Chapter 1
Notes:
Haven't come up with a name for this yet... the idea been in my head for a couple weeks now, so I figured, why not write it down? I hope you like it! Feel free to make guesses on who the girl might be. I will tell you though, it's probably not what you might think.
The team had left to go home hours ago after their last mission, but Connor Mason remained alone at the Mason Industries warehouse. He had a bountiful supply of bourbon in the back that he was tapping into more and more frequently as the days went past and Garcia Flynn was still at large with the mothership.
He drank to try to quiet the thoughts in his head questioning how he got here, how he'd gotten in so deep with Rittenhouse, how he'd dragged a respectable man like Rufus Carlin down with him.
What kind of future could there possibly be for a man like him?
It was this thought that scared him the most. He liked to believe he wasn't a bad guy, but there was no denying he could be incredibly selfish and cowardly when faced with a severe threat. And he loathed himself for it.
Mason's musing were interrupted by a sudden shaking in the building. At first, he thought he was imagining things - it sounded almost like... the lifeboat...
He ran out to the main room where the lifeboat was stored and was almost relieved when he saw it sitting intact in its rightful place. Before he could realize the sound was still there, a flash of white made him cover his eyes and when he opened them, there was Flynn. In the mothership.
Flynn grabbed something aggressively and tossed it out of the ship before closing the door and vanishing once again.
The whole event had happened so quickly, and with the liquor slowing his brain Connor was unable to react for several more moments after Flynn was gone. It was the muffled voice that brought him out of his shock.
He hesitantly approached the object Flynn had discarded and discovered it was no object - it was a person, a young girl tied up and gagged. And she looked absolutely pissed.
"Will you please come down from there?" Mason shouted up at the visitor who was currently perched atop the corner of a beam high on the walls of the warehouse.
After he'd untied the girl, he tried asking a few basic questions (what's your name, where are you from, do you have any weapons on you) and when she didn't respond, he'd called Agent Christopher to tell her of the situation. What was Flynn trying to accomplish dropping this girl here? And what period in history was she from?
When he'd turned around after hanging up the phone, the girl was gone. He frantically searched his surroundings before he spotted her, climbing the wall like some kind of monkey trying to get out of his reach.
This was where the two found themselves when Agent Christopher and other staff arrived. The girl was small, likely a teenager. She was curled up where two beams met, scowling and refusing to acknowledge anyone else's presence. Does she speak English? Does she speak at all?
"Honey, would you please come down from there? We just want to talk to you," Agent Christopher tried. The girl at least acknowledged that she'd heard as she turned her head slightly to examine the source of the voice. Still, she didn't say a word and turned back to her previous position.
"Someone get a ladder and get her down from there," Agent Christopher ordered the staff. The girl must've heard, but she didn't seem concerned.
"So Flynn was here, with the mothership, and you just stood there and watched?" Agent Christopher turned to Connor.
"Yes, well, it happened so fast and he was gone before I had a chance to think," he defended. She didn't look like she believed him, which was unfortunate because he was telling the truth for once.
A worker had returned with a ladder and was almost at the top within reach of the girl when she turned and grabbed him by the hair, nearly causing him to fall. For a moment it was dead silent before she finally spoke.
"Do not touch me," she commanded before letting go of the man's hair as he scrambled back down to the ground.
This at least gave them some information about her. She could speak, she could speak English, and she sounded American. It was something.
"What do you want?" Connor shouted back.
The girl just glared at him. It almost made him shiver... the look in her eyes, it seemed familiar.
"Why are you here?" he tried again. This time she didn't even acknowledge him.
"Get the team here, see if they know who she is or recognize her from one of their trips," Agent Christopher ordered.
Wyatt Logan was getting annoyed at these phone calls from Mason Industries that seemed to always come the moment he'd shut his eyes. But Wyatt Logan followed orders and like a good soldier, he rose from his couch and grabbed the car keys.
On the phone he'd just been told that Flynn had dropped off a mysterious visitor while everyone was gone and they needed the team to come in. Wyatt was considering just telling whoever it was that had messed with his sleep to go to hell as he made the journey through the empty late night streets towards the building.
When he arrived, Rufus was already there, staring up at something. Wyatt followed his gaze and was surprised to see a young girl sitting on one of the beams, maybe 20 feet up. Was this the 'visitor'?
"She won't speak to us, besides using some creative profanities," Connor Mason said, clearly annoyed.
