's eyes widened as the man shoved him against the wall and struck him on the chest with an open palm. The strike took his breath from his lungs and caused him to break out in a fit of coughs. "I was always better than you David. On the job, with relationships, everything! I was the better one of us."

David's knees buckled and he tried to catch his breath, gasping out as Gary struck him in the face with his forearm. When he fell to the floor, he caught himself and winced as his heartbeat increased.

Gary's shadow fell over him. He looked up, still gasping for air as the man's eyes pierced into him. "You're just a shell of your former self, Dave." Gary knelt in front of him, his fearsome eyes seemed to burn a hole in him. "It's laughable. Those first few years, Trina would scream that her dad was going to come save her, rescue her and take her away…and here you are now, kneeling before your better."

He looked down at the ground and clenched his eyes, struggling to keep his body upright against the pain in him. "You know something, David? Holly once said she'd like to take your lifeless body and lay you down before Trina. Maybe we'll do that."

"You've changed Gary. This isn't like you, this was never like you."

Gary's hand snapped up to David's throat, forcing a gag from him. The man stood and pulled him up, then slammed him hard against the railing. "You spend nine years in a fucking hellhole and come out as you went in, David."

David brought his arm up and swung it down onto Gary's, forcing his grip to release. "Forgive me, old friend." As Gary stepped back and clutched his wrist, David threw his best punch into the man's jaw.

The adrenaline inside of him beat out the pain, and propelled him forward. He was determined to get back to his family, and nothing was going to stop him.

Gary let out an angry cry and rushed for David once more, grabbing him by the shoulders and fighting to push him over the edge. David did the same. He clenched his teeth and glared back into Gary's eyes.

Then the man slipped up, and for a split second, David saw true emotion across Gary's face. Hopelessness and self-loathing. Guilt.

"I was wrong, David. You were always stronger and better than I was." His brow furrowed as Gary's body relaxed. "I'm sorry." The man took a deep breath, then jumped to the right, throwing himself over the rails.

"No!" He reached out as if to grab the man, but to his horror, Gary had already landed. He huffed out as he watched the blood pool from his former best friend. Gary's eyes remained frozen, staring endlessly into the sky. "Goddamn it! Damn you!" He pounded the rail and fell back against the wall, screaming out in anger.

It took several minutes for him to recover. Gary's body remained in his brain, a reminder of the horror that would likely come with this day. As the nausea and anger churned inside of him, he carefully removed the radio from his belt and brought it to his lips.

"David Vega reporting in…Gary Malone is no longer an active threat. I repeat, Gary Malone has killed himself." His body trembled and tears ran down his face. As he slid down to the ground, he looked over to the stairwell. His body was still in a great deal of pain, but he was going to push forward despite this. In order to do so, he needed a moment to collect himself. "I need an officer's assistance. I am on the second floor, outside the double doors. Again, I need assistance."

He dropped the radio to the ground and stared at the railing while mentally cursing Gary. No matter how much time or how much animosity had grown between them, it was still hardest knowing that he had to fight and have a hand in killing the man that used to be his greatest friend.

Those memories now weighed heavily on his mind, and with them was the memory of their first meeting on the baseball field outside the college. A happier time, no doubt.

David struck the wall with the back of his head and closed his eyes. "Damn you." Hopefully no one else would have to deal with something like this, but then, that was partially why they advised Beck and Jade to remain outside. With Andre inside the mansion, it would be too much for them to have to fight the man. This fight confirmed that for him. "Rest easy, Gary…it's over…"

An intense fight, close call too. David truly does play the role of the wiser, older/experienced person. A good person to have around when all the others are younger, fresh detectives. Let's hope his words reach their intended person. And Gary's out.