Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners (Dark Angel, Fox, etc.) The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Thanks to Kita for beta reading this chapter in record time and to Jenna whose help is invaluable. Also thanks to all the people who took a couple of minutes to leave a review.

When reading this and the next chapters please keep in mind the following:
- Familiars and the Breeding Cult are not part of this story. Although the character of Ames White as a member of the NSA will be included.
- The character of Seth as a member of the Elite is not the same than the character from the DA books.

With all that said, please enjoy Chapter 06


Chapter 6
Whispers From The Past

Who was he?
Behind all the witty remarks and easy going attitude, did she really know anything about him?
Was it even possible to get to know a person?

The questions swirled at a mad speed inside her head. Things happened too fast and her mind was still struggling to process all the events of the night. Reality was evading her and she had the nagging sensation that it was laughing at her clumsiness, watching as she stumbled in the shadows of ignorance.

Three days ago something like this wouldn't have ended the same way; three days ago she had the world figured out. Three days ago people acted according their nature; bad guys did bad things, good guys save the day and stubborn jerks acted as jerks. Three days ago the world used to be in balance.

She was surprised about her behavior; actually her lack of a reaction was the problem. She let him leave without a fight; she hadn't said a word in order to stop him, she 'Max' had let 'Alec' walk away safe and sound. He only looked at her and all the words flew out of her brain.

She can't help but ponder that lately it seemed like they are switching roles.

Max looked at the key chain in her palm, the metal shined under the lights of the building entrance. She closed her fist forcefully and felt as the small dents pressing against her skin. She finally admitted that when it comes to him she's at a loss.

If now was the time to be honest with herself, Max would have to admit that before today she never had been curious enough to get to know him. Not even once she had bothered to ask him how was he doing. 

She always assumed that his attitude when it comes to life was a clear reflex that he had no problems adapting to the outside. Besides his designation and some out of the blue comments about Manticore he mentioned a long time ago she really doesn't know anything about him.

Could it be possible that he used to be a CO? She never thought about it. His posture about life had always gave the impression of being centered on having as much fun as possible, avoiding responsibilities as if those were the plague.

Alec was completely opposite of Zack and until now she wouldn't have thought about both men under the same lines.

The cold wind made her shiver and she looked at the barely illuminated street where Alec disappeared a while ago. A soft sigh escaped from her lips, she wasn't going to get any answers from him tonight. Shaking her head at the lonely street Max walked inside the Foggle Towers building.

The numbers in the panel in front of her started to change as the elevator continued its journey towards the penthouse. Her mind brought back the conversation they had on the way back.

"What the hell happened there? Are you stupid? Do you have a death wish?" She was fuming; this was supposed to be a simple get in - get out thing and now there were three dead men and a fourth seriously injured.

Alec glanced momentarily at her before focusing once again in the road ahead; he seemed to think about his reply for an instant before taking a deep breath and casually replying.

"Wonder boy's Intel was incomplete Max, what do you think it happened?"

"Three corpses Alec! The place was loaded with cops, what the hell were you thinking by pulling something like that?"

She sneered and crossed her arms over her chest in a vain attempt to control the rage she could feel cursing through her veins. Hitting Alec while he drove them back to Logan's might not qualify as a smart idea.

"I had to make a decision Max, I don't know about you but I prefer to be alive better than dead." His voice carried the same tone he used earlier in the night as he stare coldly at her, the hazel of his eyes once again was invaded by those golden flecks she had seen before.

There was something completely different about him, from the way he carried himself to the tone of his voice. His change in behavior was freaking her out. Self-centered Alec was someone she was used to deal with, this new guy with the commanding attitude sitting next to her was a completely stranger.

"Look Max I know you have a lot of questions about what happened in there, and I'll explain it, just not tonight. It's been a long day and night and I'm not up to playing 20 questions with you and Logan. I'll be here first thing in the morning."

She had watched in silence as he parked the car in front of the building, got out of the vehicle, walked to her side of the car and opened the door for her. He took her right hand on his and turned up her palm, placing the key chain on it. He stare at her for a couple of seconds, waiting for her objections, her screams, she could have bet that he also considered the possibility she might aim for a hit.

It never came.

Max was silent as both of them looked at each other and she remained like that even minutes later from his departure.

