yes, here's the continuation of the story...I'm slowly beginning to cover the loose ends here so you may expect the story to finish in a few more chapters. anyways, i appreciate the reviews you're giving...R&R!^^
Chapter Thirteen
Sloane reviewed the data sheets that Nadia had provided Sydney with. Sydney woke up bright and early despite her bruises and hurried to work, coffee in one hand and carrying the file package like a life saver on the other. She quickly hurried to Sloane's office, knowing that he would be there early in the morning and probably beginning to work on something.
"Well, this certainly is interesting," he finally said, stroking his goatee, his eyes deep in any thought. Sydney thought that made him look more sinister than ever, which made a chill run down his spine. "I'm surprised Jack didn't give this to me right away, though."
Sydney shrugged. "Well, he had to check if it was credible."
"I see what you mean," Sloane acknowledged slowly. He then leaned forward, the anger and rage clear in his eyes. "This is very important and vital information that you've just handed to me, Sydney. This….this must be work of whoever was after you and whoever tried to sabotage our computer network." He composed himself back to a calmer state. "This must stop now."
She nodded, agreeing with him for once. "I know."
Sloane eyed Sydney. "You up for the mission?" he suddenly asked.
She blinked, trying to act as surprised as she could. "Um…yeah, I guess I am."
He nodded, ignoring her baffled confusion. Sydney triumphed silently; she pulled it on straight again. She then silently wondered if this was all ever going to come back to her in some strange way. Better later than now, she thought. "Good," he replied tightly. "because I am going to deploy you off as soon as possible to the Yukon. You are to remain as discreet as possible and avoid contact with anyone."
"What about Dixon? Is he going?"
"I think we should leave him out for this one," he replied quickly. "We don't have a lot of time. These people are going to attack soon." He pulled out a pen and began scribbling something down before handing it to her. "Those are the coordinates in which you are to rendevouz. Your job is to plant some bombs and wear that group off…Marshall can supply you with that. I'd send you a team, but I can't risk…"
Sydney raised her hand. "I understand completely," she replied.
"Another question, Sydney…before you go," he added before she could turn around.
Uh-oh, she thought, feeling her body freeze over completely. She looked straight into Sloane's eyes to avoid him wondering if he would notice anything unusual. He got up, walked over and asked, "Have you seen Yalila McGregor? She didn't sign in this morning…and she looked perfectly fine yesterday."
"I don't know," she replied, wondering, Where did my father put her? "People get sick suddenly."
He looked at her curiously. "I see…You be careful out there."
She turned away and walked out the door.
Will found himself walking down the Pier in a gray morning in San Francisco. He didn't want to go to Jenny's relatives' place, figuring that she was just going to get himself into a fight with her relatives. Besides, he didn't feel up to talking to anyone today. After all the crazy stuff that had been happening, he didn't want to deal with anyone else.
He looked up to the gray sky. Why are you doing this to me? He asked God silently.
Silence.
A car honked his car horn into nothing. He was probably drunk.
He jabbed his hands into his jean pockets and strolled down the almost empty streets. A stiff breeze from the ocean came through and he shuddered at the chilly air. There wasn't a lot of people around except for someone walking her dog down the street and a peculiar guy walking a few meters behind, smoking a cigarette.
He looked vaguely familiar…
The man in the airport.
The man that was in the crowd near the Golden Gate Bridge.
The man who was parked near his motel room.
What the hell was going on? Will wondered, picking up his pace. He rubbed his eyes and checked it again, trying to act casual. Yes, this was the man he saw in those places and it made him shiver unnaturally. He felt like he was caught in some sort of whirlwind and he couldn't escape from its grasp. He felt like his entire world was going spiralling downward and he couldn't see the end of the tunnel. This guy was obviously stalking him, otherwise this was just some crazy coincidence.
Will started running through his options. He could try and talk to him, but then he thought that he could just get killed in the process. He could keep walking and ignore him, but that would not resolve his current situation. He could also lose him, but what good would that do? He quickly reviewed through his options once more time before deciding.
He started running.
Weiss picked up the receiver and dialled a number.
"Yes?" came a reply.
"Something's up."
