Tolerance Book I (Chicago PD/Med FF) by Frances51163

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Seven: Time

At Headquarters after some discussion it was decided that Murphy would let the listening device in his office so they could set a trap to find out once and for all who was aiding Wells from within their ranks.  He was adamant that his own men were clean but with personnel from various agencies on the investigation team the Assistant Director had to accept there was a chance of betrayal from someone within their ranks.  Al had suggested a way of flushing out their target.  Simple in its' logic they would give the impression that the device was malfunctioning by creating the illusion that it was not recording full conversations.  Given that intel was vital for Wells to evade capture the men knew that whoever had planted the listening device would have to take a risk and check the fault sooner rather than later.  Mouse had quickly installed hidden cameras to capture the culprit. Voight was beginning to agree with Jays' assessment that the mole might be a higher ranking individual rather than someone actually on the investigation team but had refrained from imparting his suspicions for the time being.  Unfortunately they still had not been able to identify the body found at the hotel.  The discovery of the body had exponentially increased the risk to Jay.  It gave an added impetus to the search, not that one was needed.  They reasoned that if Wells had killed his accomplice without compunction then Jay was in serious danger.  That likelihood tore at the heart of the Intelligence Unit but the other Agents shared their concern and they redoubled their efforts to track down some leads.

                   --------------------------

As his friends sought ways to locate him Jay was enduring a tortuous time at the hands of Wells.  Jay dealt with the physical pain stoically, at least on the outside.  One never got used to pain, it was an old lesson that never ceased to disappoint him.  Luckily past experiences had allowed him to build up an appearance of indifference.  Giving into the sharp pain inflicted as Wells made a number of deep cuts on his abdomen was not an option he wished to consider.  As the malevolent man stepped back after his fourth cut to assess his work the Detective debated whether or not he should try to reason with him.  The very deliberate yet casual way in which Wells had dispatched the man on the roof forestalled any such move, for the time being anyway.  His Captor turned and picked up the needle amd thread he had used to close the previous wounds. The stitches were actually more painful than the initial wound as Wells didn’t bother using any anaesthetic to numb the area before sewing the parted skin back together.  Once the task was complete, with beads of perspiration running down Jays' face, he placed a dressing over the fourth wound after pressing a whiskey soaked cloth to the area, just like he had done with the others.  The fact that the man was taking time to treat the wounds, albeit basically, told the young Detective that Wells was either going to inflict pain for a long time before killing him or alternatively he needed him to be able to function for some reason.  Neither option gave him a sense of wellbeing.  If Wells needed him to do something it was unlikely to be anything good.  It might give him a chance however to escape ....

                      -----------------------

Al had spent ten minutes trying to locate Adam.  Finally he tracked his quarry to the rooftop of the Homeland Security building.  Walking over to where his friend stood overlooking the city Al sighed.  He wasn't sure there was anything he could say to help.  He'd have to try though.

"We'll find him."
"If we're lucky," Adam kept his gaze on the twinkling lights before him, "and if we do get to him on time he's going to be hurt, again."
"Probably."
"Gee thanks for the comfort!"
"No point in lying to you," Al pointed out wisely, "but the Kid's tough.  He'll deal with whatever happens."
"I've been thinking about that," Adam finally looked at his old partner, "yeah he's tough but how many times can we expect him to get hurt and get back up like nothing's happened?"
"Until he doesn't," Al replied with a heavy sigh, "either way we'll be there for him."
"You ever wonder how come Jay never became bitter after all he went through growing up?"
"He has a good heart," Al pointed out patiently, this was not a new conversation.
"Don't think I would have turned out so decent if it had been me," Adam admitted honestly, "any news on Antonio?"
"Kevin called.  He's awake.  Voight and Murphy are gone to debrief him."
"What can we do?"
"Let's check in with Mouse.  Maybe he's made some headway with the DB from the hotel.

                      -------------------------

In Room 356 of Lenox Hill Hospital located at 100E 77th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan Antonio eyed his Sergeant guiltily after relaying how he had been grazed by a bullet shortly after the penthouse had been breached.