The opening doors of the elevator brought her back to the present and she walked toward Logan's door. Tonight nothing had gone as planned, no one had acted as expected and as a result nothing made sense anymore.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"The charity event held at the Georgia Embassy ended up with a tragic result. An attempt against the life of Georgia's Ambassador, Mr. Evgraf Sokolov had resulted on three dead men and a fourth injured. The men were killed by the embassy security team and the police suspects of the Russian gangs operating on the city, who had been responsible in the past of similar attacks. Irina Crachek, the embassy's secretary of external affairs informed the press that Mr. Sokolov was taken to the St. Mathews Hospital; luckily he wasn't injured in any form during the shooting. All the guests who had been detained by the police inside of the Embassy's premises in order to obtain their statements are now being allowed to leave the place…"

Logan's stare had been fixed on the TV screen; he had seen in the background of the news report as Max and Alec walked out of the Embassy. Somehow a simple mission of retrieving information had turned into a diplomatic nightmare.

The reporter continued informing as the camera focused on the right wall of the embassy. Logan's eyes bulged at the sight; Thomas Hathaway, the NSA Deputy Director of External Affairs, arrived at the site followed by his usual entourage of four agents.

Seconds passed by and turned into minutes, Logan couldn't tell how long he had been staring at the now blank screen. His mind had run the worst possible scenarios as he imagined the NSA on the track of both transgenic. The sound of heels against the wooden floor went unnoticed by him.

"Logan? Are you ok?"

The last thing Max could have expected tonight was finding Logan Cale in a state of shock; however, that was how she found him. Completely enthralled on his own thoughts and foreign to the world that surrounded him.

After two unsuccessful attempts of calling him, Max opted for pushing his chair. The movement caused the desire effect and the hacker looked up and caught her inquisitive gaze.

"Thank God you're ok. What happened? I saw the news and then the NSA people…" His voice clearly mirrored the anguish he had been feeling for the last half an hour.

As she sat on the chair next to him Max sighed and wondered where she should begin her story, in any case her knowledge about the events of the night were so limited that probably the news had more information than her.

"Nothing makes sense anymore." She knows she sounds tired and childish not exactly the attitude she will be striving for, but she has been thinking about everything and in deed nothing made sense for her anymore.

Logan looked puzzled at her… "What do you mean, what happened?"

"We went to the party and did mingle around. Then Sokolov greeted Alec as if both of them were good old friends and they went inside of his studio. An hour later I found Alec leaving the embassy with a shocked Sokolov wearing a black coat and telling me he'll be back. Hell broke loose after that when the guards discovered the dead men and that the Ambassador was missing. The police was called and I was held along with the rest of the guests. Alec reappeared half an hour later and then the police released us. That kind of sums it up."

"Where's Alec now?"

"Probably at his place, he left me here with the car." Max placed the car keys on the top of Logan's desk.

Logan took a second to understand what Max had said. Alec had somehow got involved with the three bodies that now lay on the morgue, they had been lucky enough avoiding by minutes an encounter with the NSA and he left without an explanation.

"He just left?"

Max watched at Logan and groaned inwardly, why did he like to repeat the obvious? Didn't she just explain that? "I just told you that."

"Why? How?"

She bit her tongue at the questions, sometimes Logan just rub her on the wrong spot, still she decided to humor him with an answer.

"Why? He said that he was really tired and not in the mood for playing 20 questions. How? He just parked the car and left."

She wasn't mad at Logan but he was successfully irritating her, this game of questions wasn't helping in improving her current mood. Maybe Alec was right when he called it a night, she should have done the same if it wasn't for the doubts that were driving her crazy.

"But…"

Max groaned, yes she had been asking herself the same question. Why? In a normal situation Alec wouldn't have walked out of this so easily. He wouldn't have brushed her off like that, she wouldn't have let him. But this time she did, and that was the frustrating part, why she did it?

"Alec's not the same, he's changed. I don't know how to explain it, there's something different about him."

"What do you mean Max?"

During the last two years Logan believed that he had get to know a little bit of Max complex personality. The doubt and uncertainty in her voice as she talked about Alec worried him.

"It's not like he's becoming mental. It's the way he acts, there some vibe about him that wasn't there before, and his eyes… Logan I swear I saw golden flecks on them, that's not normal even for us."

She wasn't comfortable talking about this with Logan. He never knew but she found the pictures Lydecker gave him a couple of days later, it had explained the way he looked at her, the reason of the sudden hesitation in his eyes when he talked to her.

Having to tell him now that she suspected something was different with Alec brought back home her own insecurities, however besides Logan there was no one else who could have the resources to find out what was going on with Alec.

"The night of the storm, when I told you that he seemed off, right?" Logan was looking at her with a worried expression.

She nodded at his question… "That was the first time I saw him acting differently."

