Gun parts laid out on the towel in front of her, Elizabeth meticulously cleans out one of the guns she found intriguing in the armory, it had good weight distribution and the kick was barely noticeable. She just might have to get one of her own when she gets back home. Setting down the last piece that needed cleaning, she makes a mental note to let their hosts know that their weapons needed cleaning, almost desperately so.
"I see you've found a piece you like," Milo voices as he joins her at the table, deciding to make use of the supplies being out to clean his gun. "Thinking of buying it off them?"
"It's nice, but I prefer guns made to my grip," Elizabeth replies honestly while putting the gun back together. "I might have one commissioned when we get back home though."
"I'm sure Zola will appreciate the work," he comments. "That last piece she made for you was a work of art."
"That it is," Elizabeth agrees, taking out her personal gun from the small of her back to set it on the table. "Never leave home without it."
"Think you can get her to make me one?"
"That's between you and Zola," Elizabeth chuckles, putting her gun at the small of her back. "Each gun she makes is like her baby."
"I lost it in an explosion and I apologized," Milo points out. "When is she going to forgive me?"
"She'll come around eventually," Elizabeth assures him. "But - if it'll make you feel better - I'll ask her about it when I see her."
"Thanks."
"Sure," she smiles slightly. "Any progress on the pawn?"
"Max tracked him down," Milo replies as he cleans the barrel. "He'll call ahead if it's a party."
"Good," Elizabeth says as she rises to her feet, tossing her cellphone on the table. "I'm going to do some target practice. Come find me if he calls."
"Will do."
Making her way to the basement that doubles as a shooting range, Elizabeth grabs a pair of earmuffs before hanging up a target sheet, putting the newly cleaned gun to use to see if it handles better now that it's clean. For the most part, she has to admit that she likes the way it handles but finds that it still doesn't nearly compare to the piece she had custom-made for her. With a few tweaks to the overall design from Zola, she's confident that it'll become an intricate part of her personal arsenal.
"Still a dead shot," Milo comments when she pulls her last sheet. "How's the gun handling?"
"Better now that it's clean," she admits, accepting her cellphone when he holds it out to her. "Yeah?"
"I'm ten minutes out," Max says over the phone. "Got a twofer."
"Looking for the gold star, are we?" Elizabeth teases. "Separate or together?"
"Separate," Max replies. "Usual play."
"Got it, see you in ten," Elizabeth says before ending the call. "Tell me you brought the recordings."
"Never leave home without them," Milo confirms. "Playing the usual?"
"Hasn't failed us yet," Elizabeth replies simply. "The adjacent rooms will do the trick. We've got ten to get it set for our guests."
"Send the guy out for one and of course he has to overachieve," Milo comments as they make their way upstairs. "You would think that he would want to stretch things out to avoid letting us party."
"Maybe we're finally wearing him out," Elizabeth suggests with a laugh. "Who knows, maybe one day we'll get him to party with us."
"When hell freezes over," Milo counters. "Max isn't the type."
"Don't I know it," Elizabeth concedes, following him down the hall to the adjacent rooms. "You take left, I'll take right."
"Leave the middle open?"
"Just enough to get the sound through," Elizabeth confirms before pushing open the door. "You sitting in?"
"Funny," he shakes his head, pushing open the door to the other room. "I'll go on a food run while you guys have your fun."
Chuckling to herself, Elizabeth shakes her head and walks into the room, thankful that the rooms aren't fully furnished. Grabbing the bag in the corner, she pulls out the black sheets, pushing all the furniture to the walls. By the time she's done with the room, it resembles an abyss, wall to wall of black sheets with a single chair in the middle of the room. The moment the chair is set, it's time to help Max unload their guests, putting each of them into their own room.
"Thanks for this," Robin says softly when Jason opens the passenger door for her. "I know how much you prefer taking your bike..."
"I can ride any day," Jason replies simply. "I want you comfortable."
"You're so good to me," she voices, leaning up to receive his kiss. "I can't remember the last time we had a date night out."
"Yeah," he agrees with a slight smile. "Sorry about that."
"Don't be," Robin counters. "The wait makes the moment worth every minute."
With a slight nod, he waits for her to climb in before closing the door and walking around to his side, hoping that tonight will make up for all the times he couldn't take her out. Jason knows that she understands that plans will fall through from time to time and that it's all part of the job, but he just wishes he could give her more. She sacrifices so much to be with him and that leaves a weight on his shoulders to do more and be better.
"Please!" one of the guys shout unable to take the screaming any longer, struggling against the ropes binding his hands. "Please...stop. We can't tell you where he is because we don't know!"
"Not good enough," Elizabeth states, dragging a chair over to lower herself to the man's level. "I don't know how you were raised, but I was raised to make every minute count. Three hours, that's the amount of time I've spent with your worthless ass. Unless you give me something worth the time I've wasted, this will not end well for either of you."
"I can't tell you what I don't know!" the guy insists, tensing up as screams filter in from the other room. "You bitch!"
"Is that any way to speak to the person who has your life in their hands?" Elizabeth questions, swiftly taking the blade from her boot and holding it to his neck, yanking his head back to meet her eyes. "You want to live, tell me something worth my time. Make another crack like that again and I don't give a damn what information you've got, I'll kill you without hesitation. We clear?"
"We got him the paperwork to get stateside, that's it! That's as far as our involvement goes," the guy relents, gulping past the blade at his throat. "Don't you think I'd tell you if I knew anything else?!"
