BURNING THE PICKET FENCE
Chapter 28 – Agent Noonan, Part 2
Rio de Janeiro
October 4, 2006
Under a grass umbrella, Sarah laid on a lounge chair watching the vacationing tourists and the wealthy elite basking and frolicking along the sundrenched beach. To the eye, she was a beautiful girl enjoying an afternoon relaxing beside the azul waters of Rio. But unknown to those around her, she was a deadly assassin poised and ready to take out her prey when the moment was right.
She looked up as a cabaña boy brought her another mai tai which she took gratefully thanking him in Spanish. Across the beach she watched her assignment frolicking in the sun with two blondes. He was a handsome man, probably in his mid-forties; one of the few men on the beach wearing Speedos that didn't repulse her.
"This could be fun." Sarah smiled to herself as she picked up her drink and started walking along the beach in his direction.
It took no effort to lure him in. She walked along the beach holding her drink as he ran to catch a Frisbee, he ran right into her knocking her over spilling her drink all over her. He looked down at Sarah clearly embarrassed. "I am so sorry miss." He reached down to help her up.
"Yeah, and blind too!" She lashed out at him. "I just got this bikini this morning and now look what you did!"
"If there is any damage, I will buy you a new one." He gave Sarah an approving glance. "And I would be very happy to buy you a new drink."
"Don't bother." Sarah replied still wiping the juice off of her. "I need to get out of the sun anyway." She started to walk away, smiling to herself as he followed her.
He ran in front of her running backwards as he spoke to her. "Can I at least buy you dinner tonight?"
"I already have a date." She smiled apologetically. "But maybe I'll see you later." He continued to stare at her while she laughed to herself dialing her phone.
"Daniel Linderman."
"It's just so sad. Men really are such a predictable species." She smiled as she continued to saunter along the beach toward her hotel.
"I take it he took the bait?" Linderman replied.
Sarah laughed. "I didn't even have a chance to pull out my fishing pole. The guy ran right into me. I thought I was going to have to perform CPR, he was drooling so profusely."
"Very good!" Linderman's voice was very approving. "Will your task be completed by tonight?"
Sarah smiled into the phone. "Now Mr. Linderman, you know I like to play with my prey; just like any other self-respecting black widow spider. These things can't be rushed, you know."
"Perfection!" He beamed. "Ok Agent Noonan. Keep me abreast of things."
"Will do." Sarah hung up the phone walking straight ahead pretentiously making people step out of her way. She laugh to herself as all heads turned to look at her when she walked by.
Later that evening, Sarah sat alone at the bar rebuffing many advances as she watched her assignment closely. She shook her head as she watched him standing at the roulette table placing bets calling 26 red only to lose two thousand dollars on a single spin. "I think it's time to put you out of your misery."
He finally made his way to the blackjack table; exactly what Sarah was waiting for. She watched him play for a good amount of time before she decided to make her move. With slow matriculation, she stood up and walked to the table standing behind him. The dealer threw down two queens in front of him.
"Double down." Sarah whispered in his ear.
He turned around smiling as he saw her with a skeptical grin. "The dealer is showing a two. A twenty is almost a sure bet. Isn't a sure thing always the best way to go?"
Sarah stood back taking a sip of her drink. "Only if you like it boring. Me? I like my games and men filled adventure." She smiled mysteriously then took a seat next to him.
Looking down at his cards then up at Sarah, he placed his cards side by side doubling his bet. The dealer revealed a ten and threw down a king. Sarah smiled up at him.
An hour later in his suite, Sarah straddled across him as he laid on the bed, grinding her hips against his as he moaned with pleasure. She closed her eyes as they both climaxed.
Sliding off of him, she sat on the edge of the bed eying him curiously as he caught his breath.
"Oh God!" He breathed lying on his back. "You are amazing."
"Thank you." Sarah smiled confidently as she stood up pulling on her chemise, then poured herself a glass of water. "So, would you like to play a game?"
He sat up smiling. "What kind of game?"
Sarah smiled nodding as she walked back toward him, sitting on the end of the bed. "It's a game I call…death."
The smiled on his face faded slowly. He laughed nervously. "Don't you have anything a little less depressing we can play?"
