Chapter (shrugs. what chapter is this... um) Fifteen
Dealing With The Devil
an: this one's longer then I thought folks... and pull out the tissues... and rotten fruit. You might want to chuck some at me later on. Don't blame you if you do... crud I want to chuck rotten fruit at myself. Maybe I will.. How odd would that be... "Hey Mel what ya doing?" "Oh just chucking rotten fruit at myself." ok done rambling... ALIAS IS NEW TOMORROW... YAY YAY YAY.
It was stupid.
The plan we'd come up with. The plan that so much depended on.
I was going in with Vaughn. We'd make the switch and pretend to leave. Dixon would radio us when McKain left the vaccine unattended and then we'd sneak in and steal it again.
It was insanely stupid. And we were insanely stupid if we thought it was going to be that easy.
The van pulled to a stop in front of the office building. The first two levels of which housed the offices of a few various companies. The third level held conference rooms and the ballroom that the party had been held in the previous night.
The fourth floor belonged entirely to McKain and from what I saw last night held his office and a few private galleries. Most of the fourth floor was open, the design allowing for wide openings in the walls rather then doorways and doors allowing any visitor to catch glimpses of McKain's acquired treasures as they made their way to one of two closed doors at the end of the hallway. Most visitors made their way to door number one, the one that closed his office off from the rest of the floor.
I knew from blueprints of the building that the other closed door led to a bedroom. And from McKain's actions it wasn't hard for me to understand why.
The note he'd left spelled it out pretty clearly as well.
I clung to Vaughn's neck and let myself enjoy being in his arms. This was another one of those stupid mistakes we were sure to regret later. And I was pretty sure I would not be sitting in his lap again anytime soon.
He ran his hands down my back, bringing them to my waist he pushed me away from him then let his hands run down my thighs and land on my bent knees. Rational thought left me for a moment as he brushed a small kiss on my forehead.
"Come on. We have to get this over with." he gently prodded. I nodded, eyes closed, wondering just how I was supposed to remove myself from his lap.
Twice in two days. I'm thinking I like that record.
He ended the conflict in my head when his hands returned, slowly to my waist, --I don't think he could have made the movements any more enticingly slow if he tried, which I'm sure he did. -- and then lifted and placed me on my feet in front of him.
I almost removed his hands and sat back down again but they stayed firmly on my waist as he too stood, removing the temptation.
By this time Dixon had exited the front of the van and had joined us in the back. He handed us our coms. Mine, a set of diamond earrings. Vaughn's, a tie pin.
"Good luck." Dixon smiled and pushed us toward the exit.
Vaughn exited the van first and offered his hand to help me out. I noted how well it fit in mine as he helped me out of the van. I also noticed that ever since we'd arrived here the tension between us had gone up a notch... actually more like twenty or so notches. And it continued to rise.
Vaughn brushed a finger across the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist.
And rise.
"Your tie." I stated and let myself straighten it.
And rise.
He brushed some hair behind my ear. "Thanks." he smiled.
And rise.
I smiled back.
And rise.
"Ok you two get in there." Dixon complained in my ear.
What had I been thinking? I couldn't afford to let Vaughn distract me, as pleasant as the distracting was.
I turned my back on him quickly and threw up as many walls as I could.
I stalked off quickly, leaving him to trail me.
"Where's the fire?" he asked halting me with his words.
"I just want to get this done with." I tossed over my shoulder, afraid that if I looked at him, the meeting would never happen.
"Liar." Dixon chuckled into our coms.
Vaughn laughed. "You think so too huh?" he questioned, mocking me.
"Look you two, we don't have time for games." This time I faced Vaughn.
"Syd. It's ok." Vaughn reassured reaching out and taking my hand.
It wasn't ok. McKain wasn't going to let him in with me. I was going to have to do this alone. And the price I might have to pay...
This was not ok.
"I'll be right there with you. If he tries anything..." Vaughn threatened. I offered him a smile.
He hadn't seen the note. He thought he would be there with me. And I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. I couldn't tell Dixon either. Way too much was riding on this for me to chicken out now.
I'd made sacrifices before for my job. This was just another one of those sacrifices.
"We can take him." I added to my smile, although who was supposed to be reassured by my comment I wasn't yet certain of.
