The Basement

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😂🤣 *falls to the floor laughing and eventually passes out from laughing so hard*

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Donovan woke to a low pulsing in his head and something sharp digging into his cheek. He let out a groan and breathed in dirt. He coughed, the smell and taste invading his throat.

With more effort than normal, he opened his eyes and found everything blurry. He blinked and eventually the world focused. What he found wasn't encouraging.

He lay, with his wrists tied behind his back and his ankles bound, on the dirty floor of a basement.

With a tired sigh, Donovan laid his head back on the floor and closed his eyes. Staring at his surroundings wouldn't change them. He needed to think. He ran through a mental exercise to wake up his brain, multiplying doubles until he couldn't keep track. The exercise worked and Donovan opened his eyes again.

This time he noticed two factors he'd missed before: the other two people in the room.

All thought for himself in the situation vanished in an instant. Carter.

Donovan wiggled trying to move over to her but stopped as splinters dug into his shoulder and arm. He took a breath, trying to ramp down his adrenaline. Think. He needed to proceed with logic and thought.

He needed to take care of his bound hands before he could get to Carter.

Gritting his teeth, he worked his bound wrists down, folding in on himself in order to get his hands in front of him. As he struggled, the ties bit into his skin. Finally, he got his hands out from behind his back.

He checked his ankle for his knife but found his holster gone. Even his belt had been removed. He searched the basement but it was clean as if it had been picked by desperate scavengers. There was nothing there to help cut the ties.

On elbows and knees, Donovan crawled across to where Carter lay, bound wrists and ankles as he'd been. When he gently brushed away the hair from her face, she didn't move. She was still breathing. Donovan careful inspected her for any injures but found none. He breathed out in relief.

Their situation was still bad but at least Carter wasn't hurt.

Donovan tried to reach behind Carter but found with his hands tied so tightly he couldn't manage it. He'd need help. Which meant the other person in the basement.

Donovan stared at Mason and shook his head.

He crawled over to Mason and tapped his cheek. Mason moaned and scrunched up his face.

"Mason," Donovan whispered. "Mason, wake up."

Donovan patted Mason's more insistently until Mason blearily opened his eyes. When he found Donovan peering down at him, he scowled and tried to move away.

Donovan retreated, sitting back on his heels. Mason sluggishly surveyed the basement. When he seemed to have his fill of bare wooden boards, dirt floors, and a single old stone staircase leading to a door, he dropped his head back to the ground.

"I really should find out who did the decorating here," he said. "The horror film decor is outstanding."

Donovan could have been surprised by Mason's nonchalance at waking up in a basement tied up but Donovan knew him too well at his point. When in unknown situations, Mason turned more sarcastic than ever. Sarcasm was the tower he retreated to in preparation for battle.

"I need your help, Mason," Donovan said.

"You need my help?" Mason glanced at Donovan's tied hands. "Boy Scout, how are you not already out of your bounds? I half expected a fire to be built as well and the smell of coffee floating through the air. What's happened to you? Did you lose your badges?"

Donovan let Mason talk, this was preferable to Mason having a panic attack about their situation.

"Also where's Owens? Let me guess, she already talked to who ever is behind this and they've decided letting us go is better than having to hear her insult them in her extremely honest and brutal manner."

"Carter's unconscious."

Mason stopped talking.

"You need my help," he said.

"Yes. First you need to get your hands in front of you. Just slide them down and underneath you."

"Right, I forgot I took a course at UCLA about how to get out of being kidnapped. I took it for a laugh. Never thought it would come in handy but man, was I wrong."

"Can you do it or do you need me to do it for you?"

Donovan kept his expression blank and tone even but the way Mason sobered made it clear that Mason had understood the threat. Sarcasm was fine to deal with the panic he felt, but they needed to get out of there and Donovan would do whatever it took to make that happen.

And he'd do anything to Mason to make it happen.

"I can do it," Mason said.

Mason grunted and swore as he struggled and all the while Donovan watched him with a clear expression, which he knew taunted Mason into putting all his effort into it. Mason might not have been trained as a field agent but Donovan knew he hated feeling inferior to anyone.

By the time Mason had gotten his hands in front of him, his wrists were bleeding and he breathed heavily. But still he managed to nod and smirk.

"I bet I beat your time, didn't I?"

Donovan said nothing and turned away from Mason, crawling over to Carter. Mason followed with more noise than Donovan imagined a person making. He glanced back once in reproach.

"Not everyone was born to be unheard," he said.

Donovan remained silent and settled beside Carter. When Mason made it over, his face had lost all sense of levity.

"Why isn't she waking up?" he asked.

"Because whoever put in the knock out gas in our car while we were on stake out had to put in enough to put you and me out. We're both twice her size, it's hitting her system harder. Now, I'm going to roll her over towards you and you just need to make sure she isn't laying on her face, okay?"

Mason scooted closer to Carter and nodded. Donovan pushed Carter towards Mason and he awkwardly held her upright, using his hands and bent knees. When Donovan reached for the edge of Carter's shirt, Mason jerked back. But quickly corrected his mistake before Carter could face-plant into the floor.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

Donovan looked at Mason like he was being dramatic.

