Rock and a Hard Place: Chapter 2
Author's notes: And yet more thanks to our steadfast reviewer Harry2, as well as new arrival Football Girl 11. It's nice to know that people such as yourselves enjoy our stories. Something I forgot to mention in the previous chapter: it's helpful to read Lisa's previous stories of "Blood and Water" and "The Enemy Within" to fully understand the universe of the Saga, and our previous collaborations of "War Fields" and "Daddy's Girls" set up a lot of the upcoming plot points. It's not absolutely necessary to understand the Saga, but it'll help...and make us feel nice and loved. : - ). Now that the shameless plug is over, on with the story.
The Saga continues:
Roxanne Trakker walked into Boulderhill's conference room, momentarily taken aback by the sight of Annie Turner in full uniform, apparently deep in discussion with her brother, Scott. It irritated her no end that they almost always had to wait for her to arrive from Tahoe, yet this time she had somehow made it here before any of them. That made her a little nervous. She knew Annie had her own little network of contacts that managed to trace back to the underground, so whatever had brought her here so soon must be big. Still, she couldn't help but tease her long standing rival about the strangeness of the situation.
"Hey Annie, how'd you get here so fast?" she asked innocently as she took her normal seat at the table. "Did they finally update your tin cans and string to a real communications network?"
Scott looked up and shot her a warning glance that said to stop making trouble. She just returned an innocent grin, and looked back at Annie. The redhead was glaring at her, green eyes full of fire, but her retort came out calm and flat.
"Roxy, lovely to see you again, too. Things must be going well, I haven't heard any rumors of you trying to kill anyone lately."
Roxy got some pleasure out of Scott turning the same warning glance on Annie. She was ready with another slam, but another voice from the conference room interrupted her.
"All right, children, go to your corners." Jessenia Hayes, Dusty's daughter walked in and took her normal seat to Roxy's right. "Annie, put your claws away...Roxy, stop antagonizing her. This is business, let's act like professionals." She then turned a sly grin on both her friends. "Lord, I can't believe that I of all people have to tell you two how to behave."
Before either Roxy or Annie could reply, Scott interrupted quickly. "If the three of you are finished..." He sent a pointed glance around the room, locking eyes with each of them, every inch the leader he was, "...then I believe we can get started."
From the vantage point of his study inside the mansion, Matt Trakker watched the exchange on the vidscreen with a small mixture of worry and a heavier mixture of dark amusement. He wondered if any of them knew how much their unconscious posturing showed about their personalities.
His son Scott sat down at the head of the conference table, reminding Matt so much of himself that he couldn't prevent a proud, fatherly smile from developing on his face. At first he had worried about Scott's penchant for getting himself into trouble, but he had matured quite nicely into a strong, take charge young man. He was basically a shoe-in to head the new MASK team, with Duane Kennedy's full stamp of approval.
Annie sat to Scott's immediate right, claiming her place as Scott's partner and second in command of the new team. Now THAT had taken some convincing on Matt's part; apparently Duane had some reservations about Vanessa Warfield's daughter playing such an important part of the new order. Matt had countered that Brad Turner's daughter had unquestionable loyalty, going so far as to risk her own life than compromise any of her high standards. She also had a fair amount of leadership experience from her job in the High Mountain Rangers, even if she didn't quite believe so. Matt had also argued that the dynamic between Annie and Scott gave the new team the most stable mix of leadership to be had. Duane had finally relented, at least letting the leadership issue go on a trial basis, but he allowed Annie otherwise full status as an agent. There was only one other factor that wasn't in Annie's favor...
...the fact that his daughter Roxanne sat directly across from her, both of their unconscious posturing throwing off rivalry and intense dislike in waves. Putting Roxanne on this team had taken more than just a little convincing. Matt had to pool every ounce of his multi-millionaire reputation and pull every string that he could to get Roxy on this team even on a trial basis. Duane had even MORE reservations about her than he did about Annie, mostly stemming from her membership and continuing association with VENOM and Contraworld. Matt had made that his strongest argument for placing Roxanne on the team; she knew how VENOM worked and that could be a big advantage for the new team. Once again, Duane had relented, his only comment being, "One wrong move and she's history, Matt," Duane had said. "Period."
