>> "You're going to have Tarin meet me at the hospital, right?"

Jorge nodded to Lee as she was placed in the back of the emergency vehicle. “Don’t worry Mrs. Brooks, I’ve just informed Tarin. He’s going to meet you there. I’m going to follow.”

He watched as they loaded the woman into the back of the ambulance, gave Tarin the information about the hospital and that he would meet him there and inform him of everything he had found out so far. For now he needed to follow Lee and made sure she got into a doctor’s care. After having been gone for so long and seeing no sign of the criminal who did this too her, he was not going to leave her getting there up to chance.

Once the emergency vehicle was gone, Jorge made news of his departure to the rest of the officers there, that the kidnapping victim had been a missing case on his desk for awhile now.

“Listen everyone, get the CSI's in that warehouse! I want every sequare inch of it searched. We need to know who was in the place and why."

He then jogged off to his car where he climbed in, startled the engine and peeled back onto the road. He turned on his siren lights, without the sound, and followed, but made sure he would not obstruct them in any way.

Still his mind reeled as he thought back to that house in the middle the cavernous warehouse. What kind of sicko does that? It was obvious that whoever it was had been keeping Lee there for a bit, but for what reason? Why was it done? Revenge? Obsession? Just a sheer act of randomness? Jorge did not know, but he was going to have to get a statement from her. Hopefully she would be able to shed some light on where the woman has been for the past three months. Whatever the reason, there was another psycho on the loose. One that he not only had to catch for the good of the people…but to keep what he was sure was going to be a very angry husband from going completely out of his mind and taking the law into his own hands.

Jorge shook his head at the possibility and willed himself to get to that hospital as quickly as he could. He would have to have a long talk with both Lee and Tarin about what was going to be done in this case.

Lee was right, the paramedics had made her leave both the food, and the water bottle in the car. Apparently it wasn't a 'good' idea for her to eat solid food right then, or even drink. To be honest, Lee thought it was complete bull, but without draining one of the paramedics, or a police officer, she didn't exactly have the energy to fight about it.

At least she had gotten to eat something before they had arrived since the detective hadn't known it wasn't 'good'. She was glad about that, and the couple sips of water she had managed, because all the paramedics were willing to give her were a few ice chips on the way to the hospital.

From there, time seemed to slow down. Detective Cervantes had said he'd gotten ahold of Tarin, told him to go to which ever hospital she was being taken to. She wasn't getting there nearly fast enough.

Finally, though, they were pulling her out of the back of the ambulance, taking her into the hospital, and putting her into a bed in the ER. And trying as hard as she could to look around as they wheeled her through the halls, despite being told to lay down, and then being pushed back down, she couldn't see Tarin anywhere.

Before she knew it, she had a room full of doctors and nurses hovering around her, performing all kinds of tests and checking various things out. All of the doctors seemed to be busy, too busy to really be paying attention to her as a person. So after a few minutes, Lee turned to one of the nurses she saw standing beside her.

"Is the baby alright?" She asked. That was the first, most important question. She could function on her own, however poorly, with the energy she had gotten so far, but she could not exactly tell on her own that the baby was alright. She had felt the baby move that morning, or maybe it was the day before, but that didn't mean that everything was still right.

"Everything's going to be alright-"

Lee shook her head, cutting the woman off. Not harshly, but she wanted, needed the answer, and she kept her voice just as calm as when she had been talking with Detctive Cervantes earlier. "I know it will be alright, but what about now? Is there anything, anything at all, wrong with the baby right now?"

Lee saw the nurse glancing around the room briefly, as though she was trying to figure out how much of the truth she should tell a woman who was laying in the ER.

"It looks like there might be some malnutrition and dehydration, but we're giving you fluids, and you should both be fine."

Even before the woman had stopped speaking, Lee's eyes closed and she sighed in relief. She had been worried, she hadn't exactly had energy to eat much, but she had forced herself to eat as much as she had been able to while she had been in that room.

She only revelled in that relief for a moment or two, though. THere was something else important she needed, for both her and the baby, and the sooner that Tarin was there with her, the better.

Opening her eyes again, Lee looked at the nurse who she had spoken to, who was still standing beside her. Lee thought she was there making sure her vitals were alright. "When my husband gets here, I need him in here with me," she said.

"We'll send him in as soon as we can."

