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.
32: Lies
Hotel Room,
Sinop, Turkey
Mid-2004
"Haldir, speak to me," Legolas said nervously, hearing the background noise of commotion from the ballroom, "Haldir. What is happening?"
"It is gone," the Interpol Agent said breathlessly, "Someone took it. The Ankh is gone."
Exterior of the Hotel,
Sinop, Turkey
The Istari was biting his lip in thought and nervousness, and Elrohir and Emmett were watching him expectantly from the rearview mirror of the car.
"Mithrandir," Elrohir asked, "What shall we do now?"
To find it, the wizard thought achingly, only to lose it so quickly and so suddenly…
"We must leave the premises," Gandalf declared, "They will lockdown this hotel-- that Ankh could fetch several billions of pounds, aside from the historical significance. We must not be stuck in there, in the middle of a crazy investigation, for we need to be out here, on the field. We have to trace every single place that display crossed, all the hands upon which it was passed. We must leave."
The Hotel Ballroom,
Sinop, Turkey
They started locking down the hotel.
The Baggins group was making panicked, frustrated demands upon the local security and investigators on the stage. Haldir watched them carefully, wishing he still had his elven ears that he may hear them, even from afar.
The security people were waving their hands at Baggins and company in calming motions, and ushered them to a table to sit. The room was alive with murmurs and wild theories, and the open bar was being crowded, as others fought to dull the tension that was suddenly stifling the space.
"Goran," said Haldir, "I need a distraction."
"Yeah?" the hacker asked, "What's on your mind?"
"You want to know what they are talking about, don't you?" the Interpol agent asked, nodding to Baggins and the security people surrounding him.
"Of course," Goran replied.
"So I'm going to need a distraction," Haldir said simply.
"You two," Legolas said over the comm., "Nothing troublesome, for the love of the Valar."
Haldir discreetly removed his slim comm. link and slipped it in between a folded cloth table napkin. He and Goran rose from their seats and approached Baggins' table, ignoring the archaeologist completely and focusing on the local head of security that he was talking to.
"Sir," Goran grumbled, "I am a very busy fellow and I do not appreciate being bogged down in this place."
Jimmy Goran was mighty-looking and had a gruff voice and a very potent presence. He was not going to be ignored, and he was not going to be easily dismissed.
"Sir, please, if you would just sit down," the security man said, "This situation will be resolved in the quickest possible way."
"But I have a plane to catch!" Goran demanded, slamming his fist upon the table and shaking it. Eyes flew to his hand and then his scrunched, angry face. Harding used the moment to slip the table napkin with the comm. link inside upon the table, discreetly, right on top.
"Calm down, sir," the security man said more threateningly, "You do not want to spend time here, I understand that. But you will like it even less in handcuffs, am I correct?"
"Come," Haldir said to Goran coolly, grasping him by the shoulders, "I'm sure they will do their best."
"Your insensitivity is scandalous too," Dean Malcolm told the hacker darkly, "This is our life's work. You can stand to wait awhile, sir. We've waited for a discovery this great for all of our lives. This finding is as important for mankind as a whole, yes, but this is the entirety of our own lives as well."
"We apologize," Haldir said quickly, pulling Goran with him, away from that table and toward their own, "We sincerely hope you find it."
It was of course, a big lie.
The Ino
The Black Sea
They were just settling into the Ino for the half-hour ride when the news broke. The group of Aragorn, Elladan, Eowyn and Faramir listened closely to the ongoing conversation from the shore of Sinop. There was little else to do, after all, until they anchored next to the Amazona.
Because all their comm. links were networked, they could all hear whatever it was anyone who had the link was saying. And so when the makeshift 'bug' was planted on the table of Bob Baggins and the security, the group could hear too all that was being said on that table. The reception, however, was not quite smooth; the link was hidden in cloth, for one, and it was not at all near to the speakers' mouths. But the conversation was clear enough to be understood, and for that, they were relieved.
"They are locking down the hotel and conducting a search," Legolas said, and they all heard the wince in his otherwise even voice, "And will be combing it top to bottom, room to room. Person to person."
"Isn't that illegal?" asked Eowyn.
"It's a whole lot of liability if they lost it too," Elrohir pointed out.
"Goran," said Legolas, "They are going to search all of you in there soon. Tell Haldir to lose all the hardware. Dump it."
"You have to clear the room as well," Aragorn said to Legolas.
"If they find the remaining weapons and the gear in the room they might suspect us," Legolas agreed, "Besides, I have to be in a place where I can freely work. I do indeed must relocate. All our communication links will be out until I find another place."
