Branches
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: SG-1, Star Gate and Alias no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
The guard pushed her in with the butt of his gun, making her stumble into Vaughn.
"Be careful! Idiot!" He was slapped upside the head. He and the other burly man took up positions just inside the newly closed door. Sydeny straightened up beside Vaughn and breathed deeply. She glanced over at O'Neill and Murry (or was it Teal'c?) to make sure they hadn't been harmed. Cassi stood straight as a rod next to Murry, who never stood any other way.
"What are you doing here, Sydney?" Sydney looked up into the woman's face, so like the one she saw in the mirror everyday. The blood in her chest started boiling, with anger, betrayal, pain, love, hope, grief and even a little self loathing. They churned and burned and crept up her throat to leave a bad taste in her mouth and her stomach feeling queasy. She raised her head obsitinately not willing to let this woman see the feelings she caused.
"My job" she answered.
"Sydney, this is beyond you. It's dangerous" She sounded so concerned, so worried. Sydney felt like spitting in her face.
"Don't you dare pretend you care!" she hissed out between clenched teeth.
"Sydney, no matter what you believe, I am your mother, I do care about what happens to you" Irena Derevco gazed tenderly at her daughter, willing her to believe, to, for once, cooperate so shw would not be hurt. But that was not something Sydney would ever be capable of, wilingly cooperating with her enemy. She was too much like her parents. Her eyes hardened and Irena knew that, unless she could find a weakness, she would get little from her daughter.
"Where's the boy?" a new voice demanded in a steely voice. Sydeny snapped her head to stare hard at her attache.
"Who are you?" Derevco advanced on the girl like a spider closing on it's prey. She had read her daughters response well. She had found her soft spot.
"I am the Child borne of the Ring" she replied stolicly. Derevco was startled, Sydney could tell. SHe got very close to Cassi's face.
"What do you know?" she asked quietly, dangerously, almost fatally. Sydney gulped her heart back down into her stomach. Her mother had a murderous look in her eye and it sent quivers through her body. But O'Neill did not look frightened, an admirable feat.
"Where's the boy?" was all she answered. Derevco stepped back.
"You....take Ms...." She waited but the girl did not respond. Derevco looked at Sydney. No one answered. Derevco lifted her hand and slapped Cassi right across the face. Murry moved, but Cassi stopped him. Still, no one answered.
"Fine. Take Sydney's friend to the B room" the slightly engraged woman ordered. The guard had to struggled a bit with Murry until O'Neill shook her head at him. She followed quietly out the door behind the guards. Derevco took one last look at her daughter.
"You shouldn't have come, Sydney" she said, and left.
2 days later
The "A" room
Murry was sitting on the floor, legs crossed, meditating if he could be believed. Sydney had not seen her mother since the day they had been caught. She had no idea why they were still alive. They had been given some water in the morning and some hearty French bread and cheese later. Sydney and Vaughn had discussed trying to escape, but the room had one, firmly locked, door and no windows.
"Maybourne left through some other means" Murry pointed out.
"That's true" Vaughn said and they began searching in earnest for a hidden door, but after going over every inch of the walls, floor, and, with effort, the ceiling, they found nothing.
"Were Cassi here, she would very easily be able to find the hidden passageway." Murry told them.
"Yeah, well, she's not here" Sydney snapped bitterly, frustrated with her ineptness.
"Indeed she is not" Murry responded, and Sydney caught the pain in his voice, the anger at himself for allowing the girl who, the CIA agents had found over the days, he was very close to, despite their lacking conversations. Sydney sighed, realizing she had been harsh.
"Sorry" But he made no response.
At night she went over their capture, and interrigation, odd as it was, over and over in her head. She kept imagining the different things she could have said, could have done. SHe held up and carefully considered each emotion the very thought of Irena Derevco (no longer mom) caused. She realized, everything was a twisted ball of twine, thousands of individual strings, but so confused she could not see where they started and where they ended. She curled into Vaughn, and hoped the woman wasn't falling so low as to torture a 17 year old girl.
The B room
Cass cradeled her weak body in an air cushion, an inch off the floor, for just a second, to relieve the force of gravity pushing on her battered and bruised muscles. But she couldn't keep it up, and her body fell to the floor. Abstractly, she could feel the pain course through her, leaving loud obnoxious messages in her brain, complaining about the treatment her muscles were receiving in their present condition.
Derevco, a name Cass had pulled from Vaughn, had tried to batter informatioin out of her. Cass could withstand, but with no escape (the room being unescapable and her being ordered not to use telekinesis at any point for any reason) that was all she could do. She removed her mind to her past life, truly another universe, and when they had gone, used all her conscious energy to heal. But she had been given only water and bit of cheese since their capture, and she was becoming weak, her mental powers limited with no energy, no fuel to burn.
Seeing that pain would not make her talk, Derevco switched to psychologival pain, hoping to play on the telepathic sensitivity aspect. She did not have a good understanding of the power though. Tapes, no matter how gory, how traumatizing, did not capture the mental agony that would have affected Cassi, and it was very easy for her to leave her eyes open, her face seeing, without watching.
So, she sat in the corner, allowing her body to heal, when the door opened and a bright crack of real sunlight burned her unadjusted eyes.
