2nd Series 05/11 - Phoneix, a magician fanfic

The Phoenix The Phoenix
by Birgit Staebler

It was a balmy late afternoon, a perfect time to sit outside in one of the many street cafes and enjoy the autumn warmth and the orange rays of the sun playing over the city. Sun-dappled sidewalks were the playground of teenagers, young lovers and little kids with their toys. Colorful umbrellas guarded the bistro tables and people laughed and talked in the cafes and restaurants.
The woman driving the small, non-descript car didn't really care for the sights around her, the inviting places to sit down and relax, or the offers of the restaurants and cafes to enjoy a meal outside. She wove the car through the traffic, face set, eyes troubled. She was a ordinary looking woman, her hair a light brown with a few reddish highlights, bound back into a tight pony tail, giving her still young face a serious, much older appearance. The pony tail in turn had been bound into a knot in the back of her head. Brown eyes were hidden behind glasses and the costume she wore did nothing to enhance her attractiveness. She seemed to play it down, tried to thwart attempts by men to ask her out. She wore the beige and dark brown costume like an armor that no one would be able to breach.
She passed by elegant townhouses, the sunlit yards of the Electro City university, and went along the canal where a few more adventurous people had taken their boats to celebrate the warm weather. After a few more stoplights she arrived in an area mostly uninhabited throughout the night, an area that was still more industrial than living space. It was an old railyard, no longer used but kept in proper condition and nowhere near condemned. Trees and bushes grew on overhanging concrete balconies and the river was close by. It snaked through the canal, a gray and heavy mass to the eye.
She stopped the car next to an impressive, blue-white giant of a train that sat silently on one of the three rail stops. The setting sun played over the gleaming exterior hull, giving it an orange hue, and reflecting off the skylight.
The woman hesitated a moment, then got out of the car. A fresh wind blew around her, tugging slightly at her costume jacket, playfully trying to dislodge the tightly bound hair. It wasn't a mistake to have come here, she knew, but still, the hesitation was there. Finally, she walked over to the train and pushed the bell button.

* * *

Ace had arrived early this morning, parking the train in its usual spot and then crashing in his bed. He had left later than expected from Lazarus City and the ride home had been strenuous. Cosmo had hit the bed almost immediately as well, half asleep anyway when they had come home. He had piloted the Express almost all the way, never letting his attention wander, even if Angel was there as a safety net in case something went wrong. Having the train crash into a ditch once had been enough to convince the younger man that such a safety feature was needed, and that it didn't mean an insult to his driving skills. But the moment they had parked in their usual spot, all the energy seemed to have flown out of Cosmo and Ace had almost carried him off to his room.
Now Ace walked out of the shower, toweling his dark hair. He had slept almost for ten hours straight, which was long for him, but the last days had been stressful, even for someone used to the late hours, or early mornings. Going to bed at around four a.m., he had not woken till half an hour ago. Cosmo was probably still comatose.
The magician yawned and smoothed the dark hair back, then proceeded to dress. His eyes caught his reflection in the mirror, the only barely sun-tanned skin with the numerous scars, spanning a well-muscled body. Scars, marks of his prior encounters with people who had tried to get rid of him, or signs of when he had failed to get out of somewhere he shouldn't have stayed so long to begin with. All former wounds, all healed. All were hidden beneath his clothes, only visible to those who get very close to him, and there were few.
Ace sighed and shrugged into his shirt. He knew he could get some of them surgically removed, maybe smoothed out, but there was an inner barrier he ran against. Especially when it came to the largest of them all, and the oldest as well, on his back. But they were reminders.... dark reminders. Ace shook his head to chase away those thoughts.
He was just done with buttoning his shirt when Angel announced a visitor. Ace frowned and walked over to the vid screen.
"Mr. Cooper?"
He blinked. What the.....?
"I know it's probably an inconvenient time," the woman standing in front of his door said, "but I need to talk to you."
"Sure," Ace heard himself say, still surprised. "Come in."
He left his bedroom and hurried into the living room/library, hair still damp. His visitor walked hesitantly into the impressive main room of the Express, eyes nervous but determined. Ace had expected anyone but her. Mareen LeSage had never visited him before and they only met when he was at the precinct. Being Derek Vega's assistant and secretary, she worked more or less in the background.
"What can I do for you, Ms. LeSage?"
She gazed at him, visible disturbed by something other than his half-dressed state.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Mr. Cooper," she apologized again. "If it's inconvenient..."
He shook his head. If Vega's secretary had come here, it had to be something important. "It's okay. Please sit down. What happened?"
"It's Lieutenant Vega," she started, still sounding indecisive. "Something happened while you were gone."
A cold feeling of dread settled in Ace's stomach and refused to leave.
"Someone made an attempt on his life."
The cold feeling was turning into a miniature glacier. "What?"
Ms. LeSage looked at him, eyes full of worry. "He went jogging last week and someone had planted a bomb on his path. It went off as he touched a wire. It was only fireworks, no explosives, but I know it rattled him. He didn't go to anyone with it. I don't know why, Mr. Cooper, but for some reason, Derek thinks he has to deal with it personally. He told no one."
Ace felt the coldness spread. Someone had planted a dummy bomb?
"I came to you because you are friends. Maybe you can help. I tried to suggest he get help, but the lieutenant refuses." Her voice wavered slightly. "I wouldn't have found out either if he hadn't suddenly changed..... and....," a blush crept up her cheeks, ".... I found something he had thrown away and which had fallen next to the garbage can." The blush deepened.
Ace smiled at her, knowing that whatever Mareen did, she did it to help. It was an open secret for the magician that Vega had an interest in her, and that the interest was returned, but both parties were approaching it slowly and carefully. That she had come to him showed Ace again how much she cared.
Now she reached inside her purse and pulled out a print. It had been torn in two, but someone, probably Ms. LeSage, had taped it together again. She handed it to Ace and he looked at it. The print was a picture, taken by a digital camera, and it displayed a small statue. It was almost surreal in its form. Light reflected in the blue, glass-like substance, and if he wasn't completely mistaken, it was supposed to be a bird. It stood on a piece of rock and there seemed to be a tree or a bush behind it.
"I don't know what it is," Ms. LeSage now told him. "I thought that maybe you would have more luck. He needs help, Mr. Cooper. Something about this doesn't sit right. Derek is almost...scared..."
Ace frowned at her words and placed the print on the table. "Where was this found?"
"I don't know that either. Derek always jogs in Arrows Park in the morning when he finds the time. It might have been there..."
He nodded. "I will look into it," Ace promised.
"Thank you." She hesitated. "Please don't tell him I came to you, Mr. Cooper."
Another nod. "You have my word."
She rose slowly. "If you need help, I'm willing to do anything to help him."
Ace smiled. "I appreciate your offer, Ms. LeSage. I'll contact you in case I need your assistance."
She left, driving into the darkness of the quickly approaching night, and Ace watched the disappearing tail lights with a frown.
"Was that Ms. LeSage?" a thick voice asked and Ace turned.
Cosmo stood in the doorway to the living room, looking half asleep, hair rumpled and sticking out in all directions. His eyes were half-lidded.
"Yes. You better go and get a shower. I'll tell you about it then." He pushed away from the door and let it slide shut.
Cosmo frowned briefly, then shrugged and shuffled off toward his room again. He knew that there would be no information forthcoming from Ace till then.
Ace walked back into the living room and picked up the print again. His eyes were fixed on the blue bird and he wondered what this was all about.

* * *

The blue bird statue stood on Vega's desk and he stared at it with hard, brown eyes. No muscle twitched in his emotionless face. The light reflected in the glass-like substance and it appeared almost beautiful.
Almost.
But it was a bearer of terrible news, of horrifying memories, and of a past Vega had wanted to forget. He briefly closed his eyes, but the image of the statue was burned into his mind. Finally he took it and stowed it in a drawer, as if taking it out of his eyes would also purge it out of his mind.
No such luck.
Vega picked up the phone and punched in a number. He waited for someone to pick up on the other end and finally someone did.
"Charlie, it's Derek. We need to talk."
There was a short silence, then Derek hung up the phone. He leaned back, staring at nothing in particular, eyes far away.

* * *

"Nice piece," Cosmo commented as he looked at the print. "What is it?"
His hair was standing up in all directions and he looked like he needed another hour to be completely awake. A shower hadn't helped much.
"That's what I want you to find out, Cosmo. Run it through Angel. I want to have a list of similar objects, company logos, personal sigs... whatever you can find."
Cosmo frowned slightly. "That will take time, dude."
"Then you better get started," Ace said with a smile.
Cosmo grimaced and grabbed the print, then turned to Angel and started hacking commands into the system. He placed the print on a scanner and scanned it. Entering the rough outline of where he wanted Angel to search, Cosmo continued typing. Ace watched him for a while, then silently left the computer room.

* * *

The training room was silent except for the rustle of clothes and the normally inaudible hum of the air-conditioner. Cosmo was dressed up in his training suit, which was just as brightly colored as his normal outfit, and Ace had shed the cloak and jacket, as well as his shoes. He stood next to his apprentice, watching Cosmo go through the relaxation techniques.
It was just after three p.m. and Cosmo had announced that Angel was running the search patterns and there was nothing else to do but wait. So they had gone back to their normal day-to-day routines, though Ace was slightly more preoccupied than he would have wanted to be.
Cosmo exhaled softly and opened his hand, a ball of light appearing in it. It was a perfect globe, silvery with a faintly blue touch in the center, and it hovered barely a hair's breadth over his skin. He gazed at it with intense concentration, then opened his other hand, a similar globe appearing inside it. This one had a solid center, though. A small, hard rubber ball was levitated in the middle. Cosmo started to smile as the two balls rose elegantly, then met in the middle and twirled around each other.
Ace smiled as well, pride flooding through him. Cosmo was getting better by the day and if he could get past both his sometimes rising insecurities and the anxieties to learn everything faster than he should, Ace was convinced magic wouldn't be so hard for him to work. There were backlashes now and then, and they hurt. Ace knew about the pain and he knew Cosmo was angry at himself every time, but that was not the way. Levitation was not his forte and so far, this was his greatest success. He needed to be completely relaxed to achieve this feat.
"Shoot them away," he now said, voice calm and controlled.
Cosmo had once told him that whenever he needed help, either emotional of physical in the matters of magic, he found that Ace's voice was the perfect guide. He could home in on it, use it as an anchor, followed its instructions, and it worked nine times out of ten. Ace had felt a bit embarrassed at first, but now he used his voice like any other tool he had to teach Cosmo his powers.
The younger man held a look of intense concentration and the balls quivered, then one zinged away. It hit the far end of the lab's re-enforced wall and the magic splattered like water against the metal. The second ball wasn't so cooperative. It went on an errand zigzag course and suddenly careened left, right toward Ace. Cosmo gave a gasp, flung out one hand and tried to stop the object.
Ace felt a shift in the magic pattern and realized that Cosmo had done just the opposite. He had fed more energy into it. The rubber ball shot toward him at an impossible speed and he barely had his hands up in time. He whipped up a shield, focusing as much magic as he could possibly dare within a nanosecond into the shield. The rubber ball hit with the force of a miniature comet and Ace felt the impact reverberate through his wrists, clenching his teeth.
"Oh god, Ace, I'm sorry!" Cosmo exclaimed, eyes wide. His face was covered by a fine sheet of sweat and he was breathing hard.
So was Ace. He rubbed his abused wrists and summoned a smile. "It's okay. No harm done. I think you switched the spells."
Cosmo snorted, shaking his head. "You can say that again. Man, I thought I had it worked out this time!"
His shoulders slumped and he glared at the rubber ball that now lay at Ace's feet.
"Next time," Ace reassured him.
Another snort. Cosmo picked up the rubber ball and glared some more at it. Ace clapped him on the shoulder.
"Come on, let's finish for today. I wanted to go out to Arrows Park anyway."
Cosmo looked questioningly at him. "Arrows Park?"
"The place where the dummy bomb went up."
"Crime scene then. Cool."
Only Cosmo could come up with that description, Ace thought, shaking his head.

Arrows Park was one of those small parks inside Electro City's city limits, frequented by mothers with their kids, joggers, cyclists and teenagers who wanted to skate or play. The park was sectioned into several areas. One was completely off limits for skaters and preferred by the mothers and their babies, the other was purely for skating, cycling and whatever other sport because it offered a variety of paths and even obstacles. There was a section with a small forest and a natural path for joggers that led to the large lake of the park, and it was here where Ace Cooper had been drawn.
At this time of the day, way past opening hours for the offices and before midday breaks, there was barely a soul running the path. Ace walked along the cool, shady way, alert eyes taking in the scenery. It was beautiful, peaceful and very secluded. There was barely any traffic noise even though the street was just a few blocks away.
"Yo, man, over here!"
Cosmo's voice alerted him and he walked to where the teenager was crouching next to a gnarled tree. Bushes grew around the tree and hid most of what lay behind.
"Look at that," Cosmo said and pointed at something on the ground.
Ace crouched down as well and whistled softly. There was a hole in the ground, about the size of a bean can, and a cut off wire lay next to it. A bit of darkened earth told that something had burned here and scrap metal lay around the hole. Cosmo had lifted the wire with a twig and studied it.
"Must have been attached to a remote detonator," he said, pointing at the tiny noose.. "Someone took it off, removed whatever was in that hole, and left everything as it was."
Ace pulled out the print of the bird statue and looked around. He found a place where it would most likely have stood. Sometimes, like right now, he wished he could do reconstruction magic. Those mages were rare indeed. Reconstruction magic used the energy of the Magic Force to delve back into the past and look for clues in a specific area. It was like taking finger prints to visualize invisible traces. Ace had met only one such mage, a very old man who had been a friend of Anna's, and he had shivered away from the almost bitter taste of the magic he had wielded. It wasn't really bad magic, just something he didn't like. Just like Kate didn't really like the Magic Force flaring so completely, as she was a nature mage and channeled softer powers.
"Take the shrapnel and wire along," he now instructed Cosmo. "I want Angel to analyze it."
Cosmo grabbed a small plastic bag he had brought along and dumped whatever he could find inside, also scooping up some of the blackened earth.
They made their way back out of the park fifteen minutes later with nothing new.

* * *

"Are you sure it was him?"
The balding, stocky man looked at Vega, eyes lying deep, eyebrows drawn down. He was wearing a dark blue coat and had his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"I am sure, Derek. He's dead. Dead as a doornail. We all saw him."
Vega sighed and shook his head. "What if he survived?"
"He didn't."
The walked silently for a while, Vega watching business men hurrying along the streets, cell phones crammed between shoulder and ear, cabs driving around and dropping off people, and dozens of men and women in crisp outfits storming into buildings or leaving them. The financial district was always busy, especially around lunch time.
"And before you come up with all kinds of scenarios, we found his body. He was burned to cinder and had a bullet in his head. He's dead. The DNA test showed it was him. He's dead!"
Vega took out the bird statue and handed it to his companion. The stocky man took it, turning it around in his fingers. "And that shows what? Anyone could have left it there! You have enemies, Derek. As a cop, you have a lot."
Vega grimaced. "Yes, I know. But why plant a dummy and leave the bird?"
"If it had been him, he wouldn't have left a dummy. You are dealing with a copy cat."
The old cop frowned deeply.
"Vega...."
"Yeah, yeah. Do me a favor, Charlie.... get me the file on him."
"Oh, come on..."
"Please."
"Okay, all right, fine. I'll get you what you want." Charlie hunched his shoulders slightly and watched some women in business suits rush by. "Not a bad set of legs."
Vega rolled his eyes, but he didn't comment.
"You'll have it tonight," Charlie promised, then nodded a good-bye and disappeared in the bustling business crowd.
Vega remained behind, the ill feeling that had followed him rising again. His hand clenched around the statue and he walked off to where he had parked his car, ignoring everyone around him.

