Union(Izzie)

[Izzie McFadden]

Izzie had been ready to grind her teeth. "At least if I croak, you can go on and do what you need to do."[/b] She thought she'd knocked sense him to him all those months ago when the topic surfaced in argument after argument. Relationships went two ways. It was easy for the one that died, they went in peace. The one that was left behind was the one that suffered, the one that would have to go through agony trying to move on, and might never be able to. She'd said it again and again, and luckily for him, it seemed like he'd got the point, because he continued.
Frowning deeply at him, she listened to what he had to say.
Eventually, she rested her hands on top of his. "You're forgetting one thing," she said, "what if you don't come back? Every single time you leave on a mission, I get left behind on that ship, a nervous wreck, hoping and praying that you'll come back in one piece. That day I found you torn to shreds outside the hangar bay? It haunts me, Gordon. I don't want it to happen ever again."
Taking a breath, she continued, "the only way we're doing this is if we go together, we protect each other. I promise, at the first sign of trouble, I will hit the deck, let you take care of it. But I'm not letting you go alone. I'm not. I mean it."
Her brown eyes bore into his blue with complete earnesty and seriousness.

[Gordon McFadden]

There was no changing this woman's mind. He knew she was convicted from the moment she told him she was going. Gordon wanted to say something, anything to dissuade her, but the eyes he fell in love with were telling him a whole other story. Gordon squeezed her hands gently before telling her:
"You stay close to me, no matter what. The ruins aren't the best place to be meetin someone, so watch what's going on, make sure nothin strange is going on around us. And you need to change. Don't want that dress of yours to get shot up."

An hour later, Gordon was prepared. He had brought an extra set of black combat pants(laced with microfiber that resisted shrapnel.) and a dark blue, long sleeved shirt that doubled as a mini plasma barrier, protecting most of his upper body. Pistol and ammo were stored, holocube was in pocket...it was time to leave.

The ruins weren't exactly advertised on billboards, seeing as they played host to a lot of foul activity(there were rumors of a ruins Beast roaming around, devouring humans). Gordon slunk past another collapsed building, flattening himself up against a wall, his right hand clamped around Izzie's left. He had led her through most of the ruins(not the best place to fall or trip, so he decided he would take things into his own hands), but at this juncture he let go, right hand now free to reach for his pistol, which he withdrew as he cautiously popped out of cover, walking into the expanse that was Times Square. It was astounding that even after four hundred years that there were still some kind of trace of the old place. The center of the wide open area was inhabited by the same figure in the holocube. Gordon approached slowly, asking:
"You our man?"
"It depends, Gordon. Do you want to know who is going to kill your loved one?"
"Don't mess around with me. Cut to the quick before I rip you a new one."
"So impulsive." The figure lifted his head, but the shadow of the hat covered his face. From what Gordon could tell, he wasn't a rook: he had been around the block a few times. Otherwise he wouldn't have had his plasma rifle sticking out so obviously. With a gun out that far, he was making sure that Gordon knew that he wasn't defenseless.
"Talk then, big daddy. I'm listenin."
"There are assassins popping up all over the galaxy, hunting down important Alliance figures. There are two after you both."
"Why?"
"A plague attacks the body from within, but the sickness was absorbed from the outside."
"You sayin we got people who are two-faced?"
"Not everyone in the Alliance is as cut and dry as you think, Gordon."
"How do you know my name anyway?"
"That is irrelevant. For now, you must know that one of the assassins is on his way to the hotel now. Another is close-by. Closer than you think." In a flash, the man whipped out his plasma rifle and shot at Gordon, the biotic dodging the blast and firing back at the man, the bolts bouncing off of a shield he had put up.
"Stop your firing! Look!" Gordon looked over and saw the slender body of a female clothed in a stealth uniform, the dark green of the uniform now stained with the red of her blood.
"You weren't kiddin, were ya?"
"The other is close to kidnapping David. I suggest you hurry." And with that, he was gone. Gordon turned around, having lost Izzie in the conversation. He thought she had followed him out...

