ACT I
"TGIF," shouted Darien happily as he got out of his car and spotted Bobby from across the Agency parking lot. "No school tomorrow," he said as he jogged over to his partner.
Bobby got out of his van and rolled his eyes. "Espionage never sleeps, my friend. In this business, a day off is a liability."
"Oh come on, man. We've been working hard. We deserve a nice quiet weekend of rest and relaxation," said Darien.
"Sun and sand?" offered Bobby as the pair walked inside the Agency.
"Hot chicks and margaritas?" said Darien.
"Do we invite the Keep?" asked Bobby.
"What about Alex?" said Darien as the pair got on the elevator.
"And Eberts?" said Bobby.
The pair looked at one another and simultaneously shook their heads. "Naw," they both said as they stepped off the elevator.
"What are you two so happy about?" asked Alex as she saw them get off the elevator on her way to the Official's office.
"Nothing," said Darien innocently. "Just a couple of hot dates."
Alex nodded in disbelief. "I'm sure."
Bobby patted Alex on the back. "You gotta lighten up a little, Monroe. It's almost the weekend for crying out loud. You got any plans?" he asked curiously as the trio strolled towards the Official's office.
"As a matter of fact, I do," said Alex as she knocked on the Official's door.
"So what are you doing?" asked Darien.
"That's classified," said Alex as the trio walked into the Official's and sat down in the three chairs set out in front of his desk.
"Good morning," said Eberts in a pleasant tone from his standing position next to the Official's desk.
"Hey Ebes, what's up, man?" said Darien.
The Official glanced up from a stack of folders and gave the three agents a huge smile. "Happy Friday, kiddies. We've got assassins to hunt."
"Assassins?" asked Darien in confusion.
"Assassins," said Bobby casually.
"Assassins," said Alex in disbelief.
"Assassins," said the Official firmly. He glanced up at Eberts and motioned towards the stack of folders. "Eberts."
Eberts diligently picked up the folders and handed a stack of six to Darien, Bobby and Alex. The trio began looking through the folders, taking note of the pictures inside and the fluorescent pink paper everything seemed to be printed on.
Darien held up one of the pink pages in confusion. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this was kindergarten," he said sarcastically.
Eberts frowned. "I was able to get several reams of colorful paper at a discount price, thus saving the Agency a vast amount of money."
Darien glanced at Bobby and the pair rolled their eyes. "Something tells me we aren't going to be seeing that money in our Christmas bonuses."
"Enough Fawkes," said the Official in irritation.
"Sorry, sir," said Darien apologetically.
Alex, who had been busy looking through the folders, let out a small whistle of approval. "James Pitney, Robert Blair, Daniel Ketterer, Chip Sinclaire, William Ray and Ivan Gatewood. Not everyday you see a list like that," she said.
Darien raised his hand. "Excuse me, can someone clue me in here?"
"These six guys are thought to be some of the best assassins in the world, Fawkes," answered Bobby.
"Oh, interesting," said Darien casually.
Alex spoke up. "These six guys by themselves are a force to be reckoned with. What are they doing all together here?" she asked as she looked up at the Official.
"We're not sure. They've been spotted by a variety of sources all over San Diego the past couple of days," answered the Official.
"Any idea what they're doing here, chief?" asked Bobby.
The Official smiled. "That's what you three are going to find out."
"Nice," said Darien. "Break up a big bad guy convention."
"Exactly," said the Official. "Good luck, men."
Alex cleared her throat loudly.
"And ladies," added the Official.
Alex nodded in approval and stood up. Bobby and Darien did the same and followed Alex out the door.
"So where do we start?" asked Darien.
"Contacts, Fawkes, it's all about contacts," said Bobby.
"Hmm interesting," said Darien as he stepped to the elevator and was nearly run over by Claire, who was pushing out a cart loaded with boxes. "Whoa, what are you moving out or something?"
"Hey guys," said Claire pleasantly as she pushed the cart fully out of the elevator. "New office equipment for Eberts and the Official," she said as she pointed to a large printer box and a laptop computer box. "And I received another beautiful K-21 workstation thanks to Alex," she said with a large appreciative smile as she glanced at the agent.
Alex smiled. "Anything I can do for the team."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. The Keep gets two computers, but I can't even get one new van?" asked Bobby in an annoyed tone.
"We've been over this before, Bobby. The van is perfect for the image you're trying to uphold," said Alex.
"And what image would that be, homeless bag lady?" offered Darien.
"Ha ha," said Alex.
Claire cleared her throat. "Well, I really should get this stuff to Eberts and the Official so I can get back downstairs to set up my new computer," she interrupted in an excited tone. "I'll see you all later," she said as she began wheeling the cart down the hall.
"See ya, Keep," said Bobby.
Alex and Darien both waved after her.
"Okay, back to business here, guys," said Darien as the trio stepped into the elevator. "How are we getting these guys?"
"Hobbesnet," answered Bobby.
"Monroe's Monitors," answered Alex.
"Monroe's Monitors?" said Darien with a raised eyebrow. "That's just lame, Alex."
"Hey, your partner was the one that came up with the name," said Alex, glancing at Bobby.
"Anyway," said Bobby pointedly, trying to skirt the issue. "I say we scout out some contacts and see what we can come up with."
