When awareness returned, Jess was disoriented and groggy. There were sounds of the rainforest all around, as well as that of good china clinking against itself and a man saying, "There you are. Come now. Wakie wakie. It's all right. You're a guest here."

Slowly, section by section, Jess's brain came back together and she cracked open an eye, taking in the world around her.

She was at a table laden with tea and food, her head resting on the edge of it until she lifted it with great effort. There was a short statured man sitting across from her with a crisp suit and large, fancy watch. He had a clean shaven, stout face and flat features.

Almost too terrified to speak, Jess forced her mouth to work, praying this was all just a bad dream.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

"She speaks!" The man paused while pouring some water and gave her a smile that some could have described as charming. Jess was just reminded of a shark. "I'm an old business partner of your step father, Harold."

Hysteria bubbled beneath the surface and Jess stared at him, trepidation rank in her senses. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real! How did…wait, partner of Harold?

She must have looked stricken because he waved his hand placatingly, "Oh no, no, don't look so worried. I'm a much more reasonable man than he is. As long as Jeremy does as I ask, you'll remain unharmed, you have my word."

"My brother? W-what? Why am I here?" Jess still felt awful and her movements were sluggish, hard to control as she tried to sit up properly in the chair.

All that kept her aware of the dangerous situation was the heavy beat of her own heart and the armed man standing by the door behind them in the well decorated villa. The rest felt unreal.

"Jeremy has specific talents that I have need of," The man told her with deceptive patience and pleasantness. "When I approached him with a business opportunity, months back now, he turned me down and I'm afraid I'm not the sort of man you say no to. When I was speaking with Harold recently, asking for advice on how to sway the young man, he mentioned how fond Jeremy is of you and your little trip to the rainforest made it much more convenient to acquire your presence. I had planned to take you from the US, but that would have been much more complicated. No matter, I figured inviting you to stay was the easiest way to ensure cooperation from your brother…I do hope you don't take it personally, Jessica. You seem like a very nice girl and I do regret cutting your little research trip short, and the unfortunate fright this must be causing. Tea?"

"No," Jess shook her head, shrinking back into the chair and staring at the cup he held out like it was poison. "Where am I? What did you do to Rob?"

Ignoring her, 'bossman' set the cup down delicately in front of her and offered a 'sympathetic' smile.

"You really should drink, and eat something. You could be here a while and I have assured Jeremy that you will be well taken care of. I'm even seeing to it that you sleep through most of this trying affair. My men have strict orders to stay away from you, don't worry, dear. They'll be gutted if they disobey. I'm not someone you disobey. Do be sure to tell your brother that when you speak with him and that you're under my protection here. I want him to see that we could be good business partners and that I'm nothing like Harold. He'd have had you beaten by now, back in the day. He's mellowed with age and his successful American life."

Jess swallowed back bile at the subtext.

He was keeping her drugged and she was entirely at the mercy of his 'reasonable nature'. Secondary subtext that her step father was even more of a monster than she ever suspected and she'd spent numerous years living under the same roof as him.

The 'bossman' wiped his hands and face, getting up.

"You'll have to forgive me, I don't have much time to spend with you. I've never been much of a host. We have a little matter to attend to and then you have half an hour to eat, drink and use the facilities. After that you'll be put back to sleep until our next chat. With luck your brother won't need his first, shall we say nudge, in the right direction at that point. My hand will be forced if he isn't delivering along the timeline I directed. As I said, I'm a reasonable man and I don't like making young women suffer unnecessarily. No, no…don't worry. I'm sure Jeremy will be a good boy and do as he's told."

"Where's Rob!" Jess asked desperately as the last image she had in her mind prior to this was him falling to the ground.

"Who?"

"My security-"

"Oh. Him. I'm afraid he got in the way and ended up being shot. So sorry if that upsets you."

Horrified, Jess nearly vomited for real as she croaked out, "Is he dead?!"

"Likely. Now. Let's send your brother a nice little message. Look over here at the camera please…right here, there you are." Bossman tsked. "Try not to look so miserable. It was only a bodyguard. Now…ah! There you are, Jeremy, my boy! You see, as promised after our little chat, Jess is awake and well!"

