Title: Bèi dào 被盗 (Stolen)
Chapter 1 – On Deadly Ground

Summary: While following up on cure distribution in Shenzhen China, Chandler and Slattery make a gruesome discovery that is taking the lives of certain naval officers. But when Chandler is kidnapped, Slattery turns to Sasha Cooper to join the race against time to save Chandler and not end up victims themselves.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Last Ship (sadly) only my hard working muse and the dream to work under Captain Chandler (pun intended) hehe and the love of all things #chandlery

A/N: Yay we're back with a new #chandlery adventure. But I love Sasha so there will be some #Tomsha moments in here also (can't help it they are my three faves and she's just so amazing!). And it'll have all my usual writing faves - danger/action/hurt/comfort/drama and some bits of romance but lots of actiony danger for my two navy captains just ahead! Hope you all like this new little adventure!

"Wha…what's go…going…on…"

He tried to pull against his restraints but was unable. The pounding in his head pauses long enough for him to hear his captors speaking in Chinese. What dialect he's not sure but he knows it's something local. His blurry eyes try to affix on something…anything he can use for later to identify where he was taken.

Only…later would never come, at least not for him.

He watches them near. His head shifts to the right and his eyes slightly widen as he looks at the large needle with clouded liquid swirling around inside. He head shift to the left and his eyes widen completely as he looks at the large knife in the mans grasp.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…." Is all he manages before he's silenced by something clamped over his mouth to silence his terrified screams.

A blood curdling scream. Followed by silence. Followed by…blood being splattered onto the plastic gowned chests of the two men with twisted smiles.

XXXXXXXX

*One Week later*

"The chatter is the same as an hour ago."

"Are you sure?"

"Another navy soldier was found murdered. No name, just found the body in a blue navy uniform about a block from a distribution center," Val explains as Alisha stands beside her to confirm the findings. "That's all I heard."

"Which cener?"

"Shanzhai distribution center," Granderson explains.

"We're staying put for now. If someone is murdering our soldier's while they deliver the cure or are murdering those at the distribution point and stealing the cure we need to stop it."

"Aye captain."

He makes his way toward the belly of the large ship and steps into his private quarters and reaches for a special phone; his mind drifting back in time to a discussion with Val about an hour before this one.

'You found something more?' Slattery asks Val an hour earlier.

'So I have been monitoring all the local communication around the distribution center as you asked and mostly it was just local stuff but just now I overheard something…odd. Officer Wendell Jenkins. Serial number. 857624 was murdered.'

'What? When did…'

'Wait…I checked the naval database he's not an officer in the US Navy. There is no such number attached to that name.'

'What? Maybe he's…are you sure?'

'So I can't do much without being hardwired in but when I looked for him online I found this…his Instagram account. There were no local naval records I can hack without being inside one of the bases,' Val stated with a hint of disappointment in her tone that Slattery couldn't help but smirk at.

'Wendell Jenkins dressed as a navy officer for Halloween and…is this for real?'

'Yeah. He posted this Instagram selfie, in his Halloween costume outside a check point a week and a half ago. Look at the comments,' Val directed Slattery to some of his follower's posts.

'When are you gonna enlist for real?' 'Dude, impersonating a naval officer is a serious offence.' Then nothing. Then a day ago…'Dude when is your ass gonna get back here?' and…' you still with us?'

'And that's it,' Val concludes as she handed Slattery the printout. 'I could find out more if I was able to get into one of the local cop shops and plug into their database.'

'It might come to that,' Slattery huffed.

'Why would someone murder this kid?'

'Wrong place wrong time? Was someone targeting him as a white man….an American…a naval officer? That's what we need to find out. If he was the real target or the navy is? Or…something else. If we need you on land, I'll send word,' Slattery pondered as he thanked her and then took his leave to call Chandler

"Miss me already? What's going on Mike?"

"Got a problem Tom. Are you still in Guangzhou?"

"Wolf and I are just about to take off. What do you need?"

"Help. We need to meet back in Shenzhai."

"What's going on?" Chandler presses more seriously.

"Ship and crew are fine…at least mine are."

"That's not cryptic at all. Where are you?"

"Sitting south west corner of the Shenzhenwan port. We're still here in port; haven't left. I'm gathering more facts now but I'll send you a brief text and the rest later."

"It's a short flight there. See you in an hour."

"What's going on?" Danny asks in wonder.

"I don't know," Slattery replies with a tight jaw. "But if someone is murdering these sailors for the cure we need to find why and stop them. The cure is free to all. So far…both have been at cure distribution centers but I wonder if there are other officer deaths that are similar in the area. Maybe there are and someone is covering it up. We need to find out."

"See you on the deck in an hour."

Slattery nods and then drops his gaze to the photo in his grasp. Val said it the murder was mention in almost nonchalant way which made him even more suspicious and a tad angry. When he tried to call the distribution point he was told the person who reported it didn't exist and there wasn't an issue. That instantly raised alarm bells since he thought he was talking to a posted navy soldier. He didn't make a big deal of it. But as soon as he hung up with the base he called Chandler to ask for help.

