Fic: Believe (part 5/5)
Title: Believe
Pairings/Characters: Jon/”Stephen”, Jessica, Sam, OCs
Rating: For Mature Audiences/R
Warnings: kidnapping, angst, mind control, minor violence, background major violence and death.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
For this Secret Santa prompt:
Characters/Pairings: Jon/"Stephen", author's choice of correspondents
Prompt: Someone (an old rival? an archnemesis?) kidnaps "Stephen" for nefarious purposes. Jon must lead a crack team of correspondents to the rescue.
Niche: team!fic, hurt/comfort
Links to previous parts: 1 2 3 4
The waiting room turned out to be just that: a room for waiting. Jessica checked her Facebook app every few minutes to pass the time, but reading about all those people getting ready for their Friday night just made her restless.
She finally turned the phone off with an irritated sigh.
“You should get out of here. Go to a club; dance or get wasted or whatever it is you young people do to blow off steam. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”
Sam was sitting next to her on the wooden bench, an unread magazine open in her lap. They had raced to the hospital as soon as they had gotten Rick’s message but when they had arrived he had told them to wait for Jon and returned to the studio. That was almost an hour ago.
“What about you?”
“Jason’s coming over as soon as the babysitter has arrived. I’ll be okay.”
Jessica shrugged. “I don’t want Jon to think I blew him off. After… You know, after what I said back there.”
Sam leaned in and put her hand on top of Jessica’s. “You saved his life. And more importantly: you saved Stephen’s. Trust me, you’ll be in his good graces for years.”
“I didn’t do it! If Kiran hadn’t figured out a way to turn the video back on, Rick wouldn’t have known that Stephen wasn’t a threat and he might have shot him. Or he would have showed up too late, or too early. And it was your idea to go to the deli in the first place, and -”
“Hey!” Sam snapped her fingers in front of Jessica’s face. Jessica got the strange impression that this was how she dealt with her children.
“Listen to me. You did a good job. Anyone even implying otherwise will get their ass handed to them by me, and that includes you. ”
Jessica took a shaky breath and nodded. “Okay, I guess you’re right. I probably shouldn’t be so hard on myself since it was my first time out. My next mission will go a lot better.”
Sam opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get it out the door opened and Jon staggered into the room.
He looked even paler than usual and there was a bandage on his throat, but he was wearing his own clothes which made him look more like a visitor than a patient.
Sam flew up from her chair. “Jon! How are you?”
He let her hug him and wrapped his arms loosely around her shoulders. It looked like he was barely able to hold them up.
“I’m fine. Apparently being tazered just hurts like hell.”
She winced in sympathy, and carefully untangled herself. “How is Stephen?”
He looked around the room as if to make sure there was no one who could overhear him. His gaze briefly turned to where Jessica was sitting but he soon looked away.
“He’s asleep. He soldiered through the examinations but passed out the minute he put his head on the pillow. The EEG showed no abnormality in his brain patterns. They’re going to do an MRI in the morning to confirm but so far it seems like the device really didn’t work on him. They’re going to monitor him for a couple of days, make sure the drugs are out of his blood stream and that he doesn’t go into shock, but… he’s okay. The only thing that seems to be wrong with him is that he’s exhausted.”
Suddenly self-conscious about being the only one sitting, Jessica got up and stood next to Sam.
“Do they have any idea how that happened? From what Nick told me, the effects are always…” she was going to use one of the descriptive adjectives that had run through her head when she first heard about the horrible side effects, but stopped herself when she met Jon’s eyes. “… pretty bad.”
He looked away. “The doctor said the scan might give further clues, but so far no one can tell. The best guess is that the procedure was botched somehow.”
Beside her Sam shifted nervously. “Maybe the device wasn’t real? Like Rick said, these things are hard to come by. Did Crowder say where he got it from?”
“Rick saw the device. He says it’s real.” Jon breathed in sharply. “As for the other guy; I don’t know if he’s talking and I really don’t give a fuck.”