"Jess!?" Over the speaker Jess could hear her brother's voice.

"Jer!?" Jess squeaked. "W-what's going on?"

"It's ok, Jess. I'll…I'll make this right…I'm so sorry-"

"Now, now, there's no need for that!" Bossman waved his hand dismissively. "As you can see, your sister is just fine and she will remain as such unless you don't agree to doing the job I asked."

"I need more time- hacking is not what it looks like in the movies, it's a delicate, time consuming-"

"Tick tock, Jeremy. Refuse to meet my timeline, and well…I can't be here all the time to keep your poor, sweet, innocent little sister safe. I'm a busy man after all."

"If you hurt her-"

"Relax, boy. I have no desire to harm her. Do the job, come work for me, and she goes free. Easy as that."

"I need more time to get you what you want!"

"You have an extra eight hours, just because I'm generous and I've already grown fond of your poor sister. Get to work."

"Christoph- Wait-"

The call ended and Jess nearly screamed with the torrent of emotion boiling up inside.

"Let me go." Jess stated in a wobbly voice.

"Would that I could, dear." Christoph eyed her. "You do seem in great distress, girl. If you aren't going to eat, perhaps I should have you put out again…that seems more merciful. Don't worry, I'll be watching over you the whole time. You'll be alright in your room. There are cameras everywhere here, you see? No…alright. Carlos?"

He snapped his fingers and the thug by the door approached.

"Stay the hell away from me, you fucker!" Jess launched to her feet, stumbling back and grabbing a fork in a blind attempt to find a weapon to use against 'Carlos'.

"Now now, Jessica," Christoph sounded disappointed. "Let the poor man do his job. He won't hurt you on purpose. He just needs to put the line in your arm and then it'll be sweet dreams until our next chat. Hopefully by then your brother will be cooperating and-oh, dear-"

As Jess gasped for breath, her head swam and she fell to her knees, weak as a rat as the effects of whatever they drugged her with before washed over her again.

Blind and unable to fight, the fork was taken from her fist and rough hands dragged her up. The sudden change in altitude sent her over the edge, and Jess lost consciousness for a time.

When she drifted back again, she was in a room with a big window, alone, with her arm long shackled to a four poster bed and an IV line in her arm.

The steady drip sent her further and further from reality, and while she knew she should be trying to escape, or move, or at very least panic, Jess couldn't seem to bring herself to do anything but close her eyes again and hope she woke up at home.


As spin ups went, the last four days felt like eight.

"I can't wait to sleep for a week." Sonny gripped as they walked off the plane.

"Me too," Brock agreed.

"Hold up. I know that face." Jason said, stopping the boys as they trekked off the plane and Mandy stalked towards them across the tarmac with a set jaw. "We going back out?!"

"Yes." Mandy stated crisply.

"Mandy, we just got back-"

"Believe me, Jason." Mandy's voice held a note that put all their hair on end. "You'll want to be on this one and it's a time sensitive rescue."

Behind Mandy a tall, lanky young man was shifting from foot to foot, studying each of them.

"This is them? This is Bravo?"

"Yeah, we're Bravo team." Jason answered in a clipped tone that warned of his waning patience. "Who are you?"

The man stayed quiet, but there was something about the way his nose angled, the spacing and shape of his eyes and the way his mouth pulled with worry that was eerily familiar.

"Gentlemen, this…is Jeremy Barlowe, Jessica Barlowe's older brother and the whole reason we're spinning up."

Ice water trickled into their veins as dread set in. Somehow they instantly knew who they were going to rescue, as impossible as it seemed.

"Please tell me this is a joke," begged Sonny.

"What happened," Metal snarled, taking a step toward the lanky beanpole and sending him skittering back a step. "Where is Jess?!"

Mandy didn't answer, instead she stalked past with the expectation they would all follow, leading the way to a second already fueled and prepped plane.

Once they were gathered, Mandy started to speak, bringing up photos and images.