"Something's always up…"
"Yeah, well this one's up there."
"What do you mean?"
"There's some sudden movement with Tippin."
"Come on, people always move."
"Don't start…we finally got a fix on the SD-6 operative. Unfortunately, so did Tippin."
"Oh, great. Where's Vaughn?"
"I booted him out. He looked horrible last night."
"I can figure that out…"
"Yeah, well, where is he?"
"Something about a meeting with Sydney today…she's on another mission."
"Again? God, talk about timing today. These people…both here and there…are absolutely nuts." Weiss groaned, drinking some coffee before continuing. "Pass him the intel, all right? And also tell him to get his ass back down here ASAP. I need to take care of the other stuff that Valenti said too."
"Yes, yes, don't get all bitey on me. I'm tell him."
"Tell me…why do I have a feeling this might wind up ugly?"
Silence.
"I don't know, Weiss…you tell me."
"What's my counter mission?"
In the dimness of the warehouse light, she could still make out Vaughn's perfect features. His gray eyes calmly reflected some inner containment of calmness that she had never seen before. His cheekbones were definitely visible in the dark. His mouth looked so….perfect…she wanted to lean over, forget the mission and kiss him.
"Well, you are going to give us surveillance of whatever that place actually is," he replied, unaware of what Sydney was actually thinking. He passed her a small, portable camera. "This is the item you are to use to make the pictures. You're also to do exactly whatever Sloane said in regards to setting up the bombs near their encampments and split them up all up.'
"Force chaos upon them?" she asked with a smile.
He smiled back nervously. "Kind of."
Silence.
"Also, with Nadia's friend out there to sneak some intel…well, you're going to be out of communiqué," he added, slightly sounding like he was apologizing for something. "so your best bet is to reach Nadia's collegue out there after you've finished what you have to do."
"What will you do afterwards? With the information, I mean?"
"We'll site the area," he replied in a matter-of-fact voice. "A group of CIA agents will come there at night and take a look around…you sure you have no idea what's up there?" he asked again, a strange look brush past his face.
"No idea," she replied. "Is that it? I got to leave this afternoon."
"One more thing, actually…"
She looked into his eyes again. "Yes?"
"You be careful out there," he told her simply, taking her hand and just holding it.
Sydney was touched by the gesture as she tightened her grip around his hand. "You---"
Suddenly, a cell phone went off. Sydney and Vaughn let go of each other to check their cell phones. Sydney turned to Vaughn when he saw him pick up his phone, walked a short distance and answered his phone.
"Vaughn."
"We've got trouble here."
He didn't have to ask who it was. "What do you mean?"
"Tippin is on the move…and an SD-6 operative is on his tail."
"What?!"
Sydney looked up in surprise.
"That's right, Unc…we need you back here ASAP. We need an idea on what to do."
"Did you notify Weiss?"
"He's the one who told me," she replied, slightly annoyed.
Vaughn sighed. "Okay, I'm on my way."
"Right."
They hung up. Vaughn turned back to Sydney. "I…I have to go," he told her. "Something's come up back at the office and I got to take care of it before Haladki runs up someone's ass with the problem." He shrugged and she smiled. "Look, you just be careful out there. I'll see you when you get back." He then turned around, ready to walk away.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked.
He turned around. "What?"
She gave him a look.
"Oh…" He blushed. "Good luck."
She grinned.
"And who the hell are you?"
Nadia looked up from her Uncle's desk to see a man stand at the doorway. He had curly hair and some strange look. Nadia wondered for a moment whether the guy was really a CIA agent or just some janitor. Nobody barges into anyone's room for no reason. Besides, the way he asked her the question made Nadia dislike him right away.
"Who are you?" she demanded. Two can play that game, she thought.
"I'm Agent Haladki," he replied with a touch of pride. "Head of the Resource Department."
"Heh," she remarked in boredom.
"You didn't answer my question---who are you?"
She narrowed her eyes at the man's total insolence. He sounded threatening and she didn't like people who were very threatening. Somewhere deep inside of her, she wanted to kick his butt for trying to pick a fight, but then decided against it. I'll do it once I'm officially a field agent. "My name is Nadia," she replied coldly.