"Something's going on…" he mutters as he closes the folder and then looks at his watch. In an hour he and Tom would reconvene and visit one of the distribution centers and get some solid answers for themselves; hoping to put an end to this nightmare before another naval life is claimed.

XXXXXXXX

"He didn't say what it was?"

"Just a brief message that someone is murdering navy sailors over the cure but that was it."

"At the distribution sites?" Wolf inquires in wonder.

"Yeah, but he said he's still waiting on more details. Called the base and someone unfamiliar answered and didn't know the person Slattery was asking about," Chandler replies as he leans back on the side of the moving jet and looks at his officer with a heavy frown. "Mike wouldn't raise any alarms on any false pretenses. He must have found more that he doesn't want to share over the wire. But if someone is murdering navy sailors over the cure then he'll want the same thing as I do…to find out who is doing this and stop them before another life is lost."

"Just point me in the direction of our target," Wolf states confidently as Chandler tosses him a side smile. But that smile disappears as soon as he looks down at his phone; a frown gracing his features instead. "What's going on?"

"Ah…nothing," Chandler replies with a soft whisper as he tucks his phone back into his pocket and then goes back to reading the brief file that Slattery had given him. She's…in China?... why?

XXXXXXXX

"Anyone asks…we're staying a bit longer to check on the supplies for the cure and the distributors," Slattery tells Garnett and a few others of the senior crew. "We haven't been called into action so we can dock for a few days without too much suspicion," Slattery explains. "Green and I will recon with Chandler and Wolf, give them the lowdown on the murders and then see if he has any Intel on who might be doing this. If we get into trouble, we'll holler for help and just be ready to send in the big guns," he concludes with a small smirk.

He watches them all file out and then slightly arches his brows as his XO remains, closing the door behind her. "So…how do we know the Intel we gathered wasn't mentioned as a trap to get more navy soldier's into their sights? Maybe they knew we'd be monitoring the chatter?" Garnett asks in concern. "You yourself said your call was disconcerting at best."

"There is that risk, plus…I ran the last name through the database and there is no one on active duty with that name or serial number. That's two fakes now."

"What?" Garnett counters in surprise.

"I didn't want to alarm the others. I think Chandler said he has a contact in China. If this is bigger than our soldiers, we'll pass the Intel to them and…get some real help; someone we can trust to solve this before we leave. At least…that's the plan. Don't want to step on too many local toes but if our boys are being murdered for a free cure you know we gotta stop it here."

"Good luck," Garnett offers as she turns to leave, pausing at the door and then looking back with a small smile. "Watch your six...just got used to having you in command."

Slattery gives his XO a friendly smile before he heads for the small file that Val had given him. After making copies of all the Intel so far, Slattery gathers Green and then heads for the plank to go down and then onto the dock in the cool night air.

"It could be a trap. Stay frosty," Slattery reminds Danny as they get into the open Jeep and head for the meeting place with Chandler and Wolf. It was a short drive to a small quiet pagoda just outside the Shenzhen airport/seaport complex where Danny stops the Jeep in the shadows.

The two of them leave the vehicle and hurry a few meters toward a shadowy area and into the quiet temple. Slattery sees Chandler and Wolf at the far end and head toward them.

"Didn't think the reunion would be this soon," Chandler relates with a smile as he shakes Slattery's hand; the two of them sitting on a small bench; Danny and Wolf standing cover. "What's going on Mike?"

"Just before Green and I set out tonight, Val gave me two more piece of Intel she gathered just from overhearing local chatter at the base and searching the net. Four murders…"

"Four naval officers have been murdered and no one has raised any alarms until now?" Chandler asks Slattery in shock.

"This is where things turn…bizarre. Out of the four men murdered, two of them were said to be wearing naval uniforms but we saw a picture of one and…it's a fake. Could be the same with the other since neither name is in our naval database."

"What?" Chandler interjects as Slattery hands him the small pieces of paper. "They impersonated naval officers to steal the cure?"

"Not sure. But if they are stealing the cure it makes no sense since our distribution sites are continually being supplied and we're giving it out to everyone in the area for free. If they tried to blackmail anyone for money they could just come to the center and get a shot for themselves," Slattery replies in a hushed tone as Green and Wolf listen in. "The other two men were said to be found in the same area, just outside one of the distribution centers and killed the same way. Large knife cuts to the chest and abdomen but nothing more was said Once again Val said it was just mentioned in passing; local chatter that she monitored."

"Mike…"

"I have no answers to any of this. Val said if we need her to hack into their local database, she's gonna need to be planted in one of their precincts, or whatever you call them down here to get access to their actual files," Slattery replies in haste. "But if there is someone stealing the cure and it's one of ours, my recommendation is, and I emphasize discreetly, that we put a few at the base on alert for someone impersonating a navy officer and potentially stealing the cure. Maybe with ties to gangs that … I don't know why they would be killed but the details of their deaths…are pretty gruesome."