Sarah leaned back propping herself on her elbow as she traced her fingers from his belly button to his chest. "Have you ever given any thought to how you would like to die?"
He looked down at her oddly. "Not especially."
Sarah stood up. "Oh common…you must have given it some thought. Maybe you would like to die peacefully in your sleep, or while making love…maybe something more violent appeals to you. You know…going out in a blaze of glory on an assignment. Don't men in your line of work dream about such things?" She then shook her head apologetically. "That's right…you're not in that line of work anymore, are you?"
He stood up angrily and grabbed her by the arms. "Who in the fuck are you?" He demanded. "What kind of game are you playing?"
She only stared coolly at him, impervious to his nails digging into her arm. She looked up at him; her eyes dark and filled with malice. "Who am I? I am pleasure. And I am pain. I am bliss and I am fear."
He grabbed her harder. "Linderman sent you …didn't he?"
"Very good!" Sarah smiled condescendingly at him. "There is only one way out of the Company. You could call this your golden handshake."
He shook his head smiling composedly. "So you're the executioner. I've been expecting you."
Sarah nodded. "They call me the Black Widow. I like to play with my prey before I strike. I kind of liked The Terminator, but that one was already taken. But no matter,
you need to make a choice, or I am going to have to make it for you. And my choices probably won't be as pleasant as anything you would think of for yourself."
"So that's your MO." He sneered. "You give them a final fuck and then you kill them."
"Yeah, pretty much. It makes it a little more pleasant, don't you think?" She smiled leaning against a dresser. "But you have been with The Company for ten years. You know we can't have people running away from us revealing our secrets. It's just not the way we do things. So…I'm going to have to kill you."
"Well, I am not going to give you a chance." He laughed reaching into his dresser pulling out his pistol. "You are going to be dead before you pull your weapon." He lifted his pistol aiming it at Sarah's head. "Say goodnight Pretty Lady." He fired two shots at her head which stopped in mid air. He dropped his pistol in shock.
Sarah shook her head smiling viciously. "You just couldn't go nicely. It's really too bad because I kind of liked you. And you look great in Speedos."
He shook his head slowly staring at Sarah completely shocked. "What are you?"
"Well, I am telekinetic, as is obvious from the bullet stoppage." The bullets that were suspended in mid air fell to the ground. "But I also have a very unique ability." She took his gun out of his hand setting it on the dresser. "While there is no technical name for my ability, my file calls it Transcendental Termination. That means I can make you die any way I want you to just by thinking about it. I can make it painless and peaceful…or I can make it excruciating and violent." She sighed and shook her head. "You know…a few minutes ago, I was more than willing to make it easy, but now…I think I'll make it hurt."
"Wait!" He pleaded. "Don't do this! I'll pay you anything."
Sarah shook her head. "I'm getting two-hundred thousand dollars for this hit alone. Trust me…I don't need the money."
"Please!" He implored her.
She laughed incredulously. "You weren't exactly willing to show me any mercy a few minutes ago when you shot at me." She wrinkled her nose shaking her head. "So now I'm not in such a compassionate mood."
"No! Do…" But he didn't finish. He struggled to breathe as he fell to the floor grasping for air.
Sarah just shook her head as she pulled a black unitard out of her tote bag and began to put it on. "We couldn't have done this the easy way. But it looks like we're going to do this the hard way. Right now the blood is racing through your arteries. In a moment
it is going to rush into your head and you are going to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage. Natural cause of death, you see. So I won't be prosecuted. Not that it matters…as you well know we have an excellent clean up unit that comes in and makes things go away."
He started to scream placing his hands on his head.
Sarah walked around picking up her clothes and putting them into her bag. "Oh, that's your blood rushing into your head. This is what happens just before your brains carotid artery explodes." She wiggled her fingers at him. "It was nice knowing you!"
He let out a final scream in pain. And then he fell to the ground dead. Sarah looked down at him shaking her head condescendingly. "Sorry." Then pulling out her camera phone, she snapped a photo of him which she sent to Linderman with a note which read Mission Accomplished.
Sarah then pulled a rope out of her bag. She lowered the rope over the balcony and then climbed down into the bushes below. Once safely on the ground, she removed her coveralls and pulled down the rope returning them both to her tote bag. Then she emerged from the bushes wearing the same dress she wore to the casino as she walked along the beach toward the air strip on her way back to New York.
