Rock and a Hard Place: Chapter 9
Author's Notes: Another chapter is here as the excitement and tension continues! Thanks again to everyone for your kind reviews! I'm especially pleased how much you all are enjoying the dynamic between Vanessa, Brad, and Annie since I tried so hard (with Lisa's expert input of course) to keep it 'real' and in character. I'm glad to see it's working. And yes, there's much more of Roxy's behavior to explain, so please keep reading and reviewing! J
About 6 hours later Condor, Chameleon, Thunderhawk, and Rhino came in towing Gator behind it. There was an unusual silence once the team exited their vehicles. Normally cheers of a latest VENOM defeat or memories of the battle would encourage a celebrating attitude, but not this mission. The active team still felt the lingering feeling of defeat knowing all to well that luck was just on their side. They felt angry, exhaustion, and most of all betrayed. Buddy, Annie, Matt, and Alex all headed into the garage waiting to see if everybody was ok.
Buddy shook his head, "This is just as bad as the time Firecracker got melted to a puddle of goo."
"OH believe me my friend it's a lot worst then it looks," Bruce added.
Annie vaulted into the back of Rhino without commenting, immediately double-checking all of its systems against the computer's readout. When all the systems came back as a 'go', she threw her hands up in defeat and cursed mildly. "Damnit, something has to be wrong SOMEWHERE!" she sighed vehemently as she jumped back out of the truck.
She focused her attention on Scott stepping out of Thunderhawk and immediately started in that direction. "I should have been there...he never should have left me behind! Just wait till I--"
Brad stepped in her path and grabbed her arm gently but firmly, "Don't..."
"What do you mean don't?" Annie gave her father a puzzled look. "What the hell happened out there?"
"He nearly got killed distracting Jackhammer long enough for us to regroup and retreat," Brad explained rather calmly, "and he's still working through a lot of what happened out there. So I'd suggest giving him some space, unless you WANT to be on the receiving end of a misplaced tongue lashing."
Annie looked back at him with an all too familiar expression on her face and in her eyes. Before she could say anything further, Brad pulled her into a half embrace. "He already knows how you feel, Red, just let it go for now."
She sighed in capitulation and returned her father's hug. "I'm just glad you made it back okay."
"So are we, Annie, so are we."
In the meantime, Roxanne got off Chameleon and matched Scott's point blank stare. She knew nothing she could say would make the situation better. She tried to open her mouth, but the heat of anger and disappointment returned to his face. Scott stormed off towards the locker room wanting only a nice hot shower. For the first time in his life, he walked by Annie completely ignoring her.
Annie stood there slightly stun. She couldn't remember ever seeing Scott so upset, but the look on his face only stopped her temporarily before she marched over to her next bone of contention, Roxanne. Roxanne head hanged slightly still thinking of the look on her brother's face, I must have really messed up this time.
"WHERE WERE YOU OUT THERE!" Annie shouted. "They were getting hammered so hard, while you were out in La La land."
Roxanne got off Chameleon and pushed Annie lightly out of her way, "You weren't there. You don't know what happen; so don't pretend like you know what's going on. As I recall you're the one sitting on your ass, with your fake injury while the rest of us were out doing something."
"OH That's right, thanks for reminding me to tell everyone that the reason I was injured in the first place was the same reason they all nearly got killed today!" Annie yelled for everyone in Boulderhill to overhear. "Because YOU weren't THERE to back me up yesterday, just like YOU weren't THERE to back the team up today! And I probably learned more about this mission sitting on my ass and listening than you knew the whole time you were out in the field! I don't know what the hell excuse you have, but I hope it's good enough to make up for the fact that your brother almost got killed today because you decided not to be a team player!"
Roxanne headed towards the locker room feeling the sense that all eyes were upon only her. Little Miss Perfect strikes again..."Buddy I'll give you a hand cleaning this mess up as soon as I can," she remarked in a calmer voice, ignoring Annie's lecture as she headed off to the locker room. You'll get yours, Annie...one of these days.
