14.2.5. What is one thing in your life that would completely shatter you if you lost?
ooc: WARNING - cut for strong violence and angst. Valerie and Charlie were used with permissions from their lovely muns <3
03.28.04 - 22:09
Jake could hear his children playing in the background despite how late it was, and for a moment he didn't say anything as he held the phone to his ear. He simply continued listening to them, cursing himself for the millionth time that they were being put through this. Of course, they had no idea that Jake had received a threat against his family, but it wasn't necessarily normal that they suddenly got sent away to some house in the middle of nowhere with Mia and some cops to keep guard.
"You guys settled in okay?" he finally asked quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, it... Everything's fine." Mia paused, and Jake could already picture her watching the kids play as she gathered her thoughts. Both Alex and Valerie had become their glue and their strength; often they'd look at them in the middle of conversations as if to somehow focus once more on what they had to do. "Are you sure we'll be okay here?"
He nodded before he spoke. "Yeah. This will blow over soon." He heard her sigh, and Jake had to fight back the tinge of irritation that began to rise. "He's cornered, Mia. I promise, it'll be over soon."
Instead of answering, he heard Mia ask "Do you want to say goodnight to Daddy?" and his kids' arguing over who'd get the phone first.
"Behave for your mother, alright?" he said once Mia had settled the phone between the two children so they could both hear and talk at the same time. "I love you."
03.30.04 - 06:03
The ringing of his cell phone woke him, and at once Jake sat up, fumbling to get it open. He had fallen asleep in Charlie's living room after he had insisted that he couldn't stay in his house by himself, and for a second Jake couldn't even believe that he had managed to doze off at all.
"You have a beautiful family, Detective," a voice said quietly into the phone, and for the first time in his life Jake just froze. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear his heart had stopped. Before he could say anything, though, the voice continued. "Their pictures don't do them justice."
A rage so blinding filled him then, and his grasp on the phone tightened. "Leave them out of this, Ian. We'll work something out, alright?"
"You could have just let it go," Ian continued with a soft laugh. "You realize this. But no, you had to keep digging and digging, didn't you."
"It's part of my job."
"Then you should know what could have happened." A beat. "You should know by now what I'm capable of. I just need to figure out where to start first."
Jake couldn't say anything else - Ian hung up before he could do so. Standing, he slipped on his shoes and gathered his jacket and gun as he rushed towards the door.
"Jake?" he heard Charlie say as he came out of his room. "What the--"
"He's with them."
"Who-- No. That's impossible, no one knows where they are."
Mixed with his anger he could feel a growing sense of helplessness claw at him from deep inside him, but he didn't give in. He couldn't. He had to find his family first. "HE knows. We have to get 'em back.
03.30.04 - 16:54
The cottage in the middle of nowhere had been a safe spot. It was supposed to be the safe spot where Jake's family was supposed to stay until things would end - wasn't that what he had mentioned? Now there were cops surrounding the perimeter, there were specialists to end the hostage situation, but nothing. So far there was no progress, and with every second that kept ticking by Jake wanted to kill Ian Randal with his bare hands.
"It's Randal," he suddenly heard the negotiator as he handed Jake the phone that had been used. "He wants to talk to you now."
Snatching the phone from him, Jake turned towards the cottage as if somehow he'd be able to see inside. "What do you want?"
"Tsk, tsk. Always so aggressive, Detective."
"You have my family," Jake almost growled. "How pleasant do you want me to be?"
Ian chuckled, and suddenly the sound of sniffling could be heard. "You should get in here. Join the fun. And take off that vest of yours - it won't do you any good here."
"You got it." Without hanging up, Jake removed the bulletproof vest and moved as if to head inside but Sean Thomas, the negotiator that had been working on the case the whole day, had already taken him by his forearm.
"You're taking too long, Jake..."
Jake yanked his arm away from Sean and moved once more to head towards the inside of the house, but the sound of a gunshot stopped him short. The officers surrounding the house came to life then, ready in case Ian was ready to start shooting out at them, but Jake knew better. He still had the phone in his ear - the gunshot had come from the inside.