"This is Christoph Santino. Well connected in Brazil, he has half the police force in his back pocket and multiple politicians do his bidding. He's wanted in numerous countries, including ours, for arms dealing and the selling of valuable, sensitive information that he has a talent for acquiring. Mr. Barlowe here provided him with some less than legal computer services a few months ago and he took an interest in his skills."

Glares instantly got thrown toward Jeremy and the young man ducked his head, trying to pretend he hadn't noticed. Cerberus rumbled a low growl as he too stared at the man, picking up on the distrust and dislike of the team.

Mandy cleared her throat and got them back on track as Blackburn and Lisa made their way over, talking in hushed tones.

"Santino wanted him to hack into the Pentagon and take a highly classified file. Mr. Barlowe refused his offer. Then Santino approached this man, Harold Whitlow. Turns out they're old business partners. Whitlow offered Jessica Barlowe up as leverage in exchange for he and his wife Ellen's 'lack of involvement'. Ten hours ago Jeremy received word that if he did not deliver, his sister would certainly be harmed. Soon after Jeremy reached out to the agency, and specifically requested myself and your team to get her back safely. He wouldn't work with anyone else and in exchange he will provide us with anything and everything we want about some of the…less reputable clients he's had this past year."

"Do we have any intel for where they have her?" Jason asked, somehow managing to sound like this was just another mission and not that his adopted daughter had been kidnapped by an international criminal because her criminal hacker brother did a shady job.

"Our IT guys were able to back-track the signal of the video they sent out two hours ago confirming proof of life, with the help of Mr. Barlowe's admittedly impressive skills. Sananto doesn't trust his men and has a security system installed so he can keep tabs on them. Cameras all over the place. His men behave because they know he's watching. Mr. Barlowe hacked the system and we've had eyes on Jess for a few hours now, ever since the second call. I have assets trying to pinpoint where they're holding her, but it'll take some time. As I said, Sananto has connections and we don't want to tip him off that we're coming. As far as we know, she's still somewhere in Northern Brazil, narrowed down to this region here. They took her from this market square in broad daylight. I'm still getting details surrounding the kidnapping, but there's not a lot to go on right now. Local authorities aren't much help, likely paid off. I was told one of the American security members was shot trying to protect her. Identity and condition is unknown at this time."

Bravo shifted angrily, swearing under their breath.

Mandy hesitated a fraction of a second before bringing up a feed to the small screen.

"Based off the camera's we have access to, we are hopeful that we'll have more solid intel soon. At the very least we have a clear layout of the interior and surrounding grounds."

The image that greeted them was various angles of a large, fancy villa with jungle all around and a small village just past the gates. On one screen there was the small, unmistakable form of Jess, laying on a bed with an IV in her arm, drugged out of her tree. She was shivering as she stared blankly at the wall. From what they could tell she was alone in the room and didn't look like she'd been too roughed up, but it was hard to tell.

"Is that a live feed?" Brock asked, looking angry and ill all at once.

"Yes."

On the feed, Jess's head rolled fretfully and she drew her trembling fingers to her throat, fingers closing around something and she curled into the fetal position sluggishly as her eyes rolled again with the drugs taking over, lips moving silently with words they couldn't make out. Poor kid looked like she could hardly move.

Metal was up and peering closer at the screen suddenly before snapping. "I need a computer. Now."

"What's going on?"

"Gave Jess that necklace before she left, after Harold showed up and he knew she was scheduled to go on the trip. She was fuckin terrified of something like this happening! Looks like she's still wearin it."

Mandy's eyes lit up and she started typing furiously on the computer in front of her. "Of course! How the hell did I miss that!? Do you have the tracking code?"

"I do." Metal leaned in next to her and punched it in.

"W-what necklace?!" Jeremy's voice broke as he spoke and Cerberus let out a menacing snarl in reply.

"Tracker." Mandy supplied distractedly.

"We have an exact location!?" Clay asked hopefully, looking as though he were holding back from punching Jeremy in the face when the man paced too close to him in an attempt to see the screen again.

Blackburn looked over Mandy's shoulder. "We do."

"She's in a small town just a few hours north of where they took her from."

