Taken

Chapter 23- The Wire

-Annabeth POV-

Beckendorf walked over to me, a sympathetic look on his face. "He's right, you know," he spoke.

I quickly wiped at the tears that stained my cheeks, suddenly embarrassed at how weak I was being. "You were listening," I said, sighing to myself. "Why do you think he was right?"

Beckendorf shrugged, his large shoulders looking kind of odd slumped down. "You don't have to die, you know. Mister Jackson is right for you have a choice, Miss Chase. You have the choice to live, which is a choice not everyone has. So why don't you take it?"

I clenched my jaw while glaring hard at the soft ground beneath me. "After everything that monster has done to me and my family, I need to do something about it. I can't live with knowing that Luke could possibly escape, and that he would be plotting for his revenge the rest of my life. That's not living, Beckendorf."

The large, burly man sighed, and clasped his calloused hands together in what I recognized as defeat. He kneeled down to where I had positioned myself against the wall and stared at me straight in the eye. "If you want to live, go ahead and live. But don't subject yourself to being a martyr, not because of what happened to you."

Tears threatened to escape my eyes. "Why can't this all just be over?"

A small smile formed on his darkened lips. "It will be soon if we get a move on. You wanna go blow this place up with me, Miss Chase?"

He stood up to full height and held a hand out for me to take. "Of course I do, Mister Beckendorf," I answered, a teasing smile finding its place across my lips. "So where exactly are we going to get these explosives from? This building isn't going to go down with just a small amount of C4, you know."

The mischievous glint came back in his eyes, and I narrowed my eyes at him, seeing that I was obviously in the dark about something. "I have a surprise for you, Miss Chase. You and I aren't the only two in this building that don't want Luke to succeed."

I looked at him curiously, a small smile finding its way onto my face. "You mean that there's more than just a few of you?"

He chuckled. "I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be. So we need to get to the control room and find the blueprints of this place so we can figure out what walls we need to break down to get the maximum amount of damage."

I gulped, thinking about the last time I was put into the control room. They weren't exactly the most pleasant of memories. But you gotta do what you gotta do. "We should get going then," I decided, and made a move to stand.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to get up onto my feet, and I finally allowed myself to realize just how weak I was. I have been hit in the head, drugged, barely fed, and held in captivity for probably what was months. I was going to have some serious health issues after this.

I saw Beckendorf look at me out of pity from the corner of my eye, and he quickly got up and made a move to help me as well, but as soon as he laid a hand on me I shoved him off. "No, I'm good," I grounded out, and finally was able to gain my balance on two bambi-like wobbly legs.

He simply raised an eyebrow and spoke, "And you expect to be able to take Luke out while you're in this kind of shape? Are you out of your mind?"

I shrugged. "I never said I was going to be the one to man-handle him. That's your job," I said matter-of-a-factly. "You want to protect me? You are going to have to get Luke into a position for me to do what is necessary, okay?"

I glared at him with my startling grey eyes and smirked when I saw him nod in reassurance. "I guess I'll help you. He did kind of kill my boss and all, so…"

I rolled my eyes at him trying to crack a joke that really wasn't all that funny, reminding me of someone that I've come to know really well.

"Let's go."

He walked out of the cell first, and turned to make sure I was following. It took me a few steps to gain back my bearings, and a part of me wondered if my cerebellum had been knocked one too many times. "I'm coming, don't worry about me."

He answered with a small laugh before holding out his gun, which looked like one of those M14's that the military and federal agents have access to use, and I couldn't help but let a glimmer of hope shine through. I might just make it after all.

All of the sudden, Beckendorf stopped, and held out a hand to make sure I did the same. "Some of Luke's goons are off schedule," he whispered to me, then cocked his gun to take aim.

"No, wait," I said quietly, grabbing his arm that held the gun. "If you take a shot, then you're letting everyone know that there's something going on, and that's the last thing we need."

He silently nodded then turned around and grabbed my arm, leading me down a different hallway. "Looks like we're going to have to take a detour."

We quickly made our way to the control room without any other issues, me sometimes stumbling or losing my footing, so I was lucky that Beckendorf was paying attention or I would have probably face-planted a few too many times.

We got to the control room, where I was met face to face with someone that I knew was going to haunt me in my dreams. "Oh, hey, Chris," Beckendorf said, oblivious to my horror. "Did you find those documents yet?"

