Kidnapped - Part 10A
By Lynne Facella
Mulderette@aol.com or Lynne1919@aol.com

Rating: PG (violence, language)
Keywords: Angst
Spoilers: Episodes through All in the Family
Archive: Sure, just ask so I know where it is going.
Disclaimer: All ER characters are the property of Warner Brothers, NBC, etc., etc. (The bad guys are mine).
Summary: Dr. Carter is held for ransom and an unwitting Dr. Benton gets dragged along for the ride.
Author's notes: Thanks to all the support I have gotten despite the long wait between chapters. It's appreciated more than you could know. And a special thank you to Victoria for your storyline suggestions. They were very helpful to me :)

Carter awoke shivering violently, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.His
eyes shifted desperately in every direction, but once again found only
darkness. "Turn on the light. Turn on the light please, Dr. Benton," he
begged.

Benton quickly grabbed the flashlight and flicked on the switch. He then
examined Carter, carefully, trying to hide his growing concern. Carter's
condition was rapidly deteriorating. His breathing was shallow and he was in
noticeable pain whenever he coughed.

"Nobody's coming for us, are they?" Carter asked, struggling to catch his
breath. "God...we're just...we're just going to die in here."

"No we're not...we're not, Carter..." Benton tried to reassure his friend
although privately he didn't hold out much hope either. He placed his hand on
Carter's forehead and it seemed that the Advil he had given him hadn't helped
very much at all. He was burning up.

"How could they do it? How could they just leave us here like this? How?"

"Help is coming, Carter. It is..." Benton said consolingly. "Don't talk any
more. You need to save your strength."

"I feel sick." Carter whimpered as he thrashed about fretfully. He just
couldn't stand this anymore. He was cold and thirsty. Everything hurt and he
was having a hard time breathing. He longed to be somewhere warm and safe.
"I...." His words were cut off by the sound of a loud bang. "What...what was
that?"

"I don't know, Carter..." They had been disappointed so many times before that
Benton hardly dared to hope that help could have arrived. He struggled
awkwardly to his feet, his stiff muscles rebelling against the unaccustomed
movement. He moved closer to the door and he could hear the approaching
footsteps. He felt a sudden sense of foreboding. If someone had arrived to
rescue them...why weren't they calling out to them? He could think of no other
explanation for their abductors to return...unless they here to kill them. He
should have known they would be back to finish them off. They hadn't even
attempted to hide their identities. He moved back towards Carter, inwardly
vowing that he would not go down without a fight, trying to steel himself
against whatever was to come. Within moments, he heard the key turning in the
lock. The door slowly opened and the bright beam of a flashlight illuminated
the cell.

"Hey Tony, great news." Frank chuckled raspily as he greeted Benton with a
mock salute. "Our little pals are still alive...well sort of anyhow. Grab
him."

Tony advanced towards Carter and Benton turned towards him with a growl.
"Don't touch him."

"I am so sick of you and your damn attitude." Frank raised his gun and aimed
it at Benton's head, as he slowly increased the pressure on the trigger. "Just
one little click and you can say goodbye to this world as you know it. Try
me."

With Benton's attention refocused on Frank, Tony took the opportunity to try to
hoist Carter to his feet. "No...Leave me alone," Carter pleaded as bolts of
pain shot through his shoulder.

"Hey!" Benton swiftly pivoted in Carter's direction, but Frank took his gun
and slammed it into Benton's skull. He crashed to the floor, unconscious.

"Get him up!" Frank yelled, annoyed that Carter was still on the floor.

"I need help. This guy's dead weight."

Frank rolled his eyes as he went over to Tony and roughly assisted in yanking
Carter up.

"No...please...he's hurt." Carter said as he weakly struggled against the
ironclad grips of his two assailants. He cast a desperate glance at Dr.
Benton's still form, but it was to no avail. The two men began to haul him out
of the cell.

