Conspiracy
Chapter 16
Mya and Matrix followed Kyra's startled gaze to the glass door at the front of the store. A small man in a black tuxedo walked casually into the store, a tranquilizer gun held in his hand. Before anyone could react, the snobby sales clerk was down on the other side of the counter with a soft thud. He looked at the three faces looking at him in complete shock and took off the dark sunglasses that he was wearing, smiling stealthily.
"Well, I guess you can't handle everything on your own anymore." He said, grinning.
"Shutup Leroy!" Kyra spat, immediately recognizing the man from her year at the DiMera training base. "Answer me this…" She said, placing her hands on her hips. "Why…are…you…here!"
The little man's grin grew even wider.
"DiMera has spies everywhere…" He said simply.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Mya asked.
The man stepped back a little from the door. Just as he did this, Raven came walking out of the change room, completely oblivious to everything that was going on. Her head was bowed as she looked at the dress. A few loud footsteps startled her and she jumped, averting her eyes to the source of the racket. Her jaw dropped considerably and she dropped the dress she had planned on buying and gaped at the man who entered the store.
"Daddy!" She said in disbelief, her eyebrows raised. She glanced quickly over at her friends who were all frozen in place.
"What…" Stephano said, stepping up to his daughter and tilting her chin up to look at her in the face. "You're surprised to see me?"
Raven's eyes were wide. With fear? Maybe. It appeared a mixture of fear, anger, and shock, everything humanly possible. She harbored extremely ill feelings towards her father, which did not add to her usually calm nature. Her ill feelings were something that had accumulated greatly in the past three years. The first year of her mercenary training had gone smoothly, almost too good to be true. It seemed as though she was some sort of super- woman. She laughed at the pathetic men who tried to beat her in close combat during training, and beamed at her father's endless praise and what she thought to be unrequited love for a daughter.
It was not until she had been sent to her small fortress in the heart of Los Angeles did she come to know Stephano for who he really was. Now she would often tell herself that she was the exact same, killing and plotting and scheming, but really she wasn't. She had not created the biggest crime league that began the rule of the DiMera Dynasty, she did not capture and convert innocent people into soldiers that obeyed her and only her and she certainly did not, even though she had none, drag her children into the dark world of crime. Even Raven DiMera wouldn't want that.
What's more is the fact that Stephano had in turn the audacity to not only tear his daughter away from the life she knew, though she remembered none of it, he was foolish enough to send her through training and place her as head of a group of freelance mercenaries. He never once believed he would exchange harsh words with his daughter, neither did he ever dream that maybe one day it would all backfire. The reasons for his carelessness were quite simple. One, he had the most advanced neurological instruments in the world and two, he had a one-hundred percent chance of things going the way he wanted them to. He didn't plan ahead in areas of his work where he thought it was unnecessary, though Raven often thought that that slight flaw would one day be his downfall; just like her prolonged locks might one day be hers.
Stephano relied heavily on his daughter's mental power and persistence, and it became even more apparent in her first year in Los Angeles. Her very first mission was to bring down a small, hidden force targeting the DiMera family. She refused at first, a shadow of doubt still cast over her even after a year of hard training. That was when Stephano had brought out the big guns; literally. He placed a legion of agents under her lead to act as guards, carrying their rifles around Raven's fortress and not once regretting the moments they spent walking through Raven's office and going through her possessions. She were spies, all of them, for what became quickly perhaps her greatest enemy: her father. Raven was too strong-willed and independent a person to have her life run by Stephano so she toughened up immediately and refused the agents free access to all rooms of the fortress and kept them in line.
Apparently one of DiMera's spies had not relished his boss's sudden change in humor and had contacted Stephano DiMera who flew out immediately to set his daughter straight once and for all. The yelling and screaming was heard all through the fortress as father and daughter got into a heated argument about what it meant to be in power. In the end, Raven was able to persuade her father to move all of his spies out of her fortress and replace them instead with agent fresh out of training and give her full, complete power over her legion. But the battle had not ended so quickly. Unknown to Raven, a spy was left in her fortress and ordered to keep an eye on her. Things got out of hand one day as Raven read him out for having blown their cover during an important mission. Obviously the spy had not been used to harsh treatment and had pulled the trigger of his gun right on the spot, landing a bullet in Raven's thigh. That had done it for Raven. The man's identity was later revealed as a spy for DiMera and whatever trust Raven had in her father diminished heavily. He had had her brought out to one of his health centers for treatment and had had his spy killed for his actions, but there would always be a barrier between them. If DiMera wasn't her father, she would not have been shot by one of his spies and she would not have been dragged into this world. If it weren't for DiMera she'd still be Chloe Lane, or perhaps have ceased to exist all together.
Raven stepped back slowly and raised her eyebrow.
"What are you doing here." She demanded. It wasn't even a question. In fact, even if it were, Raven was already quite certain of the answer. Her father had spies absolutely everywhere, New York of course being no exception. By the beaming little man standing beside the door she figured he was the one who had been the reason for Stephano being there in the first place.
Stephano clicked his tongue and shook his head in mock sadness. "My daughter does not seem happy to see me." He suddenly wrapped his arms around the utterly shocked form of Raven and hugged her tightly. "But I shall not fret. You have not seen me for almost a year!" He let his daughter out of his death-grip and instead placed his arm lazily around her shoulders.
"Come now, daughter. We have much to talk about."
Raven shot one last pleading look behind her at the three remaining members of her undercover force, but they were all too scared, shocked and utterly stupified to do a single thing as Stephano led his daughter out of the small boutique and to an unknown fate.
