SourPop1004: Here I am with chapter 8! Hehe…not much to say right now. See you guys at the bottom. I hope you enjoy.
PS. Someone had a question about Sakura and her betrayal last chapter. Um…Jack(Jacque) really was Sakura's fiancé until he cheated on her. The past and everything really did happen. It was just that when Fang planned the scene, Jack was at the wrong end of the bargain. He didn't know he was going to get killed, but for Sakura, she really didn't care cause she hated him so much already. There, question cleared so lets move on. Enjoy!
The Salsa Dancer
By: Me!
Sakura sat in a white straw chair. She pulled her knees closer to her chest as she stared out into fields of orchards. Under the white sun, men and women were in the fields picking fruits and placing them into large round baskets. From where she was, they all looked like little ants. The gentle glows that flooded the white kitchen played with the display of crystal cups and bowls in Rosa's, their chief housekeeper, private collection cupboard. Tiny rainbows danced all around the large kitchen. Sakura closed her eyes and leaned back.
The thoughts of Syaoran waved around in her head. His words to her from their last meeting were still fresh in her mind. They kept making her question what she did and whom she was doing it for. Could that insignificant man be right in any way? Sakura pondered some more until her brows furrowed together in frustration. This was NOT exactly what a young adult in her early twenties usually think about. She longed to be normal, whatever that meant. Yet she knew better. When she had been taken that moment when she was just 10, she knew and accepted that nothing would ever be the same. Her mind wandered off until it came across a violet-haired woman. Tomoyo Daidouji. She longed to talk to this woman, her past friend. Sakura mustered all her will to keep the thoughts of Tomoyo out of her head. Tomoyo was the only person that linked her to her past and yet here she was, not being able to do anything because of what she did. There was it again. The question of what she did. Was it wrong? Was it right? Sakura couldn't believe the mental conflict she was having with herself. It already had been at least 2 months since her last meeting with Syaoran.
Sakura bolted out of the comfortable position she was in and quickly stormed down the halls towards the stairs. She went upstairs and again down a long hall. When she found the right door in the row of doors, she opened it and walked in. She looked around the large gym. In the center was a large mat with a punch bag in the center. Mirrors surrounded the room from wall to wall. Sakura walked over to the center of the mat and gave the bag a hard punch. The bag swung back and forth jingling the chains that it hung by. Sakura gave it a hard kick. The bag swung again. Sakura stopped it with both hands and leaned her forehead on the cool surface of the bag. Finding the frustration inside her again, she jumped back from the back and started to rain multiple blows at the bag. Perspiration flew from her face as she continued to pound down on the helpless bag. After a few moments, Sakura stopped. The room echoed of sharp intakes of breaths. Sakura slid to the floor as she stared down at the mat. Where are those tears when you need them?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Syaoran sat in his office doing the usual file work. He had been yelled at endlessly these past weeks after the escape of Sakura Kinomoto, but things had gone back to normal. The CIA and the government were in shambles. How could one woman screw a whole nation? He did not understand.
Lately, the nuclear vault that was in threat was under extra protection and guarding. The reason things were so quiet was partly because Yoritomo was away on business and mostly because he was away in a meeting with the military generals discussing a way to solve this mess. So everyone hoped that there would soon be a solution to this 'little' problem.
Syaoran thought back to what he had said to her and what she had told him. He still couldn't believe how bitter she was. He tried to push all his thoughts away and went turned back to the stack of files on his desk. He tried drowning himself in work but looked up when there was a knock on the door. The glass door opened and Jessie walked in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura was still sitting on the mat after an hour. Her tears still hadn't come. Was she a monster that couldn't cry or feel? Or was she meant to be the top agent. The best as she had put it. She looked up from the ground when she heard someone in the doorway. Josh was leaning on the frame of the door with a smile.
"Hey Chica."
"Hey." Sakura forced a smile on to her pale face.
"What you doing there all alone?" Josh walked over to where Sakura was sitting and sat down next to her.
