My Serenity
WARNING: Rated M for some violence, language, and sexual situations. This fic contains (eventual) femmeslash and sexual situations between two female characters. Do not continue if this is not to your liking.
Trigger warnings: This chapter contains references to Charles Hoyt. While there are no graphic images or descriptions, some readers may be uncomfortable with the dark themes explored. Please be advised of trigger warnings for: kidnapping, psychological abuse, and physical violence. While these themes will not remain the focus of this story in general, it will be part of the plot for the next few chapters.
xxx
Chapter 23 – The Rescue Part 1
Ariopolis
The darkness was constant now. Jane had lost all track of time. Frankly, she started to doubt that there had ever been anything than this room, the voices, the nightmares. She struggled to grasp on to what was real.
She closed her eyes—despite the darkness—and tried her hardest to find that memory, the only one left that comforted her. There was the soft light and warmth of a fire. There was the smell of gardenias. Stars shown brightly above her. There was someone there with her. They were talking together—Jane was talking mostly, the woman just listened, smiling. Jane could make out a series of stars in the sky, but their name eluded her.
Again, the smell of flowers. There was a breeze in her hair. A face was buried into her neck. Her heart started to race, butterflies in her stomach. A hand was grasping at her stomach. A soft whisper in her ear. "Night…" she whispered. Jane felt warm. Comfortable. If only for a moment.
"Jane!" the woman screamed. The Warden's cackled followed. Jane rubbed at her palms. She could feel the blades digging in. She could see his toothy smile, his wrinkled face.
"Stop!" Jane shouted, lunging at him. His blade slipped across the woman's neck. She fell to the ground. Blood pooled around her lifeless body. Jane sobbed, her stomach turning. She retched.
He was looming over her again. His blades at her neck this time. "I'll match you watch. Again and again. Over and over."
"Please!" Jane screamed. "Stop. Make it stop!"
Xxx
Athens
"Yeah!" Tommy shouted, hooting and hollering as he jumped off the cargo ramp before it even hit the ground. "Did you see that?"
"Yes," Frost shouted back, running up to the ship as fast as he could, "you almost ran us over!"
"That was amazing!" Tommy shouted, turning to Maura, who had just stepped off the cargo ramp herself. "We almost died!"
She humored him with a smile. At least he's doing better. It seemed the youngest Rizzoli had a need for the sky just like his sister.
"We did not almost die!" Frankie hollered grumpily. "Janey herself couldn't have done better."
"Was it you that landed that thing?" Frost said in disbelief.
"What?" Frankie scowled. "I can't be a good pilot too?"
"Wow!" Frost smiled, patting his shoulder congratulatorily, "Good for you. Jane taught you well."
"I'm not completely useless, you know." Frankie groaned.
"Where's the cargo?" Maura said, all business.
"Back there," Frost said thumbing behind him, "it wasn't easy to come by."
"Take one of the ATVs and get it on board," Maura directed. "We don't have a lot of time."
"No need," Frost said as Korsak drove up into earshot, "we borrowed one of our own."
"Good," Maura said simply. "Load the cargo. Leave the vehicle. No need to take more than we need."
"Damn, you sound like Janey," Tommy laughed.
Maura didn't respond, she just turned and walked back into the cargo bay. With all she had running through her mind, she only had enough energy to focus on one thing: getting Jane back. If she could manage that, she worried about the state Jane would be in once she did.
Xxx
White Star System
In a little less than a day, the Serenity was within sight of Ariel. They had pushed the gravity drive as much as possible, so refueling would be necessary. The crew—minus Korsak, who was on the bridge—gathered in the canteen. Maura was going to go over the plan with everyone one more time. Similar to how Jane would, she had each person describe their part to ensure they were all on the same page.
"Tommy?" Maura said, turning to their way into the facility.
"I'm Thomas Hayward," he nodded, "the patient being sent to the special facility on Ariopolis. I am convinced that The Hands of Blue have kidnapped my family members. I'm a former Brown Coat with a history of acting out violently against Alliance officials—"
"Are we sure this isn't a bit too on the nose?" Korsak pointed out for the second time that day.