Logan remembered Lydecker's words 'They were designed to kill. Coldly...efficiently...and happily. All they need is a trigger'.

"So you don't think that he will react like Ben did?"

Her eyes widened at the implication of Logan's question. She had seen Ben's eyes and the emotions in 

them; this, whatever it is… was not the same. Ben had been scared and lost in a world that had more questions than answers, when he was incapable of getting the answers he needed desperately Ben chose to make his own rules. He created a world where his actions made sense.

Alec's eyes commanded a respect that reminds her of Zack, it was something untamed, wild and powerful. It wasn't the same thing, she was sure of it.

And even if this would end up being the same thing that pushed Ben to the limit, there was no way she would let Alec fall into it. She would help him no matter how much he screamed and fought her; she would not leave him to fight this on his own. She would not abandon him.

"It's not the same thing Logan."

"How can you be sure? You weren't there when it started; for all we know it could be the same thing."

"I just know. I need you to find out if there were more information about Alec in the Manticore files you have, missions, trainings, things like that. Can you do it?"

"I'll look into it, but Max we should consider the possibility…"

"It's not the same, trust me on this."

Logan looked at her serious expression, the stiff posture of her back and determined look on her eyes. He didn't trust himself with words, so he opted for something else. His gloved hand reached for her and squeezed her left hand softly. He was agreeing with her, accepting her word, trusting her, at least for now.


Tbilisi, Georgia
February 14th 2015

There was an old saying 'When in Rome do as the Romans do'; applied to their current location they should probably say 'When in Georgia made sure to learn Georgian'. In any case Seth heartily agreed with the need to assume the local customs as well as the local language. Although considering that he and Mark were Beta team in this operation, he was not exactly sure when he was going to put in practice those three days he spent learning Georgian.

Seth groaned as another snowflake fell against the window's crystals. Onyx's eyes glared at the moon lightened street, from all the time to be in Europe, they had to be in the middle of winter in a Caucasus country where the only thing to see was tons of snow covering everything that should be visible.

It wasn't a secret; in fact he had a sneaking suspicious that his current location was the result of his publicly renowned annoyance about cold weather and low temperatures.

The rest of their merry band seemed unfazed about the climate conditions, Nicole and Alec never really commented about that topic and Mark would be happy living in an igloo.

He decided that the documents he was currently scanning could be left alone for a couple of minutes. He needed a break and something interesting in order to get a new perspective. Lazily he rested his back against the chair and watched at his CO, Alec was completely engrossed in studying the facial expressions of his SIC who was lost gazing at a distant point far away on the horizon.

Seth was aware of the additional responsibility on the shoulders of both D1 members, for a relatively smaller project in comparison with Manticore; Prometheus had a complexity that could put on shame the former.

The Elite was a simple prove of it.

The special unit was composed of only ten members, who had been selected from the X5 series developed by Manticore. The hierarchy of command inside the Elite was conformed by the D1, whose members were respectively the CO, SIC, 1st Lt. and 2nd Lt. It was usually the D1 who participated in regular meetings with the Committee members, it was also the D1 members where the major part of responsibility was placed, whether it was a success or a failure.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Alec watched, amused, as Nicole bit her lower lip, distracted; her chin resting on the back of her hand as her eyes got lost in the distance; she had been looking like that for the last half an hour.

From personal and previous experience he's well aware of the risks involved in interrupting her when she's acting like that. They will have to leave the hotel room soon, morning was approaching and they will need to get back inside Sokolov's house.

There were cons when you're portraying to be part of an agency that's not yours, usually you ended up doing double work, but that was the lesser of the evils the worst part were the insane amounts of reports needed to be delivered to all the parts involved. At this rate paperwork will be the end of him.

For this particular mission it had been Georgia's government who requested support for its delicate internal situation to the Council of the European Union, whom in turn contacted the MI-5 and from there on the matter landed on Prometheus hands.

The MI-5 had approached Prometheus' Committee requesting collaboration with Georgia's unstable political situation. As expected the Committee had jumped on the opportunity to strength the bonds with the British agency and approved the mission designating Colonel Brunner as the handler and coordinator of the operation that received the name of 'Tbilisi Engagement'.

Col. Brunner had been less than excited with the idea of working along with the foreign agency and the fact that the Elite teams will need to be acknowledge as MI-5 agents was the icing of the cake for the military man whose dislike about the British in general was well known.

Besides playing the MI-5 agents during the day, both of them had to complete daily reports to Georgia's Minister of Defense and also to Col. Brunner, although the latter task had been delegated to Mark and Seth.

