Time Crisis: Ultimatum…

Summary: The World is in peril once more but the good guys can't seem to get any Intel, so they send in their best men… but it seems the bad guys have a new agenda; they want the heroes for their own judgements… and they've taken the whole world hostage to get them… (TC1, II, 3 & 4 combo – Evan B centred)

Warnings: This is an AU (alternate Universe) Fic, meaning it does not follow the script or story of the Games… Well it might do in some areas but that's purely coincidental because I've only ever played TC4 in the arcade. Also all translations were done online with an online translator. If you can speak the languages I'm trying to translate and if you know it's wrong, could you please let me know because we all know online translators are sh-bleeeeep-…Thanks!

Authors Note: And here is Chapter ten! I'm slowly getting better at this updating thing…

As always, let me know what you think, but no flames please. If you have any criticism to make, please do it politely otherwise I shall ignore your words. (It's happened before, I'm sorry to say, and I hadn't even posted any real chapters…)

Chapter Ten:

If he'd have known that the phone call was going to cause this big of a problem, the Head of the VSSE would never have picked it up. But without the gift of godlike foresight, he was just as unaware of the risks as any other groggy person having been woken in the middle of the night by a noisy phone ringing. A quick glance at the clock before he answered told him it was 00:37am.

"Sir, we have a situation." Those chilling words were all he needed to hear to wake up completely.

"Report." He ordered and was welcomed with a quick run-down of what had occurred.

"Agent Bernard's silent alarm was activated approximately two hours ago. Normal emergency response was activated. Agents Bruno, Dunaway and Lambert responded and confirmed there was an intruder who had targeted Agent Bernard. The incident was contained and initial reports state that there were no major injuries, but we have internal affairs in reception asking for you sir." The Head of the VSSE frowned and immediately began to get dressed as he spoke.

"Describe them to me." He stated. The VSSE didn't have an internal affairs department because they were a stand-alone business employed by the world governments as and when required. Their funding came from the countries they had a contract with, which was nearly almost all of them. They were essentially the secret operations of the whole world. To have "internal affairs" asking after him was a code word for a breach in security that meant that they were under threat by someone who had inside information on them. And with their main foes having escaped the law mere months ago, it was entirely possible that a few someones was out for revenge.

If he had been the one planning this kind of operation, he'd have a team of expert interrogators and hackers enter the target building under a vague but significant authorisation department. He have a second team of hackers elsewhere brutally attacking firewalls while the first team acted as a distraction and as a semi access point - tech wise (by placing a USB wireless device into one of the ports in the building's tech). He'd have them scout for information as well as building layouts and weak points. They'd have fake audit documents stating that they needed access to paper files, computers and servers etc. but they'd be looking for the shadowed business underneath. The kind of information that was wrapped up in red tape and security protocols. He'd have chosen Keith Martin and Alan Dunaway for the hacking job as their backgrounds were in the computer science department. They were pro's with tech; Alan more-so that Keith but both were as effective and as intimidating as a small stampeding army when they had a computer to hand. Robert Baxter and Wesley Lambert would be on the field playing the game of audit officers interrogating the employees and Managers as a distraction.

The Head shook his head in frustration. This was a big thing. Wherever their tech had been installed was now a possible leak if the hackers got in. He needed his tech team on the defence and not the standard one in the tech office. He needed Alan and Keith now. They were his leading tech support, the ones he could trust. If he knew them at all, he knew they'd already be hacking and profiling their way through the system breach now. However, the message his PA gave him before he announced the breach gave him pause. His rookie agent, Evan Bernard, who was already injured and recovering to begin with, had been attacked earlier in the night to which Alan was responding. At the very least, one of his best was currently otherwise occupied and if he went straight to him, the breachers would know about it. And at least one of their safe houses had been compromised. There was clearly a bounty on his rookie's head and that had its own slew of problems to follow. If Giorgio was worth any of his years of experience, he'd have already taken Evan to a safe place off the grid. He trusted his boys to look after one another and he trusted that they could do their job too. To have that much faith in his men, the Head considered himself lucky in that one area if nothing else.

Keith Martin was his current only option. He quickly paged the agent and told him to meet him in his office for an "internal affairs" report. It was another way of saying; "pretend-that-you-were-doing-something-important-for-me-and-just-happened-to-be-in-the-room-at-the-same-time-but-you're-real-mission-is-to-be-vigilant-and-counter-anything-that-comes-our-way" – The Head had a feeling Keith was going to have his hands full. Meanwhile, he needed Robert Baxter in a back-up safe-house to play "dumb receptionist" in case any calls were needed to be intercepted. It was a specially designed hut for just this job and it wasn't on any of the VSSE reports. In fact, if the Head was honest with himself, there wasn't really a lot to glean from their official files. Any safe houses related to their jobs were under aliases and other names and were so far off the grid that there was no way to find them. But even so, he still had a bad feeling about this.

