Thursday, April 8th, 50XX
All eyes are on Kiera and she stands their horrified. "Kiera." Says General Peterson.
"I-I can explain!"
"Listen before you say anything now.
What his just said, if you admit to it or an investigation finds his telling the truth and you've indeed lied to us for the last two years, you're in violation of your work contract with us, but you will also lose your citizenship and immigration can send your case to the fraud unit and deport you to Canada.
I can't protect you if both those things happen."
She's lied to Maxis and everyone around her the whole time. Showed up at the edge of the Special Op's compound, clearly dirty and like she had been running for days, somehow having made into the U.S from Canada.
Clearly she was in danger from something that he now knows to be Ring, contracted by Kaylee V.
But the rest don't know that, she was allowed to stay on the condition she worked for the U.S Government in some compacity and that she was telling the truth about where she came from.
They knew she traumatized, that something had happened, but she lied the whole time that she couldn't remember, didn't know where she was from.
Only ever gave her name so that is what they put out, her name and face out in hope that one day, someone would identify her.
"So either way you are saying I'm fucked regardless if I admit to it or not."
"Unless you haven't lied, but the evidence is stacked pretty hard against you right now. Actually, you're suspended effectively immediately for the moment. Vincent-" The General says, but Kiera doesn't let him finish, seeing Vincent approach her with the handcuffs.
"Like hell." She says. "Kiera, it's okay. Just comply for the moment and we'll work this out-" Allie begins, receiving a blow to the nose that knocks her down.
"Are you okay?!" Kade panics, rushing to the floor to Allie. She's covering her nose with her hands, blood clearly dripping.
"It hurts, but I don't think it's broken." Allie says. "You'll need a doctor to make that call." Kade responds.
"Let go of me, I said no! Let go of me!" Kiera screams at Vincent who has one cuff attached to her wrist while General Peterson is holding onto her other arm, preventing her from going anywhere.
"You can't do this! Please! Elliot, talk to them!" Kiera cries, tears in her eyes.
"General-" He begins, but Maxis slides infront of him, gently pushing Elliot back by his shoulders.
"Don't intervene, you'll make it worse for her and you will get yourself in trouble too, Elliot." He tells him.
"But Maxis-"
"We'll get her a Lawyer, okay?"
Now both Kiera's arms are behind her back and Vincent pulls her away from everyone, albeit still crying.
"Allie?" Says the General, bending down to her and Kade. She removes her hands from her bloodied nose, showing it off and some forming bruises.
"You monster, I hate you! You didn't have to do that! We've known her for two years! She's not a threat to us, she's just scared after what she's been through, something clearly bad enough that she won't talk about it!"
"It's protocol, Allie-"
"I don't care!" She yells, storming off, holding her nose again to go find one of the urgent care centre staff.
"I'm sorry I just ruined your friends life-" Kade begins. "Don't apologize, I'll talk to her. So... She's your sister?" Maxis says.
He nods. "Yeah, we we're born a few years apart, she's the eldest and didn't know I existed."
"I'm going to need to talk to the Canadian Embassy, tell them we have one of their citizens and get any information they have on Kiera Bailey." The General says.
"Dad."
"Yes, Maxis?"
"No one reported her missing."
"Yes, that there is another mystery and a worry in it's self. No one is missing a sister, a cousin, a friend, a love interest." The General says. "Usually missing people cases like hers, they get solved most of the time."
"What's going to happen to her now?" Says Elliot.
"I'll talk to the Canadian embassy and I'll try to keep her case out of the immigration department as long as I can."
"General Peterson?"
"Yes, Kade?" He sighs.
"Take me with you, please. She's my sister, I'll sponsor her or something. I'm a U.S Citizen. I was born here, went into foster care here and adopted here by a U.S family."
"Fine, but I'll need you to sign a NDA, Kade and you'll need to stay on site of our base, you won't be able to freely go out."
"Deal, I'll sign whatever I have to sign."
"Ooh, you can bunk in my room!" Elliot says. "Sleepover?" Kade smiles. "Sleepover!" Elliot responds, both boys fist-bumping and bro-hugging.
"Ugh, you have got to be kidding me. I have to babysit the 18 year old." Maxis says.
"I'm 21! Just shut up, I have a baby face is all." Kade pouts.
"Kade, I'm joking. You can stay as long as you want. Kiera was rooming with me and Elliot." Maxis tells him.
"Oh..."