"It wasn't your fault," Voight spoke firmly as he sat down on the lone chair beside the bed, "do you remember anything about the guy with Wells?"
"No Sarge. Kev told me about him. I only saw Wells entering. After that I don't remember anything."
"We're lucky he didn't kill you," Kevin chimed in.
"So what are we doing about Jay?" Antonio demanded.
"Not much to go on at the moment," Voight replied truthfully, "without extensive cctv on the roof we have no way of knowing which way they went. There was no Flight Plan filed. Unless we catch a break we're going to have to wait for Wells to make a move."

Antonio and Kevin shared a look.  It was unusual for Voight to be so pessimistic.  It signalled that their missing friend was in dire straits.  Waiting for their quarry to make a mistake was not an ideal game plan and yet from the time they arrived in New York they seemed to be on the backfoot.  They knew however that although it may have appeared that Voight wasn't hopeful of finding Jay he would do whatever it took to retrieve his youngest Detective and they would be right beside him in the quest.

                     ------------------------

Much to Jays' chagrin Wells had removed his watch some time ago so the passage of time in minutes and hours became an impossible task.  The fact that he was also feeling lightheaded did not help matters.  After the seventh wound Jay had purposefully stopped counting the injuries.  Sometimes not knowing was an aid to coping with pain.  Blinking he looked around the room.  Wells had left a long time ago and the young man used the time to shore up his strength.  He didn't waste any energy on trying to get loose as he knew it would be a futile task. With his free hand he could rip off the dressings if he so wished and the temptation was hard to resist.  Since the wounds were closed Jay knew the infection growing inside them needed an outlet.  Despite the pain it would have caused the ideal option would be to expose the wounds and rip the stitches out so the pus that was undoubtedly taking up residence could be drained away.  Unfortunately the young man knew that if he in fact chose the said ideal option the likelihood was that Wells would simply re-stitch the wounds.  He had to admit to himself that he didn't have the stamina to go through that particular procedure again.  He'd have to suffer on for now.

The reasoning behind his Captors' actions remained elusive, much to his frustration.  He had eventually tried to to engage the older man in conversation, deliberately mundane, but was rewarded with silence as Wells concentrated on his self imposed medical treatment.  Jay wondered what Parker would put in his profile if he found out what Jay was going through.  Sadism had not been a trait the Psychologist had referenced in his ever evolving profile yet it had become painfully clear that Wells enjoyed inflicting pain. When nothing was forthcoming Jay had brought up Petrocelli but again no response was garnered.  The mobster was the link between Wells and himself yet it seemed Jay was not going to gain any insight into why the other man was motivated to seek him out.  It seemed instead of answers he was only finding more questions.  Although Parker had alluded to the possibility that Wells was jealous of Petrocellis' relationship with Jay the Detective did not believe such an emotion would evoke the killing spree Wells had been on.  He was sure there was something else guiding his Captors' actions.  Sighing as he attempted to ease the ache in his recovering shoulder he considered what he had learnt since being captured.  The new discovery of sadism was of little consequence in the scheme of things, at least for the time being. Going over the other mans' tactics gave rise to his military knowledge.  Although the investigation team had confirmed Wells was not in the military they had speculated that he had some military know-how.  The way in which he robbed the Detective of his sense of time betrayed an inate familiarity with military interrogations.  That gave Jay pause for thought.  Many military interrogations were in fact carried out, on behalf of the powers that be, by outside parties.  CIA Agents, among others, were well known as interrogation experts.  That line of thinking opened up a new line of inquiry.  It was just a pity he hadn't thought of it before Wells captured him!

As time seemed to slowly linger on Jays' thoughts, unbidden, turned to his brother.  Hell if he got out of this alive Will would be in full mother hen mode ..... again!  Maybe he could persuade Voight that what Will didn't know wouldn't hurt him.  He shook his head.  Annoyingly the gruff Sargeant and Will seemed to have become a team when his health was in question.  Maybe he could convince Voight Wells hadn't hurt him? Of course whatever about hiding the knife wounds his swollen shut eye could not be hidden. He lifted his head as the lock was turned and hid a grimace as bright light flooded the small room ....

tbc