Wake Up

To all my kind and faithful readers, I want to thank you and have you ignore this first part. To my last flamer, KISS. MY. ASS. Instead hooting and hollering because I ask for a response on my stories from my readers, why don't you try writing something for yourself. I dont hold my stories ransom for reviews, fortunately for me, I have a life to deal with which is an impressive concept you dont seem to grasp-- which is why I have not posted until now. I repeat-- KISS. MY ASS.

Merry Christmas all!

Chapter Nine:

…

Hockey Pucks

…

…

…

She was scared.

Alone and naked she felt fear race through her as her bare skin shivered against something hard and cold that she was restrained against. She tried so hard to cover her nakedness, shame flaring through her, but she found she was unable to move her arms and legs. Her legs were spread and even as she tried in vain to close them she couldn’t find the strength to pull them together.

A tremor shook through her as tried to struggle against the strong bonds that were chaining her against the cold steel but she was unable to move even to touch her face. She gurgled noisily and felt the straps on her wrists and ankles cutting into her vulnerable skin. Her throat convulsed as she tried to move-- tried to speak-- to call out for help but nothing came out except incoherent babbling like that of an infant.

Her mouth moved and her tongue felt as if it was three sizes too large and seemed to choke her as her eyes strained to see where she was. She could smell that strong smell of antiseptic-- vinegar and bleach. Cleaning products. The smell was so poignant that she felt the urge to puke. The smell sent a slice of fear through her heart as she knew she was here again-- trapped again. Through the blur of her vision she saw a shape, a figure stepping towards her that was a blur of white and brown tones.

She moaned as she felt something stab her skin and she gasped, liquid fire pouring into the wound. She screamed, pain glazing her thoughts and sending her mind tumbling over agony and misery as she tried to escape the searing pain. It was so intense that she felt she would pass out and she twitched and shook uncontrollably against her chains. After what felt like forever she began to feel limp, unresponsive as fire spread through her system until it dully burned within her limbs making her feel incredibly sleepy

She watched the figure disappear as if from a distance and she heard an oddly familiar sound in the background of the room start to beep faster as horror and disgust started to fill her. She felt her fear twist, flowing through her as she tried in vain to mentally prepare herself for what she knew happened next. As the door closed behind the brown blur she felt the frigid wash of arctic air across her body, making her nipples harden causing her to twinge in pain. Her breathing quickened even as she felt the door open again.

She was numbly aware of someone different coming into the room and as they did they turned towards the door and locked it, a metallic sound filling the room. She tried in vain to look into the face of this menace that she knew so well but all she could see was a blurred image, like a reflection on disturbed water. As it neared she felt the darkness closing in on her and her fear reached new heights as nausea rolled in her stomach.

She was floating… floating so high… so high that she felt she might actually escape what happened next. But she never could. She never would escape.

Even as her mind screamed and wished it could reach out and swipe the hand away-- she knew what it wanted. It would take what it wanted, it always did. Her mouth opened in protect but as the warm hand touched her icy skin she felt the revulsion swimming through her and she moaned in fear and pain as it grappled with her body, touching her-- the hand… the hand was touching her…

…

She awoke in her bed as she did everyday-- overwhelming fear consuming her thoughts as she gasped for breath-- trying in vein to stop the horror of her dreams from coming into reality. Despite her all consuming fear of remembering her dreams she knew she had to try and cling to the memories as Dr. Midori had instructed. But just like every other sleepless morning, try as she might, the residual echoes of her dreams slipped through her fingers like water from a leaky pipe. She’d tried as hard as she could to remember what exactly she was dreaming like Midori had instructed her to do but she could never remember them the morning after… just the strong scent of antiseptic and ammonia.

