GRAVITRON
Written for Jellie Carnival Summer Challenge
Sequel to "Tightrope" and "Fire Eater."
A/N: Spoilers for Season Three Finale;
Thanks to the chatting Jellies for inspiration on this chapter…;D
Disclaimer: I don't own them, just letting them play around in my brainpan.
Part Three
Ellie slung her travel bag over her shoulder and slammed the door shut. Setting the alarm with a flick of her wrist behind her, she stormed toward the slight break in the trees ahead.
John watched from the bend in the road as she made a beeline for the faint opening in the woods. When she reached the edge of the small clearing, he pulled the Crown Vic into the dirt on the near side of Ellie's SUV, letting the larger vehicle hide the sedan. The caution was unwarranted. She never looked back. Once she disappeared among the trees, he slid from the car and quietly followed.
She wasn't even trying to cover her trail as she barreled down the path with a determined stride that made the Marine in him proud. And made the spy in him extremely nervous. Bad enough that she took such a risk being out here alone.
That she didn't realize – or perhaps, care – how much danger she'd put herself in… John scowled, forced a deep, centering breath through his chest. She had every right to be furious, and he'd seen this coming. Maybe not to this degree, but then again, he'd never known Ellie to do anything half-measure.
Quietly pushing low-hanging foliage from his face, he followed in her footsteps as quick as he dared, careful not to snap the branches or rustle the pine needles littering the forest floor. After she'd blown out her anger, after she'd had a chance to cool down, he'd talk to her. Explain that she couldn't be so careless with her safety. Couldn't just run off without telling someone, preferably himself, where she was going.
Just because she wanted nothing to do with the spy world, and he got that loud and clear, that didn't mean the worst elements of that world returned the sentiment. She didn't have to like it, but she had to accept it. The alternative was –
He wouldn't allow the alternative. A series of heart-stabbing images leapt across his mind: Ellie's face terrified. Strangers hands grabbed her. Ellie trussed up. Bruised drugged tortured bleeding.
Unmoving…
A surge of bile scalded his throat. He could never allow that to happen. Ever.
The Ring took a hard hit in the loss of several key leaders, but that didn't make her safe. The threats weren't completely neutralized, would never be entirely eradicated, no matter how hard he went after them or how many of the traitorous bastards he took down.
She would always be Orion's daughter, despite the man's death, and the Intersect's sister. So long as America's enemies knew of those men's contributions to national security, John assumed they knew about Ellie. If he were on the other side, he'd sure as hell be looking at the smart, successful sister, wondering what she knew, how deep her involvement truly went.
And the truth of her innocence would mean less than nothing to an enemy agent. They'd come for her, again, and again, on the mere suspicion that she might somehow work against them. Until the day she died, which was many long decades away if he had anything to say about it, she'd be a target.
Slipping silently along the path she'd taken, he planned to watch over her while she wasn't thinking her clearest. He was sure Ellie would never purposefully hurt herself, but John wasn't taking any chances. She needed to be alone right now after what Woodcomb had done, but with her emotions doing the driving she was blind to the danger she courted.
The path lightened, and John drew a small breath of relief. She was slowing at the clearing ahead. The crisp scent of fresh water permeated the dark forest, and as he neared the edge of the trees, the source became clear as the thick canopy gave way to dappled spots of light. Peering through the leaves, he watched a pair of long, shapely, jeans-clad legs disappear into the small lake-side cabin, just before the door slammed shut.
John sighed. At least she was out of the open now, but this presented a whole new conflict. He had to let her know he was here, or risk damaging the fragile trust she'd given him over these past few months. If he went in now, with her anger was still blazing full alarm, he'd cause more problems than he hoped to solve.
Of all the issues she'd shared with him, the biggest revolved around disclosure. Everyone left her in the dark, and because of that, she'd fallen prey to the Ring's manipulations. Ellie worried that she'd be used again, her ignorance of the situation preyed on to harm her family or friends. Like Justin had used her good intentions and decency to lure her father to his death.
