Day 9: "Learning everything ain't what it seems, that's the thing about these days."/Mistaken Identity

This one refused to be written! But these lyrics helped.

Lyrics:

See, the thing about these days

Is I really need - call up my mum

Saw my father cry one time

And I must admit, it really twisted me up

And it hurts you, and it burns you

Learnin' everything ain't what it seems

That's the thing about these days

I need something to sew me up by the seams again

Characters: Scott, OC's, John, Tracy family

Warnings: Restrained, Tasered, Vomiting, Emotional whump, Shock

'Mom?'

But the woman didn't turn around. She kept walking as if she hadn't heard.

All thoughts of getting back to TI were forgotten completely in the need to double-check, and Scott weaved in and out of the busy New York streets.

It had been just a glance at a passing woman, but it was all Scott needed. She looked so much like his Mom his heart had stopped completely. The accompanying smell of lilac and lavender hit him just as hard.

She was dressed in a cream mac belted tight against the wind. A bright green bucket hat sat on her auburn hair and she strode purposely along the street in knee-high dark red boots. Scott could clearly see her, his Mom's height and choice of hat keeping her in his sights.

He followed her for quite a while, never quite catching up but not losing her once either. As they walked Scott thoughts turned inwards.

What was going on? How could this be his Mom? How could she not be? That quick glimpse of her face had been enough to convince him. Something wasn't right, wasn't what it seemed to be, and Scott needed to know what was going on.

Watching her turn down a side street, Scott came to a decision. He would stop her and talk to her, work out who she was. He quickened his pace as she stopped at a building and keyed in a code, and he just made it in time to stop the door from shutting.

He hadn't noticed the building or what kind of place it was.

The walls were marble and the floor was a deep blue carpet. Neither her shoes nor his made a sound. She made it to the elevator and turned around just as the doors slid shut.

Scott's knees suddenly gave way and he almost fell forward, but he managed to catch himself.

It was her.

It was his Mom.

He watched the numbers climb until they stopped on the 41st floor. That stop released him from being frozen, and he pressed for the elevator to return.

But he didn't get that far.

A heavy hand on his shoulder was all he knew before a taser was thrust into his side and Scott knew no more.

…

John was having a good day. Earth was, for once, relatively peaceful. There was a potential tropical storm brewing in the Atlantic and some flooding in India that so far was being handled by local rescue teams, EOS was keeping an eye on things while John took some precious time out and stargazed.

iR had been busy recently and he'd not had the time to be the astronomer he was, and he'd trained Five's telescope into an area of space that he had found the Tracy Quasar in.

He sighed contentedly as he made notes and fully immersed himself in his task.

The beeping of an incoming call was an irritation he could do without, but John put his notes aside and answered the comms. Not an emergency, then, so he was slightly puzzled when Scott's PA was on the line.

'George! What can I do for you?'

'Hey, John. I'm sorry to bother you, but have you heard from Scott?'

'No…Isn't he with you for the investor's meeting?'

'I'm afraid he went out for a short walk and we haven't seen him since. Neither he nor his security team have returned.'

'How overdue is he?'

'An hour. I'm so sorry for waiting, but…'

'It's fine, George. Are the investors all there?'

'They are, they're getting fractious.'

'Give me five minutes and then I'll join the meeting remotely.'

'Thank you, John.'

John's blood run cold at the thought of both Scott and his security team being missing, and he hit the emergency klaxon. His family were there in seconds.

'Guys, we have a situation. Scott's gone AWOL along with his security team. EOS will be looking for the route he took. Kayo…you know what to do. Virgil, Alan, I'm putting you on standby. Gordon – with Kayo please.'

There were a chorus of 'FAB' and they all scattered. John didn't need to tell them what to do, they were a well-oiled machine, and as he dressed for the investor's meeting John tried hard not to worry too much.

They would find Scott.

…

He woke up some indeterminate time later in what Scott could only describe as an interrogation room. Plain room, large one-way mirror, simple wood table bolted to the floor with a metal bar running down the width to which one of his wrists was handcuffed to. An empty chair opposite him.

Scott stay still, head on the table, while he woke up and took stock of his situation. He wasn't wearing his jacket or coat; his cuffs were rolled up and the cufflinks missing. He couldn't feel his collar so his tie was probably missing too.

There was no way to contact John.

Sitting upright was painful. His muscles let him know he'd been in that position for some time. His side protested when he went to stretch it out, the muscles still not happy at the electrical charge used, and his adjusted his movements accordingly.

He could cry out, complain at being held, but Scott knew that this was a waiting game. They would let him stew as long as possible before coming in all superior. He'd been through this before. Might as well make good use of the time.

He folded his arm on the table and pillowed his head on it and went to sleep.

The door opened pretty quickly after that, and Scott smiled to himself. He didn't move until someone sat down and kicked his foot. Slowly he sat up, taking in the person before him.

If this had been a movie it would have been a particularly bad cop scene. The man sitting in front of him was wearing a black suit. It was ill-fitting along the shoulders and cuffs. The white shirt had seen better days, a slight fraying at the collar tips. A knock-off Rolex was on his wrist and a plain brown folder of paper was in front of him.

