Alias Mars

By Michael Weyer

Part 2: Tie me up, dress me down.

The world slowly came back into focus in Veronica's head. A rush of sound filled her ears as if she was exiting from a tunnel. Her eyes slowly blinked open, adjusting to the burst of light, then the blurriness in her vision. She became aware of the pounding in her head as she slowly rose it up and tried to shake the fatigue out of her mind.

She tried to reach to rub her head but her arm didn't seem to want to move. Frowning, Veronica looked down and realized she was sitting on a chair. She shuffled in it, her hands behind her and she realized she was handcuffed to it. O…kay. Here's hoping this is just a kidnapping and I haven't been recruited into some bondage club. She turned her head to the side and saw Mac slumped in a chair next to her, still asleep.

"Oh, damn. Mac? Mac! Mac, wake up!" She managed to kick Mac's chair, shaking her. The young computer geek's eyes slowly opened and tried to focus. "Whoa," she murmured. "Who slipped the roofie?"

"Well, either some natives of the Amazon tribes have come up to the States and are bringing back the ancient art of blow darts," Veronica began. "Or someone hit us with a tranq gun."

"Who?"

"Not sure yet," Veronica said as she tested the cuffs on her wrists. "Damn, I knew I should have gone for that lesson in Houdini escapes when Dad offered."

The room was suddenly bathed in light as a door opened and a pair of men entered. One was muscular and tough-looking with a short crewcut and dressed in black slacks and shirt with jacket. The other was shorter, more average looking with a similar short cut and in a professional jacket and pants. He was holding a briefcase that he opened and set on a small stand nearby. Veronica and Mac exchanged nervous glances as the man seemed to rummage in the case before speaking.

"We already know your names from your ID we found on you." His voice was strong with the slight trace of an accent Veronica couldn't place. "We simply wish to know why you are here and who sent you."

"Don't suppose you'll buy I work for Amway, huh?" Veronica asked, her natural sarcasm coming to the fore. She'd used it plenty of times against suspects in the past. However, never had one suspect replied off the bat by smacking her hard across the face.

Veronica gasped in pain and surprise, rocking back in her chair. "Hey!" Mac yelled only to smacked herself. The man's face was cold as he glared at the two girls. "I am not in a mood for any childish games," he snapped. "I want to know exactly what you two are up to and who else knows you are here."

Veronica ran her tongue in her mouth, tasting her own blood. She tried to keep herself steady despite the foreboding filling her up. "You wanna know who knows we're here? My dad. You know, used to be the sheriff of this town, still got a lot of contacts around here so if he doesn't hear from me soon, he's coming looking."

The man shook his head. "I highly doubt that last part. Your cell phone shows no calls coming in or out for the last few hours so I doubt your father or anyone else knows you're here. The question remains why you are here."

Mac licked her lips. "Um….can we just forget about this? You know, we go our way, you go yours and we just chalk this up to a misunderstanding? I'm open for that, really."

The man turned away and headed to the briefcase. Okay, this may start getting ugly, Veronica thought. She watched as the man pulled a sharp looking pair of pliers from his bag, clicking the tongs together. Yep, I'm pretty sure this is going to get ugly.

The man started to move back to them, holding the pliers up. "I'll give you one last chance and that's all. Otherwise…" He grabbed Mac's hand and placed her index finger between the tongs. Mac gasped as the tongs clamped down.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Veronica yelled. "Don't….you can't do that! She's a hacker, it'd be like clipping the hands off Elton John!"

"As it happens, I hate Elton John," the man dryly replied.

Great, we had to pick a torturer with good music taste. Veronica tensed against her chair but it refused to give. "Look….just take it away and I'll talk, ok?"

The man glared at her. "Just talk instead."

Veronica licked her lips. "Okay…okay….we were tracking down a signal. We think it's tied in to some hacker trying to mess with school records. We're just trying to track down the truth, ok?"

The man stared at her and Veronica's chill increased. "I'm telling the truth here, ok! Let her go!"

The man's lips twisted upward slightly and he twisted his arm. Mac screamed out loud as her finger twisted around and Veronica couldn't help cringing at the sound of bone snapping. The man kept his gaze cool as he twisted in the opposite direction and there was a pop as the bone snapped back into place.

Mac slumped forward, tears in her eyes as she let out a low moan of pain. The man increased his hold on her finger as he spoke. "Next time I pull so it can't be popped back in. Tell me the truth."

"I did, dammit!" Veronica yelled, pushing against the chair, fear clutching her heart. "Please, let her go!"

