That last chapter was a doozy wasn't it. Isabelle turned? Well we all know it's because she had to but what will happen now? Read to find out. You should know where the disclaimer is by now...
Here we go again!
Discovering The Waterfront
-Chapter 14-
Letter to the Outside
The military base was a grim and orderly place. It's dank hallways always made Isabelle sick as she walked down them. For a week she had lived in the base, the entire time being accompanied by at least one or more guards.Isabelle couldn't walk two inches before a guard was following her, the guards were in vain as Isabelle would always put her family first and wasn't planning on going anywhere. She guessed that until Sloane actually trusted her, she would have to put up with the security measures. In the week she had been M.I.A. she had stolen from a bank, a museum, and finally a wharehouse that had the C.I.A. written all over it. She was slowly growing accustomed to the routine of being filled in on the op and flying solo when needed. She even knew the soldiers by name now,they still treated her like scum but she could think about how much Roberts had pissed her off rather than think about how the agent with the brown hair had made her mad.
She had her own room in the base, it wasn't as nice as her own room at home but she could get used to the new one here. The cot for a bed was in the corner, it was nothing special, just something to sleep on. There were no bright colors or posters to adorn the walls but she could live. There was a lap top computer on a wooden desk against the wall, Isabelle wouldn't dare send a message from that computer as the guards were probably monitoring the computer in case she tried anything. The floor was a cold, grey, cement and the walls weren't much better. The room itself was cold but Isabelle didn't mind much. There was a small rug in the middle of the floor but it smelled musty and looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks. There was a bookshelf near the door and several dusty classics were on the shelves. Each day she had been in the room a new book seemed to find it's way onto the shelves and if the trend continued, the bookshelf would soon be full. Isabelle felt much like a prisoner in her new surroundings but when Sloane eased up and trusted her, she would probably end up in a better room or at least a warmer one.
Isabelle stepped inside the old room and sat quietly on the bed. She scanned over therow of books reading each title outl oud toherself. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Catcher in the Rye, The Call of the Wild, Lord of theFlies, 1984, To Kill A Mockingbird, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Shining, Oliver Twist, Treasure Island, before her eyes finally rested on the new book that had been placed there when she was gone, The Red Badge of Courage. Isabelle picked up the same book she had been reading for the past two days and sat back down on her bed.She rarely had anything to occupy her time with and since she wasn't needed, she relaxed as best as she could and the only way to do that was to read. She hadn't slept in days, she couldn't sleep,and she was slowly beginning to see shadows against the wall, things that weren't there. The first two days she thought she was fine, sure she had never had a good nights sleep in her life but she managed to get at least a few hours in, enough to still feel tired but not go crazy. On the third day however, Isabelle saw the first sign she wasn't alright.
She had been sitting in the room reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and listening intently to the peacuful silence around her. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from spending her nights reading and doing nothing else. In a matter of minutes she heard the faint whisper of her mother's voice. It said something about being ashamed but as quickly as it had come, the voice disappeared. Isabelle shrugged it off as nothing and continued to convince herself that she was fine. The next day she went on another mission and fell back into her room aching from the day's events. She reached for the same book as the night before and again heard the whisper but this time she saw her mother. The ghost disappeared quickly enough but Isabelle couldn't shake the feeling the encounter had stirred. She felt guilty that was a given but she felt even worse that she couldn't tell her mother why, she couldn't even confess to the ghost of someone who wasn't really there.
The day after that her mother didn't return, this time she heard her father's whisper. He seemed more understanding of her actions or at least his voice did but Isabelle couldn't be sure if he was actually that kind. This was after all her mind's image of him after she had met him and talked to him twice. She had been asked if she was alright by countless guards and even Sloane himself but Isabelle kept denying the fact she was going crazy, even though she knew she was and believed it.
Isabelle didn't reach for a book this time, she just sat and waited. She waited for the voices to show up or for sleep to finally claim her. She tried to lay down and fall asleep but she couldn't, she was frustrated and on the verge of breaking down but she couldn't allow whatever was happening to consume her. She needed to stay strong for her family and Mark, to keep them alive.
When she couldn't take the silence anymore, she rose from the bed and searched around the room as if expecting to find something.
"Where are you?" Isabelle hoarsely whispered, her voice full of an exhausted determination.
She got angrier and more frustrated with each passing second. Her voice was red from screaming the question she wanted answered at the given moment in time.
"Where are you!" Isabelle shouted at the top of her lungs, but her screaming was no use, she was alone.