"How soon can we go get her?"

"We've been greenlit to do whatever is necessary to get her back. Whatever it is that Santino is after, the brass wants more information on how he found out about it and would like the full cooperation of Mr. Barlowe. That being said, this is a hostage rescue first. We roll up Santino second if we get the chance. If not, we take what we can and go after him another day. But we need him, alive . "

"What are we waitin for?" Sonny snapped, hot and ready to go. "Let's go get her and make these sons of bitches pay!"

Blackburn seemed to agree and he announced, "It's been nearly thirteen hours since the abduction and we need a lot more before we can move in. Let's get in the air and get to work, people. We've got a long flight. Let's hope we have more to work with when we land."


"Blue skies…smiling at me….nothing but blue skies…do I seee…"

Jess lay on the bed, singing softly and staring at the same wall as the drip slowed down and she started to come back to the land of the living.

This had happened twice now since she'd first woken. Each time the guard came and got her. He never spoke. She would feel weird, detached and a little drunk the whole time, use a bathroom, get offered food and water that she refused, and then she would have to talk to 'bossman' and her brother.

Rinse and repeat in lord knew how long.

At first she'd been permanently terrified. Now she was just numb and scared whenever reality set in. That came in waves. The worst was how helpless she was. Only now, in the brief time she had while she 'sobered' could she vaguely entertain ideas to help her escape, and it was so damn hard to think! Sometimes she didn't even know who she was or where she was!

"Lock me up…and sock me up…throw away the keeyyy…." A stupid, grim smile slipped over her face and kept singing softly, "Got fuck yourself, you whoreson, cause you're through fuckin with meeee- oh fuck it all…fuck it all…this is shitty as can beee…this is bad…really bad…why did a psycho have to kidnap meeee…"

Spotting the camera in the corner of the room, Jess remembered she was being watched and she groaned, rolling over with effort and going silent.

Being sassy helped her not feel so afraid and having an attitude curbed the tears, but it was getting harder and harder to do it.

How long had she been here? Was anyone coming for her? Would Jeremy actually save her?

Her fingers locked around the necklace again and she tried not to cry, clinging to hope in her moment of lucidity that maybe, just maybe Scott knew she was missing and would find her.

What if the tracker wasn't working. What if he couldn't find her? What if he was spun up and didn't know?

He promised to find her. No matter what happened. She had to hang onto that and stay calm. Calm would keep her alive…right?

Shivering, Jess winced when she heard the door open and she tucked the necklace safely under her shirt again.

Here we go.

When 'Carlos' dragged her up, Jess felt worse than the last time. Her limbs hardly worked, she had the shakes, her throat hurt and her eyes kept closing.

"Move." Carlos snarled.

Weird. That was the first time he'd spoken. Asshole.

Jess tried her best anyway, fearing what he would do to her if she didn't.

Maybe being unaware and drugged out of her tree to the point of not knowing where she was or what was happening was better. Detachment was kinda nice.


"I fuckin hate this." Sonny was pacing up and down the aisle, glaring up the plane at Jeremy. "I want to bust his fucking face in."

"Get in line." Clay mumbled, laying in his hammock, trying and failing to sleep.

Metal and Brock's hammock's were on either side of him. Brock and Cerberus seemed to be sleeping but Brock opened one eye to watch Sonny pace for a bit, so clearly he wasn't.

Jury was still out if Metal was. His arms were folded over his chest, eyes closed, permanent frown on his face.

"My biggest concern is what the long term exposure to those drugs are doing to her," Trent said quietly from where he was sitting with a computer in his lap. He had a strained edge to his voice. "They pulled her medical file before we left and I've been reading through it. Last time she got drugged…back in highschool? The reason she was in the hospital so long was because her body didn't react well to it at all. Based on the options of what she's being pumped full of and what the doc's can determine, she should be ok if we can get to her and give her something right away that'll counter what it's doing to her, balance her back out as soon as possible."

"What happens if we don't get it to her in time?"