As she clutched her chest, gasping for breath she realized that she was at home, and the familiar sound of clanking pots and pans, cracking eggs and sizzling bacon filled her spacious apartment slowly erasing the clenching fear that had seized her heart. The smell of breakfast foods drifted to her nose as she remained immobile on the bed and were a small reminder of how delicious breakfast food was and how unbelievably hungry she had been. It sounded like it used to when her mom used to cook dinner for her and her father…

Peeking over her shoulder and her tousled blond hair she saw a dark haired man standing in her kitchen, humming and seemingly cooking on her stove. She noticed that although the back of his head wasn’t enough to prove his innocent presence, she didn’t think a Ganado was mulling around in her kitchen making what smelled like… eggs and bacon. He had an aura about him that was both dangerous and soothing and even though her heart ached to trust, she could find no shred of hope within it to cling to.

“I hope you like over hard because I’m not much of a chef, my dear…” came a calm, natural sounding voice that obviously belonged to the dark haired man. Sitting up she touched her forehead, eyeing the man suspiciously as he addressed her, “and don’t be surprised if my pancakes taste like hard tack-- like I said, I never had to cook gourmet for anyone but myself and as you can see- there isn’t much to me…”

Despite her initial reservations, the voice seemed good natured and she felt her quivering insides relax the tight knots they’d formed as he spoke. Clearing her throat softly, she gingerly addressed him, “Who are you? Are you an agent?” her voice croaked with the vestiges of sleep and her tummy rumbled as she heard the sizzle and pop of a fatty piece of bacon bursting in the bubbling pan.

“Well my dear,” he said, turning to show her his friendly features and lopsided grin, “the names Seth- Seth Ryan if you will and yes and you could say I‘m an agent but I‘m a different breed entirely. Now if you don‘t mind, I‘d rather we talk about this over breakfast because, well…. uh--” he paused, looking over his shoulder where her stove was, “-I’m currently burning the bacon. Do you mind?” and she nodded, mute at his odd behavior. Despite herself she felt oddly like laughing.

“Okay, well, Mr. Rya-”

“That’s okay dear-- friends call me Seth, your dad too. I’m a friend of Leon’s. I’m here to watch over you while he takes care of a little business, at least until I drop you off at the doctors today. This will be the first time we‘ve met but I‘ve been working for your father for almost a year now…” She just listened as he spoke. He seemed content with explaining things to her about what was going on. “Do you remember anything about last night???” he asked, turning to give her a look that seemed to know more then he was letting on…

…she felt his mouth sliding hungrily over hers…

She remembered. Dear God did she remember. She shuddered as a thrill of electricity shivered down her body. It was almost too wonderful a thought to remember-- but had it even been real? It could have been a dream but Leon was too good to be something she’d dream-- he was so very real that she could almost feel the growth of hair that she had tangled her hands in last night. Nothing else seemed as real as that. Not even this man in front of her now.

“Well obviously there is something your remembering rather vividly, I assume,” he probed, giving her bright red face a brief glance before changing the subject after she didn‘t respond, “As much as I’d love to chit chat about it, I’m sure you’ll be doing enough of that with Dr. Midori later. Until then, your stuck with me and frankly I have a few rules you have to obey every time a situation presents itself requiring your immediate cooperation…“

“And what would those be, Mr. Rya- Seth?” she asked innocently.

“Rule number one-- I cook, you clean. Kitchen rules.” he said as he swerved around expertly in her kitchen. His food might not taste good but he looked right at home in her kitchen and it was like he’d always been there in the morning, like this was one of many days. She briefly wondered if Leon would ever master her kitchen as Seth was doing now-- with an uncanny knowledge over where everything seemed to be. It was no wonder-- the whole thing had been set up by somebody else anyway.

“How did you get in here? Where’s Leon?” she asked, rubbing her head which had a lovely lump right on the back. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember much after Rick Reynolds had arrived-- she knew he’d attacked her but the memories were foggy and she kind of liked it that way. She’d rather not know. She’d rather not remember even if it made her a coward.

She felt a warm lapping on her foot as she realized her little puppy on the floor trying desperately to get her attention with kisses. Picking the pup up she gave her and appreciative rub behind the ears before setting her on the warm bed and letting her curl into a ball to sleep. She was supposed to be her company but it felt more like she was ignoring her then anything. She promised herself she’d give her little girl some attention later.

