Hey babes! Happy almost new year! And here we are with another story for ya. Have had this one sorta ready to go for a little while now, but I think that it's a good note to go out on as my last fic of 2023.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for the 'buried alive' trope in TV and fics. So I wrote one for Miggy because yes.

Enjoy!


Rushing into the police precinct, Thomas makes a beeline for Gordy's desk, his breath heavy and his heart racing as he searches for his friend. His eyes dart all over the room until he finally spots the older man in one of the conference rooms, his back to him. He pushes open the door and stops abruptly in the doorway, his throat constricting at the loud wailing coming from his six-month-old daughter being cradled and bounced in the Detective's arms, despite the girl's every effort to try and get away.

"Gordy."

The man in question turns and lets out a breath. "She's been crying nonstop. I think she knows something's off."

Thomas strides into the room and carefully pulls his daughter into his arms, holding her close and rocking her as he makes shushing noises that he hopes will calm her down. He presses a lingering kiss to the top of her head and then looks up at his friend. "What happened?"

"A passing jogger heard Charlie crying from within a nearby bush and brought her in. Like I said, she hasn't stopped crying. I tried multiple times to get through to Juliet but nothing connected. That's when I called you." Gordy steps over to the table in the middle of the room and sits, pulling out another chair. "Walk me through the morning."

Thomas swallows, sitting down in the chair and adjusting his hold on Charlie now that she's stopped squirming. "Uh, we had a late night with Charlie, she hasn't been sleeping very well. It was maybe two or three when we finally got her to fall asleep. I uh, I got up with Charlie when she woke up again a few hours later, probably around six, maybe six thirty."

"Okay. Then what?"

"I gave her a bottle and then got breakfast going for me and Higgy. She came down around seven thirty, I think. Said she was gonna go for a quick run around the neighborhood and wanted to take Charlie with her. She thought the fresh air might help. She called me after about an hour, said she was gonna take Charlie down to the beach and relax. Then a couple of hours later, you called."

Gordy sighs. "Well, as far as we can tell, they never made it to the beach. We got traffic cam footage of two men in black ski masks grabbing Juliet and shoving her into a van. Thankfully, she must have clocked the van before it got too close and hid Charlie in the bushes so they wouldn't get to her too."

Thomas lets out a heavy breath, glancing down at his whimpering daughter. "Thank goodness for mummy's spy instincts still being alive and kicking, huh?" He presses another kiss to her head and then looks up at his friend. "What now?"

"I promise you I'm going to do everything I can to find her, okay? I'm going to utilize every resource and cop at my disposal to bring her home."

"Thank you."

"Of course. Now, you know I have to ask this, is there anyone you can think of who might want to hurt you or Higgins?"

Thomas shakes his head immediately. "No one that immediately sticks…wait." His brows furrow slightly. "Uh, we worked a case a couple of weeks ago, took down a big business guy."

Gordy nods. "I think I remember that."

"Yeah. When HPD was taking him in he kept yelling about how he had powerful friends and would make us pay for what we did. Do you think…"

"Send me whatever information you have on this guy, and I'll check HPD's file on him as well."

Thomas nods. "Okay. I'll uh, I'll do that. Am I good to go?"

"Yeah. Maybe see if Rick or TC could drive you back, that's the calmest Charlie's been since we got her," he says, nodding to the nearly-asleep baby.

"Right, yeah. I uh, thanks, Gordy." He stands and adjusts his hold on Charlie. "I'll send you the file as soon as I get home." He starts toward the door, pausing and turning back when Gordy calls his name. "Yeah?"

"I know it's pretty much useless to tell you not to look into this or go after her, but be careful. And have at least one of the guys with you for backup."

Thomas nods. "I will." He continues his way out of the room, stopping quickly by Gordy's desk to grab Charlie's stroller and diaper bag, and then heads down to the lobby.

He carefully adjusts his hold on his daughter so he doesn't disturb or drop her, and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He goes back and forth for a moment on whether to call Rick or TC, but then remembers that Rick and Suzy have been running on very little sleep lately since Henry has been extremely sick. TC it is.

Dialing his friend, he gently bounces Charlie to hopefully keep her asleep and then holds the device to his ear as he waits for the call to connect.

"Hello?"

"TC, hey. I need a favor."

TC sighs on the other end of the line. "Come on, man. I just—"

"I'm at HPD, I need you to come pick me up."

"Something happen to your car?"

"It's kind of a long story, I can tell you when you get here."

