DISCLAIMER!!!!!! January, February, Kit, Dana, Colin and Season belong to me. If someone has an undying urge to use Dr. Mandoza or Risk, be my guest, I'd be flattered. Want their background (which I did make), just ask. Or make up your own. Either one works. I'm not making any money off this, so don't sue me. I just spent all my money on a new bird cage anyway . . .

Lost in Shadows ch 5

When Benton opened his eyes the first thing he was aware of was cold. Shifting his position he looked around, trying to blink the fogginess from his vision. He was getting too old for this.

He was laying on a cement floor in a small room filled with pipes. Wires strung all over, cables along the walls. And one under him, he realized, trying to shift off it. His hands were bound behind his back, his feet tied together. Above him he could hear breathing, and craned his neck to see. January slept there, her heart pounding, making him able to see that it pulsed in her throat. It was highly erratic, one minute going twenty miles per hour and the next barely beating at all. Her breath was rasping, as though she were straining to pull air through her lungs. Benton rolled over, looking at who lay behind him. Colin was there, Dana's body tossed nearby. Both were breathing. Both wore shackles and muzzles. Both had some sort of IV in their veins. Benton frowned.

He struggled into a sitting position, looked at his feet. The boy was just waking up, his eyes fluttering.

"Hadji?" Benton whispered.

Hadji moaned and opened his eyes, blinked a few times and focused on Benton. He smiled in relief. "Dr. Quest, you are all right."

Benton smiled and nodded, then wished he hadn't done so when his head started to pound. With sudden clarity he remembered being ambushed by Risk's gun--the one he hadn't been aware she was carrying. She's hit him over the head with the butt of it, then turned to Colin as he fell. "Where are we?" he said quietly to Hadji.

"I'm uncertain. They ambushed Risk, Race and I in a forest, and when I awoke I was in a large room. Kit was there, and they took him and Risk and Race and put them on odd tables. I think they had some sort of brain washing technique, because when the three woke up they did as the men asked. Race and Risk seemed somewhat unwilling, so they put headband-like things on all three and used those to help control them. Risk and Race still seemed somewhat unwilling, but not as much. They left a few minutes later and brought me here. As far as I've seen, we're in a giant building without any windows. I think we may be underground."

Benton nodded, thinking. If they had brainwashed Risk, Race and Kit then that would explain the headbands and odd behavior. Now, looking around the room, he wondered about the fact that Jonny, February, Jessie and Theresa weren't there. He was relieved. "Well then, let's try and think up something to get us out of here. And hope the others are all right."

***

Jonny helped Feb over a log, one of the biggest he'd ever seen. "First, we need to get back to civilization. Then we've got to figure out where everyone else is. How do you think they knew where we were?"

February knew without asking that he meant the suits. She cleared her head and tried to think. It wasn't easy. January wasn't conscious. Either that, or she was . . . but Feb tried not to think about that alternative. Like Jonny'd said, she had a healing factor. Someone ripping her throat open wouldn't kill her off. She thought. Hoped. Prayed.

"Feb?" Jonny watched her, her face pale and drawn. He half expected her to collapse into hysterics again. He really hoped she wouldn't. He had no clue as to what to do about it.

February looked up and smiled distractedly. "Um, maybe they figured out where we were by . . . " she shrugged helplessly, "I don't know, scanning for our DNA."

Jonny laughed. "Uh, I don't think so."

February stumbled, caught herself on a tree. "Unfortunately, I don't either."

"Well, we should probably start at the beginning. We were all running, we all went through the teleporter, we were all thrown to different places." His eyes narrowed as he thought. "Hey, does the 'porter keep a record of where it puts people?"

February looked up, hope blossoming in her eyes. "Yeah, yeah it does!"

"Great! So all we have to do is get home and look, just like they did, then I could probably use Questworld to scan for Hadji and Jessie, though I'm not quite sure that would work . . . if they've got their cell phones I could do that, or maybe--"

"Hold on, Jon. Just how are we going to get there? The place is probably guarded."

Jonny stopped, causing Feb to run into him. He ignored her and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well . . ."

"If we could get to a computer I might be able to hack into the security system. January showed me how."

Jonny's face lit up again. "Great. Now all we have to do is get home! You don't by any chance have shadowporting powers like January does, do you?"

Feb shook her head.

"I thought you were identical twins. Shouldn't you have the same powers?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Not when you're bioengineered to have different ones, dummy."

Jonny glared at her halfheartedly. He was glad she had some pizzazz back in her, he didn't like trying to deal with weepy girls. Fighting and irritated ones were much easier.

***

Jessie smiled as she helped Theresa out of the brush, both of them stumbling toward the search group. One of the Hawaiians smiled, showing great big teeth. "We thought we saw something here," he said in a thick accent. Jessie laughed and nodded.

"We got lost, and couldn't find our way back. Could you help us?"

The man nodded happily, taking Theresa's arm and supporting her weight. If he saw the bloodied bandage around her shoulder, he didn't say anything.

"Vylani!* Come here and help us!" He called to a young woman. She hurried up and wrapped her arm around Jessie's waist, supporting the tired girl. Jessie smiled wearily down at her, grateful for the help. This was great. Landing on the Hawaiian islands. Perfect. If she wasn't on a large one, then they could get to a large one easily and she could phone someone to come pick her up. Then she frowned. Who was she going to call? Her mother was in Egypt somewhere, and she didn't know where the others were. Her grandmother had died last year, and none of her friends had any way to get her off the islands. But maybe Jonny's relatives . . .

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