The gunshot had stopped the sniffling he had heard earlier.
"You took too long, Detective," Ian said in a sing-song tone. "Now get in here, and I'll let your men raid the basement for the other two."
The wave of emotions that crashed into Jake made it hard to breathe and even think straight, but his face remained with the same blank expression. Mia was a nurse, his brain quickly reasoned; Mia would be able to help. Unless Mia had been the one shot.
Not bothering to let his thoughts continue, he closed his phone and tossed it to Charlie who looked ready to go in with him as well. "Don't," he choked out quietly instead, firmly enough to show there was no room for argument. "He'll call you. Do whatever he says."
"Jake--"
But before Charlie could get another word in, Jake ran into the cottage. The door was unlocked since Ian had already been expecting him, but at first he couldn't see anything other than shadows since the curtains were thick and closed. "Alright, I'm in here. You've gotta let them go."
"Is that what we agreed on?" Ian said a few feet away from him, amusement in his voice.
Before Jake could answer, the lights came on and when his eyes were able to focus it became painfully clear who had been shot. With a speed that later on he'd wonder where it had been all this time, he quickly moved to kneel next to his son, but even if he tried to stop the bleeding deep down he knew it was too late. Detective Jake Leonard was unflappable, and he was tough; very few things could get him to really come apart.
In that second, though, everything had changed. His family had never been the victims.
"Come on, Alex," he whispered, still managing to keep the emotion out of his voice somehow. "Alex, wake up."
"Detective Harris," Ian said into the phone, watching the scene in front of him with such delight in his eyes that the grief that Jake had been feeling seemed to take a backseat to the rage that filled him once more. "Two of your men will be allowed inside the basement. You'll find your goddaughter and Mrs. Leonard there. If anyone tries to get inside the house and interrupt your friend and I..."
Whatever else Ian Randal said, Jake ignored it. Charlie would get Valerie and Mia out. As he kissed his son's forehead, giving himself a moment to just hold him, he used him as his glue. As his strength, because right now he couldn't let himself fall apart. Not while Ian Randal still existed.
Daddy will take care of it, he promised him as he held him tighter. I promise.
04.18.04 - 01:23
"Jake?"
Despite the greatest urge to fall back asleep, Jake forced himself to keep his eyes open. It felt like his head was filled with cotton, and when he tried to open his mouth to talk he came to realize just how dry it was. As consciousness began to creep in slowly, he came to realize that there was something in his nose, and clumsily he began to reach for whatever it was to take it out.
A hand was quick to stop him, though, and even if he wanted to make his eyes focus on the face in front of him he closed his eyes for a second. With consciousness came the realization that his whole left side was hurting, and when he opened his mouth to ask what the fuck was going on a groan came out instead.
"You need that to breathe, you know. The nurse will be here in a second." It was Angela, he suddenly realized, and he opened his eyes again. As she slowly came into focus, he saw just how concerned she was, and how her eyes were red. So red. "I'm so glad you're awake, Jakey."
Jake's lips tugged very slightly, about to remind her that she was still the only one that could ever call him that, but then his memory began to slowly come back. The phone calls. The negotiations. Valerie. Mia. Alex.
Alex.
"Alex," he whispered dryly, struggling to sit up but Angela held him down as best as she could. As he looked up at her, ready to fight her off, he didn't notice how weak he was, or how his legs weren't quite responding as he had tried to move. Instead he noticed once more how her eyes filled with tears, despite the fact that she had always been one of the strongest women he had ever known, and he knew.
He remembered.
Later on she would tell him about the three weeks he spent in and out of consciousness - mostly out of it. She would explain that they had had to bury Alex even if he hadn't been around. But for now, as Jake just stared at her, wanting her to tell him that he had just been dreaming, she simply shook her head slightly and took his hand as if somehow wanting to make things easier for him.
But she couldn't. A part of him wanted to scream that it wasn't true, that it couldn't be true, that she was lying, but he didn't. He just looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember how to breathe.
