She wonders what they could be talking about, but it really doesn’t matter, not anymore. When she is finally guided through the main doors, and through the metal detectors, the alarm suddenly goes off. It’s loud and breathe taking, and reminds her of a fire alarm. And like a fire alarm, this alarm sends the school’s sprinklers alive and shedding water. There are cries of alarm from behind her, and everyone scatters at once. The guards around her rush to a wall panel to the side of the detectors and try to deactivate it. Agent House hustles her out the door quickly and he pushes her towards a police car waiting for them straight ahead. She finds it fitting that she would finally set of the metal doctor, and odd that no one would think that the cuffs would do it. That’s professionalism at its best, she thinks with a small smile.
She stops smiling though when they reach the car, and House shifts her to the side do that he can open the door. When it’s wide open he turns to her, and with a hand on her head he guides her to sit down inside. With nothing to do, she complies, and is seated before he shuts the door. It slams with a bang, and almost reverberates inside her body and sends chills down her spin. As House walks to his door, Moira gazes back to the school. She can still almost hear the alarm, and she can see bodies running from the water that is falling still. In the deep recesses of the doorway she can see a figure standing still and watching her. She wonders who it could be for a moment, and then she sees a flash of violet blinking in the sunlight, and knows it’s Liam.
House is starting the car now, and the seat she is on vibrates with life. Sighing, Moira looks away from the window and gazes into her lap. The car pulls away from the curb then, and she clenches her hands together in her lap, and tries to hold herself together. Agent House doesn’t say anything to her as her drives, and it’s just as well. It doesn’t matter what he has to say, it won’t change things for her. Closing her eyes, she waits to see what is coming next.
***
As soon as they pull up to the police station, two uniforms walk out to greet them. One is a tall black man with an intimidating posture. The other is a petite woman, who looks just as intimidating with her short dark hair. Officer House gets out of the car, and talks with them before opening the back of the car. Moira is so scared that she can feel her skin tingling, but knows it would be the wrong thing to do at the moment. So she bites her tongue and lets the blood running down her throat keep her together.
House reaches into the car and grasps her upper arm and tugs her out, and she has no choice but to comply. She can feel tears forming in her eyes, and tries to will them to go away, it doesn’t work though. They flow freely sown her cheeks, and none of the officers around her even feel a little sympathy, if anything they look down on her for it. House transfers her to the two officers, and they grasp an arm each, holding her tightly as if she’ll make a break for it. With House following behind, they make their way into the police station.
As far as station’s go, Moira thinks this one is rather small. It makes up for it in bodies though. Various suits and uniforms line the entryways they pass, as they go down a long narrow hallway. The farther they go, the lights get brighter and brighter, as does the activity level. Moira can hear the whispers, as if she’s the latest big catch. But it doesn’t make sense, she thinks, she’s just a kid. This scares her more than anything, that they could be seeing her as a threat, and her blood runs cold.
The officers holding her come to a stop in front of a door. It’s opened as soon as they tap on it. A person is standing inside, but their appearances are lost under what looks like operating scrubs to Moira. They are covered from head to toe, including their hair, face, hands and feet. The person motions for them to come in. Moira finds herself in a small lab, with shelves lining the walls with sterile equipment covering them. In the middle of the room, is a single chair that looks like something a dentist would use? Moira has never been to a dentist that would strap the patient down.
She gets shoved into the chair, and the uniforms un-cuff her so they can strap in her hands and feet, and none too comfortable either. Officer House just leans by the door, with a lazy look on his face, as if nothing bothers him. Moira’s eyes are all for the person in the scrubs though, as they make their way around the room picking up various items. Before they come back to her, a tray holding tubing, needles, swabs, and vials are in they’re arms. The person drops the tray onto the counter behind her, and grabs the swab first.
“Open your mouth wide.” The voice is female, and holds the swab to her face waiting.
Moira looks around at everyone with worried eyes, as she complies. The woman uses the swab to rub the inside of her cheek, and then shoves the swab into a vile with a cap. She grabs a baggie from the counter and sticks the vile into it and seals it. Now she reaches for the tubing and quickly ties it around Moira’s forearm, cutting off her circulation. Before she can worry about what she’s doing, the woman deftly picks up a needle and sticks it into Moira’s arm. She feels a sting, and the woman is attaching a vile and fills it with her blood. The woman is done before she knows it, and has the vile with her blood in a baggie as she waves to the uniforms.
She gets unstrapped and before they pull her to her feet she gets cuffed again, House leads them from the room. They are back in the too bright hallway again but they don’t go far though, Moira notices. House unlocks a paneled door and holds it open for them, and the uniforms pull her inside. She finds herself in a dimly lit room that just holds a small table with two chairs. The walls are a dingy brown color, except for the large mirror that covers the back wall. She realizes this is a questioning room, and tries not to smirk for their unoriginal two way mirror. She wonders how many criminals actually fell for it, like they didn’t know they were being watched. She gets pushed into one of the chairs and the woman uniform un-cuffs one of her hands, with the man pins them to the arms of the chairs and uses another set of cuffs to lock her down. Without saying a word they go outside the room, leaving her alone with House.
