Jeff stood up and pulled Gordon into a one-armed hug.
'Get some sleep everyone. Tomorrow promises to be a big day.'
Scott set off at a fast march. Only one thought was humming through his mind. It was a mantra that was blocking off everything else.
'Find and retrieve Lieutenant Commander Gordon Tracy.'
He left by a different exit than the one he had entered by, and immediately tried the first door. It was unlocked, and he opened it cautiously, cursing the lack of intel and the lack of a weapon of any sort. Scott frowned. It was unlike his superiors to send him on a mission without the correct gear, even if the lack of intel wasn't that unusual.
Warily he tumbled into the room. There was no-one there. What was there were clothes and guns, money, phones and passports. He selected black pants, black tee and black rubber-soled shoes, rolling his injured shoulder.. He could use it, but it was stiff.
He wondered what the hell he'd done to it.
He didn't pick up a gun but he did pick up a phone and a passport and filled his pockets with some of the money.
No matter what he had done to his shoulder he needed to get moving. In the second room there was more information. It looked like a briefing room that had been used to give a mission report. There were files and photographs on the walls and tables. Scott rifled through the information, finding blueprints to Tracy Towers, information on a party and the guests that would be attending. He picked up another one and the grinning face of one Lt Cdr. Tracy stared into his eyes.
Frowning, Scott looked at the picture. There was something familiar about that face, those eyes, that smile. He shook his head. It was of no consequence if he did know the man, Scott had a job to do. He set off at an easy, loping jog so that he conserved energy until he knew where to reach his target.
He found himself in New York. His first piece of luck.
Scott made his way across the George Washington Bridge and down through the streets of Washington Heights and Upper Manhattan through to Central Park. If he looked in the right direction he knew he would see the tip of Tracy Towers on the skyline. Scott looked though the money he picked up. He had enough change to hole up somewhere overnight. Somewhere close.
The Jazz On The Park Youth Hostel was ideal. On the border of the park, good exits, and, checking the phone, with a room available at a price he could pay cash. They were also very anonymous in the sense that they didn't ask questions. He was fortunate enough to get a bunk in a room with no other occupants, and he lay his bag on the base of the mattress climbed up, folded his arms and closed his eyes. Scott was asleep before he had time to count to three.
He was up before the sun, pouring over the blueprints and looking at all the ingress and egress points, marking routes through the offices to where he knew he would find his target. Breakfast was a coffee and then he was on his way. Intel suggested that the towers were open 24/7 but only a skeleton crew would be on until 9am. It was now 6am.
Time to make his move.
Sleep may have been what Jeff wanted, for everyone, but sleep was not forthcoming.
Brains and Virgil had worked tirelessly to find some way to counteract whatever Scott had been given, but without a sample it had been impossible to work out. Still, the pair had come up with what they hoped would be a base that they could build on once they had a sample. Gordon, Kayo and Parker had all been tasked with getting a blood sample any way they could.
The trio had gone over and over and over the plans of Tracy Towers and what little they knew of Scott's actual training to try and prepare for how this would go down. While Gordon knew more of his brother's military career than most – with the possible exception of his father – his knowledge was still very basic. Scott never talked about that side of his life to any degree, but he trained his brothers along with Kayo, so they had some idea of how he could fight. No one worried about Parker holding his own.
Five in the morning and Jeff called everyone together. They knew that Scott was an early riser and would likely begin any assault before the majority of the workforce would normally be due in.
One of the first decisions they had made was who would be where once Scott arrived. Parker first, then Kayo. They had agreed that John, Virgil and Brains would stay out of the way, and that Gordon and Jeff would be together, probably in the penthouse but they would move lower as Scott fought his way up.
Jeff was under no illusions that Scott wouldn't make his way through Parker and Kayo. He was a little worried that the pair would get hurt, but he also knew they would give as good as they got.
Maybe the combination of all three would be enough to stop Scott before he could complete his mission. Jeff really hoped so, but he wasn't a hundred percent convinced. Whatever was in that injection turned his son into an unknown, and they could not prepare thoroughly enough for that.
There were backups. John and Gordon had been busy preparing for as many eventualities as possible, and this meeting was to go over as many of those as possible, so that everyone was as prepared as could be.
Copious coffee was drunk. Discussions of what Virgil and Brains and then John and Gordon had prepared were had.
There was a quiet beeping, and Kayo looked to her comm as everyone fell quiet. A red light was flashing. She frowned, then looked up. All eyes were on her.
'Scott's here.'