A/N- This chapter came out real quick~ Thanks for the replies guys, keep
them coming, the more replies the quicker the chapters come and that is the
sad and honest truth. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, it didn't
turn out the way I wanted, I think the dialogue totally took it over but
whatev- Chapter 8 will be much better and will reveal some unanswered
questions about Kathryn!
Redemption
Chapter 7
"Kathryn who are you working for?" Jacks voice was calm and controlled but his eyes scared her. They were cold and distant. He was dead serious. Instinctively she locked her ankles around the chair legs and gripped the armrests, her entire body tensed.
"Dad, what are you doing!"
"Stay out of this Sydney." He locked his hands around Kathryn's wrists holding her to the chair. "Tell me Kathryn, who are you working for?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The coolness in her voice made Sydney nervous as she glanced back between her father and Kathryn.
"Stop lying and tell the truth."
Kathryn didn't know what else to do; she got leverage and spat in his face.
Jack never lost his cool. He released her hands and walked around the side of his desk. He grabbed a tissue and wiped his face.
"Dad, leave her alone," Sydney stood behind Kathryn her hands resting lightly on her shoulders.
Jack ignored his daughter. "Talk!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kathryn pleaded. "I've told you everything I know."
"Why didn't you tell me about the languages and codes?"
Kathryn was silent for a moment. Her breathing was ragged, her eyes like ice; she knew exactly what he was talking about. "You never asked."
"I'm asking now." Jack folded his hands in front of him, "how many languages do you speak?"
"A few."
"How many?"
"Several."
"Name them!"
Sydney crouched down turning Kathryn's chair slightly to face her. "Whatever it is, just tell the truth. Everything will be fine."
There was a long silence before Kathryn finally spoke. She named all the languages she could speak in a long slew. "I wasn't trying to hide anything," she said honestly. "When people ever find out that I can speak that many languages they treat me differently, like some kind of freak."
Jack made a quick tally, "29" it was almost as many as he or Sydney could speak. "Where did you learn them all?"
"Books, tapes, movies," she shrugged. "My best is Russian, my mom taught me before she died-before she left. I was in a Spanish foster home for a while and then I learned Latin, French, and German in school. It just came so easy so I started learning others, I thought it would be hard but it wasn't. "Czech is my worst though, I can't ever get the accent right."
"How old were you when you started?" Sydney asked curiously. She hadn't even learned the more difficult ones like Czech and Ukrainian until she had been recruited by SD-6.
"12 or 13, it's just not something that I like talking about. It was a hobby and I don't like being looked at as a freak. When I was in High School, some kids found out about it, they used to say things."
"What about the codes?" Jack asked. "You decoded a message in less than a minute that Marshall had been working on for hours."
"My mother taught me."
"But you were so young when she died," Sydney said softly.
"I learned how to read when I was two," Kathryn explained. "My mom showed me and we used to do them together before she died. I just recognized the series, I'd seen that type of code before."
"What about the tests?" Jack continued. "The memory tests, you got those answers wrong on purpose."
"When you always get the questions right, people start to think that you cheat," she said solemnly. "After a while, you just get the answers wrong on purpose, and every once in a while, you bomb a test, just so they don't suspect, even though you never did anything wrong in the first place."
"You have a photographic memory," Sydney leaned forwards astounded. It was all beginning to fall in to place. Her sister was a genius.
"Yes."
Jack leaned back in his seat, still not sure. "They why didn't you just tell the truth if you had nothing to hide?"
"Like I said, I don't like to be treated like freak." Kathryn drew imaginary circles on the armrest with her index finger. "When I was fifteen, the school wanted to test me, I faked a diabetic seizure to get out of it."
Jack hid a smile, the girl was quick. He handed her a piece of paper and a pen, "do you remember the code?"
Kathryn didn't answer she just took the pen and paper and began re-creating the code she'd instructed Marshall to decipher from memory. Sydney and Jack didn't say a word they just watched as Kathryn furiously penned the code and then deciphered it herself. She handed the code and translation back to Jack when she was done.
"Good work," Jack made several notations on the paper and then slipped it into the file.
The room was deafened in silence; a knock on the office door startled them all. "Agent Bristow, " Weiss opened the door. "They're ready for her now."
"Ready for what?" Sydney asked concerned.
"I'm placing Kathryn in protective custody," Jack stood up and took her arm forcing her to stand up.
"What! No, Dad, that's completely unnecessary," Sydney protested.
"It's for her own safety."
Weiss placed his hands on Kathryn's shoulders. She began to struggle and he held her firmly at arms lengths. "Come on 'Shiner, don't hit me again, one embarrassment for the day is enough for me." He pushed her out of the office where two security guards would take them to the Centers Protective Custody Department.
"If I'd wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already," she said through gritted teeth as they walked quickly through the corridors. She glared at Jack with such disdain.
"Why not a safehouse?" Sydney continued in her crusade to have Kathryn placed elsewhere. Protective custody was too much of a prison.
"Sydney, this is not up for discussion." Jack signed them in at security and inquired as to the status of their only other tenant, Arvin Sloan. He'd arranged to visit Sloan after concluding business with Kathryn. Guiding Kathryn down the hallway they passed Sloan who was being transferred to the visitation room. Kathryn stopped so suddenly he nearly ran into her.
"Arvin!" Kathryn was gone before any of them could react.
Jack walked over to her. Sloan was in the process of being transferred to the visitors room and was flanked by several guards who stood back confused.
"I never got to thank you for the flowers! Thank You, they were beautiful. I tried to call but, your phone was disconnected and you never answered my e-mail. I was worried about you." She tried to hug him, but he was shackled.
"Your welcome Kathryn," Sloan smiled at her.
