Hey, everyone. Now I'm in a phase where I need to put someone through lots and lots of pain. Unfortunately (or fortunately, take your pick), that someone has to be Sam. Sorry, Sam. I'll up your insurance premium after this.

Enjoy the whump, you whump lovers!

WARNING : Not for the faintest of heart, so I rate this as T.

Summary : A number of cops have been randomly abducted before they are later found dead days later. When one of them is eventually taken, Team One has to work against the clock to find him before he also becomes another casualty.

Constable Sam Braddock leapt over the last couple of steps and burst through the door before finding himself atop the roof of the five-storey building. Shouldering his Remy, he got to one knee against the railing and took aim.

"Sierra One in position," he calmly spoke into his com link, having the full aerial view of the hostage situation now taken place in front of a convenience store across the street below.

"Copy that, Sam," Sergeant Parker responded, his gaze still focused on the man who held a teenage girl at gun-point just yards away. "Eddie?"

"We've asked around but nobody knows who this guy is, Boss. He just came into the store, grabbed the girl and dragged her out. They have been standing there for almost ten minutes," the team leader replied as he and Leah cautiously emerged from the convenience store behind the subject. Earlier, soon after Team One arrived at the scene, the two SRU officers had taken the back entrance into the store. As they made their way to the front, they had managed to get brief info from several employees and customers on how it had all began.

"The witnesses believe that he picked the girl at random," Leah said, aiming her MP-5 at the subject. "The two don't seem to know each other."

"Yeah, I think so too." Parker nodded. "Spike, any luck?"

From inside the command truck, the team's tech expert replied, "I just finished running the image of his face through the database. So far, no match to anyone. He hasn't been flagged in the system before. Must be an upright citizen after all, but I'll keep trying to find out who this guy is."

"Sarge, something is not right," said Jules, who stood next to Parker behind the safety of their truck. "Just look at him. He's shaking so badly, and I mean not because of the cold. He clearly looks scared."

"I know what you mean, Jules. This is not your everyday hostage taker," Parker agreed. "He hasn't stated any demands and he keeps glancing at his watch. What is he waiting for anyway?"

For several moments, the Sergeant frowned as he grew thoughtful, trying to digest the situation. "Okay, Team. I'll try and ask him again. We'll see if he's gonna answer me this time."

With Jules putting up a shield for him, Parker moved closer towards the subject. "Sir, are you ready to speak to us now? Mind telling us what's going on here?"

The subject, pale and trembling, looked around him wildly. "I…I can't. Not yet."

"Why is that?"

"Not yet, okay? Just leave me alone!" the man shouted back. He was so agitated that the hand holding the gun wavered dangerously at the girl's temple, causing his hostage to cringe in tears.

Parker put up his arms in disarming manner. "Sir, calm down. We just want to help. Let's just talk."

"I can't talk! He…he is watching us. Please, just…just five more minutes and this will be over."

The Sergeant's antennae of instinct suddenly went up. "Who is watching, sir? What are you saying? Did someone force you to do this?"

Weeping now, the subject bit his lower lip and refused to answer, but it was answer enough to Parker and his team.

"He's clearly under duress. We need to find out what's really going on but we can't do that if this guy wouldn't even tell us his name," said Jules with a shake of her head.

Parker agreed. "Someone is threatening him. That's why he's afraid to say anything."

"But why the time frame? Why five minutes?" Ed pondered.

"This doesn't look like a simple hostage situation. Another subject is in play here and he's pulling all the strings." Parker then asked, "Sam, how's your vantage?"

"All clear. I see no sign of hostiles," Sam responded, squinting through the telescopic sight of his rifle. "Whoever the other subject is, and if he is watching, he is well hidden."

Right after he finished talking, Sam heard a soft scuffing sound behind him. His sense of perceptiveness went into overdrive, screaming back at him, "DANGER!". He whirled around instantly. But before he could even do a thing, a blunt object was slammed hard against his temple.

Sam grunted with pain and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"What was that?" Ed wondered out loud when he heard the sudden strange sound in their com link.

"Yeah, what the heck was that?" Parker also frowned as he exchanged looks with Jules. "Spike? Is there someone else on this frequency?"

"No, Boss. Just us."

Still puzzled, the Sergeant ordered, "Team One, I need everyone to report your status."

Even though they were visible to the Sergeant's eyes, Ed and Leah checked their positions into their radio, followed by Jules and Spike. But of Sam, there was no response.

