Ally? Chapter 1
Presently...
She's seen that look before. At another time, feeling just as vulnerable. Standing in Knox's living room high in the sky, as her fuzzy lover transformed before her very eyes.
And now, walking quickly behind the Thin Man, deep underground with hundreds of feet of cement and earth between her and the outside world, she realized that she might've made a mistake yet again. And who would know? And who could help?
Is that all it takes to win me over? One windswept passionate kiss? Despite disturbing questions about the Thin Man's survival, she had, without a thought, willingly followed him down into the abandoned underground tunnels.
Six months ago...
After the joking, they had stood there on the stage looking down into the hole where Madison had fallen and perished. It was an uneasy silence; as each Angel contemplated what qualities she might have shared with Madison before she had 'turned'.
Could it have just as easily been one of them? Dylan peered over the edge and then looked at her friends. No, Madison was alone. And she was always in control, to the point of never letting anyone in. Dylan had sensed that even though Emmers was Madison's lover, it was unlikely that he was in on what Madison was really thinking.
No, if anything, Dylan thought, I should be worried about me. That could be me down there. Alone and bitter and wanting to make the rest of the world pay for it. She shook off the gloom that settled around her. No, I'm not that angry, not with Nat and Alex and Bosley and Charlie. They're my family and I'm Dylan Saunders, not Helen Zaas.
Dylan looked up as Alex's arm slipped around her shoulders. She smiled at Alex, then bear hugged her and Nat.
Laughing hysterically and yelping occasionally with all the bruises and cuts between them, Nat said, "Let's head over to the clinic and clean up before going to the premiere, ok?"
"Yeah, I'd love to wash the six inches of grime and sweat I've accumulated since this morning," Alex said, "Jason is so excited about his first big movie and with Dad here and all..."
"I know! We need to hurry! Call a taxi and I'll call the authorities to start cleaning up this mess." Dylan needed something to do, anything to keep her mind off what happened on the rooftop. Alex rushed off, heading outside with her cell phone, speaking lowly.
"Dylan, are you ok?" Nat asked, gently pulling Dylan outside, "You can stay home, I would be going home too, but I think Pete's already waiting for me."
"No, no, it's ok. I'm fine," she smiled gamely, "I'll be good to go once I get a hot shower and slip into something pretty." She wanted to be there to celebrate with Nat when Pete broke the big news.
The rest of the night was fun and blessedly uneventful. They had changed and showered at the clinic. Charlie had funded and staffed a 24-hour community clinic for St. Mary's Hospital, in exchange, of course, for round the clock healthcare for his precious Angels.
Dylan smiled as Nat winced when trying to zip up her dress. "Uh, Dylan can you give me a hand?" "Sure, Nat!" "Are we almost ready?," Alex said, anxiously looking at her watch, "the taxi guy's still waiting downstairs and the meter's running!"
And so they had tried to rush out of the clinic; through the hospital to the side entrance, where the taxi was waiting.
Taking a wrong turn, they came across a very polite nun who firmly directed them back from where they came. As they turned the corner, Dylan looked down the corridor to the ER room. Apparently, some poor soul was being worked on feverishly by ER staff. As Nat and Alex hurried outside through the swinging emergency doors, Dylan craned her head and saw a man covered in cement. That poor man, there must have been a construction accident. Was that Czech or Russian they were speaking to him?
Presently...
Dylan stopped and leaned against the tunnel, "Could you slow down for a minute?" "I just want to catch my breath." She wondered if he'd buy that. And the look he gave her said that he didn't, but was willing to be a gentleman and wait. He stood there watching intently as she rubbed her throat, then lit a cigarette.
Standing upright, she started to walk towards the Thin Man. He turned on his heel and quickly strode down the tunnel. That had been him in the ER room, covered in crumbling cement with the nun speaking to him in Romanian. She was sure of it now. So he had landed in cement, was that how he had survived a six story fall?
Smoke filled the tunnel again as the Thin Man lit another cigarette. He stopped abruptly and took a long drag; slowly turning his head to look at her unblinkingly.
She returned his stare, trying not to feel anxious. That look, that's the same look he gave her as he had come into Knox's living room. What did that look mean?
And what was it he had tried to say on the roof? He looked a little different then. Slightly crazed and a little out of control. She of course had been smitten immediately. But now, looking at him looking at her in that coolly appraising way, she felt doubt. The kind of doubt that springs from a lot of stupid, impulsive mistakes. She knew some of it was her fault, feeling this overwhelming need to love and be loved; to be needed and wanted.
He turned his head again and continued walking. They had been down there for five minutes so far. The fight above had been shorter.
Five minutes ago....
