Out of Sync, Prologue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of Sync, Prologue
by jhourdhaun

Frank rubbed at the left side of his chest yet again as he went in search of Stephen. The rest of the team had packed up their things and were ready to kiss Mexico goodbye as soon as they could. They'd already been there a few extra days so that Miles could make the trip back with them. Although they had done a lot of good, all of them were leaving the country a little bit less innocent than they had arrived.

Frank had pretty much avoided his lover since they had received word that only one of Antonio Baracas' sons had been liberated by the mercenary team. The NIH group had mourned the loss of Nestor, but Stephen had taken it on as his own personal failing. When Frank had tried to convince the older man that they had done all they could and that Baracas was going to have at least one of his sons, Stephen had practically bitten his head off and demanded that he leave his room. Their room. Frank had been stunned and he thought he'd heard wrong, but when Stephen had reiterated the demand, Frank accepted it and had returned to the room that had only really been storing his clothes.

That had been almost two days ago and Stephen hadn't seemed to miss him - in fact, he'd seemed to almost go out of his way to avoid Frank. By that time, the toxicologist was feeling increasingly more drained and didn't want to deal with another confrontation, so he'd given his team leader the space he craved. Frank was more than happy to continue avoiding the other man. If Kate hadn't pulled rank and forced him to find Stephen, he wouldn't have faced his lover until they were boarding for the flight home - and, sad to say, Frank would have been perfectly fine with that.

Another twinge made itself known and Frank stopped in the middle of the hallway as his entire left side went numb. Trying to take in short, puffs of air so as not to exacerbate the ache? cramp? pain? - he didn't know what to call it, Frank smiled reassuringly at the older Latino couple that were coming towards him. "Buenas Dias. Día de Niza para un dar un paseo."

They both nodded and returned his smile as Frank resumed his trek towards the Patio where he figured Stephen would be. As he drew nearer, a brief glance of a poorly concealed handgun in the waistband of a man waiting by the elevators sent Frank's mind speeding back into the memory of his and Stephen's captivity and his torture.

&&&&

The metal wires leading from the battery taunted him as they were pulled back from his smoking flesh. His rebel captors had taken to leaving them on for longer and longer periods of time and his body was starting to show signs of the strain in the almost constant twitching, spasms and the sweat pouring off of him.

"¿Por qué está usted aquí? ¿Quién le envió?" One of the rebels demanded. "¿Qué secretos aquí le enviaron para obtener?"

Frank had grown tired of the repetition of the same questions over the course of the last hour and it was becoming more of a battle not to fall back on his old military training of replying only with his name, rank and serial. That would have surely been the kiss of death with these guys. "Mi nombre es Powell Franco. Estoy aquí rendir solamente la ayuda médica en la asociación con la Organización Mundial de la Salud."

"Basta!" A fist to the face had Frank fighting a wave of dizziness. "¿Usted no entiende que esta manera conduce a una muerte lenta, dolorosa? Pare con las mentiras y le prometemos un extremo rápido."

He shook his head, not knowing if it was to deny the promise from the rebel or to keep himself from falling into the darkness waiting for him. As the wires returned to his line of sight on their way back to his body, Frank could only whisper, ""Mi nombre es Powell Franco. Estoy aquí rendir solamente la ayuda médica..."

&&&&

Coming out of the flashback, Frank found himself again clutching the left side of his chest. Deep down, he knew something wasn't right but he was damned if he was going to spend more time in this godforsaken country to find out what it was. He finally realised that he'd been standing at the Patio entrance for a while and pushed on the lever to open the door. Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, Frank waited a few moments for his eyes to adjust before walking fully into the area. It didn't take long for him to locate Connor - the hair was a dead giveaway. Trying to walk as carefully as he could in the hopes of keeping his pains at bay, he moved closer to his lover. "Hey man, I thought you wanted to blow this place as much as the rest of us?"

Stephen Connor stood looking at the fountain that held a replica statue of La Madre Santa Bendecida De la Virgen in the center, as if he were hoping for all of the answers to the hellacious questions he'd been asking. For a while, Frank thought he hadn't heard him, but Stephen's reply left that thought for naught. "What are you doing here?"

"Kate sent me. The team's all packed and ready to go. We just need our team leader."

Stephen made no move to leave. "Tell Kate I'll be there before the final call. I just need to get my head in the right place before I leave."

Frank's heart felt like it was being crushed at the sight of Stephen so broken - it was not something that he was used to seeing. Without thinking and only seeking to show his support, he placed his hand on the older man's arm and squeezed. "Stephen, it wasn't your fault. You did everything..."

Connor jerked his arm out of Frank's grasp, totally missing the sharp intake of breath and draining of colour the Black man couldn't conceal at the suddeness of the action. "In case I wasn't clear, I want to be left alone! I said I'll be there and I will, but for now just go the hell away! I can't deal with you right now."

