A/N:
Again, thanks for reading. Please forgive my bad grammar at times.
Quick question - for times when they go through episodes, is it better to graze over them or go into much detail? I mean, every's seen the episodes, but sometimes it's fun to still read it all. I'm not sure what to do yet. Thoughts?
chapter two – the locket ribbon of fate
France 2046
"Who is it, Doctor?"
The tall man was joined by a pretty blond girl who was wearing more make-up than the little red-head had ever seen on someone before. Not even crazy Doctor Connie Kopac wore that much!
"Hi there." The blond crouched down, looking at the now very terrified little girl. "What's your name?"
Rixel bit her lip. She was caught. This was it. No. Maybe there was a way out of it. She could claim to have just snuck in. Yeah. Somehow she was just playing outside and managed to sneak down in here. Sure, it was probably the most secure building in all of France, well, aside from the palace. That didn't matter. She was small and she was smart. She had to think of something.
"It's alright. We won't hurt ya." The blond smiled.
Rixel shook her head. Her foot gained some semblance of motion and she slid down to the neck step. Her back was plastered against the wall and her head was tilted down, but she kept her eyes up. She never took them off the blond and the man.
"Oh, I know you! Rixel Kirii, yeah?" The man's face lite up, like knowing this information made him the genius of the universe. "Daughter of the two scientists that caused all-" His face suddenly fell and he looked behind him. "What time is it?"
"Why?" The blond asked, looking up at him.
Rixel's jaw dropped. He knew her name. NO ONE knew her name. Everyone knew her parents name, well, she liked to think so. After all, the Kirii's were at the forefront of bio-chemistry. They were famous. Not that she really knew for sure, but in her mind, her parents were the greatest in all the world. Then again, her world was filtered through the eyes of a six year old. But – how did he know her name?
The man's face still looked somber. "I don't think she knows what's happened yet."
"It's already over." The blond stood back up. "I mean, look at this place! Doesn't the Sunstar take like, 30 minutes to kill ya?"
"Look at her." The man nodded in Rixel's direction. "She's terrified."
The blond girl looked at Rixel and sighed. "Right, your name's Rixel then, yeah"
Rixel shook her head. She didn't like what was going on. Sunstar? She'd heard that before. Not that she could remember where. It reminded her of a movie or something. Maybe some elusive imaginative game she played before or something.
"Aw, S'right." The blond smiled. "Come here."
"Rose." The man put a hand on her shoulder. He moved forward and sat down on the top step. He looked down at Rixel and smiled big again. "Now, Let's say we have a chat, yeah? I promise I won't hurt you."
Still frozen to the spot, Rixel shook her head. Why couldn't she run away? Every moment she stayed there, she was only killing her parents.
Then it finally hit her. Where she'd heard that name before.
Rixel's knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Her hands covered her face and she rocked forward. No, no, no. It wasn't true. It was a dream, that was all. Just a dream. Her parents weren't-no. No one was. The Sunstar Virus was only a dream. This was just a crazy weird coincidence.
"Oh, don't cry." The blond started to move forward, but the man stopped her.
"Leave her be."
Rixel's mind raced like crazy. She was imagining this. Any minute now, Indy would run to her rescue and whisk her off to safety while they grabbed the sword in the stone to protect the world. Then why was she trembling so much? This couldn't be happening. It was just a dream. She can't see the future, or the present or whatever. It was only a dream. It had to be.
"Your parents were very brave." The man spoke up. His face was sober again. "And I understand you're upset, but really, we should get out of here."
"Why?" The blond asked, slightly nervous.
"The Requiem will be here soon."
"The what?"
Rixel looked up. She'd never heard of this requiem either. Did he mean like Amadeus? That was a fun movie. She liked that.
The man stood back up. "Come with us." He nodded off into the lab. "We'll keep you safe."
Rixel shook her head furiously. No way. She wasn't leaving the lab until her parents told her so. But they were... right? No. It was a dream. She licked her lips. Obviously he knew her name. That was strange, but she had to admit, it was something. Maybe her parents trusted him? Maybe he knew where they were? She then did something she never thought she'd do in her life – she opened her mouth and spoke to a stranger.