Twice a week they had to deliver a report to the Committee, whom were expecting a smooth solution for this conflict; in fact they had requested a non blood resolution in a reasonable period of time. The accurate translation was 'Don't take more than a month to clean this mess and do it efficiently'.

This was the third consecutive mission they had been assigned where the handler was merely the buffer between them and another party. The actual profiles were done by them either at headquarters or on location, as well as the design of strategies and the responsibility for the actions they took, resources were requested trough the handler but otherwise it was also their call and so far there had not been observation regarding it.

The first two mission completed under these new parameters had been a blatant success, proving once again the effectiveness of The Elite when it comes to results. It was expected that this one will follow along the same lines; the only difference was the interaction with a foreign intelligence agency.

A sharp sound made him look at the person in front of him. The pen that she had been holding seconds ago now was nailed in the middle of the table. Three pairs of eyes focused on the teenage girl sitting in front of them.

The sound had interrupted Alec's internal musing and he speculated if she had managed to nail the pen by ramming it or if she had manipulated the air molecules' around it.

"Care to share with us why did you decided to stab our table?" Mark asked grinning at her; Nicole's unexpected reactions were notorious inside the Elite.

"It was the table or one of you." She remarked without blinking.

Seth smiled at her reply, "Then by all means, the table was a wise choice."

His eyes sparkled with anticipation; finally there will be something interesting to talk about.

She moaned cranking her neck. "Guys we were missing the point here."

"What do you mean?" Seth raised an eyebrow at her comment.

Nicole grinned knowingly at the question, "There had been at least five charges against Kerensky regarding violent crimes, all the cases were either archived or dropped. The man had been untouchable until he was deposed."

Alec checked the aforementioned data on his laptop before commenting. "There weren't any proves to sustain them. The man was accused of rapping and killing at least five girls, parents or family ended up dropping the case. None of the demands ended on a trial."

"Exactly. He was in the government first and then he managed to find a group of influential sponsors inside Georgia to cover his back. This could easily be the clean solution the Committee expects from us."

Nicole watched expectantly at the three of them, waiting for the storm of questions that was sure to follow her explanation.

"What about the MI-5 parameters?" Mark really hated collaborative missions; it was a headache to comply with the requirements of all the sides involved.

"Those can be included. Their main request is to keep Evy safe, which Nicole and I can do." Alec replied and Seth recognized the mission mode tone, still he couldn't help but inquire.

"Evy?"

"Don't ask." Was Alec's brief reply.

"Yes Sir." He grinned knowing that the story behind the nickname was probably amusing. "Don't we need something stronger and recent to shake his ground?" he added.

Nicole smiled sadly. "Take a look at the daughter's death" she handed him a printed sheet.

"12 year-old Anna Kerensky jumped from the third floor of her house dying instantly at the impact." Seth's voice floated in the room.

"What were the autopsy results?" Asked Mark.

"No autopsy or forensic procedure were done, daddy dearest's request." Replied Alec.

Seth ventured on the possible reasons for denying the autopsy, "Religious beliefs?"

"Kerensky doesn't strike me as the faith in god type of man." Observed Mark.

Nicole nodded at him as she added, "I'm betting on more personal reasons. Given the man's background 

what could probably be the reasons for his 12 year-old girl to jump from a third floor?"

"Incest. Tacky. The man is a real piece of work." Mark replied coldly.

"I don't know for sure, but I think we should follow this lead, because if I'm not mistaken Sayyid Bonab, Azerbaijan Prime Minister, has also a younger daughter, exactly the same age of Anna when she died. What would daddy Bonab do if he found out that his hero of the revolution is nothing more than a pedophile responsible for his own daughter's death?"

"I love that twisted brain of yours" Nicole glared in Alec's direction for the questionable flattering comment.

"It's a non blood solution indeed", remarked Seth.

Mark rested his elbows on the table as he moved away the folders. "Destroying his reputation will carve his followers' base as well to scare away his sponsors. No one wants to be linked with a guy like him. What if it's not true?"

"Will it really matter considering that it was true the other five times?" Nicole considered that even if it was something they had to fabricate it will bring some sort of justice to all the women and families he had destroyed.

Mark agreed with her point of view, it was not a normal occurrence for them to fabricate stories, but in this case he wouldn't complain about it. "Not really, actually it will be ironic if it wouldn't be true."

"I'm afraid in this case it is. But I'll talk to Anna's old classmates to gather all the evidence available. She would have been fifteen this year."

Alec watched as her eyes became glazed, she was dealing with the ghosts from her own past now.