* * *

"Angel finished the analysis of the soil probes I took along," Cosmo said and looked at the screen. "Dirt. Lots of it. Chemicals I haven't heard of before. Decayed plant life. Dead ants." He grinned briefly.
"What chemicals?" Ace wanted to know.
"Uh, here's the list." Ace handed the print to Ace.
The older man looked over it with a light frown. "Firecrackers," he then said. "Harmless, but loud and spectacular."
"Dummy bomb," Cosmo shrugged.
"Exactly. That's what Ms. LeSage said. Someone set up an elaborate dummy and it sent Vega into behaving completely secretive."
"Must be the bird. Angel's still working on it." There was a chirping sound and Cosmo looked at the screen. "Bingo!" He grinned like a kid on Christmas and Ace raised both eyebrows, silently asking what was going on.
"Got a match on the bird statue, Ace. Here." He typed a command and the large screen lit up with the picture of the statue.
It was their bird, but it wasn't the picture Ace had given Cosmo. This one came from an old police file and Ace didn't dare ask how Cosmo had gotten his fingers on that. His young friend had programmed Angel to research files all over the archives, and somehow she had found the match in the police files.
"Evidence?" he now read, asking it as a question.
"Yup. Still trying to get the whole case file, but it looks like a guy named Victor Kastell left those little birds wherever he set off a bomb. They called him 'Phoenix'."
A police case then. And it was connected to Vega. Ace frowned. "Can you get the whole archived file?"
"In time, yes. Looks like they have a new firewall and...." Cosmo trailed off, grinned and shrugged at Ace's expression. "I'm on it," he announced cheerfully.
"Anything on the statue as such? Something we can use?"
Cosmo looked through the accumulated data. "Okay, let's see..... the bird is made out of PurGlass, a kind of plastic glass, but still real enough to be mistaken for the real thing. I ran a check on what companies produce the stuff and came up with a really small list. Did another check on them, but that will take a while."
"Anything else?" he asked.
"Nope, that's all."
"Not much," Ace sighed.
"Well, I could try getting into the mainframe....." Cosmo said slowly. "Maybe dig around the police files some more."
"I don't want to know, Cosmo," Ace laughed.
Cosmo grinned widely, then turned back to the computer.
Ace really didn't want to know what Cosmo did in his spare time, or ever, when he was at the computer. As long as he wasn't arrested for something or other concerning white collar crimes, Ace never asked too many question out of principle. Well, it would give him some time to catch up on his own stuff, something he had neglected lately. Short of asking Vega himself, which was not a good idea anyway, Ace had no other leads, and he had promised Ms. LeSage not to approach the lieutenant. He had to wait for the results Cosmo could get out of the computer.
Suddenly he stopped and nearly banged his head against a wall. He had a date with Mona this afternoon! Ace sighed. He had nearly forgotten over the whole mystery with the bird and the attack. He would honor the date. He hadn't seen Mona in a while, mainly due to her promotional tour, and he enjoyed every minute with her. Private dates were rare and always treasured.

* * *

"Derek?"
Vega was torn out of his thoughts by the soft voice and looked up, looking into the familiar face of Mareen LeSage, his secretary, assistant and ... more. He didn't know when the whole friendship had turned into a relationship, but he hadn't really fought it. Not anymore. In the beginning, yes. He had fought every relationship, possible or impossible. After Suzan's death, Vega had plunged into a hole of despair. She had been the love of his life, she had been his life, and cancer had taken her from him. Modern medicine, as advanced as it was, had been unable to heal her. She had died after putting up a good fight, and Vega had mourned for a long time.
One person had guided him out of this darkness: a young, desperate boy called Ace Cooper. As much as Vega had helped Ace to get out of this swamp of crime, Ace had done a lot for the cop as well -- without even knowing it. Mareen LeSage had stepped into his life two years after his promotion to Lieutenant. She had been a business-like person, able to get order into the chaos he called his filing system within merely a week. She had not only worked for him but for a lot of officers, but Friedrichs had decided that his officers needed to work effectively, not worrying about minor filing work. Vega had found himself fighting to get Ms LeSage as his secretary and she had stayed.
They had become friends and she had helped him a lot throughout his career, which had been hindered and full of obstacles because of Captain Friedrichs. He still remembered her being so proud when he was about to receive his medal of honor from Friedrichs and how she had hung it up in the office for everyone to see. She was proud of him.... very much so, she had told him once. And throughout it all, their friendship had grown.
That Ace had needled him about it, had pushed him gently but firmly to make a little step forward and then another one, had been a decisive factor as well. His younger friend had known even before Vega had realized what was going on, and he had not given up.
Now.... well, now was hard to define. There was something between them and Vega enjoyed it. He enjoyed going out together, or sitting at home on the couch and just watching a movie, or driving somewhere over the weekend when he had some free time -- which was sparse anyway. They had gone from formal address to first name basis around the office as well when they were among themselves, though to the outside, they upheld the formalities. It was a game and both enjoyed it.
"Uh, hi," he now stuttered. "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to visit family....?"
Mareen had said something about dropping by her sister's place because of the new baby.
"Irene called. She has the flu and Hank took the baby to stay with his mother."
Vega nodded slowly. Something akin to dread formed in his stomach.
"Are you okay?"
She had asked him the same the day he had come back to his office when the dummy had exploded. He had been rattled, but he didn't want anyone to know. This was personal, it involved no one, and he had been glad that Mareen had decided to leave town for a day or two. Now she was here.... and she was a close friend of his. What if....?
He shook his head. "No, not really," he confess. She knew him too well to be deceived by a lie. "Listen, I know it sounds strange, but I don't want us to be together for a while. Until the problem that has arisen is solved."
Mareen gave him an odd look. He didn't see any hurt in her eyes, nor any distrust, just confusion and the need to know. "What happened?"
"It's something out of my past and I hope to shove it back into it soon. It will be over soon," he said forcefully. "Mareen, please, don't ask why, but I want you away from here. It might be dangerous."
"Dangerous as in getting kidnapped by a computer creature come to life?" she asked calmly.
He sighed. "More, Mareen, much more. Please?"
"Tell me why? We always talked about such things...."
"Not about this. Believe me, the less you know, the better."
Mareen LeSage looked at him long and hard, then nodded slowly, but he didn't like her expression one bit. "It's about the bird, right?"
It stunned him. Vega was frozen for a moment, unable to say something. "How.... how do you know about the bird?" he finally stuttered.
"A picture of a blue bird glass figure lay next to the waste bin. I picked it up. It was in the unmarked envelope, right? That lay in the bin. Nothing else was in there."
A thousand things shot through his head. First he wanted to yell at her why she had searched his waste. Then he reminded himself that she hadn't. The picture had fallen beside the waste basket. Then he wanted her to forget about it all, deny anything that had to do with the picture. And he wanted to tell her that she was a damn good detective. She was like Suzan in so many ways: inquisitive, seeing through him when he tried to lie, compassionate and offering help when she saw he needed it..... and a sigh in her eyes when she realized that he was being stubborn.
No words left his lips. He flailed for something to say, desperation rising inside him.
"I can't tell you, Mareen. It's too dangerous. Please, just listen to me!"
She sighed and took his hand, squeezing it. "Why do you think you have to fight this alone when you have friends, Derek?"
He had no answer and he hated himself for it. Maybe because he felt the need to get to the bottom of this alone. No, that wasn't it. He had to do it because no one else should get hurt.
"Don't ask," was all he said and rose from the chair.
He left his office without looking back, hating himself even more. Hands shoved into his coat's pocket, Derek Vega left the precinct.

* * *

Mona gazed at the dark-haired man opposite of her at the table of the small restaurant, smiling at the slightly pre-occupied expression in his gray eyes. An empty plate that had contained blackened shrimp, noodles and broccoli sat in front of them and the smell of fish hung tantalizingly in the air. The restaurant was of the older ones in Electro City. The room it encompassed was small, fitting about ten tables of various sizes. All were decorated with a dark blue checkered table cloth, a small vase with fresh flowers and a delicate figurine that seemed to hug and dance around the blue vase.
"Ace?" she asked gently.
"Hm? Oh!" He looked flustered and slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mona. I didn't mean to be rude."
Ace and rude. Right! The man had no idea what rude was when it came to his dating life.
She touched his hand. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not really." He summoned a smile.
"And unreally?"
Ace chuckled and she smiled in return. "It's something a friend asked me to look into and it develops into something quite complicated." He shrugged. "I'm sorry for dragging my problems into this date."
"You want to run it by me? Hear another opinion?" she offered. Ace rarely talked about problems, but sometimes he did and she found it helped him if he did.
Now he hesitated a moment, but Mona didn't feel insulted. Ace was a private person and if he needed the privacy, he would have it.
"Someone made an attempt on Vega's life a few days ago," he then said softly. "It was a dummy bomb, but something scared him about it. He didn't come to me, Ms. LeSage did, out of worry because he started to behave strangely." Ace sighed. "I don't know what to make of it."
Mona felt her stomach contract. Someone tried to scare a cop with a dummy? She knew it hadn't been her father. He didn't go after cops without a reason and he didn't warn them with dummies. Even though he had a reason not to like Vega, he was careful not to get into the line of fire of a police killer hunt.
"I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who might do this," Ace went on. "I know it wasn't your father, Mona, neither was it Sunny Boy or any of the smaller crime bosses." He gave her a humorless smile. "They wouldn't want the police in uproar over the murder of one of their own, especially someone so well-known and liked."
She nodded. "I know my father wouldn't try such a thing. He knows he would face more than just the police." She met his eyes.
Ace's expression was serious, then he sighed. "I shouldn't get you involved, Mona. We have so little time together....."
Mona squeezed his hand, interrupting him. "If you have a problem and I can help, even if just by listening to it, I want to, Ace."
The magician smiled, his eyes lighting up with relief. "Walk?" he offered softly.
She nodded and rose elegantly. They left the small establishment where they were seen more or less regularly. Arm in arm, the two walked along the canal, the sun reflecting off the still waters, the sound of the soft lapping of waves against the concrete mixing with laughter and cries from children on the grass of the opposite bank of the canal. Mona listened to Ace talk, explain what he had tried to do, what puzzled him so far, what he was looking for.
They sat down on a bench, just another couple among the others walking the path along the canal. Leaning against him, Mona enjoyed the time they had. Ace kissed her head.
"Thanks for listening. It helps to sort my thoughts."
She chuckled. "You are welcome."

* * *

He had walked aimlessly for a while, the sun beating down on him on this almost perfect day, and he had finally shed the coat to walk around in his short-sleeve shirt. His feet took him through Arrows Park where he stopped almost unconsciously next to where the fake had meant to frighten him two days ago. Just two days.
Vega sighed. He forced himself to continue walking and finally sat down next to one of the many fountains in the City. He watched the people, the roller bladers, the kids hanging around the ice cream parlor, the couples walking hand in hand, the business people..... the world. All of that was not important to him because one man had come back into his life, threatening to destroy it.
Suddenly the com rang. Police frequency, he noted with dull interest. He answered it, sounding almost disinterested.
"Lieutenant? Masterson here. Sorry to disturb you, but a body was found and it might interest you, Sir."
He sighed silently. "My case?"
"No, not yet, but the man carried a note with your name in it."
He blinked. "Where are you, Sergeant?"
"4th, corner of Kretch Drive."
Not the best of addresses, but not yet the worst part of town. "I'm on my way. Vega out."

It wasn't a pretty sight and it wasn't only the garbage lying everywhere. It wasn't even the stench. It was the body, half-covered but clearly visible between the garbage. Vega tried not to breathe too deeply as he waded over the garbage bags to where some uniformed police officers stood.
"Lieutenant," one of the uniforms called, waving at him.
Vega walked over, stepping through some squishy stuff, which he didn't want to know of what it was, especially since some of it stubbornly clung to his foot.
"What do you have, Sergeant?" he asked.
"Male body," Masterson said. "Died somewhere around last night by the looks of it, or a bit earlier. One of the employees of the supermarket this dump belongs to found it."
Vega glanced at the body and grimaced. The man was partially naked, as far as he could see, and lying on his chest. The lower part of the body was covered by a large, empty plastic bag. There were some bruises on his arms and back.
"Is the coroner on her way?" Vega asked, coughing and batting at the flies.
"Yes. Called a few minutes ago."
"What about this piece of paper with my name on it?"
Masterson held up a transparent plastic bag and handed it to the lieutenant. It was a small piece of note paper and someone had scrawled his name and cell number on it. Vega looked at the man again and suddenly squinted. There was something visible beneath the bruise, something like a tattoo....?
"Oh, no," he whispered and bent over the corpse. "Charlie?"
Masterson looked at him in surprise. "You know him?"
"I..... think so." Vega crouched down beside the body and tried to get a better look at the face buried in the garbage bags. "Charlie Shultz. Former colleague of mine, good friend..... god, why?"
Masterson made a note. "That's why he had your number?"
Vega nodded. "Yes. I asked him for a favor..... something personal."
"I understand."
Vega straightened and discovered that the car of the coroner had arrived.
A blonde woman got out of the car, her overall behavior radiating cold professionalism. She looked around the garbage dump and wrinkled her nose.
"Let's go, Bob," she told one of her assistants, who was carrying a camera. Then she spotted Vega and Masterson. A smile appeared on her face.
"Hello, Lieutenant, Sergeant."
Masterson returned the smile politely, nodding to her. "Dr. Esther."
"Trisha," she told him. "I thought we had agreed on Trisha."
"Ehm, of course."
Amused by the other man's confusion and obvious loss of words, Vega grinned. It was an open secret that Patricia Esther was trying to get Masterson on a date, but the good-looking sergeant was resisting so far.
"What do we have?"
"Charlie Shultz," Vega answered. "Former police officer, now private investigator. I knew him. He was a friend."
A compassionate look crossed her feature. "I'm sorry. Are you in charge of the case, lieutenant?"
"No. The sergeant just asked me over because my name was found with the victim. I think Friedrichs will assign someone else."
She nodded and gestured at Bob to begin. He started to take pictures from every possible angle while Trisha took a look at the body at the scene of the crime and spoke into a hand held recorder.
Vega decided to leave. There was nothing he could do, except calm the dread in his stomach. Someone had killed Charlie. Because he had researched something in the personal case Vega was following? Or because he had pissed off someone else? He had no idea, but he would find out.

* * *

Pathology wasn't exactly one of Vega's favorite places to be in the precinct. He hated the strangely smelling, greenish white room with the metal tables and the medical instruments. He hated it even more to look at the bodies. They reminded him of crimes he had been unable to stop from happening, of his short-comings as a police officer, and of mortality, something he didn't dwell on very often. Right now there was only one body, lying on the table in the middle of the room. It was covered by a white sheet and only the feet stuck out from under it. A name and number tag was attached to the big toe of one foot.
Dr. Patricia Esther was just stripping off blood-covered clothes and dumping them into a plastic waste bag. When Vega entered she looked up, smiling briefly.
"Hello, Lieutenant."
"Hi, Doc."
"You want to know about the body, right?"
Vega nodded.
"Well, all I can tell you is that he was shot at close quarters by a plasma gun. He died immediately. Whoever shot him, he erased his finger prints and he tried the same with the teeth, but we did a DNA match. Charles Robert Shultz, ex-cop. But I think you know his file."
Vega looked at the single body, wondering if that was Charlie, then tore himself out of those morose thoughts. "Yeah, I know the file," he said softly.
"You were friends?"
He nodded. "Good friends. He worked as my informant now and then."
"I'm sorry."
Vega smiled dimly. "Yeah. Do you know whose case it is?"
"Hm, let me see." She picked up a slim folder. "Sergeant Metcalfe."
Vega knew Metcalfe. Damn good detective -- as long as he had a desk and a donut. He hated footwork and he was bad with people, but he had a quick mind. Well, Charlie could have picked worse as a detective to find his murderer. And there was still Vega himself: he planned not to be left out of this.
"Thanks, Doc."
"Later!" she called as he left.
The doors swung shut after him and Vega quickly left the basement. The smell of the morgue followed him all the way upstairs and he decided to get some fresh air. There was somewhere he had to be, someone he had to contact.

