December
Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minster of England for many years, once observed, "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
Well, yeah, but it helps if you know just what you're fighting against.
"Miss Silver, kind of you to join us." The Official commented in a gruff voice as Alyx entered the room a good thirty minutes late for the meeting and far later than she usually arrived at the office.
Alyx didn't bother to comment, there was little point in explaining what had happened and she was definitely not in the mood to deal with either Hobbes' or the Official's moods right at the moment. "Oh, gee, sorry, sir. Next time I'll make sure the rest of the world revolves on your precious schedule." Alyx made sure she poured just the right combination of saccharine and sarcasm into her words.
"See that you do." The Official snapped right back. "Eberts."
"Sir." He nodded to the Official then faced the agents before him. "Your new assignment..." Eberts began only to be interrupted by Hobbes.
"New assignment? Think we can finish the one we're working on first?" Hobbes shifted slightly and looked over at Fawkes who nodded in agreement,
"He does have a point. We've tracking these guys for two days." Darien added with a hint of annoyance. Tracking some low-end gunrunners, but it was far more interesting than being on budgie patrol.
"Someone else can handle it. You three have bigger fish to fry." The Official looked downright smug and that was never a good thing. He nodded towards Eberts who cleared his throat and continued.
Eberts opened the file folder in his hands and withdrew a photograph, which he proffered to Hobbes, who took it with ill grace. "Doctor Kirkland Geofferies, employee at Novadyne Systems."
Alyx stepped a bit closer to get a look at the photograph over Hobbes' shoulder. It was a black and white photo that was probably the basis of the guy's employee ID picture. Medium dark hair, light eyes, though what shade for either couldn't be discerned, wire rimmed glasses, cute under the almost standard geek attire.
"Novadyne, they do chemical research right? More efficient gasolines, cheaper geothermal power, lots alternative technologies." She looked over at Eberts. "Right?"
"Kid, where the heck did you find this out?" Hobbes asked as he turned about in his seat to look at her.
"In this amazingly informative publication called the newspaper." Alyx explained in a dry tone. "They had an accident in one of their labs last week. Couple of techs died."
"Very good, Miss Silver. There is reason to believe the accident was deliberate." The Official said with a nod of acknowledgement for her being one small step ahead.
"Why am I not surprised?" Darien muttered then leaned forward in his seat. "So what were they killed for? Cold fusion, cleaner Plutonium, synthetic gas, what?"
"That's what you're going to find out." Eberts answered. "Dr. Geofferies was the lead scientist on the project and the only survivor."
"Convenient." Hobbes commented. "How'd he miss getting crisped too?"
"Luck, supposedly." The Official offered. "Claimed he received an emergency phone call and had to leave. Ten minutes later..."
"Boom." Darien filled in.
"Pow." Hobbes countered.
"Kablooie." Darien offered up as an obvious challenge.
"Kapow. Bang. Biff. Thwack. Yeah, yeah, we get it." Alyx rolled her eyes as she intentionally broke in on their banter. "Can we move past the Batman rerun?"
"Jeeze, kid, loosen up would ya?" Hobbes grumbled more than loud enough for her to overhear, causing her to shrug and head back to her spot by the window.
"Kiddies, play nice. The good doctor is under suspicion of causing the explosion." The Official admonished them.
"So pick im up." Darien thought he was stating the obvious.
"Unfortunately, we can't. He was questioned by the police at the time of the incident and released when his alibi was confirmed." Eberts told them and watched as all three frowned slightly. "He has since spoken to several investigators, but appears to have little information."
"Has his lines down pat, does he?" Darien asked, having a good idea of what the guy was doing to throw off the cops. "Has he taken a lie detector test yet?"
Eberts shook his head. "Not yet and, as of right now, he's not on the list."
"He still working at NovaDyne?" Alyx pushed away from the wall and paced slowly the length of the room.
Eberts picked up the folder and thumbed through it. "Yes, reconstructing the lost data."
"So you want us to sneak in and get a look at his hard drive." Hobbes summed up.
Darien snorted, but got control back when Hobbes shot a glare at him.
"No." The Official stated. "I have reason to believe he's going to sell the original data to the highest bidder and anything he's working on is dummied up. There'll be nothing of value to find on his ... hard drive."
