Disclaimer: If you recognize the characters, they aren't mine. Just playing in the sandbox so graciously provided by JMS and the Wachowskis.
Note: No, I'm not dead or in the throes of some awful life event. Just overwhelmed by a difficult job. I beg your continued patience – I will finish this story but updates will be unpredictable. Thank you to everyone who has favorited/followed/reviewed/recommended this story.
Reminder: I'm also on Twitter as " avidbeader" if you're reading here as a guest and would like story updates there.
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Capheus looked out of the airplane window, admiring the fluffy white clouds. It was just a short time ago that he had visited Riley on her way home, experiencing flight for the first time. And now he was the one on an actual airplane, over actual clouds.
Kabaka had hired a private jet for the journey. Capheus glanced around, noting that by now everyone else had lost interest in the flight itself. His mother and Amondi had both fallen asleep. Kabaka was conversing with the private nurse accompanying them and the men of the security contingent were all either napping or fixated on a phone or tablet.
Riley smiled from the seat across from his. "Does it feel any different being the one actually on the plane?"
Capheus smiled and nodded, not wanting to draw attention by having a conversation with no one. Riley glanced out the window and back to him. "Can you do something for me? If you manage to meet Kala in person, you should try and do so privately. Something…odd seems to happen when we touch one another, actual skin-to-skin contact. It's happened between Will and me and Wolfgang and me so far."
Capheus tried to look inquiringly at her. She went on.
"It's like a sudden, very intense rush of memories, but you experience the memories of the other person, almost as if you relive their life in a few seconds. It's disorienting."
Capheus nodded once more, concentrating as Riley shared her memory of the experience. Definitely better to try the experiment away from any observers.
He jumped slightly as a hand took his. Shiro smiled from her seat next to him. "What has you looking so thoughtful, my zebra?"
He squeezed her hand, aware of Riley's wistful expression. "Just thinking of all the good things that could happen."
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Whispers did everything possible. He followed all the bits of advice from Cox about how to dress, how to look subdued but not contrite, how to pitch his voice as he made his statement.
They still assigned five million dollars in bail, confiscated his passport, and restricted him to the city limits.
He looked around at the bland décor of the extended-stay hotel assigned to him by the court. Cox had sent a BPO gopher to collect his belongings from the compound and was fussing with the binder with descriptions of the local restaurants and sights.
"I'm sorry we couldn't convince them to let you stay where you wanted. But with such a high-profile case, the judge wasn't going to take any chances."
"I've stayed in worse," Whispers growled. "Just make sure we can get the case dismissed. Get hold of Stiles. He's the most competent of our connections at the federal level here."
Cox nodded. "We've got it under control."
Whispers turned away to look at the uninspiring view of a strip mall in late July heat lest his expression betray him. He had caught the younger man's impatience, not understanding the urgency of the situation. Cox was willing to let the situation play out in court, which would take too long and prevent him from moving freely. Cox's attitude was unacceptable.
"Get out and get Stiles."
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Amanita watched from the kitchen, sipping her coffee, as Nomi methodically went through a set of checks created to keep tabs on everyone in the cluster and everyone they wanted to protect or needed to keep an eye on. It seemed that every day added someone new to the mix, making the process longer. Finally, her partner sat back and pushed her glasses up, scrubbing tired eyes.
"Everything all right?"
"Nothing new to report. Which is a problem since nothing has changed for Sun. She's still in solitary confinement. I wish I could hurry up her lawyers and get her out of there."
Amanita came up behind Nomi and leaned down to hug her. "It'll be okay. She'll be out soon."
Nomi reached up to return the embrace. "I know. But knowing that BPO has a major presence in Seoul and right now she's pinned down…it's freaking me out. She's a sitting duck if anyone discovers the connection to the cluster."
They stayed together for a few moments, drawing comfort from each other's presence.
A loud rat-a-tat-tat on the door made them both jump. Amanita palmed a steak knife and went to the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Angels."
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As the car pulled into the garage of the multi-story flat, Felix looked around the upscale neighborhood as twilight gave way to night. He had aspired to something like this once, before the lure of beating Steiner to a major heist took hold. He'd gotten shot for his daring, but now Steiner was the one dead, along with Sergei and many of his entourage. Wolfgang had told him everything that had happened after Steiner's attack, including the gang-war theory the police were currently following and how his aunt had offered this hideaway in Prague.
