The Past Never Dies Quietly
By Didi
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and don't know anyone that does. Suing me will probably get you the 23 cents stamp in my pocket now and nothing more than that. Summary: Tasha takes steps to confirm a rumor. Note: Okay, I knew that it was a bad idea to start a new fan fiction when there are other ones that I haven't finished yet. Can't devote enough time to any one exclusively. (sigh)
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Chapter Six
"Hey, why is everyone still doing here?" Val asked as her six inches heels proceeded her. Her hot pink boa trailed after her, picking up dusts, paperclips and the occasional dropped shells that Nikki is forever loosing. "We have a benefit to go to. What do you think?" Her silver foil dress clung to ever curve and line on her body. "Do I look hot or what?"
Johnny gave her a cursory glance then nodded. "Certainly will give the environmentalists something to talk about."
"Green camaflogue was never my color," she grinned than frowned at the array of ammo that Nikki was laying out on the table. "Hey Nik, Bobby was just kidding when he said that he wanted to blow up some industrialist machines up north. Really!"
"These aren't for him," Nikki glanced up as Quick bought over the oversized black bag. "You don't expect me fit all this in that puny little thing, do you?"
Quick ignored her attempt at lightheartedness. With Johnny and Nikki's connections confirming that Tasha had taken the concord to Russia in a hush- hush mission, his gut feeling was that something had not gone right, especially when no one has heard from her in so long, not that they were actually expecting her to check in like a good little girl. "This isn't for you."
"Whoa there," Val clattered over to them. "Hey, why are you all looking like you're going to war here?"
"I need some personal time," Nikki announced then pulled the black case from under the table out and began to load the various machines of death into it. "All the specs for the next two benefits have been covered. I've asked Ovanspour's security to cover the installation. We're covered there so I'm going to take off for a few days."
"And I've asked Relic to take care of security backup for Ovanspour's people. But I don't expect there to be anything special," Quick snapped the case shut and searched himself for the amount of hardware he was carrying. Realizing that he never replaced the extra clips from their last hair-raising assignment, he went to the storage room.
Johnny grinned as he inclined his head toward Val. "I was never part of these, so I'm not putting my two cents in now. So, since I'm not part of this, I'm going to take a few personal days as well."
Val's eyes lit up as she nudged Nikki with her elbow. "You and Johnny going away on a little 'holiday,' girl?"
Nikki's head snapped up ad she blushed before she could help herself. "VAL!"
Johnny rolled his eyes but seemed completely unfazed by Val's innuendos.
"We are not going away together," Nikki protest quickly and continued to load the bag. She paused for a moment over the time-delay charges before deciding that you can never be too careful. "We are just both taking some personal time. No one said that we were doing it to each other."
"So you guys just decided to take the time off at the same time," Val nodded her head wisely. "Right, and muumuus are in fashion." She rolled her eyes but grinned with delight. "Well, have fun on your 'separate' time off and don't forget to bring presents when you come back. I'm off to the benefit. Quick, you coming?"
Quick slipped the three clips in their various compartments. "No, I'm going away for a few days. Hold down the fort, will you. Tell Kay I can be reached through the usual channels but don't call unless it is a life or death situation, and even then go to Donovan first." He glanced at the clock. Plane was to leave in an hour. "See you later, Val."
"Wait a minute, wait!" Val hurried after him as he left the4 office's main area. "You're leaving too?"
"I've got a friend that needs me."
Val frowned at him, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Is your friend a certain tall, grouchy, gun-happy woman with more husbands than Pamela Anderson had plastic surgery?"
Quick declined to comment as he reached the elevator and waited. Johnny and Nikki caught up with them by then and were doing their best to avoid Valerie Iron's questions.
"Quick." Val started again when the door dinged, announcing the arrival of the elevator. "Wait a minute.."
"Have fun a the benefit, Val." Nikki grinned and stepped in pulling the black hard case behind her.
"I'll be back in a few days," Johnny touched her arm and inclined his head. "Take care and I'll bring back something for you."
"Try not to cause any incidents that we need to clean up," Quick warned.
"I do not..hey!" as the door closed on her still protesting loudly.
Johnny leaned his head back against the walls of the elevator. "How did you get your grandfather to lend us the jet?"
Nikki smiled grimly. "I asked." Don Franco has yet learned to say no to his favorite granddaughter, especially faced with her obvious distress. He had eagerly turned over everything she needed, enjoying the brief moments with her. Nikki made a mental note to thank him at a later date.
