Author's Banter: Hehe DON'T SPEAR ME!!! I'm sorry I took so long to update,
hehe I kinda forgot this chapter existed, which is funny because I
absolutely love it!!! Elizabeth is back to her old self again!!!! At least
in my head she is. I'll let you decide anything else. So here you go! I'll
try to remember to post the next chapter soon!
*****
Elizabeth was back in the dream again. It was exactly the same as before; the large meadow, the wind was sweeping through the grass, the calm and peaceful feeling, they were all there. Again she felt the uneasy feeling in her stomach but she found that this time it was not so easy to ignore. She began to walk through the meadow as before, but paused as she reflected on what had happened last time. She knew the flower lay at the end, knew that she would become trapped once more, but the more she fought against the desire to go forward, the more it pushed her. The uneasy feeling was growing almost unbearable and eased only as she moved toward her target at the other end of the meadow, so she set out again. But this time the destination was slower in coming. Nausea in her stomach restricted her steps so that every few feet she had to stop and regain her composure. The march, which had taken mere minutes in her previous dream seemed to drag on forever, but still she followed the warm feeling to the other end of the meadow.
After what seemed like days she came to a stop in the same spot and the uneasy feeling remained hard and constant. She knew the source, the flower, and thought that maybe if she were able to destroy it here, now she could prevent it from taking her again. She kicked at it with her foot, digging at the ground until the small flower was up rooted and powerless. She smiled smugly to herself as she reached down to pick up the dead flower and proceed to crush it into tiny pieces. But just as she reached the flower the tentacles came again. Not from the flower, but from beneath it, behind it, around it, almost as though the flower were holding the evil force back. The tentacles wrapped around her once more and once again they began to squeeze the air and life out of her. She didn't bother struggling, just gave into the darkness, she couldn't deal with this force, not alone and this time there was no one to help her.
*****
Elizabeth woke with a bit of a start, she felt as though she'd slept for days, her mind was foggy and slow, and she jerked unpleasantly as she rolled off the small cot she seemed to have been sleeping on. The last thing she remembered, besides her disturbing dream, was running with Will somewhere, away from something. She looked around at the room she was in, stark cold, white and empty, except for the bed she had fallen off of, a dark window on one wall and a steel door right next to it. It looked as though the room hadn't been used often, the corners were brown from the collected dust and dirt. And a vent and what looked like a speaker were caked with rust and grime. It startled Elizabeth, as she looked down at herself, that she was much the same. She was wearing a loose hospital gown, thankfully not backless, and as she looked at her hands and felt her hair she realized she must be incredibly greasy and dirty. Suddenly her idea about being asleep for a few days didn't seem so far fetched.
Once she realized the condition she was in, her thoughts immediately began to turn to Will. Where was he? Where was she for that matter? They'd obviously been caught and now were being held in separate rooms most likely to be interrogated or tortured until they told the information the government wanted. Will, they were probably dissecting right about now! Elizabeth suddenly felt her nausea return, while she had been in dream world Will had been subject to the government that had created and believed themselves to own him. Elizabeth had little hope that he would still be alive, let alone unharmed. She sank down into the cot and began to sob, she had failed him, left Will to die, let whatever weapon or war tactic the United States government had created slip through her fingers and into their greedy grasp to be used in whatever perverse way they saw fit. She hated herself and all she could do was feel remorse and concern for Will.
And then a disgustingly pleased voice came on over the speaker and all of Elizabeth's concern for Will, was turned into utter and complete hatred for Bradford Shannigan.
"Afternoon Lizard, sleep well?" Bradford asked as a light was switched on and the window was lit to show Bradford and a security guard in an adjacent room staring smugly at her. Her rage consumed her and all she could manage to do was yell, scream and throw her pillow at the window.
"I guess not," Bradford remarked snidely to the guard next to him. The guard looked indifferently at him, he had no connection to this case, and he wanted none. Bradford looked back at Elizabeth with his pompous glare and found her slumped in a corner sobbing and muttering to herself in frustration.
