Lex talionis
Chapter 02. An eye for an eye
Author's note: Being honest, this story has been quite inspired, at least at the beginning (later will differ greatly, I think), by the magnificent story still in progress "Descend" by flowerpetalsandwrittenwords, in AO3. Please, don't miss reading it. You won't regret it.
In the hospital waiting room, sitting next to Sam who was trying to comfort Jubal's children, Isobel felt that her utter anguish was terribly out of place. It was as if her heart couldn't stop screaming in agony, but she shouldn't have this kind of feelings for Jubal, and yet at those moments she was unable to control it. She could not bear the thought that she was going to lose him too... She just didn't think she would be able to get over it. Not after Jess. She couldn't lose her only friend. Even though deep down Isobel knew that Jubal wasn't just that to her... And although she should not feel it.
Those thoughts circled around in her head, mortifying her like a flock of crows to a dying animal.
Maggie and OA were there too, supporting each other, and they seemed very concerned as well, but a long way from the emotional turmoil Isobel was sinking into.
Meanwhile, the silence that hung among those present slowed down the seconds, which dragged painfully from one to the other.
In spite of everything, Isobel must have been keeping up appearances because Allan, Sam's husband, looked at her with a look of circumstance, as if he thought she too was there only to support the family.
A doctor came out of the emergency area, looking around.
"Agent Valentine's family?"
Isobel got up before anyone else, but managed to stop herself from running in panic to meet him. With an effort, she approached with a few more controlled steps, as Tyler and Abi hurried to ask, obviously with more justification than she could ever have.
"He's out of surgery and stable," said the doctor.
Tears welled up in Isobel's eyes, unable to conceal the enormous relief that swept her from top to bottom. She had to lean against a nearby counter. Fortunately, no one was noticing her in that moment of weakness because everyone was so relieved as well.
"The left shoulder fracture was clean, but we think he has a concussion. It all depends on how he wakes up.
Abi and Tyler hugged their mother in grief.
"Can we go in and see him?" Sam asked, gesturing to the children.
"He is still unconscious, but you can come in for a moment."
To subdue the almost irrepressible urge to go with them, Isobel had to swallow saliva with difficulty. She ached inside her chest that she couldn't go in to see Jubal and make sure he was all right. But evidently, it was not her place.
Clad in her most professional armor, she turned to OA and Maggie. "Let's go back to the JOC," he suggested with a tight throat. We need to find out what caused the accident.
His agents nodded with dismayed expressions, and the three of them headed for 26 Fed.
·~·~·
It was clear to the CSU experts that it had not been an accident.
Information obtained from the truck's Event Data Recorder (EDR) indicated, in fact, that the driver had accelerated to full throttle just prior to impact.
In addition, the footage from the traffic cameras at the intersection confirmed it. The huge garbage truck had run the red light and brutally rammed Jubal's vehicle. Isobel couldn't help grimacing at the images of Jubal's car rolling down the road with him in it.
There was no doubt that it had been a deliberate act.
She immediately dispatched Scola and Wallace to arrest the other driver. They had to chase him down and cut him down to bring him in.
When they took him to the interrogation room, the guy was frantic. He broke down with little pressure from Tiffany and Stuart.
He would talk, of course. He would confess everything. But only if they save his wife in time, who was apparently, kidnapped and threatened with death.
SWAT broke into the driver's house and saved that poor woman. They had been hurting her. The driver agreed to tell them that they had used his suffering to force him to attack that particular car, even though he had no idea who was in it. But now that his wife was safe, he backed down and would say no more. According to him, if he spoke, they would kill him and his wife as well.
In any case, that MO had managed to make everyone's hair stand on end at the JOC. It was all too familiar. Their worst fears were confirmed as soon as they identified the arrested kidnappers. It was very quick to find their affiliation with the Durango cartel. Behind it all, it was Antonio Vargas again.
·~·~·
As her shoes echoed down the long corridor of the penitentiary, Isobel did her best to calm her nerves. The last time she had come to talk to Vargas she had been accompanied by Jubal. At the time, she hadn't even thought about it. Now, in addition to her grief at the fact that he was still unconscious in the hospital, she was painfully aware of the emptiness of his absence.
It was curious how strongly the firm and determined she had felt then contrasted with the intense restlessness she felt now.
Isobel banished it from himself with a slight intake of breath. She could not afford to show weakness right now.
The prison guards brought Vargas in, sat him in the chair across from her, and left the room.
"Once again you have attacked my people," Isobel accused without further ado.
Vargas tilted his head to one side, but neither denied nor confirmed anything. He just kept silent. Isobel felt herself growing impatient.
"What do you intend to do this time? Are you going to go after us all one by one? What about the people who actually killed your wife and child? Or are we the only ones you consider responsible for that?
Vargas reddened and gritted his teeth.