As he was manhandled up the stairs, Carter was seized by another fit of
coughing and a wave of dizziness. "I'm gonna be sick," he muttered, unable to
control the sudden nausea that came over him. He staggered forward and retched
violently. Nothing came up however, and he mostly just succeeded in straining
his abdominal muscles.

"Enough of this shit!" Frank screamed. He yanked Carter viciously, causing him
to stumble and almost fall. "The fucking cops are going to be here. We've got
to get him out of here!"

Finally they managed to drag the half conscious young man into the bright
sunshine. Carter squeezed his eyes shut against the unfamiliar brightness and
fought against the waves of nausea which were threatening once more. Frank
glanced at Carter, recognizing the look on his face and gave him a look of
disgust. "He isn't puking all over my car. We're shoving him in the trunk."

"What? Oh come on Frankie.." Tony said, but any further protest died when he
saw the look of blind fury on Frank's face. Tony didn't dare go up against
him.

Frank opened the trunk of the car and the two men clumsily lifted Carter
inside, ignoring his feeble pleas to let him go. No sooner had Frank slammed
the trunk shut when he cocked his head, hearing the faint sounds of sirens in
the distance. "Shit! Let's get the fuck out of here!"

The two men scrambled into the car and Frank turned the key in the ignition
just as a van came speeding towards them.

"Fuck!" Frank yelled as he pressed his foot as far down as possible on the
accelerator.



Dave swore softly as the men in the brown Ford attempted their escape. "Get
out!" he yelled at Mark as he swerved to a stop.

"Huh? What are you doing, Dave?" Mark yelled as he grabbed his medical bag
from the floor and quickly exited the van.

"I'll be back!" Dave yelled, expertly maneuvering the van in the direction the
kidnappers had taken. "Check this place out. We can't let them get away!"

"Dave no!" Mark shouted as he helplessly watched Dave swivel the Van. "Let
the police handle this!" His words fell on deaf ears though as he watched his
van disappear from sight.

Dave could feel the rush of adrenaline as he started to chase the men in the
Ford. "You're not going to outrun me in that crappy car," he uttered softly as
he slowly, but steadily, began to gain on the Ford.



Mark was apprehensively making his way towards the prison when two squad cars
pulled up. He turned back towards the police officers.

"Put your hands up!" one officer yelled. Mark gave no argument, dropping his
bag to the ground. "I'm a doctor at County, Mark Greene. I have my ID.
Listen...My friend just took off after the guys we think are the kidnappers.
We're not sure if the victims are with them or if they're here."

The officer searched Mark's bag and inspected Mark's ID, finally satisfied as
to the validity of his story. "Which way did they go?"

Mark pointed towards the left. "They're in an old brown Ford. My friend is
chasing them in my van."

The officer nodded. "Stan...Mike...Go after them. Radio in. Maybe they can
intersect them. We'll search this place and see what we can find. Come on
Ben."

The three men headed towards the prison. "I'm Officer Jim Peterson. Some kind
of mess your friends have gotten themselves into. The police should have been
called in long before this."

"Right now I just want to find them." Mark said quietly, praying to God they
would find Benton and Carter alive.

"Carter! Peter!" Mark shouted as they entered the building. "Carter! Peter!"
 They stood silently for a few moments, straining to hear any kind of response,
but they heard nothing.

"Let's spread out and search," Officer Peterson ordered.

"Carter! Peter!"



A sharp knife-like sensation penetrated Benton's skull as he began to regain
consciousness. "Oh man..." he moaned as he opened his eyes and tried to focus
on his surroundings. He was still in the Godforsaken cell, but this time was
different...the cell door was open...but Carter was gone..."

"Oh no..." Peter moaned as he tried to sit up, his vision beginning to swim,
causing him to slump back against the floor.

"Carter! Peter!"

For a moment, Benton was sure he was in the midst of a dream or a
hallucination. It had to be some sort of trick. There had been too many
instances of false hopes. He refused to believe that help had finally come.

"Carter! Peter! Can you hear me?"

