Disclaimer is the same as in Chapter One. This chapter contains some
direct quotes from "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers".
"Hostile Takeover": Chapter Six—Many Arguments
Sally's heart beat so hard against her chest, she felt certain everyone around her could hear it. She had reached the curtain separating first class from coach. Her hand reached up to draw it open but a nasally male voice spoke suddenly behind her, startling her to a stop.
"That area is reserved for first class," the flight attendant announced with authoritative pride. "Please return to your seat, ma'am."
Sally turned to face him and forced a polite smile onto her face. Her patience had grown thin and she had to fight the urge to hit him. "I need to see someone up there," she said innocently.
The thin male attendant wearing the smart little clip-on tie, stepped around her to insinuate himself between her and the first class compartment. "Not without a first class ticket," he said scolding. He sported a smile that showed how much he enjoyed his position of power over her.
"Look," Sally began to explain with considerable strain in her voice, "my friend is very sick and the only—"
"We know," he answered with artificial compassion. "We're getting him a doctor." He took hold of her arm to steer her back to her seat. "Now, please."
A fire lit within Sally and she ripped her arm out of his grasp. "He doesn't need a doctor!" she cried in anger. She stepped forward only inches away from his face. Only a sliver of self-control stood between her and an act of violence that would get her through that curtain. Nothing mattered more to her now than helping Frodo.
The attendant's face flashed with a fear that his voice would not admit. "Ma'am, if you don't calm down, we can have you placed in restraints."
"Restraints!!" she roared. In her fury the warning transformed into an insult. "You mean place me under arrest! I'm not a criminal! My master needs help!"
Suddenly a pair of arms came around her, pinning her fists at her sides. She threw her weight against the unseen foe behind her, kicking her feet into the air to lash out at the man in front of her. Anger and desperation gave her a strength of spirit she had never known. She opened herself to it willingly and it flowed through her to give new power to her voice. "Gilthoniel A Elbereth! A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon si di'nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos!"
The ancient words erupted from her so unexpectedly the struggle came to a stop. Sally seemed only barely aware that she had uttered them. On her knees she panted for breath and watched as the flight attendant before her pulled something small from his pocket. She winced as she recognized the canister of pepper spray. He raised it level with her face.
A slender white arm came over the top of his, forcing him to relax his aim. Sally followed the line of the arm up to a beautifully proportioned angular face, framed by a mane of perfect chestnut hair. She recognized the woman immediately. In fact, she had seen her grace the cover of over a dozen fashion magazines in the last two months alone. Her strangely accented voice spoke coquettishly to the man who threatened her. "Got a problem here, Garcon?" she asked.
He looked up at the tall beauty and swallowed hard in disbelief. "N-no, Ms. Owen," he stammered as he stuffed the pepper spray back into his pocket. "I, uh, this woman--" He gestured to Sally with embarrassment but she would hear none of his attempts to explain.
"Has made a big fuss to see me. Well, here I am," she interrupted, drawing her face close to his. He shook visibly as her breath fell softly upon his face. She was extremely aware of the effect she had on him. "I'm sure someone on board needs a beverage or something. Why don't you serve it to them."
Before her words even registered in his brain, he found himself nodding. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered. "Of course, I'm sorry."
Sally had watched this scene in incredulous silence. The thin, nasal- voiced man with the clip-on tie simply walked past her, taking with him the attendant who had grabbed her. Her violent behavior had simply been dismissed. They had forgotten her, left her behind with the model.
They left her alone with an elf.
The elf looked down at her with disdain. "You've got some mouth on you," she said offering Sally no help to get to her feet.
Sally struggled to stand, getting little cooperation from her muscles still stiff from the scuffle. She looked at the beautiful elf and couldn't help but feel slightly offended by her tone. "Excuse me?" she asked, hoping she had simply misunderstood.
Her expression did not change. She seemed in someway disappointed, as if Sally didn't quite live up to her expectations. "Not everyone on this floating dirtball can say those words. You just screamed them," she said accusingly. "You wanted my attention. You've got it."
