Part 29b (by Shannon)



Holly heard movement and groaned as she slowly opened her 
eyes.  She gasped when she saw who was standing over her.  
Had he been the one who had captured her and the others?

"I should have known it would be you doing this to us 
Vinnie," snarled Holly as she sat up.  Vinnie looked at her 
in surprise, not realizing anyone was conscious.

"I'm not the one who captured you," he snarled.  "Buttercup 
did.  I'm helping you," he said as he picked Lorie up.

"You're...HELPING us?" she asked incredulously.  "Why?" she 
asked.

"Because, I can use you as bargaining chips," he said.  
Holly snorted.

"I should have known it couldn't be for anything G.O.O.D." 
she said.  Vinnie rolled his eyes as he helped Holly to her 
feet.

"I need to talk to Gene, but I know he won't talk to 
me...not without some incentive," said Vinnie.

"Why do you want to talk to him?" she asked.

"It's something important I have to tell him...something 
that could save him and anyone he's associated with," said 
Vinnie.

"Why do you want to help Gene?" she asked, knowing how 
Vinnie and Gene felt about one another.

"Because I'm not the horrible monster everyone seems to 
think I am," he said.  He took her hand and led her out the 
door and down the hallway.

Holly couldn't believe that she was relying on Vinnie 
Vincent to save her.  Of all the people in the world, he 
would be the LEAST likely rescuer.  But here he was, 
leading her out of her prison.  Maybe he wasn't all bad...

Vinnie led her to a van parked in some trees.  He unlocked 
it and carefully set Lorie in the back while Holly climbed 
into the passenger seat.  Vinnie climbed into the driver's 
seat and pulled out a cell phone.

"Call Shannon," he said.

"Why?" asked Holly.  Vinnie sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Would you stop asking questions and just do it," he 
demanded handing her the phone.

"I don't know what room she's staying in," said Holly, not 
quite sure why Vinnie would want to talk to Shannon.

"So you ask at the desk...hurry," he said.

Holly dialed the number of the hotel and waited.  She was 
transferred to Shannon's hotel room after a few moments and 
was surprised when she answered the phone.

"Shan?  It's Holly," she said.

"Holly!!!  Where have you been?" she asked, knowing 
something was wrong.

"Um, Lorie and I ran into some trouble...but we're okay 
now...I think," said Holly.

"You think?  What's going on?" asked Shannon, worried about 
her friends.

"Someone wants to talk to you," she said handing the phone 
to Vinnie.

"Shannon?" he asked.

"Yes, who's this?" asked Shannon, not recognizing the voice 
right away.

"This is Vinnie Vincent," he said.  "Don't hang up!  I have 
information for Gene, but I know he won't talk to me, 
unless you convince him to," he said.

"And why would I convince Gene to talk to YOU?" she asked 
angrily.

"Because I have both Holly and Lorie," he said.  Shannon 
felt her blood run cold.  God only knew what Vinnie would 
do to them!

"If I set up a meeting with Gene and you, will you promise 
to let Holly and Lorie go?" she asked.

"Yes.  I'll bring them with me and hand them over to Gene," 
he said.  Shannon thought for amoment...wondering what she 
should do.

"Let me talk to him...and see if he'll talk to you.  Where 
can I reach you?" she asked.

"Do you have a pen and paper?  Write down my cell phone 
number," he said.  He gave her the number and then hung up 
and turned to Holly.  "Now we wait," he said.

Shannon ran out of her room and down the hall to Gene's 
room.  She knew he was with someone but she had to 
interrupt.  She knocked on the door and wasn't surprised 
that he didn't answer it.

"Gene!  Open the door!  I have to talk to you NOW!" she 
yelled through the door.  A moment later the door opened 
and Gene glared down at her.  She immediately felt his 
irritation with her and she fought the tears in her eyes.  
She hated making him upset with her.

"What's the emergency?" he demanded tying the belt on his 
bathrobe.

