Punishment Befitting the Crime | Part 1

((WARNING: The Punishment Befitting the Crime story arc contains extreme violence and language. If you are easily offended, please refrain from reading on.))

Everything happened so quickly that she barely had time to think, let-alone fight back.

It had been the early hours of the morning when Ada had stepped out the back door to take out the trash. She hadn't even made it to bed yet, but she was already in her pajamas and was just making sure that everything was squared away so that she could sleep soundly and not worry. The snow had started to pile up, and she looked up to see the snow catching in the back porch light, drifting down in lazy large puffs. If she hadn't known any better, she would have stayed and watched for a while. But, a warm bed and a warm body were waiting, and she felt that was probably a more worthwhile experience.

As she turned to go inside, something caught her eye, and her hand clamped onto the door handle. There were fresh tracks in the snow, and while she hadn't seen anyone, it seemed to here that there were at least three or four people who had passed the back door. It didn't seem to bode well for her, and she turned back to head inside when it happened.

A hand was clamped tightly over her mouth, and another around her waist, pinning her arms to her side. She couldn't turn and see much of anything, but there was a faint reflection in the window of back door. As she struggled against the firm grip, she could see her own panicked face, a hand, and near the right side of her head was a shadowed ghost of a face that went with a firm, questioning voice. "Are you Adalia Dodd?"

For a moment, Ada considered lying to the man -- if she could get him to let her go, then she might have a chance to get away. Her head began to shake back and forth, and then her eye caught a hint of silver in the reflection of the window. Oak leaves -- she recognized them from Ghent's uniform, though she hadn't known they came in any color other than gold.

Slowly, precisely, she nodded to answer the man's question, her mind racing to find a way out. She couldn't lie -- they obviously knew that she lived there, and if they thought she was the wrong person, they would have to search the house. Ada wouldn't let them get to Ghent. Military could only mean one of two things -- either they were looking for Ghent, or they were looking for Jerald's killer. And, since they had asked for her, Ada assumed it was the latter. She gave another nod and tried to struggle away from the retraining arms around her.

There was no response from the man, but she could feel his head nodding next to hers. Once more, she wiggled, but the man's grip tightened so much around her that she was sure she was going to just snap in half. There were footsteps in the snow behind them, and then very suddenly she was gone from the world.

Left behind in the wake were many boot prints in the snow that would eventually be covered, and a notice was placed on the back door that Ada had been taken for questioning and why. The whole notice was typed, only mentioning Ada's name and the name of General Jerald Tyn, who she had been suspected of murdering. But, the only real clue that it was an official document was the seal of the Heor Army watermarked in the paper.

-------------------

She was standing at an open door, looking out into a hallway. Everything was bright and white and clinical. Ada felt out of place, like a novelty in a museum full of masterpieces. Her feet were bare, and from what she could tell, she was wearing a hospital gown and a jacket. Was she going somewhere?

As she moved into the hallway, she could hear commotion and voices somewhere farther down the hallway. She didn't see anyone, but there was definitely someone there. Eying the doors she passed for a moment, Ada noted that they were numbered strangely -- not like any hospital or medical facility she remembered going to. Her right hand reached out and brushed fleshy fingertips over the raised numbers of one of the doors. She didn't bother to look or read; Ada just kept moving, like her feet were the only thing in control.

The bright fluorescent lights overhead made her squint a little, but like the floor and the walls and the clothes, everything had a cold familiarity that she just didn't understand. Approaching a convergence of two hallways, she focused her attention straight ahead and continued on. The voices she had heard were down the connecting hallway, but she knew it didn't matter; she was already on the move.

Commotion broke the calm as Ada crossed the joining hallway and continued on. There was yelling and running, and before she could take another precise step, the world turned red and the claxons started blaring...

-------------------

The ringing was much more prominent when the white and red walls were taken away. Ada blinked groggily and shook her head, trying to clear the blaring sirens from her ears. Her eyes adjusted slowly in the dark, but when they finally did, she could tell that she wasn't in a hospital -- there was no way it had been anything but a dream. Instead, it seemed like she was in some sort of dingy room, her hands cuffed behind her and a dim light shining down on her head.

Out of the darkness, she could hear someone clear their throat. She swallowed and it felt like sandpaper scratching down her throat. "I want a lawyer..." Her voice was quiet and raspy, but it still traveled a long way in the empty space.

"No." It was the same voice as before, but she still couldn't put a face to it.