Sally sniffled but she wore a determined expression. She gave little thought to what had come over her. The words she spoke and where they came from meant nothing to her. Only the result mattered. She would get him help first and deal with her own problems when she had time. She only wished that she could have a better choice of rescuer. Mr. Baggins deserved a better savior than this rude elf. "My friend is very sick," she told her.
The elf rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Who's your friend?"
Sally set her jaw and replied, "Frodo Baggins."
If the elf had any color in her face, it all drained away at the mention of that name. She stepped forward and grabbed Sally by the shoulders and pulled her close to her face roughly. "The Ringbearer? Here?" she demanded. She didn't seem ready to believe her but she had reason to pause. Something said earlier replayed in her mind. This strange encounter began to make sense. "Wait…what is today?" she asked suddenly.
Sally blinked at the question. "Uh, Monday? October 6th," she stammered.
She shook her head and snorted softly. "And he chose today of all days to get on a plane," she muttered derisively. "Still, it should be a small matter for He who holds the One Ring."
"He refuses to use it," Sally said gravely.
For the first time the elf's grip loosened. For the first time her façade of superiority slipped. In one small moment, her face looked youthful and full of hope. "Then he means to do it," she said quietly. "He's finally going to destroy it."
"That's why we're on this plane," Sally stated.
The elf let go of her, dropping her arms to her sides and looking away. She seemed somewhat softer. From shame, or fear, or compassion, Sally couldn't tell, but she finally uttered the words she'd been fighting for. "Go get him."
Merrick sat across from Piper just trying to comprehend the last ten minutes of his life. Sally had spoken for a vast majority of their conversation but very little of what she said made sense. He knew he had to go to a bank in New York City and transfer an unbelievably large amount of money from one account to another. He had to do this because she couldn't. She couldn't because she was on a plane flying to a destination she wouldn't tell him. She wouldn't tell him because…Why? She seemed to be afraid. She was paranoid enough to place the account numbers in their childhood code. Was she running away from something or to something else?
He glanced up at his friend. Piper saw her. She had to know more than he did. Something made her buy those stupid chocolate covered espresso beans. Merrick rubbed his eyes wearily with his knuckles. "What did she say when you saw her?" he asked.
"That someone's after them," she replied ominously.
"After them?" he repeated. The idea that any of them could find this sort of danger was too improbable for him to fully believe. She had to have help getting in this mess. "You mean after him. Sally's boss is in trouble and he's getting her mixed up in this," he said with a quick rage that brought him to his feet. He began to pace the small space of his apartment.
Piper leaned forward and tried to catch his arm as he stepped away from her. "It's not like that, Merrick," she said earnestly. "They're not being chased by cops or the mob or anything like that. It's different…" Her words faded to a stop. She was beginning to hate this feeling. She couldn't have the ignorant bliss of jumping to conclusions like he did. She knew things but couldn't express them. Any explanation of what she believed would make her sound insane.
"Different? How different?" he asked. He turned to say something to show his frustration at all of this but he halted. His anger didn't find expression. It turned to concern as he saw his friend's face.
Piper was crying.
He came to her then, crouching down in front of her and taking her hands into his. "What happened today, Piper?" he asked.
"I met him," she said with a quavering breath. "I met him and I knew him." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Her tears flowed freely as she remembered her meeting in the car. She touched her forehead to Merrick's, for support, for comfort, for the hope that he would understand what she struggled to describe. "It was like when we first met, you know? Except it was different. When I met you, it was happy times."
"And it wasn't when you met him?" he asked softly.
She shook her head. "It's not, but it should be," she replied. She squeezed his hands tightly, almost shaking them. "I felt like I missed him, Merrick. That WE have missed him. You know the feeling when you and me and Sally get together. You know the one. That someone's not there who should be." She reached up and took his face, turning it up towards hers so that their eyes locked. She wanted him to know how deeply this affected her. She wanted him to believe. "I knew when I saw him. He's the missing part of us."
