Author: Mirrordance
Title: For Every Evil 2
Summary: For every evil that rises, we are given ways to fight it. Legolas and his reclaimed, resurrected friends come together yet again to fight an all too-modern foe: bioterrorism.
Hi Gang!
Thanks very very much for the support and the c&c's. They are appreciated immensely, and I'm hoping to find the time to answer all your concerns in the next few days or along the course of the story. Keep them coming if you can. I think I'm nearing the completion of this tale, about 3 or 4 chapters short :) I'm excited to get to FEE3. Expect a preview of that in my usual afterword at the end of the fic. anyway, hope you have fun here :)
'Til the next post!
9: The Center of the World
Atlanta, Georgia
The United States of America
Elrohir stared, open-mouthed at the flatscreen TV on a corner of the business-class lounge. His cellphone was to his ear, and he was leaving a message for Legolas, who had missed his call, when he heard Leland Greene's name on the news.
'You're kidding,' he breathed in his native Elvish. He ended the call without leaving a word on the machine, and he peered at the screen closer.
Ebola...Quarantine...Leland Greene.
'Damn it,' he muttered, dialing Legolas' number again to leave a message, "Hi it's me," he said, "I'm stuck in Atlanta. I'm watching the news. My plane got delayed because you discovered Ebola. In Los Angeles. By the Valar, mellon, how does anyone manage that? I was just thinking things were going so well. I even combined a fun playlist on my ipod featuring a bunch of fun California songs. David Lee Roth, Sheryl Crow, Sean Mullins, Phantom Planet--"
The beep ended his message. He sighed and looked at his parents.
"Ho-kay," he sighed, "How do I explain this--"
His phone rang, and he was glad for the distraction. It was, to his surprise, Leland Greene. He said "Hello?" uncertainly.
"What?" came the testy reply.
"What do you mean what?" asked the Rivendell elf.
"You sound surprised, that's all," Legolas replied, "When you leave a message, you should expect people to call you back."
"Ha," said Elrohir wryly, "So I heard you closed your state down."
Legolas gave him an un-elvish snort. "I heard you were coming, that's why."
"No need to be snide," said Elrohir, "So how are you?"
"Oh I'm all right," replied Legolas, "The feds are here, so we will no longer be handling the case primarily. Ironically, with the situation escalating to a potential national emergency, my workload dramatically decreased."
"What the hell happened?" Elrohir asked.
"I can't speak of it at length," Legolas answered, "But suffice to say a bunch of gang members thought they found drugs, and accidentally stumbled on a biological weapon. Many members and some of their families were infected. We had to take the best possible precautions against this spreading. Fatality rate is high, I heard someone estimate it's in the 90 percent region."
"What a mess," Elrohir agreed, "So any signs of this abating in the next few hours or do I get a hotel here already?"
"Not like you can't afford it," Legolas pointed out, "I strongly suggest you do so. This is just the beginning. This infection may be accidental but that weapon is for someone, and the rest of the cache is still out there, somewhere. The CDC estimates a safe declaration three weeks after the last reported case. If you and my lord and lady can stand to go back home, perhaps you should. But..." he hesitated, "I don't know. Estel's ER was locked down. No one in or out, since one of the victims checked in there and literally anyone she encountered could be infected."
Elrohir frowned. "Damn."
"He's all right," said Legolas quickly, "I spoke to him just before everything... exploded, I guess. But we haven't spoken, since. I think I'll ring him, after we speak."
"You do that," Elrohir agreed, "I'm giving Elladan a call. Please, keep me posted. You get busy there and we're in the dark here. I worry."
"I know, mother," Legolas chuckled, wearily, "I will not disappoint you. But I am guaranteeing you we won't be getting into any trouble this time, old friend. This world does not rely as much on our individual efforts. The feds are here, and I'm betting a CDC hotshot is taking over Aragorn's ER by now. You know I was in a meeting with the President?"
"Yeah?" Elrohir asked, fairly impressed.
"Yes," Legolas affirmed, "I was in the standing room. I spoke up once, very briefly, from the sidelines, and only because I was asked."
"Not what you're used to, eh?" Elrohir chided.
"Actually I've been living like this for years," the blonde elf corrected him, "We cannot live very loudly these days."
"Don't I know it," Elrohir agreed, glancing at his parents sipping their first ever taste of Starbucks. His mother had an appreciative, caffeine-generated glint in her eye.
"Well at least you get that Ebola List named after you," Elrohir joked.
"At 90 of them at death's door," said Legolas gravely, "I am not at all comforted."