"I'm sorry but civilians aren't allowed here," he just stated.
"Funny because I thought you were the janitor," she retorted mildly. She could see the colour rise in his face and his eyes widening in such anger. Oooh, I hit him good, she thought in silent victory. She flipped open a leather pouch to reveal an ID. "Just to let you know, I am also in the CIA. So that basically means that I have every right to be here."
"In a handler's office?"
"I know the handler," she replied with fake cheerfulness. "Got a problem with that?"
He took a step forward. "I have a problem…with the handler," he said melodramatically.
She nodded, leaning on the table. This guy should've been an actor, she though grimly, brushing her hair aside and glared at the agent. She already figured out that this was the agent that wasn't on Vaughn's good side. "Care to explain?" she asked as patiently and as pleasant as she could.
"No," he replied, "I don't."
"Fine," she replied, standing up straight. "Be that way. Now get out."
He laughed. It was like a bark from a pissed off dog. "What?"
"You heard me," Nadia said evenly, "out."
He walked in completely, which was opposite from what she had just told him to. This guy doesn't know his directions, she thought grimly as she held her ground firmly. "Let me get this straight with you, little girl," he said in a rather pissed-off manner, "I am higher ranking than you and far more wiser than your naïve age. You don't know scat about this establishment so come back when you do, okay? Now I'm telling you to get out."
Tough guy, eh? She thought with a hint of annoyance. "You think you're all that, huh?"
"You damn right about that," he shot back. He didn't make any indication of moving from where he was. "I don't know what kind of kinky relationship you have with Vaughn, but you tell him that his bad-ass act isn't going to get him anywhere in the CIA or anywhere for that matter. And you tell that headstrong and charging oaf to tell all his visitors to wait at the lobby just like everybody else!"
Nadia walked around the desk and looked at Haladki. The man was slightly taller than she was, even with her heels on (which she rarely wore to begin with). She glared at him straight in the eye and told him, "Now you listen to me, dumbass," she snapped in exasperation. "You are in no position whatsoever to tell me how wise or how much higher in the ladders you are, regardless of age. You have absolutely no idea who I am, so I'll give you a hint."
"Oh?"
The next thing Haladki knew, he found himself on the floor on his knees, pain shooting upright from his right knee. He cursed beneath his breath. Nadia leaned over and told him, "I happen to be really good at busting kneecaps. If I ever hear you call my Uncle Mike anything stupid from being an oaf to a dumb ass or worse, your ass will be mine, you hear me?"
At the same time, the door opened and in came Weiss, ready to speak to Nadia when he saw Haladki on his knees and whimpering at Nadia's pissed off figure. He said nothing and instead stood back and watched.
"Y-Yeah."
"Now," Nadia said thinly, "get the hell out of this office."
Haladki bustled to his feet and headed towards the door, but before he left, he looked back and said in a timid voice, "I'm going to make sure Devlin hears about this!!!"
Nadia rolled her eyes. "Go ahead! I'm not stopping you!"
He bustled off, his hand around his knee.
She rolled her eyes again. "Scumbag," she muttered, then turned to Weiss. "Yeah?"
He grinned from ear to ear. "Vaughn's here," he said, "down at Ops Three. Say…you did some find ass-kicking right there." He patted Nadia's shoulder. "You're good enough to be my under wing to fight the empire of Scumbags! That who you just whooped major booty is the king of them all, the pain of everyone's asses---Haladki. A.K.A King of the Scumbags."
"Thanks for telling me that," Nadia said dryly, "now let's go."
"We need to do something about that guy," Vaughn said to Weiss and Nadia in the Ops station. "I thought about stunning the guy with a tranquilizer to throwing him out to the Pacific Ocean. Valenti out there disagrees with every single thing I say. I can't think of anything else. We can't let out agent there warn Tippin out there in the pure daylight because that would alert out SD-6 agent into killing him for sure. Any suggestions, people?"
"We could kidnap Tippin," Weiss suggested.
"Eric…"
"What can I say? It's an option," Weiss replied mildly, "that or put him in the safehouse."
