Standing in the doorway was the man from the first encounter. He grinned at an 'American' being the one to open the door.
"You must be Daniel!" Travis exclaimed.
"That I am." Daniel confirmed with a grin. He continued, "You must be…. you know, I don't think I ever got your name. I just know you're the only English speaking one, right?"
Travis nodded and said, "You're right. My name is Ray. My friends here are Peleus, Mario, Fai, and Lucas." Travis pointed to each member in turn.
Daniel nodded. He seemed to notice how each of the men were watching with a look of curiosity and slight hostility. He turned to Travis, or Ray, as he knew him and said, "Do your friends understand us? They don't look to be particularly fond of me."
Travis raised an eyebrow and glanced at the others. In Italian he said, "Guys lose the hostile look!"
Nico responded first saying, "Just tell him we're suspicious. It's the truth."
"They're just slightly suspicious. They didn't think too highly of you based on your previous visit. The phone call was in English so they obviously didn't understand what was going on." Travis explained. Daniel didn't look completely convinced. Something in his eyes held more nervousness than anything though.
Annabeth was attempting to observe every feature about Daniel. She wanted to know more about him than he seemed to want to share. He was a reasonably tall man, standing at about 6' 2" with a broad build. He was wearing a button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up twice. He had khaki pants and loafers on along with a briefcase. It wasn't the type of briefcase that was hard on the outside. It was a leather bag that had the shape of a standard business briefcase though. He had a slight tan, but it was the kind that one might only get when they live in a northern part of the US without much travel elsewhere. Annabeth deemed him a capable fighter if it was a necessity and one-on-one. Not a big threat physically. Annabeth had yet to discover any connections or knowledge that might hurt them in another aspect. She figured if he really was trying to help them, it would be easily unveiled in confusion. She knew Percy intended to keep the act up until it was clear who Daniel's superior is and what their aims are.
Daniel and Travis were silent for a moment before Percy broke it in Italian, "Tra- I mean Ray! Focus man! Get him more comfortable and figure out what's going on."
Travis nodded and turned back to Daniel and said, "Have a seat." He gestured to the two armchairs.
"Thank you." Daniel said. His voice betrayed none of the nervousness that was hiding in his eyes. When they were both seated in the two armchairs, Daniel asked, "May I ask your last name?"
"Craycroft. I've been told it's a strange one, but I quite like it. Sounds like some sort of fish." Travis said, putting a joyful inflection to his voice. The last comment sounded like it was aimed at Percy, but he gave no sign that he even understood what they were saying.
"Yes. Now that you mention it, it does sound like something to do with fish. Like a fishing town or something." Daniel agreed.
Travis grinned. He turned to his friends with a joking expression and said in Greek this time, "What do you want me to ask, Peleus?"
Percy raised an eyebrow and responded, "Just figure out what he wants first. We can work from there."
Switching back to English, Travis turned to Daniel again and said, "So pleasantries aside and all, what did you come for?"
"Well, I came to deliver something." Daniel replied. He reached over to his briefcase.
"Do you actually know what it is?" Travis asked. He and the other men showed interest. The others looked to be more interested in the reason for the case being brought into the picture.
Daniel shook his head and said, "I don't know that much. I'm really only a messenger. I don't get to hear all the important information. I just do what I'm told."
"Alright. Do you know who I am?" Travis said. The other men gave no advice. Percy was staring out the window, but his eyes seemed out of focus. Not glazed over, but focusing on something in his mind's eye.
"You are Ray Craycroft." Daniel's slightly confused reply came.
Travis nodded and looked over at Percy. In Greek again he asked, "Any message from the strategist, Peleus?"
Percy looked over at Travis and replied, "If there was a complete one, I'd tell you, Ray."
Travis furrowed his eyebrows. "A complete one?"
"Yes. They're all broken off in places that leave the rest of it meaningless."
"Well why can't they be finished."
"Silences."
Travis shut his mouth, then thought back to the last word Percy had just said. Silences. Plural. Ah. That is the reason all the 'messages' cannot be completed. Percy saw when Travis figured out what he meant. Percy inclined his head to Travis, who in turn gave a chuckle and turned back to Daniel.
Daniel and Travis began a conversation regarding names originating in the UK. They spoke loudly and freely. The other men began a conversation in Spanish. What Daniel didn't notice is 'Peleus' didn't join in. He stayed where he was with the same focusing look on something invisible to everyone else.
Annabeth had been attempting to mutter things into Percy's ear, but there were too many silences where the slightest sound might as well have had a microphone to it.
Finally Percy told Travis why he wasn't getting any advice did and he got the idea that having long periods of no noise was not going to work. Granted the other men hadn't been very helpful in starting conversations and whatnot, but Annabeth preferred to blame it on the one that Daniel thought to be the only English speaking one.
Annabeth leaned very close to Percy's ear and breathed, "How do we find out who he's working for?"
Percy said loudly in Greek, "How should we find out who Daniel is working for?"