"Alright. You're lucky I just got done with a tour. Be there as soon as I can."

"Great. Thanks. See you soon."

Pulling the phone away from his ear, Thomas slips it back into his pocket and focuses his attention on his daughter. She's starting to stir again, her tiny face scrunching up as she lets out quiet whines. He keeps bouncing her, gently patting her bottom to try and soothe her back to sleep.

It doesn't work, and Charlie wakes up, but she thankfully doesn't keep crying. She's a little whimpery, but there isn't any full-on screaming which he's grateful for. Even at just six months old, Charlie has already made it very well known that she prefers Juliet over him for most things, including being comforted. He can't exactly blame her, though. He also prefers being in his wife's arms when he needs to be comforted.

Minutes later, the crunching of gravel pulls his attention to the van that's coming to a slow stop in front of him. The passenger window rolls down, TC leaning over from the driver's seat and smiling. "Yo, Thomas, what's going on, man?"

Thomas sighs, pushing the stroller toward the van and opening the door. He expertly removes the car seat piece and then folds the stroller up with one hand, and sticks it into the vehicle. He's careful to not jostle Charlie too badly as he hooks her car seat into the center row of TC's van, then climbs inside the vehicle. He settles her in her car seat, praying that she stays asleep for a bit longer, and then leans back against the seat.

The car shakes a bit as it starts to move, quickly settling again as TC takes them out onto the main road. "You wanna tell me what's going on now?"

Thomas lets his gaze drift down to the sleeping form of his daughter. "Juliet's missing."

"What? Are you serious?"

He looks up at his friend through the rearview mirror. "Somebody grabbed her this morning after her run. She told me she was going to the beach with Charlie and then Gordy called a couple of hours later. A jogger heard Charlie crying in the bushes and took her to HPD."

"Wow. I'm assuming he's already started working on trying to find her?"

"Yeah. We think we might know who's behind it, so I'm gonna send him some files of a recent case when we get back to the house. I'm just…" he breathes deeply. "I'm so worried, you know? If anything happens to her…"

"Hey, hey, I know. This is Juliet we're talking about, she's tough, she's gonna pull through whatever's being done to her."

"I don't even want to think about what might be being done to her right now. I just want my wife back."

"We're gonna find her, TM, alright?"

Thomas nods silently, his eyes drifting down to Charlie who is once again starting to stir and fuss. He brushes a hand over her head, his heart clenching at the distress clear on her face, a look so similar to her mother's. "I'm gonna find her," he tells his daughter quietly. "I don't know if you can understand me right now, but me and your uncles are gonna do everything we can to find your mom. I promise, okay? We are not gonna lose her, not like this."

.

.

.

After waving TC off with a promise to update him as soon as he hears anything, Thomas heaves out a sigh and begins making his way back into the house. As desperate as he is to start figuring out exactly where Juliet is and what's happened to her, he needs to make sure Charlie is okay too. He needs to try and get her back on her normal schedule and pray that she goes down well for a nap so that he can take some time to focus on finding his wife.

He leaves the stroller just inside the door, making a mental note to put it away properly later, and carries Charlie through the house, gently bouncing her and patting her back to try and quiet her cries. He makes soft shushing sounds by her ear to help, but she merely continues to cry.

"Come on, sweetheart," he tries. "Daddy really needs you to calm down so he can help Uncle Gordy find Mummy."

"Thomas? I could hear Charlie crying from outside. Is everything alright?"

He looks up as Kumu steps into the room, feeling another step closer to having an actual breakdown. He continues to bounce his crying daughter. "No, it's not."

Kumu's brows furrow together. "Why? What's wrong? Wait. Where's Juliet? She took Charlie out this morning."

He swallows thickly. "She, uh, she was taken."

Kumu gasps. "Oh, no."

"Yeah. Somebody took her, grabbed her in broad daylight. But she had to have known she was being followed because she had enough time and sense to hide Charlie."

"But if she had time then why didn't she call you or HPD to let them know?"

He shakes his head. "I don't know. She might not have had that much time, or something else could have prevented it. Whatever the reason, I'm gonna figure out what it was. And who did this."

"I take it HPD is aware?"

Thomas nods. "Gordy's working on it, said he's gonna do everything he can. I need to send him a recent case we worked on, hoping the guy we put away is involved somehow so we know who to look for. But I also need to try and get Charlie back on schedule, which is not exactly gonna be easy right now."

"Oh, I can do that for you," Kumu says, stepping forward and immediately taking the fussing baby into her arms.

