Title: Chat
Author: Jennyfer
Rating: PG-13
Ship: S/V, S/peoplesay
Chapter: 13
Title: Cold Stone Floor
Dedications:
Shammi and JoJo: I am so sorry that you guys were never put on the PM list! I definitely thought that you were and also cannot believe that you still had the perseverance to keep on reviewing... yikes~ I'm sorry, and you definitely deserve this one (not that it's some sort of great honor or anything, i just wanted to let you know that I didn't purposefully forget about you... i probably forgot to press "Update" after adding you sorry )
my ZAP-ers: haha, now that we've all decided to be good and finally remember to read each others stories and etc, I have had much less free time on my hands Thanks.
*at ff.net* Kat: haha, here's another one for you We're dorks but we have fun~



And Finally:

~:~The Chapter~:~



Cold Stone Floor



She woke up because of the heat.

She felt the slow warming of her face while she had been sleeping and it had only intensified until the warmth was absorbed into the floor and burned the other side of her face too.

She coughed once and then one more time, her throat too dry to do anything else but. She could feel her vocal chords burning as her mind urgently attempted to recall what had happened to her. Her eyes were still closed, knowing that the light would hurt.

Knowing that once she did open them, she would discover that she was alone.

And that had been the one thing she had remembered. Vaugh had been with her... Vaughn had been standing and walking with her to-

It all came back.

The failed mission.
The angry guards.
The sudden skirmish.
The victory.
The escape.
The realization.
The knowledge that they had lost.
That after all, it meant nothing.
The attempt to fix it.
The arms around her.
The tears streaking her face.
The screaming.
The floor.
The silence.
The... the...


The cloth.


She could still smell the chloroform on her, could feel the sratchy cloth rubbing roughly against her face, could know see all too clearly in her mind her dimming vision. The last thing she had seen: Vaughn's limp body being dragged off.

And the question was where?

She wasn't sure.

Was this the first time she had woken up? She thought so but wasn't sure. Anything could have been possible, anything could have been feel. Her throat was parched, her bladder tight, her head dizzy. Wasn't sure. Wasn't sure of anything. Wasn't sure of anyone. Wasn't sure of herself.

She could have been here for days.

It had been a trap.

What had they wanted? Her? What could she give them that her father couldn't? Unless they had him too. And Vaughn... if they were all together, what could they do?

Footsteps sounded, loud and harsh on the stone floor, reminding her back of the aches and kinks it had endured sleeping on this hard surface.

She closed her eyes, relieved to let her head drop slowly down.

~:~

*Day 4*

The crack of the whip sounded dangerously close, sounded utterly painful, instilled a fear that she had never known deep inside of her bones.

And she hadn't even opened her eyes yet.

It was almost like the attempt to return to childhood, the way that she tried to block out the inevitable future by trying to force herself to go back to sleep. It was too late. She could feel the chill, could feel it creeping up into her bones and sending shudders up and down her spine.

She bit back the urge to cry from the fear of it.

The sound of a hard sole on the stone floor resonated throughout her cell before an accented voice reached her ear. "I see from your posture, Agent Bristow, that you are awake."

She trembled, all of her bravery and and might sucked out of her as she tightened her body, knowing while she did so that she should loosen it if she wanted to lessen the pain.

A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead, found her eye, nestled into the lid and caused it to turn with its saltiness and the heat that it had been inside of her body. The footsteps stopped. They were next to her.

"You cannot hide from me."

Her breathing was ragged, she couldn't control it the way she had been trained too. She didn't want to be awake. Memories of yesterday were still all too clear in her head.

Torture so painful, torture so... so unmarked... she didn't look any different.

And the only things that were broken were her emotions. Her pride.

She had screamed for Vaughn, she knew.

The first time she had screamed for anybody.

And the only answer had been a sneer. "Your Vaughn will never come for you."

She had responded, her head throbbing, her heart pounding. "What are you doing to him?"

The response had been a laugh. An arrogant one, full of pride and disbelief. "Do you really think that we would waste our time and energy on someone like him? No, Agent Bristow, I do believe that we have who we need right here."

Vaughn was safe?

~:~

*Day 9*

She gasped in pain as the sudden strike rippled throughout her body rattling her to her very bones- making her wish she was anywhere else- with anyone else.

And there was only one name echoing inside of her head.

Please save me. I'm sorry I went back. Where are you? Are you hurting too?

The footsteps receded back into the hallway and she felt her knees shaking, finally giving up and crumpling to the floor. She'd gone through worse. But this was by far the most convoluted state of mind she had ever been in.

It wasn't just her.

She didn't know what had happened, who was here with her. She could barely even make out her own surroundings. She could feel the cold stone steps under her body, the way that the wind chilled the walls at night and the sun broiled in the morning.

But she didn't hear anyone else.

She wondered if there was anyone else.

And despite the selfishness of her thoughts, the absolutely awful wish she was thinking inside but would never admit, she wanted someone to be there.

She turned her head so that her fevered cheek touched the stone slabs, the coolness of them refreshing.

Her hair was damp with sweat, her eyelidss fluttering.

How long had she been here? A couple days? A week maybe?

It was strange how fast she had lost count.

It was strange how fast she had lost hope.

Was Vaughn somewhere here, going through the same thing, the same ordeal... was he undergoing the same torture because of her?

She shuddered.

And whispered.

"Vaughn... if you're there... I'm sorry. I love you. And I'm sorry."



tbc...

more?






grrr... the formatting didn't work out like i wan't it too... the reply thing doesn't let you space inside... i wanted the list thing to come out like arrows but it didn't work... after all the hard thought put into spacing it so it would come out right

sorry this is depressing... i've never written something like this and i didn't really intend to... i'm not sure if it all fits and it seems a little choppy so i might fix it later.

anyway~

agh... you're welcome to tell me how much is sucks... try not to be too mean though...






sigh*

maybe it will be better next chapter. [crosses fingers] i'm just trying to get it to the right point and it's not working and i'm all GRRR about it...


-jenn-the-tempermental-writer