The More Things Change
Chapter 8: Harm
Author: RoguesKnight
Disclaimer: None of the recognizable characters in this story are mine. If you recognize any of my characters, I'm touched, but by and large if you see a name you know they're the respective properties of Marvel, 20th Century Fox, Joss Whedon, and Mutant Enemy.
Dedication: To my amazing fiancée. I miss you! I love you! And more or less of the apt will still be standing when you get back home. To my wonderfully patient reviewers, sorry for the delay in updating. I really want to finish this thing so I can find out how it ends too.
And away we go
It was just after sundown when Sarah Jameson found herself standing
outside a relatively non-descript, apparently run down, bar in one of the
worse sections of L.A. The neighborhood's high crime rate alone would be
enough to keep passerby from spending too much time on the street
wondering about the building's contents. And should a tourist be brazen
enough to enter, the bar's rather unique clientele would make sure that
they didn't get the chance to exit and tell anyone what they'd seen
inside. As was the case with most of the city's demon bars, you didn't
get in and out unharmed unless you were known to the patrons, or were
heavily armed enough to fight your way out, and sometimes if your luck
just really sucked, being known and armed might not be enough. Of course,
Friends of Humanity was well known to the city's demon underworld. In
the early days of the group's founding demons had been mistaken as
mutants, taken in and experimented on, weaknesses discovered and
exploited. It wasn't until the dissolution of a covert military group
known as the Initiative and the absorption of some of it's key personnel
that the F.O.H. learned the true nature of the creatures they had been
capturing. Not that it made much of a difference one way or the other,
mutant or demon, both represented a threat to humanity's survival.
However, demons were part of the natural order of things, mutants, no
matter what bleeding heart liberals said, were not and so an uneasy truce
had been established between demonkind and the F.O.H. there were
occasional skirmishes that strained the bonds of the truce
Looking around to make sure no one was paying too much attention to
her, Sarah pulled a .44 Magnum from its holster, hidden by the black
leather jacket she was wearing, and flipped the safety off. Just because
on average demons left the F.O.H.'s membership alone was no reason to
take any unnecessary risks. She then replaced the clip of normal bullets
with one specifically developed to deal with other worldly opponents. One
of the early lessons on demons Friends of Humanity had learned, the hard
way, was that they were hard as hell to kill most of the time, no pun
intended. However, the majority could be seriously injured by silver, if
not outright killed by it, and thanks to the contributions of former
Initiative members, they had developed armor piercing silver hollow
tipped bullets that had been filled with holy water. The results were
spectacular, even missing the heart of a Vamp could dust it as the holy
water flowed through its system, and while it wasn't necessarily lethal
to non-Vampire demons, the effects were enough to make them hastily
reconsider whether attacking was worth it. Satisfied that she was ready
if she had to be, Sarah re-holstered her weapon with the same casual
grace she'd removed it, and entered the bar.
She grimaced as the sounds of Britney Spears assaulted her ears upon
entering. She knew that the young pop star was a vengeance demon in
actuality, but she still couldn't understand why demons of all sorts
seemed drawn to her music. Her cool grey eyes surveyed the scene,
ignoring the chaos demon bumping and grinding with a lithe dark haired
woman who just screamed "vampire" with her unnatural grace, and finding
an empty table near the back of the bar closest to the wall. That'll
do She decided, Give me a pretty good view of the door without
giving any being a chance to sneak up on her from behind. She waved away
the waiter/waitress, that almost immediately appeared at her side.
Whatever demon species it was, she couldn't determine its sex. Now was
definitely not the time or the place to cloud her judgment, not if she
wanted to make it out in one piece. She pulled the gun from her holster
and laid it on the table in front of her, far enough from her hand as to
not make any of the other patrons nervous, but close enough that she
could grab it and fire a shot or two should the need arise. The message
was clear: mess with me and don't expect to walk away unscathed. With an
annoyed sigh, she pulled back the left sleeve of her jacket and glanced
at her watch. The sun had been down for almost half an hour and her
contact was nowhere to be seen. "That's the problem with so called
immortal creatures" she groused, "just because they think they have all
the time in the world, they assume everyone else does too." The comment
brought annoyed glares from creatures close enough, or with sensitive
enough hearing to catch it, but she only coolly returned their glares
until they looked away first. She allowed herself a small, private smile
when the last went back to its business. The fact of the matter was that
no matter how long lived most of the bars patrons may be, there was
generally some way to kill them, if they couldn't accept it, that was
their problem. Denial of truths like that was often the easiest way to
get killed.
