Fic: Believe 3/5

[kribban]

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.


”This won’t be so bad. A lot of people live their whole lives like this. Including your boyfriend, and he seems happy enough.”

The kidnapper had started taking items out of the bag. Electrodes, a laptop computer and the foot long metallic cylinder that Stephen had only seen in photographs. He laid them out neatly on the table.

”Oh come on, don’t be quiet. Surely you have some final words? Some last wish while you’re still yourself?”

Stephen glowered at him. “Go fuck yourself.”

”Ouch! That’s not southern hospitality. Don’t you….”

A buzzing sound was heard. The kidnapper scrambled to pull out his phone. “Ooh, I have to get this. In the meantime….”

He moved in quickly and pressed the end of what looked like an electric tooth brush against Stephen’s neck. “Try to be more agreeable when I get back, okay?” He once again exited the room through the windowless door. Stephen could just about hear how cheerfully he answered the phone before he was gone.

Warmth started to spread out from the point where the sting had been felt. He was pretty sure the object was a jet injector and that he’d just been given the initial dose of drugs to prepare his mind for being altered forever. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

***

Jessica, Sam and Jon all stood gathered around Kiran’s screen watching the visual representation of the call in progress. The sound was coming out of the speakers; raspy and loud, almost drowning out the sound of Nick furiously hitting the keyboard behind them.

”Do you remember me? We met at the Red Eye Christmas party last year. You do? That’s great. So you know I’m at MSNBC now? Uh-huh. So listen, we’re going to do a segment about conservative comedians and I’m wondering if you would be interested in being booked. You would? That’s great! So, uhm, do you think you’ll be available next Tuesday? We can do a satellite link if you don’t want to come in. Cool! So do you have any material ready? Uh-huh. So, tell me a little about it.”

Jessica leaned in and whispered to Sam. “Does she always talk like that or is she just nervous?”

Sam didn’t respond. She kept staring at Kiran’s screen; on the little clock ticking down the duration of the call. One minute had passed. Jon clenched his hands.

Stilted, almost metallic laughter was filtered through the speakers. “Oh, that's so funny Steven. I'll talk to you soon. Bye!”

Sam let out a sigh. “Yep, definitely nervous. Let's hope he's too high on his own self-importance to tell.”

Kiran turned around and looked at Nick who gave his thumbs up. Kiran's face broke into a huge smile. “Sweet!”

”Am I still on the line? I couldn't keep him from hanging up any longer, I'm sorry.”

”That's okay, we got what we needed. Thank you so much Ms. Cupp. I'm sure Jon will send you a fruit basket or something later.”

Jon was already at Nick's desk. “Where is it?”

”Just a second, going to type the location into GoogleMaps... Yeah, that's nowhere near where he said you should go.”

“Why would he lie about that?”

”I don't know, Sam. But I think it's far more likely he's keeping Stephen close to him than three miles out.”

”Unless he's not keeping Stephen at all.”

“Yeah, well, I can't take that chance. What's in the box?”

Sam seemed to have forgotten what she was carrying. She removed the lid of the box. A plastic object, small enough to fit in the palm of Jon’s hand was lying inside. “Stun gun. I don't know what kind of range it has, you'll have to ask Rick about that.”

Jon picked it up. It couldn’t weigh more than a couple of grams. “Is this it? Is this the only weapon he could find?”

”The metal detector ruled a few things out.” The sound of Rick's soft baritone made Jon turn around just in time to catch the small cylinder thrown his way. “That will pick 95 % of all locks in under ten seconds. The Taser has decent range but it takes a minute to re-charge, so you've got to get in a good shot.”

Jon held the stun gun in his hand. He made sure the safety was on and then wrapped his fingers around the trigger.

He hadn't been in a live situation for many years, and he wasn't sure he trusted either his reflexes or his nerves. But he didn't exactly have a choice, did he?

”I'm pretty good at that, yeah.”

Everyone was silent for a couple of seconds. Nick got up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Whatever you need, Jon. Just say the word.”

