Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Mona knew that there was something wrong when she walked through the door.
As she stood in the entry way of her house, there was a familiar tingling in her stomach that usually told her that something was off.
She had just arrived home from attending a meeting with Captain Tanner about the progress of the case so far. There was a full on search for Doctor Tabitha Clark as a likely suspect in the murders though there was no sign of her location so far. Tanner had promised to reach out to other States for possible help with the search though it was believed that the suspect was still operating within Pennsylvania's borders; possibly trying to make sure she didn't risk being caught in another State. There was talk of including more of the Federal Government for help though Spencer was still running point for the FBI aspect of the case. After the briefing, Toby had sent everyone hope for some well-deserved rest.
Over the years, Mona had learned to trust her instincts extensively; something taught to her by her mentor at the NSA. When out in the field, especially in foreign countries not always friendly to the United States, she had been saved by those instincts more than once. Since then, when she got the feeling in her stomach, Mona always went on full alert. Turning on the light in the entryway, the young woman dropped her bag and pulled out her weapon. She then slowly made her way to the front room, scanning the area for possible intruders. It was dark in the front room and she flipped on another light with nothing happening. Making sure she was still in the light, Mona pulled out her phone and sent out a text before a noise caught her attention. Once again, she slowly made her way into the darkness of the room and towards the source of the noise.
Mona kept an ear out for any breathing or footsteps while trying to control her own. So far, there was nothing but the young woman refused to relax her guard. She heard the noise again and went into the kitchen to see that there was some broken glass on the floor. Next to the back door, there was a busted in window and it appeared that someone had did it deliberately to get inside the house. Mona was confused suddenly since the alarm should have gone off and an alert sent to her phone; as was what was supposed to happen since she paid a good amount to the security firm. Once again, she took out her phone with her other hand to send another text when it happened. The young woman was distracted for only a second when something landed hard on her arm which then knocked her weapon out of her hand.
Clutching her arm in pain, Mona was then knocked to the ground by some sort of object. Acting on instinct, Mona ignored the pain in her arm and protected her head just as another blow came; obviously trying to knock her out. The injured arm took another direct blow and Mona winced through the pain while trying to see where her attacker was. When she got a good handle on where he or she was located, Mona swung her legs out in order to injure the intruder in some way. Her right leg made contact and the young woman heard something heavy fall to the ground followed by some loud cursing. She then looked to see where her gun was and saw that it was only a few feet away; squirming to try and get it.
"You bitch," snarled a voice from behind her and something grabbed her legs, sliding her backwards away from her weapon. It was definitely male and sounded like he was in rage which was a mixed blessing for Mona; more possible pain but more sloppiness as well.
She was about to kick him again when something bashed her left leg, causing Mona to cry out in pain. While she was temporarily stunned, a familiar smell culminated her nose and Mona's eyes widened when she realized that it was chloroform. It was apparent that this was not some sort of attack by a possible burglar but some sort of abduction. Planning quickly, Mona laid still while making it appear that the intruder had her pinned down. She then felt the cloth go to her nose and held her breath as was trained back when she first entered the Agency. Mona had practiced enough to where she could hold her breath for a good couple of minutes and she never had to use it up until now. After lying still for a good minute, the cloth left her mouth and the weight on her back lessened considerably. She closed her eyes when she was placed on her back and felt the male's breath.
"That wacky Doctor better pay me more for this," he said to her as she kept her eyes tightly closed in order to pretend she was out. When he was close enough, Mona slammed her head forward and made contact with the intruder's nose which made a loud crack.
A fist made contact with her right eye and Mona took in the pain while kneeing the abductor in the groin. He fell to his side and Mona once again rushed to her weapon that still lied in the same spot; panic starting to rise in her. Her fingers touched the grip of the handle when she heard the man behind her rush to his feet as well as the acquainted sound of a weapon being pulled from a holster. With her vision impaired as well as an evident danger to her life. Mona swung back towards the intruder and fired her gun; not caring where that the shots went wild. With her right eye blurry as well as the darkness of the room, the young woman had no clue where her bullets were going. One of them must have hit the abductor when she heard a cry out and something big falling to the floor. She didn't stop firing though and emptied the entire clip before the pain caused her to stop; lying back onto the floor and breathing hard.
