OOM: Capture and Rescue

[agirllost]

[OOC: Warnings for violence, drug use and general scariness]

Kim wakes up in darkness. She feels the ground moving underneath her and realizes that she's blindfolded.

'Oh God'.

She stifles a scream, 'don't panic,' she thinks. But that's a hard command for her mind to follow, especially when this brings up so many bad memories.

Her heart's pounding and her head aches. She feels tape over her mouth and her hands are restrained behind her and she forces back a wave of nausea. She breathes through her nose, but she knows it's too fast, knows that she needs to calm down but hysteria is creeping around the corner.

'How did I get here?'

At least answering that will stave off the panic attack. She remembers walking out of a bar and then...nothing.

No, there's something, a vauge recollection of being hurt (beaten, her mind supplies).

She feels the impossibility of her situation. She knows this can't end well. If they accidentally picked her up, fighting them would give them an excuse to hurt her more. If it wasn't accidental...her stomach turns at the thought.

She feels herself stop moving and there are footsteps outside and her legs are free but she doesn't know how many there are or where they even are and she didn't wear the gun.

Hands around her arms and she's being pulled through a door and down a walkway and then a flight of stairs and she feels herself being pushed onto a chair. Her head rocks forward and back and she lets out a soft moan of pain behind the gag.

She can smell sweat and blood and...a man's cologne?

Her hands are untied and her left hand is seized in a powerful grip. The blindfold is removed and when she looks up she can't stop herself from struggling.

Ramon Salazar is standing in front of her.

She's seen his picture in files, she's read reports of what he's done to people who cross him and he's looking at her in a way that makes her skin crawl.

"We just have a couple of questions and then you're free to go." His accent is softer than she expected.

He leans forward and pulls the tape off her mouth and she flinches at the thought of him touching her.

She doesn't say anything. She just looks at him.

"Jose," he says and her pinky is forced back, too far back and she hears the snap before she feels the pain.

"Shall we try that again?"

Her heart's racing and she's trying not to focus on her hand.

Salazar looks at the man standing next to her and another finger breaks. She tries not to scream but she tastes copper from where she bit her lip.

"Where did you get the money?"

She continues looking at him and decides it's okay to speak since she has no idea of the true answer and this isn't a matter of national security. "What money?"

He laughs and lights a cigar, "The money in your bag,"

"I don't know."

He wraps his hand around her throat and holds the lit end of the cigar near her eye. "It's a simple question, where did you get the money?"

She tries to think but can't remember and the lack of memory suddenly frightens her because it's a gap she can't explain - she has a sudden flash of watching a dark haired woman paint near a lake - but the money just seemed to have appeared. She's starting to have all these strange flashes of memory or hallucinations. How could she know what it felt like to kiss Tony? She has this odd image of her parents together and knows that she must have snapped.

Instead, she stares at the ash, knowing that if she doesn't say something Ramon will blind her.

"Why do you want to know?" she whispers.

"Because it's my money. And it's missing from an account that only three people knew about,"

"I swear I don't know how I --"

He glared at her with flat eyes, "Do you know what your father used to do to people who lied to me?"

Before she could move, he crushed the cigar against the back of her hand and this time she did scream, feeling the heat eat through her skin and knowing for certain that there was no way out.

She looked around at the men with guns and wanted to cry.

"I don't know anything I swear I don't know..." Her hand is making her forget any other pain she had or ever had experienced

Her right hand is cuffed to the chair and against her will she tries to pull away.

"You've heard from him?"

"No,"

"I don't believe you."

"I'm not lying, I haven't heard from him, I swear that I haven't..." Another finger breaks and she can't stop the tears.

Salazar's hand grips her chin and forces her to look at him. "Do you think I'd really take the word of a Bauer? You're a liar, just like your father."

She glares at him through watery eyes, "You have no idea what my dad's like," she whispers.

He laughs, "I think you're the one who doesn't know him," He places his hand on her knee and squeezes gently, "But you will."

Someone hands him a syringe and she struggles to get away.

