READ THIS EXPLANATION FIRST; THIS IS IMPORTANT:
I adored the 39 Clues series. I loved the setting, I loved the conflicts, and more than anything else, I loved the characters. After finishing Into the Gauntlet, I decided the 39 clues was my favorite series in the world. Then I read the next series, and didn't really like it. Then I read the next series, and didn't really like it. Then I read the last series, with some desperate hope that my precious 39 clues universe would be redeemed and all would be well. I didn't really like that series either.
This fanfic is sort-of canon and sort-of not canon. Pretend that the series ended with Into the Gauntlet. This fic takes place about seven years after that, and I shall introduce you to the current state of affairs as we go along. Hope you enjoy!
~oOo~
Chapter 1: Love you too, Dad
"When we're through with him, trust me, he'll pay up and keep quiet. He won't have any other option."
Natalie Kabra smiled at the familiar and bitter voice coming from her cellphone.
"Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?" she asked. "I'll find the folder. Will that be enough?"
"You'll see, sweetheart," the man promised, "If you keep up your side of the plan, their whole company is going to crumble before their eyes."
"How can I not believe you?" she laughed, "In that case, I'll see you Monday."
"Wonderful. Goodbye."
"Goodbye Dad."
Natalie put her phone down softly on her desk. She glanced over her computer screen and smiled. Adrenaline and excitement rushed through her limbs. Natalie stood up abruptly and stretched, relishing her success. How she had missed this feeling of power! Natalie Kabra was eighteen years old, the wonderful age of signing contracts, and the Kabra family company was about to skyrocket.
She considered calling her brother. What would she tell him? Ian was busy in New York City, managing the American branch of their art business. He'd left her in complete charge here in England, and she shouldn't bother him with details.
Natalie wasn't quite sure Ian would agree with her methods, but she didn't think it mattered. Ian liked good results.
Natalie skipped down a flight of stairs into a long hallway. The soft carpeting muffled her high heels. When she reached the Kabra vault, she stopped, double checked that none of her maids were around, and typed her password into the hidden keyboard.
The heavy door slid open, and Natalie coolly stepped over the trip wire.
Rows and rows of filing cabinets greeted her. Thick safes with locks and security codes of their own sat in the corner beside a pile of boxes Natalie had never been able to open. Inconspicuous looking canisters filled with poison littered the countertop. Simple weapons were displayed on a wall rack. High-tech equipment for any occasion were locked in a huge room off to the right. Oh, how Natalie loved the Kabra vault.
The filing cabinets were organized alphabetically, and Natalie had no trouble finding the folder she wanted. She pulled out the bundle of papers labeled "Douglass, Howard." The Kabra blackmail files hadn't been updated in years, but some of the information could still prove useful. Natalie decided not to open it. For some reason, she didn't want to know what she was about to bring upon this poor man. She tucked the folder under her arm and pushed the drawer shut.
Did she need anything else while she was here? Natalie took one last look around the vault and noticed a folded piece of paper on the counter. It was very strange to find something out of place. She picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it.
Natalie recognized it immediately. The paper contained a very simple email from her cousin Dan, and she didn't really remember why she had liked it so much. She must have left this down here by accident a few years ago. Her throat tightened when she thought of the months she'd spent right after her mother was imprisoned. She had felt so uprooted, so vulnerable, so lost, that she actually printed out this email. When had Natalie Kabra ever wanted a hardcopy?
Natalie re-read the introduction. It wasn't that nice of an email. It was a very normal Daniel Cahill gesture. Still, she kept reading, and she remembered that she once knew these lines by heart.
She reached the last paragraph and accidentally crumpled the paper beneath her white knuckles. Her teeth hurt from clenching her jaw so hard.
"…Mostly, I wrote this letter to tell you that I think you're brave. I used to think you and your mom were exactly alike. It definitely takes guts to leave the path your mom was dragging you down. I am sure you are still the proud snotty Prada princess you always meant to be, but I know what it's like to have your world yanked from under your feet…"
The paper floated to the floor and Natalie covered her face. Her breathing was even but her hands were shaking. The folder of blackmail material slipped from her arm and spilled all over the floor, but she didn't really care about that right now. In a moment, she was back upstairs, and she'd retrieved her phone from her desk.
