And now, Adromir's Fictions Production is proud to present...(drum rolls)…the GRAND FINALE!

Uh…is it really that grand? I guess you'll be the judge on that.

Happy reading!

It had already turned dark by the time the SRUs and Detective Riley's investigating team rushed into Warden Woods at high speed. With the disgraced 'Taxi Bandit' showing the way, they drove down a dirt road until he gave them the signal to stop.

"Are you sure this is where you left him?" was Parker's first question as they exited their vehicle.

"Yes, this is the place," Curtis quickly replied. "I recognize the fallen tree over there."

"You are absolutely sure?" Parker stressed again with a hard glare. "So then where is he? We see no sign of him."

"I left him between those trees." The man nudged at the direction with his chin. "Just walk through the thicket, about thirty yards in. Not much further."

Having the wildest urge to shoot the man in the mouth, Ed kept a careful distance until the detectives had bundled Curtis back into their vehicle, cuffs and all. He immediately turned to his teammates. "Better grab some flashlights, guys."

"I'll bring along the thermal imaging scope," said Spike, "In case there's any surprises waiting for us out there in the dark."

"Smart thinking, Spike. As per usual," Raf complimented, grabbing a bottled water from the front seat of their SUV. "And this one's for Sam. He's gonna need it when we find him."

"Good. Let's go!" Ed announced and led the way.

"Talk us through, Eddie," Parker reminded as the three men began to track deeper into the woods. Jules stood next to him watching in silent anxiety, longing to follow them. On the way over, the Sergeant had instructed her to stay behind and leave it to the guys to go find Sam. Her first reaction was to protest, but she realized that he had his reasons. The Sergeant only wanted to spare her from any unfavorable sights. Who knew what type of condition Sam was in? He could be terribly wounded, or even dead. She understood Parker's way of thinking, but it didn't make her feel less guilty by just standing there and waited.

Glaring at the backseat of the unmarked car where Vince Curtis sat alone, Jules wished she could stride over there and kick the bastard in the nuts. Or better yet, shove her gun up his ass and pull the trigger! That was real unprofessional of her, but a girl could fantasize.

Ed, Raf and Spike carefully made their way through the thicket. The darkness swallowed them whole in an instant. Without the flashlights and the thermal scope, they wouldn't have been able to see a thing, let alone finding anyone in the thick black soup.

Their repeated calls for Sam were never responded. Only silence greeted them in return. After a full minute of fruitless search, Ed slowly grew furious. He thought that Curtis had duped them all by deliberately giving the wrong location, sending them on a wild goose chase. He was about to turn back to confront the bastard when Spike suddenly cried out, "Guys, I see him!"

"Where?" asked Ed, swinging his flashlight about. But he only saw trees and more trees.

Already running, Spike pointed at the screen of his thermal scope. "Over there, about twenty yards ahead!"

The three men quickly rushed over towards the spot, crushing twigs and vegetation underfoot. Upon reaching Sam, they came to a halt and stared in dismay.

"My god," Raf muttered, shaken by the sight.

"We've found him," Spike said, his voice quavering from the shock of seeing his friend's awful condition. Sitting slump with his back against the tree, Sam's face looked so gaunt and pale. He didn't appear to be moving.

Parker exhaled in relief. "Good work, guys. How is he?"

Kneeling down by Sam's side, Ed slipped off his glove and touched Sam's neck, looking for pulse. It was alarmingly weak, but it was there. "Boss, he's alive. But you'd better get the EMS here ASAP. He doesn't look good."

"Copy that."

With much care, Ed untied the gag and pulled it out of Sam's mouth. He then gently tapped his teammate's cheek, hoping for a response. "Sam. Hey, Samo. Can you hear me, buddy? Sam?"

Slowly, Sam stirred and opened his eyes a slit. He looked dazed. Confused. He tried to speak, but only raspy sound came out.

"No, Sam, don't talk just yet." Ed turned to Raf. "Give me the bottled water."

After Raf handed it over, Ed soaked his fingertips and ran them over Sam's dry and cracked lips. He repeated the process a couple more times until Sam was able to suck in most of the moisture. Ed was careful not to give Sam too much to drink, as it would only make him sick. As if he wasn't ill enough to begin with.

Raf had stepped behind the tree to cut Sam off his bonds. He cursed out loud when he saw the state of his teammate's battered wrists. "Aw, man. This must hurt like hell."

Spike, meanwhile, was cutting the ties around Sam's ankles. "Yeah. It looks the same here. Makes me want to flush Curtis down the toilet, head first!"

Even after he was completely unbound, Sam still couldn't move any of his limbs. In fact, he had long lost the feeling to his arms and legs. Ed noticed this, and so he said, "Raf, let's bring his arms forward. Okay, careful now."