"Honestly? They don't know. Last time she ended up with seizures and it put a huge strain on her heart. If it's similar to what did that? She could be in trouble." Trent dumbed it down well for them all, knowing better than to get into the science behind it. They wanted simple answers and he had practice giving simple, caveman replies. "So far the surveillance hasn't shown anything. Last I checked she was singing that song from The Witcher crossed with her own version of Let it Go from Frozen. All things considered she seemed stable enough and I'm amazed at her resilience. I would not have blamed her if she'd shut right down and was crying the whole time."

"Jess is stronger than she looks," Clay muttered softly. "She had to be to survive her mother all those years. Compared to Ellen, that guy probably seems like a walk in the park."

"That son of a bitch is a ruthless criminal, Clay. He ain't no fuckin walk in the park! I fuckin wish this damn thing could fly faster! This is takin too long!" Sonny snapped, still pacing like a caged animal. "She'll already have been in their hands for twenty four hours by the time we get there, and then we gotta get greenlit, and who knows how long that could take- And if it weren't for him she wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Sonny, no. Stay away from him- Fuck-" Clay tried to tumble out of his hammock and stop the Texan.

Sonny was already stalking toward the young man, full tilt, brushing off Clay and Trent as he went until he was met with the solid arm of Metal when he fully stood up from his hammock, suddenly wide awake.

"Back off." Metal snarled softly. "Go sleep. Jess needs us to be firing all cylinders."

"Get off me, Metal," Sonny snarled back. "She wouldn't be in this mess if we'd of stopped her from going- if you'd stopped her-she should be at home. Safe! She wouldn't have gone if you told her not to cause she listens to you! It's as much your fault as it is his ."

"Say that again!" Metal nearly shouted, sending everyone to their feet as he grabbed Sonny by the front and pulled him toward him, eyes blazing. "You really want to go there Sonny? I'll put my foot so far up your ass-"

"Hey!" Jason was on the scene quickly with Ray, pulling the pair apart with difficulty when Sonny tried to shove him back. "Knock it off or I'll stand both of you down from this mission! You hear me?"

Metal just growled and stalked away to the opposite end of the plane, scattering people as he went.

"Sonny! What the hell, man!?" Ray was already settling into scolding. "You seriously turning on your brother, at a time like this?"

"He-"

"No." Jason stepped right up into Sonny's face, hands on his hips as he sized up the man. "We need each other right now, and Jess needs us. All of us. So get your shit together, get some sleep and make it right with Metal. You think he's not already blaming himself? Because I sure as hell am blaming myself for not trying to talk her out of the trip, yet here we are. Focus on the task at hand, for fuck sake."

Properly shamed, Sonny retreated to his hammock and lay down, fuming and silent.

Jason caught Blackburn's questioning stare and gave him a weary thumbs up and waved him off.

"Those of you not sleeping, gather round. Let's go over the plan of entry now that we've got a floor plan. We land in two hours. I want to be ready the second we get greenlite to go get her."


"Hey, the next check in is coming up. Be ready."

Lisa was talking to Jeremy who'd wisely stayed in the background, hiding from Bravo and avoiding getting beaten by Sonny and Metal who'd been glowering at him non-stop most of the flight. Now that they'd landed, they were distracted by planning, prepping gear and putting together all the new intel that had been gathered by Mandy's contacts on the ground over the ten plus hours they'd spent on the plane.

"Right." Jeremy straightened his rumpled shirt and made his way to his station.

"Can we please listen this time?" Jason asked quietly. "Be good if we could get a feel for what kind of person this guy is. Might give us more ideas."

Blackburn looked like he was about to say no, but then he sighed and muttered, "None of you say a damn word or make a sound, you hear me?"

"We ain't stupid." Sonny snapped. "Wouldn't put Jess in danger like that."

Ignoring it, Blackburn walked away, checking his team and making sure everything was set up for the call.

"Just keep him talking, and buy us more time. That's all you need to do. Just like the other times. If all else fails, we use the back up plan and give him the files that will prove to him you've gotten into some of the system, but not all of it." Mandy nodded to Jeremy when he looked like he might pass out and said firmly, "For Jess. You can do this."

