War Fields: Chapter 8
Vanessa led Roxanne down a dark, dank hallway and opened the door to a rather bare bones looking cell. After she
ushered the younger girl in, she slammed the door forcefully and whirled on her.
"What in the HELL were you thinking back there?!" Vanessa hissed angrily, keeping her voice low enough
that the conversation wouldn't drift outside those walls. Completely taken aback, Roxanne just blinked worried
blue eyes at her. Vanessa continued her rant. "Never mind...I can tell by your expression that you obviously
WEREN'T."
"Vanessa...I--"
"Don't you 'Vanessa' me!" The VENOM agent interrupted. "You have absolutely NO idea what you've
just done!"
"Vanessa, I didn't know!" Roxanne pleaded. "I honestly didn't until just now!"
"Well now you know," Vanessa said flatly. "And thanks to you, now Rax knows. You're damn lucky
that no one else knows."
"Maybe...maybe you could just let her go," Roxanne suggested hopefully. As soon as the words were out
of her mouth, she wanted to kick herself for suggesting something so lame.
Vanessa snorted. "In a foreign country? With a head injury? Riiiiigggghhht. She's safer here with us."
"You could..." Roxanne gulped, unsure if she should even make the suggestion, but she had gotten Annie
into this mess. "You could call Brad."
If looks could kill, the one Vanessa shot Roxanne would have incinerated the younger girl on the spot. "How
about I just put a big, flashing neon sign outside the base that says: 'VENOM is here!' ?" Vanessa suggested
acidly. "That would have essentially the same effect. Not going to happen."
"Well, what are you going to do, then?" Roxy asked worriedly.
Vanessa ran her fingers through her darkly laced red locks. "I have no idea."
"Well you have to do SOMETHING!" Roxanne shouted. "She's your DAUGHTER!"
Vanessa's eyes turned to chunks of aquamarine ice. Roxy literally shivered as she caught the full force of her
stare. "I am well aware of who SHE is. And right now, compared to you, that girl practically has Diplomatic
Immunity. As long as Rax keeps his mouth shut, Mayhem isn't going to blink twice at her. I'd be a little more
worried about myself if I were you."
Roxanne winced as though Vanessa had actually slapped her. Vanessa saw a jolt of fear pass through the young girls
eyes. Good, Vanessa thought with some satisfaction. She's starting to see the trouble she's actually
in.
Before the scared look in Roxy's face could sway her anger, Vanessa turned on her heel and stormed out the door,
carefully locking it behind her.
She ran her fingers through her hair again as she walked back to her room. Of all the people in the United States,
Roxanne Trakker had to make friends with HIS daughter. And of all the countries in the world, they just happened
to be in this one. And of all the areas in the entire city of Venice, they just happened to be in THAT one. Damnit,
she cursed mentally. Sixteen years. Sixteen years, and now THIS. Damn you, Roxy...and damn you Turner, for
not keeping a better eye on your daughter.
Vanessa sighed deeply as she opened the door to her room. She shut it quickly when she found Rax inside, sitting
in a chair with his feet propped up, gazing toward the general vicinty of her bed. Her eyes drifted to the bed
and remained there a few minutes as she looked at the unconscious young girl lying in it. HIS daughter... Annie,
Vanessa reminded herself absently...her name is Annie... lay there unmoving, long, red hair splayed over
her pillow. Vanessa could see her chest rising and falling as she breathed, and other than looking exceptionally
pale, the bandaged cut on her forehead was the only sign of injury. Vanessa let out a breath she didn't realize
she was holding, but not so much out of concern for the girl in front of her as for the rest of them if anything
HAD happened to Annie.
"Pulse is pretty strong...but it'll be a while before the kid wakes up," Rax said from beside her. His
mood seemed contemplative. "When she does, it's gonna be with a splitting headache and a possible concussion."
Rax looked over at Vanessa, who was still staring at her daughter and ignoring him. He got a wicked look on his
face as he asked, "So who was the lucky stiff?"
That got her attention. Rax waited for the slap that never came. Vanessa just blinked and glared in his direction.
"None of your business."
"If you want me to keep your secret, Vanessa, it'd be in your best interest to level with me," Rax replied
as his eyes turned back to the girl on the bed.
Something nagged at the back of his mind...her looks were very familiar. They were definitely Vanessa's, sure,
but they were someone else's too, and Rax felt positive he should know whose. Then it finally hit him and he grinned
wildly.
"What's so funny?" Vanessa snapped.
Rax shrugged innocently. "Obviously a little more rockin n' rollin going on than any of us realized."
The look on Vanessa's face told him everything he needed to know. "And now I know where you were all those
years ago."
With immense willpower, Vanessa denied him the benefit of a reply, stating simply, "You better go check in
with Mayhem."
Rax stood and stretched, walking over to the door. "What about you?"
"Tell him it's that time of the month, or something. I really could care less what you tell him, as long
as you GET OUT," Vanessa growled, sitting down in the vacated chair.
"Whatever you say, Vanessa," Rax replied sweetly as he left.
As he made his way down to debrief VENOM's leader, he couldn't help but think about how some rock n' roll cowboy
from MASK did something that the guys on this team could only fantasize about. Well, Turner, Rax thought,
you are one lucky son of a bitch.
This can't be happening! Scott repeated to himself, like a mantra in his head. This isn't happening...this
isn't happening...this isn't happening!! Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was otherwise. He and
T-Bob had finally managed to double back along the waterways and find a route that caught up with the boat Roxy
had taken, and Scott had remembered, even in his panicked state to ask T-Bob to map the route they were using in
case they needed to backtrack again. Scott had realized a little too late that that wouldn't be necessary. He
watched in shock and horror as Rax casually launched a torpedo from Piranha and blew the boat right out of the
water.