Easing back into the shadows, John began his scout of the perimeter. He'd announce his presence after that, and make sure she understood that he wasn't going anywhere until she did. If she preferred, he'd camp out on the porch, but that would be as far away as he'd agree to.
He hadn't gone twenty paces before the silent alert of his cell phone vibrated.
.~.~.~.
A light spray of dust erupted from the hand-stitched quilt when Ellie tossed her bag onto the bed.
Immediately locking the deadbolt on the thick wooden door, she turned and slid down its length, hugging her arms around her bent knees. With her head back, she took a long, shuddery breath, and let her shoulders relax as she slowly exhaled.
No one had been here for years. She'd almost forgotten about this place, nestled high in the forest, a remnant of the few normal years of her youth. She hadn't specifically been thinking of coming here when she fled the city, had only wanted a refuge. A place where, for a brief moment, the furniture and knick-knacks and pictures on the wall wouldn't force her to think of the past year.
A ragged giggle escaped her. "Mission: failure," she whispered bitterly, looking around to the mementos of a life long-passed. Dropping her head to her arms, she allowed herself a moment to grieve. Her father's death. Her mother's absence. Her brother's childhood without them. Her own abbreviated youth. Her almost-blissful naiveté about life before she'd found out what Chuck held in his brain. Her marriage.
He hadn't bothered to tell her. Didn't have the nerve to give her the papers himself. She'd found the folder neatly laid in plain sight on the edge of the dining room table with the red tabs sticking out of it. Sadly enough, she wasn't even shocked about the method. Telling her in person meant he'd have to actually talk, acknowledge the three-ring circus their lives had become.
The most hurtful part of it, perhaps, was that the discovery wasn't nearly the surprise it should have been, all things considered. A twinge of guilt pinched her. Given the circumstances, she should be angry. Furious. Bitter.
Not relieved. The weight of his decision, how it affected her life, should be pressing down on her, smothering her in its gravity. Instead, she felt lighter because of it. That, above all, disturbed her sense of what she thought she knew about her life.
Her whole identity had been built around lies. Everything she thought was real had been whirled around, like she was on that stupid gravitron ride at the carnival. The harder she struggled to get back to that familiar, reliable central core, the harder the forces controlling her life pushed her back against the wall. And now, she wasn't sure when the ride finally stopped, if it ever did stop, what she would find in the center.
It certainly wouldn't be the man she thought would be there with her through the ages. Ellie swiped a tear from the corner of her eye. For all Devon's adrenaline-charging, adventure-seeking, he'd been unable to handle this ride to the end.
Forcing her tears back, she stood and began making the hunting cabin habitable. Personal despair and dangerous rogue spies, she may not be able to do anything about. The dust in her grandparent's old summer place didn't stand a chance.
.~.~.~.
John grimaced at the phone's screen, honestly surprised it had taken this long to get the call.
"Casey, secure," he growled quietly. "What do you need, Bartowski?"
"Casey! Casey, thank god!" The nerd agent sputtered from the earpiece as John swiftly adjusted the volume down. "I've been trying to call you for an hour, where are you? Ellie's gone, Casey, just took off and she won't answer her calls! There's – we've got trouble here, huge trouble – "
"Trouble?" John cut him off, alert to threats against the Intersect. "Are you in danger? Can you get to Castle? Walker's with you, isn't she? I'm out of range –"
"No, no, no, no, Casey, Casey listen, it's not the Ring, it's… it's worse! It's Ellie and Awesome. Casey, you've got to find my sister before it's too late."
John listened intently as Bartowski charged into an explanation of the problem, not bothering to share that he already knew most of the details.
Ellie's concerns had put him on alert, and tailing Devon hadn't been all that difficult. Woodcomb's side-trips to the plain brick office building on his lunch breaks had shed light on the man's intentions, but it wasn't John's place to reveal them. She had to deal with her struggles on her own, needed to take her destiny back into her own hands as much as possible.
