And here is the final chapter. I want to thank all of you for hanging in there and being patient with the delays. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed the story, especially SpreadTheNerd, Michael66, EastCoastCaptain, Jaytoyz, Coreymon77, Jimmy144, Osced, Katsamura, Tempe4Booth, and anybody else I may have forgotten. Of course, my appreciation goes out to BDaddyDL, who not only gave me the idea for the story but let me bounce a number of ideas off his head on how I should proceed.
I'll be going on vacation in a couple of weeks, meeting up with one of my best friends on the French Riviera, which would sound so much cooler if I actually looked good in a bathing suit. But I haven't traveled much in my life, so I'm excited about the trip. When I get back, hopefully I'll have some new story ideas. In the meantime, enjoy this final chapter and please leave reviews.
Take care!
Atlanta, GA
March 22, 2033
5:50 AM EDT
John looked out of the window of the government-issue car the Department of Homeland Security office in Atlanta provided them as they drove to a secured location near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They continued to go under the assumption his parents were being held somewhere close to the airport so Daniel Shaw could make a quick getaway. Unfortunately, that still left far too much real estate to cover, and any hint of a search would almost surely spell the end for them.
He looked over at Samantha, who rode in the back of the car with him. Carina was in the front seat with the liaison from the Atlanta office. Samantha hadn't left his side since they departed from Langley, but she didn't say a word to him either. The most she did was to occasionally take his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. He appreciated she was trying to comfort him. But given what they were about to do, perhaps she was trying to comfort herself.
The sun wouldn't rise for another ninety minutes, and John thought it was only fitting to see nothing but the dark of night outside. Certainly it reflected his mood. One way or another, this would be over in a few hours. Everyone was still confident they would rescue his parents and keep the Intersect out of the hands of Daniel Shaw. He tried his best to remain optimistic, but the fear of losing them…or being killed in their presence…wouldn't go away.
The car pulled up to a small building near the cargo terminal at the airport and everybody got out. Carina opened the trunk and John pulled out the two bags of equipment as Casey, Jimmy, and Alex pulled computer equipment and weapons out of their vehicle. They were met by the CIA regional director and the head of the DHS in Atlanta, who showed everyone to a secured conference room.
"Have a seat, John," Casey said as he took two of the bags and inventoried the equipment inside. Jimmy went to the opposite side of the conference table and attached the IntComm to a specialized laptop with a secure link to the CIA server room at Langley.
"What are you doing with the IntComm?" John asked Jimmy.
"I'm making a few…modifications…to help us," Jimmy replied. "If Shaw sticks to his schedule, I should have just enough time to make this work so he won't be able to download the Intersect."
"Why not just take the Intersect out of it?"
Jimmy shook his head. "We have to assume he'll scan the IntComm first. If the Intersect isn't in there, it won't take Shaw very long to figure that out. We have to fool him for as long as we can."
"Wait, I don't understand. How do we get my parents back when we don't even know where they're being held?"
"Actually, that's being taken care of right now," Alex replied. "And someone is about to get a small amount of payback."
"What do you mean?"
Langley, VA
March 22, 2033
5:50 AM EDT
Kristin Collier walked down the corridor in the secured section of CIA Headquarters. She was relieved the accusations of treason leveled against her yesterday lasted all of an hour. She was even happier when Alex came down to apologize to her personally for what happened and told her she might be needed to assist with the person who tried to frame her. For all of the bureaucratic headaches her job brought from unhinged agents and ass-covering government officials, this morning's little trip was about to make all of that worth the effort.
"He didn't give us much during interrogations last night. Are you sure we can convince him to do this?" she said to the person walking down the corridor with her.
"I spent six years as a KGB agent. I'm going to pretend you didn't ask me that," Gertrude Verbanski replied with a raised eyebrow as they reached Bob Hume's cell.
Kristin swiped her access card to open the cell. She walked purposefully to Hume, who was sleeping on his cot.
"Get up," she said contemptuously as she shook him hard. Hume slowly sat up on his cot and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"What do you want now?"
"It's not what I want; it's what you want." Kristin paced slowly back and forth in front of Hume, but her eyes kept that same look of scorn. "You're in over your head, and you know it. Right now, we can make charges of treason stick against you. We can nail you for selling a government weapon to an enemy of the state. Executions are a bit rare these days, but I think they'll make an exception for what you did. Unless, of course, you cooperate with us. Then perhaps you'll only spend twenty or thirty years behind bars."
"What do I have to do?"
Kristin tossed Hume's mobile phone at him. "You're going to call Daniel Shaw and give him the information we want him to hear. And you will keep him on the line until we complete our trace."
Hume shook his head. "And if I do this, Shaw will find me and I'll be dead even sooner. Thank you, but I'll take my chances with a trial."
Kristin's lip turned upward in a bit of a deranged smile. "Of course, I was being generous when I said we'd bring you up on charges of treason. Since we're in a bit of a hurry, I think I'll just walk out of here and leave you in her capable hands," she said as she gestured towards Gertrude.
Hume chuckled. "Uh, no offense to Grandma over there, but I just don't see her breaking me."
Verbanski pulled out a dagger and threw it at Hume. The dagger embedded itself in Hume's cot three inches from his groin.
Kristin turned to Verbanski. "Weird. I was expecting you to get it closer."
Verbanski shrugged. "Well, I have to practice with my left hand sometimes. You never know when you might be forced to throw with your bad hand."
Kristin looked back at Hume, who was turning four different shades of white. A wet stain began to form in the nether regions of his orange jumpsuit.
"Now, what were you saying before about helping us?" Kristin asked with a smile.
Atlanta, GA
March 22, 2033
6:00 AM EDT
Daniel Shaw received the report from Barringer's men that no unusual activity had been seen in the area and nothing about their location was being mentioned on any communications by civil or government authorities. He was actually a bit disappointed. He figured John Bartowski would rush to tell John Casey or Alex Forrest about his little phone call and try to design some plan of attack. Perhaps John was so desperate to get his parents back that he listened to Shaw's every word. It's been a long time since I was that impulsive, Shaw thought.
Shaw's phone began to ring. He looked at the number on the caller ID and frowned. "This better be good," Shaw said angrily to Bob Hume.
"I just figured you would want to know that John Bartowski's name came up on a passenger list for United flight 3604 from Dulles to Atlanta. He should arrive there around 8:00 AM."
"Are you sure?"
"When it came up on the computer, I drove over to Dulles to confirm it."
