Post by Hayley "Chez" Chezaneski on Oct 19, 2009 17:27:09 GMT -5
HAYLEY
It had been a long day, and that was understating it. The CT's media liaison had not only had a full plate - two conferences that day alone and then there had been plenty of files for her to fill out- but she hadn't slept the night before. Her mind had been racing with memories of her childhood - memories that had kept her awake. That night, they had been especially vivid - thoughts and memories that she hadn't had for nearly fifteen years, moments of despair tha she'd nearly forgotten - they'd come crashing back to her as she lay in bed. She was used to the insomnia, after all this time - but for some eason - whether the waking nightmares were latecomers from finding Krys in that basement, or newly formed upon her rejoining the Bureau - these waking nightmares had been bad.
But, being used to it, she'd made it through the extra long day with hardly a groan or a sign to the night prior.
It was past midnight now, but the young woman knew her way around the city from the first nine years of her life. She was no stranger to them. Hayley had declined rides by various CT workers that she didn't know so well - the whole confined space and supressed fear of men thing didn't fare well under those circumstances - and Kate, Matt, and Krys had left much earlier than she had that day. it would be touch and go for awhile for the last one, and Hayley knew that probably better than anyone - it took a lot to get over that type of ordeal. But she had complete trust that she could do it - after al, Hayley had been a part of the plan that had brought her back. She wouldn't have gone through with it if she'd feared it would bring any harm to her friend. When she'd left the office at near midnight, there'd only been two other agents in the entier building, finishing up work.
So she'd walked, like she did most nights when she worked this late. her job was the one that required the most early mornings and late nights - but it didn't bother her, because she hardly slept anyway.
Her apartment wasn't too far away - seven or eight blocks at the most. Mostly everyone was asleep at this time on her street, things were quiet, deserted, peaceful. She took precautions - Hayley wasn't a stranger to what could happen on these streets. Her own father had kidnapped her on them - but tonight, she wasn't thinking about those dangers as she turned down the ally that led her to her street - a shortcut she would later regret taking.
She was thinking instead of the past few months - of everything that had happened to their team. First there had been Krys - the young woman with so much to offer the world had finally fallen in love. While she hadn't wanted anyone to notice, Hayley had - she remembered the day in New York during the virus threat, when she'd seen Reid and her together in the computer lab. That day had quickly turned into a nightmare, yes, but they'd come out of it - still together. That kind of thing took courage, she knew, even if she'd never been on a date herself, too fearful of the outcome, of what men would see in her, of what she'd see in them.
And then there'd been the kidnapping.
That ordeal had been terrible - a week of the utmost horror, a week where she'd had to try at every turn not to show ust how much this was hurting her, how familiar it was, how scared she was for the analyst, trying every single second to keep it together because she was the cool, level headed one - she'd done it, though, and they'd found Krys - beaten, scared, tired, but they'd found her,a nd Fay was gone within an instant. And they'd survived, for the longest time, Krys and Reid - together, maybe not extremely happy, but surviving, until it had all crashed down on their heads with Krys' suicide attempt.
And then everything had kept falling. Reid had gone back to drugs, but they wouldn't find that out for some time - until she, Kate, and Matt had gone undercover and found him there.
It had seemed like an end, but it had also been a beginning - outside that house, Reid had asked her the simple request, and she'd known she had to do it - because they needed Krys back, and even if Krys didn't see it right then, Reid loved her. And that kind of love could heal a person.
So she'd found a way. And Krys had come back - to them, to Reid.
Between it all, of course, Hayley had found out the truth about Kate's past, and Kate of hers. She was one of the handful of people in the entire world who knew of the liaison's past - and the two had a pact of secrecy that Hayley intended to keep. She wasn't going to break that - she remembered with clarity the distraught agent's tears.
And then there was Matt. She knew that the ordeal had hurt him. She'd seen it in his eyes in Krys' apartment that day, she'd seen it again in that drug house.
Up ahead, something clicked against the alley wall - her first and only sign of what was to come. She hitched a breath, paranoid, but when no more signs of someoen else came, she assumed it had been a cat.
The man came out of nowhere - fast, lethal, a panther springing from the night in the ally. She didn't even see his face, or have the time to go for the gun still attached to her hip - no, he was too fast. In what little light there was, she saw the glint of his knife, and felt fear course through her. There was no time to react. She felt grabbing hands and tried to scream, her voice only making a single shrill sound before his hands were around her throat, and she choked.