Mona was just starting to lose consciousness when the back door suddenly banged open and people began pouring in. Someone went to her side while there was a call for an ambulance; the voice sounding like Agent John Hopkins, who was one of her subordinates. Another voice, Diana Nosh, replied that there was on the way and more voices sounded off; all people who worked for her at the office. Mona struggled to compose herself and regain her senses, fighting the need to want to sleep. Pain gripped her body but she ignored it and opened her eyes to more blurriness. Her right eye was still throbbing and Mona wouldn't be surprised if it was black in a few hours; which was going to look ugly. While the young woman wasn't focused on her looks as she did as a teen, she was still semi-conscious of how others viewed her.
"Stay still boss; paramedics are on the way," Agent Hopkins told her and he gently held her still.
"Is he dead?" Mona asked in a hoarse voice as she tried to ignore the pain all over her body.
"Looks like it; two in the chest," answered Diana as she came to her boss's side. She had the dead abductor's wallet in her hands and was going through it.
"Call Spencer and Toby; this guy worked for our suspect," ordered Mona as she started to lose consciousness again. The paramedics then arrived with a gurney and hoisted her onto it as more police began to arrive.
"My room is off limits; make sure it's secure," the young woman ordered again and her subordinates nodded in reply as she was wheeled away.
The trip to the hospital was a short one and once they arrived, Mona was seen to right away. The hospital staff helped her with her clothing given the amount of injuries on her body. She had a sprained arm which was thankfully not fractured though a few of her ribs were under stress. The right eye was definitely bruised from the fist and the darkness was just starting to show; which she would not be able to hide. The doctor planned to hold her for a couple of days but the injuries were not life threatening; though they could have been. Mona supposed that she was lucky since the young woman had no doubt that Tabitha Clark was behind this; which meant that she knew that Mona was a part of the case. This could have been a message or even a private trip to the mad doctor's own Dollhouse.
After her injuries were checked out, Mona was moved to a private room where she got to at least rest for a few hours before having company.
"Are you okay?" Mike asked as he entered the hospital room with a great amount of concern in his voice. His heart stopped as she turned her head towards him and he saw the black eye she was sporting.
"I'm fine; though I wish my attacker would have lived since our suspect sent him," she answered him and the young man's eyes widened at her revelation.
"Are you sure? That doesn't make any sense," stated the young man in a confused manner. This was going beyond a simple escalation.
"Maybe Doctor Clark wanted to send a message or remove me from the game," suggested the young woman as she struggled to sit up. Mike rushed to her side in order to help her, which she let him do given the circumstances.
"Or she had a different motive," proposed a voice from the door and Mona's eyes widened as her boss walked through the door with two of her subordinates by his side; Asuka Langley and David Preston.
"Who are you?" Mike asked with authority, not seeing the startled look on Mona's face and was pulling out his badge.
"This is my boss from the NSA Mike; put your badge away," Mona ordered the young man and he did so though he suddenly looked a little nervous.
"It's fine Mona; you must be Officer Mike Montgomery. I am Director Ward," greeted the man as he extended his hand to Mike; which he took and smiled slightly.
"What are you doing here sir?" Mona inquired, not sure how to process this. The other two NSA Agents stood at the door to guard while eyeing Mike suspiciously. Mona had worked with the two for years and they were few of the only ones who knew her story with her ex-boyfriend.
"I was passing through the city on my way west when I heard about what had happened. I came straight here to see how you were doing," the man answered and the concern was evident in his voice. For some reason, Mike became jealous and narrowed his eyes at the older man; which was met with glares from the other two agents.
"You didn't need to do that," said the young woman as she gave Mike a slight look to knock it off; watching what was going on. She felt a feeling of warmth because of his jealously but suppressed it.
"Yes I did; you are like a daughter to me and I was concerned," The Director told her gently as me moved closer to the bed and took her hand in his.
"Mike; go get me some coffee please," Mona asked the young man with a look that she would not take no for an answer. Mike nodded and then left the room with the other agents after the Director said he wanted coffee as well; leaving the two alone in the room.
"It seems that Bagdad was safer for you," the older man joked though he was being serious. He didn't like seeing his people sitting in hospital beds though he was used to it given their line of work.