"He's a reporter, Eric," Vaughn said dryly. "He won't last in that cooped up place forever. And sending him somewhere else is out of the question." Sydney would not approve of not seeing her friend for the rest of time, he added but didn't say it out loud.
Silence.
"Say," Weiss said conversationally, "you should've been at your office, man. You missed a good episode back there. Round One; Nadia verses Haladki."
Nadia glared daggers at Weiss.
"What?" Vaughn demanded, suddenly intrigued.
"He was making fun of you, Uncle," Nadia said grudgingly. "Called you an oaf, of all things. And he also made that unconscious threat….agh! He's such a scumbag!" She clenched her jaw and bolted her fists. "Why, I ought to…"
"Nadia…"
She blushed.
Silence.
Nadia shrugged. "We could knock him out."
"Who, Haladki?" Weiss asked in sudden enthusiasm.
"No…that guy following Tippin."
Vaughn gave her an incredulous look. "That's out of the question…"
"No, no, not knock out as in eliminate him," she explained. "Someone could go behind him and just knock him out. In the same time, we can sneak some sort of message to Tippin telling him to get the hell out of the city. Just one knock to the head…enough to give the guy a good night sleep for a couple of hours which is, if you add this equation correctly, will give us enough time to get Tippin out of there."
"Sounds like a plan," Weiss said, obviously agreeing.
Vaughn considered it. "Who's going to go? Someone's got to cover Tippin at the same time."
Nadia just grinned at her uncle.
"Everything's going according to plan, sir."
"Good…good, number one."
"One problem though, sir…"
The man thumped his hand angrily on the armrest. "What now?!"
"Odilia hasn't contacted us since yesterday afternoon…sir."
"What the hell is going on?" the man yelled. "First Folken…now Odilia…"
Silence.
He played with his gold ring. "What are you waiting for, you idiot? Find them!!!"
"Another playmate?" Jason Lee asked. "Aww, Bristow, you're too kind!"
They were standing behind the dark glass window where the equipment was set up. Yalila McGregor was now sitting across Donovan. Both of them were out cold. Jason was standing beside Jack Bristow, arms folded. Both men also held coffee cups.
"Mr. Lee," Jack said, "I need her here for the time being until we resolve all this."
Jason nodded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," he said dismissively, waving his hand and swigging at the coffee cup. "They aren't going anywhere here…Donovan there has been our overnight resident. Maybe he could…you know…explain to her the rules." He shifted weight between feet. "By the way, do you want Tamakawa to come in and…you know…hypnotize her or something?"
"No," Jack replied brusquely. "We already got what we needed from her. Sydney used…um, physical force to get her to tell us some things."
Jason screwed his eyes upward. "Ah, of course," he said. "If only we can do that here as well…unfortunately, we have a policy against that sort of treatment of our…erm, guests like that. Then again, there are times I wish we could just beat the information out of them…it would make our jobs a lot easier. And besides, does it look like we're a medieval torture chamber?" he demanded sarcastically.
Jack frowned at Jason. "You're babbling."
Jason sighed, rubbing his eyes with the hilt of his hand. "It's not my fault," he argued, drinking some more coffee. "I've been cooped up here all night…I had no one to talk to. It's only natural that I start babbling uncontrollably…"
"Maybe you should go see Doctor Barnett," Jack suggested ominously.
"No!" Jason replied immediately. "I…I don't need help. I just need someone to talk to…aside from Doc Barnett." He gave a disgusted look and drained his coffee cup absently. He then tossed it towards the trash can. It went right in with a soft clamour.
"Well, I see that you've got things under control here," Jack said. "I'll be going now."
Jack left before Jason could say anything.
"This sucks," Jason muttered, "why do I always become last to go?"
Will darted through the busy streets, sweating deliriously. Time had passed by and now the streets of San Francisco were becoming filled with tourists and average people. They looked at him as though he was just a drunk person or some idiot and virtually ignored him. Will was angered that no one decided to take notice.
What am I going to do? Will thought panicky. I'm being chased by some psycho!
He slightly turned around. The man was still chasing him. He had a fiercely determined look on his face and got rid of the cigarette. He was also gaining speed between him and Will.