"I just got a call from Vinnie Vincent," she said feeling 
his hate for Vinnie even before the look on his face 
mirrored his thoughts.

"Why the hell is Vinnie calling you?" he demanded.

"He said he has something to tell you...some information 
for you," she said meekly.

"What kind of information?" asked Gene.

"He didn't say, but he has Holly and Lorie as hostages.  He 
said he'll turn them over if you agree to meet with him," 
she said.

"What??  That bastard!  He's using them to get to me," he 
said.  "I'm not putting myself in danger by talking to that 
asshole," he said angrily.

"You can't just leave Lorie and Holly with him!" she 
sobbed.  "Just talk to him!  I'll be with you so if he 
tries anything, I'll teleport us out," she said.  Gene 
thought for a moment and he could feel her desperation. 

"Alright, I'll talk to him.  How do I get in touch with 
him?" he asked.

"I have to call him back on his cell phone.  Where will you 
meet him?" she asked.

"Conference room A," he said.  "We've got that room set 
aside for our use.  Tell him to meet me there in an hour," 
he said glancing at his watch.

"Okay," she said turning to head down the hall.  "Gene," 
she said.

"What is it?" he asked trying to keep the irritation out of 
his voice.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," she said before turning 
away, tears in her eyes.

Gene watched her run down the hall, a stab of guilt in his 
heart for the pain he always seemed to be causing her.  He 
hated hurting her but he didn't know how he could continue 
to live his life without doing it.

Shannon got back to her room and picked up the phone and 
dialed the number Vinnie had given her.  After one ring, he 
picked it up.

"He'll meet you in Conference room A in one hour," she 
said.  There was a sigh of relief from Vinnie.

"Thank you," he said and hung up.

Forty five minutes later there was a knock on her door and 
she knew it was Gene.  She opened the door and let him in.  

"I'm assuming he agreed to meet me there," said Gene, a 
touch of aggravation in his voice which she could feel was 
not aimed at her.

"Yes, he said he'd be there," she said.

They made their way down to the conference room and waited.  
Vinnie arrived right on time with Lorie and Holly in tow.  
They both ran to Shannon and she gave them the key to her 
room and told them to go rest. After the two girls were 
gone, Gene and Shannon turned to face Vinnie.

"This was supposed to be a private meeting," said Vinnie 
fixing Shannon with a stern glare.

"Oh no," said Gene.  "I don't trust you as far as I could 
throw you.  She stays," he said with finality.  Vinnie 
sighed.

"Fine…have it your way.  You always did have to have it 
YOUR way…didn't you," said Vinnie, his voice full of 
disgust.

"That's not true and you know it.  We tried to be fair to 
you but you didn't want to be fair in return.  You can't 
just walk into a band that's been around for a few years 
and start bossing people around.  Listen…why don't we just 
get back to why you wanted to talk to me, okay?  I wanna 
make this as short as possible," said Gene folding his arms 
across his chest.  "What did you want to tell me that 
involved you kidnapping Lorie and Holly?" demanded Gene 
with fire in his eyes.

"I didn't kidnap them.  Buttercup did.  I rescued them," he 
said.  

"Well don't expect a medal from me," snarled Gene.  "What 
information did you have for me?" he asked.

"I know that you've Claimed Shannon," he said with a 
superior smirk.  Gene seemed surprised and turned to look 
at Shannon.  "She didn't tell me.  But I know...and so does 
Buttercup." 

Gene felt the color drain out of his face and his heart 
miss a beat.  If Buttercup knew that he had Claimed 
Shannon...God only knew what he would do next.

"How did you find out?" he asked, hoping Vinnie wouldn't 
make him wait too long to get the information he wanted.

"That nice little taping device you have in your hotel 
room.  Buttercup has it tapped," said Vinnie.  He turned 
and looked at Shannon.  "I see Gene's not the only one with 
a talented tongue." 

Shannon felt Gene's anger and knew she'd have to intervene 
or Gene would barbecue Vinnie right where he stood.