She shivered in the cold, stagnant air and let her head droop down to her chest. "I want a phone call, then."

"No."

"You can't do this to a perso--" Before she could even finish her statement, someone had grabbed her hair and ripped her head back. There was a snarling face behind the action, and Ada narrowed her eyes, taking in every feature. She could tell it had been the same man that had grabbed her at the guest house. He wasn't grisly or scarred or even unattractive -- the actions hardly seemed to fit the face.

The man couldn't have been older than his early thirties, but he looked like he had spent at least half a century molding himself perfectly for his role. "This isn't a negotiation!"

His voice seemed to rip through her head, and she flinched back from his harsh words and movements. Ada didn't say anything in reply, but she did tug against the handcuffs, listening to the sound of her robot arm grinding against the metal of the handcuffs. For sure, she knew that this man had at one time been military, though she wasn't sure if he still was. A thought crossed her mind and she turned her eyes back to the man's face. "Your military has no jurisdiction here."

The grip on her hair was gone almost as violently as it had come. Her assailant let out a mirthless laugh and stepped away to pace in front of the chair Ada was bound to. "My military, as you put it, was never here, Miss Dodd. Even if you were to present proof and could find someone who actually cared, our government has disavowed all knowledge of this operation."

Rose-colored eyes lifted to watch the man pace. His uniform was almost exactly the same as Ghent's uniform, except that it looked like it was more faded and worn. Except his boots -- they were obviously buffed and very well taken care of. Adalia smirked and she pulled at the cuffs again. "If that's the case, then you might as well kill me, innocent or not. Isn't that what people like you do?" There was bitterness behind her voice and she had no intention of hiding it.

"Oh, you're not innocent -- we know that." The pacing stopped, and the man gestured out into the darkness in front of Ada. A moment later, six similarly dressed men melted out of the shadows. Most of them looked as if they had been bred to be soldiers -- dense muscles, broad shoulders, wide faces... "As you can clearly see, we aren't just riff-raff. There's little you can say or do, so you might as well keep your mouth shut and listen."

Ada imagined she really did have little choice in the matter, so she let her head dip back down to her chest and closed her eyes. Already, she could feel the handcuffs making her left wrist raw, and her back hurt from such a strange angle. Considering what she figured she had to look forward to, though, it was a fair trade off for still being alive.

"We came here for several reasons, all of which I am positive you have some connection to. Not only are you a murderer, but it seems that you're also connected with foreign military development. I don't think I have to tell you this, but I will anyway -- you're a terrorist and not just a danger to this country, but also to Heor, where we come from." He gestured around to his men, and then to himself, before stepping forward to look at Ada again.

"You've seen uniforms like this before, of course. You've been known to associate with one of our own -- a deserter and kidnapper." The solider reached a hand out and grabbed Ada's chin, lifting his head so that he could look at the expression on her face. His steely gray eyes met with her's and he continued talking. "You should have seen his father -- my General -- and how devastated he was when his sweet, precious daughters were forced away from him..."

Ada did her best not to react at all, but she could feel fingers pressing into her face, and smell the man's sickly sweet breath, like he had just finished eating some hard candy. Her eyes looked over the man's face again, narrowing slightly as she memorized every line -- every pore. And then she talked through her teeth, her voice edging in on the anger she was trying so hard to hide. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

Her assailant seemed to search her face in turn, his grip moving slightly now that they were both sweating -- a cold, clammy sweat. "Bullsh*t!"

The hand on her face pushed harshly against her, and she felt the chair tipping backwards. It was only by luck that she managed to move her arms in time to keep them from being crushed under the back supports of the chair. It was a small victory, though, because her head hit part of the chair and part of the floor and everything started to slowly fade.

As the blackness closed in, the man's face filled her vision and sneered down at her. She heard a voice and it sounded so distant, but it seemed to correspond to the mouth movement of her assailant. "She's going. Forbes, get her up."

Ada was completely enveloped in blackness, but she thought she heard someone's response. She whispered the last bit to herself, as she drifted away, "Lieutenant Colonel..."

((This is written for play on February 12, 2008. For more information or questions, send a PM or e-mail to Adalia Dodd.))

Punishment Befitting the Crime | Part 3

((WARNING: The Punishment Befitting the Crime story arc contains extreme violence and language. If you are easily offended, please refrain from reading on.))

