The men drag the boys out of the vehicle and are being roughly pulled along into a building. They can't tell much about the building, but they figure it is very large with the sounds and smells giving away the environment, almost like when you walk into a very large bank. They continue being led along, continually bumping into things. They stop and are blinded by light as the black sacks are removed from their heads and they are thrown into a dark room. They all hit the ground hard, like concrete. They roll over onto their sides and groan in pain as the door slams behind them and they are in total darkness. Rocky and Riker push themselves up into a sitting position, not knowing what to do, so they just sit their quietly.
Suddenly, a small, scared, shaky voice fills the room, "Hello?".
The boys are startled at the fact that, either, they are hearing things or that there is actually someone else in the room. "Hello?" Riker asks.
The voice replies with a little more alert, "Who are you?".
Rocky stops and thinks. He's heard this voice before. It suddenly clicks, "Laura?".
Laura lets out a long sigh of relief and smiles. She is so happy that she's not alone now. "Rocky? What are you guys doing here?".
Rocky doesn't hesitate to jump on that answer, "Some really weird guys had us pulled out of work and kidnapped us. I take it that they have kidnapped you, too". He tries to move his hands, only to remember that his hands are still tied behind his back. "Are you tied up as well?".
"Yeah", she struggles to get her hands free, but it's useless. Her wrists are sore and it's just not worth working that hard.
Riker intervenes, "How long have you been here?".
"Since last night, right after I got off the phone with Ross", she drops her head and just sits there, uncomfortable and tired. She's been worrying about one thing, "I hope that my mom is okay. She's probably freaking out".
Riker asks, "Can't you call her?".
"No, they took my phone".
"Well, here", Rocky reaches, as best as he can, to his back right pocket, where he usually keeps his phone, "You can use mine". He feels for it some more and then he tries his other pocket and has no such luck, so he starts feeling the floor around him. "Where's my phone", he continues to feel for it, "Riker, do you have your phone?".
Riker begins feeling around for his phone as well, "Damn, they must have taken our phones when they brought us in".
They all just sit there, hopeless and incredibly frustrated. Laura finally realizes that she hasn't heard a word from Ross, "Where's Ross?".
Rocky suddenly remembers. He feels a bit guilty for not even realizing that Ross is not a part of this whole conversation, "Fuck, where is he?".
"Well, calling out for him won't do any good. Feel around for him", Riker begins to crawl around feeling around for his younger brother.
"Wait! What!?" Laura has no idea what they are talking about, but the worst things are popping into her head about what has happened to Ross. Is he hurt? Is he dead? She tries to calm herself down and rid her mind of these ridiculous thoughts.
Riker puts her worry to rest, "They drugged him", he is still feeling around for him.
"Shit! What does the drug do to him? Is he going to be okay?" she immediately begins to feel around herself.
Riker replies, "Yeah, he should be fine".
What's wrong with him?".
"He's just unconscious right now", Riker hits a wall and hits his head, "Shit", he turns around and continues looking, "He should wake up any minute now".
They hear Rocky's voice from across the room, "Found him".
Riker begins trying to follow Rocky's voice, "Is he okay?".
"Yeah".
Laura and Riker slowly crawl their way over to Rocky and Ross. They sit there for about a minute and impatiently wait for a response from Ross. That is when they hear him groan. Everyone sits up with alert, waiting for him to say something. When they don't get any other response, Laura asks, "Ross, can you hear me?".
They all hear another moan and then a quiet raspy voice, "Laura? Where are you?".
She gets closer to him so he can tell that she is right next to him, "I'm right here, Ross".
Everything begins coming back to him, "What happened? Did they do anything to you?".
"I'm fine".
"Where are Rocky and Riker?".
Rocky says, "We are right here".
Ross then pushes himself up so he can sit, instead of lying on the hard, cold ground, "You guys could have said something", he tries to look around but the darkness is too thick, "Where are we?".
Riker sarcastically answers, "A dark room".
Ross, doesn't even notice the sarcasm in his brother's voice, "Why?".
