Okay, it's been a while. Almost two years since i've actually done any work on this fic. But i got a little bit done the other day, and here it is. Can't say when the next update will be though. Thanks to anyone who has read this, and thanks for being so patient. I'll get there eventually. ;)

Impromptu D.E.B.S Headquarters

Next Day 01:16am

Someone flushing a toilet in the room above had woken her. The low hum of the air conditioning filled her ears now and she blinked her eyes a number of times to try and get them to focus. She tried to make them settle on the red glowing numbers of the alarm clock sitting on the bedside table. She sighed.

"A whole two hours. Whoopee."

The sheets rustled as she slid her body onto its side.

"I should get up."

She didn't move, opting to stare at the wall instead. Her head hurt and she was pretty sure there would be pink puffy bags under her eyes. She didn't understand how this had happened. How they could have been so careless to let one of them get kidnapped by a maniac.

Max had practically shattered glass with the force of her door opening skills when she had returned to the hotel after 'visiting' Bobby. She had been angry. Ranting and raving about how 'That Diamond bitch' had done it again. Gotten Amy into a mess she might not get out of. Only this time it was a little more serious than before.

"I wish the only problem we had was Amy sleeping with the enemy. God, I would give anything to go back to that day and just… tell Max before we stormed in there. Or grabbed Amy by the hair and dragged her out. Or given Scud some kind of heads up. Maybe this whole thing could have been avoided somehow. They could have gone on secretly or eloped or something. Then nobody would have known and Amy wouldn't been in some hell hole somewhere at the mercy of someone with a serious grudge against the love of her life."

Janet took a shaky breath and willed herself not to start sobbing again. It was stupid, she knew it. They'd all been in life and death situations before, slight freak outs had occurred but then she remembered to concentrate on the mission and it passed. So why now couldn't she stop crying?

"Because it's Amy."

She didn't even know what that was supposed to mean. Did she think Amy couldn't handle herself in this type of situation? She sighed and admitted that, yes, she was worried Amy couldn't. Only because she doubted her own abilities if placed in such a precarious position. If she had been kidnapped, dragged off to god knows where and held hostage, she would imagine herself losing hope very quickly. And if she knew that the people who were supposed to be looking for her didn't even know where to begin, hope would amount to zilch in 0.2 seconds.

Despite all the issues that had arisen and, at least were thought to have been, put to bed over the last year or so, Janet still thought of Amy as the centre of their squad. The core of their usually well oiled, well functioning machine. The heart of their operation. She knew Max thought the same thing too and to have her taken away was melting the glue that held them all together.

It turned out Bobby was almost as useless as he was treacherous. The only information he had been able to give them was that Amy's kidnapping had been part of a bigger ploy to get to Lucy Diamond and that he had in fact been the anonymous informant that had 'leaked' Raphael's whereabouts and his fake shipment of weapons to the DEBS. He'd helped set everything up to get Amy kidnapped. He didn't know why Raphael wanted to get to Lucy, or have any inkling as to where his hideout might be. When asked if there was any chance he was holding back on them, Max had assured them that no, after she was done with him, he would have squealed like a pig while simultaneously prancing around in a tutu as long as she promised not to do anything else to him. It had given Janet a very pleasurable mental image at the time. Now though, it just left her feeling even more empty and cold then before she'd know Bobby had been involved.

Because if he, their only connection to Raphael, had no idea where he was holding Amy, what chance in hell did they have of finding her?

Resigned to the fact that sleep would elude her that night, Janet threw back the covers and swung her legs out of the bed. Maybe sitting and staring mindlessly at the television would help. She highly doubted it, but she never got the chance to find out. Because as her feet made contact with the floor and her eyes strayed to the French windows to her right, she realised she wasn't alone.

The scream that left her, she was sure, probably woke the entire floor. It was loud and high-pitched enough. It was only when she managed to hear a loud shushing noise over it and the figure stepped forward into the moonlight that she realised she'd over reacted a little.

