See previous chapters for A/N, disclaimers, rating, warnings, etc.
Chapter 6: To expect the unexpected
Dana jumped when she heard footsteps creeping up behind her. She didn't expect them so soon. She turned with a stern look ready to greet her new guests.
"Whew! Its just you. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am to see you." Dana bent over, placing her hands on her knees, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, whatever sweetheart! Save the drama for the feds! What I wanna know is why you led my friends out here in the middle of nowhere when the trains about to…" Bobby glanced absently down at his watch. "Dammit!"
"What, man?" Darien asked concerned.
"Well, …uhm…it's the train…its uh…already left."
"Shit!" Dana exclaimed.
"What!" Darien, Lezley and Bobby all stated in unity.
Lezley stepped forward laying a hand on Dana's shoulder. "Come on Dana, what's going on? You know you can tell me."
"And, the truth this time would be nice." Darien and Bobby lamented.
Dana paced for a moment relaxing her arms heavily on her knees as she slumped onto the stump once again. She thought for a moment breathing a heavy sigh before she began.
"Its my father, he's...he's obsessed with shutting the whole operation down."
"What operation?" Darien asked a bit perplexed.
Bobby looked at Darien dumbfounded at his partner's ignorance. "You know the operation. Operation Train of Life my friend."
Confusion was apparent as Darien motioned for more info.
"The train my friend. The frickin' TRAIN!"
Finally, it hit "Oh." Darien responded understanding. Dana continued.
"Anyway, twelve years ago my mother, Toni Fisher, she never went by her married name, said it made us too visible. She always said she was trying to protect us. But, she couldn't protect herself. Twelve years ago she was murdered by some rogue double agent she'd gotten the goods on. She was going to expose him at the awards. At least that's what Dad said.
It almost killed him when she died. He wouldn't go for just putting this guy behind bars. Said it wasn't justice enough. He wanted the whole operation shut down. At the time, I didn't understand what he was talking about. It wasn't until much later that I realized just how nuts my father had gone over mom's death.
He hated going every year ya know? Nevertheless, go, he did. He said he did it for her. But, I never believed him. I never knew at the time how right I was. Everyone else thought he was mourning his wife so no one questioned it. But, every year he went. And, every year he killed an agent hoping it would be the one to shut it down, but it never was. Then about six years into it he met a guy by the name of Renaldo Stark, he was over some group by the name of…
"Chrysalis!" Darien and Bobby said in unison.
"Yeah, how'd you… Never mind, Renaldo, he had two sons, Michel, who thought his fathers plan would fail, and ventured out on his own and into a world of high priced crime. He thought his little crime syndicate could beat Chrysalis and win the fight for world domination.
Renaldo's other son, Jared, followed his father's example; no one in Chrysalis thought of him as anything near the man his father was. So, when Renaldo died, Jared was put in charge of sector G as kind of a gift because of who his father happened to be. Then, something went wrong. Jared called in his brother Michel for help with a problem with 'the agency' and they both ended up in jail.
Now, some international terrorist by the name of de phone is in charge. My father forced me to start helping him about three years ago. He didn't tell me 'everything' at first. He told me about Michel, but the rest I found out on my own. Michel is his best friend; he would do anything for my father. Mostly because Renaldo would have, 'I think'. My father used guilt over my mother's death to get me to help him. But now I just can't…there's been enough death over this hasn't there?" She shook her head as Bobby's cell phone rang and he walked away to answer it.
Wiping back the tears Dana continued. "I just can't do it anymore. Chaz doesn't want me to continue this and neither do I. The problem is…Shit!"
"What?" Darien and Lezley asked in unison, surprised at the sudden reaction.
Dana pointed straight behind them. "Them!"
The group turned only to be met with three very familiar heads slowly appearing up the hill.
"Damn, Arnaud! How did he…? Never mind, Hobbes get your sorry ass over here, man!" Darien said as he grabbed Bobby's arm and ran into the woods Quicksilvering the four of them. Hopefully, before the three men had a chance to have seen any of them.
They ran and ran until Darien was sure they had outrun them. Then just in case they'd seen them, they ran some more. Normally, he wouldn't be running from these men, but the memories from his recent encounters with them sent fear through Darien that was so strong there was nothing he could do but run.
Coming to rest at an entrance to a rather large cave, they checked it out and gathered enough firewood for the night. Dana had matches thanks to Chaz. He had taught her to always have her emergency essentials with her at all times. So, starting a fire in the entrance to the cave was no problem. They were all so tired, especially Darien. He had just recovered enough to start walking, so running like they had was completely overdoing it and then some.