Scott's shower did nothing to improve his mood, although he felt a little less like his head was going to explode and flames were going to begin erupting from his neck. He expelled a deep breath and pulled on a pair of jeans before rubbing a towel over his wet hair as he paced the length of the locker room. He was too lost in thought to notice the figure that had entered shortly before, at least until a pair of slender arms wrapped around his bare chest and a slight weight rested against his back. Aw hell, he cursed silently, knowing he was about to make himself look like a jackass. Yet he couldn't help instinctively turning to pull Annie into his arms for a glorious few seconds, before he gently tugged himself away from her. I can't deal with you right now. Even he knew that with all the good intentions in the world, it would only be a matter of time before she set him off in his current mood. So he did his best to smile and say lightly, "Your dad took the brunt of the heat out there, he could probably use some moral support."
Scott made the mistake of glancing over at Annie, catching the look of astonished hurt that flashed momentarily in her eyes. "Scott—"
He didn't give her a chance to say anything else. "Nothing personal, Annie, but I really need to be alone right now." He shot her his most pleading look. "I know you can understand that."
She opened her mouth, then shut it as a variety of emotions flickered across her face. She started to speak again, paused, then said quietly, "Yeah, I guess...I guess I can. I just...well, you know..."
Unsure what else to say, Annie headed for the door until one last comment from Scott momentarily stopped her. "I'm going to want you back out there, Red. I need someone I know I can rely on."
She turned back and shot him a small smile, using the phrase her father had uttered nearly a day ago. "You got me, Scott. You got me."
Annie walked back out to the garage and found Brad sitting quietly on Condor, the only vehicle relatively unscathed by VENOM's surprise attack. She smiled rather guiltily at him as she approached. "I...uh... never did ask if you were okay."
Brad slid over so she could sit down beside him. "Yeah, I'm okay. I know I've been through worse, I just can't remember when. And stop looking so guilty, I know I'm not the only man in your life anymore," he added with a grin.
"Well, the other man in my life isn't very talkative right now."
"I tried to tell you..."
"Yeah, I know," she sighed with a half grin, "but I just had to find that out for myself."
Brad chuckled softly then quieted as he saw Annie's eyes following Roxanne as she re-entered the garage from the locker room. Before he could say anything, Annie suggested, "Come on, Dad, let's go take a ride. It's going to be a long wait, and I don't feel like spending it here. I'll drive."
He slid an arm around her shoulders as they walked toward Phoenix. "Speaking of driving, you might be interested to know that Rax had an unfortunate accident during our battle."
"Really?" Annie looked over into her father's eyes and saw the knowledge behind them. Scott must have told him what happened while I was asleep.
"Damndest thing," he said as he casually related the story to her, "one minute he's driving on a pretty desert landscape, and then oops...drove right into the black abyss of the mine shaft. Go figure."
Annie climbed into Phoenix's driver's seat and flashed him a completely innocent smile as she said in mock sympathy. "That's too bad...people really need to watch out for those desert mirages, they could be the death of you."
The comedy of Rax's predicament diffused some of the building tension as father and daughter drove away laughing.
Roxanne shot a glare at the retreating bike before she approached Buddy to see if he needed any help. What the hell's so funny?
Several Hours later once everybody got settled in Scott ordered a debriefing of the mission. He glanced around the table noticing everybody was accounted for including his sister. His voice remained relatively cool, but Roxanne could tell he hadn't blown off the steam completely yet, "I'm thankful we were able to escape that nightmare, and I commend everyone's efforts today in defeating VENOM. We sustained massive vehicle damage and luckily no life was lost, but one thing cannot be overlooked. We work as a team. If we work alone or somebody doesn't do their part, they'll endanger the rest of the team." Scott turned and face Roxanne, "Why did you fail to warn us?"
Roxanne stood up feeling the inquisition starting, "I didn't know VENOM was still in the area. They weren't on my radar or my visuals."
"Then why did you shut off your radio? We could of used you out there during the battle, not at the end."
"I didn't want VENOM picking up the feedback from the mining site, if they were in the area. Anybody would tell you how key radio silence is during surveillance."
"You expect us to believe," Scott glanced at the mission report that Roxanne had sent him, "You were a mile due south of our location and you didn't pass VENOM or notice any trace of them."
"Of course you people only think I make up lies for everything. I'm telling you maybe VENOM found a way to interfere with both my radar and communication systems. After all I'm sure they still have the blue prints of the design pinned up on a wall somewhere."
"That is ridiculous!" Annie shouted, "Buddy's been over every inch of that bike several times since MASK converted it, and he and I both changed and upgraded those systems."
