The Journal of CSI_Sanders1129

I'd like a Burn Notice/General Hospital crossover (would that be doable?): Jesse Porter/Jason Morgan...New Year's Related Prompt: Fireworks.

Edited Date: 2010-12-31 04:59 am (UTC)

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So, it got a little long. Which is why it took a while. Also, moreso metaphorical fireworks were involved as opposed to literal ones and not sure if this entirely what you were after... Enjoy!

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After Michael disappears, they all split up – checking major cities, places they know have ties to the spy world - in search of him. They all figure he’s back in now, but they don’t like that he just vanished and they’re not giving up without a sure fire answer.

Sam gets Los Angeles, Fiona heads to Washington DC and Jesse ends up with New York.

Jesse kind of wishes he’d ended up somewhere warmer. LA would be nice, even DC seems to be dealing with a rather warm spell at the moment. It’s closing in on the end of December and it’s just plain cold outside in New York and his busted leg isn’t helping matters much at all.

He’s out of leads for the day – office buildings are closed up by now and most of his leads are located in 9-5 places so he’s out of luck there. He opts to go out for the night, get his mind off of his leg for a while.

It’s not like they’re ever going to find Mike anyway.

He finds a bar in the next town over, Port Charles, orders a beer and claims a seat in a corner of the room that’s angled so he can see pretty much everything. He doesn’t like not seeing everything. It’s a spy thing.

Decently content, he trains his eyes on the screen of his laptop and working out some of the aspects of searching for Michael that don’t necessitate regular hours of operation. He’s just scratching another potential lead off his list when a fight breaks out across the room.

In the time it takes him to close and stow his laptop, one guy is on the ground after punches thrown like fireworks start up and another man looks enraged by this fact. His leg is further hindering his forward progress, but he makes it to the site of the brawl in time to knock out some drunk thug with one of his crutches.

“Alright?” He asks, as the angry man hauls a younger man, the one who went down, to his feet.

“I had it taken care of,” the older man snaps, but the venom in his voice disappears once he’s sure his friend isn’t hurt. “But, thanks.”

“Indeed,” the younger man says, “the Jackal offers his most gracious thanks for the Pensive One’s aid.”

Jesse’s not quite sure what to make of that, Jackal’s and – he supposes he’s the Pensive One, huddled off in the corner as he was? – nicknames and third person references, but whatever. To each their own. “Not a problem,” he mumbles back.

“The Jackal, also known as the Ace of Cyberspace, could not fail to notice that you seemed to be disappointed in your findings on your cyber companion. Perhaps he could be of some aid?”

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I love the metaphorical fireworks. You've captured Jesse's personality so well and I like the fact that you keep his leg injury, making it feel like this is taking place just after the latest episode. This is perfect!

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He takes a moment to decipher the oddly phrased speech patterns and ends up with ‘Need computer help?’ “Uh, thanks but no thanks. Personal stuff. A friend went missing on me and I’m trying to track him down.”

The kid looks even more interested now. “Oh, well, then that sounds like a job for Jackal P.I.”

“You’re a Private Detective?” Jesse raises an incredulous eyebrow and shifts his weight where he stands.

“Affirmative. I assure you, the Jackal will not fail in locating your missing in action-“

The other man cuts his friend off with a sigh. “Spinelli. That’s enough,” he says. “Go back to the Penthouse before your new friends over there remember they were pissed at you. I’ll be back later.”

Looking rather insulted – whether at losing a potential job (though if the kid lives in a Penthouse, he can’t be doing that badly for himself) or at the hint toward his lack of fighting skills – but he slowly backs away, excusing himself with more complex vocabulary as he goes.

“Sorry,” the other man says, “Computers are kind of his thing.”

“Never would’ve guessed.” Jesse dryly replies and he moves away – needs to rest his leg for a minute – to reclaim his seat in the corner. The strange follows and takes the seat on the other side of the small table. “Yes?”

“He probably could help, you know.”