"Sam, do you copy?" Parker asked when there was a continuing radio silence from their teammate. He glanced up at the roof, trying to locate the team's sniper. "Speak to me, Sam. Are you good?"

"Greg, I have a bad feeling about this. I will go and find out what's wrong," said Ed, already moving. "Leah, Jules, you guys stay and cover Boss. Spike, check Sam's transponder. Where's he at?"

"He's still there, Ed. Not moving at all. I'm sending his position to your PDA."

"Great, Spike. You're with me."

"Copy." Grabbing his MP-5, Spike then jumped out of the command truck and went to join Ed. Inside the building, they split up. Ed rushed up the stairs while Spike stayed at the foyer to keep an eye on the elevators.

"Ed, talk to me," Parker demanded, glancing at Jules. Sam's significant other clearly looked trouble, but she was trying hard not to show it.

"Almost there. I meet no one coming down," Ed said, panting slightly. Soon afterwards, he spoke again, sounding highly worried this time, "Sam is not here."

"He's gone?" Jules asked, unable to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

Parker's frown grew deeper. "But where would he go? He won't just up and leave his Sierra position, would he?"

"I found his rifle and his vest," Ed explained. "But Sam is nowhere to be seen. That's not all, Boss."

"What do you mean, Ed?"

"There's some blood. Could be his. There are signs of scuffle here, and I found a blood-spattered brick. I believed someone hit him with it from behind." Ed's face was grim as he stared at the dark red spots on the floor, still fresh and warm. "Spike, any luck with the elevators?"

"No sign of Sam or his attacker, not that we know how his attacker looks like," Spike urgently replied. He had been closely watching everyone who emerged from the two boxes. "Maybe we just missed them. They could be long gone by now."

"No, I don't think so. I was facing the front of this building the whole time, and I would have noticed if anything is out of the ordinary or—" He broke off when he heard the sound of an engine starting, followed by squealing tyres. It came from the back alley. Ed ran over to have a look and cursed like mad when he saw the steel staircase hugging the outside rear wall. He had also caught a glimpse of a car swiftly pulling out into the street behind the block before it disappeared from view.

"Damn it! He took the fire escape!" Ed fumed, already running towards the stairs. "Winnie, alert all unis on a fast moving dark blue sedan within the vicinity of five blocks. I was unable to catch the plate number."

"Copy that."

"Winnie, the unis are required to apprehend any suspicious looking vehicle. Let them all know that they need to be extra cautious due to a possible abducted officer, understand?"

"Understood, Boss," was the dispatcher's immediate reply.

"I don't know about you guys, but this whole thing is giving me déjà vu," Leah suddenly said from her position at the convenience store.

"I know what you mean. This seems eerily familiar with what has been happening the last several weeks." Jules nodded, turning pale with fear for Sam's safety. "The Cop's Killer has struck again."

"Hopefully not, Jules. But if this were indeed the Cop's Killer, we will find him and get Sam back. Alive," Parker said, trying to reassure her. But deep down, he knew that those could probably be empty words.

It had been over a month since the Cop's Killer began his serial murders. To date, nine city cops had died by his hands. The police officers, men and women, had been taken off the streets while they were on duty, answering distress calls. Clues of the abducted cops' whereabouts were then sent to their COs, who then proceeded to send rescue teams. But there was nothing else to rescue. All nine cops were found dead in the end, succumbing to injuries from violent abuse and merciless torture.

The Cop's Killer was undeniably one sick bastard. His killings spree shook the entire nation so badly that a special task force had been formed to hunt him down, but he still continued to be at large. There was no clear indication of his true identity, and no one knew what had driven him to start the whole madness.

And now he had upped his game and taken Team One's very own.

"Boss, as soon as we get the location on that car, I'm going after it," Ed angrily said when he stepped outside. Spike had run back into the command truck to find if he would have any luck with the traffic cameras.

"Eddie, we need to focus on the subject with the hostage here," Parker said in a calming tone. "I know you're worried about our teammate, but this guy might be the connection to Sam's abductor. I'm sure he can give us some clues if I can just make him talk."

"Then do it fast, Greg. Time is wasting," was Ed's abrupt reply.

Turning to the subject, the Sergeant said, "Sir, your five minutes is up. Can you please lower down your weapon and talk this through?"

His eyes wild with fear, the subject looked around him with indecision. "I don't know. I…I'm scared."

"I know you are. So let us help you."

After several heartbeats, the man dropped the gun and stepped away from the young woman, who ran in tears into Jules' arms.