It came through with video once more, connected to the monitors, and they could see Jess sitting rigidly on the edge of a chair next to where Santano was standing. Jeremy answered with his phone, like all the last times and he was situated himself in a way that his own feed wouldn't show anything suspicious.

"There you are, my dear boy! How is progress?"

Jeremy swallowed and kept his eyes on the screen, not looking to anyone for help which was good. It would give them away.

"Let me talk to Jess first."

"Oh, of course, of course…Jessica is eager to speak with you too, aren't you?"

"Jess, you ok?" Jeremy asked anxiously, ignoring the man.

Bravo held their breath. Other than Trent being allowed to join the medical team in monitoring her symptoms and condition through the feed, and once or twice when each of them had snuck a peek, they'd been kept away from surveillance. It was their first time really seeing and hearing her since her last phone call to them.

She drew a long, barely controlled lung full of air and her frightened eyes flicked up from where she'd been staring at the floor. Metal cracked a knuckle softly as he stared at the screen, every fiber of his posture ready to kill someone. The rest of the team wasn't far behind and Eric looked like he regretted letting them listen in.

"I don't know," Jess mumbled groggily. "I'm really out of it…long have I been here?…feel really sick…just puked on someone's shoes."

"I'm sorry." Jeremy blurted, his face etched with regret. "I'm so sorry-"

"It's ok." Jess slurred, closing her eyes and putting her forehead in her hands with the tiniest of snickers and a soft smile. It was like she was a mix between being aware and terrified at the same time as being drunk and carefree. From behind her hands they all only just made out her add on. "They were really ugly shoes."

"There, you see? Her spirits are still in tact and she remains unharmed-"

Head shifting, and hands lowering Jess glared at the man standing next to her and managed an admirably savage and foolish, "Excuse me? Unharmed? You keep drugging me, asshole-"

"Jess, shut up." Jeremy said quickly, fear flashing through his eyes. "Just…don't make trouble. Stay quiet."

Jason shifted from foot to foot now, arms clamped in a tight hold around his own body and Brock had to walk away with Cerberus to keep the dog from making noise.

"Now, now," Santino held up a peaceable hand, chuckling a little as he met Jess's glare with amusement, "I'm not offended. No. I'm glad to see how resilient your sister is, dear boy, especially since you are behind schedule."

Jess stiffened at that and the fight in her started to quickly leak away as she curled in on herself with another shuddering breath, hugging her body with wide, frightened eyes that fell to the floor again.

"I'm half way." Jeremy said desperately. "I told you it's not like in the movies! I can't just hit a few keys and break in!"

"I'm disappointed, Jeremy. It's been well over twenty four hours now since we first spoke. Surely that's more than enough time for you to be more than half way! Don't you want this to all be over for your sister?"

"It's the Pentagon!" Jeremy snapped, not losing his nerve, which those watching had to admit was impressive given how much sweat was pouring down the back of his neck. "What do you expect! Do you want your file or not?! If I go too fast, I'll trip a security feature and then you'll get nothing . You wanted me because I'm the best, right? Well the best is telling you this is as fast as I can go. This isn't the first job like this I've had to do. I know what I'm talking about and I would never fuck around with my baby sister's life."

Santino tapped his foot on the floor and crossed his arms, frowning at Jess who was very still now other than her fingers twitching as though they were ticking to rip out the IV needle still taped in her arm.

"Harold assured me that you cared a great deal about your little sister-"

"I do!" Jeremy cried. "Leave her alone! I'm doing what you want, just…I said from the start, before you even involved her that job, if I did it, would take a few days -"

"Oh, I suppose that is true. Since I am a reasonable man I'm going to give you an extra six hours. Only. If you don't deliver then, I'll have to add a little something to Jess's sedative- a local recipe. Very potent and induces hallucinations, I'm told. I believe it translates to 'the nightmare tonic'."

"Don't you fucking touch her!" Jeremy said, fear making his voice shake. "I'll-"

"Do your job, and I won't. Go to the cops, and you'll never see her again. Sell me out and I'll burn everything you love to the ground, starting with her."