Sighing deeply as he pulled his thoughts away from his daughter, Matt turned to the last member of their new team and smiled a playful smile. Dusty's daughter Jessenia sat on Roxanne's left, taking in Roxy and Annie's bickering with her trademark grin. Matt placed her personality somewhere in between the other two girls: she was mostly a wild child like Roxanne, but when it came down to the wire, she was also responsible and fiercely loyal like Annie. It could explain how she managed to remain friends with the other two who were so completely opposite, and Matt knew that she and Scott were most of the reason that Annie and Roxy somehow managed to complete their missions with some amount of civility.
All in all, thought the former MASK leader, it was a good working operation. With that in mind, he turned his full attention to the actual discussion taking place between the agents.
"Well, that information is really helpful, Annie," Roxanne snorted sarcastically. "Piranha, Jackhammer, and Manta MIGHT have been spotted near an old ghost town in Death Valley, and they MAY be hiding something in one of the abandoned buildings, but well, my source wasn't really sure. Could you possibly have gotten any LESS specific?"
"I'll tell you what Roxy," Annie retorted, sweetly cool, "you just go get all the specifics from your little friends in Contraworld. 'Hi, I work for MASK and the PNA...do you mind telling me what you're hiding over there in Death Valley?' "
"Look, it doesn't matter if we have any specifics or not," Jess broke in before Scott had a coronary, "because between what Scott got from Duane and what Annie got from her source, something's definitely going on down there that warrants looking into."
"I agree," Scott said, locking eyes with both Annie and Roxy as his mouth formed a malicious smile. "Which is why you two are going down first for a closer look. Take half an hour to gather your gear, and then get going."
"So what'll we be doing, chief?" asked Jess as she grinned maniacally at Annie and Roxy, both of whom looked like they'd been given a death sentence.
"We're going to gather additional information with our current sources." Scott replied to Jess, then looked over at his sister and his girlfriend. "Why are you two still here?"
"I'm already packed," Annie said in a dangerously quiet tone. The idea of working alone with Roxy didn't sit well with her, but she was pretty sure she understood Scott's reasoning. Still, she shot Scott a dark look and accused him with her eyes. You're doing this to me on purpose, forcing me to cooperate with her just to prove a point. Scott's even gaze returned a reply to her that said: Yes I am, but I have other reasons too.
"Why do WE have to go?" Roxy questioned contrarily, just as thrilled to be working alone with Annie, as Annie was to be working with her. That is to say, not at all.
"Because Annie has the directions, and you have the firepower." To smooth their obviously ruffled feathers, Scott added, "And you both know how to stay out of sight. Speaking of which, Roxy, keep Chameleon out of stealth mode unless it's absolutely necessary."
Annie tried unsuccessfully to bite back a snort of laughter as Scott lectured his sister. Slipping into stealth mode was one of Roxy's favorite tricks to avoid Annie, knowing that the radar system installed on Phoenix couldn't track her while she was hidden.
"And you, Annie, keep the kamikaze driving stunts to a minimum," Scott turned a stern gaze on Annie as Roxy took her turn to snicker. Annie drove like a maniac as much to lose Roxanne as to show off what Brad had taught her. "You two are working TOGETHER, so just remember that."
Jess nearly fell out of her chair laughing when both girls got up and saluted him smartly, chanting in unison, "YES SIR!"
Scott rolled his eyes, but he couldn't quite hide the amused smile on his face. "That's what I like to see, my two girls agreeing on something, even if it is a joke at my expense. Now get moving, both of you."
Annie started a second salute, but Scott caught her hand and held it. "Knock it off," he ordered in quiet exasperation.
"Yes sir," Annie replied coyly, blinking cutely over the table at him before she pulled her hand away and walked out.
Roxy just gave the couple a look of disgust and stalked away silently.
Scott caught Roxy's look and sighed deeply. Some things will just never change. Jess stood up and walked over to Scott, rubbing his slumped shoulders as he resisted the urge to bang his head on the desk. "Just once, I'd like to make it through a briefing without having those two at each other's throats."
"It might happen," Jess said soothingly, although she couldn't help but add, "and hell might freeze over too."
"That's not very reassuring." Scott let loose another deep sigh but he couldn't remain too serious in the face of Jess' catchy smile.