Witness Protection
Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.
A/N:
Chapter 43 (Never Alone)
"So the scientists said she was brought here…" Jack led the group through the halls of an Argentina hospital, he had been surprised that Hilda was flown out to this location, but it did make sense in regards to location. The scientists had been terrified when they all showed up asking about her, so it was no trouble whatsoever to answer their question. Fortunately the hospital passed as a civilian clinic as well, so there were no Black Dragons waiting for them that they knew of. "What room did they say she was in?"
"This one," Milton replied, opening a door. Jack leaned back and peered inside. Much to his surprise, there she was, hooked up to a machine keeping her alive. He was thrilled to have finally located her, in which case, they could now tell both Mr. Truscott and Yvonne where she was. Though he thought they ought to send her to America, or Italy, whichever was preferable, though it seemed that America would be better considering where Oliver's family lived. "Well, this is her. Alive and well…"
He let out a soft hum and slowly moved towards a file left on the table beside her. Most doctors and nurses weren't supposed to leave patient files lying about for legal purposes, but that may only be a law in America, Jack didn't know. Either way, he carefully opened the file and started to read, shocked at what he saw. She was indeed pregnant. "Guys…she's ten weeks along…" The others were stunned as well, and clamoring on about what to do. "The father's listed as Oliver Oken." Also in the notes on the file, it was required they perform two to three ultrasounds a day to ensure the baby was indeed getting the nutrients from the feeding tube, and was surviving. "I wonder when they can check the gender."
"Usually around the eighteenth week," Ciara answered. The woman moved up next to Hilda and peered down with a heavy heart. Jack watched as she lifted her hand and gently swept the blonde bangs from Hilda's face. "Hey, it's me…the woman that stabbed you. I wanted to say how sorry I am that I put you through that. I don't know if you can hear me, but…we're going to do everything possible to make sure you're okay, and that your baby will have a good life too. I can promise that."
"Seems like an awful lot to promise." He wasn't too sure just how well that kid would make it if his mother didn't survive. If she never woke from the coma, doctors would have to perform a C-section, or some other operation, to get the baby out when it was due. It seemed Oliver had a lot to live for, whether or not he knew it. "I wonder still if we can't at least convince Oliver to change his path…everyone has an option, right?"
"Typically."
"Do you think she realizes that she or Oliver are aware that Lilly is her sister?" The others shrugged their shoulders and Jack carefully walked closer to Hilda's bedside. He put his hand to her wrist and closed his eyes, he wasn't much of a believer in the whole psychic connection thing, but he did think it was possible to perhaps communicate to her somehow. He did get a feeling of deep sorrow from her, amidst a feeling of hope. He opened his eyes and moved his hand away. "She's holding onto something, I'm sure of that."
"Holding on to life most likely," Kim commented. "Hope too." He looked over at her as Kim knelt down beside her. "She knows how Oliver would have reacted to this, just like I knew you might go after Frank and the others when this happened to me. She's worried about him. It doesn't take anything special to tell that."
"It's a shame she'll never know her half sister. Now that we know where she is, we just need to contact the families. They'll want to see her." Behind the group, a loud shuffling noise was heard, just before the door lightly clicked shut. He moved his eyes towards the side and frowned. "We have company." All besides Kim started to turn and look. He didn't know why she wasn't getting up, but perhaps she was just trying to understand Hilda's situation. Which truly, it wasn't hard to do.
"Who are you?" Asked the man just entering. He was about the height of Rudy, Hispanic, and had dark hair released in a mix of curls to his chin. Jack could still hear the shuffling noises outside. Were they going to walk into an ambush? "Get away from her." He walked past them, but Jack kept a close eye on him. He wasn't sure whether or not to fight this man. Kim looked up at the man, then back to Hilda. She would have budged if she didn't think the man was a good person to be around Hilda, so maybe she felt he was okay. "You're that group from Antarctica aren't you. The ones that put Hilda in this state…"
"It was a mistake." The man raised an eyebrow as Jack folded his arms across his chest. He was still listening for the sounds of a possible ambush outside the room. "Ciara was trying to protect us, she didn't know anything…"
"So an accident?"
"Hilda fell on her blade. If we could have done that day differently, we would have. So now you know who we are…who are you?" The man closed his eyes and leaned his head back, sighing heavily. He leaned his head towards Jack and smiled slightly, bouncing his eyebrows.