He was choking her.
That bastard was choking her.
She fumbled some more - but he was too strong, and Chez's vision started to tunnel.
She felt him reach for something, and realized seconds later that he'd taken her wallet, with her badge inside. Her vision was tunneling, fast.
After everything that she'd gone through, she was going to die in a mugging.
In what she was certain would be her last attempt at anything, she reached for her gun. Her grip was incredibly weak - but she felt her fingers close around it, and she pulled.
He saw it - through closing vision, she saw his eyes widen and his grip leave her neck, realizing he'd messed with who he probably thought was a cop.
he made away with his prize - her wallet, her badge.
Only when he was gone did she feel the sharp pain in her rips, only when he was gone did she realize a gash in her shouder from his knife, or how her left wrist was bent the wrong way from where she'd fallen on it.
She tried to scream.
And heard nothing.
Her heart fluttered.
She tried again, and realized he'd made off with a third prize.
Her voice, when he'd choked her - she'd heard of it happening, the throat swelling so someone couldn't talk - all of this went through her head as her heart beat so fast that her vision tunneled even further. She knew, lying on the ground, that she had to get a grip - but she couldn't.
Tears poured from her eyes - anyone who'd passed probably thought she was someone, homeless, sleeping on the ground.
She could have called 911- but she remembered from when she was little how it had come too late to save the agent who had saved her life. She remembered, and she felt she couldn't trust them then, in that moment where oxygon had been of short supply to her brain, and she did the only thing that made sense to her.
Her hands were shaking - she knew he wouldn't know where he was if she called, and she had no voice - and somehow, that made her believe that 911 wouldn't either, even if the better part of her brain knew damn well that they would - GPS locationing, but she opened her cell through dizzied vision and texted in an emergency anyway.
She'd never exactly been one for normal.
'Ally.' The text said. 'My house. Help.'
It was all she could do to see that it said message sent, and as her vision faded, she realized that he might not get her message.
So she dialed Matthew Grimaldi's number.
And faded into nothing, the phone open besides her.
It had been a long day, and that was understating it. The CT's media liaison had not only had a full plate - two conferences that day alone and then there had been plenty of files for her to fill out- but she hadn't slept the night before. Her mind had been racing with memories of her childhood - memories that had kept her awake. That night, they had been especially vivid - thoughts and memories that she hadn't had for nearly fifteen years, moments of despair tha she'd nearly forgotten - they'd come crashing back to her as she lay in bed. She was used to the insomnia, after all this time - but for some eason - whether the waking nightmares were latecomers from finding Krys in that basement, or newly formed upon her rejoining the Bureau - these waking nightmares had been bad.
But, being used to it, she'd made it through the extra long day with hardly a groan or a sign to the night prior.
It was past midnight now, but the young woman knew her way around the city from the first nine years of her life. She was no stranger to them. Hayley had declined rides by various CT workers that she didn't know so well - the whole confined space and supressed fear of men thing didn't fare well under those circumstances - and Kate, Matt, and Krys had left much earlier than she had that day. it would be touch and go for awhile for the last one, and Hayley knew that probably better than anyone - it took a lot to get over that type of ordeal. But she had complete trust that she could do it - after al, Hayley had been a part of the plan that had brought her back. She wouldn't have gone through with it if she'd feared it would bring any harm to her friend. When she'd left the office at near midnight, there'd only been two other agents in the entier building, finishing up work.
So she'd walked, like she did most nights when she worked this late. her job was the one that required the most early mornings and late nights - but it didn't bother her, because she hardly slept anyway.
Her apartment wasn't too far away - seven or eight blocks at the most. Mostly everyone was asleep at this time on her street, things were quiet, deserted, peaceful. She took precautions - Hayley wasn't a stranger to what could happen on these streets. Her own father had kidnapped her on them - but tonight, she wasn't thinking about those dangers as she turned down the ally that led her to her street - a shortcut she would later regret taking.