"Lucy!" The name left her as a hoarse squeak and, eyes wide, she scrambled to her feet.

"God, aren't you supposed to be some kind of secret agent? Aren't spies supposed to be sneaky?" Brown eyes glinting in the half-light, Lucy glanced around the room to, Janet assumed, make sure they were alone.

"Aren't you supposed to knock before waltzing into someone's room?" She snapped back, folding her arms across her chest. "While they're sleeping?"

"You were awake." Lucy pointed out, moving further into the room. Janet's nose crinkled.

"Not the point."

"You asked me to come." And Janet's entire demeanour changed at the words. No longer did she hold a hostile stance, but her shoulder slumped defeated and her arms dropped to her sides. Her eyes returned to their normal size as she took in the woman before her. The last time she'd seen Lucy, she'd been half naked and had looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but there had been a fire in her eyes that was missing now. A fire that had been so prominent, Janet noticed it was missing. A fire that was linked to Amy, and now Amy was gone, it was as though the oxygen needed for the fire to survive was no longer there.

"Yeah." Janet sighed, eyes falling to the floor. "I did." She sat back down on the bed and Lucy mimicked her motions, taking a seat on the coffee table a few feet away.

"What…" Lucy began, but trailed off. Janet wasn't sure, would never ask, but she thought the ex-master criminal might be trying to fight back tears. She decided to spare the other woman the pain of having to ask the question.

"It was a set up. There was a double agent. We went down to stop a shipment of weapons that didn't exist, there were there waiting for Amy. She was in the back of the car and gone before we were even close enough to read the license plate." There was a long moment of silence before Lucy spoke.

"Who?" The brunette's voice trembled and Janet didn't need to ask what she meant.

"Bobby."

"Where is he?" And there was no doubt that if Janet had divulged that information, Lucy would have found her way into where he was being held and given a reason for people to really fear her. Whatever people thought she'd done to various agents over the years would have been nothing compared to what she would have done to Bobby.

"I can't tell you." The glare Lucy set on her sent chills down Janet's spine, but somehow the D.E.B remained, at least outwardly, calm. "Because I need you to be at least semi level-headed right now, and I kind of need you here. Not somewhere else beating the life out of Bobby." There was another pause as Janet decided whether or not to speak her next words. "Besides, Max already did that."

"Max." Contempt laced the words and whereas a year ago Janet would have jumped to the squad leader's defence, now she understood the tone of Lucy's voice. In Lucy's eyes, this was probably all Max's fault. If Max hadn't pushed Amy to stay, to forsake love and push Lucy away, none of this would be happening. Amy would have probably run off with Lucy and, while there was a chance she would have been seen as a traitor to her nation, at least she'd be safe.

Instead, she was god knows where being held by some madman with a vendetta.

"Did she at least find out anything useful?" Just when she thought her heart had sunk as deep as it could, it slipped even further.

"We know why he took her." The hope that lit Lucy's eyes was painful for Janet to behold. Because she knew that in seconds she was about to put it out. "He has her…" She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Because of you." She saw the light go out, saw the colour drain from Lucy's face, saw the almost imperceptible shaking of the diamond thief's hands and realised there wasn't a word for what she was feeling.

"Who is he?" Janet was almost afraid to speak his name.

"Raphael Rodriguez." Realisation washed over Lucy's face and she shakily got to her feet, lifting her hands to cover it.

"Oh god, this is my fault." And now Janet didn't need to wonder or ask, now she knew Lucy was crying. Her fingers pulled themselves harshly through her hair as she paced, mumbling things about her family and a feud, but Janet couldn't quiet make it all out. She didn't need to. She could fill in the gaps. Her heart ached as she realised she could only imagine what Lucy was feeling, what thoughts must be running through her mind. But there was something else too. There was a tiny, almost unnoticeable spark of hope.

Because if Amy had been captured because Raphael wanted Lucy, and Lucy knew him and why he wanted her, then maybe, just maybe Lucy was the very missing link they needed. Maybe Lucy held all the questions and answers they needed.