"Hands on your head!" Leah barked as she pushed the subject to his knees. The man did as he was told, and let himself being handcuffed.

Parker stared at him and asked, "What's your name, sir?"

"I am Liam Hart. I'm so sorry for all this. I had no choice," the man replied, his eyes red. "He made me do this."

"Who are you talking about, Mr. Hart?"

"The man…I don't know who he is, never seen him before. I was driving with my little girl. Our car stopped at the red light when this man suddenly jumped into the backseat with her. He had a gun. He would kill my daughter if I didn't do anything he said. So I drove here as he ordered, took the fake gun he gave me and grabbed a hostage. He wanted me to stand outside for fifteen minutes where he can see me, and that I shouldn't say anything until he releases my daughter or he...he would shoot my baby dead!"

Leah held up the gun that Liam had dropped. She nodded. "It's not real. They use this type of fake guns in the movies."

"God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" Liam wept. "I didn't know what to do. I swear, I didn't! But I just couldn't go through with it anymore, and now my daughter is gone!"

"Mr. Hart, you've got to calm down. We need you to help us find your daughter and the man who took her. Are you able to do that?"

Liam sniffed and nodded. "Okay. Okay, I can help."

"Leah, take him into the command truck. I want him to describe the man he saw to Spike."

Ed added, "Boss, ask him if he owns a dark blue sedan."

When Parker repeated the question to Liam, the poor man nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes. My baby is still strapped in her chair in the back seat the last time I saw her."

"What's the making and plate number?"

After Liam had given him the details, Parker said, "You got that, Winnie?"

"Yes, Boss. Sending them to the unis right now."

Ed's eyes had dangerous glint in them when he said, "It has been a trap from the start. This is the Cop's Killer's handiwork, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, Eddie. I believe so too." Parker glanced warily at Jules who stood silently, staring back at him. She was putting up a brave front for them all but the Sergeant knew how close she was to breaking down. "Then we will become his ultimate downfall, because no one messes with any one of us and get away with it."

Grimly, Jules nodded. "We will get Sam back."

"Indeed, we will."

A few blocks over, a man drove into an underground parking lot. He steered the dark blue car towards the lowest level of the subbasements. He parked next to another sedan, a white Toyota. Ignoring the crying little girl in the backseat, the man got out and went to open the rear trunk.

The blond cop was still unconscious, blood still dribbling from his head wound. Smiling, the man inspected the duct tapes binding the cop's wrists and ankles. He then tore another strip of duct tape and wrapped it around the cop's face over his mouth. Lastly, he took out a hood made out of a coarse woolen cloth and slipped it over the cop's head, tying it at the neck to hold it in place.

Satisfied that the young cop was fully secured, the man hoisted his captive onto his shoulder and carried him over to the white Toyota, dumping him into the trunk. Slamming the trunk shut, the man got behind the wheel of his new ride and drove quickly away, leaving behind the still bawling little girl, a note pinned to her pink jumper which said;

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top.

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.

When the bough breaks, and so will this cop.

Down will cop go, dead stiff and all…

Sam moaned in agony as he tried to move, only to find that he couldn't. His arms were bound behind his back, his legs tied down. It was also completely dark, even after he rapidly blinked his eyes. He panicked at first, thinking that the blow to his head had rendered him blind. When he finally realized that there was a hood covering him to his neck, he calmed down a bit and tried to work out an escape plan.

What escape plan? he berated himself. I can't even think with the crazy drums pounding in my brain.

With much difficulty, Sam groped around as he tried to gather his bearing. Soon after, he managed to answer some of the questions that were floating in his mind.

What?

He was stuffed inside a narrow and confined space, like the trunk of a car.

Why?

Clearly, he was being abducted.

Who?

Sam wasn't able to see his attacker's face, but he was sure it was a man. No woman could hit him that hard. Well, except for Jules.

Where?

The car was moving, so no help there. It couldn't have gone far, might still be within city limits. How long was he out anyway?

How?

What do you mean, how? I was real stupid, so that's how the bastard managed to get a jump on me!

Sam cried out against his gag when the car suddenly hit a rough bump, sending him flying. He knocked himself silly against the hood and was still reeling from the pain when the car hit more bumps, rattling his teeth and jarring his bone.

We must be on a dirt road then, and this crazy driver deliberately runs over every pothole he sees to—

Before Sam could even finish the thought, the car skidded when the tyres hit a patch of ice. The back end of the sedan swung wildly to one side and swiped against something hard and solid. The momentum threw him against the wall, stunning him into a stupor.

