A/N: WHOO! Sorry it took so long ya'll! Hope you're ready for this one! It's another long one. Couldn't resist. On a side note: karevsprincess has a serious masterpiece on her hands with "The Revengers" like seriously, someone needs to inform Mike Kelley of her work and see what he can do lol, but while the story is on an unfortunate spring break…The next chapter of this story will have to suffice. But anyways guys here ya go! Please read and review to let us know how you like it!
Nolan Ross ignored the stinging sensation of his facial cuts and still bleeding scars as beads of sweat ran down his face, and instead, continued to type away at rapid speeds on the small computer he was forced to work with while still being literally chained to a desk. His piercing blue eyes, though heavy and weary, refused to close for even a second; not that his current predicament gave him the option of sleep anyways in his case, but there were a variety of thoughts, questions, and speculations that were racing through his mind which in turn disquieted him immensely. For instance, besides the fact that he was leaving these monsters hanging at the edge of a string, deceiving them into believing that their perpetrator was within reach but not yet attainable, which was enough to keep him alive at the moment and enough to make them assume that he was on their side, he couldn't keep up the charade for much longer. Especially because one of Devin's goons, particularly his right hand woman who although was rather easy on the eyes, held a suspicion in her gaze whenever they watched him work from time to time. She was an expert at keeping her doubts hidden behind her fierce yet nonchalant expression he'd give her that, but Nolan recognized that subtle look of indecisiveness behind her glare and knew what it meant all too well.
She was on to him.
Which meant that it was only a matter of time before Becker and his gang would catch wind as well. And if that wasn't bad enough, Becker continued to threaten Nolan in a discreet form by furtively leaving hints of torturous consequences such as showing off his contained collection of Black Mamba snakes and fawning over them in front of him as if they were prized possessions and demonstrating how they attack rapidly when threatened by rapidly attacking and torturing one of his own captives that crossed him in the past by delivering a brutal session of beatings until he finally ended his misery by impaling his machete through the man. Becker mentioned how normally he'd just dismember his victims, or let his pets do the work, but he felt lazy at the moment and decided to just get it over with. And just last night, despite the walls being sturdy in rusted concrete, Nolan could still hear the faint piercing screams of pain and horror from what he guessed was a woman being tortured if not killed until they suddenly silenced completely altogether with the only sound left being Becker's sick taunting and laughter. The fact that Devin chose for the death sentence to take place nearby Nolan's location automatically sent him the message of Becker's threat to him; of the demise he would soon suffer if Devin showed even a hint of displeasure or doubt of his capabilities and motives. But that was besides the fact. What really rattled Nolan was the conversation he overheard after the woman was murdered.
Flashback to the night before...
"Oh Lynnie-Lynn…how I wish things could have been different between us. If only you'd stayed with me in the first place. But justice had to be served tonight...well, MY justice anyways."
Nolan then heard Becker's somber voice pick up with cheerfulness as he continued to speak.
"Oh well, as they say, there are plenty of fish in the sea right? However, to honor your memory, the least I can do is follow this petty lead of yours...Now then…ROXANNE!"
He then heard the quick sound of heels clacking against the floors and a lighter yet serious toned voice answer Becker's call.
"Yes Mr. Becker?"
"Be a doll and add this body to the rest of the heap to burn later would you? And afterwards, see what you can find on a…I don't know…some guy named Jack Porter or something like that."
Nolan's eyes widened in pure mortification at the mention of that all too familiar name, praying that Becker was talking about someone else and started evening out the odds of how many Jack Porters there were in the world that wasn't his best friend in particular.
"Does he serve any significance to our cause or is it another punk who crossed you that you want me to take care of?"
Nolan almost wanted to cringe at how robotic yet eager this woman's voice sounded. It seemed like being around dead bodies and a murderer didn't faze her in the slightest and instead, took his request as if she was being told to simply fetch milk at the store to go along with some fresh baked cookies.
Becker replied in a nonchalant, careless tone.
"Mm, not sure really. I just know that my former ex-gf here has some kind of enmity against him, says that he's the one who hacked us and killed her daughter, Kate Black and what not."
Nolan felt his heart collapse inside his stomach.
"What about the lead Mr. Ross was supposed to be giving us? Is that the person in question he's tracking down?"
Nolan could tell by the doubt and coldness in this woman's reply that it was indeed Becker's right hand gal.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see the results. Not that it matters either way since he knows too much. But I'm a man of my word and will give him till the end of the week as promised. Who knows, maybe he'll surprise us."
"I thought you hated surprises sir."
"Exactly."
Nolan gulped at the chilling seriousness of Becker's statement which only confirmed his fear that his fate would be sealed either way regardless of his given timeline.
"The name does sound familiar for some reason…I'll look into it further and let you know what I find."
"Roxanne…have I ever told you how you are my rock and the fortress of this organization?"
"Just happy to do my part sir."
End Flashback…
There was no doubt in Nolan's mind that things were starting to fall apart. Why was Jack's name mentioned? What did these bastards know or want with him?! How did they even know about Kate's death?! These simple questions were immediately answered the moment he put all the puzzle pieces together. In some sick twisted form of ironic fate, Devin Becker must have known Kate Black's mother; intimately at that, and Kate's mother must have not been sold on the story of how her daughter died in the past; either that, or she just had a personal vendetta towards everyone involved with her other sweetie Malcom Black's victim, David Clarke. As far as he was concerned, Ams and the gang at the time did a rather pristine job of covering that whole situation up. Enough to where her big confession of her identity kept the true perpetrator of Kate's death out of harm's way and squeaky clean. But that must have been what raised the red flag with Lynn and in turn, kept that flag regarding all of them raised with a vengeance for the past few years. On the non-too bright side, Kate's mom was no longer a threat seeing as how Becker brutally murdered her for reasons he didn't know nor had any interest of finding out, but the fact that he was planning to go after Jack was enough to terrify Nolan. Not only that, but while he was busy creating false leads, recently, he discovered Javier's own hacking work trying to reach out to him. How the hell did he even know about everything going on in the first place?
There was only one explanation…
Amanda Porter, originally Amanda Clarke, formerly known as the prominent yet notorious Emily Thorne, was back in business. Which also meant that Louise came through for him just like he'd hoped.
Part of Nolan wanted to feel relief at the realization that his sensei was indeed coming to the rescue. But at the same time, where there was Mrs. Porter, Mr. Porter would undeniably be in tow. And in this case, that was NOT preferable as the sharks would undoubtedly smell the blood in the water, or in this case, the snakes would sense the rodent nearby and immediately attack their target. It was at that moment when Nolan knew that somehow, some way, he had to warn them. He continued to type away desperately, hoping to cross cyber paths with his former protégé again soon before it was too late…
Meanwhile…
Charlotte tried not to smirk as she pulled out her phone from her pocket, dialing her partner in crime's number.
"I'm in." She said confidently, not even bothering with a hello, as she stood up from her seat alone, pacing the modern-styled living room of Dr. J. Galtz. "Our plan worked even better than expected…after I talked to him at the Alzheimer's Awareness event you sent me to, I approached him, feigning interest in all the projects he works with. Anyway long story short, he instantly invited me back to his house for further discussion and…"
"Where is he now?"James interrupted anxiously.
"He got an urgent busy call, said he had to pop out for half an hour or so, but that I was welcome to wait for him and stay for dinner, if I had no plans. Perfect Right?"
"I don't know Charlotte…"James replied honestly. "Seems a bit too easy….and who leaves a stranger in their house anyway?"