Sam looked at him hesitantly. “Jon, don’t take this the wrong way, but… You know how Stephen always says he knows something is true because his gut tells him it is? Well, while we were waiting for you I re-read that Time Magazine cover story on Counter Thought. No one knows for sure how it works, but one of the theories is that it convinces the subject that he or she has drawn the wrong conclusions from a set of facts and that the opposite conclusions are actually the correct ones. It doesn’t matter if the facts are accurate or if you’ve interpreted them accurately; it’s the connections that your mind has made that makes the process possible. The more complex the connections are, the easier it is for the procedure to take hold.”
Jon had that look on his face that meant he didn’t like what he was hearing but knew that the other person had a point. “So what you’re saying is that you think Stephen was saved by being irrational?”
Sam placed her hand on his elbow, just below the place where his sleeve ended.
“I’m saying that for all of Stephen’s outspokenness he doesn’t seem to really believe in that much. He can loudly state his position on any given subject and change it the minute after, most of the time without even being aware that he’s doing it. You know this because you know Stephen better than I do, and trust me, I know him way better than I’d like to.”
The corner of Jon’s mouth twitched. Jessica could tell that he was trying to smile but was too exhausted to manage it.
Sam squeezed his elbow before she let her hand fall away. “Jon, I’m just happy Stephen is okay.”
“I know. Thank you.” Jon ran his hand over his face. “This is going to be all over the news in a few hours. We need to call back our own writers and the rest of the researchers as soon as possible. They need to be filled in on what’s happened so they can start preparing for Monday’s show right away. As of this moment, the whole storyboard is scrapped. It’s going to be a long weekend, and Rory will need someone to assist him in overseeing it all.”
He paused and looked at Jessica. “Think you can handle it?”
On the inside she screamed in delight. On the outside, she gave him a calm, professional nod. “Don’t worry, Jon, I’ll take care of it.”
He gave her a barely perceivable nod. She hesitated for a second and then she said, “I’ll tell the others you need to be with your man.”
***
“Kopek for your thoughts?”
Kiran had Lexis Nexis’ familiar interface up and seemed to have put away his coat and gloves permanently. He looked pretty much the same as he always did while they were working, even though this was the time of the week when work was supposed to be over.
Nick rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers. “I was just reading up on the Heron trial.”
Kiran held out a pack of chewing gum. “And it’s riveting material, judging by the look on your face. You think they’ll want to revisit it?”
Nick took a piece of gum and shook his head. “Thanks. No, this isn’t for the show. I just wanted to check something.”
“Check what?”
He closed the tab on the browser with a sigh. “I couldn’t remember whether Dr. Heron appealed her death sentence or not.” Quickly, to avoid bringing the mood down, he continued in a more cheerful tone. “I see you’re resigned to staying here all night.”
“All weekend is more likely,” Kiran said wryly. “Which is really unfair considering that you and I saved the boss’ life earlier. You’d think that something like that would get us off duty.”
Nick stopped chewing for a second and turned his head. “Do you want to get out of this?”
To his credit, Kiran managed to keep a straight face for all of two seconds before breaking out into a huge grin.
“Okay, let’s recapitulate: a crime involving one of the 21st century’s most bizarre and unusual weapons was committed against our anchor by an Internet comedian, whose sole motive seems to be revenge for not getting booked for our show. That pretty much fits the definition of a story I would sacrifice my weekend to work on.”
His smile softened. “It’s not hard to see why she didn’t appeal. Her biggest scientific achievement was destroying the lives of several of her closest friends. Could you imagine living with yourself after that?”
Nick shook his head. “Not really, no.”
The silence spread out over their shared office. One of the things he liked best about working with Kiran was that they could sit in silence for hours without it being uncomfortable.
He rubbed the wrist of his dominant hand carefully. The stress of day was weighing him down a little, but he could handle it, now that he knew his co-workers were safe.
As usual, it was Kiran who broke the silence. “You want to know what I thought you were thinking about?”
“Let’s see. Is it bigger than a breadbox?”
Kiran nodded. “Cuter too, and held up really well under pressure today. Not to mention that she seemed to like you almost as much as you like her.”
Nick almost swallowed the gum. He coughed, feeling a blush spread mercilessly across his cheeks. “Sorry, I have a rule against pursuing girls who weren’t born in the same decade as I was.”
