He just nodded, knowing the best they could do was hold out until they’d grown almost too weak to make it back into the hallway again. Then...he would have to figure out a way to make Simon go easy on them, if that was even possible considering how angry he was now. If anything, he wanted Amy to walk away, to be cleared of any sort of punishment. He’d take her punishment on top of his own if he had to. He’d beg Simon, throw himself at his mercy, do whatever it took.
They realized they could sit down on the sofa without being noticed, so they busied themselves watching whatever was on the television in the living room, with their arms around each other. Justin and Rachael came inside after a while and started arguing over Jerry Springer versus Maury, and for a few seconds Trace almost forgot he was dead. That moment was like so many other times in his life, with his arms around his girlfriend, enjoying a quiet day inside with his best friend and the television. He wanted to show himself so badly then, but he knew it wasn’t possible. He didn’t know what Rachael would do and he didn’t want either of them to see Amy. They just wouldn’t get it, so he simply sat there in his invisible state and tried to be thankful that he was able to keep Amy safe...
But all too soon, the pangs of weakness began to take over him. They’d been sitting there for hours, and at some point Amy had even fallen asleep. He nudged her awake, hating himself for having to do it, but knowing they needed to get back to the Ward while they still could. He didn’t know what would happen if they were too weak to make it back, and he didn’t want to find out. “Hey,” he whispered, as he stroked her hair lightly.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she gazed around the room for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “We’re still here.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I can feel myself getting weaker though. You slept for a long time too. I think...I think we have to go back now.”
She looked down at his arm and rubbed it with her hand. “What if we get separated?”
“I’m going to do whatever I have to, so that doesn’t happen,” he promised her. “But if it does...I’ll find you.”
She sobbed a little. “Trace...”
“Shh.” He pulled her closer to him and held her in his arms. “It’s gonna be fine, you’ll see.”
With a final glance back at his friends, Trace took Amy’s hand in his and lead her out of Justin’s house and back into the yard. He could see the swirling mass a few feet away, beckoning them back to hell. “Ready?” He rasped.
She nodded.
They walked back through the hologram, back into madness. Amy was yanked away from him almost immediately, and he tried to call out her name, but was slammed up against the wall by a guard, the long silver rod pointed roughly under his chin, telling him it was a bad idea to fight back. The guard reached around him and pulled the files out of his cloth pants, and he flinched as he heard them hit the floor. He could hear Amy whimpering, and he strained his eyes to see where she was, but the guard had him pinned and he knew better than to turn his head.
“Welcome back.”
Simon’s tone was pleasant, and moments later he stepped into Trace’s line of vision. The man was positively beaming as he toyed with the two keys that had been hidden in Amy’s clothing, as if he’d won the lottery or been told that he was getting a second chance at life. Trace wanted to rip him apart, but he was so intimidated by the guard that the most he could manage was a strong glare in his direction.
“Let him go.” Simon ordered.
The guard looked back at him. “Sir?”
Then he saw it, Amy being yanked into Simon’s arms, his own metal rod pressed against her forehead. “He’ll be fine,” Simon nodded.
The guard glared at Trace hard before pushing him down to the floor. Trace was thankful for the small bit of freedom but the feeling was short lived. Amy was crying harder now, and he couldn’t help her. All he could do was sit there, his knees drawn up to his chest, feeling the energy being sucked out of him even more rapidly than before. His bracelet was glowing a brilliant white, and he knew it was the end. He knew he’d made all the wrong choices and something terrible was about to happen. He hated himself for dragging Amy into it, for making her trust him. “Let her go,” he found himself speaking up weakly. “Let her go and I’ll do whatever you want, Simon.”
“I’d like to believe you,” he snickered. “But as I’ve come to notice, you’re a sneaky little fuck who can’t be trusted.”
“I just...”r32;
“Shut up, Trace,” he sneered and turned back to his guards. “Take her where she can’t be found.”
His eyes widened and he felt every part of him go numb as he watched Amy scream. The guards had her now and were dragging her away, to parts unknown. “No!” he cried out. “Amy!”
Simon kicked him hard in the stomach, and Trace fell over on his side, panting hard, feeling as he would never overcome the feeling.
“Now,” Simon crouched down before him, and smoothed his fingers over the bracelet, almost in a mocking way. “You’re going to listen to me, Trace. You’re going to listen to me or she’s going to disappear, and so will you.”
