Note: "Profiler" & "Pretender" characters belong to NBC et al. and "Beauty and the Beast" characters belong to Republic Pictures.
Spoilers/Timeline: This story takes place after the 4th seasons of "Pretender" and "Profiler" and "Beauty and the Beast" ep "Though Lovers be Lost" (although I've made major changes to the ending).
The Abduction - Fall, 2000. New York City.
Samantha Waters, ex-FBI profiler, looked around the apartment. Tastefully done in pastels
"I love it, Mom. This would be great!"
Sam looked at the real estate agent and demurred.
"Try not to pay any attention to the antics of my daughter. We don't like the apartment at all."
"I'll just go in the kitchen so you two can discuss it," the agent excused himself.
Chloe's eyes pleaded from her place on the balcony.
"It must be wonderful view of all the light at night," Sam conceded. The apartment was a little out of her price range, but they'd only be staying there a month while she shot a photo layout for the New Yorker. "You won't mind sleeping with me in the one bedroom?"
The child shook her head no.
"Well, okay then. We'll take it," she called out to the real estate agent, moving towards the kitchen. "Where do I sign my life away?"
* * *
Ellian looked at the orders and raised a curious eyebrow.
"This comes from the top, Tyler. It can't be countermanded," Parker said icily. "You'll stay in New York to help Willie acquire her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go chase Jarod."
Ellian watched as Miss Parker left, Broots following along sheepishly. Gods, she thought, hasn't this kid been through enough? A witness to her fathers death, she'd spent the last few years surrounded by cameras and armed men for her protection. Now she was facing cameras and armed men with an all together different and sinister purpose. She couldn't consign another child to Jarod's fate.
Closing up the file, she stopped mid action. The address they were staying at in New York was Catherine Chandler's old apartment. If she remembered right, Cathy stilled owned it and the entrance in the basement was still there. Maybe there was a possibility after all, Ellian Tyler smiled.
* * *
Chloe Waters leaned on the railing, waiting for her mother to finish in the rest room. It felt good to be in such a public place with no FBI agents tagging along for protection. Her mother had been right - looking down on the city from the top of the Empire State Building was breathtaking.
An arm grabbed her from behind, and she leaned against it. "Ready, Mom?" she turned. Instead of her mother, slim brunette woman in a dark suit stood there. She lifted her jacket to reveal a gun and a badge Chloe didn't recognize.
"Hurry, we must go. You're in danger."
"What about my mother?" the girl asked as a commotion erupted near the bathroom.
"She knows where we're going. Come with me."
Chloe stared at the woman, not sure if she should trust her.
"Quickly," the woman commanded and took her hand. They walked toward the elevators and squeezed inside among tourists. As the doors closed, Chloe could hear her mother shout her name. The brunette woman still holding her hand didn't seem to notice.
The got out of the elevator at the ground floor, left the building, and turned left. At some point, they reached a subway station. Descending the stairs, they boarded the first train that came by. Chloe, out of breath from the hurried walk, looked over toward the woman. She hadn't said two words to her since the initial conversation.
"What's you name?"
"It's better if you didn't know that."
Chloe's breathing increased, but not from exertion.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Someplace safe."
Chloe's hands started to shake.
"From who?"
"Some very bad people."
The roll of an eye showed fear, and Chloe's breathing increased yet again. The woman squeezed her hand gently and smiled.
"You'll see you're mother tomorrow, I promise, Chloe. But now, I need you - and your mother needs you - to be strong and do as I say. Do you understand?" she spoke softly.
Chloe nodded.
They got off the train. Instead of going up to street level, the woman looked around carefully before leading them both into a storage room. From there, they entered a hidden door and met a woman in shabby, well worn clothing. She was in his early sixties and held a dummy about Chloe's size. The brunette crouched down and spoke softly.
"Chloe, I want you to go with Maybell here. You're going to say with him until your mother can pick you up tomorrow, okay?"
"Why can't I see her now?'