Wolfgang came around to help him out of the car and lead him to the stairs. "Leave everything, I'll get it later. Right now you need to be back in bed or at least on a couch."
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Felix tried to hide how tightly he was gripping the rail and how shallowly he was breathing.
"Not so fine. You took a gunshot to the chest, you bastard. You're lucky to be alive."
Felix was about to respond when the door at the top of the stairs opened and a beautiful girl looked down. Wolfgang said something he didn't catch and she replied in a liquid babble with sounds and hints that ought to be German but weren't. "Ah, you must be an angel speaking the unknown language of God. That's not fair, since I was just assured that I'm not dead."
Wolfgang looked between the two of them and laughed, answering the girl in the same language before switching suddenly to English. "Let's try this."
The girl smiled and replied in an enchanting accent, "Perfect. I've got everything ready for you. The bedroom's clean and dusted, the sheets are fresh." As they got to the top of the stairs, she held out a hand. "I'm Riley."
He took the hand and bent to kiss it. "Felix at your service, lovely Riley."
Wolfgang tugged from his other side. "Come on, bed now. Flirt later."
"That's not usually how it goes, you know."
Riley giggled at that and Felix felt a rush of pleasure. As they steered him into the sitting room his eyes lit up at the extra-long couch, chairs, and wide-screen television. "Here. Let me sit here." They got him settled, lying on the couch and propped with pillows As Riley was about to move to the kitchen to get him something to drink, he spoke. "No, sit, please."
She did so, looking to Wolfgang with a questioning expression. He shrugged and turned back toward the stairs.
"No, you sit too, Wolfie. I've been a very patient man and it's time for you to tell me what's going on."
"I told you—"
"You told me about Steiner and your uncle. You told me what happened to our diamonds. You haven't told me how you're suddenly fluent in four languages and counting, why you've been spacing out for weeks now since your grandfather's funeral. Something has been happening and you haven't been telling me. I'm not waiting another fucking minute. What is going on?"
Wolfgang hesitated, and the girl—Riley—looked at him with sympathy. She spoke to him, "I think we should tell him. It gets too difficult to hide it the longer we wait and—"
"Wait, wait," Felix broke in. "That's German. You're speaking German. Why didn't you before?"
She looked at him, completely puzzled. "Hvað?"
"Was?"
"Hold on, hold on." Wolfgang threw up his hands. "Felix, you heard her speaking her own language the first time, but just now you heard German?"
Felix huffed in impatience. "Yes!"
Wolfgang turned to Riley and focused solely on her. He spoke and Felix heard the same babble from before.
"What language was that?"
Wolfgang looked back to him. "Riley's from Iceland. I'm going to guess that's the language you just heard. She can also speak English."
"All right."
Wolfgang nodded to her. "You try."
She faced Wolfgang, speaking only to him. "So you think that we speak in the language of our intended audience? If I only speak to you without thinking, I communicate in German? And speaking to Felix is like speaking to anyone outside of our group, where I must use English because we don't know each other's language?"
Wolfgang looked over at Felix, and back to Riley. "I think that's what's happening." That was in English. "So, we need to pay attention and try to speak in English among the three of us. Felix, if we forget and slip back into Icelandic, tell us."
"All right. Now explain the language you were speaking in the club."
"The club?" Wolfgang thought back, trying to remember.
"Yeah, you were in the loo and you acted like you were looking for someone."
"Oh, that was…someone else. Someone from India."
"A girl from India."
"And how do you know it was a girl?"
"Because of that goofy look on your face when you said you wanted to go there!"
"Boys!" Riley jumped in. They both looked at her, startled.
Felix grinned in disbelief. "Er, 'boys'?" He raised both hands to show air quotes.
She shrugged. "You were acting like boys. Try acting like men and I might call you men. Now, Wolfgang, we need to start from the beginning…"
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Daniela shot to her feet as Lito and Hernando emerged from Cristina's office. "Well?"
Lito smiled. "She said she'd be happy to arrange something for her show on Friday, capture the news cycle going into the weekend. That gives me time. My agent can set up a meeting with the movie production staff first."
"And she'll keep it to herself until then?"
