Nicky sighed. Conklin had called Castel in for retraining. He had hospitalized another civilian in Rome, and Conklin was pissed. The difficulty was getting him in. He was not going to come quietly. Conklin wanted her to schedule a regular interview on the pretext of a med change, then take him then. He planned to be here for it, but he also wanted to use another asset to ensure compliance. Jason.
She had to schedule it, then pretend she knew nothing about it when Castel was taken. She was close to asking Conklin if he could be assigned to a separate handler when he returned, but that would be cowardly. She knew he had never crossed the line with her, didn't view her as meat the way he did most women. She had earned his grudging respect due to the agency and her own performance. Nonetheless, it made her nervous to know they were going to "retrain". It was a nebulous quantity, involving more psychological breaking. Who knew what the hell would be sent back in Castel's body.
She didn't want to think about it. It would just give her a headache. She had heard enough about headaches to last a lifetime. Mannheim was down for 24 hours with a migraine, shortening the timeframe for his op. At least she was off cycle with the Professor. Something in her head went off, like a moment of déjà vu. Before she had time to think about it, her cell phone rang.
"You rang?" Jason's voice was calm but alert.
"Yeah. I'm going to need you in the office for a takedown on Friday." She stopped, could see the wheels turning in his brain.
"Who is it?" He was smart enough to know it was one of them. A wariness had crept into his tone, part of the bleedthrough from their personal relationship. He was less guarded with her on the phone, usually when he was dealing with a headache himself. It made her feel so impotent when that happened. She cursed mentally.
"Castel."
"Asshole. Fine. I want the details of the meds. I'm not sticking him if he's not going to go down."
Conklin came into town a full day early. Nicky knew that it was because Jason had asked him to do so, but in her professional capacity she was surprised when he arrived, Jason in tow. She figured it was good practice for Castel tomorrow.
"You're a day early," she said when Conklin came in. Her desk was more cluttered than it would have been if she had 'known' he was coming. He acted as he normally did, so she took that as a pass for her latest acting challenge.
"I think it's a good idea for us to run through this before it goes down, Nicky. I've asked Jason to join us so we are all on the same page about what needs to happen when Castel gets here."
"Of course." Nicky took a seat, Conklin did the same. He looked at Jason expectantly, and Jason explained, "I'd prefer to remain standing."
Used to the vagaries of the agents, Conklin shrugged. Nicky knew it was because he still had a headache. The less movement, the better for him.
"What tranquilizing agents do you have?" Jason was first to speak, focused on his task.
"Just the standard neuroleptics…chlorpromazine or haloperidol."
"What about pericyazine or thioridazine?" Conklin looked less than pleased at Jason's interrogation of their pharmacopeia. Nicky knew he was probably thinking about her reported theft of the meds in Brussels.
"We have thioridazine, but given his history I don't think that would be appropriate." The discussion was eclipsing Conklin's knowledge of meds, but he was studying both of them. Nicky was careful to keep her tone professional and disengaged.
"What about lorazepam?" Jason leaned in, gestured to Castel's file and looked to Conklin. "If you want me to take him down without killing him, I need to know what he's on already. I guarantee I know more about drug interactions than either of you, and if he doesn't go down I'm killing him."
The matter of fact way that Jason calmly said he was going to kill someone sent a shiver up Nicky's spine. She didn't think she'd ever get used to it, because she knew he meant it.
Conklin stiffened. "I doubt that will be necessary. Whatever we give him will take him down."
Jason was irritated but controlled it well. He had not slept well, the headache gnawing at him through the night. He had been on his own, a situation that he was finding less and less tolerable. That was adding to his stress, the increasing dependence on Nicky. They weren't going to be able to hide their relationship for much longer, and he hadn't figured out if there was any exit strategy possible, some kind of soft landing. Looking at Conklin, he doubted it would involve the agency.
"It won't take him down if it feeds what he's already on. Is he already on antipsychotics?" Conklin's sniff gave him away. Jason let the irritation seep into his tone. "I thought so. Give me the file. You give me a job, you give me the file. I don't give a damn who it is."
Conklin nodded, and Nicky pushed the file across the table. Jason finally sat, a concession to placate Conklin more than from any need to do so. He read the notes, most of them Nicky's. To say the previous handlers had not wanted to delve into Castel's psyche was an understatement. He focused on the list of current medications.
"How sure are you that he's taking these as directed?" His gaze was business-like and open.
"Actually, I think that part of the problem is that he is not taking the antipsychotic regularly. If you look here," Nicky's hand glanced over his, turning the pages, "you can see that his incidents appear to be tied to the increasing frequency of the headaches all the assets are reporting." She looked up at Conklin cautiously. She knew the med changes were still a sore subject for him, but here was more proof of the problem.
Conklin grunted. "Continue, Bourne. What do you think is going to work, then?"
"I suggest we have both sedatives prepped: haloperidol and lorazepam. I'll make the call based on his behavior and responses to Nicky."
"I don't like not having a solid choice in place," Conklin said. "What rationale will you use to decide which one you're going to use?"
"If he's been taking his antipsychotic then I'll know it. If, on the other hand, he shows signs of being acutely psychotic, I'm going straight for the haloperidol. In fact, I'd prefer to add promethazine as well. Do we have that?"
"Yes."
