Learning the Hard Way (Luke, Natalie, Will)

[Natalie Blake]

Luke kept up a fast pace, and Natalie had to lengthen her strides in order to keep up, but it didn't take them too long to reach the building where they were holding Ally. He pushed the door open roughly, but was still enough of a gentleman to hold it open until Natalie had managed to get through, and then it was off to the elevator--once the receptionist told them where it was and what floor they were looking for.

The metal doors slid aside once they'd reached their destination of the 21st floor, and Natalie blinked when it was to find Will and a frightened looking man. She'd seen Will yell at some of the engineers before, and that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was that something had clearly gone wrong, if the frustration in Will's expression were any judge. After she listened for a bit she gathered what the gist of the problem was.

After a rather loud bellow of "Now!" from Will the man practically sprinted away, and Will turned to find them standing there. "Most of it," Natalie confirmed when Will asked if they'd heard. She curled her fingers tightly into her clammy palms and then stretched them out again before saying, "Sounds like Alliana's not here."

Her eyes shot to Luke for a second, worried about his reaction to the news. He seemed fine, but he could be acting. Not that he'd admit it if he was. "So what are we going to do now?" Gods, please let someone have a plan... I don't know if I can stand any more waiting around.

[William Blake]

Luke really didn't like the sound of what he'd just heard. Natalie was right, it seemed as if they'd been directed to the wrong place. He wasn't any closer to seeing Ally at all, further away in fact. Keeping a calm face while his mind buzzed, he glanced across at Natalie when she asked what they were going to do now. "I don't... know..." He felt so ridiculously helpless, like there was nothing he could do, and no way to help Ally. His worries weren't helping.

"I'm not giving up," Will told them both, he was like a dog with a bone, he wouldn't give up unless there was no possible way to do something, and even then, he would still try. "If this guy doesn't come back with his superior, then I'll get where Ally is being held out of him, and we'll go there. I can kick up a fuss like you've never seen." His Dad had been the only person who had ever had an ounce of control over him, and even then, he still acted out against the man.

Eventually the man came back, looking timid, it took him a moment and some stuttering to get the words out. "H-He says he d-doesn't want to be disturbed."
"That's not good enough," Will told him, "a man who is likely to risk losing his job over disobeying this order should have the time to get out here and give us a full explanation."
"H-He... he doesn't..." He looked like he was about to keel over from fright. Maybe this wasn't the best way to get what they wanted out of him.
"Look," Will said, being straightforward, toning down the aggression, "we want to see Ally. We want this cleared up. We're not stopping until we get what we want. So, you have a choice, either you point me in the direction of Alliana and your superior, or you go down with him. What's it to be?"
The man stared at him wide eyed for a moment before saying, "this way."

Will gestured for Luke and Natalie to follow as the man led them back to the elevator. Once in there, he pulled out a key, turning it in a lock which caused the elevator to start moving downwards to a secret level underneath the building. When the doors opened the man pointed down the hall, "it's the r-room at the end. He should still be interrogating her."
"Thank you," Will said, patting the man's shoulder before they piled out the elevator and the doors closed. "Go get her," Will told Luke.

Luke watched everything unfold before his eyes, slightly in awe about how Will had taken control of the situation despite not wanting to be here in the first place. He was quiet as they made their way downstairs, glancing at Natalie. She'd certainly picked an interesting boyfriend. He didn't need to be told twice to go get Ally, almost as soon as the man pointed them where to go, he jogged down the corridor, bursting through the door before anyone could stop him. "Ally?"

[Alliana Porter]

The door opened and he was straight to Ally before anyone could stop him, including Davis. "Who is this? Who let him in here!!!?" He was flustered and now fuming that this young man had torn into the room, screaming in desperation for his prisoner.

Ally ran to him, practically leaping into his arms. Her spirit was broken but she was glad he had come for her. Her hands were still cuffed, but as long as she was in his arms, it was enough. Ally fervently kissed him as if her life depended on it, the tears now staining her face.

Davis was practically throwing a fit at his loss of control and power. "Get him the hell out of here! Now! one of the standing security guards moved to rip Luke away from Ally. Her face was frantic, just like the morning they ripped get away the first time, and now it was happening.

[Natalie Blake]

Will's determination fueled Natalie's own, and she nodded in agreement when he said he wasn't giving up. "Definitely not," she said, focusing on clenching and un-clenching her fists instead of the worry that was trying to overwhelm her. Everything would be fine. They would get in to see Alliana, and everything would be okay.

Who knew that wishful thinking actually worked? Moments later the man returned, and Will managed to talk him--or threaten him, really--into taking them to Ally. The three of them followed him back onto the elevator, and he used a key to take them down to a sub-level of the building. The man told them where to go, and then they piled off the elevator.