The other men excluding Daniel and Travis looked at one another. Nico replied, "I'm not sure. Does our strategist have an idea at least?"
Percy paused. He had not moved his position except for his head and eyes to address his companions. Annabeth had leaned on the bed as Percy was turned on his side now, leaving room for her to take weight off her feet without anyone but Percy realizing. It wouldn't be noticeable with Percy's weight making a bigger indent in the same place. Annabeth was able to speak into Percy's ear more comfortably and effectively when she was leaning on the bed right next to him.
Annabeth whispered, "I think I might be able to come up with something. I don't think we'll have enough time though. Daniel looks far too happy to be talking about something as irrelevant as British names. I think it might be a stalling technique. If it is, he's on a time schedule and might leave before we want him to.
Percy gave a nod that looked like it was confirming his own thought when in reality he was approving Annabeth's thought process. Or at least, the conclusion of it. To the group he said in Greek, "Our strategist thinks that there might be some sort of time limit to our guest's stay. He looks too happy to be speaking about something of irrelevance. That might be a stalling technique. If it is, that means he's on a time schedule. He might have to leave before we get the information we need from him."
The others quickly glanced over at Daniel. He did look too happy to be completely off topic. Something might happen at the end of the supposed time limit or he might just have to leave before they got the information they needed from him.
They turned back to Percy. Leo asked the question, "Well what are we supposed to do? Does our strategist actually have a plan of sorts?"
As Percy opened his mouth to reply, Daniel stood. Everyone went silent. He looked around and seemed to notice everyone watching him. However, he only stood to place his briefcase on the chair he had been sitting in. He opened it and gave a thick folder and a binder to Travis.
Frank sent a questioning look to Travis and asked in Spanish, "When did you guys get back around to topic?"
Travis grinned and replied, "When you all started talking about time limits."
Percy nodded, switched to Italian and asked, "What important information has he told you, Ray?"
"Not much, Peleus. I don't know if he's just a really good actor, or what. He claims to know virtually nothing of importance regarding us or these files. I'm not sure if he's lying or not though."
There was a pause in which Daniel asked in English, "What's going on, Ray?"
Travis turned away from his friends and looked at Daniel again. His response came, "They're confused as to the reason of your visit. They don't understand what has been going on since you arrived and they simply have been making speculations. I'm attempting to explain it to them. They are still slightly suspicious of you seeing as their impression of you is not high based off your first visit."
"Ah. Of course. I can see where they are coming from. I would be too, if I couldn't understand a word that was being exchanged. Plus it must be strange for them seeing as I visited before and they didn't quite understand anything I was attempting to say. Our communications were very shaky. I'm just glad I took Latin in high school. I was able to get by writing it." Daniel responded.
"Yes. It's good you understand where they're coming from. Saves us from having any problems." Travis said.
Daniel nodded. He closed his case and placed it on the floor again. He sat down in his armchair again. He watched Travis closely as he assessed the folder first. Travis tossed the binder onto the bed where Nico leaned back and grabbed it. Nico opened it and Leo and Frank had come to shield the contents from Daniel's eyes.
Annabeth couldn't see whatever was in the binder and it looked like Nico only got a slight glance because he closed it a second after he had opened it. Leo and Frank didn't even protest at the quick finish. Likewise, Travis took a quick glance at the first item in the folder and shut it immediately. He gave that to Frank who had turned around at the small snap sound the folder made when it was shut. He didn't even attempt to look at the contents. He gave it to Nico who stacked it on the binder and set them both on the table that separated the two beds. He also subtly scooted closer to the table. Not subtle enough for Annabeth's quick eyes to miss, but Daniel didn't show that he noticed any of their strange actions. Annabeth assumed he was acting or already knew what was in the folder and binder and their actions were expected.
Annabeth quickly whispered these thoughts to Percy. It was safe to do so because the other men were already conversing. This time in Cantonese. Her whispers were in Greek, but she wasn't quite as bilingual as the others so her options were more limited.
Percy relayed her thoughts to the other men in Cantonese. Leo looked back at Daniel to find an amused glint in his eye as he watched the others conversing. Annabeth was watching Daniel's interactions carefully. She didn't like what had seemed to happen to the visit. It was like the suicide missions that she heard some people have done. Setting a bomb and dieing with the explosion, but still succeeding in killing who they wanted dead. Or when they fly their plane somewhere to destroy something, but don't eject out so they die with their target. When she was thinking it was a time limit, she thought Daniel would leave right before something bad happened. It occurred to her that he might be right with them when whatever was going to happen, happened.
The advantage that Annabeth didn't think Daniel knew about was Annabeth being present. She also sincerely believed that he could not speak or understand another language other than English. She needed to find out the others' thoughts on this, but they were still discussing the last things she had muttered to Percy.
