Nothing but trouble

5 years ago, upstate New York

Finally, it took her five years but she did it. Her formula was finally ready for live testing. She finished typing the program coding into the system, hit send and waited for the selected batch to acknowledge the transmission. She loaded the test batch into a chilled syringe.

"test subject 321, injuries: two crushed vertebrae and a noticeable cancerous tumor on the right side of the neck. Administering the first dose at 2:25 pm" Jen said to the camera. She picked up the lab rat, who squeaked weakly in protest and injected the dose into the animal. She set it back in the cage and watched it. It twitched at first, squeaked again and then whimpered while she watched it. Her lab assistant Mike was monitoring the creature's vitals.

Then before her eyes, the lesion started disappearing and suddenly the rat was running around the cage. "Oh, please say you got that on tape," said Jen "Oh yeah, all of it baby. Woo! Hoo! It works, it bloody works!" said Mike. "Vitals?" said Jen "Heart rate normal, blood pressure everything is perfect," said Mike

She was practically bouncing when she reported to their supervisor that her formula was ready for human test subjects.

Two weeks later, she received a letter stating that the project was being scrapped. She was stunned she had dedicated her life to this project. They recruited her in high school for this, funded her college education and guaranteed her a job afterward. This was everything they had asked for, why were they abandoning it? It represented a truly working cure for cancer and from her test results quite a few other things as well.

To say she was hurt was an understatement, then when Mike was mysteriously transferred without even saying goodbye she became worried. Out of some misgivings, that he was even still working for the company or even alive. She quickly made backups of all her notes, feigned like she had given in and scrapped the project. Even going so far as to sneak a sample out of the building, in her person, because the security in the building would have allowed no other transport method.

Fully intending to take it to their competitor, or at the very least telling a major news network, that the pharmaceutical company she worked for wanted to hide a cure for cancer rather than use it in place of their current chemotherapy.

She must have given something away, because the next day she received a pink slip, and a reminder from human resources legal department, that she signed a non compete clause in her contract. Which they enforced by blocking any job offer in any science-based field.

So she went out and got a waitressing job at the local diner instead, and tried to ignore the fact they had dashed her hopes and dreams of making a difference in the world. A few times at the diner, she was certain she had seen someone watching her from a black car parked across the street.

While she was at work one night someone broke into her flat and trashed her place, so she went and stayed the night at her parent's house. The next morning her car wouldn't start, so her family offered her a ride to work, they were intending to drop her off at work on the way to church, but someone sideswiped them on the road and they crashed into a tree.

She woke up in the morgue only to find her family laid out on the slabs next to her. She stumbled out of the room in dazed shock wearing only a lab coat that had been on the hook by the door, found her way into a coma patients room and stole their clothes, some money out of their purse and their driver's license. Then calmly walked out of the hospital wearing their things.

She jumped on the first bus that came close to the hospital and took it home to her apartment. Went inside through a window she knew had a faulty latch, packed a bag, lifted a floorboard she was using as a secret stash. She dug out some emergency cash, and a jump drive with her formula on it then left, certain she was fleeing for her life.

Once again, she used the bus to take her to a train station, and paid for a one-way ticket, she bought some leather gloves at the gift shop, because it was cold outside and she didn't want to leave any fingerprints. She had recognized the man that had run them off the road, and he had worked as security for her old employer. They had tried to kill her, and if it wasn't for her formula they would have succeeded. Ruining her life and career apparently wasn't enough they weren't trying to just bury her formula, they were trying to bury her.

She got off the train somewhere in Kansas and stole a car from the side of the road with a for sale sign on it. The vehicle made it all the way to Las Vegas before breaking down. She left it where it stopped, grabbed her stuff and paid for a room in one of those hotels frequented by hookers.

She was running out of money and needed to find a job that would pay ended up calling one of those places that pay for junked cars and had the car towed to their yard. They gave her a small amount of cash, minus the towing fee and thankfully didn't run the plates or really ask for much in the way of ID.

Present day, Los Angeles

She rounded the bend and passed a skinny blond with headphones in, then went around the man with the dog before he could trip her. There was a guy just ahead of her wearing a gray sweatshirt that said MIT, she started to go around him by pushing off a rock with a bit of parkour, unfortunately, the dog from earlier broke free, and careened into both of them in its bid for freedom.

The harried owner was chasing after it with a shout, as she felt herself falling. The tumble was abruptly averted by the man in the MIT sweatshirt as he caught her. "Are you okay?" said the nerd. She nodded, dumbstruck, nerd boy was hot. He lifted her back on her feet and smirked at her dumbfounded look.

