Chapter IX

Jo slowly shuffled her feet across the tile floor of the precinct, trying her absolute best not to make any sudden movement. She held on tight to Lindsay's hand, in an attempt to keep her moving figure as steady as possible as she strutted across the dim-lit room. Flack and Lindsay had gotten her out of the hospital, but that didn't mean her body was ready to take on this much of a hassle. On the contrary, her shattered bones were anything but. Her head screamed bloody murder as a pumping pressure started to accumulate under her skull, and flashing bolts of sharp pain punctured her abdomen. She abruptly stopped in her tracks and violently gasped, attempting to suck in enough air to at least make it to the interrogation room.

"Are you okay?" Flack tried to support his friend with his full weight.

"Yeah…" Jo waited for the burning agony in her abdomen to subside. "Just… give me a second." She breathed out, and slowly scanned the room for any activity. It was past midnight and there were only a handful of police officers left at the precinct. Even though they tried their absolute best not to disrupt the ongoing scene, Jo noticed how they watched her every single step of the way. She tried to push aside the rupturing pain, and slowly lifted up her head again. "Okay, I'm ready." She said as determent as she could possibly manage.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Flack asked again to be absolutely sure. He started to think that they might have rushed into this too quickly, and gotten far too emotional about Jo's honest request. This whole situation had written 'bad idea' all over it, but they had wanted to help their friend out, even though it probably meant serious trouble for all of them. "Yes…" Jo simply stated as she stared in the distance and carefully glanced over to the door of the interrogation room.

"I'll be in the next room." Lindsay explained. "Flack is going to join you." Lindsay gave Jo's hand a last solid squeeze before letting go. Flack carefully guided Jo through the last steps towards the interrogation room.. "If you want to get out of there," Flack started. "Just let me know." He clarified, and concern spread across his face one again. "I will." Jo faintly smiled, and took in one last breath of air before Flack pushed down the door handle and gently guided her inside.

As Mac violently maneuvered his Avalanche through the busy streets of New York, he couldn't get his mind of Jo. He couldn't bare the thought of her being in the same room as the guy who had almost killed her. Sure, there'd be an officer present who'd be more than willing to protect her from any physical harm, but Mac was more worried about Jo's mental health. He couldn't figure out why she had wanted to meet up with Mason. Surely nothing good would come out of it. If only he had made more time for her during the past couple of days, and actually asked her how she was feeling, she wouldn't have felt the need to put herself in this hazardous situation. If only he had been there for her in the way he knew he wanted to so badly. If only he hadn't been a coward and finally told her he loved her. If only. Mac hit his fist against the steering wheel in an attempt to stop his raging mind. He held on tight to the steering wheel and stepped on the gas pedal twice as hard.

Jo let out a soft sigh as she glanced over at the boy sitting right opposite of her. She slid her hands off the table and folded them quietly into her lap in an attempt to stop them from trembling. If she was being totally honest with herself, she hadn't really anticipated on being this scared. She felt exposed, almost naked, stripped down from all the defenses she had managed to build up during her years as a professional detective. Often times it had become personal in the interrogation room, but this situation was totally different from anything she had ever experienced. She didn't have a plan; she was lost without a script. She thought of Mac. She bit her tongue and swallowed the lump in her throat. If he were here right now, she'd have the strength to do what she had set out to do.

"Do you know what invulnerability means?" Jo quietly started as she tried to keep her trembling voice as steady as she possibly could. She tried to keep her eyes fixed on Mason, but the sight of him made her sick to her stomach. "It's the feeling that nothing could ever happen to you." She continued. "It's the feeling that you're safe." Jo subtly blinked away a tear that had accumulated under her heavy eyelid.