Merrick looked at her for a long moment just letting her words sink in. He didn't want to admit it but he understood her. A strange, intangible sadness had intruded upon every happy occasion, darkening their smiles, dampening their laughter. But none of them ever spoke of it aloud. They just couldn't find the words.
But he wasn't quite ready to give in to Piper's claims. He wanted something more concrete, something he could see with his own eyes. "You're crazy, Piper," he said gently. He stood up and leaned over to kiss her affectionately on the forehead. "I love you, but you're crazy."
"I'm not alone on this," Piper responded in quiet defiance. "Sally's not being forced to go with him. She'd jump down a dragon's throat to save him."
A silence descended upon them. Piper began to shake as she realized what she had just said.
Merrick could not deny the familiarity of the statement. He looked to his friend but in the depth of the moment she did not seem to fit. Her hair, her clothes, even her face was out of place. His eyes clouded with the image of another time, another home, not his, but a place where he was no less welcome. A warm sense of camaraderie filled his heart. A voice echoed in his mind, high and soft, speaking words of comfort. 'Of course we understand. That is why we have decided to come.' His voice…? He had a scent of how it was meant to be but he could not grasp it. He wasn't ready for it.
"Piper?" he called timidly, trying to anchor himself in the present.
"I was scared today," she continued, unaware of his internal struggle, "but if they'd asked me to come I would have. In my heart I would have begged them to take me with them."
"Or followed them like hounds," Merrick breathed in a hoarse whisper. He turned to face her again. He finally understood. "A punishment for any of us to be left behind." But that was what had happened.
Sally had left them behind and they could not follow. A punishment almost too much to bear.
Piper sighed heavily and leaned back into the couch. "At least we've been given something to do so we don't feel so helpless," she said.
Merrick smiled wryly. "Who said anything about 'we'? Sally asked me to go to New York. Not you." He didn't intend for his words to sound cruel. Something strange was happening that filled him with fear. Sally had placed herself out of his reach. He wouldn't let Piper go even if it was to New York City with him. He could feel the danger now and he had to keep her safe if he could.
Piper looked as if she had been slapped. Merrick's task was her only hope to be a part. She would not sit by and simply wait to see how this turned out. She wanted her own tale to tell. "We ought to stick together, and we will. I'm going, unless you chain me up. There's got to be someone with intelligence there." She let the old words flow through her.
"Then it's certainly not going to be you, Piper Tune," Merrick replied chidingly. "Sally called me for a reason." He had turned towards his bedroom. He knew Piper could argue about this all night and he simply had little energy to fight back. He knew she was right. If he stayed any longer he would have to admit it.
Piper followed behind him. "Yeah, because you have the better wardrobe," she retorted. "I can buy nicer clothes you know."
"Fine," Merrick replied wearily at the threshold of his bedroom. "Then you go shopping. I'm going to New York." He shut the door, leaving Piper alone.
She raised her hand to the doorknob, daring herself to go in. When she heard the click of the lock she knew her challenge was moot. She stood fuming, with her only target a faceless closed door. "Don't even think I'm letting you go without me!" she yelled at him. She returned to the couch staring back at his bedroom door. "I'm going to watch you like a hawk, Merrick Brandenburg! When you go, I go!"
TBC
Author's Note: I did it again. I overestimated what was going to fit in my chapter and so my chapter title changed. As an answer to one of Ron's Girl's questions, Sally will realize who she is, but of the three of them, her acceptance of it will be the most difficult. Working this out as I planned future chapters is what led to my writer's block problem. As for your other question, I'm not going to answer that.
The elf featured in this chapter and the next is a tribute to all my faithful "On the Beach" fans. Thank you for giving me the courage to write.
Chapter 7: "A Glamour Unmasked": We learn more about Frodo's "savior" and Frodo himself, as she heals him. Also, the plane lands but in what country? I bet it's not the one your expecting it to be.