Working on a case with Nat and Alex, she was following a lead that led her to a secluded part of town. The lead seemed routine at best, just to break into an office and acquire some more information on a business being used as a front.
She wondered if she was slipping. Why hadn't she noticed or heard those bastards before they snuck up and sucker punched her? She was doing well kicking their asses, until one of them had the bright idea of wrapping an extension cord around her neck. Not panicking, she had clawed at the cord, trying to get her fingers underneath it before it could cut into her throat.
As the other man leapt forward; Dylan grabbed the cord with both hands and lifted her feet off the ground. Stopping his movement with her left foot, she swung her right, connecting with his jaw. Satisfied with the snap she heard from his jaw breaking, she felt the cord suddenly loosen; the man behind her, slacken.
"What's the matter, big boy?" Dylan smirked as she turned.
To see the look of surprise on the man's face as he slowly fell over; the Thin Man calmly jerking the rapier out, slowly wiping the blood off with a starched white clothe.
She barely had time to swallow her surprise and excitement at seeing him alive when they both turned at the sound of a car skidding to a halt outside. Six more men sprang out of the car and the Thin Man grabbed her arm and pulled her to the back of the building.
As she started to move with him, he stopped by the groaning man with the broken jaw, and let go of her arm.
"What the hell are you doing? Let's go!"
Ignoring her, he flipped him over; plunged the point into the man's heart, keeping a firm grip on his victim's neck as the Thin Man choked him simultaneously.
It was strange to see, but the dying man seemed to exhale white vapour, as if on a cold, cold day.
The Thin Man inhaled deeply and as the sound of men coming down the hall came closer, he stood up, grabbed Dylan and continued to the back. They passed a few doors, then found the emergency exit staircase. They were running full tilt now, down the stairs, into the basement; down narrow tunnels with leaky and steaming pipes.
He was ahead of her a good six feet, his long legs easily covering ground. Coming to a halt in front of a nondescript black door in the corner behind a huge ventilation pipe, he yanked the door open and roughly shoved her inside.
She kept running down the stairs, trying to keep her sneaker treads from getting stuck in between the steel grated stairs. She was ahead of him and running down an even wider corridor. She had no idea where she was going...
Presently...
As they walked, Dylan noticed he was taking quicker drags from his cigarette. What is he up to? And that look, why is he looking at me like that? Standing there in that tunnel so near to him, she became unnerved. This is the second time he's risked his neck to save mine and the last time he died-or so I thought. Dylan looked at his back.
The Thin Man stopped again and started to pace, puffing rather cutely on his cigarette. She almost smiled at that, but dropped it as he looked at her again. Those eyes, those damned eyes. She let her gaze slip away. I can't even maintain eye contact. But she was hesitant to trust him, Seamus and Knox had both thrown her for a loop. She wasn't about to risk trusting someone like him. Especially one who played his cards so close to his chest.
She started to turn around and walk back, but let herself be stopped. "Do you think they're still up there? Do you think that it's safe to go back?"
He glanced at the length of the tunnel, his grip on her arms tight. Then he looked down at her from his great height, light blue eyes slightly narrowed. Dylan jumped as she felt his hand go around her neck. She closed her eyes and stopped breathing for a moment, keeping very still.
Her throat was aching and on fire; a long thin purple bruise was forming like a grotesque necklace. He rubbed it a little and she swore her heart stopped as his fingers started to squeeze. His hand was so warm, she started to feel drowsy.
Dylan's neck felt cold as she realized he had taken his hand away. She rubbed her neck, pain fading away. Looking up at him she muttered stupidly, "Thanks." She couldn't quite understand how he did that.
She continued heading down the tunnel, back from where they had come, but was stopped again. He motioned her to stay there and ran back down the tunnel.
"Hey, wait," she loudly whispered. Damn, he was already at the other end of the tunnel. Boy, he sure can move. Dylan leaned against the wall of the tunnel. And then leapt to her feet as she heard a man's piercing scream.
Startled, she ran down the tunnel away from the scream and the ensuing sounds of a fight. If those six guys overcame the Thin Man, then they'd be heading down here.
She kept running, covering her ears; the sounds of unearthly screams and cries of dying men ringing off the grey cement walls.
Stopping at what appeared to be an intersection of several tunnels, she thought for a moment of which way to go. Had the Thin Man been nervous about being followed? A slight shudder passed through her as she realized that he must have laid a trap for those thugs. Knowing that they would follow them underground, he had waited until they were too far inside to run back to the surface. To the outside and to safety.
The tunnel on the far left seemed a good possibility. Ok, should I find his lair, just out of curiousity or try and find a way out? Running down her chosen tunnel, she turned left and came up smack against a dead end. Quickly stepping backward, she turned and bumped into the Thin Man's chest.