She didn't think they had much time to have lengthy discussions though. Annabeth decided that if her theory of a suicide mission was correct, it took precedence. She tapped Percy's shoulder to let him know she was going to say something. He finished his sentence then was quiet, allowing the other men to continue their conversation without his input. Annabeth explained her theory of Daniel possibly on a suicide mission. Percy relayed Annabeth's theory to the others switching to Greek. They accepted it, but their response was somewhat strange to Annabeth.
"I think we should get Daniel out of here then." That was Frank.
Frank's response confused Annabeth. She thought they should get out, not Daniel. He's the one on the mission. The other men seemed to share Annabeth's confusion, although it seemed like theirs were for different reasons.
"You're saying that you want to shove it in their faces that they couldn't kill one of their own men?" Nico questioned with an incredulous look.
"That's not what I'm saying." Frank's irritated reply came, "I just think that we shouldn't let anyone do a suicide mission just because they were ordered to. I don't think anyone deserves that kind of death."
Leo rolled his eyes and said in a condescending manner, "We can't be soft hearted at a time like this. Especially not in this situation; in this mission."
"I'm not being soft hearted, Val-"
"Fai!" Percy cut Frank off sternly. His voice was very commanding. It was a voice that Annabeth assumed he used for commanding troops or making calls during battle. A voice that seemed to remind them that he was the leader and a ranking Captain in the Navy. He knew what he was doing. It could save lives if he was obeyed.
"Sorry." Frank said looking down. The tone of Percy's voice was obviously crystal clear to all of them.
"Don't sweat it. Just remember - we're a team. We can't get heated at each other and we definitely can't break our covers." Percy said. His voice was softer and had a hint of understanding in it.
"Um, Fai?" Leo said nervously.
Frank looked up. His face seemed to hold some apprehension. "Yeah, Lucas?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be trying to wind you up. I mean even if we weren't going through this crisis, it wasn't something that was necessary or right." Leo said. He looked ashamed.
"Alright. Now we've got that out of the way, we need to figure out what we're going to do about this possible suicide mission that Daniel may or may not be on." Percy said.
"Exactly." Nico agreed, "I think we need a solution that might not be as merciful to Daniel as Fai is suggesting."
The others agreed. Frank didn't disagree, but he didn't exactly agree either. He just crossed his arms and looked at the floor. He wasn't glaring, he just had a strange thinking face on. It looked like he was trying to think of a different solution.
"I'm thinking maybe we should just wait." They all looked at Leo like he was insane. Even Travis turned from his conversation with Daniel. It was clear he had been listening to their conversation. Even though it was all in Cantonese.
"Sorry, but I don't think sitting and waiting for our imminent death is one of the best strategies you've ever come up with Lucas." Nico said irritably.
"No, that's not what I meant." Leo said, seemingly unaffected by Nico's doubt that seemed to be shared with all the others.
"Then what did you mean?" Percy asked. When Annabeth looked at him, she could see no display of doubt, not even in his eyes. His voice was not mocking. That was the mark of a good leader. A leader that did not judge his troops until he had heard all the information.
Leo seemed encouraged by Percy's slight interest. "Well, I'm thinking we could figure out some sort of armor protecting against all likely threats. Then we would be able to wait out Daniel. I think I can find some armor that will be able to blend in with our clothes or at least something we can wear underneath our clothes without it being too obvious."
"What kind of armor are you suggesting? We don't exactly have enough time to make something. Not even factoring in the possible time limit of Daniel, but also our own schedule for meeting with our allies." Percy told Leo.
"We should have something in our van. Maybe I can go check?" Leo said. It seemed like he hadn't completely thought through what would be needed for his idea to work.
"Well if you're going to check out possible armor options, I'm going to come with you. I want to put some of our bags in the van. Let me pack up the binder and folder in my smaller bag and we'll get going." Nico said.
Percy held up a hand and said, "Look, if you're going to check the van and bring bags out, might as well wait for the rest of us to round up what we need to put away."
Nico nodded and looked at Leo. Leo wasn't even paying attention anymore. He was scrawling different calculations and diagrams on a piece of paper in his lap. Nico shook his head and then stood up and put the binder and folder in his bag.
Daniel stopped talking. He seemed to notice that they were making some sort of arrangement to leave. Annabeth suspected that made him nervous as all of them started standing up and, following Nico's lead, gathered things and started heading out the door. Percy went after Frank depending on Annabeth to follow him to their room. Leo and Nico went around in their room packing what little they had unpacked. Travis stayed to feed Daniel excuses for reasons that the others were running around packing. Travis was depending on Frank to put all of his things away and give them to Nico and Leo to put in the van.
Annabeth followed Percy out the door. It was difficult to do when they were in the view of Daniel. She couldn't be too far behind otherwise Percy wouldn't be able to hold the door for her. She couldn't risk being so close that it would ruffle his clothes. She managed to brush past him only coming into contact with his arm, the door frame and Frank's shirt. None of that was noticeable to anyone but the three of them, so she thought that her 'cover' was safe. She only hoped that her indent in the bed wouldn't be noticeable up close with Percy's.