Vega stood in front of the CyberCafe, feeling rather unwell being here. Not that it was a bad place to be in. This part of town was really safe, a touristy spot, with clean sidewalks, cut trees, ornamental laps posts and full of small shops selling everything from flowers to groceries and tidbits for everyone. The CyberCafe was a meeting point for hackers, computer lovers and those without one of the rather expensive Net connections that allowed instantaneous transfer of documents, picture files and larger zipped files. Usually, special services and libraries had the NetCon lines. You didn't need it at home, really.
He stepped into the cafe, eyes scanning over the patrons present. Some were business people, some were kids playing a fancy online game that only NetCon could give them, and others seemed to be here on private business, transferring files or chatting with someone in the soundproof booths. Vega nodded at the man behind the main control counter, walking through the rows of booths, some with darkened windows that gave the occupant the greatest possible privacy. He chose a booth in a far corner and entered. The screen was dark and the instructions on how to use the equipment was pinned to the opposite wall.
Vega sat down, followed the step-by-step instructions, and the screen lit up. He ordered the windows to be darkened and waited. The light inside remained the same as the world outside the booth seemed to disappear. When he was sure he had privacy, the cop typed in a password and waited. The reaction was instantaneous, much faster than at his office computer.
I need information on the Phoenix case> he typed without an obvious recipient in the chat room.
Look into your archive> was the answer from the ghost he was talking with.
You know I won't find much>
What do you want?>
Vega knew this was a secure line. NetCon took great care of that and even if it was a public cafe, no one would be able to simply hack into this mainframe. And his conversation partner was taking care of that as well.
Whatever is not in the file>
The Phoenix has risen?>
He could almost imagine the malicious grin behind the question.
Just get me the information>
I will contact you when I have what you want> the ghost answered, then signed off.
Vega sat back, exhaling slowly. He hadn't wanted to go this way, he hadn't wanted to use extreme measures, but Charlie had been killed. They didn't know who had done it and the case had low priority anyway. A murdered PI wasn't really making the news nowadays, especially one who wasn't a social highlight. He sighed. Poor Charlie. He had been a good friend, a long-time friend, and a very good informant. Now he was dead, killed by whoever was rising from the dead... or raising the dead. Vega would find the guy. He had sworn he would.

* * *

Mareen LeSage walked up the steps to the apartment complex, pulling out the key card to the main entrance. She went inside when the door opened and toward the elevator that soon took her to the forth floor apartment she was aiming at. She had been here before countless times, she knew it inside out, and she liked to come again whenever she could. It was the reason why Derek had given her the spare key card. She smiled as she remembered that day, how he had shyly offered her the access card.
Shy.
Derek Vega, shy.
It was another reason to smile, mainly because the large cop was anything but shy in his public life. But when it came to something like this, he failed miserably. Their relationship had been developing for a while now. Mareen had been his secretary almost right from the day he had made lieutenant, and in time, she had developed a slight crush on him. The crush had mellowed into admiration and devotion. Then the lieutenant himself had started to show his affection. It had surprised her, but that was just Vega. He could hit you with something like this out of the blue, then stumble away, stammer and blush.
Well, Mareen thought as she opened the apartment door, for a year now they had gone out regularly. Vega tried to keep this relationship under wraps, but the whole precinct knew -- had known even before he had confessed his growing affection for her. Pushing the door open, Ms. LeSage smiled more. He was cute when he was embarrassed, and this had embarrassed him. It still did. But their relationship was something cherished and beautiful, and she didn't want it any other way.
Tonight she had planned to cook for him and even this weird case where he had told her that maybe they shouldn't see each other for a while. Mareen wouldn't have that. She was dating a cop and she knew Vega's life was dangerous. She could take care of herself, she didn't need to be handled like a kid. Derek would probably blow a blood vessel tonight, but she didn't think it would last long.
The door swung open and she stepped into the single apartment. It was big enough for one man, but she wouldn't want to move in. It was too cramped. They had talked about this once and had come to the conclusion that they would keep their separate apartments.
Mareen never heard the almost inaudible clicking sound. All she heard was the deafening roar. All the saw was the firewall coming toward her. All she felt was the hot air brushing over her and something hard hitting her in the back. Then there was nothing but silence.

* * *

Chaos.
As always.
Vega couldn't remember a visit to the ER -- and there had been many of those for him or his friends -- when it wasn't like standing in the middle of a winter sale. Only that this sale wasn't screaming women tugging and tearing clothes to the cashiers, fighting whoever got in the way. This was a nightmarish scene of people in pain, suffering, crying, asking for help. This was a place he hated to visit but found himself in again and again.
Vega glanced at the clock on the wall. It was close to five in the afternoon. Three hours of surgery and no word from the doctor. He felt a headache approaching, which, combined with his overall emotional state, made him feel sick and beaten. With a jerky move he stood, starting to pace. He stopped in front of one wall, staring at the modern picture of a landscape, which -- according to the architect who had furnished the room -- would soothe people. It didn't soothe Vega. He would have loved to slam his fist into the wall if he hadn't been afraid to break his wrist. He would be of no use in finding the bomber if he had a broken wrist.
The bomber. Hatred welled up inside of him and his stomach lurched again. The bomb had aimed at him. It had hit Mareen instead. She had taken a hit that should have killed him. Now she was in the hospital, they were operating, and no one could tell him how bad it really was.
The headache launched a full scale attack. Closing his eyes he felt the world starting to spin around him. He groaned and buried his head in his hands.
"Lieutenant?"
He looked up and discovered Masterson. The sergeant stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
"Any word?" he asked.
Vega shook his head.
"I'm sorry. Uh, sir, I need to ask you a few questions....." He looked a bit hesitant.
The older cop sighed. "Yeah, I know. Go ahead. You in charge of the investigation?"
Masterson nodded. Vega liked the younger man a lot. He was very capable and if he got through the lieutenant exams just fine, and Vega had no doubt he would, the precinct would soon have another lieutenant for one of the many departments. Masterson would probably go into white collar crimes or explosives, something he was really good in.
"Okay, fire ahead," Vega now said, trying to chase away the darkness in his mind.
Masterson questioned him for about an hour, jotting down notes, running through the whole questionnaire Vega knew so well. And he hated to have to lie to the other officer. He had an idea who was behind it all, but he couldn't give them the name of a ghost, even if the ghost had risen from the dead. He didn't need Friedrichs breathing down his neck because of that. It was the last he wanted to have to deal with.
The door opened and both men looked up. A curly haired, slightly round woman entered and looked around, her soft brown eyes coming to rest on the two waiting men in the room. "Lieutenant Vega?" she asked.
Vega rose, as did Masterson. "That's me."
"Dr. Fergusson. I operated on Mareen LeSage."
"How is she?"
"She has just been taken to the intensive care unit. We don't know yet, lieutenant. She is in a critical condition right now. We have to closely monitor her for the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours. After that time we can tell if she might pull through."
Vega felt like his world was tilting. Mareen's condition was critical. She might pull through. God, no ....!
"Thank you," he mumbled. "Has her family been informed?"
Fergusson nodded. "A nurse called them and they will be here soon. I can't let anyone in with her at the moment. Intensive Care is off limits for now. We have to see how her condition changes."
Vega swallowed and nodded slowly. "Thanks."
"You should go home, lieutenant. There is nothing you can do."
Another nod. Fergusson left and Vega screwed his eyes shut.
"Lieutenant, if you want me to drive you home...." Masterson offered, then shook his head. "Whoops, no. Your apartment is still in the hands of the lab people."
Vega smiled dimly. "Thanks for the offer, sergeant, but I'll manage."
Masterson looked doubtful, but he didn't press on. Both left the hospital together. Vega got into his car and drove off, aimless and lost in thought.

He ended up in the precinct, suffering through an encounter with Captain Friedrichs, which went by in a blur. He didn't really know what his superior wanted, just that he was glad when the man went back to his own office. There had been something about not being part of the investigation, about cooperating with the officer in charge of it, and a brief expression of sympathy. Vega grimaced.
Getting a coffee that tasted like it had been reheated twice in a row after something had died in it, he found himself in his office again. Staring at the open cases he still needed to work on, as well as the closed files that needed filing and then had to be sent down to the microfilm archive, he lost himself in the darkness. He knew he was about to explode. All the pent-up anger and pain was boiling close to the surface, ready to leap into the face of the one who got into his way, and everyone who was about to cross his path, took one look at Vega's expression and left. A few colleagues had inquired about Mareen now and then, some of her friends as well but he had answered vaguely, unable to recall all the doctors had told him.
But he knew.
He knew every little detail.
Broken ribs, first and second degree burns on the arms, shoulder, neck and face, lacerations, concussion, ruptured spleen and lung, the list seemed to be endless. Her head was in a metal construction to keep her from moving it should Mareen wake, because her neck had been seriously injured as well. Two cracked vertebrae.
Vega buried his head in his hands. Her still, lax and too pale face sprang into his mind, the ugly burns and bruises, the light brown hair spilling lifelessly over the pillow. All his fault. All. His. Fault! He should have been more insistent, should have forced her to take a few days off or locked the apartment or.... Countless possibilities what he could have done better, all worthless now that it had happened. Colleagues were all over his place, looking for traces, scraping together what was left of the explosive device, but Vega knew what they would find. He knew it exactly.
Inhaling deeply, the cop shoved himself off the chair and left the office. He was aware that with his rather limited resources as a police officer, he couldn't even dream of getting to the person behind this. He needed help, but not the usual help. He ignored whoever was trying to talk to him, aware that he was rude, but Vega didn't care. If Friedrichs had announced his suspension right now, he wouldn't even have lifted an eyebrow. He as beyond caring.
And because of that, he knew, he was going to contact Brannigan again. He was his only choice, the only way to get what he wanted, without breaking too many rules visibly. Vega winced at the mere thought of having to meet with the man again. He didn't like him, never had and never would. Something about him creeped him out big time and he couldn't put his finger on it.
But, he had no choice.
He had to talk to Brannigan. Taking out his cell phone, he called a number he'd rather not use at all and waited for an answer.

* * *

The sun was slowly setting over Electro City. A golden hue touched the roof tops and window fronts, giving the whole place a magical touch. Ace didn't have time to take in the evening beauty. He was more concerned about the encounter he was about to have.
Ace didn't know what he would say and how he could get Vega to talk, but he knew he'd think of something. His long legs ate up the stairs toward the police precinct and he nodded absent-mindedly to the people who passed him and called a greeting. He simply knew they had to talk, Vega and him. Following the twists and turns of the precinct corridors he knew by heart, he almost missed someone.
Ace blinked.
Impossible!
He stopped and looked over to the staircase where he could see a tall man walk slowly down, as if he had all the time in the world. Close-cropped blond, almost white hair, growing long at the base of his neck where the hair was bound into a kind of little pony-tail; a long, dark blue coat hid the body; a angular face, tanned and unmarked by age. Ace felt the blood drain from his face, even if he couldn't' really give a satisfactory reason why. It was just an instinctive reaction to the man.
"Brannigan!" he whispered.
What did he want here?
The answer came right after the question and he didn't really like it. There was only one reason and one person to get this man to come here: Derek Vega. But why would Vega call for him?
Deeply disturbed, Ace followed the corridor to the office he knew so well. He barely even remembered knocking and coming in, but when he was greeted by silence, he snapped back to reality. Ms LeSage, Vega's secretary and the good soul of this place, was not at her desk. Not too unusual. She was sometimes busy in the microfilm archive or was going after some file research, so Ace didn't give it a second thought. The coffee machine was shut off and the coffee was cold and probably stale.
Ace went over to the milky white glass door and knocked. "Vega?"
No answer.
He pushed the door open and walked into the office. Vega was there, sitting behind his desk, gun on the table top, checking the weapon. Something cold trickled inside Ace's gut.
"Hi," he said cautiously.
Vega didn't even look up, just checked the loading status of the gun and holstered it. "I'm busy," he said coolly and got up.
"I...."
Vega brushed past him into the small room that was Ms LeSage's domain.
"Vega, we need to talk!" Ace insisted, puzzled by his friend's behavior.
The white-haired cop went on walking, ignoring Ace. He kept on following.
"Derek....."
"It's none of your business," was the brisk answer.
"I just want to help."
"It's none of your business!" Vega repeated, a dangerous tone to his voice.
"Because it's personal?" Ace asked quietly.
Vega stopped, shoulders rigid. He turned slowly, brown eyes fiery cold. "It's police business."
Ace managed a smile in spite of the utterly dark look on his friend's face. "That never stopped you from asking my help."
Vega's face grew into a mask. "Keep out of this, Ace," he said coolly. "It doesn't concern you."
"Derek, please....!"
"I said keep out of it!" Vega snapped. "To you it's just another publicity stunt anyway, right? Like back with the Hamlin brothers? You just want the fame and the good pr! But this is police business! Brutal, hard work without rewards and I'm fed up with you getting in my way!"
Ace recoiled like hit by a whip. The tone.... Vega had never really lost it, but now.... now.... And the words stung, they really stung. Ace had never done anything because of publicity. He had never assisted because he wanted a good press. He did it to help, pure and simple, and Vega knew that. Or didn't he?
"I want to help as a friend," he said, trying to ignore the expression in Vega's eyes.
"I don't need your help, Cooper!"
"But you need Brannigan's?"
The moment it was out, Ace wished he hadn't said it. Vega closed up completely, his face a pale, rigid mask, and his hands curled into fists.
"Don't interfere," he hissed. "Who I ask for help and why is my problem, not yours! Now leave!"
"Or what? You'll arrest me?" Ace asked quietly, trying to shake the dread he felt creeping up his spine.
Vega's expression told him enough. Ace inhaled deeply, then nodded. A feeling of deep hurt crawled up inside him.
"Okay, have it your way. But remember that I'm there for you in case you decide otherwise....."
No answer. Vega just turned and stared out of the window. Ace left, steps heavy. This was not the Derek Vega he was used to. Something had spooked him, had destroyed something inside him, and whatever it was, Ace Cooper would find it.

* * *

Vega looked at his shaking hands, was aware of his queasy stomach, and the emotional upheaval in his mind.
He had yelled at Ace.
Out of anger, rage, pain and whatever else was inside him. He had pushed his friend away violently, had threatened to arrest him, and Ace had left. Vega still saw the hurt expression in his friend's eyes, the shock, and the realization that Vega meant it.
He had at the time.
Now he only felt a faint residue of that rage, but a lot more pain.
"Do you know what time it is?"
The question made him look up, straight at a woman in an officer's uniform. He knew her. Lori Calvicci. Fine officer, really good lieutenant. She was leading the department that was mainly busy with small crimes. Lots of those in Electro City.
Vega glanced at his desk clock.
"Something after nine," he answered warily. "Why?"
"You've been here for two whole shifts, y'know."
He quirked an eyebrow. "And what are you still doing here?"
She smiled. "I just finished another shift, lieutenant. I pulled double because I switched with Draven. So, what is your excuse for still hanging around these friendly quarters?" Lori prodded.
"Looking," he muttered, his eyes already back on the papers he had printed out of the computer. It was what had kept him occupied for the last hours, the time flying by unnoticed. Anything to keep him from thinking of the woman in the hospital.
"Looking for what?"
"A lead. And I'm waiting for Stan from the labs to come up with the results on that bomb." He tried to sound dismissive, but Lori was not easy to get rid of.
"I thought you were off the case?" She quirked an eyebrow.
Vega only scowled at her.
She ignored it. "Need some help? I'm good with computers."
The older cop sighed. "Thanks for the offer, Lori, but no thanks. It's enough if I'm in deep when Friedrichs finds out. Just go home."
The woman stifled a heavy sigh, knowing that she had no chance to get through to the man. "Okay," she finally gave in. "See you tomorrow."
Vega mumbled something incoherent and she left. Lori was gone for barely a minute when Stan called.
"I've got the results, Vega," he said, sounding as bored as ever.
"Finally!"
"Hey, come one!" the scientist protested. "It's not my fault that the captain decided there was something even more urgent and ...."
"Stan," Vega broke in. "What do you have?"
"Not much, really. I can give you a lit of chemicals that would bore you to death. None of them are out of the ordinary. All normal stuff you can get at every corner drugstore. The explosives as such are unremarkable as well. If you have connections, you get them from the underground. Trigger mechanism and housing are so simple, a school boy would understand how to build the stuff."
Vega groaned. "Damn! Nothing at all? Not even a slight hint at to where it was made and when?"
"Nope. I can tell you that it was handmade, built in some garage or basement. Maybe the bomber even bought the whole thing from one of the many criminals this city has. Sorry, Vega, but you won't get anything else off this thing."
"Yeah, thanks anyway, Stan." He sighed and put the receiver back in the cradle.
No leads.
Damn!
Vega rubbed his tired eyes and stared at the prints, which held nothing either.
Back to square one. Maybe even further.