He held my hand the rest of the way to the building. I didn't know if I let him or if he let me. I didn't have time to analyze it either. The answer was probably better left unknown anyway.
After this I'd have to stop relying on him so much.
We were met just inside the door by two guards. Two guards far too familiar for my liking. Even though my room had been dark I remembered them. I wasn't all too fond of the leering smiles they offered.
"That's far enough." They halted us by stepping in front of us.
"We have an appointment with McKain." Vaughn stepped in.
"That appointment is for one Mr. Vaughn." apparently McKain had done the rest of his homework.
Vaughn turned to me and reached for my hand again, his expression telling me that I was not going in there with him. Telling me that he wouldn't let me.
I turned my back on him and focused on the ground by my feet.
"You knew." It was anguished, painfully so. Betrayed.
Some sick desire to torture myself made me turn back and look at him.
My eyes locked with his.
Why? His asked.
"You know why." I muttered looking away. Even in that moment, the moment I was supposed to be looking in his eyes, the moment I was supposed to fall back on our we aren't like that, our professional this is my job speech moment, even then I couldn't. I couldn't fall back. I couldn't look him in the eyes and tell him that his opinion didn't matter to me. I couldn't look him in the eyes and tell him that I wasn't worried, that this meeting would be pulled off fine, like so many others.
I guess we'd crossed that line one too many times.
I guess we'd gone too far to let me hurt him like that.
Because when I looked at him all I could see was a man that I never wanted to hurt. A man who'd never intentionally hurt me. A man who even now, when salvation was so close, would risk it all just to keep me safe.
I couldn't see my boss. I couldn't see professional.
I could only see my friend; the man who'd kissed me not ten minutes ago. The man who'd held me in his arms the night before, and seven long years ago. The one I'd run to when things got dark.
The room seemed to freeze around us. The guards held him back, he looked into my eyes. My eyes had somehow found his again.
Spinning, everything else was spinning around me. One of those, life-altering moments where all you can think about is why you can't seem to move. Why everything seems to be moving at an odd pace?
My gaze travels to my feet, heels, it's always heels. I've learned how to run in them rather well. I remembered one of my first missions I fell and twisted my ankle.
"Syd?"
I ended up having to limp out of the compound. I almost didn't make it that time. It was the first mission I'd been on that really hit home. It was the first time I realized that this job could kill me.
"Syd!" his voice was angry now, it registered in the back of my mind.
That this job could really be what ended my life. Back then it didn't seem to matter as much. I didn't have many friends; I hadn't met Danny yet. And if I died serving my country then at least my life would have meant something to someone. Even if they never knew.
"Syd what's going on in there?" this time the voice was in my ear.
I remember I would slip my heels on late at night and go running. I wanted to make sure that I didn't slip up again. I could do so much good if I was alive.
It seems funny now, stupid too. And to think that it was all so I could do a better job at ruining lives. Fate really had a cruel sense of humor at times.
"McKain's expecting me." I stated turning toward the elevator.
I had a job. Whether or not I liked it meant nothing. It was my job.
"Go right on up Ms. Bristow. He's expecting you." I nodded my thanks and tried not to look as they helped Vaughn out the door.
If I thought about Vaughn then I wouldn't be able to do this, a tear started to well up in my eye. I brushed it away quickly.
I was not a victim. I am not a victim. He wouldn't make me one.
Still my hand unconsciously went up to my neck and butterflies welled up in my stomach.
I reached out to press the button for the third floor; there was no fourth floor button only a keyhole for it. And as I had no key I figured McKain wanted me to use the stairs on the third floor.
"I've got it Ms. Bristow." McKain's voice rang out eerily in the small space and I tried not to shudder.
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"What the hell!" I yelled and slammed my fist into the side of the van. "She knew he wasn't going to let me in with her. Damn it!"
"Calm down. She's trained for this. She'll be fine. She took him out last night." Dixon offered.
I let out a bitter laugh. Yeah when she was alone with him, when he trusted her.
He'd be ready for her now.
"He attacked her last night. Touched her." I was going to be sick and my expression and tone only confirmed it. "She was helpless then. He'll be ready for her and you know it." I sank to a seat and put my head down in order to prevent myself from getting sick all over the place.
Dixon had no words of encouragement.
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The elevator lurched into motion and opened on the fourth floor.
