Why can't the past just stay in the past?
Over two weeks. Savannah's dad had been gone for over two weeks, and she was getting restless, fearing the worst, needing a sign or some sort of confirmation. Alistair had told her that the link between himself and Gabriel still existed, meaning that Gabe was alive...somewhere. But apparently too weak, hurt, or drugged to reply coherently to Alistair's mental queries.
Alistair had warned her not to go looking for her dad. Kurt had said the same thing, with more hugs and kisses to persuade her. The vegetables in her dad's garden mostly just complained about the summer heat and how they'd prefer to be prepared into something cool, like a salad, and avoid baking or boiling altogether.
As the days wore on, Savannah could not concentrate on studying for her end-of term exams. Her homework often went undone. Her teachers would have sent notes to her parent, except they knew him to be gone as well. Anxiety clouded her days and haunted her dreams, until she could hardly think of anything else besides where her father had gone off to.
Turning to help in the Sanctuary was not the brightest idea, she knew. But maybe she'd be able to find Rassilon, or perhaps another powerful, if less well-known, personae. Too bad Some was preoccupied, he would have been one of the most helpful.
But when she stepped into the Sanctuary, she saw Dan, and Dan saw her. He jumped up immediately, ending a conversation into a cell phone by snapping it closed.
It had been a few months since they'd seen each other. Dan looked a bit different since he went off on his own, after the Shop escape and the dissolving of Z's mental web that had trapped them. Dan looked older, somehow, bits of grey starting to show in his dark curly hair. It still sparked a bit with electricity, same as always. He gave her a broad and excited grin as they touched fists in greeting.
"Hey Savvy, am I glad I caught up to you! Your Pa and Ma, they sent me to find you."
Savvy's breath caught in her throat at such a revelation. Dad and Mum! That means...he'd found her again, but...something wasn't right.
"Wow! That's - why didn't...why didn't he just come home...and...why didn't you come to the school to get me? He didn't give you the coordinates?"
Dan shook his head, sadly. "Savvy, hate to say, but yer Pa...it's his heart. The doctors think they've solved everything but - he's been pretty drugged up."
"You mean he's - he's okay, though, right?"
"Your Ma is the one who really sent for you, but she's never been to the Nexus, like. She don't know how to use a PINpoint or coordinates,"
"Yes, that would be right..."
"And yer pa's just been rattlin' on about you and fruit loops, mostly. Couldn't give me coordinates to PrIME...so...I figgured I'd find you here...an' here you are!"
"Here I am! Dan, I need to see them right away, is that okay? What are the coordinates?"
"Of course! Here, give me your PINpoint, I can synch them up with this little plug here..."
Savannah nodded enthusiastically and took off the watch-like device, handed it to him. But instead of touching the devices together, as he said he would, he instead lashed out and grabbed her wrist. He smiled sadly at her. "Sorry, girl. Gotta do this."
"Hey!" she tried to pull back. "What are -" But Dan had activated his own PINpoint, and suddenly they were somewhere else.
Somewhere with white walls, no windows, sliding glass doors, and chrome finishes. Tile floor, people in lab coats...men with guns, surrounding them. Savannah felt her blood turn to ice. Not the Shop, not again.
Dan's grip on her wrist was quickly replaced by that of one of the guards, who took advantage of the half-second of confusion to neatly cuff Savannah's hands behind her back. The click of the code-controlled latches seemed unnaturally loud to her terrified senses.
"Well now." Dan stretched. "There she is, delivered on ti-"
Dan was interrupted by Savvy's sudden protests. "YOU MONSTER! YOU BLOODY BASTARD! WHERE'S MY DAD? HUH? WHERE?" The attendant trying to frisk her for weapons signaled for help as she flailed, pulling her arms against the cuffs and trying to get close enough to Dan to kick him. "How could you?"
Dan shrugged. "Same reason you're here. Family is a great bargaining chip. But I really am sorry..."
"Oh sure you -Aieee!" Savvy's reply turned into a yelp, quickly muffled, by a black hood placed over her head and tightened around her neck. The fear almost brought her to her knees, but then she suddenly realized that she could still see. She breathed hard, trying to make sense of it all.
"Alright, so that's my part of the deal, where's my kids?" Dan was demanding of a much shorter man in a lab coat. The Shop employee looked nervous, despite numerous guns and tasers pointed at the two mutants.
"They're just a short plane trip away, Daniel. If you'd follow me..." The man was British. This was the London branch of the Shop? Not that it mattered. Savannah watched, amazed at this new ability, as a tech approached to scan her with a metal detector. She kicked him in the balls.
The guard erupted. She was shoved to her knees and then flat onto the floor before she knew how she got there. Someone was now attaching cuffs to her ankles, but Savvy's attention was on a tech pressing what looked like a pen to her upper arm. She heard a click and felt a sting, and it wasn't a few seconds before the room spun and grew dark, the restraining hands seemed light as feathers.