The man just slowly shook his head and turned his attention back to Mac. He clenched his hand around the pliers and prepared to yank her finger out of its socket…

The door to the room burst open and a figure rushed in. The bigger man turned in time to take a kick right to the face that knocked him back. The figure followed up with a forearm to his face and then launched a kick right to his groin. The man gasped as he doubled over and the intruder grabbed him by the belt and neck and sent him hurtling head-first into the wall.

The torturer had pulled away from Mac and went after the intruder who Veronica could tell was a woman in black clothing. He swung at her with the pliers and the woman ducked and came up with a punch to his face, another to his throat and another to his gut. As the man collapsed to his knees, the woman grabbed the pliers and put them around his index finger. She pulled and the man cried out as his finger was snapped backward. The woman silenced his screams with a savage kick to the jaw that sent him down and out.

The woman turned to face the two girls. "You ok?"

Veronica stared in stunned amazement as she realized who it was. The hair was now longer but it was undoubtedly Sherry, the flighty staff assistant. "How…what…" It was a rare occasion for Veronica to be completely at a loss for words but this definitely counted.

The woman quickly moved behind them, her hands working at the cuffs behind Veronica's back. "We've got to get moving, there could be backup coming." She worked some sort of tool in and before Veronica knew it, her hands were freed. As she watched, Sherry moved behind Mac and quickly freed her as well. Mac rose up, rubbing at her injured finger.

"Are you ok?" Veronica quickly asked.

Mac nodded weakly. "I…think so…" She winced as she felt at herself. "Ok….I think I'll stick with the lab support thing from now on."

Veronica looked over to the woman before them. "What…what are you doing here?"

"No time for questions," Sherry said as she tugged at both girls' shirts. "Come on, let's go out the back." Mac and Veronica exchanged baffled glances but went along as the woman led them toward the rear entrance. She paused to open the door enough to peek out. She then immediately shut it and backed away. "Shit, the front, out the front!"

She pushed the two before her as the door started to open. Sherry kicked at it, shutting it again and pushed the two forward. "Move, dammit!" Veronica and Mac felt instinct kick in and started to run as the door burst open.

The trio had reached the front just as a gunshot went out. Veronica and Mac both screamed and ducked down but Sherry kept them going forward as they burst into the deserted street. Before them was a black sedan with a man behind the steering wheel. His eyes widened as he saw the two girls. "What are they-----"

"Not now!" Sherry hissed as she opened the door and hustled the two teenagers in. They piled in the backseat as the door burst open and a burly man holding a pistol stepped out. He aimed just as Sherry opened the passenger door and ducked down. There was a slight whisping sound and the gunman jerked in place before collapsing to the ground.

Looking up, Veronica felt a chill as she saw a silenced pistol in the driver's hands. Her eyes trailed over to his face and she felt another jolt of surprise as she recognized him as the French teacher from school. "What…what the hell is…"

Her words were cut off as the man put the car in drive and immediately took off down the street. Sherry was beside him, buckling up before looking to the rear. "Are you two okay?"

The two girls simply stared in utter disbelief at her. "Wha…what the hell is going on!" Veronica screeched.

"I thought it was just observation," the man calmly said to his companion.

"They were getting tortured, I couldn't leave them there!"

"Sloane's not going to like this. Or your father."

"I wasn't going to let them get hurt just to maintain our cover."

"Cover?" Mac whispered. "What…" She shook her head, her breath sucking in as she started to hyperventilate. "Oh, God…Oh, God…"

"Mac? Mac, take it easy!" Veronica moved to hold her friend's shoulders. She looked back at the two people in the front seat. "We need to get out of here, we need to get to the cops or someone. I…I have to call my dad, I have to…."

Sherry and the teacher exchanged a look that seemed to speak a secret message. The man nodded and Sherry reached under the seat. She seemed to shake something in her hand as she turned around. "Sorry," she said and truly seemed to mean it as she raised her arm.

Mac and Veronica both saw what looked like a small aerosol can held before them. The woman pressed quickly on the top and a quick burst of mist sprayed into both girls' faces. They both coughed, their lungs swallowing the bitter aroma. Then, before either realized it, they were falling back into unconsciousness, splaying out on the backseat.

Behind the driver's seat, Michael Vaughn shook his head. "This is going to complicate matters a lot, you know."

Sydney Bristow shrugged as she put the can away. "And that makes that different from every other mission…how?"

Vaughn paused and then nodded in understanding as they drove on.