He trusted his men. They've worked with less information before and come out on top. He knew his boys would come through for him.

Hi PA finished describing the team of intruders sat in the waiting area and the Head of the VSSE had just finished putting on his best tie. It was time to greet the battering ram at his door.

"I'm on my way."

Evan was looking absolutely shattered by the time Giorgio had reached the ambulance for the second time that evening. He'd just come from the apartment after fetching a few of Evan's necessities after having left him with Alan; his coms set, his gun and spare rounds (which were now hidden in his jacket pocket for fear of someone spying) and his emergency wallet – the one with several different credit cards, cash and ID's for just in case they had to run. The kid's shoulder as it turned out wasn't as bad as it first appeared – there was just a lot of blood. Nothing a few on-the-spot stitches and a couple of aspirin couldn't cure despite the depth of the wound. Giorgio approached the kid and scrutinised him with a critical eye – overall Evan had looked worse but that wasn't exactly a comforting thought considering their last mission together. The older agent's face was set in a permanent scowl from the second Evan had woken up in the dramatic fashion he had. V.S.S.E Agents were trained to deal with unconsciousness and resisting it at all costs. The fact that Evan had been rendered unconscious in a fight meant that their enemy was expert level and meant business. And Evan had woken up swinging, still believing himself to be in a battle, which meant that the kid had had his senses knocked completely offline. Besides all that, the kid had a hard head and was stubborn to a fault. In summary; it wasn't easy to knock Evan Bernard out cold like that and Giorgio didn't like it one bit.

"Be fair though Gi, he is still recovering from a shrapnel bomb to the gut. The guy was obviously not on his best form tonight." Wesley replied to Giorgio's verbal ramblings. Giorgio hadn't even realised anyone had been listening.

"True as that may be, it's still almost impossible to knock him out." Giorgio replied. "This guy was a pro and I don't like that he found the bambino so easily – we don't even know why he was targeted and I don't like not knowing." The older agent added as he leant against the ambulance doorway. The police had secured the area and the forensics team had just arrived to comb the building. Chances were that one or two of the guys on the team were VSSE related and the report would reach their desks the second it was completed. Giorgio was only too eager to get his hands on it and have some answers.

"The Bambino can hear you…" Evan replied, albeit a little quietly, from his perch on the back step of the ambulance. His shoulder was bared and the paramedic was just tying off the last of the stitches. A quick wipe with an antiseptic wipe and a taped piece of gauze and Evan was up and ready to move. If not a little wobbly at first.

"You've got a concussion, fairly mild but you'll still experience random moments of dizziness, confusion, nausea and motion sickness. You may get drowsy easily too." The Paramedic explained sternly, though he could see he was wasting his breath. The paramedic then turned to Giorgio who seemed to be paying more attention. "He can't stay asleep for more than two hours in the next 24 hours. He's not to drive or do anything that requires operating machinery…" At this he turned to the young blond Frenchman and added sternly, "And that includes using any weapons, am I clear?" He asked with a no nonsense tone. The paramedic was not happy with his patient's refusal to go to the hospital but with three bodyguard-like friends all saying the same thing, the young paramedic had no hope of getting the blond patient into the ambulance without severe injury to himself.

Evan gave him a belated curious glance at that last comment, wondering why a common paramedic would comment about any weaponry before he realised that yeah, he'd just been in a knife fight and one of his windows was smashed due to a bullet. Huh, maybe he was a little more concussed than he first thought. Well he certainly wasn't going to admit that in front of Giorgio – though he doubted he could hide it.

Giorgio gave a quick nod before grabbing Evan's arm and pulling him away from prying eyes and ears. His questions however paused on his tongue for a moment; Evan was trembling under his hold and Giorgio had to slow his pace a little as Evan's feet struggled to keep up. This wasn't a good sign but he needed answers.

"What happened up there?" He asked in a no nonsense tone. He realised that he probably appeared quite cold shouldered at this point but deep inside, Giorgio was raving angry that someone had targeted one of his brothers, his partner no less! He was seething and was only just barely keeping a lid on it. He knew that Evan understood this. Giorgio trusted that Evan knew that the older agent was working through his anger and that anything he said about it would just backfire at this point.