“I know you do. And unless you’re going by some obscure calendar, she was born in the same decade as you. You got her age wrong back when you were defending her to Jon. She wasn’t fourteen in 2004, she was fifteen.”
“Really?”
Kiran put his palms together in the mock-prayer gesture. “I think your reputation as a brilliant researcher is slightly exaggerated. Ask her out, Nick. Please.”
Nick’s hands froze halfway to the keyboard. He turned his chair so that he was facing Kiran directly. “How many people know that you and I have the ability to trace phone calls?”
Kiran looked surprised but composed himself quickly. “Only the producers and senior staffers know for sure, but it’s a pretty well-known secret in the industry. We’re far from the only show that does it, and if you have a good idea what kind of equipment we have you can make an educated guess. Why?”
Nick let out a shaky breath. It all seemed so clear to him now. “Using your own phone to make calls is a rookie mistake. Bringing your own phone to the crime scene while you make your calls with a burner phone; that’s something you’ve been told to do. What if someone wanted us to track Crowder down?”
“You think someone set a trap for him?”
Nick shook his head. The image of Jessica smiling up at him in the car flashed before his eyes. “I think someone set a trap for us.”
***
The building sat at the end of a quiet street, towering slightly over the surrounding neighborhood. The top floor had a beautiful glassed-in balcony that curved around the corner and provided the occupant with a bird’s eye view to both the street below and the small lush park on the other side.
It was where he suspected to find his boss, and sure enough, there he was, standing in front of the open window. He had a melancholic look on his face, as if he already knew what he was about to tell him.
“Sir? I’m afraid I’ve got bad news. Steven Crowder has been arrested.”
There was no reaction beyond a barely noticeable nod. “Mr. Stewart?”
“Un-countered, sir.”
“And the device?”
“In the hands of New York’s finest. Don’t worry, they won’t be able to trace its origins.”
His boss was quiet for a few seconds as if he was processing the information. With a sigh, he reached for the handle and pulled the window shut. He turned around, hair slightly ruffled from the breeze. “Tell me exactly what happened, Agent.”
He nodded. His contact in the police department had told him everything he needed to know. “Just as we had anticipated, the Daily Show staff was able to track Crowder down and Stewart went to meet him. Unfortunately, something had gone wrong with the procedure and Colbert turned on Crowder rather than helping him. Before he could overpower Stewart, their hired muscle showed up and that was it.”
“Do you have any idea what went wrong?”
He shook his head. “No sir, the procedure is supposed to be very simple. I left detailed instructions for Crowder to follow.”
His boss gave him a curious look. “And there’s no way he can be connected to you?”
Even though he knew on a rational level that he was in no danger, his body still showed the familiar fight-or-flight response. “N-no, sir. We never met in person and all our communication was untraceable.”
His boss smiled a little sadly. “Don’t look so scared. I’m not going to kill you.”
He took a deep breath to force his heart rate to return to normal. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Don’t apologize. You didn’t offend me. We both know that I would kill you if I thought this was your fault, but I don’t. Please understand that I’m not blaming you for this.”
The tension dissipated almost instantly. He nodded, eager to show that he wanted to help in any way he could. “Sir, the most plausible explanation is that Crowder made an error during the procedure. Do you want me to interrogate him?”
The other man seemed to mull this over for a few seconds before he sighed and turned to look out the windows once more. “No, it’s not that important. We’ll try something else next time.”
The sun was beginning its slow descent across the sky and a dark yellow light filled the balcony. He followed his boss’ lead and walked over to the window. On the street below people were getting home from work or their errands, carrying briefcases and shopping bags. He tried to imagine what they were thinking; excited to start the weekend and blissfully unaware of the dangerous world they lived in, or the people who would go to terrifying lengths to protect them. He had been one of them once, almost a lifetime ago.
He closed his eyes against the light. “You know there will be heightened security surrounding Stewart from now on. And he is smart enough to know Crowder wasn’t the brains behind this operation. He’ll be on his watch.”
Beside him he could practically hear the smile in his boss’s voice. “That’s all right. We can wait. We’ll get him sooner or later.”
