(no subject)
Alex had known this was going to happen. From the first shots fired in the jungle, some part of her had known, instinctively, that she was going to die, here and at the hands of these men who had come for her father. She just somehow hadn't expected that it would be like this, marched through the jungle at gunpoint, blindfolded when they didn't need her to disarm the security system on the fence, taken back to the one person she now had left. Not long before - minutes, maybe, or hours, she couldn't quite be certain, but before everything had gone straight to hell all the same - she had been telling Karl that the one thing she could say about Ben was that he wouldn't let any harm come to her. Now, in a situation like this, she wasn't so sure that could hold true.
Being kept just past the treeline, she had heard over walkie-talkie the conversation thus far between Keamy - the man seemingly in charge here - and her father, but had tuned most of it out, too caught up in her own head, worrying about what was going to happen next, to pay it much attention. It came as a surprise, then, to be pushed out from behind the trees and into her own yard, Alex flinching as she stumbled forward. There was probably some strange sense of irony in it, that she'd grown up playing right here and now was probably going to die here, too, but it was nothing she could pinpoint, or spare more than a single second's thought when she was being pushed to her knees, shoulders raised as if, somehow, that would keep her protected, despite knowing all the while that it wasn't going to do a damn thing.
"Get your ass out here, right now," Keamy said into his walkie-talkie, "or I'm gonna kill your daughter."
There was a silence, a long one, and somehow, Alex wasn't surprised in the least by what followed.
"I'd like to present a counter-proposal," Ben replied, sounding as composed as she'd ever heard him. It would almost have been funny, if it hadn't been her life on the line.
"I'm listening."
"You and your friends turn around, walk back to your helicopter, you fly away, and forget you ever heard of this island."
It was totally unreasonable, of course. Alex knew it, had seen firsthand what they could do without even giving a warning, and she suspected that Ben must have, too, deep down. Unable as she was to focus on it, the village's being in ruins, seemingly from some sort of explosion, hadn't escaped her notice, and she had no question that it was the handiwork of the men holding her hostage now. Keamy obviously knew, too, placing the walkie-talkie in Alex's bound hands and saying, "Tell your daddy goodbye."
"Dad?" Her voice broke on the first syllable, eyes wide as she stared up at Ben, willing him to understand. He was the only one who could make a difference now. Whatever else had happened between them, her life was in his hands, and she could only hope that that would be bigger than anything else. "They're serious. They killed Karl, and my mother."
"Alex, I have this under control," Ben replied, not pausing for a second, with the same business-like tone she had heard so many times before. He didn't get it, clearly, how serious this was, despite the gun pointed at the back of her head, and that alone was enough to bring on a fresh burst of tears, her desperation increasing with each passing moment. "Everything's going to be okay."
"Please, Daddy," she blurted out before she could stop herself, choking back a sob, barely realizing any significance in her calling him that. It wasn't going to be okay, not even close to it, and she hadn't the first idea of how to make him see it, her head spinning with everything she'd had to take in. "Just please - please -"
Before she could get out anything else, Keamy took the walkie-talkie from her again, leaving Alex to cry quietly where she knelt, more helpless than she could recall having ever been. "You have ten seconds, Ben."
"Okay, listen," Ben said, an obvious change in tack. Keamy seemed unfazed.
"Nine."
"She's not my daughter."
The words alone were enough to make Alex feel sick, even more so than the gun to her head already had. In that instant, she wanted to scream, to beg, to do anything that might make him change his mind, but she also knew Ben. He was a man who got his way, and having already made his decision, there was nothing that would convince him to do otherwise. That made it no easier to hear as he kept talking, each thing he said somehow worse than what had preceded it.
"Eight."
"I stole her as a baby from an insane woman. She's a pawn, nothing more. She means nothing to me. I'm not coming out of this house. So if you want to kill her, go ahead -"
The sentence cut off midway, that was the last thing Alex heard before Keamy pulled the trigger, her body slumped to the ground, and everything went black.
Being kept just past the treeline, she had heard over walkie-talkie the conversation thus far between Keamy - the man seemingly in charge here - and her father, but had tuned most of it out, too caught up in her own head, worrying about what was going to happen next, to pay it much attention. It came as a surprise, then, to be pushed out from behind the trees and into her own yard, Alex flinching as she stumbled forward. There was probably some strange sense of irony in it, that she'd grown up playing right here and now was probably going to die here, too, but it was nothing she could pinpoint, or spare more than a single second's thought when she was being pushed to her knees, shoulders raised as if, somehow, that would keep her protected, despite knowing all the while that it wasn't going to do a damn thing.
"Get your ass out here, right now," Keamy said into his walkie-talkie, "or I'm gonna kill your daughter."
There was a silence, a long one, and somehow, Alex wasn't surprised in the least by what followed.
"I'd like to present a counter-proposal," Ben replied, sounding as composed as she'd ever heard him. It would almost have been funny, if it hadn't been her life on the line.
"I'm listening."
"You and your friends turn around, walk back to your helicopter, you fly away, and forget you ever heard of this island."
It was totally unreasonable, of course. Alex knew it, had seen firsthand what they could do without even giving a warning, and she suspected that Ben must have, too, deep down. Unable as she was to focus on it, the village's being in ruins, seemingly from some sort of explosion, hadn't escaped her notice, and she had no question that it was the handiwork of the men holding her hostage now. Keamy obviously knew, too, placing the walkie-talkie in Alex's bound hands and saying, "Tell your daddy goodbye."
"Dad?" Her voice broke on the first syllable, eyes wide as she stared up at Ben, willing him to understand. He was the only one who could make a difference now. Whatever else had happened between them, her life was in his hands, and she could only hope that that would be bigger than anything else. "They're serious. They killed Karl, and my mother."
"Alex, I have this under control," Ben replied, not pausing for a second, with the same business-like tone she had heard so many times before. He didn't get it, clearly, how serious this was, despite the gun pointed at the back of her head, and that alone was enough to bring on a fresh burst of tears, her desperation increasing with each passing moment. "Everything's going to be okay."
"Please, Daddy," she blurted out before she could stop herself, choking back a sob, barely realizing any significance in her calling him that. It wasn't going to be okay, not even close to it, and she hadn't the first idea of how to make him see it, her head spinning with everything she'd had to take in. "Just please - please -"
Before she could get out anything else, Keamy took the walkie-talkie from her again, leaving Alex to cry quietly where she knelt, more helpless than she could recall having ever been. "You have ten seconds, Ben."
"Okay, listen," Ben said, an obvious change in tack. Keamy seemed unfazed.
"Nine."
"She's not my daughter."
The words alone were enough to make Alex feel sick, even more so than the gun to her head already had. In that instant, she wanted to scream, to beg, to do anything that might make him change his mind, but she also knew Ben. He was a man who got his way, and having already made his decision, there was nothing that would convince him to do otherwise. That made it no easier to hear as he kept talking, each thing he said somehow worse than what had preceded it.
"Eight."
"I stole her as a baby from an insane woman. She's a pawn, nothing more. She means nothing to me. I'm not coming out of this house. So if you want to kill her, go ahead -"
The sentence cut off midway, that was the last thing Alex heard before Keamy pulled the trigger, her body slumped to the ground, and everything went black.