Hunnigan was infuriated, beyond angry. She was seething as she sat in her studio apartment. The lights were off, the music was off, everything in the house was dark, save for her favorite computer. The program was quickly scanning through four different databases simultaneously. While the programs were doing the hard work, she was in her head. Animosity coursed through her veins.

Helena had been right there, in her arms and she had slipped away before she could do anything. Losing a charge was always hard on her but this time it was was the fact that she loved Helena—the fact that Helena had loved her, had given her so much of herself. Helena had become a part of Hunnigan and now that part was missing.

It was taken. Not just missing but cut away from her. Helena had trusted her to keep her safe and when the time had come, she had failed her. Vengeance was all that was on her mind. The program beeped rapidly several times then a window opened up. It had found one of them.

The Family.

The window was minimized as the program continued to search for the rest of them. A sudden lightening bolt of brightness erupted from her phone. In the heavy darkness of the quiet night, it had shaken her. She slowly picked it up and held it to her ear. She did not give her usual greeting to whomever was on the line.

"Ingrid, this is Daniels. I know you are supposed to be off call due to recent events but we nee—" She cut him off.

"No." Her voice was devoid of any emotion, any humanity. She ended the call before he could react to her. The phone rang again she wrapped her fingers around the phone and hurtled it across the dark house. She heard it strike a wall and several pieces fell quietly to the floor.

Another window popped up, another member of The Family had been found. She stood and walked through the house. In her bedroom, she found the outfit on the bed, it was left here on one of the countless times Helena had stayed over. She slipped her fingers under the cloth gently, as though she were lifting the air itself and pulled them close to her nose. She took a deep breath and imagined Helena wrapped around her. Hunnigan could almost feel Helena's strong hands rubbing her back, caressing her face, lifting her thighs.

Shrill beeps from the next room shattered the illusion and she set the clothes down carefully. The computer had brought up a warning. Someone had noticed her search for The Family. Someone had been tipped off and was trying to back-trace her. She hit a single key and the program neutralized instantly.

The back-trace program was not one she was familiar with but as it searched through her files, it left the code behind. The basis for the program was one she helped write. She set up a trap and allowed the program to walk right into it as she searched "Derek C. Simmons". The IP was one she knew, it was coming from one of the D.S.O's computers.

Hunnigan slammed a fist down on the desk then rushed back into her room. She pulled on a pair of black pants and a long sleeve, black shirt. Next she grabbed a black leather jacket she had gotten for Helena but never had had the chance to present her. She slipped on a pair of black heels and was out the door.

Her first destination was not the D.S.O basement where the IP address had originated, instead it was a weapons dealer who she knew from a mission in South Korea a few years ago. She knew that he was still dealing, though it was mostly to old military types and had not gone so far out of line to upset her. He lived a few hours away but she made the distance quickly. She pulled up in front of his house and got out of her car, not bothering to turn the engine off. She crossed his front lawn in long strides and pounded three times on his door, rang the doorbell twice and gave one good kick. It was a simple ritual but it kept him from blowing her head off her shoulders through the door.

From inside the house, she heard him fumbling around and muttering Korean. He opened the door, shotgun in hand.

"Miss Hunnigan—Now I told them that it was up to them what they did—"

"Save it, Kim. I am here to buy."

He glanced her up and down. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"It is three thirty-nine am and I need to purchase a few items from you." He gave her a look, trying to size her up. She pulled a wad of cash out of her pocket and waved it in front of his eyes. "This isn't a test." He stepped aside and motioned for her to come in.

"What can I get for you? Maybe a nice Beretta or a good bolt-action lever rifle?"

"No, I need body armor. Lightest of lightweight. Something to wear under my clothes and won't show up on scans but will stop a full-metal jacket from taking a bite out of me." His jaw dropped open and he raised a finger to cut in but he continued. "I also need a very small, again lightweight weapon. I don't want a gun, I want something a little more personal."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "How personal is personal, Miss Hunnigan?"

"Something to last, something to say something."

He gave her a smile. "How good are you with a knife?"

"Not great. I took a few classes over the years. Mostly throwing knives and—" He raised a hand to silence her.

Kim stepped to an entertainment center, a big wooden piece of furniture. He pulled open a cabinet and a panel on the side dropped open. He pulled out a chest piece and handed it to her. "Try it on." He tossed it to her and continued looking around.

She pulled the jacket off and slipped the chest piece on. It was a little big and one of the shoulder straps was clearly stitched back together, but it was what she wanted. She latched it and turned to him. He had a gun held at her. He fired one round, a silencer muffled the barrel. Her breath hitched in her throat as an explosion struck over her right breast. Her hands went to the area and pulled back, no blood. Hunnigan slipped a hand under the armor and found the bullet had not passed through. It had shattered on impact and lay in pieces around her feet.

"You see, it is good." He laid the gun down and pulled out a thigh holster.

"You could've warned me." She let out a heavy sigh.

"And here is your weapon." The thing he held out was the thigh holster, in it was not a gun or even a set of knives. She pulled one out and found it was a long, needle-like object. Ten of them in a row. Hunnigan raised a finger to the point and he stopped her hand. "I wouldn't do that. It is poisoned." He overturned the holster over top a table top. A small, green pill fell out. He pulled a latex glove out of a drawer off to his left and picked up the pill, gently. "It is very fragile. Each holder has one at the bottom. You are to press the needle down into the holster then pull it from the sheath and throw it before the poison dried. It is a nerve-toxin. It was paralyze the limb it strikes."

"And if it is to hit the torso?"

"If it is too close to the heart, it will kill. The poison is Erinyes."

"Like the Greek furies?"

"Yes, it will paralyze a person for twenty-four hours in small doses. If you hit someone with more than three needles, they will die in that time. They will not live past a day."

"How many do you have?"

"Thirty needles and one-hundred tablets of the toxin."

"I will take them all." He started to say something when she dropped one-hundred, fifty-thousand on the table top. "The inside of the holster is lined so it will not spill out or hit you. To get out a pill after it has been punctured, you have to soak it in vinegar. It will dilute it enough to handle. Keep the tablets in your fridge until you need them. They will last longer that way."

"Got it." She nodded and watched him carefully replace the pill in the holster than replace the needle after it.

"The metal of the needles is safe to handle after being boiled. You should boil them after each use. The toxin can build up on it. Wear gloves when using them in the field, or you and your target will just lay around looking at each other, waiting for the toxin to wear off." He laughed as he began to count the money.

Hunnigan pulled her jacket over the body armor and buttoned it up. The black of the jacket helped hide the edges of the chest piece. She then wrapped the holster around her thigh and secured it with a belt that Kim was kind enough to throw in for free. She thanked him and exited the house. Hurrying across the lawn, she jumped into her car and headed to the D.S.O headquarters.