She was thinking instead of the past few months - of everything that had happened to their team. First there had been Krys - the young woman with so much to offer the world had finally fallen in love. While she hadn't wanted anyone to notice, Hayley had - she remembered the day in New York during the virus threat, when she'd seen Reid and her together in the computer lab. That day had quickly turned into a nightmare, yes, but they'd come out of it - still together. That kind of thing took courage, she knew, even if she'd never been on a date herself, too fearful of the outcome, of what men would see in her, of what she'd see in them.
And then there'd been the kidnapping.
That ordeal had been terrible - a week of the utmost horror, a week where she'd had to try at every turn not to show ust how much this was hurting her, how familiar it was, how scared she was for the analyst, trying every single second to keep it together because she was the cool, level headed one - she'd done it, though, and they'd found Krys - beaten, scared, tired, but they'd found her,a nd Fay was gone within an instant. And they'd survived, for the longest time, Krys and Reid - together, maybe not extremely happy, but surviving, until it had all crashed down on their heads with Krys' suicide attempt.
And then everything had kept falling. Reid had gone back to drugs, but they wouldn't find that out for some time - until she, Kate, and Matt had gone undercover and found him there.
It had seemed like an end, but it had also been a beginning - outside that house, Reid had asked her the simple request, and she'd known she had to do it - because they needed Krys back, and even if Krys didn't see it right then, Reid loved her. And that kind of love could heal a person.
So she'd found a way. And Krys had come back - to them, to Reid.
Between it all, of course, Hayley had found out the truth about Kate's past, and Kate of hers. She was one of the handful of people in the entire world who knew of the liaison's past - and the two had a pact of secrecy that Hayley intended to keep. She wasn't going to break that - she remembered with clarity the distraught agent's tears.
And then there was Matt. She knew that the ordeal had hurt him. She'd seen it in his eyes in Krys' apartment that day, she'd seen it again in that drug house.
Up ahead, something clicked against the alley wall - her first and only sign of what was to come. She hitched a breath, paranoid, but when no more signs of someoen else came, she assumed it had been a cat.
The man came out of nowhere - fast, lethal, a panther springing from the night in the ally. She didn't even see his face, or have the time to go for the gun still attached to her hip - no, he was too fast. In what little light there was, she saw the glint of his knife, and felt fear course through her. There was no time to react. She felt grabbing hands and tried to scream, her voice only making a single shrill sound before his hands were around her throat, and she choked.
He was choking her.
That bastard was choking her.
She fumbled some more - but he was too strong, and Chez's vision started to tunnel.
She felt him reach for something, and realized seconds later that he'd taken her wallet, with her badge inside. Her vision was tunneling, fast.
After everything that she'd gone through, she was going to die in a mugging.
In what she was certain would be her last attempt at anything, she reached for her gun. Her grip was incredibly weak - but she felt her fingers close around it, and she pulled.
He saw it - through closing vision, she saw his eyes widen and his grip leave her neck, realizing he'd messed with who he probably thought was a cop.
he made away with his prize - her wallet, her badge.
Only when he was gone did she feel the sharp pain in her rips, only when he was gone did she realize a gash in her shouder from his knife, or how her left wrist was bent the wrong way from where she'd fallen on it.
She tried to scream.
And heard nothing.
Her heart fluttered.
She tried again, and realized he'd made off with a third prize.
Her voice, when he'd choked her - she'd heard of it happening, the throat swelling so someone couldn't talk - all of this went through her head as her heart beat so fast that her vision tunneled even further. She knew, lying on the ground, that she had to get a grip - but she couldn't.
Tears poured from her eyes - anyone who'd passed probably thought she was someone, homeless, sleeping on the ground.
She could have called 911- but she remembered from when she was little how it had come too late to save the agent who had saved her life. She remembered, and she felt she couldn't trust them then, in that moment where oxygon had been of short supply to her brain, and she did the only thing that made sense to her.
Her hands were shaking - she knew he wouldn't know where he was if she called, and she had no voice - and somehow, that made her believe that 911 wouldn't either, even if the better part of her brain knew damn well that they would - GPS locationing, but she opened her cell through dizzied vision and texted in an emergency anyway.
She'd never exactly been one for normal.
'Ally.' The text said. 'My house. Help.'
It was all she could do to see that it said message sent, and as her vision faded, she realized that he might not get her message.
So she dialed Matthew Grimaldi's number.
And faded into nothing, the phone open besides her.