"Do you recognize her?" Agent Christopher asked Wyatt. He shook his head no. Why would Flynn leave a teenager girl here? What was he doing?
Lucy arrived and immediately saw the girl.
"Who is she?" she asked. Wyatt shrugged.
"She looks scared," Rufus observed.
"You mean pissed," Connor spat.
Both appeared to be true. Lucy took a few steps closer, and looking up at the girl began to speak in a soft but firm voice.
"Hi, my name is Lucy Preston. Could you tell me your name?" she asked, and the girl finally turned her head. As her eyes landed on Lucy, there was no question she had recognized her.
The girl continued to stare, still not speaking.
"I know this must be scary for you, but it would make things easier for everyone if you could help us figure out why you're here," Lucy continued.
"I don't know why," the girl finally spoke, no longer sounding totally pissed, at least.
Lucy looked back at the team before she spoke to the girl again. "Well, if you would come down here, I'd like to help you figure that out," she said gently.
The girl seemed to be seriously considering this before her eyes shot to Connor, glaring daggers once more. "You won't try to touch me? Or hurt me?" she asked, and Lucy reassured her as the others agreed.
Finally, she climbed down the beams. Wyatt was impressed that she'd even got up there, like she were some kind of Spidergirl or something.
When the girl was safely on the ground, she hesitantly walked towards Lucy. They all followed her to a conference room, where Lucy took a seat but the girl walked around for a few moments before deciding to climb up on a desk and perching there.
They all looked back and forth between each other before Lucy cleared her throat.
"So, um, could you tell us your name?" she asked.
The girl didn't immediately answer, instead her striking blue eyes searched the room, examining each one of them. She's a survivor, Wyatt thought to himself. He knew that look. She was making sure she had a way out, sizing up her potential assailants.
Finally she turned back to Lucy. "Jenna," she said quietly.
"How old are you, Jenna?" Agent Christopher asked.
This time she answered immediately. "Seventeen," she said.
"Why would Flynn drop a teenager here in the middle of the night?" Rufus questioned.
"Because he's a bag of dicks," Jenna shot back.
Wyatt snorted, "my thoughts exactly."
At his voice, Jenna's gaze focused on him. He didn't waiver, just stared right back. And that's when he realized how familiar she seemed. She had black hair that was tied back in a braid, olive skin with a spatter of freckles across her nose and cheeks, but those eyes... Wyatt didn't know where or when, but he knew he'd seen those eyes before.
"Do we know you?" Wyatt asked. Her gaze dropped and she turned to stare out the window of the conference room, offering no answer as she began picking at her fingernails; clearly a nervous habit.
"What year do you come from?" Rufus tried. The girl didn't seem annoyed, but still didn't speak.
Wyatt's gaze wondered to Lucy and he noticed she was staring intently at the girl as well. Did she recognize her too? What the hell was she hiding?
"Why won't you tell us anything?" Connor snapped, and the girl jumped slightly, like she'd been startled out of a daydream and forgotten how where she was.
Lucy shot Connor a glare as the girl remained silent and he exited the room, seemingly fed up.
As the door shut, Lucy turned back to the girl. "Jenna, we just want to help you," she said softly. Jenn looked back at her but didn't say anything.
Jiya walked in the room. "We can't figure out where or when Flynn went to before he brought her here. He must've encrypted the system thinking we wouldn't catch it in time. We broke into it but there's no way we can go back," she explained.
The team stood quietly in thought for a while before Agent Christopher finally spoke. "Well, there's nothing more we can do about this now while everyone's exhausted and missing sleep. Get some rest and be back here at 9," she ordered.
"What about the girl?" Rufus asked.
The agent stopped and look at each of them. "Any takers?" she asked.
"I mean, I'd say she could stay with me, but I don't know how I'd explain to my mom..." Lucy started.
"I'll take her," Wyatt offered. "I have the room," he justified.
Agent Christopher nodded and the group headed towards the door. As they entered the hall, Jenna was walking close behind Lucy. When the team went in separate directions to their cars, she still followed Lucy.
"Um, Jenna, you're going to stay with Wyatt," Lucy explained, pointing him out.
Jenna stared at her for a moment before she seemed to understand. "Oh! You mean, you don't live together?" she sounded confused.
"No, why would we?" Lucy responded.
The girl looked between the two of them. "I'm sorry, I thought since... uh, never mind," she said as she turned to follow Wyatt. He and Lucy exchanged a curious glance before he turned and headed to his car with the girl in tow.