He closes the door behind the two uniforms, and calmly walks over and sits in the chair opposite her. He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry for anything, and he leans back comfortable with his hands behind his head.
“So Miss Warner, how would you feel like making a deal?” His voice is void of anything, and it makes her nervous.
“A deal…” She stammers. “…for what?”
“Why for your sentence of course.” He smiles at now, like she should have known in the first place.
Moira feels stupid suddenly, and hates that she forgot the rules of things. Of course she’d have some sort of sentence, it doesn’t matter that she’s just a teenager. She’ll be tried just like a regular adult criminal, even if the charges against her are ridiculous. Intention to infect is a very serious offense, not to mention how she used her persona in public.
“I might have used my persona accidently, but I never hurt anyone.” She whispers.
“Oh come on, Miss Warner. I saw the bruises on the boy. I do know how to do my job here.” He gives her a hard look.
“That was an accident! I threw the tennis ball at him to hard, and he didn’t hit it in time. But I never tried to infect him, and I didn’t threaten him at all. He’s lying!” She cries.
“Even so, but you’re a liar too aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Moira leans her head forward and hides her burning face behind her long hair.
“Yes you do. It would seem that we don’t have any record of you ever having Marshal Black Syndrome. Now why is that do you think?” He rests his hands on the table and leans in close to her, and seems excited waiting for her response.
“That has to be a mistake.”
“I don’t think so. The only mistake is that you thought you could get away with it forever. But that’s not why we’re talking right now.”
“It’s not?” Moira’s eyes go wide, as she can only imagine what he could possibly mean.
“Nope. You see, it’s not very often we get people
like you that are so good at hiding what they are. But when we do get ahold of you, we like to see what you know. Because Miss Warner, there are bigger fish in the sea.
He reaches into his inside coat pocket, and pulls out a manila envelope and places on the table before them.
“Many years ago a man slipped through our grasp, and has been missing ever since. There have been rumors lately that your kind has been working together and he’s the person in charge. Now, if you could give me him, I could try to get your sentence reduced.”
Moira just looks at him in confusion, she has no idea what he’s talking about. This whole day, is the most experience she’s ever had with her persona and getting into trouble. She couldn’t fathom actually working with a group of people like her and being called criminals.
“I don’t even know who you mean.”
He flips open the folder and points to a picture of a young dark haired man in a soldier’s uniform.
“This is Marshall Black, the main carrier of your disease. He’d be much older now, but this is who we want. Can you give us him?” He gives her a serious look that unnerves her.
“I-I wish I could. But I’ve never seen that man before in my life.”
He leans back in the chair and says, “Well, that’s too bad isn’t it.”
He quickly puts the folder back into his coat, and stands up out of the chair. He doesn’t even look back at her as he opens the door and disappears out of it. When it shuts behind him, Moira is consumed with the knowledge that she could be in very big trouble. She prays that her dad might be on his way to clear this whole mess up, but she has a feeling that he doesn’t even know she’s here.
With nothing to do but wait, she tries to think about something other than what will happen. So she thinks about Liam, and what he said to her the last she saw him. He mentioned something about if he knew about her, then he could have helped her. But what did he mean by that? Surely he couldn’t have done anything to stop her from being arrested, no one can do that. It would just cause a bigger problem. Sighing, Moira stretches forward and leans her head on the cold metal table. She closes her eyes, and wishes that none of this were happening.
She must have fallen asleep, because when the door to the room opens, her eyes fly open and she’s disoriented. She sits up when Officer House comes into the room. He’s now wearing a different suit, and she wonders how long she was asleep. Her back and neck feel all tight, so it must have been a while, if her growling stomach doesn’t indicate.
“You’re free to go, Miss Warner. Someone has come to claim you and declares you’re innocent.” He says as he walks over and un-cuffs her hands free.
She’s shocked for a moment, not really understanding if he’s being serious or playing a trick. But when he stands up straight, and makes no move to pull her up or re-cuff her, she knows her dad must have come for her.
“I can really leave?” She asks still not believing.
“Yes. There is a man waiting in the hall for you.” He steps aside, and points in the direction of the door.
With a smile, she runs for the door, no longer able to hide her relief. She practically throws herself out of the door and into the brightly lit hallway and looks around for her father. What she sees instead, freezes her in place. Her smile disappears, and she suddenly wishes she was still being held in the interrogation room. That would be much better, than who is waiting for her at the end of the hall.
“Why hello my dear, are you ready to come home?” Peter Fletcher says, as he walks down the hall to her.
She is so shocked to see him that she doesn’t see his assistant come up behind her. She doesn’t have time to turn around, before there is a stinging pain in her neck. As Fletcher smiles and gets closer to her, her vision goes black. She feels herself falling, and everything is gone.
Chapter Nine
When Moira wakes again, all she knows is pain. Her head is throbbing, and her mouth is so dry she can’t swallow completely. Coughing, she tries to roll onto her side but something holds her into place. That’s when she opens her eyes, and see’s that she’s strapped down onto a bed in a brightly lit room. It takes her a moment for her eyes to adjust, and when they do she knows she’s not at a hospital. The room is too small and clean of anything useful. She has a sinking feeling that she’s been brought back to the facility.