"How do you know my name?"
"Ah! She speaks!" The man clapped his hands together, his grin returning. "Of course I know you! You're Rixel Kirii! Saver of the world! Destroyer of the Requiem! Champion of the C-14!"
Rixel blinked. He even knew about C-14? Was it possible he was a new scientist? No, he was wearing street clothes. No one in the lab was allowed to wear them. She shook her head. "That's not me."
"Not yet." He chuckled to himself. "And not if we don't get you out of here before the Requiem gets here. Fantastic! It was us all along, Rose! We're the ones that pull Rixel out!"
"I don't get it." Rose said, confused.
"Of course not, it hasn't happened for you lot, yet." He clapped his hands again, then glanced back down at Rixel. "What do you say then? You comin' with us?"
Rixel shook her head without thinking. No way was she going with a stranger. No matter what he said. She wanted her mommy.
"Rixel," the man sighed. "I know this is all very confusing for you, but I promise this is what's suppose to happen. You parents, Richard and Megan, they wanted this. You need to come with me."
She stared up at him for a moment, then shook her head once more. No way.
He stood still for a moment, then spun around quite suddenly. "Aha!" He ran off to where Rixel couldn't see him.
The blond watched him go, then looked down at Rixel and shrugged. "I know he seems crazy, but I promise he's wonderful."
A moment later, He skidded to halt back in Rixel's view. Dangling from his hand was a small golden locket. Rixel gasped. She'd know that anywhere. It was her mother's locket. She never ever took it off.
"Yeah, see?" He grinned to himself, spinning the locket around. "You mother gave me this. Said you should trust me."
"But Doctor, did you just-"
The man elbowed Rose in the stomach, quieting her.
Rixel rose to her feet and took one step up toward them. Her mother's locket. It was a sign, really. She'd never take it off. And certainly not give it to a guard or something. No, he was right. Her mother did trust him.
But, wait. Something wasn't right here. She paused. "Where's my mom?"
The blond looked away and the man's face went somber again. He sighed. "I promise to tell you. But please, we gotta hurry. Come with us."
Rixel blinked. Sure, all the movies always said not to take candy from strangers. And they also said not to even think about going with strangers. But she'd never met one before. She wasn't sure what qualified as a 'dangerous stranger' or not. This man, though crazy, seemed like he was okay. He seemed almost ...funny. And the girl, well, Rixel couldn't help but like her too. And they both had the same accent as Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins couldn't be bad, right? She was practically perfect in every way.
In the end, the deciding factor won her over - she got to upstairs. Up into the lab, where she'd never been before. And he did say to 'go with them'. Did that mean she would get to leave the lab? Like, go outside? Where there was air and sky and grass and clouds and buildings and everything she'd dreamed of seeing? Yeah, that won her over.
She closed the distance between them and grabbed her mother's locket in her hands. Her tiny little fingers wrapped around the locket and she pulled it close to her chest.
"Right, come on then." The man smiled.
"Doctor, what about the-um-"
The man waived his hand in the air, shushing the blond. He turned his attention back to the little red-headed child. "Now, Rixel. I need you to do me a favor, okay?"
She nodded slightly, still hugging the locket. It was only a dream. Her parents were alive. Maybe they were called off the mission and were outside. They sent this man in to get her. Yeah, that made sense. And her mother gave him her locket so she'd trust him. "You taking me to my parents?"
He paused for a moment. "Yes, in a way."
Rixel's face lit up. Why didn't he just say so in the first place?
"But really, Rixel, look at me." He knelt down and grabbed her shoulders, almost forcing her to look at him. "Do me a huge favor, okay? Close your eyes. The camera's here only react to unknown retinal scanners. If they see your eyes, the alarms will go off and then we'll all be in trouble, okay?"
Hm. Retinal scanners. Sounded like something a lab like this would have. Besides, she was six. She didn't really know if it could be true or not. But he said he would take her to her parents. She believe him. She nodded, then shut her eyes as tight as she could.
"Good." The man's hand was wrapped around hers and started to pull her forward.