He was definitely hallucinating. That voice had sounded like Mark Greene. Why
would he be here? Peter made another attempt to sit up and this time managed
to do so, leaning heavily against the wall. "Mark?" he called weakly. He then
tried again, managing to yell louder this time. "Mark! Down here!"



"Peter?" A surge of hope swept through Mark as he heard the familiar voice of
the surgeon. "Hey I think I've found them!" Mark shouted as he looked down the
pitch black stairwell. "I need a flashlight."

A few moments later Officer Peterson turned on the flashlight, casting a warm
glow over the dark passageway, and the men cautiously began their descent.

"This place is unbelievable," Peterson murmured. "I can't believe they kept
them here."

Mark nodded grimly, unable to even begin to fathom what Carter and Benton had
gone through these past days. The flashlight beam hit upon an open cell door
and Mark and Peterson headed towards it.

"Peter!" Mark knelt down beside his colleague. "What happened to you? Are you
hurt?"

"I got knocked on the head pretty good...I'm okay though. Listen they grabbed
Carter. You've gotta find him."

"We have to get you out of here. Do you think you can stand if we help you?"
Mark asked with concern. This place was eerie. He couldn't believe they had
been held captive in this place.

"Yeah...I definitely want out of this place."

Mark and Peterson gently helped Peter get to his feet. He swayed slightly for
a few seconds, but then regained his balance as Mark helped to steady him. A
few minutes later they found themselves outside and Peter flopped exhaustedly
onto the grass. "You guys don't happen to have any water, do you?" he asked as
he tried to adjust his eyes to the sunlight while breathing in the fresh air.

"I've got some spring water in the car," Ben said as he hurriedly went over to
the cruiser and returned holding a three-quarters full bottle of water. He
offered it to Benton who grabbed the bottle and greedily started gulping its
contents.

"Whoa...whoa...easy Peter..." Mark cautioned as he began checking Peter's
vital signs. "We need to get you into County, get you checked out."

"We have to find Carter...." Benton gazed intently at Mark. "He...he's really
sick, Mark. I...I don't know how much longer he can last without proper
medical attention."

"Dave left here chasing after those guys," Mark stated. "Maybe he'll find
them?"

"Malucci?" Benton gave Mark an incredulous look. "Mark...these men are
dangerous. They have guns. They shot Carter...They're not fooling around..."



"Why doesn't that fucking moron give up?!" Frank screamed, unable to lose the
van that was following closely behind them.

"You're the fucking moron, not him! I told you this was a stupid idea!" Tony
yelled. "We should have just left. We could have been free and clear with
five million dollars. Now we'll be lucky to even get away."

"Shut the fuck up!" Frank bellowed. He was starting to panic. He had no idea
what he was going to do. They had to get away from this guy in the van.
"Tony...Tony shoot at him. Blow his tires out or blow his head
off...something..."

Tony shook his head, finally beginning to realize that they were royally
screwed. "We're not going to get away with this Frankie...it's over..."

"Damn it! I said to shoot at him!"

"Or what?" Tony scoffed. He gave Frank a contemptuous look and then stared
ahead, his face paling as he saw the flashing blue lights of a road block up
ahead in the distance.

"Turn around!"

"There's not enough room," Frank said loudly, eying the narrow road in alarm,
but then, seeing no other possible way out he slowed down in order to attempt
it, momentarily forgetting about the van hot on their trail.



"Peter...we really should be bringing you to the hospital," Mark admonished
gently, giving a concerned glance to the man beside him. The two were seated
in the back of Officer Peterson's squad car which was headed in the direction
that Dave and the kidnappers were headed. By radio contact they had learned of
the road block that had been set up in an attempt to end this once and for all.
 
Peter shook his head. "You don't understand. I can't," he began slowly. "I
have to be there for him, Mark. I just have to."

He had no idea what was going through the minds of these men. According to
Mark they had gotten their money. What on earth were they hoping to accomplish
now? There was a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach as he inwardly
speculated. None of the scenarios that he was imagining were very good. He
stared out the window at the passing scenery and prayed that Carter would make
it through this.

End Part 10A