But to her disappointment, Trek didn't leave. No, he just made himself more comfortable on the hard floor.
"Why was I captured?" She finally whispered.
The genius scratched his head and sighed. "Let me start from the beginning. One of our cars, Dante- that was the car that you rode in- he had a driver named Kyle Stewart. One day, on a mission, he got hurt. Bad. This guy shot at him, and he shot up Kyle's right. Leg pretty bad. And another bullet lodged just next to his spine. Took the doc a while to remove it all."
When he didn't continue, Bre pressed him. "And?"
"He can't drive Dante for at least two months. It could very well be four months. He's just not in a good condition to even move. So he agreed to let somebody else be a temporary driver for Dante. After all, TKR can't just go on standby for possibly four months. We're needed. That's were you come in," he looked at her. "We picked you to be a driver for Dante."
"So why kidnap me? And why pick me?" She asked, sighing. This was a messy situation for this TKR that Trek was talking about, but where did she fit in?
"Well, um... We figured we couldn't exactly ask you, because we figured that if we did, you'd just say no. And why did we pick you?" He stared into her eyes as if begging her to understand. They nearly lost their leader. "We picked you because of your history. You're a pilot, a spy, a thief, you've done bribery. Sometimes, those kinds of things can come in handy."
"So?" She murmured, staring down at her fingers.
"We need you. We need your skills. Dante needs you." Trek implored.
She bit her lip, hesitating. Somehow, she and Dante connected... On a unique emotional level. And these people were accepting her. They weren't pushing her away, they picked her.
"But of course you don't have to stay if you don't want to, we possibly might be able to find another driver, I think there was a man somewhere in Egypt we could get. But of course he doesn't speak English, so I don't know how we'd talk to him..." Trek hastily muttered, mistaking her silence for declination.
"I was thinking!" Bre snapped, glaring at him under the dull lights.
He raised his hands defensively. "Sorry."
"I will become a driver for Dante," she paused as his face lit up in delight, raising a hand, "If I can take him for a drive for a half hour or so."
This was a unusual compromise, but he agreed nonetheless. "It's a deal!"
The others were listening in on the conversation, having dealt with Kyle. He was now sleeping peacefully, after receiving a dose of sedative.
"He gets anyone to listen to him." Erica muttered, a bit of jealousy showing through.
Jenny, on the other hand, was amazed. "She was ready to say no. I don't know how he did it, but-" She stopped as the doors slid open and revealed Bre and Trek standing there. Both their faces registered shock.
Bre, however, recovered faster and stalked forward. "Were you listening to our conversation?" She asked, glaring suspiciously at the other three FLAG operatives.
"No, we just got here not even thirty seconds ago." Jenny lied smoothly.
Bre's eyes narrowed, but since there was no proof, she couldn't call Jenny out on the lie. "Whatever. See you later, guys." She waved at them as she walked away. All of them were staring after her, so she winked at Trek. "Bye, Trekky!"
Erica rounded on Trek. "Trekky?!"
He nervously backed away, holding his hands up in surrender. "I swear, nothing has happened between me and Bre."
She advanced angrily. "There better not be." The others looked surprised, and Duke smirked. Erica quickly caught on to her mistake. "Well, ya know, because of the um... fraternization rules."
"I never knew you liked following rules, Erica." Jenny smiled sweetly at Erica.
"Maybe it's time we start paying more attention to them!" She snapped, brushing past them haughtily. "I'm going to my room. Nobody disturb me, I'll be busy painting my nails."
"Oh yeah, she's totally in love." Domino cut in, rolling the word 'love'.
"Shut up, Domino!" Jenny and Trek both shouted at the same time.
"Denial is the first step, honey." Domino purred.
Trek blushed furiously and bolted off to his room, muttering something about software and new chips. Duke and Jenny laughed together. The laughter was something that was semi-rare.
Down in the garage, Bre was making her way slowly to Dante. When she stopping in front of him, she hesitated. There was a awkwardness between them. "Hey Dante." she rasped, stepping a little closer. He remained silent. "Um... I agreed to be your driver."
"Really?" He remarked dryly. This response crushed her hopes. She had thought that maybe they could get along, that maybe she didn't imagine that moment earlier when they connected.
"If you don't want me, I'll just leave..." She turned and walked away, her head drooping. At least she could get back to scrubbing out stinky litter boxes with bleach...
"Wait." There was a new gentleness in the AI's voice. She halted, but didn't turn around.
"What?" she sighed, and it was as if her life story could be heard through that one word. There was sadness, defeat, brokenness.
"Come back." He muttered. Slowly she turned around, and faced him. He swung open the driver door in invitation.
But instead of going and getting in, she stood there, still slouched. To be honest, she looked about ten years older than the feisty young woman that they wrestled into Dante earlier. She looked ragged and worn, as if she had given in and given up to some silent battle raging inside herself. She was debating whether or not she should just leave.
"Why should I? Everywhere I turn, people hate me. Maybe the world would be better off without me. It certainly wouldn't change, and nobody would care. It's not like I have anyone left in this bleak, bitter world." Sinking down to the ground, she started crying. "If I was gone tomorrow, would anyone notice?"
"I would notice. I would care." The silvery gray car said. "Come, get inside."
Slowly rising to her feet, and groaning as she did so, she walked to Dante unsteadily, unsure. Sinking into the soft seat, she leaned back. "It's no good to be alone."
"No, it's not." He said firmly, shutting the door and starting up the engine, prowling forward as the ramp opened. Once it was open, he drove out. Bre started to relax.
Maybe there was a glimmer of hope after all.
So... My dog was taken to the vet, and we did a ultrasound on her. She definitely has a tumor on her spleen, and it's 4 inches by 6 inches big. The vet thinks it's malignant (cancerous). Tomorrow we're going to have X-Rays done on her lungs to see if anything has spread to her lungs. If nothing has, she'll have to undergo surgery to remove both her spleen and the tumor, a splenectomy. If it has spread, we just have to keep her as comfortable as possible for as long as we can, and then we'll have to euthanize her. Right now I'm just hoping that it's nothing serious. Please keep praying for her... I'm sure it helps somehow.
Thanks to Camaroqueen9285 for your kindness and support. It means a lot to me.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter... Next chapter we'll hopefully see more of Bre and Dante interacting as a team.
Songs:
Ch. 3 - Stand by Rascal Flatts
Ch. 4 - It's No Good to be Alone by Brandon Heath