"Jer…" Jess's small voice shook and they could see the way she curled in on herself, small and defeated. "Please don't leave me here."

Jeremy swallowed hard again and tried to shift his tone to more confidence, "I won't, shortie. I'll get you out. Promise."

Jess's lip trembled and she didn't answer audibly as tears slipped out, but Metal was watching the screen like a hawk and caught the words not many others did. Her lips said, 'You said that once before.'

By now Clay was breathing faster and Trent had a hand on Sonny's shoulder, keeping him quiet. They all wanted to yell, tell her they were coming to get her, but they didn't. They were professionals, no matter how close it hit to home.

"You have six hours. Have results and I'll spare your sister the torments of her own imagination."

The call ended and on the security cameras they saw Santino call his guard and had Jess taken back to her room. She didn't fight or beg, defeat radiating from her as she stumbled along.

There was a heavy silence followed by Blackburn saying evenly, "Ladies and gentleman, we have six hours before the situation escalates. We need to confirm the location of the target and execute a plan. Let's get to work."

"We know where she is! Let's just go get her!" Jeremy said with frustration. "You heard what he'll do if I don't deliver something !"

"Yes, Mr. Barlowe. I was present for the conversation. I am aware of the situation." Eric was already walking away.

"You can't seriously be ok with waiting!" Jeremy had turned on Bravo next. "You're the whole reason I picked this team. I know you take care of you. I know you care about her! Go get her! Please!"

"Are you stupid?" Metal asked in a low voice.

"What?"

Jason picked up where Metal left off, shooting a warning look at the big man who looked ready to murder someone. "If we go in there without solid intel or a plan we could get Jess killed, or worse, they'll get away with her and we'll never have another shot at getting her back and she'll suffer unimaginable horrors."

"We can't just- do nothing!" Jeremy balled his fists up tightly. "How do I make this go faster? She doesn't deserve this!-"

"No, you know what? She doesn't." Jason finally snapped, turning back from walking away with the rest of the team and stalking back again. "And if you'd stayed away and been a law abiding citizen she wouldn't be in this situation."

Visible tears gathered and Jeremy choked out, "I ghosted her as soon as I found out he was so persistent and used to work with my step-dad. I tried to erase all traces that she means anything to me. I've fucking stayed away before for years to keep her safe- "

"From what? Safe from her mom? Huh? Safe from Harold, who's shaping up to be an ex-crime boss from South America? How was leaving her alone with them keeping her safe?"

"I didn't have a choice, you don't understand!"

"No, I think I understand just fine. You're a coward and a fucking sorry excuse for a brother."

"You're right." Jeremy answered, defeated and backing down with his head hung. "Why do you think I demanded you lot? You're a better family for her than she's ever had. So don't let her down like I have. Got get her. Please ."

"That's the mission. That's our job." Jason stated plainly as he walked away, detached and cold. "Who she is to us doesn't matter. All that matters is the mission."

Ray stopped him a few feet later and lowered his voice.

"You know this isn't just another mission, Jase-"

"Keep your focus where it needs to be, Ray." Jason hissed.

"Not even you can pretend this one isn't personal-"

"Oh, it's fuckin personal, but I'm not about to risk Jess by letting my feelings get in the way. We go in with clear heads and we do our jobs. End of story."

"Alright. Just checking in, brother."


Laying on the bed, Jess watched the world spin.

Things weren't making sense anymore. She vaguely remembered being dragged out of the room again and heard Jeremy's voice. It was hard to figure out what was being said, and she couldn't answer. She didn't even want to answer.

All that mattered was that somehow she registered that she wasn't being given nightmare drugs just yet because she wasn't seeing anything terrifying…or at least maybe 'bossman' said something to the effect of very diluted ones.

Was the lamp dancing around? That was kinda creepy. Oh. No. It wasn't. She just couldn't keep her eyes open.

How long had she been here now? It felt like days. Weeks even. Was no one coming for her? Where was here again?

Groaning with nausea, Jess leaned over the bedside and puked again. Gosh she wished her brain would work.

