Familiar Face

Though Gage's back is turned, a scowl surfaces. This was the fourth time he'd been assigned with Rod, and he never once had liked it.

Walking to the one window, he barely parts the horizontal blinds to see out. Medridge was confident about this little scheme, but Gage wasn't so sure. Something about these people just didn't feel right. Though he'd never say it, Gage wondered if Medridge underestimated the Elite and the families from Texas.


Carson knows that Nate is just as torn up as he is about this whole thing, and he wants to offer some kind of words. But he knows he can't lower his wall. Not and survive the task he'd just been assigned to.

Retrieving the address, he makes his way to Katie's own cubicle, turns on the computer and heads to the right place. Staring at Katie's weakened body, his eyes grow dim. He wanted to kill whoever had done this.

Fishing around the desk, he finds a notepad and pen and starts jotting down notes. Study, write, study, write. Soon he had a barrier built strong enough in his mind that it didn't feel anymore like it was Katie he was watching - it was just someone who he needed to get all the information on he could.


Rick shakes his head at Misty's question. "I don't know if it will always be sporadic or not. It's been about twenty-four hours though, and that's how long I thought the first shot might last. I juts need more time to perfect it, and I need Jason to pay more attention, but right now he's too out of it with this mess to care."

He sighs in frustration. "Yeah, giving him a dose he can give himself isn't a bad idea. Eventually I want to get this thing into pill form so if anything like this ever happens again..." In the back of his mind, he wondered if perhaps this scenario would turn into the future if they didn't find Katie. "...he can have a supply wherever he is, and even Katie too."

Jason's mind propells him back to reality like a speeding jet. Sitting bolt upright, the images of Katie flash through his mind. The emotions wanted to come - they wanted to scream out. But the only emotions there were ones that made his stomach churn and his head hurt. "No!"

His scream made Rick jump and whirl around. "Jason!"

Jason wasn't paying a bit of attention. The dosage still was not perfected and it had set him off kilter once more. A flying arm whacks Rick in the gut, sending him stumbling backward.

"Misty! Sedative!" he barks. They couldn't risk Jason hurting anyone or himself. Rick was mad at himself for not getting this thing right, but he just hadn't had enough time. He needed to find the right combination in the formula that wouldn't send Jason into an emotional fit every time. He knew it was a jolt to Jason's system going in and out of these stages, but there had to be a way to make the transition a smooth one.

Before Jason can even get to his feet, he feels the pain of the needle in his arm. Swinging his head around, he shoots Misty a glare that would have shattered glass had his emotions been in tact. But he wouldn't even remember the anger. Sinking back down on the table, everything goes black once again.

Rick is still catching his breath. "Let's hope when he wakes up from that one, he'll have calmed down." Maybe this was an improvement from last time when it had taken several episodes like this before Jason had been under control.


Reiker glares up at Phinox. "You guys ain't got nothing on me. I don't have to talk to you."

Ryder crosses his arms, scowling as he stands next to Phinox. "I was there, Reiker. You tried to blow my head off, remember?"

"You can't prove that!" Reiker's eyes wander from Ryder to Phinox and back again. There was fear behind his gaze, despite his unwillingness to talk.

Ryder shakes his head. "And what if one of your buddies talked first? Then where would you be?"

"You killed them," Reider spits out.

"Did I?" Ryder takes his gun from his holster, cocks it and aims it at Reiker. "You think I'm not good enough to hit you where it'll hurt but not kill you? You want to find out?"

Reiker swallows hard, his face paling. "They're... they're not dead?"

"One of them is." Ryder continues to point the gun at him. His words were chosen carefully. So far he had not lied. "Who's gonna cut a deal first eh? Any tic of the clock and you could be the only one behind bars. Keep quiet and it'll be your head, no one else's. Now I'm fed up to the back teeth with your whining. So start talking."

Reiker's eyes drift back and forth between the two agents in front of him. A bead of sweat runs down the side of his face. A low growl from the corner makes him shoot his gaze to Trooper, who was none too happy with the tension in the room. "Call of your dog first."

Ryder laughs. "He's not mine. I don't know he commands."

"Well make him back off!"

"Keep yourself calm and he might just stay in his corner. Get nervous and he's bound to help out in the pain department."

Reiker stares at the barrel of Ryder's gun. "You were supposed to die."

Ryder holsters his sidearm giving Phinox a sidelong glance. Reiker had been easy - they'd alreayd gotten past the hard part. "Why?" he questions Reiker.

"I don't know! We were just told to come shoot up the place and make sure you didn't come out alive. That's all."

"Why?" Ryder persists. "Why would you be scared of me after you took Katie?"

"I don't know!"

"Talk!"

"I don't know!"

Trooper stands up and takes a step forward, giving a low growl.

Reiker's eyes widen. "Call him off!"

"Talk!"

"I told you! I don't know!"

Ryder slams his fist on the table, reaching over to grab Reiker by the shirt collar. "Why did you take Katie?"

"I didn't!"

"Don't lie. The van matches."

"It wasn't me! I don't know what you're talking about!" Reiker stares wildly at Ryder, then to Phinox, almost as if asking for help. "We were told to kill you off, and that's all!"

"Me?! Why?!"

"Because of your daughter! That's all they said, alright?! That's it!"

Ryder suddenly drops Reiker and takes a step back, his voice lowering to a very confused tone. "My daughter? What on earth are you talking about?"

By now, Reiker was desperate to spill all he knew. "Me and the other two got called in. They said to kill "the Aussie." Said they didn't want you getting in the way with your daughter. So we came to take you out. Figured we'd shoot up the place and we couldn't miss."