Pairings/Characters: Jon/”Stephen”, Jessica, Sam, OCs
Rating: For Mature Audiences/R
Warnings: kidnapping, angst, mind control, minor violence, background major violence and death.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
For this Secret Santa prompt:
Characters/Pairings: Jon/"Stephen", author's choice of correspondents
Prompt: Someone (an old rival? an archnemesis?) kidnaps "Stephen" for nefarious purposes. Jon must lead a crack team of correspondents to the rescue.
Niche: team!fic, hurt/comfort
Links to previous parts: 1 2 3 4
The waiting room turned out to be just that: a room for waiting. Jessica checked her Facebook app every few minutes to pass the time, but reading about all those people getting ready for their Friday night just made her restless.
She finally turned the phone off with an irritated sigh.
“You should get out of here. Go to a club; dance or get wasted or whatever it is you young people do to blow off steam. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”
Sam was sitting next to her on the wooden bench, an unread magazine open in her lap. They had raced to the hospital as soon as they had gotten Rick’s message but when they had arrived he had told them to wait for Jon and returned to the studio. That was almost an hour ago.
“What about you?”
“Jason’s coming over as soon as the babysitter has arrived. I’ll be okay.”
Jessica shrugged. “I don’t want Jon to think I blew him off. After… You know, after what I said back there.”
Sam leaned in and put her hand on top of Jessica’s. “You saved his life. And more importantly: you saved Stephen’s. Trust me, you’ll be in his good graces for years.”
“I didn’t do it! If Kiran hadn’t figured out a way to turn the video back on, Rick wouldn’t have known that Stephen wasn’t a threat and he might have shot him. Or he would have showed up too late, or too early. And it was your idea to go to the deli in the first place, and -”
“Hey!” Sam snapped her fingers in front of Jessica’s face. Jessica got the strange impression that this was how she dealt with her children.
“Listen to me. You did a good job. Anyone even implying otherwise will get their ass handed to them by me, and that includes you. ”
Jessica took a shaky breath and nodded. “Okay, I guess you’re right. I probably shouldn’t be so hard on myself since it was my first time out. My next mission will go a lot better.”
Sam opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get it out the door opened and Jon staggered into the room.
He looked even paler than usual and there was a bandage on his throat, but he was wearing his own clothes which made him look more like a visitor than a patient.
Sam flew up from her chair. “Jon! How are you?”
He let her hug him and wrapped his arms loosely around her shoulders. It looked like he was barely able to hold them up.
“I’m fine. Apparently being tazered just hurts like hell.”
She winced in sympathy, and carefully untangled herself. “How is Stephen?”
He looked around the room as if to make sure there was no one who could overhear him. His gaze briefly turned to where Jessica was sitting but he soon looked away.
“He’s asleep. He soldiered through the examinations but passed out the minute he put his head on the pillow. The EEG showed no abnormality in his brain patterns. They’re going to do an MRI in the morning to confirm but so far it seems like the device really didn’t work on him. They’re going to monitor him for a couple of days, make sure the drugs are out of his blood stream and that he doesn’t go into shock, but… he’s okay. The only thing that seems to be wrong with him is that he’s exhausted.”
Suddenly self-conscious about being the only one sitting, Jessica got up and stood next to Sam.
“Do they have any idea how that happened? From what Nick told me, the effects are always…” she was going to use one of the descriptive adjectives that had run through her head when she first heard about the horrible side effects, but stopped herself when she met Jon’s eyes. “… pretty bad.”
He looked away. “The doctor said the scan might give further clues, but so far no one can tell. The best guess is that the procedure was botched somehow.”
Beside her Sam shifted nervously. “Maybe the device wasn’t real? Like Rick said, these things are hard to come by. Did Crowder say where he got it from?”
“Rick saw the device. He says it’s real.” Jon breathed in sharply. “As for the other guy; I don’t know if he’s talking and I really don’t give a fuck.”
