Team

Carson looks up from where he was rolling out some pizza dough, for once...feeling just a twinge of pride for his own self. It wasn't often he felt that way...felt as though he'd done something good...or was appreciated in a workplace.

Receiving Herb's question though, Carson looks down again, his ballcap bill hiding his face. "I, um..." He shrugs. "...ran into a door."


I know...this isn't like Reese at all. I guess we gotta trust him on this one...I just don't like secrets within our own department.

Jason heads straight for the car, rolling his eyes as he sees the dogs waiting. Opening the passenger side, he looks at his drooling friend. "Alright. In the back."

Trooper heaves a sigh and turns around, fumbling and sliding, to get back into the backseat again. Domino wiggles all over with excitement of seeing Katie came back, and immediate hops in the back to sit with Trooper again.

The ride back to work is quiet. Jason's mind reels with possibilities of what's going on, but nothing seems to make sense.

Finally getting to work, he and Katie aim straight to Reese's office.


"I said give me an hour!" Reese exclaims as they enter.

"I don't want to wait," Jason retorts. "We need answers and you know it."

"I need a shower." Reese shoulders past them, heading towards the hall. "In the meantime, get Wyatt and Dalton. I want all of you. Oh...and I want Misty too. Come to think of it..." He walks backward, still talking. "Call in Rick. Oh, and Nate."

Jason's eyes widen. "You only got a few left! Anyone else?"

"Nope. And keep it that way."

Jason throws up his arms. "Alright, Katie, you go get Misty and Rick, I'll grab the other guys."

Twenty minutes later, the small group is crammed into Reese's office. He's back and cleaned up, ready to start talking. Jason sits close to the desk, while Rick hangs back a ways, just listening. They all knew past history and what had happened in that deadly case with the explosion.

“To start off, I want you all to know that I’m sorry for leaving you in the dark, or for leading you on that I didn’t care about this. I knew as soon as there was hope of Scott being alive, that if word got out, we could have a real mess on our hands. So I decided to let you be and let you investigate under wraps. The secret would be better kept if you were trying to keep it from me.”

Rick's eyes widen. Scott being alive? This was news to him. He glances at the others, wondering who else had gotten wind of this theory.

Wyatt isn't too awful surprised. He'd heard a few murmurs among Katie, Jason and Dalton, and though he hadn't interfered, he'd had a few questions. It had been too much to hope for that Scott might be alive. Was it a real possibility? His pulse quickens, but he tries to remain professional for the sake of this case.

Reese manages to quirk a wry grin. “All I had to do was wait. I did my own looking around here after hours and…I took that location radius from Dalton.” He pauses, looking at the newest team member with apology. “I’m sorry I invaded your office. Yell at me later if you want. For now though, I’m impressed with what was found, and the speed in which it was done. I know you care about your friend, and heaven knows I feel responsible for what happened.”

He pauses, a bit of emotion entering his voice. “If there’s anyone besides his family that wishes he hadn’t been on that assignment, it’s me.”

Gathering his thoughts, he continues. “After receiving the radius, I called Luke Trahern, just to find out that my best man had already called him.”

Jason crosses his arms. Ha…beat him to that one. That’s one for the charts.

“Luke was more than helpful, and though a bit confused as to why two people called him for the same reason and neither wanted the other to know… he was cooperative.” Reese grins a little. “I got the same information that Jason did… there was a little town up north that was pretty much abandoned, but a lot of action seemed to take place that no cop ever wanted to get involved in. Luke got wind of it and knew himself that it could be Agency-related, but at that time, he was trying to avoid them. So he simply kept his ears open. I took that lead and a couple days ago, I went up there myself. I found an old business building that had been remodeled and was posing as publishing company. Dead center of a ghost town, no one bothered to check them out, except lost “tourists” like me. It was too fishy. So I camped out.”

Wyatt rolls his eyes. “Great. So you skip down without word, and let everyone worry half to death.”

“What? You think your father can’t handle himself?”

Wyatt just smirks.