"Taking some initiative. I'm impressed, Mr. Hume. Was anybody with him, perhaps someone tailing him?"
"No, Mr. Shaw. I followed him from the security checkpoint right to the gate. I even watched the door close and the jet taxi towards the runway. Nobody said a thing to him. He was alone."
"You turned out to be a prudent investment."
"Uh, speaking of which…when do I get the password to access the money you promised?"
"Be patient. Just as soon as I wrap things up here. And I trust you can keep your mouth shut about all of this?"
"Yes. Of course," Hume replied. Shaw disconnected his phone and walked back to where Chuck and Sarah were still tied up.
"I guess trusting others is something that was passed from father to son," Shaw said condescendingly to Chuck. "He's coming alone. No backup. He must figure I'll let all of you go. I'm almost saddened, actually. I would have loved a bigger audience. More of your friends to meet a horrible death in your presence. Oh, well. I'll get to them soon enough."
He pulled a roll of duct tape out of a box and tore off two pieces, placing them over the mouths of Chuck and Sarah. "I thought I'd save myself the bother of you two trying to talk tough or plead for mercy. And after I take care of John, we're going to take a little trip to find your daughter."
Shaw rummaged through the box again and pulled out a briefcase. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little 'insurance policy' to prepare."
Shaw walked out of the warehouse, and Sarah let out a scream of anger through the duct tape as she struggled against her restraints.
Atlanta, GA
March 22, 2033
6:10 AM EDT
"Good work, Kristin. Thank Gertrude for us."
Alex walked back into the conference room where Casey, Jimmy, Carina, John, and Samantha were waiting for the good news. "We have Shaw's location. It's an abandoned warehouse just southeast of the airport property along Interstate 285."
Casey booted his gComm and did a search for the warehouse based on the address Alex told him. He activated the projection unit. "There are only four entrances to the warehouse, and we have to assume Shaw will have all four of them well-guarded. Once Chuck, Sarah, and John are safe, breaching the structure won't take long. But getting you in there won't be easy, Slade."
Jimmy studied the photo. "I have a few ideas on the subject, but we'll deal with that later." He disconnected the IntComm from his computer and handed it to John. "Shaw will probably call you around 8:15, once he thinks you've gotten off the plane. We'll use a taxi to drive you to the warehouse. The most important thing, John, is to act like you want your parents back more than anything. We'll home in on your signal."
"How?"
Jimmy handed him an earpiece the size of a grain of rice, which John put in his ear. "A little thing I created for the Agency a few years back. You can talk and listen like we're standing right next to you and they'll never find it. It'll be turned off until one minute after you go in the warehouse, just in case they scan you for listening devices when they frisk you."
"And I'm supposed to just give Shaw the IntComm?"
"His first instinct will be to put on the sunglasses and download the Intersect. But I made a couple of modifications. If he puts on the glasses, the series of images he sees will actually freeze his neural pathways temporarily. He won't be able to move a muscle for fifteen minutes. By then, he'll be in a straitjacket and locked up inside a police wagon."
"But the real Intersect is still on this?"
Jimmy nodded. "Once Shaw has been incapacitated, I'll get inside the warehouse, free your parents and lead all of you out of there. Casey will call for everyone else to breach the structure and take out Shaw's men. If all else fails, I'll download the Intersect to assist us in getting out."
John was quiet for a moment. "Are you sure this will work? It sounds very risky."
"Every mission has risk, John," Carina said. "But we know what motivates Shaw. The opportunity to kill you with your grandfather's own invention right in front of your parents? He can't resist the opportunity. He'll want to download that Intersect in him just to twist the knife further."
"But he'll never get the chance," Jimmy replied confidently. "You can do this, John."
"Yeah, OK," John replied quietly.
"Casey," Alex interrupted. "The DHS has the head of the Atlanta HBT Elite team on videoconference. We have to go over the plans with them."
Casey and Alex left the room to conference with the Atlanta Police Department. Carina and Jimmy went for some coffee, leaving Samantha and John alone in the conference room. Samantha took the seat next to John's.
"You don't sound too confident," she said. "Remember what I said in your hotel room after we got back from Barringer's apartment? I told you to trust them. They haven't let you down once."
"No, I know. It's not them I'm worried about."
Samantha smiled. "And what did I say to do most of all?"
John looked down at the ground before nodding. "Trust myself."
"Exactly. I'm pretty sure they would have handcuffed you to your bed and left you behind if they couldn't trust you. But you've done great work. You even saved my life." She took his hand. "Believe you can do this, John. That's what they told me the very first day of training. Be confident in yourself."
John looked into her eyes and smiled. "Thank you. I don't know how I could have handled this if it wasn't for you."
Samantha returned his smile. "Not to worry. I have a way for you to pay me back."
"How?"
"After it's over."
Samantha stood and looked at John for a moment before leaning down and gently placing her lips on his, gently caressing his cheek as she kissed him.
"Good luck, John," Samantha whispered before straightening up and walking out of the conference room. The CIA regional director appeared at the door and motioned for John to accompany him. John grabbed the IntComm off of the conference table and walked out with the director.
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
March 22, 2033
8:10 AM EDT
John fidgeted in the back of the taxi, waiting for Daniel Shaw to call. The driver, an NSA agent stationed in Atlanta, told him to keep the IntComm out of sight to not attract attention. Aside from that, the agent didn't say a thing to him. The agent probably assumed John didn't want to be bothered, but John could have used a little conversation to calm him.
His iComm began to ring. "Hello?"
"Have you arrived in Atlanta?"
"I landed ten minutes ago," John replied while trying to keep the fear out of his voice.
"Very well. Head to the taxi stand and tell the driver you want to go to Interstate 285 and take Exit 60 South. Drive to the corner of Forrest Parkway and Sullivan Creek Road. Once the taxi leaves and I confirm nobody is following you, someone will lead you to me."
The phone cut off. "Did you get all of that?" John asked the agent.
"No problem. I'll have you there in fifteen minutes."
The agent pulled out of the taxi stand and headed towards the exit for Interstate 85 South. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up to a large warehouse that appeared to have been abandoned for some time based on the uncut grass and rust along the outer walls. John exited the taxi.
"Comm works, John?" Alex Forrest seemed to ask out of nowhere. It startled John momentarily before he remembered the earpiece he was wearing.
"It works," he replied.
"OK, we have eyes on you. We'll go silent until you enter the building and then the mic will be hot one minute later."
"I understand." He looked back at the agent who drove him to the warehouse. "Thanks for your help."
