I do not own.
Dial Tone yawned as he sat by the monitor. He hated the night shift. Nothing ever happened. He started nodding off. Looking at his empty coffee cup, he sighed. As he got up to get a refill, the landline rang. He froze. No one used the landline… ever. He wasn't even sure why they still had one. Everyone used the more high tech methods of communication.
"Hello?" He asked tentatively into the receiver.
"Do you know how long it took us to find an actual payphone? What the... is wrong with having a... payphone in the… city? Not everyone has a... cell phone!"
"Beach Head?" Dial Tone hazard a guess. He was glad for the static that seemed to be well timed with his profanity.
"Of course it's... me! I need you to patch me to Hawk! Now!" He snarled.
Dial Tone heard Cover Girl in the background telling him to stop cursing.
"Hawks in an important meeting and can not be disturbed." Dial Tone gulped hoping that this didn't mean he'd have to run the obstacle course on his knees.
"Then get me... Duke or to a lesser extent Flint!" Beach Head was not happy.
"Uh, all the tops are in that meeting." Dial Tone fretted.
This time Dial Tone heard his curses. He also heard a smack and more profanity.
"What did I tell you about cursing in front of the kid?" Cover Girl snapped.
"I'm working woman!" Beach yelled back.
"What's going on?" Dial Tone interrupted.
"We have a snake problem. They're trying to kidnap our charge. They've infiltrated the police. We got nowhere to go." Beach Head explained succinctly.
"Oh that's bad." Dial Tone said nervously.
"No sh… Sherlock! We need to get to a safe house." He added.
Dial Tone pulled out a map. "Uh let's see. Where are you?"
Beach Head told him.
"Well, there's a safe house not too far from you. But it's not in the best part of town." Dial Tone stared at the map.
"As long as there's no snake around… we don't care." Beach Head snapped.
"OK, ok. Here's the address." Dial Tone gave him the directions.
Beach Head quickly jotted down the address.
"I'll get you back up. Just hang tight." Dial Tone said.
"Easy for you to say." Beach Head groused before hanging up.
"You don't have to take it out on him. It's not his fault." Cover Girl admonished.
"I'm not." Beach Head growled. "Come on. We got some walking to do."
"Do you know where we're going?" Cover Girl asked.
"Dial Tone told me… it's..." He paused. He realized he had no idea where they were.
"Give me that." Cover Girl pulled the address from his hands. She ignored his scowl as she looked at the address then at the street signs.
"This is just a few blocks away." She sniffed. "And what did Dial Tone mean bad neighborhood? This is a happening area."
"Like I told a Dial Tone as long as there's no snakes, I could care less." Beach Head said.
"I'm tired." Bailey finally spoke.
"I know, honey. You must be exhausted but it's not too far from here. Can you walk or do you want Mr. Sneeden to carry you?" Cover Girl asked him.
"What?" They both said at the same time horrified.
"No. I'm not a baby." Bailey stood up straight. "I can walk."
"Good man. You're no namby, pamby jackwagon." Beach Head approved. Cover Girl rolled her eyes but glad that at least the foul language was no longer flying around.
"Come on, you two." She beckoned them to follow her.
After a block, Bailey started slowing down. "Are we there yet?" He asked tiredly.
"We'll get there when we get there." Beach Head told him.
He then whispered to Cover Girl, "Are we there yet?"
Cover Girl resisted the urge to face palm. "Almost there."
As they turned the corner, the feel of the neighborhood changed. There were more people out even at that time of night. Everyone was dressed for a night out. Groups were walking, laughing, and generally being loud.
"Where's this place?" Beach Head asked realizing that they were sticking out.
"Um… over here…" Cover Girl stopped short. In front of her, there was a long line of well dressed people waiting to get into an unassuming brick building while muffled music came from behind the door. A large brute of a man stood in front of the door. "That's the safe house?" She asked incredulously looking at the address in her hand.
"What the?" Beach Head snatched the paper and glared at the address on the building.
The door suddenly opened as a bunch of inebriated people stumbled out. Loud music blasted from the opening as the man waved several people in before closing the door.
"I think it's a rave." Cover Girl muttered.
"A what?" Beach Head looked at her flabbergasted.
"You know a dance party like a club but with a lot more…" She paused and looked at Bailey. "Illicit substances."
