I seem to be apologizing a lot these past few chapters and I really am sorry for how long it's been. I had writers block on how I wanted to end this chapter and part of the story, so this is the last chapter with Cody being in Dakota. Abd I'd also like to say sorry for the bad ending. I don't feel very proud of the fighting scene because of how undetailed. It's short and I'm sorry if the wait for this was disappointing. But I hope you like it anyways.
Thanks go out to the following reviews for doing just that:
Ivyslade - Exactly! And you shall see...
ShadowlightStarlight - I'm happy you were when you saw it and I hope you're happy this time too. And I've even more happy with how much you like the story.
booklover1598 - I'm sorry how long it took. I hope you like it though.
lipshits98 - I'm sorry it wasn't "SOON, SOON, SOON" but I tried. Sorry!
Youngjusticefan10 - Yes, I did. Thank you very much. I hope you did as well. Yes, I am still on season one. And I am going to so season 2. There will be a couple chapters on my own before I go onto the sequel, which is where season 2 comes in, but not many. I might even just be one. Oh, and you'll just have to wait and see! Mwahahah. No, Cody's the only one who has met Rocket so far. To be honest, I was very weary of season two at first, but as it keeps going and I keep watching, I really do like it now. It's different, but I think it's cool how they've brouht in new people. At first I didn't like that because we didn't know those characters personally, but now that they have given us a chance to get to know most of them, I really like the characters. I do agree that they have a lot going on for just thirty minutes, but I think they do well with what they can get in. I own the episode so I can go back and watch them as many times as I want to catch other little things that I wouldn't have been able to if I just watched it once. Anyways, I hope you like it.
Sakura - I'm glad you caught up and I hope you like this one.
storygirl99210 - I'm glad you liked it and hope you like this one.
Molly Grace 16 - hahaha, I love your enthusiasm. I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much for all of those reviews. You didn't have to do that, but you did and I love you for that! Thankyou so very much!
cool spud - I'm glad you like it.
obliviousxhearts - Awww, that's sp sweet. I agree with you and I'm the writer...
StillDEoll13 - I so agree with you on that. And for the record, this was one of the best reviews I have ever gotten, so thank you so much. People like you who review like that are the reasons I put chapters up. So thank you!
HippySlacker - I'm so glad you like it that much! The episode...Uh, the next chapter I think will be when they are in Quarac.
Life Is Like An Hourglass - I agree with you there. I love Kaldur. Well, I hope you like it.
Gypsy the flying cat - Aww, thank you. I'm glad to hear that. I'm always afriad once I let everyone know who I am going to pick, that they won't want to read this anymore.
Anyways, please review!
Chapter 29
Goodbye
Her hands were tied behind her back, her feet bound to the chair she was tied to in several different places. That was all Cody was able to tell though. She couldn't see anything around her. Everything was black. The only reason she knew about being tied was because she felt it.
Cody panicked and struggled against her bindings, but not matter how hard she seemed to pull and tip over the chair to break it, nothing happened. That made her worry even more. Who had her? Where was she? Was anybody else there? If there were, were they okay? How was she going to get out of that situation?
"Cody," the girl managed to hear off in the distance.
Though it was in the distance and it was strained and quiet, she would have never been able to mistake that voice. She would know it anywhere. "Carson?" she called out. "Carson, are you there?" She didn't get a reply, making her freak out even more. "Carson, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Nothing. "Carson, say something!"
Suddenly, a spotlight was turned on to a spot before her. In that light stood to people; Carson, who wasn't actually even standing, but laying on the ground completely beat up, and Erik who was standing above Cody's older brother. Cody could see what was going on before her, Erik was hurting her brother. That was easy to figure out.
"Cody," Carson managed to get out.
"Carson?" Cody asked, looking down at her brother with tears in her eyes. She couldn't stand seeing her brother like that.
"Say goodbye, Girly," Erik laughed, taking out his tanto.
Frantically, Cody yelled out anything to try and get him to stop. "Stop! Erik, please don't! I'll do anything. Take me instead. Just don't hurt him. Please, Erik, take me instead. You can do anything to me; kill me, maim me, anything, just please don't hurt Carson."
He paused as if to think about it, but then shrugged. "Nah," he said as he raised his arm to stab it threw her older brother.
xXx
"No!" Cody screamed, jolting up in her bed. Sweat coated her skin, tears pouring out of her eyes as she frantically looked around her to see where she was and for her brother. "Carson!" she called out, looking for her brother. "Carson? Carson!"