They could continue tomorrow, at least now they had a better perspective regarding the curse of action they could use.

"For now this is our best option. Let's follow through people."

All of them nodded but only two left the chairs they were occupying. Alec and Nicole took their jackets and scarves and dressed up, the constant snow had made the temperature drops once again; people said this was the coldest winter of the last ten years.

They had entered the hotel unnoticed thanks to Nicole's perspective of what qualified as an entrance; therefore they had to leave in the same fashion. The girl in question tied her hair in ponytail before walking toward the window and checking the street below.

"People have to be crazy to go for a walk at 4:00 am during winter and in this weather." Alec commented as he mirrored her actions.

"Better to be safe then, people get crazy during full moon." She smiled as he opened the window and both of them stood outside on the cornice with their backs pressed against the windows' crystals. At her nod both of them jumped, their fall lasted the five floors of the Marriot Hotel with a landing that was barely perceptible by their footprints on the snow.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

They had been walking together for five minutes and she hadn't uttered a single word, the lack of speech on her part was starting to worry him.

Alec looked at her for a second time; she was once more lost in her thoughts. "How are you?"

"Good I guess, why you ask?" Nicole looked at him funnily.

"Because, its not the first assignment of this kind that you're going to take. Are you ready for this?"

"Straight to the point as always." She replied sharply, but her eyes changed slightly and the cobalt blue adjusted on a light shade of blue. "I was ten at that time Alec, completely different situations. I'm only going to ask questions this time"

"I just…"

She smiled at him, and took his hand on hers as they walked on the street.

"Nothing bad is going to happen this time."

"So can you swear that you're not going to die on me again?" His words were mocking but the look on his face showed how disturbed he was by reliving the same situation once again.

"I was in a comma not dead." She pushed him softly and prompted him into a run.

He held her hand as they run across the deserted snow covered street. Holding her is a reassurance for his mind, that for now he can protect her.

Sometimes he wonders what he would do if she would disappear, if someday he would be too late to protect or save her. Those times he promised himself that it will never happen, but he knows deep inside that their lives will always be under the shadow of the uncertainty.

The future they protect is ambiguous when it comes to their own lives.


Alec opened his eyes slowly, adjusting them at the dim light of his room. He can still hear her voice inside his head, the way her eyes changed when she talked.

Where were all of them now?
Where was she now?
Have they been looking for him?

She had played an essential part in his life, he just knows that. There were a lot of things he's still unacquainted with, but Alec is quite sure that she was important for him as well as the rest of them.

The sense of belonging felt strong; the relations between them appeared to flow easily despite the difference in characters and the opposite personalities. It felt like home, something he hasn't feel in a long time, something he didn't know he had experienced.

He groaned as a ray of light chose that moment to cross the room and hit his eyes. The sun in the mornings could be such a loathsome entity, who could want something bright and shiny as the first thing in the day.

It was inevitable the morning has come and with it the time to face the consequences for his actions. He hated the idea of having to explain his actions, but knew nevertheless that when dealing with Logan, the self-appointed knight in white armor of Seattle, it was unavoidable.

The longer an explanation could be; the happier Logan would be. It wasn't bad as a concept, after all the more detailed a report was the better and reliable the Intel will be. The thing was that he wasn't used to explain himself with people whom were not part of a command line or a hierarchy, in short his brain doesn't consider reasonable to explain his actions to outside people whom were not perceived as authority figures.

He had acknowledged Renfro's authority solely because she held the position of Manticore's Director.

Alec was skeptical that Max's odd behavior from last night will repeat today, it had been an enjoyably surprise to be able to walk out of the situation unscathed. Probably it had been a once in a life time experience.

The clock on his nightstand marked the 06:00 am, he had at least two hours to prepare himself and work on the story he will bestow on them. There was no way in this lifetime that he would let somebody in on what was really happening with him, and that personal rule included Max and specially Logan. Those memories and newly found abilities were something he was going to deal on his own; after all they were part of his life, a life he was slowly re-discovering.


Brussels, Belgium

The look of the Great Marked Square in Brussels easily takes people's breath away. By the end of the afternoon the lights bestowed on the whole structure a golden glow that simply transports the onlookers to the time of fairy tales, princess and demons.

Residents walk around used to the view, tourist stood in awe at the beauty of the place. From her position next to the open window she can't help but fall under the spell of the city once again.

Her sight left the window as she focused on the mirror in front of her. The reflection had inevitable changed within the years; still the age she appears to have and the years she had lived in reality will never be the same. It was like that for all of them, it had been like that for the ones before them and it will be like that for the ones whom will take their place later.

