A Fire That Burns (25 page)

“I just think someone’s tired,” Nicolas commented as he watched his
daughter falter a little. “You’ve been up a while.” He watched his daughter
slowly agree and gave her a smile, “
Wanna
get some
sleep?” he asked her and she nodded quietly.

Austin felt like the dip in her mood was too heavy. She didn’t want to
be sad, but telling everyone what she had done with herself in the last six
years was still difficult to confront
herself
, let
alone a roomful of people. She was a criminal now, but unlike the real bad
guys, she had cut a deal. She was used to the advantage of the government, as a
unique secret weapon.

Dean immediately agreed, and then stood up. “Well now that we’ve got
Austin set up with where she’s going, I guess we best let her rest up a little
more before we completely wipe her out. I say we go find food and bring it
back,” Dean mentioned. Everyone quickly agreed and began to disperse from the
room leaving Austin’s parents, Tyler, and Thomas behind in their wake.

As everyone settled or left, Austin yawned tiredly and just curled up on
her side facing her brother and Tyler. She pulled the sheets up; thankful for
her mom stepping in to help and she felt the exhaustion begin to creep over her
entirely.

“It’s still early,” Tom commented as he put his feet up on the bed. It
wasn’t even dark yet and she was looking ready to go to bed.

Austin smirked sleepily, “I don’t care,
I
want
three days time to be today.”

    
He had to
smirk as he understood fully what she was getting at, and she had a good point.
Everyone wanted her discharge papers to finally be given so they could get her
home.

Chapter Forty-Three

CAN
I help you?” Daniel
asked the blonde that was standing in the road looking up and down completely
lost. It wasn’t often a stranger came through town and looked this confused and
lost – and they certainly were never this attractive if they did.

She looked at him and smiled brightly. “Hi, I’m looking for Austin
Pearson,” she replied sweetly and looked at her phone to see if she had any
reply to her texts. “I’ve tried that house,” she pointed up to the Pearson
family home and then turned back, “But there’s no reply and I don’t know where
else to try.”

“You’re looking for Austin?” he asked the blonde and looked over as Dean
and Sienna approached, “This little lady is looking for Austin.”

“Who wants to know?” Dean asked protectively.

“Jessica Roberts,” she started and couldn’t continue as Dean looked
passed her and into the distance.

“What the hell?” Dean said infuriated, and ran down the road to the
empty plot of land that was still being cleared of all the burnt remains. “Hey!
Can I help you? Excuse me!”

Jessica ran down after them, and before the young man standing
inspecting the area could respond, she caught his attention.
“Archie!”
Jessica called out to him, “Archie, get over here now!” She waited for him to
come to her, “What the hell was that about?”

“Seventy percent of house fires can be prevented if
peop
-”
Archie began before he was cut off.

Jessica swatted his arm, “Not now.” She warned him and then turned to the
three men. “Sorry, he spouts useless facts when he’s in uncomfortable
situations,” she said teasingly and straightened up ready for answers. “We’re
friends of Austin’s. She just left us, and we’ve been trying to get here to
look for her, but we haven’t been able to until now.”

“You’re both friends of Aussie’s?” Dean asked, and when he got an
affirmative he exchanged glances with his brother and sister quickly. “I think
you better come with us.”

“Why?” Jessica quickly asked, “What is it?”

“Where, Archie was it?” Daniel started, and waited to see if he got the
name right or not before continuing, “Where Archie was standing was where
Austin was helping fix up a house. It caught on fire with her in it.”

“What?” Jessica gasped and felt a little weak. She wasn’t at all
surprised that Archie remained quiet. “Is she okay?”

“As can be,” Dean told her truthfully, “She’s coming home in a few days,
but maybe you’d want us to take you to her and you can see for yourself that
she’s okay?”

“Please,” Jessica said and looked at Archie, “We need to give Emma heads
up.”

“There’s another one coming?” Sienna asked as they walked towards the
truck. They might have just come back from the hospital, but they had no
problem with going back.