She sat back down on the bed and began to cry, she could feel her regrets lifting as she cried them out. She hated everything that had happened, she couldn't take the constant pressure. She just couldn't handle it, after all she was only one person scratch that, she was only one teenager against a very powerful person with an underground empire. She fell back on the bed and shut her bloodshot and red eyes, but still she couldn't sleep.
"Where are you?" Isabelle whispered looking at the empty wall.
Sydney looked at the clock on the bedside table, 1:28 a.m., she sighed and rose from the bed. She felt lost and broken, her only daughter had helped her enemy and couldn't even explain why. Sydney hadn't been sleeping very well, she only got a few hours a night, she felt very much the same as she had when she worked for SD-6 and the C.I.A.
She walked into the kitchen and shuffled through papers that littered the counter. She looked over at the couch to see Vaughn asleep over another stack of papers. She smiled to herself in spite of the current situation, it was just like old times.
Sydney's phone rang breaking the silence, she looked at the number on the caller ID and answered.
"Hey dad." Sydney said over the phone hoping for news on Isabelle's wherabouts.
"Sydney, Isabelle was last seen at a C.I.A. wharehouse security cameras show her breaking into a safe and taking a small coin or something out of it." Jack told Sydney over the phone while he watched the tape.
"Where was the wharehouse?" Sydney asked looking at a map with red dots on it.
"Mexico City." Jack answered as Sydney placed another red dot on the map right above Mexico City.
"They're following a pattern. The next place they hit should be somewhere in Monte Carlo." Sydney explained.
"Is there anything significant in Monte Carlo that Sloane would wan't?" Sydney asked looking at the map.
"I think I know what he wants." Jack said sullenly over the phone, realization hinted in his voice.
Isabelle heard a loud knock at her door. She rose silently from the bed and opened the door to allow the person entrance.
"Isabelle, we're off to Monte Carlo." Sloane said excitedly and Isabelle nodded in compliance. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and pulled a sweatshirt over her jeans and t-shirt. She sighed as she slipped on her shoes and walked out of the room following Sloane.
"It's a long plane ride, you might want to bring something to read." Sloane told Isabelle and she walked back into her room, grabbing the first book she saw.
Sydney, Vaughn, Tom, Rachel, Dixon, Marshall, and Jack waited in the debriefing room. Jack stood and pulled something on the screens that adorned the back wall.
"You're breaking into a casino, Sloane wants a gold chain necklace with a code imprinted in it. The coin Isabelle stole last week is the third part of the code, the chain is the last part. You need to get the chain before Isabelle or Sloane gets to it. Marshall will give you the op-tech." Jack finished his explanation and Marshall stood to show the tech they woud be using.
"This right here, it looks like an mp3 player but in fact." He pressed the play button on the mp3 player and a pocket knife came out of it.
"You could use it if you get into a bad spot you know, you know just..." Marshall made a stabbing motion and then realized no one was amused. He coughed and moved on to the next item.
Isabelle quietly sat away from everyone on the plane, she knew Mark was safe for now. She had heard about the plane being ransacked and knew they had left Mark in the plane so he was alright. She sighed and looked out the window, they were a few hours away and she was about to rob a casino, her nerves got the best of her, but only for a minute. Her hand shook a little too violently for comfort but she steadied it. She let out a deep breath and continued to glare out the window realizing just how deep she had dug herself in.
"Sydney, when are you leaving?" Mark asked standing in front of Sydney's desk looking anxious and concerned.
"In about an hour why?" Sydney asked looking at the trembling figure in front of her.
"Because I'm going too." Mark informed her letting her know he would be going no matter what.
Mark sat quietly in the back of the plane looking out the window, his eyes were vacant and if anyone on the plane didn't know any better they would have thought he was dead. The plane began to descend causing Mark's heartbeat to begin to spin out of control. He let out a deep breath and waited, this was it.
Isabelle could feel the plane descending and waited quietly before leaving. She needed to focus now, there was no turning back, this was it.
I don't know where to go.
Ain't no light along the road.
Stumbling under the stars above.
Isabelle was handed a gun and a few more objects she would use for the robbery. Casinos were nearly impossible to break into or even get around, but she was good and she could do it. She walked into the casino acting like she was heading to the upstairs hotel but before she reached the elevator she clicked the pen she had been given, the cameras went out.