"I dunno… I had my ass handed to me… by a little girl." Evan admitted and Giorgio instantly had his red flags waving. Evan's speech pattern was broken. "She came outta nowhere… dressed like a… like a kung-fu… addict." Giorgio slowed their pace yet again as they neared Alan's jeep but didn't interrupt. Evan continued his stunted verbal report, apparently recognising only the fact that Giorgio had asked him a question. "She uh… She kept calling me her… little brother. Which was weird coz… she uh, she sounded younger than me." Wesley came up behind them but slowed down before he reached the duo, sensing something was wrong and that Evan was probably feeling a little fragile. "She uh, said something about a… family reunion…" Wesley quickly cast Giorgio a knowing look, realising that Evan's concussion seemed to be affecting his cognitive state a little. Giorgio nodded but continued to listen to his partner struggle to retell his story the best he could. "She said she'd had my DNA tested… How did she even get my DNA?" Evan was rambling at this point and Giorgio had noticed that there was nothing new to learn.

From what he could piece together, some young female had attacked his partner and claimed he was her little brother and she had somehow managed to prove it using a DNA test. It was all very unnerving. Yes Evan had been adopted when he was a baby and it could be possible that his biological family was trying to find him. It was possible he had long lost siblings. But Ninja cosplaying, thief-in-the-night styled crazy siblings? That certainly didn't bode well. Giorgio frowned as he let his thoughts circle a little.

"I fell asleep… I woke up… had to get my painkillers… but my leg was numb… I just couldn't react like I normally woulda done…" Evan continued but Giorgio had heard enough. He patted his partner on his good shoulder and Evan stopped talking, taking the cue to be quiet. His head hurt and he was starting to feel tired. He fought the urge to just curl up on the sidewalk as somewhere deep down, he knew it was a bad idea.

"It's ok ragazza. As long as you're ok. You aren't hiding anymore injuries, are ya?" Giorgio asked, his temper quietened for the moment for Evan's sake. Evan drank in the calm demeanour and slowly adopted the same attitude. He felt a little more settled and safer now that he knew his brothers were present.

"No… just my shoulder and my head… she didn't get too far through my defence." Giorgio nodded and squeezed the blond agent's good shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"I should hope not. We should report back to HQ." Giorgio replied but Alan had overheard them from his seat in the back of his own jeep. His cell phone was out as though he'd been using it.

"I tried HQ already, no answer." The dark haired younger agent piped up. He was just finishing off a snickers bar and had a sugar filled fizzy drink in his other hand. His frantic uphill run up the stairs had burned quite a lot of energy and Alan had to keep his levels under control manually due to his diabetic state.

"What do you mean there was no answer?" Wesley asked having re-joined the group once they'd reached the ground floor. He took out his phone and began dialling a well-rehearsed number. He then put the phone to his ear as he would for any outside connection of their coms units and gave his partner a questioning glance at the fizzy drink. His question was in relation to Alan's diabetic state and after a quick blood test, Alan confirmed that he was ok. Wesley took the driver's seat while Giorgio steered Evan to the other side of the vehicle. But Evan paused on the sidewalk for a moment. Giorgio stopped also and watched him like a hawk for any signs of any, more severe, concussion related symptoms.

"Evan?" He asked quietly. The kid looked shaken, and if he was going into shock then Giorgio didn't want to startle him or aggravate the reaction. It occurred to Giorgio that Evan would now have to relocate indefinitely. His home, his safe haven had been compromised and as a targeted agent, he could not go back to his beloved little apartment again for fear of endangering others. The friends he'd made in the building too were in danger if he were to keep in contact.

"Tom. He uh… didn't answer the pager. Is he ok?" Evan asked and this worried Giorgio even more. Tom had been present when Evan had reawakened in his apartment. Tom had been there when they were helping the kid down the building. Tom had just bid them goodbye and went with the first ambulance that had taken Jeanette and Francesca to the hospital just before Giorgio went back to his partner's apartment for his things.

"Evan, Tom was just here. You said good bye to him not even ten minutes ago." Giorgio intoned gently. He didn't want to upset his partner but this question had him concerned and he needed Evan to understand the severity of his concern here. "Are you ok? How's your head?" He asked as he placed a supportive hand on the younger agent's back. Evan was trembling again.