"It isn't safe, baby. I need you to go with Maybell. Give me your hairband."
Chloe looked back and forth between the two adults. She slowly removed the item from her hair and gave it to the woman. Did the Maybell have a gun as well? She didn't want to take the chance.
"The call?" the woman asked.
"Of course." The brunette produced a cell phone from her jacket, briefly revealing her gun. She dialed a number and held it to her ear. A few heartbeats later, she mouthed "say hello" and held the phone to Chloe's ear.
"Hello?"
"Chloe! Where are-" her mother's voice answered.
The woman took the phone from Chloe's ear and spoke into it.
"Belvedere's Castle, 6:30 tonight."
She hung up.
"Shouldn't you have at least asked for no FBI? Or told her how much cash?" Chloe erupted.
"Baby, we're not kidnapping you," the woman dripped frustration. "Okay, technically, we are," she grabbed Chloe at the shoulders and looked into her eyes, "but only to save you from the Centre. If they get you, you'll never see your mother again." Grabbing the dummy from Maybell, she murmured something about people missing her soon and left the way they'd just come.
Chloe looked up at the woman, unsure of what to do next. Despite the not wanting to, she liked the older woman. Her voice was soothing when she spoke again.
"Ellian was right, the Centre is a very bad place. You don't want to go there, trust me," she held out her hand.
Chloe followed Maybell through a maze of tunnels. Several times she thought about escaping, but knew she'd just get lost. An incessant tapping on the pipes grew louder as they went on and several times she thought she saw someone in the shadows.
The tunnels were better lit now, and off shoots were more frequent. They turned into one and Chloe was surprised by the profusion of books. Maybell led her to a table, cluttered with books, maps and trinkets. There sat a man about the same age as Maybell. His tone was soft and comforting when he spoke.
"Well, Chloe, I understand that you'll be staying here for a bit. Everyone here calls me Father. I wanted to talk with you while we wait."
"You're not my father! Who are you people? What is the Centre? Why did you take me from my mother?" Chloe yelled hysterically. "I want to go home!"
"Chloe, here sit down," Maybell guided her to a chair. "Ellian, the woman that took you found out that some very bad people from a place called the Center wanted to take you from your mother..."
* * *
Samantha Waters looked desperately at Bailey Malone.
"I can't lose her, I can't," she pleaded on the edge of hysteria. "Why'd I even take the job? Why did I-"
Bailey took Sam's jaw in his hand.
"We've got FBI agents swarming the area.. We will catch this woman, Sam. We will get Chloe back."
"Oh gods. What if this is some final revenge of Jack's? What if this woman was just waiting for the right moment?"
Bailey put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Then we'll track her down. We'll make her pay," Bailey could barely keep the anger out of his voice. After all this time, after finally getting out from Jack's shadow, he couldn't believe something like this was happening again. He wanted beat at a world that would put her through so much pain.
He looked at his watch. 6:25 p.m. Five minutes to go.
* * *
Ellian watched the van with the dummy drive off for some unnamed holding area. She looked at her watch. She only had an hour before she met with Samantha Waters. It was barely enough time to get to Central Park. She hailed a cab and gave her destination. She sat perfectly still as the driver navigated traffic, ignoring all his attempts at conversation. He eventually pulled up near Belvadere's Castle. She paid him and got out, scanning the area.
Feeling a bit like Lancelot running the gauntlet, she weaved her way through Belvadere's Castle. Recognizing both from their FBI photos, she spotted Samantha Waters standing with Bailey Malone and took a deep breath before removing Chloe's hairband from her pocket. Holding it so both could see, she walked past them towards the tunnel entrance, indicating for them to follow her.
They did so, a few feet behind. A tourist moved closer and took another picture. A runner made his second circuit.
Tyler, followed by Waters and Malone, entered one of the towers. She opened the unlocked door of a maintenance room and waited inside. It took only moments for them to follow her and she quickly shut the door behind them, setting the latch known only to tunnel dwellers and helpers.