"We have cellphones," Elrohir pointed out, "Not quite as good, but effective enough. We passed by a motel down the street from there, mellon-nin. A bit seedy but it will do the job. Get out of there."
The Hotel Room,
Sinop, Turkey
"How are we going to get out of the hotel?" Ana asked, "They are locking us down after all."
Legolas nodded to the window. "I'm going. You're not following."
"You're out of your mind," she declared, shaking her head, "And the rains are starting."
"It has to be done," Legolas said simply, "And I'm sure I must have done something like it before."
They fell silent a long while, all of them in the group. They listened as the investigators took the testimonies of Bob Baggins and the Malcolms; they dictated their security system, all their checks and balances, all the names of those who handled the display, all the stops they made, all the guards, all those involved in the expedition.
"Legolas?" inquired Gandalf, "You are recording this?"
"Yes," Legolas said to him, "Mithrandir, perhaps your team could meet me at this motel Elrohir speaks of. Your charges are fixed and safe in the hotel for the night. But we must consider our next steps carefully."
The Hotel Ballroom,
Sinop, Turkey
Goran and Harding commandeered a cubicle in the washroom as they hurriedly divested themselves of their weapons.
"Wipe it down," Haldir said softly, knowing that the weapons would eventually be found if the search was accurate enough, and that it must not be traced back to them.
The Interpol agent coolly used his handkerchief to wipe at every single space, even the bullets inside the gun which they touched to slip inside. Artfully, he dislodged the cover of the tissue dispenser, threw all the paper in the trash, and hid their weapons inside it. It was a tight fit, but he was insistent.
"Why don't we just make use of the bloody trash can?" Goran asked.
"That will be one of the first places they'll look," Haldir said, stuffing all the weapons in the dispenser with a flourish. "Perfect."
Goran placed a hand to the comm. link by his ear. "Legolas," said the hacker, "Harding and I are going to sign off now. Any last words?"
"Stay out of trouble," the elf advised wryly, "As soon as you deem your work done, we shall all meet back in the room. Call for any problems, we all have our mobiles with us."
"You too, elf," the hacker grumbled, before giving Haldir the comm. link. The Interpol agent adroitly slipped it on.
"Watch your back, Legolas," Haldir said to him and the group, "Good luck to all the rest of you as well."
The Interpol agent was just removing the comm. link when his ears caught a curious string of Turkish from the table conversation of Bob Baggins with the security people. Baggins was continuing speaking of their security measures when the anxious rambling was interrupted by a local who was apparently, a subordinate of the head of security.
"Legolas?" Haldir said urgently, "One last thing. That Turkish you just heard? They are going to begin checking the rooms one by one beginning at this very moment. Get out of there now."
"Soon," the elf promised, "They are not yet done with the names and places. I'm recording. I will get out in time, nothing to worry about."
Haldir sighed, tearing the link from his ears and hiding it with the rest of the weapons.
The Ino,
The Black Sea
By the time they dropped anchor next to the Amazona, the rain was pouring like a curtain of static all around them, and the winds were whipping marvelously. The barge towered over the tiny Ino, and looked as if it was defying the waves, the winds, the rain, the gods…
It looks like a tall, imposing gate standing mightily over a dark wasteland, Elladan reflected, It looks too bloody famailiar to me, and he genuinely wondered what kind of ill lot was it for one life to be subject to the same blasted horror twice…
Eowyn stepped out of the bridge, boldly facing the rain. The others stayed inside, Faramir watching her with a stern expression on his face coupled with inalienable trust in all of her considerable abilities.
The watchman of the Amazona looked down on her from the decks above, tens of feet up over her head. He focused a powerful flashlight on her face, and asked her something in Turkish.
"Can you speak in English?" she asked him, raising her voice over the din of the stormy ocean.
The watchman glanced at the small vessel's markings, and his brows rose in recognition of the Ino.
"Why do you blasted Leucothea bastards keep changing staff?" the watchman asked irritably, "It's driving me crazy. I.D., woman. Who the hell are you this time?"
Eowyn's brows furrowed in confusion. "I am a student of the professor. Did they not inform you I would be by?"
"I received no word," he said, perplexed.
"The professor forgot an important document in his quarters," she said, feigning urgency, "They are awaiting its retrieval. I am a student of his. The speech already began, I must have it and deliver it to them quickly. It's called…" she quickly made something up, "A Dissertation on the Ancient Cultures of the Black Sea Coast of the Middle-Ages. Volume… 39.11. The purple one. It is just atop his desk, in his quarters."
