+18 - eps.33-35 - The shadow of an old foe leaves Gillian fighting for her life. And as the team hunts down the attacker, Brock and Gillian run out of time to come to terms with their feelings for each other. BONUS TRACK: episode 36 - the breakfast
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Russell gathered the few agents assigned to the case in the meeting room, while Brock talked to the hostile SAC of the Cincinnati field office. They had five arrests scheduled for the day all over southern Ohio, so they had to make every minute count once they set out.
A local agent showed Russell a map with the places they planned to go when his phone buzzed. He frowned at seeing it was Aldana. It had to be something serious, else she would've texted him.
"Sorry, I gotta take this," he said to the agents, and stepped away from the table as he picked up.
A moment later, Brock saw him storm out of the meeting room, eyes widened in horror.
"Brock! We gotta go! NOW!" he cried from across the office, scampering among the desks toward them.
"What is it, Coleman? What happened?" asked Brock, taken completely aback at seeing him so upset out of the blue.
"We gotta go back to Boston! Reg's been shot!"
A part of Brock froze in a horrified shock, refusing to believe his ears as his chest seemed to catch fire and the air was thin in his lungs. Another part of him reacted enough to turn to the SAC with a stormy scowl, to state he wouldn't take no for an answer on this one.
"Assign someone you trust to conduct the arrests. And make sure we have a plane waiting for us at the airport when we get there," he barked.
The SAC managed a surprised nod. "Of course," he muttered.
Brock spun on his heels and stalked across the office to the elevators with Russell. A moment later they rocketed toward the airport on one of the field office's SUVs, sirens on. Russell tried to call back Aldana, but it skipped to voice mail. The same happened when he tried with Ron and Fred.
"Call Lawrence," Brock growled through clenched teeth.
Russell did, and the first thing they heard from the speaker was Tanya's sob. "Oh, Russ, Russ! You gotta come home! And bring Agent Brockner! Reg's... Reg's... Oh, my God! She...!"
Her words seemed to step on Brock's foot on the gas, as his knuckles turned white around the wheel. Russell breathed deep and tried to sound calm.
"Easy, T, we're on our way," he said, warm and soothing. "Can you tell us what happened?"
The girl replied in sobbing bursts of words. "Kurt! He found this viral video! Boys with guns, he said! He made us watch! And it was these boys yelling and laughing! And one of them... One of them was on the street! And Reg was there! And Pillbug too! And he—the boy—he... He just shot!"
"What? Connor was shot too?"
"No, no! He's fine! But the boy shot Reg!"
"What about her? How is she, T?"
Brock held his breath, a choking fear squeezing his belly at what Tanya might answer. A glance at Russell told him his partner was afraid of it too.
"She was taken to the General! That's all I know! They. The lads. The team. They're on their way to the hospital and asked us to stay here!"
"And what about Reg, T?" Russell repeated, struggling hard to keep his voice from shaking. "Is she okay? What d'you know?"
"I don't know!" the girl cried, and broke down in tears.
"I'll call you back." Russell disconnected and dialed Connor.
They boy picked up at the first ring. He wasn't crying, but he sounded just as desperate as Tanya.
"Russ! It's Mom! You gotta come back!"
"I know, kiddo, I know. Brock and I are on our way."
"I was there, Russ! We were meeting at Macy's and I was almost there! And all of a sudden she fell! She crumbled down, collapsed on the sidewalk! And she got all this blood on her chest!"
Russell swallowed hard and avoided eye contact with Brock, who breathed in as to dive into an ocean trench.
"And how is she, kiddo?"
"I don't know, Russ! She's in surgery!"
Russell and Brock exhaled their relief at the same time. Russell said something more, but Brock didn't listen. There was only one thing clear in his mind: Gillian wasn't dead. She was alive. He knew she could die on the OR table before he got to Boston, but he refused to even consider it. She was alive. That was all that mattered. She was alive and he would be with her in a few hours.
"The team's on the way," he heard Connor said.
"Okay, you hang on there until they join you. And call us if you need anything. We'll be there in a couple of hours. And don't worry, kiddo. She'll be alright."
"O-okay..."
Connor disconnected, just in time to allow Russell to grasp to the dash, as Brock swerved into the airport and floored the SUV toward the FBI hangar, where the field office's jet was being refueled and readied to fly.
They were climbing through clouds in only fifteen minutes. While the jet rolled to the runway, Russell was able to talk to Aldana, but there was nothing new about Gillian's state: she'd been shot in the chest and she was in the OR.
Brock sat alone, a couple of seats away from Russell. He could only try to get some air to his lungs, despite the burning chunk of ice crushing his chest. He grasped his twenty-five years in the field to keep a grip on himself, painfully aware that it was not a nightmare. It was so much worse—it was real. He knew he might land on Boston only to attend Gillian's funeral. He heard Russell talking over the phone with Cooper as he wondered how he was going to stand this blow. Because he didn't know if he could do it again.
He couldn't run to the woman he loved and be too late again.
He pressed his eyes shut as he felt the prick of tears in the back of his throat, guilt whipping him ruthlessly. He knew it had nothing to do with him. This wasn't his fault. But he wasn't there.
He'd let her cuddle in her armor when she came back from DC. While the highest circle of the Bureau struggled not to founder after her deposition before the Attorney General, he accepted Cassidy's assignment to lead the operations to catch the customers of the child pornography net all over the country.
It'd take him and Russell a couple of months to get it all done, and he'd thought that would give her a chance to come to terms with her fears. He thought she could use some time away from him. And maybe then they could talk about it. About their feelings. He'd accepted her distance and her silence, just letting time pass by until work would bring them together again. And all of a sudden that might never happen. All of a sudden there might be nothing in store for them. Ever.
A few words by a swimming pool. Her hesitating kiss. Her bright blue eyes meeting his. His arms around her.
Was that all he'd ever have of Regan Gillian? Would he be doomed to bury his heart once more, when he'd just found it back after so much pain and regret?
