A/N: sorry for my absence... :S Life and illness got in the way. I am getting better and will update my other stories soon. So thank you for all the lovely reviews and your patience! Also enjoy this update!
Chapter 43
"We're so screwed. How did she get out of bed?" Farhad asked Terrence as they were driving around trying to find Dr Scott and luckily Terrence's car she took so it didn't have much petrol in it. But it was still a lot of ground to cover.
"I have no clue man. She couldn't have done a Houdini, she's smart but like not that smart right?" Terrence asked Farhad as Julian was going to blow a gasket when he learned that Dr Scott had upped and left her bed without them noticing. What was worse; was she took one of their cars and they hadn't noticed a thing.
"Who cares? we just have to find her and get her to where we're meeting Julian or we're screwed." Farhad told him.
Tex sat in the passenger side of the small Jeep looking to his counterpart as they drove after Larrin's signal. She was at least a half an hour drive in front of them. He couldn't help but feel like they were riding into a trap. That even with the plan in motion, it wasn't enough and he wasn't ready to tell Wolf Larrin was gone.
Hell, he wasn't ready to disappoint anyone but all of this sat badly with him. He partly wished that the America they came back to had been as perfect as advertised. He just wanted the perfect world and the time to be a father his daughter. To put his soldier days behind him.
"I think I have an idea of where they are taking her." His counterpart Marcus said, the man was tall, heavily built man in his late 60's with snow white shoulder length hair that was pulled back into a low bun and a beard. Tex couldn't help but feel like he was looking at an older version of himself. Except Marcus had an LA accent. They were going to meet up with Alex who Tex had spoken with yesterday and John. Their mystery fourth member. Tex would have liked someone from the Nathan James but he could see the benefit of having men who knew the terrain and crazy enough to want to go into a madman's land to retrieve one woman. Though there was an understanding that they'd find more people to save besides Larrin.
"Where's that?" Tex asked, Marcus rattled off the location which meant nothing to Tex given he wasn't savvy on the area they were driving into.
"Julian has a compound. Heavily guarded and well fortified. It was an old hunting lodge for the Freemasons. We'll have to hoof it on foot for about 5 clicks through mountainous terrain as it and dense forestry backs onto the property. It's the only concealed way in. I tend not to pick up stragglers from there are there are too many players." Marcus told him.
"Can we get into the house from there?" Tex asked.
"Well, hopefully the new allotment of 'sport' will draw a crowd away leaving a skeleton crew which we could handle with a small team. Your Captain will have people back us up." Marcus said casually, they lapsed into a companionable silence and Tex watched the road for a long while just stewing in his thoughts of Rachel and Larrin. Mostly it was Larrin occupying his mind as she was a broken spirit and he felt that he had to worry about her more so than Rachel.
"Hey, I heard you picked up Doc." Tex said making conversation needing to know more about Julian and his modus operandi. He figured Marcus would know better than any report would read.
"Yeah, she's got a mean right hook and runs like the wind. She made it 10 clicks from this place in nothing but a hospital gown and grit." Marcus said with a humourless laugh but he spoke with admiration of the woman.
"You think she was one of Julian's?" Tex asked him.
"Possibly, I don't notice types. I just save who I can, drop them in the green zone and get back out here." Marcus told him.
"Dude, chill." Cruz told Miller as he pressed a hand on Miller's knee that was thumping a million miles an hour annoying everyone in the back of the truck as they were all being ferried to the 'hunting grounds'. "All we gotta do is run for couple miles and then turn the game on them. It's SERE training nothing more." Cruz added as he lifted his hand from Miller's leg.
"I know. I'm worried about Larrin." Miller said in a low voice.
"She'll be fine. You saw what she did to Wright. She can kick ass and she's crazy so she has a better chance than Miyuki." Cruz said pointing to Miyuki Asaka who was a 5ft slim woman flipped him the middle finger for suggesting she wasn't going to bode well out in the field.
"She was really scared of that guy." Miller said.
"Tex and some other dude I would not want to mess with; have her back. This will all work out and then you can get the girl. Have you even asked her out?" Cruz asked him.
"Yeah." Miller answered not sure why they were talking about it.
"Don't be a tight ass, take her somewhere nice. Sacrificial lamb deserves a good meal if she survives this crap." Miyuki told him.