She nodded in response. "Are you sure?" said the nerd. Feeling embarrassed by her lack of response and manners, she stammered a quick apology. "I am so sorry... I ..didn't..the dog" said Jen

During this time the dog owner came back with his animal in tow and started apologizing to them both. "Sorry beautiful, he just gets away from me sometimes," said the dog owner. When the guy in the MIT shirt started reassuring the man, Jen used the opportunity to slink away and resume her jog.

"Hey wait up, wow you're fast," said the nerd She jumped with a start because she was unused to anyone being able to keep up with her. Since the accident, actually, since she injected the formula really, her stamina, strength and hand-eye coordination seemed to have doubled.

That and she had also lost a substantial amount of weight since moving to LA. She went from lumpy and frumpy to Victoria secret model hot, it even got rid of the excess skin flab, another change she attributed to the formula. She hardly recognized herself now, so hopefully, anyone still looking for her wouldn't either.

She had worked a few odd jobs as she crossed the country just so the money didn't run out, only using the stolen id when she had to and working under the table, so she didn't have to give anyone her social security number. She wasn't sure they would believe she was dead without a body to confirm it, so they might have people checking for its use.

When she reached Las Vegas, she made a friend out of one of the local tattoo artists, while working for one of the local drug dealers, and he apprenticed her in the tattoo trade after he realized she could draw. She moved in with him for a while just to avoid having her credit ran.

She stayed there for two years and then moved with her mentor when he opened a new shop in Los Angeles, which is where she was currently working. She earned a reputation for being one of their best artists and the nickname of Zee when one of her clients actually fell asleep while she was doing a back piece.

She was currently living with their body piercer Kailey, after her and her boss John, mutually agreed they didn't work as a couple and were better off as friends. Since the incident, she had become a bit more introverted than she had been before, out of a sense of wariness.

She didn't use social media or email and the only phone she had was a cheap prepaid flip phone. She also didn't drive or have a license. She cashed her checks at a check cashing store, under a false identity formerly belonging to a long-dead teenager that a former drug-dealing boss helped provide,her boss John believed it to be her real name, as did the accountant that did her taxes, she even had a social security number attached to the same name.

She used cash everywhere she could and when she couldn't, she loaded it onto a prepaid credit card and used a friends email or computer. Anything to stay under the radar of anyone that might be still looking. She also kept her possessions to a minimum, so if she had to run she could without being hampered by things.

She still kept an eye out for anyone that looked like they worked for the company. Her living space and work had weapons hidden everywhere. While she was in Las Vegas she took a few martial arts classes, because she was finally in the shape to do so.

She bought a gun off one of her drug dealing friends and learned to use it as well as an assortment of bladed weapons, fully intending to defend herself if any of them came a knocking.

Nerd boy said something to her but she couldn't hear him with her headphones pulled one out, and turned towards the man because he looked a little too hopeful for her liking.

"Is there something you require?" said Jen He nervously licked his lips "Actually I was just wondering if I could buy you breakfast, or something to make up for that, I don't usually hug strange women and…I just…I'm Mac by the way" said the man

"It's fine I'm not offended, but I will have to decline, I have work after I am done here," said Jen She started to step away from the man and he stepped into her path. Her hand went to the pepper spray in her pocket in reflex.

"Okay, ah how about lunch we can meet up somewhere, where do you work?" said Mac She thought about it for a few moments. He didn't look threatening, in fact, he looked positively non -threatening and genuine. She sighed and decided what the hell, it was only lunch.

"Hart and soul tattoo and body piercing on Vine, now if you don't mind I really need to finish my run," said Jen "Ah okay I could run with you...ah. I didn't get your name" said Mac "Zee and suit yourself" said Jen

She turned back to the trail and resumed her run. About halfway to the end, the man had stopped to catch his breath with a stitch in his side, while she continued on.

"All right then, I guess I'll see you later," said Mac, to her retreating back. After she was out of eyesight, Jack came up to his side dog firmly in tow. "Wow, not very friendly is she?" said Jack Mac chuckled. "She's just wary of strangers, not necessarily a bad thing in L.A.," said Mac "You gonna try and follow her?" said Jack "Naw, she's too fast, the girl must have been a track star or something," said Mac

Twenty four hours earlier, Phoenix Foundation

They were all sitting around the table waiting for Matti to begin. Riley was tapping the table as though she would rather be tapping keys. Jack was leaning back in his chair, while Mac was busy turning a small pile of paperclips into various shapes.