"And what the hell are they doing at the safe house." Beach Head queried.
"They probably thought it was an abandoned building. Planners take them over and throw these free parties." She replied.
"And how do you know about these thing?" Beach Head eyed her suspiciously.
"Please, we use to go to these after photo shoots to unwind. But I got bored with the scene. And the strongest thing I took was a bourbon on the rocks. " Cover Girl waved her hand dismissively.
"Can I go to bed yet?" Bailey asked as he wavered on his feet.
"We're going to have to call Dial Tone back and get an address of a different safe house." Cover Girl sighed.
"Like fun we are. They are coming here to meet us. A change will cause delay." Beach Head marched up to the very large man guarding the doorway.
"Beach wait!" Cover Girl tried to get him to come back. But he marched determinedly to the bouncer who was a head taller than and twice as thick as Beach Head. Cover Girl grimaced as she watched him yell and gesture at the man. She couldn't quite hear him but from the look on the bouncer's face, he was not impressed. He picked Beach Head up by the collar and tossed him on the street.
Cover Girl grabbed him and had to pull him back to prevent him from taking out the brute.
"Look, even if you take him out, you can't take on everyone already inside." She reasoned with him.
Beach Head glared at her but knew she was right. "You have a better idea?"
"As a matter of fact…" She smirked.
0o0
"Is there a bathroom in there, sir?" Cover Girl asked the bouncer in an English accent.
"Yeah, there's one inside." The bouncer frowned.
"Please… my son really needs to use the bathroom." Cover Girl told the man pushing Bailey to the front.
The bouncer frowned. "Sorry lady, no kids allowed."
Bailey started crying. "Why is he being so mean? I have to go!" He began hopping up and down.
"Please sir, have a heart. We just need to use the bathroom." Cover Girl pleaded.
Bailey wailed louder.
"Oh come on man, have a heart.", "The kid needs to go.", "When you have to go you have to go." The people on the line started saying to the bouncer.
"Okay, okay, just use the bathroom down the hall." The harassed man opened the door.
"Oh, thank you, sir." Cover Girl ushered Bailey into the dark, loud hallway. When the door shut, Cover Girl grabbed Bailey's hand and dragged him up the stairs. When they got to the top floor, Cover Girl opened the door to a room. Going over to the window facing the fire escape, she slid open the window. Beach Head crawled in.
"What kept you?" He scowled.
"Are you kidding me?" Cover Girl glared at him.
"Can I sleep now?" Bailey asked sleepily.
"Sure sweetie." Cover Girl walked over to a covered couch and pulled the sheet off. Bailey crawled into it and was asleep in minutes.
"I hope they show up soon." Cover Girl said as she looked out the window.
"I'm going to go out and do some reconnaissance." Beach Head started reached for the door.
Cover Girl pushed the door shut. "Are you crazy?" She hissed at him. "Keep a low profile."
"No one knows who I am. And we need to know the layout of the building." Beach Head argued.
"How about the bouncer and all those people who saw you tossed on you sorry…" Cover Girl stopped. She grabbed Beach Head's arm. "Did you hear something?"
They stood silently straining their ears to try to hear any unusual sounds. It was difficult between the soft snoring of Bailey and dampened sounds of the music downstairs. Beach Head was about to open the door again to go when the sound came again.
"It's coming from the roof." Beach Head scowled. He walked over to the window with the fire escape.
"Hey," Cover Girl called to him. "Be careful."
Beach Head gave her a smirk. "What's the fun in that?" Getting out of the window, he climbed up towards the roof. Cautiously he poked his head above the rim. Immediately he ducked as a blade narrowly missed his head.
Beach Head grabbed his ankle and pulled. The figure fell back. Beach Head got up to the top of the roof.
"Firefly!" He growled. " Didn't we already kick your tail."
"That was merely round 1." Firefly snarled. "We are now at round 2." He charged him. Beach Head sidestepped him. Firefly managed to spin around and swung almost making contact with Beach Head's neck. Firefly continued swinging at him. With no weapons, Beach Head had no choice but to dance out of the way until he hit the edge of the roof.
"Time's up for you." Firefly said smugly with his katana raised.
Sorry for leaving it at another cliffhanger. It was getting too long and I have been having a hard time finding time to write. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I appreciate you.
