Disclaimer: I own nothing, as stated in above chapters. My plans for taking over Fox kids currently have gone nowhere, but I'm still working on it.
Rating: PG-13
Sorry for the delay in updating chapters….college sucks. In a huge way. Well, here goes!
"Unnnggghhh………"
Diana woke up, her head as if in a haze of smoke.
What am I doing…….what?
All of a sudden she came to with astonishing clarity. Alex! She struggled to her feet. Still dressed in her sequined gown, she looked around furtively. There was no one in the corridor, and she was lying in a dark, hidden corner, where she had apparently been dragged. Slightly to her left was a dart that she recognized as a tranquilizer- she reached for it and picked it up. It was half-full.
Someone must have pulled it out of me, she realized with a sickening rush. She remembered herself and her team being ambushed in the corridor of the subbasement, then being shot in the chest with a dart. But where was her team? She glanced around, seeing no signs of life.
"God….." picking up her communicator, she spoke into it. "Passenger to Agent 227. Passenger to Agent 227. Can you hear me?"
"Diana?" a man's slightly panicked voice sounded, blaring loudly into her ear. She jumped. "Rikki?" Where was Agent Reynolds?
"Yeah, it's me." He took a deep breath. "We thought you were dead. And we can't find the others- they disappeared from surveillance! Agent Reynolds is trying to track them down. You're the only one left- unless there's someone there with you."
"Oh, God……" Diana took a deep breath. "I don't……there's no one down here with me, Rikki."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." The corridor held no sign of life.
"Okay. Get back up here. Are you okay? Do you to be extracted?"
"I….no." now that the wooziness had worn off, Diana had a raging headache, but no other ill effects. "I'll be right up."
Taking one last look over her shoulder, she hitched up her long skirt and ran to find an exit.
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Pain.
Hot, searing pain.
That was the first sensation that Action Man felt when he came to, aside from an intense coldness that gripped his legs.
Oh……my…….Lord…it hurts…..
"Mr. Mann?"
At the sound of his name, he tried to turn his head, to speak, but it was impossible. His body hurt too much……
"You took quite a beating."
It took Alex a moment to place the pleasant-sounding, calm male voice in his throbbing skull, but when he did…….
"X?" he managed to mutter.
The man chuckled, his voice undercut with slight malice. "Yes."
You bastard, Alex wanted to say. But he couldn't. He felt as if his tongue was filling his mouth, closing his throat. He sucked in a desperate lungful of air, then nearly doubled over from the pain that licked across his ribcage. Oh, God…..
"Hurts, doesn't it?" X said maliciously. Somewhere in the back of his consciousness, Alex became aware of X moving away from him. "Where's……where is……"
"Miss Sinclair?"
Alex licked his lips. To his surprise, he tasted the metallic, coppery flavor of his own blood- they must be cracked, or split. When he tried to move them, they felt twice a heavy. "What….what did you do to her?" he managed to hiss.
X chuckled and didn't reply. Alex opened his eyes- no great feat, as they seemed sealed shut- Not with blood, I hope- and blinked rapidly, trying to get the swimming images before him to go into focus. X was standing in the corner of a small, pristine white room, chewing on an unlit cigar, dressed in his usual gadget suit. Alex was laying on the only piece of furniture in the room- a table, to which he was strapped.
"The two of you gave us quite a fight, Mr. Mann," he said, blandly. "We were ready for you this time, though, as you can see."
Alex winced. He remembered very well. The ambush in the corridor. Alexis' surprised scream as fourteen trained assassins came down upon them, grunting orders other in Russian. The fight that had ensued, his inability to use his amp factor in the small room……and the brutal beating that had come as a result. Thankfully, the butt of one man's baton had knocked him out cold, rendering him unable to feel at least the last part of it.
Alexis! He remembered that she was still fighting bravely when he was knocked out, using her martial arts and actually managing to shoot one of them…..where was she? He had to find her.
Alex squirmed and tried to sit up. To his surprise, he wasn't strapped or tied down, but with the pain his body was in now……it was impossible for him to get up. X smirked.
Alex then attempted to roll over, but was stopped by fresh onslaught of pain to his ribs- and nearly slid to the floor. The table was slick with a dark, strong smelling fluid…..
His own blood.
"Oh, fuck……." Suddenly nauseous, Alex dry-heaved over the side of the table, nearly passing out from the pain as he did so. He lifted his throbbing arms and stared at them in horror. They were covered with bruises and cuts, and all the uncovered skin on his torso was battered as well. He could only imagine what his legs looked like…..
His legs…….
Suddenly panicked, Alex raised one leg, then the other. Thank God, they were both there- and apparently, not broken. His ribs on the other hand…..he reached up and touched his face. His hand came away sticky with blood.
"You are quite a sight," X said, gravely. Alex had almost forgotten that he was in the room. "I do not know why you insisted on fighting my henchmen."
Alex glared at him. "Where is Alexis, X?" His body was still wracked with spasms, but his head was surprisingly clear and free of pain.