"I was sloppy; it won't happen again," Mona stated with a feeling of slight shame. The more she thought about it, the more she believed that her being here was her fault.
"You were surprised at home and caught off guard; don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from it and don't let it happen again," Director Ward countered gently as a father would.
"I don't plan to; Tabitha Clark made a mistake and I won't let this go," stated the young woman with anger in her voice. She planned to make the b*** pay for what had happened tonight.
"So you want to continue this?" he inquired, both curious and concerned at the same time.
"I have to; this is an escalation and I going away will not make things better. The gauntlet has been thrown and I need to meet it," Mona said with both pain and conviction as she moved her body around.
"Alright; but I want you in contact with your section at all times. I don't want to see you like this again," the NSA Director ordered and she nodded. Mona was about to say something when Spencer walked into the room; startled by the sight of the older man.
"I'm sorry; I can come back," Spencer said, realizing that this was someone official and they were busy.
"It's okay Spencer; Director Ward, this is Spencer Hastings," Mona stated, stopping the other young woman from leaving.
"Oh I know who she is; nice to meet you," said the NSA Director, extending his hand which Spencer took and smiled. It seemed that everyone who worked with Mona knew who she was; which really wasn't a surprise when one thought about it.
"Nice to meet you too; I just came to see how Mona was doing and brief her if she was awake," informed the FBI Agent. Given that Mona's boss was pretty high on the food chain, Spencer felt a little nervous.
"Go ahead," Mona ordered, wanting to know who tried to abduct her as well as he managed to disable her security.
"The deceased's name was Jonathan Myers, forty years old and a former cop; kicked off the force for corruption. He supposedly acts as an enforcer for the local mob though he is rumored to take side jobs; which might explain why he works for Doctor Clark," explained the young woman. She had been told by one of Mona's fellow agents that the dead former cop had been working for their suspect back at the house.
"How did he get past my alarms?" asked Mona, both curious and planning to give the security firm an earful.
"He didn't; Myers broke in and then called the security company to claim he was a cop that responded to the break in," answered Spencer.
"That doesn't make sense; there are supposed to be things in place in order to prevent a thief from using that trick," stated the bedridden woman, slightly confused on how it was done.
"Well the security company claims he had all the right information as well as the passcode you provided him. Either he had friends inside that security company or it got hacked by our missing doctor," the taller woman said with a frown. If the security company was hacked then there was a chance that their own systems were vulnerable.
"Well I will have to do something about that; this is not going to happen again," Mona said, fully meaning it. When she got home, the young woman planned to call a few friends to add some extra security to her residence.
"Why try to abduct you? Was this a taunt to us?" Spencer inquired, slightly perplexed since she considered herself more valuable than Mona; not to be arrogant or anything.
"Or we were wrong on how many representations there is to be. I am starting to think that Doctor Clark also plans to have dolls based on Alison and I as well," Mona said and Spencer sighed since this would complicate things even further.
"Why take you though and not just someone who looks like you?" the FBI Agent asked though what Mona said made sense.
"Sometimes the real thing is better off than a fake," suggested the Director and that startled the FBI Agent since it put other people now at risk.
"Well if that is the case, then I need to warn the other girls. I doubt that our suspect would go after them but they should be informed," Spencer said to Mona and from the sound of it, she was not asking permission.
"That is fine; just leave my name out of it," said the young NSA Agent which earned a look from her boss. The man had advised her on more than one occasion to reconcile with her past; which she was always resistant to.
"Not possible; your name got dropped by the press though they have yet to link you to the NSA," admitted Spencer, not happy about it. She had already had to shut off her phone because of the calls coming from Aria and Hanna; expecting similar ones to come from Emily and Alison.
"Terrific; glad I am now stationed stateside and no longer in the field," said the bedridden agent with a sigh. If she had been an agent doing undercover work, then she would be in real trouble since there had been on more than one occasion of an agent being attacked once his or her identity was blown.
"We'll have to keep you under close watch; pick a member of your team to be with you during this investigation and I will clear it with any authority," ordered Director Ward and Mona just nodded since it was clear that this would not be arguable. Spencer's phone buzzed and she looked down to see that Hanna had sent her a text.
She was in the hospital and on her way up.
Please Read and Review; also a shout out to my friend Paraddicted for the pre-read!