M7 Fic: Untitled (3 of 10)
Title: Untitled
Author: Karen (nee. Katmorg)
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Untitled
Part 3 of 10
Sunday afternoon when the bullpen should have been abandoned, it was filled to capacity. IT seemed to have relocated their entire department to the seventh floor. People that Buck swore he'd never clapped eyes on before were pawing through JD's files. Tearing through the kid's life, looking for the trigger that started this nightmare.
Buck was ensconced in Chris' office, isolated from the chaos of the main room. He slumped in a spare seat near the window, listening absently as Chris directed the search for JD. He'd managed to talk his way out of the hospital, but hadn't made much further headway with Chris.
He was bone weary and useless as a new kitten, but no one had dared suggest he go home. They'd all seen the damage there, artifacts of the fight JD had put up. Buck had seen it fresh. Seen JD's frightened eyes as he was hustled out of the apartment
Josiah had taken his statement hours ago. Though there was precious little information he could offer. The sickening sound of gunfire from within his own home. JD's strained voice assuring Mr. Foremen that everything was all right. Presumably the kid had been trying to tell him there were four men in the apartment. Counting the one left behind inside, Buck had seen three exit with the kid. Only two of them had made it out of the building alive.
You all right? Chris asked.
Buck shrugged. There was only one answer to that question and they both knew it wasn't 'yes.' He swallowed hard, the cottonmouth a lingering side effect of the tranquilizer dart that had laid him out. Kid was hurt, Chris. I saw him fall.
Vin says he was running on his own steam, so he can't be hurt too bad. The reassurance wasn't much, but it was all Chris had to offer. The trail had gone cold a few blocks from the apartment, and hadn't revealed anything except that JD had made the trip under his own power. We'll find him, Buck. He's a tough kid.
Marc Colby, head of IT, knocked on Chris' doorframe. He seemed rattled. We found something, he said. Buck and Chris trailed after him into the main room.
The covey of computer geeks circling JD's desk were riled. Animated chatter flew back and forth between them. Fingers flew across keyboards in rapid-fire bursts. Buck caught the few snippets of conversation that were in old fashioned English.
They were rattled. The system had been compromised. Someone had eased through the firewalls and gone digging. It had been slow and methodical, and very hard to detect. They'd targeted the Quaid case specifically.
No surprise there. It was Team 7's active case. And they were damned close to closing it after three months of painstaking work.
Colby outlined things for them. Someone had tried for the Quaid files and failed. The only other files touched on the network were JD's personnel records. They'd touched everything the bureau had on the kid - payroll, benefits, performance evaluations ... everything.
That had been a week ago. A goddamned week and no one had noticed that someone had been hunting JD. *Buck* hadn't noticed.
Author: Karen (nee. Katmorg)
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Untitled
Part 3 of 10
Sunday afternoon when the bullpen should have been abandoned, it was filled to capacity. IT seemed to have relocated their entire department to the seventh floor. People that Buck swore he'd never clapped eyes on before were pawing through JD's files. Tearing through the kid's life, looking for the trigger that started this nightmare.
Buck was ensconced in Chris' office, isolated from the chaos of the main room. He slumped in a spare seat near the window, listening absently as Chris directed the search for JD. He'd managed to talk his way out of the hospital, but hadn't made much further headway with Chris.
He was bone weary and useless as a new kitten, but no one had dared suggest he go home. They'd all seen the damage there, artifacts of the fight JD had put up. Buck had seen it fresh. Seen JD's frightened eyes as he was hustled out of the apartment
Josiah had taken his statement hours ago. Though there was precious little information he could offer. The sickening sound of gunfire from within his own home. JD's strained voice assuring Mr. Foremen that everything was all right. Presumably the kid had been trying to tell him there were four men in the apartment. Counting the one left behind inside, Buck had seen three exit with the kid. Only two of them had made it out of the building alive.
You all right? Chris asked.
Buck shrugged. There was only one answer to that question and they both knew it wasn't 'yes.' He swallowed hard, the cottonmouth a lingering side effect of the tranquilizer dart that had laid him out. Kid was hurt, Chris. I saw him fall.
Vin says he was running on his own steam, so he can't be hurt too bad. The reassurance wasn't much, but it was all Chris had to offer. The trail had gone cold a few blocks from the apartment, and hadn't revealed anything except that JD had made the trip under his own power. We'll find him, Buck. He's a tough kid.
Marc Colby, head of IT, knocked on Chris' doorframe. He seemed rattled. We found something, he said. Buck and Chris trailed after him into the main room.
The covey of computer geeks circling JD's desk were riled. Animated chatter flew back and forth between them. Fingers flew across keyboards in rapid-fire bursts. Buck caught the few snippets of conversation that were in old fashioned English.
They were rattled. The system had been compromised. Someone had eased through the firewalls and gone digging. It had been slow and methodical, and very hard to detect. They'd targeted the Quaid case specifically.
No surprise there. It was Team 7's active case. And they were damned close to closing it after three months of painstaking work.
Colby outlined things for them. Someone had tried for the Quaid files and failed. The only other files touched on the network were JD's personnel records. They'd touched everything the bureau had on the kid - payroll, benefits, performance evaluations ... everything.
That had been a week ago. A goddamned week and no one had noticed that someone had been hunting JD. *Buck* hadn't noticed.