"Calm down, Bartowski!" He hissed into the receiver during Chuck's momentary break for air. "She's safe."
"What do you mean, 'she's safe'? How can you know for sure, Casey? There's no telling where she's gone, who's following her. The Ring could have a dozen agents tailing her right now, and the emotional state she's in, she'd never notice!"
John pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off his irritation. It rarely worked when dealing with the Asset, but he understood her brother's reason for hysterics. I must be getting soft, he groused, seeking to maintain his calm and find a way to relieve the younger man's fears.
"She's in a safe location," he gritted out very slowly. "I am at that location."
"You're at – you're – where are you, Casey? Give me the coordinates, I'll be there quick as I can! Is she okay?"
"Yes, she's okay, but she doesn't know I'm here. Yet. And if you'll let me do my job, I will get back to securing the perimeter to make sure there are no Ring agents in the vicinity. Are we clear?"
"Casey, we've got to get her back here! We can't let this happen! I am not going to be the cause of my sister's – "
"Negative, Bartowski," John said gently, but with a note of finality in his tone. "She has to handle this on her own. And you have to let her. It's not your fault, not this time."
A long moment of silence hung across the connection, and he could nearly see the young man's face skewing up in conflict.
"Chuck, do you trust me?" John asked without rancor.
"With my life," the answer came without hesitation.
"Then trust me, Chuck."
Bartowski sighed in frustration, but his voice was noticeably calmer. "Not to sound ungrateful, Casey, but you're not… y'know, personal relationships aren't exactly your strong suit. And this is… this is important to Ellie. I don't want…"
"What do your wants have to do with it," John cut in as he eased through the trees, still scanning the scene for signs of danger. "Do you know what she wants? What Woodcomb wants? Not your fight, Chuck. Not mine, either, that's not why I'm here. Your lady-feelings don't have a say in it."
"Casey, if I didn't have this damned thing in my head, none of this would be happening!"
"And if Orion hadn't created the damned thing, it wouldn't be, either. If Larkin hadn't screwed you over by sending it to you… if you weren't his friend at Stanford… if your mom hadn't left... if Ellie hadn't picked a med program that wouldn't uproot you from school…if she'd never met Devon… if, if, if, Bartowski. You don't know what would have happened 'if'." He paused, coming to the edge of the forest along the lake. Standing on the bank, he peered across the water for movement on the other side.
"If it hadn't been the Intersect, it could have been something else. Or nothing at all. No way of knowing, no sense trying to take responsibility for something you can't control. We all make our choices. And live with them." He stared out over the serene surface and into the past for a breath, his eyes softening for the barest of moments. If… if I'd known Kathleen was pregnant when I chose this life, you and I wouldn't even be having this conversation, kid. But that's a choice long gone.
Shaking off regret for things that couldn't be changed, he sharpened his focus and his tone, giving the opposing shoreline one more visual sweep and heading back through the trees to do his job.
"I'll watch over her, Chuck, keep her safe. I give you my word. But the rest of it… that's all up to Ellie."
Bartowski still wasn't happy when he ended the call, but at least John had talked him out of tracking Ellie down. This was going to be hard enough on her without her brother's well-intentioned meddling.
.~.~.~.
A muffled thwack and a woman's shriek pierced the silence, yanking John's attention to the log structure. Pulling his sidearm from the concealed holster at the small of his back, he thumbed the safety off as he hurried toward the back of the cabin.
Hoping to catch the attacker off guard, he ran in a low crouch, his pulse pounding in his throat, pausing only a microsecond behind the porch, the outbuilding, the side of the cabin, SIG-Sauer at the ready to protect and defend. Another hard whack and an angry scream knifed through his heart. John dove into a roll, coming up on one knee from behind the half-finished pile of split firewood, pistol drawn.
At the sound of his heroic entry on the scene, Ellie spun from the quilt hanging on the clothesline and screamed in honest alarm.