I hate my life! Will thought angrily as he sped down towards the suburbs.
End of Chapter
Chapter Thirteen
Sloane reviewed the data sheets that Nadia had provided Sydney with. Sydney woke up bright and early despite her bruises and hurried to work, coffee in one hand and carrying the file package like a life saver on the other. She quickly hurried to Sloane's office, knowing that he would be there early in the morning and probably beginning to work on something.
"Well, this certainly is interesting," he finally said, stroking his goatee, his eyes deep in any thought. Sydney thought that made him look more sinister than ever, which made a chill run down his spine. "I'm surprised Jack didn't give this to me right away, though."
Sydney shrugged. "Well, he had to check if it was credible."
"I see what you mean," Sloane acknowledged slowly. He then leaned forward, the anger and rage clear in his eyes. "This is very important and vital information that you've just handed to me, Sydney. This….this must be work of whoever was after you and whoever tried to sabotage our computer network." He composed himself back to a calmer state. "This must stop now."
She nodded, agreeing with him for once. "I know."
Sloane eyed Sydney. "You up for the mission?" he suddenly asked.
She blinked, trying to act as surprised as she could. "Um…yeah, I guess I am."
He nodded, ignoring her baffled confusion. Sydney triumphed silently; she pulled it on straight again. She then silently wondered if this was all ever going to come back to her in some strange way. Better later than now, she thought. "Good," he replied tightly. "because I am going to deploy you off as soon as possible to the Yukon. You are to remain as discreet as possible and avoid contact with anyone."
"What about Dixon? Is he going?"
"I think we should leave him out for this one," he replied quickly. "We don't have a lot of time. These people are going to attack soon." He pulled out a pen and began scribbling something down before handing it to her. "Those are the coordinates in which you are to rendevouz. Your job is to plant some bombs and wear that group off…Marshall can supply you with that. I'd send you a team, but I can't risk…"
Sydney raised her hand. "I understand completely," she replied.
"Another question, Sydney…before you go," he added before she could turn around.
Uh-oh, she thought, feeling her body freeze over completely. She looked straight into Sloane's eyes to avoid him wondering if he would notice anything unusual. He got up, walked over and asked, "Have you seen Yalila McGregor? She didn't sign in this morning…and she looked perfectly fine yesterday."
"I don't know," she replied, wondering, Where did my father put her? "People get sick suddenly."
He looked at her curiously. "I see…You be careful out there."
She turned away and walked out the door.
Will found himself walking down the Pier in a gray morning in San Francisco. He didn't want to go to Jenny's relatives' place, figuring that she was just going to get himself into a fight with her relatives. Besides, he didn't feel up to talking to anyone today. After all the crazy stuff that had been happening, he didn't want to deal with anyone else.
He looked up to the gray sky. Why are you doing this to me? He asked God silently.
Silence.
A car honked his car horn into nothing. He was probably drunk.
He jabbed his hands into his jean pockets and strolled down the almost empty streets. A stiff breeze from the ocean came through and he shuddered at the chilly air. There wasn't a lot of people around except for someone walking her dog down the street and a peculiar guy walking a few meters behind, smoking a cigarette.
He looked vaguely familiar…
The man in the airport.
The man that was in the crowd near the Golden Gate Bridge.
The man who was parked near his motel room.
What the hell was going on? Will wondered, picking up his pace. He rubbed his eyes and checked it again, trying to act casual. Yes, this was the man he saw in those places and it made him shiver unnaturally. He felt like he was caught in some sort of whirlwind and he couldn't escape from its grasp. He felt like his entire world was going spiralling downward and he couldn't see the end of the tunnel. This guy was obviously stalking him, otherwise this was just some crazy coincidence.
Will started running through his options. He could try and talk to him, but then he thought that he could just get killed in the process. He could keep walking and ignore him, but that would not resolve his current situation. He could also lose him, but what good would that do? He quickly reviewed through his options once more time before deciding.
He started running.
Weiss picked up the receiver and dialled a number.
"Yes?" came a reply.
"Something's up."
"Something's always up…"
"Yeah, well this one's up there."
"What do you mean?"