It'd been six hours since Harris had boarded that jet in the middle of
the desert and this was the first time she'd really had any time to sit
down, even if it was for work. She'd taken the film back to HQ for
processing and had put out feelers with the F.O.H.'s contacts, both human
and non for any information on Harris and his past, figuring there had to
be some clue, something that connected him to the mutants on that strange
black jet. It hadn't been four hours after she put out the request that
Rivers had called her into his office. He'd commended her on her work in
getting the photos of Harris with the mutants and informed her that she
had a meeting scheduled with a contact referring to itself only as Harm.
No other information had been available about the contact, gender,
species, nothing. Apparently who or whatever Harm was, it was pretty good
at playing things close to its chest.
It was another half hour before a disturbance at the front of the bar
drew her attention. Six vampires had entered, five burly males and one
lithe, blond female who was hanging on the arm of the one doing his best
to seem a badass. She couldn't hear what the vampires were saying to the
various demons and half-breeds they passed, but it was obviously a show
of muscle and bravado, though there were moments where a fight nearly
erupted. Why is it that I have the feeling that's Harm? Sarah
wondered, sitting up a little straighter and focusing on the vamp with
the blonde on his arm. From his build, she guessed he'd been a body
builder in life, and perhaps genuinely in a biker gang. He seemed far too
at ease with the copious amounts of leather he was wearing for it to be a
recent fashion choice. The blonde woman caught her eye and motioned to
her companion. Almost as one, the six vampires began making their way
towards Sarah's table. Bout damn time She thought, They want
bluster and bravado, that I can do. With long practiced ease, she
lifted her gun from the table and chambered a round where they could
clearly see the action.
"What's that little pea shooter gonna do to me, sweet cheeks?" the
biker asked, letting his game face slide into place, "If you haven't
noticed, I'm not exactly worried about losing blood."
Sarah smiled grimly. That must be his idea of witty banter , she
thought. What she said was, "You must be Harm. I believe you have some
information for me." She motioned to the seat across from her "Didn't
realize you'd be bringing back-up for a little meeting with a mere human.
But if it makes you feel more like a man," she jabbed with a feral grin
as eliciting a growl from the vamp, "who am I to judge? I just don't
have any chairs for your buddies. Guess they'll have to stand."
The biker let his game face fade away, not that his human face was any
more attractive. A ragged scar ran from just below his left eye down
along his jaw line. "I'll stand." He growled barely keeping his human
façade in place, pulling out the chair he added, "Here ya go baby doll."
The young looking blonde vampire smiled prettily and slid into the chair
without a word. Sarah spared her a glance. When dealing with demons it
was always best not to underestimate them based on appearances. Sarah
knew that though the young woman sitting in front of her wearing the pink
tank top with a white unicorn on it looked as though she'd barely
finished high school when she'd been turned, she could still easily crush
the bones in Sarah's body if she so chose.
"The information you claim to have?" Sarah prodded again. The sooner
she was out of this idiot's presence, the better.
"Money first." The biker said simply, extending a hand roughly
towards her.
"The Friends of Humanity don't pay for bad information Harm," she
said coolly, leveling the barrel of the gun at his chest, just a bit
below where his heart should have been. "Now, you tell me what you know
about Harris, and anything that might connect him to these mutants," with
her free hand she pulled an envelope out of her jacket and tossed it onto
the table in front of the blonde woman, who immediately opened it and
went looking through the pictures it contained, "and then, I'll pay you
what I think this information is worth."
The vampires laughed. It was a loud and abrasive sound, not at all
pleasant. "You've got guts, I'll give you that." The biker vamp who'd
been doing all of the talking, obviously the intellectual of the group,
said, letting his game face fall once more into place. "And I'm gonna
rip them out and show them to you unless you give me the money, now. If
you're lucky, you might get to walk out of here to boot." Almost faster
than the eye could follow, his arm snaked out for her. It was the worst
mistake he could have made. Sarah had been anticipating the move and her
finger tensed on the trigger twice, the bullets slamming into the vampire
and knocking him back into a table with force of the impact. The bar went
quiet as he pulled himself back onto his feet, growling loudly.
