Somewhere. Where and when doesn't matter. One year ago.

The meeting convened. The colors and figures blurred into almost nothing in that dark, smoky room, as two sat down at the great long table. Neither person dared to say names; there was no need to, they knew one another anyhow, and intimately at that.

There were more important things at stake than the lack of polite introductions.

"A robbery." One spoke, his voice full of barely-restrained anger as he rubbed his hand onto his bearded face. "Shit. Of all things. Of all people-"

"That's why it happened." A lighter flickered open, and the cigarette lit, faintly and briefly illuminating the grey hair of its holder as he spoke. "I told you it would."

There was a numb silence. The implications hit the bearded man hard and quick as he leaned back in his chair, staring at the folder in front of him.

Gone. The work of a lifetime, the miracle known as Agent W. Secret but special, people had died to make it a reality. And now it was gone. Stolen

"...You know this happened because of you, doctor."

"Oh, now you're just jumping to conclusions." The grey-haired man casually blew smoke out of his mouth. "You know as well as I do that she was liable to do this before she signed on. If anyone's to blame, it's the oversight board that got her hired."

"Because you recommended her. Your-"

"Now, now." The grey-haired man's voice became slightly terse. "Let's not point fingers. That was in the past, let us focus on the now. The problem of now is that she still had security access, and that's how this happened. We'll have to revoke it so this isn't repeated on any other campus, though I doubt she'll return."

"Because now almost everything has been destroyed or stolen." The grey-haired man looked at the bearded man, clearly his boss, as he spoke. "All that's left is a handful of samples that she might have taken."

"Yes, her samples." The grey-haired man looked lazily away. "And that's all she really wanted. The rest was just to spite us. She has copies of all the paperwork. She's probably already burned the ones she stole now."

"Because she-"

"Mmmhmm." A lazy nod. "The credit. She wants it, because they're her samples. Call it personal."

Silence save for the grey-haired man taking a puff from his cigarette and blowing it out.

"You don't think I know how personal it got for her? Agent W was personal for all of us." The bearded man coughed. "Damnit, put that out."

"Why?"

"Because this is a no-smoking facility!"

"Too bad."

"'Too bad'." The bearded man shook his head. "This is why I blame you. Our research, our science, thirty years and two generations of life put into this project, and you sit there like it's just another day. I could ruin your career, you know-"

"Sure you could," the doctor smirked. "And I know you would try. But just because you can doesn't mean you should."

"And why not?"

"Because I know a little more about this than you do, sir." The man took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "You may know the basics of our project, but in the end you're still just a bureaucrat. A overseeing yes man to the CDC. I'm a scientist and a doctor, and I save and keep lives. And what's more, I know more people than you'd like to think. Your campaign to ruin me wouldn't last a day."

"Using your connections." The boss' voice turned sour. "Of course. I should have known you'd bring them up to keep your license."

"Au contraire," the doctor chuckled. "It is not I who need them. Right now they need me."

"Eh?" The boss stood up. "What do you mean?"

"They came to me this morning." The doctor put the piece of paper on the table. "They know about her and know what kind of damage it can do to the legacy of the project - and of course her propensity to involve innocent bystanders. In fact, I informed all of the pertinent contacts three months ago that she might go rogue after her decommissioning, so we were all expecting it to happen. We just weren't sure /i how i ."

"What-!?"

"They've given me all of the necessary instructions, and as we speak the CDC is making an emergency allotment for me to use, as they consider this an international medical crisis." A grin formed on the grey-haired man's face. "So sorry I'm leaving you out of the loop yet again. But in the end it was necessary, because everyone important knows I'm prepared to do what's necessary."

"...I can't believe this." The boss wiped his forehead. "You're really going to do this. You're going to go after her on your own."

"Yes, and do what I can to help her victims. This is all officially out of your hands." The grin widened. "Have no fear. You will be left blameless of anything that happens from here on out. Unlike you, I have no intention of ruining your career."

"And what about you?" The boss looked at him pointedly. "What will happen to you?"

"Damage control." The doctor inhaled again. "Save as many as I can, if they can be saved. There's no telling what will happen or who she'll target. There's no telling how many will die because of this."

The smoke hung heavily in the air as the doctor blew out again, and silence once more reigned over the two. There was so much for him to think about - where she'd hit, what age she'd go for, what countries she might flee to. But he knew she had no specific preferences - it simply had to be someone who would carry out what she wanted. And what she wanted was, perhaps, beyond the known boundaries of science; it was possible in theory, but biologically dangerous. Deadly, even. It had never been successful before and even with technology evolving as it had it would still be exceedingly difficult.

Many lives would be at stake, yes. People's lives would be destroyed, yes. People were even going to die, yes, because of the nature of Agent W. Agent W was simply not meant to be put into certain people, and he knew this - always did. And if the scenario his former colleague wanted were to ever be successful, he was determined to do what was necessary to make sure it never happened again - at any expense.

"...Well!" Finally the doctor cheerfully clapped his hands together - startling his now former boss - and he put his cigarette out on the table as he got up. "I've got to go. Someone here's got to deal with the crazy bitch, and it may as well be me, yeah?"

"Mark! This table i-"

"Toodles!"

The boss was cut off by the slamming door. With a cheerful hum in his throat, the doctor adjusted his lab coat, put his lighter into his pocket and strolled down the hall, giving everyone a cheerful wave as he headed towards the exit.

It was the kind of thrilling cat-and-mouse chase the doctor had hoped for, and he was going to enjoy every moment of it.