Drifting
Disclaimer: Nope. Don't want it anymore, either. Think of all those death threats against J.J. Abrams…
_____________________________________________________________________________________
She has reason to be cocky, Vaughn thinks later.
Laura managed to get a pretty close grouping, even if it had been in a shoulder. It took him three months of off and on weapons training as a recruit to get that good, and he grew up with BB guns. He's pretty sure Laura never had those, either.
Upon arriving home, Vaughn is happy to note that at least Brandon likes Weiss. The guy is a bit unusual, but he's Vaughn's best friend. Laura and Weiss seemed to be getting along better, but he believed they did have some sort of truce, though Weiss appeared to be joking.
Although, he admits that he may be a little bit jealous. Brandon wants far less to with Vaughn than he does Weiss.
Laura notices that fact as well, and she also sees how it bothers her father.
"Daddy?" Laura says quietly as they stand in the doorway of the den watching Brandon show off his toy cars to Weiss. "Brandon will come around eventually. The idea of having a father is just new to him. All of this is."
Vaughn merely nods.
"It bothers you," Laura states, trying to get some sort of response.
"Yeah. It does," Vaughn mutters defensively. "But then, he doesn't remember me, so I shouldn't be so offended, right?"
Laura is silent.
"I talked to Kendall today," Vaughn continues in a less-ruffled tone. "There's a new lead on Sloane."
"There is?" Laura asks, hope shining in her eyes.
"Nothing much. Someone claims to know where he was two weeks ago. Doesn't do us much good, but there's always the chance he left behind some loose ends. Doesn't seem likely, though," he says dejectedly.
"Oh. I thought…I hoped…" She stops, unable to voice her thought. Vaughn seems to read her mind.
"I hoped we'd find her this time. I'm doing everything I can, Laurie, and so's the CIA. I had hoped we'd find her a long time ago, but things take time in this game," he says honestly.
"Time she may not have…I miss her," Laura adds, her voice so low that Vaughn almost doesn't hear her.
"So do I. And for me it's been six years," he mumbles softly, feeling guilty for not being able to comfort Laura.
******************************************************************************************
Sydney awakes bound and gagged, lying on a cold cement floor. As she becomes more conscious she realizes she's in a tiny room with cement walls. A single naked bulb hangs from the ceiling, giving off only dim yellow light.
Her head is throbbing, and she wonders if it's from being sedated or if she hit her head on something. The last thing she remembers is passing out in the basement in the city.
Now, not only is she bound and most likely locked in, but she also has no idea where she is. For all she knows, Sloane may have left her to die.
She tries to stand after a few minutes. But the effects of what she's now sure was a drug have not worn off, and she becomes extremely dizzy and sinks back to the floor.
For the first time since she was kidnapped, she allows her thoughts to drift to her children. She's sure Sloane doesn't have them; he would have known that he had to prove himself. He'd only used that ploy to get her to do what he wanted that time. He'd have another tool the next time.
She wonders if her children are safe, or if they're wondering around alone.
An image of Vaughn creeps into her mind. Though she has no reason to think they're with him, she hopes they are. It's high time they see him again.
The heavy metal door swings open and a man Sydney doesn't recognize walks in. he holds a needle, but she's too weak to fight, and any movement on her part causes a sudden wave of nausea. Soon, she sinks into an almost welcomed darkness.
******************************************************************************************
Vaughn leaves his children alone again the next day with the usual instructions. Laura makes sure she's up before Brandon to enforce the strict rules.
When Brandon wakes up, Laura is curled up in an armchair with a picture album on her lap. The album holds pictures of her parents when they'd first been dating. To Laura, they both look so young.
A noise outside momentarily scares them.
Must be the poor sap they put on surveillance today, Laura thinks.
Minutes later, two masked men stand in the doorway of the den. Laura gasps.
"You take the boy," one of the men mutters. He moves to drag Laura off the chair.
The men drag the children outside, both of them too shocked to react.
May be it was the sun in her eyes that shook Laura out of her shock. May be it was tripping and falling onto the gravel driveway and thinking she was glad she'd worn jeans. May be it was the look on Brandon's face. Whatever it was, Laura finally reacted.
