Chapter 20

Evan's POV

I run down the hallway as fast as my feet will carry me. I know she's here somewhere. I look around until I see another room there is almost similar to the one Vincent was in. I don't see her at first. Eventually, I look down to see a small figure with auburn hair balled up on the floor, shaking. I nearly bust in the door when I open it.

"Leslie!" I exclaim frantically when I see her.

She turns her head up to face me, and a gasp when I see her. Her tear-filled eyes are glowing a brilliant yellow. She has a fear in them that I've never seen. She has burn marks on both of her arms and a small one on her face. Her clothes are burned as well. Her eyes tell me everything. She looks up at me with her eyes crying out for help.

"Daddy," she says weakly.

"Oh baby," I say nearly crying myself. "What did they do to you?"

"I'm… I'm scared, daddy," she tells me with a shaky voice.

I slowly put my outstretched hand in between the bars. She hesitates to reach for it. She continues to look at the bars with fear. They must have electrified the bars earlier. That explains the burn marks. Eventually, uncertainly, she places her hand in mine. I gently squeeze her hand for reassurance. She's still scared, and to be honest, so am I. Now though, she appears more relaxed. It's like she feels safer. I've seen this several times when she's been scared. Every time, she has come to me. It's like she feels safe when I'm here. There's a sense of security.

"Ok, baby girl," I say. "I'm gonna get you out of here."

She nods her head with what little strength she is regaining. I walk over to the button in the middle of the console. The same button is in the room holding Vincent. I open the glass door protecting it and press the button. The cage is opened as an alarm sounds. I run over to Leslie and lift her into my arms. I take off down the hallway. Soon, I realize I'm being followed by Agent Kyle. I enter a room I had been in before. I'm only seconds in front of Kyle. I set Leslie down in a place that can at least semi conceal her. Right after I do, he bursts into the room. He runs at me, and punches me square in the jaw.

"Who did you let in here?!" he demands. "Who breached security?!"

I don't answer him, and he charges at me again. His foot making contact with my stomach and his fist catching me under the chin. I'm knocked into a table, and before I know it, my hair is grabbed, and my face is slammed into the metal table. I slowly begin to push myself off the table. Kyle walks away.

"For the last time," he starts. "Who breached security?... WHO DID YOU LET IN HERE?!"

"Even if I did know who the infiltrator was," I snap at him. "I'd never tell you. You might as well kill me."

"I was planning on it," he says as he pulls his gun and fires. I feel the bullet penetrate the side of my abdomen. Everything around it begins to burn. It's a pain I've never felt before. I fall abruptly to the ground. I hear Leslie's breath catch. I feel lucky that Kyle did not. He proceeds to walk out of the room leaving me to die. When he has left, Leslie pulls herself over to me with all the strength she has.

"Daddy," she cries. "Daddy!"

My vision is fuzzy, but I don't have to see to know what she's doing. I hear material tearing. I feel pressure placed on my wound. She trying to stop the bleeding.

"That's my girl," I say breathily.

Even in this situation, I don't know if I've ever been so proud. She jumped right into action… just like a doctor. She's heard me say what to do in situations like this. She heard my story of saving Cat when she was shot, even though that was a different situation. I can hear her murmuring to herself to keep pressure, stop the bleeding and more. Some of this I know she didn't hear from me.

"How did you learn that?" I ask her.

"Vincent was a doctor," she tells me. "And you were too."

I smile. This makes sense now. I've seen her drive for helping people. I feel pride seeing this now.

She still looks at me with love. More love than I've ever deserved. Even after what I just did to her. She still here.

"Why did you come back to me, earlier and now?" I ask her.

"Because I love you, daddy," she tells me. I feel a tear run down my face. Even after all of this, she still loves me. She still calls me her father.

"Why?" I ask. "Why do you still call me your dad? After you found out about him… After what I just did to did…"

She takes my hands and looks my in the eye.