"Just thinking and stuff." There was momentary silence.
"Are you thinking about Agent Li?" Josh questioned through the silent room. Sakura looked at him with a quizzical look.
"What?"
"Did anything happen? Did he do anything to you?" Josh kept questioning and Sakura just sat there stunned.
"Wh-what? Why would he do anything to me?" Sakura asked.
"When I saw you and him in Paris, I saw the way he looked at you."
"Looked at me how? Josh, you're going crazy over nothing. Nothing happened. Why would anything happen? I think you're overreacting." Sakura laughed but she was in deep thought. Her mind was about to wander off again when she felt him hug her tightly. She was speechless. "Umm…Josh, you ok?" Sakura asked weakly, not knowing what to say. He pulled away from her and stared into her eyes. She was about to ask him what was wrong but was stopped when he placed his mouth over hers. Sakura's eyes widened and her mind fell into shambles. She was about to pull away when Josh beat her to it. He wobbled and got up. He stared down at her with blank eyes.
"Papito wants to talk to you in his meeting room." He simply replied and walked out of the room.
Sakura was left on the mat confused and for the first time, in a violent tornado of emotions. Why did she want to pull away? Was it because Josh was too much of a family? (Just a side note, they are NOT related. Eww…) Or was it because of Syaoran? Why did she feel like she was cheating on Syaoran when in fact she had nothing to do with the man?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Fang was sitting at the head of the table. Around him were other men representing various countries all over the world. When Sakura entered, they all looked towards her way. Josh was already seated at the corner of the room with a palm pilot. Fang stood up and motioned for Sakura to come closer.
"I want you all to greet my daughter and our top agent, Cereza." Fang introduced Sakura. Sakura smiled and lightly bowed.
"Please, have a seat next to Josh." Sakura obeyed and sat down in an empty chair next to Josh. There was an awkward tension between her and Josh. Sakura didn't like it. Sakura diverted her attention back to Fang when he spoke up. "Gentlemen, I am here to give you a chance to align with me. As you all already know, I have in possession all three keys that open the vault in D.C. I am sure I can penetrate and seize the nuclear weapons, so all I ask is for your alliance. Now, you do understand that this really is NOT a choice you can make. You either join and safely wake up every morning or not wake up at all. And I'm sure that would be very displeasing. If death is far too painless in my eyes, I have everything in the world to torture you. With the information I was able to obtain thanks to my top agent, public humiliation and black mail will surely drive out your business clients of any sort. To put it blandly, that is." Fang smiled evilly.
"Why us?" One man asked.
"Well, you each have a special connection that I would very much like to use. For example, trading ports, armies, technology, the whole works. In simpler terms, you all have something to offer me. In return, out of the goodness of my heart, you each will receive 7.5% of all my profits as you can see in that portfolio I have provided you. I do not wish to be remembered as cruel. If it takes sharing my profit, so be it." Fang explained with a velvety voice.
"Alright, but what do intend on doing with your weapons?" A Chinese man asked.
"I am about to create the world's most lethal and largest black market. I will do as I please with all the weapons but I know of a certain buyer in the Middle East that is dying to get his hands on one of the nuclear bombs. Of course, I would have the upper hand in all deals, because, as you already know, when I say no one will ever double cross me, NO ONE will double cross me. I will not specify for I believe all this information is private." Fang looked around. "That is all I will say. Please, take the portfolios and read it over. I would like every portfolio back to me by 3 p.m. tomorrow signed. Also, if I find that anyone of you has contacted the police or any other authority, I will be forced to dispose you. Have a good afternoon Gentlemen. Refreshments and snacks will be served downstairs." Fang motioned for the two guards at the door. The two led the group of men down the hall and stairs to the dining area.
Fang turned to Josh and Sakura.
"Cereza, I will assemble a small force to accompany you to D.C. I will send a large backup undercover. Tomorrow, we take control of the world." Fang gave her a look of power and strength before walking out of the room.
Sakura stared and sat down again. Josh was still quiet writing down all info in his palm pilot.
"So everything leads up to here." Sakura quietly commented.
Josh set down his palm pilot on his lap and looked up at her. "I guess you could say that." Sakura turned to look at him.
"Do you think we'll come out of this alive?" Sakura asked barely over a whisper.
"We always do, Chica. We always do." Josh answered trying to sooth her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To put in light words, the CIA and D.C. were in frantic confusion and fear. True that it had been a month or two but they all knew Fang would strike. Everyone regretted not arresting Fang earlier. If only they had broken the rule of innocent until proven guilty they all wouldn't be in this mess. But they couldn't change what has already been done. So the best they could do was pray and hope that they would be able to stop this.
Syaoran, Tano, Jessie, and Yoritomo had flown to D.C. to meet with the country's generals and president. Currently, they were all at a meeting.
"Mr. President, we really need to take action now. Who knows when Fang and his men will attack the vault? Our country is at stake here!" A general shouted.
"I know General Miller. With our minds all worked up, we may cause a flaw in our planning and that will do us no good. Please, quell your anger. We must devise a plan to bring Mr. Lobo down. For all we know, he may attack tomorrow, today, any day. So I propose that we send a group to Colombia and triple the guard of the vault." The president firmly stated and everyone agreed. "We will get to work as soon as possible. Our CIA department will mainly be in charge of a team to Colombia. I want all your men to be ready for a war." He turned to Yoritomo and then to the generals.
All of them nodded and split into different directions. Soon as the meeting ended, people immediately started ringing up their cell phones and started yelling out directions. If all fails, they all knew war was their last resort.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun hadn't even risen, yet the mansion was a bustle. Today was the day history would be made. A history of a conquest. A conquest of the world.
In the secret base of Fang's mansion, Sakura and a large group of men were all ready to begin the day. They were all in black jumpsuits with guns and utility belts. Sakura was in a pair of tight black pants, black leather lace-up boots (the ones she usually wears: pointed tips with sharp heels. Yay! ^_^), black turtleneck, black sunglasses, a pair of black leather gloves, and a long black leather coat that almost touched the ground (Think Matrix ^_~). She strapped a gun and knife around her right thigh and placed a black holster around her and let it hang on the side of her chest under her coat. (The ones that cops use.) Blood would be spilled today and she would be part of it all. Sakura didn't like to kill without a purpose but it was her job. It was time for her game face. Today would be the riskiest mission yet for her but it wasn't anything unmanageable. It was the job that made her strong. It was the job that made her emotionless. It was the job that made her the best. The job was a good thing. Right?
The mob of men were splitting into groups and getting into their choppers.
"I want the least men aboard on choppers 2,3,5, and 6!" Sakura's voice rang through the large warehouse.
Sakura got into a private one with Josh beside her. He was dressed the same: all black with a leather coat, sunglasses, and a thin laptop in his right hand. As the large metal doors opened, choppers hovered and flew out of the base one by one. Sakura's chopper was the 3rd to go from the 12. They did have more men but the rest were coming only if back up was needed. As the blades of the chopper spun faster and faster, kicking up dust form the base floor, Sakura's golden hair flipped around wildly in its ponytail high on top of her head. Yes, she had decided to change back to her true self for this mission for it was probably her last. If they were to succeed in acquiring the nuclear weapons, the world would be under Fang's control and there would be no use of her to do anything like regular missions. It was true that the UN would put up a fight against them but what the world doesn't realize is that when Fang takes control, every bloody criminal of any sort would rise to roam freely in their new empire. Of course, Fang would make sure they were all in line but it was still a frightening thought. To unleash such unpleasantries was a dangerous move, yes it was, but she had confidence that her 'father' would reign supremacy. At the thought of her last and most important mission, Sakura smiled. Josh looked at her.
"What are you smiling at?" Josh asked.
"You do realize whether we succeed or fail today, this will probably be our last mission?" Sakura asked with curved lips as she pulled down her sunglasses and peered over them.
"Yeah?" Josh answered a smile creeping up the corners of his lips.
"So lets make this last one look damn good." Sakura pushed back her glasses and her lips stretched into a larger smile at the sight of Josh laughing.
The raid of choppers flew over the clear blue ocean just as the morning lights sailed across the water to reach the sleeping civilians up ahead. Boy, were they in for a surprise.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The president, generals, and any other representatives of the government were in a large room at the Pentagon for their last meeting before taking separate actions. They were in deep conversation when a man in an army jump suit rushed into the room. The door burst open with a loud bang and the young man was panting uncontrollably. One of the generals, seeing that the young man was from his division, stood up.
"What is it Officer?" The general demanded.
The officer kept panting until he caught his breath and screamed out. "They're coming! Our radar located them off the coast of the Atlantic. They'll be here in 20 minutes!"
The room burst in gasps and shouts. Men ran around frantically with directions.
"I want you to lock your targets on the choppers. NOW! Tell Alane to use the base guns at Port 132." One general yelled out. Quickly, the young man ran out of the room to distribute his orders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura's smile disappeared when she heard one of the pilots in another chopper over the intercom.
"We have a situation here. Enemy has spotted us. We are being fired upon. Break formation, now!" The man shouted.
Immediately the group parted and split into different directions. Sakura took off her seatbelt and jumped to the front seat where she quickly signaled for the other choppers.
"Formation 53. Chopper 3,5, and 6, target lock at 23 degrees down. Look for the source of the fire! Now! Now!" Sakura shouted instructions into the communicator.
Quickly, four planes fell out of the commanded formation and the fired down bellow. After a few seconds, the smoke cleared and the base where the fires were coming from was in ruins. Sakura smiled. She knew this was only the beginning and they had already lost a chopper, which held 7 people. Only 10 more choppers remained to complete this mission.
"Good job boys, but this is only the beginning. Prepare yourselves." Sakura warned.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Sir, our base on Port 132 is down. Now what?" The woman named Alane looked up at her general as she sat watching the computer screen. Men and women were busy all around them running around and shouting out codes.
"I'm sure that they'll fly over the building the vault is in. That leaves us time for a last attempt of an air strike. In the mean time I want a large force set up to guard the vault. Get Captain Grayson on the line."
Alane nodded and hooked up a call. Captain Grayson was on speaker.
"Yes General?"
"We need an air strike within 10 minutes. Can we arrange it?"
"Like old times, Houston. Like old times."
"We need your men to try and lure them away from the city."
"My men will be there in 5." The speaker turned off.
General Houston gave a rueful smile. They would all survive or die trying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a couple of minutes, Sakura peered down at the city below. She watched as tiny little figures of people evacuated the city. This was it. Her mission was nearing. Her attention quickly darted to the sound in the sky. When she looked up, she saw 5 jet planes coming their way. 'Damn it…' she thought bitterly. She grabbed the communicator and spoke into it.
"Listen up. I want choppers 2,3, and 5 to distract the planes. The rest of us will try to get to the building. We'll call for extra aid. 2,3, and 5, try to hold out as long as you can. We just need to be in the air for 5 more minutes." Sakura hooked the mic back onto the devise and turned to Josh.
"I'm already calling. We just have to worry about making it to the building."
Missiles whistled though the air as it barely hit a chopper. As one of the jet planes whisked by, a gunman in the chopper shot with a machinegun. A row of holes striped the side of the enemy plane until finally, a few seconds after the hit, the plane exploded into a huge black smoke with orange flames sailing through the sky.
Sakura watched as the three choppers succeeded in distracting the 5 planes. To her dismay, 2 of them came chasing after the ramaining choppers.
"Release the missiles!" Sakura shouted again into the communicator. Missiles shot through the air as it stroke the surprised enemy. Another plane blew up into smithereens and smoke proceeded to cloud the sky. As a total, 5 choppers were down by the time they destroyed all the enemy planes. Only 6 left to carryout this mission. Sakura knew it'd be a while before back up would successfully reach them. They were hovering over the building. Who would have thought the vault would be disguised under a large clothing company? Each chopper rolled dozens of coils of rope. Men with their armed selves flew down the rope and landed on the roof of the building with thuds.
The men assembled into neat rows waiting for Sakura and Josh to come. When they arrived and landed, the men had their guns in position.
"You all know what to do. Good luck and may we see each other at the end of this." Sakura announced.
The men kicked down the door that led to the stairs that would lead them inside the building. As security poured out onto the roof in an attempt to stop the attacks, they were all shot and dead before anyone could say anything. Sakura winced as men lay dead on the ground but pushed the feeling away. This was the one time her emotionless self was needed the most.
Her army cleared her and Josh's way down the stairs and into the building. Even though she was well protected by the army behind her and in front of her, she still had her gun out. (Imagine the movie Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. Lucy Lu looks really good in that movie. I'm basing Sakura after her.)
By the time they reached the main floor after fending off all the security, to her relief, their back up had come. As more men rushed in, more security and guard met them. Sakura and Josh and a small group for security left the blood scene and made their way to the elevator that would lead them down to the vault.
"Can you disconnect it?" Sakura asked turning to Josh.
"Give me a sec. This is a lot more advanced than I thought. There are sensors all the way down the tunnel and if anyone so much as breathes too loudly, we'll be locked in. and there are no stairs." Josh continued to wildly type away at his laptop. (The elevator thing was an idea from Ocean's Eleven. I love that movie. Hehe…) "Ok, from what I can tell, the two metal doors that trap us can be blown up but the thing is within that small space, we'll be blown away too, so any ideas? We need to think fast." Josh looked up at Sakura.
She thought for a second before taking charge once more. "Is there a way we can cut the sensors?"
"Hmm…got it! Everyone listen up. I'll reprogram the elevator so every 2 minutes the sensors shut off for exactly the amount of time taken for the ride to make it down to the vault. Soon as you arrive, hurry and get out. So, get into small groups and ride down the elevator. We'll be going first. Lets move it!" Josh shouted over the loud shouts and gun shots.
"Won't they just manually shut the elevator while we're on our way down?" Sakura asked.
"They won't. Our men took care of the technician operator on this floor. I'm not sure about the ones downstairs but all we can do is hope."
When the elevator opened, Josh and Sakura stepped in with two other officers and made their way down to the vault. Sakura was reloading her shotgun. With the click telling her it was loaded, Sakura patiently waited for the metal doors to slide open.
"Everyone, hide to the side, their security will be coming in."
An officer and Josh put their back to one side of the elevator while Sakura and the other officer did the same on the opposite side of the elevator. Sakura heard the officers and Josh getting their guns ready. When the metal doors slid open, instantly, from outside, bullets battered the back wall of the elevator. When the guns stopped, Sakura jumped out and shot every guard square on their chests. The four quickly stepped out of the elevator so it could make its second trip up. The four watched as more men ran their way with guns. Quickly, they ran to the side in search of a hiding place. Sakura jumped behind a wall of crates. Her breath quickened but not enough to be called adrenaline. She quickly ran out of her hiding place and shot her gun. Seeing the men all fall to the floor, she ran over to the nearest body and took a gun from the man's cold hand. When she saw more men spot her and run after her, she quickly ran for cover.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"They've already broken though and are right in front of the vault! Now what?" A man shouted through a phone. General Houston felt panic run over him.
"I want more men down there. We must protect the vault with all we've got. And get me Yoritomo on the phone."
After the man hung up, Yoritomo was soon on the phone. "Yoritomo, I want you to assemble some men and go after Fang himself." After a few minutes of talking, they hung up. Soon, a group would be flying over to Colombia to personally take out Fang. General Houston rubbed his temples as a headache was quickly spreading. This was going to be long and hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After 20 minutes of blood and sweat, all the guards were down.
"Come on Josh, we need to get this done with!" Sakura shouted.
Josh ran over to the vault as he whipped out his laptop. "Got the keys?"
Sakura took out two white plastic card keys and a pendant. She handed it to Josh who placed them into the slots on the metal panel. The red light turned yellow. Now they needed handprints of the three men. Josh fumbled in his inner pockets for something. Sakura's lips curved.
"You better have not lost them." Sakura warned jokingly.
"Nope, got 'em right here." Josh pulled out three rubber gloves. "Put 'em on."
The two put the glove on their right hands.
"We need a third person. We can't reach the two of the panels." Sakura looked around and called for a standing officer.
When they built the vault, they made it so a single person couldn't reach two of the hand print panels at the same time. Also, to clear the final security, they had to press at the same time on the first try or else the alarm would go off and they'd be trapped in the building.
An officer with a wounded leg dragged himself over to where Sakura and Josh were. As he neared, Sakura ran to help him. The man still has his helmet on and it covered his face.
"Come on, you can do it." Sakura encouraged. She placed the glove on his right hand and helped him to stand up. "Ok, on the count of three, we place out hands." Everyone nodded. "One…two…three!" The three placed their hands on the panels and the neon blue light scanned the hands. After a few seconds, the yellow light turned green and that was that.
"Chica, I need to be here so the vault doesn't shut on you. You know what to do once inside. If you need help, just call." Josh smiled as he hooked up his laptop to the panel. Sakura bent down and kissed his cheek.
"I'll be back." Sakura got up and ran in as the heavy metal doors opened. The officer looked blankly at Josh.
"Go in with her. She might need some help or something." Josh answered. He watched as the officers went in after her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"They're in sir. Now what?" Alane turned her worried face towards the general.
"Damn it! There isn't anything we can do. We can't attack them for we know it might cause a chain reaction that might set off the nuclear bomb. There isn't anything for us to do then wait for news from the Colombia mission." He plopped down into an empty seat as he rubbed the back of his head. This was not good at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An over stuffed armchair was facing the roaring fire. The door to Fang's private office broke down as a team of armed men rushed in. They carefully approached the chair as the flames danced wildly casting shadows on the walls. One of the men put his gun closer to his chest as he prepared to shoot. When he jumped in front of the chair, no one was there. The man looked surprised and dumfound. His eyes soon widened at the sight of an old fashioned clock. The second hand ticked as it neared 12.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sakura had perched her glasses on top of her head and was working on reprogramming the control board for the missiles. Sakura's attention turned when she heard the wounded officer enter. Sakura turned back and continued to work. After a few seconds, she was done. She got up from her bent position and faced the officer. Sakura walked past to officer when he grabbed her arm. She turned to look up at the tall man.
"What are you doing?" Sakura asked forcefully. She watched as the man took off his helmet and dropped it to the floor. The helmet fell with a plastic sound as it hit the floor. "Wha-?" Sakura was confused as she peered up at a man in his early 30s or late 20s. Something about the man was familiar to her. She kept staring into his face with confusion, fear, and sorrow. She felt her eyes water for some reason. A tear rolled down her smooth cheek. The officer brushed them away with his thumb.
"Don't cry." The officer replied as he hugged her. Sakura just stood there dazed.
SourPop1004: Chapter 8 is done! Phew…haha…I know I ended in a cliffy. I hate cliffhangers but this seemed right and it would give me a reason for chapter 9. Hehe…anyway, I have no idea how to end the story at this point. Anyway, this chapter was indeed action, action, action. A rush of drama at the end and blah blah. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I assure you S+S will come sooner or later. Hehe…Anyway, if you have any suggestions, questions, or guesses on who this mysterious officer is, put it in your review or e-mail me at xxgodslight012xx@aol.com. See you guys next chapter!
PS. Chapter 11 is coming along nicely. Thank you all so much for reviewing and waiting.
PPS. Um…the kiss I threw into this chapter was completely random but didn't any of you get the impression that Josh kind of likes Sakura? Anyway…yeah. Enough talk. Check you later!