Hello! So, technically we aren't allowed to post contests on their own, so I am no longer doing any of my other contests, but I do have a new one. It will be at the bottom of this story for those who are interested.
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"Hamilton, Sinead!"
"Ned, what is it?"
"Madison's gone."
"What? What do you mean she's gone!"
"She ran off and I can't find her anywhere."
"Okay, let's look again and make sure you didn't miss anywhere."
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"Why won't you tell me what branch you're in?"
"It's complicated."
"What do you mean? There are only five branches how can it be complicated?"
"It just…it just is."
"Okay, that's not confusing at all."
"Do you wanna go see if Ian has found anything about that painting Amy and Dan need to get?"
"Yeah, su- Hey! Don't change the subject, what branch are you from?"
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"MADISON! MADISON!" They had been looking for two hours and no sign of Madison. Hamilton was upset, Sinead was doing her best to comfort him, and Ned looked close to tears.
"I just got a new text from the Vespers," Ian came running out of the mansion, phone in hand. Before he even caught glimpse of the picture Ned had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"What is it?"
"A picture." Or more specifically a picture of Madison held in a cell along with the other hostages.
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Madison woke up in a tiny cell along with the other hostages. Other hostages. I'm a hostage now.
She was first aware of the fact that Reagan was shaking her awake, and secondly aware that Reagan was holding Ted's hand. If it had been a different place and time she would have teased her sister about liking an Ekat, even thought Madison like Ned.
"How long have I been out?" Her voice sounding gravelly and she didn't want to know how horrible she must have looked.
"About a day." Madison bolted upright, instantly regretting it, and did a head count of everyone who was there. She was relieved to find that no one else had been taken. Or more specifically that a certain Starling hadn't been taken.
"Anything interesting happen since I arrived?" Reagan looked like she wanted to laugh at her sisters light hearted tone, but didn't have enough energy.
"Well, Nellie got shot, and Natalie might have a very promising career as a surgeon."
"Oh, do tell."
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"Why won't you tell me? Do you not trust me?"
"Of course I trust you, it's just…"
"You seem to be saying 'it's just' a lot."
"I know."
"So, are you going to tell me?"
"I'm not sure."
"What do you mean?"
"I want to tell you, but at the same time you'll probably hate me when you find out. It's not just as simple as being a member of one of the five branches."
"Elizabeth, look at me."
"Do I have to? Your eyes are very distracting."
"Yes you have to."
"Fine."
"I could never hate you. Even if you drop kicked my heart, I would be finding a logical reason for it, a reason that I deserved it, and it wasn't your fault. So, tell me. I won't hate you. I can't hate you."
Elizabeth sings Secrets by One Republic
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Madison hated the little cell. Sure, being caught up by Reagan had been fun for a bit, but now all she could do was sit there. And plus the fact that Ted was Ned's twin so he looked so close to Ned it was painful.
Even thought they were twins, they weren't exactly the same. Ned was more the sarcastic and quick to joke one, and Ted was more the brooding verge-of-being-emo one. Madison also knew that Ned liked physics and chemistry whereas Ted liked biology, anthropology, and forensics.
Physically, Ned had freckles and Ted didn't. Ned's hair was a little bit more auburn then his brothers and Ted's was a lot neater than Ned's. Ted's hair was always perfectly in place, to the point where his hair could have been an Ekaterina invention. But Ned's was really messy. It stuck out at odd angles and when he was nervous he would run his hands through it.
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"Ned, I know you're worried about Madison but if you keep running your hand through your hair it's going to fall out." Sinead half-heartedly scolded her brother. Most of her attentions where focused on figuring out how to hug Hamilton when he was so much bigger than her.
She tried hugging him from behind; no luck.
She tried hugging him from the side; she felt like a koala
She tried hugging him from the front; his hair tickled her face
In the end she gave up when he took her into a hug instead. She had been trying to hold him in a comforting way, but really him holding her comforted him more.
Ned left the room partially because he wanted to get away from Hamilton and Sinead's coupley-ness, partially because he wanted to do everything to find and save Madison that he could, and partially because he wished he had gotten the chance to be coupley with Madison.
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"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Now, I totally get why you said it was complicated."
"Do you hate me?"
"I already told you, I could never hate you."
"Thanks, Jonah. I know most people would hate me."
"The others, do they know?"
"Only Amy."
"Hmm.'
"You're being abnormally quiet, what is it?" Jonah was about to answer but Ned came in looking distressed.
"Ned, what's wrong?"
"The Vespers took Madison." Elizabeth's eyes widened and it took Jonah a minute to remember that Elizabeth, Madison, Amy, and Sinead were all like best friends. Elizabeth looked like she was about to cry and Jonah hugged her while Ned left to escape even more coupley-ness.
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"Oh, and this is Ben, he's Elizabeth's brother."
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Is my little sister okay? I mean, last time you saw her?"
"Yeah, although the Vespers tried to kidnap her before me. She got away thanks to Jonah Wizard; he helped her kick the guy." She had every confidence that Elizabeth could have beaten him on her own, but figure throwing in a good word for Jonah might help when Ben met her. He seemed like the over protective brother type.
Out of the corner of her eye Madison saw Reagan and Ted were still holding hands. Reagan got her Starling, why can't I get mine?
Madison sings Blame it on the Rain by He Is We
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Ned honestly didn't know why he was missing Madison so much. Sure, they hung out a lot, but that didn't explain why he felt compelled to spend five hours calculating possible locations for the location the hostages were being held; he had been able to narrow it down to about half of the world.
His brother was a hostage too, but until Madison had been kidnapped he hadn't felt such determination. Another hour and he had cut out another eighth of the world where they couldn't be held.
Two hours later he had it narrowed down to twenty possible countries, and he was starting to maybe figure out why Madison was so important to him. He had read about the scientific effects of love, and so he ran a test on himself.
He looked at a picture of Madison and was alarmed to find that his pulse sped up and his pupils dilated. He wanted to argue with it. To say that he couldn't possibly like her like that, in fact he told her so. And that was when he came to the startling realization that he didn't like her.
He loved her.
Ned sings Miss You by Ed Sheeran
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"Why would they take Madison? They already had Reagan!"
"Maybe they thought we need more motivation."
"Or maybe they're just heartless bastards."
"Or that.'
"And why did they have to take my brother? I mean, how did they even know I was working with you guys?"
"You know why they took him, you just don't want to acknowledge it, and they're vespers; they practically know everything."
"No they don't."
"What do you mean?"
"There is one thing they don't know that could actually work in our favor."
"What?"
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"Now, both of my sisters are hostages." Sinead didn't know what to say to that, so she just hugged him tighter. Ned was about to enter the room, but seeing them being all mushy, and seeing a Tomas cry made him back away.
Ned had a feeling that a crying Tomas, while seemingly vulnerable, could easily deliver a punch regardless. He didn't just have a feeling actually, he knew. He had reviewed the security tapes and even though Madison had been kidnapped she put up a hell of a fight.
Ned almost smiled thinking about Madison but then frowned again. He went back to his board and narrowed where they could be even more.
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So, I have a new contest that I'm posting on this story, because technically we can't have contests but whatever. So this is called the help contest. Most of us who write on this website are kinda nerdy, and have probably been bullied at one time or another in their life. For the contest you need to write about a character being bullied and another character helping them. One requirement is; the character cannot ask for the other persons help. The other person has to see what's happening and decide to be a good person. I don't care if it's romantic or not, just try and put the emotions from bullying into it and it will be great. Extra points if it makes me cry.