She snapped her elbow upward, connecting with some part of the man's face. She stomped down *hard* on his foot. She jabbed her elbow into his stomach. Then she hit the ground. Hard. So hard it knocked the breathe out of her.
Stunned and more than a little dizzy, Laura is shoved into the back of a waiting car beside her brother. Moments later, Weiss is shoved into the car along with them. Laura can see several red marks on one side of his face that look suspiciously like the marks a fist might leave behind. The fact that they had him as well served to make Laura even more fearful.
******************************************************************************************
His breathing is ragged, as though as though he's been hit very hard in the ribs and it hurts to breathe. His hands are tied behind his back, but otherwise he seems okay.
Brandon is crying quietly, with only an occasional whimper.
I'm trying not to be sick, and my stomach is not cooperating.
The car pulls away and drives for a long time before it pulls onto a side road behind a large van, one like a mover might use. All three of us are thrown into the dark interior and left there. As the van begins to move, we talk quietly.
"Are you guys okay?" Weiss asks, his voice shaking as though he's in pain.
"Um-hum," Brandon mumbles.
"I'm fine," I reply, dismissing his worry. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me," he says evasively.
"I said, are you okay?" I repeat forcefully. "You don't sound like it, and you didn't look it, either. Please answer me."
"I'll be okay," he insists. "Don't worry about me."
"You still don't sound okay," I mutter.
I'm scared and I need to know everyone's okay. Weiss is not making that easy. He's hurt, but he won't tell me he is. I'm pretty sure those goons were only after Brandon and me, and they only took Weiss because he got in the way. I won't be able to stand it if Weiss gets hurt because of us. He's not so bad.
The van drives for a long time, and Weiss still won't admit to being hurt. But I just know he is. I feel as though the three of us are just drifting along now, unable to control it. We keep hoping for something or someone to stop us. But there's nothing in sight now.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Depressing, I know. But I spent forever trying to decide where to end all the chapters, and it would be very self destructive to change it now. I'm already on the brink of insanity…
Please Review! Agree, disagree, praise vehemently, criticize, you choose.
Disclaimer: Nope. Don't want it anymore, either. Think of all those death threats against J.J. Abrams…
_____________________________________________________________________________________
She has reason to be cocky, Vaughn thinks later.
Laura managed to get a pretty close grouping, even if it had been in a shoulder. It took him three months of off and on weapons training as a recruit to get that good, and he grew up with BB guns. He's pretty sure Laura never had those, either.
Upon arriving home, Vaughn is happy to note that at least Brandon likes Weiss. The guy is a bit unusual, but he's Vaughn's best friend. Laura and Weiss seemed to be getting along better, but he believed they did have some sort of truce, though Weiss appeared to be joking.
Although, he admits that he may be a little bit jealous. Brandon wants far less to with Vaughn than he does Weiss.
Laura notices that fact as well, and she also sees how it bothers her father.
"Daddy?" Laura says quietly as they stand in the doorway of the den watching Brandon show off his toy cars to Weiss. "Brandon will come around eventually. The idea of having a father is just new to him. All of this is."
Vaughn merely nods.
"It bothers you," Laura states, trying to get some sort of response.
"Yeah. It does," Vaughn mutters defensively. "But then, he doesn't remember me, so I shouldn't be so offended, right?"
Laura is silent.
"I talked to Kendall today," Vaughn continues in a less-ruffled tone. "There's a new lead on Sloane."
"There is?" Laura asks, hope shining in her eyes.
"Nothing much. Someone claims to know where he was two weeks ago. Doesn't do us much good, but there's always the chance he left behind some loose ends. Doesn't seem likely, though," he says dejectedly.
"Oh. I thought…I hoped…" She stops, unable to voice her thought. Vaughn seems to read her mind.
"I hoped we'd find her this time. I'm doing everything I can, Laurie, and so's the CIA. I had hoped we'd find her a long time ago, but things take time in this game," he says honestly.
"Time she may not have…I miss her," Laura adds, her voice so low that Vaughn almost doesn't hear her.
"So do I. And for me it's been six years," he mumbles softly, feeling guilty for not being able to comfort Laura.