"To him I'm someone harmless, you should be glad I play innocent so well." Charlotte murmured, as she exited the living room, climbing up the stairs in search of his bedroom, figuring it would be a good place to start.
"Alright, just be careful Charlotte, you may have her blood but you're not Amanda Clarke."James reminded her over the ruffling of papers he heard on her side. "Anyway, I'm still camped out by the cafe across the street, so I'll be there in five to scope it out with you. Are there cameras out front?"
"Yes, but don't worry." Charlotte replied confidently. "I dated a hacker once…and let's just say he taught me a few things."
"I'll leave it to you then." James replied impressed, hanging up after quietly murmuring, "Aren't you full of surprises".
Meanwhile, in another part of the warehouse, high above the basement floors in an office area…
The middle-aged woman known as Roxanne Meyers groaned with annoyance as she ran a hand through her short, layered dark brunette locks that seemed to be butchered at neck length. It was bad enough that she felt chained to a desk doing some meager research on some guy she's never heard of before, but she couldn't deny that the name rang a bell in some weird, unassociated way. That didn't mean that she liked such a leisure and restrained state of sticking on the sidelines however. She felt as if she was stuck in high school again, doomed to complete a petty research assignment.
She always hated school.
As if that wasn't enough to get on her nerves, she noticed how her phone continued to go off with the caller ID belonging to a woman by the name of Darcy, also known as the bane of her existence and Dylan Becker's favorite out of the pack of his usual sluts. Seeing as Roxanne was not only Devin Becker's right hand woman, but also the Chief of Operations, she had an unfortunate obligation to answer the phones. Once she finally picked up the phone, being sure to highlight the disdain of her dry tone in her greeting, she growled inwardly and shifted her bright hazel green eyes to a nearby stack of pens, tempted to stab herself to be put out of her misery, or even better, reach over the phone to impale the woman who continually pestered her with the same story of how there was a breach in their organization due to some new slut seducing her boss's brother and making trouble for the posse last night. As Darcy drawled on about the events of that night, she then talked about how Dylan was apparently now very sick and groggy yet insisting that he got laid, but was complaining of how he couldn't remember any of it nor could he find the mysterious beauty who supposedly turned him out that previous night.
Tempted to just hang up the phone in her face, Roxanne shifted her finger to the "end-call" button until Darcy made mention that she had proof of how the mysterious woman was not who she claimed to be. She then explained how even though she failed to keep track of the woman, despite sticking a tracking device on her, she had a backup video tracking device system in Dylan's bedroom that she set up to monitor the whores that he would bring to his bed. Creeped out by how obsessive this chick was, Roxanne reluctantly continued to listen to her, watching over the footage that was sent to her and comparing it to the footage of the actual security cameras.
There was definitely a difference.
While the footage streaming from the security cameras captured the rather loud and explicit, naughty details of Becker and the woman having wild sexual intercourse with her slipping out hours later, the other footage from the device displayed a blurry photoplay of the woman dragging an unconscious Dylan to the bed and stripping his clothes off while keeping hers on and then getting up to scan the room, moving items around, albeit expertly as to not make a mess or cause disturbance and then walked over to his computer for a moment until she took out her phone, snapped a shot of something and snuck out, leaving a passed out Dylan alone and naked on his bed for the rest of the night.
Roxanne's eyes widened as she remembered how her boss tried to contact Dylan the night before but never received an answer. What if this woman was on to them?
Now the red flags were raised.
After she got off the phone with Darcy, she contacted that same hotel which was privately owned by the organization and demanded all other camera footage of the main club areas. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she looked at the image of the men's bathroom. There was a man, seemingly one of the bartenders, who was suddenly grabbed and pulled inside of a closed stall. Roxanne couldn't see much of what happened from that point, but she heard bits and pieces of harsh whispers about plans and a bunch of back-and-forth banter between whoever the man got pulled in with. Later, however, she saw the man's hand being grabbed by someone before he got the chance to exit the stall. She recognized that person instantly. It was the same woman who was snooping around Dylan's room. The way those two were looking at each other seemed as if they were close; intimate even.
But it was the next part of the footage that was audible enough to hear that caught Roxane's attention.
"Jack?"
There was a silence before the voice continued hesitantly.
"Be careful…"
She heard the man reply before she watched him leave out the bathroom completely.
"You too…"
She then watched the mysterious beautiful woman walk out with a contemplative look on her face before she rushed back into the stall. Roxanne furrowed her eyebrows with amusement as she heard sounds of puking until another man came in and was startled by her appearance in the men's restroom and let her know accordingly as she was at the sink, brushing her teeth. She then watched as the man escorted her out of the bathroom, while she swayed back and forth, shrieking and slurring her words.
Roxanne put a hand to her chin as she contemplated all of the information and events. "Wow, if it wasn't for this footage, this woman would have actually been believable. She's good. Really good. Which isn't good at all for us. She's on to us. Whoever she is. I just know it. But she said that man's name was Jack? Hm…what are the odds I wonder…"
She immediately picked up the phone and made inquiries about the new bartender who apparently went under the name of Nixon Walters, but not much was found on him or the mysterious woman she found out was named Eva Carson. She frowned at the fact that those individuals seemed to disappear out of nowhere, but then eventually put two and two together. She then took a chance to demand that one of their inside men get information on who checked into the hotel earlier that evening, threatening him acutely once he tried to protest about breaking privacy policies. Needless to say, Roxanne was not amused once the name she inquired for bred the results she wanted and smirked as she realized that she had found their target.
But there was still a curiosity that irked her at the back of her mind of why that particular man's name was so familiar. So, after sucking up the fact that she had to research once more, she delved deeper and started reading through various articles. Rather than being satisfied at how the dots connected regarding who this Jack Porter was, she started reading up on his current wife, Amanda Clarke.
And she had quite a story…
A story that made her wonder…
And once Roxanne was confirmed that she also was the woman formerly known as Emily Thorne, her eyes widened as she pieced everything together in her mind. She lifted up her sleeve to quickly glance at her arm and smirked once more as she murmured under her breath.
"Well, well…It's just as I thought. We have definitely been breached."
Meanwhile back at the hotel in Las Vegas…
Jack stirred from his rather peaceful slumber once he heard the sound of his cell phone going off. Being careful not to wake his wife who was still sound asleep on top of him, he carefully reached over to grab and answer his phone once he saw that it was Javier calling.
"Hello?"
"Jack!¡Maldita sea! (damn it) What the hell man? I've been trying for like half an hour to get a hold of you! Where's Amanda?"
"Still sleeping. Why? Did you find out anything new?" Jack replied, failing to hold back a yawn since he was still waking up.
"Hell yeah I did! I-wait a minute, sleeping? Dude it's like almost noon where you're at!"
"We had a long night. What did you find?" Jack replied shortly, not wanting or willing to go through the details of their previous night.
"I was going over all the collected clues and info we got so far and after examining those snapshots Amanda sent and doing a little tinkering around, I think I found it man!"
"Wait, you mean you found the spot where they're keeping him?" Jack asked eagerly which made his wife groan lightly as she started to wake up. He shook her bare shoulder slightly to snap her out of her dazed state.
"Babe, wake up! Javier found where they're keeping Nolan."
Amanda immediately shot up off of her husband's bare chest and grabbed the phone without delay.
"What were you able to find Javier? Is it Nolan? Did you find him?!" She pressed urgently.