As she seated herself on the plane, she smiled pretentiously to herself. "God, I'm good."
New York City, New York
"GET UP!" Sylar opened his eyes as somebody kicked him. He had passed out in an ally the night before after going into a drunken stupor.
"Just another five more minutes mom." He groaned rolling over. He was abruptly struck with an angering wave of ice cold water. "What the fuck?" He quickly sat up staring Angela Petrelli in the face.
"Get up you lazy toad!" She snarled down at him. "We have work to do."
He studied her face intently. "What happened? Did I die and go to Oz? Isn't a house supposed to land on you or something? Where are your flying monkeys?"
Angela laughed spitefully. "And you must be the one searching for a brain. How appropriate. Now sober the hell up!"
"Leave me alone!" He pulled a cardboard box over his head which Angela promptly pulled off. Sylar sat up angrily. "Don't you have a house to haunt?"
"Don't you have an opera house to terrorize?" She narrowed her eyes smiling sardonically.
"Bitch!" He spat at her through gritted teeth.
"Drunk!" She shouted. "Now if you want to save your girlfriend's life, we have a lot of work to do."
Sylar rolled over on his back laughing spitefully as Angela stared at him shaking her head. He propped himself up on one elbow speaking with slow drunken articulation. "Obviously you haven't heard! Miss Sarah Jane Noonan is no longer my girlfriend! I was a little pissed off that she still feels the need to be intimate with her assignments even though she says she is in love with me! And when I protested, she kicked me out of her apartment, out of her bed and out of her life! So, I took my toothbrush and I left!" He rolled over on his side. "And now I would like you to leave so I can lie here enjoying my obliterated state of bliss without having to stare at your repulsive face another second!"
"Well, you know what they say…the course of true love never runs smoothly." She raised a cynical eyebrow, then glowered in distaste. "Oh for Christ's sake! What in the hell did you expect? She is an assassin, not a blushing ingénue. You knew this when you met her! It is the reason she didn't want to get involved with you in the first place."
Sylar sat up sneering into her face. "Yeah? Well she did! When I first met her, she told me she didn't kiss. She told me it was one night only and she would never fall in love ever again! Well here it is almost a month after we first slept together and we have been fucking each other's brains out almost every night because we can't keep our hands off of each other! We drive each other crazy in every way! But apparently she doesn't get the meaning of the word commitment! I may be a fucked up, deranged psychopath, but I don't go around telling somebody I love them and then go sleeping around with somebody else!"
Angela sat down on a crate looking down at him. "Women like Sarah Noonan are not prizes or trophies! If you are fortunate enough to hold onto her for longer than a day, most men would consider themselves fortunate! Poor Luke Ramirez found that out the hard way. But you came along and lit a fire inside her. There are not many men on this earth that can handle a woman like Sarah, but you two are clearly made for each other." She leaned down closer to him. "There is no doubt in my mind that you two will be burning up the sheets again very soon."
"HA!" Sylar shouted. "No fucking way! I am done with her shit! I have had it with the abuse, the drama and especially the roller coaster ride! That woman is a fucking psycho! Why in the hell I let you talk me into making her an immortal, I should have my goddamn head examined! You still won't tell me why and now I am stuck with the bitch for the next five millenniums! As we speak she is flying off to Paris to fuck and kill some idiot who was smart enough to go AWOL! I hope she never comes back!" He picked up a paper bag and removed a bottle of Jack Daniels holding it up in a toast. "Here's to you, Sarah Jane Noonan! Fuck you!" He took a long swig from the bottle.
Angela shook her head with disgust, then furrowed her brow skeptically. "So I guess that means you have no interest in saving her life?"
Sylar pulled the bottle away from his lips and looked up at her intriguingly. "What are you talking about?"
She nodded. "Oh, this is a real assignment Sarah is on, but Bob believes she is growing soft. He is testing her will and if she fails, he has sent his own assassin to carry out the task if she fails and then he will kill her."
Sylar slowly sat up in shock shaking his head slowly. "Does Bob know that she is immortal?"
"Not unless you told him." She replied. "But it does not matter. He is sending in a killer that can inhibit all powers. And that includes regeneration."