"Sounds like a plan," said Alex as she glanced at her watch. "It's 11:30 right now. What do you say we meet back here around two and discuss our next move," she said as the elevator arrived at the ground floor and the trio stepped out.
Darien gave her the thumbs up sign. "Perfect. That okay with you, Hobbesy?" he asked as the three agents walked out of the Agency into the parking lot.
"Sounds good," said Bobby.
"Good luck," said Alex. "You're gonna need it," she added under breath as she headed to her Corvette.
"What was that?" shouted Darien after her.
"Nothing," said Alex innocently as she got into her car and drove away.
"No confidence whatsoever," said Bobby as he and Darien headed towards Golda.
"That's okay, we'll show her up, my friend. The Official will be showering us with bonuses," said Darien as the pair got in the van.
"Don't hold your breath, Fawkes," said Bobby as he started the van.
Darien smiled and looked out the window as Bobby pulled onto the street. "So where we going first?"
"We're gonna pay my old CIA friend, Mitch Jones, a visit. He knows everything there is to know about murder and mayhem. If something's going down, he'll know about it," said Bobby absently as he glanced out the window.
Darien picked up on his partner's lack of concentration. "Something wrong, man?"
"I think we're being followed," he answered matter of factly. "In fact, the last couple of days I've been getting a funny feeling that someone was watching me. What about you? Anything out of the ordinary?" asked Bobby as he quickly turned a corner.
Darien nodded. "Well now that you mention it, there was an incident in my apartment building last night," he said mysteriously.
"What kind of incident?" asked Bobby as he peered at the side mirror.
"There was this drunk stripper on my stairwell. She kept pounding on my door thinking I was some guy named Raoul," said Darien.
"Fawkes, I'm serious," said Bobby as he turned another corner. "I think we lost em," he added after another couple of seconds.
"Nothing like a little grade A Bobby Hobbes paranoia to get me through my Friday," said Darien.
"May I remind you that my paranoia has saved your punk ass on more than one occasion, my friend," said Bobby.
Darien nodded. "You're right, okay, I apologize. Now let's go see this Jones guy," said Darien.
"Already on it, Fawkesy," said Bobby as he turned another corner.
**
Claire glanced at her watch as she inserted the startup disk in the computer. 11:59. Another hour until her lunch break. She watched the computer load the program on the screen as her stomach began to rumble loudly. She got out of her chair and walked to the refrigerator to see if there was any leftover Chinese.
"Yes," she whispered when she found a carton of fried rice. She was about to search for a fork when her new computer beeped loudly. She glanced at it curiously and suddenly the computer exploded into a huge fireball, gutting out a huge portion of the Keep and sending Claire flying through the air. She crashed against one of the brick walls and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, covered in glass, soot and ceiling.
**
Eberts set his sandwich down on the Official's desk and gave his boss a worried glance. "Sir, did you hear that?"
The Official put down his salad and nodded. "Sounded like it came from the Keep," he said as he stood up from his chair. "We should see if Claire's …
But the Official never finished the sentence. The printer and computer that Claire had delivered, which were both sitting in the corner of the office still in their boxes, beeped and then erupted in another huge explosion. Eberts was swept over the Official's desk, and the Official was smashed against the wall from the force of the blast, leaving the pair unmoving on the cheap linoleum floor.
**
Alex had noticed the silver Sedan following her almost immediately after pulling out of the Agency parking lot. She had decided to take a driving tour of the country roads of San Diego to try and draw him out. She had been driving for nearly twenty minutes when she heard a gunshot ring out from behind her. She pulled out her gun just as another shot was fired, this one hitting her tire. She lost control of the car and crashed into a ditch on the side of the road. Her head bashed against the stirring wheel, knocking her into semi-unconscious daze.
The next thing she knew, she was being forcefully manhandled out of the car. Then a rain of blows came out of nowhere, hitting her in the face, the chest and the stomach. She tried to clear her head, but the pain from the blows was sending her even closer to total unconsciousness. She managed one hard kick to the groin of the bleary form of the young man attacking her, which caused the man to groan and double over in pain. She grasped his shoulders and then bashed his head against her car as hard as she could. The man fell to the ground in unconsciousness and Alex quickly joined him.
**
"Hobbes, um, I think somebody might be following us," said Darien as he peered out his window.
"What kind of car?" asked Bobby.
"Black SUV," said Darien.
"Damn it," said Bobby as he sped up the van. He was about to turn a corner when another car sped out of the side street, blocking their path. Bobby slammed on the breaks and avoided hitting the other car by an inch. "Aw crap, Fawkes, that's the same car that was following us before."
"Were boxed in," said Darien in a panic as he noticed the SUV coming up right behind them.
They both stared in a panic as the men driving both cars got out with machine guns tucked in their arms, aiming the guns straight at the van. "Ah hell, Fawkes, that's them," Bobby yelled as went for his gun. Darien blindly reached out and let the quicksilver flow, trying to turn everything in sight invisible to do something to protect them from the guns. But they were both too late.
"Aw cra…" Darien's scream was cut off as the loud explosions of bullets started to hit the van, effectively knocking away all the quicksilver Darien had produced.
The bullets continued for nearly a minute, turning Golda into something resembling Swiss cheese. Then there was an eerie silence, which convinced the assassins that their job was complete. They each got back in their cars and sped off, leaving the mangled van deserted on the side of the road.
TBC in ACT II