Justin awakened slowly; his head hurt and he was dizzy from the medication he had been given. Still sprawled on the ground, he turned his head toward the left and any hope that he was just experiencing a nightmare immediately vanished as he saw Michelle’s body lying next to him.  His heart dropped as he realized that Brian had been here as well and that Thomas had taken him away, evoking a memory from four years ago…

*Flashback**

Justin ran into Thomas’s office without knocking.  "Thomas!!" he yelled enthusiastically as he flung open the door.  He was startled to find an unconscious woman tied to a chair inside with his superior and an unfamiliar woman standing nearby. 

"Oh, sorry,” Justin greeted them apologetically.  “I didn't mean to disturb you, Sir.  And ma'am, of course,” he added as he peered over at Abigail curiously.  “But Jason told me you needed me in your office ASAP to be debriefed."

Thomas nodded and smiled at him nonplussed.  "Justin!  Come on in. I want you to meet the chief of this unit, Abigail Shaw." Thomas turned to Abigail and advised her, "This is the shining star I've been telling you about."

Abigail smiled warmly at the young man.  "It's nice to meet you, Agent Justin," she said as she extended her hand to shake his.

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am,” Justin responded politely as he reciprocated the gesture, his eyes glancing over at the unconscious woman seated nearby.

"Abigail has a mission for you, Agent,” Thomas informed him in a business-like manner.

“This is Kylie Durant," Abigail told Justin, pointing at the woman in the chair as her smile faded.  “She's a problem we need you to eliminate. You see, she made one of our agents compromise everything we do here… by disclosing to her the truth about our operation."

"Oh,  my God!” Justin exclaimed in surprise.  “Who was the agent? And why would he do that?" Justin was shocked that anyone would commit the ultimate disloyalty and betray their unit.

Thomas declined to identify the agent as he merely informed him, "We cut him loose, Justin, don't worry.”

"But why did he sell us out?” he persisted, unable to contain his curiosity.

Abigail stared over at him thoughtfully.  “Well, that's hard to say exactly,” she told him.  “I suppose you could say it was love.”  She spat out the last word as if it made her nauseous.  "As a result, this woman will have to die, but not before we set her up as an example for the rest of the young agents.  They need to understand that you can fall in love, but you must never divulge the truth about your real life; that is a choice you make when you choose not to return to the unit.”

"So, what Abigail is saying, Justin, is that we need you to take care of her... In front of all the other agents."

"Consider it done," Justin replied politely, never questioning the command.  After all, it was the way he had been trained; he was never to question authority, and this would be no exception.

**End of flashback**

Now he realized what that other agent must have gone through; the torment he must have endured.  This was personal now; this involved the man he loved, just like that woman had loved that other agent.  How could he have been so wrong? 

 I won’t let Brian end up like that; he vowed silently.  I have to find a way to save him

He knew that Thomas had only left him alive so he could die here suffering; no food, no water.  But even worse – he would die from guilt.  It was solely because of him that Brian was in this mess.

He looked around; the only thing left was Michelle's body on the ground.  From the open doorway, he could tell that Brian’s jeep and Michelle's car were both gone. The agents had even taken Ethan and Chris’ bodies… his cell phone was gone and the nearest landline phone was undoubtedly miles away.

Struggling to his feet and still trying to shake the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him, he searched the cavernous space of the warehouse, trying to find anything that would help him. He had to think about something, anything… He was about to give in to panic and despair when it hit him. He DID have one lifeline, something he and Michelle had agreed upon without Thomas’s knowledge; a hidden phone to help them in case the other one got into trouble with the agency.  He ran back to Michelle's body and to his amazement inside her left boot he found the tiny "call device" he was looking for that had been planted there.  You could hardly call it a phone; it would only dial one number, a number that was both dangerous and freeing at the same time, the only number that could help the both of them if they ever needed to turn on their unit, but it would have to be enough.

Lifting the device to his ear with shaky hands, he dialed the number and waited impatiently for it to be answered.

"Who the fuck is this and how did you get this number?" the voice growled in response as the line was picked up.

"It's Justin."

"Mother fucker…"

"You got my location; now come and get me, bitch!" He challenged the other party as he laid the device down on the ground.  He knew it wouldn't be too long before he would be picked up; the problem was that he knew he was risking being killed in a much worse way than starvation when they came for him, but for Brian it was a risk he had to take.  The only thing left to do, then, was wait.

After a few hours, Justin heard a helicopter getting closer and closer; rising from his seated position by the door, he rose to his feet and walked outside to put his hands up in the universal signal of surrender. 

Three man soon jumped out of the helicopter even before it landed and ran over to grab Justin and  rustle him none too gently to the ground, placing two sets of handcuffs around his wrist behind his back and tying them with nylon rope.  For good measure, they finished the job by winding a couple of plastic ties around his wrists as well. 

Someone here is worried, Justin thought silently as he smiled to himself. 

They dragged him to his feet and put him in the helicopter where five additional men held a gun to him, although he had to admit with just a hint of smugness that they looked more frightened than he did. 

Despite being trussed up like a curing ham with seven guns pointing at his head and knowing he was on his way to meet his worst enemy, Justin felt optimistic for the first time in a long time.  "Hakuna Matata," he whispered quietly to himself as he giggled.