[Izzie McFadden]

No duh. The dress had cost her a sizeable chunk of her previous month's pay, there was no way in hell she was going into the ruins with it on. Never mind the fact that it would be almost impossible to manoeuvre quickly in it should things get nasty, which they probably would
Instead, not equipped with armor like her counterpart, she'd changed into some of the spare clothes she'd brought with her; a pair of skin tight jeans, a black tank top, a dark green sweater, and her trusty hi-tops.

Sticking to Gordon like glue, she stayed in the shadows as much as possible, letting Gordon take the lead. She would play by his rules so long as he didn't do anything completely reckless. It appeared he only had getting answers on his mind.
She did, indeed, follow him out into the clearing, standing a couple of feet back from him as the men talked.
But as soon as she'd heard the words 'assassin' and 'hotel', she'd ran.

Screeching back the way they'd come, she nimbly dodged and weaved through debris and torn apart buildings, her heart pounding in her chest as her mind screamed 'DAVID!' over and over again. How could they have been so stupid? They'd both been so worried about keeping each other alive, Izzie had forgotten that David was in the hotel too, and that he was in danger.
Bursting into the lobby, she ran over to the lift, jamming her fingers into the button several times, with no effect. Taking the staircase instead, she sprinted up them, two-by-two, jumping three in some cases, all with the effort of getting there faster.
As she crashed through the door on the level which David was on, she heard a great cry of "IZ!" and ducked instinctively, a plasma bolt scorching the wall above her head. Flicking her curls back, she saw the assassin, dressed in black, dragging David towards the stair case at the other end of the corridor, her brother putting up one hell of a fight.
"Don't follow me," the man hissed.
The doors swung closed, and Izzie tore down the hallway, leaping whole flights of stairs to get back to the bottom.

Slamming through the emergency exit, she skidded to a halt, her shoes screaming against the paving slabs. Looking round wildly, people bustled past her, making it hard for her to see where they'd gone. Hopping up onto a nearby planter, she turned her head left and right, desperately seeing out any sign of the assassin and her brother. But there was nothing. They were gone.

[Gordon McFadden]

That woman! Gordon was steaming at Izzie's sudden departure, having already told her not go run off without him. Yeah her brother was in danger, but if she had gotten hurt by that assassin...he wouldn't even think about what he would do to the punk. Or to Izzie when she was healed. As he ran through the thick crowd of people that had accumulated on the sidewalk, Gordon heard a shout from a pedestrian:
"Hey look, some idiot is roof gliding!" Gordon looked up to see...was that David? He was floating in mid-air, hovering over the roof-top as if he were levitating.

Right.

Gordon knew that the assassin was trying to goad either one of them into following him, hoping that they would take the bait and fall into the pre-set trap that the assassin had planted. He had seen this tactic used often, and he knew the perfect way to counter it. The biotic raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. A moment later, a powerful burst of energy shot from the fist, slamming into the assassin, made visible by the blast of matter that Gordon had sent his way.
"Idiot." Gordon mumbled under his breathe.

After running up ten flights of stairs, Gordon burst onto the rooftop David and the assassin were occupying, the biotic withdrawing his plasma pistol in preparation of...

Nothing.

It had been a minute, maybe a minute and a half since Gordon had fired the blast! No way anyone could recover from something like that in that quick of a time frame. He had seen the assassin go down! Where wa...
"Too easy." He felt the barrel of a plasma pistol dig into the side of his head, Gordon spotting the assassin to his left, biotic resistant suit intact.
"Nice acting."
"Thanks. I practiced just for you."
"Where's David?"
"In safe hands."
"Where did you put him?"
"In safe hands."
"Ok, ok, lets get one thing straight pal: I ain't in the mood to get the run around from a two-bit hitman. You tell me where David is and I don't crush your face."
"Funny. Real fu..." Gordon lowered his shoulder and caught the assassin in the solar plexus, driving him back onto the ground, the biotic throwing a nasty punch to the assassin's face, then another. The face was hard. Really hard. As if he were punching metal.

