Standard Disclaimer – Thanks Wolf- Thanks reviewers.
20
There was a reason why he was taken. He knew there was a reason, and a long time ago it had been whispered into his ear. A voice he'd started to hear again lately. A quiet soothing voice, laced with a dark edge that had told him.
" You're too special Charlie, that's why. You're just too special." And then he wasn't special anymore, he didn't have any outstanding talents, he wasn't a standout. At anything.
Sports, learning, girls he was the definition of the word mediocracy. He lived in that anonymous level of skill where he was never bad enough to be taunted. Never good enough to be picked out for praise.
" You're too special Charlie, that's why. You're just too special." Special enough to kill for? Special enough to risk everything for? How far would they go to get him back? How much would they sacrifice?
The forest around him is swallowed up by his loping run, not slowing his pace even though he had put several miles of rough terrain between him and the mountain. Honestly, he has no idea where to even start finding Sara and Mike. No idea where the NSA had taken them. So while he runs he's thinking. Allowing the analytical mind of the soldier to ponder the situation and come up with a plan of attack.
The running becomes riskier at the edge of town. There is nothing more unusual than a grown man sprinting through the streets in the dead of night. So as he runs now, he checks left then right, for any sign of headlights. For witnesses, and if he sees any he will walk. but for now, the night is calm and quiet, and his feet barely make a sound as they relentlessly patter the ground.
Finally Xander is back at his apartment and after a quick search around the perimeter of the building for Jack, he hauls himself up the stairs and through the front door.
There is a man in a black suit sitting on Xander's couch. The gun he's holding levels at Xander's head and despite the situation Xander breathes a sigh of relief.
" Boy, am I glad to see you." He tells his intruder, who tries not to look too confused by the statement.
" Hands up nice and high, in the air, where I can see them." The man orders and Xander talks as he raises his arms slowly skyward.
" You know, why I'm glad you're here? I'll tell you. Firstly by being here, sitting on my couch. It saves me the rest of the night, looking for one of you guys."
A pair of handcuffs lands at Xander's feet.
" Cuff yourself." The man instructs and Xander leans down to collect the cuffs.
" Secondly. You let yourself into my apartment, which is interesting. Do you know about the others?" Xander asks innocently, holding the cuffs in his hands, thoughtfully twirling them.
" Put the cuffs on." The man instructs and Xander makes a face like he's thinking about it.
" Finally. If you, or the people you work for, wanted me dead. I would already be dead. So you don't want me dead, which means. Go ahead and cuff yourself, cause I'm not putting those on." Xander says calmly flinging the handcuffs back towards the man, where they land at his feet.
" There's a big difference between dead and horribly wounded kid." The man tells Xander, who smiles.
" Yeah, and what's the difference between Agent and Civilian?" There was silence in the apartment until Xander smiled.
" Calm down Tex. I never said you couldn't take me in. I'm just not wearing the cuffs. They itch."
" Fine." The man concedes finally, squatting to collect the handcuffs. His eyes and gun remaining on Xander. " Let's go." He orders walking towards Xander, cuffs dangling from his fingers.
Xander doesn't move as the man nears, he stays standing still, arms held in the air. Keen not to get shot. The man is next to him, when he clubs Xander across the cheek with his gun, knocking him to the floor.
" You're a smart ass." The man growls as Xander fights a wave of dizziness, pushing against the carpet to get into a sitting position.
A sharp kick to Xander's stomach, sends him curling up into a ball clutching at his ribs in pain and the man crouches beside him and slaps the cuff on Xander's wrist.
" What have you got to say about that?" The man sneers pulling Xander's wrist behind him.
" Just this." Xander coughs painfully before using the same arm the man is pulling behind Xander's back to slam Tex in the nose. Moving quickly into a sitting position he flips up onto his feet throwing the agent off balance with a jolt. The Agent brings his weapon up, trying to lock onto a target and fire, but Xander uses the free end of the handcuff like a whip and it crashes against the Agent's fingers and the gun. Forcing him to drop it. A quick kick and Xander sends the gun skittering away on the floor of his apartment and out of the equation. Another kick, this time into the side of the Agent's head and the fight is over.
Xander paws through the pockets of the unconscious Agent until he finds the key to the handcuffs and he unlocks himself before slamming one bracelet around the Agent's right arm. He then pulls the Agent's arm down and cuffs it to his left leg.
A further invasion of the Agent's pockets, reveals a spare clip for the gun, an NSA identification card and a set of car keys. A trip to the kitchen to fetch a steak knife and a glass of water and Xander is ready for a quick chat.
The Agent wakes with a jerk as the water hits his face, the jerk is useless and probably painful with an arm and leg tied together. Xander drags a chair across the floor and takes a seat.
" You and me, we're going to have a dialogue." Xander tells the man as he takes seat.
" I'm not telling you a damn thing." The man says glaring at Xander angrily.
" You've already told me a fair bit. What does it matter if you fill in a couple of details?" Xander asks and the man shakes his head.
" I haven't told you shit."
" Sure you have. You sitting here by yourself tonight means that your crew in town must be fairly small. You're missing two Agents already, two to guard the prisoners. One sitting on Sara's house, one at Jack's. What did you start with? 7? And the boss man. 8?" Xander checks and the man stares at him and a momentary flash of confusion can be seen before it's replaced by anger. Xander smiles at the Agent, making him think he has again given up information.
" That little number tells me that this sure as shit ain't about a high school bombing. Who sends a team of 8 to pick up a terror suspect? In which case I'm thinking you guys have wandered off the reservation. No backup, no reinforcements coming and in a minute your little team is down to five."
The man coughs, shaking his head. He kept shaking it and Xander smiled when he could see the man would take his bait.
" So where were you supposed to take me tonight?"
" Screw you!" The Agent spat and Xander stood up, kicking away the chair.
Before the Agent knew what was happening Xander was upon him and plunging the steak knife into the flesh under his right arm. The Agent screams.
" I twist this knife and you'll lose the use of your hand. That's if I have my anatomy right and there's a nerve cluster around here somewhere. Or I could be wrong. I twist this knife, hit your artery and then you bleed for about a couple of minutes and die."
The agent glared at him, wincing and gritting his teeth in pain.
" I'll count to one." Xander announced before the Agent shouted.
" The old mill!"
Xander leaves the knife sticking in the wound he has created and stands. kicking the Agent in the head again to knock him out before dragging him into a closet and after retrieving the weapon, sat down on the couch. The gun in his hand. The soldier going through a plan.
The Agent had been surprised when Xander had mentioned the missing Agents. Because he didn't know they were missing, or they weren't missed. Someone could be using Vampires as muscle and keeping it quiet. The second thing Xander knew was that the Agent had set him up. If you lose three men in one night, you call in backup. And honestly, Xander was a little worried about what type of backup they would be.
Looking down at the gun in his hand he collected the clip and sighs,
" I'm going to need a bigger gun."
TBC