The door opened a few minutes later and she could hear a man swearing about the puke but she didn't care. She hoped he slipped in it and fell.

He didn't. That was disappointing.

Why wasn't this more scary? Why was she so calm, she felt like she shouldn't be calm and that she should be scared. That was weird…oh!

"Butterfly." Jess mumbled, pointing at the window as the sun went down. "And a rainbow! Oh that's pretty!"

The man ignored her and stomped out, yelling about puke and needing a mop. Just for revenge against the horrid man, Jess tried to make herself throw up again and succeeded.

She lay back with a tiny grin.

"Wonder if there are any spiders." She murmured to the empty room. "A tarantula would be nice company right now."

Groggily, she tried to peer around the room, hunting for signs of spider and then got distracted by the camera in the corner of the room, muttering, "What kind of creepy ass bastard keeps a camera in a room. Perv."

Fear started to trickle in again and Jess shivered at the idea of being watched so she curled onto the opposite side again and her fingers found that pendant around her neck again. She desperately wanted to rip that IV out but she didn't dare to try again. Someone stopped her last time and yelled at her.

The clean up crew appeared and she pretended to sleep while they swore and cleaned it up.

Once they left, Jess started to break down and tears leaked out.

"Please don't leave me here." Jess whispered into the silence, feeling utterly alone and forsaken as she bit back a whimper and all the vulnerability rushed up from where she buried it, reminding her just how small, helpless and scared she was.

"Don't leave me here, Jer…Scott…Scott please find me…I want to go home."

Then the voices started, whispering like the wind outside that no one was coming and she was alone.


The only person watching at that moment heard her pleas and Lisa Davis had to blink back her own tears as she whispered to the screen, "He's coming. They'll be there soon. Hang in there, Jess. Help is coming really soon. Just waiting for nightfall."

"Any change?" Trent and Metal appeared behind her, geared up and ready to go. They wore black and weren't in marked uniform. The mission had to run as if the US had never been there. The deal made with the Brazilian government was that they all wanted plausible deniability at the same time as agreeing to keep their police and forces from the area for a set amount of time and not promising anything. Basically they were on their own, but Santino was enough of a problem and had dirt on enough of the governing body that they wanted him eliminated. They just didn't want him to know they allowed it if Bravo failed.

"She just puked twice. I think you'll need a second shoot."

"Got it."

"She's pretty out of it but slowly growing more lucid again. By my count they'll be about to start another round of drugs around the same time you make entry, if all goes according to plan. These ones will have the new stuff. Be warned. If we're lucky, it'll be diluted just like he said and she won't get much before you reach her."

"Let's get moving then," Metal clapped Trent on the shoulder and was already headed for the exit. He was completely focused and slipped into full mission mode, tabling the fact this was Jess they were going to rescue. They had confirmation. They had intel. They were greenlit. Soon they would have darkness and the perfect approach from the jungle.

Knowing that Lisa had a soft spot for Jess, just like the rest of them, Trent squeezed her shoulder gently as he walked past, following.

Lisa breathed out a sigh and set about monitoring cameras and ISR. Across from her, Mandy offered an encouraging smile before getting on the phone again, still gathering more information about the security man who'd been shot.

They had a name now. Robert Murphy. He was in critical condition. Most of them knew him from the teams and it burned them up that he was hurt.

As Bravo headed to the vehicles that would take them part of the way into the jungle, Sonny stopped Metal.

"Hey…ah…Metal?" Sonny hesitated as he stepped in his way.

"Move." Metal growled.

"Look, just…I'm sorry for earlier."

Metal paused, jaw clenching but willing to hear him out. Sonny didn't apologize often, or admit he was wrong very quickly.

Seeing that he had his attention, Sonny fidgeted with his hands and lowered his tone, "If you're to blame, so am I…and none of us are, no matter how much it might feel that way…I just- I'm just so damn scared for her and it came out stupid- That's all."

"Alright." Metal lifted a fist, straight faced and still angry, but willing to let it go all the same, "Let's go get her."

Relief flooded the Texan and he met the fist-bump quickly before heading off the plane with the rest. He was itching to kick doors.