"Addiction is bad enough, but addiction when so many dealers have died of the disease? Not a kind fate. "

"Please, I don't know anything, I came down here to find him, I haven't seen him I..."

He's too close to her, his breath against her ear, "I could tell you what your father used to do for a fix..."

She feels his hand on her throat and he's pressing down and the world's starting to get dimmer.

'I'm going to die here,' But it's more of a shock when she realizes a quick death is the only way to keep from experiencing more pain.

He lets go and she falls forward, gasping for air. The syringe is still in his hand.

Comments

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack steps into the hallway, ducking into the first doorway he comes to after checking that the room--a small storage room--is clear, waving for Chris to follow him.

For a moment he just listens; creaking floorboards elsewhere on the same level and some above their heads. Muffled voices, too quiet, too distant to make out what they're saying. The hallway is narrow the doors fairly closely-spaced. Likely a house of some kind.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris follows when Jack gives the signal. Every step is cautious as tries to match Jack's movement and remember every little bit of field training she learned.

She leans against the wall and looks around the room. She has no idea where they are and she wasn't sure if Jack did either.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

As soon as she's in the room, he swings the door nearly shut, leaving only an inch gap so he can hear what's going on elsewhere in the building.

As he closes the door, he realizes there's a familiar weight on his right hip and he looks down to see his holster and weapon. Now the bar gives me my gun back, he thinks.

He reaches behind him and pulls Tony's gun out of the waistband of his jeans, passing it to her. "Take this, there's a full clip."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

She takes the gun with a nod and is a little surprised by how heavy it feels. She had forgotten that. She holds the the gun in front of her and pointed toward the ground.

Her heart races a little as she wonders what she'll need this for. Or why Jack had it in the first place.

Chris takes a deep breath and pushes that thought from her head.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack pulls his own weapon from its holster and racks a bullet into the chamber with routine ease. The texture and weight of the gun in his hand is familiar, reassuring in a way. Despite the fact that he hasn't a clue where they are or what's going on, he finally feels like he's standing on solid ground.

Footsteps pass by the end of the hall and he tenses, but they keep moving, off to the right of the hall. He can hear other noises now; what sounds like the movement of dishes, not too far away, and he can smell something spicy, as well as the bitter, earthy smell of cigar smoke.

Slowly opening the door, he looks down the hallway, and steps out of the doorway, bringing his weapon up. Crouching slightly, his knees slightly bent, he crosses to the next doorway, just concentrating on gaining ground foot by foot.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris freezes when she hears footsteps down the hall. There's something that might be a door opening and closing and after that she can't make out much else.

Jack opens the door and after a moment, goes out into the hall. Feeling both numb and hyper alert, Chris follows him through the door. She mimics his movements and crosses the hallway.

As she nears the door, Jack moves out a little and signals for her to take cover in the doorway.

[agirllost]

"Did you tell anyone else about the account?" Salazar asks in a deceptively gentle voice.

Although Kim has no idea what he's talking about, she knows that if she tells him what he wants to hear he'll either release her or kill her. The latter much more likely.

She shakes her head a little.

"Ramon, we're wasting time," a man says somewhere behind her.

He nods and looks down at Kim.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack creeps toward the end of the hallway, and he can hear voices from one of the adjoining rooms; to his right, though it's a little hard to tell. Again they're too soft to hear what they're saying, but there's something familiar about the sound of them.

He's close to the end of the hallway and peering around the corner for a moment, he can see he's at a cross-junction. The kitchen is in front of him and to his right, with what looks like exterior doors at either end of the hallway runing perpendicular to the one he's in. Through an open door, he can see that the room kitty-corner to where he's standing--to his front left--is probably a living room, with a few, dim lights on inside, though he can't hear any movement from within.

It's a dangerous spot to stand--too exposed--so he crosses to the left hand side of the hallway and opens the door there, quickly scanning the room with his gun levelled. It's a dining room, dark and deserted. He steps inside, listening for a second to make sure no one's approaching, before motioning to Chris.

