Chapter Four-Hundred-Fifty-Two
“You! Security dude,” Sean said suddenly turning to face Marcus who was quietly contemplating the best way to attack Sean without being the second security guard of the day to get shot. Marcus eyed him warily, silently wondering what he had done to earn his attention. He’d been very quiet the entire time.
“Where are your security cameras?” Sean demanded and Marcus’s wary expression turned to incredulous.
“There is a storm going on outside,” Marcus explained slowly, sounding as if he were talking to someone who was mentally disabled. “We turned them off since we were all going to be in the same room and we thought we weren’t going to have electricity on top of that.”
“Yes and obviously turning them off was very stupid,” Sean replied while indicating toward himself and Trevor. Marcus stared at Sean in silence not allowing himself to let Sean get to him and play with his emotions no matter how guilty he feels right now. Sean pointed his gun on him then.
“Get them. I want you to hook it all up.”
“What’s the point? We’re all in one room anyway.”
“I need to be in control of the building. Just…don’t ask questions, just get a fucking move on!” Sean demanded in frustration and without another word Marcus walked over to where he was keeping all of their television sets and after eyeing Trevor and sharing a look with him he followed Marcus making sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. While he did this Trevor stood there between the two groups of adults and children, eyeing them carefully. When Marcus reached the television sets he looked at Sean.
“Setting them up will be a two person job. I’m going to need Q’s help.”
“Fine,” Sean replied and he turned and looked at Trevor to see Trevor already pointing at Q with his own gun and motioning him to join Sean and Marcus. Q was up in an instant and he went over and grabbed up a television while Marcus grabbed another and Sean began to lead them toward the control room but not before Laney, Raul, and Drew noticed Marcus and Q share a significant look. While Sean was busy with that and Trevor was mostly paying attention to the adults, Sarah eyed him carefully for a moment and then reached over and gently took Josh’s hand. Josh looked at her curiously as he did, reluctantly tearing his concerned gaze from his beloved Dakota and Sarah still watching Trevor, leaned over and whispered very quietly in his ear though Chris still heard him.
“I think it’s time Batman did something.”
“What am I supposed to do about this?” Josh whispered back in obvious surprise.
“I don’t know…what would Batman do, Josh?”
“Whatever it is, you better think about it fast,” Chris spoke up in his brother’s ear. “Before Marcus gets those cameras up…or Sean will for sure catch us.”
“Exactly,” Sarah agreed. “Where would we go that he wouldn’t be able to see us Josh?” She hinted quietly.
“I’m not going anywhere without Kota” Josh insisted when he caught on.
“Me neither,” Sarah told him simply. “We’ll need her – now more than ever. Go get your batgirl, Batman and I will round up everyone else and get what we need.” Josh nodded eagerly, cast a careful glance toward Trevor and when he saw that he was busy arguing with Kevin over Sean at the moment he quietly crawled over to where BJ sat with Dakota while Sarah crawled over to Julie who was sitting in Annabelle’s lap. When Josh reached Dakota and BJ he gently took Dakota’s hand into his. She looked at him curiously and he leaned forward and spoke to her in a quiet whisper.
“Kota come on.”
“What? Why where are we going?”
“I am getting you somewhere safe,” Josh insisted reassuringly and that was all he needed to say to earn Dakota’s trust. She crawled out of BJ’s lap and allowed Josh to pull her over to Chris again though BJ watched them protectively. She doesn’t know if she likes the idea of this. If Sean catches them it will only make things worse. When Josh approached Chris again, Sarah returned too with Julie and her walkie talkie.
“Kota do you have the rest of the walkie talkies?” Sarah whispered quietly.
“They’re in daddy’s bag.”
“We’ll go by it on our way to the air vent.” Sarah said after a moment.
“What about Ellie? We can’t just leave her” Dakota asked worriedly and she cast a glance toward her best friend.
“Why not?” Josh asked bitterly and Dakota gave him a sharp look causing him to recoil.
“I uh…I mean, I’ll go get her…” Chris couldn’t help but snicker quietly despite the circumstances and was silently thankful that he did not have a girlfriend. Six years old and the boy was already on a pretty short leash. Dakota watched Josh as he crawled over to retrieve his cousin who was at the moment cradled in Jerald’s lap.
“What about Bella?” Dakota asked instantly, feeling highly protective of the baby who might as well be her sister too.
“We don’t know where she is Kota,” Sarah answered softly as she’d understood why she was asking being the eldest of the three. “And we don’t have time to look,” Spencer added as he joined them with Josh and a worried Ellie. Dakota said nothing but she did not allow herself to forget her baby sister in the least bit. She let Sarah take her hand and they all began crawling toward the nearest air vent and as they passed Howie, AJ, Lindsey, and Laila Dakota whispered quietly to her.
“Come on Laila…want some M’s?” Laila’s entire face lit up.
“Laila has M’s?”
“Shhh” Dakota told her quietly while placing her finger to her lips. “If Laila is very quiet and comes with me Kota will get you some.” Laila looked to AJ then, who was quietly lying on his side on the ground as Denise tended to him. She had managed to tie a cloth around his bullet wound and Brandon had used special tape to make it stay.
