FIC: A CASE OF THE MONDAYS 3/4

[carolinablu85]

Title: A Case of the Mondays
Chapter: 3/4
Author: carolinablu85, also known as CarolinaBlue on vh.net or CarolinaBlu on the wiki (I know, I'm a fountain of creative names)
Pairing: mentions of Reid/Luke, but will ultimately be Noah/Luke, I promise!
Rating: PG-13ish, just to be safe
Spoilers: set in current storyline, after Noah gets his sight back (maybe June-ish?)
Summary: Noah has made it clear he wants Luke back. But will it be too late for Luke to do the same?
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: Same as before- I wrote this on painkillers, so please keep that in mind if it starts to go slightly crack!fic-y
Chapter 1  /  Chapter 2  /

…Wednesday…

Noah glared up at Mason as the man continued walking towards him, still on the phone. Talking to Luke. “Like I said, I just want you to know that I have something that you want. I want you to know how that feels.”

Luke doesn’t want me, Noah argued silently. Not anymore. You’re two months too late. Mason had no idea how screwed up his evil scheme was going to get. Noah was willing to bet that not too many people paid a ransom or whatever for an ex-boyfriend. If he really wanted revenge or money, he should have kidnapped Dr. Oliver.

Noah was shaken out of his thoughts when Mason put a hand on his arm, running it up to his shoulder. “Don’t touch me!” he couldn’t help but snap loudly.

Mason took a step back with a smirk, and Noah almost thought he could hear Luke yelling over the phone. Mason turned his attention back to it. “I think we’re done for now, Mr. Snyder-Grimaldi-Whatever. Stay near your phone, you’ll be hearing from me again.” He hung up and tucked his cell back into his jacket, grinning like he’d won something.

“Touch me again and I’ll kill you,” Noah growled, unable to look at the insufferable bastard anymore. Instead he glanced around at his surroundings yet again. It was a nondescript bedroom in a nondescript house somewhere. The only reason he knew he was still in Oakdale was because he could see the Worldwide building through the one window.

Mason leaned back against the dresser with a chuckle. “I seem to recall you being a lot more polite six months ago.”

“I was a lot less kidnapped back then too,” Noah snapped.

Another laugh. “Well, looks like someone gets a little sarcastic when they’re cranky.”

“What the hell are you doing, Mason?” Noah was getting tired of the attitude. “What is this supposed to accomplish? You want your job back, you want money, what?”

Mason stayed where he was. “I want to win.”

“Win what?” Noah persisted, eyes narrowed, confused and angry. He tugged again at the bonds around his wrists, working to loosen them even a little. If he could get just a little bit of room to work with, he was sure he could undo these knots. Mason was a former film professor, and probably not an expert at rope-tying. He didn’t see Mason as much of an outdoorsman; camping would be too harsh on the scarf and blazer. “What are you trying to win?”

“Does it matter?” he shrugged.

Noah shook his head. “If all you want is revenge for getting fired, why do you even need me?”

Mason gave him a pointed look, crossing his arms. “Who says that’s all I want?”

Noah stared for a moment. “Me? You want… you want me?” He shook his head again. Even after everything Luke had said about Mason last fall- and Noah had believed him- a part of Noah never really understood it. Especially now. “You know, I know people who kidnap other people aren’t generally sane, but… are you out of your friggin’ mind?”

Mason laughed. “Come on, Noah. You can’t be that shocked that someone besides Luke could find you attractive.”

Noah ignored that statement in favor of a more pressing issue. “And you thought ‘abduction’ was a good way to express yourself?” he asked incredulously.

“I work with what I’m given,” the man answered airily.

He narrowed his eyes. “Hate to disappoint you,” he began, “But I wasn’t interested in you then, and I’m not interested in you now.” The ropes were the slightest bit looser now, Noah could feel it, and he fought against letting the hope show on his face.

“Don’t tell me you’re still holding out for Luke,” his former teacher looked him over, pitying. “I think that ship has sailed, buddy. It’s time to move on.”

I know, but I can’t, Noah said silently. Out loud, “I really don’t think I want to take relationship advice from you, thanks. Even before you decided to be all buckets of crazy, you didn’t exactly have it together in that department.”

Mason just nodded a little, and then in one fluid motion stepped forward and backhanded Noah across the face. It was the same strike and same place that he had hit Noah before, when he realized Noah was talking to Jack and not Luke. “Yeah, because you have it so much more together,” he said, voice calmer than his actions.

Noah blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. He wasn’t sure if it was blurry from the hit or just because of his eyes. He didn’t know how long he’d been here, but a few days without wearing his now doctor-recommended glasses always left things a little cloudy. After a moment, his fingers twisting around the ropes and knots, finding just a little bit more give in them this time, he sent another glare at Mason. “Even if Luke completely ditched me and ran me out of town, I still wouldn’t want to have anything to do with you.”

“Even if Luke completely ditched you and hooked up with your doctor, while you were still blind? Even if he kept that relationship a secret after you got your sight back, letting you find out he was sleeping with someone new by seeing them together?”