* * *

Ace returned to the Express, his insides twisted in turmoil he couldn't calm. Vega's words echoed inside him again and again. Had he really said what he believed or was it because he needed to lash at someone and Ace had been a convenient target? Hopefully the latter..... hopefully! The Hamlin case had been solved by a lucky guess and a really lucky coincidence, but the press had chosen to give all the credit to Ace Cooper. They liked to polish his image as a crimefighter, though Friedrichs had done his share of polishing his own badge. Vega had been mentioned as one among many, though Ace had valiantly fought to give him the most credit. It had worked in a few cases, but for Paparazzo, Ace Cooper was a better viewer magnet. He hadn't thought it would really faze Vega at all.
Sighing, he walked into the Magic Express, pulling off his cape as he entered the living room. He draped it almost carelessly over the couch and went in search of Cosmo. His friend surely knew he had arrived, with the empathy and all.
He found Cosmo in the computer room, busily hacking away at the computer. It was the Memorial Hospital mainframe. Ace frowned briefly.
"Cosmo?"
Cosmo turned around, his expression slightly pale and fear-filled. Not a personal fear, more like he had read or heard something.... about someone....
"Cosmo?" Ace asked again, this time with apprehension.
"Something came in while you were gone, dude," Cosmo said slowly. "Someone bombed Vega's apartment."
"What?!"
Vega hadn't lost a word about that! Why?
"Bomb went off around noon." Cosmo swallowed. "Ace..... it hit Ms. LeSage...."
Ace paled dramatically. He couldn't get a word out for a few seconds, then he whispered, "Oh no...."
Everything fell into place. Vega's emotional disorder.... his sudden explosion into the face of his best friend.... his hurtful words..... But why hadn't he said something? Why?! And why had he called for Brannigan?
"How is she?"
"Not good. Broken bones, severe concussion, burns, injured inner organs..." Cosmo trailed off. "Really not good. Uh, how's Vega?"
Ace slumped against the console, rubbing his forehead. "Worse. He didn't tell me. About neither. Not the apartment, not the bomb.....nothing. He was actually less than civil." Another sigh.
Cosmo looked at him and Ace knew the expression. He was reading his emotions, too clearly for Ace's liking, but right now he didn't care. He felt miserable and even without being an empath, Cosmo could see it.
"Oh," was all he said. Then, "What now?"
"Now I'm going to pay someone a visit who might just tell me what the heck is going on." Ace turned and Cosmo rose to go with him. "Cosmo, I want you to stay here," the magician said.
"Uh, why?"
A stern expression fitted over Ace's features. "Please," was all he said.
Cosmo stopped, aware of something strange wafting over the empathic link, something he hadn't felt before. There was a reason why Ace wanted him to stay here, and somehow, Cosmo was inclined to follow. Something told him it was the reasonable thing to do, even if his stubbornness kicked in full time. He relented, nodding, and sat back down.
"Okay, man," he said quietly.
"Thanks."
Ace walked out of the Express and Cosmo was left with an ill feeling.

* * *

The police precinct was busy and Derek Vega managed to get to his desk unnoticed, much to his relief. He had been out and about the large building, calling in favors, asking for help on finding the man who had built the bomb and smuggled it into his apartment. Police was swarming all over the place, he knew, but they had found little. Very little. No prints, no scraps, just he leftovers of the bomb.
And blood.
Mareen's blood.
He swallowed heavily. No, he couldn't think of that right now. He had to concentrate on the facts, not the feelings.
Vega knew he had to report the incident to the lieutenant, especially after he thought that this guy might have something to do with him. If he really was the target... no, not if. He was. He knew he was. And because he was the target, it was police business.
He shook his head almost unconsciously at the thought. Police business my ass, he thought. This was personal and Friedrichs had no business knowing about it. Someone had planted a bomb at his apartment, yes, and he'd play along concerning the interviews and the search, but he would find the man and bring him down himself.
Dark thoughts of revenge flooded his mind and for a moment he enjoyed the violence they promised.
"Lieutenant?" The female voice startled him out of his thoughts and he looked up almost guiltily. It was Ellen LeBouch, one of the many civilian aides around here, and a friend of Mareen's. Right now she looked worriedly at him. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice a bit shaky.
"What?" He thought he knew what she meant, but wouldn't say a word more than he had to. His mind was frazzled, his thoughts always returning to the blood covered form of his secretary.
"You look like you could need some time out of the precinct," the dark-skinned woman said. "It can't be healthy to hide in the office all day."
"I'm fine," he told tiredly.
She gazed critically at him, then left.
Vega sighed deeply and ran splayed fingers through his hair. He felt like he needed more than time out of here. He felt like needed to be light-years away from this play, but his body wouldn't move. He just couldn't leave.
Maybe there was some information somewhere he could use.
Maybe the lab actually came up with something.
Maybe he could help by being here.
Maybe.....

* * *

Ace didn't know what creeped him out more: the almost normal look of the man opposite him or the sickening feeling in his gut that accompanied even thinking of him. Mark Brannigan was nothing special if you went by his appearance. He was a blond, almost white-haired man, medium height, with strikingly light blue eyes that seemed to have a faint gray touch. He was tanned, dressed in dark pants and a dark shirt that was in complete contrast to his fair hair. Sunglasses hid the unnerving eyes right now. Sometimes he wondered if Brannigan generated this normality somehow, then again: how?
Now and then Ace suspected that the man had magical powers like himself, but then again, no. Something was generally wrong about him and if he was a magician, Ace believed he would have seen traces of that before.
"I might have thought you would show up, Ace," he greeted the other man, his voice as normal as his appearance.
"Then you know why I'm here."
"And you know I can't give you what you seek."
Ace felt a little flame of anger rise. "Why? Because I'm not paying for the information?"
Brannigan smiled, showing even teeth. "It's not about money, it's about trust."
Ace gave a derisive snort. "Trust! Vega doesn't trust you!"
"He trusted me enough for this job and it's enough for me."
Ace felt something grind his nerves and the sick feeling inside his stomach seemed to grow. He didn't know why, he had tried to figure it out, but Brannigan was the cause of it.
"If you want money for the information, name your price."
"You insult me, Ace. First of all, I'm not for hire. Second, I don't betray my clients. Third, Vega came to me for a reason. If you want to know what is happening, ask him." Brannigan shrugged.
It was infuriating. All of it. Ace clamped a lid on his emotions and briefly closed his eyes. If Brannigan wasn't going for the money, then maybe for something else.
"You have a price," he said calmly. "And you are for hire."
He laughed. "Rumors are so hard to kill. And who would want to anyway? I'm working for free here, Ace. Out of a debt of friendship. You cannot buy yourself into that." He glanced over the rim of his glasses, the blue eyes sparkling.
Friends? Vega and Brannigan? Ace could only shake his head. What did this man think he was?
Ace didn't really know where Vega knew the blond from. He didn't want to either. The first time he had met him was after he had returned from Anna, in the first year he had been back in Electro City, working on his show, talking to show managers, promoters, acquiring an agent and so on. It had been a brief meeting, a brushing by at the office, but the second had been all it had taken to set Ace on edge around the other man. He hadn't asked Vega who he was, but a few weeks later they had run into each other again.
Not pleasant. Really not pleasant.
Throughout the years he had gotten to know a bit more about Mark Brannigan, mostly that he didn't exist, that he apparently worked for some agency or other, government or not, no idea. He was an agent of kind, he did involve himself in police work sometimes, and he knew Vega. And Ace didn't like him one bit.
Calming his fraying nerves, Ace stared darkly at the other man. "Wasted time coming here," he said with a huff and turned to go.
"Probably. Just watch out for your friend, Ace. He's slightly in over his head."
Ace turned and.... faced empty air. Brannigan was gone. Like by magic. He smiled wryly. Amateur magic. Then he left as well, walking back to the Magic Racer. Somehow he felt like he needed a shower, like he had filth clinging to his very skin, and the sick feeling was still deep inside him.
Why?
It might be a question he would never find an answer to.

* * *

The precinct was never silent. The police was there twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and even at night, calls came in and officers were dispatched. The night was sometimes calmer than the day, but not by much. As Ace Cooper walked along the familiar corridors, nodding at people who knew him, he wondered how to talk to Vega. He knew his friend was in. He had called ahead, reaching a young woman called Sonja who was Mareen's replacement for the time being, and she had told him that yes, Lieutenant Vega was still there. It made some things easier, but it complicated others.
Passing by dark offices, water fountains and bulletin boards, he finally reached the officer door to Vega's cubicle. He hesitated, then stepped inside. The office was cast in twilight, the computer screen's greenish blue light flickering like a ghostly apparition. No sound was coming from the twilight and nothing moved. Still, Ace sensed someone was here. A lump of darkness sat in a corner next to the window.
"Derek?" he asked quietly.
The lump didn't move, but a disembodied voice snarled, "Leave me alone."
Ace moved deeper into the twilight. "I know what happened," he continued. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Silence greeted him. "It concerns only me," Vega finally growled.
"Maybe. But I know Mareen as well. Why didn't you tell me about the attack?"
He heard a creaking sound, like a heavy body shifting in a chair. "There's nothing you can do but send flowers, so why bother?"
He winced. Despite the harsh words, Vega sounded dejected. "Because she is a friend. It's not 'bothering', it's a gesture of friendship. Vega, please...."
"It doesn't concern you."
"It does. You are my friend."
Another creak. Silence.
"Derek, you never hesitate to ask for my help or opinion in the past," Ace said softly. "Why now?"
Further silence.
"Do you really believe that I help you just to have some good press? I thought you knew me better than that. I thought I had proven that in the past."
"It's not that," Vega said softly, voice almost inaudible.
"Then what?"
"It's personal, Ace. It concerns only me. Whoever else gets involved is in danger. Friends get injured... killed....."
Ace swallowed. Killed?
"Charlie died because I asked for his help. Mareen.... the bomb was meant for me and she suffered the consequences. It easily could have killed her as well."
"I'm hard to get rid off," Ace joked lightly.
"You don't understand!" Vega suddenly cried. He rose out of the chair, eyes filled with anger and pain. His whole face expressed what he felt, what he was barely able to suppress anymore. He was crying for help, but he tried not to be heard. "He is a mad man! He will kill, he will strike out, and everyone is a target!"
"Who?" Ace simply asked, refusing to back down.
Angry lines distorted the bearded face.
"Derek?" Ace begged softly, keeping his distance.
And Vega slumped, the fire in his eyes dying. He suddenly appeared very tired. "It's none of your concern," he repeated, sounding weary.
Ace waited.
"It's a police matter," the cop went on, not even looking at him. "Old and long forgotten."
He kept his silence, aware that if Vega started talking by himself, it would be the best.
"It was before your time. Well, not really, but you were at Anna's back then. I was in a special unit. Nearly ten years ago. The Malone gang case had been closed and I was sent to help some of my colleagues. It was about a bomber, someone the county police was unable to catch. He had killed several people already, millions of dollars of property damage was on his account, and no one was able to even present an ID. No one had any clue as to who the man was. Our team consisted of five people, myself included. Our profiler set to work on the bomber and managed to establish at least a few facts. It was hard work. Long work. And the bombings continued. More people died."
Vega rubbed his brow. His eyes held a faraway look.
"Paul, our profiler, went deeper and deeper into the guy's psyche. He was good, really good. He seemed to start living and breathing like him, an obsession. It was worrying, but it was also how Paul worked, I was told. He was the best, that was why he was on our team. But it was scary. He collected the little birds the bomber left, had them with him, around him, and it gave me the willies."
"The same birds that were found at the crime scenes now?" Ace asked quietly.
Vega nodded. "A phoenix. The reborn bird. Fire..... it was what the bomber operated by. Be reborn by fire. It was almost religious. We got closer and closer, and then we finally cornered him. He had set up bombs all over the building and Don, our bomb specialist, was busy disarming the trigger bomb. Paul talked to the madman, but suddenly everything went wrong. I don't know what exactly happened, only that all hell broke lose. Paul was shot and Dana dragged him away. The bomb went up, taking the whole building out, an the next thing I knew I was in the back of an ambulance."
Vega inhaled deeply, absent-mindedly rubbing his hand,
"Donnie died that day. As did the bomber. Paul survived, but the bullet had severed several nerves and even the best of neurologists couldn't save his arm. He refused bionics. He was burned as well, just like Dana, who quit the force after that. Barry, our team leader, got away almost unscathed, but he was several shocked and had to undergo counseling for a time."
Silence settled between them, Ace trying to understand just what had happened back then. He knew Vega had been in special units, but he had never inquired further. And when he had been a kid, he had been too cooped up in his own problems.
Vega exhaled slowly. "This whole case, the fake bomb, the attack on Mareen....." he swallowed, "it's the same pattern the dead bomber used. His name was Victor Kastell. I know he's dead. I saw the burned body. He couldn't have survived!" Desperation swung in his voice.
"Someone is using his MO?" Ace asked quietly.
"Maybe. Or maybe he did rise from the dead." A weak smile.
Ace frowned. "I don't believe in resurrection, Vega."
"Until I found the bird, I didn't either." Vega's voice was silent, almost even.
"Why did you ask for Brannigan's help?"
A startled expression crossed the cop's features. Finally Vega sighed. "I saw it as the only way. After Charlie was murdered.... I didn't want to involve someone I care about."
Ace felt a surge of warmth. He understood. "I'll see what I can find," he promised.
"Be careful. If it is Kastell, we are facing a madman. If it is a copycat, the man is insane as well."
Ace nodded. "You be careful as well. You are the target."
A wry smile answered him.