"Big mistake" he said menacingly. He had no idea how right he was, "
I was going to let you walk out of here...now, they'll be carrying you...."
He stopped mid-threat and grasped his chest where the bullets had
entered. Why was it burning like that? He'd been shot dozens of times
since being turned and it never felt like this before. The fire in his
veins quickly spread throughout his body and with an agonized scream, he
turned to ash. Moments later, the noise of the bar returned, the other
patrons deciding that the excitement was over.
"Damn," the young blonde vampire said, "Do you have any idea how
hard it is to find a guy like Jake? I actually had to go into a biker
bar. Have you ever been to one? The thought of the women's room there
still makes me shudder."
Sarah's attention immediately jerked to the woman sitting in front of
her with a smug smile on her pretty features. "That wasn't Harm?" she
asked cautiously, her eyes flicking to the four remaining male vampires,
trying to figure out which one of them could possibly be smart enough to
use a decoy. If she'd had to guess, she'd have been way off.
"God no," the blonde said, her smile widening, "I am. Well Harmony.
But as I've been informed, Harmony's gang just doesn't have an
appropriate air of menace, so I go by Harm for business deals."
Sarah leveled her gun at Harmony. She'd underestimated the woman's
intelligence, she wasn't willing to make any other assumptions, like, oh
for example, the blonde wouldn't make her pay for killing one of her
people. "Ok, Harm. I'm giving you the same deal I gave him. I like what
you have to say, you can walk out of her a wealthier woman. If it's
crap..."
"I get it," Harmony smiled, "I'm not as stupid as I look." She
seemed to consider the comment before barging on, "I took a look at your
pictures, and I can't say I know anything about the people on the jet.
Never seen any of them before in my life, though that guy with the claws
looks downright yummy. Do you mind if I keep a copy of that particular
picture til I can replace my Jakey?" Sarah nodded quietly and Harmony
handed the picture to one of the quiet male vamps standing behind her. "
Ok, so you want to know about Harris? I went to high school with him.
Here's all you need to know. He's a loser. Big time zero. Just the
Slayer's lapdog, following her around and pretending to be a hero, like
he remotely matters one way or the other in this world."
Sarah looked at her skeptically, "You mean to tell me that an average
human being with no special powers fought alongside a Slayer? There's
nothing remarkable about him at all?"
Harmony laughed lightly, "I know. Hard to believe isn't it? He's the
most worthless person I've ever met. Completely and totally average in
every sense of the word, or so my old friend Cordelia told me," she added
with a wink. A cough from one of the male vampires drew her attention and
he leaned in, whispering something into her ear too low for Sarah to make
out. "You're kidding?" Harmony asked incredulously, the male vampire
shook his head. "Ewwww...and that's why I stayed away from our swim team.
Well that and their rampant losing streaks." Off of Sarah's curious
expression she explained, "Anthony here used to go to Sunnydale High
with me and Xander. In fact, the two of them were on the swim team
together. Apparently, they were exposed to a mutagenic steroid compound
by the coach. It caused a couple guys to rip out of their skin, become
some sort of fish monsters. Apparently, the only reason Anthony is still
as hunky and scale free as he is is that there was apparently a cure for
the mutation. I don't know if there'd be any lasting effects to his
genetic structure or anything, but still..."
Sarah sat up a little straighter, There's a cure for mutation?
Rivers would love to know that. If the F.O.H could mass produce it they'd
be instant saviors of the species. That bit of information was well
worth the five grand she was carrying in her jacket, maybe more. "Well,
once we have Mr. Harris in our custody, we can check for any such
effects. You've been most helpful Harm." She pulled an envelope from
within her jacket, "Five thousand, promised, and I can assure you that
the Friends of Humanity would be willing to at least double that if you
can find and provide the formula used to prevent mutation, or the doctors
who have such knowledge." She noticed the predatory gleam in the young
blonde's eyes. "Alive or turned only," she amended, "They're no good to
us dead."
Harmony nodded her understanding and, without a word, rose from the
table and headed out the door, her four remaining lackeys following like
obedient puppies. Sarah gave them a good fifteen minutes to clear the
area, just in case they decided to try jumping her to see if she had more
cash, before heading out the door herself. She walked the two blocks to a
slightly better section of L.A. and remounted her motorcycle. Gunning the
engine, she sped off back towards headquarters.