Ghent was dressed in black. He'd never officially been part of any of the special ops teams, but he had undergone a few missions with Omega Squad. He knew to wear dark clothes and how to move quietly. The note had pissed him off to no end. He would get Ada back and he didn't plan on asking questions. He fully intended to kill anyone who got in the way. The warehouse loomed ahead. Ghent avoided spots of light and stuck to the shadows. He figured they'd be holed up here.

The warehouse was just off of the docks on what seemed like a large cement pier. There were several large doors at the loading docks, but they were all chained and looked as if they had never been disturbed. There was a single point of light inside the building, as well as an outside light that lit the only normal sized door. Most of the windows were too grungy for anyone to be able to look it, and it couldn't be wiped away from the outside.

Ghent paused a moment and touched his ear. He spoke softly, ?Tyler, I want you to cover the door. If anyone other than me or Ada goes that way, shoot them.?

Jad had taken up position with Barret .50 sniper rifle. Ghent had wanted firepower backing him up. "Yeah, I'm on it. Just check the place out."

Ghent nodded unnecessarily and approached the building. So late in the evening, there was little movement on the docks. No guards seemed to be posted outside, and if there was any movement inside, it was undetectable. No yelling, no sounds of talking, and nothing that could be fists meeting flesh -- just silence.

He used the corner for cover. Ghent figured if he made a loud noise, someone would reveal themselves in some way. He grabbed hold of one of the chains when he got back toward the dock area and banged it against the building. He was careful not to be too hard with it. Too much noise and it'd likely be perceived intentional.

The banging of the chains elicited no response from anywhere -- not inside or outside. It just echoed down against the sea wall and disappeared into nothingness.

Ghent lifted a brow. Had he made a mistake? Were they really not here? He didn't intend to just leave either way. He drew his knife from his back and started looking for a lock of some sort on the chains. ?Jad, I'm going to attempt entry.?

There was a brief crackle before a response came directly into his ear transceiver. "Roger. Be careful, Ghent."

The lock was just as old and rusted as the chains, and the metal seemed to have been chosen poorly when used in a place with so much salt in the air. The lock had rusted almost completely, while the chains seemed to have held up some, but not much better. A firm tug would easily make something give way.

Ghent narrowed his eyes a little at the state of disrepair the lock and chains were in. He wrapped an arm around the nearest one and yanked fairly hard. He had thought to wear gloves this time. His grip could be held a little longer and there'd be no fingerprints on anything.

The lock snapped where the mechanisms inside connected, and the chains slid lazily off of the apparatus that was used to keep the large bay door closed. A moment later, even that fell to the ground, leaving no way to secure the building without replacing parts.

He replaced the knife on his back. He was pretty loaded up, considering. His Jericho was on his right side, the revolver on the left, and his newly acquisitioned MP5 was brought into a hand. He slid the door up and adjusted his grip on the weapon before actually entering.

Once inside, he noticed that there was no commotion. Even in the darkness, it would have been easy to tell that no one was moving. Instead, there was just a cacophony of plinking as water dripped from the roof in several places, leaving small puddles all over the concrete floor. At the far end of the empty warehouse, there was an office with near blackened windows and a light that shone through the spots were they hadn't bothered fixing the ceiling.

?Looks deserted. There's a room I'm going to check real quick.? Ghent started advancing toward the office. The darkness only aided in keeping him hidden. He wouldn't allow his guard to drop, even though he didn't think anyone was around.

"Did you remember to bring a couple of flashbangs?"

Ghent glanced at his belt briefly. ?Only two I had left, yes.? He quieted upon nearing the office.

The door to the office was slightly ajar, and at the space near the bottom, there was the barrel of a revolver keeping the door from being closed completely. The door had at least one bullet hole near the lock, and there was dust and plaster on the floor near the wall where more ammo had ripped through the old walls, up high above Ghent's head.

He glanced down when he noticed the door wasn't completely closed. Judging where the bullet hole was, it looked like someone had broken out to him. He wouldn't take any risks though. There was a click as he pressed down on the flashbang. He kicked the door open and whipped the object inside. He waited for the bang before he advanced into the room with his MP5 up.

The flashbang seemed to do no good. Six soldiers lay on the floor, bloodied and nearly completely mutilated in some cases. It was like a scene in a horror movie, and in the center of the floor, lying under the light was a much less bloody Ada, curled up in a fetal position. Her hair was stained dark at the back of her head from where it had hit the chair and the floor, and her robot arm was still handcuffed to the chair.