Chris, the very same Chris that Luke had torture me, was standing there with what looked like blueprints in his arms. He obviously hadn't changed one bit, but the look on his face was completely different, a look of ease rather than the fierce tension that had been permanently etched into my brain.

"Yeah, I got the files we need to condemn that sonofabitch. As soon as you give me the okay I will send them to every federal database I can find. Luke is a goner for sure."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The guy who deliberately hurt me, made me suffer, is actually on my side? How does this work?

Chris seemed to notice my unease as he looked at me with an uncomfortable face. "I-Uh, I'm sorry for what I did to you earlier… I hope you know that I was just making sure I still had Luke's trust."

I nodded, not being able to find any other words to say. I found myself able to forgive him, as Chris had only done what he did so that we could stop Luke. But at the same time I know I will never forget what had happened to me. It was the closest to death I had ever been, and that's something that a person just can't forget.

Every time I close my eyes I feel like I'm back on the table being drowned with water pouring over the towel. Tears stung the back of my eyes just thinking about it.

"Miss Chase? Are you alright?"

The voice of concern threw me from my thoughts. I was surprised to see that it was Chris who voiced his concern rather than the man who had brought me there, but at the same time it helped a little to know that Chris wasn't completely a bad person.

"I'm fine," I said stiffly. "We need to look at those building plans now."

Both Chris and Beckendorf's eyes widened at the detachment I spoke with, but the look I threw them obviously made them think twice about speaking up about it. Chris handed me the blueprints with a small smile that I did not bother returning.

I followed the two men into the control room, and laid the blueprints out on a long table with ease, but soon I was starting to feel the effects of my exhaustion. My knees started to wobble and I gripped the table in front of me to keep my balance.

"Miss Chase, do you need a chair?" Chris asked, noticing the weakness in my stance. Beckendorf's eyes immediately flew to mine, and I could tell that I must have looked like an animal trapped in a cage.

"Chris, get her a chair," Beckendorf said, then turned to me. "I'm going to go find something for you to eat and drink. There's a food storage room just across the hall," he turned to Chris. "I'll yell if something happens."

I watched with dread at Beckendorf's retreating form. He was leaving me alone with a man who tried to kill me, which caused me to lose all possible comfort I had before, even though it was a miniscule amount to begin with.

I heard a scuffle of Chris moving what was probably a chair behind me, and I felt a cold metal softly tap the back of my legs, sending shivers up my spine. "Here you go."

My hands remained glued to the table, as I sat backwards into the chair. I refused to look at Chris, who moved to stand next to me.

"I didn't want to do it, you know."

I kept my eyes trained at the unfolded blueprints as I replied, "You didn't have to do it in the first place, you know."

I could feel his eyes bore into the side of my head, as if he was trying to see something more than my words. But that's all that I was going to give him: words.

"Miss Chase, I had no choice, I had to make sure he would trust me, and I have an expertise in torture from my time working for the government, and-"

"We always have a choice, Chris."

I turned to look at him, and saw that he wasn't the man that had tried to kill me just an hour before, but he was a tormented individual who was self-depreciating. I could see that he needed me to forgive him, but some part of me didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

"I don't think you understand my point here, Miss Chase. If I didn't do that to you, he would have killed me and the other men who I stand for. Men like Beckendorf. And I think that you trust him, that you like the head he has on his shoulders. But if I didn't do what I did to you, Miss Chase, Beckendorf's head would not be on his shoulders. And chances are we would both be dead."

I looked at him, seeing things more clearly. He had been put in the position that my brother had, I had, and Jackson had been placed in. He had to choose the better for the many over the better for the few. He had to make an impossible decision that no human being should be in positon to make.

"Thank you."

Chris's eyes widened, and he took a step back in shock. "Wait, what just happened?"

I rolled my eyes, "You chose to save my life. And for that I thank you."

Apparently Beckendorf chose that exact moment to come back in, carrying a bottled water and a protein bar with him. "I certainly hope that you two hashed out whatever tension was between you, because we really need to get a move on."

"On the lower level structure there are three different points that basically hold the entire compound together. Here," I pointed to a load baring wall on the eastern part of the building, "here," on the western part of the building, "and here," and the northern part of the building.

Beckendorf nodded in agreement. "These three places work the best because they not only have to hold the load of the basement-"

I continued, "But they have to hold the load of the ground level as well."

I looked at Chris and Beckendorf with a small smile. "Three people, three sites. We can just go in and go out and no collateral damage needed to be done."

