Author's notes:
This story is not meant to infringe on WB/DC/Vertigo or any of the rigths holders of the Losers. I just like the characters and want to see them in action.
Thanks again Aislinn and Alex for ecouraging me (and egging me on) and proofing and plot hole pointing
This story is Gen, but if you look at it in the right light... who knows. Enjoy!
Please note: I used to speak Spanish, but it has been a very long time. I've forgotten my tenses and a lot of vocab (and a lot of it has been replaced by Arabic... )so.. appologies in advance... if you need a translation as to what was said (or what I think was said) please let me know. I tried to keep it to a minimum.
The technician looked at the print out and shook his head. There was no way this was accidental. A reporter from a magazine serving the northwest showing up in New Jersey to write an article about old and faulty wiring and the hazards it presented the day after they'd been forced to burn their honey pot? No, that was simply too much coincidence.
A quick run through security footage for the building during the fire found the man standing off to the side, watching the fire with an intensity that told him the man was worried about something, or someone.
Hector Gonzalez, or whatever his name was could hide behind a pair of jeans and a low slung cowboy hat or an expensive suit and a well polished pair of Salvatore Ferragamos, but he could not hide from facial recognition software.
He called Roberts and was surprised when the boss himself picked it up. "Martinez, tell me you have something and we didn't burn our one chance to get Max."
"We may have a person of interest..." the technician confirmed. "I'm sending you his picture now..."
TLTLTL LTLTLT
Roberts smiled as he received the technician's report.
"Thank you Martinez," he said. "Any activity from your 'tainted data'?"
"No sir. But if anyone does access it, we'll know and the tracking information will lead us right to them."
"Very good. Let me know as soon as there is any activity or any trace of the idiot who took it in the first place."
He hung up then turned to his head of security. Philips smiled.
"Should I... bring him in for questioning?"
Roberts nodded then pointed to the picture taken during the fire. "That is the expression of someone with more than a passing interest in the fire. I want a word with him."
If they were wrong, well... they'd do their best to make amends to the magazine for the loss of their reporter. Either way, they had to find out why Max was so interested in their encryption software.
TLTLTL LTLTLT
Think. The sponge bath wasn't all that bad, and the nurse had this way of smiling that made him feel... well.. like a man ought to feel when a pretty woman is giving him a sponge bath. That wasn't wrong was it? Was it?
But there was something... something... something he was supposed to be doing. He looked around. He really couldn't be AWOL if he was still in his room could he?
He had to get out. Every fiber of his being told him that... two galaxies traveling at different speeds could either collide and form one even bigger galaxy or they could totally destroy each other and then they'd never find the maximum escape velocity.
He had to talk to Clay. Clay would understand.
If only he knew who Clay was.
TLTLTL LTLTLT
Dr. Jacqueline Francis was worried. She was used to patients who were delusional, violent even hostile but none of them had been as unpredictable as Jake Alvarez.
For the most part the man was docile and childlike but if she left him alone for more than a minute, he would somehow slip out of his room only to be found an hour later either wandering the halls or curled up in a small fetal ball rocking back and forth.
His original tox-screen had indicated Scopolamine mixed with a veritable cocktail of psychoactive medications that would definitely explain his behavior but it should have worked its way through his system, only it hadn't.
If anything he was getting worse. She had ordered a second tox-panel to be run, and the preliminary results indicated a higher concentration of the poison in his system. This did not make sense.
He had had no visitors, nothing was missing from the pharmacy and even if there was- there was no reason, health or recreational for someone to serve themselves up this nightmare waiting to happen.
The only thing she knew for sure was it was killing him. She had to find out how the poison was getting into his system and soon. If not they'd lose him in less than forty-eight hours.
TLTLTL LTLTLT
Cougar's eyes narrowed slightly as the black sedan pulled in front of him. He quickly schooled his features and activated his transceiver.
"Cougar to base... I may have something... need you to find me... Leaving the fire marshal's office now"
There wasn't enough time to wait for a response before the driver had exited the car.
"Sr. Gonzales, viene conmigo, por favor." The man urged.
"¿Por Que?
The man's demeanor changed, his eyes becoming cold as he pulled a gun. "Porque eso."
Cougar's eyes narrowed as he fought to control his base instinct to rip this man apart. The man knew something about what had happened to Jensen and he needed to know what it was. It was the only thing keeping the man alive.
TLTLTL LTLTLT
"Base to Cougar Negative. Abort. Do you copy?" Clay forced himself to remain calm and in charge. Cougar's plan wasn't a bad one, but it relied on the team being able to find him- something that Jensen could do in his sleep, only they didn't have Jensen.
"Pooch, this is base. How close are you to the fire marshal's office?"
"Not nearly close enough..."
"Dammit! Cougar, we cannot back you up, I repeat we cannot back you up. Capture subject if at all possible but get the hell out of there."
Cougar never answered.
TLTLTL LTLTLT
Cougar knew he was in trouble. He was laying on what felt like an operating table... narrow... hard, his legs were restrained and his arms were stretched out to his sides on small platforms attached to the table. This was not good.
He could feel something cool running into his right hand and followed it to an IV line. So not good. Even if he survived what was quickly becoming a nightmare, Clay was going to kill him. He kept his breathing slow and even, hoping it would give him some advantage but there was none to be had.
"Carlos Alvarez," he hear someone reading off his name. "aka 'Cougar' teammate to one William Roque currently in the employ of a CIA agent, codename: Max..."
He felt someone grab his hair and turning his head to face them. "Did we miss anything?"
He glared at the shadow he assumed was the man who'd spoken. The lights shining directly in his eyes put everything in shadow. "Former teammate," he answered with a slight growl.
"Former? Interesting. We'll need to update our files... now... what does Max want with our systems?"
"That was what we were trying to find out," Cougar answered. They'd made it clear that his identity as well as their op were blown, so it really didn't matter if he confirmed it or not. He just needed to know what had happened to Jensen.
"And that would mean that our last guest was your team's 'Technician'..." He paused going through his notes. "One... Jake Jensen..."
Cougar glared at the shadow who had spoken. "Where is he?"
"I wouldn't worry about that right now," the man answered as he moved closer. "You'll be joining him soon enough."
Cougar tried to move when he saw the small scalpel in the man's hand, but his body didn't respond. "I'd say this will only hurt a little... but I'd be lying..."