You've got to be kidding.

Gordon looked at the exposed circuitry and knew that he had been duped. Big time. The real assassin had sent a robot of himself.
"Might want to start running." The robot said, a smile coming over it's face. Gordon complied, running to the exit and getting inside the stairwell before he heard an explosion.

Things just got a lot more complicated.

Gordon went back down onto street level, cutting through the panicked crowds.
"Izzie! IZZIE!" He called, hoping that the assassin hadn't taken her as well.

[Izzie McFadden]

Izzie had begun scouring the streets; she wasn't going to give up on finding her brother, not so easily. Shoving through the hoardes of people, she eventually caught sight of the back of her brother's head disappearing down into one of the old subway stations. Running over to the stairs, she stopped at the top. Gordon was going to be frantic trying to find her.
Yanking her sweater off, she tied it to the railing before running down into the tunnel.

It was dark inside the station, the lights flickering on and off. The hairs on her arms stood on end as a slight breeze whistled past her, chilly and stale. Taking the time to alert Gordon to where she had gone meant she'd lost which way the assassin had disappeared off to. If she tried each tunnel and old escalator in turn, then she was sure to lose them completely.
"Izzie... Izzie... Izzie..." echoed around her, David's voice calling out to her. It was a trap, no doubt, but there was no way she wasn't going after it.

Running as quietly as she could, she followed the sound of his voice down the tunnel, then off to the right, onto one of the platforms. The voice kept coming, down inside the actual rail tunnel. Her charm bracelet came off next, leaving it at the top of the platform pointing down to the left. She heaved a nervous breath as she lowered herself down onto the tracks.

Corner after corner, she followed the voice round, until eventually, she skidded to halt, seeing David standing alone in the middle of the track.
Without thinking, she ran towards him, throwing her arms him. He tried to tell her not to, but as soon as she enveloped him in her embrace, he hugged her back. Now they were both going to die.

"I told you not to follow me."
A gun dug itself into the back of her head, her face pressed against David's shoulder.
"Why not?" she said, goading him on in order to stall for time, "now you have me right where you want me."
"Not exactly."

[Gordon McFadden]

Gordon pushed and jostled through the crowd, some of them pointing towards Gordon, as if they were trying to signal his presence to some unknown force. If that was the case, then the police might be after him for questioning. Wonderful. The biotic was tempted to start throwing people out of his way, in part due to his frustration at not finding Izzie. He assumed she had fled back to the hotel, but now...nowhere in sight. Gordon wouldn't accept that she was kidnapped, he couldn't. He would just calmly look aro...

Her sweater.

Gordon spotted it at the entrance to an old subway entrance straight ahead. He charged forward, running down the stairs to be greeted by an awful stench and an abandoned station. It was such a gigantic contrast to the mayhem above that it took a moment for Gordon to get acclimated to the silence.
"IZZIE!" He shouted again, plasma pistol drawn as he walked towards the end of the platform he was currently on. As he got to the end of the platform, he could see that there were a lot of options for him to take. The tunnel extended on both sides...Izzie could have gone either way. He attempted to activate his comm unit, only to be greeted by heavy resistance. The walls underground were extremely thick and quite possibly jamming comm usage...or there was a jamming signal coming from the assassin. Either way, the comm system would be down.

Gordon jumped down onto the tracks and leveled his pistol in front of him, the greenish glow serving as a flashlight. He turned left, walking forward a few paces before something caught his peripheral vision. Izzie's charm bracelet...He picked it off the platform, holding it tightly. It wasn't looking good.
"I'm comin for ya baby. Hold on."

Gordon walked down the tunnel cautiously, the silence causing the biotic to be even more careful. After ten or so minutes of walking, Gordon saw dim light coming from the end of the tunnel, revealing shrouded figures...as he got closer, he could see that it was the assassin...pointing a gun at Izzie. Gordon could make out that there was discussion going on, the biotic silently praising Izzie for her strategy. Keep him talking...keep...him...talking.