"Ernesto Vasco. Oliver would be here today, but he's taking Dylan and Rin to their family. It's time." Jack's heart started to swell with pride. He lowered his arms and nodded at the man while the others behind him prepared to fight. Ernesto lifted a hand and exhaled slowly. "I won't fight right off the bat, so don't worry." It was a bit of a change, Una and Matata fought without asking questions. "I know why you are going around…you want to stop that plan. Taking out the celebrities and stuff, you'd like to put an end to that."
"Yeah, that's pretty much it."
"Not exactly something we want either, but Oliver hasn't been thinking about that plan for a while. He's mostly been fighting over whether or not to hate you guys for putting her in a coma." Jack bowed his gaze down for a second, shrugging his shoulders. He didn't blame him for hating them, but still there was no excuse for what had been done. "I have some things to tell you guys, and I'm sure you've got some stuff for us. I heard you say something about her family…"
"We did some investigating. Her mom still wants her back, and her birth father would like to see her." Ernesto's eyebrows rose high and he peered down at Hilda, humming lightly. Jack breathed in and closed his eyes. "Her mother is Yvonne Bodil, her mother is Ken Truscott." The man's head shot up and his eyes froze on the wall before him.
"Truscott?"
"Yeah…her sister was Lilly Truscott." Jack watched the man reach into his pocket, slowly pulling what appeared to be a tape recorder out. Ernesto shook his head and pushed it back in. "What's that?"
"It's Chogan confessing to having pulled the strings and so forth…Oliver's innocent of anything but his anger, which Chogan played off all these years. Even that whole plan to take out the celebrities…was a play on Oliver's emotions." Jack's jaw dropped and Ernesto started to turn fully towards him. "Chogan said some other things…things that Oliver doesn't know…like he and Matata were responsible for everything that went wrong in our pasts."
"Such as?"
"It's how Chogan and Matata knew where to send Oliver, to someone who was 'without' a family. They're both war chiefs, so obviously they know a thing or two about the human mind…"
He wasn't sure how to respond, hearing that Chogan and Matata might have done something to the captain's families. How was someone supposed to respond to that? "So what you're saying is…those two pulled someone at random, destroyed their families and their lives, all so they could have someone to be a part of their own mixed up family?"
"Something like that, yeah. I didn't know what to think of it either…" Ernesto put his hand to Hilda's wrist and peered down sadly. "Hilda's one of the only ones that those two didn't affect. Oliver just found her on the street, having attempted to kill herself. He wouldn't let her die…I don't think Chogan would have picked her if he knew…none of us knew she was Lilly's sister."
"Not even Oliver?"
"Not even him. He just told me a while ago, it was one of his Indians that did it, the mugging. He wanted that final kick to piss Oliver off so badly." Jack's eyes widened and Kim slowly rose to her feet. Ernesto narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. "I'm worried about that history possibly repeating itself, so…I was thinking of sending her to another clinic."
"California!" Jerry exclaimed. Ernesto looked over to him and Jack raised an eyebrow. "Oliver's father and brother, they're there. If you can take her there, then she'll be with them, and maybe…maybe you can talk to Oliver about going back to them? You think Chogan would try to do something to Hilda?"
"I don't know. I don't want to think he would, but…it's getting hard to trust him, especially after Matata's death. I know Chogan had something to do with Rin's family, and I think he's hiding her mother somewhere, to be honest. Knowing how hard Fan searches when she looks for someone, if the mother were out there, even if the mother were dead, Fan would have found her by now."
"Do you have any ideas where she might be?"
"Not sure, but if Chogan indeed is hiding her somewhere, then maybe that prison compound…the island where all those captives are. You know, Miley and Rudy are the only ones that Oliver ever put in there."
"Really?"
"Yeah, the others at that compound are people that pissed off Chogan and Matata."
Jack heard the shuffling noise once more and slowly turned is gaze to the door. The textured glass window had a suspicious looking shadow standing behind it. He started to say something about it, but before he could react, an arrow pierced through the glass. "Shit! Get down!" Everyone ducked as glass scattered about the room. Someone was making a gasping sound. Jack looked up and let out a violent shout. Ernesto was up against the wall, holding onto an arrow that was going through his chest. "Ernesto!"
"C-Can't breathe."