Riker begins feeling very overwhelmed, stressed and panicked, "Ross, we don't know. If we knew, we might not be here or we would tell you but we don't know".
Ross is shocked at the way Riker snaps, "Riker, you seem tense".
Rocky says, "Well, we were kidnapped".
Ross leans his head back against the wall. He feels frustrated because he has no clue what is going on and he has no control over the situation, "Why, though?".
Just then, the lights come on. They are all extremely blinded. They struggle to open their eyes so they can see who entered the room. Ross still can't see but he is irritated, "Okay, whoever you are, we want to know who you are and why have you kidnapped us?".
"Oh Ross, I see you have awakened".
Ross recognizes that voice, "I'm tired of your games, man. What's going on?".
The man speaks in his casually calm voice, "If you come with us willingly, we will untie you and explain everything that is going on".
Riker only wants to know one thing, "Well, can you at least tell us who you are?".
"Will you come with us willingly?".
"Yes", Riker replies. Rocky looks at Riker and then back at the man, he nods. He's just as curious as Riker. They all look over to Ross, who is just glaring at the man.
Laura nudges his arm, "Ross".
He rolls his eyes, "Okay, fine, just tell us your name", he snaps.
The man then reveals his name, "My name is Jason Williams".
They all seem to relax a bit, as if some of the weight has been lifted off of their shoulders. Rocky let's out a sigh, "That's a start".
Jason then says, "We are going to to untie you, but you must behave yourselves", he looks over at Ross , singling him out, "No tricks".
Ross, rolls his eyes again, "Fine. Just please take these ropes off".
Jason goes up to each of them individually and uses a pocket knife to cut the thick rope off. They all rub their sore wrists from struggling and yanking so much. "Now, all of you, come with me". He leads them out of the room and they are suddenly in a very business-like environment. They are on the second story looking down at all the hustle going on below them. There are tons of computers and several desks. People dressed in suits and business clothes are all sitting at desks working on something, rushing around, on the phone or discussing amongst each other. All they can hear are phones ringing, keyboards being tapped on, and people talking. Rocky leans over the rail to get a better look. "What is this place?".
Jason looks down onto all of his peers and coworkers. He turns to Laura, Ross, Rocky, and Riker, "It is a government facility and you have become a very important part of it", he then turns away and leads them on. They all exchange confused expressions and continue to follow the man. They walk into a small room with a large screen. He grabs a tiny remote, points it at the screen and presses a button. Suddenly, the lights go down to a dim light and a large picture covers the screen. It's a picture of a little girl with jet black hair and very beautiful blue eyes. "This young girl has gone missing. Her name is Andrea Hammock. She is six years old and has been kidnapped".
Ross mumbles to himself, "Yeah, we know how that feels". Laura, once again, elbows him but this time in the ribs. He looks at her with a "what the hell" look. She just ignores it and continues to listen.
Rocky is quite confused, "Can't you just call the police?".
Jason clicks another button and the screen turns off and the lights come back on, "The people that took her are going to use her in an experiment".
Riker is confused just like the others, "Experiment?".
Jason, stands directly in front of them, "You see, the government has been guarding a very special substance called, Pepigel. Some people had somehow broken in, got past the guards and stole the Pepigel. They are going to use this gel to experiment how it takes effect on the human body. If it touches human skin, it can be fatal. However, if it gets warmer than 60 degrees Fahrenheit, it can cause a nuclear explosion".
"Wait", Riker tries to think through what he has just heard, "so you mean, they want to destroy the country?".
"Not just the country", Jason replies, "Most of the world".
Ross is getting more irritable by the minute, "Okay, so what does this have to do with us?"
"We have been watching you for a very long time and you are just what we need".
Rocky mumbles, "Talk about an invasion of privacy".
Riker covers up what Rocky said, "Exactly, how are we what you need?"
"You all have wit, intelligence, energy, physical ability, communication skill, just stuff like that".
"Okay, but why do you need us", Laura intervenes, "there are many others out there that have all of those abilities, too".
"Well", Jason paces to the other side of the room, "we need some young agents".