"There's some sudden movement with Tippin."
"Come on, people always move."
"Don't start…we finally got a fix on the SD-6 operative. Unfortunately, so did Tippin."
"Oh, great. Where's Vaughn?"
"I booted him out. He looked horrible last night."
"I can figure that out…"
"Yeah, well, where is he?"
"Something about a meeting with Sydney today…she's on another mission."
"Again? God, talk about timing today. These people…both here and there…are absolutely nuts." Weiss groaned, drinking some coffee before continuing. "Pass him the intel, all right? And also tell him to get his ass back down here ASAP. I need to take care of the other stuff that Valenti said too."
"Yes, yes, don't get all bitey on me. I'm tell him."
"Tell me…why do I have a feeling this might wind up ugly?"
Silence.
"I don't know, Weiss…you tell me."
"What's my counter mission?"
In the dimness of the warehouse light, she could still make out Vaughn's perfect features. His gray eyes calmly reflected some inner containment of calmness that she had never seen before. His cheekbones were definitely visible in the dark. His mouth looked so….perfect…she wanted to lean over, forget the mission and kiss him.
"Well, you are going to give us surveillance of whatever that place actually is," he replied, unaware of what Sydney was actually thinking. He passed her a small, portable camera. "This is the item you are to use to make the pictures. You're also to do exactly whatever Sloane said in regards to setting up the bombs near their encampments and split them up all up.'
"Force chaos upon them?" she asked with a smile.
He smiled back nervously. "Kind of."
Silence.
"Also, with Nadia's friend out there to sneak some intel…well, you're going to be out of communiqué," he added, slightly sounding like he was apologizing for something. "so your best bet is to reach Nadia's collegue out there after you've finished what you have to do."
"What will you do afterwards? With the information, I mean?"
"We'll site the area," he replied in a matter-of-fact voice. "A group of CIA agents will come there at night and take a look around…you sure you have no idea what's up there?" he asked again, a strange look brush past his face.
"No idea," she replied. "Is that it? I got to leave this afternoon."
"One more thing, actually…"
She looked into his eyes again. "Yes?"
"You be careful out there," he told her simply, taking her hand and just holding it.
Sydney was touched by the gesture as she tightened her grip around his hand. "You---"
Suddenly, a cell phone went off. Sydney and Vaughn let go of each other to check their cell phones. Sydney turned to Vaughn when he saw him pick up his phone, walked a short distance and answered his phone.
"Vaughn."
"We've got trouble here."
He didn't have to ask who it was. "What do you mean?"
"Tippin is on the move…and an SD-6 operative is on his tail."
"What?!"
Sydney looked up in surprise.
"That's right, Unc…we need you back here ASAP. We need an idea on what to do."
"Did you notify Weiss?"
"He's the one who told me," she replied, slightly annoyed.
Vaughn sighed. "Okay, I'm on my way."
"Right."
They hung up. Vaughn turned back to Sydney. "I…I have to go," he told her. "Something's come up back at the office and I got to take care of it before Haladki runs up someone's ass with the problem." He shrugged and she smiled. "Look, you just be careful out there. I'll see you when you get back." He then turned around, ready to walk away.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked.
He turned around. "What?"
She gave him a look.
"Oh…" He blushed. "Good luck."
She grinned.
"And who the hell are you?"
Nadia looked up from her Uncle's desk to see a man stand at the doorway. He had curly hair and some strange look. Nadia wondered for a moment whether the guy was really a CIA agent or just some janitor. Nobody barges into anyone's room for no reason. Besides, the way he asked her the question made Nadia dislike him right away.
"Who are you?" she demanded. Two can play that game, she thought.
"I'm Agent Haladki," he replied with a touch of pride. "Head of the Resource Department."
"Heh," she remarked in boredom.
"You didn't answer my question---who are you?"
She narrowed her eyes at the man's total insolence. He sounded threatening and she didn't like people who were very threatening. Somewhere deep inside of her, she wanted to kick his butt for trying to pick a fight, but then decided against it. I'll do it once I'm officially a field agent. "My name is Nadia," she replied coldly.
"I'm sorry but civilians aren't allowed here," he just stated.