******************************************************************************************
Sydney awakes bound and gagged, lying on a cold cement floor. As she becomes more conscious she realizes she's in a tiny room with cement walls. A single naked bulb hangs from the ceiling, giving off only dim yellow light.
Her head is throbbing, and she wonders if it's from being sedated or if she hit her head on something. The last thing she remembers is passing out in the basement in the city.
Now, not only is she bound and most likely locked in, but she also has no idea where she is. For all she knows, Sloane may have left her to die.
She tries to stand after a few minutes. But the effects of what she's now sure was a drug have not worn off, and she becomes extremely dizzy and sinks back to the floor.
For the first time since she was kidnapped, she allows her thoughts to drift to her children. She's sure Sloane doesn't have them; he would have known that he had to prove himself. He'd only used that ploy to get her to do what he wanted that time. He'd have another tool the next time.
She wonders if her children are safe, or if they're wondering around alone.
An image of Vaughn creeps into her mind. Though she has no reason to think they're with him, she hopes they are. It's high time they see him again.
The heavy metal door swings open and a man Sydney doesn't recognize walks in. he holds a needle, but she's too weak to fight, and any movement on her part causes a sudden wave of nausea. Soon, she sinks into an almost welcomed darkness.
******************************************************************************************
Vaughn leaves his children alone again the next day with the usual instructions. Laura makes sure she's up before Brandon to enforce the strict rules.
When Brandon wakes up, Laura is curled up in an armchair with a picture album on her lap. The album holds pictures of her parents when they'd first been dating. To Laura, they both look so young.
A noise outside momentarily scares them.
Must be the poor sap they put on surveillance today, Laura thinks.
Minutes later, two masked men stand in the doorway of the den. Laura gasps.
"You take the boy," one of the men mutters. He moves to drag Laura off the chair.
The men drag the children outside, both of them too shocked to react.
May be it was the sun in her eyes that shook Laura out of her shock. May be it was tripping and falling onto the gravel driveway and thinking she was glad she'd worn jeans. May be it was the look on Brandon's face. Whatever it was, Laura finally reacted.
She snapped her elbow upward, connecting with some part of the man's face. She stomped down *hard* on his foot. She jabbed her elbow into his stomach. Then she hit the ground. Hard. So hard it knocked the breathe out of her.
Stunned and more than a little dizzy, Laura is shoved into the back of a waiting car beside her brother. Moments later, Weiss is shoved into the car along with them. Laura can see several red marks on one side of his face that look suspiciously like the marks a fist might leave behind. The fact that they had him as well served to make Laura even more fearful.
******************************************************************************************
His breathing is ragged, as though as though he's been hit very hard in the ribs and it hurts to breathe. His hands are tied behind his back, but otherwise he seems okay.
Brandon is crying quietly, with only an occasional whimper.
I'm trying not to be sick, and my stomach is not cooperating.
The car pulls away and drives for a long time before it pulls onto a side road behind a large van, one like a mover might use. All three of us are thrown into the dark interior and left there. As the van begins to move, we talk quietly.
"Are you guys okay?" Weiss asks, his voice shaking as though he's in pain.
"Um-hum," Brandon mumbles.
"I'm fine," I reply, dismissing his worry. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me," he says evasively.
"I said, are you okay?" I repeat forcefully. "You don't sound like it, and you didn't look it, either. Please answer me."
"I'll be okay," he insists. "Don't worry about me."
"You still don't sound okay," I mutter.
I'm scared and I need to know everyone's okay. Weiss is not making that easy. He's hurt, but he won't tell me he is. I'm pretty sure those goons were only after Brandon and me, and they only took Weiss because he got in the way. I won't be able to stand it if Weiss gets hurt because of us. He's not so bad.
The van drives for a long time, and Weiss still won't admit to being hurt. But I just know he is. I feel as though the three of us are just drifting along now, unable to control it. We keep hoping for something or someone to stop us. But there's nothing in sight now.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Depressing, I know. But I spent forever trying to decide where to end all the chapters, and it would be very self destructive to change it now. I'm already on the brink of insanity…
Please Review! Agree, disagree, praise vehemently, criticize, you choose.
