Paperwork. How she hated paperwork. But even an organization such as Chrysalis had to deal with unending piles of paperwork. And reports. Endless reports compiled on every aspect of the inner workings of Sector G. There were days she felt bogged down and trapped in the minutiae of it all. Granted, most only appeared for her signature, others beneath her having read and approved the contents long before it crossed her desk.
Some days it wasn't so bad; the reports interesting to a degree, but today she longed for a distraction, even a meeting was preferable to reading how the Farm Project was coming along. Though this particular farm had nothing to do with crops, be they plant or animal. The dry facts and figures made her want to yawn.
A knock at her office door impinged on her awareness. Without taking her eyes off the chart she was failing to interpret, she said, "Come."
She heard the door open, but didn't look up immediately, still trying to decipher the yield ratio.
"Tabitha, a moment of your time."
Tabitha froze. The last person she expected had just walked into her office unannounced. She had a far greater respect for Delphi after the... interview, but no less hate. A fear-ridden hate, admittedly, but hate all the same. That dratted fear of the unknown created a typical gut response that was not under conscious control.
The emotional response might be unavoidable, but sharing her feelings was not. She schooled a neutral look on her face and sat back in her seat to meet the woman's eyes.
"Of course. My resources are at your disposal." The words were thickly layered with sarcasm that was unmistakable.
"Good. I need eight of your best men in an hour," Delphi ordered without preamble.
Clearly, the sarcasm was lost on her. "Why?" Tabitha asked, keeping her request as polite as she could manage.
"We need them to gain access to a secure facility," Lethe explained, in his coolly soft voice.
Tabitha set her hands on the desk, wondering what the devil it was they were planning. "You are aware that we must keep a low profile, yes? Storming a local business or government building is not an optimal method for maintaining our secrecy."
Delphi smiled, but Tabitha could see that it failed to touch her eyes. "It is a Chrysalis run business."
Tabitha's eyebrows went up before she could prevent the reaction. "Ah. Which facility would that be?" As Delphi plainly readied a retort, she added, "I may be able to assist you with manpower best suited to the task."
This time the smile did indeed reach Delphi's eyes. "That would be most appreciated. We would prefer to do minimal damage to the personnel and equipment."
Tabitha's lips quirked, honestly surprised that they would care one whit about anything but themselves. She still wondered what they were after, but refrained from asking. Some things were better left unknown. "And the location would be?"
"Archangel," Lethe said.
Tabitha found herself not the least bit surprised by this revelation. Jared ran Archangel. Jared, who had been questioned for over an hour just that morning. Jared, who seemed to be at the center of their quest. Jared from whom she had inherited innumerable problems when she had taken this position. So, if there were the slightest chance they were going to cause difficulties for Jared, she would gladly assist.
"Will 10 men and all the command codes do?"
Lethe tipped his head slightly. "I believe so."
---
Dr. Burroughs was an incompetent fool. Even after several more hours of intensive work, Alex Monroe was still unbroken. In fact, if she hadn't been securely restrained she'd probably be doing her best to kill him with her bare hands. Oh, she was close; her eyes glassy with exhaustion, her body shaking uncontrollably from the precisely delivered electric shocks, which caused muscles to twitch and spasm for long afterwards, she remained whole, her spirit unaffected thanks to her indomitable will. If circumstances had been different, she would have been a prime candidate for recruitment into Chrysalis; her genes, perhaps, adding to the qualities already extant in the group. But, alas, she was only useful as a tool, an incubator for future generations.
"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?" Alex made a grand effort at sounding forceful and undaunted, but it was obvious she was teetering on the brink; the tremor in her voice giving her away.
"Killing you is the last thing I want." Jared lifted a syringe filled with a clear liquid and watched as she tensed, but, instead of immediately injecting it into her, as he had with several others, he simply held it up, the light sparking momentarily through it.
"I won't tell you anything," she stated, visibly relaxing as the seeming threat lessened, which was what he had been waiting for.
With a quick movement, he jabbed the needle into her thigh and pressed the plunger.