"Good luck. We got your back," the agent said as he pulled away.
John watched the taxi drive out of sight. A few minutes later, a man emerged from the warehouse and trained an automatic weapon on John. John put his hands up, and the man led John into the warehouse. Two other men patted John down and took his iComm. They prodded him forward, and John walked towards the door leading to the main floor. He pulled the door open and gasped in shock.
"Mom! Dad!"
John sprinted the rest of the way to them. He dropped the IntComm on the ground as he hugged his mother, who could only press her cheek up against him as tears came to both of them.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so sorry," John wailed as he hugged her tightly before moving over to his father to give him a hug.
"I'm sorry, Dad," he said as he hugged Chuck.
"It's OK, John. It's OK," Chuck said in a muffled voice behind the duct tape over his mouth.
"This is all very touching, but have work to do," Shaw said as he motioned for the two men who accompanied John into the warehouse to pull him off of his parents. John struggled for a moment, not wanting to let go of them, before stepping back and facing Shaw.
"As you can see, they haven't been harmed," Shaw said in a noncommittal voice. "Did you bring the IntComm?"
John looked at the spot on the floor where he left the IntComm. One of Shaw's men retrieved it and handed it to Shaw.
"And the glasses?"
John reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the glasses. Shaw took them from John and attached the IntComm to his computer. The diagnostic program on his computer showed the IntComm's storage was completely full.
"Very good, John. I'm so glad you listened," Shaw said with a smile.
-/^\-
Casey pulled the van behind a building across the street from the warehouse. It could not be seen by anybody in the warehouse, but Casey didn't take any chances. He drove the streets around the area before arriving in case someone was keeping an eye out for some sort of rescue team.
In the back of the van, Alex listened to John inside the warehouse. She then switched frequencies. "James, Shaw has the Intersect. Are you ready?"
"Taking off now," Jimmy replied. He finished attaching his harness to the rescue line on the helicopter and checked to see if it was secure. He pounded on the window to tell the pilot he was ready. The helicopter took off from the cargo area at Hartsfield and headed south, away from the runways and towards the warehouse.
-/^\-
"OK, you have the IntComm," John said anxiously. "You promised to let my parents go."
Shaw smiled. It was not a pleasant smile by any stretch of the imagination. John swore he never saw a smile like that on anyone but the devil himself.
"John, let me tell you a little story," Shaw began, his voice brimming with confidence. "I'm sure you've already heard I had an Intersect in me many years ago. What you may not know is how your father took it out of me. He gave me a rigged Intersect, one that took my Intersect away instead of giving me the latest version."
Shaw nodded, and the two men pinned John's arms behind his back. "Fool me once, John, shame on you. Fool me twice…well, that just isn't going to happen."
Shaw activated the glasses and placed them on John's head. Shaw's men grabbed John's face to keep his eyes open as the images downloaded into his mind. John could feel his entire body become numb. He tried to will himself into taking a step but nothing happened.
The Intersect program shut itself off, and Shaw took the glasses off of John. Chuck and Sarah stared in horror as John was completely motionless.
Shaw turned to them and smiled. "Remind you of anything, Sarah?" Shaw taunted. "A little café in Paris, perhaps? Like mother…like son."
Shaw turned back to John and punched him hard in the solar plexus, cracking a rib in the process. John doubled-over as his autonomic system tried to keep him breathing. The lack of any sound from him shook Chuck and Sarah to their core.
"Only this time," Shaw said as he threw a punch at the vulnerable John to knock him down. "I have every intention of finishing the job."
"You son of a bitch!" Sarah screamed as hard as she could through the duct tape over her mouth, struggling against her restraints.
Shaw cackled at Sarah. "You know, you just have to love the irony. If John did exactly what I told him to do, he would have an Intersect in him right now. I'd be dead and you two would be free."
Shaw motioned for the two men to pick John up. "Don't," Chuck cried out in a muffled voice. "Please, I'm begging you…"
"You don't get it, do you," Shaw said contemptuously. "I've been waiting for this day for over twenty years, and I plan to enjoy every second of it." He took out a knife with a long, serrated edge. The smile of satisfaction on his face was augmented by the ice cold look he gave the two people he swore vengeance against. "I had Steven Barringer mail this to my contact inside the prison. It's specially designed to inflict the most pain as I cut into your son. That way, both of you feel what I felt when you took Evelyn from me."
He put the knife to John's face, who still couldn't move. They were interrupted by loud voices on their radios. One of Shaw's men picked up his radio.
"Say that again," the man said into his radio. "What helicopter?"
A loud crash from above made everybody except John look up, and they scattered when glass from the skylight fell to the floor around him. A long rope dropped into the warehouse, and Jimmy quickly slid down it to the warehouse floor. Shaw's men let John go and tried to attack him. Jimmy spun in the air and landed a vicious roundhouse kick at one man. He windmilled a brutal haymaker at the other, knocking him out with one punch.
Jimmy pivoted around quickly to find Shaw, only to be met by a roundhouse kick to the face. Jimmy fell to the ground.
"Slowing down in your old age, Jimmy?" Shaw teased as he looked around. He thought the better of it and grabbed the IntComm, taking off into the stacks of pallets and wooden boxes that covered a significant portion of the warehouse floor.
Jimmy shook off the cobwebs and jumped up. He looked around for Shaw before going to Chuck and Sarah and carefully pulling the duct tape from their mouths. He took a lock pick out of his flak jacket and freed Sarah's right hand.
"What the hell were you thinking bringing my son here?" Sarah looked ready to inflict more damage on Jimmy than Shaw would have. "You paralyzed him…"
"Later, Sarah," Chuck said quickly. "Get the IntComm back, Jimmy," Chuck ordered.
"Are you sure…"
"GO!" both of them screamed. Jimmy gave the lock pick to Sarah and took off after Shaw. Sarah undid the handcuff on her left wrist and unchained her ankles. She quickly went to Chuck and freed him as well. Chuck retrieved the automatic weapons from Shaw's men as Sarah went to John and cradled him in her arms.
"John…" she sobbed as she couldn't stop more tears from forming in her eyes. "Why did you do this? Why?"
"He'll be fine, baby," Chuck said in a soothing voice. "They must have programmed the IntComm thinking Shaw would put the glasses on first."
Sarah exhaled deeply. "What made him do such a crazy thing?"
Chuck put his arm around his wife and held her tightly while gently caressing John's face. "Well, he is our son. It runs in the family."