"How do you know this?" Sylar demanded.
"I make it my business to know everything." Angela smirked. "Now are you going to sober up and rescue her?"
Sylar quickly stood up. "I need to call her! He desperately began looking for his phone.
Angela handed him his phone which was on the ground. "Don't bother. Bob has her calls blocked."
"I've got to get to her!" He shook his head desperately. "She is already on her way there! What am I going to do?"
"That's what you have me for." Angela smiled confidently.
He looked at her skeptically. "How can you help? Are you going to fly me there on your broom?"
Angela's lips formed a thin, firm line. "One more crack out of you and you are going to find your testicles on the end of a skewer, mister! Now sober up and let's go!"
Sylar nodded then stood up. As soon as he started to walk, he grabbed the edge of a trash dumpster and proceeded to vomit alongside it.
Angela closed her eyes in disgust. "Oh for Christ's sake!"
Paris, France
Sarah sat alone at a sidewalk café pretending to read a novel while drinking a cup of coffee. She wore a brown trench coat with a matching beret and black leather boots with four-inch heels. Her long hair hung down her back in a single braid.
Three tables away was Alex Baikov, her assignment. He was a man in his early to mid sixties and he sat with a woman about the same age holding hands and talking. They appeared to be in love. Sarah smiled thoughtfully as she watched him pull a red rose from the vase on the table and hand it to her; his lady friend smiling appreciatively as she accepted the rose with a tender kiss.
Watching them hold hands and exchange loving glances made her think about him. The words they said to each other the night before filled with hatred and anger. She remembered the hurt look in his eye as he slammed out the door.
She never wanted to love him. She knew it was wrong. But once she stared into his eyes and felt his body next to hers, she knew there was no turning back. Sometimes he angered her to the point of complete frustration; they made each other crazy! They fought bitterly, sometimes even killing each other. But they always came back to each other, more in love than ever.
"But not this time." She whispered to herself.
Sarah was so immersed in her thoughts of Sylar that she almost didn't see her subject get up from the table and leave the cafe. She quickly paid for her coffee, then put her book in her shoulder bag. She followed Alex Baikov and the woman while pretending to browse in the shops. They seemed to pick up their pace prompting her to walk faster.
As she rounded a corner, they were nowhere to be found. She stood scanning the streets for them, but they were nowhere in sight. "Dammit!" She muttered softly then began to walk forward.
Then in an instant, somebody grabbed her pulling her through a door. They took her down a hallway into a small room shoving her into a chair, tying her hands together. Sarah spoke in panicked French protesting innocence until Alex Baikov stood in front of her shaking his head. "Cut the shit! Your name is Sarah Noonan and you are from the United States, so you can drop the fake French accent. The Company has sent you here to kill me." He leaned down smiling at her. "How am I doing so far?"
Sarah smiled coolly up at him. "It looks like you got me. I admit, that I'm quite impressed. So you know who I am?"
He nodded. "Daniel Linderman was a close friend of mine. He spoke highly of you. When he died, I knew it was a matter of time before Bob Bishop sent one of his goons
after me." He looked at Sarah appreciatively. "Though, you are hardly what I would call a goon."
"Well, if you know who I am, then you surely must know these ropes won't hold me." She smiled as the ropes became unwound from her wrists and fell to the floor.
Alex shook his head. "You are correct. I know all about you and your powers, Sarah."
She looked up at him curiously. "You said when Linderman died that you knew Bob Bishop would be sending somebody to kill you. Was Linderman hiding you?"
Alex took a deep breath and nodded. "I left the company five years ago when I met a woman whom I fell in love with and got married. Daniel and I went way back and when I tried to escape, he caught me. I convinced him to let me go and he promised me for the sake of friendship that he would turn his back and give me a head start. But he knew once I was gone, I was gone. I used to do counter-intelligence for the Russian Army and I know how to hide. But I have gotten sloppy in my old age and I knew when I heard that Daniel had died, Bob would eventually catch up with me."
Sarah leaned forward in her chair. "But I don't understand. The files Bob sent me had photos of you with countless women, prostitutes. I got the impression you were a womanizer."
