Chapter III.
Another day went by and APO still did not find any lead on Gordon Dean. Nobody seemed to know where he was. It was stressful for all the agents. Sydney sat at her desk still thinking about the message. No other messages came last night, yet Sydney was still paranoid. She was still unsure if she believed that it was Vaughn on the message. It sounded exactly like him but he was dead.
Rachel sat at her desk trying, from her computer, to recover information about Gordon Dean but he seemed to have destroyed many of his files from there previous organization. Grace had made several phone calls to different agencies but nobody had any idea where he was.
Jack was in his office. He was expecting Director Chase to come by. They had to discuss what they were going to do with Christoph Madeira. It wasn't long until she walked into the room.
"Where's Sydney?" she asked first.
"Excuse me?" asked Jack.
"Well Christoph Madeira is indeed her cousin. She should have a say in this," explained Director Chase.
"Very well," said Jack. "If you'll excuse me."
Jack left the room and got Sydney. The two returned to Jack's office where Director Chase was still waiting. Jack shut the door.
"I want both of your opinions on what you think we should do with Mr. Madeira," explained Chase.
Sydney spoke first. "I believe that he might prove to be helpful later on so I think we should keep him in custody here at APO."
"Why here?" asked Chase. "Ms. Bristow I don't believe that keeping him here at APO would be a good idea. There are more secure cells."
"Yes but whoever is behind this, if it is indeed Gordon Dean, I'm sure they know about Christoph Madeira and his knowledge about Rambaldi. If they happen to find out we're transporting him from here, they'll do whatever they can to get him. It's happened before with other criminals."
"Jack what do you think?" asked Chase.
"I agree with Sydney," announced Jack. "I think we should keep Mr. Madeira here. He knows a lot more than we think and like Sydney said, he probably will be useful in the near future."
"Alright," said Chase. "I'll take your opinions over to Langley. I can't promise you anything."
"Thank you," said Sydney.
"Have a good day." She walked towards the office door when Dixon barged in.
"I'm very sorry to interrupt," he said, "But we have Eric Weiss here. He thinks he can help us track down Gordon Dean."
Jack, Sydney, and Director Chase followed Dixon. Dixon lead them to Weiss who was standing near Marshall's desk with Rachel and Grace. The two seemed to have been introduced already. Sloane approached the group as well.
"Weiss," said Sydney as she approached her old friend.
"How are you?" he asked with a friendly smile.
"I'm fine," answered Sydney.
"You have information on Gordon Dean?" asked Director Chase.
"Brief information," he corrected her. "This was discovered in the Pentagon. A brief phone call was made. I uploaded it here."
Marshall pressed a button on his computer. The phone call began.
"Did you get the artifact?" The voice was recognizable. It was Gordon Dean.
A second voice chimed in. "Yes but it wasn't as easy as I expected."
"Kelly Peyton," said Rachel, identifying the second voice.
"Why?" asked Gordon Dean.
"The CIA was there. Thankfully they weren't armed with much."
"How many?"
"Seven. I killed five of them."
"What about the other two?"
"I had to flee."
"So they saw your face?"
"Yes."
"Well now they know I have the artifact."
"Yes but they don't know where you are. That's what's important."
"Where are you and the artifact?"
"Is this line secure?"
"Of course it is. It's impossible for it to be picked up."
"Yeah," said Weiss, "That's where he went wrong."
"I'm in Paris, at our safe house."
"And the artifact is with you?"
"Yes."
"I will be there as soon as I can."
Then the message ended.
"When did you receive this?" asked Director Chase.
"About a hour ago," answered Weiss.
"That means Peyton's still there," said Sydney.
"Most likely," said Weiss.
"Do we know where their hideout is?" asked Chase.
"We tracked the signal down to a small warehouse," said Weiss. He wrote down the address and handed to Chase.
"Can we act on this?" asked Grace.
"I think we can," answered Director Chase. She handed the address to Jack. "I can't stay to brief the mission. Jack I trust you will handle this well. Send in a team. I want that artifact and whoever else you find brought back."
"We will have a short briefing in five minutes," said Jack. Everybody walked off except Sydney and Weiss.
"Sorry I don't have time to talk," Sydney apologized to Weiss.
"It's alright, I don't have much time either," said Weiss.
"This information will help us a lot. And Nadia," said Sydney.
"I hope so," said Weiss.
"Have you seen her recently?" asked Sydney.
"Yeah, I go there almost every day."
Sydney hugged him. "I know she misses you," said Sydney.
"I know. And I know Michael misses you too," said Weiss. The two released the hug.
"I have to tell you something," said Sydney. "It's about Vaughn..."
"Mr. Weiss," said a voice. The two turned. Sloane was approaching them. "I would like to personally thank you. You are doing a lot for Nadia."
"It's no problem Mr. Sloane. If there's anything else I can do to help..."