In the mean time, Flack tried to keep his gaze fixed on Mason and anticipate his every possible move. Only for a brief moment did he peek at Jo, and for the first time he noticed the peculiar form of the bruising along her cheek line. It looked like it had taken on the form of a blue shoeprint, as if somebody had violently kicked her in the face with a heavy boot. Flack rapidly cast away his look, and angrily squeezed his hands together in a ball. He felt his stomach swirling around, as an image of a severely bleeding Jo on a curb briefly crossed his mind. He figured he should consider himself a lucky man to still have Jo around, as her attack could have easily taken on another outcome. They could have lost her that night. Flack shook his head as if he was desperately trying to chase away all of these horrible thoughts out of his mind. Even for a seasoned detective like him, they were just too much to bear.

"Everyone needs that feeling of safety…" Jo continued. "Otherwise..." She carefully lifted her hand to her head and made little circles with her index finger on her temple. "It becomes hell in here." She spoke with a hoarse voice. "You wouldn't be able to leave your house at night, or trust anyone." She stated, "... and you would always sleep with the lights on." It seemed that with every labored breath she took, she was again reminded of the horror Mason had put her trough that night. Her pounding headache seemed to take on the form of his leather booth violently kicking her face. Her racing heart in her chest made it extremely hard for her to breath, as if somebody was violently squeezing her throat shut. She felt her bruised ribs flinch under her labored breathing. She felt as she was being attacked all over again, in the safe confines of the familiar interrogation room she knew so well. Is seemed like her body was begging her to get out, and run away as fast as she possibly could. "I guess you don't understand…" Jo said in disappointment. Mason indifferently turned his head away, and rolled his eyes at the floor.

"What the hell is going on?" Mac slammed the door open of the second interrogation room where Lindsay was silently watching the heavy scene unfold. As soon as she saw Mac marching towards her out of the corner of her eye, she instantly felt her heart plummeting down to her stomach. "Mac…" Lindsay hesitantly started. "Why… Why are you here? I don't…" She clumsily stuttered, unable to come up with any relevant word or coherent sentence. She just stood there in complete defeat, altogether nailed to the ground. "What do you think you're doing?" Mac defiantly asked. He turned towards the blinded glass and put his hand on the neighboring wall in attempt to regain balance. He wasn't able to see Jo's face, but it immediately became clear that the atmosphere in the other room could easily break right through the brick wall. "Answer me…" Mac stared back at Lindsay, trying his best not to raise his voice at her.

"Just… calm down, Mac." Lindsay tried to reassure him. She silently gasped for air, as she was racking her brain to find the right answer.

"Calm down?" Mac scoffed. "Jo is in the next room with that son of a bitch who nearly beat her to death." He pointed his finger towards the other room. "Don't tell me to calm down."

"I can explain…" Lindsay started, but she was immediately cut off by Mac's raging agony. "Just… drop it." He angrily sighed. "I don't have time for this right now." Mac ran his hand through his hair, completely in awe of the nightmare unfolding right in front of him. "I'm going in there." He decided. "End all of this." He started strutting towards the exit. "No…" Lindsay's voice broke in half. "Mac!" She pleaded as she saw him walking towards the door. "Mac!" She called for him again. When Mac didn't seem to react to her desperate cries, she saw no other option than to block his way out of the room. She quickly ran towards the exit and put herself between Mac and the door. "You can't go in there." She firmly stated. "I won't let you." She had a defiant glistering in her eyes. "Jo called me to ask me for this favor." Tears started accumulating in Lindsay's eyes.

"You really think you are doing her a favor?" Mac raised his eyebrows at her.

"She trusted me to do the right thing." Lindsay simply stated.

"And this is the right thing?" Mac asked.

"I'm not trying to deliberately undermine the investigation. I'm not trying to get you into trouble with your superiors." Lindsay hissed between her teeth, unable to calm herself down. "I'm just trying to stand up for a friend." Mac cast his eyes to the floor and forced his jaw in sharp angle until it hurt. "I'm trying to give her a chance to deal with her demons the best way she knows how." Lindsay paused for a moment, not sure what to say next. She clenched her teeth together, bracing herself for Mac's next fit of anger. But Mac kept quiet; unable to speak he turned back around and glanced trough the blinded window once again. Lindsay sighed in relief, and figured this was her chance to get the upper hand in the discussion. She scraped her throat, before finally going in for the kill. "If you'd love her as much as you have been letting on for these past couple of days, than you would give her that chance too." Lindsay concluded. She bit her lip in anticipation, but received nothing but a sigh of defeat.

