AN: A little late in the day, but I managed to get this up on Monday! :) Thanks to phnxgrl and TheShulesLovinPsycho for their reviews!
To me, this is where it's going to get fun. Sydney herself is turning out the be the biggest difference in this version. But I'm loving the changes so far. Let me know what you think!
Here we go!
Lassiter was quickly realizing that they truly were in the middle of nowhere. It had been at least 20 minutes since he had called the station and so far he had yet to see or hear any sign of the rescue team. What was more, Sydney was calling out orders as she instructed him to build survival packs.
"They're going to get here."
"And if they don't and we have to run?"
He stopped putting a blanket into one of the bags to look at her. "Why are you so quick to go to the negative. That's my job."
She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes and not for the first time since they had gotten into this mess, Lassiter couldn't help but wonder what this kid had gone through.
More than someone her age should have.
At times, she was that soft girl that seemed wide eyed and eager to please people. She'd come in yesterday asking questions about her father, little did Lassiter know that she was looking for Spenser, and seemed to soak up knowledge in a way he hadn't seen in a while.
Then she was sitting on the couch making Lassiter put together two emergency kits because she thought they were going to have to run. She thought they could run with her leg in it's current condition.
"When you're done with the blankets, go back to the bathroom and make sure you got all the first aid supplies. With my leg like this, we're going to need it. Oh, and check closets for canes or walking sticks. Those backpacks make it look lie whoever owns this are outdoorsy people so there's a chance."
He left her and went in search, checking the three bedrooms that made up the majority of the upstairs.. Sydney was right when there was a walking stick in one of the bedrooms. I had a hook on the inside of a closet door and when Lassiter brought it into the light he saw that it looked quite old.
Taking it downstairs, he saw that Sydney had moved so that she was facing the front of the cabin. The large bay window gave her a good view of the winding road. But when Lassiter had gone out onto the porch, he couldn't see much of anything.
He handed her the stick and she started to examine this. "Native American. Someone really does have a hobby."
"You can tell that by looking at it."
She held it up so he could see a carving in the side. The bird is popular with East Coast tribes. This cabin might belong to Allison Cowley's family."
"What?" Lassiter was not following her at all. He knelt down and started adding things to the bags.
"Cowley is an English surname. Chances are, her ancestors came over early on and met some Native Americans. The stick could have been made in trade…. Wow this is old."
Lassiter zipped the bags, hopping he had wasted his time putting these together. He went over to the door hoping to see some sign that the calvary was almost there, but instead he caught sight of a car a few hundred yards away. "Sydney, we might have company."
He heard a grunt and turned to see Sydney struggling to get up. "Friend or foe?"
"Not sure, to be honest." Turning towards Sydney, he rushed over to help her the rest of the way up. "Alright, let's hide in the treeline. If it's a friend, we can come out."
"If not, we can disappear."
Lassiter helped Sydney slip on a bag before grabbing the heavier one and adjusting the straps. They slowly made their way out of the cabin and towards the woods. He was surprised at how fast Sydney was moving and hoped that the stick was in fact helping.
It took a few minutes, the field the cabin sat on was easily the size of a football stadium, and had just made it into the woods when the car pulled up and Allison Cowley got out.
"You'd better hope they're still in there. I cannot believe you let a little girl shoot you."
"Like you would have done much better." Drimmer got out of the passenger seat, his arm in a sling.
Both made their way into the cabin and it didn't take long for both to start yelling and to rush out.
"Come on."
Lassiter turned to see Sydney a few feet away. Nodding, he got up and took the lead into the woods.
Why did it have to be the woods?
He'd always hated the woods but that hatred grew to a new level after the case where Spencer Jr had gotten himself shot and Lassiter had to go through the woods chasing after him with Spencer Sr.
And now he found himself leading Spencer's daughter through the woods to get away from two people who had no business being out of jail. He hoped someone was following up on that case but wondered if all the focus had shifted to finding them.