Gordon walked to the edge of the opening in the tunnel, aiming his plasma pistol square at the asssassin's legs. He squeezed off four bursts of energy, all four missing as the assassin seemed to disappear, melding into the air. Stealth camo. Nice.

"GET OUTTA HERE! NOW!" He ran out into the open only to be greeted by the assassin, whose pistol was now leveled at Gordon's face. The biotic grabbed the extended arm and attempted to put the attacker in an arm bar. Not to be outdone, the assassin casually flipped out of the attempt and delivered a kick to Gordon's back, sending him a few feet backwards.
"What are you waitin for? I said move it! You ain't gonna get involved in this." Gordon charged forward again, throwing a haymaker and a nasty uppercut, nailing the attacker in the chin.

It was going to be a nasty fight.

[Izzie McFadden]

Keeping the assassin talking wasn't difficult, even with the gun pressed to her cranium. David's tight hold on her was keeping her steady, her voice relatively calm. If she had to be stuck down here with anybody facing death, she would have chosen him. Not that she wanted to put him in danger, he was in danger, they both were, but he was her closest family member, her brother, her twin. They had a connection that was unbreakable.

All they had to do was wait for Gordon, he had to be on their trail by now, especially with all the clues Izzie had been leaving behind.

And here he was. As soon as the assassin released his hold on Izzie, both she and David stumbled back against the wall of the tunnel out of the way of the fight. "Gordon, no!" she choked out as she saw him go flying. He came back with a vengence, but so did the assassin, knocking seven bells out of each other. Gordon had told them to go, but she wasn't the only one stuck watching the fight in horror.
"David," she said, "you need to go."
"I'm not going anywhere without you."
"David, please."
"No."
"David."
"You know I'm just as stubborn as you are."

Sighing, she looked back round at the fight, both Gordon and the assassin spraying their blood all over the tracks. It seemed like the assassin was gaining the upper hand. They needed a plan.

"You remember that stuff I showed you, that combat stuff?"
"Every move."
"Throw me, as high as you can."

Taking a three step run up, the last step was onto David's hands as he boosted her up towards the ceiling. It was a good thing he was six foot tall, and strong. She soared upwards into the air, grabbing a cable in the top of the tunnel. Tugging hard, the cable broke off at the end, sparking. She swung threw the air, slamming into the assassin's back, then she shoved the end of the cable into him, leaping backwards so that she didn't get shocked too. Holding her hand, which had been caught by a small but nasty spark, she watched the light show, the assassin's body appear, fitting on the floor as the current ran through him. It wasn't pretty.

[Gordon McFadden]

Gordon's vision was getting blurred and he could taste a lot of blood in his mouth, but he wasn't about to give up...not now. He knew the assassin was suffering also, seeing as his(or her?) movements were getting slower, less refined.
"Come on big daddy, what ya got?"
"More than you."
"Oooh, a talker huh?" Gordon threw another haymaker, the assassin dodging and attempting two jabs, to which Gordon jumped back a few feet from, smirking as he continued his battle tactic:
"That all you have? Please. My sister can punch harder than you." And that was a fact. Anna had a punch that could knock the daylights out of anyone. As the assassin went on the offensive, Gordon saw Izzie slam into his attacker's back seemingly out of nowhere, bright surges of energy going through the body of the assassin in long bursts. Gordon didn't know that was any electricity left in these tunnels...too bad for the now-fried villain.

Gordon looked over the charred body and shook his head, wiping blood off the corner of his mouth as he said:
"He wasn't bad. But he wasn't the best. Whoever was after us didn't send the sharks." Gordon then looked at Izzie, smirking slightly as he said:
"I was gonna shout at ya for not doin what I asked. But I'm not gonna complain now." He then shouted over at David:
"Hey, Dave, you ok cat? Looks like you got the heebie jeebies crawlin all over your skin." Gordon chuckled, walking over to the nearby platform and hoisting himself up, motioning for the siblings to follow.
"We don't have much time. Gotta find a place to lay low before we try and get out on the streets again. And I know who to call."