“Please,” he managed through gritted teeth. “Simon, please...”
“You’ll go into Isolation for a while until I cool off,” he said, nonchalantly. “Then, I’ll send for you. If I hear you’ve been trouble, it won’t be good. Do you understand me?”
He only stared at Simon, not knowing what to say. He didn’t know what it all meant and he didn’t trust him at all. He was going into Isolation, and Amy...he didn’t want to think about what was happening to Amy. How long would he be in there for? For all he knew, Simon could lock him in and throw away the key. There was no escape, no choice. He didn’t prepare, he should have thought ahead.
But he didn’t.
Simon reset the energy level on the bracelet ‘out of the goodness of his heart’ before he ordered Trace to be taken away. It was a long bitter stay in Isolation. He constantly begged to be let out whenever he wasn’t back on Earth, only to be greeted with the screeching buzz and the unbearable electric shock that his bracelet would unleash whenever he made too much noise. As time went on he became more and more desperate to do something about it, to get out, to complete a goal. He needed help, he couldn’t do it alone, so he decided out of the blue to reveal himself to Rachael one morning as she sat alone at breakfast. He’d been watching her, found out how awful she felt about his death, and he wanted to believe he could talk to her. That she could get Justin to realize why he couldn’t move on to the Next Step.
“Rachael.” He took a seat beside her and revealed himself just as she was about to take a bite out of her toast.
“Oh my fucking god!”
She jumped right out of her chair and threw her toast at his head. Naturally, it floated right through him, and Trace only sighed. It wasn’t going like it was supposed to. She wasn’t calm, she didn’t accept him like Justin did, and Trace knew he couldn’t hold that against her.
“What...what’s wrong with me?” She began to pace the room, and then she sat back down at the table beside him when he didn’t get up from the chair. “What are you? This is a dream right? I’m dreaming.”
He wanted to tell her everything. To tell her that he was desperate, that he had fallen in love with a girl, that somebody had her...was threatening her and that he didn’t know what to do. But he knew it was crazy. Rachael thought she was hallucinating, dreaming, and so Trace gave up. It was a bad idea, a stupid idea. “I just...I didn’t get to say goodbye,” he finally told her. It was true. He hadn’t, and he realized how much he missed her, despite the fact that his feelings weren’t the reason for his sudden appearance in her life. “I love you, and I’m sorry.”
She began to cry and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, surprised when it worked, when he was able to hold her. She’d been overlooked by the CEO, he realized. She needed him too, but only Justin had been deemed significant enough. It wasn’t fair to her.
Still, he couldn’t stay. Too much was at risk.
“Be good,” he forced himself to say as he tugged himself away from her. “Stay strong, okay?”
“Trace no,” she sobbed. “Please...don’t go...”
Then he was back in Isolation. He cried for a long time, passed out on the floor as more resentment filled him up inside. It wasn’t so much for Justin this time as it was for Simon and the CEO. There were other things in his life he wanted to cover, and he wasn’t being allowed to do it. He didn’t understand, and he knew he didn’t have the time to be able to. His one goal while in Isolation obviously was to force Justin to understand his predicament, or make somebody else force him to. He tried to do it when the family came to visit Justin. He appeared at his side and dug into him, told him he was trapped, but he still didn’t seem to understand. All Trace had really done was confuse him more by yelling at him, and he’d all but given up after that, deciding to not go back, to let Simon have his way with him. But nobody came to get him then either.
He looked in on Sheridan the next Earth evening. She hadn’t been at Justin’s family party and he was curious as to what had become of her. He hadn’t bothered to ask Justin while at the party. He’d been too angry with him then. He found that she was asleep, but restless. Then she’d staggered out of bed and gone to the bathroom, so he stood in the background, waiting to see what she looked like in the light. He hadn’t even realized that he’d made himself visible to her until she noticed him through the bathroom mirror, and she let out a terrified scream. Come to think of it, he was pretty sure he hadn’t revealed himself to her at all. She could just see him regardless, and he began to wonder about her.