He almost laughs when he realizes that he has almost become a Michael Westen client to someone who is not Michael Westen. If the situations were reversed, he’s pretty sure he and Michael and Sam and Fi would be on the job for tracking down a very hard to find individual. The twinge in his broken leg reminds him that he’s kind of grateful for the break. At least he would be if he could find Michael.

“I dunno, man. Not sure my friends would like me bringing other people into this.” He tries to evade, though he’s not entirely convinced it’s a bad idea. “I don’t even know who either of you are, if I can trust you.”

“Well,” the stranger says. “I’m Jason Morgan. My friend is Damian Spinelli, and as he claimed, he is an Ace of Cyberspace. If he can’t find your friend, no one can. As for trust – that one’s up to you.” He stands then, tosses one of Spinelli’s Jackal PI cards on the table, and walks away.

He stares at the card for roughly a half an hour before he digs his cell phone from his pocket and dials. Ten minutes later, he’s playing pool with Jason while Spinelli picks up where he left off in the search for Michael Westen.

Jesse just hopes he’s putting his trust in the right people.

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I love that this is in Jesse's perspective as it gives such a different and fresh view of Jason and Spinelli. I also really, really want a sequel. (crosses fingers...) This is quite simply great work and has awoken a craving for more Jesse/Jason/Spinelli and of course the rest of the Burn Notice gang. Will they be able to find Michael faster with Spinelli's and Jason's help? I also really liked this: "He almost laughs when he realizes that he has almost become a Michael Westen client to someone who is not Michael Westen." - so true!
THANK YOU!!!!!! :D You've made me very happy with this.

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Jaspin, Jason is racing against the clock to rescue Spinelli from being blown up precisely at midnight by the Balkan.

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Five Minutes To Midnight --

Jason gets a frantic phone call from Spinelli’s cell early in the morning on New Year’s Eve. The hacker must be talking at him before he even answers, because he’s already in full-rant mode by the time Jason’s listening.

“-not who we thought it was! If the Jackal’s findings are, indeed, correct, then the Balkan is much, much closer than we previously thought he was. The not-so-trustworthy defense attorney seems to be at the root of our present issues, and he is, in point of fact,” Spinelli’s hysterical babbling causes him to drag out the information more than strictly necessary, and this proves to be a deleterious flaw when suddenly cyber speak is drowned out by the sound of doors slamming open and shouting and – Jason’s in full on panic mode himself now – gunshots that are abruptly followed by pained and terrified noises from Spinelli.

“Spinelli,” he says when there’s a lull in the noise. Something like a strained groan follows and then there’s the thump of something vaguely human-like hitting the floor. “Spinelli! Spinelli! Answer me!” He’s shouting into the phone now, heading out the door as fast as he can.

The next thing he hears is the line going dead. He tries to call back, but the phone announces that it is no longer in service. That he should please hang up and try again. He doesn’t bother.

***

He’s at the PI Office by 8:22, just seven minutes after Spinelli had called him. He figures Spinelli had to be here – it’s the only place he’d be working on this project and still be alone enough to be ambushed by the Balkan’s thugs.

The first thing he notices is the absence of technology. Both computers – Spinelli’s laptop, it goes everywhere with him, and the PC that had been settled on the desk as more permanent fixture – are gone.

The second thing he notices is blood. Drops on the desk and chair that line up with where Spinelli would have been sitting, a bit of a pool on the floor, and smears like Spinelli got dragged through it afterward.

It’s not a lot of blood, but it’s Spinelli’s blood.

He tears his eyes away from it and focuses on what Spinelli was telling him before this. He’d found the Balkan, said he was close, and mentioned Brenda’s new defense attorney. That had to be the answer. Theo Hoffman had to be the Balkan or else Spinelli wouldn’t have been taken.

Jason was going to kill him.

***

If only it were that easy.

By 3:30 in the afternoon he’s checked everywhere the guy could possibly have been and found nothing. The law offices were abandoned, some of his regular hang-outs were equally vacant, even Theo’s home, he didn’t know where else to look.

