Chapter Twelve
A/N: I am sooo sorry that this is sooo late… but I was moving… between countries… and getting all the paper work to my college… believe me I would have done this sooner if I could. Thank you for the reviews! I just hope you guys haven't given up! Alright here we go… ok… things are happening again! And there is a little bit of fluff their at the end… but not too much. This chapter is the first of the last three or four… I decided that there is more to this thank I initially thought… so please be patient! Enjoy and tell me what you think!
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Marshall's eye lids were heavy, and it felt like his arms would fall off from exhaustion. He gulped a mouthful of black cold coffee. He had barely slept for 3 hours in the last 5 days, and it was beginning to take its toll on him,
But he couldn't stop working now, he had something to work with, to find Tracy, to bring her home. It was unbelievable how much he had missed her. After all those years he worked alone, he had her to keep him company, and she had become a close friend.
The phone call had narrowed down his search to an area that he could find the most probable location in using some satellite surveillance.
Of course the caller wasn't sloppy, not at all. This was the hardest thing to track, it was rerouted so many time it would make someone else's head spin. But not Marshall, it took him a while, put he had found what he was looking for.
The satellite was coming into position in 10 minutes, and Marshall worked with lighting speed to get everything ready to go. When the satellite came into position, Marshall quickly found 3 potentials.
He switched the view into infrared to pick up on anybody heat, and he couldn't believe his luck. Out of the three potential targets, only one had people in it. A lot of people, enough for people for a headquarters.
Marshall's eyes were wide with excitement, he actually got up from his chair and started jumping, he found Tracy. He finally found her. He ran out of his office towards Dixon's.
"Dixon… Dixon" he was out of breath from the running. "I found… found… it.. Tracy… I found the.. the HQ!"
Dixon got up from his seat quickly and walked towards Sloan's office, followed by Marshall.
"Marshall found Turner Maxwell's HQ." Dixon said as he burst into Sloan's office.
"Where?" Sloan asked.
"About 30 miles northwest of Rome, sir.. there are a lot of country homes there sir.. one of them.. is the HQ." Marshall answered.
"Get me the exact coordinates" Sloan ordered Marshall then turned to Dixon. "Get Jack on a secure line. They'll go in ASAP."
Marshall's stomach knotted. He was nervous again as he ran back to his office, he was getting jumpy again. He silently hoped that nothing would happen this time that happened last time he got this nervous.
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Tracy could say, that this is about the longest she has stayed conscious in this place. She was straining to hear voices, trying to see something through the high barred window, but there was nothing. It was extremely quiet, and the window was too high since she had nothing that was above floor level in her cell.
Her ribs were feeling a lot better, and now that her head had cleared she felt much better. Her legs were still a little shaky, but after some stretching and running along the cell walls, she had complete confidence in them.
The cell wasn't as small as Tracy thought it to be, but since it was almost always dark, even in day time, It felt like an over sized grave. She hadn't seen her father, or his angry guards in a while and she was wondering if he decided that she is useless to him, and just let her waste gradually in this hell hole.
She wondered what Nick thought of her now that he knew who she was, did he hate her? G-d knows she hates herself. He said something about her being out of reach, permanently damaged. What did that mean?
Her trail of thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone coming down the hall, and the jingling of keys. Tracy stood still in the center of the room, preparing for the worst, she took a fighting stance. The door opened slowly and Lou stood there, with his cocky grin. He moved away from the door, and Turner walked in.
"I thought you left me to rot here!" Tracy said mockingly and let her fests down.
"I wouldn't do that to my daughter." Turner answered calmly.
"But you'd still put her in this hell hole!" Tracy shot back.
"One's children need some degree of discipline… think of it as me grounding you." He continued in his calm tone, but now he let a small smile come to his face.
"I'm not a child… and I never needed you to ground me or anything else!" Tracy shouted angrily.
"No but you needed Jack didn't you?" Turner said bitterly.
"Jack cared for what happened to me! Which is more than I can say about you!" Tracy gave her father a cold glance.
For a second Turner seemed hurt by what Tracy had told him, but he wouldn't let it show.
"You don't know what kind of plans had for you!"
"You wanted me to become a monster! A killer!" Tracy accused him.
"If that's what it takes to keep you alive I would have done anything" Turner sounded as if he wanted his daughter to understand, but Tracy wasn't buying it.
"I would rather die than become what you want me to be!" Tracy spat.
"Very well Tracy. I came here in the hope that you would understand what I wanted for you… but now I am certain that you need more effective methods of persuasion." He knocked on the door and George and Lou appeared.
"Do as I told you." Turner pointed at Tracy.
George and Lou headed for Tracy and they were soon in a full blown fight. Tracy managed to avoid injury this time, except for her nose, that she was now certain is broken. Suddenly more guards appeared and she was out numbered, soon they had her restrained, although still struggling.
