Sorry for the delay, but some things just cant be helped.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Edited by the mighty pazed!

Once again I own nothing! Just playing with someone else's toys!

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Chapter 25

Pat leaned heavily against the doorway to the restroom, panting with effort. It had taken almost all that she had to make it this far. Sagging forward she collapsed, sitting on the rim of the bathtub and only then did she peel off her coat exposing a mass of bloody hand towels held in place by the roll of plastic wrap she had wrapped around her body.

She set the hard plastic case she had been carrying on the lid of the loo, then opened it revealing the emergency first aid kit Q had placed in all of their field gear.

Hesitantly, she began unwrapping the wound, hissing as she pulled the final towel away and getting a good look at the gaping thing for the first time, as fresh blood began oozing down her side.

Her hands moved shakily to the kit as she began to work, her mind moving back to the events that had led up to her current condition.

Christmas Eve, it had seemed like the perfect time to take a sneak peek at the mortuary she had had under surveillance. She had watched as the little old man she assumed was the patriarch of the family that owned the establishment locked up and made his way to his car in the small lot close by.

All of the information she had received from Jackson Marrow, head of Station I, had shown that the business was exactly what she had expected; a multi-generational family owned business.

After dark she had made her way into the building through the loading dock in the rear, and begun her search.

Originally everything had seemed to be going to plan, until she had heard footsteps coming down one of the stone floored hallways.

Moving quickly she had folded and shoved the paperwork she had been looking at into her thin backpack, and pushed the filing cabinets closed carefully. She had just made it across the room and into the small closet as the door to the office opened.

"Father wishes an update on your progress," said the rough voice in Italian.

"We are still in the process of generating a new timetable," said a second male voice. "Due to the… bad judgment of my predecessor, we have been forced to make certain… adjustments, I will have the new schedule complete before the end of the year."

The first voice sounded irritated as it replied. "Father has given you the target dates!" it growled. "If you can not meet those dates-"

The second voice cut him off. "We will be ready, you may assure him of that!" said the voice, then the desk chair creaked. "It is not the final date of the operation that is in question, it is the procurement of the equipment and materials that are necessary. Not all of the avenues that were previously available are possible at this time."

"But you are confident that with these… adjustments the dates can be met?" asked the first voice.

"I am…" replied the second. "…However, there will be some risk involved. You may wish to prepare Father for such an outcome."

The sound of irritation returned. "What form of risk?"

"Nothing of import," said the voice. "It will be monetary… and possibly some minor manpower, nothing that could put COLD at risk," he said with a dismissive quality.

"See that it does not!" the other voice said.

"Please assure Father that it will all be as he wishes, I am seeing to it personally," he said.

"We will be expecting your next update before the end of the year," said the other voice.

"That is the latest that you will have it, I hope to have it to Father before then," he said.

"Very well," said the other voice. "Have you had any other issues?"

The man sighed. "No, thankfully it seems to have been an isolated incident, and the actions taken afterward swift enough to limit the issue."

"Good, it is best to deal with such things swiftly…" he said. "I trust you have been taking precautions for-"

"You chose me for this position for a reason," the voice replied, cutting the man's thought short. "Precautions are in place… Including one for this." A tapping sound came from whatever he was hitting.

"I will leave you to it then," said the voice, footsteps retreating towards the door. "Father will be displeased if you fail." The door clicked as the man exited.

She barely breathed, not wanting to alert the remaining man of her presence.

After a couple of minutes, the man exploded in anger. "Fail? Me?" the man ranted, throwing something across the room, sending a crash of smaller objects clattering. "How DARE he!" the man howled. "Before this is over Father will be singing my praises!"

She then listened as the man rose and made his way towards the door, slamming it as he went.

She waited a few more minutes before slowly opening the door and stepping out into the office, returning to the file cabinets. Keeping an eye on the door she went back to work, looking for any thing she could find related to something called COLD.

A scant five minutes later her world exploded.

Harry walked back to the champions' table, carrying a pair of fresh drinks. Alex smiled at him as he did and then stood, pulling Victor towards the dance floor and leaving him alone at the table with Hermione.

He placed the drink in front of her. "Harry," "Mia," They both began, then paused waiting for the other to speak.

Sighing, Harry began again. "Mia… I-"

"I'm sorry Harry," she blurted out, a tear in the corner of her eye. "I-I didn't… I should have said something…" she said softly. "I just…" She took a deep breath, looking up at him.

