Author: Mirrordance

Title: For Every Evil

Summary: Legolas is a policeman in 2004. His colleagues start to wonder why the 10-yr veteran doesn't age & more trouble ahead after he runs across the Fellowship & some friends in modern incarnations, resurrected along with a new world-threatening peril.

11: Where Do I Start

Los Angeles, Mid-2004

The phone suddenly rang, making an already-jogged Anatalia jump. Elladan reclaimed her hand reassuringly, and she anchored herself to him with a vice-like grip.

Legolas smiled a little at the sight, and put the phone on speaker mode after recognizing the number as belonging to Adrian Aarons.

"I didn't tell anybody!" the doctor angrily exclaimed.

Legolas' eyes narrowed in confusion. "Um. Hello doctor?"

"Why would you have me work on it if you would sabotage it anyway?" Adrian ranted, "Oh I knew, I knew when you asked me to do this I was getting into some trouble…"

"Slow down," Legolas said authoritatively, "Begin by telling me what happened."

"Do not tell me you didn't know," the doctor scoffed, "Give me a little credit."

"Did you find anything out?" Anatalia asked, finding the question irresistible.

"Oh did I!" exclaimed Adrian, "How did you do it, hm? Some kind of new splicing? I saw some things that are not even supposed to exist. If you modify genes so well I can't see why you had to hire me to test it. Were you wondering if it would appear on a conventional test? How did you do it? And why on Earth would you blast my lab? This doesn't make any sense."

Legolas' thoughts were running around in circles, and he closed his eyes in a struggle to keep things properly in perspective. "Blast your lab. We did no such thing. Why would we hire someone and then do away with his work? With you?"

"Because I found something out," Adrian replied.

"You have a fine criminal mind," Elrohir put in wryly.

"You're not helping," Elladan growled at him.

"Maybe it's better for us not to speak of this over the phone," Anatalia said uncertainly.

"You want to meet me face-to-face, eh?" snapped Adrian, "Let me guess, in a back alley somewhere, so you can get rid of me quietly?"
"As I was saying…" said Elrohir.

"Listen," Legolas sighed, "We can meet on your terms."

"How about the police station?" Adrian retorted, "With you, behind bars and me on the other side."

"Adrian, listen to me," said Legolas, not quite sure of how to handle an Aragorn who did not know what to do, "We did not do anything to sabotage your work. You've seen for yourself how vital it was to keep your discovery a secret. You may have the samples, but we are the source. We can all be in the same kind of danger."

"Is someone after you?" Adrian asked, groaning a bit at the thought that he was unwittingly dragged into this whole situation.

"No one is supposed to know about us," Legolas said, "But after… everything, I'm sure you would agree in that I am disinclined to dismiss anything as impossible."

A momentary silence from the other end of the line, and decisions were definitely being made.

"Coffee shop across the street from the police station in fifteen minutes," said Adrian, "I feel safe there. And I'm bringing some friends. Colleagues of mine."

"Could we count on their discretion?" Elrohir asked.

"I don't care," snapped Adrian, "One of me and several of you? If you cook up something, I won't stand a chance."

"In fifteen minutes then," said Legolas with an approving nod, "Watch your back."

"Is that a threat?" Adrian asked wryly, just before hanging up. Legolas took a deep breath and looked at his companions.

"Away we go," he sighed.

" " "

His nerves were fraught with anxiety, and they did not ease until his eyes settled on the familiar figure of the approaching doctor…

Only to be shot to high heavens again at the sight of his two companions.

Boromir?!!!

Faramir?!!!

Legolas pinched the bridge of his nose. Oh for the Valar's sake, he thought miserably, Must they appear little by little in inconvenient moments? Let's have them all in one blow and be done with it quickly…

"Let me guess," Legolas said to the new arrivals wearily, "His name is… Bob? Brian? Bors…? What else could you do with that letter…? And this other one is Frank? Frankie…?"

"It's Brad and Fred to you, mister," 'Boromir' snapped, turning to Adrian, "What's his problem?"

Adrian looked at Legolas with noted consternation, obviously thinking, Where do I start?

"Coffee?" Elrohir offered, as the two new arrivals settled in their seats.

Anatalia shifted uncomfortably beside Elladan, thinking with dread how long a night this would be. The perceptive elf who loved her claimed her hand and twined his fingers reassuringly about her own, and she decided it would nevertheless still manage to be a good one.

" " "

"Has the Valar run out of faces to use among the living?" Legolas asked Mithrandir as Elrohir sweet-talked Waitress-Jackie into serving them the freshest brew, and a free glazed donut for himself, "Or have they run out of heroes such that the old ones need resurrecting?"

"Their reasoning is their own," Gandalf told him coolly, "You can ask them that when you see each other."

Legolas frowned. "You speak as if it's so near."

"It always is, my prince," said Gandalf, "for everybody."

"You said something about a lab blasting," Legolas said, turning to Adrian.

"We went out for a smoke," the doctor replied, "We heard someone mulling around, but then I dismissed it as one of the night guards, or the maintenance guys. And then there was a dull kind of boom!, and when I ran back to the lab thinking maybe I left something on, I literally ran into someone who was hurrying to get out. Well of course he seemed surprised to see me. He shoved me aside and ran off. Did the same for all three of us. First we thought to run after him, and then we just decided to salvage what we could of our work."