“J comes too?” she asked and Dakota was so proud that she had remembered to whisper.
“You go on sweetie,” AJ whispered reassuringly though he eyed Sarah with please be very careful looks and she gave him reassuring ones right back. “You’ll have more fun with Kota.” Laila gave him a skeptical look for a moment but eventually allowed Dakota to pull her away and Ryan followed protectively. Lindsey gave AJ a worried look and AJ squeezed her hand gently.
“She’ll be safe with Kota, I promise” He whispered.
“Where are they taking them?”
“Somewhere very safe. That’s all I can say,” Howie was the one to answer as he cast a glance at Trevor. He is thankful that Kevin was being stupid at the moment because it gave the kids the distraction that they need. “Trust me baby.” When Sarah and Dakota reached Nick’s backpack Dakota grabbed up the whole thing and put it on and they quickly escaped to the air vent, one by one they all crawled in Josh lifting Laila up to Dakota who had taken on the job of mother hen and felt responsible for the little one. It was helping her with her worry for Bella. When they were all in and the vent was closed, Laila spoke up but still in a quiet whisper as she knows that’s what she has to do to earn her M&M’s.
“M’s?” She asked while looking up at Dakota eagerly and Dakota reached into Nick’s backpack and pulled out the big bag of M&M’s. She opened them up and handed Laila a few and while she happily ate them Dakota pulled out the walkie talkies and handed them out to everyone minus Laila.
“This is in case we get separated,” Josh instructed. “But if I have my way, we won’t.”
“How good are these walkie talkies?” Ryan asked eagerly all of the sudden. “Can we reach other people on other lines with these?”
“No, they’re just toys” Dakota answered wistfully. “But I’ve told Elliot I want real ones for my birthday.” The hope on Ryan’s face disappeared then and Julie spoke up.
“They’ll reach Stevie.” Dakota’s whole face lit up.
“That’s right! I forgot about him! Julie can you try and get a hold of him please?” Julie nodded and Dakota turned to her sister and went on. “Watch Laila for me,” She instructed while thrusting the Toddler into her arms and she grabbed Josh’s hand.
“Come with me,” she told him and began to pull him in the direction she wanted to go.
“Where are we going?” Josh demanded but Dakota didn’t answer she only continued to tug him along until they came across another air vent to the auditorium. Dakota peered inside it as did a curious Josh and after she looked for a bit, she pointed down below under some chairs.
“Look, there’s Ashee” She whispered.
“Yeah…and your point?” Josh asked and Dakota reached out to open the air vent only to have Josh grab her hand.
“What are you doing? We can’t go back down there, we’ll get caught!” he hissed quietly.
“I need to get Bella, Joshy...”
“No you don’t. You’ll risk getting caught.”
“But she’s my baby sister,” Dakota pleaded and she grabbed Josh’s face and made him look at her so he could see her pleading eyes. “If Sean finds my Ashee the first thing he’ll do is hurt Bella because she is the closest thing to my Ashee besides my daddy. I need to get her out of there!” Josh sighed heavily and when he saw the tears forming in her eyes and that there would be no talking her out of this he gave in.
“We’ll need to avoid the cameras – Marcus may have them set up by now.” Dakota looked across the auditorium at the control room and she could see Sean standing in the doorway supervising and Marcus and Q working on the television screens.
“Not yet they don’t. Come on,” She insisted and she pulled open the air vent causing Josh to instantly begin to help her back down into the danger zone against his better judgment. Sure he understands the importance of getting Bella out of there – she is just a poor defenseless baby after all. But the idea of crawling back in there after they just got out makes him nervous.
~*~*~*~*~
“AHH!” Aaron cried out and his hands flew to his forehead as he felt not only the headache come back but a feeling of utmost panic rush through him.
“What? What is it Aaron, what is going on?” Detective Stabler demanded and he dropped the papers he was going through and rushed to the young teenager’s side. “Goddamnit mother fucker it hurts!” he groaned.
“Come here, come sit down” Detective Stabler urged and he pushed him toward a chair and sat him in it. Aaron immediately drew his legs to his chest and buried his face in them as he rocked back and forth.
“Do you need some more Ibuprofen?”
“No but Angel could sure use some…it’s her I’m channeling.”
“She’s back?” Conner asked anxiously and he turned to look at him.
“And terrified…really really terrified.”
“Where is she?” Detective Benson spoke up and Aaron went very silent as he tried to concentrate with all of the fear and pain that he was picking up on.
Twina? he asked mentally, instantly falling into twin telepathy. Talk to me…what’s going on? Where are you?
Aaron…
I’m here. I’m right here...you need to tell me where you are.
Skeleton…dead…can’t breathe…so scared.
“What the fuck…” Aaron said out loud feeling highly confused.
“What is it?” Conner urged.
“I can hardly hear her she’s being faint with me and is really broken up. She said Skeleton, dead, can’t breathe, and so scared.”
“Skeleton, dead can’t breathe…” Detective Benson repeated softly just taking in those words and she glanced at Detective Stabler meaningfully and Aaron watched as his expression went grave.