"Mia, it's okay.." he began.

She shook her head, setting the soft curls framing her face swaying. "No... it's not," she said. "I should have said something when Victor asked… and not made Alex promise not to say anything… Please don't be mad at her…" she pleaded.

"Mia…" He sighed again. "I'm just worried…" he said, placing his hand over hers on the table. "This tournament… it's ridiculously dangerous… I just wanted you... all of you safe… including Alex… Unfortunately that just isn't going to happen."

He took a deep breath and let it out again. "You were right, and your instincts were good," he said softly, pulling her into a hug as he stood. "We just need to make sure you are prepared… we'll figure it out."

She nodded and hugged him tighter. "Meantime," he said pulling away from her slightly, "what would you say to a dance?"

She smiled at him and dabbed her eyes with a small handkerchief. "I believe I would like that very much, Harry."

"Then lead the way," he said, taking her hand as they moved through the crowd towards the dance floor.

They were on their second turn around the floor when a hand touched him on the shoulder. Harry smiled and handed Hermione's hand over to her date as he gathered Alex in his arms in a smooth transition.

Alex's smile matched his. "I take it things went well?' she asked.

Harry's smile faltered. "If you were asking me if I am okay with it? Then no, I'm not. Do I understand? Then grudgingly, yes I do…"

He looked down at her his eyes serious. "I want you both completely comfortable with the gear we will be using… I'm going to talk to my dad as well… I've seen a few things scattered around that could be useful… in an emergency."

Alex's eyebrow quirked upwards. "Do I want to know?"

"Oh, you know us boys and our toys," he said with a wide grin and a wink.

She grinned back. "Trust me it's not just you boys."

Patricia stood gently, testing the patch job she had done. Satisfied that it would do until she could get to medical, she then looked at the full length mirror. She was a fright, she looked pale and blood coated her left side where the sharp end of the rebar had slashed through her side. A large bruise was already forming on the same shoulder from when the large hunk of flooring had come lose and hit her.

She was going to be stiff and sore, to say the least. Her mobility was compromised and she would need to be careful with her side until she had someone look over the wound and possibly do something more than what she could at the current time.

Stripping down she stepped into the shower intent on removing the rest of the blood, and hissed as the warm water felt like needles on her sensitive skin.

She focused on what had happened earlier to keep her mind off of the pain.

There had been no warning, nothing at all. In the blink of an eye she had found herself trapped in a pile of rubble looking at the tangled remains of the office furniture and coffins all around her, and looking up at a the remains of a slowly crumbling building.

She had felt the sting in her side the moment she had tried to move, and looking down she had found a growing puddle of blood coming from a jagged gash in her side and a piece of rebar just inches from impaling her.

She could already hear sirens in the distance, and knew that she needed to get out of what remained of the building before they got control of the scene and their search and rescue teams could enter the building.

Using the lining of one of the coffins as a make shift bandage she made her way towards the back of the building.

Thankfully, the building had only been three stories, and she had been on first floor when the explosion happened. She had been able to pick her way through the rubble to the surface with only a little trouble and make her way towards her car and drive into the night.

She knew returning to her hotel was not possible with the way she looked at this point so she had made do with what she could find in the first closed establishment she ran across, a small restaurant. Then after ditching the car she had made her way to one of the safe houses the 00 section maintained in important cities.

Stepping out of the shower she looked herself over again as she began to dress. She was in rough shape. More bruises were forming, and she was covered in cuts and scrapes.

Sighing, she headed stiffly towards the room's telephone.

After slipping her scrambler over the receiver, she dialed a number.

"Universal Exp-" a voice began only to be cut off.

"Day Code: Ice, Place, Satisfied. Call Sign: Rook."

"Verifying," replied the voice. After a moment the voice spoke again. "Proceed."

"M: Initiate. Message begins: Area hot, possibly compromised, injured. Need evacuation. At location A thirty-four. Situation in flux."

"Understood, Rook," said the voice, followed by a short pause. "Instructions: Stand Fast. Will have assets in area soonest."

"Acknowledged," Pat said and hung up the phone.

Sitting gingerly at the table she pulled her battered backpack towards her, opened it and began rummaging through what she had stuffed into it just before she had been interrupted in the office.

'It's a long shot,' she thought, 'but at the moment it is all I've got…'

'Just what is COLD?' she wondered, as she flipped through the invoices.