"Do it," Conklin said, nodding to Jason. "Now, Nicky, where are you going to be? I want you clear of him when we enter the room."
"I can go and get the new med sheet. I've left it in the outer office enough times with all of you that it won't seem suspicious," she looked at Jason, who nodded to verify.
"What about you, sir? Are you going to be armed?" Nicky knew she would be best served to keep her weapon out of sight, but Conklin was going to be closer to trouble.
"I'll have my field piece, but I expect that Castel is not going to be focused on me," Conklin said, eyeing Jason.
"He's not going to be happy to see me," Jason acknowledged. "We're both going to know what it means, so I'm not going to mess around. Expect a mess," he said, swiveling his gaze to Nicky, then standing up. "Actually, can we walk through the office, please? I'd prefer to remove potential weapons ahead of time without making it obvious that they are missing."
Nicky nodded and stood up as well. "Of course, you can make whatever changes you think will be necessary, as long as it's not obvious."
"One thing is obvious to me," Conklin observed from his chair. Nicky and Jason both turned to look at him. "I'm going to have to give you some budget funds to redecorate the office after tomorrow, Nicky."
She smiled slightly. "I hope not, sir."
Nicky completed the usual morning paperwork, shredded documents, and sent some preliminary information to the Professor about his annual physical. She worked better that way, focused on one task at a time. It was calming in the face of a storm. She knew Jason and Conklin were already in the building. Jason had come over last night, their time together brief but sweet nonetheless. Jason's headache had receded a bit, let him relax and recharge for a few hours with her. She was humming a bit to herself, turned to find Castel had arrived. He grinned at her, pleased to have surprised her. There was a slightly manic look in his eyes, a look she chose not to acknowledge, merely indicated the office with her hand. He smirked and went in docilely enough, sat down as prescribed in the chair.
"Had any good boyfriends lately, Nicolette?" he asked, always crude.
"How are the headaches?" Nicky had picked up her pen, ready to mark the interview sheet.
"Like this," he said, slamming a ballpoint viciously into the soft wood of the desktop.
"I'll put down, 'worse'." She marked it, considered how many questions to go until she hit the meds.
"Are you sleeping well?"
"Only after beating up a whore. But you know about that, you have to clean it up, don't you? I'm sorry to make so many messes for you, Nick. But that is your job, not mine."
"Yes, it is." Her tone was cool and calm. He was itching for provocation which he would not be getting from her, and he knew it. She shuddered to think what would have happened to some poor woman in Paris today if they weren't going to take him in.
"Been target shooting lately?" He was eyeing her, assessing. She skipped the question about the physical training.
"Are you taking all of your meds?" She was wary of him now. He was unnaturally focused on her. This wasn't good.
"Am I taking all of my meds? Am I taking all of my MEDS? No, Nicky, because they aren't worth a shit!" Castel stood up, towering over her. He was over six feet, and the question of 'psychotic' had moved steadily to 'acutely psychotic' in the time he'd been here.
"There is a new medication schedule, it will help you," Nicky said with as much calm as she could muster as she pushed the desk chair back infinitesimally. It was the wrong move. He lunged for her. Nicky shoved the chair back with all her might. It wouldn't have been enough to save her from his hands that were going for her throat if Jason hadn't slammed into him, knocking him away. Castel roared in rage, punched Jason viciously once before Jason evaded him. Conklin came in, told Castel, "You need retraining, Castel. Bourne is here to ensure your cooperation."
Castel backed away from Jason warily, spotting the hypodermic at the ready.
"Fuck you! I'll kill you all, starting with that bitch and her meds," Castel pulled a knife, slashed at Jason when he came back at him. Jason changed up his plan on the fly. His reflexes were sharper, and he deflected it, planted the first syringe and injected Castel in the forearm. As he had expected, the lorazepam had a paradoxical effect, amping Castel up more. He was more dangerous but also far less likely to follow his training. Jason pulled his own knife, focused on disarming him. The office furniture took a beating; a chair broke the window. Conklin had gotten Nicky out of the room, was ready at the door with his handgun if necessary. Castel's slashes were clumsier, even if rage made him more bullish. Jason continued to evade the knife, finally nicked Castel in the right spot so he was forced to drop it. Panic set in then for him, and Jason could see it. It would only be a matter of seconds. He sheathed the blade and pulled the second hypo full of haloperidol and promethazine. Castel roared and charged. Jason started to engage and pulled, twisted, slamming the needle into Castel's neck as he was swan diving for the floor. Jason kicked him with his foot to roll him over, Castel's breath coming in quick pants.
"Mission complete. You should get him some medical attention, or that triple whammy is going to shut down his respiratory system in about five minutes," Jason said after crouching down to check his pulse. He saw Nicky's wide eyes but was talking to Conklin, who nodded.
"I'll get right on it."
Jason stood up to leave. As he passed Conklin he said, "Personally, I don't think it would be any loss."
Conklin ignored him, continued talking on his phone. Nicky stopped him briefly with a hand on his arm.
"Jason, thank you." Her words held far more meaning than Conklin knew, but it was absolutely appropriate under the circumstances.
"You're welcome." His eyes said far more.
"Why did you use all of them?"
"He was high, Nicky. Either/or was not going to cut it. The only way he was going down was hard."