"Low down, no good, cheat. Thinks he's a friend, lying callous jerk." Elizabeth was so outraged that she could think of nothing to say except to find synonyms for the most horrid words she'd ever heard. Her betrayal was utter and complete, she was humiliated, debased and left to rot in a dirty cell, and it was all Bradford's fault.
"Wouldn't you like to know why you're here?" he said smugly.
"Because you're a lying, dirty cheat who I trusted to be my friend," Elizabeth didn't give him the respect of lifting her head to him, if she had she would have noticed the momentary hurt in his eyes. It was only brief though, and soon he was back to his cold glare.
"Not quite Lizard-breath, lets try to dig a little deeper, now why do you think it is you're locked up in a government cell, while a Pirate is three floors down under strict confinement because he's already threatened to slit the throat of anyone who comes near him?" Bradford spat the word Pirate out like it was a bitter poison.
But Elizabeth was given hope by the statement, and finally raised her head to meet Bradford's steely gaze. She stood slowly and moved to the glass window, her hope rising that Will might still be alive. "Because they haven't dissected him like a lab rat yet?" Elizabeth's voice showed more vulnerability and hope than it was safe to. Bradford's look hardened.
"Well no, they haven't but that's not why... try to think about something besides your 'dashing' pirate, like why you're still alive." Elizabeth had wondered what had kept her alive... why, if the General was so willing to kill her before, she was allowed to live after capture. The greed of the General displayed and his ruthlessness, could only mean one thing, they wanted something from her and Will and were very anxious to get it. Maybe it had something to do with Will's behavior.
"You're wanting me to sedate Will so that you could do whatever experiments you want on him! Well I won't do it, I'd gladly die first rather than help you to hurt him." Elizabeth froze her glare and attempted to put the fear of life into Bradford, but as met with a frustrated glance.
"You have a one track mind, do you know that? Will we sedated easily enough, a dose of drugs and he was as docile as a kitten," then as a side note. "A little too docile in fact, he was borderline for a couple of days after someone slipped him the wrong medication... almost killed him, kinda like you," His smug smile told Elizabeth everything, Bradford had attempted to kill Will, but had failed.
"You jealous skink, how I ever thought a man like you could be an ally of mine is beyond my recognition." Elizabeth smashed her fist against the glass to emphasize her point.
"Now, now, let's not be hasty, who said that I had anything to do with it?" his smug smile told Elizabeth there was no need to confirm the accusation elsewhere.
Elizabeth was growing tired of the pointless banter, the more she saw of Bradford was the more she hated him. "Get on with whatever point you're trying to make so that I can refuse it and be done with you," she said coldly.
"You never were one to play games... with me." Bradford said with a tinge of jealousy in his voice. "So I guess I'll stop playing them with you. Where's the computer Lizzie, where'd you hide it. Tell us, and we might make this a little easier on you." Bradford said seriously.
So that's what this was about, the computer. Elizabeth had almost forgotten that she had left it with Hen, and now she was grateful that she did. They'd never find Hen if he didn't want them to, and the horrid technology that the United States government was planning to use for whatever diabolical purpose held their whim, would now be forever out of their reach. At least that was one good thing.
"I'm not a fan of the easy way Bradford, not in this case, and neither is Will. You'll have to kill us both before you'll get the location of the computer," Elizabeth looked smugly at Bradford, disguising her fear of whatever foul things he had in mind for her torture.
"You know I'm glad to hear you say that Lizzie, cause this is going to be fun," the sudden maliciousness in Bradford's eyes almost didn't seem real. Elizabeth had never known him to be savage and now that she saw him, she was terrified. His almost pasted glee was unnatural and unnerving. Elizabeth backed into the corner and waited for what came next.
"Guard, you may want to unplug the security cameras, I'd hate for any younger viewers to see this," The guard moved and did what he was told, moving to a control panel in the other room and turning a few switches.