[agirllost]

Kim doesn't see Salazar pull out the knife but she feels the blade pierce her skin, deep enough to hurt but not to kill, she screams and tears slide down her face.

"I believe you," he whispers into her ear, his fingers digging into her upper arm, "But you're already dead."

'No, you are' and she remembers him dying, not just dying, but being blown apart. Memories are melting together. She blinks but he's still leaning over her and a small part of her mind is rebelling against reality. At least if she's dead she won't have to feel guilty anymore for surviving.

She takes in a breath, closes her eyes and lets the pain dull all other thoughts. But she can't stop crying, hearing it as from a distance.

A walkie-talkie on the table buzzes to life. A man answers it.

"Ramon? Bauer's arrived."

Salazar smiles a little, "I think it's time to move this upstairs."

She's freed from the chair and is too weak to fight them as they drag out the door and towards the stairs.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris looks around from behind the doorway then steps out into the corridor.

Trying to stay as close to the wall as she can, she makes her way down the hall and comes closer to the kitchen.

She pauses as she hears something. It takes a second but she can make out a woman crying and what might be low, indistinct voices. She can't tell.

The crying grows louder. Chris' eyes go wide and her steps get faster as she hears movement behind the wall on her right.

She's moving towards the dining room before she can process what she hears. Her heart racing just as enters the dining room, she realizes someone is coming up into the house.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack hears the woman's cries and the footsteps coming up a set of stairs at about the same time Chris does, and he opens the door for her as she hurries in, before almost completely closing it.

Seconds later, two men appear with a red-haired woman from a doorway across from the kitchen and head to the living room. The woman is still criying brokenly, and she's nearly being dragged by the man on her left. At first all three of them have their backs to Jack's vantage point, but then the man on the right stands in the hallway for a moment, turning to look toward the back door. Jack catches his face in profile and freezes in shock.

"Oh my God, it can't be..."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris tilts her head and gives the back of Jack's head a confused look.

She leans a little further and can see a red-haired woman standing with two men. On instinct she thinks it's Kim but she's not sure. The woman turns a little and Chris realizes it is Kim.

Chris moves back. A quick wave of hysteria comes over her as two more men enter the room. My God, how many people are here? And they all have guns? Oh God...

She closes her eyes and tries to calm herself. If she thinks like this, she'll never make it out of here alive.

[agirllost]

Kim moves painfully and is almost pushed onto the couch.

She tries to control her tears, realizing she was wrong, this wasn't an interrogation, it was a trap.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispers, at least now she can cradle her hurt hand. She doesn't know how much blood she's losing, but she feels wetness against her fingers.

Salazar doesn't answer her, instead he pulls out a tornequit and ties it around her arm, near her elbow.

"Please don't," her eyes track the syringe but the world is blurry.

She feels the sting of the needle slipping under her skin and then warmth and pain is receding.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack rushes across to the other door to the dining room, the one closer to the front of the house.

It can't be Ramon Salazar. Salazar's dead, he can't be the one holding Kim--

From this doorway, he can see through the living room doorway, see Kim cradling one hand, see blood on the thigh of her jeans. His hand tightens around his gun, he wants to rush in there shooting, kill every fucking one of them for doing this to his daughter, but his training holds him back. There are four men in that room, all armed, two of which are facing the door he would have to enter. He knows Salazar's people are well-trained; he'd get one shot off, maybe two, before they'd kill him. And then Chris and Kim would both be in greater danger. He needs to stay calm.

It's not easy, howver, when he sees Ramon tying the tourniquet around Kim's arm, sees the syringe. From his vantage point he can't see what's in the syringe or see Ramon inject it, but he doesn't have to see. He knows. And it takes every bit of self control he has not to go berserk. You're not going to be able to save her if you get yourself killed, he repeats to himself.

The back door opens and there's a scuffling noise, like someone struggling. Shrinking against the wall, he waits a moment then sees two men coming towards the living room.