"Hello?"
"Dad," she said quietly and evenly, "I've changed my mind."
"What?"
"I'd rather not go through with this business deal." Apprehension suddenly crept through the girl's chest, "I'm not going to get arrested like mom. This isn't how Natalie Kabra's going to do things."
"The Kabras are above the law," her father snorted disdainfully, "Your mother's insane and she's in prison because of her own carelessness. If you do what I say, there's no way this will go sour."
"Jail isn't the only thing I'm concerned with," said Natalie, "Listen, I'm out. I'm pulling all the plugs. Are you going to let me stop those transactions? I don't want to do this the hard way."
There was a pause, and when she heard her father's voice again it was cold and deadly.
"Go ahead, sweetheart. I only regret that I won't be there to see your successes."
He hung up, and Natalie took a breath of relief.
"That wasn't so bad," she told herself. The nagging feeling in the back of her head was pushed away.
"I think you're brave…you and your mom were exactly alike… I know what it's like to have your world yanked from under your feet…"
Natalie knew what it was like. She did, didn't she? It was a hard time to forget. Had she learned anything at all?
Had she?
She certainly stopped paying attention. She stopped caring. That meant she stepped right back on the path she assumed she'd left.
"Hello everyone," Natalie whispered halfheartedly, "It's me, the next Isabel Kabra."
She slammed the old email onto her desk. Natalie Kabra was not so easily beat. She would find the figurative line drawn in the sand and she would not cross it one more time.
It was a curious idea. She wasn't even sure how good "good" was. Did this mean NOT yelling at the maid when she left a stray hair on her custom design outfit? Whatever she had to do, though, she was resolved to do.
The gravity of the situation fell on Natalie all at once, and the tired girl decided she really needed a hot shower.
She could think about this later. She was supposed to have a supper meeting with some French businessman and she probably needed to glance over some numbers as well.
~oOo~
Her shower did make her feel better. It didn't calm her down as much as it distracted her. That was alright. Her goal at the moment was composure. She could think things through later.
Natalie studied her cherry red blouse in the mirror and stepped into her shoes. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders in thick graceful curls.
"Bartholomew?" she called, pushing the door of her room open and peering down the long hallway. Her servant's face appeared at the end of the hall. He looked incredibly nervous, and she smirked. She should really go easier on her staff, but they acted so funny when they were afraid she'd fire them.
"I've given you a list of the papers we need for the meeting. Print them off. Double sided, paperclips not staples, use good paper but for heavens' sake don't print it off on cardstock. If you give me the stuff in a cream colored folder again I swear I will vomit; I want a plain white one and after the dinner I want sherbet instead of vanilla ice cream. I don't want a checkbook, just three blue checks."
Natalie trailed off, trying to place an unusual but very familiar smell. She stared curiously at the trembling servant. What was it? It was so faint, but her muscles had tensed out of instinct.
Cyclonite?
Natalie's eyes widened. Bartholomew reached for his belt. How had she'd been fooled so easily? There was no more time. Natalie slammed her door and dove under her bed just before the room exploded.
Natalie knew exactly what was going on and she marveled that she hadn't seen it coming. She'd just backed out of a deal with her father. She hadn't called off the operation at all, she'd only made herself an obstacle. Now she stood between her father and a chance for power and wealth. Bad place to be.
Natalie crawled out from under the damaged bed, coughing and coughing through the clouds of dust. She'd given her father too much access. He'd given her too much information.
"Ian," she whimpered, "I'm so sorry."
Her bedside table had been reduced to splinters. She tugged at the broken drawer and retrieved her dart gun. Slowly, she walked towards the gaping hole in the plaster wall where the door used to be.
"How much did he pay you?" she called hoarsely, "How much did he promise for killing me, Bartholomew?"
A bullet punctured the crumbling wall and a gunshot echoed through the room. Natalie steeled herself and stepped out into the open. Another bullet buzzed past her leg and another loud crack rang in the air. She didn't move. Calmly, quickly, she raised her own gun, took aim, and fired one silent shot. The wall behind her took hole after hole. Luckily for her, Bartholomew had an awful aim.
