Another chapter! We're getting closer to one of my other favorite chapters! :)

Just a note that the use of real places has no reflection on the actual layout of Washington. Lolz, I've never been there and I just wanted it to be more real with street names/place names/etc. Other than that, it really doesn't look like what it would if you went there.

Once again, reminder that underlined speech is spoken in English. Enjoy!

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Chapter Ten – The Alert

Misaki glanced at her phone as it was vibrating to see that she had received a text message. Quickly opening it, her eyes opened wide as she read the message from Kanami. They were tracking BK-201 right now and he was active along with JP-177 and HZ-805. She couldn't believe that he was fighting right at this moment with two of them trying to kill him.

"Misaki, what is it?" April asked.

"Hurry! We have to find the others. Kanami says he's active right now at George Washington University and he's fighting two Contractors."

April quickly glanced at the message on the phone Misaki had tossed her way before she rushed off with her. The two of them burst into Ryan's workspace as he should have picked it up if Kanami had done so already. Yet there had been no update regarding the status.

"We need to go. They're active at George Washington University! We can still catch them and we need to clear the area to protect the students. Hurry! We need to go!"

"Misaki, they can't understand you!" April replied as they had only stared at her like she was crazy.

She quickly glanced at the screen as April explained to them the information they had received as Marissa and Devon had been with Ryan. Even so, none of them moved despite what they were told. Misaki looked around in frustration. It wasn't like she wanted Hei to be caught, but they were active in an area with high civilian density.

"What are you waiting for? You heard me," April exclaimed. "Check your own system!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't move until we're ordered to."

"Then tell him already!"

Misaki watched as Marissa calmly picked up the phone to call Jacob. What were they doing? They should be out there, trying to catch these people; yet they were sitting around like nothing happened. It was no wonder that they never actually got anywhere.

"He's on his way," Marissa stated.

"This is your job to catch people like him yet you treat it like a game. I can't believe I have to help you with this," April snapped. "Your whole unit and system is a joke!"

"W – What's going on?"

"They won't move out without Jacob's order."

"Can't they just tell him on the move? It's an emergency!" Misaki exclaimed.

"Hey, don't blame me. I didn't make up this useless system."

"Can't we do something?"

"Short of shooting them? What do you want me to do?" April inquired.

"I don't know..."

They were forced to wait with the others until Jacob showed up a couple minutes later. He didn't look happy to see Misaki and April with them, but he never looked happy to begin with. He stormed into the room, immediately wanting to know what was going on.

"BK-201 is active at George Washington University," Ryan informed him.

"What the hell? Why didn't you say so earlier? Well? Get a move on, all of you!"

"Yes sir!"

Misaki and April watched as Marissa and Devon headed out while Ryan started to pack up his laptop before he left also. Jacob turned to glare at them, still not understanding why they were here. He had already been free of one of them as July had stayed at the hotel that morning.

"What are you doing here?" he asked them angrily.

"I don't know. Maybe your team's job since Misaki was the first one to be notified of BK-201's activity. Not to mention that your team wouldn't even move out at a time like this without your order."

"You expect me to believe that she knew before we did?" he retorted, pointing at Misaki.

"Expect what you want."

"I want to go too. We're wasting time," Misaki commented.

"I don't have time for this."

"We're going with you," April said.

[underlined] "I think not. You've done enough. I'll have Jack see you back to your hotel. You've done your share and you won't be back here until I say so." [/underlined; FF is being odd and won't save it...]

Jacob left the room, calling out orders as he made his way out. Watching in confusion, Misaki didn't understand why he was so angry. Whatever his issue was, they were supposed to work together on this problem.

"He won't let us go," April explained. "Jack is taking us to the hotel and we're suspended for the time being."

"What? Why?!"

"He wasn't impressed that we knew about BK-201's activity before his team noticed. He only wants us to help in the minimalist way, despite what he originally said. He clearly didn't expect much from us."

"We have a right to be there!" Misaki exclaimed.

"So you think... What did I tell you?"

Misaki was about to say more when she noticed Jack hovering around the door. With a sigh, she followed April out of the room. They were going to be here indefinitely if things kept up and she didn't like that idea one bit. She was still shocked that they had been suspended only because of Jacob's pride.

"Um... I'm supposed to take you back to the hotel.

"Let's get going then."

***

Marissa and Devon arrived on scene first to find that the local police had barricaded the area. It seemed like a madhouse as there were students crying and yelling. No one seemed to know what was going on and it showed. There were just too many people and they were irritated that it had to happen at a place like this.

"I'm sorry, but you can't pass."

"We're CIA," Marissa replied, holding up her badge.

"Oh, okay."

They walked to the nearest body of a male college student whose body was cut cleanly in half, through and through. Glancing farther ahead, there was the body of a female in front of one of the buildings. Considering how much area they had to cover, they weren't going to finish before the day was over.

"Not BK-201. Must have been the others. You start questioning the students and I'll go look at our other victim," Marissa instructed.

Devon nodded in reply as he headed towards one of the clusters of students. He wasn't happy about this. He didn't even want to be on this team to begin with. At least before, they had no witnesses and a couple dead bodies. Now they had hundreds of students to question regarding the incident.

"Excuse me, but I need to take your statements. Can you please tell me your name, contact information and what happened; one at a time."

Marissa knelt down after a quick glance towards her partner. There were band marks across the girl's arms in the form of wires. The MO was the same as the rest of the other Contractors as there was no visible cause of death beyond the burns. This was one, so where was the other one? She didn't think that BK-201 would still be around.

"Excuse me," she said to one of the other officers. "Have you found the third body yet?"

"It's only the two out here, ma'am."

"Well there's a third one so find it for me," she snapped. "Check every area in the perimeter."

He quickly left her and Marissa turned with a sigh. Sometimes, she hated this job. The sooner they captured BK-201, the faster she could be assigned to a different task. That was the problem with their team; no one actually wanted the task they had been assigned, least of all Jacob. But they couldn't turn down assignments. They didn't even have as many problems with Contractors – just the usual – until BK-201 showed up.

"What's happening?" Jacob asked as he approached Marissa.

"One victim of another Contractor there. Our first contractor here and they're looking for the second one. Where's Jack?"

"He's taking those two back to the hotel. They've done enough."

"Excuse me..."

"What is it?" Jacob snapped at the officer who joined them.

"We uh found the other victim... If you'll follow me..."

Jacob excused himself after telling Marissa to continue with witness statements as there were too many for Devon to handle alone. He was going to have to get Jack to take some on as well when he returned. As he followed the officer in between buildings, he cursed when he cleared it. The victim's skull had been cracked open and the school property was damaged by columns of dirt rising out of the Earth. Those damn Contractors were going to cost him his job!