"Wait", Ross is shocked, "you mean like", he pauses, "government spies?".
Jason points directly at Ross, "Correct. I knew that once you quit being so stubborn, you would come through". Ross just stares at him blankly, dazed.
Rocky gets excited, "Ross, this is awesome! This is what you've always wanted to do!". Ross, just continues to stare.
"Ross", Riker is waiting for a response, "aren't you excited?".
Ross is almost speechless, "Well- but- now that it's actually happening- I".
"Why us? Why not Ryland and Rydel?" Riker asks.
"Or Vanessa?" Laura follows.
"Like I said", Jason starts, "You have everything we think some young agents would need. We didn't find all of the necessary skills in your other siblings. We chose you".
Something comes to Laura and she asks immediately, "Wait, the little girl's last name is Hammock, as in, President Hammock?".
"Yes".
Laura gasps, "They kidnapped the president's daughter!?".
"Yes", Jason says, "So are you guys up for it?". They all exchange looks, skeptically. They all have different expressions, so Riker, being the oldest, answers first.
"Well, this girl does need help", he thinks for a second, "I'm in".
Rocky continues to think about this huge decision. He makes up his mind, "Okay then, I'm game". Laura nods. Ross, however, doesn't understand how they could make up their minds so quickly on such a huge proposal. He then questions Jason, "What if I were to say no?".
Riker snaps at him, "Ross!".
Jason puts his head down, closes his eyes, and shakes his head. Then he smiles at Ross and looks rather amused, "Ah, Ross", he puts his arm around Ross' shoulders, "We thought that you would be more cooperative if we asked you so you wouldn't feel forced but,", he looks at him, "You have to".
Ross looks unamused at the wall, "Somehow, I saw that coming".
"Okay great!" Jason gives Ross a pat on the back, "You guys will report to training tomorrow morning. Everything you need for the next few weeks is here".
"Wait", Ross is getting angry now, "You mean, we can't even go home!?".
Rocky jumps in, "What about our families? They are probably worried sick about us?".
"You will be allowed to call them every night", Jason assures them.
"Well may we have our phones back?" Laura asks.
"Those phones will no longer be of use to you", he pulls four phones out of his pockets, "These phones are your new phones. They are restricted so they can't call you back and they can't track your location". He hands each of the boys a small black phone and hands Laura a small silver phone. "You MUST NOT tell them what's going on. This is top secret government business", he then turns to Ross, " You MUST NOT tell ANYONE". Ross responds with a glare. Ignoring Ross' reaction, "It is late, so we will be taking you to your rooms now", he leads them out of the room and down a few hallways. It looks nice, almost like hotel hallways. They approach a door and unlocks it, "This is the boys room", he leads them into a huge room with three full beds, a large bathroom with towels, hygienic supplies and a nice shower, they each have a small dresser, each filled with a variety of clothing, and there is a closet set with three shelves of shoes, a shelf for each of them.
Riker looks around the room, "Wow, this is nicer than I thought it would be".
Rocky nods in agreement, "It's almost like a suite".
"Make yourselves at home", Jason shuts their door and turns to Laura, "and for you Ms. Marano", he takes her to a room that is smaller than the boys room, but not too much. It has a queen sized bed, a nice bathroom, a dresser with clothing in it, a closet, and a night stand with a lamp on it, "This is your room".
Laura checks out the room and nods in approval, "It's not my apartment, but it's nice".
Jason smiles at her, "Enjoy", he goes to close the door.
"Wait", he turns to Laura, "What about dinner and meals?".
"Dinner will be coming shortly", he turns to leave, "oh", turns back to face her, "I'm sorry, but you may not go into the boys' room at anytime and they may not come into yours. Also, you will not be allowed to leave your room after 10:00 pm.".
Laura sighs, "Alright". Jason steps out of her door and closes it behind him. He is then approached my one of his men.
"So do you honestly think that this is going to work?".
Jason nods, "They are just what we need", they begin walking down the hallway, "but that Ross is going to be a handful. Getting him to cooperate without arguing is going to be like breaking a wild horse, and that's why he is exactly what we need".