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This is an extremely rough draft, and I may very well rewrite all of this section after I actually rewatch the first seaosn of The 4400, but... I wrote this and I like this and... yeah...
Ryan opened his eyes, not sure what was happening as he saw the crowd of people surrounding him. A moment ago, he'd been alone on the beach, letting out his anger at his father for firing Mrs. Diaz, but now... this definitely wasn't Newport, not with hwo cold it suddenly was. And not with the people holding guns.
~~~
"Look, just get my parents here," Ryan insisted to the man interviewing him. "Their names are Caleb and Rose Cohen, they live at 9682 Oceanview Drive in Newport Beach, California. They'll tell you exactly who I am and that I haven't done anything!"
"How do you explain being in Washington?"
"I don't know!" Ryan said for what had to be the 10th time in the two days since finding himself on the lakeshore. "Last thing I remember was being on the beach behind our house in Newport."
A woman stuck her head in. "Hey, we need you out here," she said to the male agent.
As they both left, Ryan sat back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair, bsently shaking the identification bracelet on his wrist and staring at the number that graced it under his name, which had quotation marks around it as theough it was in doubt. #4391. He didn't really get what that number meant, no one had explained it, nor had they explained why there was a date written under that which was impossible. 7/11/2004.
The door opened again, and Ryan looked up, ready to insist, again, that they just needed to call his parents, but instead her froze as he saw the new man who'd come in. He looked so much older, mostly bald and wrinkles he definitely hadn't had the last time Ryan saw him two days ago, but... "Dad?" Ryan asked, getting up and starting to step forward before freezing.
Caleb Nichols' face seemed to crumble and he engulfed Ryan in his arms. "Ryan," he said, the name coming out half sobbed as he held on, one harm wrapped around his son's back and the other cupping the bakc of Ryan's head.
"Dad?" Ryan repetaed, pulling bakc and staing. "How... you look... what..." he tried, unable to make sense of what he was seeing. This couldn't be his dad. His dad wasn't old... not this old anyway.
"I thought... I thought I drove you away for good," Caleb said.
"No... I... No..." Ryan said, backing away. "No. You can't be... you look... but you... No! What the hell is going on?!"
"Ryan," the male agent began. "We don't know where you, or any of the others, have been, but... you've been gone a long time."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"It's been 34 years, Ryan," Caleb said. "You've been gone 34 years..."
"No," Ryan said. "Do I like 50 to you?"
"There's people who ahve been gone longer and still look 8," the female agent said. "That's why we kept asking you, all of you, questions. We need to know what's happened."
"I was ont eh beach!" Ryan insisted. "I was pissed because my dad was being an asshole and I yelled and told him to go to hell, then I... I stormed out and I went to the beach and I was yelling... I was jsut... yelling and there was a light and... and then I was by that damn lake and there were all those people! And those guys with guns..." He didn't mean to get so worked up, he didn't mean to start having tears streaming down his face, and didn't even realize he did until he was once more engulfed in his dad's arms, unable to deny that the embrace was familiar.
"I want to take him home, now," Caleb said firmly.
"Mr. Nichols..."
"At least out of this place, then!" Caleb said. "He hasn't done anything and you cannot keep him prisoner here!"
"We'll see what the status on releases are," the male agent reluctantly conceded.
~~~
"Where's Keeks?" Ryan asked, using his variation of his father's nickname for his sister, as he paced the floor of the suite he and his dad had snuck into a few hours earlier. "I mean, it's it's been 34 years, she's... she's all grown up."
"39," Caleb agreed. "She has a 16 year-old son and a 4 year-old daughter," he added. "They're coming as soon as they can get a flight."
"Keeks is 39?" Ryan said, his voice brekaing.
"You have another sister, too," Caleb said. "Hailey's 25."
Ryan put his hands on the back of the couch, trying not to look at the impossible big and flat TV that hung on the wall, shaking his head. "This is..."
"Ryan..."
"How is this happening?" Ryan asked, looking up. "How can someone disappear for 34 years and come back looking the same? There was a girl in there born in 1938 and she's still 8 years old!"
"I don't know," Caleb said. "But the authorities and..."
"And where's mom?" Ryan said. "I thought maybe she was gonna be here when we got it, or maybe she was staying in newport until you confirmed it was me, but where is she?"
Caleb's face crumbled and he shook his head. "She... she passed on 8 years ago."
