A Family Stolen

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Okay, I'm a little pissed right now, but that's okay. This chapter is not incomplete, otherwise I wouldn't put it up, it coincidentally ends right at a perfect place to make this a standalone chapter. The second half is the confrontation with Danny. I wrote it at another computer with my flash drive, only to lose it all, so now I have to rewrite it. Which I guess is okay because I felt like that was a little rushed, but it will seem odd to give him two chapters where what I have planned for Ross takes one. Oh well, it's still flowing well. Enjoy

Chapter 23 (Floor of Horrors Part 1)

"I feel kind of bad," Jade said while following Andre through the second floor. "I really haven't done much, and it feels like some of you guys think I have." Andre raised an eyebrow and stopped before the unfamiliar face that Jason said was Mitchell.

"You've jumpstarted this entire thing." Andre looked down at Mitchell, who was now conscious and glaring at them from the ground. His hands were tied behind his back, and he looked to be slithering almost like a snake.

Jade watched in amusement as the police they were with lifted Mitchell up via his arms. "I know." In reality, all she felt like she'd done was observe and watch others work. "I've been an observer, a follower. Not a leader. At the end of the day, I almost became one of Hayley's victims."

Andre rolled his eyes and turned to her. "You're the one that called for us to find a way to help the family when the police weren't able to investigate." She smiled gently and lifted her gaze up towards him. "You kept Jason from diving headfirst like a madman into a situation none of us understood; much less kept him alive when Ross confronted the two of you in the park."

"I guess…"

"Then you're the one that discovered potential motives. You made initial contact with Sinjin and told everyone of his role. You've done more than you think you have." He crossed his arms and started to chuckle. "Hell. Of all people, you were the one keeping all of us grounded. Usually, that's exactly the opposite of what you do."

Her heart swelled and she grinned with pride; everything he said felt amazing. It was all amazing because she'd never thought about things in such away; and certainly she'd never impacted people positively in such a manner in the past. The counseling, trying to be patient and learning from Beck seemed to be paying off a great deal.

Andre smoothed his hair back and started moving. "Hell, if not for you, Jason probably would have beat us all senseless, because I'm pretty sure he hated us at the start."

"He did."

"Ah." Andre's eyes rolled to the ceiling and he smirked. "There's that bluntness I remember."

She smirked. "I gotta retain some of my old qualities, I suppose." She kept Jason calm, mostly because everything he would have done was what she would have. More than her, however, he was petrified of losing that family. "He loved Trina, and he cared deeply for her sister and her parents. Respected them all a great deal. I think they were his second family…"

"Or maybe he looked at them like his family. All this time, neither he or his uncle have discussed his parents-or if he even has siblings. Then again, you're the one he's ended up confiding into about a lot."

"Yep, that's surprises him as much as it does me." She knew about Jason's family, but only because they talked very briefly about it once. His father was out of their lives since he was a kid, due to some affair that wound up in a nasty divorce. His mother remarried many years later, but left him alone much of the time; so growing up, his closest relative had always been his uncle. "Let's just say he's seen his uncle more than he's seen his parents. Leave it at that, you know."

"Yeah." They made their way up the nearest flight of stairs, moving past the third and to the fourth. The reason for skipping the third was that the Colonel was taking his men and the other task force there, and Sinjin sent out a mass text alerting them that the girls had been moved to the upper floors.

It scared her to think of what that meant, or why they'd been moved, but they had to stay calm and get the job done. Hostage relief was their task, and nothing more. "You know, Jade…" Andre, already at the top of the flight of steps, stopped and looked down to her as she climbed towards him. "Tori was right, we didn't know anything about her and still don't. As I think about Ian and the things he said, I can't help but wonder who Tori really is. A good person, I'm sure, but what I mean by that is what are her true interests; and if performance arts are mainly a hobby, what are her passions?"

"I'm sure we'll find out, assuming she doesn't shut us out. The likelihood of our friendship with her depends on her and how she perceives us." They knew better to expect things to go back to normal.

The sisters were going to need people in their lives that were understanding and compassionate. "It may be some friendships can't be repaired. We've already hurt them in the past, and now they've gone through the ultimate hell, so it wouldn't be farfetched to assume they'd look at us as just another person that hurt them."

There would always be that chance. Jade understood it, she knew that it would happen. For a while, Tori may well look at them and question when it would be that they'd do or say something to damage her or her sister. It was clear that those two girls would look at one another as the only people they could trust not to harm them in this world.

"They're going to need people that aren't going to hurt them, people that won't give them a reason to think something would happen." She pushed open the door and carefully poked her head out, only to pull it back when she thought she saw someone walking by. Her voice lowered to a whisper and she turned towards Andre. "Given our history, Tori and her sister have every right and reason to be afraid we might hurt them…I know too well the difference between forgiving and forgetting. You can forgive someone for hurting you, but you can't easily forget; so we can't impose our friendship on them if they don't want us around."

"I'm prepared to start all over," Andre replied slowly, "For Tori, I would." Jade smiled and nodded briskly. She couldn't help but wonder how deeply he cared for the girl.

"I know you were a little broken up when you found out about Ian. Your crush on Tori, you've never mentioned it…" Andre's shoulders fell and he let out a small sigh.

"That's past now, even if I wanted to I couldn't act on it." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "But yeah, I never wanted to hurt her. When she was yelling at us that night, I felt like the world's biggest asshole…I wanted to tell her I was sorry for everything, to make sure she knew I was going to try and be a better friend."

"That's why you're trying so hard."