"Vince," Maura reassured, "the closer we are to the truth, the more believable our story will be. If The Hands of Blue catch on to what we're up to, they'll want him in custody anyway. It's our best bet."
Not to mention it will be easier for -me- to pass off, Maura added internally. She turned to Frost, "Barry?"
"I think I've managed to reformat your security card." Frost started.
"You think?" Korsak interrupted.
"I can't be sure until she has access to an Alliance communications terminal. It should work, but I'm working with software from eight years ago and a limited knowledge of Alliance security firewall. Alliance medical facilities only have partial access to Alliance intranet systems. And the facility on Ariopolis has separate secure servers. They can't be accessed remotely. We won't know for sure if they work until Maura gets there. She'll be able to gain access to transport to the lunar surface but getting into the facility itself will depend on my ability to reach her security card in real time.
"If we can't fly close, there will be a lag just long enough so that I won't be able to combat the interference from their security net. Even a lag of as little as two seconds could make this plan fall apart."
"And the lag from Ariel's surface?" Korsak asked.
"There and back?" Frost said. "Almost three seconds. We'll need to be within sensor range to keep the signal lag under two seconds."
"So," Korsak nodded, "that's where I come in." He looked uneasy. Too much of this plan could fall apart before they even made it into the facility itself. But Jane would proceed with even worse odds. She had before. So, he was going to bite the bullet; he owed her as much.
"I'll be piloting Serenity as close to Ariopolis' surface as possible. I can use Shiva and our new crybabies to confuse our signal. Giovanni and I will be waiting for your signal to come in for pickup."
Korsak turned to Frankie, who continued. "I will be on the ground. I'll take the port shuttle, landing in a crater out of range of their radar. The crybabies will send out a false signal, allowing me to sneak around the facility while security searches for the breach. I will use our rigged scanner to figure out as much as possible about the buildings as possible, transmitting the information to Maura. They will monitor incoming signals onto the surface, but not signals coming from the surface itself. The wards are highly classified—even from each other."
"And you, Angela?" Maura said, turning to the last piece of the puzzle.
Angela did not respond. She looked pale, sick with worry. She simply shook her head, fighting back tears.
"Angela?" Maura said softly, placing a soothing hand on her arm. "You need to be here for us when we return. You'll need to make sure the infirmary is ready in case anything—in case anyone needs medical attention."
The older woman looked uneasy. She tried to smile to signal that she understood, but all she could do was nod. Her hands were unsteady as she grasped at Maura's hand. Every single one of them were risking their lives to save Jane. She wanted to feel proud that they were all so devoted to her family, but all she could do was think about all that could go wrong.
"It's okay, Angela," Maura said, squeezing her hand, "we'll get her back. Like you said, "Rizzolis survive."
Xxx
Ariopolis
She watched her die over and over. Each time was more violent than the last. No matter how much Jane screamed, it wouldn't stop. It repeated over and over. He took sick pleasure in it.
"It's even better this way." He whispered cryptically, a toothy grin spreading across his face.
"Why are you doing this?!" Jane screamed at him. She pressed her hands over her ears, wishing she could drown him out. "Why do you torture her?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Hoyt cackled.
"Leave her alone! Leave me alone! Let me go!"
"Oh, but I'm having so much fun."
"Please!" Jane sobbed.
Suddenly, the cackling stopped. Jane opened her eyes. She looked about her, but there was still only darkness. Silence.
Then she heard muffled sounds. She couldn't make out the words, but she could swear there was more than one voice. The lights slowly came up. The room was empty. She sat in the bed, staring at the door, afraid to move. Afraid to even breathe.
Xxx
Ariel – Central Medical Hospital
"Thomas Hayward?" The security guard at the transport shuttle questioned. "I don't have a transfer flight scheduled for a Hayward."
Maura wavered. They had hit a roadblock already. She resisted the urge to scratch her neck. Hives already? Maura thought frantically.
"This is Thomas," Maura confirmed. That much is true. "He has just arrived. His transfer order should be on your info pad there."
The guard humored her, looking through his files again. Suddenly, the file popped up on the screen. He looked it over with suspicion, then eyed Maura. He hadn't noticed Tommy yet, sitting in the wheelchair Maura was wheeling him in. He was in a pale blue hospital gown, his hands and feet bound to the chair. He was staring at the officer with an agitated expression.