Alex screamed and instinctively tried to flinch away, but had nowhere to go. "You son of a bitch," she snarled even as tears of pain flowed down her cheeks.
He withdrew the syringe and allowed a tiny sigh to escape. "Alexandra, you will eventually tell me everything, but as I'm quite certain you will layer it in so many lies that the truth will inevitably be obscured..." He shrugged. "I don't really care about the Agency's piddling little secrets. If I really want to know them, they're easy enough to discover without going to all this effort."
Confusion washed across Alex's features. "You did this just so I would stop looking for my son?"
"My son," Stark snapped, pacing about her. "And, while I would indeed prefer you not snooping about my life, it wasn't the only reason."
"Causing you trouble, am I?" Alex managed a dry chuckle, and wincing at the pain it caused her.
"A bit. Nothing I can't handle, obviously." Jared had circled behind her, waiting for the drugs to kick in. This one had been promised to be effective, considering the hallucinogens added.
She snorted. "Do you really think removing me will stop the Agency... or Darien?" She slurred Fawkes' name then shook her head to try and clear it. "He... he'll keep coming after you."
"Not if I don't give him a reason to." Jared had some specific plans concerning Darien Fawkes, but they could wait for a time, simmering on the back burner until they reached a full boil.
"I'm reason enough," Alex countered, stumbling over the words. "Wha... what have you done to me?"
Jared sidled up to her, bending down to place his head near hers. "Oh, just a little something to loosen your tongue."
"W...w...won't work," she insisted.
"Doesn't matter. This will be my last attempt. Afterwards I'll be shipping you to a very special breeding facility."
Alex stiffened, her head snapping back into the headrest with a solid crack that must have left her seeing stars. "I won't be your cow. I'll fight you at every turn."
Jared tsked. "And how will you do that without a mind?"
"You... you wouldn't." For the first time she actually sounded frightened.
"Of course I would. Brandon would benefit from having siblings. I think a daughter would be a nice addition to the family." He circled about to face her, immensely enjoying the abject horror in her eyes. "What do you think of the name Isabel?"
"Never," she whispered hoarsely.
"What was that?" Jared questioned, finding it difficult not to smile.
"Never. I'd rather die."
"Oh, I imagine you will... eventually." Now he smiled, feral and poisonous. "Your kind always dies so quickly."
Alex visibly shuddered and swallowed hard. He was close, so very close. The hallucinogenic was surely conjuring up all sorts of terrifying images in her mind. If he gave the drug a few more minutes to work, they'd become visual and auditory as well. Not long after that, she would gladly tell him anything he wanted. She'd be volunteering information just to keep the horrors her mind created at bay. That... that he would relish.
A solid thud against the opaque wall drew his attention. He was not to be disturbed unless she was in danger of dying, and even in that event, her death, while annoying, would not be of great concern.
A second, more solid, thud was heard then silence. A few seconds later the door opened and Jared stalked away from Alex to see who the intruder was. It took him a moment to place the man. Cooper, chief bodyguard of that witch, Delphi. He would have them all shot and to hell with Sharon and her grandiose schemes.
Only the fact that the man was very well armed kept Jared from doing anything rash. "What do you want?"
Cooper said nothing as more men boiled into the room. These men, Jared recognized as part of an elite strike team that was under Tabitha's command. From witch to bitch in a heartbeat. There were times he truly hated Tabitha with every fiber of his being, and this was one of them. Had he any clue she was working with those genetic mistakes... He should have known, or, at least, guessed given Sharon's favoritism towards Tabitha.
Jared didn't like being set-up. The problem was that he was unsure why he was being targeted, or for what gain.
"Restrain him and make certain he does not interfere," Lethe ordered as he entered the room.
Four of Tabitha's elite rushed to do exactly that, and Jared swiftly found himself forced into the wall, the sole focus of the quartet of exceedingly dangerous men. He went along complacently enough, as there was little point in fighting them. Besides, he was curious what all this was about.
"Adjust the lights."
That was the witch. Still outside the room, but clearly the one in command of the situation. Perhaps Tabitha was not conspiring with the pair, perhaps she was being ordered about as well. Sharon favored their kind. Maybe, just maybe, he and Tabitha could find common ground against a mutual enemy.