At 4:55 he got a phone call. It came from Spinelli’s cell phone – which had also been missing from the office where his protégé had been taken – and he answered before the first ring was half done. He was hoping beyond all hope that it was actually Spinelli on the other end of the line, that he’d gotten away and was safe, merely calling to assure his Stone Cold mentor that he was okay and just needed a ride.

It’s Spinelli, but it’s clear he’s not okay.

“S-Stone Cold?” A muffled, rasping voice that sounds like a distorted version of Spinelli’s cuts across the phone line before Jason can demand answers, before he can swear to rip apart anyone who dared hurt Spinelli.

“Fuck,” he curses at nothing, pressing the phone closer to his ear as if that will somehow give him the answers he needs to track down his missing hacker. “Spinelli, where are you?”

“Bet you d-didn’t see t-this coming, Morgan,” Spinelli broken voice mumbles out. “Anything you’d like m-me to make him say? Perhaps ‘this is a-all your fault,’ or ‘you c-can’t protect anyone, can you’? Or m-maybe you’d prefer something a-a little less painful; maybe ‘I-I love you, Stone Cold’?”

Jason closes his eyes, has to lean back against a wall to keep upright. “Stop it. What do you want?”

“Damian here… is a little tied up. I’m leaving t-town, but you have u-until midnight to find y-your pet before the f-fireworks start. Him or m-me, Morgan. Make your decision.”

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What a perfect start to this piece, heart pounding excitement from the get go! I really liked the technique of the Balkan using Spinelli to deliver his message that was very creepy and very effective!

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Amazing beginning. It got my heart racing right away and worried about Spinelli.

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The Balkan – Theo – has to be telling Spinelli what to say, which means he must be listening, too. “I swear to God that if anything more has happened to Spinelli when I find him, I won’t stop until I find you and make you pay for taking him.”

He hears a strangled sob that nearly stops his heart and then Spinelli’s talking again. “H-how touching. Rather fond of your pet, a-aren’t you? I-I’ll even help y-you out. You c-can find him at, at the shipping yards.”

“He’s hurt already, I know he is. I-I saw the blood,” Jason continues, “Tell me how bad so I know what to bring with me when I find him.”

“This is your proof of life.” Spinelli’s voice comes again. “That’s all you get.”

After that, despite the fact that Jason is shouting into his phone like the crazy person he presently is, the line is dead.

5:03. He has just less than seven hours to find Spinelli at the shipping yards. Assuming the Balkan was telling the truth about Spinelli’s general whereabouts, the ship yards are huge. Seven days would be more realistic a time frame.

He’s interrupting Lucky’s New Year’s Eve less than fifteen minutes later, explaining the situation and as much as he usually hates doing it, asking for help. If he assumes that fireworks equate to some sort of bomb set to go off at midnight, then there has to be some sort of signal coming from it. And Jason’s decently sure that Lucky can get his hands on equipment to pick that signal up.

It’s not easy, and it involves calling in a fair amount of favors on the Detective’s part, but eventually an officer brings over the radio equipment that will allow for them to locate the signal from the bomb. Unfortunately, the device has to be within a relatively short distance to the bomb in order to pick up the signal, which means they’ll still have to search for it.

It’s closing in on six o’clock before they head toward the shipping yards.

“Mac sent the defense attorney’s picture out. If he shows up at any border crossing, airport, or bus station, hopefully we’ll catch him. I think he even sent it to private airstrips.”

Jason’s not thinking about that right now. Priority number one is getting to Spinelli before midnight. He’ll deal with the Balkan later if it comes to that.

It’s 6:47 by the time they get to the ship yards just outside of Port Charles. Only a skeleton crew is on shift, since it is New Year’s Eve and, as expected, none of them know anything about bombs or kidnappings or serious criminal masterminds. Fortunately, there is a decent lighting system in place, so despite the fact that it’s well-past sundown now, the innumerable amount of cargo containers before them are well-illuminated.