 
Jessica nodded, “Emma, she’s
another friend. She’s been waiting to come with us too. We just need to see
her.” Jessica told them with a small anxious smile, “We miss her.”

“How do you know her?” Sienna continued to ask away.

“She worked with us,” Jessica answered honestly, trying her hardest to
stay on top and not put any barriers up. These people had extremely similar
mannerisms of Austin, and it was hard to not trust them wholeheartedly from the
word go. “I’m guessing you’re her sister?” Jessica asked, wanting to clear this
up instantly.

“Yup, one of the Pearson five,” Sienna commented proudly, “So you don’t
happen to know anything about her getting arrested
do
you?” Sienna asked as she opened the back door for Jessica to hop in.

    
Jessica
laughed, “That’s how we met her.”

Chapter Forty-Four

WHEN
Austin opened her
eyes it was still dark outside. She knew she hadn’t really slept long enough,
but she was grateful when she finally felt her stomach rumble. She realized
that, at long last, she was extremely hungry.

Getting an appetite back? This had to be a good sign
, she thought to
herself as she became aware of the emptiness in the room. Pushing herself up,
she painfully reached over and grabbed the glass, thankful for the cool water.

“Hey,” Tyler said as he came back into the room. “You’re up.”

Austin looked up in shock. Her eyebrows knitted together, but nodded
slowly and stretched a little, “Where is everybody? I thought no one was here,”
her voice still dry and quiet. She then looked to the window, “What time is
it?”

“It’s almost eight,” he told her as he came to sit on the bed with her.
“Everyone’s outside. You were asleep and we didn’t want to disturb you.”

Feeling her confusion taking over, Austin tried to release the furrow in
her forehead, “Disturb me how?” she asked and tried to stifle a yawn as it took
over.

 
“You have some visitors,” Tyler
told her coolly, “Nothing to worry about, just some people here to see you.”

 
“Who?”
Austin asked as she lay back down. She hadn’t quite woken up and wasn’t finding
herself too easily. “I don’t think I’m going to last long.”

 
Tyler smiled at her, “That’s
okay. They didn’t want to leave without seeing you, and I think your mom and
dad got a little protective about leaving you with people that they hardly
know.”

“And you’re still here because...” she trailed off trying to get an
answer.

“You know I’m not leaving my baby’s side easily,” Tyler told her with a
wink, “And well, right now, I have nowhere I’d rather be than sleeping in the
same bed as you.”

Austin smiled at that, she loved nothing more than Tyler holding her and
sleeping with her. With that thought, she looked up at him and he seemed to
know what she wanted to do.

Tyler stood up, “Want me to get them and then we can sort out who’s
going where, and who’s sleeping where?”

“Go for it,” she told him and smiled as he gave her a kiss. She watched
him go to the door and call them in. She smiled as he came and sat next to her
again. Once more being her support when she felt a little uneasy. Austin watched
the door as two familiar figures came into view and she felt her heart clamp a
little at the sight. It had felt like a lifetime ago since she had seen these
guys and she had felt a part of herself miss them. Here they were, here to see;
she had never been so happy than to know these people had travelled across the
country to see her.

“Oh, Aussie,” Jessica exclaimed quietly as she came into the room and
smiled at Austin, trying to withhold the tears that were brewing.

Austin felt
herself
slip a little at the sight
of Jessica in front of her, “Hey, Honey, I’m okay.”

“You don’t look it,” she fought back and tried to keep herself
collected. “You leave for not even five months and look what happens.”

“It wasn’t intentional, Jess, promise,” Austin replied and offered her a
reassuring smile. “Believe me, I’m okay. I’m going to be amazing when I get out
of here.” Looking over Jessica’s shoulder, Austin’s smile broke again, “And you
brought my
favorite
genius with you.” She teased and
watched as Archie smirked at her comment.

“Hi Austin,” he said nervously, “Didn’t you learn anything from working
with us?”

“A few things,” Austin started, “But being caught in a burning building
doesn’t quite constitute the bad guys you throw yourself at.” She watched as
Jessica shot her a look, “It doesn’t! I don’t need to think like you guys or
need a gun, or need to tackle anyone!”
 