"Everyone will get what they deserve. You, Agent Castille… I want to make you suffer," he stated flatly. "As I have suffered. I can't make you suffer more than by hurting and killing the person you care most about. And I've finally figured out who that is. Agent Valentine is that person.
Isobel's blood froze in her veins. "That's ridiculous," she tried to pretend.
He shrugged. "People under my command have been watching you, Isobel. Happy birthday, by the way. It was a very lively party. His expression was not ironic and cold, as it had been in their first encounters. It was bitter, and his eyes were full of rancor. "You may not want to admit it, and he may be in the dark, or maybe he's playing dumb because he doesn't reciprocate. It doesn't matter. I've seen you together. I've seen how you look at him. You can't fool me," he said, shaking his head slowly.
She didn't know how they would have managed to get images of the two of them to Vargas, being held in a maximum-security federal prison, but Isobel had to believe it. She swallowed saliva at his certainty, at his implacable gaze; Vargas' influence could reach far and wide.
"I know," he continued. You're ashamed of how you feel. For a subordinate. You can't act on it, of course... Don't worry; I'll keep your secret. I won't tell Agent Valentine. I won't tell anyone… Not even the people I send to have him killed," he concluded with cruel determination.
Isobel's unleashed pulse was impossible to control. "So far you've only failed," she replied contemptuously, in desperation.
"Yes, but this time I was closer. And I'll keep trying. Until I get it." Although his eyes were still filled with visceral hatred, Vargas smiled slightly at the real dread on her face. He stood up, "Go away, Agent Castille, that's all I have to say."
She came out of there with her legs trembling and her chest constricted in a terrible way that prevented her from breathing.
I had to do something. She couldn't continue to sit idly by. Sooner or later Vargas would achieve his goal. She couldn't afford to wait and let him end up killing Jubal. Because of what she had done.
Never been Isobel Castille one to stand by and watch.
With unsteady hands, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and searched for a contact in her phonebook. A quizzical voice answered on the other end of the line when she made the call.
"¿Isobel?"
"Dario? We need to talk. No. I need to see you. In person."
·~·~·
His throat burned, he could barely swallow, and his whole body ached. That was the first thing Jubal noticed when he regained consciousness. The next thing was that he had no idea where he was.
It took him a while to realize that he was in a hospital, in what looked like an ICU. He clumsily reached for the nurse's pager and pressed it.
When the medical staff came, they explained that he had been involved in a traffic accident, a few days ago.
Memory was a peculiar thing. The truth was that he had no recollection of the incident. From that morning he only remembered that he had forgotten his cell phone and had had to go back up to his apartment to get it; that a hangnail had been bothering him... Oh, and that he had been thinking about Isobel while he was driving.
He was transferred to the ward shortly after a neurological exam. It caught his attention to see that two agents were escorting him, who remained guarding the door of his room.
Although it was hard for him to speak because he had been intubated, the first thing he did was call to briefly reassure Sam and his children. He had just hung up the phone, when Maggie and OA arrived.
"How are you?" said the agent by way of greeting.
"What's going on, Maggie?" Jubal asked for all answer, his voice hoarse. "Why are there agents at my door?
OA and Maggie looked at each other.
-The accident was not an accident, Jubal," said OA.
"Someone tried to kill you," Maggie added.
"What?" he asked, puzzled.
The somber looks from his agents made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
"It was Vargas' doing," said OA plainly.
Jubal scrambled back onto the bed with difficulty, using only one hand because his other arm was held in a sling. The sudden movement, besides hurting him, made him dizzy; he had to control an attack of nausea, but he managed to sit upright. The ideas were rushing through his head all at once.
"That bastard," he muttered. "My children...? Isobel? And the team, are you all right?"
"There have been no further attacks so far but we are all under escort and have placed our families in safe houses," OA reported. "But Isobel..."
"What happened? Is she all right?" asked Jubal, suddenly even more worried.
"She's…" Maggie didn't seem to know how to continue.
For an instant, Jubal felt like shaking her.
"...her whereabouts are unknown," OA finished for her.
Air suddenly refused to enter Jubal's lungs.
"Two days ago," OA added, "she decided to take a few personal days," from the look on both of their faces, it seemed like they thought that was a very strange decision under the circumstances, "and she went to Miami. But... She was not answering our messages. We got worried and sent someone from the office there. She checked in at the hotel she booked, but never got to the room.
'We've found footage from a surveillance camera near her house," Maggie said, "showing her taking a cab with a small suitcase, but it has not been possible to identify the cab. Her cell phone is turned off and..."
Jubal looked at them with wild eyes. It was impossible for him to conceal his panic. It looked like someone was playing a frantic game of Pong on his heart monitor.
"...we don't know where she went," concluded OA, grimly.
~.~.~.~