"Dani, you know her. Of course she will. Anything for an exclusive like this!"
She sighed in relief and hugged him, then moved to Hernando and hugged him as well. "I think you're doing the right thing. It may affect your career for a few months, but you're too good an actor. You'll get back to where you want to be."
The three of them went to the elevators and Dani punched the call button. They waited for several minutes, watching the numbers above the doors stay in the 20s. Finally Hernando tilted his head toward the stairwell doors. "Come on, it's only five floors and it's down."
They started down the stairs and had gotten to the second floor when they heard doors slam open above and below them. Bodies came at them from either side. Daniela screamed as one of them grabbed her and began dragging her back up the stairs. The others began raining blows on Lito and Hernando.
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Wolfgang shot up from his chair, locking eyes with Riley. "Lito! He's being attacked—"
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Will jerked up from his bed, dropping his tablet.
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Lito could feel the presence of the others. Wolfgang was there, laying precise blows as best he could against the two men attacking him. As one fell over the railing with wails of pain and the snap of bones breaking as he hit the railings below…
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Will sensed another attacker leaving Hernando and coming after him. As he spun and sent the first attacker into the second, the third came, abandoning a dazed Hernando. Now there were three of them and one of him. He was vaguely aware of a flashing light from above, and voices as Dani's screams had drawn attention.
Dani!
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Sun woke in her cell as the vision of multiple men coming after her, her friends captured, shifted from dream to awareness.
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And Lito let his crying Korean woman take over.
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Sun assessed the cramped stairwell in an instant and vaulted over one of the attackers to the landing below. With the even ground to work from and the men plunging down toward her, it was short work to help gravity along. As they fell, she noted the presence of…
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Wolfgang, who had the arm strength and viciousness to slam the heads of two of the off-balance assailants together.
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She tossed the third man into the door, pairing a precise strike to the face with the doorknob slamming into his kidney from behind. He slid to the floor, temporarily unable to move. One quick breath now that the immediate threat was neutralized…
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Will ran up to Hernando, who was slowly moving to his feet. ""I'm fine, go! Go after Dani!"
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Lito ran up the stairs to where the last attacker was struggling with Daniela. She drove one of her heels into his foot and he howled with pain, releasing her into Lito's arms.
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Will immediately moved her behind him.
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Wolfgang assessed the man as he recovered, guessing that he would not run, but draw the gun currently in a holster inside his jacket.
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Sun surged forward and seized the man's wrist, ducking under his arm to twist it around and force him off balance. Dimly she heard the woman shout to whoever was above them.
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Daniela grabbed a railing to steady herself, as one of her shoes now sported a broken heel. Realizing that the flash above was someone taking pictures of the fight, she yelled, "You idiot! Get the police!"
She heard more voices from above and looked around. Hernando was dragging himself up, leaning heavily on the railing and trying to see without his glasses. One eye was swelling rapidly.
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Sun forced the man to bend, keeping his arm locked and the pressure on one nerve point so the attacker would be in too much pain to go for the gun.
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Wolfgang held Sun's position and shouted, "There's a gun in his jacket! Get it!"
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Daniela reached hesitantly and jumped back when the man flailed with his free arm. Lito leaned into his hold on the man and growled at her, "Do it! He's not going anywhere!"
She looked at the familiar face, with frigid eyes and a cold expression she had never seen in him before. Drawing a deep breath, she moved in and snagged the gun. Once she was out of reach, Lito forced the man to the floor and pinned him.
"Hold onto it, but don't get near the trigger." Daniela blinked at the sudden change in his voice, calm and authoritative. His expression was now watchful of her, but also reassuring.
Hernando made it to the landing just as a man and a woman arrived from the upper floors. The man had his phone out and was filming. "That was amazing! Just like El Caído!"
"Stop taking pictures and call the police! We were attacked by these men!" Lito snapped, and that sounded like the Lito she knew.
The woman responded, "I called them! They're coming!"
Daniela shrank back next to Hernando, who was squinting in his lover's direction and frowning.
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Wolfgang fell back into his chair and he and Riley traded looks full of relief. They broke into hesitant laughter and clasped hands, then a voice interrupted them.
"What the fuck just happened?
Wolfgang looked over at his best friend. "That, Felix, was a demonstration."
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Author's Note: Thank you for reading!