The blood drained from his face, only to rush back twice as fast. John eased the barrel toward the ground and slipped the safety back into non-firing position as his shoulders sagged in relief.
"John! What the hell are you doing?" Ellie gasped as her fingers tightened in reflex on the ball bat she'd been using to beat dust from the quilt.
"You… you screamed," he mumbled with a shrug.
"I ... I… screamed?" She looked at him like he'd sprouted another head. "Of course, I screamed, John, you came out of nowhere and pointed a gun at me! That still doesn't tell me what you're doing here." Her eyes flared wide.
"You followed me?" Her whispered accusation cut him to the quick.
"Ellie, you don't understand. It's – "
"I swear to all that is good and holy, if you say 'It's complicated', I will not be held accountable for my actions, Hippocratic Oath or no Hippocratic Oath, do you understand me, John Casey?"
"Fully," he said, standing and holstering the weapon. "Yes. I followed you. And no. It's not complicated," he added with one raised brow. "In fact, a capable grown woman with a doctorate degree should have no trouble understanding why I followed her into the middle of nowhere – alone- away from any form of protection in an area with spotty cell service at best."
Ellie had the good grace to blush, her mouth opening to speak, but John held up a hand, advancing toward her. With his fears that she'd been attacked set to rest, his mind geared back toward frustration that she just didn't grasp how big a target she was now.
"I understand you didn't ask for any of this, Ellie. But you're a smart woman. Answer me this: if just one member of the Ring or its associates knows you exist…and thanks to that bastard Shaw, they do…knows whose daughter, whose sister you are…which they also do… do you think they'll give a good goddamn that you're not working for the government?"
He couldn't stop the anger that seeped into his words, caused his voice to rise as he thought of what the Ring would do if they ever got their hands on her.
"Do you honestly think they'll pause, ask you if you want this whole spy business wrapped around your life, before they snatch you? That they'll leave you alone just because you ask them nicely? Get this in your head, Eleanor, they will hunt you and hurt you, torture – " his voice broke against the word as the hateful images flooded his mind again.
He closed the distance between them, staring down into her paling face. "Ellie, if they think there's the slightest chance they can glean information from you, they will go to any lengths to do so."
The color fled from her cheeks as realization slammed into her.
"John, I didn't think – "
"No! You didn't think, did you?" In a hazy, red-fogged part of his brain he realized he was shouting now, terror fueling his fury as he grabbed her shoulders. John clenched his jaw, struggling to regain his control. Ellie gasped as his fingers clamped down, her hazel eyes wide.
It was seeing her fear that brought him back to calm, the rapid, fluttering breaths she took as her chest rose and fell quickly. She was afraid. Of the dawning knowledge or of him, it was hard to distinguish. But he never wanted her to be afraid of him. He'd die to protect her, didn't she know that?
Closing his eyes, breathing deep and slow, he forced his fingers to soften their grip, but didn't release her. "Ellie, I will do everything in my ability to keep anyone from harming you," he said evenly, opening his eyes to look directly at her. "But I can't do that if you're nowhere around and I don't know where you're going. All right?"
She relaxed a little, looking a less afraid and a bit embarrassed. "I know, John, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, it's just… Devon… I found…"
"I know," he said softly, wrapping her in a comforting hug as she leaned her head on his chest. "You've got every right to be upset. I understand why you needed some space, but that doesn't change things. Ellie, no one expects you to suddenly think like an agent. But you have to keep in the back of your mind at all times that there are people who will hurt you if given half a chance. They won't care if your heart's broken. It's not fair. It's not right. It just is what it is. I'm sorry for that. Wish I could change it, but I can't."
"I should have been more careful," she nodded against him with a sad sigh. Her voice, while quiet, didn't hold the trace of tears. "It's not like I didn't know this was coming. I just never expected how. He didn't even tell me in person, just left the divorce papers where I'd see them."