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: SG-1, Star Gate and Alias no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
The guard pushed her in with the butt of his gun, making her stumble into Vaughn.
"Be careful! Idiot!" He was slapped upside the head. He and the other burly man took up positions just inside the newly closed door. Sydeny straightened up beside Vaughn and breathed deeply. She glanced over at O'Neill and Murry (or was it Teal'c?) to make sure they hadn't been harmed. Cassi stood straight as a rod next to Murry, who never stood any other way.
"What are you doing here, Sydney?" Sydney looked up into the woman's face, so like the one she saw in the mirror everyday. The blood in her chest started boiling, with anger, betrayal, pain, love, hope, grief and even a little self loathing. They churned and burned and crept up her throat to leave a bad taste in her mouth and her stomach feeling queasy. She raised her head obsitinately not willing to let this woman see the feelings she caused.
"My job" she answered.
"Sydney, this is beyond you. It's dangerous" She sounded so concerned, so worried. Sydney felt like spitting in her face.
"Don't you dare pretend you care!" she hissed out between clenched teeth.
"Sydney, no matter what you believe, I am your mother, I do care about what happens to you" Irena Derevco gazed tenderly at her daughter, willing her to believe, to, for once, cooperate so shw would not be hurt. But that was not something Sydney would ever be capable of, wilingly cooperating with her enemy. She was too much like her parents. Her eyes hardened and Irena knew that, unless she could find a weakness, she would get little from her daughter.
"Where's the boy?" a new voice demanded in a steely voice. Sydeny snapped her head to stare hard at her attache.
"Who are you?" Derevco advanced on the girl like a spider closing on it's prey. She had read her daughters response well. She had found her soft spot.
"I am the Child borne of the Ring" she replied stolicly. Derevco was startled, Sydney could tell. SHe got very close to Cassi's face.
"What do you know?" she asked quietly, dangerously, almost fatally. Sydney gulped her heart back down into her stomach. Her mother had a murderous look in her eye and it sent quivers through her body. But O'Neill did not look frightened, an admirable feat.
"Where's the boy?" was all she answered. Derevco stepped back.
"You....take Ms...." She waited but the girl did not respond. Derevco looked at Sydney. No one answered. Derevco lifted her hand and slapped Cassi right across the face. Murry moved, but Cassi stopped him. Still, no one answered.
"Fine. Take Sydney's friend to the B room" the slightly engraged woman ordered. The guard had to struggled a bit with Murry until O'Neill shook her head at him. She followed quietly out the door behind the guards. Derevco took one last look at her daughter.
"You shouldn't have come, Sydney" she said, and left.
2 days later
The "A" room
Murry was sitting on the floor, legs crossed, meditating if he could be believed. Sydney had not seen her mother since the day they had been caught. She had no idea why they were still alive. They had been given some water in the morning and some hearty French bread and cheese later. Sydney and Vaughn had discussed trying to escape, but the room had one, firmly locked, door and no windows.
"Maybourne left through some other means" Murry pointed out.
"That's true" Vaughn said and they began searching in earnest for a hidden door, but after going over every inch of the walls, floor, and, with effort, the ceiling, they found nothing.
"Were Cassi here, she would very easily be able to find the hidden passageway." Murry told them.
"Yeah, well, she's not here" Sydney snapped bitterly, frustrated with her ineptness.
"Indeed she is not" Murry responded, and Sydney caught the pain in his voice, the anger at himself for allowing the girl who, the CIA agents had found over the days, he was very close to, despite their lacking conversations. Sydney sighed, realizing she had been harsh.
"Sorry" But he made no response.
At night she went over their capture, and interrigation, odd as it was, over and over in her head. She kept imagining the different things she could have said, could have done. SHe held up and carefully considered each emotion the very thought of Irena Derevco (no longer mom) caused. She realized, everything was a twisted ball of twine, thousands of individual strings, but so confused she could not see where they started and where they ended. She curled into Vaughn, and hoped the woman wasn't falling so low as to torture a 17 year old girl.
The B room
Cass cradeled her weak body in an air cushion, an inch off the floor, for just a second, to relieve the force of gravity pushing on her battered and bruised muscles. But she couldn't keep it up, and her body fell to the floor. Abstractly, she could feel the pain course through her, leaving loud obnoxious messages in her brain, complaining about the treatment her muscles were receiving in their present condition.
Derevco, a name Cass had pulled from Vaughn, had tried to batter informatioin out of her. Cass could withstand, but with no escape (the room being unescapable and her being ordered not to use telekinesis at any point for any reason) that was all she could do. She removed her mind to her past life, truly another universe, and when they had gone, used all her conscious energy to heal. But she had been given only water and bit of cheese since their capture, and she was becoming weak, her mental powers limited with no energy, no fuel to burn.
Seeing that pain would not make her talk, Derevco switched to psychologival pain, hoping to play on the telepathic sensitivity aspect. She did not have a good understanding of the power though. Tapes, no matter how gory, how traumatizing, did not capture the mental agony that would have affected Cassi, and it was very easy for her to leave her eyes open, her face seeing, without watching.
So, she sat in the corner, allowing her body to heal, when the door opened and a bright crack of real sunlight burned her unadjusted eyes.