"Fair of you to say," Elrohir matched his serious tone, "Well. I will see you soon, mellon-nin. Please, call once in awhile."
Lake Victoria,
Africa
Harding put his cellphone in his pocket, glanced uncertainly at Jimmy Goran and Aldrin Marr, who were seated with him on the deck of Marr's speedboat.
"I got a call from NCB," he stated, "Ebola just broke out in California."
"What does that have to do with us?" Goran asked.
Haldir ran a hand over his face, drumming his fingers as he thought. "Do you ever get the feeling you're at the center of the world?"
"Everything is connected?" Marr clarified.
"African fisherman thinks he found a cache of drugs. He gives his nephew in LA a call, selling them cheap," Harding said, thoughtfully, "He sends a sample. Nephew passes it on to his bosses for analysis. Members come down with Ebola, CDC shuts down the state. CDC compares the LA sample to an Ebola sample from the outbreak currently burning through Kasensero. It's the same strain. Interpol's supposed to look out for terrorist activity here that could be a link to whoever is spreading the disease, and well... the Americans thought to call us."
"Fuck!" Marr exclaimed, "Fuck!"
"What?" Goran asked, "What?"
"I paid a bunch of local fishermen to guard the warehouse where I left that shit I pulled from YinYang's boat," Marr wailed, "Someone's selling my drugs!"
"Someone's selling your Ebola," Harding corrected him.
"You mean YinYang's Ebola," Marr added, glumly, "Fuck."
"We can put an end to it at least," aid Harding, "You're taking us to that warehouse, aren't you?"
"Hell yeah, get that shit off my hands," Marr said, "Today, if you can manage it. But you make sure and tell your people it didn't come from me, all right?"
Harding picked up his cellphone again. "Yes, Mark, it's me... You're not going to believe this. I need you to send me a CDC team to--" he looked inquiringly at Marr.
"Kwisha Islae," the Englishman replied, "But they won't find it unless they are with a guide. It's more of a nickname, really. Maps probably call it something else. Send the contingent to the Kasensero side of Victoria, I'll have my men pick them up. Tell them to be nice and that it's not kidnapping, eh?"
Harding relayed the message as Marr requested, adding, "And tell them to bring decon equipment. I think we may have found what the Americans are looking for. And pick up YinYang, will you? I think we have what we need."
The City of Los Angeles, California
The United States of America
Adrian Aaron's phone was ringing for the nth time that hour.
Sitting alone in the doctor's lounge (many of them were either busy in the locked down Emergency Room or have been evacuated from the building, she heard), Arianne Underhill looked at the phone uncertainly. She wished he left her instructions.
"Hello?" she answered the phone at last.
The voice on the other end sounded surprised. "Um." The voice faded for a moment, as if the person on the other end of the line checked the screen to see if he dialed the correct number. "Hm. Hi."
"Hi," she returned, warily, "If you're looking for Doctor Aarons he was called in on an emergency."
Hours ago, she decided not to add, a bit sourly, as she has not only been requested to stay and wait for his return, she was also unfortunately quarantined here.
"Oh," said the man. Legolas, she remembered reading from the caller ID. It was an odd name, but she liked the way the sound rolled on her tongue whenever she said it.
"I can take a message," she said, "But I might not see him for awhile."
"Um," the man hesitated, "Who is this?"
"My name is Arianne," she said, "I'll tell him you called... Legolas?"
"Yes," came the breathless reply, "Yes, please just... Tell him I called. Are... are you all right?"
"That's a funny question," she said with an uneasy chuckle.
"Of course," he laughed, nervously, "Yes, I know... it is, isn't it? Hm. So you are in the hospital also?"
"Yes," she answered, "There is a quarantine."
"How does the situation look, from inside?" he asked, "I am Leland Greene, by the way. I work in the LAPD, 'Legolas' is a uh, childhood nickname. I was checking on my friend, and I suppose I might as well ask you."
"Well they brought in that poor little girl and everything moved quickly," she replied, "Suddenly everyone in the ER was to stay here for awhile. No one knew why at first, then cell phones started ringing and, well, it's so hard to keep people in the dark nowadays. People protested at the start. Then it looked like they were busting out. They were very afraid that if they weren't infected, they would be soon enough. And then your friend..." she smiled, "well I heard him over the speakers, and I saw him stand by the door and talk them out of it. He asked for food and of all things, videos and magazines. Everyone's calmer now. The CDC came and tightened security and isolation procedures. And since no new cases are coming in, everything's been very quiet."