Luke nearly sprinted down the hall, skidding a little every now and then. Natalie followed, keeping up as fast a pace as she could get without actually running herself. They weren't sure what they'd find in there, and they had to be careful. When she and Will reached the interrogation room, Natalie heaved a sigh of relief on seeing Alliana, but then her relief turned to frustration as the man who appeared to be in charge ordered the others to get Luke out of there.

"Now now," she said calmly, stepping cautiously into the room. "Can't we all just talk about this nicely?" Oh dear god, don't let them be unreasonable, she begged silently, praying that she wasn't writing out her own death sentence by interfering. It wasn't like she didn't know how to defend herself, but she wanted to try and get through this non-violently, if that were at all possible.

[William Blake]

Once Ally was safely back in Luke's arms, he didn't want to let her go. He held onto her as tightly as possible without hurting her while she kissed him fervently, he was only able to return several of the kisses before a guard seized him and dragged him away from Ally. "Let me go!" he struggled against the man, kicking his legs out. He knew how to get out of this grip in seconds if he needed to, but getting himself arrested as well wasn't going to help.

Whilst he struggled, he focused in on Ally for the first time in nearly twenty-four hours. She looked a state, a red mark around her neck where someone had obviously applied pressure. If it was the guy who was now turning the colour of puce, screaming his head off, he had every mind to beat the hell out of the guy for laying a finger on her.

Will looked at Natalie as she tried to suggest that they sort this out calming and rationally. The guy who was yelling was practically busting a gut about the fact that they'd just come in and thrown everything into complete and utter chaos. Violence wasn't going to get them anywhere, and he hoped Luke had the where with all to remember that, even if he was being restrained.

"Let go of him," Will told the guard simply, while Davis spat at him, something about how dare he come in here unauthorised, the guy was power crazy and a control freak, always a winning combination. "You have absolutely no right to talk about authorised acts," Will said, a fierce edge to his voice, "you are the one who violated a direct order, and physically harmed a person in custody, which is against the law," yes, he had seen the marks too. "I'd be more worried about the sorry state of your career and your impending unemployment if I were you."

Davis spluttered and raged, knowing full well that he was in the wrong. "I told you to let him go," Will glanced at the guard, who after hesitation, did so, allowing Luke to wrap his arms around Alliana again. "Let's get out of here." He looked round at Natalie, offering her a hand, before looking at Luke and Ally to leave. "The big guy can escort us."

[Alliana Porter]

The second her hands were unbound she ran straight to Luke again, silver eyes filled with tears. She buried her face deep in his neck holding ever tighter. She couldn't let him go, ever again.

Natalie was trying, but her soft approach wasn't doing much here. The real force here was Will, which she now had to truly thank him for. He had quite possibly saved her life.

"This isn't the end Blake, this is far from over." Davis called put as they left. He would not let this die, nor would he let go of a terrorist so easily. The door swung close and Davis' face dissapeared....for now at least.

Ally stopped Luke just to let him know the truth. " I was so worried I'd never see you again. God Luke I was so scared." she held him in a tight hug, silently sobbing into his shirt. She would never let go ever again.

[William Blake]

"Uh huh," Will called back to Davis, shaking his head. The man didn't know when to give up. Giving Natalie's hand a squeeze, he led them all out of there. They would get Alliana taken into custody by the FBI officers due to pick her up, and they would get her processed and back to the ship before they knew it. Luke would be able to see her and stay with her as well.

Once Luke had been released from the guard's grasp, he wrapped his arms tightly round her, just holding her in his arms. None of the questions or issues he had mattered for the moment, she was safe now, and he wanted to get her out of there as quickly as possible, back to somewhere where she would be treated with respect.

"I'm here," he said soothingly, trying not to let any of the choked emotion he was feeling into his voice, "it's okay, I've got you." He kept her in his arms as they made their way back up to the main floor, "I'm never letting you go again, okay?"

[Alliana Porter]

Ally held close to Luke. He seemed just as close and concerned as she, worried even. She clung to his hand as they walked in silence towards to FBI hq.

There wasn't much to be said right now without tears. She was away from Davis, yes but she still had more mess to deal with before she was clean. Maybe they would listen and believe her, it was really all she could ask for right now.

Her heart sunk a little, realizing the whole event had messed up not only her romantic week with Luke but also Natalie and Will's. She swallowed down this realization and looked up at Luke. Hopefully he would forgive her for this.

[~ ADMIN]

Hey guys,

I figure since we've already moved on to other threads, that this thread is pretty much wrapped up now?

~ Becky

[Natalie Blake]

Yup, sounds good to me!

[Alliana Porter]

Sounds good to me.