There was some whimpering from the darkest corner, and some well-polished boots poked out of the darkness.

Clear the threats first. The boots didn't escape his vision. ?Get up! Now! Into the light or I?ll kill you. Five seconds!? He assumed the whimpering was from whoever owned the boots and not Ada. The scene was shocking, but Ghent wouldn't allow himself to get sidetracked. He wasn't even sure Ada was all right.

The Lieutenant Colonel slowly pulled himself up from the corner, though it would likely be apparently that he wasn't having an easy time of it. Almost immediately, he fell back to the floor and started crawling towards Ghent, reaching out with mangled fingers. His face was swollen in places, and there was a practical beard of blood that trailed down onto his uniform. It seemed there wasn't much of the man that hadn't been ravaged.

Ghent looked down at the man with no sense of pity. He thought they had killed Ada and something had happened. He wasn't sure, as rational thought left him the moment he thought Ada dead. His jaw set in place. He no longer cared what the man had to say. He lifted the MP5 and held the trigger until the clip emptied.

The man looked for a moment like God had given him the mercy he was begging for, and then he collapsed completely onto the bloodied concrete floor.

Nearby, Ada twitched as the sound of gunfire rang out in the large, echoing warehouse.

Letting the weapon fall to the floor, Ghent was on the verge of tears, as he hadn't seen Ada's movement. He did move close to her, though. He knelt beside her and put his fingers to her neck, praying to some unknown entity that she had been spared from whatever occurred.

His touch alone was enough to shock her awake, and she startled and tried to back away. The handcuffs caused a chain reaction, which scraped the metal legs of the chair against the concrete ground. Compared to everyone else, she was in much better shape, though there was still quite a bit of blood soaked into her clothes which didn't seem to belong to her.

?Ada?? He was shocked. Once she was awake it was easy to see that she wasn't mutilated like the soldiers. He looked around from his kneeling position. Had she done this? No, she was unconscious when he came in. What the hell had happened?

There was a crackle in his ear. "Ghent, are you all right? I heard gunfire. Is Ada safe?"

Ghent looked at Ada again. He paused before responding to Jad. ?All clear, Tyler. You can advance.?

Ada seemed just as confused as Ghent was, and looked around the room, her eyebrows drawn together. "W-what happened...?" Her eyes turned back to Ghent and she gave a shiver, before tugging against the handcuffs again.

?I don't know, but we're getting the hell out of here.? Ghent moved over to where Ada was and grabbed hold of the handcuffs, though he tried to be gentle about it. ?Don't move, love.? He paused a moment before he pulled his knife free and jammed the tip into the lock. He'd done this many times, apparently.

She seemed a bit panicked, not sure what to think of the whole scenario, but she certainly held still for the most part. Her eyes searched the room, trying to find clues as to what had happened. "There are b-bullet holes everywhere..." From the inside, it was apparent that a lot of very bad shots that were made, most of them into the ceiling and the top of the walls.

?It's like a ghost came through here?? Ghent commented after he snapped the lock on the handcuffs, so they would come off. ?We need to leave before whatever did this comes back.? Of course, his mind was telling him to consider that Ada was mostly unhurt, at least by appearance. He didn't see any way she could have possibly done what occurred, though.

As soon as her robot arm was free, she rubbed at her raw wrist on the other hand, and looked at Ghent. She could still feel the crumpled picture in her hand. "How did you find me? W-who were you talking to?" Of course, she was more than relieved to see him, but all of blood and gore was hard to get past.

Ghent didn't seem overly bothered by all of it, though the scene initially had shocked him. He'd seen all sorts of deaths in his short years. It rarely phased him anymore. ?I was talking to Tyler.? A moment later he added a word. ?Jad. He should almost be here. How I found you can wait. Come on, sweets.? He offered her his hand. He was trying to usher her into movement, but he certainly wouldn't get short with her, despite the urgent feeling he had.

Her left hand settled into his, crumpled picture and all. There was a very visible wince as she used the right to push herself up to stand, and then the robot arm was left at her side where she had been punched by the Lieutenant Colonel. "You found Jad..." It was a statement, not a question. It seemed like such an important point at the moment. She didn't stop moving, though, just sort of stumbled towards the door.

Normally he'd ask if she wanted help, but he didn't intend to let her walk without his aid right now. He caught up to her and quickly ducked under her flesh arm. ?I'll explain everything once we're out of here.?