Noah swallowed back the twinge in his throat that came whenever he thought of Luke sleeping with Dr. Oliver, of Luke being in love with someone else. How did Mason know all of this? How long had he been in town, spying on all of them? “Even then,” he said around gritted teeth. Just a little bit more and those knots would be loose…

Mason was standing in front of him again. “Maybe you just need to know what you’ve been missing.” And with that he reached for Noah again, leaning closer.

Oh hell no. So much for strategy and biding his time. The final knot on the ropes broke at just that moment, and Noah instinctively shoved Mason away, throwing a punch of his own. He connected with his jaw, and the part of brain not focused on escaping really hoped he broke it. Anything to shut the guy up.

Mason fell back roughly, and Noah took the opportunity to make a dash for the open doorway. He stumbled on sore, weakened legs but refused to slow down. Strained muscles were definitely preferable to spending another minute in the same room as-

He wasn’t fast enough. There was the sound of footsteps behind him, and then just as Noah reached the stairs something heavy and unforgiving crashed into his back and side. He couldn’t help but let out a cry of pain as he dropped to the floor, his head cracking violently with the plaster molding that ran along between the wood and the wall. Wooden shards and splinters fell around him, and Noah fuzzily realized that he’d been hit with a chair. Probably the same chair he’d been tied to.

He tried to get his hands under him and push himself up, but the pain was too much. He crashed back down with a groan, closing his eyes. He felt Mason approach him, grab his arms, and drag him back into the room. “Almost a good try,” he commented, though his voice sounded a little strained too. Noah was still hoping for at least a bruised jaw out of that. He would’ve opened his eyes to check, but he couldn’t get them to cooperate. Mason kept talking, something about needing something stronger than rope, but Noah was done caring for the moment, letting himself drift back into unawareness.

************
…Thursday…

Luke barely glanced up when his mom set a cup of coffee down in front of him. He was too busy trying to get his Jedi mind powers to make the phone ring. It had been almost a full day since he had talked to Mason. It had been almost five full days since Noah had disappeared. Five days.

He numbly took a sip of the coffee, recognizing immediately that it was from Al’s and not from Java. For which he was very, very grateful. Something like that was bound to send him over the edge right now. Hell, thinking about Noah at all was enough to make him crack. Noah, who was in God-knows-what condition, was being held somewhere because of him. Because of Luke-

“Have you eaten anything yet, sweetie?” Lily’s voice broke through the beginnings of the guilt trip Luke had started himself on.

He glanced at his watch, wondering if it was too late for breakfast. And then saw that it was almost four in the afternoon. Oh. He shook his head, swallowing down more coffee. “Not hungry.”

A grilled cheese sandwich was dropped in front of him next. “Yes you are, you just don’t know it. Eat.” Lily kissed the top of his head and sat down next to him.

Luke stared at the sandwich, biting his lower lip hard. When he was little and too sick to go to school, his mom would always make him a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch while they curled up and watched The Price Is Right. It was a Snyder family tradition. Comfort food at its best.

It was also a tradition he had tried to pass on to Noah, making them for him on those rare occasions when Noah admitted to being sick. And bless his heart, Noah would always eat them, no matter how burned the sandwiches got. And he always watched The Price Is Right, even though Bob Barker gave him the creeps (Noah tried to keep that a secret, but Luke knew). Noah…

“What if I never see him again?” he found himself whispering, still looking at the grilled cheese.

His mom’s hand was on his back, rubbing softly. “Honey, you can’t think like that.” It would have been much more convincing if her own voice hadn’t been wobbling as she spoke.

He shook his head a little frantically. “What if something happens to him and he never knows that I… I still- that I’m… God!” he stood up, pacing around the interrogation room yet again.

“He knows you love him,” Lily tried.

“No,” he said stubbornly. “He thinks I used to love him, but don’t anymore. He thinks I’ve moved on and left him behind. He thinks-”

Lily stood up, put her hands on his shoulders. “You don’t know that. He has to know that you still love each other. That kind of love doesn’t just go away, I’m sure he understands that.”

“Mom,” his voice dropped to just above a whisper, agonized. “He told me last week that he was still in love with me, and I didn’t say anything back. And now he’s gone. If something happens…”

She pulled him in close, wrapping both arms around him. “It’s going to be okay, we’ll get him back. We’ll get him back.”

He buried his face in her shoulder, forcing himself not to shudder. It was on the tip of his tongue to protest- there was no way she could know that- but the ringing of his cell phone interrupted him. They both tensed automatically, and Luke let go of his mother to dive for his phone still sitting on the table.

“Is it him? Is it Noah?” Lily was frantic behind him, already moving to the door to call in Jack or Margo.

“No.” Luke let the air out of his lungs with a disappointed whoosh and sat back down in front of his grilled cheese. He sent the call to voicemail and contemplated actually taking a bite.

Lily quietly sat back down next to him, clasping her hands nervously. “Who was it?”