Presently...
She's seen that look before. At another time, feeling just as vulnerable. Standing in Knox's living room high in the sky, as her fuzzy lover transformed before her very eyes.
And now, walking quickly behind the Thin Man, deep underground with hundreds of feet of cement and earth between her and the outside world, she realized that she might've made a mistake yet again. And who would know? And who could help?
Is that all it takes to win me over? One windswept passionate kiss? Despite disturbing questions about the Thin Man's survival, she had, without a thought, willingly followed him down into the abandoned underground tunnels.
Six months ago...
After the joking, they had stood there on the stage looking down into the hole where Madison had fallen and perished. It was an uneasy silence; as each Angel contemplated what qualities she might have shared with Madison before she had 'turned'.
Could it have just as easily been one of them? Dylan peered over the edge and then looked at her friends. No, Madison was alone. And she was always in control, to the point of never letting anyone in. Dylan had sensed that even though Emmers was Madison's lover, it was unlikely that he was in on what Madison was really thinking.
No, if anything, Dylan thought, I should be worried about me. That could be me down there. Alone and bitter and wanting to make the rest of the world pay for it. She shook off the gloom that settled around her. No, I'm not that angry, not with Nat and Alex and Bosley and Charlie. They're my family and I'm Dylan Saunders, not Helen Zaas.
Dylan looked up as Alex's arm slipped around her shoulders. She smiled at Alex, then bear hugged her and Nat.
Laughing hysterically and yelping occasionally with all the bruises and cuts between them, Nat said, "Let's head over to the clinic and clean up before going to the premiere, ok?"
"Yeah, I'd love to wash the six inches of grime and sweat I've accumulated since this morning," Alex said, "Jason is so excited about his first big movie and with Dad here and all..."
"I know! We need to hurry! Call a taxi and I'll call the authorities to start cleaning up this mess." Dylan needed something to do, anything to keep her mind off what happened on the rooftop. Alex rushed off, heading outside with her cell phone, speaking lowly.
"Dylan, are you ok?" Nat asked, gently pulling Dylan outside, "You can stay home, I would be going home too, but I think Pete's already waiting for me."
"No, no, it's ok. I'm fine," she smiled gamely, "I'll be good to go once I get a hot shower and slip into something pretty." She wanted to be there to celebrate with Nat when Pete broke the big news.
The rest of the night was fun and blessedly uneventful. They had changed and showered at the clinic. Charlie had funded and staffed a 24-hour community clinic for St. Mary's Hospital, in exchange, of course, for round the clock healthcare for his precious Angels.
Dylan smiled as Nat winced when trying to zip up her dress. "Uh, Dylan can you give me a hand?" "Sure, Nat!" "Are we almost ready?," Alex said, anxiously looking at her watch, "the taxi guy's still waiting downstairs and the meter's running!"
And so they had tried to rush out of the clinic; through the hospital to the side entrance, where the taxi was waiting.
Taking a wrong turn, they came across a very polite nun who firmly directed them back from where they came. As they turned the corner, Dylan looked down the corridor to the ER room. Apparently, some poor soul was being worked on feverishly by ER staff. As Nat and Alex hurried outside through the swinging emergency doors, Dylan craned her head and saw a man covered in cement. That poor man, there must have been a construction accident. Was that Czech or Russian they were speaking to him?
Presently...
Dylan stopped and leaned against the tunnel, "Could you slow down for a minute?" "I just want to catch my breath." She wondered if he'd buy that. And the look he gave her said that he didn't, but was willing to be a gentleman and wait. He stood there watching intently as she rubbed her throat, then lit a cigarette.
Standing upright, she started to walk towards the Thin Man. He turned on his heel and quickly strode down the tunnel. That had been him in the ER room, covered in crumbling cement with the nun speaking to him in Romanian. She was sure of it now. So he had landed in cement, was that how he had survived a six story fall?
Smoke filled the tunnel again as the Thin Man lit another cigarette. He stopped abruptly and took a long drag; slowly turning his head to look at her unblinkingly.
She returned his stare, trying not to feel anxious. That look, that's the same look he gave her as he had come into Knox's living room. What did that look mean?
And what was it he had tried to say on the roof? He looked a little different then. Slightly crazed and a little out of control. She of course had been smitten immediately. But now, looking at him looking at her in that coolly appraising way, she felt doubt. The kind of doubt that springs from a lot of stupid, impulsive mistakes. She knew some of it was her fault, feeling this overwhelming need to love and be loved; to be needed and wanted.
He turned his head again and continued walking. They had been down there for five minutes so far. The fight above had been shorter.
Five minutes ago....