"Excellent, now let me into Miss Cartwright's room please," Bradford's voice showed more excitement, than Elizabeth thought was healthy. "You know Elizabeth, at first I didn't want to tell the General about you and your Pirate," he said suddenly casual.
The Guard opened the door and stood beside it, Bradford move slowly into the room. "His name is Will and he's a blacksmith," Elizabeth said suddenly strong in her defense of Will.
"Whatever," Bradford said as he stopped in the doorway. "After your little escapade in the night club it was clear what I had to do," he reached into his overcoat and pulled out two things, a photo of her and Will in the night club on Tuesday and a pair of brass knuckles.
"Where'd you see this picture?" Elizabeth said as Bradford tossed it at her feet.
"All over the 11:00 news that night, seems you two are quite the cute couple," Bradford said with a sneer.
"So you didn't tell the General?" Elizabeth said confused.
"Oh, not at first, but after the broadcast I knew that telling the General EVERYTHING was the only way that I would be able to do this..." Bradford said as he slid on the knuckles.
"And what exactly are you going to do with those," Elizabeth swallowed hard.
"This," Bradford said as he brought his fist straight up into the guard's nose, sending him down to the floor like a rag doll.
Elizabeth was completely taken aback, "What the?" was all she could manage.
Bradford's look changed instantly, his malice and craze were replaced with his usual playful and somewhat worried look. His smile was genuine as he pulled the unconscious guard into Elizabeth's cell.
"Had you going there, didn't I?" Bradford said with a friendly smile. "You really thought I was going to beat the living daylights out of you! You should have seen your face it was priceless." He chuckled slightly.
Elizabeth however was not laughing, not in the slightest. "YOU BUTT MUNCH!!!!" she said as she proceeded to smack him upside the head. "I thought you we're going to KILL me!!" She moved from his head to his torso as she shoved him roughly toward the door, relieved that she wasn't about to be violated and beaten horribly by Bradford. And that her accusations of him had been false, proving that he was indeed her friend. And a friend she was grateful for, but that still didn't mean that she wasn't EXTREMLEY annoyed with him.
"Man I can't believe you put me through that! Are you insane!" Elizabeth shrieked as Bradford shut the door on the Guard, who was rapidly regaining consciousness. Elizabeth saw him get up and laughed at him through the glass. "Yeah YOU see how it feels to wake up and realize you're living in a fish tank."
"I'm insane! You're the one who paraded your beau through the most crowded nightclub in the city and expected nothing to happen!" They were back to friendly banter now, insulting and calling names at each other as Bradford pulled a set of clothes out of his jacket.
"What else can you fit in there?" Elizabeth said incredulously as he handed her the clothes she'd been wearing when she had been captured.
"Well the brochure says two double barreled shotguns, twenty-four hand grenades and enough ammo to hold up a Las Vegas casino, but I'm guessing that with my lithe figure I could do that plus half more," he said nonchalantly.
Elizabeth looked at him as though he was crazy, because she thought he was. Bradford picked up on it and looked at her just as bewildered as she had him.
"What? It's standard Government Issue, blame your taxes, not me." He waved at the furious guard who had just realized where he was and then turned the light to Elizabeth's room off and the window went black as a screen was placed over it. "Now you change so that we can go rescue you're worse half," he said as he turned his back and faced the corner.
Elizabeth began to redress herself and question Bradford in the process. "So you weren't trying to kill Will before?" she said as she pulled on her pants.
"No, when the General said they were going to start the study as soon as Will was in full health I knew that I had to delay somehow, so I gave him the same thing they used to keep you knocked out."
"Why did the government bother keeping me unconscious?" Elizabeth said as she slipped off the gown and donned her shirt and jacket.
"They didn't want you realizing that they were starting the operations and then try and barter your way to his freedom with the information you had, they figured if he was already dead you'd be more complacent."
"So where's Will? Elizabeth asked as she put on her socks and shoes and spotted the Guard's fallen gun on the floor.