Matti walked in and the lights dimmed. She tapped the screen on the wall and a guy's picture appeared on the screen. "This is Raoul Mendoza, he runs an arms empire here in Los Angeles and Las Vegas supplying the local thugs with hardware," said Matti "Then how come the feds haven't nabbed him yet?" said Riley

To her it didn't make sense, if they knew he was doing something illegal then they should arrest him for it. "Mostly because they are unable to get intel on his network, and someone tips him off before a raid, we have reason to believe he has people within the police department watching his back," said Matti

"So where do we come in?" said Jack Matti tapped the screen and a woman with short dark hair appeared on the screen. "This is Zee, real name unknown, she is his tattooist and from all reports so good she has a waiting list, Mr. Mendoza is one of her favorite clients and so apparently is most of the local gang population, or at least their leaders," said Matti

"Wait, like she has rival gangs in her shop and ain't none of them killed each other yet?"said Bozer "Ms. Zee maintains a no violence safe zone, anyone who violates it is banned from the shop, which I guess for them is unthinkable" said Matti "or her work commands that level of respect"said Mac

"She would have to be a seriously good artist to command that level of respect," said Jack Images of tattoos appeared on the screen next to the photos. "She is, that's some of her work," said Riley

Mac was eyeing the picture on the screen a half-formed paperclip rose in his fingers. "So what does she have to do with Mendoza?" said Cage "So far as we know, she is the only one he trusts enough to get close to his person and she has attended parties at his mansion," said Riley

She was looking at her laptop which showed surveillance footage of the woman on the larger screen wearing a red dress and sipping champagne. "Mac your job is to get close to Zee find out what she knows and see if she has enough information to testify against Mendoza, Jack you will be helping him with that endeavor," said Matti "and if she doesn't or won't?" said Mac

Jack gave him a sideways look because he caught the hesitation in Mac's tone."Then we need you to gather the information yourselves, or find a way to convince her" said Matti "Cage, I need you to dig into miss Zee's past I don't like the lack of information we have on this girl" said Matti

She pointed to the screen and it changed. "She usually jogs down these trails every morning, it will be a good place to meet her," said Matti "So what will we be doing while they try to chat up this girl?" said Riley

"You two will be controlling the dog,or more specifically the collar that emits a high-frequency signal to perform certain behaviors, in this case, anything that will drive them together, after you two are done with the dog you are to assist Cage" said Matti The lights came back up and with that they were dismissed. Mac left a paperclip rose on the table as he left.

Jack retrieved the dog and kept it at his place overnight, while Riley got the jump drive that contained the audio files to control it. "You gonna be okay with this buddy?" said Jack Mac sighed and ran his hand down his face. "I guess I have to be, but honestly this doesn't feel right," said Mac "Yeah it doesn't, sucks to use someone that way, without looking like a douche for doing it," said Jack "Thanks, I feel so much better," said Mac with a snort.

Present day, jogging trail

"Well?" said Jack, as he roughly pet the dog and it tried to kiss him for it. "It worked she agreed to meet me for lunch, it was slow going though, she seemed afraid of me for some reason," said Mac He looked worried. Jack opened the back of the SUV to put the dog inside. "Maybe she had an abusive ex or something," said Riley in their earpieces, both men frowned in response.

"Well anyways, got to get you back to the house so you can get ready for your date," said Jack Mac shook his head and climbed into the vehicle. They dropped the dog back off at the foundation on the way to Mac's house, even though Jack wanted to keep it.

"I was just saying it was a wonderful dog," said Jack as they walked in the door of Mac's house. "So how did it go?" said Bozer "She was standoffish at first, but she still agreed to have lunch with me," said Mac "I liked that dog," said Jack "Jack for the last time you can't keep the dog," said Mac

He started heading for the bedroom. He wanted to pick out what he was going to wear before he left, the problem was he didn't know if he had anything that would fit in with who Zee usually hangs with. "Hey Mac what'cha doing?'said Bozer "Ah picking out something to wear... I ..um" said Mac

"He's acting like it's a date," said Riley. Ribbing him just a little because Mac looked so adorably nervous, she thought it was hilarious. It was just a job, but Mac was treating it like he was really going to be dating this woman.

"You know this is a job right?" said Bozer Mac gave them a halfhearted shrug and walked into his room, Bozer gave him a strange look when he didn't respond, and opened his mouth to say something more when Mac exited the room. "Okay, I need a second opinion here. Should I wear the jean jacket or the leather?" said Mac

"Ah neither, with that shirt. What are you trying to do? Make her think you're one of the village people, geez man come on" said Jack, shoving Mac back towards his room "The village people?" said Riley. Bozer chuckled, downed the last of his coffee and headed for the door, Cage could be seen in the distance sitting in a car.

"Okay man whatever, if she becomes a steady thing I want to meet her, in the meantime gotta do some B and E while our girl Zee is at work," said Bozer, as he exited the room. Riley shook her head and peeked into Mac's room, then quickly backed out when she realized Mac was in his skivvies and nothing else.

"Oh man, some warning next time," said Riley from the other side of the door. She heard Jack chuckle in response to both their reactions. "You're sure?" said Mac "Yep, that's the outfit trust me," said Jack