"No," Lee replied, a forcefulness behind the calm in her voice as she reached her hand out to grab the nurse's arm. "He will be brought in as soon as he gets here, or I'll be going to him, and I don't care if that goes against what the doctors say."

That was it. They were getting a car. Public transportation in New York was not only ridiculously slow, but cab drivers were mad men. Tarin had promised a generous tip, and the man had taken him seriously. The problem was, traffic didn’t want to cooperate. Traffic didn’t want to cooperate to the point that Tarin had considered using a spirit to fly. He knew that was an awful idea, he knew that was a terrible idea. It didn’t matter. They’d found Lee. They’d found Lee alive and she was at the hospital.

Every light felt like a lifetime, and the cabbie looked more and more worried as he glanced in his mirror. Tarin wondered why, then realized he’d been muttering under his breath. How long had that been going on? He took a deep breath and gave the cabbie an apologetic look. ”My wife was missing…they found her alive….” He couldn’t say anymore…but the cabbie seemed to get it. Tarin sighed in relief, then gripped his seat as the man made a particularly dangerous pass on the busy New York street. It was worth it.

An absolute eternity (or 15 minutes) later, the cab arrived at the hospital and Tarin threw a wad of bills at the driver along with his thanks. His feet might have hit the pavement before the cab stopped, but it didn’t matter because he was running through the doors. He was going to Lee.

Somehow he managed to find the ER without getting lost, managed to find the admittance desk, and managed to get someone to pay enough attention to him to tell him where his wife was. Tarin was running again before he could hear the lady tell him that he may not be able to go in.

There were police outside the door of the room they’d put Lee in, but Tarin completely ignored them and all their shouting as he ran through the door.

There she was.

She looked tired, but there she was. Alive.

The cops were still shouting, but Tarin was completely ignoring them as he walked forward and dropped down on the bed next to his wife.

Then, Tarin Brooks started crying like a baby.

The whole trip to the hospital, Jorge was mulling over thoughts in his head. What happened to Lee and why was she being held against her will? When he last spoke to Tarin, the man had told him that they had no enemies. That could have easily been a lie in order to keep privacy, but Jorge knew that would have been a dangerous move for him. If he had really wanted to find his wife, keeping secrets was not a good move to make. Still, as Jorge drove he had to think back to that crime scene. It was made to look homey and quaint…in a demented sort of way. Was Lee targeted? Or was she simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Jorge did not know but he knew he would have to question her.

The rest of the drive to the hospital was quicker than he thought. He managed to tail the ambulance without causing too much of a scene, park quickly and watched as they wheeled Lee into Emergency care. The detective wondered how long it would take Mr. Brooks to get there. He would not be surprised if the man strung a flock of pigeons together and flew.

A short time later, Jorge had managed to get a police detail on Lee’s room. After all, the person who did this was still out there. The last thing he wanted was for her to get abducted from the hospital. Then the call came. As Jorge was off talking to the doctors about Lee, news squawked through the radios that a mad was running through the hospital, had just checked for Lee and was heading there now. Jorge had rounded the corner just in time to see that the officers were chasing a man who had gone into the room despite police warning. Jorge jogged forward, peeked in and immediately saw a familiar sight. He sighed heavily once he recognized Tarin Brooks, Lee’s husband.

Jorge only touched the officers who had entered on the arms and pulled them back out.

“That’s her husband, give him the time they need.”

“Detective,” the doctor tried to intervene. “She needs rest, not to be riled up.”

“If you think you can drag that man out of there who hasn’t seen his wife in 3 months, be my guest.” Jorge replied and offered to step out of the way for the man. “But trust me, that would be a bad move.” Jorge glanced back inside, saw Tarin by Lee’s bedside and finally stepped away. He pulled the doctor with him, told the two guards to remain outside and headed away to go over any details the doctor had found. He could question Lee later. Right now…the husband and wife just needed time.

It had seemed like it had been forever that she said there. Mere minutes? An hour? Lee didn't know, and she didn't care. She had told the nurse the truth, either Tarin was going to be in the room when he got there, or she was leaving. She didn't care if the nurse thought she was kidding.

Lee knew Tarin, she would know when he got there, one way or another. She also knew that she would have absolutely no problem walking out of there on her own if she chose to with the number of people around her.