“No one,” Luke mumbled, hoping she would leave it at that. Of course, by saying it that way they both knew who it was. Reid. Luke’s head and heart and chest were too heavy to deal with him, it, everything at the moment. Plus he’d have to explain to Reid everything that was going on, and that just seemed impossible at the moment.

“Okay.” Luckily his mother understood, or at least pretended to. All she did was push the sandwich closer to him, eyeing him sternly until he started eating.

He was halfway through when his phone rang again. Expecting it to be Reid, Luke reluctantly picked it up and glanced at the screen. And then dropped his sandwich on the floor. “Mom, go get Jack.”

He didn’t wait for her, just flipped his phone open and answered (hopefully and probably naively), “Noah?”

“Luke.” It wasn’t Noah. Mason drew his name out slowly, taunting. “How’s your boyfriend?”

“Let me talk to Noah,” Luke demanded, ignoring the jab.

“Excuse me?”

“Let me talk to Noah. Please,” he spoke through a tightly clenched jaw. It absolutely killed him to beg this guy.

“Eh, sorry, can’t do that.” He could hear Mason moving around, wherever he was. But he couldn’t hear Noah in the background like last time, and that scared him. “Noah’s not really able to talk at the moment.”

His eyes closed involuntarily. “Why not?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“Hmmm…” Mason took his time in answering. “I’m trying to come up with the best teacher-student metaphor. He’s in a time-out? In detention? He’s being taught a lesson? None of those sound very clever out loud, do they?”

Luke gripped the edge of the table so hard it hurt. “At least, at least just tell me that he’s okay?” his voice cracked a little, and he desperately hoped Mason couldn’t hear that over the connection.

He must not have, because Luke was sure he would’ve exploited it if he had. “He’s okay. Okay? Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” he grunted. “Is that why you’re calling me this time? To make me feel as crappy and helpless as possible?”

“In a manner of speaking? Yes.”

Oh, he could tell the smirk was back, and Luke really wished he had those Jedi powers again and could crush Mason’s windpipe with his brain. “What’s it going to take? To end this. Do you want me to meet you somewhere, mock me in person? Do you want me to give you money? Change places with Noah? What? I’ll do it. Just tell me.”

“Luke!” Lily gasped softly next to him. Luke hadn’t even realized she and Jack had come back into the room, but they were both staring at him worriedly. He ignored them both. There wasn’t much he wasn’t willing to do to keep Noah safe.

“Really?” Mason sounded fascinated. “You’d do that? You’d really pay some sort of ransom for Noah?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “How much do you want? My whole inheritance, a trust fund, whatever it takes.”

“You’d give me all your money?” Mason asked again, taken aback. “The whole Grimaldi fortune?”

“The whole Grimaldi fortune,” Luke repeated, insisting. He turned wide, hopeful eyes towards his mom. She was already pulling out her own phone, ready to make whatever calls needed to be made. “I’ll do it! That’s enough money to buy your own private island and build your own damn university on it. Where and when do I get you the money?”

“You don’t.” Mason’s voice dropped to a dark, flat tone. “I don’t want your damn money.”

Luke flinched as though he’d been punched in the stomach. “What?”

“You think this is about money?” Mason sneered. “Wait, of course you do. You haven’t changed at all, have you Luke? You think your money and your stature can solve any problem. You think you can buy your way through life.” He sighed. “It’s sad, really.”

Luke was surprised he hadn’t crushed his cell phone in his grip. “You… you son of a bitch, I should-”

“When Noah wakes up, I’ll have to let him know his ex tried to put a price on his head, thought that would fix everything. Looks like Noah isn’t the only one who needs to be taught a lesson, huh, Luke?” And with that, Mason hung up before Luke had a chance to respond.

************
“Mr. Snyder?”

Holden snapped himself out of the daze he’d been in for most of the last hour. “Casey, hi. What are you doing here?”

Casey smiled painfully, holding up a takeout bag from Al’s. “Came to drop off some dinner for my mom, for when she gets back.” He sat down tentatively next to him. Judging by the look on his face, Holden guessed that Margo had filled him in on the latest phone call. Casey looked around the mostly empty police station. “Where’s Luke?”

“Lily took him back to the house about an hour ago. They both needed some rest, some decent food,” Holden cleared his throat, wincing at the hoarseness in his voice. “Your mom and Jack are out on some lead or another. I’m not too sure on the details.”

Casey nodded, pulling out a burger and a carton of fries from the bag. “Is… is Luke okay? And Mrs. Snyder? Alison said she was taking it really hard.”

Holden tried to smile. “We’re all taking it hard. That last phone call, whatever Mason said to Luke… it left them really shaken up. But I still have to think that things will work out okay.” A pointed look at Casey. “You should too.”

He nodded. “I do.” He pulled another burger out of the bag, eyed his mom’s empty desk, and then offered it to Holden. “That’s what I keep telling Alison.”

Holden took the burger with a more genuine smile. “So you and Alison seem to be getting along again.”

Casey shrugged. “I guess. I mean, I know I’ll never feel about her the way I used to, but I know I’ll never stop feeling something. I guess I’d rather that than nothing at all.”