"Hostile Takeover": Chapter Six—Many Arguments
Sally's heart beat so hard against her chest, she felt certain everyone around her could hear it. She had reached the curtain separating first class from coach. Her hand reached up to draw it open but a nasally male voice spoke suddenly behind her, startling her to a stop.
"That area is reserved for first class," the flight attendant announced with authoritative pride. "Please return to your seat, ma'am."
Sally turned to face him and forced a polite smile onto her face. Her patience had grown thin and she had to fight the urge to hit him. "I need to see someone up there," she said innocently.
The thin male attendant wearing the smart little clip-on tie, stepped around her to insinuate himself between her and the first class compartment. "Not without a first class ticket," he said scolding. He sported a smile that showed how much he enjoyed his position of power over her.
"Look," Sally began to explain with considerable strain in her voice, "my friend is very sick and the only—"
"We know," he answered with artificial compassion. "We're getting him a doctor." He took hold of her arm to steer her back to her seat. "Now, please."
A fire lit within Sally and she ripped her arm out of his grasp. "He doesn't need a doctor!" she cried in anger. She stepped forward only inches away from his face. Only a sliver of self-control stood between her and an act of violence that would get her through that curtain. Nothing mattered more to her now than helping Frodo.
The attendant's face flashed with a fear that his voice would not admit. "Ma'am, if you don't calm down, we can have you placed in restraints."
"Restraints!!" she roared. In her fury the warning transformed into an insult. "You mean place me under arrest! I'm not a criminal! My master needs help!"
Suddenly a pair of arms came around her, pinning her fists at her sides. She threw her weight against the unseen foe behind her, kicking her feet into the air to lash out at the man in front of her. Anger and desperation gave her a strength of spirit she had never known. She opened herself to it willingly and it flowed through her to give new power to her voice. "Gilthoniel A Elbereth! A Elbereth Gilthoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon si di'nguruthos! A tiro nin, Fanuilos!"
The ancient words erupted from her so unexpectedly the struggle came to a stop. Sally seemed only barely aware that she had uttered them. On her knees she panted for breath and watched as the flight attendant before her pulled something small from his pocket. She winced as she recognized the canister of pepper spray. He raised it level with her face.
A slender white arm came over the top of his, forcing him to relax his aim. Sally followed the line of the arm up to a beautifully proportioned angular face, framed by a mane of perfect chestnut hair. She recognized the woman immediately. In fact, she had seen her grace the cover of over a dozen fashion magazines in the last two months alone. Her strangely accented voice spoke coquettishly to the man who threatened her. "Got a problem here, Garcon?" she asked.
He looked up at the tall beauty and swallowed hard in disbelief. "N-no, Ms. Owen," he stammered as he stuffed the pepper spray back into his pocket. "I, uh, this woman--" He gestured to Sally with embarrassment but she would hear none of his attempts to explain.
"Has made a big fuss to see me. Well, here I am," she interrupted, drawing her face close to his. He shook visibly as her breath fell softly upon his face. She was extremely aware of the effect she had on him. "I'm sure someone on board needs a beverage or something. Why don't you serve it to them."
Before her words even registered in his brain, he found himself nodding. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered. "Of course, I'm sorry."
Sally had watched this scene in incredulous silence. The thin, nasal- voiced man with the clip-on tie simply walked past her, taking with him the attendant who had grabbed her. Her violent behavior had simply been dismissed. They had forgotten her, left her behind with the model.
They left her alone with an elf.
The elf looked down at her with disdain. "You've got some mouth on you," she said offering Sally no help to get to her feet.
Sally struggled to stand, getting little cooperation from her muscles still stiff from the scuffle. She looked at the beautiful elf and couldn't help but feel slightly offended by her tone. "Excuse me?" she asked, hoping she had simply misunderstood.
Her expression did not change. She seemed in someway disappointed, as if Sally didn't quite live up to her expectations. "Not everyone on this floating dirtball can say those words. You just screamed them," she said accusingly. "You wanted my attention. You've got it."
