Disclaimer: Not mine.
No one said anything for about thirty seconds as they watched Bess catch her breath.
"What are you doing here, Bess?" George said finally.
Bess straightened up, looking fairly comical with her messy hairdo and earnest expression. "I came to visit Joe." she said. "And... to help."
Nancy smiled gently at her friend. I should have known Bess wouldn't stay out of the way if she could help it, she thought wryly. "Bess, were you listening in?"
Bess blushed. "Just for a minute. I heard you say that there's an Assassin after Frank and you and George are going to go after him."
The Gray Man shook his head. "Oh, no you don't. I don't want any more civilians in on this operation."
"You didn't seem to mind when the civilian was Nancy." Joe protested hoarsely.
"Shouldn't you be resting?" the Gray Man sniped levelly. Turning to Bess, he said, "Ms. Marvin, I'm going to have to ask you to go straight home and not reveal anything you have heard today. Otherwise we may have to book you with obstructing a federal investigation."
Neither Joe nor Bess looked very pleased with him.
"What if Bess just stays in the hospital with Joe and Fenton?" George suggested. All three of the aforementioned shot her a dirty look. "Okay, okay, just throwing it out there..."
The Gray Man was getting fed up with all of the who's-going-where-with-whom talk. "Fenton, Joe, a few of our agents have been stationed outside the room. I don't anticipate any problems, but if you have any they will contact me. Frank, Nancy, George, you're coming with me. Ms. Marvin, please go home." he finished with such a sinister tone that Bess shrank away from him.
Nancy looked at her friend sympathetically and reached out to give her hand a squeeze. "It's for the best, Bess, I promise." she reassured her. Turning to her husband, she looked him in the eyes. "I will see you later." she said deliberately. Lastly, she swept down to brush her lips past his.
Joe frowned. "I love you, Nan."
"She loves you too." the Gray Man snapped irritably. "Now, if it's not too much trouble, could we please get Frank to a place where he will be less likely to die?" Taking Nancy's arm, he led her out of the room, although she did manage to turn around long enough to shoot a wink at Joe.
Frank and George caught up with them in the hall, where the Gray Man was making arrangements with another man for Frank and his mother to be taken to the secure facility. Frank didn't know any of the other Network agents well enough to be able to pick them out in the hospital setting, but if they were all as inconspicuous as the Gray Man, they could be any of the "nurses," "patients," or other assorted people roaming the corridors. The Gray Man beckoned them over. "Frank, Laura, Carson. Agent Schuler will take you to the safehouse. It's not terribly far from here, maybe an hour, and that's all I can say while we're out in public, so off you go." He nodded to Agent Schuler who led Laura and Carson towards the door. Frank himself hung back, looking at the girls guiltily.
"Go ahead." Nancy told him. "We'll take care of it."
George gave him a soft smile. "We'll be okay." she said. "You just worry about keeping yourself safe."
Reluctantly, Frank gave a nod. "Be careful. George. Nancy." His eyes lingered on Nancy for just a moment as he followed his mother and Carson. It was completely against his nature to leave the girls and Joe while he hid someplace safe, but he knew that not only was it the wisest thing to do, it was the safest, assuming that the Assassins really did order a hit on him... And as he got in Agent Schuler's ordinary-looking car and sped away from the hospital, he looked out the window and kept close track of where he was being taken.
Nancy and George sat in a conference room in the Chicago branch of the Network's headquarters, feeling ill at ease amongst the ten or twelve strange agents sitting around the table. "The problem," the Gray Man explained from the head of the table, "Is that we have no way of locating the Assassin that's after Frank. Now that Frank is in hiding, where will the Assassin strike? There's simply no way to know. Our only choice is to go back to the first plan: checking out known Chicago criminal hideouts."
"So why hide Frank away?" one of the unfamiliar agents spoke up. "Wouldn't it be better to leave the guy in the open and wait till the Assassin makes a move, then arrest him?"
George narrowed her eyes at the agent who had spoken. "So, effectively, what you're suggesting is that we use Frank for bait... which sounds to me like a good way to get him killed."
The agent shook his head somberly. "Risking the life of one man to bring down a killer isn't unheard of in this business. We need to do what is best for the people, and that means taking down as many Assassins as we can lay hands on, no matter the cost."