"Cody?" a male voice asked from beside her.
"Carson?" she asked, looking beside her.
It wasn't Carson. It wasn't Erik.
"Cody, it was just a dream," Kaldur said, sitting up.
"No," she replied, shaking her head rapidly. "No, where's Carson. Erik had Carson. He was…he was go-going to…No, Carson!" Cody tried to jump up from the bed to go look for her brother, but Kaldur grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.
Kaldur held the shaking, cold girl as she tried to move. Eventually, she relaxed her body from trying to get away, but instead still shook and sobbed. Kal rocked the girl gently and shushed her, trying to get her to calm down from whatever happened in her nightmare. "It's all right," he reassured. "I am here. I will not let anyone harm you. I promise. Nobody will get you as long as I can help it."
"He was going to kill Carson," Cody said, pressing her face closer into Kaldur's chest. "Erik was going to kill my brother, Kaldur. I couldn't do anything to stop it."
"Everything is all right, Cody," he said, kissing the top of her head. "It was merely a dream."
Cody nodded her head and repeated his words, as if she were trying to convince herself that what he was saying was true. "It was a dream. It was just a dream. Carson's okay. Yeah, it was just a dream."
xXx
Cody was unable to go back to sleep after that. She pretended to lay there as she listened to Kaldur breathing. She realized that she had been dreaming, but it had felt so real. It had looked so real. That was why she had been so confused when she woke up. Yes, she had had many nightmares before, but nothing had ever felt or looked that real before. It was just hard for her to grasp onto what was reality and what wasn't.
Cody sighed and got up out of bed. She had to go shower before she went off to school and seeing as she wasn't going to be able to sleep, why not just get it over with. Plus, she had to get up and leave a little earlier if she wanted to see off Kaldur.
Today is going to be a long day, Cody thought.
xXx
After seeing Kaldur off later that morning, though she had to reassure him several times that she was all right and that she got enough sleep that night (she had major bags under her eyes), Cody made her way to school, though she almost got hit by a car on the way there from not paying attention. It seemed not getting much sleep had affected her a little more than she had let Kaldur believe.
It had affected her a lot more than even she believed too. In every single one of her morning classes, Cody fell asleep. Mr. Morgan had to wake her up in science, Freda woke her up in art, Virgil woke her up in history while Raquel woke her up in math class. By the time Lunch came around, Cody was tempted to call and have Wendy pick her up to drive her back to the hotel room to get some sleep before she went out that night to actually catch Ebon.
"Are you okay, Cody?" Daisy asked once all six of them were at their usual lunch table.
"Mhm," she muttered with her head down in her arms.
"Are you sure?" Richie asked. "Because you fell asleep in history class. I know we haven't known you that long, but that's even a little off."
"I had to wake her up too," Raquel said.
"Same here," Freda added.
"I'm just tired," Cody yawned. She had been trained to go for days without sleep, but that dream had drained everything out of her, it seemed. Anything that had to do with either Erik or her brother seemed to drain her. "And a little homesick, I suppose."
"How long do you think you'll be here?" Virgil asked.
"This is my last day here," she said, sounding a little down.
"Really?" Daisy asked.
"Aw," Freda said. "That's depressing."
"It's not like I won't come visit or anything," she replied. "I've got all of your number's now and so I plan on keeping in touch. And you all know I'm good on my word."
Virgil and Richie looked at her oddly for a moment before glancing at one another. She didn't understand that, but shoved it aside. Instead, she ate her lunch and talked like she usually did, despite being tired. She was trying to make her last day with them fun and memorable. But she really did mean what she said about keeping in touch with them.
The rest of the day seemed to go by faster than the beginning, and Cody didn't fall asleep as much, only in one more class. Also, seeing as gym was one her afternoon classes, she didn't have a hard time staying awake, seeing as they were playing dodge ball. Cody had to admit, she loved playing that game. Having her ninja abilities was really handy when she was trying to dodge the rubber, rather hard balls that came flying at her.
The end of the day came faster than she would have thought, and she made her way back to her hotel room. Most of her things were already packed and all set for her to make her way back home, but she still had to help Static, Gear and Rocket capture the people who had been breaking into her factory. As much as she wanted to just get back to the cave to see everyone, she couldn't.