“Sounds about right,” Holden took a bite. “It’s how I feel about Lily. Seeing her with Luke and our kids, seeing how much she cares about Noah, that’s the Lily I fell in love with. But too much hurt has happened between us for us to go back to where we were.”

“Do you think you’ll ever get back together with her?”

Holden thought about it. “I guess it’s always possible. But there’s just as much a chance that we’ll never get back together, or we will and split up again. I’m not sure what’s the best option there.” He ate a few fries. “We’re both happy where we are now, that’s all we can ask for.”

Casey was quiet for a few minutes, both of them eating their burgers and thinking about the past. Then he sent a sidelong glance at Holden. “Does Luke or Lily know that you and Molly have lunch with Noah once a week?”

Holden almost choked on his burger. “How did you know?”

“Noah told me,” Casey grinned a little.

He shook his head. “Honestly, no. I haven’t told either of them. Lily isn’t Molly’s biggest fan, and if she reacts to this even half as bad as she did when Molly bonded with Faith… neither Noah or Molly need to feel guilty about it.” He sighed a little. “And just knowing Luke and how he’d react…”

“Yeah,” Casey laughed. “I kinda figured.”

Holden smiled again, he had half-expected Casey to take Luke’s side on this. “Besides, I made a promise to Noah awhile ago that he’d always be a part of the family, even if he and Luke aren’t together. Especially now after the surgeries and everything, I can’t abandon him.”

“Like we did the last couple times they broke up…” Casey mused quietly. At Holden’s questioning look, he tried to explain. “When they were apart before, after the election and after that New Year’s, we all kinda stuck to Luke and were there for him, but not for Noah. Looking back on all that now, I guess I feel kinda guilty.”

“Really?” Holden watched the young man, a little surprised.

Casey nodded, looking embarrassed. “I’ve been trying to make up for it, and I know Ali has too. She and Hunter have pretty much taken him into the Stewart family, and Chris and I hang out with him some, and with you and Molly…” He offered up another smile. “It makes me feel better to think that even if he and Luke don’t get back together, at least Noah won’t be alone anymore.”

Holden stared at Casey again, impressed. He put a hand on Casey’s shoulder warmly, patting it. “Makes me feel better too.”

Casey was blushing a little now, but tried to shake it off. “I have to admit, I was a little surprised Noah didn’t leave town after finding out about Luke and the doctor-guy.”

Holden shook his head. “I’m sure it crossed his mind, but no, he wouldn’t do that now. Noah’s grown up a bit in the past three years. And anyway,” he went back to something Casey had said earlier, “Luke and Noah will get back together. Of course they will.”

Casey smiled, but then the smile slowly dropped away from face. “Mr. Snyder?”

“Yeah, Casey?”

Casey fiddled with the label on his bottle of water, not looking at him. “Do you really think Noah’s going to be okay?”

I don’t know, was the first thing that came to mind. But Holden couldn’t say that to Casey, couldn’t say that to himself. He put his hand on Casey’s shoulder again. “I’m sure of it.”

************
…Friday…

Luke made his way to the nurse’s station, feeling jittery and tense. Not at all rested. His parents had pretty much forced him to spend the night at home, which Luke thought was stupid. If he had to choose between not sleeping in his bedroom and not sleeping at the police station, he’d take the police station. Even though it ended up not mattering, since Noah was still missing and Mason was still out there somewhere.

“Luke?” Alison was behind the counter, and she came around eagerly, nearly tripping in her haste. “What is it? Any news? Is he-?”

Luke hated having to shake his head and see her face fall. “He called again yesterday. Mason did. I tried to offer him money or me in exchange for Noah, but he said no.”

Ali put her hand to her mouth for a second, then pulled it away. “And Noah? Is he okay? Did you talk to him?”

He shook his head, the motion giving him a headache. “Mason said he wasn’t ‘able to talk at the moment.’ He’s okay,” he rushed to say when Alison’s eyes went wide. “Mason said he’s okay. He just wouldn’t let me talk to him.”

She sucked in a deep breath, glancing around a little before pulling Luke into the empty break room. “And you’re sure? You’re sure Mason hasn’t hurt him, wasn’t lying to you? What if Noah is…”

“Ali, he’s okay. He has to be.” Luke wanted to give her a hug, hold her hand, something, but he couldn’t get himself to do it. Things were awkward between them, had been since that lecture in the hospital hallway a few days earlier. He was pretty sure she blamed him for Noah’s disappearance as much as he himself did.

She took a step away from him, leaning back against her locker. “And he didn’t want money, a ransom or whatever?”

Luke shook his head again. “I think I kinda pissed him off when I offered it.”

“What?” her eyes flashed. “You made him mad? Luke, what if he takes that out on Noah? What if something happens now because, because-”

“Because of me?” Luke finished for her. “Something already has happened because of me. All of this happened because of me. You don’t need to yell, Ali. I know this is my fault.”

Her face softened. “I didn’t mean that,” she protested weakly. “I really didn’t.”

“I did,” he said, just as quietly.