"Three levels down in a secret room in Grippa's office, the guards have all gone home for the weekend so it's pretty deserted, we should be safe if we go soon, the only other person I've seen in the building in the past hour is Miss Mackin and she was busy in her office on some conference call."
Elizabeth paused as she formulated a plan in her mind but was taken aback as she heard the date. "The weekend?"
"Yes, you've been asleep for almost three days, and the last showing of Pirates is in an hour and a half, which is why I had to act now." Bradford was getting visibly impatient facing the wall. "Are you done yet?"
"One more question and I'll be decent," Elizabeth said as she picked up the fallen gun of the guard. "Who's in on this, the whole agency?"
"See that's the funny thing," Bradford said, still facing the wall. "I don't think so, I mean when I went to the General he made a big fuss about this being a secret, which confirmed my suspicion that what they're doing here wasn't right, and that I needed to bust you out as soon as it was safest to do so. I think that it was mainly him and his agents, I can't see many others being a part of it, but..." But Bradford's sentence was cut off as Elizabeth hit him over the back of his head with the gun. He crumpled to the floor much as the Guard had done.
Elizabeth bent over him with care. "I'm sorry Bradford, but I can't ruin your career as well as mine, I'll get this straightened out and everything will go back to normal, for you anyway." She stood and moved to go out the door, but paused as she saw the light glint off of something sticking out of Bradford's pocket.
She stooped down once more and picked up Bradford's many keys on a large ring. She noticed that one was different from the others, the key to his BMW Z4. She smiled and stuck the ring in her pocket, after all, one of the others might come in handy when releasing Will.
She then stood once more and moved to the door, taking one last look at Bradford and then charging out the door. "Hold on Will," she said in true cheesy heroine fashion, which oddly seemed appropriate. "I'm coming."
*****
Bradford opened his eyes about thirty seconds after she left, ending his charade of unconsciousness. What that girl was getting herself into he didn't know, but it was clear she didn't want him in the middle of it, so he would exercise his previous calling and stick to her shadow. What he couldn't believe was that she'd taken his keys. "That Pirate had a bad influence on her." He said as he stalked out the door.
*****
Elizabeth was back in the dream again. It was exactly the same as before; the large meadow, the wind was sweeping through the grass, the calm and peaceful feeling, they were all there. Again she felt the uneasy feeling in her stomach but she found that this time it was not so easy to ignore. She began to walk through the meadow as before, but paused as she reflected on what had happened last time. She knew the flower lay at the end, knew that she would become trapped once more, but the more she fought against the desire to go forward, the more it pushed her. The uneasy feeling was growing almost unbearable and eased only as she moved toward her target at the other end of the meadow, so she set out again. But this time the destination was slower in coming. Nausea in her stomach restricted her steps so that every few feet she had to stop and regain her composure. The march, which had taken mere minutes in her previous dream seemed to drag on forever, but still she followed the warm feeling to the other end of the meadow.
After what seemed like days she came to a stop in the same spot and the uneasy feeling remained hard and constant. She knew the source, the flower, and thought that maybe if she were able to destroy it here, now she could prevent it from taking her again. She kicked at it with her foot, digging at the ground until the small flower was up rooted and powerless. She smiled smugly to herself as she reached down to pick up the dead flower and proceed to crush it into tiny pieces. But just as she reached the flower the tentacles came again. Not from the flower, but from beneath it, behind it, around it, almost as though the flower were holding the evil force back. The tentacles wrapped around her once more and once again they began to squeeze the air and life out of her. She didn't bother struggling, just gave into the darkness, she couldn't deal with this force, not alone and this time there was no one to help her.