"Say I believe you," Elizabeth voices, storing the knife before retaking her seat. "That means that you've wasted my time knowing you had nothing to offer. Give me one good reason why I should let you walk away with your lives?"
Staring into her eyes, the guy finds nothing but icy coldness within, the true depth of her words sinking in as he sees the truth in her eyes. With nothing else for a bargaining chip, he gives up the only information he has that's worth their lives, successfully surprising Elizabeth with his words. She truly didn't believe he'd give her anything worthwhile. Go figure.
Knocking the man unconscious, Elizabeth makes her way to the other room, finding the other man passed out, as well. It had been clear from the jump that this one wasn't going to spill anything, he just had that air about him, didn't stop Max from pushing the guy's buttons in the meantime to help with the other guy.
"You guys handle drop off," Elizabeth says, turning to her brother. "I'm gonna go deal with the situation."
"It's not our business," Max points out. "Just call it in."
"You worry too much," Elizabeth counters. "I'll be fine."
"If it has to be done, let me do it," Max suggests. "You and Milo can handle drop off."
"Right because you're the one that aced training," Elizabeth throws back, checking her watch before meeting his gaze. "I've got this. You just make sure to leave them with a lasting impression."
"Fine," Max relents, knowing she was right but hating it just the same. "Call once it's done."
With a nod, Elizabeth grabs her kit before climbing into the sedan in the garage and taking off, swearing that this job never gets old. Go in with one situation in mind and you can come out with an entirely different situation on your lap. Speeding down the streets, she gets to the restaurant that was specified with minutes to spare, tracking down the vehicle and getting to work.
Sliding the jack under the car, she quickly jacks it up, sliding under to get eyes on the device. Angling her headlight, she finds that she's impressed with the choice of device, a lot more sophisticated than she had given the idiot credit for. Thankfully, the device isn't out of her skill set because the clock was ticking and she didn't have the luxury of armor.
Powering up the cellphone jammer to prevent remote detonation, Elizabeth quickly assesses the device, heart pounding against her chest as she works to disarm it. The moment the screen blacks out, Elizabeth lets out the breath she had been holding, the device successfully disarmed.
"Guess you weren't crazy," Elizabeth comments on her father requiring them to take training to disarm explosives.
Sliding out from under the car, she stores the device in her bag before lowering the jack and putting it away. Just as she was straightening out, she spots a car burning rubber out of the parking lot, guess they finally realized their plan failed. Taking note of the license plate, Elizabeth makes her way into the restaurant, spotting the happy couple exactly where she'd suspect they'd be. Corner table.
"Sorry to intrude, Jason," Elizabeth says when she gets to their table. "Spare a minute? Preferably somewhere private."
"Sure," Jason says, gesturing to the door to the back. "There."
"Okay," she accepts before turning to the girlfriend. "Sorry again. I'll keep it brief."
Walking off, Elizabeth makes her way to the door, waiting long enough for Jason to join her before following him into the office. If she were to give it much thought, she'd have to admit that the girl wasn't exactly who she'd picture with him, proving to intrigue her immensely. If circumstances were different, she'd comment on it, but this is business and that's a conversation for another time.
"How did you find me?" Jason questions once they're alone.
"Little birdy told me," Elizabeth replies simply before pulling out the device and setting it on the table. "The same one that told me this would be under your girlfriend's car."
"A bomb," Jason voices as he looks over the device.
"That it is," Elizabeth confirms. "Don't know who you pissed off to have that strapped to your car, but I'd up your security till it's resolved."
"I want the bird."
"Sorry, I released it," Elizabeth replies before taking a pen and paper off the desk to jot down the license plate. "You're better off tracking this car down anyway. It left in a hurry once I had the device disarmed."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it, literally," Elizabeth replies as she zips up her bag. "Now that that's settled, I have to get back to work."
"My boss wants to meet you," Jason voices as she walks to the door, not entirely sure why he even said it.
"I'm not too big on being met," Elizabeth counters, turning to face him, seeing something in his eyes that has her reconsidering. "I'll consider it after my job's done. It's the best I can offer."
"Sure," Jason accepts. "I guess I'm the one that owes you now."
"Is that so?"
"I know you're in town looking for someone," Jason points out. "I've got local connects you don't. Give me a name and I'll look into it."
"As much as I'd like to get this job done, I didn't do this so you'd owe me," Elizabeth shakes her head. "That's just bad karma and I don't mess with that stuff."
"I'm going to look into it either way," Jason counters. "Make it easy and give me a name."
"Fair enough," Elizabeth says after a long moment of thought. "Victor Smith. He's a huge slimeball with an entire network harboring him."
"Okay."
"Oh, I almost forgot," Elizabeth voices as she pulls open the door. "The birdy had a name for the one behind the hired hit. Greg. Not much, but that's all he had. Hope that helps."
Without another word, she makes her way out of the restaurant, her hunger making itself abundantly known. Thankfully Milo went on a food run so she just has to get back to the house to eat. Climbing into her car, Elizabeth takes one last look at the car she just removed the device from, trying to imagine Jason sitting inside. Just didn't fit.
Shaking her head, she heads back to the safe house, her good deed for the day officially completed. A part of her wanted to turn Jason down definitively but she knows what it's like to owe someone. If Jason feels like he has to pay her back for disarming the device, so be it, she'll give him that much. The only downside to it is telling her brothers. It's not every day she accepts help from other organizations and they'll milk that dry.
Author's Note: Let me know what you think. Thanks. I appreciate you all.