X ignored the question. "Really, Mr. Mann, I though you too intelligent to be taken in by one of my schemes. I thought it obvious that the lead you had was a trap. But of course, you did make the mistake of working for the CIA." He smirked.
"Why am I here, X?" More fluid was dripping from Alex's mouth with every word he said, and he found it easier to talk, though no less painful. Taking on an aura of false bravado, he glared defiantly up at him through his good eye- the other one was swollen shut. "What's your twisted scheme, this time?" And why haven't you killed me yet? He asked mentally.
"Oh, Alex." Dr. X shook his head, walked up to the younger man, and looked into his eyes with an expression that made his blood chill. Then he smiled, taking Alex's chin between his cold, slender fingers. "I have so much planned for you. No, you're not going to die. At least, not now. I need you very much alive."
Alex felt his stomach churn.
X turned around and let out a bellow. "Azazi!"
The young woman, dressed in her signature skin-tight ensemble, slunk into the room, a slight smile one her pouting lips. "Yes, boss man?"
"See to it that Mr. Mann is cleaned and given some medical attention. Don't let him die on me."
"The wounds were all superficial. Your men saw to that," she said coolly.
"Nevertheless, I want him taken care of." He narrowed his eyes at her. "If anything happens to him…..I will hold you responsible."
"Whatever." Azazi watched X go, and then sauntered over to the table. "What's going on, big boy? Long time no see. You look a mess."
"Where's Alexis?" Alex ignored her barbs.
"Looks like you got yourself into a bit of a fight." Azazi ignored his question, then reached under the table and pressed a call button that was there, underneath it. Within seconds, three men, all dressed in white, walked into the room. Their skin was pale, their faces were drawn and they all had an identical lack of expression.
"Fix 'im up." Azazi ordered, pointing to Alex. "Bosses' orders."
The men nodded, and then moved as one, surrounding the table where Alex still lay. Two of them held down his arms- then one pulled a thin syringe out of his lab coat pocket. Alex squirmed weakly, trying to escape, but it was to no avail. The needle plunged into his arm, taking with it all tangible thought and action.
As he drifted off into a wave of blessed, pain-free unconsciousness, he heard Azazi's voice, vaguely.
"When you get through with him, come with me. We have to get rid of the girl."
Alexis!
…….but he was already gone.
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"Fidge? Fidget, luv?"
Fidget Wilson rolled over in bed and groaned. "What, Grinder?" she had been having SUCH a lovely dream. And her bed was so comfortable. Man, she was tired….and why did she have such a headache already?
"Fidget? Can you talk?"
"Of course I can talk!" What was wrong with Grinder! "Can't I sleep in a little more?" Grinder was such a rake sometimes.
"Fidget!" he shook her, violently.
She wanted to get up…but her head was hurting so much. And couldn't Grinder give her a few extra minutes? I think I need a Tylenol…..she reached for her pillow in order to pull it over her head, but instead of it, her hands grasped a cold, metal surface. What in the world? She opened her eyes.
And was immediately slammed by the most gargantuan headache she'd ever had in her life.
"Oh, man……" Fidget shut her eyes again, and grasped her throbbing forehead.
"Fidge?" Grinder's voice was gentle. "The headache will wear of in a few minutes, luv. Just take deep breaths."
Fidget took in an enormous gulp of air, then repeated the action. To her relief, the aching in her head began to subside. "What-"
"We're in the cargo bay of an aircraft."
"What?" Fidget sat up straight and banged her head on the low ceiling of the hold. "Ouch……" her green eyes filled with tears. In the darkness of the stuffy room, she could vaguely make out Grinder's shape, at her side. "How-?"
"I don't know. I woke up maybe fifteen minutes ago."
Fidget tried to remember what had happened- but all she could recall was walking into the basement of the club to fond Alex, then hearing a hiss, feeling a liquid spray coat her face…..
And then she woke up here.
Fidget didn't move for a minute; and sure enough, she could hear the whirring of an aircraft engine, and felt the dips and sways that often accompany a flight. She grabbed Grinder by the arm. "Where's Alexis and Alex?"
"Don't know." Grinder's tone was uneasy. "How do you feel?"
"Better." The pain had subsided, with only a slight discomfort left in her right temple. She rubbed it. "My headache is practically gone."
"Good."
The teammates sat in silence- really, there was nothing else to do. Fidget could hear her heart pounding, hard. She took in a shaky breath.
"We'll be fine……" with these words, Grinder's large hand came out of the darkness, rubbing her back, but she barely noticed. All her attention was on the small hatch that caught her eye, right above Grinder's head.
"Grinder-"
"I've tried it."
"But with two of us-"
Their argument was interrupted when the hatch popped open all on it's own, and the small room was suddenly flooded with light from above. A tousled blonde head appeared, followed by a pair of skinny shoulders, covered in what appeared to be light armor and a mail shirt. A hand appeared, holding a rod from which the light seemed to be emitting.
"Hey, guys! How's ol' Action-Jerk doing?"
I will update soon sorry for delay review please!