Roxanne took a deep breath, but remained a calm collective voice as she glanced around the room meeting several angry eyes, "I screwed up, I'm sorry, and feel that I'm paying for it big time. I relied too heavy on my technically systems, that I didn't stop and think about opening my eyes. Believe what you want, but that new metal of theirs must of somehow deflected off my radar."
"There you go again blaming your systems that were working fine, before you took them to Death Valley," Annie accused.
Alex stepped in, "Actually she does have a point."
"She does?" Annie and Scott both said in unison in disbelief.
"You see this metal alloy is able to bounce off electrical currents and frequencies. Buddy tested the radar system in Chameleon to see if it was functioning. We conducted a slight experiment and notice the element seem to deflect off the radar."
"That explain why the radar didn't work," Bruce reminded, "Me and Brad figured the first hit knocked out our systems."
Roxanne sat back in her chair relieved to know somebody could back up her story. Annie just glanced at Roxanne confused, How on earth did she know that? How could she possibly have known that before Alex even said anything? This was just more ammunition for seeds of suspicion she already harbored against Roxy. Something isn't right here.
"Which leads me to the good news," Alex decided to change the topic before the room turned into a wrestling ring, "I discovered the means of destroying there plated armor. I came to the realization that under EXTREME heat the alloy actually melts."
"How hot?" Scott asked curiously.
"300 degree Fahrenheit."
"How do you expect us to produce such a huge amount of heat, with out melting our own vehicles in the process?" Scott asked.
Roxanne sat in her chair slouching and rubbing her temple. The conversation of physics and fire didn't interest her, she had just survived a tongue lashing that could of lead to a court martial, and at the moment she just wanted to...She looked up and starred at Annie still hearing her loud voice accusing her in her ear. Why won't you just shut up Annie Turner...your so perfect with your flowing red locks, a father who loves you, a boyfriend who'd give up everything for you, and that stink'n good girl image. A small wicked grin appeared on Roxanne's face in her dazed out state, as she pictured pulling the gun out of her hilt and firing it across the table between Annie turner's eyes. Yeah well when you're gone, everybody will care about me again.
Buddy jot down some notes about parts he needed to order, while Alex did his lengthy science explanation. Far as he was concern, only a few people could grasp all the minor details and he wasn't one of them. He occasionally looked up to give the indication he was actually paying attention, but instead of digging back into his list he notice Roxanne's cold stare towards Annie. He knew the girls couldn't stand to be with one another, but he had never seen Roxanne give Annie the same look a serial killer would give to its victim. It appeared that nobody else seem to notice the friction developing in the room and took her body language as more of the typical Roxy/ Annie grudge.
Of course Buddy was wrong about nobody else noticing, Annie could sense a strange vibe from across the table. Why the heck is she look at me like that? Her eyes momentarily drifted Roxy's way, then turned away from the chilling stare her old rival was giving her. A chill started to run up her spine as all of her well-honed instincts began screaming a yellow alert in her mind. She glanced down the table at Buddy, to find that he was staring at Roxy intently, no doubt trying to size up the situation. His eyes flicked Annie's way, and she caught the almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgment that said: "I know." She turned her attention back to the conversation at hand, just in time to hear Alex's next statement.
"I propose that we modify Phoenix's Fire Flight capability so that it could emit a steady stream of constant flame on command, rather than just on entry and exit. The heat from the afterburners would be enough of a catalyst to start the initial reaction, and Annie's Firewall mask would protect her from the heat and flames."
"And make her one hell of a target," Brad interjected from across the table.
"That's why you guys will be out there to give me some cover," Annie replied smoothly, shooting her father a satisfied grin. "I have no doubts that almost all of you will be able to prevent me from getting killed out there."
Roxanne's face reddened in even more anger since she knew exactly where Annie's comment was directed. Yeah, it'd be a shame if you had an unfortunate accident out there...
"Exactly my thoughts," Alex continued.
"All right, suppose we consider this," Scott mused, still unsure about sending Annie into the direct line of fire. "Phoenix's afterburners are only going to emit about 50 degrees of heat, maybe 100 degrees maximum. Where are we going to get the other 200?"
"Bruce can modify Jess' Thermic MASK to give it additional power to boost the temperature high enough to melt VENOM's armor plating fully."