Chapter 16
Mya and Matrix followed Kyra's startled gaze to the glass door at the front of the store. A small man in a black tuxedo walked casually into the store, a tranquilizer gun held in his hand. Before anyone could react, the snobby sales clerk was down on the other side of the counter with a soft thud. He looked at the three faces looking at him in complete shock and took off the dark sunglasses that he was wearing, smiling stealthily.
"Well, I guess you can't handle everything on your own anymore." He said, grinning.
"Shutup Leroy!" Kyra spat, immediately recognizing the man from her year at the DiMera training base. "Answer me this…" She said, placing her hands on her hips. "Why…are…you…here!"
The little man's grin grew even wider.
"DiMera has spies everywhere…" He said simply.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Mya asked.
The man stepped back a little from the door. Just as he did this, Raven came walking out of the change room, completely oblivious to everything that was going on. Her head was bowed as she looked at the dress. A few loud footsteps startled her and she jumped, averting her eyes to the source of the racket. Her jaw dropped considerably and she dropped the dress she had planned on buying and gaped at the man who entered the store.
"Daddy!" She said in disbelief, her eyebrows raised. She glanced quickly over at her friends who were all frozen in place.
"What…" Stephano said, stepping up to his daughter and tilting her chin up to look at her in the face. "You're surprised to see me?"
Raven's eyes were wide. With fear? Maybe. It appeared a mixture of fear, anger, and shock, everything humanly possible. She harbored extremely ill feelings towards her father, which did not add to her usually calm nature. Her ill feelings were something that had accumulated greatly in the past three years. The first year of her mercenary training had gone smoothly, almost too good to be true. It seemed as though she was some sort of super- woman. She laughed at the pathetic men who tried to beat her in close combat during training, and beamed at her father's endless praise and what she thought to be unrequited love for a daughter.
It was not until she had been sent to her small fortress in the heart of Los Angeles did she come to know Stephano for who he really was. Now she would often tell herself that she was the exact same, killing and plotting and scheming, but really she wasn't. She had not created the biggest crime league that began the rule of the DiMera Dynasty, she did not capture and convert innocent people into soldiers that obeyed her and only her and she certainly did not, even though she had none, drag her children into the dark world of crime. Even Raven DiMera wouldn't want that.
What's more is the fact that Stephano had in turn the audacity to not only tear his daughter away from the life she knew, though she remembered none of it, he was foolish enough to send her through training and place her as head of a group of freelance mercenaries. He never once believed he would exchange harsh words with his daughter, neither did he ever dream that maybe one day it would all backfire. The reasons for his carelessness were quite simple. One, he had the most advanced neurological instruments in the world and two, he had a one-hundred percent chance of things going the way he wanted them to. He didn't plan ahead in areas of his work where he thought it was unnecessary, though Raven often thought that that slight flaw would one day be his downfall; just like her prolonged locks might one day be hers.
Stephano relied heavily on his daughter's mental power and persistence, and it became even more apparent in her first year in Los Angeles. Her very first mission was to bring down a small, hidden force targeting the DiMera family. She refused at first, a shadow of doubt still cast over her even after a year of hard training. That was when Stephano had brought out the big guns; literally. He placed a legion of agents under her lead to act as guards, carrying their rifles around Raven's fortress and not once regretting the moments they spent walking through Raven's office and going through her possessions. She were spies, all of them, for what became quickly perhaps her greatest enemy: her father. Raven was too strong-willed and independent a person to have her life run by Stephano so she toughened up immediately and refused the agents free access to all rooms of the fortress and kept them in line.
Apparently one of DiMera's spies had not relished his boss's sudden change in humor and had contacted Stephano DiMera who flew out immediately to set his daughter straight once and for all. The yelling and screaming was heard all through the fortress as father and daughter got into a heated argument about what it meant to be in power. In the end, Raven was able to persuade her father to move all of his spies out of her fortress and replace them instead with agent fresh out of training and give her full, complete power over her legion. But the battle had not ended so quickly. Unknown to Raven, a spy was left in her fortress and ordered to keep an eye on her. Things got out of hand one day as Raven read him out for having blown their cover during an important mission. Obviously the spy had not been used to harsh treatment and had pulled the trigger of his gun right on the spot, landing a bullet in Raven's thigh. That had done it for Raven. The man's identity was later revealed as a spy for DiMera and whatever trust Raven had in her father diminished heavily. He had had her brought out to one of his health centers for treatment and had had his spy killed for his actions, but there would always be a barrier between them. If DiMera wasn't her father, she would not have been shot by one of his spies and she would not have been dragged into this world. If it weren't for DiMera she'd still be Chloe Lane, or perhaps have ceased to exist all together.
Raven stepped back slowly and raised her eyebrow.
"What are you doing here." She demanded. It wasn't even a question. In fact, even if it were, Raven was already quite certain of the answer. Her father had spies absolutely everywhere, New York of course being no exception. By the beaming little man standing beside the door she figured he was the one who had been the reason for Stephano being there in the first place.
Stephano clicked his tongue and shook his head in mock sadness. "My daughter does not seem happy to see me." He suddenly wrapped his arms around the utterly shocked form of Raven and hugged her tightly. "But I shall not fret. You have not seen me for almost a year!" He let his daughter out of his death-grip and instead placed his arm lazily around her shoulders.
"Come now, daughter. We have much to talk about."
Raven shot one last pleading look behind her at the three remaining members of her undercover force, but they were all too scared, shocked and utterly stupified to do a single thing as Stephano led his daughter out of the small boutique and to an unknown fate.