Reconnoiter || Guns N Roses, David Bowie, Bon Jovi

Reconnoiter: Six

I found my way into Rock-stock in the same way I had before, though I knew exaclty what I was risking by showing up someplace where the Sergeant was uninvited.

A week had gone by, and each time I'd gone to base no one was there. I suppose they were waiting for the hysteria caused by the succession of missing files to die down so that we could continue, but someone should have warned me not to show up.

We only had one more file to go, I didn't know what the sudden hold up was.

I found out that the bustling place with no fans was called 'backstage,' and that the general public wasn't supposed to be there without special permission. I told myself I wasn't the general public and continued to wander around, hoping that Poison might be lying around somehwere. They were pretty new at the time, so maybe Rock-stock was too big of a festival for them.

I actually found that there weren't very many people around, given the fact that it was nowhere near dark. I thought they might be running late, but I know now the majority of them would've been sleeping off the remnants of the last night's hangover, as well as trying to subtly tell their one-night-stand to leave.

I sighed, thinking it was good that I didn't see anyone I knew, nobody could reprimand me for coming here later on. I was heading straight for the door leading to the outside when I heard a voice, and it wasn't a pleasant or familiar one. "Hey! You, stop right there!" I turned my head to the side and saw a tall looking man in black clothing, similar to the ones who guarded my apartment. He didn't look super happy to see me, of course.

I stood frozen, white-hot fear coursing through my veins. I wondered, should I run, or should I stay and endure whatever he had to say to me? I didn't have enough time to think it through before he was upon me, angrily holding a hand out. "Can I see some I.D, please?"

I.D? What was that? "Some... what?"

"Do you work here, Miss?" He seemed to be becoming more irate, while I was becoming more and more confused. "Um... no?" He grunted in frustration, shaking his head back and forth wildly. "Then how the hell did you snake your way back here?" I just stared at him. "...Snake?"

"You're coming with me." He wrenched my arm painfully in one of his overly large hands, and of course-being the human rape whistle that I was- I screamed loudly as he pulled me along, pushing all of my weight against him. He had an iron grip, but I don't think he much liked the idea of everyone in the room staring at him while he dragged away a hysterical teenage girl.

"Well... that ain't cool," I heard someone whisper, along with some similar statements.

"Callie?" Someone was pushing quickly through the crowd to get to us, and I was relieved and embarrassed all at once when I saw who it was. Jon was standing there, confused at first before his eyes turned from their usual calm blue state to that of an ocean during a storm. "Hey man, what the hell are you doing to her?"

"Uh... you know this girl?" Jon nodded his head extremely slowly, which I didn't understand at the time was derogatory to the guard. "She's with me, so... let go." The man did so reluctantly, allowing me to stumble into Jon. He steadied me for a second, before turning a wry smile on the security guard. "Rick, man, I know you like women, but... you should've known this one was a little out of your league."

The whole room seemed to light up again after that-while I stood there dumbfounded- with a few cheers for Jon, and a whole lot insults for 'Rick'. "Follow me," Jon said over his shoulder, leading me through the thick throngs of people inhabiting the space. A lot of guys were patting him on the back too, I didn't understand why.

He stopped walking once we came to a relatively quiet place, a stack of stage equipment that no one was using or moving. He turned, crossing his arms with a quaint smile on his face. "Callie, I didn't expect to see you here. Man... I would've warned you about Rick if I'd known." He ruffled up his scruffy hair the way a goose would his feathers, gazing at me all the while.