Gordon emerged out onto the surface, noting that they was considerably less foot traffic around this area, most of it ten or so blocks down(a lot of it was visible from where htye were). The biotic activated his comm unit and mumbled a name, the comm unit calling across the country. A girl's voice came over the line:
"Heeelllooo?"
"Hey kid, where's your old man?"
"Who's this?"
"Gordon."
"OH! HI GORDON! Where have you beeen?! I miss you and your pony rides."
"I miss you too kid, but I can't talk right now. Gotta get your dad. Where is he?"
"Hooold oooon." The girl's voice was replaced a few moments later by a deeper one.
"This is Hugo."
"What's crackin, big D?"
"Gordon? Good to hear from you! How have things be..."
"Listen cat, don't have time to flap gums. You said something about a place in new york Iz and I could use right?"
"Of course. You need it?"
"Yeah. Like right now."
"Oh? What for?"
"Can't tell ya. Line ain't secure."
"That kind of trouble eh? Alright, where are you?"
"Eehh...Central avenue."
"I have the directions. Just follow my lead."
"Yeah."

Fifteen minutes of walking later and the trio stood in front of a two story brick home nestled between similar looking houses.
"How do we get in?"
"I have it from here." The door in front of them swung open.
"Nice."
"There are perks to knowing the tricks of the trade, my friend."
"Guess so, huh?"
"Anything else you need?"
"Actually, yeah...I'll send you the info once I get inside. You got secure lines in the place right?"
"Of course."
"You'll be hearin from me, then."
"Good to know."

Once inside, the door automatically closed behind them, the sounds of various latches closing accompanying the interior lights turning on, revealing a well appointed apartment.
"Well, ain't this snazzy. I need to be in law enforcement." He looked over at David and asked:
"You holdin up ok, pal? It ain't every day that you get kidnapped by two bit assassins."

[Izzie McFadden]

And so it was that Izzie diffused the situation by zapping a bad guy with God knows how many volts of electricity. Maybe, we she and Gordon were having a tiff, she should sticking his finger in a socket, or dump him in the bath with an electrical appliance, see what happened.
She was used to these sorts of situations by now, not nearly as traumatised by them as she used to be. David, on the other hand...
"I'm cool," David stammered somewhat as he rubbed his hand too, a prickling sensation coming from it.
"Come on," Izzie said, offering her brother her not injured hand, "it's best to just follow."

Izzie didn't know who Gordon was talking to, but it didn't matter. She'd learned early on that trust was necessary between them in order for them to get anywhere. He knew what he was doing, so she let him do it... most of the time.
At least the inside of the apartment was a lot more comfortable that the tunnel they'd just been in. David would be able to clean up and wind down, he looked like he needed it.
"No," David said, "no, it isn't. But, I'm alive, and I look better than you do right now, so that's a definite plus." Gordon looked like he'd gone several rounds with a bulldozer.
"David, why don't you go explore the apartment? I'm going to take care of Rocky over here," Izzie suggested.
"Make sure to bandage that hand, and put something numbing on it, would you?" He clenched his own fist a couple of times before disappearing off into one of the rooms.

"Come on," Izzie seized Gordon's sleeve and dragged him through to the kitchen in order to find some sort of first aid kit.
"You liked the urban Tarzan stunt, then?" she smirked, pulling out an antiseptic spray, and wipes.

[Gordon McFadden]

Gordon chuckled as he leaned against the counter, saying:
"You handled yourself pretty good. I'm gonna have to make sure I watch myself now. Don't know when you might stick a wire in me. Or jar a dumbbell throo..YEOW! Watch where you spray that!" It was amazing how much antiseptic spray burned.
"And next time you decide to go bolt off into the middle of a firefight, ya mind telling me? If that nickel and dime hitman had gotten to you, I would have snapped." It was true: Izzie was the one person that held Gordon in check, balanced him out, made sure that he didn't jump off the figurative cliff.
"Cat in the wide hat made me think though..." He winced as Izzie cleaned off an open wound before continuing:
"All those cells I took out...I didn't leave anyone alive. Not that I know of. Either they were killed or shipped off to the Alliance's max security facility out in the boondocks somewhere. Doesn't make sense."