Sam looked at him hesitantly. “Jon, don’t take this the wrong way, but… You know how Stephen always says he knows something is true because his gut tells him it is? Well, while we were waiting for you I re-read that Time Magazine cover story on Counter Thought. No one knows for sure how it works, but one of the theories is that it convinces the subject that he or she has drawn the wrong conclusions from a set of facts and that the opposite conclusions are actually the correct ones. It doesn’t matter if the facts are accurate or if you’ve interpreted them accurately; it’s the connections that your mind has made that makes the process possible. The more complex the connections are, the easier it is for the procedure to take hold.”
Jon had that look on his face that meant he didn’t like what he was hearing but knew that the other person had a point. “So what you’re saying is that you think Stephen was saved by being irrational?”
Sam placed her hand on his elbow, just below the place where his sleeve ended.
“I’m saying that for all of Stephen’s outspokenness he doesn’t seem to really believe in that much. He can loudly state his position on any given subject and change it the minute after, most of the time without even being aware that he’s doing it. You know this because you know Stephen better than I do, and trust me, I know him way better than I’d like to.”
The corner of Jon’s mouth twitched. Jessica could tell that he was trying to smile but was too exhausted to manage it.
Sam squeezed his elbow before she let her hand fall away. “Jon, I’m just happy Stephen is okay.”
“I know. Thank you.” Jon ran his hand over his face. “This is going to be all over the news in a few hours. We need to call back our own writers and the rest of the researchers as soon as possible. They need to be filled in on what’s happened so they can start preparing for Monday’s show right away. As of this moment, the whole storyboard is scrapped. It’s going to be a long weekend, and Rory will need someone to assist him in overseeing it all.”
He paused and looked at Jessica. “Think you can handle it?”
On the inside she screamed in delight. On the outside, she gave him a calm, professional nod. “Don’t worry, Jon, I’ll take care of it.”
He gave her a barely perceivable nod. She hesitated for a second and then she said, “I’ll tell the others you need to be with your man.”
***
“Kopek for your thoughts?”
Kiran had Lexis Nexis’ familiar interface up and seemed to have put away his coat and gloves permanently. He looked pretty much the same as he always did while they were working, even though this was the time of the week when work was supposed to be over.
Nick rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers. “I was just reading up on the Heron trial.”
Kiran held out a pack of chewing gum. “And it’s riveting material, judging by the look on your face. You think they’ll want to revisit it?”
Nick took a piece of gum and shook his head. “Thanks. No, this isn’t for the show. I just wanted to check something.”
“Check what?”
He closed the tab on the browser with a sigh. “I couldn’t remember whether Dr. Heron appealed her death sentence or not.” Quickly, to avoid bringing the mood down, he continued in a more cheerful tone. “I see you’re resigned to staying here all night.”
“All weekend is more likely,” Kiran said wryly. “Which is really unfair considering that you and I saved the boss’ life earlier. You’d think that something like that would get us off duty.”
Nick stopped chewing for a second and turned his head. “Do you want to get out of this?”
To his credit, Kiran managed to keep a straight face for all of two seconds before breaking out into a huge grin.
“Okay, let’s recapitulate: a crime involving one of the 21st century’s most bizarre and unusual weapons was committed against our anchor by an Internet comedian, whose sole motive seems to be revenge for not getting booked for our show. That pretty much fits the definition of a story I would sacrifice my weekend to work on.”
His smile softened. “It’s not hard to see why she didn’t appeal. Her biggest scientific achievement was destroying the lives of several of her closest friends. Could you imagine living with yourself after that?”
Nick shook his head. “Not really, no.”
The silence spread out over their shared office. One of the things he liked best about working with Kiran was that they could sit in silence for hours without it being uncomfortable.
He rubbed the wrist of his dominant hand carefully. The stress of day was weighing him down a little, but he could handle it, now that he knew his co-workers were safe.
As usual, it was Kiran who broke the silence. “You want to know what I thought you were thinking about?”
“Let’s see. Is it bigger than a breadbox?”
Kiran nodded. “Cuter too, and held up really well under pressure today. Not to mention that she seemed to like you almost as much as you like her.”
Nick almost swallowed the gum. He coughed, feeling a blush spread mercilessly across his cheeks. “Sorry, I have a rule against pursuing girls who weren’t born in the same decade as I was.”