Ryan shook his head, then turned around and sat down heavily on the floor, leaning back against the couch. "No..." he whispered. "How...?"
"Cancer," Caleb explained, grimacing as he eased himself down to sit beside his son. "She never gave up on you. She always insisted you would come home someday."
"She can't..." Ryan began, but he trailed off as he buried his face in his hands, sobbing. He gratefully leaned into his father's embrace, clinging to the only parent he had left.
~~~
They sat that way for hours before there was a sharp knock on the door. "That might be your sister," Caleb said, releasing Ryan.
"I... I'll be out in a minute," Ryan said, getting up and heading for his bedroom in the suite. he closed the door and sat down in front of it, wiping his damp face with his sleeve as he listened to the voices in the other room.
"Where's Sandford and the kids, Kiki?" Caleb asked.
"I wanted to do this alone," came the reply, and despite expecting it, Ryan still gasped slightly at the sound of a grown up voice responding, still, somehow, expecting a little girl's voice. "Where is he?" Kirsten continued.
"I told him about your mother," Caleb said. "He's... he's upset. This is all a lot to take in..."
"Where is he?" Kirsten insisted.
"He hasn't aged a day, Kiki..."
"You told me that on the phone. But I want to see my brother!"
Ryan quickly got to hsi feet and opened the door, stepping out to face her. She ahd beena beautiful little girl, blonde ringlets framing her chubby face and a radiant smile. Now she was thin, too thin in Ryan's opinion, and her hair hung loosely around her face, her clothes plain but obviosuly expensive, not the kids denim and bright colors he remembered. "Keeks?" he whispered when she looked at him, frozen in place.
"Oh my God," Kirsten whispered. She closed the distance and slowly lifted one hand to touch his face, thumb gliding over his eyebrow like their mom ahd done for them whenever they'd been upset. "Ry?"
"Keeks," Ryan replied, his heart breaking that he really had missed seeing her grow up.
End Of Snippet
Oh, and I have a pretty good idea of what Ryan's 4400 ability will be, though I'm open to suggestions... keeping in mind that all The 4400 characters exist in this universe... the two agents, male and female, that appear are Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris. Shawn, Lily, Richard, Maia, and Jordan all exist, too.
Ryan opened his eyes, not sure what was happening as he saw the crowd of people surrounding him. A moment ago, he'd been alone on the beach, letting out his anger at his father for firing Mrs. Diaz, but now... this definitely wasn't Newport, not with hwo cold it suddenly was. And not with the people holding guns.
~~~
"Look, just get my parents here," Ryan insisted to the man interviewing him. "Their names are Caleb and Rose Cohen, they live at 9682 Oceanview Drive in Newport Beach, California. They'll tell you exactly who I am and that I haven't done anything!"
"How do you explain being in Washington?"
"I don't know!" Ryan said for what had to be the 10th time in the two days since finding himself on the lakeshore. "Last thing I remember was being on the beach behind our house in Newport."
A woman stuck her head in. "Hey, we need you out here," she said to the male agent.
As they both left, Ryan sat back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair, bsently shaking the identification bracelet on his wrist and staring at the number that graced it under his name, which had quotation marks around it as theough it was in doubt. #4391. He didn't really get what that number meant, no one had explained it, nor had they explained why there was a date written under that which was impossible. 7/11/2004.
The door opened again, and Ryan looked up, ready to insist, again, that they just needed to call his parents, but instead her froze as he saw the new man who'd come in. He looked so much older, mostly bald and wrinkles he definitely hadn't had the last time Ryan saw him two days ago, but... "Dad?" Ryan asked, getting up and starting to step forward before freezing.
Caleb Nichols' face seemed to crumble and he engulfed Ryan in his arms. "Ryan," he said, the name coming out half sobbed as he held on, one harm wrapped around his son's back and the other cupping the bakc of Ryan's head.
"Dad?" Ryan repetaed, pulling bakc and staing. "How... you look... what..." he tried, unable to make sense of what he was seeing. This couldn't be his dad. His dad wasn't old... not this old anyway.
"I thought... I thought I drove you away for good," Caleb said.
"No... I... No..." Ryan said, backing away. "No. You can't be... you look... but you... No! What the hell is going on?!"