Artemis was the name given to her by the Committee when she and the others became the new Elite. It had been a long time since then, and there's almost nothing left from the naïve and carefree girl that she used to be.

She had changed not only her name and country along these years; she had experienced love and hate, pleasure and pain, gain and loss. There had been moments when her faith and beliefs were shaken, when she questioned the reasons why they were still fighting for people who will never learn from the mistakes they made.

Sometimes it seemed like a lost cause.

Humanity lacks of compassion and usually unheard the voice of reason. Wars repeat their cycle of destruction with the same accuracy of a well oiled machine. The greedy nature of the human beings doesn't surprise her anymore, what shocked her was that the blow was deliver at her own house. They dared to attack her kids and her family, and that had been their worst mistake.

Artemis had never considered herself as a vindictive person, although she had been known to be a merciless opponent and a ruthless enemy. Maybe she was vindictive after all.

From the original ten members of the Committee she preceded only five remained alive. Her brother was one of the casualties of the winter of 2018. Not even the Elite had left unscathed, although the chances of reuniting them had better odds than resurrecting the dead.

Alec and Nicole, she never mentions their names in front of other people, it's less painful for her to do it like that. She always uses the names bestowed on them, Hades and Nix, and later on she prefers to regard them as missions. She had lost too many people in all of these years, perhaps she's getting old and becoming soft, possibly she's tired of watching the people she cares about die, maybe is a combination of everything.

Alec has been found alive and that knowledge brings her relief. Nicole is still missing, and she prays to a god that she never believed on that she is also alive.

The distant sound of the cathedral's bells reminded her that there's a meeting waiting for her.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-..-.-.-

Sitting on the large room CeCe can't help but feel a little bit anxious. The illumination is provided by the dozens of candles and while the atmosphere seems enchanting she has the niggling sensation that something is about to happen. Her presentiments are usually accurate and this time she feels that whatever is going to happen is not going to be good.

The curtains covered partially the large windows and she glanced at the outside through a small gap between the fabric and the crystal. She remembers that Nicole had loved the old continent as much as her mentor Artemis. Personally CeCe regarded Brussels as one of her favorite cities. The fact that one of the Elite quarters is located on the city is simply a bonus.

Maximus had always considered funny that the coat of arms of the city illustrates the Archangel Michael as he slays the devil. The Elite mission and goals were pretty similar, although the members were not angels and they didn't fight against evils or demons, their fights were not on the supernatural field, it had always been among humans who can be evil enough.

A current of air filtered in the room and the candle flames followed the new direction. Clear blue eyes looked at the door and found the slim and distinguished figure of Artemis as she crossed the room to sit at the head of the table.

Only five of the elders are present, only two of the original members of the D1 remained.

Things had definitely changed in the last two years. The D1 original structure would maybe be complete once again; at least they were working on that. The missing members of the Committee were lost forever.

"Ipsa scientia potestas est" Artemis initiated the meeting with the same words that had been used since the beginning of time.

'Knowledge itself is power' the words had been part of the mantra they had learned since they were kids, knowledge, information, data, facts, it's all the same and held equal importance in their lives.

History told humanity that wars could have been avoided if the parties involved had the right information. Lives could be saved if people would have the needed knowledge. Those whom possessed knowledge always ruled the fate of the world.

Eight voices replied at unison "Id est."

"Two days ago we successfully intercepted a phone call between James Ackerman and Senator Alex Crane. Crane was one of the main sponsors during President Richardson's Campaign. During the conversation Ackerman boasted about their participation on a specific incident that took place on 2018, he regarded about it as 'the red winter'. It has come to our knowledge that Ackerman is in possession of tapes of conversations and even films of meetings between himself and Senator Crane before and after."

There was a glint of satisfaction on Artemis's green eyes, the look of someone who is closer to get retribution from an offense suffered.

"That despicable excuse of man is blackmailing his employers now. How noble of him, should we send him a greeting card?"

Balthazar was the oldest member of the Committee and probably the more impetuous among them. Action first reasons later was his trademark expression, being on his eighties he considered time as something precious and loathed people who attempted to waste his.

"Now Balthazar do you really think that I will call on a gathering just to let you know that I've tapped a line?"

Green eyes glared defiantly at the older man as both of them stared a staring contest. The awkward silence was broken as Maximus interceded

"Artemis, Balthazar that's enough". The deep horse voice with a German accent made them look away at the same time. "For god sakes we're too old for this childish behavior, even more when we're so close to achieving our goals. Artemis please do continue".