"I'm not a tight ass." Miller informed her, not sure where she even got the idea that he was a tight ass but then he did tend to buy the cheaper of things when he could but only because he sent majority of his pay home and stuffed a portion into savings.
"Yeah, my boy is just broke." Cruz said defending him, but not doing a good job of it. "How about this, if your girl survives I'll give you $20."
"I don't need your charity. We're overdue for our pay. So I'm hoping that will be sorted by the time we're back." Miller told Cruz.
"I had lunch at a really nice riverside bistro downtown. Pretty good prices, nice view." Addler said putting in his two cents.
"I know I'm eating steak when this is over." Cruz said with a sigh.
Tom sped down the highway hoping to catch up with Tex as they were following Julian. He was taking what he hoped to be a shortcut, it was a dirt road that cut across country as far as Lt Commander Burk told him. The need to find Rachel clawed at his insides. He looked at the road ahead of him and frowned as he saw a car coming up quickly. It was the first car he'd seen for over half an hour.
A figure jumped out in his car's way and waved their hands at him to stop. Tom punched his foot on the brakes, dirt and dust flung up into the air as the SUV's tires screeched and slid trying to stop. Tom winced and gripped the wheel as he couldn't swerve the vehicle as he'd smack into trees and at the speed his car was still fighting for traction. He honked the horn hoping the person jumped out of the way as he was going to hit them.
After three terrifying heart stopping seconds the car came to abrupt stop. Tom looked out the front window but only saw dust clouding the windscreen. He pulled his side arm and stepped out of the vehicle waiting for a trap. He walked around the front of the vehicle as the dust settled he couldn't believe his eyes. There a few steps in front of him was Rachel.
He tucked his side arm into his holster as he looked at her in disbelief. Her hair was windswept, short and choppy, she wore a hospital gown and no shoes. He barely had time to register more of her physical state when she ran at him with a smile and leaped at him. He caught her in his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. She pressed her lips against his like a happy woman in love, the kiss was filled with joy and just enough passion that had Tom responding in kind without even thinking about it.
"I'm so glad you're here Michael." She breathed against his lips. Hearing the name Michael jarred him as she pressed another soft kiss against his lips and looked at him. It was then he could see her pupils were the size of saucers, the heavy sheen of sweat glistening off her face and her flushed cheeks.
"Rachel." Tom said swallowing his confusion of emotions as he felt a little sore for being recognised as her past lover even if it was a hallucination. It still stung a little but it was overwhelmed by his concern for her health as he realised he needed to get her back to St Louis to medical care. She was definitely high on something and given how delusional she was he was afraid she might be overdosing or worse her gunshot wound was infected. All bad situations he couldn't treat.
"My car broke down and I haven't seen anyone for hours. I'm so glad you found me." She said with a huff like she were completely out of breath as she released herself from his body.
"We need to go." Tom told her.
"We do, it's nearly nightfall and I don't want to be out when the Rebels are hunting." She said in agreement. Tom had to wonder where the hell she thought they were. She pressed a hand to her chest.
"You ok?" he asked her, afraid for her.
"Yes, just a little overheated by being in the sun. Let's go Michael, you can take your photos later." She informed him in an authoritative tone.
"Ok." Tom said frowning as he wasn't taking photos.
"Keys?" she prompted with her hand out. Tom nearly burst out laughing but kept it inside.
"I'm driving." Tom said as he moved to his car and pulled open the passenger side door for her.
"No, you're not." Rachel said putting her hands on her hips like she was ready to fight him.
"I am driving Rachel, so get in the car now." Tom ordered, she gave him an incredulous look like she couldn't believe he'd take that tone with her but followed his orders as she got into passenger seat. He closed the door and went to his side and jumped in. He pulled a bottle water from the console and handed it to Rachel. "Drink." he told her.
"You're very bossy. It's not my fault the car broke down." Rachel informed him looking annoyed.
"I'm worried you have heat exhaustion. So please just sip the water slowly. I'll get you back to the camp." He told her as he turned the ignition key and pulled a U-turn and headed back to St Louis.
"You should be resting." Doc told Wolf as she stood on Kara and Danny's front step. She folded her arms and looked at Wolf who was directing traffic as he'd managed to wrangle about 20 crew members from the Nathan James to help out with the house.