Because he knew. He remembered.
His son was gone, and he hadn't been able to do anything about it.
03.28.04 - 22:09
Jake could hear his children playing in the background despite how late it was, and for a moment he didn't say anything as he held the phone to his ear. He simply continued listening to them, cursing himself for the millionth time that they were being put through this. Of course, they had no idea that Jake had received a threat against his family, but it wasn't necessarily normal that they suddenly got sent away to some house in the middle of nowhere with Mia and some cops to keep guard.
"You guys settled in okay?" he finally asked quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, it... Everything's fine." Mia paused, and Jake could already picture her watching the kids play as she gathered her thoughts. Both Alex and Valerie had become their glue and their strength; often they'd look at them in the middle of conversations as if to somehow focus once more on what they had to do. "Are you sure we'll be okay here?"
He nodded before he spoke. "Yeah. This will blow over soon." He heard her sigh, and Jake had to fight back the tinge of irritation that began to rise. "He's cornered, Mia. I promise, it'll be over soon."
Instead of answering, he heard Mia ask "Do you want to say goodnight to Daddy?" and his kids' arguing over who'd get the phone first.
"Behave for your mother, alright?" he said once Mia had settled the phone between the two children so they could both hear and talk at the same time. "I love you."
03.30.04 - 06:03
The ringing of his cell phone woke him, and at once Jake sat up, fumbling to get it open. He had fallen asleep in Charlie's living room after he had insisted that he couldn't stay in his house by himself, and for a second Jake couldn't even believe that he had managed to doze off at all.
"You have a beautiful family, Detective," a voice said quietly into the phone, and for the first time in his life Jake just froze. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear his heart had stopped. Before he could say anything, though, the voice continued. "Their pictures don't do them justice."
A rage so blinding filled him then, and his grasp on the phone tightened. "Leave them out of this, Ian. We'll work something out, alright?"
"You could have just let it go," Ian continued with a soft laugh. "You realize this. But no, you had to keep digging and digging, didn't you."
"It's part of my job."
"Then you should know what could have happened." A beat. "You should know by now what I'm capable of. I just need to figure out where to start first."
Jake couldn't say anything else - Ian hung up before he could do so. Standing, he slipped on his shoes and gathered his jacket and gun as he rushed towards the door.
"Jake?" he heard Charlie say as he came out of his room. "What the--"
"He's with them."
"Who-- No. That's impossible, no one knows where they are."
Mixed with his anger he could feel a growing sense of helplessness claw at him from deep inside him, but he didn't give in. He couldn't. He had to find his family first. "HE knows. We have to get 'em back.
03.30.04 - 16:54
The cottage in the middle of nowhere had been a safe spot. It was supposed to be the safe spot where Jake's family was supposed to stay until things would end - wasn't that what he had mentioned? Now there were cops surrounding the perimeter, there were specialists to end the hostage situation, but nothing. So far there was no progress, and with every second that kept ticking by Jake wanted to kill Ian Randal with his bare hands.
"It's Randal," he suddenly heard the negotiator as he handed Jake the phone that had been used. "He wants to talk to you now."
Snatching the phone from him, Jake turned towards the cottage as if somehow he'd be able to see inside. "What do you want?"
"Tsk, tsk. Always so aggressive, Detective."
"You have my family," Jake almost growled. "How pleasant do you want me to be?"
Ian chuckled, and suddenly the sound of sniffling could be heard. "You should get in here. Join the fun. And take off that vest of yours - it won't do you any good here."
"You got it." Without hanging up, Jake removed the bulletproof vest and moved as if to head inside but Sean Thomas, the negotiator that had been working on the case the whole day, had already taken him by his forearm.
"You're taking too long, Jake..."
Jake yanked his arm away from Sean and moved once more to head towards the inside of the house, but the sound of a gunshot stopped him short. The officers surrounding the house came to life then, ready in case Ian was ready to start shooting out at them, but Jake knew better. He still had the phone in his ear - the gunshot had come from the inside.