John grimaced. "I'm truly sorry, Ellie."
He felt her shrug. "It's not your fault, but thanks anyway. I guess I just thought… you know, with the whole death-defying adventure kick he was always on, he'd have more…"
"Balls?"
She snorted. "Courage, I was going to say. But 'balls' works, too." With a long sigh, she pulled away slowly, giving him an ironic half-smile. "Chuck keeps calling me, wants me to rush back home, like that'll solve everything. I love my brother, but sometimes he just does not get it. Things have been broken a long while, and honestly…"
She broke off, looking ashamed and turning to stare out over the glimmering water. "Just between you and I, John, I think I'm just relieved it's over. I tried talking, you know that, and now, there's nothing left for us to say that'll mend it."
John followed her gaze across the lake. Evening sunlight shimmered across the surface, and a bass boat was making its way up the alcove from the main body of water, coming to a stop across the way from the cabin's short dock. A couple of guys in orange safety vests and lure-festooned hats were laughing, discussing between themselves whether they'd found a spot where the fish were hiding. One of them dragged out a couple of cane poles while the other looked busy with what appeared to be an electronic fish-finding device.
"Would you care to call Chuck for me?" Ellie asked, her resigned tone breaking through his observation of the men. "Tell him to leave it alone where Devon and I are concerned? I know he thinks he's responsible for this, and he's going to keep at me to come home and try to 'fix' things."
She sighed again. "His heart's in the right place, but he doesn't understand there's no fixing it. I don't want to make it harder on Devon or myself than it has to be."
"I'll call him. Tell him to stand down. In the meantime," John glanced back to the fishing buddies, "you'd ease my mind if you were back inside. At least until I can finish securing the area. Agreed?" The fish-finder man noticed them standing near the shore and raised a beer can in greeting.
"Agreed," Ellie said as she gave a cordial but brief wave.
John raised his hand back to the fellow, to keep from drawing unwelcome speculation. Everyone on the lake had to be so damned friendly all the time, whether they knew someone or not. And idle gossip at the local bait shop could mean trouble later on. For now, things would run much more smoothly if anyone who saw them thought they were just another couple who'd come up here as a getaway.
"This may not be the best time to bring it up, but we need to firm up a cover story," he told her cautiously.
"Why?" she scoffed and picked up the ball bat, giving the quilt another swat before taking it off the line. "It's not like Devon's going to care if anyone knows I'm up here, in the company of 'some other man'. He had the papers drawn up and left them. I signed them. It's no one else's business where I am or who I'm with, now is it?"
"Not what I meant, Ellie," he said as much tact as he could. "If anyone of the wrong sort is asking around, trying to find you, it may be better if anyone who's seen us to think we're just another couple on retreat. Much better than them thinking it's perhaps the upset woman from the city whose brother's head holds all the nation's security secrets and the NSA agent who's trying to keep them from getting her."
Ellie turned toward him, suddenly white. "You don't think… those guys in the boat?" She whispered, her eyes wary.
John flicked a quick glance across her shoulder at the bass boat. "I don't know, but you can never be too careful, of them or of anyone else that may happen by," he said in a low voice. "Best to pick up the cover now, before anyone has a chance to question it. We can work out the details inside. Slip your arm around my waist and smile, and act as if we're having a perfectly lovely, perfectly normal time on the lake. Can you do that?"
"What a wonderful idea, dear," she smiled gamely, letting her words carry a bit. "I'm starving, too."
Beaming down at her, both for the cover and out of pride for how quickly she caught on, he slid an arm around her shoulders and steered her gently toward the house. Ellie was about to get a crash course in Spy 101, and the sooner the better.
As he escorted his protectee into the house, John worked up a mental short list of what she needed to learn in the next hour or two. Busying his mind with the details of a cover story, he tried not to be aware of how naturally she seemed to fit up against him, and worked to ignore the warm glow growing in his chest.
.~.~.~.
To be continued…. Reviews appreciated! ;D