As scared as Sarah was for John, she couldn't avoid a smile coming to her face. She held him for several more minutes when she suddenly heard a groan from John. The groan got louder and louder.
"John, can you hear us? Can you say anything?" Chuck asked hopefully.
"Rrrrrr…..rrrriiiiii….."
'What, son?"
John's jaw slowly began to move back and forth. His entire face cringed in pain. "Ribs!"
"Oh, God," Sarah said, carefully laying John flat on the ground, forgetting what Shaw did to him. Chuck quickly looked around and saw an old first aid kit near the door where John entered. He ran over to retrieve it. He rummaged through it quickly and found an old gel pack. He broke it open and carefully placed it over John's broken rib.
-/^\-
Jimmy ran through the stacks of crates with his gun drawn, ready to take Shaw out. He looked around cautiously, not wanting to be taken out by a surprise kick to the face around the next corner.
"Casey, we've got a big problem," Jimmy whispered to not draw attention.
"What, Slade?" Casey asked.
"Shaw put the glasses on John. He's immobilized. Shaw's on the loose with the IntComm, Chuck and Sarah are free, but I assume they haven't left John's side. If Shaw's men come in, we're all dead."
"We'll keep them busy. Get the IntComm and take out that prick."
Jimmy desperately looked around to find Shaw. He then heard the sound of footsteps on metal. He ran to the end of the aisle and spotted a stairwell up to the catwalk surrounding the warehouse. He quickly ascended the stairs.
-/^\-
Casey got on his radio to the HBT team. "Cover the entrances, take out anyone there. Do not…repeat, do NOT…breach the structure. We still have four friendlies inside."
The HBT team broke up into four groups of six. Casey followed one group, Alex followed a second, and Carina and Samantha followed a third group. Shaw's men opened fire at all four entrances, forcing the teams to drop into the grass for cover. They began to return fire.
-/^\-
"John, can you move at all?" Chuck asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.
John slowly began to rock his legs back and forth. "Trying, Dad," he strained through a still-weak voice. He lifted his head with great effort, and Chuck gently moved him to a sitting position, keeping the cold pack on his broken rib.
"I insisted on going on the rescue, Mom," John said with a bit of shame. "I'm sorry I…"
"Do not be sorry," Sarah replied as she also held John up. "We're going to stop that bastard and get home safely." She paused for a moment. "THEN I'm going to ground you."
"Let's try to get up," Chuck said as he took John's arm around his shoulder. He got up slowly and John got his legs under him. Chuck held onto John as his Intersect-induced paralysis continued to fade. After a few seconds, John was able to stay on his feet without help from Chuck. Sarah grabbed the two automatic weapons as John took a few steps forward. He stumbled once or twice but slowly began to regain his balance.
Sarah looked up and spotted Shaw running along the catwalk. She opened fire at him, barely missing him. Shaw jumped back in surprise and hit the railing, his gun falling down to the warehouse floor as a result. He took off in the opposite direction. He turned his attention away from Chuck and Sarah…
…and was met by Jimmy's fist.
Shaw fell down and the IntComm flew out of his hands. He shook off Jimmy's punch and quickly stood up. Jimmy leaped past him to retrieve the IntComm. Shaw turned around as Jimmy tried to grab the IntComm and glasses lying on the catwalk.
"So the Intersect really is in there," Shaw said as he put the pieces together. He threw a punch before Jimmy had a chance to turn completely around. Jimmy staggered back but righted himself and attacked Shaw again. Shaw pushed off the railing to land a boot at Jimmy's head. Jimmy lost his balance and fell over the railing to the warehouse floor.
"NO!" Chuck screamed as he saw Jimmy fall from the catwalk.
Chuck, Sarah, and John stared in horror at Jimmy lying on the concrete floor of the warehouse and not moving an inch. They began to walk towards him when a half-dozen of Shaw's men opened fire on them. They dove for cover behind a stack of boxes. Sarah grabbed one of the automatic weapons from Chuck and returned fire. John stayed behind his father as Chuck opened fire to keep Shaw's men at bay.
John looked back and spotted Daniel Shaw returning to the warehouse floor and running towards Jimmy.
"Shaw's heading for the IntComm! I'll go get it!"
"No, John!" Chuck shouted, but John wouldn't be dissuaded as he sprinted towards Jimmy, attempting to outrun Shaw. Shaw spotted him and went into a full sprint.
"Don't even think about it," Shaw growled but John never heard him as he got to Jimmy first. He grabbed the IntComm and glasses and quickly checked for Jimmy's pulse before taking off.
"Son of a bitch." Shaw retrieved his gun and grabbed another one off of the unconscious Jimmy. He fired a shot towards John but missed as John hid in a large section of stacked crates and pallets. He resisted the urge to make too much noise by catching his breath, but his cracked rib was making breathing difficult already.
"Can anybody hear me?" John whispered as he looked back and forth fearfully.
"John, where are you?" Casey replied over his earpiece.
"I think I'm near the entrance I came in. I have the IntComm. Shaw is after me. Uncle Jimmy is alive, but barely."
"Get back to your parents, John. Right now. Find some cover; we're going to breach the structure."
John peeked around the corner to see Shaw moving down the aisle towards him. He quickly hid behind a stack of crates. Shaw got on his radio.
"He's somewhere in this area. Keep four people pinning down his parents so they can't escape. The rest of you, fan out and locate their son. I want him alive."
-/^\-
Casey signaled the HBT team to prepare to breach. "Forrest, Miller, we have to get in there now."
"We're still pinned down, Case," Alex replied.
"Check your bags. A little present in there."
Alex rummaged through the prep kit Casey made for each of them while Samantha did the same with the bag Casey gave Carina.
"Sonic grenades?" Carina was surprised before a smile came across her face. "Typical John Casey. Not a lot of sophistication, but a whole lot of fun."
Casey unslung the M-12 rifle on his shoulder and loaded the grenade, which was designed to have the same effects as a concussion grenade but allowed the blast radius to be controlled. Alex and Carina borrowed M-12's from their teams and readied themselves. Casey contacted the leader of the fourth team to prep that entrance.
"Set for a five-meter radius," Casey ordered as he programmed his sonic grenade. Carina and Alex followed suit. "Fire!"
Casey launched the sonic grenade at the northwest entrance as the other three teams also fired sonic grenades at their respective entrances. Shaw's men tried to retreat inside the building as all four grenades hit near the doors, exploding and knocking a number of them unconscious. The four teams charged towards the entrances.