"Locking us in a storage closet won't help you escape," Malone said calmly. His eyes alluded to a different emotional state.
"No, but it will take us to Chloe," Ellian responded in kind as a row of shelves pivoted on a hinge. She gestured for them to proceed her. Waters moved toward the reveled opening, but Malone stopped her. "We're running out of time. This is your choice. Go, or come with me. You can leave now, but it'll be much harder to get Chloe back to you."
The two entered the tunnel. Ellian Tyler carefully closed the concealed entrance behind them. She lead them down the tunnels.
"I'm sorry to worry you, but this was the best way I could think of to guard your daughter from some very nasty people. Given time, I could have come up with some way to involve you before this, but the Centre was breathing down on us."
"Who or what is the Centre? And why did you feel the need to kidnap my daughter?"
"I'm not the one that felt the need, Dr. Waters. The Centre felt the need. If they'd have assigned someone else to do this, you might not have seen her again in your lifetime. The Centre usually gets what it wants - and it doesn't care about the means."
"What is your relationship to the Centre?"
"I got a job there about a year after I graduated high school. The pay and benefits were to good to pass up, and they did make the job sound exciting. Gods, if I knew then..."
Tyler slowly explained about the Centre and why they wanted Chloe. Hoping she'd have some of her mothers talents for profiling and that she'd be more malleable, Chloe had been a prime "acquisition." She gave a brief history of the tunnel community. Ellian couldn't give them some details and refused to disclose others - a fact that left all three frustrated as they made their way through the tunnels.
"What now?"
"Three possibilities. One, you can stay here, Below. Two, you can leave New York and go home. Three, you can 'disappear' under new names provided by myself or the FBI," the rouge junior expediter answered.
* * *
Chloe listened numbly as "Father" looked read. She sat apart from the other children and wished desperately for her mother. The voice stopped and she looked up to see what had happened.
"Okay, children, time for bed."
There was a chorus of protests as they were hustled out. Before she could go with them, "Father" stopped her.
"Your mother's on her way. You should-"
"Chloe?" her mothers voice came from down the tunnel. It seemed an instant before they were in each others arms. Samantha Waters brushed back her daughters hair. She wanted so much to give her daughter a normal life. "Will you leave us alone for a moment?" she asked the others.
"Chloe, we have an important decision to make," she said.
An hour later, they came out. Sam and Chloe Waters were staying, at least for now.
A Glimpse of Origin - Fall 2000, The Centre, Delaware.
"Considering you're recently fumbling of the Waters acquisition, I'm not sure you're the one for this new assignment, Miss Tyler. If everyone had the efficiency of yourself or Miss Parker, nothing would get done here," the older man reprimanded as if he were talking about some corporate merger instead of kidnapping.
"I'm sure if you give me the chance, I can prove myself. Discounting the Waters acquisition, I have an excellent track record." She felt as if she were reading from some script.
Mr. Raines held up a small silver disc.
"I want you to track down an old project of mine. All the information you need is here. If you have any questions, don't hesistate to ask."
Tyler nodded, taking the disk. "I'll get right on it, sir."
She sat on the small commuter plane, trying to get her thoughts in order. How did you tell someone you cared about that he was the fevered brainchild of a psycopath?
* * *
Miss Parker paced the room as Broots sat engrossed at his keyboard.
"You know, this won't take any quicker with you wearing a hole in the floor. Broots will finds this Sekhmet* project of Raines when he finds it," Sydney entered the room.
"My mother thinks Sekhmet is the key to a lot of early center projects. It's also the key to her plan to hold the Centre accountable, Sydney. It's important."
Sydney merely shrugged. Arguing with her would probably get him nowhere.
*Sekhmet: A lioness goddess, worshiped in Memphis as the wife of Ptah; created by Ra from the fire of
his eyes as a creature of vengeance to punish mankind for his sins; later, was transformed into a peaceful goddess of pleasure and happiness, Bast. from Shawn's Egyptology Page, http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shawn/egypt/gods.html#sekhmet