It seemed to be forever later when Lee started hearing shouts coming from the hall. Lee looked up, toward the door, then sat up slightly against the hands pushing her back down.

And then she saw him, her husband, bursting through the doors into the room. A wide, but tired smile spreading across her face, Lee reached out for Tarin, but before she could touch him, he had dropped onto the bed beside her.

And started crying.

"It's ok, Tarin," Lee murmured, wrapping her arms around him, just as much for comfort as to get energy from him. And just as she had known that she would know when he got there, Lee knew that Tarin would not mind. If anything, Tarin would get upset if she didn't take energy from him right now.

"I'm ok," she repeated, squeezing. At least she tried to squeeze. She didn't know just how well Tarin would feel it. "It was an adapted, but I'm fine."

It was about then that Lee noticed all the clamouring in the rest of the room. Looking over Tarin's shoulder, Lee saw police officers, stopped but none too happy looking, Detective Cervantes standing behind them, and doctors and nurses saying, each in their own way, that Tarin needed to leave.

Lee simply shook her head, eyes hard as she looked.around the room. Not that Tarin was there, touching her, Lee had more energy than she had had in months.

"If he leaves," Lee told those left in the room, voice still rough due to lack of use while she had been imprisoned, but strong, forceful. "I leave. And don't think for a moment that I won't be able to walk out of here."

That said, Lee turned her attention back to her husband, the rest of the room all but forgotten. They had been told. If they were smart, they would listen.

"Shh, shh,, Tarin," she murmured, shifting on the bed with some difficulty, holding her husband's head to her shoulder, fingers running through his hair. Lee could not help but think that this was the complete opposite of how things should be at that moment. He should have been the one comforting her. "Just relax, Tarin, I'm ok."

Then Lee closed her eyes, swallowing hard. She didn't think Tarin would want to answer this question right then, chances were he never wanted to think of this again now that she was back, but she needed to know.

"How long was I gone?" She asked, her voice back down to a vulnerable whisper.

The fact that maybe it was odd that Lee was the one doing the comforting was completely lost on Tarin as he continued to cry. Maybe it was a little much, but it wasn’t like he was wailing or anything. He’d held it together really well, for a really long time, and now Lee was here. Sure she was in the hospital, but she seemed to be fine, she was wrapping her arms around him and holding him like she’d done the night before she disappeared. Everything was fine. Except for those cops.

Tarin pulled himself together and turned to give them a suggestion of a place to better holster their weapons. Lee beat him to it though, and she was nicer than he would have been. Not at all shocking, really. Tarin jumped when Lee used that tone of voice too.

It was easier to think now that the initial emotions had passed, and Tarin sat back, looking at Lee. She was definitely still pregnant and the realization filled him with glee and just a little bit of guilt for not caring to notice sooner. He just stared then, not even sure what to say. This was a lot to take in. So much. All the things Tarin thought he’d lost, back in his lap.

Lee was speaking to him, and Tarin tuned in just in time to hear her question. She didn’t know how long she’d been gone. Tairn grimaced, swallowed hard, then answered.

”Three months Lee…I tried every day. I had the whole city looking for you.”

Tarin took a deep breath and sighed, running a hand through his hair, ”I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you.”

Tarin started pulling back, and Lee relaxed her grip on him, let go of him enough so that he could sit up on the bed beside her. But Lee didn't let go of him completely. After all this time, after she had been apart from him for so long, there was no way that Lee was going to just stop touching him.

It was only then that Lee realized that Tarin wasn't actually wearing a jacket. She tried to think back, was it cold outside? To be honest, she didn't really know, even though she had been outside. She had just been too drained to be able to tell.

As she let her hands slide down from her hugging Tarin, Lee let them come to rest on his hands. She wanted direct contact with him, for more than one reason, and this was the easiest way to do it with the long sleeved shirt he was wearing.

Lee's eyes were still closed when she heard Tarin's answer, and all she could do was swallow again. Three months. Three whole, long months she had been gone.

As she opened her eyes again, Lee felt Tarin pulling his hand away, to run it through his hair. Though she was reluctant to loose that contact with him, she let go of his hand and rested her now free hand on his leg. But she shook her head to Tarin. "I know you tried everything you could," she told him, squeezing his hand. There was no question in Lee's mind about that, she knew her husband, and knew that he would not have stopped looking for her for any reason. He had taken part in the Camp breakout after she had broken up with him, after all.