Why am I such a bloody idiot?
Alistair had warned her not to go looking for her dad. Kurt had said the same thing, with more hugs and kisses to persuade her. The vegetables in her dad's garden mostly just complained about the summer heat and how they'd prefer to be prepared into something cool, like a salad, and avoid baking or boiling altogether.
As the days wore on, Savannah could not concentrate on studying for her end-of term exams. Her homework often went undone. Her teachers would have sent notes to her parent, except they knew him to be gone as well. Anxiety clouded her days and haunted her dreams, until she could hardly think of anything else besides where her father had gone off to.
Turning to help in the Sanctuary was not the brightest idea, she knew. But maybe she'd be able to find Rassilon, or perhaps another powerful, if less well-known, personae. Too bad Some was preoccupied, he would have been one of the most helpful.
But when she stepped into the Sanctuary, she saw Dan, and Dan saw her. He jumped up immediately, ending a conversation into a cell phone by snapping it closed.
It had been a few months since they'd seen each other. Dan looked a bit different since he went off on his own, after the Shop escape and the dissolving of Z's mental web that had trapped them. Dan looked older, somehow, bits of grey starting to show in his dark curly hair. It still sparked a bit with electricity, same as always. He gave her a broad and excited grin as they touched fists in greeting.
"Hey Savvy, am I glad I caught up to you! Your Pa and Ma, they sent me to find you."
Savvy's breath caught in her throat at such a revelation. Dad and Mum! That means...he'd found her again, but...something wasn't right.
"Wow! That's - why didn't...why didn't he just come home...and...why didn't you come to the school to get me? He didn't give you the coordinates?"
Dan shook his head, sadly. "Savvy, hate to say, but yer Pa...it's his heart. The doctors think they've solved everything but - he's been pretty drugged up."
"You mean he's - he's okay, though, right?"
"Your Ma is the one who really sent for you, but she's never been to the Nexus, like. She don't know how to use a PINpoint or coordinates,"
"Yes, that would be right..."
"And yer pa's just been rattlin' on about you and fruit loops, mostly. Couldn't give me coordinates to PrIME...so...I figgured I'd find you here...an' here you are!"
"Here I am! Dan, I need to see them right away, is that okay? What are the coordinates?"
"Of course! Here, give me your PINpoint, I can synch them up with this little plug here..."
Savannah nodded enthusiastically and took off the watch-like device, handed it to him. But instead of touching the devices together, as he said he would, he instead lashed out and grabbed her wrist. He smiled sadly at her. "Sorry, girl. Gotta do this."
"Hey!" she tried to pull back. "What are -" But Dan had activated his own PINpoint, and suddenly they were somewhere else.
Somewhere with white walls, no windows, sliding glass doors, and chrome finishes. Tile floor, people in lab coats...men with guns, surrounding them. Savannah felt her blood turn to ice. Not the Shop, not again.
Dan's grip on her wrist was quickly replaced by that of one of the guards, who took advantage of the half-second of confusion to neatly cuff Savannah's hands behind her back. The click of the code-controlled latches seemed unnaturally loud to her terrified senses.
"Well now." Dan stretched. "There she is, delivered on ti-"
Dan was interrupted by Savvy's sudden protests. "YOU MONSTER! YOU BLOODY BASTARD! WHERE'S MY DAD? HUH? WHERE?" The attendant trying to frisk her for weapons signaled for help as she flailed, pulling her arms against the cuffs and trying to get close enough to Dan to kick him. "How could you?"
Dan shrugged. "Same reason you're here. Family is a great bargaining chip. But I really am sorry..."
"Oh sure you -Aieee!" Savvy's reply turned into a yelp, quickly muffled, by a black hood placed over her head and tightened around her neck. The fear almost brought her to her knees, but then she suddenly realized that she could still see. She breathed hard, trying to make sense of it all.
"Alright, so that's my part of the deal, where's my kids?" Dan was demanding of a much shorter man in a lab coat. The Shop employee looked nervous, despite numerous guns and tasers pointed at the two mutants.
"They're just a short plane trip away, Daniel. If you'd follow me..." The man was British. This was the London branch of the Shop? Not that it mattered. Savannah watched, amazed at this new ability, as a tech approached to scan her with a metal detector. She kicked him in the balls.
The guard erupted. She was shoved to her knees and then flat onto the floor before she knew how she got there. Someone was now attaching cuffs to her ankles, but Savvy's attention was on a tech pressing what looked like a pen to her upper arm. She heard a click and felt a sting, and it wasn't a few seconds before the room spun and grew dark, the restraining hands seemed light as feathers.
Why am I such a bloody idiot?