Jon stood frozen until the hand had been removed. For a second it felt like the only thing holding him together was the people in this room. “Appreciate it. Just keep an eye on me on the satellite and stay in touch with Rick. I trust that you'll drive me?”

Rick pulled back his coat to reveal the service weapon strapped elegantly to his hip. “I’ll stay as close as you want me to stay.”

Sam’s eyes darted to the gun. “Jon, if Crowder lied to you about the location; what makes you think he didn’t also lie about having the equipment he said he does? Maybe you should bring a gun anyway?”

”I know, but I don’t have adequate firearm training and I can’t risk getting Stephen hurt. I just can’t.” He glanced over at Rick and lowered his voice. “Did you find anything out about… the other stuff?”

Rick nodded. ”Counter Thought-technology isn’t readily available. We’re talking 250 000 bucks a piece, and even then it’s hard to come by. There aren’t that many people around who are skilled enough to build them; even from detailed specs. Which means either this guy has some friends in some really high places…”

”That’s doubtful.”

”Or he’s bluffing. In which case his weapons are of the traditional variety.”

Jon’s fingers tightened around the stun gun. ”Right.”

“That’s the scenario I would be worried about.”

Jon turned in time to see Sam elbow Jessica discreetly.

“What do you mean?”

”I don’t get why you’re so up in arms about the Counter Thought thing, to the point where you seem to be more scared of that than guns. I get that there was some damaging side effects to the procedure in the beginning, but it’s not the worst thing that could happen to your boyfriend. I mean, all it would do is make him like… like you. A Democrat. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

The silence that spread out over the room was so compact that you could hear a pin drop. Jon ran his hand over his face. “I don’t have time for this. But if you think we support brainwashing people, you work for the wrong fucking show.”

Sam took a step forward as if trying to shield Jessica from further outbursts. ”Okay, let’s take it easy, everyone.”

But Jessica didn’t seem to be finished. ”I don’t – I’m sorry. It’s just that! Until this morning I thought this was just a television show! But now I know you have your own team of hackers, and a weapons arsenal and a head of security with crazy connections and I’m pretty sure what just happened here wasn’t legal.” Jessica gestured towards the room.

”So, please, understand that I’m a little shaken up. But if I recall – and I’m not saying the situation with Stephen is the same – if those mad scientists had succeeded it would have cut the Iraq war short and saved thousands of lives. Which is something you would support. And frankly, the risk of your boyfriend coming out of this a much better person doesn’t sound all that terrifying to me.”

The stun gun fell out of Jon’s grip. “He is a good person!”

Sam and Kiran both flinched. Jessica looked like she was about to cry.

”Stephen is an honest and sweet and gentle person and if you think he deserves to be put through a dangerous, illegal psycho-surgery that causes major emotional upheaval in the best case scenario then…” Jon could feel his voice breaking up. “Please tell me you don’t think that.”

Jessica shook her head forcefully. “I don’t! I’m sorry.”

“She doesn’t know, Jon,” Nick said calmly. “She would have been, what, fourteen back then? The full extent of the side effects wasn’t reported broadly enough for a teenager to remember.”

”Jon,” Sam said softly. “Let me and Jessica go to the other location. If Crowder had a thought behind sending you there, we’ll find it.”

Rick nodded and bent down to pick up the stun gun. “That’s a good idea. Keep your cell phones on. I’ll make sure to get Jon to wherever he needs to be in ten minutes time.”

Nick coughed and pointed to his screen. “Where he needs to be is at the end of East River Promenade.”

Rick looked at Jon and grinned. “I’ll get you there in five.”

***

Stephen was fascinated by the light. He had been lifted high by the drugs to the place where fear and anger were but distant memories. He couldn’t feel his wrists anymore but he was sure they had stopped hurting because he couldn’t imagine there being any pain in a place like this.