George's mouth dropped open. "You seem to be forgetting that an individual life is a pretty high price!" she sputtered. "It's human sacrifice, that's what it is!"
The Gray Man sent a scathing look George's way. "Miss Fayne, if you have a problem with the way we operate, perhaps you'd care to stay here while Network personnel handles the situation?"
George frowned sullenly, but before she could retort Nancy had started up in defense of her friend. "Yes, Gray, we do have a problem with the way you operate. We think it's stupid to investigate every lowlife hangout in the city when we don't even know what we're looking for. We think it's abhorrent that you would even consider purposely endangering Frank in order to catch one criminal."
The Gray Man squared his jaw. "Ms. Hardy, I would like to remind you that you are not a part of this organization and it would be very easy to leave you on the sidelines while our agents take care of this problem." His threatening tone made it clear he would not hesitate to leave them behind.
Nancy thought fast, looking for an angle. "Searching blindly won't help us at all in this case." She said in frustration. "What about me? If we need bait why not use me? I've been in this case from the beginning. I'm close to Joe and Frank."
One of the other female agents gave her a look. "Are you bipolar? One minute you're going on about how horrible it is for us to use people to lure out the terrorists and now you're offering to be the bait!"
"Are you kidding, Nancy?" George asked incredulously. "What makes you think the Network would help you out if you got into trouble baiting the terrorists? As long as they got their man, they wouldn't care what happened to you, remember? Frank and Joe would kill me if I let you do something like this!"
The Gray Man watched the exchange curiously. "Nancy, maybe it would be best if you stayed here. You with her, Ms. Fayne; she's obviously not in her right mind at the moment." he shot a pseudo-sympathetic glance Nancy's way. "It's alright- after all, it's been a long few days to go without sleep. Exhaustion gets us all sometimes."
Nancy opened her mouth to protest but George's hand on her arm stopped her. "Don't say anything you'll regret." she hissed at Nancy.
Nancy pursed her lips and the dark circles under her eyes stood out all the more clearly, but she said nothing.
The female agent gave her a smug look. "Well, then, I guess that's settled. Let's go, team."
"Don't try to follow us." the Gray Man added as a warning to George and Nancy as he led his agents out.
George glared at the agents as they passed her, heading for the exit. Nancy slumped onto the table, burying her head in her arms. "I'm so sorry, George." she moaned. "I don't know what got into me... I just want to get this over with, I suppose..."
George sat next to her and stroked her hair back comfortingly. "Don't apologize, Nan. Everyone breaks down once in a while... Besides, you don't think the Network will catch the Assassin using THAT method, do you? I'm betting we'll get another crack at it..."
Frank ran a hand through his dark hair as he paced back and forth through the plain gray room in the safe house. His mother and Carson Drew were sitting nearby conversing, and every now and then he would notice them watching him.
"Frank." Carson called, finally motioning him over. "I think you should calm down. Nancy and George are two very capable young women and I know they can take care of themselves."
Frank pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards. "I know they can, too." he said. "It's just that... something's not right. Why would the Assassins want me so badly that they'd send out a second hitman for me? I don't know anything!"
Laura shivered. "I was under the impression that they wanted you because you're a Hardy. Isn't that what O' Toole said?"
Frank knew his mother was trying to stay strong. He took her hand and she squeezed it gratefully, her tight grip betraying her anxiety. "Yes, but O' Toole said he wanted me on a matter of his own pride. The Assassins wouldn't risk losing another operative to the Network just to avenge one man's foolish pride!"
"Maybe not to avenge it." Carson mused thoughtfully, nodding at Frank. "Maybe there's something else that they want from the Network."
"Are you saying that the hunt for Frank could just be a distraction while the Assassins get something else they want?" Laura asked warily.
Frank met Carson's gaze, then his mother's. "Could be." he admitted. "But there are plenty of things they could want from the Network: information, technology..." he trailed off, his mind speeding ahead of him. "...O' Toole!" he cried, leaping up. "O' Toole's the loose end! The Assassins don't want him talking; they'll have to rescue him before the Network squeezes anything valuable out of him!"
Carson stood up too. "You may be right." he said gravely. "But what can we do from here?"