Quick nodded his head. "Then let's go to Russia."
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The Owl, man of many face, grimaced as Tasha slowly peeled back the bloody mess his shirt had become over the last three days. The one that he had worn in the explosion had long since been tossed away. "How did you find me, anyways?"
"I was married to you remember? Twice." She forced herself not to wince at the sight of the raw wounds.
"How can I forget?" he swallowed the groan of pain as the scabs was peeled away. "But that still doesn't answer my." he hissed as fresh blood poured from the dozens of cuts and scratches that covered his chest.
Tasha grabbed the clean gauze and pressed it to the wounds as best she can. "You need to get to a hospital."
"They'd be watching for it," he opened his eyes slowly as the pain receded. "Did you watch yourself?"
"No one follows me unless I want them to," her brown eyes narrowed on a long gash too neat to have been from flying debris. "Knife?"
Peter made a face and sighed. "I underestimated Pietro Rumduska and his pretty faced lover. They are quite a deadly pair."
"Caught off guard?" she raised a brow and pulled the gauze away, glad to see the blood flow had stopped and clotted nicely. Searching through the backpack she had carried, she could the butterfly bandages. Peeling them, she began to apply them evenly on the wound to help close the gash.
Watching her at work, the Owl smiled. Her gentle touch was not lost to him as she examined him for more of the deeper cuts. "You should have been a nurse."
Shifted her eyes up to him for a moment, she slapped a bandage over a nasty raw area. He must have been dragged across the floor of the old plant during the blast.
"Ouch," he squeezed his eyes shut. "I take it back."
"You should have gone to a clinic at least," she said quietly, pulled the shirt from the shoulder so she could see his back. It was ever bit as bad as the front but more healed. "You could have bled to death here."
"Father Jensen took care most of the worse ones," he grunted as she cleaned some of the raw areas. "And gave me some supplies to keep me alive."
"You left a pretty messy trail up there," she commented as she finished the back. "Take off your pants."
For a moment, amusement flashed in the Owl's eyes. "Why Tasha!" The annoyed grunt from her stopped him. "All right, I'll behave." His legs were fairly free from wounds except for the expected scraps, scratches and cuts. "I didn't have much of choice up there. I was too tired to stand much less clean up after myself. I figure not enough people remember this place to make much of a difference. By the way, you still have yet to answer my earlier question. How did you find me?"
"I followed the usual path. I knew where you might go and started out there after I figured out that you made it through the blast with your head still on your shoulder." She sat back on her hunch and sighed. "For a moment there.."
Peter smiled and reached out to touch her cheek. "I didn't know that you still cared."
Tasha watched him for a moment. "I. I don't. I'm here on official U.S. business. To make sure one of their informs aren't dead in the gutter somewhere."
He tilted his head, eyes revealing his disbelief. "How did you even know about my being involved in this whole thing? I thought you were out of the spy business."
"I." she shook her head, hating that Peter was one of the few people that can make her lose her composure. "David told me."
Shutters came down over his eyes. "I thought you divorced him long ago."
For a moment, she watched him. Puzzled by his reaction, she treaded cautiously. "I did. But it doesn't mean I've cut off all communications from him." Something clicked in her mind. "Why? Why would you care?"
Something flickered in his blue eyes. "I don't."
She grinned suddenly. "Are you jealous, Peter?"
He said nothing, looking at the bag. "Anything to eat in here? I've been living on your horrible American jerky and little juice bottles."
Letting his reaction got for now, she searched through the back and pulled an apple and sandwich out for him. He took them eagerly and thanked her with a nod of his head. "As I was saying," pulling a bottle of water out and took a quick sip. "David came to me with the information. The Owl has been enough of help in the past for them to want to keep you around as long as they can. He came with a special assignment to decipher whether you were alive or dead. You know too much for certain people to not know of your condition."
"It's nice to know that I have friends around," he smiled and ran a quick hand through his much-need-of-a-wash hair. "Why you?"
"Cause I was married to you," she answered calmly, her eyes diverted by the nice array of weapons laying about him. "You were careful to plan this as your hide away."
"You can never be sure of anything," he wiped his hands on the napkin she handed him and sighed with satisfaction, first real food he's had in nearly a week.
"You well enough to get moving?"
"Where are we going?" he asked, as he allowed himself to be helped to his feet.
Tasha looked at him as if he suddenly turned dense on her. "The U.S."
