Alan couldn't stop the tears that streamed down his face, nor the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm him. Because of him, two brothers were dead. That was dead, with a capital "D". He couldn't speak and could barely breathe. He didn't even notice it when the Hood locked him in his room.
Briefly, he considered the fact that Scott might be dead, a fact which Alan completely dreaded. Then he swallowed hard. What if the Hood was lying? It was entirely possible, but Alan still felt terrified of the Hood.
John! Alan suddenly remembered his older brother and swallowed hard. He felt sicker to his stomach, now. It wasn't fair. He swallowed hard. He hated the Hood. He didn't know how, but he had to escape.
Swallowing hard as he thought of his brothers, Alan buried his face in his hands and tried to think of an escape plan. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep.
## break ##
Jeff had never been so glad to see a lead in his life as he was now. His uncle growing up had been a police officer and had talked about the excitement of finding leads. Now he totally understood this.
They had a lead on where Scott and Alan might be. He'd all but demanded to go along with the police officers, but had been denied. Really, he understood, but he couldn't help but wish to embrace his sons in his arm again.
He sighed at the knock on the door and opened it. It was Ann-Marie. "What's wrong?" Jeff asked, taking the note from her. He'd seen the secretary this distraught before, but she'd seemed all right earlier.
Then Jeff understood. He paled as he read the note, noticing the blood stains that dotted the letter. He could not believe what he was reading.
Dad,
The Hood wants me to tell you that I am now his child. He says that I am now his son. He says do not bother looking for me. Please don't (the word was cut off).
Alan
Jeff felt like his heart had been ripped out at those very words. How dare the Hood insinuate… he growled, his teeth showing. "I'm calling the detectives again," he responded at Ann-Marie.
She smiled faithfully at him. "Already done," she responded. She swallowed hard. "You should get to the hospital, though."
Jeff stared at her. Was there something that he did not know? Blinking, he looked at her. "What?" he said.
"I'm so sorry," she said. She thought that he had known. Closing her eyes, she said, "Jeff, when at the airport, the Hood attacked John and Virgil. They're at the hospital… I thought you knew…"
## break ##
"I'm glad you're okay," Virgil said as he sat at John's bedside. The hospital doctor wanted John to stay the night, and personally, Virgil completely agreed. He didn't want to worry about John's arm getting affected.
"What happened?" John asked. He swallowed hard. He felt remarkably dizzy. He glanced down at his jeans that Virgil had brought him so he wouldn't have to wear the loose-fitting hospital gown. "I don't feel so good."
"Kinda goes with the territory of getting shot, bro," Gordon responded, but Virgil could tell he looked worried. Virgil had filled Gordon in on what had happened. They had left a message with their father's office staff, having not been able to get ahold of him directly.
"I know that," John responded unhappily. "I just… I don't feel so good," he admitted with a tired sigh. "And I can't remember what happened…"
"Let me get this straight," Virgil responded. The doctor had not mentioned the possibility of amnesia. Of course, the doctor also hadn't talked to John for more than two minutes, so how would he know? "What do you last remember?"
"Getting off of the plane," John responded, "With you, Virgil, I do remember that. I just don't remember the events leading up to it."
Gordon shot Virgil a look that clearly said, "You share, you were there."
Virgil swallowed hard and sighed. "John, we were getting off of Tracy One to go and meet Dad, remember? We were waiting for a cab to pick us up. All of the sudden, we heard Alan screaming."
Gordon winced at the reaction on John's face. He himself had already heard this story once and knew where it was going. Exhaling slowly, Gordon forced himself to calm down. He really, really hated the Hood right now.
"Then the next thing I know," Virgil said with a swallow, "is that you were up on your feet. You'd seen him. We wanted to try and take the Hood from trying to take off with him. We were pretty much helpless; the Hood had full control over the situation."
John nodded, the memory slowly returning. "And we didn't know where Scott was," he responded. "We never did see him, did we, Virgil?"
Virgil shook his head and swallowed hard. "We're hoping he's still alive, but we really don't know," he admitted tiredly.
John closed his eyes, trying not to think of the fact that his oldest and youngest brother could be dead. "If the Hood so much as laid a hand on them…"
Surprisingly, it was Gordon who spoke up first. "Wait in line, bro," he said, taking what was usually Scott's line, "Wait in line."
## break ##
Scott slowly brought himself to consciousness. He did an immediate assessment of his body, trying to feel where everything was. Everything seemed to be in place. He closed his eyes as the memories assaulted him.
"I think that Scott is too much of a bad influence on you," the Hood said. He nodded to Mullion, who grabbed Scott by his shoulders and dragged him out.
Feeling even sicker to his stomach now, Scott tried to squirm out of his binds. Nothing gave. Mullion had been remarkably through, Scott thought with a wave of disgust. He closed his eyes, feigning sleep as he heard the doors slam. He couldn't be sure whether the men were hostiles or friendly.
"I could have sworn that I someone over here," a voice said. Scott kept his eyes closed and his breathing steady. Were they there to help, or to hinder? That Scott did not know.
"Holy shit!" a man's voice swore. To Scott, it sounded like John, and he winced all over again, thinking about his younger brother.
Dear God, please don't let him be dead. Because then it will be my entire fault…
"There's a live one back here!" the man called. He instantly sprung out his knife and used it to slide through Scott's ropes. "Son, can you hear me?"
Scott didn't respond. If these men were from the Hood and it was a trap, both Scott and Alan would be punished for Scott speaking, and Scot knew that Alan would be in trouble enough already.
"He ain't awake, and he ain't speaking," the first man said. He swore when he saw the markings on Scott's skin. "Damn, this man has been through hell and back recently," he said. "You think he got family?"
"Probably," the second man said. "I dialed 9-1-1. They'll be here in ten."
"Now all we can do is wait for rescue, and for this kid to wake up so we can find out who he is," the first man said.
"Kid? If that," the second man snorted. "I'd wager he's in his mid-twenties."
With great effort, Scott Carpenter Tracy opened his eyes.
## break ##
Hope you enjoyed the early gift!