* * *

Ace had slept poorly that night, fitfully turning from side to side. It wasn't just that Vega was in trouble and that someone was after him, no, it was also Brannigan's presence in Electro City. Something about him rubbed him so wrong and he wasn't used to those feelings. Their prior encounters had left him with an ill feeling. This time it was worse. He felt... he didn't know what he felt!
Getting up around 4 am, abandoning every thought of sleep, Ace padded into the kitchen and started the coffee machine. Watching the water heat, then trickle through the ground coffee, Ace focused on the ill feeling. It sat deep inside him, like inside his soul, and it seemed to grind against the Magic Force. The magic was ever-present within him, a warm power that could turn into a boiling, furious force of destruction from one second to the next. It was his comfort, it was his fear. Now it rippled along the open channels, bubbling, agitated.....
Ace sighed and switched off the percolator. He poured himself a cup and gazed at the strong smelling, black liquid. Brannigan. Who was he? What was he? Did he have access to magic or was magic simply reacting to him.
He frowned.
That might be an explanation.
"What's up, dude?"
The sleepy voice made him look up guiltily. "Cosmo!"
Cosmo ran a hand through his mop of hair, yawning mightily. "Man, you are projecting worse than the new HiLite beams at the Stadium."
"I'm sorry, Cosmo," Ace apologized. "It wasn't my intention to wake you."
Cosmo shrugged and grabbed a soda out of the fridge. "What's wrong?"
Ace shook his head, gazing into the coffee. "I wish I knew. Something just has me on the edge...."
The teenager sipped at the cold liquid. "Vega?"
"Not really." Another sigh.
Cosmo waited, watching him closely over the top of the soda can. Ace knew he had no chance to hide for long. His friend knew because of his rampaging emotions and probably because of the equally rampant magic. It was just... he didn't really want to involve him into that as well.
"I met a man today," he said slowly after a moment' of hesitation. "Met him in the past as well. He seems to work for Vega on this one." Another hesitation. "He rubs me all the wrong way, Cosmo, and I don't know why. Something sets off the magic inside me, I think. I can't describe it to you."
Cosmo gazed intensely at him. "I can feel some of it. Who is this guy?"
"Mark Brannigan. Don't even know if that's his real name." Ace stirred his coffee.
"Want me to run him through the computer? See what I can up with?"
"No, leave it alone. The less we poke around, the better. I just want to help Vega find the bomber. If this was Brannigan's only appearance, which I hope, then it'll be back to normal soon."
Cosmo looked doubtful, but he simply shrugged and emptied his can of soda. "So, what's your plan for today?"
Ace raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd go back and sleep till noon?" he teased.
The teenager grimaced. "I'm awake. Really." A yawn. "After a shower most definitely. So, what's on the menu?"
Ace grinned. "I want to check on Vega's former squad colleagues."
"You want to check each of those guys?" Cosmo asked.
"Yes, all of them. I want to know where they went, what they did, if any are still in Electro City. It's bee detective work, but I hope it pays off."
"Detective Cosmo, not such a bad ring to it," Cosmo mused out aloud.
Ace grinned. "Lots of work for both of us. I'm just glad Vega finally came forth with the whole truth. Maybe we can help him with this."
Cosmo nodded. "We will help. We'll find that creep and book him."
Ace smiled dimly. So confident. He wasn't. Not even Vega knew who it might be, he could only guess, and right now he was in no state of mind to make a good guess. In a way his mind tried to tell him it was a ghost reborn.
"You're seriously worried about him, right?" Cosmo suddenly wanted to know, no humor in his eyes.
Ace sighed. "Yeah. It's getting to Vega, more than he'd like to confess, even to himself. Ms. LeSage is still critical and the doctors can't even tell him if she ever recovers fully."
Cosmo bit his lower lip. "Man, I wish we could do something real, not just hunt computer data."
Ace could only agree, but right now that was all that they could do. Something that bothered him even more was that Vega had called Brannigan for help on this. Once called, the man rarely disappeared as quickly as he had stepped out of the shadows.

Two hours later, Angel announced that she had the complete data on the former special squad members. Both Ace and Cosmo were in the main computer room, looking at the large screen where the pictures and files appeared.
Paul Diniz, age 52, civilian status among the police force of Chicago. Profiler. So he still worked his old job. A lot of personal information followed, like his work in the psychological fields, his doctorate as a psychologist, his criminological work, all his case files listed in a seemingly endless appendix to his personal file. Married, one daughter, now married as well. No outstanding entries. When he had Angel access the Kastell file, he found nothing but the usual police report. He had lost his arm that fateful day and though he had refused help at first, he had had a bionic replacement attached years later.
The next was Donald Powers, the late bomb expert. He had never been married, his life had been adventurous when it came to cases, but too short. The last case file listed was Kastell. And his date of death behind it.
Dana Summers, now Dana Ritz, had left the police force, had married, no children, and had apparently traveled all over the globe with her wealthy husband. Her current address was somewhere in Japan. She had never been involved any police file ever again. Like Powers, her last entry had been the Kastell case.
The last was Barry Dalton, the team leader of the special unit. He had been with the police until a few years ago when the pressure of the job had forced him into early retirement. He had been severely troubled by the outcome of the Kastell case, his file said, and the death of Don Powers, but psychologists had helped him back on to his own two feet. Still, he had left in the end. He had worked as a night watchman or a security guard, unable to hold a job for long, until he had voluntarily come to a mental home to stay there for observation. The pressure had been too much for him in the end. From the file, he wasn't a registered patient, but he was a regular and would stay for weeks in a row to receive counseling.
"Not much," Cosmo sighed. "No bomber or maniac."
Ace nodded. "Just normal, troubled people with a life of their own."
"Do you really think any of Vega's former colleague's did this?"
Ace met Cosmo's eyes. "I don't know. I wish I could say 'no', but we have to take everything into consideration." He rubbed his neck.
"So what now?"
"Now I want to check whether or not any of the others received threats as well."
"Detective work indeed," Cosmo chuckled.
Ace smiled. "So get on it, Sherlock."
"Right! Leave it to the assistant to do the footwork."
Ace laughed. "And you do it so well."
Cosmo threw a paperball at him. Ace caught it in his open hand, letting it hover over his palm, then playfully pirouetted it in front of him.
"Show off," the younger man muttered.
Ace grinned.
Suddenly Cosmo pointed a finger at the little ball and it zinged across the room and smashed against the wall, where it stuck like a lump of chewing gum. Ace looked at his student with a calculated expression.
"Well, it was close," Cosmo lamented.
He didn't have the hang of levitation yet and it was one of the hardest spells for him anyway. He could use a strong shove, which usually ended with him having a headache. This was a little bit of the shove he usually used, showing he had mastered the fractionating of his spell, though it never really worked to his satisfaction. The paper was nothing but a deformed lump.
"Not close enough."
"Aw, dude, come on! It was better than the last one!"
"The last one being where I found four knives and a fork embedded in the kitchen wall?" the magician asked.
Cosmo managed to fight down the blush, but only with an effort. That had been a real embarrassment. He had shoved the cutlery into the wall half the way, which meant a hell lot of magical powers behind the spell.
"'twas an accident."
Ace smiled good-naturedly. Of course it had been an accident. "How about you get to work on the information we need and I'll see if I can get us some take out?"
"Deal, man!"
Cosmo swiveled back to the work station and started typing. Ace walked out of the computer room, smiling fondly, and went to the com.

* * *

The message came in some time after noon afternoon. Vega had managed to at least give the impression of working on other files, rearranging them haphazardly on his desk, shoving some older papers over the edge. Now they lay in a clattered mess on the ground. He didn't care. He dimly remembered Friedrichs telling him that he wanted some report or other on his desk by this afternoon, and Vega thought he had delivered the demanded files. He didn't know. His body was on automatic, and though he did his work, he was barely more than an automaton. When he had gone out to do some footwork, giving the impression of actually working on one of his cases, he had nearly lost it with one of his informants. It had rattled Vega.
Now, back in the office, his coffee had gone cold as well. He didn't care either. He printed reports, he sent them to the archives, he signed other stuff. More folders seemed to pop up without end. He worked them off automatically. Sometimes he thought he heard someone in the front room where Mareen usually fielded calls or warded off visitors he didn't want, but no one ever came in.
He had tried to call the hospital, but his hand had always stopped short of the com unit, shaking slightly, indecisive. Someone else called him, though. Sonja, the girl who had taken over for Ms. LeSage, and she told him that she had called. Mareen was still critical and the doctors kept her in an artificial coma. His stomach had clenched at the news and he had thanked her tonelessly. The image of Mareen in the hospital bed alone was enough to drive him crazy. He didn't like hospitals on principle, probably because he had been a guest there too many times or had visited injured friends. Especially Ace. And later Cosmo.
Then the message had come in. Picking up the receiver, Vega dialed a number and listened to the distant ringing. Finally someone picked it up.
"Barry?" he asked the tentative voice that answered. "It's me, Vega, what's wrong?"
"Derek!" Relief flooded over the speaker. "Listen, I.... I think .... I mean... " Barry Dalton inhaled deeply. "Someone tried to kill me last night. It was a dummy bomb in my car."
"What?"
Vega felt slight dread creep through him.
"I found something under the hood when I checked later on. Derek, it's the phoenix bird. The same Victor Kastell left at every crime scene."
A breathless silence hung between them. "Where are you?" Vega then asked.
"I don't want to get you into trouble, but you were one of the team and I just wanted to tell you. I also called the others. Couldn't reach Dana, though." Barry talked fast, out of breath, words tumbling over the other.
"Give me your address," Vega told him again.
"No, not my home. He might be watching."
Who? Kastell? Vega asked silently.
Barry gave him an address outside the downtown area of Electro City. "Meet you there tomorrow afternoon, okay? Be careful," he added, voice wavering. "Maybe he's after you already!"
He is, Vega thought darkly. "I'll be there," he simply said.
"Thanks."
Barry hung up and the office was plunged into silence again. Vega stared at the wall opposite his desk, thinking. So he wasn't the only victim of the copy cat. It had to be a copy cat. Kastell was dead. He had seen the body. He couldn't have come back to life. Impossible! Whoever it was, he was after the old strike team from ten years ago. Barry had called the others, so they had been warned. All except Dana, but she had to be safe. Japan was a far way off.
After a moment he rose from the chair and tore off the piece of paper he had scribbled the address on. Maybe Barry had something he could use to find out who the copy cat was. At least it would be good to talk to someone from the old team.

* * *

Ace gazed at the information Cosmo had wrestled out of the computer, not even wanting to know how his young friend had done it -- as always. He had hacked into PurGlass LTD and managed to print a list of customers who had ordered the special BluGlass 836 product. After analyzing the little statue, Angel had come up with a list of numbers, among them the production number of the colored glass. Many ordered it, but not all companies who received 836 sat in Electro City. Still, Cosmo had gone through the whole thing, had given Angel even more specific instructions and the AI had run a more detailed search: checking for recent orders of bird statues to an address in Electro City. Following that lead, both men had then set to work and tried to find the customers who had ordered them.
Cosmo had nodded off throughout the night and Ace had gotten him into his room, without waking him too much. He had done enough already and he deserved some rest. Ace himself had spent the night comparing lists and letting Angel run more searches. In the end he had two small shops in Electro City who had posted orders. One was a souvenir shop in Evergreen Avenue, the other a crafts shop in 27th street. He would have to check out both. Neither shop had a customer list with names posted to the supplier company. They most likely had the name of the buyer in their personal filing system.
Ace looked at his watch. Seven a.m. in the morning. The shops wouldn't open before nine or ten. Still, not enough time to really sleep. If he went to bed now and was woken an hour later, he's be cranky for the rest of the day. He decided to take a shower, change into a different set of clothes so he wouldn't be out as Ace Cooper the magician but 'someone', and then fired up the Racer.

Cosmo yawned mightily as he crawled out of bed, feeling too tired, too beaten, and generally like even a cold shower couldn't revive him. He toweled himself off, dressed and stumbled into the kitchen. He microwaved some pancakes, poured himself a glass of orange juice, and only then started to wonder where Ace was. A brief magical check told him that the magician had left. Usually Cosmo could pick up his partner's presence inside the Express and right now, it was completely devoid of any magic other than Cosmo's. Looking at his watch he sighed. It was 9.46 am. Ace must have left early for the residue to have dissipated like that. That meant he probably hadn't slept. Another all-nighter.
Emptying the glass, he put it in the dishwasher and went off to the computer room. Zina greeted him as he crossed through the library and he scratched her behind the ears. She purred softly and Cosmo grinned. The panther followed him to Angel's main room and when Cosmo sat down, she flopped down beside him. He called up the work sheet of last night and found that Ace had definitely worked through the night. Now he was checking addresses. Fun.

Ace came back three hours later, looking none too happy, and Cosmo felt his tension even without actively reading his emotions.
"Something wrong?" he asked, knowing the answer.
"I checked on the two shops who ordered PurGlass and asked them who their customers were." Ace's expression became grim. "They gave me two different names but similar addresses. I also got a description of the man. I checked out the address and found it's nothing but an empty apartment, rented out to someone with yet another name, who only picks up his mail, as the landlady volunteered."
From the way Ace said it, he had used a bit of magic on her to make her talk. Cosmo smiled.
"But she described the same man." Ace riffled through some prints on his desk. "Him."
Cosmo blinked and grabbed the sheet. "Barry Dalton?! Vega's old team leader from the Kastell case?"
"The very same." Ace looked seriously troubled. "I tried to reach Vega, but Sonja told me he had left. He won't answer his com."
"So..... what now?"
"Two things. I'll drop by the precinct to see if Vega left any clues as to where he went. I want you to try and trace his com unit through Angel. Vega has a private code and channel to reach me. Maybe we can backtrack through that."
"Don't count on it, dude. That's something not even the supercomputers can do. I'll try, but it's not bound to be successful as long as Vega doesn't use the com," Cosmo told him carefully.
"I know. Just try. Somehow, I have a bad feeling."
"Want me to run a search for Dalton? I mean, we had his file...."
"Already did that. Angel came up with another unused apartment." Ace shook his head. "This is getting more and more complicated by the minute and Vega is right in the middle of it. There might be...." A flicker of distaste crossed his features.
"Huh?"
He shook his head again. "Nothing. I'll be at the precinct. Call if something comes out of this search."
"Okay," Cosmo slowly, puzzled by Ace's suddenly shift in emotions. They had rightened themselves almost immediately and now it seemed as if nothing had ever happened. But they had been along the lines of the emotional disturbance from two nights ago.... after Ace had met with Brannigan.
Ace left, leaving a strange taste in Cosmo, the empathic bond shivering with a memory the young empath couldn't make sense of. He sighed and turned to the computer to see if he might be able to get results.

* * *

Sonja was there to greet Ace as he walked into Vega's office, a way he had come too often lately. Normally he liked visiting his old friend, but now he was here to play detective, to find the solution to a gruesome puzzle.
"Mr. Cooper," the girl greeted him, looking rather shyly at the tall, dark-haired man. She seemed clearly impressed by his appearance.
She was a slight woman, well, a girl even, barely even in her mid-twenties, with long, blond hair and blue eyes hidden behind rimmed glasses. She liked to dress in bright colors and in a way, Ace thought, she would fit in with Cosmo's friends. Glittery earrings caught the attention of everyone who looked at her, and her make-up was still in a trial phase where she applied little. Like Ms. LeSage, she was a civil aide, and she had her badge with name and the computer security chip pinned to her jeans.
Ace smiled disarmingly. "You told me lieutenant Vega left the office when I called an hour ago. I'm just dropping by to pick something up."
"Uh, sure. Mareen said you and the lieutenant are good friends." She seemed to explain his presence, a civilian, with that.
Ace nodded and stepped into the office, half closing the door. His eyes ran quickly over the room, took in the chaotic disorder on the desk, and then gazed into the waste basket. Crumpled paper balls resided in there. He ruffled through the papers on the desk and found a notepad. It was a paper note pad, one Vega liked to use, and something had been written on it. Ace simply pocketed it in his cloak.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Sonja asked and peered into the office.
"He must have taken it along," Ace answered, managing to look slightly disappointed. "Do you know where the lieutenant went?"
She shook her head. "No. Lieutenant Vega was rather..... private lately. I helped him with the files, but Mareen's accident got to him. He was truly shocked." She fidgeted slightly. "He and Mareen are close friends, you know."
Ace found himself smiling. "Yes, I heard."
Another shy smile. "Well, anyway, he was a bit preoccupied and when the call came in, he drove away. He said he wants to meet a friend."
Ace's stomach lurched. Brannigan?
"Thank you," he said, upholding his charming facade. "It wasn't all that important anyway."
She nodded and he left again, hurrying back to the Racer.
"Angel, I need a scan of this sheet. Can you tell me what's imprinted?"
The small prism hologram materialized and the scanner went to work. After a minute, she screen displayed a name and address. Ace stared at it, then cursed fluently and started the Racer.
"Cosmo?"
"Right here, Ace," came the disembodied voice.
"We have a problem. Dalton called Vega and asked him to meet him. It's an address in Naftown."
Cosmo cursed softly. "I can be there with the bike," he offered.
Ace first wanted to object, then he suppressed that emotion. Cosmo wouldn't really listen to his objections if he felt Ace needed his help. He only listened to his instinct and empathic side, which told him he had to be with Ace.
"Okay."
Cosmo signed off and Ace moved through the thickening late afternoon business traffic, trying not to break too many traffic laws or end up with a bump in the car. It was hard to restrain himself, but he knew it wouldn't do to have a cop following him to get his name and license. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