"Come on, let's just go back to base and get you settled in, get you that agreement and I'll see if I can get a timeslot that we can see Kiera." Maxis says, slipping an arm around the young boys shoulder and Elliot follows, their General ahead of him, not saying a word.
---
They make it back to base several hours later, settle in, Kade signs the agreement and Elliot has a quick check-up with a doctor, removing some flowers that was immediately re-moveable, not requiring anaesthesia and sends him home with a further referral to a Hanahaki Treatment Clinic in the area...
His going to have to see his Mum sooner or later. Heading down the hall, both boys following Maxis, he stops at the interview room/holding cell, Kiera's being held in.
"So, I talked to my Dad. He got information from Canada, they sent over this for file us." He explains, holding up a folder, but it's not too large in size. "And she's still really upset, so neither of you push her more than she already is."
Both boys nod and Maxis unlocks the door, heading in first. They enter the security office, a table with chairs in the centre and a plastic encased cell off to the side. "Kiera." Maxis says, walking up to it and Kiera sits up from the bed, looking weak and tired.
There is some finger nail scratch marks on her face and arms, her right elbow has been bandaged.
This breaks Elliot's heart, she harmed herself no doubt. Vincent wouldn't do that, he has no disciplinary record, his on his way to becoming a General himself. For now, his one of the top taskforce leaders like one of the others, her name is Thea.
Maxis opens the door and gestures for her to come out and take a seat and she slowly walks out, slumping into the chair.
Elliot, Kade and Maxis take a seat. "How are you? Are you okay?" Kade speaks up, but the expression on her face reads visible anger. She clearly hates him.
"I didn't mean for this to happen like this, Kiera. I sware-" But Kade doesn't get to finish.
"You're not my brother, and you will never be my brother."
Her words pierce his heart. "We can come back to the sibling thing later, let's just put that aside for now." Maxis says, opening the folder on her.
"So, what did you learn considering you think you know me? Because you don't." Kiera snaps, folding her arms.
"If you don't want to continue at anytime, we can stop, okay?"
But she doesn't say anything and her shoe taps against the tiled floor.
"You we're reported missing April 4th two years ago when you didn't turn up for work. You we're working for a pizza chain corporation, is that correct? The last time you we're seen was leaving your shift April 3rd, 7:30 p.m.
Your boss and co-workers are the one who made the report."
"Yeah, that's correct."
"And we found you aged out of the foster care system, having never been adopted in Canada. Seems Kaylee V abandoned you on the doorsteps of an orphanage."
"People only want cute babies, not angsty teens with baggage."
"And Kaylee?"
"I don't know, I don't know her, I don't remember her. I just remember being in foster care."
"That's fair, you we're only a weekend old baby..."
"Guess she loved me enough to keep for the weekend at-least."
"Kiera-" Kade interjects. "Tell him to shut up, Maxis." She snaps.
"Kade, if you can't be quiet, I will have to ask you to leave the room." Maxis warns him and he nods quickly and silently.
"So, you aged out, made a life for yourself. Police checked your apartment to find it undisturbed after you had been missing for a good while the next day.
And no one saw you vanish, what happened between leaving work and never making it home safely?"
"....."
"You need to tell us, Kiera or we can't help you."
"You deport me back to Canada, I'll have to worry about them finding me and taking me back. I'll never be able to go back to a normal life, I can't walk back into a normal job again, let alone the fact I lost my apartment and stuff no doubt and will have a weird gap in my resume, my credit destroyed cause I obviously wasn't paying my bills.
What am I supposed to tell future employers and banks and landlords? Oh, I went missing and ended up in the U.S after running for my life and stayed there?"
"Who took you? How did it happen? Did you know them?"
"No, I didn't know them. I was one street from my apartment, I was almost home safe and a car pulled up infront of me and behind me.
Out a bunch of people got and I could feel a needle jab me and that was it, there wasn't even time to scream."
"And where did they take you? How did you escape?"
"What did they do to you?" Kade adds on and Kiera tenses up. "Right, I warned you. Vincent!" Maxis calls out and he pokes his head in.
"Kade, fucking beat it." Maxis says and he slinks out the room, going with Vincent.
Now it's just Elliot, Maxis and Kiera. "I'm sorry for shouting."
She doesn't say anything. "Kiera, do you think you can continue?" Elliot whispers, gently sliding his hand into hers.
"....."
"Would you want justice? What if we could prosecute whoever did this?" Maxis asks.
"There was hundreds of us, I wasn't the only one they snatched up off the street.