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and don't know anyone that does. Suing me will probably get you the 23 cents stamp in my pocket now and nothing more than that. Summary: Tasha takes steps to confirm a rumor. Note: Okay, I knew that it was a bad idea to start a new fan fiction when there are other ones that I haven't finished yet. Can't devote enough time to any one exclusively. (sigh)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Six
"Hey, why is everyone still doing here?" Val asked as her six inches heels proceeded her. Her hot pink boa trailed after her, picking up dusts, paperclips and the occasional dropped shells that Nikki is forever loosing. "We have a benefit to go to. What do you think?" Her silver foil dress clung to ever curve and line on her body. "Do I look hot or what?"
Johnny gave her a cursory glance then nodded. "Certainly will give the environmentalists something to talk about."
"Green camaflogue was never my color," she grinned than frowned at the array of ammo that Nikki was laying out on the table. "Hey Nik, Bobby was just kidding when he said that he wanted to blow up some industrialist machines up north. Really!"
"These aren't for him," Nikki glanced up as Quick bought over the oversized black bag. "You don't expect me fit all this in that puny little thing, do you?"
Quick ignored her attempt at lightheartedness. With Johnny and Nikki's connections confirming that Tasha had taken the concord to Russia in a hush- hush mission, his gut feeling was that something had not gone right, especially when no one has heard from her in so long, not that they were actually expecting her to check in like a good little girl. "This isn't for you."
"Whoa there," Val clattered over to them. "Hey, why are you all looking like you're going to war here?"
"I need some personal time," Nikki announced then pulled the black case from under the table out and began to load the various machines of death into it. "All the specs for the next two benefits have been covered. I've asked Ovanspour's security to cover the installation. We're covered there so I'm going to take off for a few days."
"And I've asked Relic to take care of security backup for Ovanspour's people. But I don't expect there to be anything special," Quick snapped the case shut and searched himself for the amount of hardware he was carrying. Realizing that he never replaced the extra clips from their last hair-raising assignment, he went to the storage room.
Johnny grinned as he inclined his head toward Val. "I was never part of these, so I'm not putting my two cents in now. So, since I'm not part of this, I'm going to take a few personal days as well."
Val's eyes lit up as she nudged Nikki with her elbow. "You and Johnny going away on a little 'holiday,' girl?"
Nikki's head snapped up ad she blushed before she could help herself. "VAL!"
Johnny rolled his eyes but seemed completely unfazed by Val's innuendos.
"We are not going away together," Nikki protest quickly and continued to load the bag. She paused for a moment over the time-delay charges before deciding that you can never be too careful. "We are just both taking some personal time. No one said that we were doing it to each other."
"So you guys just decided to take the time off at the same time," Val nodded her head wisely. "Right, and muumuus are in fashion." She rolled her eyes but grinned with delight. "Well, have fun on your 'separate' time off and don't forget to bring presents when you come back. I'm off to the benefit. Quick, you coming?"
Quick slipped the three clips in their various compartments. "No, I'm going away for a few days. Hold down the fort, will you. Tell Kay I can be reached through the usual channels but don't call unless it is a life or death situation, and even then go to Donovan first." He glanced at the clock. Plane was to leave in an hour. "See you later, Val."
"Wait a minute, wait!" Val hurried after him as he left the4 office's main area. "You're leaving too?"
"I've got a friend that needs me."
Val frowned at him, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Is your friend a certain tall, grouchy, gun-happy woman with more husbands than Pamela Anderson had plastic surgery?"
Quick declined to comment as he reached the elevator and waited. Johnny and Nikki caught up with them by then and were doing their best to avoid Valerie Iron's questions.
"Quick." Val started again when the door dinged, announcing the arrival of the elevator. "Wait a minute.."
"Have fun a the benefit, Val." Nikki grinned and stepped in pulling the black hard case behind her.
"I'll be back in a few days," Johnny touched her arm and inclined his head. "Take care and I'll bring back something for you."
"Try not to cause any incidents that we need to clean up," Quick warned.
"I do not..hey!" as the door closed on her still protesting loudly.
Johnny leaned his head back against the walls of the elevator. "How did you get your grandfather to lend us the jet?"
Nikki smiled grimly. "I asked." Don Franco has yet learned to say no to his favorite granddaughter, especially faced with her obvious distress. He had eagerly turned over everything she needed, enjoying the brief moments with her. Nikki made a mental note to thank him at a later date.