"What's going on? Arvin, why are you here?" She asked pulling back confused. "Why did you disappear?"
Sloan looked up at Jack a slow grin spreading across his face.
Redemption
Chapter 7
"Kathryn who are you working for?" Jacks voice was calm and controlled but his eyes scared her. They were cold and distant. He was dead serious. Instinctively she locked her ankles around the chair legs and gripped the armrests, her entire body tensed.
"Dad, what are you doing!"
"Stay out of this Sydney." He locked his hands around Kathryn's wrists holding her to the chair. "Tell me Kathryn, who are you working for?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The coolness in her voice made Sydney nervous as she glanced back between her father and Kathryn.
"Stop lying and tell the truth."
Kathryn didn't know what else to do; she got leverage and spat in his face.
Jack never lost his cool. He released her hands and walked around the side of his desk. He grabbed a tissue and wiped his face.
"Dad, leave her alone," Sydney stood behind Kathryn her hands resting lightly on her shoulders.
Jack ignored his daughter. "Talk!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kathryn pleaded. "I've told you everything I know."
"Why didn't you tell me about the languages and codes?"
Kathryn was silent for a moment. Her breathing was ragged, her eyes like ice; she knew exactly what he was talking about. "You never asked."
"I'm asking now." Jack folded his hands in front of him, "how many languages do you speak?"
"A few."
"How many?"
"Several."
"Name them!"
Sydney crouched down turning Kathryn's chair slightly to face her. "Whatever it is, just tell the truth. Everything will be fine."
There was a long silence before Kathryn finally spoke. She named all the languages she could speak in a long slew. "I wasn't trying to hide anything," she said honestly. "When people ever find out that I can speak that many languages they treat me differently, like some kind of freak."
Jack made a quick tally, "29" it was almost as many as he or Sydney could speak. "Where did you learn them all?"
"Books, tapes, movies," she shrugged. "My best is Russian, my mom taught me before she died-before she left. I was in a Spanish foster home for a while and then I learned Latin, French, and German in school. It just came so easy so I started learning others, I thought it would be hard but it wasn't. "Czech is my worst though, I can't ever get the accent right."
"How old were you when you started?" Sydney asked curiously. She hadn't even learned the more difficult ones like Czech and Ukrainian until she had been recruited by SD-6.
"12 or 13, it's just not something that I like talking about. It was a hobby and I don't like being looked at as a freak. When I was in High School, some kids found out about it, they used to say things."
"What about the codes?" Jack asked. "You decoded a message in less than a minute that Marshall had been working on for hours."
"My mother taught me."
"But you were so young when she died," Sydney said softly.
"I learned how to read when I was two," Kathryn explained. "My mom showed me and we used to do them together before she died. I just recognized the series, I'd seen that type of code before."
"What about the tests?" Jack continued. "The memory tests, you got those answers wrong on purpose."
"When you always get the questions right, people start to think that you cheat," she said solemnly. "After a while, you just get the answers wrong on purpose, and every once in a while, you bomb a test, just so they don't suspect, even though you never did anything wrong in the first place."
"You have a photographic memory," Sydney leaned forwards astounded. It was all beginning to fall in to place. Her sister was a genius.
"Yes."
Jack leaned back in his seat, still not sure. "They why didn't you just tell the truth if you had nothing to hide?"
"Like I said, I don't like to be treated like freak." Kathryn drew imaginary circles on the armrest with her index finger. "When I was fifteen, the school wanted to test me, I faked a diabetic seizure to get out of it."
Jack hid a smile, the girl was quick. He handed her a piece of paper and a pen, "do you remember the code?"
Kathryn didn't answer she just took the pen and paper and began re-creating the code she'd instructed Marshall to decipher from memory. Sydney and Jack didn't say a word they just watched as Kathryn furiously penned the code and then deciphered it herself. She handed the code and translation back to Jack when she was done.
"Good work," Jack made several notations on the paper and then slipped it into the file.
The room was deafened in silence; a knock on the office door startled them all. "Agent Bristow, " Weiss opened the door. "They're ready for her now."
"Ready for what?" Sydney asked concerned.
"I'm placing Kathryn in protective custody," Jack stood up and took her arm forcing her to stand up.
"What! No, Dad, that's completely unnecessary," Sydney protested.
"It's for her own safety."
Weiss placed his hands on Kathryn's shoulders. She began to struggle and he held her firmly at arms lengths. "Come on 'Shiner, don't hit me again, one embarrassment for the day is enough for me." He pushed her out of the office where two security guards would take them to the Centers Protective Custody Department.
"If I'd wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already," she said through gritted teeth as they walked quickly through the corridors. She glared at Jack with such disdain.
"Why not a safehouse?" Sydney continued in her crusade to have Kathryn placed elsewhere. Protective custody was too much of a prison.
"Sydney, this is not up for discussion." Jack signed them in at security and inquired as to the status of their only other tenant, Arvin Sloan. He'd arranged to visit Sloan after concluding business with Kathryn. Guiding Kathryn down the hallway they passed Sloan who was being transferred to the visitation room. Kathryn stopped so suddenly he nearly ran into her.
"Arvin!" Kathryn was gone before any of them could react.
Jack walked over to her. Sloan was in the process of being transferred to the visitors room and was flanked by several guards who stood back confused.
"I never got to thank you for the flowers! Thank You, they were beautiful. I tried to call but, your phone was disconnected and you never answered my e-mail. I was worried about you." She tried to hug him, but he was shackled.
"Your welcome Kathryn," Sloan smiled at her.
"What's going on? Arvin, why are you here?" She asked pulling back confused. "Why did you disappear?"
Sloan looked up at Jack a slow grin spreading across his face.