“Cute little dog. Not much for a guard dog though, it would bite an intruder unless it had a piece of bacon wrapped around his foot…” he trailed off and with a snap of his fingers, the little pup instantly woke and bounded off the bed to sit right by his large feet, her face tilted towards the burnt bacon strip heading straight for her panting jaws.

“How did you know I was petting the dog?” she asked, bemused,

“There‘s not much I miss.”

“I gather…”

Getting off her bed she stood a little shakily, her head spinning just a little as if she had sat up too fast, and then plopped back onto the bed. She was surprised to see that she hadn’t been able to hold herself up and felt heat wash over her face at how weak she was. As she rubbed her legs she realized dully that she was not in the same clothing she had been wearing the night before. The thought sent a thrill of fear up her spine before she relaxed again, oddly feeling comforted for waking up with something on at all.

…she was naked…

“And don’t worry, we had a nurse change you and clean you up-- you had some of the guys blood on you but your all better now, so don’t worry. Please Go ahead and set the table, would you?” he asked, tossing what looked like hockey pucks into a bowl and letting the burnt bacon grease drain into the pink, heart shaped dog bowls that were on the floor. The pup was happy to assist in cleanup duty.

She laughed a little at the effort, hoping that she wasn’t going to have to really eat anything. She hadn’t eaten in more then twenty four hours but she wasn’t hungry at all. She didn’t even care about the food she had made last night and had no idea where it had gone too.

“It‘s good to hear you laugh, Ashley-- your father would be happy to hear it. You haven‘t been eating much have you?” he asked, his green eyes locking on hers from across the room. And for the first time she felt a bit of seriousness in his tone as he asked that last question. Pity she had some of her own.

“I was making dinner last night but…” she trailed off as she walked towards the kitchen to get the plates. She opened the cabinet and stood on the tips of her toes to reach the plates. It was a shame that she couldn’t have put things away where she liked, but she’d been told not to move anything around. Everything was in its place for agents to act, despite the fact that they didn’t get here as fast as they needed too. But who said they needed to know where the plates were. How did that affect their ability to save her life?

She tried to remember what had happened last night but so much of it was still foggy. She had let Rick inside the apartment but… she couldn’t remember much of anything else. Just flashes of motion that blurred in front of her eyes and made her heart stutter in response. She didn’t want to remember even if she was trying too-- her mind was telling her not to-- she was content with that much.

Seth had been watching her from the corner of his eyes, watching as she froze, apparently in some kind of deep thought. She was still holding the plates in the air and looked dazed. Distantly he wondered if what happened last night was as bad as Leon had made it seem. It was obvious that there was something between the two of them and the thought of Leon being soft on a girl-- made Seth’s lips tip at the corner in a slight smile.

Reaching over he snapped her out of her daze by taking the two plates from her hands and giving her a pointed gaze he said with a sly smile, “no daydreaming now-- the food I cooked is getting cold!” He smiled and walked towards the table where he set the plates down. Turning to look at Ashley’s blushing face he turned his head at an odd angle and walking towards her said, “well if I can make you blush like that, maybe that means I should be taking you to dinner instead of making you breakfast..?” he said suggestively and winking-- making her blush darken if possible. The sly tip of his grin made the suggestive tone of his voice confuse her as to whether or not he was truly joking.

Just as he had started speaking the door opened, right on time in fact, for Leon to step in and hear what he’d said. Without thinking he’d shouted angrily, “What the hell do you think your doing Seth?” his eyes immediately flying to the hand that was lightly placed on the girls shoulder. He watched as Seth erupted into torrents of laughter, grasping his stomach as Leon rushed over to Ashley, grabbing her by the arms and asking her, “are you okay?” with an intense look in his eyes as he gave her several once over’s.

Ashley was startled, sure, but she’d been thinking about Leon’s kiss when Seth had leaned over her, making her eyes snap to his eyes-- catching the mischievous wink. When the door had started to open she had turned towards it, her heart in her throat as she watched Leon step through the doorway. If she’d still be holding the plates she knew for sure she would have dropped them.