"Basically. I know Ian would want to be here too, but I wouldn't risk his life when she needs him. If he's what makes her happy, then that's what I want. If she told us to go away, then I would; and if that's what she wants after this is over, I will accept it."

"I think we all would agree." They simply needed to get her out first. The door to the stairwell opened up and the two froze, half expecting to get shot. They turned and saw Sinjin staring back at them with a stern expression.

"Are you two coming or going to spend all day talking?" Jade groaned and walked past him.

"We were waiting for someone we saw to pass by."

"That was me. I was doing a check of the floor. We were waiting for someone we saw to pass by."

"That was me. I was doing a check of the floor. You guys aren't going to like what you'll find." She noticed there the corridor they were standing in was the only hallway. The elevator was to their left, and a door was directly in front of them. "I suppose you've heard of Joseph Mengele from WWII and the Nazi's?"

"The creep doctor?"

"Let's just say this place has one of those types too…Danny likes to experiment. On anything and everything. He's like a mad scientist, if you want to put it that way." She raised an eyebrow and Andre growled.

"Looks like Tori has a type," he muttered. Sinjin chuckled softly and Jade nodded. "Science guys. Or just smart people."

"Well, Ian did say science had always been her strong suit." Turning to her right, she saw a dead body on the ground and shuddered. It was riddled with bullets and coagulated blood, but also had several larger holes cut into it where organs had been removed. "Okay, who butchered the guy there?" Sinjin glanced down and poked a thumb over his shoulder.

"Danny. David shot the guy to death, and Danny wanted to experiment with his organs. This floor is incredibly disturbing."

"I see. You should probably head downstairs, get out of here."

"Not until you guys get Tori. Danny's got her." A tightness came over Jade's chest as she looked towards the door, feeling that somewhere behind it they would find their friend. "Danny has carved out this entire floor, to where this hallway is literally the only walkway on this floor." Sinjin walked to the door and put his hand on the knob. "Behind this is one huge ass laboratory."

"Fuck." Andre smacked his forehead and groaned in frustration. "I can't fight a scientist, I'm a fighter." Jade hung her head and let out a heavy sigh while Sinjin rolled his eyes.

"Danny is into some weird shit. Like the forbidden sciences type of shit. It's a miracle he didn't just take David and start experimenting on the guy himself. Be ready for some sick fuck and imagine all the ways that science can kill you…"

It was unsettling, which Jade felt was the intent. Sinjin wanted them to prepare and be ready, rather than march in unexpectedly. Her mind was already spinning with the various things that could take them out from the moment they entered that door. "God, what if he poisons the very air?" She grabbed at her throat and closed her eyes. "Can we take him out?" She was afraid, but when she looked at Andre, she only saw determination. "Andre, I don't know."

"We have to try. Tori is behind this door; and I'm not going to let her be subjected to whatever experimentation Danny has for her." His nostrils flared and his muscles started to tense. "Bastard better not touch her, better not do her like Ross did Trina either."

Sinjin blinked multiple times. "He has no-nevermind…" He shuddered and started to pull the door open. "Danny's sick but he's never done something like that to anyone as far as I can tell. Pretty sure only Ross has done that…"

Andre marched in and Jade soon followed. Fear and anxiety filled her mind as they carefully proceeded through a room filled with tubes of liquid and strange material. "God I hate sci-fi stuff." She hugged herself and looked to the left, seeing something that made her scream.

Holly's corpse was suspended in a clear tube, shriveled up like a prune with various tubes sticking out from her body and draining her of any blood she had.

Jade grabbed Andre's arm, horrified and shaken. The man's expression tensed and he quickly fired a bullet at the tube, shattering the glass. "What kind of sick bastard would do that?" He pulled away at the glass, wincing each time he cut himself, until he could pull Holly's body free. "That's it, I'm going to put a bullet in his head if I get a chance."

He laid Holly's body down carefully, frowning as he studied her. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Vega." Jade ran ahead a bit and hovered over a trash bin to vomit into it. Tears mixed with mucous and a tremor ran through her in swift vibrating pulses.

When she looked up, she saw more corpses. Each was in a different state, some had weird objects sticking out of them that made them look alien, while others were distorted and disfigured.

There were also tanks of animals and insects that looked to be injected with some sort of growth serum, as they were much larger than normal.

As the color left her body, and her fingertips caressed the trash can, she was tempted to run for the door. "Andre, I'm scared." Her breathing trembled from her lips and she looked back at the man. "And it takes a lot to do that to me." She whimpered fearfully as Andre approached.

"It'll be alright. We just need to press ahead. The police can deal with this floor. Tori's around somewhere, we just have to find her." She didn't want to search through this floor of horrors, but Andre was correct, they needed to stomach it and get Tori out.

"Tori loves science. She's a scientist." Jade chuckled nervously and walked hunched over beside Andre. "I can only imagine what she could do if pissed enough."

"This doesn't seem like the type of science she would be into."

"Yeah I know. I'm just…nervous…"

"It's okay." He smiled reassuringly and pat her on the shoulder. "You've done a lot, keeping everyone grounded, so let me be the one to help you stay calm. Take a few breaths and focus on the goal."

"I will. I'll try."

As they searched, Tori wasn't anywhere to be found. They did come across another door, which they had no idea what lay on the other side. Since Tori wasn't in the room they were in, they proceeded on into the next after reporting all their findings over the radio.

We've learned a lot here I suppose, about Jade's feelings of inadequacy to why Andre is fighting as hard as he is. Then we see the gravity of Danny, a mad scientist through in through it looks like. Two brawn minded individuals against a scientist. Well, they did want to know about the things Tori was interested in.