Fan Fiction

Part I: Rebirth
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Part II: Reunion
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Over the next while, the only contact Crockett had with anyone was when Fuente's heavies visited to pump more heroin into his system, not even waiting until the effects of the previous high had worn off. On the whole, except for the heroin, he was not mistreated. It seemed that Fuente's intention was not to kill Crockett, but to turn him into a very serious heroin addict. Although his leg was kept chained to the bed, his hands were freed, and he could move around the room to eat, wash and perform the necessary daily functions when he was steady enough to do so. In his more lucid moments, when the drug wore off some, he tried to find a way to free himself, but there didn't see to be any way out, and even if he did, there was no where to go. The young man brought food and toiletries when needed - even a portable electric razor so he could shave. He never said more than he had to, but Sonny got the impression that he was not a willing participant in this operation. After he did what was needed he returned to the big house on the other side of the island.

Sonny didn't know how Fuente was planning to use him to get the money -- and had no idea what he meant by his providing entertainment, unless it meant watching him turn into a strung-out junkie. But how would that that help him get back the 3 mil plus interest that he thought Sonny had stolen from him. If Fuente thought he was going to turn dirty to feed a habit that he had no intention of maintaining once he got out of here, Fuente had another thing coming.

But that wasn't Fuente's intention at all.

His intention became a little clearer the day Fuente himself paid a visit. He brought along his goons, and the kid. "I hope Ricardo is taking good care of you Crockett. He doesn't seem to enjoy my little game as much as Ramon and Carlos do. I promised his uncle a long time ago that I would look after him and teach him the family business when he was old enough. But he is too much like his mother. I need to toughen him up a bit first. So he will be taking care of you. You take good care of Mr. Crockett, Ricardo. Make sure he's around long enough for me to get my money back."

Sonny started to get a bit concerned - what was Fuente talking about? He was already feeling a bit agitated. For the first time since he had been escorted away from Salt Cay so unexpectedly, the heroin had been allowed to wear off completely. He had no idea how long he had been here, but it was long enough that his system had become heavily addicted to the drug. With the long delay since the last dose, he could feel the tenseness rising, and the first hints of the shakes. He felt cool even though sweat was rolling off his brow. Was Fuente planning to get his kicks by denying him the heroin he needed to keep the shakes away. Sonny had a pretty good idea what that would be like -- he had seen too many junkies suffer the DTs when they were deprived of the drug. He wasn't looking forward to it, but it would mean that he would get this poison out of his system, and that was worth any cost. But how would that get Fuente his money back?

"And now," Fuente went on, "You will become the star of your own home movie. The pay may not be so great for you, but, if your old friends still care for you, it should bring in a very good return for me." He looked at his thugs. "Get Crockett ready. And don't take any chances with him. He can be a very resourceful person."

Sonny didn't like the sound of this, and it didn't take long to find out he was right to be concerned. The next thing he knew, his hands were tied behind his back, the leg shackle was removed and he was being led outside. For the first time in he didn't know how long he felt the sun on his face and breathed fresh outside air. He didn't have much time to enjoy the feeling though. He was prodded on for what seemed a few hundred feet. Then he felt a gun pointed at his head as his hands were untied from behind and then re-tied over his head. His arms were pulled upwards until his feet were barely left on the ground.

"Welcome to your nightmare, Crockett. And don't forget to smile for the camera."

The first jab was excruciating. It was an electrical probe of some sort, a cattle prod probably. It was shoved right into the small of his back. The scream of pain was involuntary. What the hell was happening!

The pain continued. The shocks came from any direction to every part of his body. His arms ached as his legs collapsed and they bore his full weight until he could try to stand again. On top of that the DTs were ramping up. His muscles and joints ached and he spewed out his guts all over himself. It was a nightmare, and they wouldn't let him sleep. Every time he passed out, a bucket of water was thrown over him to revive him. Then the pain started all over again. The water only intensified the shocks, and the DTs got worse. Eventually his mind began to wander. His body still felt the pain, but it seemed as though the screams were coming from someone else.

"Oh God -- please stop!" a voice inside his head said, or was that his voice. By this time, he couldn't tell.

Eventually it did stop, but he had no idea how long it had been. And then someone jabbed a needle into his arm and he felt the immediate relief of the opiate travelling through his system. It felt good -- the pain went away. A distant voice said, "Smile for the camera Crockett. We want to make sure your friends see those beautiful eyes open wide when the junk hits your system". Despite his best efforts, he couldn't help but sigh as relief flooded through his body.