"You've reported this to the authorities of course," said Legolas.

"Yes," Adrian replied, "I just came from there."

"Good," Legolas nodded, "Can you remember this saboteur's face?"

"It was dark and smoky at the time," Adrian said, frowning.

"Aside from the incident," said Legolas, "Did you tell the cops what you were working on?"

"Rafael Montes asked that," Adrian answered, "And no, I said I was contracted by private citizens and am ethically bound not to speak of it. But I did tell him it was a standard DNA test. Which it was, outside of what I actually discovered."

Legolas sighed in relief. Good.

"So you really had nothing to do with this?" Adrian asked.

"We are both inconvenienced by this turn of events," Legolas murmured, looking toward Elrohir and Elladan. "Your lab and our secret are both compromised. No one was supposed to know about us."

"Know what of you, exactly?" Anatalia asked, turning to Adrian, "What did you discover, doctor?"

Adrian stared at her for a long moment, wondering if she was putting on a show, if she actually already knew… But her eyes were burning hungrily, devouring his face in search of odd answers.

"I do not understand any of this," Adrian replied tentatively, "I can't just tell you everything that I know and have you tell me absolutely nothing about what's going on. I need you to tell me something I can understand…"

"I love him," Anatalia said to him fervently after a moment of thought, "And I want to know who he is."

Adrian set his jaws, considering the plea.

Love, he reflected, curious. He was almost certain he'd have stubbornly held up against a threat. But her plea, and her eyes… if he was to surrender to anything, it might as well be this.

Good enough, he decided.

"The samples we tested," he said warily, lowering his voice, "In essence they are human DNA, at least, structurally. It is some of the… the more unique content that fascinates me. These samples do not get corrupted--they do not age if I dare say so, they have accelerated healing, unimaginable tolerance for harsh conditions, theirs are the healthiest and cleanest sets of transferable traits that I have ever seen. In short, I tested these and found no disease, no aging… they are the very best of what is human, and… and more."

"You've never seen it's like before?" Anatalia asked meekly, her grip upon Elladan's hands slackening a bit.

"Never," Adrian replied zealously, "I am dying to scream it. This is phenomenal. I'd be more confident of the discovery, however, if I had a second or even third test, just to see if I made any mistakes but," he turned to Legolas wryly, "I don't have a lab right now, do I?"

"Good," said Legolas, "Then you can sit quietly on this for awhile."

"We will be more than eager to reimburse you for the loss of property and equipment," Elladan offered.

"Thanks," said Adrian, "But I have insurance."
"They have all sorts of insurance now," Elrohir said suddenly, "They even have boyfriends and girlfriends insuring each other. There's fire, theft, natural disasters, sabotage…"

"What's your point?" Elladan asked him dryly.

"Something's going down over our heads," Elrohir replied easily, "Now would be very good time to avail of these modern capitalist wonders, eh?"

"What's going down over our heads?" Brad snapped.

Legolas shook his head in frustration, "I'm not entirely sure."

"We will look further into this," Elladan said, "Right now I think it would be best to keep our heads low."

The group nodded as they began to adjourn and rise to their feet. Elrohir generously footed the bill, not to mention giving Waitress a Jackie a generous tip. She smiled at him and walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Legolas toward the doors.

"He's nicer than you," she teased.

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" he asked her mock-gravely, as she returned to her duties. Her spot was hesitantly taken over by Adrian Aarons.

"I'm not sure," said the doctor, "I'm not sure if I want you to keep me posted."
Legolas looked at him thoughtfully. Estel always had good instincts and it seemed fair to assume Adrian would too. There was a shift in the air, it was a time of change. They all knew it. They just did not know exactly what they were getting into, him least of all and naturally, he did not know how deeply entrenched he wanted to find himself in all the coming trouble.

"I'm just a normal guy," said Adrian, "I do this normal thing for a living. I don't run around getting blasted at. I never planned on being part of some genetic-modifying conspiracy of some sort. I just… A part of me wants to know what this is all about. And another part…" he shook his head in dismay. "I don't know."

"Understandably so," Legolas murmured reassuringly, "Doctor. You do not know me very well, but I will not plunge you headfirst into any danger I cannot protect you from. I promise. I swear."

Adrian stared at him a long moment, before accepting the passionate vow with a nod, and walking away with Fred and Brad who was saying, "Man, I need a drink."

" " "

Rafael Montes peered out his window, sights between the blinds, with a critical eye. He would hardly call Leland's new company as particularly menacing. But there was something a miss here. Greene no longer seemed as happy as he seemed earlier this morning, and if anything, judging by his body language, the way he spoke up most, and how his companions all turned to him… he even looked like the ringleader of the suspicious bunch.

Montes frowned, and stepped back from the window. He recognized the old man as the arrested hobo from this morning. No one could forget those eyes, he supposed, and he was also not a detective for decades for nothing. He was good with names and faces and reading people. What was Leland doing with the old street prophet? What was he doing with Adrian Aarons, who just had a bomb going off in his lab? What was he doing taking a leave but hovering around the station anyway?

What is Leland Greene up to?!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks everyone so much for the wildly encouraging reviews! I'm up to chapter 21 now and still going :) I was going to pace my posts a bit, you know, every few days. But I looove reviews and I just thought, you guys make me happy and I'll try to satisfy you too :) and so, I hope you did have fun and see you at the next post!!! :)