Author: RoguesKnight
Disclaimer: None of the recognizable characters in this story are mine. If you recognize any of my characters, I'm touched, but by and large if you see a name you know they're the respective properties of Marvel, 20th Century Fox, Joss Whedon, and Mutant Enemy.
Dedication: To my amazing fiancée. I miss you! I love you! And more or less of the apt will still be standing when you get back home. To my wonderfully patient reviewers, sorry for the delay in updating. I really want to finish this thing so I can find out how it ends too.
And away we go
It was just after sundown when Sarah Jameson found herself standing
outside a relatively non-descript, apparently run down, bar in one of the
worse sections of L.A. The neighborhood's high crime rate alone would be
enough to keep passerby from spending too much time on the street
wondering about the building's contents. And should a tourist be brazen
enough to enter, the bar's rather unique clientele would make sure that
they didn't get the chance to exit and tell anyone what they'd seen
inside. As was the case with most of the city's demon bars, you didn't
get in and out unharmed unless you were known to the patrons, or were
heavily armed enough to fight your way out, and sometimes if your luck
just really sucked, being known and armed might not be enough. Of course,
Friends of Humanity was well known to the city's demon underworld. In
the early days of the group's founding demons had been mistaken as
mutants, taken in and experimented on, weaknesses discovered and
exploited. It wasn't until the dissolution of a covert military group
known as the Initiative and the absorption of some of it's key personnel
that the F.O.H. learned the true nature of the creatures they had been
capturing. Not that it made much of a difference one way or the other,
mutant or demon, both represented a threat to humanity's survival.
However, demons were part of the natural order of things, mutants, no
matter what bleeding heart liberals said, were not and so an uneasy truce
had been established between demonkind and the F.O.H. there were
occasional skirmishes that strained the bonds of the truce
Looking around to make sure no one was paying too much attention to
her, Sarah pulled a .44 Magnum from its holster, hidden by the black
leather jacket she was wearing, and flipped the safety off. Just because
on average demons left the F.O.H.'s membership alone was no reason to
take any unnecessary risks. She then replaced the clip of normal bullets
with one specifically developed to deal with other worldly opponents. One
of the early lessons on demons Friends of Humanity had learned, the hard
way, was that they were hard as hell to kill most of the time, no pun
intended. However, the majority could be seriously injured by silver, if
not outright killed by it, and thanks to the contributions of former
Initiative members, they had developed armor piercing silver hollow
tipped bullets that had been filled with holy water. The results were
spectacular, even missing the heart of a Vamp could dust it as the holy
water flowed through its system, and while it wasn't necessarily lethal
to non-Vampire demons, the effects were enough to make them hastily
reconsider whether attacking was worth it. Satisfied that she was ready
if she had to be, Sarah re-holstered her weapon with the same casual
grace she'd removed it, and entered the bar.
She grimaced as the sounds of Britney Spears assaulted her ears upon
entering. She knew that the young pop star was a vengeance demon in
actuality, but she still couldn't understand why demons of all sorts
seemed drawn to her music. Her cool grey eyes surveyed the scene,
ignoring the chaos demon bumping and grinding with a lithe dark haired
woman who just screamed "vampire" with her unnatural grace, and finding
an empty table near the back of the bar closest to the wall. That'll
do She decided, Give me a pretty good view of the door without
giving any being a chance to sneak up on her from behind. She waved away
the waiter/waitress, that almost immediately appeared at her side.
Whatever demon species it was, she couldn't determine its sex. Now was
definitely not the time or the place to cloud her judgment, not if she
wanted to make it out in one piece. She pulled the gun from her holster
and laid it on the table in front of her, far enough from her hand as to
not make any of the other patrons nervous, but close enough that she
could grab it and fire a shot or two should the need arise. The message
was clear: mess with me and don't expect to walk away unscathed. With an
annoyed sigh, she pulled back the left sleeve of her jacket and glanced
at her watch. The sun had been down for almost half an hour and her
contact was nowhere to be seen. "That's the problem with so called
immortal creatures" she groused, "just because they think they have all
the time in the world, they assume everyone else does too." The comment
brought annoyed glares from creatures close enough, or with sensitive
enough hearing to catch it, but she only coolly returned their glares
until they looked away first. She allowed herself a small, private smile
when the last went back to its business. The fact of the matter was that
no matter how long lived most of the bars patrons may be, there was
generally some way to kill them, if they couldn't accept it, that was
their problem. Denial of truths like that was often the easiest way to
get killed.