"So he's all right?" Legolas asked.
"Their ER Chief was out for lunch when the lockdown was called," said Arianne, "They said he's the highest ranked physician now so he's been flitting around."
"Okay," Legolas breathed, "Listen. Anything happens to him, or anything at all you find you need, call me on this number, all right?"
"Thank you," she said, "and nice to meet you, Mister Greene."
"It's 'Legolas' to you," he told her, and she could hear the gentle smile from the sound of his voice, "Nice to meet you, Arianne."
Well she sounds like Undomiel, Legolas decided, as he pocketed his cellphone and picked up his jacket. He sighed. The day was long and tiring. He and Montes have been up since members of Samba broke into his apartment almost twenty-four hours ago. His partner was actually asleep on his desk, snoring softly.
Legolas looked at him fondly, and heard the soft vibrations coming from Montes' cellphone, sitting atop his desk. He glanced at the display and found Julianna Montes' name.
"Montes," he nudged Rafe lightly, "Julianna's on the phone."
"Take a message," Montes muttered.
"Come on," laughed Leland, "Get up. The sooner you get up the sooner you get to go home. I can drive you. Come on."
The phone call ended, and was logged in as missed. 27 missed calls.
Leland nudged him harder, "Come on, Rafe. Get up. Call your wife. She's probably very worried about you."
Rafe swatted away his friend's efforts, and grumpily returned the call of his wife. Legolas turned away to give them privacy, though his elven ears could hear everything Julianna was telling him.
"Where the hell have you been?" she asked him, irritably.
"Stemming national disaster, honey," he said, "I'm sorry. Leland dragged me out of bed last night and still has his claws on me up to now. We got tied up by the FBI, the CDC. We had a meeting with the President, did you know? I've had a rough day. How are the kids?"
A long pause that made both Rafe and Legolas nervous.
"Julianna?" Rafe askked.
"We're uh..." she hesitated, "One of Mikey's play date friends got sick. I brought her to the hospital. We're being detained here, like everyone else. And the CDC's closed down our house. The kids are with my sister, except for Mikey, who's quarantined in the hospital with me."
"Oh, God..." Montes breathed, "Oh my God."
"I mean I'm fine," she assured him quickly, "And even if you had picked up my call eons ago the situation would be the same. I just thought you should know. You'd have had a heart attack if you went home and found a bunch of CDC suits there."
"I'm having a heart attack right now!" Rafe retorted, "Jesus, Julianna..."
"I know, I know," she said, "I'm kind of scared but then who isn't?"
"Where are you?" Montes asked.
Legolas heard him mention the hospital where Aragorn worked.
"Okay, okay..." Montes muttered, thinking quickly. He glanced at his partner, and fully and correctly expected him to be on top of the conversation, "Any way at all that I can get in there?"
Greene shook his head, "I'm sorry Rafe, but no, I do not think so. But I do have a friend inside who can look in on them."
"Oh yeah!" Montes exclaimed, "Okay. You're all right, sweetie. We'll have someone in there look after you. We're going to give him a call. You're all right."
"You must mean Doctor Aarons?" she asked, "I saw him running around. He looked harassed, but he said hello and checked out me and Mikey for a moment. He's better looking than you."
Rafe grinned at the levity, "You're all right. I'll get the calls this time, honey, I promise. And no ogling at other men, all right?"
"All right," she sighed, "See to the kids, they're scared. Oh! And if Leland's bringing you to Dianne's, keep him in the car. You know my sister would just love to see him."
"Ha," Leland said, wryly, "Ha."
Rafe thought it was perfectly ridiculous to leave his friend outside, and coaxed him in to Julainna's sister's house. Montes was mobbed by his crew of kids at the door, leaving Leland alone to stand next to the hostess who had opened the door for them.
"Dianne," he smiled at her.
"Leland," she greeted back, fairly coldly. When he 'accidentally' dated her (courtesy of her meddlesome sister and brother-in-law), she was terribly short-sighted and refused to wear glasses (she did not like how it made her look) and absolutely detested contact lenses (the idea of willingly shoving a foreign object into one's own eye she also found to be disagreeable). And so they had dinner with her squinting at him all the time. He initially thought she was confused about the things he was saying.
Now, her brilliant emerald eyes stared at him, as if she was seeing him for the first time (which could actually be the case), and he looked back as if he too was seeing her for the first time.
Pretty, he decided, fairly.
"Laser operation?" he asked her, with an uncomfortable smile.