"So then how? Bump into him on the street?" Darien didn't like the way this was going for some reason, and liked it less when the Official's gaze locked on Alyx and stayed there.
"Not exactly."
"Not exactly, my ass." Alyx complained as she struggled to get her hair into some sort of control. Tonight it wanted no part of doing as she requested, stray pieces flying everywhere until she finally gave up and just left most of it down and twining a few sections back into thin braids that got lost among the curls. For a minute she considered hacking it all off, but sighed and glared at it instead, which did nothing to get it under control.
"I hate dresses, I hate heels, I hate all this fuss and bother, and I'm seriously considering hating this job."
"I'm sure you look fine, now get out here." The thick door separating them muffled Darien's voice.
"Don't wanna." she nearly whined. "Don't wanna do this stinking job. Don't wanna go out in public looking like ... like..." The sound of the lock being picked caused her to turn so when Darien swung open the door she was facing him. "...this."
Darien blinked. "Wow. You look..."
"Don't you dare," she warned taking a couple steps towards him and wagging a finger at him.
"Beautiful." he finished, closing the distance between them. The dark gray dress would have been modest on anyone else, but on her it was stunning. Though he had to admit to a bit of bias.
Alyx groaned. "I'd rather been in my black leather pants. I've never been the frilly type. Three brothers took care of that quite handily." She turned away and went back to the mirror, her heels clicking loudly on the tile floor to emphasize her unhappiness. "And my hair has decided to be completely uncooperative."
Darien chuckled. "Let me see what I can do." He moved to stand behind her and looked over the items she had on the counter.
"Dare, I do not need..." she pointed at his reflection and upswept hairstyle.
"Gimme some credit, would ya." He sorted through the items and came up with a bottle of hair gel he'd left here.
"Ah, not that. Like the normal snarls aren't enough." she argued in vain.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "If that happens, which it won't, I'll help get them out later." Causing her to shiver in reaction. Leaning over slightly he turned on the faucet and wet his fingers. Choosing a section at random he dampened it and added a small amount of the gel. He then began to twist the section until he had a tight coil of hair. He proceeded to repeat the process here and there, leaving the braids she'd already done in place as a contrast. "What did you do to it anyway?"
"Your fault." she mumbled enjoying the feel of his hands. "Used that conditioner you recommended. Made my hair go poof'."
"That it did. Toss that one and we'll try again." He was coiling another section even as she began to laugh. "What?"
"This is not a conversation I ever expected to have with a guy. Not a straight one, anyway." she explained, still chuckling. "Almost done?"
"A couple more and that should do it." Moments later he stepped back to survey his work. "Much better, far less poodle."
"Hey, I do not ever look like a poodle." Though she had to admit what he'd done had tamed her misbehaving mane. The braids now loose and, in some cases intertwined, with the spirals of hair. Reducing the volume and giving her a unique look. "Not bad. Thanks, you." She turned about and gave him a light kiss, which he deepened until she moaned softly.
"You're welcome." he replied when he released her. She no longer looked uncomfortable in the clothes, looked like she belonged in them, in fact. "Sorry, I made you late this morning."
"Murphy made me late this morning. Stupid accident blocked traffic for over a blinking hour and it wasn't like I could just move the cars for them and clear the way." Alyx shook her head. "Next time just go home when you're that tired, okay?"
"You could come to my place on occasion, ya know." Darien mentioned as he washed the remaining gel off his hands and watched as she opened the small plastic case and gingerly removed the first contact lens. "Remind me why you have to do this?" He happened to like her eyes the way they were.
She followed the optometrist's directions for putting the damn things in and was rewarded with success. Course she had practiced at the office until the doctor was satisfied with her skill. She blinked a couple times to make sure it was going to stay in place and turned to Darien one eye silver and the other a startling green. "Cause silver eyes are a bit too memorable according to the boss man. He wanted me to color my hair too. I told him no way in hell'. He said he could arrange that." She picked up the second one. "We got a good, yet astonishingly bitter, laugh over it."
Seconds later she was a typical green-eyed redhead who wouldn't really stand out in a crowd. The buzzer for her door went off then. "Just in time, that's probably Hobbes."