They returned my smile, knowing that by only having three target sites, the idea that we are going to be able to get out of here alive seemed more and more plausible by the second. All we needed to do was to get in and get out, but there was always the issue of staying unseen long enough to do that.

"Hey Beckendorf, where's the C4 that you were talking about?" Chris asked, returning to the side of his computer that he had been working on before we came in.

"It's in room G24, you know, the one with the good guns?"

I looked at Chris and he nodded and started typing away. I grabbed the water and bar from Beckendorf then slowly started to drink, careful not to shock my system. The coolness of the water was like a little piece of heaven moving down my throat.

The protein bar tasted good, but it was too scratchy to go down my throat without some water. I rotated between drinking a sip of water and taking a small bite of the protein bar until they both ran out.

"I sent the files, which included our location. We got thirty minutes until some feds start showing up, so let's get this show on the road," Chris spoke, leaving the side of the computer to pick up an AK-47, and headed for the door.

Beckendorf followed his lead, but first helped me out of the chair before grabbing his very own gun that I didn't recognize, and made me walk in between the two of them. We left the room on guard, well, more like I was hiding in between two big muscled men who were on guard. Not that I cared that much.

"Take your next left," Beckendorf grounded out, scanning the hallway behind us, and I made sure to keep myself firmly between the two of them.

Chris took his next left and we found ourselves in front of the door labeled G47. "I'm going to open the door," Chris said. Beckendorf pushed me against the wall, and kept his back to Chris, who opened the door slowly before bursting in with his gun ready for fire.

I couldn't help but close my eyes in anticipation for what might happen. If they're waiting for us in the room, then Chris gets shot, and when they move out Beckendorf and I don't stand a chance. My breath caught in my throat at the thought.

"All clear!" Chris's voice shot through the silence.

I moved in, immediately going to Chris's side at the sight of the bombs. I don't even want to know how Luke got his hands on this many dirty bombs, or why they are kept in a freaking storage closet, but his stupidity is going to save me, so I don't really care at this moment.

All I saw was wires after wires on the bombs. "How are we supposed to do this?" I asked, not too happy about the clear complexity of this job. I mean, I'm smart, but I've never had to wire a bomb before. Hell, I've never seen a bomb up close and personal like this before, and I'll admit it's making me a bit nervous.

"Here," Chris handed me his gun, putting the safety on first, thank god, and then rerouted the wires into some weird pattern. I didn't know what shocked me more, Chris wasn't just an expert on water boarding, or that he actually handed me his gun.

I've never held a gun before either. I felt my knees start to wobble.

"Chris is a munitions expert," Beckendorf's voice came from behind me, and I choked down my shock before nodding in reply. I didn't dare turn around to show Beckendorf the fear that was starting to course through me. I didn't want any second thoughts before we did this thing.

After only what seemed to be a few minutes, Chris took his gun away from me and replaced it with a bomb. I couldn't help but gulp at the sight of it ticking down from 20 minutes, and he looked me in the eyes. "You're going to be fine. We're not diffusing this bad boy, Miss Chase. It's not like the movies, not at all. All you're doing is attaching this to the eastern load baring wall, and then you get out. No issue."

I nodded, and worked to control my fear as Chris handed Beckendorf a bomb then grabbed one for himself. "We will lead you to the hallway that leads to the wall, but then it's up to you to find it. It will be the wall that is directly parallel to you when you walk down it. Once you get there, you will attach it with duct tape," he handed me a roll of duct tape. "After the bomb is attached, you get the hell out of the building. Follow the hallway, and then retrace your steps up the stairs. Once you get up the stairs, there will be a door on your right. Go out that door, and we will hopefully be waiting for you. If not us, then the feds. Then you're home free, girl."

I couldn't help the small smile that graced my face at the thought of being able to get out of here. I would be able to see my friends again… to see Percy Jackson again. If I closed my eyes long enough I could make out his face, his smile, his smirk, the twinkle in his eye. I needed to live. I needed to see Percy again.

We were just about to leave when I looked at the two guys, and noticed they had something I did not. "Wait, what about me?" I asked, looking between the two men impatiently.

They looked at me like I was crazy, which I knew I was most likely true. "What about you are you talking about here, Miss Chase?" Beckendorf asked, an impatient look crossing his face.

"I need a weapon too, you know."

Chris huffed then walked over to a knife section and pulled out a dagger. "Here, this will be your weapon."

"This won't help me against guns," I said smartly, then when their eyes clouded over with anger I let it drop. "Okay, no gun it is, then."