The moment his arms were back to their normal position, Sam was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of agony so great he couldn't stop himself from letting out a silent scream. Ed and Raf worked together, chafing and kneading his shoulder joints to let the blood flow easier. On the other end, Spike was rubbing the bottom of Sam's feet, muttering about how cold as ice they were.

Minutes later, the pain lessened and Sam managed a wan smile. His voice came out in a whisper, saying, "That was…fun."

Grinning, Ed patted his shoulder. "Yep. Fun weekend, huh, Samo?"

"The best." Leaning his head back, Sam laughed. It quickly turned into a deep groan, worrying the others.

"Sam, you'd better take it easy. Save your strength," Spike advised.

"Can't feel…my ass…numb," Sam moaned, his face screwing in a grimace.

"Trust me, buddy. Your ass is still there," Ed assured him, frowning when he realized that Sam's skin was too hot to the touch. "He's burning up."

"Ed." Raf lifted Sam's left wrist, showing the telltale red streaks down the arm.

"Septicemia," Ed gravely remarked. He had also noticed Sam's shortness of breath and racy heartbeat. "He needs medical attention now before he goes into septic shock. Boss, where's the EMS?"

"Five minutes, Ed," was the Sergeant's quick answer.

"We should have brought one along with us earlier." Spike shook his head regretfully. "Now we're wasting time waiting for it to arrive."

" 's okay, Spike," Sam said, barely audible. "I'm…f…fine."

"Of course you're fine, you knucklehead," Spike shot back, his great fear for his friend making him angry. "How the heck did you manage to get your ass kicked by a pathetic taxi driver, huh? You, a badass ex-Special Forces. What, stupid much?"

"Spike." Ed and Raf gave him a pointed look.

Sam swallowed hard. "I'm…s…sorry."

Instantly contrite, Spike cooled down and gave Sam's hand a squeeze. "No, buddy. Don't apologize. There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm just glad we've found you. Now it's time we take you home."

"Home. Let's go." Sam tried to push himself upright, only to fall back in a sprawl against the tree.

"Sam, you're not supposed to be moving yet," Ed said, gathering Sam close as the younger man began to shake, a clear indication that his body was going into shock.

"Ed, don't," Sam croaked, giving Ed's chest a weak shove. He looked highly embarrassed. "I…uh…I stink."

The odor of stale sweat and urine was high in the air, but Ed and the other two were completely unfazed about it. Ed's face softened as he wrapped his arms around his ailing teammate in an attempt to give him warmth. "It's okay, buddy. It's okay. Don't worry about it."

Sam had not enough energy to push away again. He let himself being held as uncontrollable chills wrecked through his body. His teeth started to chatter, making speeches difficult. "J…Jules…where's sh…she?"

"She's okay," Raf answered, "She's waiting for you with the Boss at the command truck."

"T…tell her…"

"Tell her what, Sam?"

"I'm real s…sorry…"

Ed chuckled. "No, you'd better tell her yourself. She's mad enough to—Sam? Sam! "

They watched in alarm as Sam's head dropped forward as he lost consciousness.

Grimly, Ed looked up. "Okay. We've gotta move fast before he's too far gone. Raf, you take his legs, and I'll take his shoulders. Spike?"

"I'll light the way," the team's tech expert had stood ready with a flashlight and the thermal scope.

Quickly, they cut through the darkness towards the dirt road where the sirens of an ambulance was heard approaching fast. Between them, their teammate's life was steadily slipping away.

An hour later found the team standing in the hallway of the ICU at St. Simon Hospital. They were listening intently as to Dr. Alan Cummings gave details about one particular patient under his care.

"When he first arrived here, it was simply touch and go, that's how serious his condition is," the doctor said. "He flatlined twice in the ambulance, and once in my ER. Despite all that, he's gonna make it. This Officer Braddock is quite a stubborn young man, is he?"

Parker exchanged amused glances with the others. "You have no idea, doctor."

"It's a good thing that he's exceptionally fit. Most septicemia cases like this end up with fatality, but I guess he is not most people," the doctor wryly commented with a shake of his head. "However, we need to detain him here for at least a couple more days so that we can monitor the infection. He's severely dehydrated and still so very weak. He has also contracted a mild pneumonia from the exposure. But based on my past experience dealing with officers of the law, I got a feeling that he's going to jump onto his feet tomorrow and go back to kicking some asses!"