“What is it?” he demanded but instead of answering Detective Stabler pulled out his cell phone and walked out of the room to make a phone call.
“Keep reaching out to her Aaron,” Detective Benson urged gently. “Ask her what her surroundings look like.”
“Dark. Really dark…she can barely see.” Aaron answered picking them up from her thoughts. “And enclosed – she’s hyperventilating…OLIVA WE NEED TO FIND HER! NOW!” Aaron insisted immediately going into panic mode over his twin. Detective Benson got up and went over to Aaron and she gently pulled him into a hug just as Detective Stabler walked in and they made eye contact.
“We don’t even know where to begin looking,” He told her and her alone knowing she would understand.
“I have a hunch the best place to start would be at a graveyard,” she told him softly.
“WHAT?” Aaron and Conner said at once.
“Yes, but what are we going to do Liv dig up and disturb every grave there?”
“Do you see any other option?” She snapped somewhat, feeling very frustrated. And on top of that her heart was completely breaking for Angel. “What other choice do we have Elliot? She’s having a panic attack, we don’t have much time!”
“Let’s get them in the car and we’ll drive down there – back up will be meeting us there” He said after a moment and he gently grabbed Conner’s arm and led him toward the door. Detective Benson helped Aaron up and had to practically carry him as he was having a very hard time dealing with the realization that his sister has been buried alive. “Honey I know this is very hard for you,” She began while helping him in the car. “But I need you to reach out to Angel again and do whatever it will take to calm her down – anything. I trust you will know best on how to do just that. She needs to save her energy and oxygen – it’s very important.”
“Kay,” Aaron replied weakly and Detective Benson got in the passenger’s seat before Detective Stabler drove off.
“Why did you bring that with you?” Detective Stabler asked while eyeing the notebook in her hands.
“Because it has Sean’s plans written in them in precise detail. When I get the chance I want to give it to one of our people that are handling the hostage situation. They could use it.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
“I’m tired of having this argument with you. Shut up Kevin, or I’ll shoot you in the fucking foot” Trevor insisted in aggravation.
“I was just trying to understand why you are doing this, that’s all. It just doesn’t seem like you want to be here.”
“For the last time, I don’t have a choice.”
“Of course you do,” Kevin insisted easily. “Everybody has choices, this is America. You know this is it for you right? You are not going to make it out of this building without being caught. You can just kiss your freedom goodbye.”
“I didn’t mean in that sense,” Trevor replied impatiently. “I love Sean. I couldn’t walk away from him even if I tried.”
“So you are just going to rot in prison then is that it? Well, if you are lucky that is…”
“As long as Sean is right beside me while I rot then so be it,” Trevor shrugged. “It is physically impossible for me to be anywhere that he isn’t. Understand now?” Kevin shrugged his shoulders as he sat there quietly mulling things over and Trevor stood there eyeing him, not trusting him. He seems to be taking advantage of the fact that Sean won’t kill him and it’s making him nervous. Meanwhile, Nick who was lying with his head in Brooke’s lap caught sight of his daughter crawling out of the air vent and a second later Josh followed after her. He narrowed his eyes at the situation and looked at Brian who had noticed his son as well.
Joshua…what are you doing? Brian wondered to himself as he sat there with Riley lying in his lap and he was working really hard on keeping her calm. They watched as the two children reached the ground landing right on their feet and they got to their knees and instantly disappeared under the chairs. They crawled under them together until they reached Ashley and her and Scott looked at them in surprise.
“Kota…honey…what are you doing here?” she asked in a whisper. “How did you get away?”
“We took refuge in the sewers” Dakota whispered in a very Donatello-like way. “The rest are waiting on us. I just came to take Bells from you.” Ashley hugged Bella close to her protectively and gave Dakota a wary look.
“Please Ashee I promise to keep her safe.”
“It’s a good idea honey,” Scott insisted quietly. “She is just a burden on us. Every time Sean’s gun goes off she freaks out.”
“An’ I’m your biggest helper remember?” Dakota added. After a moment’s hesitation, Ashley finally handed Bella over to her after helping her get the baby sling on and putting her in it for her.
“She has her pacifier and blanket…I left her diaper bag by all of our stuff.”
“I put a couple of bottles in daddy’s bag,” Dakota reassured. Ashley pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead softly.
“You are such a big girl, I can’t even believe it...”
“I love you Ashee,” Dakota told her softly while hugging her in return and she fought with great difficulty to keep her emotions at bay. It’s going to be so hard being up in those air vents just wondering whether or not her mommy and daddy are all right.
“I love you too sweetie. Everything is going to turn out okay…I know it,” She reassured her along with herself. When Dakota felt Josh take her hand after letting her have a few moments with Ashley she pulled back and allowed Josh to tug her in the direction of the vents. As soon as they arrived at them, Josh climbed up first before lying on his stomach and reaching out to grab her. He did just that and Nick and Brian watched now seeing that she has Bella. Nick looked at Laney with a pointed look and Laney gave him a look right back that clearly said that he understands now and he’s sorry he gave him so much grief about leaving the air vents as a blind spot.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