The bright spotlights rotated downward and dimmed, making the entire room visible to all. Alex was breathing heavily, eyes wide in drug-induced fright and confusion.
Lethe strode purposefully to her side and reached out to set a hand on her forehead.
Alex violently jerked her head away. "Don't touch me," she snarled.
Jared could only imagine what frightful visions the drug was causing by now. A smile of pure pleasure crossed his features. "She's of no use to you," he informed Lethe, positive it was the truth.
"Be silent. You have caused entirely too much trouble already." Lethe's voice was a low rumble; rarely seen anger making a sudden display. He returned his attention to Alex, who looked remarkably like a bird trapped in too small a cage, her panic written in every line of her body. "Calm, little one, we mean you no harm."
"Please," she begged, irritating Jared to no end. She was supposed to beg him not that malfeasant freak. "Please, don't..."
The instant Lethe's fingertips touched her, she calmed, her eyes falling shut.
Jared had no clue what the man's abilities were, but they apparently worked. When Alex was released, mere moments later, she was back in control.
'All that work, and for what?' Jared railed silently. He would have their heads mounted in cloning tanks for his viewing pleasure when this was all over.
"She is ready for you, Delphi," Lethe informed his counterpart as she entered the room. She focused her blue eyes on Jared, startling him with the intensity of her gaze, and, for and instant, he was truly in fear of his life, certain in a way he never had been before that if she felt it necessary, she would kill him and feel no concern, no remorse.
He was very much correct.
And then she turned away, moving to stand next to Alex. "You are Alex Monroe? Host mother to the child known as Brandon Stark?"
Alex licked her dry lips. "James. His name is James."
Delphi cocked her head, as if hearing voices. "Hmm. Yes, I can see that."
Alex blinked, not understanding any more than Jared. He had absolutely no clue what the woman could do, but Sharon apparently felt it necessary to send her on this errand. Whatever the errand was. Why she would trust them was beyond his ability to comprehend. He certainly didn't.
"What is it you want?" Alex questioned, showing the beginnings of boldness again.
"Nothing that you can't easily part with." Delphi attempted to set her hand atop Alex's forearm, but stopped when she began to struggle, clearly not wanting the blonde stranger to touch her. "I have no plans to hurt you... unless you force me to."
Alex trembled, but managed to hold still as the woman watched her. "Who are you?" she asked, her curiosity peaked. Maybe her mind had cleared enough to realize Jared was no longer in charge. Maybe she had gained some hope that she might get out of this, surviving with her mind and body intact. And maybe it was nothing more than an effort to gather as much information as possible, to feel as if she had control of some tiny part of her current predicament.
Lethe volunteered an answer to the question. "She is the one who will decide your fate."
Again, Jared failed to understand. His meeting with the couple had begun polite, but had quickly degenerated into insults; the underlying animosity bubbling to the surface and overflowing across the ground at their feet. He took Sharon's word that they and their kind had their uses, but he was unable to see them for himself. If - and it was a gigantic if - that one gene pair, first discovered in their DNA, was so valuable that they must be allowed to live, then they could do so in a Library; cryo-preserved in the event some unforeseen accident required them. The side-effects from the genetic manipulation were just too dangerous, too uncontrolled to make it worth the risk. Or so he believed.
Better to exterminate them all, as if they were no more than mutated insects. Stepped on, as Alex had once suggested as the fate of all Chrysalis.
Cooper spoke then, "She is online."
Lethe nodded. "Sharon, can you hear us?"
"Oui. You hope to resolve this soon?" Sharon's voice, coming out of the speakers, echoed oddly in the circular space.
"Sharon," Jared barked, not about to let the opportunity to express his displeasure with the behavior of her pets. "I demand an explanation. Your wunderkind have taken me hostage and..."
"Silence!" Sharon roared. "Or you may find yourself reassigned to Greenland."
Jared gaped. This could not be happening. He had not just been threatened with a transfer to the worst sector in all of Chrysalis. Even Siberia would be preferable. It was only then that it dawned on Jared that something of the utmost importance was occurring and that it revolved around Alex Monroe. And if that was true then it followed that it involved his son. There was no other connection between himself and Alex.