"Funny because I thought you were the janitor," she retorted mildly. She could see the colour rise in his face and his eyes widening in such anger. Oooh, I hit him good, she thought in silent victory. She flipped open a leather pouch to reveal an ID. "Just to let you know, I am also in the CIA. So that basically means that I have every right to be here."
"In a handler's office?"
"I know the handler," she replied with fake cheerfulness. "Got a problem with that?"
He took a step forward. "I have a problem…with the handler," he said melodramatically.
She nodded, leaning on the table. This guy should've been an actor, she though grimly, brushing her hair aside and glared at the agent. She already figured out that this was the agent that wasn't on Vaughn's good side. "Care to explain?" she asked as patiently and as pleasant as she could.
"No," he replied, "I don't."
"Fine," she replied, standing up straight. "Be that way. Now get out."
He laughed. It was like a bark from a pissed off dog. "What?"
"You heard me," Nadia said evenly, "out."
He walked in completely, which was opposite from what she had just told him to. This guy doesn't know his directions, she thought grimly as she held her ground firmly. "Let me get this straight with you, little girl," he said in a rather pissed-off manner, "I am higher ranking than you and far more wiser than your naïve age. You don't know scat about this establishment so come back when you do, okay? Now I'm telling you to get out."
Tough guy, eh? She thought with a hint of annoyance. "You think you're all that, huh?"
"You damn right about that," he shot back. He didn't make any indication of moving from where he was. "I don't know what kind of kinky relationship you have with Vaughn, but you tell him that his bad-ass act isn't going to get him anywhere in the CIA or anywhere for that matter. And you tell that headstrong and charging oaf to tell all his visitors to wait at the lobby just like everybody else!"
Nadia walked around the desk and looked at Haladki. The man was slightly taller than she was, even with her heels on (which she rarely wore to begin with). She glared at him straight in the eye and told him, "Now you listen to me, dumbass," she snapped in exasperation. "You are in no position whatsoever to tell me how wise or how much higher in the ladders you are, regardless of age. You have absolutely no idea who I am, so I'll give you a hint."
"Oh?"
The next thing Haladki knew, he found himself on the floor on his knees, pain shooting upright from his right knee. He cursed beneath his breath. Nadia leaned over and told him, "I happen to be really good at busting kneecaps. If I ever hear you call my Uncle Mike anything stupid from being an oaf to a dumb ass or worse, your ass will be mine, you hear me?"
At the same time, the door opened and in came Weiss, ready to speak to Nadia when he saw Haladki on his knees and whimpering at Nadia's pissed off figure. He said nothing and instead stood back and watched.
"Y-Yeah."
"Now," Nadia said thinly, "get the hell out of this office."
Haladki bustled to his feet and headed towards the door, but before he left, he looked back and said in a timid voice, "I'm going to make sure Devlin hears about this!!!"
Nadia rolled her eyes. "Go ahead! I'm not stopping you!"
He bustled off, his hand around his knee.
She rolled her eyes again. "Scumbag," she muttered, then turned to Weiss. "Yeah?"
He grinned from ear to ear. "Vaughn's here," he said, "down at Ops Three. Say…you did some find ass-kicking right there." He patted Nadia's shoulder. "You're good enough to be my under wing to fight the empire of Scumbags! That who you just whooped major booty is the king of them all, the pain of everyone's asses---Haladki. A.K.A King of the Scumbags."
"Thanks for telling me that," Nadia said dryly, "now let's go."
"We need to do something about that guy," Vaughn said to Weiss and Nadia in the Ops station. "I thought about stunning the guy with a tranquilizer to throwing him out to the Pacific Ocean. Valenti out there disagrees with every single thing I say. I can't think of anything else. We can't let out agent there warn Tippin out there in the pure daylight because that would alert out SD-6 agent into killing him for sure. Any suggestions, people?"
"We could kidnap Tippin," Weiss suggested.
"Eric…"
"What can I say? It's an option," Weiss replied mildly, "that or put him in the safehouse."
"He's a reporter, Eric," Vaughn said dryly. "He won't last in that cooped up place forever. And sending him somewhere else is out of the question." Sydney would not approve of not seeing her friend for the rest of time, he added but didn't say it out loud.