He’d popped back into Isolation quickly, not wanting to freak her out anymore. He sat down on the floor, supporting himself against the wall, trying to figure out just why it was that Sheridan seemed to have more of a connection with him than anybody else did. Maybe it was because he’d kissed her? But he hugged Rachael, and she couldn’t see him unless he revealed himself to her. It was just weird, and then...then things just got weirder. A sound pierced his ears, but it wasn’t the horrific buzzing. It was a lighter sound, the sound of a phone ringing and it suddenly appeared before him on the floor of his little locked room. When he picked it up, the screen notified him that Sheridan was calling, and for a few moments he couldn’t fathom why he was able to receive a phone call when he’d been dead for months. Then he remembered the night he’d first met her, how he’d given her his old phone number to call. He never realized that it would work, that she could communicate with him whenever she needed to. Granted, he’d made phone calls to her at the hospital she worked at, but that was done through the Portal. There were no phones there, he’d simply been able to channel his energy through the phone lines. This was something completely different.
He knew then that the link he shared with this girl was special. It was a sign that he could use her somehow, perhaps to make Justin wake up, prove that he wasn’t just imagining things. He promised Sheridan that he would see her at the party she was attending at Justin’s house that weekend, knowing it was the only real chance he might have at achieving something. The only chance he had to make Justin work with him, instead of sulking, brooding, and thinking he was crazy.
If only he’d been able to tell her more that day. If only she hadn’t sprung that horrible information on him, that Justin wasn’t going to walk again. He knew he couldn’t try to make her do his bidding for him when she was so upset, and the reality of what she told him shocked him too much to try. The permanency of Justin's situation began to make Trace feel horrible about the way he’d been handling things. True, Justin was still alive, but being stuck in a wheelchair for life was almost a death sentence in itself. Trace had always been bitter, being so positive that Justin would overcome his handicap and live normally again. But Sheridan had been so upset when she told him, he knew she couldn’t have been overreacting. He became overwhelmed, even fought with her a little bit when she’d brought up how much she disliked the baby and what Justin had to do. He threw it back in her face, she walked away, and he almost decided to go back into Isolation and stay there, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stand the fact that he made Sheridan more upset, so he went back to her.
He went back to her, and by the end of that Earth afternoon, he made sure she understood exactly what he was.
But he had no idea how she was taking it, because he hadn’t been back since.
He had bigger issues now though. He was back at the Ward, seemingly clinging to his very last drop of energy as the guards continued to drag him down hallway after hallway until finally he was tossed down on the floor of Simon’s office and left there at his mercy.
“Well, Trace, did you have a nice stay?”
“Where’s Amy?” He grunted weakly from his spot on the floor.
“I said I was going to send for you when I was ready. I never said anything about reuniting you with the girl.” Simon scoffed.
Trace didn’t even have enough energy to pick his head up to look at the guy, so he just stared at his shiny black shoes as they paced back and forth in front of him. “I’m going to die,” he croaked.
“You’re already dead,” Simon reminded him, and finally crouched down to his level. “What you really mean, is you’re about to vanish unless I do something about it.”
“Simon...” He trailed off, desperately trying to think up a good reason why he should be allowed to remain at the Ward. “I’ll do anything. P-please.”
Simon shook his head and rubbed his fingers over Trace’s bracelet a moment later. “I’ve been doing some thinking while you’ve been away, Trace.”
It took a lot longer than it normally did, but finally, Trace felt his strength come back to him, and he was able to prop himself up against the wall behind him. “Yeah?” He breathed out heavily. “What about?”
“I’ve thought of a compromise,” Simon nodded. “You give me what I want, and I’ll let you move on to the Next Step, no questions asked. Your goal status will be insignificant.”
Trace took in a long breath and felt his eyes widen as he stared back at Simon, not being able to believe what he was being told. “What about Amy?”
“She’ll go with you,” he said, his tone sincere.
“I don’t get it,” Trace shook his head. “What could I possibly give you?”
Simon smiled a little bit, and walked over to his desk so he could turn on the screen in the wall.
What Trace saw next made him feel sick, weak, and helpless.
“I’ve been watching her,” Simon said, as he watched Sheridan move across the screen. “I think she’s the perfect candidate for what I need.”
“For what you need?” Trace said, disgusted. “What do you mean?”
“I have a chance to move up from this idiotic position, and the only way I can do that, is if I find somebody well suited to do this job. It’s been centuries since I’ve found somebody so genuine, and it just so happens that she’s not dead. I need her, and you’re going to bring her to me.” He flicked off the screen and turned back to Trace, a sinister gaze in his eyes.