Trying not to panic, she looks to what is holding her down to the bed. There are chains linked and attached to her ankles and wrists, and are hooked to the bed rails with a pad lock. Now she panics, and the tears roll down her cheeks. A light tingling sensation begins and she can feel her persona take away some of the pain. Her eyes get sharpened, and she looks more closely at herself. In the same clothes as she was at school tells her she may have been out for a while. Either that or the people that took her don’t care for her hygiene. While surveying the room, she pulls at the shackles. The walls are bare and white, and the only door in the room is in her view but has no knob. Her narrow gurney bed in the only thing in the room, and feeling hopeless, she stops moving.
Even with the strength of her persona, she can’t budge the shackles. If anything, just by moving around made them cut into her skin. With nothing to do but think, Moira worries about her father. He must have known she was arrested, or better yet, taken by Fletcher. He must be trying to get to her, right? A really bad feeling is creeping into her gut, and it tells her that something awful happened to her dad. And that she might be trapped here, and that doesn’t set well. No one would know where to begin to look for her, if anyone wanted to that is. She thinks about the day she got caught at school and wishes it’s not the last time she sees her friends. The looks and the confusion, it makes her sick to think she can’t ever explain to them. And then there is Liam, and Moira is even more confused over him. What happened in the locker room? Is he really like her?
Lying still and thinking can’t hide the fact that Moira hasn’t eaten or drank anything in quite a while, and she feels it. It’s almost too much to bear, so she tugs at the chains again. They get pulled tighter at every movement and her skin gets dug into. Sobbing now, she thrashes about the bed and tries to use the pain to calm down. Not even her person is coming out fully, and that makes her wonder how bad off she already is. She’s about to give into the despair, when the door opens and Fletcher is walking in.
He looks the same as he did at the police station, but that doesn’t really tell her anything. Men like him usually have multiples of the same clothes. With the dark shirt and pants, he’s now wearing a lab coat. He strides into the room with confidence that she has nowhere to go. His eyes bore into hers, and a sinister smile forms on his lips. Moira doesn’t know if she should be scared or pissed off, but right now she settle for nervous.
He stops by her bed, but far enough out of her reach. He takes in her already bleeding ankles and wrists and just shakes his head.
“I’m so sorry for the living conditions here Moira. Things have changed a bit since the last time you were with us.” He tells her.
Pulling the shackles again, she tries to sit up a little and says, “Why have you brought me here? Where is my father?”
“Oh Moira, come now. You must know that he doesn’t care about you. He left with his real family, so now your mine.” He grins at the last part, like it’s supposed to make her feel better.
“What? That doesn’t make any sense, he wouldn’t.” She utters in a whisper.
“Of course it does, my dear. You’re a monster and they don’t want you.”
Grimacing, she shakes her head. “No, I won’t believe it. What do you want with me anyway?”
“All in good time, unless you prefer to go back to jail that is?” He says it like she doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.
The door opens again, and both of their attentions turn towards it. An older red haired woman comes in wearing scrubs under a lab coat, and Moira wonders if she’s a doctor like Fletcher. She’s right of course, when the woman takes out a couple syringes
and tubes from her pocket. She places the items on the bed, and reaches for Moira. She flinches away, or tries to.
“Let her do her work, Moira. It’ll only hurt worse if you move around, and she’ll get it one way or another.” Fletcher says.
“What do you need with that stuff, what are doing to me?” Moira cries.
Looking up at her, the woman says, “Be still child. I’m not doing anything, but taking blood. So be calm, I do not wish to hurt you.”
“That’s enough Dana.” Fletcher admonishes her.
There is something in the way she talks that makes Moira believe her. It doesn’t make her feel any safer though, she noticed the woman said she doesn’t wish to. Meaning she’ll probably be forced to later on, or someone else will. So lost in thought, she wasn’t prepared for the needle to pierce her skin. It stings, but she works quickly and it’s over before it began. Gathering the blood filled tubes, the woman leaves the room without saying a word. Fletcher has been leaning on the wall next to her bed, and is just watching her. More like trying to understand her very being, but Moira knows he’ll have to do more than stare to fully understand her. With a jerk, he pushes himself from the wall.
“Forgive me for not thinking of it sooner, but have you eaten?” He asks.
Moira hesitates for a second, not sure if he’s teasing her or not. But gives in and says, “No, not since school.”
“Good. We’re starting tests soon, and I’d hate for you to have a full stomach.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a syringe, and Moira notices this one is not empty.
She feels sick to her stomach suddenly and hates not knowing what is going to happen to her. He gets to her side before she can even protest, and sticks the syringe into her hip. Even as he pulls it out and backs up, the room starts to spin. She tries to move, but her limbs feel too heavy and numb. Her vision darkens as Fletcher turns and walks out the door. Her last though before being swept under, is what kind of tests are they going to do?
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