Chapter Nineteen

            2:41 PM

            "Sandra?"

            Of all the sights she expected to see, she got the only one she didn't want, "Go away Krycek."

            Alex smiled at her, "You're mad at me."

            Sandra sat up but a blinding pain in her head had her lying back down, "Jeez you're observant," she said sarcastically. Her face grew serious, "What do you want from me?"

            Alex was sitting in a chair next to the bed, he studied the floor below his feet. "We need your help."

            Sandra nodded and sat up, careful not to let the tears of betrayal enter her eyes, she would not let him think she was weak. She could see though, that she had no choice but to go along with them. "For what?"

            Alex sighed, "I want to leave that for later. First I want you to understand this had nothing to do with betrayal." For most of his career he'd done things that looked like he was double-crossing someone, but he never cared if the person knew it was for the best. That what Alex was doing for them, no matter how bad it looked, benefited them in the end. He never explained himself, he didn't care if people believed him but he wanted Sandra to believe him more than anything.

            "Don't bother." She stood up and walked across the room that looked like a hotel room without windows. "I don't know who you are."

            Alex stood quickly, moving over to her, he grabbed her arms, gently turning her to him, "Yes you do. You are the only one who knows me, all of me. The good and the bad."

            Sandra tore her eyes from the floor to look him in the eye, trying to retain her glare, "I don't know anything about you except that you'll put money and power above all else."

            Alex let her arms go, struggling to think of what to say, "Before I met you…that was true but since then, I've found something else that I want more than anything else," he paused for a long time, "You."

            Sandra was about to protest, but Alex held his hand up, "There's something I have to tell you. Right after I thought you died, I started working with The Resistance. The Consortium was ending and they offered me a job. They hired me to be your bodyguard, so to speak."

            Sandra let it all sink in, "Well, then why'd you leave me in Calgary, to get shot?"

            "I turned the job down. When it comes to you, I don't trust anyone. And I knew if I found you, then The Resistance would bring you in and I wasn't sure what was going to happen. That's why I've been hiding you from them for the last few weeks but now I realize that hiding you, helps no one."

            "So you've decided to take the job?"

            Alex had to smile, he knew she hated the idea of having him watch over her, "Yeah."

            Sandra brushed past him, moving to the other side of the room, "Well no thank you. I can take care of myself."

            "Sandra," his tone warned.

            "I'm not a baby Krycek, I don't need a baby-sitter." Her voice was cold.

            Alex groaned, "You are the most difficult women! Fine. You deal with this on your own, see how long that lasts." he said before storming out.

            Sandra glared after him, now what was she supposed to do, she was stuck in this cell with no apparent exit. She went to the adjoining bathroom and found a sewing kit among the other hotel paraphernalia. Taking two pins like she'd seen on TV, she put then into the door and wiggled them around, trying to pick the lock. 

            Sandra had been at it for more than ten minutes when the door opened and slammed into her head.

            "You know the door's open," James Hayden told her as he helped her up.

            "Oh look, it's the guy who shot me."

            Hayden rolled his eyes at her, "It was with a horse tranquilizer."

            Sandra stared at him in disgust, "Don't those kill people?"

            Hayden laughed, "We needed something that would knock you out for more than five seconds."

            Sandra sneered at him, "So you could do what, operate on me?"

            "You can leave Miss Ames if you want. But I would hope for the sake of mankind you'll follow me."

            Sandra weighed her options as Hayden left the room, she could run and hide or she could find out what she was running from. Curiosity won out.

            "This better be good."

***************************************************

            "Sandra Ames, I'd like you to meet The Resistance," James Hayden introduced her as she sat around a large wood table.

            She was about to make a remark about how they were the ones that had ordered her to be killed but she decided to keep her smart ass mouth shut. She instead managed a nod and a weak smile.

            Surrounding her, around the table, were five women and seven men, including Alex Krycek and James Hayden. An older man sitting at the head of the table stood up and began to speak, "My name is Joseph Neller and I co-founded The Resistance ten years ago. My colleague and I used to work with The Consortium. Are you familiar with them?"

            Sandra nodded her head.

            "They started out with good intentions but towards the end they were more interested in preserving themselves than earth. Some would argue it was their own selfishness that did them in," To explain himself further he threw a picture across the table at her. It was of a warehouse, its floor covered in piles of soot.

            Hayden stood, picking up the conversation, "Those piles of ash are what used to be human bodies, the bodies of the Consortium members and their families. They were burned by The Rebels for working with the aliens."

            Sandra stared in shock at the pictures, this was all a lot more serious then she originally thought.

            "Our plan," Hayden continued, "As I explained to you before, is to find an alien weakness and exploit it."

            "And since I'm half-alien, you want to test on me," Sandra said bitterly.

            "Frankly, yes," Neller answered.

            Sandra stared at the table, completely at a loss for words. She desperately wished for this all to be a dream, to go back to before she had learned about aliens, before she met Krycek.

            Neller continued, "Mr. Krycek will be acting as your bodyguard from this point on. You will report here every day under the alias of Sandra Ashby. To everyone else, this building houses a Medical manufacturing company, if anyone asks, you work as a lab assistant.

            Before he could continue further, Sandra interrupted him, "As much as I appreciate you taking complete control of my life," she said sarcastically. "I can take care of myself. That is, if I decided to do this." Sandra stood.

            Following her, the rest of the people around the table stood, "Of course you can take a few days to think about it but Miss Ames, I must press upon you the urgency of the situation. Mr. Krycek will stay with you at all times." Neller reiterated.

            Sandra was starting to lose her temper, "I told you, I can take care of myself," she said firmly.

            Neller stared back at her with equal determination, "This is not a point I'm willing to negotiate."

            Sandra stifled a huff, "Fine." She then left the room without another word. She could leave with Alex Krycek but she wasn't guaranteeing that she'd come back with him alive.