"Are you sure?" Thomas asks, despite the baby already being in his friend's arms. "You don't have to."

She levels him with a look. "I want to. This is how I can help. Let me."

Thomas lets out a breath. "Okay. Uh, there might still be a bottle or two in her diaper bag if you're able to get her calmed down. It's on the stroller by the door. I'll be in the office if you need anything." He steps forward to press a lingering kiss to his daughter's head, noticing that she already seems a bit calmer than a moment ago.

"We'll be fine," Kumu assures him, gently bouncing Charlie in her arms. "See? She's already feeling a little better. You go, we'll be okay." Kumu flashes him a reassuring smile and then turns to make her way into a different part of the house.

Letting out a heavy breath, Thomas runs a hand through his hair and then heads down the hall toward the office. He's not normally in here without Juliet, given that she does most of the computer work on their cases and he just follows her lead. He's sure he can figure out where she keeps any files of their cases, though, it shouldn't be too difficult.

After a bit of struggle trying to navigate his wife's filing system on her computer, he finds exactly what he's looking for and emails it over to Katsumoto. Then he leans back in the chair and lets out a heavy breath, running a hand through his hair. He doesn't know how he's staying as calm as he is right now, knowing that his wife is out there somewhere, her life at risk, and he can't get to her. He knows she can handle herself, knows that if she's able to, she'll free herself from her captors and make her way back home to him and Charlie.

But he can't wait to find out if that's going to be the case. He needs to be actively working to try and find her. He needs to get her back. Whatever it takes.

.

.

.

For the second time that day, Thomas finds himself rushing into the police precinct. Though this time his worry for his wife is off the charts and he's beyond desperate. His breathing is just as heavy and his heart is beating rapidly inside his chest, his mind racing with all the possibilities of how things might turn out, though he tries his hardest not to linger on them for too long.

"Gordy!" he shouts as he makes his way straight for Katsumoto's desk. "Gordy, I got something."

The detective in question looks up, his brows furrowing. "What is it?"

"A video feed. And I think it's live." He holds his phone out to Gordy, showing him the video that's been playing on the screen ever since he opened it. "There's sound too, but I couldn't bring myself to listen And I've already tried, but she couldn't hear me."

Gordon watches the video for a moment more and then looks up at him. "When did you get this?"

"Uh, twenty, maybe thirty minutes ago? I came here as soon as I got it. This text came in right before it." He quickly taps at the screen.

Gordon holds the phone slightly closer to read aloud, "I had to watch everything and everyone I love be ripped away from me. Now it's your turn." He lets out a breath. "Well, there's no mention of Charlie, so that's good, he must not know about her. But I hate to say that it doesn't bode well for Juliet."

Thomas swallows thickly. "We have to find her."

"And we will, alright? I need you to forward me the link to that feed and I'll have one of our techs get to work on tracing it. In the meantime, I know it's useless, but hang in there."

Thomas nods. "Yeah. I'll uh, I'll get that sent to you." He waves his phone slightly and then steps off to the side, his hands shaking as he taps at the screen.

It takes a moment, but he's eventually able to get the video sent to his friend, every part of him still filled with worry and fear for his wife's wellbeing. He needs her to be okay, he needs nothing to be wrong with her when they find her.

Because they're going to find her. They have to. He can't let Charlie grow up without her mother. It would completely destroy him if he eventually had to retell all of this to Charlie and see utter hurt and betrayal in her eyes because he couldn't save her mum.

He can't let it come to that. He has to save Juliet. Not just for him, but for their family.

.

.

.

His heart pounds in his chest as he pushes through the trees and thick foliage around him. He doesn't bother worrying about whatever cuts or scrapes he's getting on his skin, his only concern is finding his wife and praying that she's still alive. He needs her to be alive. They can't lose her.

He hadn't even hesitated to jump into the search party when the techs got a lock on a location. All he'd been doing was pacing the precinct and checking in with Kumu to make sure Charlie was still doing okay.

And now he's begging that he's gonna be able to find his wife and that she'll be alright.

"Over here! I think I've got her! Over here!"

Thomas rounds quickly and heads toward Rick's voice, his heart beating faster and his breathing getting heavier. He immediately notices what Rick must have, the large loose patch of dirt in the middle of a bunch of green. He grabs the closest shovel available and starts digging.

He digs until his arms begin to ache, and then keeps on digging. His feet are aching too, he knows, and there are a few stinging sensations littered across his skin. But none of that matters until they get to Juliet. And they have to get to her. She has to still be alive. He won't survive if she isn't.