"I think I found the warehouse where they're holding him captive. I looked over all the info and the snapshot of the documents you sent and it checks out completely. It came up as a possible match with this warehouse I found on the outskirts of town, a few miles longer away from your current location. I'll try to see if I can hack into their main headquarters and get any footage to confirm- "
"-No. That's too risky. They might catch on to the intrusion or expect it. We can't let them see us coming or Nolan might end up being in greater danger than he already is. Try to get in touch with Louise, see if she's had any luck with getting a hold of John. We might need all the backup we can get. In the meantime, send us the coordinates and Jack and I will do some simple recon work and scope out the area."
"Sure that's a good idea? What if he has a trap set for the moment you two get there?"
"They won't know. As far as they're all concerned, Dylan has yet to be in touch with his brother after being distracted with his fake one-night-stand, which I'm sure they know is nothing out of the ordinary for him. They don't have a clue that we're on to them, which we can use that to our advantage. But we have to get moving now. Also, see if you can try to reach Nolan again like last time; see if he has anything we need to know before we take these bastards by storm."
"I'm on it…Hey you sure you're okay? No offense, but you sound really out of it for some reason."
"I'm fine. Long night. Now let's get busy, we'll be in touch." Amanda answered shortly and hung up. She paused as she felt her husband's inquisitive eyes on her.
"What?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
Jack hesitated for a moment before answering. "I'm with Javier on this one. Are you sure you're up for this? You do seem more tired than usual…"
"I'm fine, I promise. I'm just still waking up that's all." Amanda reassured with a tired smile and yawn.
Jack nodded with a shrug. "That's understandable; especially seeing as how you had a rather eventful night. I almost feel guilty since you didn't get the chance to get much sleep…'didn't think I'd tire you out that much though." He smirked with an almost evil grin, chuckling as he failed to dodge the pillow his wife abruptly chucked at him.
"Don't get cocky Porter, you had a long night too." She chuckled at him in reply.
"That I did. But seriously…Are you sure that a manual approach is the best option?" He asked seriously.
"Right now it's our only option. We're already pressed for time and I'm not about to let another minute go by with Nolan being trapped in that place. There's no telling what's happening to him, or what they're doing to him…or what has happened…" She looked down somberly.
"Hey," Jack reached for his wife's hand, holding it in both of his as he immediately caught the worry and slight hopelessness in her tone, "we're going to find him Amanda. He's going to be alright. You have to keep believing that."
"…What if he's not?" She whispered, her light voice cracking slightly.
Jack hesitated, closing his eyes and biting his lip, weary of the possibilities and dangers that were currently a reality for their best friend. Though he believed in being optimistic, Jack was not a stranger to dealing with tragedy. But accepting such a fate was not an option especially since it wasn't written in stone yet. He sighed and shifted his blue eyes back to his wife's solemn gaze. "We're just going to go out on a limb here and keep telling ourselves that he will be okay; that we will find him…until we know for sure otherwise."
It didn't seem like much of a plan. Hell, it sounded dreadful, especially if that was the case, but it was the only suitable option that kept their hopes and determination alive. So, Amanda nodded back at him firmly, accepting the decision.
She prepared to rise out of the bed before she paused to reach for something on the floor and turned around to frown at her husband.
"What?" Jack asked, blinking at her in confusion.
"You owe me a new dress." She joked in a matter-of-fact tone as she pouted and showed him the scarlet dress she wore the night before that was now slightly torn with a missing zipper.
"Hey, you started it…" He joked back in the same tone as he showed her the completely ripped apart blue dress shirt he wore the previous night, before lifting her chin and grinning mischievously as he whispered in a low tone, "All I did was finish it."
Before she could scoff at him, he had already gotten up from the bed and headed towards the bathroom to get dressed, shooting her a wink over his shoulder in which she returned with a look that said "We'll finish this later."
As she got up to search through her suitcase for something to wear, keeping the long bed sheet wrapped around herself and smiling as she noticed and clasped on a special piece of jewelry she wanted to wear for the day, she suddenly put a hand to her head and groaned lightly at the abrupt dizziness and exhaustion she felt within her body. It seemed as if the whole room was spinning, and she felt like she needed to lay back down for a moment as a result. But seeing as there was no time, she fought through the intense state of vertigo and slowly dragged herself along to the bathroom. Her husband however, was already dressed and watched her drag along at a rather slow pace.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Jack asked once more with pure suspicion in his tone, as he was utterly convinced that something was not right with his wife.
"I'm fine Jack! I just had a little short spell of vertigo since I got up too fast, it'll pass in a moment. You don't need to worry about me so much." She insisted firmly.
"Well, I'm not the one who's currently clinging onto the wall for dear life with legs shaking as if they're ready to fall over." He shot back, his voice full of concern.
She managed to pull herself from the wall and tried to walk over to reassure her husband who stood a few feet away with his arms folded. But for some reason, the room just kept spinning and she couldn't explain why, nor did she have a reason for why she suddenly felt so hot and clammy as a numbing exhaustion took over her entire body.
"Honey, please...Trust me okay? I promise you…that I am just…fi- "
She never finished the sentence as the last thing she heard was her husband suddenly nearly shouting her name as she felt herself elevated in his strong arms before everything went black…
Meanwhile…
"Took you long enough!" Charlotte hissed as she stealthily let James in through the crack of the large mansion door.
"Hey, you were the one that said you had it all under control. Besides however the hell you disabled the cameras, it came in handy." James said gruffly as he glared down at his leg, loathing the process of how he had to make it up the marble steps from outside since it wasn't the easiest thing in the world with his…condition.
Charlotte blinked at his rough tone, tempted to retort until she caught onto the subtle compliment within his sentence. She ignored the sudden heat that rushed to her cheeks and looked down. "I-I'm sorry…I guess I'm just a little…anxious…"
She continued once she saw James raise an eyebrow at her. "And? Your point?"
"…It's just…what we're doing…The steps we took to get this far…I know it's for the right cause, but it just all feels so- "
"-Yeah, you're damn right it's for the right cause! It's justice! Something that we won't get if we don't do nothing about it!" James snapped, cutting her off.
"Look I've been down this road before okay? And I know others who have been too. It's nothing pretty. I just don't want to be responsible if something bad hap- "Charlotte snapped back.
"-Hey, it's my choice. Our choice. If we want to get to the truth and right the wrongs that were done to us, then sometimes you gotta be willing to stoop low and get dirty to dig out the deeper injustices and make things right. You of all people should know that." James shrugged and told her as if it as the most obvious thing in the world.
Charlotte frowned, hating the fact that he started to sound like her once revenge crazed sister and slightly like her deceased mother. "I know that. Trust me, I do. But what if it doesn't make things right after all? Or…what if there is nothing to accomplish…" She finished quietly, remembering the words Stevie said to her recently.
"Look, I didn't come here to waste any time. If you wanna second guess yourself and play ping pong with your morals then fine. That's you. But I came to see justice served, and that's what I'm gonna get, with or without you. Though personally, I was hoping for the former…" James glared, but then softened at the end, making Charlotte look up into his bright forest green eyes.
They stayed frozen like that for a few moments.
Damn he was handsome…
Not that she'd admit that out loud…
But though his eyes gleamed like stunning emeralds, there was something dark in them. Something Charlotte couldn't explain nor describe with mere words such as grief, pain, agony, or anger. Though it was all of those mixed in as well.
She finally managed to look away with a heavy sigh before turning her gaze back to him with a firm nod.
She had to do this.
They both did.
Once they finally made it up into the doctor's bedroom chambers and began their search, Charlotte went straight for the laptop she found on top of his bedside table, but frowned once she saw the security password log in page. Charlotte then looked up, startled as she heard thumping sounds and grumbles of profanity and then noticed James as he mercilessly tossed the room.