"If there are no more deaths then we know the ones we told were in on it or will just find more discreet ways to dispose of the bodies and we can arrest them," Danny joins the conversation. "But if it continues then we know it's not them and we need to broaden our internal search."

"So they steal the cure and are then murdered by the people they steal it for," Wolf ponders somberly.

"No honor among thieves," Chandler quips in sarcasm. "Agreed that we need to alert the sites and then…think we should stick around for a few days just to see what happens…see if another "officer" is killed on our watch. This uniform…it's more than just a costume; looks like it's been stolen from one of the bases. Look at the detailing here," Chandler shows them a small corner of the picture Val had printed for them from the Instagram account.

"Don't you have a contact here in China we can connect with to ask for some local help?" As soon as Slattery mentions it, he notices Chandler's jaw tighten. "Uh…what? Are they gone already? No good?"

"Oh she's good…best there is."

"She?"

"Just…found out she was here," Chandler replies in truth as he recalls the moment he found out exactly who his China contact was.

'Sasha Cooper.'

He thanked Naval Operations back in the US but found a reason to not meet up with her…his past…in China and thought he would be able to get back to US soil without his past coming back to haunt him. Literally. That plan was rendered moot by a request from a friend that he couldn't ignore – Mike Slattery.

"That…struck a nerve," Slattery states in a hushed tone as Chandler's lips purse. "Tom…if you don't feel comfortable using her then…"

"She's the best contact we have out here…and probably the only one on foreign soil we can trust," Chandler replies in truth. "I'll contact her and get her up to speed. We can warn the bases, see what happens in a few days and then get her to rally some trusted locals to investigate these grisly murders and be on our way if in fact the US Navy isn't bringing home any of its own," he informs Slattery as he rubs his weary face. "I don't want to involve Val any more than I have to. But if we do have trouble in House, then maybe Sasha can hook her up with a local place to connect to and find us some real answers without having to involve the locals," Chandler ponders audibly.

"And the other two?" Danny asks in wonder. "You said four murders."

"Base workers? Not sure. Again we need to confirm with someone local," Slattery suggests. "But from the brief chatter Val heard they were not Americans…one Canadian and the other…British," Slattery reads the brief bio on each murder victim that Val had drafted in haste. "Don't know much else. Can your contact here get us more details on these guys? We need confirmation if they were working with us, maybe local recruits just wanting to help…or something else. Right now we have a lot of questions and are in desperate need of a lot of answers."

"Agreed," Chandler replies.

"There's a distribution base not far from here," Danny points out to the coordinates scribbled by one of the names.

"We'll start with that one first," Slattery suggests.

"I'll call Sasha and…" Chandler starts only to be abruptly interrupted.

"Wait…Sasha Coo…" Slattery starts a few seconds after; Wolf and Green picking up on Slattery's tone. But all verbal follow up is put on hold as someone crashes their party with a deathly plea for help and warning message.

"HE…HELP …. M….ME…HELP…ME!"

All four of them look up to see a man stagger into the small pagoda, clutching his stomach and displaying a look of horror on his blood splattered face.

"Hands where we can see them!"

Green and Wolf instantly raise their guns and demand the man raise his hands and halt his approach. He does neither. Chandler and Slattery instantly stand up and also raise their weapons as the man nears. He neither halts nor removes his hands from his chest.

"Sir…we need to see your hands!" Danny demands.

"Please…help…me…"

"Raise your…oh God…" Chandler states in soft horror as the man falls to his knees, his hands pulling away from his stomach to reveal fresh blood and a dark blue navy uniform. "Mike!"

"Look how he's dressed!" Wolf exclaims as he keeps his gun trained on the front entrance; Danny at his side.

"He's one of ours!" Slattery angrily confirms; already kneeling beside Chandler.

"What?" Chandler asks in surprise.

"New recruit out of…" Slattery pauses to contact the ship. "Nathan James this is…" Slattery starts as he looks at Chandler in horror.

"NO!" The man shouts as his bloody hand grips Chandler's jacket lapel and pulls him in closer as Slattery stops his call and grabs the mans other arm but then stops when he sees the man has no weapon but only a message. "Don't…bring…others…they'll…kill…them…" he man gasps in Chandler's ear. "He…lp…me…"

"What happened? Who did this to you!" Chandler demands as the man slips toward death. "Who!"

He pulls Chandler closer and then with one final breath utters two words spoken in very broke Chinese, "Bèi dào…" before he falls limp to the ground – dead.

Chandler looks up at Slattery and shakes his head. "What the hell is going on?"

A noise is heard outside and before Slattery can answer, all four of them look up with their guns ready for action.

A/N: eeks! Intrigued? Thoughts? Want to find out more? How will Tom and Sasha's reunion go? Maybe some reluctance at first but when happens when Chandler is taken? will her feelings change? will his? What will Chandler and Slattery find at the distribution centers? Was it a trap to get them all in one place? And by who? Would love your thoughts on this before you go (b/c starting new stories always makes us nervous!) so please do review (reviews = more chapters and of course are the best thanks we can get on here) and thanks so much!