“No,” Trace shook his head. “That’s...I mean, she’s got her own life, and Justin, Justin needs her.”
“Do we have a deal or not?” Simon snapped, seeming to disregard Trace’s feelings about the idea.
“If I say no, then what?”
Simon shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I’ll use Amy as an example to start things off.”
Trace’s heart sank. “You need to leave her out of this. You can do what you want with me, but you need to let her go.”
“That’s sweet and everything, but it’s not going to change my mind,” Simon said sarcastically. “Now do we have a deal or don’t we?” He stood over his desk again, his hand resting on some kind of communication device on his desk. “All I have to do is make a call,” he continued when all Trace did was stare at him. “She’ll be gone in five minutes, and you won’t even be able to say goodbye.”
“What about the CEO,” he spoke up quickly. “Can’t I have a meeting with the CEO and try to work things out that way?”
Simon laughed heartily. “Trace, everybody knows the CEO doesn’t have time to mingle with all you idiots that get stuck here with me. That’s why I have a job, so the CEO doesn’t have to come down here.”
He felt himself come apart inside. Sheridan was his friend, as weird as it was to consider her that when he was dead and he was alive. She’d been there for him to talk to when he’d needed somebody to listen, and he liked to think that he’d helped her out too. But Amy...Amy was innocent and he couldn’t let Simon get rid of her like she was a piece of trash. What choice did he have?
Simon grew impatient, and picked up the communication device from the desk, angrily beginning to punch the buttons on it, like he was about to show Trace exactly what he was capable of.
He knew he couldn’t let it happen. He couldn’t let Simon do anything else to Amy. He wouldn’t. “Wait!” he yelled, painstakingly pushing himself back to his feet, having to steady himself against the wall for support. “Just wait!”
Simon smiled greedily and stopped pushing the buttons. “I take it we have a deal?”
“Yeah.” Trace nodded his head rapidly. “Yeah, we have a deal.”
“I knew you weren’t that stupid.” Simon grinned. He gently pressed a single button on the communication device then, and the door to his office opened a few moments later.
Trace nearly fell to his knees when he saw the guards haul her through the door. Amy was in a daze, hanging limply in their arms, her once well kept wavy hair hanging sloppily in her face. Her skin was dirty. He knew they’d brought her back from a dark place, and Trace felt the anger rise inside of him. They dropped her to the floor and he ran to her, pulling her into his arms, desperately trying to get her to snap out of it. “What’s wrong with her!” He screamed at Simon, when no amount of shaking or tugging at her seemed to make her take notice of him.
“Oops,” Simon snickered as he crouched down again and pulled her bracelet wrist towards him. “A little too long.” He made clicking sounds with his tongue as he ran his fingers along the dimly glowing bracelet. “But...she’s got just enough energy left to make a recovery. It may take a few hours. You can go back to the hotel. I’ll talk to you more about this tomorrow morning. Take them back,” he ordered the guards.
The time from the office back to the hotel was a blur to Trace. He could only focus on Amy, who was asleep in his arms, hoping like hell that she would really be okay. The idea of what he had to do to save her now loomed in the back of his mind as well, and when he finally reached the inside of his room again, it was all he could seem to think about as he laid Amy down on the bed. Sheridan. He would have to betray her. The one who trusted him, the one who loved Justin unconditionally. He desperately tried to find some kind of loophole, another compromise to Simon’s compromise, but there wasn’t one. Simon knew what he wanted, and Trace could either comply or cause himself and Amy both to become floaters. If it were only his future at stake, he might have chosen the latter. But he’d dragged Amy into this, and he loved her too much to force her to suffer along with him.
“Trace.”
She moaned it sleepily and he’d gone to her right away, cradling her in his arms. “It’s gonna be fine,” he whispered as she gazed up at him weakly. “I’m getting us out. It’ll just be a couple of more weeks, I promise. He won’t hurt you anymore. I’m...I’m so sorry.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and held her tighter in his arms. “I never meant for all of this to happen to you.”
“I love you,” she rasped out after awhile. “I’ve made these sacrifices because I love you, Trace. I know...I-I know everything will be okay in the end.”
And he forced himself to forget how good of a person Sheridan was, how important of a force she was in Justin’s life. It couldn’t be his problem anymore. He had to get them away from Simon, to a permanent safety, even it would destroy other people’s lives in the process.