*****
Elizabeth woke with a bit of a start, she felt as though she'd slept for days, her mind was foggy and slow, and she jerked unpleasantly as she rolled off the small cot she seemed to have been sleeping on. The last thing she remembered, besides her disturbing dream, was running with Will somewhere, away from something. She looked around at the room she was in, stark cold, white and empty, except for the bed she had fallen off of, a dark window on one wall and a steel door right next to it. It looked as though the room hadn't been used often, the corners were brown from the collected dust and dirt. And a vent and what looked like a speaker were caked with rust and grime. It startled Elizabeth, as she looked down at herself, that she was much the same. She was wearing a loose hospital gown, thankfully not backless, and as she looked at her hands and felt her hair she realized she must be incredibly greasy and dirty. Suddenly her idea about being asleep for a few days didn't seem so far fetched.
Once she realized the condition she was in, her thoughts immediately began to turn to Will. Where was he? Where was she for that matter? They'd obviously been caught and now were being held in separate rooms most likely to be interrogated or tortured until they told the information the government wanted. Will, they were probably dissecting right about now! Elizabeth suddenly felt her nausea return, while she had been in dream world Will had been subject to the government that had created and believed themselves to own him. Elizabeth had little hope that he would still be alive, let alone unharmed. She sank down into the cot and began to sob, she had failed him, left Will to die, let whatever weapon or war tactic the United States government had created slip through her fingers and into their greedy grasp to be used in whatever perverse way they saw fit. She hated herself and all she could do was feel remorse and concern for Will.
And then a disgustingly pleased voice came on over the speaker and all of Elizabeth's concern for Will, was turned into utter and complete hatred for Bradford Shannigan.
"Afternoon Lizard, sleep well?" Bradford asked as a light was switched on and the window was lit to show Bradford and a security guard in an adjacent room staring smugly at her. Her rage consumed her and all she could manage to do was yell, scream and throw her pillow at the window.
"I guess not," Bradford remarked snidely to the guard next to him. The guard looked indifferently at him, he had no connection to this case, and he wanted none. Bradford looked back at Elizabeth with his pompous glare and found her slumped in a corner sobbing and muttering to herself in frustration.
"Low down, no good, cheat. Thinks he's a friend, lying callous jerk." Elizabeth was so outraged that she could think of nothing to say except to find synonyms for the most horrid words she'd ever heard. Her betrayal was utter and complete, she was humiliated, debased and left to rot in a dirty cell, and it was all Bradford's fault.
"Wouldn't you like to know why you're here?" he said smugly.
"Because you're a lying, dirty cheat who I trusted to be my friend," Elizabeth didn't give him the respect of lifting her head to him, if she had she would have noticed the momentary hurt in his eyes. It was only brief though, and soon he was back to his cold glare.
"Not quite Lizard-breath, lets try to dig a little deeper, now why do you think it is you're locked up in a government cell, while a Pirate is three floors down under strict confinement because he's already threatened to slit the throat of anyone who comes near him?" Bradford spat the word Pirate out like it was a bitter poison.
But Elizabeth was given hope by the statement, and finally raised her head to meet Bradford's steely gaze. She stood slowly and moved to the glass window, her hope rising that Will might still be alive. "Because they haven't dissected him like a lab rat yet?" Elizabeth's voice showed more vulnerability and hope than it was safe to. Bradford's look hardened.
"Well no, they haven't but that's not why... try to think about something besides your 'dashing' pirate, like why you're still alive." Elizabeth had wondered what had kept her alive... why, if the General was so willing to kill her before, she was allowed to live after capture. The greed of the General displayed and his ruthlessness, could only mean one thing, they wanted something from her and Will and were very anxious to get it. Maybe it had something to do with Will's behavior.
"You're wanting me to sedate Will so that you could do whatever experiments you want on him! Well I won't do it, I'd gladly die first rather than help you to hurt him." Elizabeth froze her glare and attempted to put the fear of life into Bradford, but as met with a frustrated glance.
"You have a one track mind, do you know that? Will we sedated easily enough, a dose of drugs and he was as docile as a kitten," then as a side note. "A little too docile in fact, he was borderline for a couple of days after someone slipped him the wrong medication... almost killed him, kinda like you," His smug smile told Elizabeth everything, Bradford had attempted to kill Will, but had failed.
