Sleeping Beauty, Meet the Wack Pack

I've been watching Miss Matthews sleep for a while now, pondering: my role in this story; Jean, the key to unlocking so many mysteries; if I used too much chloroform, for Matthews is still zonked out (I checked her vitals. She's fine.); and how Taylor managed to secure such nice accommodations. It really is a nice room, minus the fact that there are no windows and the walls and doors are bullet-proof (just a safety precaution). Taylor really can be helpful. Usually, the prisoners get a nice interrogation table and a chair. This room has a real bed, a cushioned chair, a vanity, and an adjoining bathroom (this one has walls). Okay, this is taking too long. She should be awake by now. I went over to check on Jean again. Huh, unbelievable! She's still out of it. I'm pretty sure the chloroform has worn out by now..... She's sleeping. Sure, why panic if you've been kidnapped, when you can catch some z's instead? "You are one weird girl, Matthews." Whatever, sweet dreams.

"Come on, Mag. It's no fun swimming alone." said a young male voice.
"You know we're not supposed to go swimming, today. The grown-ups won't check until tommorow." was her reply.
"Come on, it'll be fun."
Her face started to waver as she considered the proposition. Then her face turned blank. It was happening again. No! I stood watching helplessly as the room started to fill with water. The two kids stared at me coldly, zombie-like as they were slowly drowned. Now the water was over my head. I tried to swim up, but an invisible barrier kept me down. I kicked with all my strength, but to no avail. Finally, I ran out of air, and a light-headed sensation came over me. Down I sank into the depths. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a hand breaking the surface and pulling me out of the watery grave.

There I was, holding a gun to an unsuspecting Taylor.
"Uh, no thanks. I don't bounce back like you do. Hey, are you ok?" Taylor said as he lowered my hand.
Apparently, I had fallen asleep while waiting for Jean to wake up, and Taylor had waken me.
"Yeah, sorry. Reflexes. Where's Matthews?" I said as I noticed that Jean was gone.
"That's why I came here. Astor had her moved to an interrogation room when she woke up-"
"Oh, so she actually woke up."
"Yeah, John wants you to be there for the interrogation."
"All righty. Let's go."
"Hey, man, are you sure you're okay. You seem out of it."
"Yeah peachy."

Still Sleeping

"Tada! Mission accomplished." Agent Taylor exclaimed as we produced a chloroform-induced sleeping Jean Matthews to Astor. "Ah, it feels good to say that."
Taylor convinced me to let him carry Miss Matthews all the way to Astor's office, and he insisted on taking the stairs (you can bet people stared). "It makes the victory complete" The kid has a lot to learn. John just stared wide-eyed at Matthews, who was still draped over Taylor's shoulder. Taylor would keep her like that until she woke up too. I rest my case.
"Give her to me." I said as I carefully took her from William and placed Matthews on my coat that I had just layed on the floor.
"Good thinking, Nick! Man, I love calling you that."
"Is she dead?" Astor asked.
"Far from it, my friend! We found her at Bayer's division. What a break."
"But, how can that be? Agent X, you shot her in the head. She had no pulse for crying out loud!"
"I know. When she wakes up, we'll be able to question her. For right now, we should prepare some accomadations for Miss Matthews." I said.
"Right, I'm on it." William said and quickly left before either of us could reply.
"Someone's really excited about uh, mission accomplished." John said.
"I know. He's an excitable fellow, but his enthusiasm's infectous. He was helpful on the case too."
"See, he's not too bad; but what's up with him calling you Nick?"
"Don't get any ideas. He decided that I should be called something other than X, and since I don't need any other nicknames, I told him to pick out a name. It's a total coincidence he chose Nick."
"Weird, right? I guess you have that look. Anyways, I'm going to enjoy calling you something other than Agent X."
"I never liked that name. I always told you to call me Cartwright."
"Ha, I totally forgot about that, X."