Vega knew he had made a mistake. His aching head and the bleary sight that greeted him were evidence enough. He blinked his eyes open and looked around, taking in the surroundings. He seemed to be in some kind of empty office. There were dark computer screens gazing emptily his way, desks with the work from the day piling on them, large windows showing him the darkening sky outside, and the soft hum of the air-conditioning system. He was tied to an office chair, his wrists secured with ropes. His feet and upper body were free.
"Welcome back among the conscious, Lieutenant," a voice whispered through the room and he turned to find the owner of it.
"Barry?" he asked, cursing his rough voice.
A man stepped into view, heavy-set, looking like he had had a rough night. Make that several nights, Vega thought, shocked by his old friend's appearance. He looked unkempt, the hair unwashed and strawy, unshaven, the eyes lying deep. There was an almost insane fire in them, speaking of what was going on in his mind -- or better: what wasn't. He was dressed in a baggy shirt, loose pants and old shoes. Vega remembered him from former times, when he had been a smartly dressed career officer. He remembered the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, now turned into a sour reflection of his state of mind. Barry Dalton had been his friend and colleague, they had been in the academy together, he had been his best man at the wedding with Jennifer, and they had been on the special unit together. Barry had been officer material -- until the bomber had destroyed his life.
He had been badly burned, had had to spend some time in the hospital and later with a physiotherapist. But the events had destroyed more than just skin and flesh, they had eaten away at his mind. He had been sent to a mental institution for psychological help when a police psychologist hadn't been able to help him any more. His marriage had broken over that, his wife had moved out, taking his three children with them. Vega hadn't seen him since..... since he had made Lieutenant.
"Why?" he simply asked.
"Why?" the broken image of the man he knew sneered. "You dare to ask why? You took everything from me that was mine, Lieutenant! You took my life, my career, everything!"
"It wasn't me. Kastell was the one who triggered the bomb, Barry."
"But you were there to take the praise, to be promoted, while I rotted in that damned prison of a hospital! They locked me away in a mental home! Do you know what that means? Have you ever lived a day in padded cells, eaten porridge and slimy soup? Have you ever fought the nurses, tried to tell them you are not insane? You go insane in there, you aren't cured!"
Vega flinched away as the unshaven face came closer. Barry's dilated eyes glared fire at him.
"You killed me, Derek. You took everything from me! Ten years wasted away in homes."
"Barry...."
"And what did you get? Promotion to Lieutenant. Your own secretary. Praise and glory. You are famous, Derek. A known star among the police!" Barry hissed. "It should have been mine! I was the team leader! It was my promotion!"
"Listen...."
"No, I won't listen! This is my revenge and beware whoever dares to step in my way!" Barry straightened and brandished a small box in front of him. "This building is rigged with explosives, brimming to explode. You will die in a blaze of glory and with you, all that ever hurt me!"
Vega stared at his friend. Insane. Totally insane. Something had snapped a long time ago and no amount of counseling had been able to help him regain his mental balance.
"After that, your friends will know my pain, Derek. All of them." He giggled, then caught himself, suddenly looking very serious. "You were my friend. Why did you do it?"
"I didn't do anything, Barry. You were injured and...."
"Enough!" he yelled, turning in a circle, madly glaring at the empty screens. "Enough...." he whispered. "Never again. Won't go back. You will, instead of me. You will take my place."
Vega swallowed. Madness spoke out of every word, every muscle, every gesture. Whatever he said, Barry would hear something else, something to fit his scattered mind.
"In three hours, you will die, Derek. I will be reborn like the Phoenix, like Kastell always said. He told the truth, you know. He knew it."
Vega shook his head. He tried to think of something to say, but words eluded him. What could he say anyway? Victor Kastell had been a madman. Barry was his friend.... had been his friend.... Now he had taken Kastell's place. All because he felt cheated out of something he couldn't deal with from the events from a decade ago.
Barry went about the room, talking to himself, brandishing the remote. He laughed softly or glared at a computer screen. Then he walked back to Vega.
"Hoping for rescue? Yes, maybe someone will attempt it. He too will die. Maybe the famous friend of yours, the magician Cooper? Oh, it would be glorious to see two phoenixes rise, one brighter than the other." He grinned madly. "Yes, two."
Suddenly there was a soft beeping sound coming from the handheld device. Barry frowned, then a smile split his face.
"There comes your rescue, Derek. Isn't it nice to be such a liked person?" He walked over to him again. "I'll go down and greet your rescuers. Don't worry. Because I'd like to keep you for the grand finale, I can't leave you alone and conscious."
Vega saw the hand holding the remote rise, then it slammed into his left temple. Bright lights exploded in front of his eyes and for the second time today, he fell into the dark hole of unconsciousness.

* * *

Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Old buildings, from around the founding times of Electro City rose up between slightly better looking multi-story apartment buildings. The brickstone of the older houses was crumbling, plaster peeling off, and trash littered the streets. The newer houses tried to shine with their new coat of paint that had already been smudged by graffiti and assorted other stuff. Naftown wasn't the best of neighborhoods, but it wasn't the worst either. Actually, this was considered a kind of suburb to Electro City, though many claimed it had already been integrated into the city as such.
A dog chased a scrap of paper that was blown around by the wind and a group of five kids was playing at a corner. Shops tried to brighten the dreary sight, displaying their goods behind barred window fronts, and a few shoppers carried their day's buy home. Cars passed by the Magic Racer, honking now and then.
Ace stood in front of the run-down building that had been the address on the scrap of paper Angel had scanned. It was one of the older buildings, all plaster almost peeled off, the naked bricks underneath looking like they needed some serious restoration. The names on the bell buttons were almost unreadable and the stench from the open entrance didn't really draw him in. He had had Angel check out the tenants and one name had matched another fake from the buyer's list of the PurGlass birds.
Dalton had rented an apartment here. He had called Vega. Vega's car was nowhere near here -- he had checked -- and the apartment was empty. Damn!
"Oh man..... feels like home in a bad way."
Ace turned and smiled briefly at Cosmo, acknowledging his presence. Places like Naftown had been were Cosmo had lived in his early childhood, though the apartment of his parents had been even worse than those around here.
"Vega's here?"
"Was. Dalton rented an apartment. It's empty."
"You checked?"
Ace nodded, grimacing slightly. The small apartment had been empty except for a fridge, a table, a bed and some chairs. It had stunk badly of rotten food and Ace hadn't even come close to the fridge to discover the new life forms in there.
Ace leaned against the Racer, brows drawn together in deep thought. "We have to find him," he mumbled.
Cosmo gazed around, thinking as well. "Say, Vega's car... seen it anywhere?"
Ace looked up. "No." He shot Cosmo an inquiring look. "What are you getting at?"
"If Dalton took Vega's car, which is something I would have done if I had kidnapped him -- less conspicuous --, then I might just get the police mainframe to locate him." Cosmo grinned brightly.
"The police mainframe?" Ace asked slowly, realizing fully well just what Cosmo was planning. But he had to appear at least slightly critical to the idea of hacking into anything.
"Yup, the very one. Each police car, even the ones plainclothes officers use, are supplied with a kind of locator. The mainframe can ping the locator and receive a location ping in return. If I can do that with Vega's, we know where it is!"
Ace smiled softly as he shook his head. "I never heard that. Get on it, Cosmo."
Cosmo grinned even more and hopped into the Racer. Ace slid into the driver's seat, ordering Angel to send the Magic Bike home on its own. As much as he trusted into the anti-theft program, he would feel better knowing it was back at the Express. As the Bike took off, so did the car, and Cosmo got busy on the computer.
He was in the mainframe ten minutes later.
He sent out the ping request five minutes after that.
Ace turned the Racer around and headed for the coordinates Cosmo gave him a minute after that, flooring the accelerator.

* * *

Ace steered the Racer through the streets of Electro City. Cosmo sat on the backseat passenger seat and watched the outside. On the radar, an unmoving blip pulsed gently, emitting no sound. Finding the exact location of the blip was their target and they did so when they passed the Electro City Exchange Bank. It was rather new and not one of the top private banks, but climbing up like a rocket. Nevertheless the skyscraper that served as the bank's home was impressive enough. And a bank was always a good target for a bombing, especially when it sat right in the middle of the financial district. If rumors were true, Blackjack's syndicate was interested in it because it was so small yet powerful, and if Blackjack thought a company worth buying or blackmailing, there had to be something.
Across the street, in front of the Metro Bank stood a vehicle. It was an unremarkable car, except for the fact that it was the only one here. No one lived in the Financial District. It was a center of commerce and nearly deserted after closing hours. Those who worked late in the bank buildings usually parked their cars in the underground parking slots of the companies and only a few, mostly visitors, stopped on the streets.
And it was a car both occupants of the Racer knew.
"Vega." Ace said quietly, stopping his own car not far away. The Racer settled down on its wheel with a soft thud.
It was definitely Vega's old car. It was almost an antique and it had had a lot happen to it in the past. Vega had always managed to convince the repair shop that they had to restore the Vegamobile -- Cosmo's nickname for the car -- and somehow they managed. Now it parked lost and alone in the middle of the Financial District. Ace looked over to the Exchange Bank and frowned. So many buildings, all possible hideouts.
"Angel, can you scan the buildings in this street?"
"My scanners are limited to a small area only, Ace," the computer answered dutifully.
"I could patch into the Electro City Surveillance Satellite System....." Cosmo offered slowly.
"Triple-S?" Ace blinked. Cosmo had hacked into all and everything before, but Triple-S was extremely well-guarded and no one really knew a way inside.
Cosmo coughed slightly, blushing. "Not my program," he then mumbled vaguely. "Well, not completely anyway. We kinda..... well... were bored and tried it...." He trailed off as Ace raised both brows.
Ulene, he suspected. Cosmo and Ulene were both hackers and both good, though Cosmo had the natural talent and understanding of computers.
"Do it," he simply said now.
And Cosmo went to work. It took fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes where Ace tried not to be impatient, to fidget or to drum his fingers on the steering wheel. Cosmo didn't need distractions, even if he most likely picked up something or other empathically. Finally a rough grid map of Electro City appeared and Cosmo started entering the area codes of where he wanted the satellites to set to work. Ten more minutes passed as he readjusted them and finally the Financial District appeared, all the buildings nothing but uni-colored squares.
Dots began to fill it.
Cosmo blanked out what didn't fit their search pattern and finally their street was left, the buildings now two-dimensional blocks. As the satellite scanned, more and more details came in and were cast away by Cosmo. They were looking for humans, two alone in an empty building, and finally the three-dimensional wire model of the EC Exchange Bank was left.
"Tell me it's not what I think," Cosmo muttered.
Ace looked at the model and frowned. There were red dots, displaying heat sources. Some were too big to be humans, but two were small enough to fit. One was moving in a room, the other was still. But that was not what had roused Cosmo's suspicion. Small cubes all over the bank were.
"It is. Bombs." Ace's narrowed eyes studied the model. "Can you analyze them?"
Cosmo used Angel this time.
"All explosive devices are connected with each other," Angel reported. "They seem to be composed of liquids and a powder. I can't analyze the substances without a probe. The bombs emit a very high electronic sound, which is why I found them in the first sweep already."
"That's where Vega is."
Cosmo nodded slowly. "Plan of action?"
"We need to inform the police."
The teenager snorted. "Right. As if Friedrichs would send anyone out to us because you call. The guy hates you, Ace. He doesn't believe a word you tell him."
Ace smiled crookedly. "So I won't be the caller. Angel, distort voice and blank out image. Dial the emergency number of the police for a message."
Cosmo grinned. Ace delivered a message about bombs in the EC Exchange Bank, then cut the connection.
"Let's hope they go for that and don't think it's a prank caller." He gazed at the building. "I'm going in. Vega needs my help."
"Uh, what about me, man?"
Ace smiled. "I need you as back-up. Do you think you can take a look at those bombs without setting them off?"
A wide grin crossed Cosmo's lips. "Dude, you're talking the computer genius here, already forgotten? Of course I can!"
"Well, Professor Cosmo, then get to work. Scan the building, see if there are any sensors. I don't want to go in and find the place turning into a hellfire. I also need you to block my entrance from all possible motion detectors or cameras."
Cosmo cracked his fingers. "No problem. Leave it to me."
Ace nodded with a grim smile, then jumped out of the Racer and walked stealthily over to the Exchange bank.

* * *

Magic.
Such a simple word.
Five letters.
It said so little, it was so much. Magic was energy, always looking for a channel to flow through, to be shaped and used, to use and to shape. It was neither white nor black. Not even the channels could be called white or black. They all started out the same: generic. Throughout their training, the channels changed. They used the energy to their liking, tried out spells, worked magic. Some called themselves magicians, others warlocks, again others sorceress. The name was of no consequence. All of them were channels, all of them went with the flow and shaped it.
Mark Brannigan was such a channel without a name. His use of the energy was severely hampered though. He had never wanted the magic in the first place, but which channel ever had a choice in the matter anyway? His magic had manifested in his teenage years, somewhere throughout puberty. It had changed his life forever. He had never had a teacher, mainly because the one who had tried to guide him had told him never to come back. A second teacher had tried to help, but she had failed as well. He knew she had been disturbed by his way of perceiving magic, of using it when he could, but she had been unable to give him the help he needed. No one could, neither those who used magic positively, nor those who abused it for their own dark purposes.
Apparently the energy he channeled had a bad taste for other magicians, uncaring where they came from, good or bad. It took something from them when he cast and it took much more from him. Every spell was a danger, threatening his life and even the magic fabric around him. So he had found his own way, had taught himself what he could, and in the end, he had tried not to use the power too often.
Using his considerable mundane skills, Mark Brannigan had shaped his life. He had joined the armed forces, he had risen in their ranks, and he had left in the end. Now he used his skills wherever someone paid for his services. And wherever he went and met a magician, distaste greeted him. Some felt his negative, bitter power more acutely than others and some few people, like Ace Cooper, could single him out without hesitation -- without even knowing why him.
He didn't know what drew him to Ace Cooper, what had made him look deeper into the man's past, wanting to know more about him, but he had. He had kept track of him, had seen the powers he wielded develop, had felt jealousy rise and acceptance grow in the same amount. He knew Cooper was almost sickened by the magic around him -- and didn't even know it was magic at all. Brannigan didn't care. A least he told himself that.
There was little he cared about anyway. He cared about himself, which was enough, but also had friends. People he considered to be friends anyway. Derek Vega was among them. The police officer had saved his life once, even if he had never really understood what he had done, and Brannigan didn't forget. He paid the man back, little by little, and this time as well. Only one person actually occupied a special place in his heart and mind, and she was the reason his life had been saved. Angered, pained and disappointed by his life, always living day by day without even hoping to ever see anything change for the better, he had met her.
She had understood. She had helped by not pitying him. She had given him back hope.
Even today, when thinking of that day, Mark felt warmth chase away the bitter magic. She was special, she evened out the powers inside him, she had saved his existence. And Vega had been the one who had actually introduced them. He owed him more than just a little bit for it.
Now Vega was in trouble.
Big trouble.
He had told him, but the man was unable to listen. The pain about the attack and near-loss of his secretary got in the way. He was stubborn, relentless when it came to tracking the bomber down, but he was also afraid. Ghosts of the past raising their ugly heads. Mark smiled dimly. He was very acquainted with that bunch.
Stopping the car in front of the Electro City Exchange Bank, he studied the smooth glass front, let his eyes gaze along the steel and stone construction to the roof. Vega was here, he knew. His car stood in front of the building on the opposite side of the road.
Very big trouble, he sighed.
And he couldn't just waltz in there. Around the corner, he made out another car. The Magic Racer. A smile lit his lips. Ace Cooper. Getting out of his own car, he carefully walked over to the parked vehicle, sensing no one but the young assistant. Another channel. Fledgling magician. His power was great, hidden beneath layers of insecurities and walls that had to be breached, but when he finally opened up completely, he would be able to channel the same amounts as Cooper. Impressive.
Seeing magic in others had been a talent manifesting itself later in him than all the other spells and talents he had. He didn't know what use he had for it because no other magician would let him closer than necessary, if at all. So he used this second pair of eyes, as he thought of it, sparingly. It was good for nothing but reminding himself what others had and he didn't.
Drawing the shard he usually used to deflect others into his self, Brannigan approached casually. He didn't want to hurt the boy too badly by his presence. He actually could cast a spell or two. None too perfectly and never really useful, like Cooper's, but they worked. He could shift, which was a kind of relocation spell with a twist, and he had discovered there was a freeze spell that no other magician had ever mastered and which was something that came easily -- and caused a lot of pain. He had to reach deeply into the power and channel thoroughly if he wanted to make it work for a longer time, but at least he had a few useful tidbits at his disposal.
The boy, Cosmo, turned as he approached and he saw it in his eyes the moment he felt the strangeness. The negative, bitter taste of Brannigan's magic.