The kidnapper was adjusting the machine. Stephen could see him fiddle with knobs and type on the computer. None of that bothered him. He knew rationally that this was a very evil man who had taken him against his will and wanted to hurt him; but it was as if that knowledge had been sealed off in a separate compartment where it didn't mean anything to him.

The light was so pretty; different shades of white swirling gently around a bright pillar. He had never imagined that one color could be so spectacular.

“How does that feel?”

He answered truthfully. “Wonderful.”

“Tell me why you want to do this.”

Stephen felt the confusion like a faint stirring at the edges of his contentment. “I… I don’t want to do this.”

The kidnapper was perusing a pamphlet. “Ah, sorry. I’m supposed to tell you why you want to do this.”

Stephen felt a lot better. As long as he didn’t have to be in charge he was fine with whatever would happen.

The kidnapper turned a dial and the buzzing sensation in his head increased drastically. It felt like when he had put his head on his mother’s tumbler back home as a child. He started giggling.

Having your mind twisted beyond recognition was a horrible thing, but this stage of it was pretty pleasant. He almost didn’t hear the words that were spoken next.

“You’re going to allow yourself to change because you want to make Jon happy.”

“Huh?” He hadn’t thought of his boyfriend in what seemed like an eternity and the mention of him now made him sit up and pay attention. As much attention as he could, anyway.

“You want to give Jon what he deserves. You love him very much and you want him to love you back.”

Stephen shook his head. His mind had caught on to the one statement he didn’t agree with. “Jon loves me.”

The kidnapper’s voice was gentle. “How could he love you, Stephen? You stand against everything he believes in.”

He had sunk down in front of Stephen, one hand resting gently on his knee. “Can’t you see that he pities you? It’s clear to everyone else. He pities you, and he doesn’t have the heart to tell you. He probably wishes he could love you, but he can’t. Not the way you are.”

Stephen blinked. He could feel the tears burning behind his eyelids. The truth was there in full color, bright and sharp, impossible to ignore.

If the heartbreak hadn’t been cushioned by the drugs it would have ripped him in two.

Tears spilled down his cheeks. A gentle hand wiped them off. He instinctively pressed into it, just the way he always did whenever Jon was touching his face.

“Jon deserves better. And you deserve to be loved. Don’t you?”

Stephen cried. “Yes! Yes.”

The kidnapper reached back for something. The buzzing in Stephen’s head started to pulsate and the light got a whole lot brighter.

“Then this will be quite easy.”

***

Jessica climbed into the car and fastened the seat belt with trembling hands. Nick leaned down so that he was on eye level with Sam. He and Jessica had to have run down the stairs because they were both out of breath.

“It’s still lunch hour, so there should be plenty of other people in the deli. If you see Crowder, don’t engage him. Text me, or call, if you can do it discreetly.”

Sam nodded. “I promise. We’ll be very discreet.”

Nick turned to Jessica, whose eyes were still blood shot. “Are you okay?” he asked gently.

“Yeah.” Her voice was shaking but she smiled faintly. “Thank you. For…” she jerked her head in the direction of the door they had just come out of. “I really appreciate it.”

Nick smiled back at her. “Just doing my job, Ma’am.”

He slammed the car door shut and stepped back.

Sam maneuvered the car – a sensible Toyota Highlander Jason had selected because the backseat easily fitted three children in car seats – out of the underground garage that few people knew about. In the rearview mirror she saw Nick touch the brim of his imaginary hat and nod.

Now they were on their own.

“Are you really okay? Do you want to talk about it?”

Jessica nodded and pulled out a tissue from her pocket. She started wiping her eyes with it. “Uhm, thanks but… Not really. So, is The Daily Show a secret detective agency or something?”

“No, it’s a TV show. A TV show that attracts professionals that have skills that match those at the top of their field, but for whatever reason don’t mind the bad pay and strange hours. And us actors, of course.”

“Do you go on missions? Do you ever have to kill people?”

Sam shook her head. “No! We don’t kill people! And we don’t go on missions, exactly.”

Jessica raised one eyebrow. “Uh-huh.”