"Actually there is," said Sloane. "I've already talked to Jack about this and he has agreed. I'd like you to join the team to infiltrate the building. You have great field skills and I know you care about getting this artifact just as much as I do."
"Well, uh, I'll have to check with my boss," said Weiss not really completely sure if this was the best idea.
"Of course," said Sloane. "But I'm sure it'll be alright.
"I'm sending you all to infiltrate the building. You are all required to bring back the Artifact. If Gordon Dean or Kelly Peyton is there, keep them alive and bring them to me," ordered Jack. He was now talking to a group of twenty agents. Of the twenty, Dixon, Grace, and Weiss (who received clearance to join the team) were going in. Sydney, Rachel, Marshall, Sloane, and Jack would watch the operation from satellite with a thermal vision. "Proceed with caution. We have already looked over the building and have not found any threatening security system. There are a total of seven guards in the warehouse. Take them out. We don't want the Artifact to be taken away so I want two agents at the three exits. We have an opportunity here, so take it and come back home."
PARIS
Dixon, Weiss, Grace, and the rest of the team approached the building in the dark. Half the team was on one side while the other half was directly across from it. Four agents went off to the exits of the building to guard.
"We're in place," said Dixon into his mouth piece.
"Copy that," said Jack who was back in Los Angeles with Sydney, Rachel, Marshall, and Sloane, watching the mission from above. "Proceed."
The lock on the door was picked open by Grace. He opened the door and the team proceeded. It was dark inside. Thankfully the team had flashlights on there weapons. The team split up and covered the hallways they were assigned.
"There is a guard in the E wing," said Jack. Soon after the guard was taken out by the team. One by one they were each taken out quietly and then hidden.
"There's one person left," said Sydney looking at the thermal vision.
"Kelly," said Rachel.
"The last person is in the backroom," said Jack.
"Already there," said Dixon. He was also with Weiss and Grace.
Jack was about to tell them to proceed when he saw a group of figures approaching the building. "I see seven, no eight men approaching the building, there not our agents. Men outside do you see them?"
Just then a firing of bullets were heard.
"There's an ambush outside," warned Jack. "It's a set-up, get out."
But before Dixon heard his message he kicked open the door to the backroom.
Kelly Peyton was standing there with her gun already aimed. She fired a bullet and hit Dixon. She then aimed her gun and fired at Grace who managed to leap to the side. Weiss pulled out his weapon and fired. She dived behind a table.
"Leave the building, I repeat leave the building," commanded Jack.
The other men were now entering the building. They began shooting the APO agents one by one.
"Ten enemies have entered the building, get out of there," ordered Jack.
"But the Artifact," said Sloane.
"It's trap Arvin. There is no artifact!" said Jack.
Weiss continued to fire at Peyton who occasionally came up and attempted to shot at Weiss who was hiding behind the side of the wall outside the room. Grace crawled over to Dixon.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," answered Dixon. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." He sat up. The bullet had hit his bulletproof vest, not his body. The two stood up and Dixon heard Jack over the firing of bullets.
"Get out of there!"
"Weiss, we have to go!" yelled Dixon.
The group rushed down the hall to the nearest exit but were stopped by three men in masks. They weren't apart of their team.
Right away Grace shot, hitting one of them. The shot man fell to the floor and the other two began shooting. The three ran down a different hallway. Grace constantly turned back and fired at the two men following them. He managed to hit the other one.
Then another group of men came into the hall a couple of yards down from them. Dixon and Weiss fired at them, killing three of the five. Dixon and Weiss fired a couple more times then fled down a hallway. Grace followed only after killing the last pursuer and taking a shot at the two others.
Grace ran down the hall following Dixon and Weiss. He was right on their heels when somebody jumped out and tackled him to the floor. Dixon and Weiss turned around and saw Grace on the floor being punched at by a masked man. They ran towards him but were stopped by the shooting of the two other masked men, from down the hall.
Grace managed to smash his gun against the masked man who was on top of him. The man was knocked out and fell to the ground. One of the two men down the hall aimed there gun at Grace but Weiss fired and shot him. Quickly Grace grabbed his gun and fired at the other man, killing him.
Grace got up and followed Weiss and Dixon down the hall. The were heading for the nearest exit when another group of guards came around the corner. In the middle of the guards was Kelly Peyton. The red lights coming from each of their guns were aimed at their hearts. The three stood frozen.
"Don't move," warned Peyton. "I'll have no sympathy when I shoot and kill you."
"Outrigger?" called Jack.
"Drop your weapons," ordered Peyton. They did as she ordered.
"Do you copy?" called Jack. "Sidewinder? Anyone?"
"We've been caught..." Grace managed to whisper. "Peyt..."
"Remove your earpieces," Peyton commanded. They followed her order.
"Kelly got to them," said Rachel.