"I don't… know. It hurts but that's normal for… for a concussion right?" Evan replied but phrased it as a question as though he wasn't sure. Giorgio frowned, his concern rocketing. Evan was confused, his thoughts appeared to be jumbled but he wasn't slurring his speech yet. He was trembling too which meant he might be unsteady but as he was currently holding the car door in a death grip Giorgio couldn't be too sure of that last one.

"Evan, Tom's fine. He's with Jeanette and the receptionist." Giorgio assured him. "Get in the car bambi, we'll go somewhere safe where you can relax." The older agent coaxed, putting on his 'handle-with-care' gloves until he had the kid safe and secure, preferably in a VSSE hospital and receiving the medical attention he managed to avoid with the paramedic. Evan carefully got in the back seat next to Alan who had handed Wesley his keys. Alan had to administer an insulin dose soon and would rather not be driving when his sugar levels dropped. The young dark haired agent helped to buckle his friend in and continued the soft conversation with Evan to ensure he didn't fall asleep just yet. Giorgio slid into the passenger's seat and gave Wesley a concerned look but Wesley was still on the phone with a frown of his own. He finally put the phone down and turned to Giorgio with a serious 'shit-just-hit-the-fan' look.

"HQ has been compromised. Chief has 'internal affairs' in his office right now." He reported with a frown. Giorgio's eyes narrowed. The VSSE didn't have an internal affairs department which meant that it was a code word for danger. The Head was clearly misdirecting whoever had infiltrated their security, in hopes of diverting and saving as much of their resources as possible. But such a thing had never occurred in real life. There'd been many drills and many practices for if such a scenario ever happened but never in the history of the VSSE had it ever been compromised.

"Is it a drill?" Alan asked from the back. Giorgio looked at him using the passenger sun visor mirror. He'd pulled it down so he could keep an eye on his concussed partner's condition. Wesley shook his head. This was the real thing. Giorgio mentally swore.

"Head east. We're going off the radar." He ordered and Wesley was only too happy for someone to take charge at this point. He started the engine and pulled away, watching all the time for just in case they were being followed. "I know a place off the records." Giorgio added to Alan's questioning stare. Giorgio glanced back at his partner who was resting his head against the Jeep's window. His eyes were open but the man was clearly vacant in his own mind.

"Alan, your mother…" Wesley piped up, asking silently what he planned to do about the fact that his mother was protected by the same VSSE that was now unsafe for them to return to.

"She's off the records." Alan replied as he turned in his seat to keep an eye out for any unwanted followers. "The Chief was paying out of a charity account which he funded through his own account and claimed expenses for. It can't be traced to her. She's registered under a different name too. The carers only know her as Annie Silvers." Alan replied. He seemed confident that his last remaining family was safe and secure.

"Your home address though… it's the same as hers isn't it?" Giorgio asked as he began to fiddle with a small pendant on a black thong around his neck. It hid a small, non-traceable sim card that he made sure to always have on his person in case he ever had to go rogue. Which in his career choice was quite possible at any given moment. Like now.

"My registered address with the VSSE is an old mining company. Just like yours is a zoo and Wes's is an aquarium miles to the south." Alan responded, hinting that his hacking skills were superior to those of the admin staff at the VSSE HQ. Wesley might be the mechanical genius, but Alan was a technical god. He and Keith had a way with anything that had a keyboard, a screen and any software based interface.

"Evan's address was blank though so I left it that way. I wasn't sure what deal had been struck and I didn't want to intervene. They still can't track him either way." Alan continued. Giorgio already knew this. He'd been present when the deal had been struck and knew that Evan's address field would be blank because it would have been an ideal location as a safe house. Which was why it was so unnerving that his current apartment had been compromised.

Instead, Giorgio was taking them to another place off the grid. A place where Evan could recuperate safely until they got their bearings and could decide on their next step. Both Alan and Wesley knew better than to ask questions. The less they knew, the less they could tell if they got separated on the way.

"Any word from Baxter, Roberts or Miller?" Alan asked from the back seat. Giorgio pulled out his cell phone. It wasn't VSSE issued and the connection was a secured one for just the agents he worked with regularly. Richard wasn't on the contacts due his solo missions taking a priority. But Keith and Robert had their secure cells too. It was standard practice. The agents were to source their own private communications so that if the VSSE ever were to come crashing down, they were still able to communicate with one another. They were cheap, throwaway phones and the sim-cards were replaced every month like a password was on a computer and were all registered under different aliases too. They were never connected to any internet or Wi-Fi source in case the phone gave off a GPS signal. They connected to a special radio device which they used as their ear pieces. The tech was based on a localized connection only, so it would only connect to the phones they were tethered to. It worked like a private conference call that split the connection seven ways. One for each agent (excluding Richard) and then one for a multi-channel where they could all speak to one another. It was how they had communicated earlier in Evan's building. The tech was easy enough to set up with each new phone as it was the ear pieces that did all the work and they were secure, tether-based tech which meant that any other outside connection trying to connect wirelessly or through any form or infrared or Bluetooth, wouldn't be able to find the devices, let alone connect.