"HBT teams, create a perimeter. Nobody gets out," Casey ordered as Alex, Carina, Samantha, and he entered the building.
-/^\-
John slipped down the aisle between the crates. He looked between stacks to see his mother using the last of her ammunition keeping Shaw's men at bay. John began to panic as he saw more of Shaw's men closing in on him. He looked down at the IntComm and glasses in his possession. He wasn't sure how long it would take Casey and the others to get inside, but there were still plenty of Shaw's men inside the warehouse and his parents couldn't hold out forever.
He took a deep breath. "Trust yourself, John…"
He put the glasses on, and the IntComm activated. The images began to flash by faster than he could comprehend them. He was frozen in place, unable to look away or even blink as he saw thousands and thousands of images.
The IntComm shut itself off and John's legs gave way under him. He caught himself before he fell to the ground, but the commotion gave his location away.
"Freeze," one of Shaw's men said, pointing a gun at John. He was soon joined by five other men, all of whom pointed their guns at him. John slowly stepped away from the stacks and walked into the aisle.
"Mr. Shaw, we have him," the first man said into his radio. The group of six men moved in towards John. "Let's go," he said in a menacing voice.
John froze as his eyes rolled back and his mind began to flood with various instructions.
His eyes snapped open. He stretched his hands out and spun on one leg, knocking everyone's weapons away in one swoop. He sent a hard jab at the man with the radio, turned on his heel, and followed it with an elbow to the next man. He landed a roundhouse kick on a third man and threw punches at the first two men again to knock them out. He did a back flip through the air to avoid a fourth man, coming down and sending his foot in the middle of the man's chest to knock him back. He thrust a palm strike at the fifth man, following it up by kicking his leg into the air and bringing his heel down on the man's face. The last man came at him. John leaped into the air and took him out with a perfectly-executed vertical kick.
John looked at the six men lying on the ground who almost captured him mere seconds ago.
"Wow, my family IS cool," he said in amazement.
He turned and ran down the aisle to head back to his parents. He staggered slightly as he felt the warehouse shake briefly from the sonic grenades outside. He spotted his mother as she ran out of ammunition. The men firing at his parents started to close in with their weapons aimed at them. John looked all around at the stacks of crates and pallets in the warehouse when he froze again. This time, his mind flooded with various freerunning techniques.
"Mom, get down!" John shouted as he sprinted towards Shaw's men. They opened fire on John, who jumped onto a stack of pallets before leaping to a higher stack of boxes. His next step took him over the aisle onto another stack of boxes. He cartwheeled on the boxes and flew through the air, coming down on top of the four men and tackling all of them to the concrete floor. Two of the men tried to get up, but John got the drop on them quickly. He knocked one out with a chop to the throat followed by an uppercut, and the other was put down with a butterfly kick. The other two got up, only to be knocked down again by a roundhouse kick from Chuck and a shot to the back of the head from Sarah.
Sarah looked at her son in shock. "What have you done?"
John shrugged. "Well, Uncle Jimmy was supposed to download the Intersect, but he's kind of out of it right now."
Chuck, Sarah, and John ran over to where Uncle Jimmy was lying unconscious. "He's still alive," Sarah said as she checked Jimmy's pulse. She carefully checked the rest of him. "His back is broken." She ran her fingernail along Jimmy's palm. "Oh, God. No response. His spinal cord might have been severed."
Chuck ran over to grab the radio from one of the men John knocked out. He switched to the police band. "Have an ambulance crew at the ready, spinal injury protocol," he said to the Atlanta Police personnel outside the building.
Chuck, Sarah, and John were surprised by the sound of gunfire. They turned in the direction of the sound to see Carina and Samantha attempting to hold off several of Shaw's men at the opposite end of the warehouse. They ducked behind some crates, but another group of Shaw's men fired from the other direction. They had no means of escape.
"Hang on to the IntComm. Stay with Uncle Jimmy," John told his parents.
"John," Sarah began as her eyes momentarily flashed the fear any mother would have at seeing her child walk into danger. But she concentrated on pushing that fear aside. "Please be careful," she said quietly, holding back her emotions.
John nodded quickly and kissed her on the cheek. "Promise."
John ran down the warehouse and looked up at the catwalk, spotting a long chain tied between the ceiling and the catwalk. His Intersect flashed instructions to him and he jumped into the air, quickly climbing the various stacks of crates and pallets to a spot above the gunmen. He pushed two boxes off the top of one of the stacks, which fell towards one group of Shaw's men. The boxes hit their target, and Shaw's men were knocked down. John leaped for the catwalk railing and pulled himself up. He ran down the catwalk to where the chain was and untied it from the railing. He looked at the chain and at the floor below where Carina and Samantha were pinned down. The Intersect kicked into action once again, filling his mind with various physics equations.
"Sam! Carina!" John shouted as he climbed on top of the railing. He wrapped the chain around one arm and dove off the catwalk. The chain swung him directly towards them. He reached out with his other arm, and the two women grabbed a hold of it. The three swung upward to the opposite catwalk, and John wrapped his legs around the railing to hold them there. Carina and Samantha quickly climbed up on the catwalk, and Carina opened fire with her gun, easily taking out the other group of Shaw's men while Samantha pulled John onto the catwalk.
Carina was impressed. "Just like your old man. Maybe even better."
"Come on. Let's get everyone out of here," John said, out of breath from the stunt he just pulled. They went to the stairwell and ran downstairs to the main floor where Alex was waiting for them.
-/^\-
Chuck stayed with the IntComm and kept an eye on Jimmy as Sarah went to grab one of the guns by Shaw's men. She turned to walk back to Chuck when she was met with a roundhouse kick to her face. She fell back and dropped the gun.
She looked up to see Daniel Shaw pointing a gun at her head and ready to pull the trigger.
"Get up," he growled in barely-contained fury. Sarah slowly got to her feet. "Hands on top of your head and interlock your fingers." Sarah did as she was told. Shaw kept a few steps away so Sarah didn't have a chance to grab the gun. "Walk forward," Shaw ordered.
The returned to where Chuck was keeping watch over Jimmy. Shaw kept his gun aimed at Chuck and Sarah as he reached down to grab the IntComm from the ground, placing it in the bag around his shoulder. He then pulled out some sort of remote device.
"You'll never get to leave the building with that, Shaw," Chuck said calmly.
Shaw smiled. "I'm surprised, Chuck. You of all people appreciate classic movies. See if you can guess in what movie the bad guy says, 'When you steal $600, you can just disappear. When you steal 600 million, they will find you…'"
"…unless they think you're already dead," Chuck finished for him.
