Redemption

Chapter Sixty-Four

A heavy pressure was being placed on her side—one that wasn't heavy enough to hurt her, but to alert her to its presence—though she couldn't be sure of what was happening around her. The last thing she remembered was turning to go back to the bedroom after she'd gotten her drink, but after that… After that, it was all a blank. Her eyelids were heavy as she tried to open them and peer out into the world, but as they cracked open, all she could see was a blurry mass of the giant that stood above her.

For a second, she could swear he looked familiar, yet from the angle she was lying in and the fact that her head pounded unmercifully, everyone looked the same: a big, dark mass of flesh. Other than that, she couldn't find any discernable attributes that might explain to her who this man was.

She hadn't realized that he'd been talking the entire time she was trying to identify him. It was as if her hearing had been turned off due to the excessive amount of chloroform she'd taken in. If she had breathed in any more than she had, she would have been worse for wear and most likely disposed of so they could try again.

Trying to hide her groan, she strained her ears to listen to the conversation her captor was holding with another of this clan. Unfortunately, it only registered in her mind as noises. It was like a Charlie Brown cartoon when the child characters would speak to an adult and all that would come out was a muffled, blah-blah-blah sound. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get her brain to register the words that were being said. The fog was still too thick and she could feel it beginning to take over again, but she couldn't let it.

The man whose foot was placed heavily upon her ribcage looked down at her, his entire head moving and allowing her to glimpse his face. She's seen that countenance before, yet as hard as she tried to remember where she'd seen it before, she couldn't. If only she could get her thoughts to focus and chase the fog away, but there was nothing she could do for that to happen.

Unable to hold back the rumbling noise within her, a loud groan escaped her, telling the men that surrounded her that she was awake after all. "Finally," one muttered as he rolled his eyes and glared at his companion. "I told you that you used too much. Any more and you could have killed her." He didn't acknowledge her with his words, but with one thrust of his foot, he managed to turn her onto her back.

She felt the cool floor upon her back and realized, for the first time, that her hands were no longer tied behind her back, yet how she knew they had been was a blur to her. As hard as she tried, getting her body to move was out of the question. It protested every effort she'd made, from which she had to surrender and remain in her spot on the floor.

"Don't tell me what I should have done," the other grumbled as he busied himself with something that stood out of Danni's line of vision. At least the voices weren't muffled anymore, she mused, though it would still do her little help because her voice was lost to her. Technically, she wasn't eavesdropping, because they knew she was in the room, but they were talking freely in front of her and that was certainly a plus.

The second's back was turned to her, though she recognized his deep voice and felt her stomach churn. He'd been the one who'd taken her and though he'd only said a few words before everything became dark, she would recognize his gruff, grainy tone anywhere.

"You were told to only take the girl. One, she isn't even the right one; and two, you could have killed her before he got what he asked for." Apparently, this wasn't the first argument these two men had gotten into. Their dislike for one another was evident, even to Danni's still fog-addled brain.

"I said," the second growled, turning away from the machine he'd been setting up to stand only centimeters away from his—for lack of a better word—companion, "don't tell me what I should have done." He spit as he talked, some of the spray falling upon the woman's cheek, despite the effort she'd put into turning away. "You are only here because you where of some use to the boss. You're not really one of us and when this is all over, I'll make sure to put you in your place." He shoved the first man hard, yet he was surprised when no retaliation came. "Now, get to your position, he wants this finished before sun-up."

As large as the urge to throw Tara's laptop against the wall was, Bobby controlled himself enough as he stood up from the couch. His hands were visibly shaking and he closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. It did little to help, but he could at least face the others in the room without jumping down their throats.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it as a flash of what he'd just seen appeared before his eyes. He closed his mouth and shook the image of Danni with her hands bound in front of her, her face only visible because her kidnapper had pulled her up by her hair to show that she was at least alive. Her eyes had been covered for some reason, but his focus had not been on that. Her whimpers of terror and groans of pain were what registered in his mind first.

Their demands had been simple. They wanted Jack in exchange for Danni's life, but Bobby couldn't ask his best friend to make that kind of sacrifice. There were other ways to deal with this, but giving them exactly what they wanted would be a death sentence, even for an agent.

"So, what do we do?" Bobby finally asked after getting his nerves under control. He turned a steady gaze to the others to hide his true feelings. They didn't have long to comply and he wouldn't waste the time they had on his emotions. He would worry about that when this was done and over with, but not before.

"What can we do?" Tara asked as she barely took her eyes away from the luminescent screen. She had busied herself with work as soon as the video was finished playing. No one really knew what she was doing and didn't bother to ask. They figured if she ended up with something of use, it would be all that mattered.

"We give them what they want," Jack said with a sense of finality that was immediately met with argument. He raised his hands to silence the protesting group, but the uproar only increased. He expected as much from them, but from the first moment the video played, a plan had been forming. "I know," he began, but knew he wouldn't be heard, so he raised his voice over the rabble. "I know," he urged before they quieted slightly, "I know that it seems like suicide, but to get Danni back, we have to give them what they want." He looked to D for help, and the supervisor couldn't help but comply.

As much as neither man enjoyed the idea, it was their only hope. "Jack's right. It's the only way, besides," he said, with a small smile, "I think we're all forgetting our secret weapon."

"Which would be?" Myles asked. Sometimes he felt out of the loop when he wasn't filled in on important information like a secret weapon. Sue had been used as one in the past and Myles looked to her with skepticism. If she was their secret weapon, they needed to come up with another plan.

He trusted her abilities with his life, no one could deny that, but she wouldn't be of any use to this operation. He was about to protest to it, when her soft voice pierced through the silence.

"Our inside man," her eyes brightened at the thought. It had its charms, but Danni wouldn't trust just anyone in that kind of scenario, they all knew that. Everyone would be seen as the enemy if they hadn't given her a reason to be trusted. Somehow, she felt like this wasn't going to work.

"Right," the older man said with a smile. "He's still feeding us info from the inside and he'll know to protect her if the need arises." 'Only if he can get himself on her good side,' he mused.

"But, we can't let Jack do this," Bobby argued, a growl forming from deep within. There had to be another way.

"Bobby's right," Sue argued; the pain obvious in both her eyes and her voice. She tried to look to D to see if he would agree, but she found it very difficult to pull her gaze away from Jack's. "Dessa will kill you, you know he will."

"He can try," Jack said with a lopsided grin and his trademark wink, "but I have a plan." At that statement, his eyes grew brighter and his smile wider as the last few pieces fell into place.