Austin exclaimed before muttering, “Although it would have been fucking
useful!”

“You don’t need a gun. For one, because you were just a tech, you had us
for protection, Liam always made sure of that, and secondly, you don’t believe
in guns,” Jessica shot her down and then looked to Jane. “Did you know you
raised such a stubborn daughter?”

“Didn’t raise her like that, she came like it,” Jane teased lovingly.
“Do I dare ask what the hell she was up to?”

“If you don’t ask, I will,” Dean jumped in with an intrigued tone. “
Gonna
tell, Blondie?”

Austin rolled her eyes, “Jeez, Dean, you’re seriously
gonna
start hitting on her with that nickname?”

Dean nodded with pride.

“There’s a few stories to tell,” Jessica began and prayed her blush
wasn’t as bad as it felt, because at that moment, her cheeks were red hot with
embarrassment. She used the excuse of grabbing a chair as a good reason to turn
her back on Austin’s brother to get a moment to gather her composure and rid
the blush away.

“In and out of work,” Archie added in and looked wide eyed as Austin
shot him a look. “What?” he asked, “Your office supplied insufficient amounts
of air or light. Even though you don’t need either of these to survive, they
both
contri
-”

“Not now, Arch,” Austin groaned, she could feel a lecture coming on from
all different angles. “I went out when you guys asked, and worked when I was
needed to. I got air, I got light, and I got company. All was right in the
world. No mischief making.”

“Ah, so you did get some free time then, Sunny,” Tyler dropped in as he
leaned in towards her.

Jessica laughed and looked at Archie, “When she was dragged out.”

Austin shook her head as everyone gave her a pointed look and then
looked out of the doorway, passed her brother and felt her eyes bulge a little.
“Is that Emma?” Austin asked as she saw someone running through the corridor,
her almost raven like hair swaying back and forth. She knew she was tired, but
even her mind wouldn’t hallucinate that type of thing.

“Ooh! She made it!” Jessica exclaimed. She rose to her feet and went to
rush out past Dean and Sienna as Austin spoke.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes?” Austin asked with slick sarcasm. “Seriously,
how did you three get away from work? I mean, how did the
Ice Queen
authorize this?”

“We had Liam on hand,” Jessica winked and then left the room to go get
Emma.

“Really?”
Austin asked Archie and he nodded at her. “And she just rolled over and
listened?”

Shrugging, Archie smiled, “You hit a soft spot with the bureau and other
teams took our cases.
 
Apparently, the
team exceeded expectations when they appointed you as our lead TA. People want
to know where you disappeared too.”

Austin laughed, “I highly doubt that.” She then looked to the door to
see what was keeping the pair, and saw them talking. “So does that mean Liam
and Michael will be coming?” Austin had to gulp; she worked in a team of five
other people that had helped make living day to day easier but now they were
finding a new Austin.

“They were briefing other teams and then flying out,” Archie told her
with a self assured tone. “Michael said he wasn’t coming just yet. Not until he
was wanted here.”

“Right,” Austin responded and looked towards the doorway as Jessica came
back in with Emma tailing her.

 
Walking in, Emma scanned the
room, more a comforting move than anything else. Her career within the FBI had
taught her multiple bad habits and reading anyone and everyone was one of them.
She then rested her eyes onto Austin and felt her heart race. She hadn’t
expected this when she received the text to tell her they were at the hospital.
She had, admittedly, expected worse – more of a worst-case scenario, insane
moment than anything – and then she had rationalized and remembered how calm
Jessica was. However, she hadn’t expected to see Austin quite so pale with her
arm bandaged tight and the minor scrape to her forehead.

“So you finally turned up then, eh Parker?” Austin teased sternly, putting
on a front for the moment. She loved how in the last couple of days she had
felt like
her
.
“Way after the other two.
Shows
me exactly where I am in your list of priorities.”

“Bite me,” Emma quipped back at Austin, then melted into a smile as she looked
at the woman who had swept into her life and then left, leaving a void. “God,
I’ve missed you, Aussie!”