"You could have done anything with me…" Jo paused intentionally. "Anything." Her voice shattered into pieces, when she thought back at what had happened that night, and what could have been. She felt so vulnerable right now, so fragile. She experienced this conversation to be extremely intimate. She couldn't hide anymore. In a way, this was the first time since her assault that she'd shared her feelings so openly. "You could have kicked me… beaten me." She paused again to take in a deep breath of air. "Raped me." She said in a deeper voice. "You could have killed me." She felt her eyelids become heavy with tears as her sight went blurry. "I was all yours." Jo swallowed hard, and quickly casted away her gaze.

Flack took hold of the back of Jo's chair, trying to let Jo know he was still right behind her. He had wanted to touch her shoulder, to give her some sign of moral support, but he had been too afraid of startling her. So he merely rested his hand on the cold metal of her chair, only a few inches away of Jo's trembling body.

Mac stood there in silence, seeing the woman he had secretly loved for months crumble down right before his eyes. He wanted to take her by the hand, and gently lead her out of the interrogation room. He wanted to hold her so badly, and make the pain go away, but he realized soon enough that he hadn't told her about his feelings yet. He took a step closer to the small glass window, and laid his hand against the window. Lindsay was right; the time for him to come clean had come.

"I want to talk to my lawyer." Mason spoke for the first time since he had been brought into the interrogation room. He pushed his tongue against the inner side of his cheek, glaring menacingly across the room.

"He's on his way." Flack scoffed.

"I think you'd better find yourself a really good lawyer." Jo picked in. "I'm going to ask the youth court to give you out of hands." Her eyes interlocked with Mason's.

Flack started to walk around the table, and finally broke the unbearable silence in the room. "Do you know what that means?" Mason sat perfectly still. He kept staring at Jo without any hesitation, hardly blinking and never looking away. "It's a special procedure for dangerous and unmanageable minors." Jo continued the one-way conversation. "You will be treated as an adult." Flack clarified, unable to hide the grin that was spreading across this face. "I don't really think it's a good idea to lock up a young boy like yourself between murderers and rapists." Jo grew more confident with every word she spoke. "But in your case, I'm gladly making an exception." She spat out.

"You have to learn what being vulnerable is all about." Jo concluded.

Mac swallowed hard as he felt his throat tighten up. He pressed his lips together, being completely in awe of Jo's honest, yet heartbreaking testimony. He never expected her to be so bold, even though he had always thought of her as independent and strong. He just figured that no one could possibly be so upright after such a hideous, hate-driven attack. Apparently, he was wrong. Not only had Jo succeeded in being the bigger person, she had been able to face her roughest struggles with grace and dignity. He could only hoped to have the courage to do the same.

Mason shifted on his chair as the first cracks in his confident posture started to finally show.

"Getting nervous?" Flack asked amused.

Mason shook his head, and heavily sighed. He looked up at Jo with hatred flaming in his eyes. His irises turned a darker grey, as he seemed to prepare for attack. "I should've killed you." He whispered under his breath.

There was a moment of silence, for neither Jo nor Flack had clearly heard what Mason had just said. Before they could gather the right information in their heads, Mason jumped up and reached across the table. He violently curved his hardened hands around Jo's neck, as he roughly took hold of her. He planted his fingers in the side of her bruised neck, tirelessly squeezing her airway shut. Flacked immediately dived in, but it took him a few seconds to grab hold of Mason's jacket and firmly pull him back in his chair. The moment he finally did, Jo was already making her way out of the interrogation room. She ran her hands along the wall, trying to regain her balance, but was hardly able to do so. She stumbled across the floor towards the exit, and applied her full body weight to open the door. She staggered into the hallway, breathing heavily through her injured airway. She put her hands on her throat, desperately trying to ignore the raging pain spreading across her body at an astonishing rate. She went from left to right and from right to left, completely disoriented and half in shock.