If Jack thought seing Ramon was a surprise, it's nothing compared to this. Dragged in by one of Ramon's henchmen, his lip split, a short growth of beard on his face, is none other than himself.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Kim's crying subsides and Chris, unable to see into the living room, watches Jack's reactions to understand what is going on. His whole body seems to tense and for a second, she thinks he's going to rush into the room. But he doesn't.

She startles as another door opens and even more people enter the house.

Her blood runs cold as she hears a man with heavy accent speak. "It's nice of you to join us, Jack."

Chris looks at Jack beside her and notices a look of shock on his face but he doesn't move and no one enters the darkened dining room where they're standing.

Then another voice from the living room, one she recognizes because it's Jack's voice, answers.

"Let her go, Ramón. You have me, you don't need her anymore."

Suddenly, the look of shock on Jack's face makes more sense.

[agirllost]

"Dad?" Kim whispers. She feels like laughing and knows it's a reaction to the drugs.

Salazar laughs a little, "You're probably right, but take a seat."

Jack glares at him and even in a drugged state Kim can tell that he's not the same man she knew, things had changed him too.

He's forced onto a chair and one of the men stands behind him, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"There's money missing from an account that only you and my dear departed brother knew about."

Jack's laugh is not-quite-sane. "There are millions of people dead and you're worried about money? Fuck you, Ramon."

Salazar's fingers stroke Kim's bruised cheek.

She tries to move away from him but her body isn't cooperating.

Jack lunges forward but is held back by the hand on his shoulder.

"If you touch her again I'll fucking kill you. She has nothing to do with this, leave her alone." He growls.

His commment seems to amuse Salazar, who stands up and walks towards Jack.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

It's surreal, watching himself talk to Ramon, listening to his voice--or what he assumes is his voice, as he's hearing it now like other people hear it--but still having the feeling that it's not quite him. There's something not quite sane in the other Jack's voice, in his laugh. And he gets the sense that this other Jack...this is what he could have been, if something had happened differently.

Ramon has that smug smile on his face now, the one that had always been hardest for him to not react to when he'd been undercover.

"You think I care for millions of people? There are billions more left in the world. The only people I can care about are the people I know, the people I am involved with. And when one of my men--one who was a traitor to me the entire time, might I add--takes my money and that money ends up in the hands of one of their relatives, then that person does have something to do with this."

Jack can only stand and watch as Ramon pulls out a gun, pointing it at his alter ego's head.

[agirllost]

Salazar's holding a gun to her dad's head and all Kim can feel is tired. She watches the scene like she's looking through glass.

"You want to kill me? Kill me. But she's innocent."

Salazar lowers the gun.

"How about a trade, Jack? I'll forgive you the money if you let me keep her."

Jack's eyes narrow and he looks up at Salazar.

"Before she died of the virus, Claudia had some interesting things to say about you, Jack. Even if you weren't a traitor and a drug addict, I would still have to follow out my brother's last wishes."

Kim sees everyone's attention directed away from her but she can't make herself move, her limbs feel like they're weighted down.

"As I said, kill me but leave her alone. And you never cared about Hector so don't try to make this about him. You hate me for betraying you? Fine, shoot me, you'd be doing me a favor."

Salazar lifts his gun and presses it against Jack's head. "Think about what's going to happen to her once you're gone. I'm sure my men would appreciate a pretty young girl."

Jack tenses and looks up at Salazar again, his voice is subdued. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Kim knows she should be afraid, but she's not, she's struggling to stay awake.

"Goodbye, Jack."

A gunshot and even through a drugged haze Kim feels the shock. "Dad!" she tries to scream but it comes out a whisper.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris feels strangely detached as she listens to the two men talk. Her mind has already accepted that this is an alternate universe of some sort.

If Milliways was possible, this is too. It's that simple.

She turns her head towards the door when Ramón says good-bye. She looks at Jack and then the door waiting for something, she's not sure what. (Not fully believing what's happening.)

And then she hears it.

One gunshot and the sound of a body hitting the floor with a thud.