Reese goes to the white board on his wall and starts to scribble out a map. “It’s a simple town… I laid low here in these woods and kept an eye out. Seemed to be normal business, until I heard target practice. Later I saw some pretty expensive vehicles. It just didn’t feel right. I went to the next town over, found a young woman who said that a while back, she remembered a couple rough looking guys come into the diner. They had someone else with them who looked in pretty bad shape and…he fits Scott’s description.”

I knew it…it’s got to be him.
Jason’s eyes glance to Katie.
I don’t know how, but…this has got to be it.

Reese looks at them. “Quit talking.”

Jason snaps back to attention, surprise flashing in his eyes.

Reese gives a short nod. “I talked to the local authorities. Seemed like the upper guys of this “publishing company” were always on the verge of getting caught in illegal activity, but were always just far enough ahead to escape. With all these pieces, I can’t help but believe it’s the Agency.”

Wyatt shakes his head. “But who says that if they did get Scott, that he’s there?”

“No one. But that’s the only location even close to anything that we’ve got. I did get a hold on some blueprints of the building.”

Jason’s eyebrows raise and he lets out a low whistle. “You’ve been busy.”

“What? You think all I do ever is sit on my bottom?” Reese throws him a look before moving to his desk and pulling out a copy of blueprints. “There’s an interesting basement to this place. It’s not your norm. It’s got storage cells, full concrete, and tunnels that run all the way under the building. It would be a perfect hideaway. And…”

Reese moves to retrieve his last puzzle piece from his desk. “I got close one night and found this near the building.”

Jason squints at the object in Reese’s hand. “A watch?”

Reese turns it over to reveal a broken wristband and a shattered face. But it was recognizable.

Wyatt sucks in his breath. “That’s Scott’s.”

“Precisely. And I want a team to head to Washington asap. I want Rick here to be our contact, and I want the rest of you to come with.”



“Aw come on. Just leave him alone.”

“What is with you, Riggs?” Donovan scowls at his partner. “I’s just trying to get him to eat.” He sneers down at Scott. “He doesn’t seem to want his dinner.”

His foot kicks the bowl of rice to send it flying across the room and bouncing across the wall, sending the contents everywhere. The squeal of happy rats comes from the other corner.

Scott pulls himself into a tighter ball, back into the shadows.

Riggs rolls his eyes. “Nice.”

“Well I haven’t seen you keeping Mr. Johnson company.”

“I was on level three, trying to talk some sense into the Boss and get permission to put this dimwit out of his misery.”

Donovan laughs. “Naw, we’re not through here yet. We may not be putting Mr. Johnson back behind a computer, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have any fun. I was just ready to remind him about his friends’ untimely death.”

Scott’s fingernails dig into his own palms. He shakes in the cold while his skin feels as though he’s burning up. A tear comes to the surface, stinging his eye. He didn’t want to hear this again. He’d been told enough. About how after the house blew up, the thugs had shot up the TJY van. There had been no survivors. Scott knew who’d been in that van… Jason… Reese… Katie… Nate. The Agency had kept him so he could get even more out of the TJY system…but the others… murdered in cold blood.

He’d wept, he’d begged, he’d prayed, he’d hoped… but nothing would remove this torture. Not the physical pain nor the mental anguish.

“They didn’t suffer long,” Donovan smirks. “That we know of, anyway. It didn’t take long to fill that van full of bullets.”

Scott quivers, another tear running down his face.

Donovan laughs again. “Ohh, the poor little boy is crying… How’d you ever team up with that stupid TJY anyway? You haven’t got the guts of a mouse.”

Riggs rolls his eyes. “Do you like wasting your breath on this trash? He’s taking up room. We’ll need this cell in another week.” He unholsters his handgun and aims it down at Scott’s form. “Just give me the honors.”

“Patience, my friend, patience.”

“I’ve been waiting over six dang weeks!”

“So wait a little longer!” Donovan shakes his head. “Another few days of him refusing food like this and he’ll take care of himself.”

“If he don’t keel over from bein’ sick.”

“What, you want to help him?”

“A healthy moving target runs better. Makes for more fun.”

“Oh, come on.” Donovan heads for the door. “He’s not your target. Boss’ orders.”

The door slams shut again, the room silent, except for the inner sobs of Scott. He’d lost everything and couldn’t even mourn. It was wretched to be alive.