"I don't know what that is," he said testily. Eowyn suspected he was understandably irked over getting the admittedly terrible assignment of being the watchman during the harsh rains. "I'm not surporised I got no word. The storm fucks up everything out here. You go on up and get it."
"Can't you?" she asked plaintively, "I'd really rather you just tossed it my way so that I may return to the coast more quickly. It's the purple one, you can't miss it."
"Well I don't know what that is," he snapped, "and I'm not screwing around the proffesor's cabin, he's an exacting boss. You want to save time, lady, you go on up and get it yourself." He threw a rope ladder over the side of the ship, booking no arguments. Even a beautiful, intelligent woman could do nothing to salvage the night and his miserable work…
"Fine," she told him frostily, although in truth she expected the invite and was glad for it. She gripped the thick ropes and hauled herself up along the ladder.
"Some help," she told him as she reached the railing and was manuevering her legs over them. The watchman encased her in his arms to pull her up, and she used the opportunity to look about the deck if anyone else was about. The rains were a bit lucky after all, for it seemed the crew seeked warmth and shelter inside the barge, rather than hanging about on the deck. She smiled to herself as he lowered her to the ground and stepped away from her, watching her face carefully. He was quickly beginning to change his opinion of her, and making his night a bit better, it seemed… She wisely used his distraction to punch him and knock him to the ground, unconscious.
Eowyn grabbed his flashlight and looked over the rail at her friends. She grinned at them jauntily and waved them to come over.
Faramir, naturally, took the ladder first and embraced her as he levered himself up to the deck.
"Women are so deceptively disarming," he murmured in her ear, making her laugh.
"Ah, yes, well," she said, "You really shouldn't be surprised anymore."
The Hotel Room,
Sinop, Turkey
Lighting and thunder and harsh, pouring rain.
Anatalia glanced out the window worriedly, before once again busying herself with her admittedly meager task—packing up all the weaponry for Legolas to bear away with him. She was too anxious; she did not fancy the idea of the stormy weather and her beloved out at sea, aside from the other dangers he faced. And she was never one to stay out on the fringes of activity, yet she also knew in a case as this she was powerless to help them in any other way. Lastly, she did not fancy her newfound friends thus breaking into a multitude of smaller groups or, in the case of herself and Legolas, into individuals. The situation was dangerous enough without having to deal with it alone. Nevertheless, there was certainly no way out of the hotel short of jumping out a second-story window, and that she knew she couldn't do.
"I'm signing out now," Legolas said into the comm., "Be careful everybody."
He rapped at the keyboard, and the active buzzing Anatalia could hear from her comm. link ceased at once. She removed it and pocketed it. Legolas took his own link off, and removed the wires attached to the phone lines and the socket. His deft hands began to hurriedly pack up the laptop and all its trappings in a leather case.
Ana finished her packing with a flourish, and she watched Legolas nervously. "You're sure you can jump the bloody window? It's going to be some kind of a tragicomedy if you fall on your ass, or your back, and you break something, and you have all this technology and arms with you, and you'll absolutely look like a crook who tried to attempt a really very poorly-planned escape."
He smiled a bit as he continued to pack the laptop. "Don't worry. I'll try my best not to subject myself to that grave embarrassment. Have you not been told I have this fantastical pride?"
"No," she said, "But I've seen it myself."
He chuckled, and she knew he was trying to appease her somewhat. But he undid the small relaxation he gave her a breath before when his head shot up suddenly.
"A bunch of footsteps coming down the hall," he said to her gravely, and he started moving faster.
Anatalia's eyes widened a fraction, before she defied the winds and pushed open the windows. She waved him over hurriedly, and he zipped up the laptop case and slung its straps over his shoulder as he walked toward her. She handed him the bag of weapons.
"We're just a call away," he reminded her as he took them and slipped on those straps as well.
"I know," she said with an assuring smile. "Be safe and I will see you all later."
A rap on the door made her jump a little.
"Go," she said to Legolas in a low voice. He lithely levered himself up to the sill, crouching on the narrow ledge on all fours, like a graceful cat contemplating the force of a jump. And then he simply let go.
She watched him soar into the air, and then land quietly and smoothly on the ground below. He looked up at her and tossed her an almost careless wave before jogging away into the night, into the rain.
She was very, very much alone now…
Another rap on the door. She pulled the windows closed and realized she was now soaking wet with the rain and hadn't even noticed. The knocking was becoming impatient, and so she hurriedly stripped off her clothes and donned a robe, before pulling the door open and apologizing for taking so long because she was in the shower.
It was, in a sense, kind of true.