It'd been six hours since Harris had boarded that jet in the middle of
the desert and this was the first time she'd really had any time to sit
down, even if it was for work. She'd taken the film back to HQ for
processing and had put out feelers with the F.O.H.'s contacts, both human
and non for any information on Harris and his past, figuring there had to
be some clue, something that connected him to the mutants on that strange
black jet. It hadn't been four hours after she put out the request that
Rivers had called her into his office. He'd commended her on her work in
getting the photos of Harris with the mutants and informed her that she
had a meeting scheduled with a contact referring to itself only as Harm.
No other information had been available about the contact, gender,
species, nothing. Apparently who or whatever Harm was, it was pretty good
at playing things close to its chest.
It was another half hour before a disturbance at the front of the bar
drew her attention. Six vampires had entered, five burly males and one
lithe, blond female who was hanging on the arm of the one doing his best
to seem a badass. She couldn't hear what the vampires were saying to the
various demons and half-breeds they passed, but it was obviously a show
of muscle and bravado, though there were moments where a fight nearly
erupted. Why is it that I have the feeling that's Harm? Sarah
wondered, sitting up a little straighter and focusing on the vamp with
the blonde on his arm. From his build, she guessed he'd been a body
builder in life, and perhaps genuinely in a biker gang. He seemed far too
at ease with the copious amounts of leather he was wearing for it to be a
recent fashion choice. The blonde woman caught her eye and motioned to
her companion. Almost as one, the six vampires began making their way
towards Sarah's table. Bout damn time She thought, They want
bluster and bravado, that I can do. With long practiced ease, she
lifted her gun from the table and chambered a round where they could
clearly see the action.
"What's that little pea shooter gonna do to me, sweet cheeks?" the
biker asked, letting his game face slide into place, "If you haven't
noticed, I'm not exactly worried about losing blood."
Sarah smiled grimly. That must be his idea of witty banter , she
thought. What she said was, "You must be Harm. I believe you have some
information for me." She motioned to the seat across from her "Didn't
realize you'd be bringing back-up for a little meeting with a mere human.
But if it makes you feel more like a man," she jabbed with a feral grin
as eliciting a growl from the vamp, "who am I to judge? I just don't
have any chairs for your buddies. Guess they'll have to stand."
The biker let his game face fade away, not that his human face was any
more attractive. A ragged scar ran from just below his left eye down
along his jaw line. "I'll stand." He growled barely keeping his human
façade in place, pulling out the chair he added, "Here ya go baby doll."
The young looking blonde vampire smiled prettily and slid into the chair
without a word. Sarah spared her a glance. When dealing with demons it
was always best not to underestimate them based on appearances. Sarah
knew that though the young woman sitting in front of her wearing the pink
tank top with a white unicorn on it looked as though she'd barely
finished high school when she'd been turned, she could still easily crush
the bones in Sarah's body if she so chose.
"The information you claim to have?" Sarah prodded again. The sooner
she was out of this idiot's presence, the better.
"Money first." The biker said simply, extending a hand roughly
towards her.
"The Friends of Humanity don't pay for bad information Harm," she
said coolly, leveling the barrel of the gun at his chest, just a bit
below where his heart should have been. "Now, you tell me what you know
about Harris, and anything that might connect him to these mutants," with
her free hand she pulled an envelope out of her jacket and tossed it onto
the table in front of the blonde woman, who immediately opened it and
went looking through the pictures it contained, "and then, I'll pay you
what I think this information is worth."
The vampires laughed. It was a loud and abrasive sound, not at all
pleasant. "You've got guts, I'll give you that." The biker vamp who'd
been doing all of the talking, obviously the intellectual of the group,
said, letting his game face fall once more into place. "And I'm gonna
rip them out and show them to you unless you give me the money, now. If
you're lucky, you might get to walk out of here to boot." Almost faster
than the eye could follow, his arm snaked out for her. It was the worst
mistake he could have made. Sarah had been anticipating the move and her
finger tensed on the trigger twice, the bullets slamming into the vampire
and knocking him back into a table with force of the impact. The bar went
quiet as he pulled himself back onto his feet, growling loudly.