"Oh my God," she mouths the words but no sound comes out.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

He's frozen, unable to look away as Ramon pulls the trigger. He watches in horror as the back of the other Jack's head explodes in a fine spray of blood and flesh and hair, as the other Jack slumps to the floor with a dull thud and blood begins to pool around his head. He's just watched himself die, and he can't even begin to process it.

Ramon turns to two of the men, nodding at the body on the floor. "Take it outside, to the woods," he says in Spanish, "Do not bury it--leave it for the carrion. It's better than he deserves. Miguel, go back to your post," he adds, looking at the man who'd brought the other Jack in. The men nod, and two of them pick up the body and begin carrying it out of the room.

Snap out of it, Bauer, this is your chance you fucking idiot! a voice prods him at the back of his mind, and he straightens.

He looks over at Chris, his anger aand his training taking over, pushing all other thoughts out of his head. "We'll go in as soon as the three Ramon spoke to leave the building. Stay behind me, okay?"

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

Chris nods. She straightens her posture and waits for the signal, pushing all other thoughts out of her mind except the situation at hand.

She hears movement. A door opens, people move and then it closes.

Now, it's quiet.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack waits for the back door to close, then with one swift movement he crosses the hall.

Ramon's turning to the other man, looking like he's about to tell him something, when Jack fires his first shot, right through the goon's head. Ramon spins around, his eyes widening in shock as he sees Jack.

Now it's Jack's turn to smile, as he takes a couple steps forward, allowing Ramon this one moment of shock before the end. "Looks like I get my chance after all," Jack says, before squeezing the trigger.

He has a moment to watch Ramon crumple to the floor, a red stain growing on his shirt, and listen to him try to catch his breath through lungs filling with blood; a moment, until he hears gunfire outside.

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

When Jack shoots Ramon, Chris moves further into the room.

Chris walks over to Kim who's sitting on the couch and kneels on the couch next to her.

"Kim? Can you get up?" Chris asks.

No response, she's not even sure if Kim heard her. Her eyes were still fixed on Jack.

Chris was about to move the gun to the waistband of her jeans when she hears gunfire outside.

[agirllost]

She's snapped. Finally, whatever has happened to her has made her snap because she can't explain what she's seeing any other way.

She saw her dad bleeding and dead on the floor and now he's standing there, but he looks different and there's an oddly familiar dark haired woman next to her.

Kim can't move but if she could she'd run from the apparitions. But apparitions can't shoot people, she thinks.

"Dad," she whimpers.

She blinks slowly, but the illusion doesn't change.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack crosses to the window and moves the curtain a fraction, just enough to peer out. Men in black clothes and carrying rifles are swarming onto the compound's grounds, as Salazar's men ran to set up positions to fire back. Government agents, undoubtedly, and somehow he knows that it will not be good if the agents find them here.

He hears Kim's whimper and quickly crosses to her as he sheds his button-down shirt, grabbing the knife off Ramon's henchman's belt, and using it to tear his shirt in half as he checks her injuries. His stomach churns with rage as he sees her hand, the fingers sticking out crookedly, the bright red burn mark on the back of her hand, the glassy expression and constricted pupils in her eyes. For a moment he'd like to empty the rest of his gun into Ramon's body, but part of him knows there's no time for petty revenge, particularly against a man who's already dead.

"It's all right sweetheart, it's me--the real me. But we need to get out of here, and you're going to need to get on your feet, okay?" he says, moving to tie one half of his shirt around the wound in her leg.

[agirllost]

"No, no, no, you're dead, you can't be here!" With her good hand she pushes him away, or tries to at least.

Her mind is a little more alert now, shock and horror pushing beyond the drugs. "Don't touch me."

She looks over at the dark haired woman because even though she's familiar she hadn't just seen *her* die.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack's startled by her outburst, and takes a step back as she pushes him. Despite the fact that he's telling himself that she's bound to be confused after seeing the alternate version of him die, her reaction still hurts.

He'd try to talk her out of it, try to explain, but there's no time. Instead, he backs off, each step backward more difficult than he could ever imagine.

