A/N- This is the last chapter covering 'Return', we're on to Revenge next. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed!
PippinDuck- A lot of people seem to like that line! Thank you!
Korean Pearl- Yeah, I was surprised that she didn't pick up on the slips either, but that was the way it went in the episode and I'm trying to keep strictly to canon. And yes, that scene appeared in the original series… you can hear it online through the link I gave you in chapter nine. It's in the episode guide for 'Return', and is titled 'Audio from this episode.' But the line you referred to occurred in Alia's thoughts, and is therefore entirely my own. And let me just say that you will probably like this chapter, based on your past reviews- tell me what you think!
TesubCalle- :-) Well, if you've scene the episode you know what happened. If not, you should definitely watch it- you can see it on the sci-fi channel on November 17. Revenge is showing on November 20. And as to what happens after Revenge- that's going to be entirely my own creation. Thanks!
Disclaimer- All the dialogue, except for the bit between Sam and Alia at the beginning, belongs to Belisarius Productions and Don Belisario.
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Chapter 15- Escape
I tried to kill the pain,
But only brought more.
Am I too lost to be saved
Am I too lost?
-Tourniquet, by Evanescence
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After we left the library, Sam and I parted, in case Zoey showed up. But she didn't. I spent the afternoon in my dorm room, feeling sick with worry and anticipation.
Sam came to pick me up in 'his' Studebaker. I eyed it critically.
"It'll never work," I told him.
"Of course it will, it has to," He protested.
"Not the plan, the car!"
"What?"
I sighed. "If we're really going to go through with this, my car will work better. It's in better shape."
He began to protest, then stopped. "Okay, fine. Your car it is."
As I settled into the passenger seat, I looked toward him nervously. "Of course, the plan might not work either. And if it doesn't…" I trailed off, thinking about the horrors I would endure once more.
He put his arm around me again. "It'll work."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Liar."
He just grinned and put the car in gear. I smiled, to try and ease the tension, but the knot in my stomach couldn't have been sliced through with a sword.
When we pulled up to the quarry, the first thing Mike said to us was, "Where's your Studebaker?"
I glared at him, exasperated. What was wrong with my car? "This car's just fine."
"Tell them that you've ever been in a race, Arnold," Mike challenged.
"More then one," Sam answered.
Mike glanced around, then gestured to me. "And what about you, you're just here to make sure everything's fair?"
"In love and war, right?" I stared back into his eyes, daring him to ay anything more. He glared at me and walked away. I took the opportunity to try and talk Sam out of it. "Sam, this is insane," I pleaded. "You'll die, I'll Leap…"
"It'll work," he murmured.
"It'll never work!"
Suddenly I heard the sound of the Imaging Chamber Door open. I stiffened as I realized Zoey was coming. She'd see Sam, retrieve me, and I'd die.
Sam caught my reaction. "Zoey?" he mumbled.
I nodded, barely perceptible. Sam turned around and began to walk away, so that his back was to my hologram.
"I've been watching you all day," Zoey informed me.
I tried for a nonchalant voice. "You have?"
"Um-hum. You get a B+ for Mr. Fraternity over there."
I took a deep breath. "Only a B?"
"Well, now, let's see." She consulted her hand-link gleefully. "Snotty boy gets caught cheating on a final, he gets expelled from college, and even his own daddy won't employ him. Oh, isn't that special! Makes you wonder what really happened." She glanced hungrily at Sam. "But now for the real target. Dr. Beckett."
Sam closed the car door after checking the gears and turned to Mike. "Would it be possible for us to see the drop off where this takes place?"
"Why would you need to?" Mike looked at us suspiciously.
"Just curious."
Mike shrugged. "Okay, let's humor the dweeb."
He walked us over to the drop off. It was fenced off by danger signs. Down below I saw the lake, littered with beer cans and dead sticks which the frat boys must have thrown down there after initiations.
"Well, you've seen it. Let's get on with this thing," Mike said impatiently, turning to jog away. Sam hurried to catch up to him.
"I don't suppose there are any rules to this insane game?"
"You better open up those Dumbo Ears, Arnold, 'cause I'm only gonna explain this once. Stay with me, 'cause it's pretty complicated. First, we say go, then we drive as fast as we can up to this little white line, then the first person to hit the breaks loses. Now, was that clear enough for you or do you want me to break it down again?" His 'brothers' tittered.
"You've got about 30 yards between the line and the edge of the cliff," Sam observed.
"Yeah, give or take."
"Give or take what?"
"Twenty." This caused the frat boys to laugh even louder than before.
"You mind telling me how you plan to stop the car between this line and the edge of the cliff?"
"Well, duh! Never though about that one before. Anyone a physics major, here? Uh, let's see- speeding object, sixty foot drop, Newton's Law of gravity, I think you can figure it out from there. Any more questions?"
"Yeah, just one."
"What's that?"
"How did a jerk like you get to be president of anything?"
The crowd murmured again, surprised that anyone would dare take on Mike. Mike glowered at Sam. "Let's drag, geek!" The frat club cheered and hollered, dashing for their cars as Mike jumped into his.
Sam sighed and moved to get into our car. "Al, I need you now."
"Your beloved Admiral isn't here, Beckett," Zoey spat. "This time, you face your Maker alone."