Once he sat himself in a corner, he just kind of slumped over and passed out. Hobbes reached down fumbling with the small silver case he'd been carrying he withdrew a syringe of counteragent. Walking over, Hobbes inserted the needle into Darien's neck causing a small sigh of relief to escape his partner's lips.
Lezley watched as Hobbes closed the case and sat down in relief against the far wall next to Fawkes. She didn't know everything that went on with the agency, but she knew enough to know that, that shot was more than just a painkiller or antibiotic.
Hobbes looked up and saw the concern in her eyes. "It's the counteragent, you know the stuff that keeps our friend here from doin' his freakin' wacko act?"
Lezley nodded in understanding, settling in their respective corners of the cave sleep finally overtook them.
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Claire paced the compartment. Where were they? They'd never make it back now! Sitting on the edge of the bed and letting out a long sigh of frustration, she buried her head in her hands. Then needing to do something, she decided to listen to the tapes from the bug they'd put on Kenny's phone. Sitting down at the table, she gingerly placed the headphones over her ears, pushed play, and closed her eyes with worry.
Her eyes shot open when she heard that voice. Her heart jumped as the conversation unfolded before her. She gasped upon hearing their plans. Ripping off the headphones she ran to the closet and fumbled through her jacket for her cell.
…Ring
…Ring
…Ring finally he picked up. "Hobbes here, talk to me."
"Bobby you have got to find Darien and get him out of there."
"He's right here."
Claire sighed in relief.
"What's up keep?"
"Its Arnaud, he's after Lezley and Darien. I was listening to the tapes on that bug we set up. Arnaud got Jared and Michel out of jail and Kenny wants them to 'take care of the problem' Kenny said to just get them out of the way for a while. But, if you know 'them'…"
"Yeah, I know keep, they'll do more than that…a lot more! Don't worry I'll take…"
Bobby's words trailed off and all she heard was, "Damn, Arnaud! How did he…? Never mind… Hobbes! Get your sorry ass over…" Then the line went dead.
Claire paced the observation car. She had no idea what to do except to get help, but who? The official? He was better off not knowing he was the next target. Ralph, the bartender? He seemed pretty smart, but he seemed more like the type to mind his own business.
Finally, it dawned on her just who the person for the job would be. They were perfect. She knew they wouldn't turn her down. Taking off in a dead run she left to find the one person that could possibly help her and at the same time she prayed that Darien and Bobby would make it back safely before anything terrible happened.
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Darien woke with a start; it was quiet, almost too quiet in the cave. As his tired eyes searched the cave, he found Lezley sitting against the far wall and Bobby was nowhere to be found. Lezley saw Darien looking around confused and walked over to him. Laying an arm on his shoulder, she got his attention.
"Bobby's gone out to check the area. I guess he wants to make sure we're safe for the time being." The only response she received was a slow nod.
"How are you feeling? You looked like crap last night. You know you really shouldn't have done… that…that thing … you know that thing you do."
Darien took in a deep cleansing breath and stood up with little assistance from Lezley. "I feel much better thanks, just a little cramped from…" he pointed at the ground. Lezley shrugged and snickered a bit. "I know the feeling." She said as she worked at getting some of her own kinks out.
"As to the disappearing act…well …what other choice did I have?"
"You coulda rested in between or at least…" Lezley was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Let us know we was gonna be runnin' so damn long partner. You know you came pretty damn close to wacko my friend. If you hadn't passed out from exhaustion, which by the way you need to pace yourself better your just recovering from major surgery you know? Keep, would not be happy if she knew that you were runnin around like that. All the same, thanks partner."
Fawkes walked over and slapped Bobby's back affectionately. "Anytime Hobbes anytime. So Hobbes, what did ya find, man?
"Well, I found out exactly who our friends are. You remember our Swiss friend? Well, he's got a couple of old friends with him in the likes of Jared and Michel Stark if you believe that my friend."
"I already knew that much Hobbes." Darien looked around and noticed something. "Hobbes, what happened to Dana?"
"She's gone to try and lead those freakin' wackos away from here and get us a quicker way out of here, my friend."
"How's she gonna do that Hobbes? We're in the middle of nowhere with nothin but trees and mountains for miles? What we need to do is get to a town, get us a car, and get to the next train stop before it leaves again."
"Well Fawkes, by my calculations we got three days before the train stops again and then at least two more days before it leaves again." Bobby said while looking at his train ticket.