"Way to make it obvious! Now he's going to know that we were going through his stuff!" Charlotte reprimanded him.
"At least I'm trying to search and am not wasting time going through some stupid laptop!" James retorted, pausing his rampage to fold his arms at her.
Charlotte glared at him. "These are medical records that we're searching for, and it's the twenty first century which means that they've got to be electronic! The only thing is I can't get access to them because of the security measures he put up. I should have known they'd be heavy duty. He is a doctor after all."
"We won't need them anyways." James replied shortly before continuing to toss around different paper files. Sensing her doubt, he continued to explain, "Look I don't know if you've noticed or not, but the guy's a dinosaur. Even if he knew how to use electronic records, they would just list the same false diagnosis' that have been there for years. No, I'm willing to bet that that old bastard has hard copies of the real deal."
"Well…maybe you're right then. We should have started in the main study room where all the paper files are at." Charlotte said dejectedly knowing that they wouldn't have much time to go back.
"Nah. That's too obvious. Juicy files like that have got to be locked away where no one can find it…Somewhere like…in here!" James exclaimed passing by the heavy safe in his closet and instead went for an inconspicuous looking suitcase, forcing it open and letting the manila envelopes fall out.
"Do I even want to know how you figured that out?" Charlotte smiled and raised an eyebrow, not bothering to hide the fact that she was impressed.
"Nope. Now help me look through these before the geezer gets back. I think I see something, but it doesn't say your sister's name specifically. Something about an Emily Throne?"
"Give me that!" Charlotte snatched the folder out of his hand and read over its contents. Once she confirmed that it was the file she was looking for about her sister, she paused before opening it, bracing herself for whatever was inside and trying to push down the fact that she was further breaking and not bending the laws of HIPPAA.
She turned to see James eagerly reading over a file that she figured was his and turned her attention back to her sister's file.
It was a bittersweet reaction on her part.
The sweet being that Charlotte's hunch was correct and that the procedure listed was clearly different than the one she saw on her sister's current file. The bitter being that the procedure listed was indeed different than the one she saw on her sister's current file and that her sister had indeed suffered the unjust consequences of being misdiagnosed by a monster who conspired with her mother.
She turned back around to James to inform him of her findings, but paused as she saw him look down at his file as if in a trance and his hands start to shake with what she guessed to be fury.
"James? What is it?" Charlotte asked softly.
"Everything…Everything I need to put this bastard behind bars." James replied quietly, but his expression was unreadable.
"Well…that's…that's a good thing right? I mean, it's-it's what you wanted. For justice to be served…Now it can be." Charlotte tried to sound encouraging.
"Yeah. He'll get a few long years in a cold cell unless he'll charm his way into a comfy house arrest and then get out early on good behavior while I still suffer a misery that never should have happened to me in the first place and my life will remain damned in ruins forever!" James growled.
"That won't happen." Charlotte said firmly. "Jay Galtz will be caught and brought to justice. I promise you that."
"Oh please, with the way you rich types can flash cash and practically get away with murder, you can't be so sure of that, now can you Charlotte?" He replied bitterly.
Charlotte wanted to retort but thought about her past and her past family along with their deadly conspiracies. They were all like bars of soap: slippery enough to pass through fingers, but kept their hands clean every time; despite the blood that covertly stained them. Was there really a guarantee that this doctor would get what he deserved? With his status, fame, money, and power, the most he'd get from the DOJ would be a mere slap on the wrist…
No, that wouldn't be fair!
Charlotte knew that her silence to James' inquiry did not help matters as he suddenly threw down his file and stomped out of the room, making his way painfully down the staircase.
"W-where are you going? "she asked, trying to keep the trembling out of her voice.
"I gotta take care of something." James replied shortly, not turning back.
Once she heard the main door slam form downstairs, it was then that Charlotte realized that she was alone and without a clue of how to proceed forward. How could she alert the authorities without them being suspicious of her role in the affair? The consequences of what could happen to her and her hard earned status of someone that is sworn to fight and uphold the law made her stomach churn. Stevie was right. She went too far in this pursuit. But Stevie was also wrong! For her sister's condition was not at all what they all believed it to be! But that didn't change the fact that Charlotte was still in way over her head with all this. She had to do something! Her sister had to know about this!
Feeling the pressure close in on her tremendously where she suddenly found breathing difficult. She tried to think rationally to determine her next move. She then knew what she had to do, like it or not.
With shaking fingers, Charlotte then reached for her phone.
Meanwhile…
Amanda slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the bright light that blurred her vision as she gained consciousness. She took in the distant scents of chemicals and plastic as she tried to gather her bearings.
"W-where am I? What happened?" She slurred softly.
"You're in the emergency room. Well the fast-track examining room anyways." The voice replied that she figured out was her husband's.
Once her vision cleared totally and she was able to see the small, clean, yet confined room with various medical instruments, she rose up and whipped her head towards her husband who sat in a chair nearby with his arms folded.
"What? No! Why are we here?! We need to get going Jack! We have to scope out that warehouse where they're keeping Nol- "
"-We're not going anywhere Amanda. Not until you get checked out first." Jack stated firmly while shaking his head.
She rolled her eyes, waving him off as she still insisted. "I told you I'm fi- "
"-You're not! You completely collapsed in my arms out of nowhere! You're not going anywhere till we get to the bottom of this." He cut her off sharply.
"Wait I-I did?" She asked with confusion, trying to recollect everything that just happened.
"And scared the hell out of me in the process? Yes, dear you did."
"I-I didn't realize…" She murmured quietly. "But…what about Nolan?"
"You won't be any good to try and rescue him like this. That's why we're here to see what the hell is going on with you first and then go from there." Jack replied seriously.
She gave him a doubtful look before looking down.
"Besides, I already checked you in and they're in the process of registering you as we speak so…"
She looked up at him again.
"Hey, I told you that if you weren't showing improvement by the end of the week, I was going to bring you here. And no, the dragging you kicking and screaming will not be an exception if it results to that." Jack replied with a glare as he looked her dead in the eye-daring her to try to challenge him or make an escape.
She sighed as she shook her head and relented. "…No…that won't be necessary…You're right. If I want to rescue Nolan accurately, I can't be more of a hindrance than I've already been lately…It's best to see what's going on and go from there like you said."
Once Jack saw that she was being sincere as she laid back down on the small gurney, he sighed in relief and reached over to peck her on the forehead, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear as he smiled and looked into her eyes. "Now see what happens when you stop being stubborn for like five seconds in your life?"
She gave him a look before grabbing a small cotton pillow wrapped in a plastic covering and whacked him with it repeatedly, eliciting a series of soft chuckles from him before he sat back down, yawning a few times.
"You're still tired…" She stated softly with sympathy, reaching over to stroke his cheek softly.
"Well, like we said, it's been a long night…and day for that matter…" Jack replied with another yawn.
"Mm sure it's not because of something else?" She asked with a hint of naughtiness in her tone, making him raise an eyebrow at her in confusion.
"If memory serves, I don't think you were successful in getting much sleep either…I'm so sorry Honey, I didn't mean to wear you out that much." She grinned in a fake sympathetic tone.
"Oh! Now who's getting cocky?" He smirked, grabbing the pillow and whacking her a few times, making her giggle briefly in response before she looked at him seriously.
"But in all seriousness Babe, why don't you go get some coffee or something from the cafeteria. You look like you could use it."