The gunshot had stopped the sniffling he had heard earlier.
"You took too long, Detective," Ian said in a sing-song tone. "Now get in here, and I'll let your men raid the basement for the other two."
The wave of emotions that crashed into Jake made it hard to breathe and even think straight, but his face remained with the same blank expression. Mia was a nurse, his brain quickly reasoned; Mia would be able to help. Unless Mia had been the one shot.
Not bothering to let his thoughts continue, he closed his phone and tossed it to Charlie who looked ready to go in with him as well. "Don't," he choked out quietly instead, firmly enough to show there was no room for argument. "He'll call you. Do whatever he says."
"Jake--"
But before Charlie could get another word in, Jake ran into the cottage. The door was unlocked since Ian had already been expecting him, but at first he couldn't see anything other than shadows since the curtains were thick and closed. "Alright, I'm in here. You've gotta let them go."
"Is that what we agreed on?" Ian said a few feet away from him, amusement in his voice.
Before Jake could answer, the lights came on and when his eyes were able to focus it became painfully clear who had been shot. With a speed that later on he'd wonder where it had been all this time, he quickly moved to kneel next to his son, but even if he tried to stop the bleeding deep down he knew it was too late. Detective Jake Leonard was unflappable, and he was tough; very few things could get him to really come apart.
In that second, though, everything had changed. His family had never been the victims.
"Come on, Alex," he whispered, still managing to keep the emotion out of his voice somehow. "Alex, wake up."
"Detective Harris," Ian said into the phone, watching the scene in front of him with such delight in his eyes that the grief that Jake had been feeling seemed to take a backseat to the rage that filled him once more. "Two of your men will be allowed inside the basement. You'll find your goddaughter and Mrs. Leonard there. If anyone tries to get inside the house and interrupt your friend and I..."
Whatever else Ian Randal said, Jake ignored it. Charlie would get Valerie and Mia out. As he kissed his son's forehead, giving himself a moment to just hold him, he used him as his glue. As his strength, because right now he couldn't let himself fall apart. Not while Ian Randal still existed.
Daddy will take care of it, he promised him as he held him tighter. I promise.
04.18.04 - 01:23
"Jake?"
Despite the greatest urge to fall back asleep, Jake forced himself to keep his eyes open. It felt like his head was filled with cotton, and when he tried to open his mouth to talk he came to realize just how dry it was. As consciousness began to creep in slowly, he came to realize that there was something in his nose, and clumsily he began to reach for whatever it was to take it out.
A hand was quick to stop him, though, and even if he wanted to make his eyes focus on the face in front of him he closed his eyes for a second. With consciousness came the realization that his whole left side was hurting, and when he opened his mouth to ask what the fuck was going on a groan came out instead.
"You need that to breathe, you know. The nurse will be here in a second." It was Angela, he suddenly realized, and he opened his eyes again. As she slowly came into focus, he saw just how concerned she was, and how her eyes were red. So red. "I'm so glad you're awake, Jakey."
Jake's lips tugged very slightly, about to remind her that she was still the only one that could ever call him that, but then his memory began to slowly come back. The phone calls. The negotiations. Valerie. Mia. Alex.
Alex.
"Alex," he whispered dryly, struggling to sit up but Angela held him down as best as she could. As he looked up at her, ready to fight her off, he didn't notice how weak he was, or how his legs weren't quite responding as he had tried to move. Instead he noticed once more how her eyes filled with tears, despite the fact that she had always been one of the strongest women he had ever known, and he knew.
He remembered.
Later on she would tell him about the three weeks he spent in and out of consciousness - mostly out of it. She would explain that they had had to bury Alex even if he hadn't been around. But for now, as Jake just stared at her, wanting her to tell him that he had just been dreaming, she simply shook her head slightly and took his hand as if somehow wanting to make things easier for him.
But she couldn't. A part of him wanted to scream that it wasn't true, that it couldn't be true, that she was lying, but he didn't. He just looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember how to breathe.
Because he knew. He remembered.
His son was gone, and he hadn't been able to do anything about it.