"Good idea Alex," Jess interrupted, "but how do you expect me to follow Annie's kamikaze driving and concentrate on frying VENOM at the same time?"
"I don't," Alex looked at Jess with a wicked smile as he relayed calmly, "I expect your father to co-pilot with you, leaving you free to concentrate your attention on VENOM."
"DUSTY?!?" Jess and Roxy exclaimed in astonished unison.
"He's really the only logical choice." Now that the conversation had turned back to mechanics, Buddy found himself paying more attention. "He's the only driver other than Brad capable of keeping up with Annie."
Scott turned to Annie to ask one last time, "Are you okay with this?"
"Absolutely," she replied quickly, "though I do have one request. I think Bruce might need to modify Firewall too. If I'm remembering her specifications right, the protective radius is circular, so we may want to make that a little more streamlined so that I can protect Dusty and Jess without giving VENOM more help than they need."
"All right team," Scott said with an air of finality, "we're adopting this plan on a trial basis."
Alex nodded in acknowledgment, "It will take a few days to make the necessary adjustments on all systems, so I recommend that the girls make a few test runs on the practice grounds to make sure the theory works in reality."
"As soon as I've reactivated Dusty and debriefed him, you two," Scott met both Annie and Jess' eyes, "can consider that an order. Brad, you just volunteered to be their target. Make it as dirty and no holds barred as you can get, because I'm sure VENOM won't be holding back."
"You got it, chief." Brad nodded smartly.
Annie snickered lightly from beside Scott. "If I can out drive him, I can certainly out drive anyone in VENOM."
"Don't get cocky little girl," Brad arched an eyebrow at Annie from across the table, shooting her an evil smile, "there's still a few tricks I haven't taught you."
"Yet." Annie grinned back at him.
Scott couldn't help a crooked smile at the father/daughter banter. "Buddy, network with Bruce and get started on those modifications, and see what you might be able to find out about VENOM's whereabouts, especially where they're keeping that ore. The rest of you make whatever preparations you need. We'll debrief again to finalize our plan of attack before we head out. You're all dismissed."
Roxanne shot Annie one final glare as she stormed out of the briefing room. Annie felt another shiver run up her spine as she matched her pace to fall in beside Buddy. "I need to talk to you," she said quietly.
He nodded, "My office, I'll be right there."
Annie walked in and sat down at Buddy's desk shortly before he entered. As he shut the door and turned around, she whirled on him with a snappish, "What the hell is wrong with her?! I felt like a rotten carcass being eyed up by a hungry vulture! I know she can't stand me, but I've never seen a look like that before. My every instinct was screaming yellow alert, and it's probably a good thing that I didn't have a knife in there."
All Buddy could do was shake his head, wishing he had an explanation for Roxy's odd behavior. "I don't know, Annie. I just know that something...something isn't right..."
"Oh that's great!" Annie stood angrily and began pacing. "Well, thanks a lot for the revelation, Buddy, but I had that much figured out already! I want to know what the hell the problem is."
"Look, Red," he began soothingly, knowing her anger was partially misplaced nervousness, "you concentrate on doing your job, and let me handle Roxanne. If something's bothering her, I'll have a better chance getting her to open up."
"That's easy for you to say. It's going to be rather hard to concentrate on my job when she's staring at me like she's a vulture ready to peck my eyes out."
"All I can say is I'll talk to her. In the meantime, just be careful how you act around her," Buddy suggested strongly. "I know she has a tendency to push your buttons, but try and taper your reactions, okay?"
"That's another thing!" Annie sighed raggedly. "I'm always being lectured to try harder, be nicer, bend over backwards, and pretty much walk on eggshells as far as Roxy's concerned. 'Annie, can't you just try and get along with her?' Never once have I heard the reverse. EVER."
"Just because you haven't heard it, doesn't mean it hasn't been said, Annie."
Buddy's thoughts were interrupted by the faint sounds of pounding and thumping outside the office door. As he opened the door, the sounds increased in volume, tracing back to the women's locker room.
"How immature!" Annie snapped. "She's probably in there having some sort of temper tantrum. Just wait till I get in there..."
"Hold it." Buddy stopped Annie at the entrance. "I'll go. Seeing you is only going to make whatever's wrong worse."
"Well, you better hurry up then, because I need in there, and Scott's not going to be too impressed if I'm not on the practice grounds ready to go."
"I'll take care of it."