They cut him down and he collapsed to the ground. "Thank God," went through his head. "It feels so good."

In Miami and New York respectively, Castillo and Tubbs had watched the full two-hour tape. At the end was a still with the promised instructions for canceling further tapes.

In New York Tubbs paled. That long shift he had just come off was a bust of one of Fuente's shipments. "Ah Sonny," he said to no one in particular, "I'm sorry man. Hang in there pal. We'll get you outta there."

He picked up the phone and called OCB in Miami. "This is Detective Ricardo Tubbs in New York. Can I speak with Lieutenant Castillo please?"...

When Castillo came on the line, Tubbs uttered in a shaky voice, "We've got to talk."

"I know," was the reply. "I'll make the necessary arrangements to get you down to Miami right away."

Castillo had once told Sonny that he didn't use markers to get favours. This time was different though. He blamed himself for this mess. Years ago, he had let Cates set Crockett up with Fuente. Cates was an 18-year undercover vice cop with the DEA, and had been playing Fuente for a while. The three million had been stolen by a small-time hood who worked for Fuente. Cates was working undercover in the Fuente operation at the time and had seen Moroto take the money. He followed him and found out where he hid it. Shortly afterwards Crockett busted Moroto and sent him to prison.

A year later, Moroto asked Crockett to visit him in jail because he had something for him. While Sonny was with him, Moroto blew his own head off with a homemade gun. Cates decided to use the incident to make off with the money Moarato had stolen. He convinced Internal Affairs that Moroto had told Crockett where the money was and Crockett had turned bad and had taken the money. At the same time he used his cover with Fuente to convince him of the same thing. Then he pretended to help IA get the goods on Crockett and to help OCB nail Fuente.

Castillo knew that Crockett was a good cop and that something was rotten with Cates' story, but he and the department let it happen anyway, knowing he was risking Crockett's reputation and his life. By the time it was over, Cates was dead, the money lay at the bottom of Atlantic off the coast and IA knew that Crockett had been set up, but Fuente still believed that Crockett had the money. After all these years Castillo figured it was water under the bridge, until now. He owed Crockett. He had created this nightmare for him and he would get him out of it. And he figured the Miami Dade Police Department owed Crockett something too. Castillo closed the files on his desk and headed straight to Captain Brody's office.

The lieutenant was a man of few words. His briefing was short and to the point, and his request at the end said he wouldn't take no for an answer. He was going in after Crockett. Either the department gave him what he needed or he was taking leave as of right now.

Brody knew he was serious. Castillo didn't make many requests and never issued ultimatums. And the department wanted Fuente. They had for years, but he always managed to stay one step ahead of them. This could be the opportunity they needed to use his own greed against him. Since 9/11, no one was taking well to foreign nationals threatening American citizens. Maybe this incident with Crockett was just the thing that would loosen the purse strings to finally allow them to go after and bring in Fuente -- and that would be a big feather in his cap to take into his upcoming retirement.

Brody gave Castillo what he asked for. Castillo could choose his own team from the department and head up a task force to go after Crockett. And Brody would talk to the Commissioner about bringing in outside parties, including Detective Ricardo Tubbs from New York. That was one of the things Castillo had asked for. Tubbs would be a good fit. He had been Crockett's partner for five years when he worked for Miami Vice, he had received a copy of the tape as well and he had been working Fuente for quite a while in New York. He had the background and more than enough reason to want to bring down Fuente.

Castillo knew whom he wanted from the department on his team. They were all the best at what they did, and they all had reasons to want to help Crockett. They would to do whatever it took to get him out.

Stan Switek still worked at OCB. He had never been very good at undercover work and sometimes made mistakes, but no one could beat him when it came to surveillance. Castillo had just about dumped Switek years ago when he had got involved with gambling and let it rule his life -- not a very good thing for any cop, but even worse for a vice cop. But Sonny had backed him and pushed Castillo to give him another chance to make good. Even after that Switek couldn't kick the habit, and it almost cost Sonny his life. But it was that failure, just before Crockett left, that finally sent Stan into rehab. He finally beat it, but by that time, Sonny was already long gone. Like the others who had worked with Crockett, he owed Sonny a lot, and Castillo knew he would want to help pay off the debt.

Trudy Joplin also still worked on Castillo's squad. She didn't hit the streets undercover very much any more. Most of her time was spent teaching and mentoring the young recruits. The lessons she taught today were ones Sonny had taught her years before. He had helped her through the early years of learning the ugly side of working vice including the devastation of killing a human being for the first time. It was his friendship and strength that gave her the solidity she now had when under pressure, and the ability to pass that on to the new detectives coming up through the ranks.