As the guys broke into quiet laughter, Jules inched closer towards the doorway that led to Sam's room. For a long moment she just stood there watching him sleep, her face a mixture of sorrow and regret. Slowly, she walked in and approached his bed. Her heart broke to pieces to see him looking so frail, with a myriad of tubes and wires linked to his still body. A nasal canula was attached to his nose, supplying him with fresh oxygen while an intravenous fluid line ran down from the IV stand into the vein in his arm to rehydrate him.

Gently, she took hold of his hand. She read the wordings on the hospital bracelet around his bandaged wrist, which stated his full name and birth date; Samuel W. Braddock. April 7.

April 7?

And then it hit her.

Today is already April 9. Sam has been spending his entire birthday tied to a tree, all alone. And I totally forgot it. Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…

Jules closed her eyes as tears of remorse ran down her cheeks. Inside, she couldn't stop berating herself. If she had not left Sam behind in the parking lot that night, none of this would have happened. They could have celebrated his birthday by walking hand-in-hand in the park or watching movies or eating ice-creams in bed, whatever. Not like this.

God, not like this…

"Jules?"

Sam's voice was so soft that Jules almost missed it. She quickly wiped her tears away and gave him a big smile. "Hey, baby. Welcome back. About time you wake up. I've been crazy with worry."

"My bad." He emitted a weak grin. "Won't happen again."

"Don't make any promises you can't keep," she gently rebuked. "You're a trouble magnet, if you must know."

"I'm very sorry," he rasped, squeezing her hand as much as his strength allowed. "I was such a jerk."

"No, Sam. It's me who should apologize. If we had driven home together like usual, you wouldn't have been robbed and get so badly hurt. This is my fault."

"Not true, Jules." He gave her a beseeching gaze. "Shits happen. Just let it go."

Giving his hand a returning squeeze, she nodded. "I just can't wait for you to get better. I have plans for your belated birthday."

"My birthday?"

"What, you also forgot? Let me make it up to you then. Anything you want, just ask. I'll make it happen."

"Anything?" Sam grinned lasciviously.

"Easy, cowboy. Like I said, we need to wait until you get better."

Sam groaned good-naturedly. "Waiting is pain. So what plans do you have in mind?"

"I have a few that I need to think through." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "And I recall someone saying that make-up sex is phenomenal."

Sam's grin grew wider. "Honey, you've read my mind."

"Hey, Brallaghan. Are we interrupting anything?"

Sergeant Parker's sudden voice startled them both, causing Jules to blush. Sam would have blushed too if he wasn't so pale. The rest of Team One had quietly walked into the room, glad to see Sam already awake and talking.

"How're you doing, buddy?" Spike asked as he and Sam bumped knuckles.

Sam grimaced. "I'm in a hospital. How do you think?"

"At least you're not in the morgue," Ed dryly said, giving Sam's arm a hefty pat. "You look half dead when we found you. Thought we were already too late."

"You're lucky your team found you just in time, Officer Braddock. You were too far into shock that it's a miracle you're still alive," said the doctor. Retracing his steps to the door, he told the others. "I'll leave you all to your visit but don't be too long. He needs his rest."

"We hear you, doc." Parker nodded his understanding. He turned his attention back to Sam. "So, buddy, you got into the wrong taxi."

"Tell me about it," Sam replied a little sheepishly. "It's the 'Taxi Bandit', isn't it?"

"Yeah. And he has already been caught. If he hasn't shown us where you were, we wouldn't be able to find you till now," said Raf.

"Ed scared him so much he jumped all over himself to cooperate," Parker added, much to their amusement. After their laughter died down, Sam gazed at them with gratitude.

"Look, guys. Thank you…for finding me," he said, his voice breaking. "God knows how close I was to…to just give up. I was…only waiting to die. Guess I should have…more faith in the team. For that I apologize."

"No, Sam," Ed said, squeezing his shoulder. "No need for apology. That was no easy feat for anyone, but you've made it. You're here with us, you've survived. Don't ever be sorry for that."

Gazing into Jules' soft brown eyes, Sam then smiled. "You're right. I'm not sorry at all."

THE END

Yep, it's done. Finished. This fic finally ends. Everyone can take a deep breath now. ;)

I'm glad you find this story a pleasure to read. Thank you so much for spending your time with me. And to those reviewers who never tires in pushing me to update, I'm glad you guys did that because I was this close to drop the fic halfway. My plot bunnies suddenly decided to go honeymoon in Antartica. Yeah, go figure. There're also some reviewers who went the extra length by giving this fic super-extra long reviews. All writers love that, me the most (wink, wink). You're a godsend, guys. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all your support!

As my plot bunnies are on sabbatical, the sequel to 'The Lie' is still work-in-progress. Don't worry. I'll eventually put it up soon. Now I'm off to watch 'Bourne Legacy'! See ya later alligator!

Adromir has left the building!