Giorgio removed the back casing and replaced the sim with his emergency one, assuming his old number was compromised now, and quickly dialed Robert's cell. It rang through his radio earpiece and subsequently also rang into Wesley's and Alan's earpieces too. Evan's was offline and sat in Giorgio's back pocket.

"I'm hauling ass. You on the move yet?" Was the greeting that all three received when Robert finally picked up.

"We're moving. What's the sit rep?" Giorgio asked, hoping Robert might have more information to work with.

"HQ is under cyber-attack. I'm on route to play receptionist." Robert reported, his military training kicking in. "We don't know yet how anyone tagged the building but emergency measures are in place until the attention dies down. Martin's stuck with him, he was called in in-case he was needed to counter anything. I'm heading south, got a place set up for emergencies. Off grid. You?" The senior agent asked. He knew they had a few secure locations set up of their own accord but he was also aware that Evan's silent alarm had been activated. It was the same time HQ had been stormed. Alan understood the connection quickly and decided he had to go rogue to discover the connection.

"Yeah we got a place, we're heading there now-" Giorgio replied but Alan quickly interrupted.

"Wes, drop me off here. I have to investigate this online." Wesley frowned but flicked his indicator on and pulled the car over to the kerb. Giorgio turned in his seat to query the dark haired agent.

"You got an angle?" He asked, knowing that Alan was a fully qualified and trained VSSE agent and knew how to keep himself safe. This was their job.

"Evan's silent alarm is monitored by the VSSE, right?" Alan began, "There was an intruder in Evan's apartment. What if that intruder wanted Ev to set it off? What if they traced the signal back to the VSSE? That would explain why HQ was stormed mere moments after Ev's alarm went off. With the prison truck attack two months back, we know we have enemies targeting us. It was only a matter of time before they found one of us. But, if I can trace the signal and analyse it I can tag the intruding tracer and trace them. We'll have a lead and a target." Alan explained hoping that Giorgio would pick up on what that task would require.

"But you need an internet connection just in case you're counter traced. And you need to be able to move quick if that happens. Ok, I get it, you got someplace to lay low if it gets too hot?" The older agent asked, being quick to cover his friend's ass.

"I got a few places, off-grid. I was a professional hacker and not the nice kind before I joined. I had to have untraceable bolt holes all over in order to survive. Wes knows some of them." Alan replied with a cheeky grin. Giorgio nodded his approval. Wesley on the other hand wasn't too happy about his partner going alone.

"You got meds in these other bolt holes that I don't know about?" He asked, concerned but knowing full well it would be easier to lose someone if they were alone instead of partnered on this particular self-assigned mission.

"All of them have enough to keep me going for a month. Plus I got my sources in the cities too." Alan replied, then placed a hand on his partner's shoulder through the headrest. "Wes, I'll be fine." He assured the blond agent. Wesley nodded, he knew he would be ok. This was their job. He trusted Alan. He just had a bad feeling about all this.

"Go. Update us as often as you can without alerting anyone." Wesley relented and waited for the rear passenger door to open and close. He rolled down his window and clasped hands with his brother-friend in a sincere gesture of 'keep-safe'. Alan returned the clasp with a firm 'you-too' before he was sprinting off toward the sign that pointed toward a train station. Wesley, rolled the window up again and maneuvered his friend's jeep back onto the dark road.

Giorgio watched with a fond eye before he glanced into his rear view mirror on the passenger sun visor to find his own partner; a wave of brotherly comradery tugging his attention toward the younger blond agent whose luck seemed to have disappeared completely. What he saw had his heart rapidly sinking to his stomach in fright.

"Shit!" He jerked and turned in his seat which Wesley picked up on and quickly parked the jeep again to see what had the older agent so worked up.

Then he saw it.

It was Evan.

He was asleep…

…with a trail of blood dripping from his right ear.

A/N: How much do you hate me now?! Dontcha just love a good cliffy?! *ducks oncoming various objects being thrown my way* - ok I get the hint! Next update will be quicker!