Andrea had marked out what needed to be done. O'Connor was her second as he was making sure no one knocked down the wrong wall or hitting live wires as he planned to use the time after lunch to rewire the downstairs. So far it was coming along as Kara was getting part of her wish. The hallway side that had the kitchen on the other side was being taken down for most part while the lounge room was staying at it was. They were going to widen the door frame to the lounge room just to make the effect that it was a little more light an airy in the downstairs than it currently was.
Wolf knew at the rate they were working, they'd probably have the lounge room half finished before the sun went down. Kat was upstairs with three crewmen putting the second coat of paint on the ceiling, architraves and skirting boards. They'd be able to do the walls after lunch and that left the floors to be vanished but otherwise it was all going to be finished fairly quickly.
All the people in the house were working like demons but Wolf knew it had nothing to do with their want to finish the task at hand but to take their minds off of the situation with America and their crew.
"Got work." Wolf told her as he walked over to her in a slow amble as his chest was killing him from standing up straight. The seat belt bruise and broken ribs were no fun.
"Don't make me sedate you." Doc told him, in a matter of fact tone which for some reason sounded more threatening than it should.
"You got sedatives on you?" He asked her wryly wondering how serious she was about sedating him as he felt like she was the kind of woman who sedate him and let him sleep it off wherever he fell.
"In my car I do." She informed him, Wolf gave a nod knowing he was safe for the time being though if she wanted to incapacitate him they all she had to do was hit him in the chest and he'd go down thanks to the nasty bruise and the broken ribs.
"What are you doing here?" He asked her changing the topic so she wouldn't try to sedate him.
"Checking on you, and I got nothing to do until the wounded come gave me a walkie talkie. I feel so special." Doc said her voice dripping with sarcasm as she held up a radio and shook it with a smile.
"Any word?" He asked as he knew that people either treated her like everyone else or they believed her amnesia somehow meant she was too stupid and that giving her a radio was a fairly big responsibility.
"The sailors and your sister are in transit." Doc informed him.
"Did they get Dr Scott?" He asked, Doc shook her head.
"No, Julian played them...us. I'm not privy to the details only that the Captain has chased after Julian." Doc told him in a low voice, she spoke very frankly that Wolf had no reason to believe that she would keep details from him. But in saying that what she did share didn't exactly bring him any comfort. He'd hoped Kara's house would distract him but it wasn't enough to get his mind off of what was going on. His fears for Larrin and how he was going to handle any of the outcomes ranging from her being killed to her coming back mentally broken like their father had been.
"Thanks for telling me." Wolf said to her.
"You don't look grateful. Look, the tracker in your sister is still active. It's a good sign and I know Steve and the other guys. They will bring her back." Doc assured him.
"People say that but it doesn't make this any easier." Wolf said to her.
"What do you mean you lost her?" Julian demanded as Farhad and Steve stood before him. They were at the main compound and Julian was having to deal with yet another of their incompetency as they had lost Dr Scott. Something Julian found difficult to believe given the woman was high on drugs and restrained to a bed.
"I gave her a dose at the time allotted and left her. She somehow she slipped out of the restraints and took Steve's car. We tried to track her down but once she hit tarmac her tracks were gone." Farhad told him.
"Or she had help." Julian said looking at the two men questioning their loyalty. Wondering if they had grown soft neither of them were into hunting. They were chemists and drug dealers but he had to wonder if they turned against him in some way to secure their freedom because they believed the Captain would topple him. It wasn't hard to believe given the two were weak of character and knew how tenacious the law could be.
"Dr Clarke might have helped her. It wasn't like any of us checked her restraints and the amount of drugs should have subdued her." Farhad told him.
"Well, she's gone now." Julian said in a perturbed manner as he had wanted to break Dr Scott and turn her to working for his side of business. It wouldn't hurt to have a scientist for the next pandemic.
"She did flee into the hunting grounds so maybe one of the others will pick her up." Steve offered as if it would save his neck.
"Hmm, I hope so for your sake. But for now I want everything prepped for Larrin. The enzyme will work right?" Julian asked Farhad.
"Yes, it's ready to go when you are. Just remember when she's in the high of the drug to get her to recollect you and those months. It should wipe those connections and memories out." Farhad told him.