"You jealous skink, how I ever thought a man like you could be an ally of mine is beyond my recognition." Elizabeth smashed her fist against the glass to emphasize her point.
"Now, now, let's not be hasty, who said that I had anything to do with it?" his smug smile told Elizabeth there was no need to confirm the accusation elsewhere.
Elizabeth was growing tired of the pointless banter, the more she saw of Bradford was the more she hated him. "Get on with whatever point you're trying to make so that I can refuse it and be done with you," she said coldly.
"You never were one to play games... with me." Bradford said with a tinge of jealousy in his voice. "So I guess I'll stop playing them with you. Where's the computer Lizzie, where'd you hide it. Tell us, and we might make this a little easier on you." Bradford said seriously.
So that's what this was about, the computer. Elizabeth had almost forgotten that she had left it with Hen, and now she was grateful that she did. They'd never find Hen if he didn't want them to, and the horrid technology that the United States government was planning to use for whatever diabolical purpose held their whim, would now be forever out of their reach. At least that was one good thing.
"I'm not a fan of the easy way Bradford, not in this case, and neither is Will. You'll have to kill us both before you'll get the location of the computer," Elizabeth looked smugly at Bradford, disguising her fear of whatever foul things he had in mind for her torture.
"You know I'm glad to hear you say that Lizzie, cause this is going to be fun," the sudden maliciousness in Bradford's eyes almost didn't seem real. Elizabeth had never known him to be savage and now that she saw him, she was terrified. His almost pasted glee was unnatural and unnerving. Elizabeth backed into the corner and waited for what came next.
"Guard, you may want to unplug the security cameras, I'd hate for any younger viewers to see this," The guard moved and did what he was told, moving to a control panel in the other room and turning a few switches.
"Excellent, now let me into Miss Cartwright's room please," Bradford's voice showed more excitement, than Elizabeth thought was healthy. "You know Elizabeth, at first I didn't want to tell the General about you and your Pirate," he said suddenly casual.
The Guard opened the door and stood beside it, Bradford move slowly into the room. "His name is Will and he's a blacksmith," Elizabeth said suddenly strong in her defense of Will.
"Whatever," Bradford said as he stopped in the doorway. "After your little escapade in the night club it was clear what I had to do," he reached into his overcoat and pulled out two things, a photo of her and Will in the night club on Tuesday and a pair of brass knuckles.
"Where'd you see this picture?" Elizabeth said as Bradford tossed it at her feet.
"All over the 11:00 news that night, seems you two are quite the cute couple," Bradford said with a sneer.
"So you didn't tell the General?" Elizabeth said confused.
"Oh, not at first, but after the broadcast I knew that telling the General EVERYTHING was the only way that I would be able to do this..." Bradford said as he slid on the knuckles.
"And what exactly are you going to do with those," Elizabeth swallowed hard.
"This," Bradford said as he brought his fist straight up into the guard's nose, sending him down to the floor like a rag doll.
Elizabeth was completely taken aback, "What the?" was all she could manage.
Bradford's look changed instantly, his malice and craze were replaced with his usual playful and somewhat worried look. His smile was genuine as he pulled the unconscious guard into Elizabeth's cell.
"Had you going there, didn't I?" Bradford said with a friendly smile. "You really thought I was going to beat the living daylights out of you! You should have seen your face it was priceless." He chuckled slightly.
Elizabeth however was not laughing, not in the slightest. "YOU BUTT MUNCH!!!!" she said as she proceeded to smack him upside the head. "I thought you we're going to KILL me!!" She moved from his head to his torso as she shoved him roughly toward the door, relieved that she wasn't about to be violated and beaten horribly by Bradford. And that her accusations of him had been false, proving that he was indeed her friend. And a friend she was grateful for, but that still didn't mean that she wasn't EXTREMLEY annoyed with him.