Before Frank could answer, Agent Schuler, the man who'd brought them to the safe house, entered the room. "I heard from the Gray Man." he announced. "And it's good news for you folks. Your friends Nancy and George were taken off the case. Apparently Nancy's in the middle of a mental breakdown or something."
Carson stepped forward worriedly. "Is she alright?" he asked.
Agent Schuler nodded. "She's just a little out of it, from what I hear." he said. "She and George are staying at the HQ, but we've got the rest of our available people out looking for the Assassin."
"The rest of your available people?" Laura repeated.
Schuler smiled reassuringly. "Yes, ma'am. We had to keep a few of our security people in the Chicago building, but we're doing the best we can."
Frank suddenly realized what was happening. The Assassin would break into the Network headquarters and rescue O' Toole while its personnel was out looking for Frank's hitman. A second, more sickening thought hit him: Nancy and George were in that building; that put them in danger.
From the expressions on their faces, Laura and Carson had evidently reached the same conclusion. "Can the Assassins find the Network building?" Laura asked fearfully.
Agent Schuler shrugged. "I'd like to think not, but I guess it's possible. After all, we've gotten a hold of more than one Assassin hideout in the past."
Carson and Frank exchanged a glance. "Listen," Frank said urgently. "I think the Assassins are going to raid the Network building and try to get O' Toole back. We have to get back there immediately."
The Network agent frowned. "Sorry, no can do. I've got direct orders from Gray not to let you go anywhere until this is over. Also to lock you up if it looks like you're planning on starting trouble. Looks like he knows you better than I thought."
"No," Carson interjected. "By not listening to us, you're endangering the security of your base, the safety of your prisoner, and the lives of any of your agents that are in the building, as well as my daughter and her friend. If you're smart, you'll hear us out. Call the Gray Man now."
Schuler looked uncomfortable now. "I'm sorry, I wish I could. I can't call him though. This is a safe house; we can't make outgoing calls. Any unsecured line could give us away and endanger the hundreds of people hiding out here. I'm afraid I can't do anything until the Gray Man calls back. I'm not even authorized to send out any agents to help; Gray's my boss."
"And you won't let us out?" Frank asked again, glancing at his mother and Carson, who gave a slight nod back.
Agent Schuler leveled him a look. "Again, I'm sorry, but I can't. Do I need to worry about you trying to escape? Do I have to get you locked up? Because I'd really rather no-" his words were cut off sharply as Carson, at a pleading look from Frank, hit the Network agent from behind, causing him to lose his balance.
Before Frank could move in to finish him off, Agent Schuler yanked his gun out of his holster and trained it on Frank. "Don't mo-" he was again cut off as Laura angrily kicked at his hand without warning, sending the gun flying.
Seeing his opening, Frank dove down and captured Schuler's throat with his hand, gently squeezing the pressure points. "Sorry about this." he whispered regretfully as the agent lolled into his lap, unconscious. Lowering the man's head to the ground, Frank stood up. "Nice work..." he faced Laura and Carson. "But right now we need to get out of here." Bending down again, he scooped a set of keys from Schuler's pocket, hoping to find the key to the car they had come in. "A-ha." Carson and Laura stood by the door anxiously as Frank hurried back to grab the revolver where it had fallen on the floor. Tucking the gun into his waistband, Frank noticed the look on his mother's face. "Don't worry, Mom." he assured her. "We probably won't have to use it."
Carson ushered Laura and Frank towards the door. "We'd better get out of here." Frank agreed and they had little trouble getting out of the complex and into Schuler's car.
"I don't even know where we are." Laura admitted timidly.
"I do." Frank said, leaping into the driver's seat and starting the car. Slamming into reverse, he floored the gas and sent them reeling out onto the street, tires screaming. Spinning the wheel all the way around, Frank pushed the car forward.
Laura and Carson, not being prepared for such a rough ride, were sprawled across the seat. "Frank!" Laura breathed. "Slow down! Be careful! You'll get us all killed!"
Frank smiled tightly, reminding himself that there was a reason his mother so rarely accompanied him on high-speed car chases. "Sorry." he replied, "But George and Nancy could be in trouble right now. We've got a long ways to go. Hold on tight!"
A/N: Review time! Make me feel important: tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, whatever, but leave a review and stay tuned for the exciting climax!