"Identification?" The guard said with a sigh, holding his hand out expectantly.
"Don't give it to him!" Tommy shouted.
The guard jumped back, reaching for his weapon.
"Tommy," Maura said calmly, "I told you, we are taking the shuttle to a new hospital. This man is just doing his job."
"No!" he said, struggling against his restraints. "He's one of them! You'll take me there and I'll disappear. I'll disappear like all the rest."
"Tommy," Maura said, struggling to focus, she hadn't expected Tommy's acting to be so convincing, "it's okay. I'll be there with you."
"Not before you give me your identification," the guard said agitatedly.
She handed him her medical I.D. card. Frost had reformatted it to allow her high security clearance. The guard's eyes widened when he scanned it, "Doctor Isles, I'm sorry. I had no idea you were working with the Warden. Go ahead, please."
Maura nodded, proceeding to the loading dock. About fifty meters away from the guard she exhaled a breath she had no idea she had been holding in.
"That was fun." Tommy smiled.
"Shh!" Maura whispered anxiously. "We haven't even gotten on the shuttle yet."
Tommy nodded, looking serious. Maura wished he knew how serious this was, but she didn't have the time or space to rebuke him further. They would still have to make it past the security at the launchpad, get into the facility, find Jane, and hope they could figure a way out. It all depended on so many variables.
Maura started growing uneasy as they stood in line behind four other patients with escorts. She hadn't expected so many transfers this morning. Usually Maura saw at most two patients at a time at the loading dock. Only the occasional patient was taking an outbound shuttle to Ariopolis.
This is not good, Maura thought feverishly.
Xxx
"I'm in!" Frost said excitedly.
"Can you access the medical files?" Korsak questioned. He looked agitated, almost twitchy. He knew he had quite the flight to make. He might be a seasoned pilot, but his reflexes weren't as good as they used to be. This jailbreak was not going to be easy.
"Yes," Frost affirmed, "Tommy's files are all in order. He should be checking Maura's next."
"We don't have a lot of time," Korsak prodded. He was anxious to get going. The longer they were parked near the Central Medical Hospital, the more likely they were to be caught. And Korsak didn't know a lot about computers, but he figured the Alliance would pick up on his hacking at some point. They needed to be far away from here by the time that happened.
"Okay!" Frost exclaimed, stepping back from the computer console. "They should be all set."
"Alright," Korsak nodded, picking up the intercom mic, "we're headed out folks. Hold on to your asses."
Frost smiled, "It's good to be back."
"Save the celebrations for when we get Jane's ass out of there," he replied, shifting Serenity into full gear as soon as they took off. "We've got quite the stunt to pull today."
Xxx
Jane felt as lucid as—well she couldn't remember the last time she felt this sane. The light was bright, almost a warm color. She could see the white walls around her for the first time for what must have been months, maybe years. It couldn't have been that long, could it?
She let go of the pillow she had been squeezing. It was filthy and soaked with tears. She ran her fingers through her hair. She breathed through her nose, letting her heartrate settle. Standing up, her legs felt weak. Her stomach growled. She couldn't remember the last time she ate.
Muffled voices came from behind the door. She rushed to it, "Hello?"
The sounds continued, but with no more clarity. "Hello? Someone? Help me, please!" Jane continued.
Nothing. The voices faded away. The silence settled in. Jane sat back on the bed, staring at the door defeated, hopeless. For a brief moment, she had thought she recognized the voice. She knew she knew the woman's name, but it was stuck on the tip of her tongue.
Xxx
"Alright, Frankie" Korsak said over the intercom as he pulled the ship into Shiva's shadow, "now's your time to shine."
"Got it." Frankie said, he turned to his mother, who was waiting with him at the shuttle door. "Ma, I'll be fine. I promise."
"You better come back to me, you hear?" Angela demanded. "I'll be lost if I lose all three of you today."
"We're coming back," Frankie insisted. "We're all coming back."
"Just make sure you get everyone back in one piece." Angela said, squeezing him in yet another hug.
