Crayons, Captivity and Carnage ( and a side of fries)

Chapter 4: Love's Call

Tim had been spending far too much time with his boss of late. Not that the man was as much of a pain in the ass as he had originally assumed but he had been going out drinking with Alesky and having double dates with Alesky. And now he had spent the whole night and day babysitting the man.

Granted, that had been Tim's choice, one that Alesky had been extremely irritated with. Hunters were active just outside the city and the boss had some business to take care of out there, so Tim spooled half of his team to provide security for Carbry. But they were finally preparing to start heading home, which was good because it was half-way through the day and he could tell some of his team members were being dragged down by the long shift and the 'being up and around during daylight' part of this task.

He put in his bluetooth earphone and hit his house number, looking at his watch and doing the mental calculations. Sammy said she'd be gone helping at the hospital until lunch time. Even if she had gotten distracted, she'd be home by now. When it rang through to voicemail, he frowned and dialled the number for her cell phone, tensing a little bit more when it didn't even ring. It went straight through to the sound of her telling him to leave a message.

"Sam. Call me back."

"Is everything alright?" Carbry was in the back seat, watching him through the mirror, one brow raised.

Tim offered a shake of his head and glanced to Shiloh, who was driving , fully attentive to the road, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. "Nah. Sam was out today, she's not answering."

Alesky frowned and glanced down at his phone, typing out a message. A couple seconds later, his phone chimed and he looked up, "apparently she was going to meet Meri for a late lunch, Meri assumed she got distracted by something. Hasn't been answering her phone all day."

"Fuck." He tried to feel for her, clenched his jaw and tried to find any trace of any connection he had with the witch, despite having never made a concerted effort before now.

He felt nothing. She wasn't gone, he knew what that felt like, but... usually he felt at least her acknowledgement. "Something is wrong."

"Hey boss." Shiloh paused, glancing to Tim, then turning to acknowledge the fact that Alesky, also her boss, was also in the car. "Uh... Bryn's on my line. Her and Ryker are heading back from trying to track those two fucking shifters... no luck there, but they just passed a really fucking weird convoy booking it towards Texas. Lots of armour, lots of weapons, but not military. Stinks of Hunters."

"Pull over... I'm going to grab one of the vehicles, and you guys can keep bringing Alesky back home." Tim nodded towards a sign signalling a rest area up ahead. "Tell them to tail it, but stay safe. I'll catch up."

"Turn around." Alesky said simply, his expression cool, unaffected.

"Sir?" Shiloh glanced between Tim and Car, then back towards the next sign for the turn off.

"I'm going with you. If it's a convoy, you need far more than two vehicles and three of you." Alesky said simply, before turning his gaze to Tim, "this isn't a coincidence."

"Defeats the purpose of trying to keep you safe if we bring you into battle. Sir." Tim gritted his teeth, but he was having a hard time arguing. He highly doubted that Sam would benignly disappear right around the time Hunters were heavily armed and in the area. His heart seized and he fingered the bracelet on his wrist, searching for any trace of the Urdu's presence.

Wherever his demon was, she was really far away.

Besides. He wasn't about to drag her into danger as well, if he could help it.

"Turn around. Find a route that intersects and get us there, yesterday." Tim growled, snapping his hand up to the handle over the window beside him as Shiloh pulled the turn expertly, then kicked the SUV into high gear, tapping on the navigation system that brought up the GPS coordinates of Bryn's vehicle.

As she relayed the plan to the two tailing the Hunters, Tim spun around to look at Alesky, giving him a hard look, "you armed?"

"Of course I'm fucking armed. I let you protect me, but I'm also the fastest, most skilled and strongest in this whole team." Carbry gave him a glare that showed a little bit of fang. "Hunters were in my territory, Tim. And You and Sam, you're my people. Nobody touches my people. Just because I wear a suit, doesn't mean I'm a useless paper-pusher."

Tim watched him for a few seconds, before giving him a ghost of a smile. Carbry could rip his head off his shoulders without much effort, of course he was glad to have him if Sam was in trouble. "Just my job to fight for you, Sir."

"Leaders don't ask their soldiers to go into battles they aren't willing to brave themselves." Alesky offered a one shouldered shrug. "And I've been craving a fight for a while. It gets boring, being relegated to bureaucracy. Are we expecting backup?"

Tim glanced down at his wrist once more, offering a shrug, "if I can't feel anything from her, I don't know if Urdu can. Sam doesn't wear the damned bracelet... and she's further than normal right now. I know just saying her name will get her attention, but if she's busy... distracting her could get her injured as well."

"Very well... we're perfectly capable of taking care of our own messes, aren't we?" Carbry looked all too happy about it.

Tim nodded and turned to face forward once more, glancing to the map. They were an hour out, driving recklessly fast. Just to make sure, he called Sam's cell phone again, closing his eyes as he heard her voice telling him she loved him and to leave a message. He was going to get there on time.

He was.

Out of nowhere, he felt his world spin violently, his body jerking with pain as he felt Sam suddenly very much there, very much reaching for him. He felt her pain, her fear, her fury.

Her scream echoed in his mind as he yelled, "FASTER!"

Cause suddenly she was gone again. But as quickly as he had felt Sam, he shuddered when he felt the flash of fury and darkness tremble up his arm from the bracelet on his wrist only moments later. Along with it, he felt a very strong command from his demon to stay somewhere safe. It wasn't words, just an overwhelming feeling that she would be very upset if he continued along the road he was going.

He didn't argue, he didn't push back against it. Cause he knew Urdu was there and fighting and he wasn't going to distract her. But he wasn't about to listen.

"Sam's hurt. And we have backup." He muttered, gripping the armrests of his seat, baring his teeth as he tensed with the desire to run to where he was needed. He needed to be there, but they were still nearly forty minutes out.

"Fuck... Shiloh and Ryker say it looks like world war three... they have no idea what the fuck is going on, but they just..." Bryn turned and looked at him for a moment, then shook her head, "apparently an armoured car just launched into the air and crumbled into a ball roughly the size of a fucking basketball. They have sonic cannons, fifty cals, grenade launchers... and Bryn can hear air support coming out."

"Collateral?" Alesky asked with deceptive calm, and it was all Tim could do to not say that he didn't give three fucks about collateral.

"Middle of nowhere. Woods, trees... some rocks and squirrels, but that area is clear of population." Bryn was gripping the steering wheel, the engine roaring as she pushed the SUV even faster.

"Tell them to hold back and help, if they can get an idea of what the fuck is going on." Tim muttered, glancing to Bryn as she relayed the order, "I don't know if Urdu will have the ability to discern us from them."

He also didn't know if the demon could withstand half of the listed weapons, while trying to safely find Sam. Urdu would stop at nothing to make sure their witch was safe, and probably endanger herself in the process.

Part of him wanted to tell Bryn to speed up. But he didn't dare, they were already going far faster than they should be, even for a vampire's reflexes.