Mac and Lindsay made their way out of the back room, just as Flack tried to grab a hold of Jo. "Jo, Jo…" Flack tried to make eye contact with Jo. "Look at me." Flack tried again.

"Flack, get your car. She has to go back to the hospital as soon as possible." Mac ordered as he closed the remaining distance. "Lindsay, get the first aid kit." He said as he put his hand on Jo's arm. Flack and Lindsay made their way out of the hallway, and took his turn at trying to get a hold of Jo. He put his other hand on her shoulder, but quickly drew back as he saw her wincing in pain. "Au-au…" Jo let out between tears. "I'm sorry." Mac sheepishly apologized, not exactly sure what to say. "Jo, look at me." He carefully placed the palm of his hand across her battered cheek. Jo's eyes jumped from one corner to another, before eventually landing on Mac's concerned face. For a moment, Mac kept perfectly still, trying not to put unnecessary stains on the silence. He merely locked eyes with her, and tried to sooth her with an understanding look. Moments passed, and Mac felt Jo's labored breathing slowly calm down under his touch. "Are you okay?" Mac finally asked, wiping away a strand of hair. "My god…" Mac spoke under his breath. "Jo, you're bleeding." Mac lifted Jo's chin to get a better look at her bleeding forehead. "It's nothing…" Jo whispered in a hoarse voice. "It's just a ruptured suture." Jo slowly shook her head lose from Mac's grip and cast her look away towards the ground. Mac inhaled deeply, and waited. Only seconds later he received the reaction he was hoping to get out of her: defeat.

Finally, Jo pushed aside the last remnant of the brick wall around her, and reached out for help. Her face broke into a million pieces as she started sobbing uncontrollably. Mac wanted to take hold of her, but he wasn't sure her body would be able to handle the minor pressure of an ordinary hug. Nothing was as simple as it seemed anymore. He merely brushed the tears away that were rolling down her hot cheek. "What we're thinking, Jo?" He silently asked her. Jo looked up at him, trying to take control over the violent sobs escaping her mouth. "I just…" She whispered. "I just wanted to feel safe again." She looked defeated, empty, stripped down to her every human essence.

Mac tilted his head in empathy, and slowly closed the space between them. He softly slid his arms around her back, and rested his forehead on the side of her face. He carefully applied some pressure to his embrace, and slid his face along side hers to plant a tender kiss on her damp cheek. His lips lingered for a second, and his nose gently nudged her face, as if he wanted to let her know that his gesture was much more than a friendly embrace.

Jo felt her heart tear up, out of grief and out of joy. She had given up all control, and floated in Mac's tight embrace. She didn't care if it hurt. She rubbed her hand against his chest and took hold off the fabric of his shirt, claiming his protection even more.

Mac let his lips trail down even further down her face until he was at level of her lips. He could feel her breath at the other side of his face, the hot air coloring his skin to a darker red. He nudged her face again, and again, until he felt her slowly moving into him. Cautiously, she brushed the torn skin of her lips against his. She felt rough at the outside, but on the inside Mac found a soothing warmth. He put his mouth on hers, and slowly sucked in the softness of her kiss. He breathed in her familiar scent, and trailed his fingers through to her thick, luxurious hair. He carefully broke away, only to move in deeper. He stroked his tongue against the inner side of her lower lip, tasting her raging heartbeat through her skin. He felt her tremble under his grip, and planted a last soft kiss on her lips before pulling away. "You'll be safe…" He whispered. "Right here with me."

Pfew, I finally managed to finish this story! Hopefully I fulfilled all your expectations. I just wanted to say thank you to all my reviewers, and the people who have followed/favorited my story. Thank you for your lasting appreciation and support!