"Man I can't believe you put me through that! Are you insane!" Elizabeth shrieked as Bradford shut the door on the Guard, who was rapidly regaining consciousness. Elizabeth saw him get up and laughed at him through the glass. "Yeah YOU see how it feels to wake up and realize you're living in a fish tank."
"I'm insane! You're the one who paraded your beau through the most crowded nightclub in the city and expected nothing to happen!" They were back to friendly banter now, insulting and calling names at each other as Bradford pulled a set of clothes out of his jacket.
"What else can you fit in there?" Elizabeth said incredulously as he handed her the clothes she'd been wearing when she had been captured.
"Well the brochure says two double barreled shotguns, twenty-four hand grenades and enough ammo to hold up a Las Vegas casino, but I'm guessing that with my lithe figure I could do that plus half more," he said nonchalantly.
Elizabeth looked at him as though he was crazy, because she thought he was. Bradford picked up on it and looked at her just as bewildered as she had him.
"What? It's standard Government Issue, blame your taxes, not me." He waved at the furious guard who had just realized where he was and then turned the light to Elizabeth's room off and the window went black as a screen was placed over it. "Now you change so that we can go rescue you're worse half," he said as he turned his back and faced the corner.
Elizabeth began to redress herself and question Bradford in the process. "So you weren't trying to kill Will before?" she said as she pulled on her pants.
"No, when the General said they were going to start the study as soon as Will was in full health I knew that I had to delay somehow, so I gave him the same thing they used to keep you knocked out."
"Why did the government bother keeping me unconscious?" Elizabeth said as she slipped off the gown and donned her shirt and jacket.
"They didn't want you realizing that they were starting the operations and then try and barter your way to his freedom with the information you had, they figured if he was already dead you'd be more complacent."
"So where's Will? Elizabeth asked as she put on her socks and shoes and spotted the Guard's fallen gun on the floor.
"Three levels down in a secret room in Grippa's office, the guards have all gone home for the weekend so it's pretty deserted, we should be safe if we go soon, the only other person I've seen in the building in the past hour is Miss Mackin and she was busy in her office on some conference call."
Elizabeth paused as she formulated a plan in her mind but was taken aback as she heard the date. "The weekend?"
"Yes, you've been asleep for almost three days, and the last showing of Pirates is in an hour and a half, which is why I had to act now." Bradford was getting visibly impatient facing the wall. "Are you done yet?"
"One more question and I'll be decent," Elizabeth said as she picked up the fallen gun of the guard. "Who's in on this, the whole agency?"
"See that's the funny thing," Bradford said, still facing the wall. "I don't think so, I mean when I went to the General he made a big fuss about this being a secret, which confirmed my suspicion that what they're doing here wasn't right, and that I needed to bust you out as soon as it was safest to do so. I think that it was mainly him and his agents, I can't see many others being a part of it, but..." But Bradford's sentence was cut off as Elizabeth hit him over the back of his head with the gun. He crumpled to the floor much as the Guard had done.
Elizabeth bent over him with care. "I'm sorry Bradford, but I can't ruin your career as well as mine, I'll get this straightened out and everything will go back to normal, for you anyway." She stood and moved to go out the door, but paused as she saw the light glint off of something sticking out of Bradford's pocket.
She stooped down once more and picked up Bradford's many keys on a large ring. She noticed that one was different from the others, the key to his BMW Z4. She smiled and stuck the ring in her pocket, after all, one of the others might come in handy when releasing Will.
She then stood once more and moved to the door, taking one last look at Bradford and then charging out the door. "Hold on Will," she said in true cheesy heroine fashion, which oddly seemed appropriate. "I'm coming."
*****
Bradford opened his eyes about thirty seconds after she left, ending his charade of unconsciousness. What that girl was getting herself into he didn't know, but it was clear she didn't want him in the middle of it, so he would exercise his previous calling and stick to her shadow. What he couldn't believe was that she'd taken his keys. "That Pirate had a bad influence on her." He said as he stalked out the door.