What feels like hours later, but in reality is only a matter of minutes, the end of his shovel stops abruptly against something, a distinct metallic ping echoing in the open space. So he shovels faster, more so moving the dirt out of the way than actually digging to reach something.

Eventually, he tosses the shovel aside and begins using his hands to scoop dirt out of the way, pushing it away from what he can now see is a glass panel. His heart constricts in his chest at the realization that Juliet has been able to see the amount of dirt covering her this entire time. But she's also, hopefully, been able to see it being moved away.

Seconds later, he nearly collapses right there on the spot. Lying beneath him, on the other side of dirt and a pane of glass, is his wife. But she's not moving. His heart starts to panic, his brain immediately fearing the worst. He fights to keep the tears at bay as he begins pounding on the glass and shouting Juliet's name, trying to rouse her, praying that she's still alive.

"Somebody find me something to break the glass with," he shouts over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving his wife's form. "Just hang in there," he whispers to himself. "I'm getting you out of there."

"Yo, TM, here."

He reluctantly tears his gaze away from his wife, looking over his shoulder to see TC extending a decent-sized rock toward him. He gratefully takes it and tests the weight a bit. It fits perfectly in his hand, not too heavy, but certainly heavy enough to break through the glass to free his wife.

Taking a deep breath, Thomas raises the rock in the air and brings it down hard on the glass, hoping whatever shards are made won't hurt her too badly. But he has no way of protecting her face from out here.

The rock makes contact but barely makes a dent in the glass surface. So he hits it again and again, hoping that each time the rock makes contact it makes the glass structurally weaker.

He nearly cries out when the rock causes a crack in the glass. That's exactly what he needs. One more good hit should do the trick.

So with another deep breath in, Thomas raises the rock in the air once again and then brings it down hard and fast on top of the glass, the material shattering quickly, sending him down with it as well.

He immediately tosses the rock aside and then reaches out for his wife, carefully brushing the shards of glass off her face. There are a few small cuts marring her skin now, as well as the start of some bruising that makes his stomach churn, but that's all the least of his worries at the moment.

Shifting on his knees, he continues hovering over his wife, doing everything he can to try and wake her up without jostling her too much in case there are injuries he can't see. He calls her name repeatedly as well, though he can barely hear calls of his own name above the pounding of his heart in his ears.

He's not entirely sure how much time passes while he sits there waiting and praying for his wife to be okay. However long it takes for something to happen, it's agonizingly slow.

But then Juliet is awake and he lets out the most relieved breath when he sees her chest moving up and down and then her eyes opening. He waits not-so-patiently for her beautiful blue eyes to lock onto his, the relief clear as day on her face.

She's in his arms in an instant, burying her face in his neck and wrapping her arms around him tightly. A sob racks her body, the shoulder of his shirt getting more damp with each passing second, but he doesn't care in the slightest. Because he finally has his wife back in his arms, right where she belongs, and he doesn't have to tell his daughter when she's older that he couldn't save her mom. Because he did.

Cradling the back of Juliet's head with one hand, he holds her close, letting his eyes close as a few tears finally escape. He'd been holding back for so long, trying his best to keep it together, but now he can let go. Now he doesn't have to be quite as strong.

"I've got you," he says into her hair as he keeps her as close as he can. "You're safe now. I've got you. Everything's okay." He pulls back after a moment, despite the firm grip his wife has on him, and brushes her hair out of her face. He lets his thumbs caress the skin of her cheeks, smiling softly at her. "Hi," he whispers.

She swallows thickly. "Hello. You found me."

"Did you doubt I would?"

"Never."

He simply pulls her back into his arms and holds her close. He's vaguely aware of other voices and noises up top, but he doesn't care about any of them at the moment. He just needs to keep his wife in his arms while they both recover from what happened.

Eventually, though, they do make their way out of the hole, the rest of the ohana and a few paramedics helping them climb out. And Juliet doesn't leave his side if she doesn't have to, her hand holding his tightly, but not enough to hurt. Honestly, he wouldn't mind if it did hurt, because it'd be further proof that she's alive and still here with him.

It's when they're in the ambulance on the way to the hospital for a routine safety check that they finally have a full conversation. Juliet had been pretty quiet during her initial exam after being pulled from the hole, only talking long enough to answer any questions, but always giving short, straight-to-the-point answers.

"I hope…I hope you're not upset I left Charlotte in those bushes."