The dilemma continued in Gordon's mind even after Izzie had gotten him cleaned up, the biotic finding a terminal to contact Hugo. Once relaying the story, the detective spoke back:
"You haven't heard then?"
"Heard what?"
"A few boys from out in the terminal systems got loose a few days ago."
"Yeah, but think about it: it takes at least two weeks to get into mainstream space, another few days to get back home. Ain't no way those jailbirds got that far."
"It gets better: they're a part of the Black Suns."
"That ain't good." The Black Suns was an extensive organization of assassins, mercenaries, and other freelancers that operated under the table. Most of their operations were outside of Alliance space, so the Alliance didn't bother with them.
"There were sightings of Black Suns on Earth."
"Nobody done anything about it?"
"Can't. They can never be found."
"Cowards."
"Smart is more the term I would use. I'll look around, call some people in PD and give you a call back. In the meantime get some rest. You sound awful."
"Look awful too."

Gordon went back into the living area, crashing down onto the couch, spreading himself out before he fell into a dreamless sleep.

(sorry to leave it like this, but I figured Izzie/David time could be played in if you wanted it)

[Izzie McFadden]

Izzie listened to Gordon witter on, putting her full concentration into cleaning/bandaging him up. The adrenaline was wearing off, and she was beginning to realise just how tired she was. It had been a long day with the wedding, then this on top of that? She should have been out for the count hours ago. He couldn't help himself, getting a dig in about her disappearing, before spewing out musings about why this had all happened in the first place. He went off to contact Hugo again, and Izzie finally tended to herself, making sure her hand was properly clean and sufficiently numb before wandering off to find David.

He'd found the bedroom and was lying splayed out on his back on the bed. It had taken Izzie a while to realise that he was still in his dress shirt, trousers and loafers from the wedding, they were probably ruined. Kicking off her hi-tops, she clambered onto the bed and curled into his side, closing her eyes. His arm found it's way around her shoulders, giving them a squeeze.
"Your hand okay now?" she asked him, her eyes still shut.
"Yeah, tingling went away a little while ago."
"Good."
There was a beat or two where Izzie was in danger of drifting off to sleep.
"Iz?"
"Mm."
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Run around like that, put your life in danger, then just come back and sleep."
"Practice."
"That's not comforting."
Izzie let out a small breath, like a laugh, "I've been in so many situations like this now, it's just..." she trailed off, "it still effects me, I've just learned to deal with it. No point losing sleep over what's in the past."
"But we're still in danger now."
"I know, but Gordon's here."
"You think he'll protect us?"
"I know he will."

It was still dark outside when Izzie opened her eyes again, she couldn't have got more than an hour's sleep. After lying still for a few minutes, she decided that she wasn't going back to sleep, not without getting up and walking about a bit.
Sliding gently off the bed, she disappeared down the hallway in order to find the bathroom. Instead, she stepped out on a balcony overlooking the city. She couldn't have made a worse mistake.
Breathing in the cool, fresh air, the first thing that alerted her that something wrong was, unfortunately, someone dropping onto the balcony behind her. She spun round, preparing to defend herself, but she was knocked out cold.
Hooking a wire to her waistband, the man dressed entirely in black grabbed the wire and tugged it once; they disappeared in a flash.

David blinked against the harsh light that was now pouring in through the windows, it was morning. Yawning and stretching, he quickly pulled his arm back; Izzie wasn't there. Looking around, he frowned. He felt cold, like something was wrong.
Emerging from the room, he did a quick once over of all the rooms, she was nowhere to be found. And... the balcony door was hanging open. Panic set in.
"Gordon!" he shouted, stepping out onto the balcony, shivering slightly, "Izzie's gone."