They turned to walk out the door right as something metal and shiny hit my eye. I grabbed it and stuffed it in the waistband of my ratty old jeans, and quickly followed them out.

We got to the hallway without an issue, and we stopped and looked at each other with knowing eyes. This might be the last time we see each other again, so I smiled and nodded at both of them. "Thank you," I said, a tear finding its way down my cheek.

Beckendorf gave me a small smile, and clapped my shoulder. "Good luck, Miss Chase. I really do hope to see you again soon."

Chris nodded in agreement, and winked at me with a knowing smile. "Good luck out there. Go get him."

I took a deep breath, then turned around and bolted down the hallway, not once looking back. I could only go forward from here. My legs were tired from misuse, and I could feel a burning sensation in my lungs, every bone in my body begging me to stop and slow down, but I didn't listen.

The hallway was dark and quiet, and it was obvious that no one had been down here in years. I could smell the mold the probably darkened the walls, only further adding to my struggle to breath.

I got to the end of the hallway, and my heartrate quickened in anxiety as I saw the time on the bomb.

8:32

8:31

8:30

I cursed then grabbed the duct tape and with shaky hands, somehow was able to rip the tape and secure it to the wall.

It was as if I was on one of those shows where you had to complete a task in a given time, or something bad would happen, like you lose money, get hit with green slime, or whatever. But for me, if didn't do this in time I would blow up with the rest of the place.

What a wonderful thought to have.

6:47

6:46

6:45

As soon as I saw that the bomb was secure to the wall, I turned and ran down the hallway, and retraced my steps back to the stairs just as the guys had told me. I was so close to getting out of here… so close to freedom…

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Luke's voice sent shivers down my spine. I turned around to see Luke standing behind me at the bottom of the stairwell.

I looked at him, at his steely blue eyes, then turned my head to see the door that led out of this hell. To a better place, a better future. And I knew I had a choice to make.

3:00

2:59

2:58

I had to choose between my future and my past- between life and death.

-Percy POV-

"Oh my God, Percy, I'm so sorry, I should have never kept that from you, I'm so sorry that I betrayed your trust, and oh God, I'm just so sorry!"

My breath caught in my throat at the sound of her voice. I was dimly aware of the agents moving around me, telling me to keep talking to her and that they were trying to pinpoint their location.

"Annabeth… please, it's okay, I know why you did it… and God, please tell me you're okay. Tell me that you're okay and that you got out…"

It felt as though my heart stopped at the sound of silence on the other end of the phone. Silence wasn't a good thing… it is a bad, bad thing. "Annabeth, please talk to me."

"I'm not out of here, Percy. I'm still stuck, but guess what? There's an inside man, you know. He worked for Hermes, and now he's kind of working for your father. I met with him and now we're going to end this once and for all."

The guy who was working for my father is still alive? I could only hope that Hermes and my father had a good taste in body guards. But what the hell is she thinking about doing?

"No, no ending anything for you, Annabeth. I want you to get the hell out of there and come home, okay? I need you, remember, I need you so you need to come back to me."

I felt someone grab my shoulder, and I turned my head to see that Jason was standing there with tears in his eyes. It was only then that I realized I was shedding tears of my own.

"I made you promise something, Percy. Do you remember that? I made you promise to never give up, even if something happens to me. I need you to keep that promise, Jackson."

I remembered that moment we made that promise, and I couldn't help but let out a sob at the memory. "Annabeth, please just… just stay alive, okay? That promise goes both ways- never give up, Annabeth."

"I need to end this, Percy, you know that."

"But why does it need to be you?"

I heard her sigh on the other end of the line, and I knew I was losing her. "You know why, Percy. And I need to go… I just… I just wish I was there with you, you know?"

"Please promise me that you will be alive, Annabeth. I need you to promise me that." I was begging now, and I never begged for anything. But here I was begging for Annabeth Chase to stay alive, begging to some divine entity that she would be okay.

"Percy, I got to go."

"Annabeth-"

"I'm sorry."

All that could be heard was the sound of a long beep. I handed the phone back to Thalia wordlessly and tearfully turned to look at the agents who had been working on tracking the call.

Agents Palmer and Charleston were looking intently at a screen, and talking very intensely to a female agent who was working on the computer.

"Do we have coordinates?"

"No, but we do have an abstract location."

"What do you mean, abstract?"