Her father appeared with a syringe, and Tracy started to kick and struggle harder, but the guards held her down firmly.
"Don't worry, its just a little sedative… to keep you out of trouble until we get things ready." He said tapping the syringe and inserted it into Tracy's flesh.
"Get what ready!" she demanded as her strength began to fade because of the sedative.
"A final test." Were the last words she heard as the, now familiar, darkness swallowed her.
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"We found them?" Weiss asked, just to make sure.
"Yes," Jack assured. "Marshall traced that last call Turner made to my cell phone. He found a target 30 miles away from here."
"We have to get going." Sydney said as she gathered some of things they had ready for this type of mission.
"I'll drive." Vaughn volunteered. Jack threw him the keys to the van.
While in the car the team discussed their approach. They would spilt in 3 groups of two. Jack and Edward would look through the basement. Weiss and Vaughn will cover the ground floor, and the outer surroundings. Nadia and Sydney would take the upper levels.
Marshall had sent them pictures of the HQ. it looked liked a normal country mansion, and there is no way to tell where the prisoners would be kept. So the teams will have to do their own sweeps, and will be monitored by Marshall and Dixon at the base.
The only sure thing was that the place was swarming with guards. Mostly concentrated on the upper levels and the mansion's outer grounds.
"I'm sorry… I wanted to have more information for you guys… but we're under a dead line.. this is the best I can do." Marshall sounded regretful on the speaker phone.
"It's fine, we can work with this." Jack said coolly. Little details didn't matter right now, all he wanted was to take Tracy home.
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This time Tracy didn't feel as groggy when she woke up, and she was sure that she wasn't out for a long time.
She soon noticed that she had been moved, into a bigger room with bright white walls, matching floor, and what appeared to be a mirror window like those in integration rooms.
Tracy didn't waste time getting up now, she was soon on her feet. She surveyed the room more accurately this time, and noticed that the walls were sound proof, and that there was a door next to the window, but it hadn't been obvious since it was painted the same bright white as the walls.
She approached he window, sure that her father was watching her through it. She only saw her reflection, he eyes were wide, and he nose was swollen and bruised. There were deep circles below her eyes, and he faced seemed hollowed up. She had obviously lost the weight she never needed to get rid of.
"C'mon Turner!" She howled at the window. "Where this damn test!"
There was no reply so Tracy slammed her fists against the window and walked back to the corner. She noticed a couple of video camera, and one of them seemed to move and follow her around. She looked at the camera angrily and gave it a finger.
She was getting frustrated as time went by, and she paced the abnormally bright room. The change from her dark, pitch black room, seemed to trouble her, the extremes of the two rooms were far too vast. She headed back to the window, and started shouting at it. Still nothing changed.
Tracy realized that she was getting angrier and angrier by the second, so she sat down and took deep cleansing breaths. This is exactly what her father wants, she realized. He wanted her to get angry, because that's when she looses her control.
It seemed that all Tracy had to do was calm herself down. Cause that's when Lou came in.
"Hey Lou! Hasn't been long has it!" she looked at him mockingly, but didn't move, a smile on her face.
"Boss thought he should get you psychologically ready for the test." He matched her mocking tone.
Other guards came in from behind him. They approached Tracy and lifted her to her feet and restrained her, so she couldn't even move her fingers. Tracy didn't try to struggle, she didn't want to give them what they wanted. Lou approached Tracy and touched her face gently and then punched her in the face.
"Is this what it's about, Lou?" Tracy said, her voice unshaken. "You wanna hit me? Tell me… do you get off on hitting woman? Is that what makes your little officer stand at attention?"
"Baby, as much as I like beating the crap outta you," he said cupping her face with his hand. "this isn't about hurting you… it's about hurting him."
He looked towards the door, and two other guards came in holding a hand cuffed, blindfolded man.
"Nick" Tracy whispered.
"Yup! That's good ol' Doc Nick!" Lou said loudly. "He's here because the Boss thinks that he can help you deal with your issues."
Lou walked towards Nick and lifted his blindfold. Nick seemed drugged but no completely unconscious, like a heavily intoxicated man.
"Look Nick! It's your little friend!" Lou said cruelly as Nick struggled to stay straight.
"What do you want with him!" Tracy asked forcefully. "Leave him alone!"
"I cant do that!" Lou moved his finger. "He's here because the boss gave me clear and direct orders!"
Lou reached to his belt and took a knife out a leather pocket. At the sight of it's glimmer Tracy began to struggle to get loose. Kicking and lifting herself, but the guards that were holding her were too strong.
"Nick I need you to look at me" Lou lifted Nick head with his hand. "The boss says hi." And he plunged the knife into Nicks chest. Nick let out a whimper of pain, and the guards holding him up let him fall to the ground. His blood pooled underneath him, it screamed against the bright white floor.