When Sam fully came to minutes later, he noticed that the vehicle had stopped moving. The driver turned off the engine and was opening the car door. Sam heard footsteps approaching and braced himself. A blast of chill air hit him when the trunk was yanked open.

"Hello, there," a man's voice greeted him, sounding amused. "Did you enjoy the ride?"

"Up yours, you son of a bitch!" Sam shouted in reply. His words were indecipherable due to his gag, but his abductor laughed anyway, as if he understood the sentiment.

"Not long now, officer," the man said, reaching for Sam's arm. "You're gonna meet you due—oof!"

Sam's wild kick had caught the man square in the chest, tumbling him backwards. Instead of getting angry though, the man laughed all the harder. "Ah, a fighter. That's the spirit. Don't want you to go all sniveling and cowering like most of your comrades. Pathetic, really. On the other hand…"

Without warning, a heavy fist slammed against Sam's solar plexus, followed by another punch to his kidney. Then he was grabbed around the collar before being yanked out of the trunk to land hard on the cold ground. His uniform was quickly saturated with melted snow.

"I. Truly. Hate it. When you. Fight. Back!" Yelling angrily, the man kicked his victim to the rhythm of each word he spoke. Blinded and unable to defend himself, Sam curled himself into a ball and waited for the onslaught to end. He thought he heard his ribs cracked, though the pain didn't register yet. Only numbness.

"You cops are all alike," the man shouted again, but at least he had stopped kicking. "Just because you're the law, you think you can do whatever you want, huh? Well, you're wrong. I will show them all. No more police brutality! No more cops taking matters into their own hands. Today, I rule. So let's see if your cop friends can try and catch me. As long as I walk free, I will kill each and every one of you till there are no cops left!"

The man stepped over the SRU officer to rummage in the back of the trunk. Something dropped with a thud next to Sam's head. He couldn't tell what it was. Could be a sack of flour, or a bag of books, or even a baby hippo for all he cared.

Next, the man returned to the front of the car, leaving Sam to take stock of his injuries. As the pain slowly began to kick in, he couldn't stop the groans from escaping. Every inch of his body hurt, as if he had been run through a wringer. And he was freezing, so much so that his body started to shake uncontrollably. Late winter was not a good time to be abducted and dragged to…uh…to wherever it was the man had dragged him to.

If only he could see.

Sam brushed the hood against the rough ground in an attempt to dislodge it, to no avail. It was securely tied around his neck. He worked at the tape around his wrists. It held fast, with no room for release. Moving with extra care, he rolled onto one shoulder and painstakingly pushed himself to his knees. He wobbled there, wondering what to do next, when his abductor came back.

"Don't you dare try to escape!" the man roared with a punch to Sam's face, sending him flying onto his back. As Sam lay there, the wind knocked out of him, the man sat hard on his chest and slapped him around for kicks.

"You're trying to run?"

Slap.

"Hey, cop. You think you can outrun me?'

Another slap.

"Think again, dickhead! I have big plans for you. And your cop friends will know that I mean business when they find your lifeless body!"

The abductor traded to punching this time, hitting Sam in his left eye.

"You are dead, cop. You are so dead!"

Sam didn't know how many punches he took. He lost count after the fifth, close to blacking out by then. In fact, he didn't really care anymore. He didn't care when the shirt was being yanked out of his pants. He didn't care when the boots on his feet and the belt around his waist were taken away. He also didn't care when the man cut the clothes off his body using a pair of scissors. Weak from cold and agony, he had no strength left to fight anymore. His mind alternately slipped in and out of consciousness most of the time, as if he were floating in between dreams. All he wanted to do was sleep, and so he surrendered himself to oblivion.

If he were still awake, Sam would know it when his abductor tied a thick rope around his bound ankles before throwing the other end over a branch of a nearby tree. If he were still awake, Sam would realize the exact moment when his body lifted off the ground as his abductor yanked at the other end of the rope, pulling him higher and higher until he was hanging about ten feet in the air, upside down. If he were still awake, Sam could feel the harsh biting wind against his exposed skin.

However, Sam was fully oblivious to any of these. He didn't even know it when his abductor got back into the car and drove away, leaving him alone in the isolated place, hanging naked from a tree, swinging in the late winter breeze.

Moving further and further away, the Cop's Killer sang cheerfully to himself,

Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top.

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.

When the bough breaks, and so will this cop.

Down will cop go, dead stiff and all…

TBC…

Later, guys...