"Sir that's evidence to a crime you can't be grabbing stuff." He replied as his partner walked in. "O'Conner!" The other officer replied in shock. "Are you here for the tape? Just make sure it gets back to us, CSI would probably be stuck behind some jack ass red tape anyways." He shook his head as his partner rebuttled.

The other officer had seen Brian pull off some work before with no questions asked this would be just the same. "And if you find anything about that asshole send it our way." He pointed to the scene of the man dispatching the rent-a-cops.

"I will, thanks, I'll make sure to forward any information."
With that he left draging jack along to make an exit before they could decide to keep the tape.

Outside he briefly looked around Faye's car and the position of the camera but couldn't spot anything unsual. Whoever was doing this was a pro and left no traces but why the tape.

Without further explanation he headed down the street and around a few corners. "C'mon , jack." Until they stood in front of a small Chinese -sell-it-all store.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you have DV Cameras?"
the man nodded and showed them his range.
"Give him the tape, Jack. Can you play this for us? FBI." Once again he flashed the badge, which apparently intimidated the Chinese enough to help them out without selling anything.

Until the guy popped the tape in Brian was still quite calm and relaxed but when he saw what was on the tape he tensed up so much within a splitsecond that he felt like throwing up.

In front of their eyes unfolded a scene out of a horror movie. It was Faye under the controll of some guy in black who bound her to a chair and proceeded to tear apart her hands as much as he could from breaking her limbs to cutting them open until the veins and tendons dangled out.

As Jack shoved the tape demonstratively in his pocket, it was probably to his own luck when his brother already pulled him out of the office before he could vocalize something none too friendly toward the officer. Damn useless cops..

"Where are we going, man.." He mumbled without expecting an answer, nor getting one until they hit the Chinese store. He fingered the tape for a brief moment before it was reluctantly handed over as requested. By now, he wasn't so sure anymore if he actually still wanted to see what was on it, but he needed to do this for his own state of mind.

It was when the video began to play he started wishing he had left the tape with the cops. The gruesome pace was set immediately and unrelenting as the tape continued. His hand lifted to his mouth, biting on the nail of his thumb while he stood watching in shock. His face could barely convey what he felt, writhing every time he heard her sob, cry... Until he just couldn't take the twisted images anymore. Without as much as a word he turned, leaving the store as his breath quickened with almost every large step he took. This wasn't real. It wasn't her. It couldn't be her..

Finally outside, he leaned one hand against the wall while he bent over, not being able to stop himself from emptying the contents of his stomach on the sidewalk.

Every attempt to look for clues or stay profession was useless because Brian knew the kidnapped girl all too well. He'd seen similar tapes before but they were always just training videos or case studies. It never involved anybody close to him.
The images of Faye's hand being taken apart almost made his knees buckle. A feeling of absolute helplessness washed over him as he continued to watch the video alongside Jack. Selvishly his mind jumped to Mia. If this was happening to faye, what was happening to Mia. His heart threatened to stand still and all he wanted to to was cry and shout on top of his lungs when his brother suddenly stormed out of the store.

The tape ended in a snowstorm of gray...no more...no ransom...just a warning for Jack. But why? What had he done?

The Chinese man looked terrified to say the least and when Brian reached for the tape and the camera and simply slapped 100 dollars on the counter he didn't object.

Out in the cold air of the night Brian's heart slowed down slightly. He found Jack leaning against the wall with one hand staring down and a puddle of puke.
Instinctively Brian stepped next to him and placed his palm on his brothers back.
"We're going to find her." Was all he could say but it came from the bottom of his heart. He'd do anything he could to get Faye back.

Jack swallowed against the remaining taste of bile, his eyes staring almost blindly out at the street front of him. All he could see was her and what had been done to her, the images and sounds burning his mind. Using the back of his free hand to wipe at his mouth, his eyes squeezed shut while he continuously breathed in hefty amounts of fresh air past his lips, willing his empty stomach from revolting on him once more. His name had been on the tape. They knew him. What if he had done something? What if he had somehow brought this on to her?