"The company falsifies information all the time, Sarah." His blue eyes were stern and honest as he spoke. "Perhaps in my youth I played the field, but never to the extent you have spoken of. Since I met Sophia, I have never strayed." He sat down across from Sarah looking her in the eye. "And now Sarah Noonan, you are free. Kill me if you must, but there are secrets that surround the company. Secrets that I swore to Daniel that I would take with me to my grave." He stared at her grimly. "Secrets about you."
Sarah was taken aback. "About me? What about me?"
"Sarah…Daniel Linderman was you gr…"
Before he finished, a shot rang out bursting through the window embedding itself into Alex's temple. His head exploded splattering blood and gray matter all over Sarah. She started to scream in terror.
Alex's wife came running down the hallway screaming his name, taking him to her and cradling him in her arms. She looked up at Sarah with accusing eyes. "Meurtrier!" She screamed. "Meurtrier!"
Sarah tried to explain to her that she did not kill him, but she continued to scream at her. She could hear the police sirens coming, so she jumped up and ran out the door. Jumping into the bushes, she pulled off her trench coat and beret which she stuffed into her bag revealing a pair of blue jeans and a sweater. She now looked like an American
tourist. She took her hair out of the braid and casually exited the bushes, walking down the street unseen.
When Sarah reached her bungalow, she began to panic. She tried her cell phone, but she could not get a signal. "Shit!" She shouted throwing her phone on her bed. "I have to get out of here!" She ran around her room hurridly throwing her clothes and belongings into her suitcase.
Sarah stopped for a moment. "Oh my God!" She whispered to herself. "I have nowhere to go."
Whoever had made the hit on Alex Baikov would surely be coming for her too. For the first time ever, Sarah feared for her life. She knew who Bob would send to kill her.
"Hello Sarah!" She paused closing her eyes taking a deep breath then exhaling as she slowly turned around to face him.
"Derick Biermann." She smiled inconspicuously. "I knew you would be along any moment. You didn't disappoint me."
"You are looking as beautiful as ever." He smiled approvingly.
"And your face still looks like an old man's dimpled ass." She retorted venomously. "I should have known Bob was setting me up."
"Well, he loves you like a daughter, but you have gone soft." Derick told her. "You are no longer useful to him."
"Who the hell says I've gone soft?" Sarah retorted angrily.
"You used to be cold as steel." He leered circling around Sarah. "Two years ago, that old man would have been dead without hesitation. They would not have been able to capture you. You would have smelled danger and they would have all been dead before they had a chance to grab you. But you sat there watching them all lovey dovey and you were moved. It affected your judgment and you failed!"
Sarah crossed her arms staring at him defiantly. "So one failed execution puts a bullet in my head. How many failed executions do you have under your hat, Derick? Because you and I both know how many times I have had to cover your ass!"
Derick laughed arrogantly. "It's only the ones that can be proven that count. And you know with Bob there is no margin for error. He is still upset with you about the death of the Santos boy. When Linderman was alive, you were sheltered; protected. But this time I had to cover your ass by taking out your assignment for you, so it's not looking too good right now, Noonan."
"And no doubt you have my powers inhibited." She shook her head in defeat. "Well, you win. Congratulations. So what are you waiting for?"
Derick smiled down at her lasciviously. "Well, it doesn't have to be this way." He stood next to her fixating his gaze upon her. "I'm sure we could work something out." He reached down caressing the side of her face."
Sarah slapped his hand away shaking her head with disgust. "I'm afraid you're going to have to kill me because there is no fucking way I'm sleeping with you."
Derick cocked his head. "So you're saying you would rather die than sleep with me?"
"You probably get that a lot, don't you?" She scoffed tauntingly.
Derick aimed his gun at her. "Well, pretty Sarah, I guess we have nothing more to…"
He was taken by surprise when Sarah kicked the gun out of his hand and flipped him onto his back. She placed her boot on his chest. "Maybe next time you come to kill me you shouldn't talk so damn much." She smiled down at him. "Common Derick. You didn't really think I was going to let you take me down without a fight did you?"
"So now the tables have turned and you're going to kill me?" He grinned up at her. "Maybe you haven't lost your touch, Noonan." He arched up his back and jumped up on his feet kicking Sarah to the floor. "But neither have I."