Jason eyes the rows and rows of containers. This is going to take a while.

At 7:10, they finally get the signal detector up and running.

By 8:55, they’ve still got nothing in the way of results. The same goes for 9:42 and 10:27.

“Are you sure about this?” Lucky asks Jason, not for the first time since this whole thing started up.

And Jason isn’t sure. He’s going off of information from the man responsible for all of this. The man who they’ve been hunting for months now. This wild goose chase could be all about revenge for the Balkan. Why would he risk leaving Spinelli alive, anyway?

He supposes that if the Balkan really is trying to leave town, then leaving another body in his wake certainly won’t make escape any less complicated. It certainly won’t make Jason back down – if he loses Spinelli to this guy he won’t be backing down anytime soon – and he doubts the police will let it go easily, either. The best solution for the Balkan is to let him find Spinelli.

“He has to be here,” Jason finally says, as another row of shipping containers are cleared. “Anything else doesn’t make sense.”

10:59 ticks into 11:00 and the phrase ‘at the eleventh hour’ has never been so appropriate. Either they find Spinelli now or they’re going to be finding him in bits and pieces.

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The suspense continues building to almost unbearable levels. So many shipping containers so little time. Mentioning the time in increments was an effective technique for enhancing the reader's tension.

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Amazing suspense. I'm glad that Lucky has been brought into it and I'm hoping they make it to Spinelli on time.

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11:07.

11:16.

11:29.

11:38.

Jason watched the minutes tick by and in his desperation to find Spinelli, splits off from the group to widen their search radius. He doesn’t have the signal detector, but if he shouts loud enough and hoes hard enough, maybe he can find Spinelli without the thus-far-useless gizmo.

“Spinelli!” He yells, moving through aisles of containers they haven’t gotten to yet – and fuck it all, there are a lot of containers they haven’t checked yet. “Spinelli! Answer me!”

He stops for ten seconds, listens for any sounds that aren’t coming from Lucky and the other officers leading the search from a technological standpoint, and then yells again moving as he goes.

11:42 and still no answer.

“Fuck, Spinelli, if you can hear me, make noise! Spinelli!” Stops moving, listens. Nothing.

And then there’s banging. The thick, metal cargo containers are meant to be on huge ships. They’re meant to withstand wind and rain and rough seas. It is a wonder that he hears the sound at all. But, it’s there.

Jason closes his eyes and listens and tries to figure out where the hell those sounds are coming from. He narrows it down to three potential containers as the clock ticks to 11:46 and trial and error leads him to his second option.

“Over here! Lucky!” He’s shouting so much he can feel his voice cracking, but flashlights and police offers armed with bolt cutters are moving towards him and it’s 11:52.

“Just hold on, Spinelli. You’ll be out in a minute.” He says, though he’s pretty sure Spinelli can’t hear him all that well. 11:53.

11:54, and the police aren’t sure whether the container is rigged to explode if it’s opened. Jason doesn’t fucking care. He grabs the bolt cutters out of some low level officer’s hands and cuts the damn thing himself. He’s in before anyone can stop him or yell at him about clearing the thing first. 11:55, 11:56.

At 11:57, he’s got Spinelli in his arms and there’s a bullet wound haphazardly patched up on his shoulder, a gash on his forehead that looks like it’s from a gun hitting him over the head, and some pretty painful looking bruises. And then they’re out of there.

11:58 and 11:59 pass as all of those involved in the search and rescue – fuck them all, stupid machine was useless, Jason should have just gone on his own – are quickly evacuating the area.

12:00 on January 1, 2011 arrives and the container explodes with an impressive amount of force. Jason can’t bring himself to care because the paramedics are trying to get Spinelli out of his arms and as much as he wants Spinelli fixed up and good as new, he’s just not quite ready to let go of him yet.

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Happiest New Year evah for Jason, bar none! He's got his grasshopper back in the nick of time, hoorah!! Very tightly plotted Jaspin and right on target. I heartily endorse expanding it a little and posting it, go for it...Thanks!

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