Jack seemed to contemplate on the idea since it seemed like a good one, but he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously for a moment. "How do I know you're not gonna just jump out the window the moment I leave?"
She smirked at her husband. "Well for one thing, in case you haven't noticed, there's no window to jump out of, and two, I meant what I said. I need to find out how bad this damn flu is or what I can do to treat it or else I can't be any good to Nolan. There's no way I'm going to endanger him more than he already is…" She stated seriously.
He nodded in response before standing up. "Alright then, I'm off. Want anything while I'm gone?"
Amanda nodded but looked away, contemplating for a moment. "A yogurt would be pretty good right now…Blueberry. Or maybe grape, and a chocolate bar? Dark chocolate, with nuts. And some potato chips if they've got them? Oh! And do you think you could get me a large cup of ice chips? Actually, make that extra-large? And maybe a pickle spear? And a fruit cup?"
"…Uh…Sure?" Jack raised an eyebrow and blinked at her rather long list of an unusual choice of snacks.
"Great, thank you." She smiled at him softly.
"Yeah…no problem…I'll be back as soon as I can." Jack smiled with uncertainty, still trying to memorize precisely everything she wanted from the cafeteria, but leaned down to kiss his wife before readying himself to leave. Before he left the room however, he paused, hesitating before turning back towards her.
"Uhm…Sweetheart do you think you could-? "
"-Yes I'll text it to you." Amanda smirked knowingly.
"Ok, great thanks! "Jack breathed in relief that he didn't have to memorize her list of snacks and left feeling more confident.
Once he was gone, Amanda shook her head with a smile as she texted her husband everything she wanted and waited patiently for the doctor. Suddenly, her phone started to ring and she found out it was Charlotte calling. She smiled as she answered to greet her sister.
"Charlotte, hey! How are y- "
"Amanda?! Is that you?!"
"Y-yeah it's me…Is everything oka- "Amanda's cheeriness turned into slight concern at the eagerness of her sister's tone. It was more like panic in her voice than excitement.
"Oh thank god! I-I didn't know if y-you'd pick up or-or was busy with something…Listen, t-there's something I need to tell you! It's urgent!"
"What's going on? Are you alright? You sound out of breath."
"Oh god…I don't know how to say this, but…Amanda she lied!"
"W-who lied? And about what?" Amanda furrowed her eyebrows in confusion of what her sister was talking about as she continued to speak in fragments and panicked sentences.
"V-Victoria...She-she caused this! She's the one responsible for-oh god-I-I'm so sorry! She lied Amanda! She lied about everything! Don't believe anything she said to you. T-there's still hope for you and Jack! Victoria lied…"
Amanda's expression immediately darkened at the mention of her deceased foe, Victoria Grayson. "What are you talking about? What did Victoria lie about?"
"She lied about-oh god! I-I'm so sorry! I-I have to go! I'll call you back later! Promise!"
"No wait Charlotte! I still don't understand what's going- Charlotte? Charlotte?!" Amanda's tone sounded desperate as she cursed at the dial tone that sounded from the call being cut short.
Back with Charlotte…
Charlotte cursed inwardly as she ended the call abruptly due to the sound of footprints that startled her from downstairs. Tempted to call her sister back and inform her of all that was going on, Charlotte felt uneasy as she slowly made her way downstairs and looked around.
All was quiet.
Too quiet.
Before she could conclude that it was just her imagination, she heard a shuffling sound once more, confirming that someone was in the house.
"H-Hello? Is anyone here?" Charlotte called out with hesitation, hating the way her heels were clacking against the shining marble floors, tempted to remove them as to maintain stealth.
There was no reply.
"Who's there?! I know someone's here! You better show yourself now!" she demanded, trying to keep the fear out of her voice as she reached over to grab an expensive vase to use as a weapon.
She was met with silence once more.
She turned around the corner of the hallway, expecting to see James, but before she could call out his name, she yelped painfully as she felt something slam into her head. As she hit the floor, she noticed her vision blur with the image of expensive polished Berluti Gaspard Slash-Toe leather shoes, the same ones that the doctor was wearing earlier, before everything went black.
Back with Amanda…
Before Amanda could call her sister back, concerned and alarmed by her behavior, the doctor entered the room.
"Mrs. Porter, thank you for your patience. I'm Rachel, one of the physicians here. You seemed to have given your husband quite a scare when he brought you in unconscious. But now that you're awake, do you think you can explain in better detail what's been going on? So far, he mentioned that you've been experiencing some intense flu symptoms, mainly fluctuating nausea. Am I correct?"
"Yeah…For the past few weeks, i-it's been hard to keep anything down until recently. Now for some reason, I've just been feeling exhausted." Amanda replied.
"And are there any other symptoms in particular you've been having? Runny nose? Coughing? Sore throat or anything like that?" The doctor asked while using her stethoscope to check for any wheezing or congestion in her lungs and chest.
"It started out that way…My stepson was sick with the flu like, I think a few weeks back and I caught it from him. I thought it would go away within the next few days after but…I just got worse. I got more headaches, I feel the frequent need to pee, certain…parts of my body feel really sensitive to the touch, I'm groggy and tired, and I'm craving the strangest foods even though, like I said, I can barely keep anything in my stomach depending on how it feels."
The physician continued to type her notes in the computer, but furrowed her eyebrow as she listened to Amanda explain her symptoms.
"I see. From what you're telling me, I have to ask. Do you think there's a possibility you could be preg- "
"-No." Amanda answered bluntly with slight bitterness in her tone, cutting her off.
"Alright, I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. It's just necessary to list all the possible causes based off of the info you're telling me before I can make any kind of dictation or order any tests." Rachel tried to sooth her, noticing the disturbed expression on her patient's face.
"I-I'm sorry…It's just a touchy subject for me." Amanda murmured before sighing. "I don't know if you've heard about the shooting on the boat around 9 years ago-? "
"-That incident that happened from your first marriage to Daniel Grayson where Lydia Davis shot you? Yes, I've heard. It was quite the headline breaker back then. It must have been tragic for you." Rachel finished in a sympathetic tone.
"It was…Unfortunately, because of what happened and the various surgeries I had to have, I'm not able to ever conceive…" Amanda explained quietly, failing to keep her voice from cracking with sorrow.
"I'm sorry to hear that. That must be hard for you…And I can see that according to your medical history, it says that you had a…hysterectomy procedure done?"
"I suppose." Amanda shrugged, not being able to remember what the letter, which Victoria delivered to her, said completely in the past since she was blinded by her rage and sorrow at the fact that she could never have children. She then winced and quickly shook her head, trying to rid the memories of her reaction and the vulnerability she felt when she was overwhelmed by despair at that time.
The physician frowned slightly, catching the uncertainty yet hopelessness in her tone that she tried to mask, and glanced at her medical history she had on the computer screen. At first she thought maybe her patient had a severe case of pseudocyesis (false pregnancy symptoms), but she could tell that either something wasn't adding up, or that her sickness could be something else more severe that needed to be examined immediately.
"Alright then, Amanda, if you don't mind, I think it would be necessary to draw some blood and get a urine sample from you before we proceed with any other tests. The symptoms you're experiencing sound like a possible pregnancy, but if that is clearly not the case, we need to make sure it's not anything serious such as cancer since the symptoms can appear similar."
Amanda's eyes widened as she frowned at the possibility, reflecting to the disease that took her father away from her for good, before nodding reluctantly. "Whatever we need to do to be sure..."