"Ryan," the male agent began. "We don't know where you, or any of the others, have been, but... you've been gone a long time."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"It's been 34 years, Ryan," Caleb said. "You've been gone 34 years..."
"No," Ryan said. "Do I like 50 to you?"
"There's people who ahve been gone longer and still look 8," the female agent said. "That's why we kept asking you, all of you, questions. We need to know what's happened."
"I was ont eh beach!" Ryan insisted. "I was pissed because my dad was being an asshole and I yelled and told him to go to hell, then I... I stormed out and I went to the beach and I was yelling... I was jsut... yelling and there was a light and... and then I was by that damn lake and there were all those people! And those guys with guns..." He didn't mean to get so worked up, he didn't mean to start having tears streaming down his face, and didn't even realize he did until he was once more engulfed in his dad's arms, unable to deny that the embrace was familiar.
"I want to take him home, now," Caleb said firmly.
"Mr. Nichols..."
"At least out of this place, then!" Caleb said. "He hasn't done anything and you cannot keep him prisoner here!"
"We'll see what the status on releases are," the male agent reluctantly conceded.
~~~
"Where's Keeks?" Ryan asked, using his variation of his father's nickname for his sister, as he paced the floor of the suite he and his dad had snuck into a few hours earlier. "I mean, it's it's been 34 years, she's... she's all grown up."
"39," Caleb agreed. "She has a 16 year-old son and a 4 year-old daughter," he added. "They're coming as soon as they can get a flight."
"Keeks is 39?" Ryan said, his voice brekaing.
"You have another sister, too," Caleb said. "Hailey's 25."
Ryan put his hands on the back of the couch, trying not to look at the impossible big and flat TV that hung on the wall, shaking his head. "This is..."
"Ryan..."
"How is this happening?" Ryan asked, looking up. "How can someone disappear for 34 years and come back looking the same? There was a girl in there born in 1938 and she's still 8 years old!"
"I don't know," Caleb said. "But the authorities and..."
"And where's mom?" Ryan said. "I thought maybe she was gonna be here when we got it, or maybe she was staying in newport until you confirmed it was me, but where is she?"
Caleb's face crumbled and he shook his head. "She... she passed on 8 years ago."
Ryan shook his head, then turned around and sat down heavily on the floor, leaning back against the couch. "No..." he whispered. "How...?"
"Cancer," Caleb explained, grimacing as he eased himself down to sit beside his son. "She never gave up on you. She always insisted you would come home someday."
"She can't..." Ryan began, but he trailed off as he buried his face in his hands, sobbing. He gratefully leaned into his father's embrace, clinging to the only parent he had left.
~~~
They sat that way for hours before there was a sharp knock on the door. "That might be your sister," Caleb said, releasing Ryan.
"I... I'll be out in a minute," Ryan said, getting up and heading for his bedroom in the suite. he closed the door and sat down in front of it, wiping his damp face with his sleeve as he listened to the voices in the other room.
"Where's Sandford and the kids, Kiki?" Caleb asked.
"I wanted to do this alone," came the reply, and despite expecting it, Ryan still gasped slightly at the sound of a grown up voice responding, still, somehow, expecting a little girl's voice. "Where is he?" Kirsten continued.
"I told him about your mother," Caleb said. "He's... he's upset. This is all a lot to take in..."
"Where is he?" Kirsten insisted.
"He hasn't aged a day, Kiki..."
"You told me that on the phone. But I want to see my brother!"
Ryan quickly got to hsi feet and opened the door, stepping out to face her. She ahd beena beautiful little girl, blonde ringlets framing her chubby face and a radiant smile. Now she was thin, too thin in Ryan's opinion, and her hair hung loosely around her face, her clothes plain but obviosuly expensive, not the kids denim and bright colors he remembered. "Keeks?" he whispered when she looked at him, frozen in place.
"Oh my God," Kirsten whispered. She closed the distance and slowly lifted one hand to touch his face, thumb gliding over his eyebrow like their mom ahd done for them whenever they'd been upset. "Ry?"
"Keeks," Ryan replied, his heart breaking that he really had missed seeing her grow up.
End Of Snippet
Oh, and I have a pretty good idea of what Ryan's 4400 ability will be, though I'm open to suggestions... keeping in mind that all The 4400 characters exist in this universe... the two agents, male and female, that appear are Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris. Shawn, Lily, Richard, Maia, and Jordan all exist, too.