"Do you know why Buttercup is after you?" he asked suddenly 
and Gene rolled his eyes.

"Because I'm part of a power Matrix," said Gene with a 
derisive snort.  Vinnie laughed.

"You are SO self-centered!  No, he's not after YOU," said 
Vinnie.  "He's actually after Raven."

"Then why did he have Bez kidnap Shannon before…and Lorie 
and Holly…" asked Gene.

"Because he knows your connection to Shannon…and her 
connection to Raven," he said.

"But how?  I mean, I knew Shannon a few years ago, but that 
was before she knew Raven," said Gene, curious how Vinnie 
knew so much…wondering briefly if he was making it up.

"How quickly you forget…" said Vinnie.  Realization dawned 
in Gene's eyes.

"The Time Talker," said Gene with a growl.  "He's always 
been one step ahead of us because of that damn Time 
Talker."

"And he will continue to be ahead of you…unless you get rid 
of the Time Talker," said Vinnie.

"But how?  They already know every move we make," said Gene 
angrily.

"Who knows what the future holds," said Vinnie and Gene's 
jaw dropped open momentarily before he regained his 
composure.

"You can't expect her to jump to a time she has no 
references to!  She could be lost in time…" said Gene 
sparing a glance at Shannon.

"I'd say that's a justifiable risk," said Vinnie with a 
grin.  "If Buttercup gets a hold of Raven, he will have 
everything he needs for world domination.  And there's 
nothing you or the rest of KISS can do to stop him," he 
said.

"I don't understand…if he knew that he needed Raven, why 
didn't he take her before all this started?" asked Gene.

"I think it has something to do with the fact that she's a 
probability manipulator…and also a ghost magnet.  He hasn't 
been able to get close to her.  But now he can," said 
Vinnie.  

"How?" demanded Gene angrily.

"I'm not sure what he's planning, but you can be sure it'll 
happen soon," he said getting up to leave.  

"Why are you telling Gene this?" she asked.

"Because I'm not as bad as everyone seems to think I am.  I 
know you hate me Gene...and I know the fans do too...but 
the things I did, I did while in Buttercup's E.V.I.L. 
G.R.I.P.  I had no control over what I did," he said.

"What makes you think that I believe that you aren't still 
in Buttercup's E.V.I.L. G.R.I.P.?" said Gene.

"You'll just have to trust me," he said.  "Just be warned.  
Buttercup knows a lot of what's going on with KISS and with 
Girl_talk...because of the Time Talker and because of your 
little video camera," he said.  "I suggest you find another 
way of making memories.  I'll be in touch," he said before 
turning to walk out.

"Vinnie," said Shannon.  He stopped and turned to her.  
"Thank you," she said and Vinnie smiled briefly.

"You're welcome," he said and walked out.  Shannon turned 
to Gene, anger in her eyes.

"You were taping everything?" she asked.

"Yes, I was.  Do you have a problem with that?" he asked.  
Shannon immediately acquiesced.

"No, I don't," she said.  "You can do whatever you want," 
she said switching into "Slave" mode.  Gene felt a pang of 
guilt when he realized that he was deliberately using his 
Master status with Shannon.

"I'm sorry Shannon...I had no right to treat you like 
that," he said.  "I'll unhook the camera," he said.

"It's okay.  You can treat me any way you see fit...you're 
the Master," she said sadly and walked out.

"DAMMIT!!" he yelled putting his fist through the wall.  "I 
wish I had never slept with her!"

Shannon hurried down the hallway, tears stinging her eyes.  
She could feel Gene's anger and his thoughts were VERY easy 
to read right now.  He didn't want her...he regretted 
having her as his Slave.  This really was a curse.  She was 
pretty sure life couldn't get much worse.  She hurried back 
up to her room to make sure Lorie and Holly were okay.  She 
wasn't surprised to see Bruce there, fussing over Lorie.  
He thanked Shannon for helping to get Lorie back and then 
took her off to his hotel room, obviously eager to tell her 
how much he missed her.