“It’s good to know, EP!” Austin chimed at her friend, “Now will you wipe
the worry off of your face please?”

“I don’t think I can at the moment,” Emma responded, “You leave and this
happens. This is worse than anything before.”

 
“Worse than
anything before?”
Tyler jumped in, casting worried glances between
Austin’s
family
.

“What the hell does that mean?” Nicolas interjected with concern.

“Can we do
this another
day?” Austin asked
putting her hand on Tyler’s, “I mean, when I’m more
awake and
not as high as a kite.”

“We can,” Tom confirmed, “But for tonight they can tell us the details.”

Austin groaned and caved, “I got into some sticky situations.”

“Like?”
Tyler pressed, his eyes watching Austin. “If I find out you did
something stupid, Sunny, I swear to God I’ll...”

“What?” She asked him and began to smirk, “Spank me?”

“Let’s not get into your bedroom antics here,” Tom stopped them with a
short chuckle.

“So,” Dean probed, his curiosity getting the better of him and he didn’t
want to know where that conversation would end up. “What did Austin do so much
of?” he cast a glance to Austin as she shot him a wayward look, “What? I’m
curious as to what you’ve done.”

“Well,” Emma began and turned to Dean, “She negotiated with our
suspects, worked until she was dog sick, hacked
too
much, building
computer programs on the sidelines,” Emma started to countdown off of her
fingers.

“Not to mention going completely ballistic over some things she found
during cases and near enough cracking up,” Jessica joined in with Emma’s count
down.

“If you two don’t stop, you won’t need to worry about me cracking up,”
Austin so kindly told the pair. “I have enough of my family making sure I’m
doing what I should be and not getting up to mischief without them knowing what
the last year or so of my life entailed.”

“Aus, you’re one of the FBI’s best hackers, they need to know you’re
dangerous,” Emma dropped in, giving her friend a twisted grin to show she meant
this friendly.

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” Austin asked, her voice becoming a
dying moan, “Plus I am not dangerous, just,
erm
,
talented. Like my brother, Daniel, is. He’s the guy that taught me.”

“Well for now, this is about you and your
talent
.
 
You were in such high demand, hell, every
agency wanted you,” Emma told her truthfully, “Well, except the CIA, they’re
just scared of you, you little threat.”

“I don’t think they classify knowing your way round a computer a talent,”
Archie suddenly piped up. “Talents are usually conducive in the forms of
sciences, or arts. Computer management is more an acquired skill or not.”

“Arch, who is it that can fix a computer in like ten seconds flat?”
Jessica asked Archie with a smirk, “Who can hack into someone’s computer in an
entirely different state and not even leave a trail?” She continued to ask, and
when she got no response, she looked back, “Prove a point?”

Tyler looked from the pair and at Austin who was quiet, “You’re
blushing, Baby,” Tyler observed as he saw the pink strike out against her pale
complexion.

“Of course I am!” she said a little exasperatedly, “You don’t need to
hear this.”

“And why not?”
Nicolas asked, “I like knowing that you’re fully capable to do
something quite... unique, whereas your brother over there can barely fix a
computer without electrocuting himself.”

“Hey!” Tom defended playfully, “It was one time!”

Nicolas rolled his eyes as everyone sat around amused, “Anyway, Aussie,
you shouldn’t be ashamed of telling us what you’ve done with your life. We need
to embrace that part of you, and it shows what an impact you’ve made, that
three of the people you’ve met there have taken the time to come and find you.”
Nicolas continued, “Just because you’ve come back to this life, doesn’t mean
you have to forget about another life you made.”

“We forced her to make it,” Emma pointed out. “Otherwise she would have
spent her time working for us, and then going home to be a recluse the rest of
the time.” She smiled at the older man, “I’m guessing you’re Nicolas?” she
asked assumingly and he nodded, “I thought so. Austin had photos of all of you
on her wherever she went.”

“What about us?” Dean asked defensively, keeping an eye trained on
Austin.