Sam stopped at crossing to let some pedestrians pass. The traffic was pretty heavy, but nothing unusual for lunch hour in the city.

“We occasionally go the extra mile to research a story or to keep our guests safe. But we hardly ever break any laws and we never hurt people. Plus, we have very good lawyers.”

“And the studio lets you?”

Sam shrugged. “They want to keep us on the air. As long as we keep the ratings and the website traffic up we can do whatever we want.”

Jessica let out a whistle. “Impressive. So I’m taking it I’m going to be sworn to secrecy later?”

“You already have been. You signed the confidentiality agreement, didn’t you?”

Jessica was quiet for a few seconds as if she was pondering this. Then she shrugged. “No one would believe me anyway.”

A couple of minutes later they pulled up in front of the deli restaurant that matched the co-ordinates Jon had received. Sam had driven past there a couple of times but she had never dined there.

She checked her watch. Jon would be arriving at the other location right about now. She turned off the ignition and reached for her belt buckle. Before she could undo it, Jessica had taken her arm in a firm hold. “You should wait in the car.”

“What? Why?”

“If that guy hates The Daily Show so much that he’s prepared to commit a federal crime you can bet your ass he’s watched a lot of episodes. You’ve been on longer. If he’s in there, he’ll recognize you a heck of a lot faster than he’ll recognize me. Especially if I go in alone.”

Sam felt the familiar sensation of anxious excitement well up inside of her. She felt herself nod, as if her body knew Jessica was right before she did.

“If he’s in there,” she said slowly, making sure Jessica caught her every word. “It means Jon isn’t in immediate danger, but you are. Don’t do anything that might draw attention to yourself.”

Jessica nodded and got out of the car. “Pinky swear! I’ll be right back.”

When the car door was shut, Sam leaned back and watched as Jessica strolled up to the restaurant door. She sighed.

“Please don’t get yourself killed now that you’re starting to grow on me.”

***

The restaurant had its regular row of stalls along the windows and tables scattered throughout the rest of the room. In the corner of her eye she could see silhouettes of people sitting at the tables. There was a menu posted over the counter. She pretended to peruse it for a couple of seconds and then took out her purse and bought herself a cup of coffee. Cup in hand, she turned around and surveyed the room, wall to wall, as if looking for a seat.

There were all sorts of patrons; men and women of various ages and ethnicities, in groups and by themselves. But Crowder, whose picture she had studied carefully, could not be seen. Even taking in the possibility that he was wearing a disguise there was no one here who could be him.

“Any seat is fine, Miss.”

She turned around. “Oh. I was looking for a friend. Do you have a reservation… or a message for Mr. Stewart?”

The waiter gave her an incredulous look. He looked like he was about to call her out for her stupidity, but then he seemed to remember something. “Oh yeah. It’s the table over there.”

“Thanks.” Jessica nearly skipped over to the stall he had pointed to. She sat down, and took a casual sip of coffee.

Maybe she was early. Maybe Crowder would be coming through the door any second now and see her sitting in Jon’s spot. She would excuse herself, play dumb and move to another table. She’d probably have to sit five minutes at least for the sake of credibility. Sam might get worried and come in, Crowder could see her, it would all be ruined…

Jessica took a second, less casual sip of coffee. Time to chill the fuck out.

You’re a field agent now, Williams.

There was no room for hesitation or fear while lives hung in the balance.

There were two possible explanations for Jon being told to come here. Either Crowder would show up, in which case she’d follow her previous plan. Or he had left a message for Jon to find here.

There was nothing on her seat or the opposite one. She pretended to drop a napkin and leaned down so that she could see under the table. Sure enough, taped to the bottom was a black rubber case, the size of a touchpad. It took some tugging and twisting to get it loose.

She looked around the restaurant but no one seemed to have seen her.

She opened the flap and tapped the screen with her finger. It lit up and revealed generic wallpaper and default icons. She turned the pad over and checked for any markings. There were none. Maybe it wasn’t connected to the case at all?