They slowly made their way through the woods, Lassiter trying to navigate them towards the road leading to the cabin. He realized he had no way of knowing for sure if he was succeeding and he could just be getting them more lost, but the alternative was letting them get recaptured and he wasn't about to let that happen.
"How are you doing, Sydney?"
"Been better, but I'm alright." Her answer came between heavy breaths. "Glad I packed those pain killers though. They'll take the edge off in a bit."
"You know, you aren't going to get out of explaining what happened back there to me for long."
A sigh met his statement. "I know, I was hoping to get away with it for a while longer though. I should have known I wouldn't make it long when I saw what Shawn does for a living."
"So what are you lying about?"
"I'm not lying." Her tone was defensive. "I'm just not telling the whole truth. I am Shawn's daughter and I did grow up on the East Coast and I have already graduated high school."
"But?"
"Why does everyone assume there are buts!"
He turned to see her pausing to take a sip of water. "Because in our line of business they seem to be common."
"And I thought I was cynical." She laughed, strapping the bottle back onto the pack. "Was hoping to work on it. The perk of a fresh start you know. Thought that by driving 2700 miles I would get away from it for a bit."
"Get away from what?"
"My past, my mother's death, the fact that it is my fault."
Lassiter stopped and turned to the girl who had tears brimming. "There's no way it was your fault."
"The thing you need to know about me, Detective, is that there will always be a lot about me you don't know. And because of that, you don't get just how wrong your statement is."
She pushed past him, taking the lead into the woods. For a second, Lassiter just stared at her retreating frame before taking off after her. He couldn't help but grow nervous as it became harder to see.
The sun was setting and Lassiter guessed they had maybe an hour tops before it became pitch black.
What had they gotten themselves into?
You would have thought they would have gotten a more off-road friendly car. After all, over the last nine years, they had gone off-road several times thanks to a variety of cases. And somehow, the Blueberry managed to survive all those cases.
That didn't stop her from bouncing her passengers around as they quickly made their way up a dirt road that drove alongside the Los Padres National Forest. The cabin Lassiter had sat on bordered the forest. According to the GPS coordinates the Chief had given them, they were about two minutes away.
Not that they could get lost considering they were in the middle of a huge convoy that was very bright to say the least.
Inside the Blueberry, the full car was very tense, and crowded for that matter. Shawn was in the backseat with Jules while Henry had taken the wheel from Gus. Ahead of them, Shawn could see the Chief's car but it was getting harder to see the two passengers, the mysterious Alex Taylor being the second.
Shawn wasn't sure what it was, but he thought there was something that the fed wasn't telling them. Plus, the way he had looked at Shawn when Shawn admitted to being Sydney's father. They had run into each other before Shawn left the station and it looked like Agent Taylor had wanted to say something and then changed his mind.
But he'd figure that out another day.
For now, he saw the cabin appear in the distance and saw the woods of the National Forest surrounded it almost giving it the feeling of being a cul-de-sac.
Lights were on on the first floor of the cabin and the front door was wide open. As Henry pulled the Blueberry to a stop, Shawn rushed out of the car and joined the group that was rushing into the cabin. The first floor was mostly made up of a great room and if Shawn hadn't been so worried he might have stopped to enjoy the floor to ceiling windows.
What really caught his attention though, was the washcloth that was stained red. A forensic technician was kneeling down to put it into an evidence bag.
"Shawn."
He turned to see the chief. "What's up chief?"
"It looks like they ran." She looked at the bag. "Dr. Strode has the DNA sample for the test Lassiter ordered, right?"
"Yeah, Lassiter insisted but doesn't want to admit he's doing it for my safety."
A sad smile crossed the chief's face. "He wouldn't admit that. But that test can also help us determine for sure that that is Sydney's blood."
A team of paramedics raced by them and into the basement. Shawn followed them and saw several storage rooms. The paramedics seemed to be occupying one and Shawn wondered who got hurt. Peeking in the window of the one next it, he saw Charles Wignall glaring back at him.