Cosmo sat hunched over his palmtop computer, running through the programs, trying to figure out just what to put where to keep from setting off triggers or alarms. It was difficult. Dalton was good! Damn good! Whenever Cosmo got close in one area, another was about to go off.
He cursed fluently.
It was an endless circle without a way inside. At least on short notice. If he had the time and all the resources of Angel at the Express.... if he didn't have a time limit and a building about to collapse on his partner.....
Cosmo rubbed his brow, angrily staring at the display screen. Not even a police expert would get to that thing in time -- and so far no police cruiser had shown up. So much for Friedrichs....
"Ace?" he called, lifting the wrist-com to his lips.
No answer.
"Ace, dude, can you hear me?"
Nothing.
Wait, there was something. Faint static.
Static!
"Angel, check the com lines!" he ordered.
Angel was silent for a moment, then the prism hologram appeared inside the Racer's cockpit, twirling softly. "All com lines into the building are blanketed by white noise," she reported. "The white noise doesn't affect the scanners, but it won't allow communication."
Cosmo cursed again. Why couldn't it ever be easy?!
The bomb couldn't be disarmed in time and Ace was in the middle of a building that was about to be blown up by a mad man!
And then the feeling hit. First there was a tingly sensation down his spine, something he had felt before. It was a creepy, crawly sensation, like cold spider legs tap-dancing on his back... on his nerves..... and more. Much, much more...... He turned, almost in slow motion, and discovered a stranger coming closer. Distantly, he thought there was also the tingle racing down his spine that told him of another magician close by, but the sick feeling was much stronger than the other.
Suddenly the feeling was gone and nearly sighed in relief as the strange nausea went down to a bearable level.
Then he frowned.
Just one sec.....
The tingle was still there.
Another magician!
The thought lodged itself in his mind and he stared.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The blond smiled. "My name is Mark Brannigan. I'm a friend of Vega's."
Brannigan?! So this was him, he thought. The man Ace didn't want to talk about but who seemed to be the only one to be able to help them at least a bit. And now he was here. Cosmos studied the almost too normal features of the man. His eyes were fixed on the building in front of them and now a frown appeared on his features.
"They were wrong all the time," Brannigan said almost to himself. "They went after the wrong man."
"What do you mean?"
Unusual blue eyes fixed him with an intense look and the nausea returned, but not as painfully as before. "I mean that if I'm not totally wrong, your friends need our help." He raised an eyebrow. "You can still detect Cooper?"
Cosmo blinked. "Wha......?" He knew? Brannigan knew about that?! He must have stared at him like the next wonder of the world because Brannigan smiled.
"Yes, I know. I also know Ace doesn't like me, but this isn't about liking. It's about the possible loss of life and the fact that I owe Vega this. Kindly fill me in?"
Cosmo stumbled over his words, swallowing several times. The nausea was forgotten for a moment. "How?" he finally managed.
"How do I know? Sorry, Cosmo, but if I tell you, I've got to kill you."
It was no joke, Cosmo realized and the sick feeling did a flip-flop in his belly. But something inside of him rose. Defiance. Anger. Even rage.
"How do you know about it?" he demanded, meeting the clear blue eyes with a cold stare of his own.
"Cosmo, let's leave it at that I know and that I'm no danger to you or Ace, okay?"
"No, not okay! Who are you? Why is everyone so spooked of you?" Cosmos hissed. "I'm not a kid, so don't give me that crap about mystery and not knowing is better for me! Who are you, Brannigan?"
The blond regarded him silently for a moment, then a smile spread over his lips, but it lacked warmth. "You know my name. What more do you need to know?"
Cosmo clenched his teeth, hands curled into fists.
"You want to know why Ace doesn't like me? Because I'm different. We rub each other the wrong way. At least I do for him. Maybe you think I'm a magician. Not really. I can't do magic like the two of you. I use it for my purposes. And that is what keeps you at a distance, what makes you feel so wrong about me." He shrugged. "It's good. Better than nosing around. As for how do I know? I can see it, Cosmo."
"See?" he echoed.
Brannigan gestured vaguely. "Call it a talent. I can see the magic. I can see the pattern." The blue eyes grew more intense and his gaze was fixed on the computer screen. "There are bombs here, right?"
Cosmo nodded, not knowing how to handle the information he had just gotten. Brannigan hadn't really given him a clear answer and he hated to have anyone but a select few know about the link.... right now it was only Vega and Kate anyway. "He planted them everywhere. I can't get into the circuitry. They are in an endless loop. If I break the loop, the whole building goes up."
"But he's not the man you think he is. He doesn't have any scruples. He will kill Vega. Ace will either get to him, or he won't, and then they both die."
And then he caught something from Ace. It was a spike of emotions. Fear, worry, anger...... He felt a muscle jump in his cheek.
Brannigan's eyes narrowed and he gazed thoughtfully down the corridor. "Not good," he said almost as if to himself. "Stay here, Cosmo. Shield. Against everything. What you feel is just a shard of what might come. I'll be back."
Cosmo tried to follow, but suddenly the nausea was back, full force, and he glared at Brannigan's back, aware that the man was responsible for it. Keeping others away, he reminded himself. Hell of a good way to do it.

* * *

Ace sneaked into the room that was held in twilight, sharp eyes searching for traps, the enemy, or Vega. He found only Vega and the sight made his stomach clench. The older man sat slumped in a chair, bound with ropes, and a trickle of blood had dried on the side of his face. He crept forward, forcefully keeping himself from running, and reached Vega's side without an incident.
"Vega?" he whispered, touching the unconscious man.
No response.
A bruise was on one side of his head, blood-crusted and nasty looking. Otherwise he seemed to be fine. Ace fumbled with the tight knots, cursing under his breath. Finally he used the blade in his cane to cut through them. They fell away in a heap on the floor.
"Don't move him or you'll kill yourselves sooner than necessary," a calm voice suddenly said and Ace whirled around. The cloak billowed behind him.
Someone had stepped into the room, a stocky, badly dressed man, looking like he hadn't seen a bathroom from the inside for months. Stringy hair fell into his eyes and those eyes held a mad, inner glow.
"Barry Dalton, I presume," Ace said calmly.
"I know your name as well, Mr. Cooper, but the name has no power over me. No one has. Not the nurses, not the doctors, not the shrinks. I am my own power." Dalton's voice was intense, soft and feverish in one.
"Why?" Ace just asked.
"Why? Oh, many, many reasons, all good, all misunderstood. Revenge? No. Justice? Yes. Try to be fair, try to understand. It was my place to be, and he took it. My praise, my prize..... it all belongs to me, but he took it."
Ace inched closer to Vega, wondering what to do. He could try relocating, which would probably work if he could turn into the Magician because he'd have to relocate a great distance. He could talk to the maniac. He could hope Cosmo could disarm the bombs. He could hope.... but hope didn't mean a solution, and he had to find one.
"Mr. Dalton.... Barry.... what you are doing is wrong. It won't help."
"Oh, but it will. The phoenix will rise and be reborn. I will rectify this injustice, soar on the wings of the phoenix out of the fire, yes. I'll be back again, good old Dalton." He chuckled to himself.
Vega moved slightly and a groan escaped his lips, but he didn't rouse completely.
Ace bit his lower lip, then materialized a pack of cards in one hand, hidden from Dalton's sight.
"Let me help you," he offered sincerely.
"Oh, help is always appreciated," he mad man whispered, "but not needed right now. The phoenix will rise. I will be reborn." It was like a mantra. "Try to escape if you want to, Mr. Cooper, but the firebird will follow." He held up a small, metal box, clasped in his hands. "See this? State-of-the-art. Yes, state-of-the-art. Perfect, oh so perfect in its design. Remote control. Control for everything." He smiled.
"Control for your life?" Ace asked quietly.
"Life cannot be controlled, or can it?" A chuckle. "I tried, they tried, and it always slipped. But now I have control and I will come back. It will be as it should have been."
Ace spread his fingers and felt the weight of the cards. He could take out the remote..... From the looks of it, he wasn't depressing any triggers. The cards began to tingle with the magic he fed into them.
"Killing Vega isn't the way to gain back control, Barry," he told the other man seriously. "It will destroy you."
"The phoenix will always rise again," Dalton sang.
And Ace let the cards fly. They swirled toward the former cop in a shower of bright lights and plastic, exploding into a maelstrom of shards that moved too fast to be followed by the naked eye. Dalton gasped and threw up his hands.
Ace was on him in a second, wresting the remote from his hands. Dalton struggled against him, but he was fighting someone who was fitter and younger, someone who was very determined and wouldn't let him go free again. But he was also driven by a force that was madness mixed with the need for revenge. Dalton managed to wriggle free, slamming a fist into Ace's face. It clipped his jaw, making him jerk back. Dalton madly grabbed for a weapon and his hand closed around a silver decorative piece that looked vaguely like a candle holder.
Whirling, Dalton chopped downward viciously with his weapon. The blunt end caught Ace squarely on the outside of his right knee, the sudden intense pain dropping him like a stone. As he doubled over, Dalton's knee struck his chest with the force of a sledge hammer. Ace's breath left him with a loud gasp, and he fell heavily to his knees, where a sickening jolt of liquid pain gushed through his right knee, and sent him careening over to one side. He lay still, gasping, the pain the only sensation in his mind now.
"The phoenix will rise!" Dalton screamed, raising his weapon again.
Ace looked up through eyes blinded by the pain and then raised his hands. Magic gathered there, tiny bubbles of energy, ready to strike out. He released the power as he saw the silvery weapon descend.
There was a scream, then the sound of a body hitting the ground.
Silence.
For long minutes, Ace lay fighting to take air into uncooperative lungs. His mind was a mass of pain and confusion. Slowly, his breathing returned enough for him to struggle to a sitting position, back supported by an office wall. Holding carefully to the wall, he stood. The pain in his upper body was receding, but his knee screamed in protest as he tried to step away from the wall.
Ace hissed angrily.
Setting his jaw, he began to walk over to where the magic had thrown Dalton. His face was chalky white and streaked with sweat, but he was determined. He picked up the remote and looked at it. A simple, gray box with a display and three buttons. Nothing fancy.
"It's not a remote."
The words were accompanied by violent nausea lurching up inside Ace and he almost groaned out loud.
"I'm sorry," the voice said and suddenly the nausea was down to a bearable level.
Ace turned, blinking dizzily, and discovered Brannigan not far away. The man was a center of calm serenity, smiling almost lazily, but the blue eyes burned with something that made Ace shiver. A small part of him reacted to this something and it wanted to bolt.
"What?" he finally managed.
"Kastell doesn't have a remote. The bombs are on an independent timer and all wired in a vicious circle. Your friend Cosmo has tried to take them out, but there is no getting into the programming in time." He shrugged almost apologetically.
Ace felt an icy fist in his stomach. "Why are you here?"
Brannigan cocked his head, looking at the unconscious Vega. "Like I told you, I owe Vega. I tend to pay back in full."
He didn't like it, but for now, Ace had to accept the other man's presence -- which held a bitter, negative taste.
Mark now bent over Kastell and quickly searched his pockets. He came up empty. Then he raised the limp, left wrist. A rather fancy watch was fastened around it and he had it off in a flash.
"Here we go."
Ace carefully took the watch and the icy fist formed again. It was a timer. Running backwards.
5:41
"A little over five and a half minutes. That's what you have, Ace. Get out of here."
Something about the calm, serene tone made Ace's teeth ache. "What about Kastell?"
"Your choice."
5:01
"And you?"
A smile. No humor in it. "I'll see what I can do about the bombs."
"What?!"
"Ace. Get out. Now." The blue eyes held an intense look and Ace thought he saw the little gray color in them gain in quantity.
4:43
"Trust me."
Trust him..... trust Brannigan? Vega had done. Well, in a way. But Ace couldn't bring himself to trust... not him.
"Ace, this isn't about anything but saving Vega," Brannigan said softly. "You don't like me and you can't even explain why. Just go beyond this feeling once and help a mutual friend."
Ace inhaled deeply, then nodded slowly. He limped over to Vega and checked on him. The cop was breathing regularly and his pulse was strong, but the blow to the head had taken him out good.
4:16
"You might want to relocate them both," Brannigan said. He hadn't moved and he didn't seem inclined to do so. Ace's eyes narrowed. Another smile. "I know a lot more about you than you think, Ace Cooper. I know about the Magic Force. Either you use it, or you get caught when the bombs go up."
"You are a magician," Ace said slowly.
Brannigan cocked his head and smiled, but he didn't say anything.
Ace knew didn't have a choice.
3:39
"Magic Force, reveal the power within!"
The magic flowed through him, purged the bitterness that had settled in him since the most recent encounter with Brannigan, and he almost sighed with relief. His cloak settled around his shoulders, a familiar, soft weight, ripples of magical energy coursing through it. He got one arm under the much heavier cop and pulled him up. Vega was a limp weight at his side. His right knee protested violently against the additional weight and Ace clenched his teeth not to scream out.
3:00
Relocating two bodies would be a strain and he might not get as far as he wanted to, but it would be enough. He wished once again that the com units worked, but they didn't. He had to work with it.
"Go," Brannigan said.
2:49
Ace concentrated and the Magic Force coursed through him, strong and pure, enveloping himself, as well as Vega and Kastell.

The Magic Force.
Pure, warm, full of life.
That was what he should have been able to access. What he had.... Mark smiled dimly. It wasn't much, but he had to work with it. No sense losing himself in the sadness that was his life. No sense in losing time over wallowing what he could never have. He had to make due with what nature had thought it would share with him, however bitter and dark.
00:10
Brannigan sighed as he watched the numbers decline. There was no other choice and it would be painful for everyone involved. Him especially, but he was used to it.
00:09
Ten seconds, he thought. That was about all he could prolong this. Maybe if he had had more preparation time, if he weren't so hesitant of accessing whatever he could reach and unleashing it. But no, it was too dangerous to play with forces he hadn't even begun to control and who wreaked havoc if he tried more than he could handle.
00:08
Brannigan went through the routines as gently as possible, but he knew the pain would come. Part of him could pinpoint Ace's position exactly, as if he was broadcasting a beacon light. He didn't know why he could feel the other's presence so brightly, maybe because he and the Magic Force formed such a unity, and maybe because Brannigan himself was a disharmony. He had never cared to explore.
00:07
"Get out," he breathed.
00:06
Ace was moving, but not fast enough. He was still in the danger zone, from both the bombs and the magical field that would soon erupt out of this building as well.
00:05
Get ready, he thought. Here we go. Won't be pretty.
00:04
Mark gazed at the digital clock, smiling faintly. He had to time this. For the first time in a very long time he opened himself up to what Ace Cooper and his friends called the Magic Force. For him, it was nothing but a powerful energy he didn't like and hated to wield. He could do it, he was quite adept in it, but the consequences were rather.... bad. And bad being a mild word for it.
00:03
He didn't know why he couldn't handle it like Ace and he didn't want to. People of lesser understanding of the Magic Force would call them opposites. Black and white. But there was no such thing. There was only the power.
00:02
He closed his eyes, felt the power flow into him, felt his whole body scream in pain.
00:01
And he released it.
00:01
00:01
00:01.....