Though he wanted to shout something, anything to prevent whatever it was that was going to happen next, he held his tongue, somehow certain that if he spoke so much as a single word something far, far worse than a transfer would happen.
"Delphi is ready," Lethe told their superior.
"Bon. You may begin." An order, though phrased politely.
Alex flinched as fingers brushed along her arm, but had nowhere to go, since she had not yet been released from the restraints. Delphi shuddered visibly, much to Jared's surprise.
"Do you see?" Lethe asked, seemingly as surprised as Jared by the reaction.
"Too many paths. All points diverge from now." Delphi came back to herself, head snapping about to meet Lethe's eyes. "You must narrow the choices. Find the primes so that we may choose the best."
'Paths? Primes? What the hell was the witch anyway?' Jared wondered silently as he watched her turn back to Alex. 'What could she possible see...' It suddenly struck Jared just why the woman was so valuable to Sharon. Her name wasn't just a name; it was also a title. He knew his mythology as well as the next person. The Oracle at Delphi was one of the best known seers in ancient history. Sharon had herself a prescient, one who saw not just the future, but all the innumerable possible ones.
Jared might just have to rethink his plan to kill the witch when this was over. The real question was why Alex Monroe was so damn important to this future Delphi had seen.
"What if the child remains with the Starks?" The question was carefully phrased by Lethe, and it was obvious to Jared that the man had long practice prompting the seer.
"The hunt will continue; those others aiding her endeavors, until Chrysalis is no more," Delphi stated, delicate tremor running through her body.
'Others?' Jared was certain that meant the Agency, but Delphi appeared to have no knowledge of who they were.
"And if we just kill her?" Sharon's suggestion was not a bad one, as it would get Alex out of the way as effectively as Jared's own plans.
"They will carry on in her stead," Delphi paused, her voice going faint, "the one that is not there will see to our downfall."
In a shocked voice Alex said, "Fawkes?" echoing Jared's own thoughts. It would be just like Darien to fight for the honor of a fallen comrade, even more so than Hobbes.
"Merde." That single word perfectly expressed Sharon's feelings on the matter. "How can one invisible man be the cause of so many problems?"
Delphi pulled her hand away from Alex. "Unsichtbarer Mann? How is this possible?"
"Magic," Alex replied, voice dripping with sarcasm, and causing Jared to chuckle. It was accurate enough an answer for now. "How do you see the future?"
Delphi tipped her head in acknowledgement of the well executed riposte. Lethe, however, reminded them of their real purpose here.
"We still have no workable solution," he pointed out.
"And we must have one," Sharon insisted, her patience wearing thin.
Delphi resumed contact with Alex. "There are few viable options left."
"What if we give her the child," Lethe said in that cool whisper-soft voice of his.
She stiffened, her back arching in reaction. "Forgetfulness. Her focus will shift to her son and she will eventually stop hunting us."
"Eventually? What of the war you foresaw?" Sharon sounded less agitated, but Jared had no idea what the 'war' was.
Delphi shook her head, blonde hair obscuring her face for an instant. "This will buy us time only. This woman is not the only one who would bring this war to our doorstep. It will come no matter what we do here and now. What we do today will only delay it."
"The Agency knows far too much about us," Jared explained, feeling a sense of justification. "Especially Darien Fawkes."
"What of the Agency's future?" Lethe prompted, anticipating what was sure to Sharon's next request.
Delphi stilled, the silence in the room deafening for the seconds it lasted. "I cannot tell. She is only one part of the group. I do not have enough information to give you an accurate answer. That they exist for some time to come is all that I can see."
"Eliminate Darien Fawkes and the Agency will fall apart." Jared knew this to be true, had watched it happen less than a year ago when Fawkes had left for supposedly greener pastures. Only the Official's expert manipulation of the situation had brought Fawkes back into the fold, along with ruining one of Jared's grander schemes. He had lost the Quicksilver glands, Arnaud, and his position in one fell swoop. He still owed Fawkes for that.