In part, the fact that she knew Tarin would not stop looking for her is what kept her going. She had known really early on that she wasn't going to be able to get out of there on her own, not unless something drastic changed. But Tarin would be looking for her, and if no one else did, he would have found her, she knew. She had just needed to last until then.

Pushing herself up slightly, though it took a bit more effort than she would have expected with the energy she now had, Lee wrapped her arms around Tarin again, not caring if those still in the room with them liked it or not. "I missed you," she whispered in his ear, finally bordering on tears.

Tarin nodded and sighed a little in relief when Lee said she knew he’d been looking for her. One of the worst things he’d thought about after Lee had been missing so long was that she’d think he’d given up on her. The opposite was true, in fact, he’d redoubled his efforts after branching out to his friends and the police for help. Maybe it had paid off, maybe not. Either way, Lee was safe and sound.

Wasn’t she?

Suddenly, Tarin remembered they were sitting in a hospital. Lee seemed fine, and while she looked tired, everything else about her spoke of health. The initial shock and relief having worn off, Tarin started to wonder where she’d been that she was in such good health. He was grateful for it, more than he could really even say, but it was still odd.

She said she’d missed him and Tarin leaned forward to hug his wife again. ”I missed you too, more than you could possibly know.” he said.

”Are you alright? Do I need to get our doctor? They know about your special circumstances right?” The questions had to be asked, and as well now as any time. Lee's powers needed to be taken into consideration, as well as her pregnancy. Doc was her doctor and he knew them better than anyway. A phone call wouldn't be difficult.

Lee had seen the shape Tarin had been in when he had run off to Maine, for her own good. She had seen his condition, much worse than that day would have made him, when he had come to rescue her from the Camps. Lee could guess how much Tarin had missed her, could imagine what kind of condition he had been in before he had gotten the call that she had been found.

But then Tarin was asking if she was alright again, whether she needed him to get their doctor.

To be honest, Lee hadn't really thought about telling the doctors currently caring for her about her powers. They had, though reluctantly, let Tarin into the room with her, and they said that the baby was alright. Those were the things that mattered, so she hadn't mentioned anything.

Letting her arms slide from around Tarin's neck, Lee fell back down onto the bed, frowning up at him. "Do you think we should call?" She asked. "I haven't told them, but they said the baby's alright, so I didn't really think of it. But it might be an idea to call DocProf."

Tarin shrugged his shoulders when Lee asked if he thought she should call the Doctor from the Mansion. She looked so hardy right now, so healthy. Maybe she didn’t need to see the Doc. How was that possible though? Obviously she’d been through something horrible, the police were still there, watching her room like something might bet waiting for her still.

”Let’s call the Mansion, just to see. There’s some people there who’ll want to know that we found you.” That was definitely the truth, Shin deserved to know. He’d been instrumental in getting Tarin back on the right track as far as his search for Lee was concerned.

Out came the cell phone, and Tarin dialed up the Mansion. He asked that word be spread that Lee had been found and then asked for the doctor who had seen him and his wife through many a bump, bruise, and worse. The man came to the phone, and soon was on his way.

Tarin was actually impressed with how fast the Doctor made it to the hospital, and considered asking the man what forms of public transport he used. Instead, he introduced the doctors in the room to the doctor who had just entered the room. ”I thought it might be helpful to have him here. He’s my wife’s usual doctor and he knows best how to deal with the special needs of mom and baby. We’re all mutants.” he added cheerfully. ”We’ll let you guys powwow.”

They went to do that, and Tarin turned to Lee as soon as they were out of the way, taking a deep breath and letting it out. He had questions, a lot of questions, but now wasn't the time to ask them. Truth was, Tarin didn't know what it was time for. Lee had said the baby was alright, she seemed to be alright. So Tarin just smiled.

Tarin thought that they should call the mansion regardless, to let people there now that she'd been found. Because there were people there who would want to know.

That was something Lee hadn't exactly thought of, the fact that there might be other people who knew she had been missing, others that might be worried. She had simply been thinking about Tarin.

But Tarin was already on his cell phone, already dialling the mansion. Lee simply half sat, half laid on the bed, at least one of her hands still touching touching Tarin the entire time.