[Gordon McFadden]

The biotic's near-perfect slumber(a few months ago, the dreams had stopped coming.) was interrupted by a sudden outburst from David, Gordon quickly springing to his feet and running to where the voice came from. He ran to the balcony where David was standing, Gordon scanning his surroundings. Everything looked normal from where he stood: pedestrians going to and fro, the park within sight brimming with people.

Bad news.

"Get yourself spiffy. We gotta move. They know we're here." Gordon walked into the office, relaying a short message to Hugo about their situation before the biotic leaned up against a nearby bookshelf, headbutting the shelf once...then again. How could he have let her get captured? How could he have let her be put in danger? It was stupid to think that this wasn't going to happen sooner or later.

"Gordon, you can't sit around and mope all the time. Get up! Do something about it! That's the problem with you. You don't act quick enough!"

She had told him that in their last(and hopefully final) argument about two months ago, Gordon lashing out at her for that one. But now...now it made sense. She was right. He needed to do something. Quick.
"Ain't gonna let you down baby."

A few minutes later, Gordon's plasma pistol was ready and charged. But it wouldn't do them any good to charge into the city and shoot the place up lookin for the suns. They would need to have some kinda lead. That's when his comm buzzed:
"Yeah?"
"Gordon, got your message. When was the kidnapping?"
"Hour, two hours ago."
"You still have time, then. I'd go check the ruins if I were you. Best place to start."
"Yeah."
"You need anything?"
"Izzie."
"You'll find her, Gordon. I know you."
"You know me a lot better than I know me, hug." Gordon ended the call before he walked over to David, telling him:
"Listen big D, you need to get your keister back home, tell your family about this, get your Dad's resources involved. I ain't gonna have you come with me. Don't want to lose two of you."

[Izzie McFadden]

"Motherf..." Izzie stirred, her head feeling like it was on fire. What the hell had happened? Running a hand through her tangled hair, she opened her eyes... then closed them and opened them again just to make sure that she had opened them the first time round - she was in total darkness. Well, at least she hadn't woken to a blinding light, that would have made everything just spectacular.
As she propped herself up on her elbows, not only did her eyes begin to adjust to the light, but what happened became clearer as well. She'd been kidnapped. Couldn't really be any more clear than that. Walking out onto that balcony had been possibly the stupidest thing she could have done, but she was half asleep, and no real thought processes occured when you were working on close to thirty six hours of almost no sleep.