"What I mean is these guys are good- they had a set location for the coordinates to be, but it was in the middle of the Indian Ocean. So I re-ran the logistics through an algorithm that led me to this abstract location."

I felt myself start to shake, and I looked at my hands, somewhat confused. Was I shaking out of fear? Or was I shaking out of anger? I decided that don't know anymore.

"Percy, what are we going to do?" I looked to see my friends all around me with watery eyes that I knew I shared.

My eyebrows furrowed and I thought for a second before coming up with my conclusion. "Nothing."

I saw fire spark through Thalia's eyes as she jumped up and looked at my hysterically. "Nothing! What the hell do you mean, Nothing? Annabeth is going to die if we do nothing!"

I sat back in the chair and wiped the tears from my eyes and nodded at Thalia, letting her know that did hear her point. "Look, you and I, we both know Annabeth. We know her well enough to know that she's planning something, and I know her survival instincts. She is going to get out, and she is going to let us know about it. She's not dumb enough to do this alone."

Thalia's eyebrows scrunched together and she sat back into the chair with a huff. "You're actually kind of right, Jackson."

"But what if we're wrong?" Piper asked, looking between Thalia and I with her tear-filled eyes. "What if we're wrong about this and Annabeth dies because of it?"

I looked at her with cold eyes. "I really do hope that isn't the case."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

We had been waiting for what felt like hours. I knew time was running out for Annabeth each second the agents around us didn't find a lead. It was obvious that no one had any clue about what to do from the sweat that had been increasing on their brows and the increasing intensity that filled the air.

The nine of us had been waiting in complete silence. I was holding hands with Rachel and Thalia, who was tight against Jason's side, who had Piper up against his other side. Grover and Juniper sat huddled together, and Nico, who had been pacing in the shadows, was now sitting up against a wall with his head in his hands.

I knew he was probably thinking about his mother. And now he was losing someone again, and wasn't able to stop it.

But I knew that if I started to think about the possibility that Annabeth did not survive this then I would start to lose myself in the insanity, and all that she had worked for, all that she had done would be in vain.

I just keep coming back to the thought that she should have saved herself. She should have gotten herself out of there, and left me. She shouldn't have been so selfless.

And if she didn't come out of there, I would have to be the one to pick up the pieces.

I had to stop myself from thinking about contingency plans. There was still time to save her, and every second that I stopped to think that we wouldn't do exactly that it was almost as if I had given up on her and I didn't want to subject myself to that.

"We got a location!"

Everyone's heads perked up at the sight of a female agent giving Agents Palmer and Charleston coordinates, and the sight of everyone around them shuffling papers erratically and grabbing for their guns and badges.

Immediately I got up and walked over to the scene. "I'm going with you," I spoke, the determination in my voice clear.

The agents rolled their eyes at me. "Now kid, we know you want to save your girlfriend and stuff, but you should sit this one out and leave this for the big boys."

I raised an eyebrow at them, drawing all false confidence I had to the table. "Look, I know none of you had been to this place before, and I have. And from how long it took you guys to get the location I'd say you could use all the help you can get. I've been there before, and I know my way around. I can tell you where to go, as long as I can come with."

The agents looked at me exasperatedly then looked at each other. "Okay, kid. But you're staying in the car the entire time."

I smiled, and followed them out the door. But before I left I snuck a peak at my friends, who all had large smiles on their faces. I saw Thalia one last time and she mouthed, "Go get her."

I winked at her before following the agents out the door.

The car ride was long and boring, as I sat in the back of the black SUV. It was pretty cool to see everyone move out of our way, but after a while the new got old and I found myself spacing out, and thinking about Annabeth.

The way her eyes lit up when she had an idea. The way she stuck out her chin determinedly right about the same time she was going to make a stupid decision. The way she would run her fingers through her hair as she thought about something intently.

A small smile made its way to my face as I thought about how all of those things were things that I absolutely loved about her.

And now I was going to get her back.

The SUV came to a stop in front of the compound, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. I had been stuck in this place for a long time, if not physically then mentally, and now it was time to end that.

The agents got out of the car and grabbed their guns, and got them loaded and ready to go. I saw other cars pull up, and I saw a majority of police officers, FBI agents, and a few EMTs at the scene.

One of the other agents that I didn't know the name to came up to Agent Palmer and Charleston. "Palmer, Charleston, how do you want us to do this?"

Palmer directed men to go around the perimeter and search for the exits. He was just about to move on ahead himself when the unimaginable happened.

BOOM!

"NO!"