"Carter has a blade sown into the back of her sports bra. I'm getting it so I can untie us."

"A blade in her bra," Mason muttered. "This girl is crazy."

"This girl will be the reason we survive, so I would thank her."

Mason looked repentant. When Donovan reached for her shirt again, Mason tilted his head back so far it looked painful, but Donovan didn't tell him to relax, the reaction was the right one.

Carter would hate knowing how vulnerable she'd been when she woke up. Donovan quickly extracted the blade, set it aside and helped roll Carter back onto her side.

He cut the cords on his hands and ankles and moved to Carter, cutting hers away before he motioned for Mason to hold out his hands.

"Picking Owens over me, I should have known," Mason said.

Donovan stared Mason down. "Did you expect me to do differently?"

"Not really."

Once free, Mason sat back and rubbed his wrists, inspecting the basement again.

"What are the chances that that door isn't locked and we can just walk out of here?" Mason asked, looking up the stairs to the wooden door at the top.

"Very slim. But go check," Donovan said.

Mason hesitated. Donovan didn't blame him, out of the three of them he had little to no training in combat and if anyone came through the door while he was there he'd be hurt.

"Keep an eye on her," Donovan said, pushing himself to his feet.

He crept across the basement and inched up the stone steps, all the while searching for signs of a camera but he found none. At the top of the stairs, Donovan pressed his ear to the wood, trying to hear anything but heard nothing. He carefully touched the handle but it didn't budge.

"She's moving," Mason said.

Donovan abandoned the door and hurried back down the stairs. He sank to the floor and scooped Carter into his arms. She let out a low moan as her head dropped onto his chest.

"Carter," Donovan said, touching her cheek and kissing her forehead.

"A lot nicer wake up than being slapped in the face," Mason said.

"Did you want me to kiss your forehead?" Donovan asked.

Mason made a face. "Who doesn't enjoy a good slap every now and then."

Carter stirred again and her eyes fluttered open. "Whe...Where are we?"

"We're in a basement after being drugged and tied up and have no clue who did this to us," Mason said.

Donovan scowled at him and Carter frowned sleepily.

"That's unfortunate," she said.

"That's putting it mildly," Mason said.

"No, it's unfortunate that they didn't decide to kill you right away," Carter said.

"If they ask me to spill your secrets," Mason said. "I'll do it without hesitation."

"You don't know any of my secrets."

"I'll make some up."

"If I'm given a choice between betraying you or torture, I'm betraying you without a thought."

Donovan didn't interrupt the pair as they kept bickering. This was better than Carter panicking. And with her past, panicking was a rational option but at least fighting with Mason was normal. An anchor to hold to. It gave Donovan time to think.

No way out that he could find and no idea as to who had brought them there. They'd been sent on a basic surveillance task. The target hadn't even been a high value one, merely a house that had seen some suspicious activity. They'd barely been two hours into their stake out before Donovan could remember passing out. Had the people they were watching really spotted them that quickly? It was highly unlikely but then what?

Their previous cases the last few months hadn't been with anyone capable of this time of revenge. Not when everyone they'd caught was behind bars along with the rest of their co-conspirators. So who was behind this?

"Okay," Carter said, standing up. "Let's get out of here. I'm hungry."

Both Donovan and Mason stared up at her.

"The door is locked," Mason said.

"Doesn't change the fact that someone is on the other side," Carter said. "We'll make them come to us and once they do we can get out of here."

Donovan rose. "Carter we don't know who is behind this. Or how many of them are there or what they have planned."

Carter rolled her eyes. "We know enough."

Mason stood and brushed off his pants. "As far as I'm aware we know nothing."

"That's because you don't see anything," Carter said. She motioned around the room. "Look at where we are."

"Yes, I have," Mason said. "Worst Air B&B I've ever stayed at."

"There are no blood stains on the wood," Carter said. "That means we won't be tortured here. There's no smell of urine, which means no one has been held here for long periods of time. That means that whoever took us are still here and haven't left us here to starve.

"As for who took us, again look at where we are. This isn't some gangster basement in a storehouse filled with menacing tools to scare his victims. It's a relatively clean basement in what feels like an abandoned house. That's basic capturers."

She pointed to the floor by the stairs. "Look at the footprints in the dirt, only a couple, not a horde of people tromping up and down. Therefore we don't have to worry about being completely outnumbered."

Donovan found he couldn't form words. He knew his wife was brilliant. Had known it from the beginning but moments like this still took him by surprise. While he'd been trying to put the puzzle pieces together and assumed she was bickering with Mason to keep from worrying, she'd been assessing the situation.

Beside him, Mason looked just as floored as Donovan felt.

"How-"

"Why do you think I was arguing with you?" she said. "I needed time to think. Arguing with you doesn't take thought. Now, I'm going to go to that door and insult anyone who's on the other side. Mason you know French and Spanish, Donovan you know Russian. That covers a good bases if whoever captured us doesn't speak English."