She got that far away look in her eyes for an instant. "It is. Would you let him in while I finish up?"
"Sure." He gave her a quick kiss then walked towards the door. "You still look beautiful."
"Behave. I do not need more glares from that man." That came out a bit snippier than she intended, but Darien just nodded and closed the door as he left the room.
Hobbes banged on the door and bellowed something Darien couldn't quite make out. Undoing the locks he slid it open and stepped aside.
"Way to make and impression on the neighbors, Hobbesy."
Hobbes actually managed to look a touch embarrassed.
"Where's the kid?"
"Right here." Alyx said as she came out of the bathroom trying to convince the earring to go in and stay this time.
"Good." He looked her over critically. "Well you don't look underage anyway." He set down the metal briefcase on the dining table and opened it. "Lets get you wired up, kid."
Alyx frowned, still not liking this part. "Do I really need the bloody wire?" She walked over to him and looked at the equipment carefully packed in black foam padding. *It's not like I need it.* she sent to both men.
Hobbes visibly twitched and glared at her for a second. "Can't record that, kid."
"It's for your protection as well." Darien added softly. They'd had this argument earlier, once it was made plain by the Official they would use persuasion to get the info they needed instead of more direct methods like breaking into Geofferies place while he was at work during the day. Though he was about as thrilled as Alyx that she had to play the bait in this one.
It was part of the plan though. Work had to stay work. Same attitude, same actions, same occasionally nasty bickering. At the end of the day he often wanted to rush to her place, no matter the hour and apologize, to make up for the sometimes harsh words and crappy attitude he'd thrown her way during the day.
They had yet to make it into her big bed, in fact, Darien had this tendency to fall asleep on her sofa since they'd been working so damn hard and such crappy hours. Their last full day off had been the day after Thanksgiving. Even Hobbes had complained to the Official they were trying to do too much and needed break, but it didn't look to be stopping anytime in the near future. Christmas was just a couple weeks away and he'd had zero time to buy anything of consequence.
"My protection." she sniffed in disdain. "Paid voyeurism is what it is."
"Kid, do we hafta go through this again?" Hobbes sighed loudly. "We can't send Fawkes in cause its by invite only and you have the invite. He can't do the inviso-routine for long enough to do any good. And if you get into a real trouble I trust you to get out of it. You're getting top marks from your instructors, kid."
The compliment at the end shocked her, especially since she could feel he really meant it. The close working conditions for the last month had increased her mental awareness of him and, while not nearly as strong as her connection to Darien, it was still there. Bobby was always a whisper in her head and, though he still had issues with her and her more unique abilities, he was coming to trust in them, to trust those skills and, to a very small degree, her.
"All, right. Show me what ya got." She had identified the pieces, but wasn't sure how he wanted to rig her up. She picked up the earpiece with its thin, but still noticeable, wire attached. "I'm not gonna be able to wear this."
"Huh. You are correct." Hobbes lifted the tiny microphone and comparatively small transmitter that went with it. The battery pack, which would normally be attached, still lay in its compartment. "You can power this right? Without frying it?"
Alyx took it from him and looked it over both with her eyes and her extra senses. "I need the specs if you have them." He handed her a small booklet, the page she already needed, marked for her to read over. Once she had the info she needed she gave it a test and, as best as she could tell without actually using it, it seemed to be working. "Got it, Hobbes."
Darien had wandered over during their little discussion and was looking over the gear as well. "Where'd you get this stuff Hobbes? This ain't the Agency's usual quality of goods."
"True enough, my friend. The Chief pulled a few strings and got them on loan for the duration of this little endeavor." Hobbes answered sounding a bit smug.
Darien didn't like the sound of that. "Do I wanna know what's going on?"
"Need to know, my friend, and you don't..."
"Need to know. Got it." Darien completed the now familiar phrase. "Well, you may have the honor, Hobbes."
"Honor? What?" Hobbes looked up at his tall partner in confusion.
"I believe Darien thinks you should be the one to wire me up, so to speak." Alyx filled in being very careful not to crack the slightest hint of a smile, never mind laugh.
"Oh, umm, uh." Hobbes responded glibly, which caused Alyx to bite her lip.