"Fuck.." He breathed out, the palm of his hand frustratingly hitting the wall it had been leaning against while he barely acknowledged the hand on his back. It wasn't until his brother spoke that the muscles in both his jaws and body tensed and life seemed to return to his eyes when he finally tilted his head to face Brian.

"Oh trust me, brother. I'll do more than just find her.." He snarled lowly, leaving the obvious threat behind his words unspoken. He'd burn the whole fucking world and anyone and everyone in it if such a thing became necessary. If it would bring her back to him..

He pushed away from the wall and what he had produced on the sidewalk. Standing here, wasting time while feeling completely useless was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

"You coming or what?" He growled, pulling the Evo's keys from his pocket while he already headed back in the direction of the law firm.

It was obvious that Jack was in complete shock. Whatever he'd do couldn't be good but so what.
With fast steps he followed his brother to the car and sat down.
His face was blank as if he simply didn't know how to react to this.
"Where are you going?" His eyes turned on Jack.
Brian knew that Jack would hate hikm for his next question and most likely try to knock him out again but it was essential to know right now what the message meant.
So he turned the camera in his hand on again and replay the last bit.
"I think you should see the end. there's a message."

'Listen...'
"What does that mean? What should you listen to or should I ask who...who gave you the money, bro?"

Jack barely payed attention to Brian while he strode back to the car and the doors to the Evo unlocked meters before he even reached it. Not that it mattered with the haste in his pace. He had the distance covered within mere seconds and his hand already rested on the door-handle when his brother's question had him hesitating for one short moment from opening it. Where was he going? Hell if he knew. All he knew was he had to do something and scaring the shit out of some china man hadn't been it.

"Just get in.." He grumbled while he pulled the door open and slid in to the driver's seat. One hand gripped the wheel unnecessarily tight while the other shoved the keys in the ignition, but once again it was Brian's voice that had him stopping his actions half way through. Without having turned the key, his hand dropped back in his lap at the sound of the rewinding camera. He didn't want to see it.. He had walked out for a reason. But then came the pointing of fingers, the same finger he had pointed at himself...

With an ever darkening expression, he yanked the camera out of Brian's hands and his angry eyes stayed fixated on his brother when he pulled the tape out of the camera. Moments later, he opened his window and the thing shattered in to pieces on the pavement next to the car.

"I have nothing or no one to listen to, Brian. And as for the 'where'. The money came from my goddamned fairy godmother as far as you're concerned, alright?" He growled before the tape was tossed in to the glove compartment and the engine was started. Maybe some fucking FBI analyst could do some magic on it and pull some answers or clues. Anything..

"Now to answer your previous answer.. You are going to pull some strings when we visit some of your colleagues."

in disbeleive he watched Jack throw his hundred dollar camera out the window. "What the fuck are you doing?" Obviously Jack didn't want to see it but throwing it out? The anwer he got from his brother finished the pissing off job his actions had started.
His hands balled into fists ready to punch Jack's big mouth.
"You're such an idiot, Jack. This is serious. You better tell me where that money came from if you want to see her again. how the hell am I supposed to know who to look for if you don't let me know."
he hammered his own flat hand against the dashboard in anger. It was better than at the drivers head he figured.
"Talk to me...fuck it, Jack, I'm your brother...Do you want her back or not?"
Growling he added.
"Better think long and hard who wants you to stay put cause that fucker just broke your fiances hands."

Jack's grip on the wheel only tightened more and more as his brother word-shaped assault continued. He didn't even bother keeping his building aggression out of his current style of driving anymore when the car practically skidded around a corner.

"You don't think if I knew more than you, that I'd tell you? Of course I want her back, asshole. I'd trade places with her if I could." He shot back, telling the truth as far as he knew. What he had done for Daniel couldn't possibly have caused this. He hadn't made any dept nor had he fucked up once. Though maybe taking up any of that guy's jobs had been the[/] fuck up.