"Exactly. My little insurance policy. There's C-4 planted all over the warehouse. Enough to kill everybody within 200 yards of the building. I press the button on this remote, sixty seconds later, all of you are dead. By this time next week, I'll make billions selling all of the secrets of the government to the highest bidder."
"Let them go," a voice called out.
Shaw turned to see John walking towards him with his hands raised. "My parents didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one you want. I have the Intersect in me."
Shaw shook his head and chuckled, stepping to his left to keep Chuck and Sarah between John and him. "I don't expect you to understand, John. You're still a kid. You don't know what it's like to have everything you ever had in life taken from you. If you were in my shoes, you'd never rest until you found the person who destroyed your life."
He reached into his bag and pulled out a gold pendant. "This is all I have left to remember Evelyn. This little coin she gave me from a trip she took to Egypt. It was the last time I saw her, right before she went on her next mission and was gunned down in cold blood. Your mother did that, John. Your mother took away the love of my life."
John never heard Shaw's last words, as his eyes darted back and forth while the Intersect flashed a series of maps and personal letters through his mind.
"Operation Tripoli Rising," John said quietly.
Shaw stared at John. "How do you know what mission she was on? The CIA never even told me."
John shook his head. "She wasn't on a mission for the CIA. She was on a mission for the Libyan government."
Shaw approached John and pointed the gun at his face. "You're lying," he seethed.
"That pendant is a gold coin looted from an archaeological site in the mountains outside Derna. The Libyan government was trying to get a list of U.S. Marines responsible for destroying a weapons depot in the late 1980s, and Langston Graham got wind of it. He set himself up as a Libyan agent who wanted to buy the list. He sent my mother to eliminate whoever showed up to sell the list. That was her Red Test."
Chuck and Sarah turned to John in an equal state of shock to Shaw. "Nobody in the Agency knew why Evelyn Shaw was targeted, not even Beckman. How did you figure it out?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know, Mom. I saw the pendant, and suddenly I saw a bunch of handwritten notes in my head with Graham's name on them. He never logged it as an official mission because he was one of the Marines on that list. That group carried out an illegal mission while the Reagan administration was in the middle of the Iran-Contra affair, so nobody would take responsibility for it. If the Libyan government got its hands on the list, Graham's career would be over, and so would his life. Along with all the other Marines on that mission."
"You didn't kill an innocent woman in cold blood, Mom," John said quietly. "You stopped a traitor."
Chuck and Sarah stared at their son in open-mouthed shock, but Shaw's last visages of sanity were gone.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Shaw raised the gun to John's forehead, but a quick flash prompted John to swipe his arm upward, knocking the gun away. John spun and landed a kick to Shaw's face. He was knocked back, dropping the remote detonator, but he attacked again, completely blinded by insane fury. John sidestepped his attack with a speed Chuck and Sarah hadn't seen in years. John nailed Shaw with a hard jab and followed it up with a second and a third. Shaw was dazed but remained on his feet. John spun and landed a kick squarely in the middle of Shaw's chest, knocking him to the ground.
John approached Shaw, who suddenly reached underneath him and found his gun. He cocked it and aimed it at John.
"Too late, John," Shaw said as he pulled himself up. His expression was nothing short of total derangement. "This story is going to have a different ending. Today, I get to walk out of here and your parents will spend the rest of their lives feeling the pain I've felt for thirty years. And no little metal pipe to the back of the head will stop me this time."
Shaw squeezed the trigger. A series of shots rang out. Shaw was riddled with bullets and fell to the ground.
John Casey walked slowly up to them and looked down at Shaw in complete scorn.
"Yeah, that's why I brought my Sig," Casey spat.
Shaw felt the world slipping away. His hand slid along the ground and found the remote detonator. He pressed the button as he expelled his last breath. The unit beeped, and the clock began its countdown.
Casey's eyes widened and he grabbed the remote unit. "Is this what I…"
"Shaw wired the entire building!" Chuck replied in a panic.
Casey grabbed his radio. "HBT units, evacuate the area now. That's an order. Evac now!" He turned back to the Bartowski family. "Let's go!"
"There's not enough time John," Sarah said. "We have to clear 200 yards past the building in forty seconds."
"Chuck, can you do anything with it?" Casey asked.
Chuck took the unit and looked at it. "Not in thirty seconds," he said gravely. "Irene Demova isn't going to help us this time."
John studied the unit and began to flash. His eyes widened. "I can stop it, Dad!"
"How?" Chuck asked in surprise
John grabbed the remote. "No time to explain." He reached into Jimmy's flak jacket for a pair of wire cutters and a screwdriver. He quickly opened the back of the remote and ripped the circuit board out as the remote beeped out the final fifteen seconds. He found the wire he wanted and cut it with the clippers. He then took the tip of the wire and touched a part of the circuit board. The beeping stopped.
John breathed a huge sigh of relief and turned the remote detonator over to look at the display. "Awww…" he said in frustration.
"What's wrong?" his father asked.
"It would have been so cool if I stopped this one second later," John lamented.
Chuck looked at the display, which read 0:08. "Oh, you're right. That would have been so epic."
Casey looked over their shoulders and groaned when he saw how much time was left. He shook his head in disgust. "Frickin' nerds," he grumbled.
By contrast, Sarah was sporting an ear-to-ear grin as she kissed her husband and gave her son a hug. "Yeah, but they're my nerds," she said happily.
Emory University Medical Center, Atlanta
March 25, 2033
10:30 AM EDT
John walked down the hallway of the hospital. This was the first day anyone was allowed to visit Jimmy following two surgeries and two days in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. He was supposed to be back in school following Spring Break on Monday, but the CIA called Santa Monica High School and made up an excuse for him to miss a few more days of school. If only they could have gotten him out of writing that English term paper he had due next week.
He gently knocked on the door and poked his head in. "Uncle Jimmy?"
Jimmy lay in his hospital bed with a board underneath him to prevent any damage to his surgically repaired back. The doctors at the hospital were able to repair the damage to his spinal cord thanks to a machine invented fifteen years ago that could repair and restart the damaged nerves in the spine if a patient was attached to it within four hours from the time of the injury. Certainly Jimmy looked in much better shape than he did earlier in the week.
"Hey, John. How's the rib?"
"It's fine. I was more worried about you. Although I hear the nurses visit you a lot."