“I know you do. And unless you’re going by some obscure calendar, she was born in the same decade as you. You got her age wrong back when you were defending her to Jon. She wasn’t fourteen in 2004, she was fifteen.”
“Really?”
Kiran put his palms together in the mock-prayer gesture. “I think your reputation as a brilliant researcher is slightly exaggerated. Ask her out, Nick. Please.”
Nick’s hands froze halfway to the keyboard. He turned his chair so that he was facing Kiran directly. “How many people know that you and I have the ability to trace phone calls?”
Kiran looked surprised but composed himself quickly. “Only the producers and senior staffers know for sure, but it’s a pretty well-known secret in the industry. We’re far from the only show that does it, and if you have a good idea what kind of equipment we have you can make an educated guess. Why?”
Nick let out a shaky breath. It all seemed so clear to him now. “Using your own phone to make calls is a rookie mistake. Bringing your own phone to the crime scene while you make your calls with a burner phone; that’s something you’ve been told to do. What if someone wanted us to track Crowder down?”
“You think someone set a trap for him?”
Nick shook his head. The image of Jessica smiling up at him in the car flashed before his eyes. “I think someone set a trap for us.”
***
The building sat at the end of a quiet street, towering slightly over the surrounding neighborhood. The top floor had a beautiful glassed-in balcony that curved around the corner and provided the occupant with a bird’s eye view to both the street below and the small lush park on the other side.
It was where he suspected to find his boss, and sure enough, there he was, standing in front of the open window. He had a melancholic look on his face, as if he already knew what he was about to tell him.
“Sir? I’m afraid I’ve got bad news. Steven Crowder has been arrested.”
There was no reaction beyond a barely noticeable nod. “Mr. Stewart?”
“Un-countered, sir.”
“And the device?”
“In the hands of New York’s finest. Don’t worry, they won’t be able to trace its origins.”
His boss was quiet for a few seconds as if he was processing the information. With a sigh, he reached for the handle and pulled the window shut. He turned around, hair slightly ruffled from the breeze. “Tell me exactly what happened, Agent.”
He nodded. His contact in the police department had told him everything he needed to know. “Just as we had anticipated, the Daily Show staff was able to track Crowder down and Stewart went to meet him. Unfortunately, something had gone wrong with the procedure and Colbert turned on Crowder rather than helping him. Before he could overpower Stewart, their hired muscle showed up and that was it.”
“Do you have any idea what went wrong?”
He shook his head. “No sir, the procedure is supposed to be very simple. I left detailed instructions for Crowder to follow.”
His boss gave him a curious look. “And there’s no way he can be connected to you?”
Even though he knew on a rational level that he was in no danger, his body still showed the familiar fight-or-flight response. “N-no, sir. We never met in person and all our communication was untraceable.”
His boss smiled a little sadly. “Don’t look so scared. I’m not going to kill you.”
He took a deep breath to force his heart rate to return to normal. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Don’t apologize. You didn’t offend me. We both know that I would kill you if I thought this was your fault, but I don’t. Please understand that I’m not blaming you for this.”
The tension dissipated almost instantly. He nodded, eager to show that he wanted to help in any way he could. “Sir, the most plausible explanation is that Crowder made an error during the procedure. Do you want me to interrogate him?”
The other man seemed to mull this over for a few seconds before he sighed and turned to look out the windows once more. “No, it’s not that important. We’ll try something else next time.”
The sun was beginning its slow descent across the sky and a dark yellow light filled the balcony. He followed his boss’ lead and walked over to the window. On the street below people were getting home from work or their errands, carrying briefcases and shopping bags. He tried to imagine what they were thinking; excited to start the weekend and blissfully unaware of the dangerous world they lived in, or the people who would go to terrifying lengths to protect them. He had been one of them once, almost a lifetime ago.
He closed his eyes against the light. “You know there will be heightened security surrounding Stewart from now on. And he is smart enough to know Crowder wasn’t the brains behind this operation. He’ll be on his watch.”
Beside him he could practically hear the smile in his boss’s voice. “That’s all right. We can wait. We’ll get him sooner or later.”