The Amazona,
The Black Sea
The Amazona was being run by a skeleton crew this night, numbering a fair twenty-five people. Given Bob Baggins' speech-event, and the fact that the Expedition was drawing to a close, the past few days have seen not as much activity as the past few months, and many of the Amazona's men and women took advantage of their much-deserved shore leaves, especially at night. The Black Sea coast, with its strings of clubs and eating places, was distinctly alive, especially after the sun had set and presented a constant temptation from the still life inside the barge.
Though far less than what they could have encountered, twenty-five was still rather considerable, made up of innocent people doing honest work. They were not mercenaries, and would therefore not hesitate to call on the coast guard if they were threatened. Being in the middle of the sea, Aragorn and co. likely wouldn't have much of an escape route if this happened. And it was in this way that Aragorn and Faramir decided that a subtler approach to infiltration was more appropriate. There would be no hiding, and no open arms outside of the watchman they knocked out earlier.
Aragorn, Faramir, Elladan and Eowyn walked from the deck, down to the hallways within the Amazona. They studied the schematics Legolas acquired from them earlier in the night, and knew precisely where to go—knowing hobbits, they could only be in their living quarters, the rec room, or in the case of Pip Took, likely the mess hall (to temporarily appease the insatiable hunger), or him with Mark Brandy in the brig (to keep them out of trouble).
The four walked casually down the hall, and smiled coolly upon a passing crew member. He asked them something in Turkish.
"English please," Faramir said to him, "We're tourists."
"Who the hell are you?" the crewman demanded, the words heavy with his accent.
"Oh," said Elladan pleasantly, "It's these rains. We were cruising around in our yacht when the bloody weather turned on us. The watchman said the captain ok'd for us to hang around, get warm and dry. Maybe some food…"
"The weather can be pretty shitty sometimes," the crewman agreed, "I will walk you to the mess hall. This ship is large, you might get lost. You won't find the best food, and there's not very many lefgt especially since proper dinner hours are over. But if you are hungry, it is our only fare."
The four glanced at each other, seemed to be caught on the spot.
"We'd love that," Elladan said, "Thank you."
The Mess Hall
The Amazona
The Black Sea
The Mess Hall was in the typical, lunch-line cafeteria style. As the crewman said, the proper dinnertime was over, and there was no one in the large room save for a lonely server. The crewman who ushered them to the room said something to the server in their native Turkish, before turning back to the four.
"Adnan will take care of you," he said, "I will leave you here, I must get to work. Do not forget to pass by the bridge when the weather clears and you must leave. Bid farewell and thanks to the captain."
"Of course," Aragorn said, "Thank you for your help."
The crewman walked away, and the server set up four plastic plates and filled them with all that was left of the strange mushy things that they fed their people. The food was no longer warm, and it looked profoundly unappetizing. But the group of four accepted the food in gratitude and indulged their host.
"Enjoy food," the server Andan said to them with a wince of a smile, before returning to the back of the counter to begin cleaning up. Aragorn narrowed his eyes as the young server curiously set up two more plates of food and placed cling-wrap over it carefully.
Could it be, he mused, that Andan is expecting a pair of young men seeking a second dinner…?
Elladan's head whipped toward Aragorn, and he lowered his voice when he said, "Your prey draws near."
Aragorn's brows furrowed, as the double doors of the mess hall opened up and in burst Pip Took and Mark Brandy.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Hey guys!!! Thanks for the c&c's… I was kind of afraid the speech part with Bilbo would bore you guys, and I was scared you'd totally lose interest there and especially since the vital information on this new 'Ring' was integrated into the speech. Well, anyway, THANKS LOADS AND LOADS AND LOADS for your time. I've finished chapter 33 and am working on 34 now. Things are really speeding up and the chapters are somehow getting longer and longer on their own! Like, I can't seem to end them until about eight or nine pages through. That's kind of long for a chapter from me. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, things will be speeding up plot-wise, though not necessarily post-wise because I'm just getting busier and busier. I need to have this fic finished in a month if I want to be disciplined and regular with my posting (I try not to make you guys wait too long), because I'm jetting out of the country and can't work on this where I'm going.
Anyway, I usually get what I want when I work for it, so I'll likely finish. Because I'm obsessive compulsive, I'm aiming to end at a 'round' feeling kind of number so maybe this will be done by Chapter 40.
Chapter 33 is going to be pretty crazy, and it's going to ask you to play detective along with ol' Detective Leland Greene. Pay attention to the details, and I hope it won't come across as confusing. Actually it's meant to be, because we're all trying to solve a mystery (who stole it? who dunnit?) but I hope the answers will be clear enough.
Well. 'Til the next post!!! :)