With him standing so close to her she could smell the dark, masculine scent of his skin waft up to her nose making her feel as if she were under a trance while he peered into her eyes, searching for some sort of distress. She was mutely nodding that she was okay while Seth continued to cackle in the background. She couldn’t draw her eyes away from Leon’s as he searched her face-- his hand coming up to her face to swipe at the bruise that had formed on her cheekbone.

She felt her breath stutter out as he stepped away from her, dropping his hands and addressing Seth directly; “Damn it Seth-- enough of your jokes! Do you think it’s funny to give a girl like her a scare after everything she’s been through? Damn it man…” he yelled, waving his arms angrily.

Seth just kept laughing as he held up his hands in mock defense as Leon advanced. He hadn’t missed that little moment right there and it was exactly as he had been thinking. He was going to have to investigate it more-- it was no wonder the President had insisted that Leon continue his duties. He was a little surer of the decision after seeing the two of them together.

“Hey hey hey! I’m sorry Leo-- I was just playing a joke! I mean-” he pointed to Ashley who was watching the two man without a sound looking like a deer caught in headlights, “-she’s a beautiful girl-- you can’t blame me!” he laughed, easily dodging the fist that came his way. Laughing he hugged the man-- sensing the tension leaving Leon as he spoke.

“That’s not funny man. You don’t make my job any easier.” he said, giving up. Ashley felt a stab at her confidence at the remark.

“Well, get over it-- it’s a job and it’s got to be easier then what you’ve been dealing with.” giving Ashley an appreciative look. He felt Leon’s anger seethe through him again and with a laugh he rolled away, stepping towards Ashley faster then anyone had seen him move and hooking an arm around her shoulder he looked at her with an infectious smile saying, “we were about to have breakfast Leon, want some? I might be convinced to share mine if you’re nice…” he trailed off, looking at Ashley and smiling at her.

She couldn’t help but smile. He was obviously teasing them and it gave her a small glow. He reminded her strongly of what she had always wanted-- a big brother. But she smiled at him, feeling Leon’s gaze wash over her even as she tried to fight the urge to run to him and hug him again-- she knew it wasn’t going to be like last night-- and “big brother“ wouldn‘t take well to it either most likely. That moment seemed to have come and gone.

Leon eyed the two and felt jealousy burn in his stomach as he saw them smile at each other. Seth treated everyone like he’d known them for a million years and it was hard not to like him just for that reason. It was hard to know what he was really thinking since he was always putting up a wall. It seemed as if Ashley was already opening up to the man and he wasn’t sure about how he felt about it. Try as he might, he couldn’t stuff the jealousy down.

“No Seth, you know I have things to take care of. But Ashley…” he felt the urge to choke on his words but maintained his composure, “you’ll be with Seth for the first few hours in the morning today and he’ll be taking you to see Dr. Midori-- from there I will escort you wherever you want to go.” he finished with a grimace, hating the word escort but using it anyway.

“So you have to stay with me now? Your going to be my bodyguard?” she asked, her voice small enough that both men noticed the change. Leon did his best to ignore it-- he had to ignore it-- he couldn’t let another thing like last night happen again… it wasn’t acceptable. Seth just watched Leon’s guarded face as he answered…

“Yes, the President insisted that I continue to be assigned personally to you.”

“Oh…” her voice was flat and monotone. He couldn’t understand why she would sound like that-- shouldn’t she be happy? Damn it, somebody needed to be happy about this massacre of a “mission”.

“Well I just came to make sure everything was alright. I have to get going…” he said nervously, giving Seth a death stare at the knowing smirk he had on his face, “don’t forget to meet up with me after the fact, Seth.” and he turned away from them and walked to the door.

Ashley started to step forward-- not wanting him to leave, and her eyes watered as he refused to say goodbye. She was so unsure of herself-- she didn’t want him to leave her again. She only felt safe with him there but she felt the lead weight of Seth’s hand holding her back.

Seth watched the girl’s eyes watered and smiled, knowing damn well what was going on between the two. It was almost sad to see Leon still being tormented by his past-- but he’d do anything he could to help him out-- he guessed they’d be talking about it later, for sure.