"Big mistake" he said menacingly. He had no idea how right he was, "
I was going to let you walk out of here...now, they'll be carrying you...."
He stopped mid-threat and grasped his chest where the bullets had
entered. Why was it burning like that? He'd been shot dozens of times
since being turned and it never felt like this before. The fire in his
veins quickly spread throughout his body and with an agonized scream, he
turned to ash. Moments later, the noise of the bar returned, the other
patrons deciding that the excitement was over.
"Damn," the young blonde vampire said, "Do you have any idea how
hard it is to find a guy like Jake? I actually had to go into a biker
bar. Have you ever been to one? The thought of the women's room there
still makes me shudder."
Sarah's attention immediately jerked to the woman sitting in front of
her with a smug smile on her pretty features. "That wasn't Harm?" she
asked cautiously, her eyes flicking to the four remaining male vampires,
trying to figure out which one of them could possibly be smart enough to
use a decoy. If she'd had to guess, she'd have been way off.
"God no," the blonde said, her smile widening, "I am. Well Harmony.
But as I've been informed, Harmony's gang just doesn't have an
appropriate air of menace, so I go by Harm for business deals."
Sarah leveled her gun at Harmony. She'd underestimated the woman's
intelligence, she wasn't willing to make any other assumptions, like, oh
for example, the blonde wouldn't make her pay for killing one of her
people. "Ok, Harm. I'm giving you the same deal I gave him. I like what
you have to say, you can walk out of her a wealthier woman. If it's
crap..."
"I get it," Harmony smiled, "I'm not as stupid as I look." She
seemed to consider the comment before barging on, "I took a look at your
pictures, and I can't say I know anything about the people on the jet.
Never seen any of them before in my life, though that guy with the claws
looks downright yummy. Do you mind if I keep a copy of that particular
picture til I can replace my Jakey?" Sarah nodded quietly and Harmony
handed the picture to one of the quiet male vamps standing behind her. "
Ok, so you want to know about Harris? I went to high school with him.
Here's all you need to know. He's a loser. Big time zero. Just the
Slayer's lapdog, following her around and pretending to be a hero, like
he remotely matters one way or the other in this world."
Sarah looked at her skeptically, "You mean to tell me that an average
human being with no special powers fought alongside a Slayer? There's
nothing remarkable about him at all?"
Harmony laughed lightly, "I know. Hard to believe isn't it? He's the
most worthless person I've ever met. Completely and totally average in
every sense of the word, or so my old friend Cordelia told me," she added
with a wink. A cough from one of the male vampires drew her attention and
he leaned in, whispering something into her ear too low for Sarah to make
out. "You're kidding?" Harmony asked incredulously, the male vampire
shook his head. "Ewwww...and that's why I stayed away from our swim team.
Well that and their rampant losing streaks." Off of Sarah's curious
expression she explained, "Anthony here used to go to Sunnydale High
with me and Xander. In fact, the two of them were on the swim team
together. Apparently, they were exposed to a mutagenic steroid compound
by the coach. It caused a couple guys to rip out of their skin, become
some sort of fish monsters. Apparently, the only reason Anthony is still
as hunky and scale free as he is is that there was apparently a cure for
the mutation. I don't know if there'd be any lasting effects to his
genetic structure or anything, but still..."
Sarah sat up a little straighter, There's a cure for mutation?
Rivers would love to know that. If the F.O.H could mass produce it they'd
be instant saviors of the species. That bit of information was well
worth the five grand she was carrying in her jacket, maybe more. "Well,
once we have Mr. Harris in our custody, we can check for any such
effects. You've been most helpful Harm." She pulled an envelope from
within her jacket, "Five thousand, promised, and I can assure you that
the Friends of Humanity would be willing to at least double that if you
can find and provide the formula used to prevent mutation, or the doctors
who have such knowledge." She noticed the predatory gleam in the young
blonde's eyes. "Alive or turned only," she amended, "They're no good to
us dead."
Harmony nodded her understanding and, without a word, rose from the
table and headed out the door, her four remaining lackeys following like
obedient puppies. Sarah gave them a good fifteen minutes to clear the
area, just in case they decided to try jumping her to see if she had more
cash, before heading out the door herself. She walked the two blocks to a
slightly better section of L.A. and remounted her motorcycle. Gunning the
engine, she sped off back towards headquarters.