Stunned at the anger pouring off of the other man, Frank could only nod before turning to head back the way he'd come. For just a moment, the Patio spun in front of his eyes, but Frank called on all of his military training to shake it off and exit the area. As he made his way back to the team, he kept focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. If he could just hold on a little while longer, it wouldn't be too long before he was back on American soil where he could find out what was wrong with him... and he could get as far away from Stephen Connor as possible.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The rest of the team had taken their seats on the private plane and were doing all of the necessary pre-flight things. Natalie and Kate were making sure that Miles was comfortable and the young doctor was eating it up. Frank had waited for everyone else to get on and settled before making his way on-board and he kept telling himself it was not because he was waiting for Stephen. Kate had declared that Connor had ten minutes to get his ass on board before she gave the flight crew instructions to close up and get them in the air.

There were only four minutes left.

A sound at the hatch had Powell turning in that direction and he had a hard time containing the smile of relief at seeing Stephen struggling with his pack and medical kit. Another slice of pain soon curtailed the smile, but aided in putting a grimace on his face.

A soft hand touched his shoulder and Frank turned to see Eva giving him a concerned look. "Are you okay, Frank? You're looking a little pale."

He smiled at the young woman he considered a little sister and winked at her. "I'm fine. Think I slept wrong last night or maybe pulled something today. Just a little strain." Eva still looked fragile to Frank - she had set her heart on claiming that little boy as hers and, even with some time passing, the hurt was still there. He couldn't add to that. "Don't worry about me. Just focus on us getting home. Okay?" Before she could respond, a muffled curse from Stephen had Frank assessing the problems the other man was having. "I'll chat some more with you on the flight. Right now, I better get over there and help Stephen. Kate's already on a short fuse because of his antics this morning. I don't want them to get into it in such a small space with no place to cool down."

Leaving Eva, Frank headed over to his lover, reaching for the medical kit. "Here, let me get that."

Again, Stephen rebuffed the offer of support, pushing the hard edge of the kit into Frank's chest in his haste to avoid the other man. "I've got it. Your help isn't required."

Frank could feel himself wheezing at the contact on his chest and he suddenly knew that things were reaching a bad stage. Trying his best to cover his reaction, he backed away, raising his hands in a gesture of defeat.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Everyone else was stunned into silence at Stephen's treatment of Frank, except for Kate. She'd been close enough to hear the wheezing breaths from Frank and she frowned as she took in his paleness, the sweat dotting his brow and his shortness of breath. Wanting to get to her colleague and find out what was going on, she decided to confront Stephen's problem first and get that out of the way. "What the hell is wrong with you, Connor?"

Stephen's eyes flashed for a moment at the demand. "Nothing other than wanting to be left alone."

Before anyone could comment, the attendant came out from the cockpit and asked them all to resume their seats and prepare for take-off. Kate moved over to Frank and placed her hand on his arm, her frown deepening at the tenseness of the muscles under her hand as she guided him to a seat closer to the rest of the team - minus Stephen. When his hands seemed to be trembling too much to work the safety belt, Kate fixed it for him, surreptitiously taking his pulse as well. "As soon as we get home, I want you to check in with medical. I don't like what I'm seeing."

Frank leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes, nodding his assent and trying to calm his breathing.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

For as long as each of the team lived, they would never forget the horror of what happened on that flight. When asked later about the particulars, they would all relay the scene as if it were flash pictures being taken in succession.

As soon as the pilot came on to tell them they had reached their cruising altitude, Frank had clutched his chest while struggling one-handed to get out of his seat.

Flash! Once out of his seat, Frank jerked upwards, convulsing and then dropping to the floor.

Flash! Natalie, Miles and Kate all rushing to him - clearing his airways, checking his pulse, pulling out kits.

Flash! Miles grabbing the oxygen tank that the attendant handed him and securing the breathing portion to cover the downed man's nose and mouth.

Flash! Natalie screaming that she couldn't find a pulse.

Flash! Kate firing up the defibrilator and yelling for everyone to "Clear!"

Flash! Eva wrapping her arms around herself tightly as Natalie screamed once again, "No pulse!"

Flash! The sound of the defribilator recharging.

Flash! Frank's body jerking as the shock coursed through his body.

Flash! Stephen standing off to the side, his face frozen in a rictus of horror at the scene in front of him.

Translations:
"Buenas Dias. Día de Niza para un dar un paseo." - Good day. Nice day for a stroll.

"¿Por qué está usted aquí? ¿Quién le envió?" One of the rebels demanded. "¿Qué secretos aquí le enviaron para obtener?" - Why are you here? Who sent you? What secrets were you sent her to obtain?

"Mi nombre es Powell Franco. Estoy aquí rendir solamente la ayuda médica en la asociación con la Organización Mundial de la Salud." - My name is Frank Powell. I am here to render medical aid in association with the World Health Organization.

"Basta!" A fist to the face had Frank fighting a wave of dizziness. "¿Usted no entiende que esta manera conduce a una muerte lenta, dolorosa? Pare con las mentiras y le prometemos un extremo rápido." - Enough! Do you not understand that this way leads to a slow, painful death? Stop with the lies and we promise you a swift end.

 

Dr. Stephen Connor and Frank Powell

Medical Investigation