Quick nodded his head. "Then let's go to Russia."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Owl, man of many face, grimaced as Tasha slowly peeled back the bloody mess his shirt had become over the last three days. The one that he had worn in the explosion had long since been tossed away. "How did you find me, anyways?"
"I was married to you remember? Twice." She forced herself not to wince at the sight of the raw wounds.
"How can I forget?" he swallowed the groan of pain as the scabs was peeled away. "But that still doesn't answer my." he hissed as fresh blood poured from the dozens of cuts and scratches that covered his chest.
Tasha grabbed the clean gauze and pressed it to the wounds as best she can. "You need to get to a hospital."
"They'd be watching for it," he opened his eyes slowly as the pain receded. "Did you watch yourself?"
"No one follows me unless I want them to," her brown eyes narrowed on a long gash too neat to have been from flying debris. "Knife?"
Peter made a face and sighed. "I underestimated Pietro Rumduska and his pretty faced lover. They are quite a deadly pair."
"Caught off guard?" she raised a brow and pulled the gauze away, glad to see the blood flow had stopped and clotted nicely. Searching through the backpack she had carried, she could the butterfly bandages. Peeling them, she began to apply them evenly on the wound to help close the gash.
Watching her at work, the Owl smiled. Her gentle touch was not lost to him as she examined him for more of the deeper cuts. "You should have been a nurse."
Shifted her eyes up to him for a moment, she slapped a bandage over a nasty raw area. He must have been dragged across the floor of the old plant during the blast.
"Ouch," he squeezed his eyes shut. "I take it back."
"You should have gone to a clinic at least," she said quietly, pulled the shirt from the shoulder so she could see his back. It was ever bit as bad as the front but more healed. "You could have bled to death here."
"Father Jensen took care most of the worse ones," he grunted as she cleaned some of the raw areas. "And gave me some supplies to keep me alive."
"You left a pretty messy trail up there," she commented as she finished the back. "Take off your pants."
For a moment, amusement flashed in the Owl's eyes. "Why Tasha!" The annoyed grunt from her stopped him. "All right, I'll behave." His legs were fairly free from wounds except for the expected scraps, scratches and cuts. "I didn't have much of choice up there. I was too tired to stand much less clean up after myself. I figure not enough people remember this place to make much of a difference. By the way, you still have yet to answer my earlier question. How did you find me?"
"I followed the usual path. I knew where you might go and started out there after I figured out that you made it through the blast with your head still on your shoulder." She sat back on her hunch and sighed. "For a moment there.."
Peter smiled and reached out to touch her cheek. "I didn't know that you still cared."
Tasha watched him for a moment. "I. I don't. I'm here on official U.S. business. To make sure one of their informs aren't dead in the gutter somewhere."
He tilted his head, eyes revealing his disbelief. "How did you even know about my being involved in this whole thing? I thought you were out of the spy business."
"I." she shook her head, hating that Peter was one of the few people that can make her lose her composure. "David told me."
Shutters came down over his eyes. "I thought you divorced him long ago."
For a moment, she watched him. Puzzled by his reaction, she treaded cautiously. "I did. But it doesn't mean I've cut off all communications from him." Something clicked in her mind. "Why? Why would you care?"
Something flickered in his blue eyes. "I don't."
She grinned suddenly. "Are you jealous, Peter?"
He said nothing, looking at the bag. "Anything to eat in here? I've been living on your horrible American jerky and little juice bottles."
Letting his reaction got for now, she searched through the back and pulled an apple and sandwich out for him. He took them eagerly and thanked her with a nod of his head. "As I was saying," pulling a bottle of water out and took a quick sip. "David came to me with the information. The Owl has been enough of help in the past for them to want to keep you around as long as they can. He came with a special assignment to decipher whether you were alive or dead. You know too much for certain people to not know of your condition."
"It's nice to know that I have friends around," he smiled and ran a quick hand through his much-need-of-a-wash hair. "Why you?"
"Cause I was married to you," she answered calmly, her eyes diverted by the nice array of weapons laying about him. "You were careful to plan this as your hide away."
"You can never be sure of anything," he wiped his hands on the napkin she handed him and sighed with satisfaction, first real food he's had in nearly a week.
"You well enough to get moving?"
"Where are we going?" he asked, as he allowed himself to be helped to his feet.
Tasha looked at him as if he suddenly turned dense on her. "The U.S."