He shakes his head, shifting on the bench he's sitting on and holding her hand a little tighter. "Hey, no. Of course I'm not upset. You were protecting our daughter. Something way worse could have happened if the men who got you also got Charlie."

"So she's alright, then?"

"Well, she's been extra fussy but I think that's to be expected."

"She's unharmed, though?"

Thomas nods. "All appendages are accounted for, and there's not a scratch on her."

Juliet lets out a breath. "Good. I want to see her."

"When we get to the hospital I'll call Kumu and have her stop by. How are you feeling, though?" he asks, shifting on his seat again to get closer. "I know that might be a stupid question, but…" he trails off with a small shrug.

"Not a stupid one. And uh, I'm…better than I could be. If you had gotten there a moment later, I might not have made it."

Thomas shakes his head again. "Don't think like that, okay? I tried so hard not to go down that road in my head…I cannot lose you," he tells her, his throat getting tighter. "I need you in my life."

She gently squeezes his hand. "And I need you in mine. I am so sorry for what happened, for putting you through that."

"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, okay? It wasn't your fault. And the important thing is that you're here, you're alive, and we're going to get through the rest of this together. Okay?"

"Okay."

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.

.

Thomas hates being away from Juliet now that he's got her back, but the doctors need to do a full exam just to be safe and he needs to call Kumu to have her bring Charlie by. It takes every ounce of willpower not to just burst into Juliet's exam room and stay by her side the entire time.

The call barely connects when Kumu's voice comes through the speaker, "I'm already on my way."

His brows furrow slightly. "What? How did you…"

"Rick called. He said that if it were him or Suzy in this situation, the first thing they'd want to do is see their baby."

Thomas lets out a breath. "Right, yeah. Uh, thanks, Kumu. For watching Charlie and bringing her by."

"You don't need to thank me. I'm more than happy to do this. And beyond grateful Juliet's okay."

"Believe me, so am I. Uh, do you know how much longer you're going to be?"

"We're only a few minutes out."

"Okay. If you don't see me when you come in, I'm probably with Juliet so just give me a call and I'll come meet you."

"Of course. See you soon."

"Yeah. Bye." Ending the call, he makes his way back into Juliet's room, relieved to see the exam is finally done and over with. "Everything good?" he asks his wife as he makes his way to her side.

"I believe so. They want to keep me a bit for observation since I'd been in that case for so long."

He nods. "Right." He takes a deep breath. "Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that Kumu is on her way right now with Charlie."

Juliet's eyes light up. "She is?"

"Yeah. They should be here soon. Do you want anything from the vending machine while you're waiting?"

She simply raises a brow. "Do you honestly think I want to eat something from a hospital vending machine?"

He raises his hands slightly. "Whoa, hey, it was just a question. But since you don't want anything, I'm gonna see if I can find a semi-decent cup of coffee." He presses a kiss to her forehead and then makes his way out of the room.

It doesn't take him long to find a coffee vending machine, but upon further inspection, it's definitely not the best coffee and he's just gonna regret drinking it later. So he heads back toward his wife's hospital room, eager to be back at her side after living hours in fear that he'd never get to again.

He spots Kumu as he's reaching the room, so he makes a quick detour in her direction and smiles. He immediately pulls his daughter into his arms, cradling her close and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"How is she?" Kumu asks, pulling his attention.

He lets out a breath. "Physically, she's okay. Nothing that isn't going to heal in a few days. Mentally, I think she's still a bit shaken up. But I know she just wants to see Charlie."

"Well go on, then." Kumu gently nudges him toward the hallway leading to his wife's hospital room.

He certainly doesn't need to be told twice, turning back and heading down the hallway. He adjusts his hold on Charlie just a hair as he makes his way toward his wife, smiling when he pushes through the door. "Hey, look who came to visit."

Juliet's face lights up when her gaze falls on baby Charlie, immediately shifting to sit up more. She takes their daughter from him and holds her close, pressing kisses to her face and whispering to her, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Thomas tosses another grateful smile in Kumu's direction and then eagerly joins his family. He sits on the side of the bed and leans close, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders to hold her as close as he can get her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He smiles at his daughter when her eyes find him, making a silly face and feeling his heart swell when she laughs.

This is perfect; such a small, seemingly insignificant moment between a family. But he almost lost it all. And he's beyond grateful that he didn't.


So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you to everyone who's read and commented on my stories over the past year. Here's to more stories in 2024, I've got plenty planned (mostly for other fandoms, but maybe a few here too), so we'll see what I manage to actually get out. :)

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!