"Get in the car, dirt-ball," one of the frat boys shoved at Sam.
"Oh, this is so beautiful!" Zoey exclaimed. "I'm going up for a better view." She popped out of my immediate area and reappeared on a mountaintop with a good view of the race. I eyed her up there nervously. She was farther away, so she couldn't hear me talk to Sam…had she planned it this way, to lure me into a false sense of security? I would never know.
"Forgot something," Sam announced.
"What's that?" spat Mike. "How to use the brake?"
"The stakes." Sam raised his voice so that everyone at the quarry could hear. "If I win, the Chi Kappa's have to promise to stop these stupid races as a part of their initiations." He stared levelly at Mike. "Do we have a deal?"
Mike grinned and folded his arms behind his head. "I'll have to ask my brothers."
"I guess I misunderstood, I thought you could make that kind of decision yourself, but I guess I was wrong." Sam turned to leave.
"Wait, wait a minute!" called Mike. He wouldn't pass up a chance to prove his power. "Alright, you got a deal." He reached down to start his car, grinning snidely. "One I'll never have to keep."
As Mike pulled away towards the starting line, Sam and I entered the car. My hands fluttered nervously, I couldn't seem to keep them under control. Sam got into his seat, then stiffened, and turned around to face empty air.
"Say hello to Al," he said finally.
My heart jumped. Whoever this 'Al' was, he had seen me try to kill his friend- twice. And he might not be as forgiving as Sam was. But I was more concerned with whether Sam would be Leaping or not. I jerked towards Sam. "He's here? Did he do it?"
"I'm taking Alia with me, Al," he said steadily, looking as if he were trying very hard to ignore something. Resolutely, he pulled ahead, so that he was in line with Mike, and we were once more assaulted with the cheers and jeers of the fraternity. I glanced nervously at Mike, and wondered if this would be the last ride of my life.
A cheerleader swung a bandanna around her head, once, twice, three times, then let it drop. Mike accelerated and the race was on.
At first the cars seemed a pretty even match, although ours was a bit behind Mike's. He swerved, trying to drive us off the road, but Sam stabilized the car. "Did you convince Arnold to stop risking his life?" He demanded.
I looked out at the countryside that was flashing by, and felt a little queasy. I turned fearfully back to the inside of the car and asked, "What's going on? What's Al saying?"
"He 's saying, uh, that everything's going to work out just fine."
"You're lying," I said flatly. As a practiced liar, I knew how to recognize a bad lie when I heard it.
"I can't, Al," Sam stated. "If I do that, Zoey will tell Lothos and they'll Leap her out of here, and I'll lose her forever!"
I wondered fleetingly why Sam was so concerned about me. If he lost me forever, it would be good for him, right? He would never have to fight me anymore; his job would be easier. Yet I knew I couldn't let him lose me. I knew now that if I did, I'd spend the rest of my life regretting it.
"She did, and that's the whole point! I'm taking her with me."
The cars swerved down the road, with the frat people roaring from behind us.
"What are the odds of Arnold's survival, Al?" Sam demanded of his hologram. "Just tell me!" He shouted, when it appeared Al hadn't answered.
"Now what's he saying?" I asked, frightened.
"Five more percent and we're out of here." His concentration tightened on the road, he was afraid to look away.
I felt my stomach contract, and I realized if this failed, he would die too. I cried out desperately, "Sam, you owe me nothing!" Even if he wanted to, though, he couldn't have stopped our course now.
"What are we at now, Al?" And then, "I need a hundred percent!"
"Sam, the line!" I shouted, as we neared the white line that marked our doom.
"Alia, the brakes are gone. We have to bail. Ready? Now!"
In that split second, I knew I trusted him. We flung open our doors and fell out of the car. I hit my head on the pavement when I came down. Fuzzily I heard Mike's car brake, and our car plunge over the cliff, splashing faintly in the distance. I smiled dizzily. We had won, hadn't we? Mike had been the first person to slam on the brakes; we had never touched them. And we had survived.
I heard Sam's voice in the distance. "Alia!" I felt him as he turned me over, checking me for harm, but it was too late. Zoey was here.
"Beckett, no!" I heard Zoey cry. "No! Lothos! Pull Alia out, now!"
I felt the tinge of red sweep over me, but there was nothing I could do about that now. Faintly I hoped Sam was smart enough to stay away from me.
"Al?"
Then, very faintly, crackling, I heard a voice I didn't recognize. "99.4 Sam, .5, .6, fight back Sam!"
The burning red flames began to meld with a cooling, blue energy, one I had never felt before.
I felt the red begin to melt away, as the blue drenched it, overwhelmed it. Vaguely I heard Zoey's voice, snarling, "I will kill you myself, Alia!" Kill me? I wondered. Zoey, you killed me already. I began dying as soon as I met you. My death came when I stepped into the Accelerator. There is nothing worse you can do to me now.
".7!" Cried the unknown voice.
"Hang on!" cried Sam, clutching me tightly.
".9…Bingo! 100 percent."
The red fire I had always known was washed away in the blueness.
I felt…not pain, not fear, but joy! Happiness, comfort, things I couldn't ever remember feeling. Things I never thought I could feel.
The blue light overwhelmed me then, and I truly Leaped.