Turning the lock, he opened the door. "What did you do to Sydney and Lassiter?"
"Sydney?" Wignall looked confused for half a second before understanding dawned. "Oh, the girl! She never would give us her name. I swear she's more annoying that you, Mr. Spencer. Still carrying on that act?"
Shawn slammed him into a wall.
"Shawn!"
"Mr. Spencer."
Shawn turned slightly to see the Chief and Jules standing in the doorway, both of their faces conveying their shock.
Releasing Wignall, he walked to the doorway. "This time, you won't get out."
Out in the hallway, he saw a stretcher being wheeled out and saw Sergio Cimmons on it, the cloth covering his shoulder red with blood.
"What happened to him?"
"You all would not believe me if I told you." Wignall had his hands behind his back as Jules slapped a pair of cuffs on him. "It was truly incredible to watch though."
Jules handed him off to a waiting officer and Shawn saw Jenkins being led out too. "That's three down, two to go. There's no sign of Drimmer and Cowley though."
"According to Lassiter's information, Drimmer has been shot, there's an alert out to hospitals within 100 miles so if they try and go to one-"
Shawn cut the Chief off. "Let's all be real, they won't. No, they'll find another place to hide. After all, they found this place."
Wandering back upstairs, he went looking around, seeing if he could find something to help him. The kitchen was in disarray, dishes in the sink, cabinets left open, wrappers on the floor.
Wait a second…
He went upstairs and found a bathroom. Opening it, he found no signs of first aid supplies.
"I've got something!" He took the stairs two at a time. "I've got something!"
The Chief and Jules were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "What is it, Mr. Spencer?"
"I've got good news, bad news, and possibly worse news." The looks he was getting told him to hurry up. "Good news, Lassie and Sydney got away."
"Bad news?" Jules asked.
"Allison and Drimmer probably went after them."
"And the worse news?"
"With Sydney injured, I'm not sure how long they'll be able to stay hidden."
Lassiter hated the woods. The hard, dirty ground, the lack of order, the bugs, the odd noises which made a distinct lack of quiet, the smell of nature. He hated it all. Pulling the blanket closer, he was glad for it's comfort, not that he'd ever admit it, as he lay on one side of the campfire that was little more than embers at that point.
Across the fire, Sydney lay sound asleep. After he confronted her earlier, she didn't say much the rest of the night and left Lassiter wondering just what she was hiding.
But he'd learned one lesson so far from these woods, Sydney was not one to be pressed into admitting anything.
Turning over, he tried to go back to sleep, adjusting his backpack that was currently serving as his pillow. He had just settled down when screams from the other side of the forest quickly rose him out of sleep. Jumping up, he crossed over the fire and knelt down by the girl.
"Sydney." He gently shook her. "Sydney, it's just a dream!"
"No!" He scream broke his heart but he couldn't quite figure out why. "No! Not her!"
A sinking feeling in Lassiter's gut told him the her in question was Sydney's mother.
"Please no!"
"Sydney!" Lassiter shook her more forcefully. "I need you to wake up."
"No." That time it was more of a whimper. "No, don't leave me."
"Sydney"
She sat straight up with a gasp, looking around her surroundings before looking at Lassiter. She looked upset, guilty, and nervous. "I'm sorry."
"What's there to be sorry for? You had a bad dream."
To his surprise, Sydney gave him a hug and started to cry. "I know. I get them now and then ever since."
"It was about your mother."
She nodded. "I yelled out, didn't I?"
It was his turn to nod. "A bit. Think you can go back to sleep?"
She settled back down, pulling her blanket close. "Thanks Lassiter."
"For what?"
"Not pressing me tonight."
"I'll get some answers out of you eventually." He smiled as he made his way back to his blanket. "After all, I don't think I'm going to forget that fight anytime soon."
She didn't answer him and Lassiter turned to see that she was already asleep. Pulling his own blanket close, he closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Sydney."
AN: And there we are! Off we go on a woodland adventure! I have some fun things planned here. See you next time!