"Don't get me started. One of the nurses just got a divorce from a total sleazebag, and another one reads romance novels on her breaks. I don't think they've given me a moment's peace since I was moved out of the ICU."
"Ah, the life of a spy, even an injured one," John replied with a grin.
"You can have it," Jimmy replied in annoyance. "But hey, you did a wonderful job, John. No bullshit. We couldn't have rescued your parents without you. I'm so glad you held your ground."
"Any guesses where I got my stubborn streak from?"
Jimmy gently laughed. "That and a penchance for pulling out miracle finishes. How are your folks doing?"
"They're fine. My dad is putting the finishing touches on the IntComm and is ready to hand it over to Aunt Alex. I just came over to warn you that my mother might be dropping by. She hasn't been in too good of a mood all week."
"Aaah, hell. I figured that would happen eventually. Any clue exactly when she might be stopping by?"
"John, can I talk to Uncle Jimmy alone for a moment?"
John turned to see his mother at the door. He turned back to Jimmy. "Pretty soon, I think."
Jimmy smiled. "You better get going."
John grasped Jimmy's hand. "Thank you for all the help you gave me," he said before walking to the door. "Mom, play nice," John said as he left the room.
Sarah let the door close first before walking over to Jimmy. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better today, thanks."
"Good," she replied…and smacked him upside the head.
"Ouch! That's only for when I make fun of myself!"
"You bring my son on a mission to rescue us? You train him to be a spy? You put him in danger like that?"
"What did you want us to do, Sarah? We figured the kidnappers would try to contact him because they'd never get anywhere with the rest of us. When we found out it was Shaw, we didn't want to involve John any further. We told him Shaw would kill him if he got the chance but he didn't care. He still wanted to bring you home. Shaw breaking out of prison forced our hand."
"I never wanted John to find out about what any of us did. My children deserve to live a good life. A life where they don't have to worry about who might come after them."
"And they got that. I don't think anybody in history were better parents to their kids than you and Chuck. All you two were missing were a couple of ugly sweaters, a brownstone on the Upper West Side, and a supply of Jell-O pudding. But you can't protect them forever."
"What sweaters?"
Jimmy rolled his eyes, one of the few body parts he could move. "Never mind."
There was a knock on the door, and Casey entered. "Oh, sorry."
"Halt!" Sarah said angrily. "You're next."
"What's she talking about?" Casey asked.
"Our brilliant, well thought-out tactics in rescuing Sarah and her better half," Jimmy said tiredly.
"You know, I can almost forgive Jimmy because he doesn't have kids," Sarah said as she turned her anger on Casey. "But you have two little girls, John. You should know how hard it is to see them in danger like that."
"Sarah, he's not a six-year-old going to his first day of school," Casey replied calmly. "Were you this upset when John got injured in football? I didn't see you cancelling climbing Mount McKinley with him when he was fourteen because you were worried about him. And didn't all four of you go parasailing in Hawaii last year? I remember that because Gertrude and I brought the girls to join you."
"This is different. Now he knows what his parents used to do. How am I supposed to tell him not to be a spy? I don't have a leg to stand on."
"Who says he wants to be a spy? Just because he did a great job helping us doesn't mean he'll want to become one. He's a good kid, but if you get in his face about what he can and can't do, he'll rebel just like any teenager would. He'll do it just to spite you."
"He's right, Sarah," Jimmy added. "Although I do love the irony of Casey telling someone not to be confrontational. Just be honest with him, and don't hold anything back. You and Chuck would do anything for your kids, right? Well, they would do anything for you, too. Like all of us would."
Sarah stood there silently for a moment before she nodded. A smile even came to her face. "That's a good point. You wouldn't be in the hospital if you weren't trying to help us."
"Ugh," Jimmy groaned. "Case, could I hire one of your security guys? There's a couple of nurses in this section who really don't get how Florence Nightingale Syndrome works. I don't want Alex banishing me to the couch again when I go home."
Casey grimaced in disgust and exited the room. Sarah turned back to Jimmy. "Speaking of which, I have something else to discuss with you. Alex didn't sleep a wink while you were in surgery and the ICU. The poor woman is at her wit's end seeing you get injured." Sarah began to get worked up again. "You've been an agent for over twenty years, and now that she has an office job, she has to worry about whether or not you'll come home in one piece. You can't keep doing that to her. Either you get some sense into your head or you find yourself a good divorce attorney..."
"I already talked to the President," Jimmy said. "He called earlier this morning to thank me for helping get the IntComm back, although I told him John was the real hero in this. I told him I was done. I think we'd all agree the government got their money's worth out of me."
Sarah was taken aback. "You did? Wow, I thought I'd have to break out the knives to get you to retire."
"Well, the President wasn't 100% happy about it. But like I told him, someone better always comes along." Jimmy reached his hand up, and Sarah took it. "Look, I know you don't want John putting his life in danger, but just let him make the decision. What he did in the last week was amazing. He would be an incredible agent. He could be better than all of us. He certainly had the best teachers, right?"
Sarah nodded and smiled. There was a knock on the door. "Mom, are you done beating up Uncle Jimmy?" John said with a smile.
"She was just putting the finishing touches on my black eye," Jimmy replied with a smile.
Sarah laughed and gave Jimmy a kiss. "Get some rest," she said before walking over to the door. John and she walked out into the corridor. "Where's Dad?" she asked John.
"He's down in the coffee shop."
Sarah put her arm around him. "I think the three of us should talk."
They took the elevator down to the Lobby and walked down the hallway to a small coffee shop nestled between the main cafeteria and the chapel. Chuck was waiting for them as they sat together at a table.
"John, first of all, no matter what happens, we love you and will support whatever decisions you make," Sarah began. "But we didn't tell you we worked for the government because we wanted you to live a happy, normal life. You and Emma are the most important people in our lives, and we'd do anything for you. And we are so sorry you were dragged into this."
"Absolutely," Chuck continued. "We didn't want to put you into danger. And no matter how hard we tried to keep you from it, our past caught up to all of us. And you didn't deserve that."
John looked back and forth between his parents. "OK, but wasn't it this same past that put you two together and let you fall in love? It seems to me if it wasn't for your past, I wouldn't even be here and grew up the way I did. I mean, my friends at school are so jealous you're my parents. I hear every day how they wish they had my parents, that my parents are such cool people. And...well, other things I won't talk about. So, there's no need for you to apologize. I know I'm lucky to have you as my parents."