"Hold on!" Jack hopped up to his feet and looked over to the door, several Indians were filing into the room. They looked surprised to see the group there, waiting for them. Jack narrowed his eyes as the others moved into fight position. "Jerry, guard Ernesto. Ciara, stand by Hilda and cut down anyone that gets too close."
"You can get her out of here…" Jack looked back at Ernesto. He was pointing to a monitor on the desk. He gasped in between his words, fighting to form a simple sentence. "The wall behind her opens up into a hallway, mostly for emergencies. Send someone with her and have the doctors tell them what to do…where to send her, you already know."
Jack nodded and looked over to Milton, ordering him to do the job. Milton rushed over to the monitor and started to follow Ernesto's directions. The wall opened up and several nurses looked in with shock, Milton told them what was going on, and helped them lead Hilda out of the room.
Several Indians tried to rush for them, but Ciara jumped in the path and cut them down with her blade. "No one gets her!" Ciara demanded. She twirled her blade in the air and pointed it to the many Indians in the room. "Fight!"
Jack was surrounded by Indians with bows and arrows, a seemingly impossible situation. He looked back to see Ernesto sliding towards the ground, moaning in pain. Jerry stood before him, kicking into the Indians surrounding them. Ciara and Kim stood together, fighting off their group.
Eddie bolted towards him, distracting the Indians. "Eddie!" Several arrows flew into him, but he wasn't falling. Eddie smirked and cracked his neck.
"I'm the tank here," Eddie muttered. He reached forward, grabbing the wrist of the nearest Indian. The man hollered as Eddie pulled him towards him and slammed a fist into his sternum. "Can't beat me."
"Keep fighting." Jack put his hands to Eddie's shoulder and flipped over him, smirking as Eddie slammed his fist into the head of another. Jack landed behind the Indians and kicked back, smashing his heel into one of the men's spine. "I was afraid of an ambush, I just didn't see this coming." Several Indians turned around and started to surround him, all hopping on their heels and glaring at him. "Come on assholes…let's do this…" He lunged forward, kicking his foot out and striking one of the assailants. He twisted over, pushing his right foot down and spinning his left leg over, slamming another in the head. He continued this twisting and alternating motion while holding his palms against the ground.
This combination was stopped only when an arrow struck him in the left shoulder. He let out a loud shout and crashed to the floor. Jack looked up to see three Indians pointing their bows at him. Suddenly three arrows shot into his back. He clenched his teeth together as blood splashed out around him. He was a sitting duck! As he attempted to push himself up, three more arrows pelted him, striking his arms. The scent of his own blood struck his nostrils like a poison, the sound of his flesh tearing tormented his ears. "Fuck…let me get up…"
At least five Indians were on top of Eddie, pelting him with punches. Ciara was getting pushed back against the wall trying to deflect arrows and to slash at the Indians that kept hopping back to avoid her.
Jerry, thinking fast, looked from Ernesto to the Indian in front of him. He'd successfully knocked out three of them. He saw the danger his friends were in, and rushed forward, taking an arrow to his left arm. He clenched his teeth and removed the arrow, twisted it around in his fingers, and pushed it forward into the shooter's neck. "I'll take this…" He grabbed the bow and arrows from the man. He stepped over the body and narrowed his eyes as he lifted the bow and aimed for the shooters on Jack.
He hadn't fired an arrow before, but he needed to trust his aim. Jack needed help here, and the others couldn't get to him. He attached one arrow to the rope and started to pull back, wincing as the pain in his arms fought against him. "Can't let loose." He released the rope, sending one of the arrows into the head of the middle archer. His eyes widened as the man crumpled to the ground. A nervous chuckle left his lips. "Wow! I did it…" The two remaining shooters turned to him and glared aggressively at him. "Uh oh."
Just as they raised their bows to him, he grabbed an arrow of his own. They fired, he ducked down and rolled towards the right. He rose up on one knee and fired off a shot into the sternum of the archer on the left. The archer yelped and Jerry followed up with another shot into the same archer's left chest.
The remaining archer shot an arrow at him, shooting him in the right chest. He felt the pain ripping through muscle and tissue, but he was sure it didn't strike any major organs. He sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Good, you didn't puncture my lung, but damn!" He reached for another arrow and groaned, he was all out of arrows!