The room was rather quiet after Tarin hung up the phone. He didn't seem to feel the need to say anything, and there really wasn't a whole lot else Lee thought she needed to tell him either, at least not at the moment. Simply being there together was more than enough for her at the moment.

It really didn't seem to take that long for DocProf to get to the hospital, and Tarin quickly explained who he was, and what they were, to the other doctors in the room. Were they really that close to the Mansion that he got there this quickly? And then they proceeded to talk, leaving her alone for the moment while the hospital doctors updated DocProf.

"What do you think the chances are they'll let me have something to eat?" Lee asked, in a whisper, as she looked up at Tarin. "Do you think you'd be able to sneak something in, because DocProf doesn't seem to like his patients actually eating."

Finally something Tarin could do to be useful. True, the last thing on earth he really wanted to do was leave Lee’s side, but there were police, and there were detectives, and Doc Prof was standing right outside the door as well. Nobody was going to be able to harm Lee. Being completely overprotective would simply be ridiculous right now. Tarin nodded to himself, he could save that for later, when they were at home.

He had to chuckle at the way Lee had phrased her request. The mansion physician did have a tendency to recommend a bland diet whenever a patient was ill. Lee seemed hale and hardy enough…but was she really? Tarin tried to figure out how to ask her without asking for too much right off the bat.

”Have you been eating? If you have been, then I’m sure food would be fine. Just nothing to rich probably. I’m sure I could scrounge up some jello at least…maybe some soup? Hospitals always have jello and soup, right?”

He laughed. Well, not really a laugh, it was a chuckle, but it was close enough, here, now. Lee couldn't help but smile at him as he did, either.

But then Tarin was talking, questioning her, even seeming a little hesitant himself about the idea of her eating. The smile that had been on her face when she heard her husband's laughter was now gone. Instead, she simply nodded.

"I have," she said, her voice slow, quiet. "At least a bit, when I've been able to. I think even you'd be surprise what sheer force of will can do even when there's no energy." That last was said remembering the times she had been forced to drain him, to siphon from him, and yet despite everything, he'd still forced himself to wake up, to move sometimes. Not exactly good thoughts, but the exact same situation.

"And I managed to get some fruit of some sort from the detective before the ambulance showed up," she continued to explain to Tarin, really hoping that no one else in the room would hear any of this because she couldn't stop the feeling that she would be stopped from actually eating if overheard. "But now that I'm awake again, really awake, I'm starving."

Then Tarin went on to say that he was sure he could find some jello, or some soup, and Lee couldn't stop her nose from wrinkling a bit. Like those would really help her feel more sated. "If that's what you're going to get for me, can you at least find a piece of bread or something, too?" Lee asked. Something that might actually help make her stomach feel full.

Tarin did know what a person could do when they were completely drained of energy. He didn’t bring it up though. It had always made Lee so uncomfortable on those days he was visibly exhausted. They’d learned though, evolved, and after time they’d figured out how to make it work. That’s how it always went, no matter how many curve balls life decided to throw at the two of them. They changed, they evolved, they moved on. Hopefully, this would be all the drama for a while though. It seemed that he and Lee had been through a disproportionate amount since they’d met…since they’d moved in together…since they’d gotten married.

A roll, some bread? Lee was asking like he was going to forcibly starve her. Tarin chuckled and shook his head, ”I’ll get you a few different things and once they’re all in front of you, you can decide what you actually want to eat.” he said, then leaned down to kiss the top of Lee’s head. He didn’t want to leave her…but there were cops everywhere. It was going to be fine. She wouldn’t disappear from the bed while he was walking to the cafeteria.

”I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He was going to get her a few things and she could choose once they were all in front of her. Lee had to smile at him, this sounded like it would work even better than she had hoped, as long as Tarin was actually able to get the food into the room with her.

It wasn't that she was really expecting anything all that much, definitely not the Chinese or Mexican that would have been normal if they had been home, but hopefully it would be more than enough to help her fill up for the moment.

But then Tarin was kissing her on the top of her head before he left. That wasn't good enough for Lee, though. Not after being apart for so long. Reaching her hand out before Tarin had gotten too far away, she grabbed his arm, tugging to pull him back toward her. "Not quite yet," she murmured, moving her hand to Tarin's collar to pull him down to her for a kiss.

A minute later, Lee pulled back, a content smile on her face as she gazed up at Tarin. "Alright, now you can go find some food for me."