I almost stayed in the elevator and pushed the button that would take me down to the first floor; to Vaughn and the safety his arms offered me.
But I figured that McKain wouldn't give me much of a choice, he obviously had control of the elevator and even if I'd wanted to I wouldn't have been able to go back.
The door opened into a long hallway, which led to the door to his office. The second door that I was very determined to avoid lay off to the left of his office, perpendicular to it. Immediately to my right lay the staircase that led up from the third floor.
The entire right half of the top floor could be viewed from where I stood by craning my head. The right hallway wall opened up in about ten or twelve spots that mirrored that of the left. One extra spot parallel to that of the bedroom door also dotted the right wall. The openness of the floor allowing for easy movement and adding to the majesty of the hallway.
The walls a striking white, almost blinding in the light that flooded his galleries. The platforms that held the various sculptures and antique or historic objects were the same blindly white. As if we were overcompensating for his faults with the color. As if this blinding white could blind the world to the obvious dark nature of his personality.
The lines, walls, platforms, even the art, were modern, clean, sharp, precise. The angles cutting but still pleasing. He'd taken time and expense to extremes in the design.
The floor in his galleries was a cold marble. More white then gray. Hard and clinical in a way. In the hallway the marble was covered with a deep crimson carpet, thick and soft. Contrasting the cold clinical detachment.
The walls in the hallway were empty; he kept all his art and hanging items in the galleries. Making the vast open hallway seem bigger and more intimidating then it actually was.
Even the ceiling seemed vast and far away. Intimidating.
At one time the building used to house a fifth floor, McKain had it removed in his remodeling job and had instead created a raised, arched ceiling. Making the visitor seem even smaller.
He'd done a good job at making his architecture intimidate and impress. It's simplicity and enormous nature saying nothing and everything at the same time.
My eyes traveled back to the door at the end of the hallway and locked on McKain's tall figure leaning lazily against the wall beside it.
"Ms. Bristow." he smiled. "Last night you were in such a hurry to get out of here I thought you might like a tour." he gestured toward the galleries on his right.
"I think I've seen enough. The information." I stated pulling the vaccine out of my purse.
"Ms. Bristow. Please. I try not to mix business with pleasure. Except of course when my business is pleasure. Come. I'm sure you will find some of my collection interesting." He tossed out looking at me in a way that made me very uncomfortable. I tried not to show my discomfort but much to my dismay found myself shifting anyway.
"You seem tense. It may help you relax." He started toward me and I froze. He paused momentarily and smiled then continued his advance.
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I listened raptly as McKain tried to talk her down.
"Don't let your guard down Syd." I ordered sternly into her ear.
If she could be so damn detached from this then I wasn't going to bring her back to reality. I was afraid that if I did she'd mess up.
She needed to cut every fucking person out of her life then she could do that. Not that I was too fond of it.
But then what did that matter.
What did I fucking matter in any of this?
She was the one up there with him. She was the one in trouble.
I focused on the flooring in the van.
Dark. Dirty. And dented.
Business and pleasure. Pleasure and business.
I hit the wall again, slammed my open palm against the metal and bit back the pain that exploded through my cut hand.
Fuck him. If he touched her...
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When he reached me I couldn't move.
Vaughn's voice in my ear allowed me to pull back from his arm as it eagerly tried to wrap itself around my waist. Offering him a silent thank you I pasted on a fake smile and let McKain take the vaccine from my hand and put it in my purse for me.
If I seemed helpless now it might help me in the future.
He wouldn't be expecting me to kick the crap out of him; my smile became genuine at that thought.
He droned on and on about almost every item in his collection. I'd stopped listening about twenty minutes into the tour.
After I'd put up with his droning for a good hour I had to end it. He was going to drive me insane. Maybe that was his plan. Drive me insane with unusually boring information then just take the vaccine from me when I dropped dead from boredom.
"As enjoyable as this is McKain... I'd really like to get down to business." I finally interrupted.
"Anything you wish love. Just let's move this into my office shall we." McKain smiled, unusually large.
Uncomfortably I followed him. Something was up.
"Ladies first." He gestured as he opened the door to his office and revealed three bodyguards. Reluctantly I stepped inside the office and he closed the door behind me.