"Look. I told you before. You don't need to worry where the money came from. It's clean.." He was tempted to add an '-ish' to the equation, but his brother already thought he had pulled a stunt that went waaaay over his head.

"We'll find her.." He mumbled barely audible, but his voice was clearly tinged with guilt and regret.

Suddenly Brian reached for the wheel, yanked it around while h epulled the e-brake to force the car into a slid and hopefully stop.
"Stop the fucking car."
The Evo danced throught traffic like a dervish making other cars honk and swirf.

As soon as the car came to a stop and the dust started settling Brian grabbed Jacks shirt and said in a low but unmistakably serious tone. "Where did the money come from, where?"

"What the fuck. You trying to kill us both?!" He yelled, breathing his heart rate back to a more human pace before it had a chance to jump out of his chest. He'd always thought he'd been the most crazy and reckless one of the family, but this little stunt had him rethink his status. Shit, he'd barely kept the Evo from crashing head-on in to an oncoming truck.

Before he had a chance to say anything else, his shirt was grabbed and he was yanked sideways toward his brother. His face scrunched up at the angry breath hitting his face, but it was the question that he couldn't answer. With one hand he pushed Brian back, while the other angrily straightened his shirt back in to place.

"I don't know, alright? Some guy! I don't even remember his fucking name! All he gave me was a card with a phone number and a job."

For an awkward silent moment Brian stared him down. Of course the money wasn't legal.
"Drive."
Brian yelled before the truck could hit them and continued to yell.
"You're the dummest shit I've ever met, Jack. Who gives you that much money for something legal? What did he look like? where's the card and what does the fucking warning mean? Stay away from who?"

Without hesitation but still with one pissed off expression, he re-started the engine and shifted back to first gear so he could pull the Evo back in to traffic. If anything, he wanted to kick his brother out right now. Preferably while driving at a high speed, but he couldn't deny that Brian was right. He was a dumb shit and he had known it all along from the point he'd even taken the card.

"It was that guy that came in to the garage that day. You know, when I..." He hesitated before deciding against finishing his sentence. Instead, he shifted gears in silence while the gears in his head worked overtime. No matter how stupid he'd been, he still couldn't find a reason for this shit storm. Nothing related to him anyway and that's when his eyes narrowed.

"The message said 'Listen', didn't it? What was smeared on your wall when Buster got killed..?" The moment he posed the question, something clicked and his already unfriendly posture seemed to become more hostile than it already was. Maybe the initial 'kicking Brian out of a moving vehicle' wasn't such a bad idea at all.

"It wasn't for me.." He growled low before he repeated it again louder as the Evo took a sharp turn off the road and skidded to a halt once more. Pulling the keys from the ignition, he was out of the car in seconds walking around it before he pulled the passengers side open and yanked Brian out and on to his feet.

"You son of a bitch! It wasn't for me! It was for you!" He yelled, fisting both hands in Brian's shirt while pushed him back against the Evo. How he wanted to repeat that day at the garage. "All this time you've been accusing me, when it's you. You and your arrogant ass!"

For a brief moment he was confused about Jack's coming back at him but maybe he was right. jack would pretend not to be at fault at any other time but right now Brian knew he would try to blame anything on him if he thought the message was fro himself. Obviously he didn't.
Reaching around Jack's fingers he forced him to let go of his shirt and instinctively stepped away from his furious sibbling. he knew that look in his eye and knew it meant serious trouble.
For some reason he suddenly beleived that Jack was right.
"Why Faye? why take Faye then?"
A splitsecond later he remembered that Mia was gone as well.
His head cocked to the side he asked. "The guy that walked into the garage?" He had no recollection of anybody but Leon....or he had seen Jack walk away towards somebody and remember being worried that he might wrap his car around a tree.
Then it hit him.
"Shaw? My partner?"

Jack stepped back, distancing himself from his brother the moment her name fell. His anger had disappeared all together in that instant, making room for something he did not want to feel. Not now. It would make this all far too real. All he wanted was to just wake up next to her and find out it was all just a fucking nightmare..