Delphi rounded on Jared, eyes blazing. "Your vendetta with this man may very well destroy Chrysalis," she snarled, and for an instant, he saw her as she truly was: dangerous, deadly, and far more powerful than he could ever hope to be. She... they were both more and less human than the rest of the world. They and their brethren really had moved on to the next stage; the evolution of mankind forever locked within less than four dozen souls.
'An evolution,' Jared reminded himself, shaking off the sudden terror-filled awe she had inspired. 'What they had become was one of many possibilities.' He now could see the same truth when he glanced at Lethe, what they were marked as clearly upon them as the tattoos on their cheeks. They had broken free, butterflies no longer needing the protection of the chrysalis. If Sharon wasn't careful, it might just be them and not the children the breeding programs were currently producing who would one day rule the earth. And in her eyes, Jared could see that she knew this as well.
"Sharon...," he began, forgetting the accusation of Delphi in his sudden need to warn Sharon of a far more serious threat.
"Enough." The single word was sharp, brittle like a metal reduced to absolute zero; the slightest touch would cause it to shatter into a million pieces. "The child will go with the host."
"What?" Jared shouted, lunging towards Delphi, though she was simply a convenient target - the messenger, if you will.
Tabitha's men quickly grabbed him and bodily shoved him painfully hard into the wall. "You can't do that," he yelled, stars wheeling before his eyes, and ears ringing with the false sound of basso bells. How much was from the blow and how much from the loss of his son was anyone's guess.
"I can and I will," Sharon told him as if scolding a recalcitrant child. "Lethe."
"Yes, Sharon."
"You will alter the memories of all involved to fit an appropriate scenario. Make certain the child's mind is changed and as much of the indoctrination as possible removed."
'Altered,' Jared thought in horror. Brainwashing took time, a lot of time, and he and every other Chrysalis member was resistant once the indoctrination programming was complete. Only Brandon, of all here, might be so easily manipulated. Alex had already proven herself a challenging subject over the last several days.
Lethe, however, did not seem to be bothered by that fact. "It may take several days to complete."
Days? Jared was shocked yet again. What was the man going to do? Crawl into their minds, remove what was there, and lay down new memories? With a sinking feeling, he realized that might very well be true. Lethe was the river of forgetfulness that flowed through Hades. Spirits that swam the river forgot all of their former existence, wandering lost and confused for all of eternity.
"Sharon, don't do this. Don't take my son from me."
"You would prefer we sacrifice all Chrysalis has accomplished for a single child?" Delphi sneered, infuriating Jared to no end.
"I would prefer you were never born," Jared snarled.
Alex laughed. "What's the matter, Jared, things not going quite how you planned?"
He could hear the joy in her voice, her hope that this turn of events was real and that she'd be walking out of here with his son. As he had told her once before, he'd rather see Brandon dead than raised by her.
"I wouldn't gloat so soon, Alex," Jared began, only to be interrupted by Sharon.
"Jared, I have made my decision. The boy is hers."
"No. I won't allow it."
"Merde. Silence, you fool. You will do as I say and, if you are very lucky, I will permit you to breed again." It was threat, a serious threat, and though unusual, she could indeed prevent he and Eleanor from having any more children. Would it be worth the battle? To fight to keep Brandon and possibly lose far more than just the child? His position, his power could all be forfeit if he pressed the matter. And without those... his son would have nothing. No, better to acquiesce for now, bide his time. Time that would pass, allowing Monroe to become complacent, and then he would take his son back.
"Oh, and Lethe, make certain Jared loses interest in retrieving his son." Sharon's amusement was easily audible across the intervening distance. "Inform me when the task has been completed."
Delphi, eyes glued to Jared and a smirk curving her lips upwards, responded, "Of course, Sharon."
A few seconds later a new voice said, "She has disconnected."
"Witch," Jared hissed. "I'll have you all killed for this.
Delphi motioned for Alex to be released. "No, Mr. Stark, you won't. In fact, I can guarantee you won't remember a thing."
The smile she leveled upon him cause fear, real fear, to churn in his belly. This was a battle he would not win.