Cosmo stood at the back door of the building and suddenly it hit him. Pain. Ace's pain. The basic shield he had up was nothing to protect him against the searing emotion coming in from his partner. He lost his footing, falling down the stairs, and coming to rest at the bottom. And then it seemed to shift, seemed to grow and interlace with another form of energy. His mind was tortured by something he had never felt before. Putrid, evil, a stench that was a nauseating as the pain was. He threw up shields, trying to ward it all off, but it was like building a sand dam against a tidal wave.
Something touched him. Warm, familiar..... "Ace?" he cried softly.
An explosion rocked the ground. Hot air blasted over him, debris rained down on his body, and somewhere throughout it all he was wrapped into a warm darkness, protecting him. Time seemed to pass sluggishly, sometimes none at all.
Cosmo opened his eyes. He became aware of the stench, the smell of something burning. Someone was near-by and a silky, black material lay partially draped over him. Familiar. Ace's cape. Ace.....
"Ace?" he blurted out, his mouth feeling parched.
The magician lay next to him, face still and pale, looking smudged and singed. Vega had been thrown not far from their position, unconscious. Kastell was a motionless lump a few feet away. As Cosmo called his name, Ace opened his eyes a crack, squinting. He looked like he had one really big headache. Something more along the lines of a migraine. Cosmo felt one creeping up his spine as well.
"Cosmo? Are you okay?" he rasped, sounding even worse than he looked. Pain tinged his voice.
"As okay as you can be after that, man," he whispered, trying to get up.
Both men managed to get into a sitting position, Ace wincing as he put weight on his right leg. Cosmo shot him a worried look. The older man half crawled over to Vega and checked him, then sat down with relief.
"Ambulance," he mumbled. "He needs one." His eyes were drooping and the cape lay like a limp rag around his shoulders.
Cosmo felt the exhaustion, mingling with his own, no longer creeping but leaping up at them. Ace was shaking slightly and he was in pain.
"We all do," Cosmo sighed. He might be tired, but Ace was drop-dead exhausted. He had just relocated two men, using an awfully big amount of magic, and when that darkness had hit... Cosmo shivered. Whatever it was, it had hit both magicians badly. "Uh, where's Brannigan?" he then asked, looking around again.
Ace gazed at the smoking building that had been the EC Exchange Bank. There was a hard to describe expression in his eyes. "I don't know...." he said softly.

The world snapped back, like a rubber band that had been released after extending it a long way. There was even an audible cracking sound and from one second to the next, there was air, there was light and there was sound. He exhaled explosively, blinking into the brightness.
"I hate that!" he whispered, shaking himself once like a dog getting rid of some fleas.
Mark looked around and discovered that he had actually managed to pull the spell off more or less correctly. Shifting was never easy and shifting within a split second after a freeze spell was a challenge, but he had really pulled it off. Amazing. Sometimes he surprised himself. It had taken him long enough to shift out of this space between one reality and the next, but he had come out again.
And he was out of the exploding building. He had shifted into the penthouse apartment he owned in this town. As he looked around, he discovered someone.
"Hey, Rana," he said with a smile.
Rana Brannigan raised one eyebrow. "Back already?" she asked casually, but there was an expression in her eyes that told him she had been worried.
Mark laughed softly, a sound Vega would have been surprised about. It sounded so warm. "Hell of a day and I thought I'd take the fastest route home."
She sniffed the air. "And bring some of your work home." He batted at his clothes, which reeked of explosives and fire. "How did it go?"
"Fine. We can start planning that Caribbean vacation now." He grinned.
Rana smiled. "I already packed."
He walked over to her and kissed his wife. "Just one more good-bye to say, then we're out of here."
"Give him my best when you visit, Mark," Rana said with a smile.
"Of course."
He walked over to the bathroom. Somehow, after casting, he always felt like he had bathed in mud.

* * *

The ER doctors had checked them out thoroughly, insisting to keep Vega over night while Cosmo and Ace could leave -- if they promised to call their own doctor and to do nothing but rest. Ace promised and Cosmo had nodded his agreement. His knee was just badly bruised with no further damage to the bone or joint, but it would hurt for a few more days. Vega had woken in the hospital, slightly disoriented, but except for a mild concussion, the laceration and a headache, he was fine. He had grudgingly let the nurses take him to his room for the night, already complaining about having to stay.
Ace smiled even now as he walked to the nurse's desk to see if Vega was ready to leave. He had slept rather well throughout the night, though the ripples that had run through the magic fabric yesterday still whirled through him. It had been a strange experience to begin with, like an alien force using the magical powers and unleashing them.
Brannigan? A magician? Ace couldn't really make this concept into the truth. Okay, so Brannigan's mere presence had always set him on edge, but.... a magician? And if so, did Vega know? He planned to find out.
Half an hour later, he was wheeling a grumpy cop out into the parking lot.
"I can walk!" Vega muttered. "I'm not an invalid."
Ace laughed, featuring a slight limp himself. "No one says so, Vega, but the nurse insisted so nicely."
Vega frowned deeply. "She threatened to keep me here another night if I didn't let them wheel me out!"
"Like I said, she asked nicely."
Vega snorted.
Ace handed the wheelchair over to one of the orderlies who had accompanied them to retrieve it, and Vega got into the Racer.
"Home?" the magician asked.
Vega hesitated. Ace knew why. Not far from here was the hospital Mareen LeSage was still in and would remain for a few more weeks to come. She had regained consciousness yesterday, but she was fading in and out. Ace had called the doctor and had received a short run-down of the medical chart. She would need extensive recovery time due to the burns and the inner organ injuries, but they hoped to let her out soon. Ace was convinced that Mareen would get the best possible care -- he'd make sure of it. As would Vega.
"Don't feel like home," Vega then confessed.
Ace shrugged with a slight smile. "You're off duty, so how about visiting a good friend at his train?"
Vega smiled. "Good idea."
He stopped the car next to the Express twenty minutes later and both men went inside. Cosmo was out, Ace knew, doing something or other, and so they were alone. Ace got them both something cold to drink -- coffee was not allowed for Vega for the time being -- and they sat down in the living room.
"I have a question," Ace said after a while of light conversation about everything but what had happened.
Vega raised an eyebrow, then winced as the cut over his eye complained. "Shoot."
"Mark Brannigan."
The cop sighed and stared at his glass. "I should have known."
"Is he a magician?"
That got him a startled look. "How did you get that idea?"
"Through what happened. Vega, the man makes me bodily sick by just standing in the same room with me. Cosmo had a strange feeling as well, as he told me. He struts into a building full of bombs and does something.... I wouldn't call it magic. It felt too nauseating.... The whole building goes up after we are barely out and Brannigan has disappeared. Cosmo ran a check on the timer and the data he had. It went off ten seconds after the time was up. No body was found. There wasn't even a trace." Ace gazed intensely at Vega. "Who is that man?"
"You never asked me before," Vega said quietly.
"I never wanted to know. He was someone I didn't even want to get to know closer. Now is different."
Vega leaned and back and gazed at the ceiling. "I met Mark Brannigan a long time ago. I was still a detective back then, Suzan was still alive....." He stopped briefly, stumbling over the name of his dead wife. "It was before your time. I think he was around Cosmo's age back then, maybe a bit younger. No idea. I never thought he was someone out of the ordinary. Anyway, I met him again after you stepped into my life."
Vega smiled briefly and Ace found himself reflecting that smile.
"He worked on a case that ran parallel with mine and we had to work together. Don't ask me what he does. It's a mystery. I think he works freelance for the highest bidder. He mentioned Army training or something like that. Government service. Throughout the case he and one of my colleagues, a woman detective, developed something. They are married today."
Ace stopped himself from gaping just in time. Brannigan? Married?
"After that, we only met one more time. That's it."
"He said he owed you for something you did in the past," Ace said thoughtfully.
"I don't know what he means, to be honest, Ace. We met a few times and Brannigan has connections everywhere, but I never managed to figure him out." Vega's voice was solemn. "He might be a mysterious character, but also one I wouldn't want to change places with."
Ace nodded. "And he might be a magic user."
"Maybe. You said Cosmo felt it?"
"In a way. He isn't sure about it. He said he felt sick around the guy, just like me. Magicians seem to feel his difference."
"Possible." Vega sipped at the soda in his hand. "He's a strange guy and I didn't feel all that good asking for his help, but he always came through with the information I needed. And he's trustworthy. So you think he also got out by magic?"
Ace shrugged. "Maybe. We might not know until he comes back into your life."
Vega smiled all of a sudden. "Or until I call his wife."
Ace blinked. "Uhm, yes, that as well."
"Might call her later." There was a brief silence between them, then Vega suddenly looked at Ace with a serious expression in his eyes. "Ace, I want to apologize for yelling at you as I did. I... I wasn't myself. It might sound dumb, but..."
Ace raised a hand, stopping him. "It's okay, Derek," he answered with a smile. "I understand. Yes, it hurt back then, but I do understand. There is nothing to apologize for."
Vega sighed. "I felt like crap afterwards," he confessed. "I just needed to yell at someone and it kinda happened that you were the next available person. Ace, I'd never think that when you help me, you do it for the publicity. Never."
"I know." Ace smiled and there was relief coursing through him. He had been right.
There was relief in Vega's eyes as well, the relief that a good friend had forgiven him his harsh words.
"Listen, if you want to crash for the night...." Ace started, but Vega shook his head.
"No. I'll stay at my own place, even if the door is just a makeshift one." He smiled briefly. "But I could later use a shuttle service....."
Ace laughed.
The rest of the day was spent talking until Vega felt too tired to prolong his visit any more. He would crash at his own place and Ace had promised to accompany him to the hospital tomorrow.

Vega let the elevator carry him up to his floor, then stopped when he silently regarded the damage from the bomb. The police had removed the yellow tape, but there were a few scraps left. Someone, probably the building supervisor, had made an attempt on cleaning up the mess, mainly scrubbing off the explosion burn marks. He had had moderate success. His insurance would pay for it, Vega knew. Someone from the insurance department had called and reassured him that everything would be taken care of. As a police officer, a lot of risks were insured, including bomb damage, strange as it sounded. The current door was a massive wooden construction for which the supervisor had handed him the keys already.
Now he walked slowly closer, feeling a strange emptiness settle in his stomach. His eyes roamed the floor, unconsciously looking for the blood he knew had been spilled. No trace. As he hesitantly inserted the key into the wooden monstrosity, the door of the apartment next to his opened. It belonged to one Maria Raim-Ja, a nice old woman who had an almost motherly streak when it came to Vega. She had to be in her late seventies, but she was fit as a fiddle, as she always told him. Judging from her hobbies, she had to be. Last year one of her grandchildren had taken her along to a paragliding course and she had joyfully taken part. Now she was into paragliding.
"Hello, Lieutenant Vega!" she greeted Vega, the slightly crinkly face splitting into a warm smile.
Vega found himself returning the smile. It was hard to resist her charm. "Hello, Mrs. Raim-Ja."
"We all know what happened and we feel bad about it. Poor Mareen. How is she?"
"Getting better," he said vaguely, trying not to think of the injured woman in the hospital.
"Good, good. Lieutenant, if you need any help, let me know. We all want to help. My Jonathan said he helped clean out some of the damage, but if you need more help, just call."
He felt warmth course through him. "Thanks, Mrs. Raim-Ja."
She nodded, smiling her grandmotherly smile.
Vega pushed the door open and stepped into his apartment. It smelled faintly of smoke, but it looked much better than he would have thought. Most of the damage had been directed at the door. The frame was blackened and the walls would need a new coat of paint. There was a black spot on the floor where the explosives had sat.
Swallowing a sick feeling, Vega walked into his apartment and opened the windows wide to let fresh air in. He'd remove the stains as soon as possible. He didn't want any reminders left. As he turned, he nearly gave a yell of fright.
"Brannigan!" he hissed.
Mark Brannigan smiled amiably, lounging in a chair. "Hello, Derek. Good to see you up and about. How's Mareen?"
"You know that already, why do you ask?"
The smile didn't waver. "Rana sends her best."
"Thanks."
"Ace Cooper asked you about me." There was no smile visible in his eyes anymore.
"Of course he did."
"And you told him?"
"The truth."
Brannigan met Vega's neutral eyes. "I see. He and his assistant felt the distorted powers around me, just like every mage. I guess it was inevitable."
Vega was silent. Mark's powers hurt every magician. He was a danger to magician-kind, able to turn the power into something bad. Vega looked at the blond man who was married to a very good friend and ex-colleague of his. He hadn't changed all that much in the years they had known each other. His hair was now a whiter blond. His eyes had taken on a more intense expression, one he had seen develop on Ace's when he had realized the Magic Force inside him, and his face had a sharper definition.
"But he doesn't know all," Brannigan now said, tilting his head.
Vega felt bad all of a sudden, like he was hiding something. And he did, actually.
"He knows you can wield magic," he then said. "Not like I didn't suspect it, but it surprised me. Since when did you learn to use what you have?"
"I always could, Derek. I just wanted to stop hurting people with it. I never showed anyone what I could do because of the pain for all involved. My magic is not Ace Cooper's magic. I don't want any of you to know more than you already have. Thank you for trusting me enough to ask for my help, but don't ask for more." Brannigan hadn't changed his position, but there was something around him that made Vega nod slowly.
"Does Rana know?"
"She always did."
"What did you do with the bombs?"
A smile, then he rose. "Good-bye, Lieutenant."
Vega sighed. So much for getting more information out of the man.
"Thanks," he simply said. "For all you did."
Brannigan nodded once, then moved almost silently toward the door. When he had shut it behind his form, Vega found himself relaxing. He had been unaware of the subconscious tension in his body. Shaking his head, he headed over to the bedroom. He wanted to do nothing but sleep. He could think about it all tomorrow.
Or later.
Much later.

* * *

The park was wonderful this time of the year. Tulips bloomed in abandon among cherry trees and forget-me-nots. Their colors ranged from a deep, blood red to the bright yellow of the sun. There were the dark purple ones with the pink rims, the striped ones, like small yellow-and-orange tigers in a field of purplish blue pansies. The light blue forget-me-not blossoms battled with the already fading hyacinths for the watchers eye, and the green grass spread between them like an endless carpet.
Tulip Gardens was an attraction and many came out over the weekends or even throughout the day to sunbathe, relax, play or simply admire the beauty of nature. The caretakers of the park could be proud of their work, Vega thought as he surveyed the fields of blooming life. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful.
A month had passed.
A month of police investigations, trials and watching the recovery of a woman who held his heart. Mareen LeSage had gone through a dozen operations and she would need a few more to remove the last of the scars that marred her skin. She suffered them all almost stoically. There had been a breakdown once, almost immediately when he had been able to grasp the severity of her injuries, and Vega had been there, held her, talked her through it. No one could be expected to accept those injuries without showing an outward sign of despair. For all her strength, Mareen was simply human.
Now she sat with him in the park, gazing at the beauty around her. Her face showed few signs of the burns. Part of her neck had suffered, was still a reddish patch contrasting the unblemished skin around it. More healing wounds were all over her body. Many had already been cosmetically repaired. Her hair, the wonderful reddish brown locks, had been cut off. She now had short hair, giving her a younger look. Vega had loved her hair, but it had been badly burned and singed. Cutting it off had been the only way.
Returning to work was an option now. The doctors had said she could start next week if she took it easy and worked part-time for now. She had already talked to the human resources department which was head of the civilian aides, and had arranged a schedule. Vega was glad to have her back. He had missed her throughout he day, had spent whatever time he could at the hospital and later with her at home, and he knew it meant a lot to Mareen to be back.
But right now, he just wanted to sit here, enjoy the spring coming in full force. He wanted to relish the feeling of having her in his arms, alive and whole. She leaned into his caress, head resting on his shoulder, and they had a silent understanding between them.
It was all that was important right now.

A couple stood under a tree, his arm around her waist, she leaning into his embrace. She was a tall woman with chocolate milk-colored skin, shiny black hair that fell down to her waist, and warm, brown eyes. Her looks alone could send the unwary face first into a wall when she walked by. The man was a blond with sunglasses hiding his eyes and dressed in non-descript clothes.
"They make a nice couple," Rana remarked, smiling. "I'm happy for him."
Mark laughed softly. "Yes. You want to talk to him?"
She shook her head. "No. It would raise too many questions. And I think our plane's waiting."
Another smile, then they both left the park, undetected by the two people on the bench.