Footsteps echoed in the warehouse as Jad arrived. He stood away from the door so they'd have room to come out. "Ada, how are you?" Jad's eyes widened a little when he glanced into the room.

"I-I'm okay... How are you?" It seemed like an absurd thing to say, but she really hadn't thought about what to say to a person who she knew but didn't know. She didn't bother looking back -- most of it had stuck pretty good in her mind at the first horrific glance.

"Better now that I know you're safe. You two go ahead. I'll do what I can to clean this up."

Ghent was going to protest to Jad's words, but he realized it was probably wise for someone to do that. He just nodded and started walking. ?C'mon, sweetie.? It was hard to say how relieved Ghent was. The water that had gathered at his eyes was just now starting to go away.

She wouldn't argue either, since she knew there would be a lot of cleanup that needed to be done, but she worried that Jad might fall victim to whatever the soldiers had, minus the Lieutenant Colonel. "Are we going home?" She gave another shiver. Out in the open she was much colder, and the wind coming off of the water seemed to only make it worse.

?Yes, we're going home.? His words were soft. ?You can lean on me as much as you need to.? Ghent kept on walking. He wanted Ada as far away from there as possible.

"They knew I was there, but..." Ada shook her head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs. Her head was throbbing and her side ached some with every breath. "But I don't think they expected you to be there. He w-wanted information, but I didn't give it..."

?They wouldn't have left you alone if you had.? He hugged her gently with his supporting arm and continued on. ?They were black ops, weren't they?? Ghent recognized the Lieutenant Colonel even though he didn't allude to that fact.

"I don't know... they said they were disavowed by their government. So... I guess..." She was having a hard time concentrating, and there was even a point where she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that there wasn't some monster about to rip them apart.

Ghent immediately froze. ?The Spectres?? It was only one of two groups he knew the government denied knowing about. The Spectres were one and the Omega Squad was the other. He knew the captain of Omega Squad quite well and knew it wasn't his men in there. Plus the fact that the Lieutenant Colonel was there? He started moving again.

Ada halted a little slowly, and then had to pick up her pace to stick with him. "I-I don't know, honey. I'm sorry, I just... he asked me about your father and I denied it. The same with you. He had pictures of us all together, but I just played dumb."

?Had to have been.? He commented quietly. It worried him all the more. The Spectres were all as*holes, but they knew how to fight. It disturbed Ghent a bit that they seemed to have been dispatched so easily. ?I'm sorry, Ada. I shouldn't have let them take you.? An irrational thought, of course.

Ada shook her head and immediately regretted it. Her right arm left her side to reach back and touch her matted hair. "You couldn't have known, and I couldn't give you away." That had been the most important thing to her the whole time. "Thank you for saving me..."

?Of course.? He wasn't sure he'd actually done much of anything, really. He was glad she was safe, though. ?We need to get you cleaned up and into bed.? It was a comment more than anything.

"W-where?s that automobile when you need it?" Ada laughed, but there wasn't a lot of mirth behind it. "Or a bicycle, even."

Ghent smiled a little, but it was hollow. He never recalled giving such a meaningless expression. ?It would help. I'd offer to carry you, but I think it might tear my stitches out.? He was completely serious. He would have done it.

"I think it's best I walk -- my legs aren't broken." Amazingly enough, nothing seemed to be broken, though she was certain that her ribs were bruised. She looked at the ground as they walked, her hand still gripped around the picture. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again, Ghent."

Ghent finally noticed that she was holding something. In all of the commotion he hadn't realized she had the picture. ?I was very worried about you, Ada.? He nodded to what she said, but was unsure how to respond. He tried to change the subject. ?What do you have there??

She held her hand out and offered over the crumpled picture. For the most part, it had escaped the bloody mess, and was just very badly crinkled. "It's you..." In a way, it was him. It was probably obvious that the picture had pretty suddenly become something very important to her.

Ghent didn't take the picture from her, but he did examine it a moment. He seemed a little confused, but he nodded at Ada anyhow. ?Are you all right??

Ada nodded as well, though her aching head was telling her otherwise. She didn't even bother saying anything, since it seemed like a lot of the day was catching up to her. There was a lot to say, and a lot to consider, but she just didn't feel like it at the moment.

((This is adapted and edited from the play of February 13th, 2008, with permission. For more information, please PM Adalia Dodd.))