Sarah looked down at the table and her eyes welled up. She pulled John into her embrace. "I love you, sweetie," she whispered in his ear as she gave him a kiss.
"Love you, too, Mom." They separated and sat back in their chairs. "Is it OK if I ask a few questions about what you used to do? I mean, I know a few things from what everybody told me, but..."
"Anything, John," Chuck replied. "You deserve to know the truth."
John paused for a moment as what he wanted to ask suddenly became difficult. "I mean, I want to hear all the stories about how you met everyone...Casey, Carina, Jimmy, Alex...but Casey said something about the two of you getting married twice. He said I would have to ask you if I wanted the answer, and everybody kind of froze any time it was mentioned. What happened? Did you two get divorced? Was the first marriage not official?"
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other for a long moment. A silent decision passed between them to tell John the whole story.
Chuck took a deep breath. "Well, it has to do with the Intersect and a man named Nicholas Quinn..."
-/^\-
Alex knocked on the door to Jimmy's room. She pushed the door open and saw her husband lying on the bed. She didn't want to let it show, but she was overjoyed he looked so much better than he did when they wheeled him in for surgery three days ago.
"Hey gorgeous," Jimmy said. "How are you feeling?"
Alex looked down at the ground and smiled. She grabbed the chair by the door and placed it next to Jimmy. She leaned in and gave Jimmy a soft, tender kiss before sitting down and taking his hand.
"Of all the things that drive me up a wall about you, that is still the worst," Alex said. "You always worry about other people too much."
"I heard you were up for two days worrying about me while I was under the knife, so this time I'm right. At least I got to sleep through the whole thing."
"OK, point taken. But on Monday, I'm going to march into the Oval Office and tell that pain-in-the-ass President you've done enough..."
Jimmy squeezed her hand to get her attention. "I already did, Alexandra."
Alex looked at him in surprise. "You did?"
"I can't be a spy forever, although God knows I certainly tried. I spent all those years thinking I had to do this because Chuck, Sarah, and Casey gave me a second lease on life. But as much as I owe to them, I think I owe a lot more to you. And I'm going to guess you want me out while we can still get out and enjoy ourselves."
Alex grinned and put her hands on Jimmy's face, giving him a longer and more intense kiss than before. They became more and more worked up.
"Wait, wait," Alex interrupted them. "What about your back?"
Jimmy was able to lift his arm up and grab Alex's head, pulling her back to him for a hard kiss. "We'll improvise."
Alex wiggled her eyebrows at him as she pulled his blanket off. "I like the way you think."
"Lock the door, though. I don't want those nurses coming in."
Alex ran to lock the door but stopped. She turned around and glared at her husband. "What nurses?"
-/^\-
"So, it took time, but eventually I fell in love with your father again," Sarah concluded. "We decided we wanted to have a second wedding to symbolize being in love again. It wasn't as lavish as the first, but it was still beautiful."
"And you came along 18 months later, John," Chuck said. "We could tell you about how that happened..."
"No, I'm good," John said with a look of disgust on his face, which made his parents laugh.
Sarah took John's hand. "But you understand we were trying to protect you, right? We want you to live whatever life you want. And if that life is as an agent, we're behind you. We'll support you."
John was silent for a moment. "You know, at first it sounds crazy to want a life like that. Always being in danger, anybody betraying you like Shaw did? But then I think of all of the good things all of you did, the countless lives you saved. Uncle Casey wasn't exaggerating; you guys really are heroes."
Sarah nodded. "Everybody we love and care about is a hero. Especially you."
"Right now, I really don't know what I want to do. But I promise, whatever it is, I'll talk to both of you about it. I'm just glad I have your approval."
"You always will, John," Chuck said as he gave his son a hug. "We couldn't be more proud of you."
"Could I ask a big favor, though?"
"Anything."
"Well, since I don't have to go back to school for a few days, could we wait until Monday to get the Intersect taken out of me?"
Chuck shrugged. "I guess so. How come? Did you want to see what else you could do with it?"
John smiled. "That, plus I have someone else to thank for helping me get through this."
Chuck and Sarah looked at him with a piqued curiosity. "Who?"
Washington, D.C.
March 26, 2033
11:00 PM EDT
"Now THIS is a date."
Samantha felt like she was on one of those dates people saw in those classic movies where everything was just perfect. The starry sky, the cool breeze as the horse-drawn carriage took John and her past the monuments of Washington, D.C. John was able to find the best restaurant in Georgetown and they spent the night talking and laughing, enjoying each other's company. John reminded himself to thank Aunt Alex, who helped him bankroll this date with some discretionary funds from her department.
"I must confess, I did have help," John demurred.
"What do you mean?" Samantha was confused until John tapped the side of his head. "Oh, of course. Hey, it's the least the government can do after everything you did for them."
"Everything WE did for them, Sam. You were a big help in rescuing my parents. British Intelligence is lucky to have you working for them."
"I guess it pays to know the head of America's intelligence community. Thanks to Alex, I'll finish training in a few months and be out in the field." She snuggled closer to John. "What about you? Does the thought of fast cars, cool gadgets, and saving the world sound like an appealing career?"
"I still don't know. I just want to enjoy the weekend for now and worry about that later." The carriage pulled to a stop. "Speaking of enjoying the weekend..."
John hopped out of the carriage and extended his hand. Samantha graciously took it and stepped out of the carriage. John tipped the driver, and the two walked into the nightclub. John gave the doorman their names, and he pulled back the velvet rope to let them inside.
"They had our names already?" Samantha asked him.
"I didn't have a choice. Technically, we're not old enough to be in here."
They got to the main floor of the club where the band was already at full volume and the floor was packed with dancers. John took Samantha's hand and led her out to the dance floor. She put her arms around him and began doing a slow, sexy dance in time to the music. John froze momentarily as his Intersect flashed on a variety of dance moves appropriate for the music. He then started moving back and forth, gyrating in sync with Samantha. They continued to dance for several songs.
"Wow, you are one amazing dancer," Samantha said in admiration.
"It helps to have a good partner in so many things," John said with a smile.
Samantha pulled his face close to hers. "That much is certain."
She tilted her head and her eyes closed as their lips met in a long, unbroken kiss that was full of promise, full of potential. They continued to kiss as they moved around on the dance floor. John felt so many things right now. His entire body felt like electricity was running through it. He didn't know where life was going to take him next. But he knew it was off to an unbelievable start.
OK, I hope everything was taken care of to everyone's satisfaction. Again, a big thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story, and a special thanks to BDaddyDL. See you soon!