Tracy's eyes were wide as she watched the life seep out of her friend, her heart racing. She let out an inhuman cry and somehow got herself out of the grip of the men holding here. The world seemed to go blurry, yet come into focus all together. Her senses heightened and she felt her muscles flex in a way she never felt them before.
She went for the men holding her first. She found herself aiming for the chest and the head. Places she knew would be the most damaging. She felt ribs crack under her kicks, and cheek bones crumple under her fists. She broke their necks and let them fall to the ground, lifeless.
It all happened so fast all Lou could do was watch wide eyed. The guards the were holding Nick, dashed for the door, and before Lou could follow suit Tracy kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into a wall. He dropped the knife and slumped down to the ground. Tracy grabbed the knife with one hand, and lifted Lou to his feet with the other. She swiftly got a grab of his neck and sliced the knife over it.
Blood came rushing through the long cut and Lou let out a sickening gurgle as he faded away. Tracy held him tightly not allowing him to fall the ground. Blood covered her hands, and stained her clothes. She wasn't really there, she felt like she was watching herself doing this. Suddenly she came to her senses and let him go. She looked at the carnage in front of her, horrified.
"That's my girl!" she heard he father's voice coming from the door.
Tracy turned to find him, only to feel a burn in chest as her feet collapsed from underneath her. She lost all control of her self, and was on the ground twitching. She felt another burn and her body jolted with incredible pain, and merciful darkness followed.
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Edward just sat in the van quietly, thinking of Tracy. He felt physically pained that she might be somewhere being tortured or killed slowly. He liked it better when he thought she was at peace, in a better place. Now nothing made sense.
"They say that you can know a person from their eyes." Edward brushed a hair away from Tracy's face. She came closer and snuggled closer to him. Both of them laid in bed.
"Is that so?" Tracy asked mischievously, and locked her eyes with his.
He felt his breath get knocked out of his lunges as he gazed into her eyes. There was something so eerie about them, their pale blue color was so cool and warm at the same time… he never understood them. He felt his chest fill with such indescribable love, nonetheless.
"I love you, you know that don't you?" Edward said not breaking eye contact.
He was so mesmerized with her eyes, that he barely noticed that she was kissing him, until she starting giggling, her lips still soft and warm on his.
"You're like a love stricken teenager." She said against his face. Her breath touched his face gently.
She laid back on the bed and she let him pull her against his chest. Her eyes already closed, half asleep.
"I never loved anyone before I met you." She whispered and fell into a light sleep.
Edward leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips, and fell asleep like that. He never felt happier in his life.
Two months later he got the call. Tracy was dead. Sergey's head quarters were found filled with dead bodies. A work of another shady organization, they told him. Tracy was among the dead, but it was too risky to bring her body in. They told him she was berried on site.
He never questioned her death, why would the CIA lie to him. When he heard that Sergey's brother was looking for his niece, he went looking for revenge. Now more than ever, nothing made sense to him.
The rain hadn't stopped for three days, it seemed to have started that day they told him that Tracy was gone.
The graveyard was darker than it was the day he buried his brother. The air smelled of soil. And all that Edward could do was watch as an ivory coffin was slowly lowered into the ground. On top of it dozens of red roses, that screamed against it .
His rose was still in his hand.
He asked for one with the thorns still on, and as he held it tighter and tighter, the thorns drew more and more blood. When the coffin finally reached the bottom of the cold narrow grave, Edward approached it.
As he looked down at it, he was thankful that Tracy wasn't really inside that coffin. But grimaced at the thought of what her real grave would be like. He let the red rose go, its green stem stained with his blood.
He stood there until the priest put his hand on his shoulder.
"Let her go son, she's in a better place now." Edward nodded and the priest walked away.
Edward's eyes followed the priest as he walked towards Gloria, Tracy's aunt. The old woman was sitting in a wheel chair looking blankly at Tracy's grave. Edward saw the gleaming reflection of Tracy's marble head stone in her glassy eyes.
It was a sobering thought, that he wasn't the only one that was grieving for Tracy. That's when he looked around for the first time. Tracy's friends from work, had a look of utter disbelief on their faces. Some were crying, one or two tears on their faces, but others were just in denial.
Edward felt hot tears against his face for the first time since that day. They mixed with the rain, and fell to the ground, and quenched the thirst of dead graves.
He never should have believed that she was dead, he should have looked for her, taken her away form this life before it sucked them in more and more. But now it was too late. He knew that. All he wanted was to see Tracy one more time, to feel her lips against his.
"We're here." Vaughn said from the front of the van.
As Edward stepped out of the van he looked at the sky, beautiful and blue and let a prayer escape.
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A/N: alright! Chapter twelve! What do you think?… there's only one way to know… leave me a review on your way out.