"They work wonders," she replied, evasively. A bit belatedly, she added, "If I knew how much better the world looked, I'd have suffered through the neuroses and wore glasses or put on the damn lenses."
"Well you look... good," he offered up, fairly lamely. It was a profoundly irrecoverable non-relationship.
Montes was watching them, amused.
"It was very good of you to have brought Rafe," said Dianne, "Thank you."
Leland shrugged, and gave a smile and a wave at Montes' flock of children when they greeted him in a messy unison. "Hello gang."
"Thanks, Greene," Montes said, "You want to stay for coffee?"
Not an offer from Dianne, Leland noted.
"Oh no thank you," he was quick and correct to reply, "I wouldn't be able to sleep at this hour, if I had any."
"But you don't sleep," Montes told him, wryly.
"So I guess you wouldn't be coming in for work tomorrow," said Leland, changing the subject, "What with the situation, you should be with your family."
"Everyone should be with their families tomorrow, Greene," said Montes gruffly, "Everyone but us, if you know what I mean. We gotta work. This is what we do."
"I'm sure the Captain would understand--" Greene argued.
"I just gotta be out there," Montes said, determinedly, "More I can do out there then cooped up in here. And you know, I'm going to lose my mind, just thinking."
"I can watch the kids," Dianne offered, "Most companies have closed down for the next few days, including mine. I like their company."
"Great, all set," Montes declared, "So you'll grab me tomorrow?"
"Sure," Leland replied, "I'll see you then."
Kwisha Isle, Lake Victoria
Africa
"Why am I not surprised to see you?" Gimli groaned as he set his sights on Boromir of Gondor, hovered over a bloodied, likely-dying man on the ground. His clothes were dully stained with dried blood, and he had the haunted look of a soldier who has been fighting continuously for just hours and hours and hours...
Boromir frowned at him. "I don't know. I'm surprised to see you. What are you doing here? Did Chandra give you a call?"
Gimli, Haldir, and the dismayed and disgusted Aldrin Marr and crew found the makeshift ward Brad Greer and Chandra Bouvier have helped arrange in Kwisha. They came ashore cautiously, and found the plague island more or less organized by the two doctors.
"Did the CDC send you out here first?" Harding asked Brad, ignoring his confusing questions.
"What? No," Brad replied, also confused, "We were kidnapped!"
One of the kidnappers snapped angrily at him and pointed to Chandra Bouvier.
"What?" Brad asked testily.
"He said," she replied, "They kidnapped me, but couldn't get rid of you."
"Which is the same thing," Brad insisted.
Harding restrained an amused grin, waved away the issue. "So you were kidnapped and brought here to tend their camp."
"They thought they found drugs," Brad said quickly, drawing out the electron microscope photo he had taken of the virus, "But they actually found engineered Ebola."
"I know," Harding replied, wincing, "You know that exact same strain found itself in California?"
"Yeah?" Brad asked, brows rising, "That's not good."
Harding shrugged, frowning. "I'm with the guy who owns the stash. This is Aldrin Marr."
"But it's not my fault," Marr added gravely, "You tell them."
"CDC is coming by to secure this place and the weapon," Harding added, "I suspect they'll also be very pleased to see you if you were indeed kidnapped."
"I was kidnapped," Brad snapped, before sighing in relief, "Good, good. I just hope I didn't catch it while I was here. My blood made no contact at all with any of those infected, so theoretically I shouldn't catch it. That's the traditional Ebola route. I'm just scared that this weapon could be in the air, the index cases caught it from inhaling that crap. We were told the powder is in a warehouse further inland. No one would take us there, and in afterthought I find that wise. If that's where you think the lot of you are going, wait for the CDC team, get suited up properly first."
"All right," Harding agreed, before turning to Gimli, "We're going to need a secure line to the United States and tell them what we have."
The City of Los Angeles, California
The United States of America
His head kind of just... popped into the room like that, as if she hadn't been waiting for hours and hours. He had a worried, apologetic look on his face, and he stood at the mouth of the door, as if asking for her permission.
"For gods sakes, Adrian," Arianne said quietly, shaking her head at him in amusement. His lips curved to a smile, and he sat down in front of her on the little dining table the doctors kept in the lounge.
"I am very sorry," he began, "I mean... I cannot apologize for keeping you here, these are the rules we must live by. But I was the reason you came at all and, well... here we are."
"Here we are," she echoed, and hoped she did not look very sorry at all.
"Did you go out at all?" he asked, "It's safe, you know, relatively speaking. The CDC briefed everyone a fairly optimistic version of what's going on, and then I put on a movie, it keeps everyone distracted and amused."