His foot came down again, but Sarah quickly rolled out of the way then jumped to her feet into a side kick sending him sprawling into a wall. Derick pulled himself up laughing. He approached her slowly shaking his head. "Your problem Noonan is you have gotten way too cocky."
"I'm not cocky…I'm just good." She narrowed her eyes with arrogance.
Sarah's smug smiled faded as he pulled the gun on her once again. She stared at him angrily. "Oh, you are good, Noonan. But I'm better. Good night pretty lady." Sarah closed her eyes bracing herself as she waited for the gunshot. She heard the trigger click, then a shot echo through her ears.
But she was still standing. She opened her eyes stunned to find Derick's body lying on the ground in a pool of blood. She looked up to find Sylar holding the smoking gun with Angela Petrelli standing beside him.
Sarah's eyes rolled back in her head and she started to fall to the ground cold. Sylar caught her before she hit the floor. He picked her up and carried her to the bed. He lay next to her caressing her face. "Common baby. Wake up." He whispered to her tenderly.
"She'll be alright." Angela smiled knowingly. "And from what I hear rescue sex is a very intense experience." She pulled out her cell phone. "I'll make sure the cleanup crew gets out of here quickly."
Sylar stood up apprehensively. "You have a cleanup crew coming in? If Bob finds out, he'll send another assassin after Sarah and she is toast!"
Angela shook her head. "Don't you worry about Bob. He will never know we were here. As far as he will know it was Sarah that killed Derick. He will be lead to believe that Sarah got the upper hand and that he made an error in judgment. Sarah will be back in his good graces once again."
Sylar smiled looking down at Sarah who started to stir. He looked back at Angela. "Can you see what you can do about getting that crew here faster?"
She smiled and dialed her phone.
As the cleanup crew hauled out Derick's body, and removed the blood stains, Sarah sat on the edge of the bed as Angela dabbed a cold cloth on her forehead. Sylar sat on the edge of the dresser with his arms folded watching them.
The head of the cleanup crew approached Angela. "Well, we're done."
"I trust you were unseen?" She enquired, her eyes narrowed.
"Aren't we always?" He nodded and walked away.
Angela looked at Sarah. "Are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be ok." She smiled. "It's a good thing you showed up when you did."
"Yeah, you're welcome by the way." Sylar replied snidely. Sarah looked at him smiling furtively.
Angela stood up pulling on her gloves. "Well I think this is my queue to leave." She touched Sarah on the shoulder." Why don't you stay here a few days and take a vacation? I think you have earned it."
"I think I will." She half-smiled up at Angela. "Thanks for everything."
"Don't worry." She replied inexplicably. "I'll think of a way for you to return the favor."
Angela left walking out through the patio as Sylar stood up following her.
Sarah sat on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs out in front of her. "Where do you think you're going?"
Sylar turned around staring skeptically at her with his hands on his hips. "Well I was going to hook up with Angela and hitch a ride back to the States." He took several steps toward her with keen interest. "Do you have something else in mind?"
She stood up nodding walking toward him. "Well, you know, they say that rescue sex is very exhilarating."
He slowly smiled tantalizingly at her narrowing his eyes. "Really?"
"Oh yeah." She replied placing her hands on his chest sliding them up so they were around his neck, speaking to him in an enticing whisper. She began to undress. "The brave knight rescues the princess from the tower; the princess is very grateful. But…she doesn't have any money or treasures to offer him…so she gives him the only thing she has." She removed the last of her clothes so she was standing naked in front of him. "Herself."
Sylar looked down at her nude body biting his lower lip lustfully. "And then they live happily ever after?"
"Well, I don't know about that." She slowly smiled up at him. "But they spend the next few days in Paris making each other very happy." She started to unbutton his shirt.
"Well, what the hell." He shrugged as she continued to undress him. "I've always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower." He pulled her to him kissingi her passionately.
She steered him back into the hotel room by pressing her body against his. They continued to kiss hungrily as she pulled him toward the bed. She fell backwards on the bed pulling him down on top of her. She closed her eyes moaning softly as he slid his lips along her neck. Then wrapping their nude bodies around each other, Sarah let out a cry of ecstasy as he pushed himself inside her.
"My hero." She whispered in his ear as they began to make love.
--END--