After dropping her bag next to the suitcase on the ground in the room, Cody sat down on the bed and rubbed her eyes. She still was very tired, but she didn't really have any time to take a nap or relax. She had to finish doing some work for the company and then go out that night. If only she had had a restful night's sleep. She would have been ready to go.
Why had she had that nightmare though? She hadn't had them in a long time. Or at least not since she knew her brother was safe in England with Hector and Tony. She knew that he was okay. Erik and the others were in hiding. They didn't know where they were. They were safe, right? There was nothing for her to worry about on that matter.
They hadn't come because of Kaldur, right? He didn't do anything to remind her of him. All he had done was really comfort her after it happened. None of his actions made her think of Erik or her brother. Really, she quite enjoyed having him there with her. It had been too long since she had seen him, though it had only really been two weeks or so. But, she had been so used to seeing him about every day, just like with the others that it was so strange that she didn't see them. She missed them. She missed Kaldur.
Cody shook her head, trying to make herself stop thinking about all of that and stood up, stretching for a moment. However, as she was doing that, a large black and purpled hole grew out of her wall and a large arm came out. She just had enough time to just enough time to dodge out of the way, but before she had a chance to do so again, the arm swung around and grabbed her, pulling her into the portal or vortex, whatever it was.
It was an odd sensation going through whatever it was. Cody couldn't have really been able to describe it other than saying it gave her the creeps. The girl was thrown on the ground before she knew it and before she had a chance to make a move, she was being tied up. Her feet were bound together, just like her hands behind her back while her eyes had been blind folded before she could really get a look at where she was.
Well, so much for my paperwork, Cody thought.
"I wouldn't try anything, girl," a female voice said.
They call her Talon, Cody remembered. One of the conversations she had had with the other heroes was of all the people that Ebon, the main man who had been stealing from her company, worked with. Talon was one of them. And seeing as she was there, the other people that were associated most likely were there as well. Well, nobody ever said this would be an easy bust.
"W-who are you?" Cody asked, playing the damsel. They didn't know she was Phoenix and she wasn't planning on really letting them in on her little secret ID. "Wh-what do you want?"
"What we want is to use you as a bribe for your boss," another male, with a rather annoying voice said.
"Enough!" a loud booming voice yelled. Cody assumed he was the one in charge. Ebon. He was the one who had threatened Porter Nandin and was stealing from her company. In her book – and many other's – he was no good at all. She wanted him in prison for not only what he was going to her company, but for everything else he had been doing. From what she heard there was a lot of things he had done in his past.
"P-please," she pretended to beg. "D-don't hurt me! Just tell me w-what you want!"
"I guess all of the rumors about the tough little assistant were all just rumors after all," Ebon said. Someone grabbed her chin and tried to move her face towards them, but she pulled her face out of their hand and turned the other way. "Maybe I spoke too soon."
"Just tell me what you want!" she demanded a little more forcefully, slipping away from the damsel façade as each minute passed. She never did say she was a good actress. She was a better fighter than a liar.
"Maybe she does live up to her reputation," Talon added with a slight chuckle.
"Can we please get on with this?" Cody muttered. "Really, I'd rather get back home sometime soon. The sooner you tell me what you want, the sooner I can get it for you and the sooner I can go home." That was a complete lie. She was just trying to buy time. It was only a matter of time before Wendy realized she was gone. They had planned to meet not to long after Cody got done with the paperwork, which would have only been about half an hour from when she was taken. That or Static, Gear and Rocket would have figured something was off when Phoenix didn't show up; even if it meant they found out who she was.
"Right to the point," Ebon said. "I like that." There was a pause before anyone said anything. Ebon was the one to speak. "What Shiv said was right, we want to bribe your boss into giving us a part of the cut you guys make."
"And in exchange, I get to keep my life," Cody finished.
"Smart girl," Ebon said.
"I didn't get to where I am today without having at least a little bit of common sense, wit and street smarts," Cody retorted.
"Talon," Ebon started to order, "Send out our ransom to Wright. Shiv, gag the girl. I don't want to listen to her anymore than I have to."
Well, that was polite, she thought. And weren't you the one to take me? Seriously? A cloth was forced into her mouth and then tied at the back of her head, tangling with her hair. It would be a pain to brush through later. Uh, Cody inwardly groaned. I hate it when they do that. Who knows where these things have been!
xXx
Cody had been sitting there for hours. Most would have said that they felt like they were sitting there for hours because they were bored and scared, but not Cody. She had been counting the seconds, then minutes which turned into hours. Every little noise that was made outside was noted and logged for time in her brain. It was helping her try to figure out where she was. However, she still had no idea where she was. The only thing she was counting on as the minutes ticked by was that her new friends figured out something was wrong and went on with the mission as planned.