With his jaws tensing, he barely looked at Brian when he walked past him shoving the keys against his chest in the process. He could feel moisture prickling behind his eyes, but his face remained as stoic as he could possibly manage. He'd be damned if he would do this here and in front of his brother.

"Just drive.." He muttered, not even paying attention to Brian's next words while he sank down in the passengers seat. The state he was in, he would only get them killed faster than he could spew smart ass comments.

Brian nodded and came around the car to drive...and he knew where to: Shaw.
What on earth did his unwanted, half criminal partner do with Jack...maybe that was it: he was halfd criminal.
Angrily he stomped on the gas, made the tires spin out and pulled into traffic so fast that the car behind him started honking and falshing its lights.

Only 10 minutes later they had arrived at the FBI buidling where Brian had Daniel come down and meet them.

Daniel loosened the knot of his tie as he jogged down the few steps from the FBI building. Whatever O'Conner wanted this time better be important. He had a shitload of unfinished paperwork waiting for him on his desk and he wanted to see the pencil pushing finished by the end of this day.

With his steps slowing down, his expression could only be described as annoyed when he found both the older as well as the younger O'Conner waiting on the parking lot. The kid must have finally blabbered to big brother. Not that it mattered anymore at this point.

"What can I do you for, O'Conner." He said calmly while both hands casually slipped in to the pockets of his expensive dress pants. He could smile at the emotions written on both men's faces.

Brian tried to remain cool as a cucumber to the best of his abilities. He didn't want to give Daniel the satisfaction of having him provoked.
"I hear you were so kind to give my brother a job and help him out with some extra cash."
Exchanging a glance with Jack he continued. "I think we both know that whatever Jack did for you was illegal enough to pay a few grand. Who did the job come from?"
Brian remained shoulder to shoulder with Jack to prevent him from killing Daniel in the open.
"You see, Jack's fiance went missing...do you know anything about that?"

He was paid to watch, to stick to the shadows and watch, he was not to interact, he was not to be seen, he was to watch, watch and report back to his boss. Yet that morning he had been requested another thing, something which went agaisnt what he was paid for, but with what he was being paid for, for this extra service, well he wasnt exactly going to argue things.

Licking his lips he eyed the number in front of him, the words on the paper had come directly from his boss, he didnt know what they meant, nor did he want to, if he didnt know he couldnt speak, and if he couldnt speak, he kept his legs, or his life as the case most probarly would be.

With a breath he pulled the untracebale cell from the dash board and dialled the numbers, his gaze lifting to look at the blonde man in front of him. For so long he had been worrried about hsi little wifey being missing, and then his brothers fiance' had gone mssig and it seemed as if he had forgotten all about poor missing Mia, with a shrug he sighed.

"You Mr O'Conner should have listned, Buster was just a warning, it was quick for him" He paused, for the dramatic effect, and to allow his words to sink in. "She does look pretty in a nurses outfit, pitty its going to be covered in blood soon enough"

WIth a breath he killed the phone call.

While Brian was in the middle of a conversation with Daniel his phone rang.
If Mia wasn't missing he would have just ignored the call but he was still waiting for a call from her.
So he reached into his pocket and looked at the unfamiliar number.
While he listened to the caller he turned his back on Shaw. The voice didn't sound familar but the words made his heart miss a beat. Immediately he looked around to see whether he could spot the caller but the man could be anywhere.
Before he hung up Brian yelled into his phone. "Who are you? Where is she? You don't touch her or your dead!"
The words didn't fail to impress him. The phone almost dropped out of his shaky fingers when he heard the line being disconnected.
Staring at the phone he hoped for another call but nothing.
So the warning had been for him.
Without another word he pushed past Jack and Daniel and ran into the FBI building where he took the elevator up to the 8th floor and asked Trinh to do anything she could to trace the last incoming call. Of course, the number wasn't registered to anybody.
In the bathroom he finally allowed himself to curse like a sailor, kick the garbage can and finally break down and slide down the cold tile wall with his back pressed against it and his head in his hands.