"Okay Hobbes, so we got four maybe five days. If we can get Arnaud and company out of the way then maybe we got a chance."
"That's exactly how I was thinkin my friend."
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Dana was out searching for the snowmobiles her father had left there so she could get back fast. She knew where they were, at least she had a good idea from the map she was holding. It had accompanied a letter from her father indicating that he had hired some low-life's to put them there.
Just as she was about to turn left, then right, then down the hill and into the underbrush she heard the voices.
"I don't care 'what' you think Jared, Kenny would never lead us on a wild goose chase, he's better than that and you know it." Jared shook his head with anger in his eyes.
"That's what you thought about Stephan and look what happened with him. Kenny told you Stephan would never betray you but…UGHH! Forget it, why am I explaining this to you?"
"I don't give a damn what his son did. It's not the same thing."
All I'm saying brother, is that blood is thicker than water. Kenny…Dana…even Stephan are family and when it comes right down to it, who do you think they would side with? I'll tell ya, it sure isn't us dear brother."
"You're wrong Jared, besides if blood was thicker than water you would have done something back at that cliff. That threw all that 'blood ties' crap right out the window. Besides that, if blood 'is' thicker than water then Kenny is more of a brother to me than you'll ever be! BROTHER!" The last words were spat out with so much contempt, that Jared was about to react with his fist, but was prevented by the gripping hand of Arnaud.
"Merde! Would the two of you kindly shut the hell up. I get enough of this from that brainless brother of mine. Mr. Richards said to meet his daughter in that clearing back there. However, we seem to have missed Miss Dana 'and' the DAMN TRAIN! So, why don't the two of you just SHUT UP! We'll find Fawkes and his friends, they've most likely missed that train as well. So that means that they're out 'here' somewhere. Then, when we do find them we do what 'we' want to do with them, call Kenny and get the two of you back to that prison."
Dana was stunned. What did they mean what 'they' wanted to do with them? Forgetting about their only way out of there, she took off as fast as she could while trying to stay hidden as she went.
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Brett McShawn or rather Eberts, was just getting ready for his evening shower to rid himself of that infernal disguise when he heard it.
Knock, knock, knock; "Eberts I know it's you, now PLEASE open the bloody door NOW!"
Doing as he was told he threw down the robe and clothes he had in his arms and walked to the door opening it promptly with a look of confusion and disappointment.
"Ms. Keeply… is it? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"Cut the bloody crap Albert, I know its you. Lezley told us everything."
"Pardon me ma'am, but I have no idea…" His words were cut off as Claire placed a hand over his mouth, pushed him back into the compartment, and closed the door behind her.
"Miss Keeply! What on earth are you…"
No! Not another word Albert." She was so frustrated she didn't know what to do to make him admit who he was and listen to her. "Bloody Hell!" She reached out grabbed a hold of his wig and ripped it off causing Ebert's to stumble back into the chair.
"There, now will you listen to me ALBERT?"
"What is it Doctor?" He said almost as if nothing had happened.
"I just received exceptionally reliable information that the official is the next target."
Ebert's eyes widened with fear. "What! We have to warn him."
"No Albert, we can't! We can't let Kenny know that we know. Besides, if the official doesn't know we'll have a better chance of catching him."
Eberts let out a sigh of exasperation. He understood, but he HATED keeping anything from the official. And, boy does Claire need to get away from Bobby for a while. She was really beginning to sound exactly like him.
Claire had an idea, but it would take some time to put into play. First, she needed to find out precisely what Kenny was planning. "Miss Keeply?" Claire came out of her thoughts looking even more exasperated.
"Yes Albert?"
"I was thinking."
"What were you thinking Albert?" Claire asked in frustration.
"Well, if you'd let me finish."
"Oh, sorry go right ahead." She gestured for him to continue.
"I was thinking that I could hack into Kenny's database, maybe see if we can find out what he's up to."
"That's a wonderful idea Albert! But, where are we going to get a…" Before she had time to finish, Eberts reached into the closet and pulled out a silver case. Opening it he revealed a very nice computer set up. After revealing a few more cases, he got himself set up VERY nicely. Claire laid a thankful hand on his back as he connected the last wire.
"Albert, I sure am glad we have you around."
Eberts looked over his shoulder and smiled at her before sitting down. At least 'she' appreciated him. He shook off the next thought that was tickling his brain and busied himself at the computer.
Claire just smiled, walked over, and sat down beside him. No one at the agency 'ever' gave him enough credit. If the truth were known, Eberts was the backbone of the agency.
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…TBC