"Okay, Ma. I gotta go."
Tears fell down Angela's cheeks as she watched yet another child leave her. She wanted to believe she would get him back—get them all back—but the task ahead of them was so daunting, she didn't know if it was possible.
She decided to go to the engine room to distract herself. Maybe she could be of some use there until she was needed in the infirmary. If I'm needed, Angela thought. If I'm needed.
Giovanni was buried beneath the engine. Only his legs and torso were visible. He was cursing loudly, but his complaining was drowned out by the noise.
"Vanni!" Angela shouted. He didn't move, so she kicked his foot.
"Hey!" he yelled, sliding out from under. "Watch it! It's dangerous under there."
"Why are you even under there?" Angela said as Giovanni stood, wiping his greasy hands on his pants.
"This engine is ancient," he complained, "My pops wouldn't even know what to do with it."
"Surely you're exaggerating, Vanni." Angela said, her hands on her hips.
"Only a bit." He admitted with a smile, looking kind of reticent. "No one's called me Vanni since school."
"Well," Angela nodded, smiling back, "it fits you. Besides, we've always called you Vanni. Why change now?"
Giovanni shrugged, and Angela responded with a pat on his shoulder. He was a bit slow on the uptake, but she liked him none-the-less. She reminded him of Tommy. Still, she wished he would learn how to treat women more respectfully. Certainly, his mother would not approve of the way he looked acted around Maura. It seemed slapping him upside the head a few times hadn't gotten the point across.
Janey would be a good influence on him, she considered. And we could really use a real engineer on this god forsaken ship.
Vanni rubbed the back of his neck, smiling awkwardly. "Aw, Mrs. Rizzoli …"
"Call me Angela," she reminded him.
"Thanks," he nodded, "Angela."
"What can I do to help?"
"Well, I could use help preparing those crybabies."
"Alright, let's get to it Vanni!"
Xxx
"Alright, that's it." The guard said, stopping Maura and Tommy at the shuttle door.
"What?" Maura frowned, "we're supposed to be on that transport. This passenger is being transferred to the Ariopolis facility."
"Yeah, yeah," the guard said with annoyance. "Still doesn't change the fact that it only holds six passengers. You and him make eight. You'll have to wait until the next shuttle."
"But we have special clearance. This patient is a priority case."
"And so are these, Ma'am." He said, pointing to the group already crowded into the small shuttle. "You were added last minute, so you'll have to be the one to wait."
"Hands of Blue," Tommy muttered. "You're all working with them!"
Maura examined the passengers on the shuttle for the first time. Two of the escorts wore blue surgical gloves, though they were dressed in well-fitted suits and black ties. She also noted that all three patients were clearly heavily sedated.
"No," Tommy said, shifting in his seat; either Tommy's acting was that good, or he was really starting to get afraid. Either way, Maura had to do something because the passengers were eyeing her suspiciously.
"I'm sorry," she said apologetically to the guard, trying not to worry about the audience on the shuttle, "his meds must be wearing off."
She reached into her pocket, producing a tranquilizer shot. "Sorry, Tommy," she whispered in his ear as she injected him in the arm, "I don't think I have a choice."
Tommy grunted with the prick of the needle, but his head dropped only a few moments later. Maura smiled up at the guard, "it's okay, officer. We'll wait for the next shuttle. When is it?"
He looked at his watch, "In about ½ an hour. They'll need to refuel, so you should be on your way in about 40 minutes."
Oh no, Maura thought, this is not good.
Xxx
About twenty minutes later Frankie landed safely in a crater in a remote area about 3 kilometers south of the facility. The population was sparse in the area, so he would be able to make the trek fairly undisturbed. Unfortunately, he did not have much time before Maura and Tommy would arrive, so he needed to be on the property within the next ten minutes or so, or Maura would be riding blind, so-to-speak. Frankie covered the shuttle with as much brush as he could find, hiked up the rucksack on his back, and headed out at a quick sprint.
He reached the facility's security fence about 1 kilometer out. He crouched in the brush, looking over the fencing from a distance. The cheap binoculars did not do much to help. It appeared that the barrier was electrified. There was a guard station about every 100 meters, raised above the ground in a fortified tower.