CeCe would have snickered at the scene if she wouldn't have known for experience what kind of punishment could Maximus came up with. Still the sight of two of the most powerful Committee members been reprimanded by the big man was priceless.

"We believe that those tapes are being kept inside the main building of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Washington." Artemis glanced back at Balthazar expecting his comment, although it was Finn who asked the question.

"Well, that's ironic. Do we know if the DARPA Director is aware of it?"

"No way to know about it yet Erebos. But we're working on it."

Finn resisted the automatic reaction of rolling his eyes at the anointed name the Committee chose for him. During those meetings real names were never used; instead every member of the Committee and the Elite had a code name that was chosen based on Greek and Roman mythology.

"Then we should also look for a link between Ackerman and the DSCA. Boreas reported an incident between DSCA agents and Georgia's current Ambassador. The confirmed Intel we have is that the DSCA approached Sokolov claiming that the NSA was no longer in charge of them. Three of their agents died hours ago and a forth has been injured when they attempted to kill Sokolov. We have reasons to suspect these agents were involved in forging proofs of white slavery and guns traffic against Sokolov."

Biggs finished explaining the Committee members and also Finn, CeCe and Kevin. His flight had arrived late and he was unable to talk with them previously.

Maximus massaged his temple, this was something unexpected. The enemy was getting nervous and careless to make that kind of mistakes. "Who killed the DSCA agents? Was it the work of the Embassy's security or another agency got involved?"

Biggs took a deep breath before replying, he took a big chance by ordering Neil not to interfere in the matter, and he will have to face the Committee response as well as Finn's.

"Actually it was Hades work. Boreas was all the time at the site in case things get out of hand; he called Hathaway from the NSA to clean up the scene. So far the NSA orchestrated a cover story and blamed the Russian Gangs activities in the city."

Finn was barely suppressing the rage he was feeling at the moment. The water in the glass in front of him started swirl in a slow motion as small bubbles began forming in the surface. The pressure on his left thigh force him to look in that direction and he encountered the light blue eyes of CeCe, the silent request to calm himself was clear in her gaze. He was in command now and if he had learned something from watching Alec was to always keep his emotions in control. Always keep it cool.

"Erebos, why haven't we been notified about the change of status in the Hades Recovery Mission?"

Artemis tone leave no room for mistake, the lady was pissed of.

Finn's calm exterior could have made Alec proud of him as he replied her. "We were waiting to see Stage One completed before presenting the results. Observation is the key factor on this stage and we wanted to present a complete report about the advance, besides Artemis this meeting has been scheduled with less than a 24 hours notice while we were still doing the recon."

Balthazar regarded the young man in front of him suspiciously, he knows them since they were kids, he learned to recognize their first reactions and judging the interaction between CeCe and Finn he could bet that Finley is ready to kill his own SIC. He decided to speed up the events.

"Did Circe approve the interaction between Hades and Sokolov at this stage of the process?"

Biggs winced as he ventured a brief glance in the direction of the current CO of the Elite; Finn had a cold smile plastered on his lips as he replied. "She approved interactions as long as there's at least an observer on site. In this case originally Thanatos and Boreas were going to be there."

Demos, whom until that moment had refrained to make a comment, looked hard at him.

"It was a fearless move, too risky in my opinion. There's too much at stake for that kind of games Erebos, remember that next time you decide to play daring."

"What's done is done, there's no point of discussing about matters of the past. What's your hypothesis about the DSCA involvement?" Artemis timing was something Finn will be forever grateful.

"At first I thought that it could be an isolated case but the situation is pretty similar to the affair in Cairo that we had to clean up two months ago. Only this time we arrived early before they could have time to set the field.

Their targets seem to be subjects from completed missions that we participated on the past which had a great relevance at the time, missions that granted us the resources and benefits we obtained from the different governments. They're aiming to tarnish our work by staining the causes for which we fought before."

Maximus nodded at the explanation. "It's a plausible cause. We'll run a check on the current status of all the missions."

"Would you need our collaboration for the Ackerman Agenda?" It was the first time Kevin intervened during all the meeting.

"Not for this part. We'll let you know if that notion change. Any other thing regarding the Hades' Recovery Mission?"

"Well as all of you know Stage One has been successfully completed. We will start Stage Two as soon as CeCe leaves for Seattle. May will be arriving today and proceed to monitor the progress, she would stay five days for a close observation leaving Neil and CeCe in Seattle. Biggs and I will complete the Tanaka Agenda and I'll be flying to Seattle in a week or so."