“No, Luke,” she moved closer, put her hand on his arm. “I’m just so mad this is happening at all, and I’m mad that you and Noah aren’t together, and I’m mad that I can’t do anything about either. I don’t think this is your fault.” They both sat at the table, and Ali let out a sigh. “I haven’t slept at the apartment in four days.”

“What?” Luke looked over at her, confused.

She shrugged. “I’ve been staying with Hunter. I just hate being there all alone, you know? I hate waking up in the morning and not hearing him in the kitchen cooking breakfast and-”

“And listening to Motown,” Luke completed the sentence with a smile. He had almost forgotten about Noah’s morning rituals, it had been so long since the two of them shared a place and a routine together.

“Yeah,” Ali’s smile was just as fond. “He sings along to the same three songs every morning, and I’ve never had the heart to tell him that he gets the lyrics wrong.”

“Me either,” Luke’s smiled widened. “The Gladys Knight song, right?”

“Yes!” she said, rolling her eyes and grinning at the same time. “Every morning, and the poor guy never got the words right.” Then her smile faded quickly. “Gets the words right. God, I don’t want to talk in past-tense.”

Luke did take her hand this time. “He’ll be back soon. Him and his tone-deafness.”

She locked eyes with him. “It’s important that you remember that too, Luke.”

He nodded, biting his lip, eyes welling just a little bit with tears. “Ali… I’ve been thinking a lot the last couple days, and I think-”

The door swung open, and Luke quickly wiped at his face before looking up. And then froze. He hadn’t seen Reid in days, hadn’t really spoken to him except for a few quick, hurried voicemails back and forth. “Luke?” Reid looked at both of them, confused.

Luke pulled his hand free from Alison’s, standing up quickly. “Hey.”

Reid glanced at Alison, who was staring at Luke. “What are you doing here? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for days.” A smirk. “I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.” The added again was unspoken, thank God, or else Alison would have caught it.

“Oh, yeah, um, some stuff has happened-” his voice caught in his throat and he had to clear it. That fear of forever, of everything being real, of losing something important, was starting to creep up back in him. “Some stuff has happened, it’s kinda been taking up all my waking hours.”

“What kind of stuff?” Reid took a step closer, now looking concerned. “Anything I can help with?”

Luke shook his head. The fear was pretty much all-consuming again. If he told Reid the truth, Reid would leave him. Could he really handle losing Reid and Noah in the same couple of days? “Some… some family stuff. It’s okay.”

He had almost forgotten Alison was there until that moment. She stood up so fast her chair scraped loudly against the floor, and Luke cringed at the sound. And also at the look on her face. “I have to go,” she said shortly, biting off the words. She glared at Luke. “Let me know if there’s any news about your family.” And with that, she was gone.

Leaving Luke alone with Reid, who was studying him intently. “So. This has something to do with Noah, doesn’t it?” Luke couldn’t answer, just nodded instead. Reid sighed sadly. “I thought you were done running around at Noah’s beck and call.”

Luke looked up sharply. “It’s not like that. Not this time.”

Reid shook his head. “I just don’t understand why, yet again, you’re troubling yourself over some problem of Noah’s. I mean, Luke, you’re not-”

“It’s not like that,” he said again, more forcefully. “It’s the other way around. Noah’s in trouble because of a problem of mine.”

Reid cocked his head to the side, obviously confused. “What?”

Luke opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure of how to explain. But he would have, or would have tried, if his cell phone hadn’t started ringing. Reid half-forgotten, Luke yanked his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, heart racing. “Jack?”

“Luke, get to the station. Now.”

************
Jack leaned against his desk, arms crossed, looking in at the interrogation room. He had never ever, since as long as he could remember, been a fan of waiting. Patience is a virtue, and Jack was not feeling particularly virtuous at the moment. He turned slightly when the door to the station opened. Speaking of impatient…

“What’s going on?” Luke asked, his haste making it sound like one long word. “What happened? Is Noah okay?” Jack nodded towards the interrogation room, and Luke spun around so quickly that he almost fell. And then he did drop into a chair when he saw what was going on. Margo was interrogating Mason. Mason, in handcuffs. In custody. Luke thought he might faint from relief. “Oh God, thank you.”

“Luke…” Jack’s voice didn’t sound nearly as relieved, and Luke couldn’t figure out why.

“Where’s Noah?” Luke looked around expectantly.

“Luke,” Jack said his name again. Luke finally turned to him, fearful. “We caught him this morning, outside a convenience store. The clerk behind the counter recognized him from the news and called us, we got there before he was out the door.”

“Where’s Noah?” he repeated, starting to get angry.

Jack almost hesitated before answering. “Mason was alone. We don’t know where he’s keeping Noah, and as far as I know he hasn’t said anything yet. Margo’s questioning him now, and- Luke!” He was already on his feet and halfway through the door to the interrogation room. “Luke!”

He had stormed his way in and lunged for Mason before he’d really even realized what he was doing. And if Jack and another uniformed officer hadn’t caught him, he might have managed to strangle him. “Where is he?”