All of a sudden a new window appeared against the blue background. A camera image, shaky at first, and then still. A hand pulled back to reveal the face she had only seen on a still image before.
She gasped.

“Hi Jon! I’ve been waiting for your call.”

The man was waving with one hand while holding the camera up with the other. “You’re right on time.” The camera was turned and Crowder disappeared from her vision. Instead she saw a man sitting in a chair with his arms bent back. His hands were not visible. He was hard to recognize with his hair unkempt and his cheeks streaked with tears.

“See, I realized that your penchant for putting down and ridiculing half the country comes from your secret contempt of your homosexual lover. So I fixed that for you. Not the homosexual part, as I keep hearing that’s incurable, but I dumbed him down enough to make him a liberal.”

Crowder had taken a hold of Stephen’s chin and had tilted his face towards the camera. The look of pure anguish in his eyes was almost too much for Jessica to bear. Eventually Crowder turned the camera back on his own wide grin.

“I’m sure the two of you will be very happy together. You’re welcome.”

The video transmission ended but Jessica made no move to put the touchpad down. It was like she was frozen to the spot, unable to think of anything but the conversation she had had with Nick, not twenty minutes ago.

***

”Jon,” Sam said softly beside her. “Let me and Jessica go to the other location. If Crowder had a thought behind sending you there, we’ll find it.”

Jessica pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. She mustn’t cry. Not in front of the others. She had never heard Jon yell before, and yeah, she could understand the stress he was under, but surely she wasn’t the first person to think along these lines?

She could hear Nick cough and say something about the East River. She peered through her fingers. Her boss didn’t look angry, just worried and tired.

“I’ll get you there in five.” Rick put a hand on Jon’s shoulder and steered him towards the door.

As soon as they were out of the room Sam straightened up and turned to Jessica.

“Right. You’re under no moral or professional obligation to come. Don’t worry about Jon; I’ll deal with him.”

Jessica shook her head. “I want to go. I just want to talk to Nick for a minute first.”

Nick looked at her in surprise. Sam looked between the two of them. “Okay, I’ll go get the car. I’ll meet you at the entrance to the garage in three minutes. Don’t be late.”

Nick shook his head. “I’ll show her where it is, Sam.”

She exited and Kiran got up to follow her out. “I should… I’ll leave you guys alone for a minute.”

As soon as the door closed behind them Jessica walked up to Nick. “What don’t I know about Counter Thought? Tell me as much as you can in a minute. Two, if you’re a good sprinter.”

Nick didn’t miss a beat.

“Even without the side effects, it’s considered to be a human rights violation by most of the international community and every human rights organization that exists. Messing with free will is a seriously fucked up thing to do. But the side effects are what move it from the evil category to the downright monstrous one. Of the thirty official documented cases of Counter Thought – twelve of Dr. Heron’s volunteers and eighteen Al Qaida operatives subjected to the military’s reverse engineered copies – fifteen have committed suicide. The shock of having your world view turned on its head will simply be too much for most people. But what’s truly fucking horrible is this,” he stopped to catch his breath.

“It’s nearly impossible to contain the programming to what you want to reverse. Many of the subjects started believing the opposite of basic truths. Truths like that you will die if you stop breathing air or that,” his voice broke a little, “you can’t undo a caesarean section. Or that the people who love you the most are not enemies out to get you. Four of the volunteers ended up murdering their spouses or their children. And these were people who had volunteered to give up a small part of their belief system for what they believed was the greater good.”

Jessica couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. They spilled down her cheeks as she tried to imagine going through something like that.

“So you’re saying that if Stephen is put through this there’s a big chance he’ll die.”

“Or that he’ll try to hurt someone, yes. Probably Jon.”

***

The seconds stretched out like minutes until a startling realization cut through Jessica’s shock.

She had to warn Jon.

Willing her body into action, she clutched the pad and ran faster than she had ever run on the track, fuelled by pure panic, past the stunned patrons and out to the waiting car.



Return to fic index.