"What movie?" she asked.
"Something about penguins," he replied, "Good fun all around. I mean, who doesn't like penguins?"
"I think..." she said, her voice drifting.
"Hm?"
"You ended with that," she said, "Just before Legolas' phone call and everything else that followed. You were saying something."
"I was," he murmured, "Wasn't I?"
She nodded, enthusiastically.
"You ah... know Legolas?" he asked.
"Delaying again," she told him with a wry look, "Does he know you keep using him for this purpose?"
He chuckled at her.
"He called several times," she said, "I eventually answered. He was simply checking in on you, that first time. The second call he made was a plea to be called back." She handed him his cellphone.
"I suppose I'd have to accommodate," he said, a twinkle in his eye.
"So what were you thinking?" she asked, wondering if he changed his mind or he actually, actually forgot.
"I was thinking," he breathed, and she looked deep into his eyes. There was something there, there always was. She saw it that first day, that first moment. In his eyes rested...longing, deep, unfathomable value, desperate desire and at the same time... hesitation, and, and loss. This time though, this time... there was a decision too.
If I ever looked at something with so much wanting, she thought, I would not hesitate. There will be no doubt. Why do you hold back...?
"I was thinking we can have coffee when we get out of here," he said in a rush, lightly. His eyes were inviting, and his smile was contagious.
"I like coffee," she lied, thinking, I like you more.
He could tell, and he grinned at her, as he dialed Legolas' number and pressed the phone to his ear.
When Leland Greene's phone rang, Rafe Montes was stirred from his thoughtless stupor on the passenger seat of the sensible Toyota. He jumped at the sound, and grabbed it from the cup holder Greene used as a cellphone depository. As he hoped, it was Adrian Aarons calling.
"At last!" Montes exclaimed.
"Detective Montes?" Aarons asked, "Well in that case I believe I know what this is all about."
"It's for me," Montes said to Greene dismissively. His partner of over a decade just grinned and drove the car along the lonely streets of LA. It was early in the morning. Sensible, normal people would even refer to it as night. But he'd barely taken a blink of sleep when Leland Greene called him, got him up from bed again, and asked him if he wanted to come along.
"There's been some developments in Africa," Greene said urgently, "The President requested another situation meeting as soon as they can round up everybody."
"Aren't the feds in charge of this now?" Montes moaned.
"I guess they wanted everyone who was on the first one to go to this one," Leland reasoned, "To make sure the issues are seamlessly handled. They don't mind too many heads on that table, as long as it's complete. I could go on my own, but I didn't think you'd appreciate it."
"Too right," Montes muttered, as he groped for his clothes on the floor of Dianne's living room, in the dark, and slipped them back on.
A police officer stopped them, in lieu of the curfew, and Greene presented his identification and a badge. Montes was preoccupied with news of his wife.
"She says she's all right," Rafe said to Adrian Aarons, "But she always says that."
"We are keeping a very careful eye on her, detective," Adrian promised him, "So far she looks well, and your son also. Their contact with the victim was extensive in terms of the time they spent together, but we strongly doubt there had been any blood contact, which Ebola ordinarily requires to spread. But we are cautious, as only time will tell. The incubation period is fairly long."
"It's your eye on her, right?" Montes asked, finding for some reason that it mattered. Anyone Leland trusted was okay by him.
"Just one amongst many," Aarons promised, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Anything happens..." Montes said, "You let me know, all right? 'Cos she might not...be as truthful..."
"I will always answer your questions frankly," Aarons said, "But she is also still entitled to her privacy. I cannot release information that she wishes to keep confidential."
"Oh I meant," said Montes, "You know. Just be upfront."
"Of course," Adrian replied.
"Good," Montes nodded. "Ok. I guess you wanna talk to Greene."
Legolas pulled up to a stop at the hotel parking lot. He plucked the phone from Montes' hands, and shifted to that language Montes could never figure out.
'So she's really fine?' Legolas asked, in Elvish. He pretended to be fiddling with his files and notes, so Montes would not suspect him of anything.
'I wouldn't lie to him, you know,' Aragorn said wryly.
'I know but,' said Legolas, 'He's my friend, and she's his life. The child too, of course.'
'There is nothing to be done at this point,' Aragorn said, 'They do not appear ill. But as I said, it takes time. The symptoms are not apparent at once. Especially as it appears more and more that this virus was tampered with.'
'I know, I know,' Legolas sighed, 'All right. Hm. What else. I talked with Arwen.'