“Luke!” Mason had the audacity to smile up at him. “I was wondering when you’d get here and throw a temper tantrum! Glad I wasn’t disappointed.”

Both Jack and the officer held Luke back. “Where the hell is he?” he yelled, done playing this game, done trying to banter back and forth with a maniac.

“Get him out of here!” Margo ordered. Mason just sat back, still smiling. If his hands hadn’t been cuffed he probably would have waved.

“No!” Luke protested, pulling madly against the arms restraining him. “No! Tell me where he is!” He probably kept yelling as they dragged him back into the main room of the station, but he was beyond knowing or caring.

“Hey.” Jack shoved him down into a chair, standing in front of him to block his view of Mason. “You have to calm down, Luke. Or I’ll get Lucinda in here to drag you out until you do.” Sternly, “And I’m not even joking about that.”

Luke glared up at him, breathing hard. “He really hasn’t said anything about Noah?”

Jack sighed reluctantly. “No, not yet. I’m sorry, I really am. But you have to give Margo some time. He can’t stay quiet for that long, not even a public defender would let him do it. He has to talk. He will.”

He squirmed a little, trying to look around his cousin and glare at Mason again. He wasn’t as confident as Jack about that. Mason was still trying to win the war with him. Even if he was caught, he was still managing to keep Noah from him. “Do we know if Noah’s even alive?” he asked, deflating a little.

“For sure? No,” Jack admitted. “But I really do think he’s okay, wherever he is. For one thing, Mason wasn’t trying to leave town when we caught him. That’s a really good sign.”

“What’s the other thing?” Luke asked in a sigh, sinking back in the chair with a frustrated grunt.

Jack actually smiled a little. He shifted to the side so Luke had a clear view into the interrogation room again. “Check out the son of a bitch’s jaw.”

Luke frowned, confused, but did as he was told. He noticed for the first time the large multi-colored bruise on Mason’s face, and couldn’t help but smile too. “Noah hit him.”

“Yeah,” Jack eased down into the chair next to him. “And judging by the bruise, it happened recently. Noah’s alive, Luke. And he’s okay enough to pack a pretty good right hook.” He waited for Luke to relax a little more before continuing. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Luke bit the inside of his cheek. “Jack. This means Noah’s stuck somewhere right now, completely alone.” God, he must be so scared right now.

Jack shook his head, face determined. “Not for long, he’s not.”

************
…Saturday…

Lily was gripping her coffee mug so tight her hands had started cramping minutes ago. She knew it was minutes, because she had been acutely aware of time passing ever since Luke had told her that that professor had been caught. Every passing hour was another hour that Noah was lost, abandoned somewhere. By himself. It had been a whole day since…

She shook her head, willing herself not to call Holden, ask him to come over. She could call Lucinda instead, she could call Emma, Carly… She didn’t need to call her ex-husband. She didn’t.

As if mocking her, the phone started to ring. She picked it up with trembling, cramped fingers. “Hello?”

“Lily, thank God!” Jack’s voice, somehow exhausted and energized at the same time, sounded loud through the connection. “I’ve tried calling Luke and Holden and haven’t been able to reach them. Where’s Luke?”

“He’s asleep, finally,” Lily’s voice shook as much as her hands. “I don’t know about Holden, he may be out riding,” he sometimes did that when life got too tense. “What’s going on, Jack? Did you get that man to talk?”

“No, unfortunately,” Jack’s momentum dropped for a second before picking up again. “But we got a break about an hour ago. The car we found Mason with? We went to neighborhoods around that convenience store, and someone recognized a photo of it.”

“What does that mean?” Lily was halfway up the stairs to Luke’s room.

“Some cops did a more thorough search of the neighborhood, and there’s one house there that has been empty for weeks. We think Mason may have been hiding out there.”

“And Noah?” she pressed, stopping at Luke’s door.

“I’m on my way there now. If Noah’s in that house, we’ll find him.” He paused, then rattled off the address nervously. “Lily, I don’t know if Luke should be here, but-”

Lily opened the door to Luke’s room and nearly dropped the phone. Luke was moving around like the old Tasmanian Devil cartoon, struggling to throw on (hopefully) clean clothes and find his keys at the same time. “I don’t think you’ll have much choice with that, Jack. We’ll be there soon.” She hung up, then turned back to her son. “Honey?”

“Mom!” Luke just realized she was there. “Jack left a message on my phone, he-”

She waved her own phone. “He just called me too. You go ahead, I’m going to go out to the farm first and get your father.” She grabbed his arm as he tried to rush past her. “You call me the second you know something, got it?”

He nodded, barely registering her words. His eyes were on the stairs that led downstairs, to the front door, to his car. To Noah. Lily glanced back into the now quiet room, her eyes catching on all the little things there that made Luke ‘Luke.’ His framed photos, his striped shirts. Old basketball trophies. His spiral notebooks and his laptop. And of course, lying on the nightstand right next to the bed, was the wristwatch she hadn’t seen him wear in weeks, but she knew he always kept close by. Please, God. Help fix this.