Ryder blinks, trying to act like he was still in control, while his mind was racing. "I don't have a daughter, Reiker." He glares at their captive. "You'll have to come up with a better story than that."

Reiker sees the confusion and latches on. He gives a short laugh. "Do you know you don't have a daughter?"

Ryder's face reddens. "Yes. I do."

"Well then somebody got their lines crossed, but it wasn't me. I was just following orders, and that's all I know."

"You're gonna have to do better than that," Ryder warns. "You had something to do with Katie's kidnapping and you know it."


The day drags on. Hours tick by slowly, making it seem like days. No leads. No breakthroughs. No new information. No contact with the enemy.


"I give up." Ryder throws his arms in the air as the interrogation room door was shut behind him and Phinox. They'd worked on Reiker all afternoon, but had gained no more information than they'd started out with. Reiker stuck to his story and had given them nothing more.

Ryder rubs his hands over his face. He was tired and hungry. Everybody was. He looks to Phinox, having given up on getting much more out of Reiker. "Can't squeeze blood from a turnip. There's got to be a connection between him and Katie though. His story about me having a daughter is ridiculous. I would have thought he'd come up with something better than that. Maybe he thought if by chance I did have a kid, I'd get scared and he could make up a whole new story to shake us off the trail, I don't know. He's got to be lying."

He shakes his head. "This is getting us nowhere. It's been a day and a half and we're no closer."


Jason slowly opens his eyes and turns to roll onto his back. He's hardly moved at all when Rick is already beside him syringe in hand. "Whoa..." Jason's voice is scratchy. "What'd I do to deserve that?"

Rick breathes a sigh of relief. Jason was lucid again. "You don't want to know."

Jason frowns, trying to think past his headache. "Did I give you a bad time again?"

"You could say that." Rick rolls his eyes. "More than once."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault. I thought I'd made progress with the formula but I was wrong. I've been working all day on an improvement."

Jason quirks an eyebrow. "Ooh, upgrade."

Rick grins. "Haven't lost your sense of humor."

Jason swallows hard an sits up, throwing a look in Misty's direction. His eyes apologized for any trouble he'd caused. He glances back to Rick. "Any news?"

"No." Rick shakes his head.

"They still... still watching?"

Rick nods slowly. "Carson's been watching all day."

"Is she... okay?"

"She's alive." Rick gives Jason's shoulder a pat. "She'll be okay, Jase. We'll find her."


Laura slips in behind Nate's desk chair and drapes her arms around his sholders to cross on his chest. She rests her face down in his hair, breathing deep the lingering scent of shampoo and cologne. She kisses his head before straightening up and hugging him closer to her from behind. "You holding up?" She was asking him, while she'd been worried sick all day. But she knew he was too. Katie had a special place in everyone's hearts - that much was clear.


Scott scrolls through more names and more pictures, trying to place the face in the photo Nate had printed off. It was difficult - the photo wasn't the best quality and it was hard to make out some features. All day and he'd narrowed down the search, but still hadn't been able to pinpoint any names.

His mind drifts back to Katie and the emotions rise as a lump in his throat again. Sitting back, he glances to Dalton who was hard at work as well. Back to his screen again, suddenly the images are back. He tries to stop them, but they're like a bad film reel insistant on playing whether he wanted it to or not. Faces and data flash in front of his eyes, triggered by today's turn of events. He doesn't want to focus on them. He doesn't want to decipher them or understand what they were. All he knew was that there were bad things connected to them - connected to his own past with the Agency - and he wanted to shut them out and bury them where they couldn't hurt him any more.

Scott scrunches his eyes tight for a moment before looking back at his computer screen. His pulse had quickened and he hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath. He doesn't look at Dalton again, afraid that his own strang behavior had been noticed.


Carson grinds he cigarette into the ground, breathing out the last bit of smoke. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he makes his way around the building to go back inside. Three minutes. Wyatt had kept watch for him while he took a quick break. He'd needed the break too - though he'd tried to keep up with things all day, his nerves were nearly shot. Keeping his habit quiet hadn't been heard - everyone was too distracted to pay attention to him. It was better that way anyway.

Getting back to Katie's desk, he relieves Wyatt. There had been no changes. Carson glances at his notes, then sits back again to watch. He scribbles another note. All that he jotted down were just loose thoughts that may or may not help the situation at all. But it was all they had right now.

His stomach growls. The one thing that sounded good right now was a grilled cheese sandwich.

Movement.

"Hello." Carson sits up straighter, squinting at the screen. It wasn't the same man who had been in there before. He tries to get a better look, but the room on the screen was so dark, it was hard.

Then the man turns and Carson's eyes widen. "Well, Gage Pelzer. Fancy seeing you here." He grabs his pen again and jots the name down. Next time Nate came to check on him, he'd tell him what he knew.


Gage lets the door fall shut behind him, and walks slowly to Katie's tired, weakened form. "And how's our prisoner holding up?" he asks, not expecting a response. "Looks like I'm not late this time. Rod about had my hide for just about letting you die. Though by the looks of it, I wonder if you'd rather die than take all this."

He reaches for Katie's sleeve to roll it up. There were already visible marks where she'd been given shots before. He hesitates before giving in and administering the EE. It would only take seconds for it to spread through her body.

Heaving a sigh, Gage caps off the needle. Putting it away, he retrieves a new tool. A knife. Testing the blade, he runs it along Katie's neck, not hard enough to cut her, but the threat was there. Reaching out, the knife pushes her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Bruises accented her face, purple and black, dried blood smeered from the cut in her lip. "You look like your aunt," he muses. "Least from the pictures."