Meanwhile back at the Warehouse…
"Hm…So let me get this straight, you're telling me that there was a possible breach within our organization and that this…Jack Porter fellow and his wife are in the area as we speak?" Devin Becker scratched his chin thoughtfully while leaning against his aquarium of prized snakes as he listened to Roxanne give her report out.
"Yes sir, and that's not the best part. After looking in on this guy, turns out that he's actually the late son-in-law of that deceased David Clarke guy. You know, the patsy you wanted but that Malcom Black snagged from you before you got the chan- "
"-I know who that is." Becker replied shortly with a hint of bitterness at the name of his deceased rival, before smirking. "Well then, looks like things just got a lot more interesting. I say that it's time we invite the lovely couple over for a little chat…"
"And Nolan Ross? What do you plan to do with him?" Roxanne asked.
"Well, does he know anything about this Jack Porter person?"
"No sir, not that I'm aware of." She lied.
"Then I'll be sure to check in on the lead he's got so far and confirm if this man in particular has anything to do with his search. In the meantime, why don't you be a dear and rally up the team of snipers to meet the Porters at the hotel to give them a warm welcome."
"But sir, I thought you wanted them brought here alive?" Roxanne raised an eyebrow at her boss.
"Oh I do! It'll just be a mere scare tactic to draw them out into the open in case they don't come willingly. But then again, I'm not heartless. If there are certain fatal accidents that result, I can understand that…" Becker shrugged.
Back at the Emergency Room…
After Amanda consented and her blood was drawn along with having her urine sample and Rachel informing her that she would be undergoing a Qualitative and Quantitative blood test, she waited almost anxiously after the doctor left the room for a moment and came back with an almost suspicious frown on her face.
"What are the results? I don't have…cancer do I?" Amanda asked with concern.
"No, thankfully it's nothing like that. However, it is serious. Let me ask you something…When was the last time you had your menstrual cycle?"
Amanda looked away for a moment, trying to remember the last date of her period. "…I'm sorry, I can't recall…"
"But you still get them?" Rachel pressed.
"Yeah, I still do. Why?" Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"It's just what I suspected…I don't know how to tell you this but…I'm afraid you've been misdiagnosed ma'am."
"Excuse me?" Amanda's eyes narrowed with disbelief and utter confusion.
"A hysterectomy is basically the removal of the uterus, including the ovaries which is your reproductive organs altogether. It's impossible to have any menstrual cycle after such a surgery especially with your case. Are you certain there wasn't another type of surgery that was performed on you in the past?"
Amanda looked away, still in disbelief at the news before searching her thoughts for anything regarding what was done to her in the past. She drew a blank before a particular dark memory struck her like lightning.
"Sterilizing you was my gift to the universe…."
"S-sterilize…" Amanda whispered as if in a trance before speaking a little bit louder. "I-I think I was sterilized…"
"Sterilization? So a tubal litigation procedure was done? Basically having you tubes tied, cut, or burnt?" The physician asked.
"I-I believe so…I just remembered that-I think that's what was told to me. Why?" Amanda nodded, but furrowed her eyebrow in confusion and slight anxiety since she felt like she was being kept in the dark.
The doctor let out an uneasy breath. "I asked all of this because regardless of whatever surgery was done in the past…according to your test results, it's showing that…you're pregnant."
Amanda's eyes widened and she almost forgot how to breathe as she froze completely.
"…W-what?!" She uttered in an almost high-pitched whisper filled with incredulity. She then looked for any signs that the doctor was mistaking, but her shock only grew as her face remained serious.
Amanda then shook her head almost vigorously, mumbling as if in a trance once more but not noticing her voice breaking with every sentence. "No…N-no that's-that's impossible. I-I'm not able to get pregnant…M-my husband and I have been trying constantly for years and nothing has ever happened! There was never any change whatsoever in the slightest!"
"When it comes to tubal litigation, though its effect is meant to be permanent, it's not impossible to have conception afterwards. In fact, there's about a 1-2% chance of becoming pregnant after having your tubes tied; the causes usually being either the procedure failing, which can happen, reversal, or the organs recanalizing afterwards. Although the process can take years, recanalization can leave a small opening known as the fistula in the segment of the tube closest to the uterus. In your particular situation, you must have had a very rare, but extremely fortunate if not lucky opportunity since at the most, you should have undergone an ectopic pregnancy in which the baby grows outside of the uterus, which would have been unfortunate since there is no way the baby could survive without endangering the mother's life. Very rare, and I mean very rare do eggs ever find their way to the uterus after sterilization, but that seems to be the case with you. According to your test results, you have an enormous amount of human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as the pregnancy hormone, in your blood. In fact, according to the amount it's indicating that you're actually at…10 weeks along…"
"10 WEEKS?!" Amanda nearly screamed. "T-that's just not possible! Th-there's no way that i-it could have gone so long without me detecting anything! H-how could it have gone so long without me noticing?!"
"It's rare, but not uncommon to discover pregnancy near the end of the first trimester; especially in your situation since you were misdiagnosed and didn't see it coming. I don't know who the physician was in charge, or who informed you of your false infertile state but- "
The physician's explanation sounded fuzzy and blurry in Amanda's ears as she started to blank out in her own mind. She looked down and struggled to control her breathing as she was still overwhelmed by the news and recollected all of her thoughts and memories of the past.
"I'm afraid that you'll never be able to conceive, Emily."
"…According to your test results, it's showing that…you're pregnant."
"Fate can be so cruel."
"…it's showing that…you're pregnant."
"That hope is gone for me…"
"…you're pregnant."
"They did…I found out I can't have children. They took away my father, my mother, my best friend…and now this."
"…pregnant."
"She lied Amanda! She lied about everything! Don't believe anything she said to you. T-there's still hope for you and Jack! Victoria lied…"
"Lied…"
"Lied…"
"Victoria…" Amanda's eyes widened, but then narrowed in realization as she continued to whisper bitterly. "She lied…That. Bitch. LIED. TO. ME!" Her hands started to shake with both anger and anxiety as she was unable to keep up her collected composure any longer.
Rachel frowned with concern as she noticed her expression, but continued to read off of her chart. "Ma'am? I know this must be overwhelming news…But there's more you should know."
Amanda turned her head towards the physician in anticipation.
"Regarding how you passed out, it's not uncommon since you're going through the motions of morning sickness and there's an increase in your blood pumping, but I would suggest that you take it easy. Your blood pressure levels are a little lower than I'd like. So maintaining a healthy diet, snacking mainly, and steering clear from any heightened anxiety is a must. But so far, the baby seems healthy and out of the danger zones since you're almost at the end of your first trimester. That being said, I strongly advise that you get in touch with your primary physician or OB-GYN and schedule an ultrasound as soon as possible so you can keep track of everything."
Still taken aback by the news, Amanda was rendered speechless, but still nodded her head in reply.
The physician's voice then perked up. "Other than that, besides taking some good prenatal vitamins, I say just let nature continue to run its course. You should be good to go. And I believe congratulations is in order?"
"Oh my god...T-this is really happening right now?" Amanda whispered in a hopeful tone, the realization hitting her as her vision blurred with tears.
"Yes, it's official. Should we call for your husband to let him know the news?"
"I-If it's okay, I'd rather be the one to tell him myself." Amanda rushed, semi-forcing a smile.
"As you wish. I'm sure he'll be excited seeing as you both really wanted this opportunity. Congratulations." The doctor smiled, shaking her hand before leaving to draw up her discharge papers.
Once Amanda was left alone in the examination room, her mind raced at expeditious speeds.