************
Luke shoved his way past a few officers who were going over whatever evidence was in the living room. Noah was in here somewhere, he knew it. He scrambled up the staircase, nearly running into his cousin at the top. “Jack! Have you…?”

Jack steadied him with one hand, the other still resting lightly on his holstered gun. “There are a lot of rooms to search up here, Luke.” Which Luke knew was just a way of saying ‘no, we haven’t found Noah.’ He started forward, until Jack stopped him again. “Hey, what are you doing?”

Luke glared at him. “Helping you look. And you know you can’t stop me and you know I’ll do this no matter what you say and you know I have to do this so let’s save time and find Noah, okay?”

Jack stared at him, before smiling just a little and moving to the side, allowing Luke to move past him down the hallway. “I’ll take the rooms on the left, you take the rooms on the right. You find something, anything, you yell for me, got it?”

“Got it,” Luke answered absentmindedly, already entering the first room. He searched it top and bottom, hating it. He needed to be thorough, find any clue that could lead them to Noah, but if this was the wrong room than it was just wasting time. Catch-22, damn it.

Mostly confident that there was nothing in the first room, he moved on to the second, noticing that Jack had already done the same on the other side of the hallway. He ducked his head in first, glancing around. His heart dropped when it looked just as empty as the first room, but just as he was about to leave for the next room, something on the floor caught his eye. It looked like pieces of a wooden chair had been swept up into a corner. Weird…

Luke stepped fully into the room, hope making his blood thrum loudly in his ears. Almost too loudly to hear the sound of stuttered breathing coming from the other side of the room. A chest of drawers was pulled out oddly, at a right angle to the wall. Like it was a shield. Like it was hiding something.

A few more steps, and he was rounding the corner of the dresser. And there he was. Noah was sitting against it, his hands tied behind his back. There were a couple bruises scattered across his face, a cut dripping blood down the side, but worst of all was the cloth wrapped and tied around Noah’s eyes. Noah couldn’t see anything. That bastard had made sure Noah couldn’t see.

“Oh God, Noah.” Noah’s face turned slightly towards him when he spoke, but it wasn’t in the absolute relief Luke would’ve thought. In fact, he seemed to fold into himself even more. Luke turned his head to the door to yell out a quick, “Jack!” and then dropped to his knees next to Noah, reaching for his face. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s me, it’s-” Noah flinched away the moment Luke touched him, causing Luke to flinch too. Before he could lose his nerve, he leaned forward again and hastily pulled the cloth off and away from Noah’s eyes. “Noah,” he said again, quiet and slow. “It’s okay.”

Noah blinked heavily a few times, eyes looking around wildly. They settled on Luke for barely a second before straying around the room again, taking everything in. Just looking. Luke leaned in again to untie Noah’s hands until he saw that Noah wasn’t just sitting against the dresser. He was handcuffed to it.

A flash of movement out of the corner of his eye had Luke looking up towards the door. Jack was there, stepping in even closer. Luke shook his head, warning him away before Noah could tense up again. “Jack, he’s handcuffed. Can you get-”

Jack nodded, something in Luke’s expression must have told him to stay back. “Be right back. I’ll be bringing medics with me, though. Have to, Luke.”

Luke waved him away. “Sure.” His eyes were already back on Noah. “Noah, come on, please. Give me something. Tell me that you’re okay, or I swear to God I’m going to let them run the siren when they put you in an ambulance.” Noah blinked again and his eyes slid slowly, if unsteadily, towards Luke. He kept up the talk. “And I’ll get Mom and let her stay with you at the hospital. And I’ll even tell Emma you miss the farm and wouldn’t it be great if you had somewhere nice to recuperate…” He trailed off when he realized Noah was really looking at him now. “Hey.”

Noah swallowed hard. “Hey,” he said, voice faint and a little unsteady, but real. Breathing. “I’m… I’m okay.”

“You sure?” Luke studied him again, trying desperately not to look too close at the bruises and everything.

“Yeah,” Noah confirmed softly. “No siren, please.”

Luke gave what he hoped was a laugh. “Sure.” Noah was still shaking, still glancing around at everything. He tried to draw in a full breath, then couldn’t stop himself. “God, Noah, he blindfolded you?”

Noah cringed and looked away, but before either could say anything Jack was there in the room again, a paramedic right behind him. “Okay Luke, I need you to back up for just a second,” Jack pulled him away and before he could protest he found himself sitting back against the far wall. Jack got to work undoing the handcuffs while the paramedic examined Noah, checking for a concussion.

“Were you knocked unconscious at all, did you hit your head at any time?” the medic shined his penlight in Noah’s eyes, holding him steady when Noah tried to pull away. Luke repositioned himself so he was directly across from Noah, so he could see Luke and Luke could see him.

Noah settled down a bit when he saw Luke again, and allowed the paramedic to check his eyes. “My head’s fine,” he answered, quiet and monotone.

“Were you knocked unconscious?” the paramedic persisted, checking his head and neck.