And finally he wanted Gina Robinson -- she had been Gina Calabrese when Crockett had been around. A victims abuse councilor now, specializing in rape and drug cases, most of the people she dealt with went through Castillo's shop. There was a chemistry that she and Crockett had shared, a special friendship. She perhaps more than anyone knew him as a person and not just the tough, unshakable vice cop he appeared to be. Castillo wanted her along, not only because she was Crockett's friend, but also because he suspected that her expertise might be needed too.

It didn't take much for Brody to convince the Commissioner to come on board and lend his weight to the plan. With the commissioner's support, he put in calls to his counterparts in New York and the Bahamas, and to the DEA, the FBI, and even to the Company. When he did, he found he didn't have to pull in too many markers. Crockett had built up his own over the years. It didn't take much to get all the agencies including the police in New York and along the coast to agree to give Miami seven days to get Crockett out before they went after Fuente again. The agencies also volunteered people and resources for that same period for Castillo's task force. Even the Coast Guard had been alerted and was ready to help out if needed. Crockett might not be a cop anymore, but he was still one of their own and they wanted to bring him home.

Seven days wasn't much time when you were starting from scratch with nothing, but Castillo knew that it was more than generous. He also knew that Sonny would have been the last person in the world to think that anyone to ease up on Fuente to get him out of a bind.

Trudy Joplin was at the airport to meet Rico when he arrived at Miami International the next morning. Under different circumstances it would have been a happy reunion. Trudy, Gina and Stan had been pretty raw vice detectives when Tubbs first partnered with Sonny in Miami. Together they had formed a tight group. They had all learned a lot from Sonny, and he had always been there for them when they needed him. Sometimes, Trudy thought, they had taken advantage of that support. He was always so tough and independent - it just didn't seem that he needed anyone. Trudy had often wondered whether that had been part of the reason Sonny had burned out and thrown in his badge.

Now it was their turn to get him out of a jam.

"We'll get him back Rico," Trudy whispered as she hugged him tightly. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. They picked up his bags and headed to OCB. The hotel could wait for now.

Gina and Stan were there when they arrived. "Castillo's waiting," said Switek, and the four of them headed into the strategy room. The room was already crowded with other detectives and reps from the other agencies. They had seven days to find Crockett and get him out, and one had already passed. After that, the loaned resources had to return to their own duties, and it would once again be open season on Fuente, which meant that it would be open season on Crockett too.

After the introductions, Castillo spoke to his task force. "As you've already been briefed, we believe Sonny Crockett is being held by Mario Fuente as a hostage against any interruptions of his illegal drug operations. Fuente had a videotape of Crockett delivered yesterday. It's not very pretty. Detective Tubbs received an identical copy at the same time in New York. We need to determine where Fuente is holding Crockett as soon as we can so we can get him out of there before Fuente decides to make another videotape or kill him. We have seven days starting yesterday." He walked over to the television. "Right now, I want everyone to look at the tape that arrived yesterday. Keep a close watch for anything that might provide a clue as to where Fuente might be holding him."

It was general knowledge that Fuente owned an island in or near the Bahamas, but no one knew exactly where it was. The location had never been high priority because it wasn't in US waters so they couldn't do anything about it anyway.

It was never easy to watch someone being tortured. It was even harder if it was someone you knew, and most of the people in that room knew Crockett very well or had at least worked with him at some time. What made it even harder when the tape was over was the fact that there was nothing on it that gave the slightest clue as to where it was made. Throughout the whole thing, the room had been quiet, and still no one said anything.

Tubbs' face was emotionless. "Lieutenant," he spoke out in a soft voice, "I think Fuente may be shooting another tape already. We busted one of Fuente's shipments in New York just before we got the video yesterday, and that tape was made three days ago."

Heads shook and a few expletives were uttered under people's breath. Everyone had seen the instructions at the end of the tape. They hated to think that another one might be on its way.

The first person to speak was Gina. "I need some air," she said as she walked out of the room, barely able to hold back the tears that were welling in her eyes. Trudy made to follow her, and Castillo nodded silent assent. Castillo understood that she needed some time to get things together. Gina walked until she came to a small park a few blocks from headquarters. It was peaceful and quiet. She buried her head in her arm against a tree, and sobbed. Trudy let her have some time and then walked up and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get him back Gina," Trudy assured her friend in a whispered voice, but the fear that that might not happen was a lot greater than it had been when she had whispered the same words to Rico that morning at the airport.

Part I: Rebirth
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8

Part II: Reunion
Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8