She was pregnant…
Pregnant…
She was going to have a baby…
Jack's baby…
Their baby…
She was going to be a mother officially…
She then tried to figure out an explanation for the timeline of how and when she conceived. If she was 10 weeks along, that meant that the event must have happened around a few months or so earlier. She frowned doubtfully as she thought about how unsuccessful she and her husband were every time they would try for a baby in the past. Her frown then deepened as she remembered how she let it affect their marriage.
Deep in the back of her mind, Amanda always had hoped that Victoria was lying about her infertility, but her enemy sounded so sure, so certain at the time and made her scorn evident in adding salt to the open wound. And she hated that. She thought there was a chance, a hope that somehow she would prove her wrong. And at the time, that determination nearly consumed her, along with the disappointment whenever she failed to breed the results she wanted. It got to the point where lovemaking became a chore and a gamble, to where her heart would be pricked bit by bit as the realization of her infertility became evident every single time. She remembered the times when she would lock herself away in the bathroom, crying bitterly as she threw away multiple home pregnancy tests that would reveal minus signs on the screens every time she got her hopes up. And despite her flawless efforts of trying to keep up a good face around her husband, Jack was no idiot. He knew she was affected. He knew she was suffering. But he tried with all his might to reassure her that he was there for her and that it didn't change anything between them since he knew what he was getting into when he decided to marry her. It was his choice. And though his willingness to sacrifice like always touched her to no end, it only managed to increase her guilt and the wounds never really healed. But learning to accept and live with her situation was not an option if she didn't want to destroy the bond that weathered but still stood a good 20 plus years between them; so eventually, she managed to focus on what she did have and learned to be grateful. She cherished every moment, confided in the love and support of her husband, and clung onto Carl more than ever which helped fill the void, despite knowing that it was still present within her.
So when did that all change?
She shifted her eyes to the jewelry she decided to wear earlier and paused, her eyes widening with realization as a memory overtook her mind.
Flashback to about 3 months ago…
"Jack? What's wrong?" Amanda asked with a raised eyebrow as she finished putting on her lipstick, but noticed how her husband was dragging along as he struggled with his necktie.
"Do we really have to go tonight?" He almost groaned.
Amanda sighed, instantly knowing what he was referring to.
Today was the day they were supposed to be celebrating their 7th year wedding anniversary, not that they could forget as it was a precious event and unfortunately, a day that almost everyone, especially anybody living in Southampton, always publicized with a spectacular party in their honor…every…single…year. Granted, Amanda was almost used to being a spectacle in the world's eye while she lived as Emily Thorne, but it got worse after she revealed herself to be David Clarke's daughter; the same David Clarke that was innocent all along after being known for a heinous crime, and Jack Porter was unfortunately doomed to share the burden of fame once the world caught wind of his and Amanda's rather interesting and touching history, marriage, and charitable foundations that they started together. Nonetheless, the couple tried to remain out of the public eye as much as possible. Thankfully, the craze for them died down over the years, giving them the chance to live an almost semi-normal life as a family, but it never really went away; especially whenever it was their anniversary. To show their appreciation, and not wanting to appear rude, they attended whatever event was thrown for them by their family and friends accordingly. But overtime, it became rather exhausting.
Jack sighed in exasperation as he tried to find the right words to express himself. "I…Look, I know how important it is that we go to these things, but it's just…I hate that it's an annual occurrence! I mean I'm not saying I don't appreciate everyone's thoughtful efforts, but it's supposed to be our day, our moment to celebrate our 7 years of being together. And instead of going to some flashy, fancy event I was hoping we could do something that's…I don't know, something that's more- "
"-us?" Amanda suggested.
"Yeah." He sighed but nodded as he threw off his frustrating necktie.
"I know how you feel, but we already dropped Carl off with the sitter and the committee worked really hard to put everything together for us and almost everyone's going to be there like usual…"
"-We can say we're sick." He suggested with a shrug.
She gave him a look. "Jack…"
"It wouldn't be a lie! We are sick! Sick of going to those damn parties like a ritual every, stinking, year! At least I am. Besides…I kind of had something else planned for us tonight anyways…"
His wife's eyebrow raised with intrigue and interest. "Oh? Like what?"
Jack hesitated and looked away before a hint of mischievousness lit his eyes as he turned back towards her, coming closer to undo the clip that had her hair neatly pinned up, moving a strand of her now sprawled golden locks out of her face, and smiling lovingly at her.
"First, why don't you call and let everyone know that we won't be able to make it tonight and get changed, then meet me on the boat. Once we hit the waters, you'll find out soon enough what I'm talking about…" He suggested with a hint of sultriness in his tone before kissing her briefly, albeit sensually in which afterwards, she eagerly reached for her phone.
Later that evening…
They knew they'd probably regret their little semi-white lie to the public later, but as they were out on the calm seas, embracing the serine atmosphere away from the frenzied public, and they spent the evening talking, reflecting on the memories they had together, both good and bad, enjoying each other's company until one thing led to another, Amanda and Jack felt no shame whatsoever as they eventually consummated their love in what seemed like a long time since life and drama seemed to always get in the way. Tired and spent yet basking in the aftermath of their intimate time together below deck as they started to settle down from their respective climaxes, Amanda smiled as she suddenly rose off of her husband's body and reached into a nearby makeshift drawer to pull out a medium sized, gift wrapped box and handed it to him.
"You didn't have to get me anything…" Jack smiled while shaking his head.
"I know, but you should know me by now. I couldn't help it." Amanda smirked with a shrug, snuggling closer to him.
He unwrapped the box and opened it only to immediately burst out laughing once he pulled out the item. It was a custom made sailor captain skipper's hat. "Really? Did Nolan tip you off?" He gave his wife a playful 'are you kidding' expression.
"Maybe, maybe not…I just thought it'd look cute on you." She shrugged innocently with a chuckle as she grabbed it and put it on his head, tipping it over his eyes. "Do you like it?"
"It's from you, so of course I do. Thank you." He gave her a quick kiss in thanks, before reaching under the pillows to pull out a small, medium sized velvet box. "My turn."
"You didn't…" She gave him a warning look.
"Hey, turnabout's fair play. Go ahead, open it." He nodded his head towards the gift.
She rolled her eyes playfully but did what he said, only for her breath to suddenly hitch as her eyes widened to what was inside. It was a gold charm bracelet with little dangling sea glass pastels in between each symbolic trinket. There were 7 different charms in all. 6 consisted in the shapes of 2 small sailboats, 2 dogs, 2 infinity symbols, and the final charm being heart shaped. She caught on to its meaning almost instantly, of what was lost, what was gained, and what would last forever.
"I-It's beautiful…" She whispered breathlessly.
"So I take it, you like it then?" Jack asked with a knowing smile.
Amanda surged forward, crushing her lips to his before breaking away slightly. "I love it…I love you." She emphasized, resting her forehead against his.
"I love you too. Happy anniversary…" Jack murmured before bringing his lips to hers again.
End Flashback.
Oh yeah…now she remembered.
Well that could have been a possibility of what'd happened.
Amanda watched the little charms on her bracelet dangle slightly as she rubbed her semi-flat stomach gently, now fully coming to the realization that there was a life growing inside of her.
But before she could start rejoicing, utter terror struck her as she came to another realization of their current predicament with Nolan and the danger he was in; and even more so, how her current situation could pose as a real threat to all of them since she dodged enough bullets already: almost drinking alcoholic beverages, being tempted to take certain medicines for what she thought was a severe cold, and finally, the risks of fatal danger she thought she would be able to handle regarding the ruthless gang that held Nolan captive.