But as Scott examined him he began to see that he was mistaken. There was military in his stance, his fingernails were manicured, his teeth perfect in the way that screamed money. This was not some dead-beat cop. This was a professional pretending to be a dead-beat cop.

And that worried Scott more than anything. What had he walked into?

'Mr Tracy. My name is Detective Myers.'

'Ok, sure. I'll go along with that. What can I do for you, Detective?'

'You can explain what you were doing in the lobby.'

Scott eyed the man. He could hardly say he had been following his dead Mother and ended up here, they'd never believe him. Nothing he could say would give them a satisfactory answer, so he stayed silent for now. From the man's response it was the reaction they had expected.

'No answer? Very well. I must assume you know full well where you are and what we are doing here. This means there has been a security breach of the highest order.'

The man stood up, placed his hands on the desk and leant forward.

'Mr Tracy, I do not think you realise what kind of trouble you are in.'

'Breach of National Security, I heard you.'

'Who told you about this place?'

'No one. I followed someone in I thought I knew.'

'You really expect me to believe that?'

'Believe what you want – I'm telling the truth and nothing is going to change that.'

'We'll soon see about that.'

He moved over to the door and knocked on it. It opened silently and Scott watched as the man turned to speak to him one last time.

'I'll give you some time to consider your answer more fully before I return.'

And he was gone. But Scott's attention was focussed on the file in front of him. He waited a moment, just in case the man came back, but soon pulled the file over and opened it.

The first thing he saw was a photo of his Mom. And then one of his Dad. Scott's stomach clenched and bile flooded his mouth, threatening to overwhelm his self-control. His eyes watered as he tried to make out the words, but all he could see was his Mom and Dad.

He recognised the outfits. It was on the ski slope. If the picture had been taken at another angle baby Alan would be at her feet…and so would he be, helping Alan to build a snowman. His Dad would have been with John and Virgil. Grandam had had charge of Gordon because the fish hadn't wanted to ski or board that day and had demanded to go swimming in the pool…

The shock realisation that this would have been taken the day of the avalanche caused him physical pain and he clenched his stomach with his free hand, still fighting to control himself.

He lost.

Scott vomited over the floor and continued until he was dry heaving. By the time he could form a coherent thought he was shaking. He wiped his eyes and then his mouth, sat back utterly exhausted and waited. He felt like he needed his stomach stitched back together, like his heart had been ripped apart at the seams. He needed answers.

What the hell was going on?

On the other side of the glass the woman he'd followed was biting her lip. She'd known what they were asking her to do, hadn't really wanted to be a party to this…but she'd had no choice. Not really.

Her boss had wanted Scott Tracy and Scott Tracy she had snared. The method may have been underhand, but there was good reasoning behind the how they had employed. She watched with growing concern and a small amount of guilt as the man threw up after seeing the photos in the file.

She knew what seeing them would have done to him and she ached for him.

Not long after she was joined by the man who had been questioning Scott. He stood beside her and watched two, smiling cruelly as he noticed the vomit. He looked to his watch.

'Time to make Scott Tracy disappear.'

'Do you think he'll do what the Boss wants?'

'Doesn't matter what I think or even what Tracy thinks. As of now Scott Tracy has officially been detained under the Patriot Act and he'll never see his brothers or be a free man again if he doesn't undertake the mission.'

'His family will fight it.'

'Who cares? By the time they even realise there's a problem Tracy will be on a plane and we will be long gone.'

She nodded. Her role in this…mission was not yet over, and the part she had to play was going to cause heartache to the man she was watching. There literally was nothing she could do about that, though. So she turned on her heel and followed her colleague out to finalise their transport.

…

It was EOS who spotted Scott weaving through the crowded pavement. It was John who spotted who he was following. As his mouth fell open and his blood pressure dropped as adrenaline flooded his system. If it wasn't for being in Zero-G John would have fallen to the ground.

As it was EOS had called Virgil and Grandma in a panic when he didn't answer her repeated calls. Eventually their combined voices got through to John and he pulled himself together. Getting Kayo and Gordon on the comms too John proceeded to show everyone who Scott had been following using an amalgamation of camera angles.

There was stunned silence.

'John…was that…'

'No. It can't have been.'

'But it looks so much like her!'

'I know, I know. Something else is going on here.'

They watched the two enter the building. Immediately John's fingers were flying. He frowned as he couldn't get the answers he sought from his searches. EOS wasn't having much luck either.

'Kayo, are you nearly there? There's something suspicious about that building. I can't find out what it is.'

'FAB, John. Five minutes.'

There was a chime of an incoming call, and John almost swiped it away. But it was their Godmother, and maybe, just maybe she could have the answers they needed. But it was Colonel Casey who spoke first.

'John, why are you investigating a building belonging to the NSA? They have called me to demand an explanation.'

'NSA? What do they want with Scott?'

Their Godmother paled immediately.

'John – tell me everything.'