"When they threw me out, you took me in. When they said I was hopeless, you said I was an opportunity. When they call me unlovable, you loved me. You're still my daddy. You were the first person to ever care about me or even love me. I love you."

I know I'm crying now. She leans down closer to me, and I do what I can to wrap my arms around her. I hold her for a moment… even in this place of evil, I am not concerned with anything but her.

We soon hear the door open. I hear footsteps coming towards us. Leslie's head whirls around.

"Cat!" she exclaims. "Cat, please, help me!"

'Evan!" Cat says in shock.

"Cat," I say. "You shouldn't have come."

"Vincent," she says looking at me. "Oh my gosh!"

Vincent looks to Leslie.

"Ok," he says. 'Leslie, good job. I'm going to switch with you now, but don't move your hand until I say so. Cat, hand me your jacket… Ok… three, two, one, now!"

I feel pressure leave my wound and be placed back on as soon as it left. Les lays her head on my chest and gently lays her arms around me. I feel her teardrops fall onto my shirt. I move my head and kiss the top of her head.

"Ok," Catherine says. "We're gonna get you out of here. You'll get help. You'll heal, and you'll get back to your life. I'm gonna somehow convince Gabe that you're not a mole."

"He thinks I'm the mole?" I laugh.

"You or me," she replies. "He's on a hunt to track down whoever's leaking the task force plans."

"If he thinks it's you…" I say desperately.

"Doesn't matter," she tells me. "We're going to get through this."

"Catherine," Vincent says. "We've gotta go."

"Cat, listen to him," I say. "Run!"

Leslie's eyes look down at me.

"No," she says with a determination I've never heard.

"No one's running without you," Vincent tells me.

"There's an exit in the underground electrical tunnels," Cat intervenes. "I just have to make sure the coast is clear."

Vincent gives me his arm and begins to help me up.

"Ok, come on," he says. "Slowly."

"Wait," I say. "Are you gonna tell her about her parents? I found it in her mother's file."

He does not respond.

"You know," I ask. "Don't you?"

"Yes," he tells me. "Look, we can't tell her. Ok?"

Leslie is looking at us confused.

"Not a word," he instructs her. She nods her head to say that she understands. He then looks at me. "Just give me your weight. Come on."

We walk through the tunnels. We haven't seen agents yet. We hope it stays that way. Sadly, our luck runs out when we hit a large and heavy door.

"That door wasn't in the plans," Cat says.

Vincent tries to gently place my weight onto a wall to support me. I nearly fall when I feel Leslie get under my shoulder to hold me up. I watch her wince in pain as my weight falls on her. I notice her shoulder is burnt which is where my weight is falling.

"I'm sorry sweet girl," I say to her. We both lean against the wall to try and lessen the weight on ourselves.

Vincent and Catherine both looks at the door.

"Can you open it?" Cat asks.

" I don't know," Vincent responds. "I'll give it a go, ok."

We hear him push on it and body slam it. He isn't making much progress. I decide that I won't let Catherine be destroyed over this mole thing. Maybe it seems stupid now, but I have to do this. I pull out my phone and text to Gabe that I am the mole. Even if we do make it out of this, I will have to disappear.

"An SOS message isn't really gonna help us right now," Cat teases me. I turn to see Vincent still banging on the door. He stops all at once. His panting has become… something else… Claws extend out of the ends of his fingers. His face and teeth have an animal appearance. He rears his head back and roars.

"Holy," I say out of shock, but it isn't that that shocks me. It's what I see next. I turn my head to see that Leslie appears the same. Her eyes glow yellow once again, but that's not all. Like him, claws extend from her fingers. The features of her face her shift, and her teeth are like fangs. When she realizes what I see, she turns her face away from me and looks down at her feet. I gently place my hand under her chin and tilt her head up.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"Don't be," I respond. "You're beautiful."

I turn once again to see Vincent still trying to move the door.

"We need more time," I state. I hear footsteps coming down the tunnels. "We're not all getting out of here."