"That will make them come in," Mason said.

"Ah, is that so," Carter mocked. "I hadn't thought about that. You know what, you're right, we'll just sit here and do nothing and let our energy and strength drain so we can't take them on even when they show up."

Mason flushed and Carter turned away, heading to the stairs. Donovan followed, taking her blade with him. At least with the lock in place it meant they'd have a warning before someone opened the door. Carter positioned herself by the door and looked to Donovan. The mocking girl of a second ago was no longer there, in her place was a trained FBI agent geared up for anything.

Donovan nodded.

What proceeded was a slew of insults that were so creative and cutting that Donovan was reminded why he didn't get on the wrong side of her. He'd never heard such devastating remarks about someone's hygiene and the way they ate their food.

After ten minutes with no sign of anyone coming to the door, Carter stepped back, completely calm.

"Mason, you're up," she said.

"That was truly rousing," he said, as they switched places. "You should give a TED talk."

"Only if I want to be murdered by a mob of angry audience members."

When five minutes of Spanish insults didn't produce any results Mason switched to French. A language Donovan hadn't imagined could sound so violent.

When his turn came, he didn't think hard about what he was saying, merely repeated Carter's insults in Russian.

Still the door remained locked and no sound came from the other side.

"Okay," Carter said. "We don't have to stress now."

With that statement, she dropped to the floor and stretched out.

"We'll just wait," Carter said, "for the FBI to accept we can work together as a team and open the door."

Donovan and Mason exchanged a look then walked down the steps and peered down at Carter.

"What?" Mason said.

"I started to put it together when my insults didn't work and have come to the conclusion," Carter said.

"And that is?" Donovan asked, not seeing the connection but somehow falling in love with her again because she had.

"Two weeks ago Mason and I had an undercover mission to plant a bug. We had to..." She made a face. "We had to kiss. As usual we've continued to argue with each other. But after the whole therapist incident I'm guessing the FBI wanted to make sure that when it came down to it we would be able to work together the three of us without any tension. Since we are their golden team." She waved her hand around. "This is the test. Will we be a team or will we lose our cool and turn on each other."

Donovan grinned down at her and Carter smiled up at him.

"I love you," he said, all the puzzle pieces falling into place.

"Don't get soft on me, we are being watched."

"I don't see any cameras," Mason said.

"Oh, they are there," Carter said, folding her arms underneath her head.

Mason shrugged and plopped down next to her and Donovan did likewise.

"Brock!" Carter called out. "If you are part of this team can you hurry it up. Donovan hasn't killed Mason. Mason hasn't exploded on anyone. And I haven't even reached for my blade. We are fine."

The trio waited and a minute later they heard the sound of the lock turning.

The door swung open and Brock descended the stairs, along with four other FBI agents that they worked closely with.

"Figured it out in under an hour," Brock said, grinning. He held out his hand to his fellow agents. "I believe I won that bet."

They grumbled and handed over the money.

"I'll put in a glowing report," Brock said. "Of how you were able to work together perfectly. I'll leave out the comments you made early on to each other and the insults you yelled at us. You almost made Johnson over here unlock the door to make you to stop."

Carter smirked. "Pity, I feel like those should be recorded for the sake of future generations."

"No one should been given that much power," Brock said.

They laughed and Carter took Donovan's hand. "We are free to leave?"

"Yes."

Donovan squeezed Carter's hand, grateful that it hadn't turned out worse. These types of situations were coming all too common for them.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

"Yes, let's," Mason said. "I'm starving and I'd happily kill Owens here just to get something to eat."

Carter threw him a wicked grin. "You took the words right out of my mouth."

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*Finally stops laughing and breathes deeply*

Hey Munchkin!

I honestly hope this chapter made you laugh as much as I wanted it to. If not, please tell me it at least produced a tiny smile? 🗯💭💬😄

(The therapist incident referenced is from the chapter Therapist Office)

The thought behind this chapter?

Simple, I wanted to throw Donovan, Carter, and Mason into a locked room together and see what would happen. They are all so different that I was curious to see what their reactions would be.

Honestly, it was more amusing than even I expected.

After writing this I would like to announce something.

*puts down box and stands on top of it* This will not come as a shock to you but it still does sometimes shock me.

*clears throat* I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH IT'S STUPID!

*steps down* I had to say. I know it might seem funny to you since I know you love them, otherwise you wouldn't keep asking for more chapters but to me who has been writing them for over three years, to still feel like I get to experience new things with them and have them surprise me is... I'm not going to lie, it's amazing and bizarre.

I'm the writer, shouldn't I know all that there is to know about them?

Apparently not, since I keep discovering something new.

There you have it, a glimpse of how strange it is to be a writer.

Side note: I did not include Carter's creative insults because, like Brock, I don't believe anyone should be given that type of power.

Before you dash off to whatever you're dashing off to do: vote, comment, follow but that's only if you feel you can sparse the thumb power.

They're never admit it but mentally this is how they feel about each other.


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