The spinning dart sailed through the air and hit the older servant below his collarbone. The gun fell to the ground. The man ran a feeble hand down his neck then collapsed in a neatly uniformed heap.
"Sorry for that," Natalie whispered venomously. Footsteps came from the staircase on the left. Natalie's stomach twisted. Her father would stop at nothing. Perhaps she could take on a few bribed servants, but bounty hunters would be tougher. The longer she stayed the more dangerous things became.
Natalie knew already what she had to do. The elevators were too slow, the fire escape was too exposed, and that meant there was only one possible exit. She turned left and sprinted towards the staircase.
A surprised maid screamed as Natalie slammed into her. The maid crumpled but Natalie's momentum kept her from stopping. She ducked and rolled sideways down a few stairs, covering her head with her arms. Three other people tumbled over themselves trying to get out of her way. Natalie stood up easily and looked back at her worried staff. Were these people trying to kill her too? She didn't waste time to find out.
Natalie sped down the stairs. She used the railing to swing herself around the corners and tried to reload her dart gun without slowing down. The stairs finally ended. She raced for the exit.
It hadn't been easy to build a private runway on the outskirts of London. Natalie decided it had been worth every penny. It seemed like a necessity when she built it, but her perception of "necessity" was changing. Today the lack of airport security and London traffic might just save her life.
Natalie's jet was already on the runway and her pilot was cleaning off the windshield. Dread settled in the pit of Natalie's stomach. She didn't like being in the open with a red shirt on. She didn't like doubting the loyalty of her staff. Natalie brushed a lock of hair off her shoulder and kept walking across the pavement. There was nothing else to do.
The pilot looked up. When he saw her, his face filled with alarm.
"Miss Kabra! I beg your pardon." The pilot climbed down the ladder so fast that he dropped his bucket and spilled soapy water all over the ground.
"I thought we weren't leaving for another hour. Miss Kabra, what has happened to you?"
Natalie looked down at herself and winced. Her skirt was torn in three different places. Her hose was shredded. Her red shirt was covered in drywall dust.
"Long story," Natalie said. "Made a bad decision." She studied her pilot's expression. Could she trust him? She shouldn't. He could easily betray her. He could lock her in her cabin and fly to Brazil, or shoot her as soon as her back was turned and her escape routes were gone.
"I'll call Ronald," the pilot said, "You need to get out of here?"
Natalie nodded silently.
"Get in, quick."
The pilot picked up his black backpack, unzipped it, and dug out his walkie-talkie.
"Ronald, do you copy?"
"I copy."
"Need you at the jet now. Taking off in five. Over."
"Roger that. Over and out."
Natalie stood rooted to the concrete, still unsure of her pilot's loyalty. She gripped her dart gun and wondered if trusting him was even a choice.
"Could you take me to New York City?" she asked.
"New York City?"
"I want to find my brother."
"Have to fill up the tank," he said, "We have the gas to get you over the English Channel, not the Atlantic. But we'll get you there."
The young copilot came running towards them across the runway.
"Ronald!" her pilot shouted, "Help me with the fuel!"
Natalie looked back at her house, calculating her options. Everything was uncertain, everything was dangerous, but her odds were better in the plane.
"I'll pay you two a lot for this," she shouted back at the pilots.
Natalie scrambled up the stepladder and closed the cabin door behind her.
"This is so rash," she whispered, running her fingers along the doorframe and looking around at the beautiful cabin. Fear pulsed through her chest, but her mind swam with confidence and determination.
Soon enough, everything would be resolved. She would be free, or she would be dead.
~oOo~
Author's Note: AAAAAHHHHH I AM SO EXCITED GUYS! This idea has been brewing in my head for half a year. I've got so many more scenes to write and so many more characters to work with and I will stop this A/N soon just so I can get back to writing.
I hope you liked the beginning. :) Please review! I'd love to hear ANYTHING. What you think should be improved, what you liked already, what you think will happen, what your favorite part was, or even "good story, update pls." Reviews make me even more excited about this story than I already am (although I am already pretty excited.)
Estimated update time: July 20