Working on a case with Nat and Alex, she was following a lead that led her to a secluded part of town. The lead seemed routine at best, just to break into an office and acquire some more information on a business being used as a front.
She wondered if she was slipping. Why hadn't she noticed or heard those bastards before they snuck up and sucker punched her? She was doing well kicking their asses, until one of them had the bright idea of wrapping an extension cord around her neck. Not panicking, she had clawed at the cord, trying to get her fingers underneath it before it could cut into her throat.
As the other man leapt forward; Dylan grabbed the cord with both hands and lifted her feet off the ground. Stopping his movement with her left foot, she swung her right, connecting with his jaw. Satisfied with the snap she heard from his jaw breaking, she felt the cord suddenly loosen; the man behind her, slacken.
"What's the matter, big boy?" Dylan smirked as she turned.
To see the look of surprise on the man's face as he slowly fell over; the Thin Man calmly jerking the rapier out, slowly wiping the blood off with a starched white clothe.
She barely had time to swallow her surprise and excitement at seeing him alive when they both turned at the sound of a car skidding to a halt outside. Six more men sprang out of the car and the Thin Man grabbed her arm and pulled her to the back of the building.
As she started to move with him, he stopped by the groaning man with the broken jaw, and let go of her arm.
"What the hell are you doing? Let's go!"
Ignoring her, he flipped him over; plunged the point into the man's heart, keeping a firm grip on his victim's neck as the Thin Man choked him simultaneously.
It was strange to see, but the dying man seemed to exhale white vapour, as if on a cold, cold day.
The Thin Man inhaled deeply and as the sound of men coming down the hall came closer, he stood up, grabbed Dylan and continued to the back. They passed a few doors, then found the emergency exit staircase. They were running full tilt now, down the stairs, into the basement; down narrow tunnels with leaky and steaming pipes.
He was ahead of her a good six feet, his long legs easily covering ground. Coming to a halt in front of a nondescript black door in the corner behind a huge ventilation pipe, he yanked the door open and roughly shoved her inside.
She kept running down the stairs, trying to keep her sneaker treads from getting stuck in between the steel grated stairs. She was ahead of him and running down an even wider corridor. She had no idea where she was going...
Presently...
As they walked, Dylan noticed he was taking quicker drags from his cigarette. What is he up to? And that look, why is he looking at me like that? Standing there in that tunnel so near to him, she became unnerved. This is the second time he's risked his neck to save mine and the last time he died-or so I thought. Dylan looked at his back.
The Thin Man stopped again and started to pace, puffing rather cutely on his cigarette. She almost smiled at that, but dropped it as he looked at her again. Those eyes, those damned eyes. She let her gaze slip away. I can't even maintain eye contact. But she was hesitant to trust him, Seamus and Knox had both thrown her for a loop. She wasn't about to risk trusting someone like him. Especially one who played his cards so close to his chest.
She started to turn around and walk back, but let herself be stopped. "Do you think they're still up there? Do you think that it's safe to go back?"
He glanced at the length of the tunnel, his grip on her arms tight. Then he looked down at her from his great height, light blue eyes slightly narrowed. Dylan jumped as she felt his hand go around her neck. She closed her eyes and stopped breathing for a moment, keeping very still.
Her throat was aching and on fire; a long thin purple bruise was forming like a grotesque necklace. He rubbed it a little and she swore her heart stopped as his fingers started to squeeze. His hand was so warm, she started to feel drowsy.
Dylan's neck felt cold as she realized he had taken his hand away. She rubbed her neck, pain fading away. Looking up at him she muttered stupidly, "Thanks." She couldn't quite understand how he did that.
She continued heading down the tunnel, back from where they had come, but was stopped again. He motioned her to stay there and ran back down the tunnel.
"Hey, wait," she loudly whispered. Damn, he was already at the other end of the tunnel. Boy, he sure can move. Dylan leaned against the wall of the tunnel. And then leapt to her feet as she heard a man's piercing scream.
Startled, she ran down the tunnel away from the scream and the ensuing sounds of a fight. If those six guys overcame the Thin Man, then they'd be heading down here.
She kept running, covering her ears; the sounds of unearthly screams and cries of dying men ringing off the grey cement walls.
Stopping at what appeared to be an intersection of several tunnels, she thought for a moment of which way to go. Had the Thin Man been nervous about being followed? A slight shudder passed through her as she realized that he must have laid a trap for those thugs. Knowing that they would follow them underground, he had waited until they were too far inside to run back to the surface. To the outside and to safety.
The tunnel on the far left seemed a good possibility. Ok, should I find his lair, just out of curiousity or try and find a way out? Running down her chosen tunnel, she turned left and came up smack against a dead end. Quickly stepping backward, she turned and bumped into the Thin Man's chest.