Silence.
"Say," Weiss said conversationally, "you should've been at your office, man. You missed a good episode back there. Round One; Nadia verses Haladki."
Nadia glared daggers at Weiss.
"What?" Vaughn demanded, suddenly intrigued.
"He was making fun of you, Uncle," Nadia said grudgingly. "Called you an oaf, of all things. And he also made that unconscious threat….agh! He's such a scumbag!" She clenched her jaw and bolted her fists. "Why, I ought to…"
"Nadia…"
She blushed.
Silence.
Nadia shrugged. "We could knock him out."
"Who, Haladki?" Weiss asked in sudden enthusiasm.
"No…that guy following Tippin."
Vaughn gave her an incredulous look. "That's out of the question…"
"No, no, not knock out as in eliminate him," she explained. "Someone could go behind him and just knock him out. In the same time, we can sneak some sort of message to Tippin telling him to get the hell out of the city. Just one knock to the head…enough to give the guy a good night sleep for a couple of hours which is, if you add this equation correctly, will give us enough time to get Tippin out of there."
"Sounds like a plan," Weiss said, obviously agreeing.
Vaughn considered it. "Who's going to go? Someone's got to cover Tippin at the same time."
Nadia just grinned at her uncle.
"Everything's going according to plan, sir."
"Good…good, number one."
"One problem though, sir…"
The man thumped his hand angrily on the armrest. "What now?!"
"Odilia hasn't contacted us since yesterday afternoon…sir."
"What the hell is going on?" the man yelled. "First Folken…now Odilia…"
Silence.
He played with his gold ring. "What are you waiting for, you idiot? Find them!!!"
"Another playmate?" Jason Lee asked. "Aww, Bristow, you're too kind!"
They were standing behind the dark glass window where the equipment was set up. Yalila McGregor was now sitting across Donovan. Both of them were out cold. Jason was standing beside Jack Bristow, arms folded. Both men also held coffee cups.
"Mr. Lee," Jack said, "I need her here for the time being until we resolve all this."
Jason nodded. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," he said dismissively, waving his hand and swigging at the coffee cup. "They aren't going anywhere here…Donovan there has been our overnight resident. Maybe he could…you know…explain to her the rules." He shifted weight between feet. "By the way, do you want Tamakawa to come in and…you know…hypnotize her or something?"
"No," Jack replied brusquely. "We already got what we needed from her. Sydney used…um, physical force to get her to tell us some things."
Jason screwed his eyes upward. "Ah, of course," he said. "If only we can do that here as well…unfortunately, we have a policy against that sort of treatment of our…erm, guests like that. Then again, there are times I wish we could just beat the information out of them…it would make our jobs a lot easier. And besides, does it look like we're a medieval torture chamber?" he demanded sarcastically.
Jack frowned at Jason. "You're babbling."
Jason sighed, rubbing his eyes with the hilt of his hand. "It's not my fault," he argued, drinking some more coffee. "I've been cooped up here all night…I had no one to talk to. It's only natural that I start babbling uncontrollably…"
"Maybe you should go see Doctor Barnett," Jack suggested ominously.
"No!" Jason replied immediately. "I…I don't need help. I just need someone to talk to…aside from Doc Barnett." He gave a disgusted look and drained his coffee cup absently. He then tossed it towards the trash can. It went right in with a soft clamour.
"Well, I see that you've got things under control here," Jack said. "I'll be going now."
Jack left before Jason could say anything.
"This sucks," Jason muttered, "why do I always become last to go?"
Will darted through the busy streets, sweating deliriously. Time had passed by and now the streets of San Francisco were becoming filled with tourists and average people. They looked at him as though he was just a drunk person or some idiot and virtually ignored him. Will was angered that no one decided to take notice.
What am I going to do? Will thought panicky. I'm being chased by some psycho!
He slightly turned around. The man was still chasing him. He had a fiercely determined look on his face and got rid of the cigarette. He was also gaining speed between him and Will.
I hate my life! Will thought angrily as he sped down towards the suburbs.
End of Chapter