Biggs felt like a buck of ice water was thrown on him, Finn had taken him off the mission, or at least it looked like that according to his explanation about the upcoming plans. He never expected that Finn will react like that.

Artemis seemed satisfied with the reply she got from the current CO of the Elite. "Any news about Nix's Recovery Mission?"

For an instant there's a glimmer of hope in the older woman's eyes, it died moments later when she saw the expression on Finn's face.

"Not yet, but we have reasons to believe that when Hades regain his memory he will be able to provide us with the Intel needed."

There was a silent pause before Demos asked what the rest of the Committee had been thinking.

"And if he doesn't?"

CeCe looked calmly at the older member and proceed to reply the question. "We're still keeping track of her by the normal methods. If something arises you will be notified."

"Is there some other matter that should be called to our attention?" Artemis asked the eight individuals looking at her.

The unison negative reply signaled the end of the meeting as a two third of the candles were blown out and the sound of chairs being pushed against the wooden floor could be heard.

Artemis' voice was clearly heard by all of them. "Erebos please stay."

Finn cringed inwardly at the request of the Head of the Committee; he could bet that it will be related to the situation at the Embassy. He remained sit as the other six people abandoned the room and watched as the shadows were projected on the white wall in front of him.

"Correct me if I'm mistaken but you found out about Hades status at the same time as we did, don't you Erebos?"

Finn sighed and nodded defeated, there was no point on lying to Artemis now.

"Thanatos nature had never been so reckless, is there something else that I should know?"

"Not that I'm aware of Artemis."

"Don't be too hard on him. It's probably the expectation." She recommended.

"It wasn't his call to make that decision; he should know by now what's at stake."

"Indeed. You can go now."

As Finn closed the door, Artemis blew out the remaining candles leaving the room in the darkness. Sitting there alone surrounded by the shadows she questioned herself if their decision of getting involved with the government when they started the Prometheus project twenty five years ago had been a good idea.

They had paid for their arrogance of believing themselves everlasting, untouched by time. They forgot that time did not stop for anyone, not even them. Most of them lost the opportunity to leave their mark in this earth by being too concerned on the present, never seeing that it was the future what they were endangering. Other lost their offspring by natural causes, accidents, wars.

One way or another they found themselves empty handed of descendants to continue on the mission they received a long time ago.

Their valuable and unique genetic code was in danger of disappearing and that's when they decided to use the government for their own purposes. At the beginning they were only interested on self-preservation, but as Manticore scientists experimented revving up the genetic make up of the kids, they decided that it will only be fair if the next generation of the Elite was equal with these soldiers. They witnessed as Manticore lost their objectivity in the early years and created Prometheus in order to correct the wrong they helped creating.

Only time will tell if they took the right decision.


Biggs heard the door being opened and prepared himself for what was coming. Emerald and brown eyes clashed together and now he was aware how pissed of was Finn.

"That could rank as the dumbest thing you have done. In fact considering that you usually think things two or three times before acting, is the dumbest and reckless thing you could have done."

Biggs received the blow to his pride in silence as Finn continued talking.

"Don't you think that it was important to inform me about the situation? I found out about it at the same time that the Committee, I carry a damn phone with me all the time for situations like this. What were you thinking?"

"I took what I considered the best decision, Sir."

Biggs knew that Finn was not fond of lectures, and while he admitted that he should have notify his CO about his decision, he was ready to defend what he consider to be right.

"It wasn't your call Biggs."

"Finn, I took the risk, you would have done the same thing."

Green eyes stared coldly at the man in front of him.

"It wasn't your risk to take and it wasn't your choice. It was mine along with the responsibility for it. And you're wrong; I wouldn't have chose to put on jeopardy all the hard work of the last months only because I wanted to speed up the process, I wouldn't have put Alec's life in danger. You were well aware of the risks; you were sitting next to me when May went through the details."

Finn's words had successfully affected him. He never intended on endangering Alec's life when he ordered Neil to not interfere, he had done what he considered the best choice.

"I did what Nicole would have done." Biggs replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

"No you didn't. Nicole never played god with our lives. She never left Alec in the dark and she never left him on a vulnerable position in front of the Committee. From now on Biggs, you are no longer involved with the Hades Recovery Mission."

"You can't do this." Desperation laced Biggs voice.

"I already did. Our flight leaves in four hours, be ready by then."

Biggs watched as Finn's stare didn't falter once. He had made his decision and there was no turning back now. He had screwed up.

"Yes sir."

To be continued