I didn't do anything to deserve this."
"What did they tell you?"
"They said I was precious inventory, that I was worth alot of money. But that was it.
They never told me anything else and I was just put to work along the rest, doing menial labor while they watched us. Yeah, they fed us and let us shower and laundry services was avaible to us, but nothing else happened.
I was there for I think a year and sometimes..."
"Sometimes?"
"Some of us went missing again, I think they have must sold them off. But I can't say for sure, infact, there was rumors.
Apparently some of us went downstairs instead of being sold, so I guess that counts as missing too."
"What do you think went on downstairs?"
"I don't know, way too many doors to get through and then I had enough one day. I got angry, pissed off the wrong staff member and they all really turned on me after that.
They we're fairly nice and respectful for kidnappers, but when I attacked one of their own in a fit of rage...
They-they-"
And she starts crying hard, face in her hands. "We can stop, we don't have to continue. What you have told us has been really helpful."
"I didn't remember much after they day and I don't know, the one I attacked which led to the rest all treating me more harshly, was slack one day, their security slack.
She turned her back for just a moment and I escaped out a side exit service door. She said I was no longer compliant and that was a problem.
I was scared she was going to take me downstairs. I ran for miles in the snow, ate out of trashcans and I don't really know how I ended up in the U.S, I must have walked along a beach or somewhere that was an unguarded checkpoint.
When you guys took me in, I just wanted to stay. I still see things in my sleep, the memories that are in focus and some fuzzy, play on repeat all the time.
I'll never be able to forget it and I'll never be able to go back to a normal life."
"Can I ask you one final question, Kiera?"
"....."
"If you we're sent back to Canada, what would you do?"
"I don't know."
"Because you don't actually have support there, you're right about a gap in resume, etc combined with feeling like you need to always look over your shoulder and your trauma, good chance you would never work again and probably go on permeant welfare under the disability category."
"Or I..."
"Or you?"
"Maxis, she would kill herself." Elliot speaks up.
"Would you harm yourself again Kiera or even end your life?" Maxis follows up with.
She's silent. "Okay, let's end this here for today. Thea is going to escort you to a bathroom so you can shower and you will come back here, dinner will be served and you can get some sleep while I type this all up and my Dad pleads your case."
"I can't believe his your Dad."
"He adopted me..."
"Everyone, but me got adopted. It wasn't fair."
"You're right. It wasn't fair and I'm sorry that happened." He says, standing up.
"Hey, sweetie. Do you want a shower? Is this interview over?" Asks Thea, walking in.
"Yeah, we're done. Kiera, can you go with Thea?" Maxis asks and she nods, going with her. Maxis and Elliot follow them out, but then they go their separate ways.
"Hey, Dad. So, I'm going to type up the interview and-" But Maxis trails off, seeing his Dad hang up the phone.
His expression is dark and grim. "Is something wrong?" Elliot asks.
"I've just received a call that Kaylee Vaughn, formally known as Kaylee Beckett who filed a name change years ago before she and I we're in university together has gone missing.
The Police we're having her transferred to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation, as they agreed something was really off with her. The transport company that was contracted didn't make it to the hospital with her.
"And things get worse." Elliot says.
---
"Umm, excuse me? Are you going the right way? This is taking a really long time." Kaylee speaks up from the backseat of the transport car she was placed in, a mesh screen separating her from the driver.
"No, we're going the right way." Responds the driver.
"Miss, I don't believe you."
And then the car rolls to a stop. "Who are you?"
"....Do you remember contracting Ring to kidnap and bring you Kiera Bailey three years ago?"
Kaylee's face turns to pure horror. "Are you with them?"
"Mmm, I would say not really. I consider myself fairly an independent like you we're, have others do the dirty work for me." The driver says, and she holds up a green clock.
"Coleman doesn't remember me and misplaced my clock, having forgotten about it too. Guess it belongs to me again now."
"If you're not with Ring, then who are you?"
And the driver turns around to face Kaylee, the light in the car sheading light on the situation.
"You're me..."
"That's correct." Responds Dr Kaylee B, but more stylish than her duller dressing and if not more foolish and stupid counterpart.
"And unlike you, I don't get caught. Ever."
"The serious drugs they've put me on have to be messing with my head, this can't be real." Kaylee V says, clutching her head.
"Oh, it's real alright. And Kaylee? Elliot's not the only master of the universe."
Then she starts up the car again, turns the clock and they drive into a green light, the car with them in it vanishing from the street they're on.
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