"It really is like a prison." Frankie muttered to himself. This was only outside of the facility. The special prisoner ward was supposed to be on the other side of the complex, in an additional security barrier. Looks like they don't want anyone knowing what's really going on here, Frankie thought. Who knows what experimental treatments they're getting away with?
He looked at his watch. Maura should have arrived at the launch pad already. He peered up at the sky. A shuttle was just arriving. That was his cue. Quickly, he switched out his boots. He didn't know if this was going to work, but if Jane was enduring even half of what Maura feared, he would risk anything to get her out.
Xxx
"Hold?" Frost said with confusion.
"Hold what?" Korsak retorted.
"I don't know," Frost said, shaking his head, "her message just says 'hold.'"
"She risked exposure to send you one word. It must mean something."
"Does she mean wait?"
"My guess is as good as yours," Korsak shrugged, "but we better pass it on to Frankie. If he enters the facility too soon, he won't just be a diversion; he'll be a new inmate."
Xxx
"So how do these work, anyway?" Angela huffed, as she helped Vanni (as best she could) load the crybaby into the deployment hatch.
"They're pretty cool, aren't they?" He smiled, letting out a breath as he stood up. "They're meant to be distress beacons. Normally you have four to six. They are launched into space in case you need to be rescued. They send out a deep space radio signal."
"And now?" Angela grunted, helping him load another into the hatch on the starboard side. They were definitely, heavy, but the real problem was the modifications. The extra parts meant they didn't fit quite well into the hatch without a good deal of finagling. Giovanni was doing the heavy lifting, while Angela used her smaller hands to feel where to pivot the metallic, cylindric devices.
"Now," Giovanni sighed with relief, "they mimic a firefly-class vessel. Not one in distress, but one moving very quickly around the lunar surface. Exactly the kind of thing that Alliance gunships would be sent after. Hopefully, they only have about four or five to deploy. We were lucky we managed to make all six. Security will be looking in so many directions at once, they won't think to look on the inside."
"Pretty ingenious," Angela smiled, patting him on the shoulder. "
"I don't deserve the credit." He smiled, "Janey's been using a similar technique since our school days."
"Your school days?"
"Playing ball. She used to use holographic handballs to make it look like Tommy or Frankie had the ball, passing it back and forth. She always ended up with the real one in the end, though I could never figure out how. Anyways, she beat the guys by a landslide every time."
"A hologram?" Angela laughed, "Is that strictly legal? No wonder you guys were always so upset when you came in."
Giovanni laughed loudly, "Legal? There's no legal or illegal in street ball. There's only what you can get away with. We were just upset that she tricked us again."
"You neighborhood kids always had such a crush on her."
He blushed, "Yeah, I guess. She was pretty sweet on me too. You don't think it will be awkward with her and me, do ya? With me and Maura … well I think she's into me and … she's super hot, so…"
"Vanni," Angela said sympathetically, "the thing is—"
"Giovanni to the engine room." Korsak's announcement interrupted. "Angela to the bridge, please. We're getting ready to move out."
Xxx
Frankie only had one go at this. The guards were changing shifts. The security officer closest to his position was coming down the ladder while the shift change waited at the bottom. Frankie tightened the straps of his boots one more time, then pulled two gunshot grenades out of his bag and then strapped the rucksack to his back. With all his might he chucked both as hard as he could off to the east. As they hit the ground a gunshot rang out. Both officers ducked immediately. Frankie could hear one shout to the other.
Carefully, he snuck through the short brush as one went off in the direction of the shot, while the other looked after him. It wouldn't take long for the first one to find the grenade debris, so Frankie had to move quickly. As soon as he was sure he was out of the security guard's peripheral vision, he sprinted off at full speed towards the electric fence.
"Hold." The message rang in his ear. "Hold your position."
But it was too late. Frankie had already leapt at the fence, landing about a meter from the chain link fence and bouncing upwards about five meters, his anti-grav boots engaging the moment he came into contact with the ground. He went flying into the air at full speed, falling forward, his face coming within a few centimeters of the electric current buzzing at the fence's peak.
[To be continued]