He swallowed hard and slowly put his hand to the arrow in his chest. He tightened his muscles and started to let out a long yell as he tore the arrow from his chest. "Stay away from Jack, I won't let you hurt my friends…" The determination and adrenaline helped him to pull the arrow from his chest. He met Jack's concerned gaze and quickly rushed forward. The archer yelped as Jerry grasped his throat and quickly stabbed him many times with the arrow. "Die!" Blood gushed from the archer and soon he fell towards the ground. Jerry panted heavily and reached down, helping Jack up to his feet.
"Thanks Jerry," Jack said while holding his arm over his stomach. He was hunched over and covered in blood. "We're going to need doctors after this."
"Damn good thing we're in a hospital."
"Yeah…" Jerry watched as Ciara stabbed through the neck of the last Indian near her. Kim flipped over through the air and extended her foot, slamming her heel into the left temple of another. A loud scream echoed in the room, and Eddie pushed the Indians pelting him with blows off. Ciara and Kim were not as badly injured, but it was an impossible situation going up against a sword without any weapons. The archers at least got Ciara once, but no one got Kim.
"The benefit of sticking with my cousin, amazing." Kim flipped her hair over her shoulder and rushed for Jack. "Are you okay, Jack?"
"I'm fine," he replied. "Going to need a doctor, but at least we're in a clinic." Jack looked over at Ernesto and pointed his thumb. "Him too." The group moved over towards Ernesto, all limping besides the women. Ernesto slowly looked up and shook his head.
"I won't make it…I'm sorry…"
Jerry knelt before him, looking into his fading eyes. "Just stay calm. It'll be okay." He looked towards the others, Jack had taken to sitting up against the side wall with Eddie. Kim was beside Jack. He took a deep breath and flicked his gaze to Ciara. "Ciara, go grab a doctor, please."
"On it," she replied.
"Thank you." He returned his gaze to Ernesto. While he'd been fighting off the Indians beside Ernesto, he had time to learn something more in regards to him. Ernesto was afraid of dying alone, afraid of dying without his family. Jerry had been curious about his name, though. "You know…my mother died back in 2008, I don't know much about her, but I know she had a sister somewhere." Ernesto looked at him with arched brows, and a crooked smile. "You were saying something about dying without family…now I know mom's sister married someone named Vasco, but that's all I know. Mom moved to America while her sister remained in another country, but…what was your mother's name?"
"Estella…Estella Genoveva." Jerry slowly inhaled and bowed his head, chuckling at the name. His mom's maiden name was Genoveva, he remembered that much about her. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he slowly sat beside Ernesto. Always he considered himself a lone wolf, but lately he'd begin seeing himself as a part of a team. Now even within his family, he wasn't alone, and neither was Ernesto. "Why?"
"I guess…you and I have big families. A couple lone wolves with family we never see…most of my relatives are in Chicago, and yours-"
"Are all dead."
"Maybe not. Your mom had a sister, and the woman had a family." Ernesto scoffed and started to close his eyes. "Ever think about them?"
"Even still, they're all over the world, assuming you're correct." Jerry smiled and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes and relaxing his body. "Be nice to see them, but since I'm dying…"
"Would you die happy, knowing where your family was?"
"I guess…" Ernesto slowly removed the tape recorder from his pocket and set it on Jerry's knee. "Take this. Give it to Oliver." Ernesto gasped for air once more and groaned. Tears welled up in his eyes and he cursed Jerry. "You got me thinking of my family…why…"
"Because those that aren't alive any longer, you'll see again. As for your Aunt, you'll see her too. Then you have me…" Ernesto raised an eyebrow as Jerry met his wavering gaze. "My mother was Nita Genoveva, she moved to America with several of her siblings, and that's where she met my father, Hector Martinez. We're cousins, Ernesto. Took me a little bit to put two and two together, but that's the way it is…"
"Amazing." Ernesto chuckled softly and closed his eyes. "I never thought I'd see that day." Jerry let his tear drop from his face as Ernesto took one last breath. "It doesn't hurt so much anymore..." He looked over to Ernesto, feeling a growing sense of sorrow and joy mixed together. The man's body went limp, and he thought for a moment that he could feel Ernesto's soul brushing past him. He wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore, so he was happy for him.
"Decansa en paz, mi primo."
What an intense chapter, wouldn't you agree? Everyone's in pretty bad shape, and Ernesto's gone. What do you think of the ambush? You think Chogan was behind it? What surprised you here?