“Breakfast?” he said with a smile, turning to Ashley after the door slid shut with a metallic click. She nodded once and walked to the table as Seth followed her. He began to start putting pancakes on her plate that resembled something her dog might have eaten-- and thrown up-- as well as eggs that looked oddly like burnt charcoal.

“Looks great, Seth…” she murmured, her stomach twisting in hunger but revolting at the idea of that going into her stomach. She looked up at him, smiled, and took the pitcher of syrup and flooded her plate with it, hoping to give it some kind of taste. He laughed, watching her and said, “I know it doesn’t look any good, but then again, its better then nothing…”

She remembered the lack of food they had endured while in Spain. They’d had a few rations of food that Leon had spared mostly for her. She’d eaten it without complaint, thanking him and feeling guilty for doing so. He’d always watch her eat, with an odd look in his eyes until one of those dark nights he asked in a friendly, soft voice, “How can you eat that stuff-- I’m glad your eating it-- doing me a favor really…” and she’d laughed-- they both had needed a little laughter in their situation.

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

She choked on the crunchy morsel she had stuffed into her mouth and gasped, her eyes widening in surprise. Ever calm, Seth held the glass of orange juice out to her and she took it graciously, gulping loudly as the blessed acid washed away the bit of charred pancake that had been lodged in her throat. She hadn’t been expecting that and she thought frantically how to dodge the question as she appeared to clear her throat. Seth’s eyes glistened darkly and she felt a slight twinge of darkness behind those emerald green orbs but waved the thought almost as quickly as it had come.

‘Fight, Ashley’, her conscious screamed at her, ‘two can play this game!!!’

“I…” she started, a blush tinting her cheeks as she felt her mind scramble for a quick retort. But try as she might, she couldn’t help but remember all the times Leon had saved her, helped her up and held her close when she would shake uncontrollably in the night. She remembered the caress of his lips against hers the night before-- the way he’d caressed her cheek and the burning need that had erupted from within her the moment she had sensed his presence.

“I… don’t believe that’s any of your business is it, Mr. Ryan?” she asked, the blush still evident on her face as she struggled to hide the haze of her memories behind her eyes. She watched as a barely perceptible glimmer of amusement sparkled in his eye and was gone. Using her knife, she cut into her “pancake” and impaled the offending piece on her fork, popping the crunchy material into her mouth and fighting the urge to gag.

“But you do love him.” he said matter-of-factly. “He cares about you too, you know?”

“Oh…?” she asked, her resolve wavering like the reflection of the moon on waves. Hoping he had feelings for her was a dream… at least it was when they had first escaped. But after last night…

“Yep.”

“How do you know?” she asked hesitantly.

“It’s none of my business really-- I’m sure you’ll find out for yourself.” He said, his lips twitching again with amusement. She was as cute as the puppy that was contentedly sleeping on his feet.

She heaved a heavy sigh and said, “Yes… yes I am in love with him-- so kind of you to dissect my feelings. I suppose you know everything that happened between us in Spain?” she asked, remembering so many times they had been in…. compromising situations… and she wondered if Leon would really “report“ on things like that. Apparently he’d even mentioned the overtime issue-- which made her swirl with disgust at her brash behavior.

Seth had no idea what she was talking about-- but he was going to find out. Playing it off he said again, “yep” and watched as her face seemed to sag in horror, turning interesting shade of purple as she tried to maintain her breathing despite the deep blush adorning her cheeks.

“We-well…” she stuttered, “then ma-maybe-maybe you could ex-explain ho-how he fee-feels?” she chided herself for stammering out her response but he simple smiled at her and she felt foolish-- a horrible taste in her mouth that made her wish she hadn‘t downed her orange juice. This man was obviously a friend and she was nervous about him knowing so much… but that meant everyone else knew too-- she was the only one in the dark about Leon.

He considered his words carefully before continuing, “I’m sure that the two of you are old enough to work out your differences as well as the things you share in… common… Leon is a special kind of guy-- you’re just going to have to give him some time before you push him into anything. He’s happy right now, even if he doesn’t know it yet.”