*That was not very nice.* Alyx sent to Darien.
*Nope. But it was fun.* he responded with obvious humor.
"I think I can handle it, Bobby. Where do you need the mic?" Alyx made sure defer to him even if she knew exactly what to do. Bobby was senior and needed to be treated as such, especially with him being all-suspicious and lecture happy lately. He obviously figured out something was going on, but seemed unsure about exactly what.
"Uh, as high as you can manage, kid." He looked her over again, noting how close fitting the dress was and debating asking that she change. "Kid..."
"Let me give it a go first, okay?" She'd caught not only his look with the prerequisite frown, but the tenor of his thoughts. Hobbes nodded and she went back to her bathroom to see if she could get the mic, wire, and transmitter assembly in place and invisible under the close-fitting dress.
Hobbes closed the case for the time being to give him something to do with his hands besides throttle the man grinning next to him. "Fawkes, that was..."
"Amusing. Come on, she's your partner and perfectly capable of keeping it professional and you know it." Darien told him point blank. Ever since Hobbes had given him lecture number two about the company pier and then hanging – literally hanging – a Fish and Game "No Fishing" sign in Golda, Darien had made sure to tread warily about Hobbes when it came to Alyx. Often backing Hobbes over Alyx when the inevitable conflicts occurred.
Hobbes grunted in reply.
"Well?" Alyx asked as she returned. She turned about slowly and allowed both men to look her over.
"Good job, kid." he commented after a few minutes. "What do you think, Fawkes?"
Darien's eyes roved over her causing the room to suddenly feel much warmer that it already was. "Well... If she's wearing it I sure can't see it."
Hobbes nodded. "All right, kid, we'll meet up as planned and check out the gear, then send you in."
Alyx swiped the purse she'd bought to go with the dress and double-checked the contents, wallet with fake ID, credit cards and cash, cell phone, pager and car keys, which she pulled out. They made their way to the garage where the vehicles were parked. She stopped by the driver's door of the van.
"Bobby, I can kinda keep a ... a watch on you guys just in case you need to get info to me in a hurry. If that's okay with you." The hesitation in her voice was real. "It won't be intrusive and you'd have to actively try and contact me for me to notice anything." she added quickly so that he'd, hopefully, understand what she really intended.
"Tell ya what, you keep contact with Fawkes and he can relay." While Hobbes did like the option of having her being able to hear them when needed, without the risk of her wearing the ear-piece, he'd much rather not have her eavesdropping on his mind. He looked over at Fawkes who nodded.
"Works for me." Alyx agreed and scooted for her little silver Jag. She started with a roar and drove it pell-mell to the exit, the tires squealing around the corners.
Hobbes started Golda with a grim look and followed at a far more controlled speed, which was unusual for him.
"What, Hobbes? You have that the shit's gonna hit the fan' look again." If Hobbes had concerns about the plan, about Alyx, he should have spoken up sooner.
"Not sure. Just ... This is tricky work, Fawkes, and I'm not sure she's up to it yet. Top marks or not." Hobbes admitted with a touch of reluctance.
Darien relaxed back in the seat. "Hobbes, trust me on this, she'll handle it just fine."
Hobbes shot him a glance that was more than a little suspicious. "Fawkes, I know something is going on between the two of you and it had better not be what I think it is, cause if its what I think it is..."
"Hobbes, she's my friend and we spend time together. Just like you and I do. Why do you insist on making it into more than it is?" Darien snapped in frustration, finding the phrase very familiar for some reason. Sometimes Hobbes was too paranoid. "You spend time with Claire, should I be on your case about it day and night?"
"Shit, Fawkes, that's something completely different." Hobbes growled, his temper borderline. Without a thought and no commentary from Darien, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pill bottle. In seconds he had it open and had dry swallowed two. By the time he'd put the bottle back in his pocket he'd calmed somewhat. "Look, I know from experience that friends, female friends, usually don't stay that way for long. And it ain't often you get a happy ending out of it."
Darien couldn't help it, he shook his head and Hobbes caught it out of the corner of his eye. "Sometimes, some things, are worth the risk." he said in softly serious tone that earned a surprised look from his partner. Luck was with him as the traffic chose that moment to become far more interesting than the current conversation.