"Witnesses love. I never do anything without them." He tried to assure me as he led me to a seat. I preferred standing, so that I could run quickly after I knocked him out. If I was going to have bodyguards to contend with I wanted every advantage I could get.
McKain made it clear however that if I didn't sit we would get nowhere. I sat.
"Let's get this unpleasantness over with shall we. The files." he handed me a three disks. "Now your turn."
I handed him the vaccine and began to rise.
"No love. We aren't quite done yet. You wanted the vaccine and I'm sure I can help you with that problem." He gestured to his guards and the started to advance.
One produced a syringe.
I didn't hesitate to run. I made it halfway down the hall before the stairs were blocked with bars that came down from the ceiling. I veered toward the elevator but as the door opened my two friends from downstairs appeared from within.
"Shit."
"Syd? What is it? What's the matter?" Vaughn practically yelled in my ear.
"McKain he's got the exits blocked." I yelled.
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"McKain he's--------" her voice cut out.
"Damn their jamming her!" Dixon swore, this time he hit the wall.
"What does he want?" I started to pace. I knew what he wanted. She knew what he wanted.
"Wait a minute. I think I have the note that he left Syd." Dixon pulled a paper out of his pocket. The paper I'd played with earlier in my room.
I ripped it from his hands.
Sydney,
Tomorrow at 11 let's finish this shall we love. Come alone. Your waiter friend won't appreciate some of the things I'd like to discuss. I promise you won't regret paying me a visit. I'll see you tomorrow love, sleep well. I know that I won't until you come to me. I'm sure we can make this pleasurable for everyone involved.
McKain
I threw the note at Dixon and took off.
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I managed to ruin a few of McKain's prized possessions before his guards caught up with me. At least I'd have that.
"Let go of me." I squirmed as they carried me to his office again.
"Ah love you shouldn't fight so hard. You might hurt yourself." McKain chuckled as the guards threw me roughly back into the chair.
I started to bolt again but McKain's hands came down on my shoulders and pressed me into the chair rather painfully. I squirmed more and he pressed tighter.
"Don't make me hurt you." he whispered roughly in my ear.
I stopped moving.
"I'm willing to make another exchange." he continued and loosened his grip only slightly. "The vaccine... for you." His right hand played in my hair and I cringed.
"I'm not interested." I bit out. "We are finished here." I stated again.
"Ms. Bristow. There's something you should know about me. I didn't get here sitting back and doing nothing. I get what I want Sydney. And I want you." he hissed through his teeth as he moved around to face me and grabbed my jaw roughly, locking it in position with one hand.
"Guess there's a first for everything." I hissed back and ripped his hand off of my jaw.
"Unlucky for you. This is not it." he smiled. My skin crawled as he gestured for the guard with the syringe. I tried to bolt again but McKain was behind me again he traced a hand down and up my arm before pushing me to the seat, fingers biting into my shoulders. "I really didn't want to have to do it this way but you've given me no choice."
I didn't flinch as the guard injected me with something I was sure would render movement impossible. Something I was sure would let McKain do what he wanted and give me no say in the matter.
I didn't give him tears. He wouldn't get tears from me again.
When the guard was done, McKain dismissed them and let go of my shoulders.
"I will be seeing you later." he smiled then turned to leave. "You're free to go." his smiled only heightened my fear.
I made it halfway to the door before I collapsed.
an: interestingly enough to me was the comments I got on last chapter's kiss. Having never been kissed myself I always hate writing kissing scenes. I hate making all my kissing scenes sound the same as well. A pet peeve of mine is reading kissing scenes that sound exactly the same. So I try and make all mine different... not an easy feat for someone who has nothing to fall back on. So I'm glad that you liked it and that it was believable. My friend was like... wow Mel that was... sensual... and I laughed. I mean really laughed. Cause I was really rather disappointed with it. It felt rather bland to me and well it was weird. So all the comments on the kiss were well uplifting to say the least. And interesting. I thought it deserved an author's note on it. Course with me anything deserves an authors note... like last night my light burned out and I haven't changed it for fear of spiders... I hate spiders... they suck... see now if that was authors note worthy how could the kiss thing not be. Later. Yeah I know I know... Evil me for leaving you hanging like that. Shrugs... oh well. You'll live and I promise the next update won't be so long in the making.