Noah let him, not looking at anyone now. “I don’t… he drugged me a lot. I don’t know.” He flinched when the medic examined the cut above his eye. “He… I hit my head, but I don’t know how long ago it was.”

Luke clenched his jaw, dreading the truth of that, and exchanged a look with Jack. His cousin grimaced and went back to cutting the cuffs from the dresser. A few seconds later he and the paramedic were easing Noah’s freed arms forward, and Luke echoed Noah’s wince as sore muscles were moved for the first time in days.

“What day is it?” There were three other people in the room with him, but Noah would only look at Luke. “H-how long have I…?”

“It’s Saturday, Noah,” he answered quietly. “It’s been a week.”

Noah swallowed hard, trying to process that. “Oh.” Then he looked around wildly, eyed going wide. “Mason? Where is he? Did he-?”

“He’s in a very small holding cell, in handcuffs, hopefully very very miserable,” Jack answered gently. “We got him, Noah. It’s okay.”

Noah blew out another breath, though he sucked it back in sharply when the medic pressed on his side. “Okay,” the paramedic spoke up. “It’s probably time to get this young man to the hospital.” He turned to Jack. “The ambulance is outside and waiting, let’s-”

“No siren,” Luke cut in, voice firm. “Got it?” The weird looks he got from Jack and the paramedic were worth it for the small smile that showed up on Noah’s face. Totally worth it.

************

Ali was almost literally wringing her hands as she stood outside the emergency room doors. Noah’s okay, Noah’s okay, Noah’s okay, she told herself, repeating the words Luke had said just minutes ago on the phone. We found him. Noah’s okay.

“Are they here yet?” Chris came through the doors, stopping just behind her.

She shook her head, eyes facing forward. “Any minute now.”

He cleared his throat. “I called Casey, gave him the news. I think Margo’s on her way too.” When all she did was nod, he shifted on his feet again. “Look, Ali, I know things are weird right now, but-”

“They’re here!” she cut him off, relieved. When the ambulance docked next to them, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Luke jump out of the back. She was, however, thrown at Noah’s appearance when the stretcher was rolled out and towards her. She pushed those feelings aside, rushing forward and taking his hand with a smile. “Hey stranger, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Hey,” Noah smiled up at her weakly. “You missed me?”

“Only a little bit,” she teased. “But Hunter’s really mad you missed the movie marathon. He almost swore and everything.”

Noah gave a very quick, faint laugh and then looked at the doctor on the other side of his stretcher. “Hey Chris.”

Chris smiled back, even as he started looking over the paramedic’s notes. “It’s about time you showed up, Sinatra. People were starting to get worried.”

“Sinatra?” Luke questioned, walking next to Ali.

Chris grinned. “Yeah. Sinatra, Ol' Blue Eyes, get it?”

Noah shook his head. “I keep saying you’re a little bit gay, Chris.” He was starting to mumble, adrenaline wearing off and weariness kicking in.

Chris shook his head right back, mock-frowning. “Mayer, quit trying to convert me.”

Ali laughed along with Noah, though she also noticed Luke’s confused expression. She had to remind herself that Luke didn’t know that Noah and Chris had become friends. (And he definitely didn’t know that they had first started bonding over their anger at a certain other doctor.)

“Okay,” Chris continued, his voice easily going from friend-mode to doctor-mode. “Let’s get you into a room, make sure you’re okay. Sound good?”

“Sure,” Noah’s voice was getting quieter and quieter. Before they could get his stretcher in, he pulled his hand free from Ali’s and reached out past her. “Luke?”

Luke was there in an instant, gripping the hand tightly. “I’m right here.”

Noah tugged on the hand until Luke was leaning in close. He said something quietly that Ali couldn’t hear, but whatever it was brought what looked like tears to Luke’s eyes for a second. He blinked heavily, nodded, and then let go of Noah’s hand so Chris could get him into the exam room. Leaving Alison and Luke alone in the hallway.

“I need to get to the waiting room,” Luke said absentmindedly. “My parents should be getting here soon.”

“What did he say?” Ali asked quietly. She wasn’t even sure if Luke would tell her, but curiosity got the better of her.

“He, um, he…” Luke took a deep breath. “He said this wasn’t my fault.”

She smiled gently. “It wasn’t.”

Luke gave her a disbelieving look, but decided not to get into it. “And he asked me if I was staying.”

“Are you?” she asked tentatively.

“Of course I am!” he glared. “I’m not leaving him now, he needs me.”

She nodded, but couldn’t help but remember what had happened yesterday, when Luke couldn’t admit to Reid what was going on with Noah. “And tomorrow?” she ventured. “What happens when he needs you then?”

Luke was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know yet.”

Ali nodded again, somehow not surprised. “Well, think about it. I’m going to go change my shift schedule, I’ll be right back.”

“Ali…” he stopped her just as she started down the hallway. “Ali. I still love him.”

“That’s great, Luke.” She looked at him pointedly. “But I’m not the one you need to tell that to. There are about eight hundred things you two need to discuss. The sooner the better."

TO BE CONTINUED! Chapter 4