Sally sniffled but she wore a determined expression. She gave little thought to what had come over her. The words she spoke and where they came from meant nothing to her. Only the result mattered. She would get him help first and deal with her own problems when she had time. She only wished that she could have a better choice of rescuer. Mr. Baggins deserved a better savior than this rude elf. "My friend is very sick," she told her.
The elf rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Who's your friend?"
Sally set her jaw and replied, "Frodo Baggins."
If the elf had any color in her face, it all drained away at the mention of that name. She stepped forward and grabbed Sally by the shoulders and pulled her close to her face roughly. "The Ringbearer? Here?" she demanded. She didn't seem ready to believe her but she had reason to pause. Something said earlier replayed in her mind. This strange encounter began to make sense. "Wait…what is today?" she asked suddenly.
Sally blinked at the question. "Uh, Monday? October 6th," she stammered.
She shook her head and snorted softly. "And he chose today of all days to get on a plane," she muttered derisively. "Still, it should be a small matter for He who holds the One Ring."
"He refuses to use it," Sally said gravely.
For the first time the elf's grip loosened. For the first time her façade of superiority slipped. In one small moment, her face looked youthful and full of hope. "Then he means to do it," she said quietly. "He's finally going to destroy it."
"That's why we're on this plane," Sally stated.
The elf let go of her, dropping her arms to her sides and looking away. She seemed somewhat softer. From shame, or fear, or compassion, Sally couldn't tell, but she finally uttered the words she'd been fighting for. "Go get him."
Merrick sat across from Piper just trying to comprehend the last ten minutes of his life. Sally had spoken for a vast majority of their conversation but very little of what she said made sense. He knew he had to go to a bank in New York City and transfer an unbelievably large amount of money from one account to another. He had to do this because she couldn't. She couldn't because she was on a plane flying to a destination she wouldn't tell him. She wouldn't tell him because…Why? She seemed to be afraid. She was paranoid enough to place the account numbers in their childhood code. Was she running away from something or to something else?
He glanced up at his friend. Piper saw her. She had to know more than he did. Something made her buy those stupid chocolate covered espresso beans. Merrick rubbed his eyes wearily with his knuckles. "What did she say when you saw her?" he asked.
"That someone's after them," she replied ominously.
"After them?" he repeated. The idea that any of them could find this sort of danger was too improbable for him to fully believe. She had to have help getting in this mess. "You mean after him. Sally's boss is in trouble and he's getting her mixed up in this," he said with a quick rage that brought him to his feet. He began to pace the small space of his apartment.
Piper leaned forward and tried to catch his arm as he stepped away from her. "It's not like that, Merrick," she said earnestly. "They're not being chased by cops or the mob or anything like that. It's different…" Her words faded to a stop. She was beginning to hate this feeling. She couldn't have the ignorant bliss of jumping to conclusions like he did. She knew things but couldn't express them. Any explanation of what she believed would make her sound insane.
"Different? How different?" he asked. He turned to say something to show his frustration at all of this but he halted. His anger didn't find expression. It turned to concern as he saw his friend's face.
Piper was crying.
He came to her then, crouching down in front of her and taking her hands into his. "What happened today, Piper?" he asked.
"I met him," she said with a quavering breath. "I met him and I knew him." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Her tears flowed freely as she remembered her meeting in the car. She touched her forehead to Merrick's, for support, for comfort, for the hope that he would understand what she struggled to describe. "It was like when we first met, you know? Except it was different. When I met you, it was happy times."
"And it wasn't when you met him?" he asked softly.
She shook her head. "It's not, but it should be," she replied. She squeezed his hands tightly, almost shaking them. "I felt like I missed him, Merrick. That WE have missed him. You know the feeling when you and me and Sally get together. You know the one. That someone's not there who should be." She reached up and took his face, turning it up towards hers so that their eyes locked. She wanted him to know how deeply this affected her. She wanted him to believe. "I knew when I saw him. He's the missing part of us."