Blinking a couple of times, she heard a noise come from the corner of the room, which she had originally thought was dismal and empty, judging by what she could see. Darting onto her feet, she gripped her head with her hands, the sudden rush making her head spin. Another curse slipped from her lips, and whoever was in the corner moved.
"Izzie?" came a questioning and shaky voice?
Izzie paused, "Sara?"
"Oh my God, Izzie!"
Her baby sister threw her arms around her, clutching tightly onto her waist. Izzie stroked her hair gently, "hey, it's okay." So, it wasn't just her they'd kidnapped, but Sara too. And...
More sniffling from the corner, and Mia appeared too, her cheeks stained with mascara and tears.
Izzie reached out a hand to her, "Mia..."
"They killed Hunter," Mia choked out, referring to her fiancee, "right in front of me, they just... shot him... and I..."
And three girls held each other tightly, Izzie desperately trying to comfort both of her sisters, all the while thinking:
Someone is going to pay for this.

~~~~

David didn't have to be told to get changed twice, he was getting sick of this suit. Being an engineer, he was much more used to walking round in anything comfortable and probably covered in dirt. There were some spare clothes in the drawers in the bedroom which just about fit, the top was a bit tight, but he hid that under an oversized jumper. When he reappeared from the room, he was given orders. From his sister's boyfriend.
"You know the meaning of 'twin' right? It's in the dictionary along with the words 'stubborn' and 'no way'." He understood Gordon's urgency very acutely, but he wasn't going to get anywhere without help.
Walking over to the door he said, "you're coming with me."

When David and Gordon walked into Judah Fritz's office, it was already a flurry with activity, people running around like headless chickens, passing information around like it was a hot potato. As soon as his Dad's assistant saw him, she called out to Judah, "Jude, David's here." The man strode out of his office and gripped his son in a vice like hug, "you're all right," he said, somewhat relieved.
"Yeah, I'm fine Dad, what's going on?"
"Mia's neighbours phoned the police early this morning when they heard a shot fired. Hunter's dead, Mia's disappeared, so has Sara. I've got the office running ragged until they find them." He saw the look on David's face, then looked between him and Gordon. "Where's Izzie?"

[Gordon McFadden]

Gordon was mad, no doubt about it. No way was this dude going to tell him how to investigate. But, then again, Gordon had to set aside his pride. He knew that David was resourceful and that his father(and Gordon's possible father-in-law) was a powerful cat. Big daddy knew his stuff, so why not play the dog and follow along? If it gave him Izzie back, then he would go through with it.

"These players are goin after the pawns, big J. Powerful cats named the Black Suns got three fifths of the family and they're probably gunning for your boys too." Gordon looked Jude straight in the eyes as he continued:
"Listen, these cats don't play second fiddle. They're after somethin big, somethin that you have and they're gonna spray sand in your eyes until they have what they want. So lets be 'candid', big J: what do you have that these cats want? You haven't fooled around with the Black Suns lately, have you? Because they aren't the kinda people you want to cross." He looked at the chaos going on outside for a moment before he turned back to Judah, continuing:
"That mess out there ain't gonna get us what we want. You gotta be straight with me and send me out there. Tell your boy to back down here cause I don't think you want him diving into the nest with me."

(I went SO overboard with the lingo, but I felt jazzy XD)

[Izzie McFadden]

Izzie was sitting huddled on the floor, a sister under each arm. Mia was the most distraught of the three, after all, she'd just seen her husband killed in front of her eyes in cold blood. It was a wonder she was alive, but it confirmed that these people needed them alive for a reason. Izzie rubbed both their shoulders, trying to conjure up some sort of plan. They needed out of here, but how?
The door clunked loudly, letting out a squealing noise as the huge chunk of metal eased open. They all looked up as a couple of beefy men sidled into the room.
"We're taking 'er," the first one pointed a meaty finger at Mia, "boss wants to 'talk' to 'er."
Mia looked petrified, shaking under Izzie's grip. Sara stared at Izzie with her big brown eyes, looking to her to do something, the only one still keeping her head.
"Take me instead."
"Izzie..." Sarah said breathlessly.
"Mia's no good at talking anyway. I'm the one he wants to talk to."
She stood up, despite Sara tugging on her hand.
"He said..."
"No, no," the second guy stepped up, "this one's fiesty, the boss'll have a good round with her."
"You know he will," Izzie said, determined to go head held high. Whatever this guy wanted, she'd last the longest against anything he had in mind.

~~~~

Judah eased back against a nearby desk, running his hand over his face. Why was he being punished? Who was doing this? Think, Jude, think.
"Dad, has someone checked on Shaun and Liv?" David suddenly thought.
"Their shuttle safely touched down outside the Sunrise resort an hour ago, they're both being protected by security," Judah's assistant replied for Judah while he racked his brains.
"Good."
"I..." Judah exhaled, "there was a case that came through last month, Riley Xavier, a gun for hire. We put him away for a double homocide. There were some files I found while I was dealing with his case, they were locked to all without clearance. I got a brief glimpse, and, it wasn't pretty. It might have said something about the Black Suns, I can't remember. There was definitely something that was being covered up." He sighed, "if Riley is one of their guy's, then it's possible they want to squeeze me, get him released." That was the only thing he could think of. "And," Judah turned to David, "Gordon's right, you're staying here, where it's safe."
"But it's Mia, Sara, and Izzie, Dad," he said, "you always told us to protect our family, to do anything for them."
"And that's what I'm going to do for you," he said, "stay. Gordon will find them. He knows what he's doing."

((You can always rope in Anna for a fun jaunt to save Izzie and the girls?))