'I know.'
'Sexy voice,' Legolas goaded him.
'You think so, eh?' came the wry reply, 'You forgot to meet me for lunch.'
'Oh,' breathed Legolas, 'I did, didn't I? But it seems you got yourself a good turn with Arwen there.'
'Much better company than you,' agreed Aragorn gravely.
The elf chuckled. 'So all is well? Quarantine? Love Life...?'
'Yes, yes,' Aragorn said dismissively, 'You're always stressed out.'
'Does that surprise you?' asked the elf, 'Listen, I have to go. We're meeting with the President.'
'Of the United States?' asked Aragorn with a laugh, 'Behave.'
Kwisha Isle, Lake Victoria
Africa
"We have feed from Los Angeles," Jimmy Goran announced. He was manning his laptop, as a larger screen featured what he was seeing, for the anxious CDC and Interpol field teams present during the meeting. He, Harding, Brad Greer, Chandra Bouvier, a couple of ranking FBI, CDC and Interpol officers, and Aldrin J. Marr were cooped in their makeshift base camp, a pale tent in the plague island.
"We have feed from the White House," Goran announced, and the screen was split between the LA hotel room and the White House situation room.
"Sound check," Goran said over the speaker, "This is Outbreak Team in Kwisha, over. Are we loud and clear?"
"This is LA, we read loud and clear," affirmed the communications officer from California.
"Loud and clear from Washington," said the White House man.
The President, naturally, spoke first. Goran concentrated on the equipment. It was in re-checking that signal, sound and video were in proper order that he finally set eyes on the Los Angeles screen. His eyes widened, when he found his old friend Leland Greene standing amidst the crowd. He peered closer to make sure he wasn't seeing things, unknowingly blocking the view of the camera.
"We have a visual obstruction, Kwisha," said the Washington tech.
"Um," Goran scrambled for a lie, "Just a quick adjustment, Washington. Please proceed."
He realized he must have given the President of the United States and the government of Los Angeles a fairly daunting close-up of his face when he moved closer. Haldir was looking at him with a glint in his eyes, and when he turned his attention back to Leland Greene in LA, the elf had a hand over his mouth, as if to keep from laughing. He looked like he was faking a cough, unconvincingly. His partner Rafael Montes was looking at him suspiciously.
Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, he thought, annoyed. He just couldn't help shake that feeling Haldir spoke of, as if one were at the center of the world. Everything is connected...
Together, the inter-agency, international team recreated the situation they found themselves in.
A few weeks ago, a known international mercenary criminal nicknamed YinYang was given a scandalous amount of money for a job--the transportation of engineered Ebola virus from an unknown terrorist party, to a yet-to-be-determined location.
YinYang hired a local group for the cargo, whose ship was caught in a storm. Aldrin J. Marr and his crew of "Salvage Operators," he emphasized (and lied), "Not pirates," came upon the ship and retrieved the cargo from them. They stored this in their Kwisha warehouse, hiring some locals to guard the loot.
The locals thought they could make more money from the loot, aside from watching over it. Thinking it was drugs, one of them calls his gang-affiliated nephew in Los Angeles for a sale and sends a sample; an action that ultimately kills him, and infects other people in his circle of workers and their families, and the people who tried it in Los Angeles and their families.
Each of the agencies involved came upon the case through the many parties involved. Leland Greene and Rafe Montes caught the case from the LA gang side, the CDC caught onto the case from the Kasensero outbreak, and Interpol caught it from following the suspicious money trail involving YinYang.
"So we have the warehouse and the weapons secured?" asked the President.
"As secured as can be," Chandra Bouvier replied coolly, "Disposal is still an issue. But in terms of keeping it from anyone else's clutches, we have already done so."
"We also have positive confirmation that the warehouse here is the one from the photographs, Mister President," Harding said.
"So..." the President hesitated, "Does that mean we have neutralized this threat? We have the weapon..."
"And we have the primary mover," Mark, Harding's colleague added, "We picked up YinYang about an hour ago. We are preparing for the interrogation. But he's not known for... making anything easy."
"Is there any indication that any of that weapon exists anywhere else?" one of the White House men asked, "How can we be certain that that is it? It was pure luck, pure luck that we found out about this. If not for that storm, and everything else that followed... that cache could have been headed anywhere, undiscovered until it was too late."
"We are hoping the interrogation could yield more information," the FBI man in Kwisha said, "we are working together very closely to assure we get a wealth of data from the suspect."
To be continued...