She watched him speaking, mesmerized by his words that were filling her with a hope she hadn’t known she could possess after Spain, “…and I can see why he’d be happy. But he’s got a kind of ghost in his closet that he can’t get rid of. Maybe you can help him with that-- I don’t know. But just be patient, he’ll come around… in time.” he smiled at her, only this time the smile seemed real. It was obvious he cared about Leon a lot and the thought made her feel oddly left out. She didn‘t really know anything about Leon… but this man seemed to know so much more then she did, so much that she wanted to know.

“How did the two of you meet?” she asked, changing subjects as best she could.

“Well, we actually met in the academy in a special operative unit designed specifically to protect the president and his family. We were both interested in protecting people and we were both sick of being a bodyguard for a high up military officials-- there is no personal gain to be had from a job that sees you as entirely expendable. We both wanted to live for something important-- even though the pay sucks.”

“So why do you do it if it doesn’t give you much compensation. Surely you can do other things, be a private bodyguard and make more money that way?” she asked softly.

He paused, considering, “Well I guess I’m just masochistic. Now… Leon-- he does it because he’s got an agenda. You see, he’s never been able to stop trying to protect people; it gives him a reason since he wasn’t protecting people when he became a cop. It was kind of difficult for someone his age to accept that people were generally bad, and that getting to them didn‘t often happen.” he stopped, watching her expression change over what he said before continuing, “It’s much easier on the heart to protect something then to have to get justice for someone who wasn’t protected well enough. Leon’s always been that way-- since we met.”

“We’re going to get out of here. It’s my job to protect you. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you.”

‘No wonder he was always adamant about protecting me and not just leaving me there. He genuinely cared or cares about what happened to me… Somewhere deep in him, he’s got to have feelings for me… I know it!’ she thought dully.

Quickly changing the subject he said, “Leon’s much happier here now that everything is calming down. He hasn’t laughed in a long time so you can be happy about that. Don’t let it worry you too much, good people make it too, they can just make it in a different way. But that’s all beside the point-- you do know we have to be somewhere soon-- we can talk in the car if you want but you’ve got to get into the shower and dressed so we can take you see the Doctor-- don’t want to miss that.” he said.

She watched as he took a big bite of eggs, some of them slopping off the spoon as he reached one hand into his pocket to dig at something there. After a moment he pulled out a box parliament lights. She watched him eye her as he nodded to her, his mouth still full, “Do you mind if I smoke in here?” he asked innocently, apparently oblivious to the food he was still chomping in his mouth.

She looked at the food on his plate and asked, “You smoke while your eating?” wondering if that was even possible, or even recommended.

He smiled as he pulled out a Bick lighter from his pocket and swallowing the remaining food in his mouth, put the cigarette there and lit it. The end of it burned brightly for a moment as he drew on it. She watched, hating the smoke and not wanting to eat either. Her stomach wanted nothing to do with food, let alone this massacre of breakfast, but he had made it with good intentions and she might as well get something in her stomach to keep her strength up.

“You know smoking kills, don’t you?” she said, looking at him with a pointed expression.

‘Now where have I heard that before?’ he thought fondly as he smiled, smoke escaping from his lips as he exhaled. Apparently, she and Leon had more in common then he’d first thought.

“Did I ever tell you about my theory on smoking? It all starts with a baby…” he said, trailing off as she smiled, laughing a little and taking a crunchy bite out of her burnt pancake. He kept talking watching her as she seemed to laugh into their plates. It was good to see her eating despite how awful he knew it was. Watching her smile, her eyes twinkling with laughter and realized exactly why Leon liked this girl. If she had been his mission, he wouldn’t have let her go either.

…

…

…

So I hope you like my new character Seth. It would have really been too boring if I had simply stuck with just Ashley and Leon. They can’t be the only characters if there is to be any developing. Seth is a comfortable person to be with, but he’s also still an amazing government operative-- so there isn’t much he misses, just like Leon. He’s also very funny, or I try to make him that way. Any suggestions would be wonderful. He’s a very forward person too-- but secretly he’s got a human side to him too-- which we’ll see much later.

I hinted at some of the underlying plot and I’ve been doing some revamping so that I can add in some major plot revisions for this story!

Enjoy and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!

-Luky