Truth be told, if she continued, she could lose it all. No one was safe…
Nolan wasn't safe…
Jack probably wouldn't be safe…
She wouldn't be safe…
Her baby wouldn't be safe…
But she had to do something. She knew she had to…
She just didn't know what to do exactly.
Her mind, which would usually always be churning with one plan and scenario after another, was completely overwhelmed and frozen. All she could think about was the people she loved and the life that was growing inside of her…How they were all at risk.
"R-regroup…I-I need to regroup…Damn it! I need to regroup!"
Just then, Amanda nearly jumped out of her seat as the door opened once more to reveal her husband holding a bag of the goodies she requested earlier along with a cup holder with his coffee and her ice cup in it.
"Hey, sorry it took so long! I swear the prices for everything in that cafeteria were nothing but highway robberies! I mean I spent like 5 bucks alone for a cup of ice! Can you believe that?! Anyways, I think I successfully got everything you wanted and- "
Jack paused as he caught the look of his wife's distracted expression. It was as if she lost all the color in her face.
"Hey…are you okay?" He put a hand to her shoulder in concern, only for her eyes to nearly bulge out of their sockets as she jumped.
"I-I-I'm…I-I don't know…" She muttered, slightly trembling over her words as she tried to figure out the best way to tell her husband the unexpected news.
"Well…did the doctor say anything?" He asked attentively, only for her to slowly nod in response as if in a trance once more.
"Well…what is it Am? It's nothing serious is it?!" He pressed in a slightly anxious tone.
"It's-I-I mean…I'm-I-I just need to talk to you…" She replied almost desperately, sighing in frustration of how her words were so jumbled.
He shrugged but nodded. "Okay, go on I'm list- "
"-Not here. I-I'm-I mean…we need to go back to the hotel. Please? I promise to tell you there." She asked in the same tone, not leaving any room for her husband to protest. Jack just nodded and watched as she grabbed her discharge papers and left without saying anything.
On the way back, the ride was mostly silent but the anticipation was maddening for the both of them.
Jack didn't have the slightest clue of what the hell was going on with his wife, but knew that it had to be something serious. Truth be told, he hadn't seen her this disoriented since the time when she found out that her father wasn't dead like she thought in the past. That scared him. She was literally in the same state when he got back to her; hyperventilating, barely able to catch her breath, and clearly in shock. He shifted his eyes from the road to her from time to time only to see her with the same absorbed expression as she looked out the window, clutching a hand to her stomach.
For Amanda, she was bombarded with so many emotions at one time she didn't know what to feel at that point. Excited? Happy? Worried? Anxious? Angry? She didn't even know where to begin, much less, how to break the news to her husband, or even worse, how to continue on with the plan of getting to Nolan before it was too late.
Finally, once the couple got back to their master suite, Jack was fed up and confronted her. "Okay Amanda. Tell me what the hell is going on. Why are you so freaked out? I haven't seen you like this since the time you found out your dad was alive."
"I-I'm sorry. I guess I'm just still trying to grasp everything."
"What did the doctor say? She wouldn't tell me since she said that you wanted to be the one to explain everything and you've been on the fritz since we left the hospital. Is it…is it serious?" Jack softened his tone and asked with concern.
"It is…" Amanda nodded before she looked down, a grim look clear across her face. "She lied Jack…"
"Who? And lied about what?" Jack raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"All these years and I…I-I didn't know…We didn't know. But I should have known…I should have known!" She exclaimed.
"Known what?! Amanda, you're not making any sense!" Jack replied, holding his wife by the shoulders to calm her down.
"I'm sorry, I'm just-I'm trying to figure out the best way for how to say this…" Amanda apologized while running a hand through her hair, completely overwhelmed.
"Just come on out with it." He urged her softly.
"These past weeks…months…of me feeling like crap, I-I know why now. It all makes sense…" She started. Her husband nodded for her to go on, before he felt her grasp his hand in both of hers, gazing intently in his eyes with a softness and vulnerability she rarely ever exposes. "Jack…Honey I'm-I mean we're-I'm going to-I mean we're going to h…I'm sorry it's really hot in here, I'm feeling really faint. Do you think you could open a window?" Amanda asked softly, hating the interruption that was caused by the faintness and fatigue in her body.
Jack blinked at the interruption, wanting to hear what she had to say as he felt his hopes go up for some unknown reason, but got up anyways to open the window, only for his eyes to narrow at something or rather someone in the not-too-far off distance and then go wide with horror…
It took less than 10 seconds for him to realize he was staring at someone who was pointing a large gun, a silencer to be exact, at their location from afar.
"AMANDA GET DOWN!" He yelled, immediately rushing back to dive after his wife. As soon as they hit the floor, Jack making sure that Amanda was huddled securely underneath him, the sound of glass shattering sounded all around them as a series of bullets rang across their room knocking over various décor and imprinting the furniture with bullet holes. All of a sudden, it stopped completely for a good long while.
"W-we have to get the hell out of here! Someone's on to us!" Jack whispered urgently.
"No! There could be more waiting outside! W-we should stay put for a moment in case they fire again!" Amanda insisted.
"Are you nuts?! What if they start to come looking? They obviously know where we are!" Jack argued.
"I'm working on it!" Amanda snapped, though she sounded more desperate than annoyed.
All of a sudden, there was a sound of something being thrown through the window and an item rolled in front of the couple that they instantly recognized as a grenade. They immediately shot up without thinking and rushed out of the room before it went off in the form of smoke. But before Amanda could realize that it was just a smoke bomb and that they possibly just walked into a trap by revealing their positions, she heard the sound of a gunshot along with her husband suddenly letting out an abrupt loud cry of pain as he stopped running behind her, writhing as he grasped his arm.
"JACK?!" She cried, turning around immediately to rush to his rescue only for him to cough and yell after her, "NO! Don't stop! Keep running towards the back exit!"
She refused to listen and tried to help her husband, horrified as she realized that he got shot, only for him to use his good arm to push her away and ahead of him. "D-don't worry! I-I'll be right behind you! GO!" He tried to reassure her despite the agony that strained his voice and made him grit his teeth in pain.
At his insistent pleading she reluctantly continued to run, the hallway starting to fill with the smoke bomb grenades along with a frenzy of panicked people. Once she made it out coughing slightly, she looked behind her, expecting to see her husband, but instead saw a trail of blood drops that led to the corner of the building and then stopped completely. She then looked around the corner to see a dark van and a bunch of men holding a bound and gagged Jack Porter who was struggling in their grasp and bleeding from his arm as they forced him inside the vehicle.
"JACK! NO!" Amanda screamed at the top of her lungs, ready to run at outmatched speeds towards the van, only to sense a presence behind her and immediately attacked the source with a flying side kick followed by a series of skilled uppercuts and roundhouse kicks. Though she managed to land a few jabs and blows here and there, it wasn't enough to escape the intruder who Amanda recognized to be a woman. Unfortunately, this person was an expert at dodging her furious rampage, yet barely retaliated with her own hand-to hand combat. Amanda breathed harder as she and the woman circled each other, waiting for the other to make the next move, only for Amanda to launch out once more, desperately, being unsuccessful in landing any fatal blows and tiring herself out to the point where everything started to spin once more.
Before she felt herself collapse, she heard the woman's voice which belonged to a smirking Roxanne Meyers.
"Hm…Impressive. Looks like they were right after all. That being said, it's an honor to finally meet you Amanda Clarke…"
To be continued.