And by the time she was counting and adding on how long my most likely waited for Phoenix, they would have been coming any moment.
However, Cody was getting a little anxious. Never had she had to wait so long in one position. She knew patience was a virtue and an essential part about being a ninja, but dear lord was it boring. She could hear where everyone was. Talon was up above, a little ways in front of her in the rafters of wherever she was. She could hear Shiv snoring across the room in front of her while Ebon was on what she thought was a computer across the room, but Shiv.
Seeing as nobody was behind her – that she could hear – she slowly and subtly started to work her hands out of the binds. Once she managed to do that, she started to untie her feet. She had been sitting on her feet the whole times. Pretending like her feet and hands were still tied up, she used her shoulder to move the blind fold off just enough so she could see, but so it still looked as if she couldn't. She could see that she was right about where everyone was, even Ebon on the computer.
A computer that had a logo of her company on it. She almost groaned seeing that, but she restrained herself. That would get their attention and she didn't want that.
As she looked around the room, she found that they were in an abandoned factory. There were broken windows above them and even one looking in on the roof. That was where her gaze landed and staid, making out three figures looking in on them without anybodies – except her of course – knowledge. She would have smirked if it wouldn't have given them away. Cody looked away from them and pretended like she was just a damsel.
Then it all started to happen. Just like they had planned it, minus Phoenix, they broke in and started to fight. However, while they were busy, Ebon managed to slip away to try to get to her. However, seeing that, she quickly moved and pulled the blindfold off as he missed. She also pulled off the gag.
"How did you get free?" Ebon yelled angrily.
"Street smarts, remember?" she retorted. He didn't seem pleased with that. He was even less satisfied with what she said after that. "And if you think I'm going to let them go along with your little plan, you're dumber than I originally thought you were."
With what sounded like a loud growl, Ebon reached out, trying to grab the girl. However, she did several back flips to get out of his reach. Before he had the chance to recoil his arm, she ran forward and attacked up close. Somehow, she managed to get Ebon down and out for the count while Static, Gear and Rocket managed to take care of the other two.
"Well, it's about time," Cody said with a smirk, walking up to the group of heroes.
"We apologize," Gear said. "We had a setback. We also weren't aware they had you as a hostage."
"Don't worry about it," Cody told them. "I was only teasing."
"We also weren't aware you were Phoenix," Rocket said.
Cody laughed with a wide smile on her face. "It's about time you three figured that out. I've known who you were the first times I met you."
"Wait, you knew?" Static asked.
Cody shrugged. "Well, yeah. It's obvious."
"Nobody else has been able to figure it out," Gear said.
"And I don't know how that's possible. I mean, look at you!" Cody said. She shrugged again. "Maybe it's just because of my training though."
"Probably," Static said. "Our parents haven't even figured it out yet."
"Are the cops on their way?" Cody asked, getting down to business.
"Yes," Rocket replied.
"So this whole thing is finally over," Cody muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. "I can finally go home."
"It'll be weird not having you around," Gear said. "We've gotten used to you."
"Yeah, and at school too," Rocket said.
Cody shrugged. "I know," she replied. "It'll be weird not being here. But I'm really homesick. I miss my other school, my team and my friends." Sirens could be heard in the distance and Cody assumed they'd be there any minute.
"You have to promise to keep in touch," Rocket said.
"Of course I will," Cody said. "I'm good on my word."
A couple seconds later, the please barged in, yelling for everyone to put their hands up. Cody went back to pretending she had been the damsel, though she strongly disliked doing so. As she was watching the criminals being taken and as she was being led away with the police to go give her statement, Cody couldn't help just have a small smile on her face.
This wasn't totally a bad thing, she thought. I got to meet and make new friends and allies. I got to catch these criminals with said people and now I can finally go home to see my family. Cody gave a content sigh. I can't wait to get back!
Okay, I want to ask one question before you go...Hopefully you answer. If I don't end up picking the person you guys want Cody to be with, are you going to stop reading or will you continue? Can you please tell me, because that's what I'm worrying about.
Anyways, thanks!