The team arrived shortly after the robbery was already playing out. Sydney and Mark walked carefully through the casino keeping an eye out for Isabelle. Vaughn, Rachel, and Tom were inside the casino keeping a look out while Dixon and Marshall tapped into the security system to help out anyone of the other agents.
Somehow feel someone's stare.
Turn around nobody there.
Never knowing if I'm all alone,
'Cause paranoia is the only friend that I know,
And everybody else is gone.
Their eyes are burning into my heart.
Fall and feeling fear. I can't go on.
And nobody will sound the alarm.
Isabelle made her way past the elevators and back through the casino avoiding any guards.
"I see her." Mark told Sydney who looked around. Mark indicated the person weaving in and out of slot machines and avoiding anyone, they began to run after her.
Isabelle didn't realize she was being followed not until she heard a shout of her name. She disappeared in a flash and Mark was after her in a moments notice. Sydney followed the two feeling exhausted from the constant running.
Up the stairwell and then the next floor, the chase continued. Mark was determined and wasn't going to give up easily. Isabelle had dropped everything she had been given and had forgotten the original reason she had come to the casino. Right now the mission didn't matter, she just needed to get away.
Mark could feel his heart racing and could hear his ragged breath panting. He couldn't stop though, as much as he was in pain, he couldn't stop.
Sit around late at night,
Sitting by the fireside,
Planning out to bury me alive.
And when I'm done they all will laugh about how I died,
'Cause everybody else is gone.
Their eyes are burning into my heart.
We'll fall and feeling fear. I can't go on.
And nobody will sound the alarm.
Isabelle saw the service elevator and managed to get inside before the door closed, unfortunately for her so did Mark. Sydney had lost the two long ago and had told Rachel over the coms who was now looking.
"Isabelle, you've got to come back." Mark pleaded his voice hoarse.
"I can't." Isabelle quickly answered panting.
"Why are you helping them?" Mark asked desperately wanting an answer.
"Because they'll kill them!" Isabelle had had enough, she needed to tell the truth to someone and she found it easier to tell Mark than anyone in her family.
"What?" Mark asked as the elevator dinged while it passed another floor.
"He's going to kill my entire family...Sloane." Isabelle said quietly looking at the floor while she explained.
In the darkness of my mind,
I hear a voice that seems to sigh.
I'm going to die before I save myself.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Rachel was standing outside the elevator expecting to see the two.
"Hi." Rachel said with a smile.
"I've got them." Rachel voice came over the coms and Sydney breathed out a sigh of relief.
"I can't go back." Isabelle whispered not following Mark out of the elevator.
And everybody else is gone.
Their eyes are burning into my heart.
We'll fall and feeling fear. I can't go on.
And nobody will sound the alarm.
We'll fall and fearing fear. I can't go on.
And nobody will sound the alarm.
"Yes you can. No one blames you for what happened, you had to do it." Rachel explained while Mark walked back into the elevator.
"Come on. I'll be right here." Mark whispered quietly so only Isabelle could hear. She smiled and took his outstretched hand.
"You can explain everything when we get back to APO." Rachel told Isabelle.
"APO?" Isabelle asked looking from Mark to Rachel.
"Authorized Personnel Only." Mark said in a joking voice.
Isabelle laughed.
"Seriously that's what it stands for?" Isabelle asked looking at Mark.
"Yeah." Mark laughed. Isabelle could feel a lighter mood come over her, maybe it was the fact that she was going home or the fact that she was free from Sloane for the time being but whatever it was she was glad it was there.
Isabelle found her mother and was victim to the biggest hug ever given.
"I'm so sorry." Isabelle apologized not able to look anyone in the eye.
"Its alright." Sydney said in a comforting voice looking at her daughter's eyes.
"When was the last time you slept?" Sydney asked sounding concerned.
"I don't really remember." Isabelle lied, she knew how long it had been...7 days, 5 hours, 42 minutes, 22 seconds.
Sloane walked down the wharehouse looking agitated. He walked into his office and pressed a button on the intercom.
"Bring her in." Sloane ordered before his door opened and a woman entered.
Dixon reached for his cell phone as it rang, he answered and got some unfortunate news. He dialed another number and waited for Vaughn to answer.
"We have a problem, Lauren was intercepted by Sloane's agents." Dixon said to Vaughn over the phone.
"What do you want me to do exactly?" Lauren asked Sloane as she looked over a file.
"Well I need you to obtain them." Sloane told Lauren as she smiled.
That is to be continued and I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review telling me what you think.
Sound the Alarm - Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm