*3*

It had taken closer to two hours to get near her place due to an accident on their route that they had only partially been able to bypass. The weather had gotten progressively worse, not a blizzard, but one hell of a storm. The big sticky flakes had turned into small hard wind driven spikes of near ice, coating everything and turning the roadways into a dangerous sheet of smooth glass, that even the tires of hundreds of cars couldn't keep warm enough to prevent it from hardening.

Graywolf, after consulting with the two other agents, had stopped at a deli near Alyx's place and picked up an assortment of foodstuffs, as he was unsure what she had on hand. Her place turned out be a quiet, small apartment complex that catered to those in top-level government work. It was secure, guarded, and designed to reduce the potential for spies. Lots of trees to block views, thick walls to reduce sounds being transmitted, thick glass in the windows that had both shutters and heavy curtains, built in security -- top of the line, Darien noted -- that even Bobby had grunted in approval of. The place was wired for high-end computer systems with regular and secure lines. Everything a government employee could want. For Alyx it was also good because the community was small and somewhat out of the way. Quieter for her both mentally and physically. Plus, given her odd hours, she was less likely to disturb her neighbors.

She had slept through the entire ride to her place and had to be woken once they arrived. Darien had been tempted to let her sleep and just carry her inside, but Graywolf had been able to wake her with a few words in some language Darien didn't recognize, though she had grumbled about it. Then, once they got inside, she started blowing up things. Light bulbs for the most part, and she didn't even have to be turning them on. Growling in irritation at herself she made a beeline for the kitchen to make some coffee as soon as coats had been hung and damp shoes placed near a radiator in the hallway to dry.

There was yet another distinctive pop and the sound of glass hitting the tiled floor. "Ah hell," Alyx snarled from the kitchen.

"Sil..." Gray shook his head and got up and moved from the dining room where they'd been eating the lunch they'd picked up, to go see what had happened, or what she had managed to destroy this time.

A few minutes later Gray pushed open the swinging door that led to the kitchen from the dining room and held it while Alyx walked through carrying a mug of coffee. She now paraded around barefoot on the smooth warm wood of her floor. She sat down across from Darien and sighed in irritation.

"I killed the fluorescent this time." She sipped the coffee. "It has got to be the weather, my control is never this bad."

"Eat," Gray all but ordered.

"Not now. Too nauseous. Later, I promise." She tipped her head up to face him and, after taking a moment to look her over, he nodded.

Perching on the chair next to Alyx, Gray caught Bobby's eye. "The city is shutting down, including the government offices. Even our assassin, if he's in town, isn't going anywhere tonight."

"Speaking of that, how are we supposed to figure out who we're looking for with no info?" It wasn't that Darien had no experience with this type of scenario, but they'd always had some sort of clue or lead to start with. With the Chameleon there had been the girlfriend, Layla. With Forester Perdue, his dad, there had been, much like this time, the assassination threat, but with more details. With that senator's daughter, there had been that string of accidents both on and off the movie set to follow along with the money trail. In the Brookman case there had been the poison to trace. Always something. "We can't just watch this Keller 24/7 and hope we spot the guy before he pulls the trigger or whatever his preferred method is."

"Actually we could, but that's probably what Morris and his cronies are going to do. I'm betting the kid here has a way to find our guy." Hobbes leaned back in his seat feeling well fed and confident. "Like I told you, we have all the info we need. Don't we, kid?"

"Enough to narrow the field anyway," Alyx agreed. She couldn't help but feel the irritation crawling through Darien. Some of the subtler aspects of the job still slipped past him on occasion. "Dare, what did Franklin say our target was doing when he went AWOL?"

"Uh, spying in China. Why?" He hated when he realized he was missing something... something usually very obvious.

"Well, as you pointed out, a corn-fed white boy would stand out." Alyx laid out the precious crumb, certain he'd catch on with little trouble.

Darien thought about it for a moment, then groaned at himself. "So the guy has to be Chinese, of course."

"Or close enough in looks to pass, plus he'd need to be fluent in the language, the behavior patterns, the works. He'd need to blend in perfectly," Hobbes added, crossing his arms across his chest.

"And it has to be a 'he.' Women are still considered second class citizens in China. More so now than 15 years ago," Graywolf put in. "That narrows our field dramatically."

"Fifteen years ago... That's like Reagan era, Tiananmen Square and all. Right?" Darien was talking more to himself, but the others nodded in agreement.

"Thereabouts," Graywolf confirmed. "We'll set up a search to try and find a match for our target and second one to get more intel on this Keller. Maybe figure out why he's being targeted."

"Yeah, they were more than a little reluctant to part with any information on either man." Bobby's suspicions having finally found a way to the surface he shared them with the rest, hoping he'd get some agreement. "Did you pick up anything, kid?"

"Not really. It's obvious they know more, but I was not willing to probe deeply to find out what. Not everyone knows what I can do and we'd like to keep it that way." Alyx finished her coffee and pushed herself to her feet. The headache was still pounding away, but not as painfully, just a dull throbbing that she could ignore for the most part. "Come on, I'll show you my set up."

They followed along as she led the way deeper into her apartment. The place was good-sized at about 1200 square feet of space, though only sparingly decorated. There were a pair of bedrooms, one obviously hers and the second had been turned into an office. The windows shuttered heavily from the inside as a precaution. Not perfect security wise, but not bad either. She had a sofa that Bobby was willing to bet hid a bed, several file cabinets, and a desk that filled one wall. There were two monitors, assorted keyboards and peripherals -- the usual crap -- three tower style computers and, finally her laptop. He was betting the computers were daisy chained together and could run multiple functions at once much like the ones in the Keep. Alyx had never been known for doing things halfway.

"Which way, Sil?" Gray asked, as he sat in what was obviously his chair.

"Have the main run the target, that search is gonna need the power. I'll have the laptop research Keller, his records should be far more public." She powered up the laptop and watched as Bobby began poking about the room. "Make sure to use the secure line, Gray."

"Of course." He was already tapping keys to access the various databases where the info they were looking for might be hidden. "I'm going to need your access code."

Alyx nodded as she set up the search for background data on Keller. They should have hits within minutes for him. The other would probably take hours. When Gray signaled, her she keyed in her password, and was granted access to several very top-secret databases, but there were others even she couldn't get into. With her security clearance anyway. If necessary she'd force her way in to get the information they needed.

Bobby made a few suggestions for search parameters and then it was just a matter of waiting to see what, if any, hits the computer made. The laptop had preliminary information for them within 20 minutes. Keller had been in government service one way or another since graduating from college. Nothing spectacular, or so it seemed. Large portions seemed to be glossed over; his stint in the CIA, for example. The information was mostly classified -- not surprising -- but usually there would mentions of units, bosses, etceteras, but there was nothing. Like it had been removed or something. Her access should get her at least basic information on what he'd been doing, though not the more detailed field reports and the like, but she was coming up blank and she didn't like it one little bit.

After the CIA he moved to the Trade Representative doing research for various projects, though for some odd reason the details were, again, unavailable. He moved up in the ranks until just recently appointed to the State Department and was currently working on project to broaden treaties and trade agreements with the Chinese government. A thankless job given the current state of affairs in that country and the deep depression their economy had fallen into recently.

The conditions in the country had deteriorated rapidly in the last four or five years and the current government seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact. Information Alyx had run into through the intelligence community suggested the situation in China was worse than that during the Cold War years in the USSR. She growled softly and turned away from the screen, hoping that if she gave it some more time something of actual use would magically appear, but it was looking like leg work was going to be needed to find anything on this Keller. There had to be a paper trail somewhere all they had to do was find it.

"Half this intel is crap," Bobby complained, looking over her shoulder at the information.

"I'm not surprised," Gray rumbled from a few feet away. "I met the man several years ago. You can almost smell the secrets he hides." He had spun the chair around to look about the room. "If the search doesn't pan out I might know of someone to call."

"Huh. I had a feeling you would. You've worked out of D. C. for a while haven't you?" Bobby turned from the computer and walked across the room to lean against one of the file cabinets.

"Over 10 years. I know my way around and my share of skeletons." He shrugged. "It's unavoidable."

"What's this unit you put together called?" Darien asked from where he was slumped on the sofa. He had pushed up his sleeves and was resting on his right hand, the tattoo easily visible.

"Mirage," Gray told them, and saw the look on Bobby's face. "Yeah, same name, but that group was considered defunct in the early 70s. Names get recycled."

"And it was shorter than 'Smoke and Mirrors'." Alyx got to her feet and stretched, her back popping softly. "The name fits and it's accurate for what we do."

"You mentioned you had two other 'gifted' people. What does that mean?" Hobbes grabbed a nearby folding chair, set it up, and sat down in it backwards.

"We have a psychometrist and a far-seer, uh ... you'd call him a remote-viewer." Alyx sank down next to Darien feeling tired. The nap had helped to ease the headache, but she needed several hours of real sleep to recharge. It was looking like she might actually get it tonight, as no one was going anywhere until the weather broke and the crews got a chance to find the roads under the layers of snow and ice that were falling from the heavens.

"Okay, I've heard of remote viewing; various governments 'round the world have done work with that. Real big back in the 50s and 60s, but what's a psycho-whatsis?" Hobbes didn't seem all that surprised, considering all he'd seen over the years, and more recently since working with Darien and herself, he was taking it in stride.

"They read objects. Right?" Darien turned slightly to look at Alyx. "Kinda like how you read people."

"Exactly right. Both had been using their abilities on the sly and Sil somehow figured it out. Asked them if they'd be interested in working together." He turned back to the computer for a moment. "Sil, I need that code, again."

Alyx got to her feet and joined him, typing in an access code that a lot of people didn't know she had and that she made sure to use only on rare occasions. When she finished she stood and leaned back against the desk, pressed lightly against Gray's side. "I don't know if I can explain it. They just... feel different. There were a few others, but Cowan and Stiles came across as the most approachable. Not everyone is comfortable, or willing, to admit they have gifts that make them a bit different."

"What good is the set-up? I mean, how do the three of you work together?" Darien was truly curious.

Alyx grinned. "Working with you two gave me the idea. Look, we get a piece of evidence and Stiles can verify if it came from our target, or can read, say, the walls of a location and learn if our target has been there. Cowan can see over long distances. Can and has told us if our target is present or not, depending on need, thus allowing me to get in and do whatever the current job requires. Better than audio and video spy crap and far less likely to be discovered or jammed."

Darien had begun to nod about half way through seeing the sense of the set up and how well those talents could work together. "But what about him?" He waved at Graywolf, wondering how the 'ordinary' partners fit into the mix.

"We protect them. We're not exactly handlers or Keepers, per se, but some of the functions are similar. When Cowan does his seeing he goes into a trance-like state and is very vulnerable. His partner guards him and relays the information. Often Cowan is nowhere near the actual location." Gray locked eyes with Bobby. "You understand, yes?"

"Yeah, I get it. Which explains why they picked you for the kid. When she goes down, she tends to do it big time." He grinned over at Darien. "Much like my partner. Gets his ass kicked real regular-like."

"That she does. There is a doctor who works specifically with her due to her unique metabolism, but she has no Keeper the way she did at the Agency. This Michael she mentioned helps as well, though he works elsewhere." His tone of voice made it clear he wasn't entirely satisfied with the situation, but was unable to do more than complain about it. "Now, if I could just convince her to sleep more often, she might not get quite so many headaches."

"Nag," Alyx grumped. "I'm busy and can stay up three days straight, unlike you normal humans." She glared at her computer screens for a minute, then sighed. "Though it's looking like tonight sleep will be about it. Hope you guys don't mind a slumber party, 'cause you ain't getting back to your hotel tonight."

"You got the room kid?" Hobbes asked.

She nodded. "The sofa in here folds out to full size bed and the one out in the living room is actually quite comfortable. I have plenty of linens and food. We'll be fine, provided the power doesn't go out."

Darien wagged a finger at her. "Don't jinx it." Which made her smile. "So what do we do while the computers do their thing?"

"Normally I'd go to the source, but that's looking to be out. Can't get to the CIA building right now." Hobbes got to his feet and folded the chair, returning it to its spot. "Got any good movies, kid?"

Gray snorted. "Better to ask what she doesn't have. Though I think we'll keep her from the electronics tonight. No need to risk blowing up the TV... again."

She swatted him on the shoulder. "Hey, it's not my fault." With the exception of Alyx, they all began to laugh, causing her to sigh dramatically. "Making fun of me and my... my condition."

Darien got up and moved to stand in front of her, those deep brown eyes of his trying valiantly to look sorrowful, but the smile lingered in them. "Ah, we like you anyway."

"Oaf." Alyx grinned, shoving him. Hobbes left the room with Gray, already debating what they were going to watch first.

"And where might I be sleeping tonight?" Darien reached out to run his fingers through the hair by her temple.

"The floor?" When he pouted she caved. "Well, it so happens I have this king size bed that tends to be very empty. I think there might be room for you... if you can behave."

"Oh, I think I can manage that. 'Til we're in the bed that is."

***

Darien awoke with a jerk, his heart pounding, and looked about the darkened room in confusion, while he tried to calm himself and remember just where the hell he was. It was the realization that he was quite naked under the blankets that gave him the necessary clue as to his whereabouts. D.C. Alyx's place. They'd been semi-stranded by one hell of a spring snowstorm. Now that he had figured out that much, he began to look about for the woman he had thought he'd gone to bed with. Sitting up and rubbing the back of his head he located the clock on the bureau across the room, the lighted numbers revealing it was a bit after 3:00 am.

The evening had been... interesting. Hobbes and Graywolf had somehow managed to get along just fine, and it took Darien less than an hour to figure out they were cut from the same cloth, even though Gray was a good decade younger than Hobbes. Both had had their gung-ho, anything for the job world view bumped slightly out of alignment so that, while defending the country and other such crap was important, they didn't necessarily do it by-the-book anymore. They were both loyal as hell once you had earned their trust and, just as Darien knew Bobby would do his damnedest to protect Darien's sorry ass, Gray made it plain he would do the same for Alyx. Even if it meant running roughshod over her former partners.

Gray and Hobbes had turned the afternoon into a spies-are-us reunion meeting, and flipped between movies and the local news updates. Alyx had moved into the huge eat-in kitchen, where she had a small TV/radio combo to keep an eye on the weather, and worked on some projects that didn't require the computers, which were still attempting find some information of use. Darien split his time between sharing stories and watching movies in the living room, and hovering over Alyx as she worked. Whatever she was doing was fairly complex from the look of it since, at one point, she had several dozen sheets of paper with obscure drawings and words he couldn't read, spread across the floor. She sat in the middle of, rubbing her head and twisting her neck out of tension.

He had wanted to offer his help, but wasn't sure he could be of any, so he'd settled for sitting behind her and trying to work the kinks out of her shoulders and neck for a time. She had allowed herself to be distracted by him for a good 30 minutes, until a phone call pulled her back into the land of work. He given her a quick kiss on the cheek and wandered back out to see what their partners were up to.

After cooking a fairly simple dinner of green salad and oven fried chicken with country gravy, Alyx had finally given in to her body's needs around eight o'clock and taken a hot shower. Afterwards she pulled out linens and pillows for the various sleeping areas, leaving it to the guys argue about who was sleeping where. Gray had actually managed to embarrass himself by offering the bed in the office to Darien, to which Alyx pointed out Darien already had a place to sleep. Behind the slight flush Darien caught a hint of anger and perhaps jealousy in the man's eyes, but wasn't about to let it stop him from curling up with her. He'd take every stolen moment he could.

Alyx had braided her hair once it was mostly dry, said her goodnights, and stumbled off to bed just before 10 p.m. Very early for her, which meant she was completely wiped and might very well sleep for more than the few short hours her body usually allowed her. When Darien had crawled in with her just over an hour later ? after catching the late news that informed them the storm would probably continue until tomorrow afternoon. He found her curled up in the middle of the bed, buried under piles of blankets; a warm little huddle of a human who just happened to be quite unclothed.

Darien debated all for 30 seconds about the merits of attempting to wake her and decided against, only to have her snuggle right up against him an utter a mumbled, "What took you so long?" This led to leisurely, languorous love making session that left Darien feeling more than relaxed enough to actually fall asleep, even though his body was still convinced it was not nearly as late as the clock across the room insisted. Jet lag sucked.

But now he was awake with the scent of cold, deep cold, wafting through the room and Alyx nowhere to be found. Slipping out from under the covers, he found his pants draped over the chair where he'd left them and pulled them on. Grabbing a blanket off the bed he wrapped it about his shoulders and moved off to go find her. He really didn't think she'd be in the office, not with Hobbes most likely snoring away in there. The kitchen maybe? Trying to catch up on more work?

He caught movement of the curtains along the outside wall out of the corner of his eye and went to investigate. Instead of the expected window he found a pair of French doors which were not closed tightly. Looking past the frosted panes of thick glass, he saw a figure on the deck, which appeared to run the length of her apartment explaining where the doors off her living room led.

Steeling himself against the chill, he stepped outside barefoot and cringed, pulling the blanket tighter about himself. Deciding he liked his toes, he Quicksilvered his feet, the insulating properties of the substance keeping his feet relatively warm. Though the rest of him was not very happy.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" He stepped behind her, surprised to find her in only a thin bathrobe and slippers.

"Couldn't sleep. Sorry." She leaned against the railing and looked out at the snow falling, even as Darien wrapped his arms and the blanket about her. His warmth pressed against her back.

"Alyx, what's wrong?" He pulled her as close as she would let him, trying to warm her chilled body. She'd been out here for a while based on the dusting of snow that had managed to settle atop her head without melting.

"I... Nothing. Nothing is wrong." Alyx couldn't even convince herself she meant the words. "Sorry I dragged you guys across the country for this." She waved a hand at the snow falling about them.

"Alyx... You didn't drag us across the country. If the Fat Man hadn't wanted us here, we wouldn't be, and you know it." He lifted a hand and turned her face so he could look her in the eye. "Talk to me. It's later."

"I... I miss my kids. I miss spending time with you. I have about 15 things I need to be doing right now, and that's before my own personal projects." She groaned. "Damn it, I forgot to transfer the data to Eberts."

"Eberts?" Confusion was foremost for the moment. "Alyx, what the hell is going on?"

"This stays between us, okay? Gray doesn't know about this." He nodded, just wanting some answers. "As your experience with the FBI showed, the Agency is the only one who knows about Chrysalis as an entity. There are plenty of people who've been bought or persuaded by their agents, but they don't really know about Chrysalis itself." She turned about completely and looked up at him. "I keep my eyes open and pass along anything involving them to the 'Fish. Both local and international. Any bit of intel is another piece of the puzzle and, right now, the Agency is the only organization to realize there's even a puzzle to be built."

He pulled her close until her head was buried against his chest, the snow melting against his skin. "You can't do it all. Do you even take the time to just be you? To enjoy a quiet moment?"

"Thought that's what I was trying to do," she muttered and turned back around to look out at the snow. While she had never been overly fond of the cold, she had discovered that when she altered her sight to see energy signatures, the snowfall, already a lovely sight in its own right, became an astonishing dance of glowing blue forms, that drifted and reacted to even the slightest of breezes. She could spend hours watching it and never understand the permutations of the movement, nor the quiet beauty that was created. She was beginning to think this was a really bad idea, hunch or no hunch. The emotions radiating off all three men, all similar, yet each with his own distinctive... flavor, doing nothing more than sending her confusion to a new level.

"Why didn't you tell me about Gray?" Darien knew he was probably going to anger her with the question, that it was going to end up becoming an issue between them, that he was terrified of her answer, but he had to know. If... if she was falling for the man then he would have to do something. What? He wasn't sure, but considering the physical distance between the two of them, he would probably bow out, no matter how much it hurt, if it gave her some happiness.

"What's to tell? He's my partner, he's a damn good agent, and I trust him." His words leaving Alyx feeling even more confused. Gray was swiftly becoming a friend as well as her partner and in this line of work, especially, she could use all the friends she could get. Friends outside of the government were at risk because of her, so, although Michele kept contact with her more mundane friends, Alyx had very few she could really trust, really talk to, really be herself with. Talents and all.

Suddenly irritated by her answer that, to him, wasn't one, he snapped, "You sleeping with him too?"

It took Alyx a couple of minutes to find her voice through the anger and sadness that shot through her. When had he begun to doubt her? When had he stopped trusting her? When had he forgotten how she felt about him? His anger and discomfort kept rising the longer she was silent, she could feel it, had to feel it he was so much a part of her. When he was at that breaking point, about to turn away in total disgust and leave her standing there alone, she forced herself to speak calmly. "If you mean have we shared bed space on a mission or such, then yes. If you mean have we had sex, then no." Then she let her unhappiness get the better of her. "Though if you prefer it that way I can. I imagine he'd be quite skilled considering his CTS rating."

Her words stated in such a matter of fact tone caused his heart to plummet about six stories and the Quicksilver keeping his feet reasonably comfortable to fall away, the flakes to become just another, if unique, layer in the snow. When he spoke his voice was choked, "You gonna try and tell me you aren't attracted to him?"

Alyx wanted to weep at his heartache. The pain forming into a tight lump somewhere in the vicinity of her heart. "Dare, he's a very attractive man -- to all my senses -- but that doesn't mean I'm attracted to him." The sudden urge, the need to run away, overcame her then and she did her best to pull away, but his hands came down firmly on her shoulders stopped her. "Let me go," she pleaded at a whisper. "Please." Her hand came up to move one of his and she was once again unintentionally sharing everything she was with him.

But he held steady, let the emotions run through him without flinching away. "Damn it," he mumbled into her hair. "I'm a fool." He was thankful when she allowed him to wrap himself about her. "I... Some days it's too much. Being away from you. Forgive me."

"Always," she said without hesitation. They held each other close, ignoring the falling snow, the need to comfort, to reassure each other overriding any discomfort due to the weather. After several minutes other needs and desires arose as well. Each wanting to show the other exactly what their feelings meant and the robe Alyx wore was soon open, revealing she wore nothing but his necklace beneath. The cold air was an oddly erotic addition to the dance they were performing. The snow that landed upon them swiftly melting to run in rivulets upon their bodies and making her shiver in shock and realize they were going to freeze their asses off -- literally -- if they didn't head inside. It didn't take much encouragement to get Darien moving in the right direction and shortly thereafter the door was shut, their clothes were shed, and they were finding each other once again.

With a soft growl of irritation, Gray let the curtain fall back into place and tried to not think about what they were most likely doing just a few short feet away from him. She was his partner and therefore off limits, yet he couldn't stop himself from wanting. Wanting to be with her, wanting to be able to touch her, wanting to be able to do something with the god damn hard-on he was now very uncomfortably aware of, besides suffer. For an instant he debated interrupting them, intruding on their moment with some lame excuse involving work. That was the one thing he knew would draw her away no matter how far along things had gone. But he didn't. Instead he lay back down on the sofa and tried to convince various parts of his anatomy that there was nothing for them to do, no one for them to enjoy, and wouldn't be for as long as he was partnered to her. His body ignored him and continued its demands for satisfaction right now.

Eventually he fell back to sleep, but only after the soft cries that he could just barely hear from her bedroom had died away and silence once again reigned.