"Okay," he says, softly, trying to keep his composure, trying to put on that calm, composed mask. He hands the pieces of material to Chris. "Use one of these for her leg; the other one you can use for a sling, for her hand. You're going to have to help her to the door. I'll cover you both from the back."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

"Alright," Chris says, taking the material from Jack.

Chris kneels by Kim and tries to gingerly move her leg so she can wrap the around her thigh. There's a lot of blood on her jeans but Kim doesn't seem to need a tourniquet right now. She ties it as a bandage across the wound and hopes there's a healer available when they get back to Milliways.

She takes Kim's hand and winces at the condition of her fingers and the skin already blistering around the burn. Chris rips the material once more and uses the shorter piece to lightly bind the fingers of Kim's left hand together. The longer piece is used as a sling to support her left arm. Even though she is quite and still seems to be in a haze, Kim cooperates and makes the little movements asked of her.

Half-kneeling on the couch, half-standing, Chris looks Kim in the eye s. "Kim, we're going to leave now. You'll put you arm around my shoulders and I'll help you out. Ok?"

Kim nods and moves forward slowly. Chris takes Kim's arm around her shoulder and helps her off the couch. When Kim's steady on her feet, they start moving out of the living room.

[agirllost]

Kim lets the woman help her, avoiding looking at the apparition near her.

She doesn't feel any pain as the woman binds her fingers and tries to stop the bleeding.

She stifles a scream when she sees Salazar. "He killed my dad," she whispers, leaning heavily against Chris.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack looks out into the hallway as Chris and Kim near the living room door closest to the kitchen. Everyone seems to be outside; if they can get there fast enough, they should make it to the door cleanly.

He turns back as Kim sees Ramon. He wants to speak up, to try and get Kim to realize that he's still here, but she's too doped up to know what's going on at the moment, and it might only make her freak out.

He steps out into the hallway, standing where the two hallways cross so Chris can get Kim out of the living room, away from Ramon. "We need to get to the door as fast as we can. No matter what happens, just keep going, get the two of you back to Milliways, okay? Now go--it's clear."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

The "no matter what happens" part catches her attention but rather than comment she just nods and keeps moving.

She moves down the hall and belatedly realizes that the gunfire has all but stopped. They would be closing in soon.

This makes her speed up the pace.

Just as they reach the end of the hall, a door in the house opens and she hears more people enter.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

Jack hears a door crash open, and there are heavy footsteps on the floor. He ducks into the doorway of the storage room, motioning for Chris to keep going. "Go--I'll provide covering fire and follow as soon as you're through."

[geeky-agent.livejournal.com]

She continues, the doors seems farther away then ever now.

The two women reach the door and Chris pulls it open. Holding it open with one hand she ushers Kim through. As she's about to go through the door herself she hears a voice that makes her stop in her tracks.

It's her father's.

"Jack," he calls from across the house.

"You're surrounded. You won't get out of here. If you put down your weapon and cooperate we can work something out."

Chris looks around, trying to see him.

[action-antihero.livejournal.com]

As he hears Ryan's voice, he turns to look at Chris. She's stopped in the doorway, the door partly open. Jesus, if they start shooting, she's a ripe fucking target--not to mention she'll let any stray bullets into the bar!

"Chris, move now!" he hisses, backing toward the door. It's only a few feet from the storage room to the door to the bar, but it's a very exposed few feet, and it feels like a mile.

An agent is peering around the corner and Jack quickly lets off two rounds, well above the agent's head. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, he just wants them to stay around the corner long enough for him to get the hell out.

"Ryan, I know the drill; don't try and negotiate with a fucking negotiator," he says, trying to sound stern. He just needs to keep them off him for another couple seconds...

There's a moment of quiet, and he glances behind him; only another foot or so to he doorway, but Chris is still standing there.

Suddenly one of the agents swings around the corner, and opens fire. Jack dives for the door, giving Chris a shove into the bar as plaster dust rains down on him. A bullet whizzes by his head, hitting the doorframe with a soft thunk as he passes through the doorway, and slams the door closed behind him.