Chapter 4: Mission: Improbable
The small house of Sydney's relatives filled her visions as she murmured in anxiety. There wasn't any talk between the three, but only silence pierced the vehicle. Sydney just stared out of the window, with her arms in her lap. When the car stopped, she got out and grabbed her things from the trunk without saying a word. Darien was able to crawl out of the side she was in and gazed at his surroundings.
Wherever he was, Fawkes was near a small community of Los Angeles. With the help of the tracking device he had on him, it directed his partner to the undercover agent's location. Soon enough, he found the usual run down van parking a couple of blocks away from their target. He ran to the vehicle and shoved open the back. Darien shimmered the quicksilver off his body and stared at his partner, who was shifting towards the back. In the back of the scruffy van that the Agency owned, it held a world of electronics within its very bowels. That's where the agent was heading, to observe the video camera on one of the monitors.
"Mission accomplished." Darien grinned.
"Not yet…here, have these." Bobby gave his colleague a series of unknown machinery.
"What's this?"
"Surveillance equipment."
"No, that's…" Darien began to protest.
"Our orders, do what you have to do."
Nodding, Darien rushed back to the home. The distraught female managed to open the entrance of the home and find her way around. The uncle and aunt glanced at each other and regretfully slammed the door. Fawkes came in with them, without being noticed.
The home was bigger than expected from the glimpse of the outside. The dining room was extravagant as can be. A traditional Mandela was exposed on the white flowered wallpaper. The Native Americans made this object to give luck for a family. With it hung, it gave happiness, wealth and luck for them as well. It was decorated with eagle feathers, delicate rabbit skin and braided strands of wool. The room was composed of a dining room table, centered under a crystal chandelier. The lighting made the glass create a flowerily embroidery design on the woodened table, via the light. Darien loved the effect and admired the oak chest across from the table. Near the chest was an antique housed a stand for two exotic cockatoos. They chirped in interest of Fawkes' appearance. Its feathers on their heads perked up, revealing the exquisite pink feathers that didn't exist to the watcher.
The kitchen was annexed to the dining room and it was also quite tidy. Dishes weren't stacked near the sink, and only a small puddle of water was contained in the sink. A dishwasher was positioned adjacent to the metallic sink. The entire area blossomed with teal counters and oak furnished cabinets. In the far back of the kitchen, a small TV was left on and a talk show was plastered on the screen. Next to the TV a refrigerator was fixed. Molded into the wall was a portable phone; the receiver was resting comfortably in its charger.
Sydney stormed into her bedroom and threw her things on the floor. She couldn't stand her family anymore. She felt like she was a poor, innocent victim of an unpreventable crash. The female also hated the way people used her as an object of pity, and she felt like she was being treated like a toddler. Looking at the creamed walls, she quickly placed her things in the empty drawers. It was going to be her home for a couple of weeks or so she hoped.
Her aunt and uncle were old fashioned and didn't approve of the morals youth had in this current era. Their trait was what made the young woman grow disgusted. She could see thousand of things she could do that they would never let her…because it was wrong in their eyes.
Damn, I wish I had my fucking car.
Shrugging that comment off her shoulder, she resumed unpacking and then shoveled a pill in her mouth. She took little thought of what those two agents had to say; what did the want from her? Was this medication unsafe? Hell no, she needed her medication to stay alive, or else Sydney wanted to die.
The relatives downstairs renounced their normal schedule before the call from the shelter, watching television. They felt it was their responsibility to take in Sydney for a couple of weeks. They felt sympathetic for her; she had no one in her life anymore…her family was killed abruptly. They didn't understand why she held her emotions in, not wanted anyone to help her get through her ordeal.
Meanwhile, Darien was still invisible in the home, hoping that there wasn't anyone else in the home that he evaded. Instead of reaching visibility, he decided to stay unnoticed. He didn't want to risk someone coming into the room unintentionally. Embedded around his head was a headset so he could communicate with Hobbes from a distance. The invisible man wandered quietly in the kitchen.
"I'm inside." Darien spoke in the headset.
Fawkes shifted to the Mandela and placed one of the "bugs" in one of the wool strands and another around the time on the stove. All he had left now was the video bugs. The quicksilver invading his body washed off of him, and landed on the floor. He was now visible.
"Ok, Bobby…where you want the video?" Fawkes sought for an answer.
The tiny camera showed somewhat of the kitchen and the tiled floors. The view then caught Darien's tanned face, who was staring at the camera. His face expressed a cute but inquisitive manner. Hobbes knew that something was wrong with his partner.
"What's up, Fawkes?"
"Why the video? I don't get it…the sound bugs are fine for…" Fawkes advised.
"She's a threat to her and others around her…just do the job and get out of there."
"I see, the 'ol 'our orders' excuse…to set wrong that was once right, huh?" Darien disgustingly retorted.
"Yeah, yeah…never mind the Quantum Leap crap, just scan the area and I'll tell you where to put them." Hobbes grew frustrated.
Sighing, the undercover agent scanned the vicinity with the camera that was in his hand.
"Stop. Put one of them in the chandelier, one around the sink and the last one in the living room…preferably in the lamp." Hobbes pointed out.
Fawkes concurred, placing the equipment inside the desired location, in the kitchen and dining room. He became imperceptible again, placing the bug in the lamp. Darien shifted to the bathroom and climbed in the bath tub.
"Got it." Fawkes informed.
"Get out of there."
"I would, Hobbesy, but there's only one problem…I can't. If I get one leg out of this house, the people are gonna know that I'm here." Darien reminded him, "And jeeze, what do you know? I'm almost in quicksilver madness."
"I'll get the counteragent from the Keep….just stay low."
Through the hours the agent stayed in the bathroom, he heard the TV blasting. He wondered what else these people did instead of watching television. Sydney came down, proclaiming she was going out with a couple of friends. Even though there was an argument, by her own power, Syd's left inside one of her friend's car. That meant it was only him and the relatives that were left in the house. Darien decided to relax in the bathtub until it was okay for him to leave.