"NNNOOOOOOOOOO!" Scott hadn't realized he had screamed aloud and was running toward the water until
he felt T-Bob's firm grip on his arms. "Nonononoonononono!"
Nononononononono...oh, god, please... He fell to his knees, T-Bob still gripping his shoulders. The two
girls he loved the most in the world were gone, and it was HIS fault. He was supposed to keep an eye on them,
protect them. His dad had trusted him with that task, but more importantly so had Brad. Everyone knew that the
teams rock n' roller had a tendency to let his feelings get in the way, and never more so than where Annie was
concerned. When he finds out what happened...and when Dad finds out about Roxy...they'll blame me for not doing
something.... and it'll be true! Oh god, how am I going to live with myself?!? Roxy, why couldn't you for once
have thought of someone other than yourself?!?
"...get help! Scott! Scott!" interjected T-Bob's worried computer voice.
Scott stared at his robotic friend through tear streaked blurs. "Motor scooter mode," he requested softly,
pulling himself off the ground. T-Bob quickly obliged as Scott got on. "Find Dad," was all the young
boy could manage to say.
They found the MASK team in San Marco Square, in a church filled with debris from its collapsed roof. Scott noted
detachedly that this must have been VENOM's objective all along...something inside the church. As T-Bob stopped
outside and transformed back to his robotic self, Scott hoped that he could just find his father, explain what
happened, and go back to the hotel without ever laying eyes on Brad Turner. He'd never be able to bring himself
to tell Brad that his daughter was... No, said the still rational part of him. You can't think like
that.
As fate would have it, the active agents just happened to gather outside for an impromptu debriefing as Scott appeared.
He caught his father's eye momentarily and hoped he would approach him alone. But fate wasn't willing to be that
kind. Scott's look was intercepted by Brad, who glanced over in his direction, and then did a double take when
the expression on Scott's face told him everything. He ate up the distance between himself and Scott in what seemed
like two impossibly long strides, at least through Scott's eyes. Matt and the rest of their group quickly followed.
Scott knew he was dead when Brad removed his shades and transfixed him with the full force of his tumultuous eyes.
"What....happened....?"
He found it oddly amazing how much emotional content could be expressed in two words. Brad was using the same dangerously
calm voice Scott had heard his father use on many occasions. The same voice that usually heralded dire consequences
for any reply other than the absolute truth. Scott took a very deep breath before he launched into his explanation.
Buck up Scott, and be a man. If you're going to be an agent one day, you're gonna have to learn how to deal
with this.
"We were shopping...all of us...and we were almost finished...I mean, I think the girls were almost finished..."
You're babbling, Scott, get to the point quickly and just get it over with. "...anyway, we were walking
when someone pushed through us. T-Bob and I had all their stuff...a lot of it too..." Babble! pointed
out his rational side as he continued. "...and we fell. When we got back up, we saw that it was..."
he paused, closing his eyes, "...it was Vanessa. And the girls...well, they chased after her..."
"Wait a minute here, there ain't no way Annie'd go within any kinda radius of *THAT* woman!" Dusty
interjected heatedly. The way he spit out 'that woman' made it sound like an epithet in and of itself. "You
mean that ROXY went chasin' after her and dragged Annie along for the ride! I knew that girl was trouble, I knew
it!"
"Dusty..." Matt warned softly, turning back to his son. "Go on, Scott."
Scott glanced over at Brad. Aside from eyes that blazed with cold fury, his expression was completely unreadable.
He stood with his arms folded across his chest, and Scott knew he was going to explode at any moment. Especially
after what was coming next.
"They took a boat that was docked into the water 'cause Rax had picked Vanessa up in Piranha. I wanted to
chase after them...but there wasn't another boat around, so T-Bob and I had to stick to the shore. All those ducts
and waterways were so convoluted I had to have T-Bob map the area so we didn't get lost... By the time we got
back to where we could see them...they were too far out...and then..." Scott closed his eyes again. He wouldn't
be able to stand the looks on their faces when he told them the rest. Here it comes. "...then Rax torpedoed
their boat."
Dead silence hung in the air...until Brad's cork blew.
"DAMN HER!" He exploded violently. "DAMN HER TO BLOODY HELL!"
No one was sure whether he was referring to Annie, Roxy, or Vanessa, and no one dared to ask. Scott couldn't keep
up the brave facade anymore...he began to shake. He felt his father's arms pull him into a tight embrace. "I'm
sorry...I'm so sorry...I let you down...it's my fault," he sobbed as tears streamed down his face.
"It's okay, Scott," Matt whispered softly, smoothing Scott's head of brown curls. "You did what
you could, and you did the right thing in coming to find us. We'll find them..."
"Damn right *I* will," Brad snapped as he stalked towards Condor. "And they damn well better be
alive, or there is going to be HELL to pay. Let's go, Dusty."
Without a moment's hesitation, the southerner began to follow.
"Wait a minute..." Matt ordered.
Dusty laid a comforting hand on Brad's shoulder as his back stiffened and his fists clenched. "DO NOT tell
me to CALM DOWN, and DO NOT order me to STAY HERE, or I will turn around and lay you out right here, Trakker."
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and added icily. "The same goes for you, Hawkes."
Buddy and Matt exchanged a glance, knowing it was going to be useless to argue. The MASK leader sighed in defeat.
"All right...you win. But I want you back by nightfall, and THAT is an ORDER. I'm not loosing anyone else
today. Buddy and I will finish up here and put word out on the street."
"Fine." Brad's tone practically dripped icicles.
Before anything else could be said, Condor and Gator were gone.