Merrick looked at her for a long moment just letting her words sink in. He didn't want to admit it but he understood her. A strange, intangible sadness had intruded upon every happy occasion, darkening their smiles, dampening their laughter. But none of them ever spoke of it aloud. They just couldn't find the words.
But he wasn't quite ready to give in to Piper's claims. He wanted something more concrete, something he could see with his own eyes. "You're crazy, Piper," he said gently. He stood up and leaned over to kiss her affectionately on the forehead. "I love you, but you're crazy."
"I'm not alone on this," Piper responded in quiet defiance. "Sally's not being forced to go with him. She'd jump down a dragon's throat to save him."
A silence descended upon them. Piper began to shake as she realized what she had just said.
Merrick could not deny the familiarity of the statement. He looked to his friend but in the depth of the moment she did not seem to fit. Her hair, her clothes, even her face was out of place. His eyes clouded with the image of another time, another home, not his, but a place where he was no less welcome. A warm sense of camaraderie filled his heart. A voice echoed in his mind, high and soft, speaking words of comfort. 'Of course we understand. That is why we have decided to come.' His voice…? He had a scent of how it was meant to be but he could not grasp it. He wasn't ready for it.
"Piper?" he called timidly, trying to anchor himself in the present.
"I was scared today," she continued, unaware of his internal struggle, "but if they'd asked me to come I would have. In my heart I would have begged them to take me with them."
"Or followed them like hounds," Merrick breathed in a hoarse whisper. He turned to face her again. He finally understood. "A punishment for any of us to be left behind." But that was what had happened.
Sally had left them behind and they could not follow. A punishment almost too much to bear.
Piper sighed heavily and leaned back into the couch. "At least we've been given something to do so we don't feel so helpless," she said.
Merrick smiled wryly. "Who said anything about 'we'? Sally asked me to go to New York. Not you." He didn't intend for his words to sound cruel. Something strange was happening that filled him with fear. Sally had placed herself out of his reach. He wouldn't let Piper go even if it was to New York City with him. He could feel the danger now and he had to keep her safe if he could.
Piper looked as if she had been slapped. Merrick's task was her only hope to be a part. She would not sit by and simply wait to see how this turned out. She wanted her own tale to tell. "We ought to stick together, and we will. I'm going, unless you chain me up. There's got to be someone with intelligence there." She let the old words flow through her.
"Then it's certainly not going to be you, Piper Tune," Merrick replied chidingly. "Sally called me for a reason." He had turned towards his bedroom. He knew Piper could argue about this all night and he simply had little energy to fight back. He knew she was right. If he stayed any longer he would have to admit it.
Piper followed behind him. "Yeah, because you have the better wardrobe," she retorted. "I can buy nicer clothes you know."
"Fine," Merrick replied wearily at the threshold of his bedroom. "Then you go shopping. I'm going to New York." He shut the door, leaving Piper alone.
She raised her hand to the doorknob, daring herself to go in. When she heard the click of the lock she knew her challenge was moot. She stood fuming, with her only target a faceless closed door. "Don't even think I'm letting you go without me!" she yelled at him. She returned to the couch staring back at his bedroom door. "I'm going to watch you like a hawk, Merrick Brandenburg! When you go, I go!"
TBC
Author's Note: I did it again. I overestimated what was going to fit in my chapter and so my chapter title changed. As an answer to one of Ron's Girl's questions, Sally will realize who she is, but of the three of them, her acceptance of it will be the most difficult. Working this out as I planned future chapters is what led to my writer's block problem. As for your other question, I'm not going to answer that.
The elf featured in this chapter and the next is a tribute to all my faithful "On the Beach" fans. Thank you for giving me the courage to write.
Chapter 7: "A Glamour Unmasked": We learn more about Frodo's "savior" and Frodo himself, as she heals him. Also, the plane lands but in what country? I bet it's not the one your expecting it to be.