Sydney sat in the briefing room which felt quite empty. With her was Rachel. Her father was outside. Director Chase recently came rushing into the office.
"Jack, I've got the President and the whole White House up my ass with complaints because there own man is missing. What were you thinking letting Eric Weiss come with the team?" She was furious.
"Director Chase, I..."
"I'm being questioned right now by Langley because of you, Jack."
Sydney and Rachel could hear the whole conversation.
"Now we have two of our agents missing and the rest dead. I thought you were going to be able to handle this."
"Director Chase, you gave me specific orders that I followed. You told us to act on this information. You gave me permission and handed me this task. I did what you asked. It is not my fault that it was an ambush and that you alone acted off the Intel we received. You made the decision to infiltrate that warehouse, not me. So if you are going to blame anyone, make it yourself."
"Jack, I realize my mistake. But it is not my fault that Eric Weiss is now missing. You allowed him on this operation. What were you thinking?"
"Actually it was my idea," said a voice. Sloane was overhearing the conversation.
"Your idea, Mr. Sloane?" asked Director Chase.
"Yes," answered Sloane.
"And where in hell did you come up with this idea?" asked Director Chase.
"Eric Weiss is one of the few people who love Nadia almost as much as I do," explained Sloane. "Now I knew I wasn't going to be able to assist in this mission and I knew Sydney was not going to be able to either so I asked Eric Weiss to join the team because I believed he would do anything to retrieve that artifact."
"Well Mr. Sloane, your belief may be true, but you made a terrible decision," said Director Chase. "And you better hope that Marcus Dixon, Thomas Grace, and Eric Weiss all return safely because if they don't, it's your head I'll be after." With that she left APO.
Dixon woke up. All he remembered last was being knocked out by a guard after seeing them knock out Grace and Weiss. His head hurt incredibly with immense pain. When he opened his eyes he found himself in a room being lit only by a small light hanging from the ceiling. It was terribly cold in the room as well as wet. He looked around the small room and saw Weiss and Grace lying on the floor. He quickly rushed over to them to make sure they were okay. All three of them had been striped down to their pants and t-shirt.
Dixon first went over to Grace who was closer. He shook him.
"Tom," he said. "Tom wake up."
Grace eventually opened his eyes and sat up holding the back of his head.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," answered Dixon. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah fine," Grace said still rubbing his head. "That blow to my head just hurts."
"Yeah me too."
Dixon went over to Weiss and woke him up. Weiss sat up.
"We haven't been saved?" he asked.
"Not yet," said Dixon.
"Well they sure gave us a nice cell," said Weiss as he looked around the room.
"Why do you think they're keeping us here?" asked Grace.
"I don't know," answered Dixon.
"Were we the only ones left of the whole team?" asked Grace.
"I'm not sure."
Sydney sat at her desk with her head in her hands. APO was a mess. Multiple phones were ringing, people were running all over the place. It was pandemonium and havoc. It was too much for Sydney to handle and there was just way too much stress for her. Three of her friends had been taken captive. For all she knew they could be dead and their bodies could be anywhere in the world. It all seemed like APO was heading for a downfall.
Sydney's phone began ringing. She didn't want to answer it but she did anyway.
"Hello?" she said.
"Is this a secure line?" asked a familiar voice.
"Renee?" she asked. "Yes, yes, it is."
"Sydney I've received information on where they are keeping the artifact," said Renee. "But the problem is, they're loading the artifact and bringing to Gordon Dean tonight. They're heading to Athens."
"How did you figure this out?" asked Sydney.
"Trust me, it's too long to tell," said Renee.
"Listen Renee, I appreciate the information you received and I trust you one-hundred percent but just recently we received Intel about the location of the Artifact and it turned out to be an ambush."
"What happened?"
"We think about seventeen of our men were killed. We hope that three are still alive and being held captive. And it's just, I believe that you discovered this information and it is probably true, but because there is so much lack of proof, APO won't act on it. We did that with the recent Intel and as you've heard, it proved fatal."
"I understand but Sydney, I can still help you."
"What? How?"
"I'll go in."
"By yourself, Renee, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Sydney, I'll be fine. I'll follow the cargo to Athens. I'll retrieve your men and I'll attempt to get the Rambaldi Artifact."
"You can't do that on your own."
"Trust me I can."
"Well what can I do for you?"
"I'm in need of new weapons."
"Where can I meet you?"
"Venice, again, at a warehouse behind that coffee shop."
"I'll leave in an hour. See you soon, Renee."
ATHENS
Renee hid in the back of the truck behind a few wooden crates. She had checked the whole truck but the crates did not contain anything but normal weapons. Nothing out of the ordinary which was what she was looking for. It was hard for Renee to find something when she didn't know what it looked like. She hoped that it was in one of the other two trucks that were heading to Athens. Renee also saw the captives. There were three of them who were thrown in the back of one of the trucks that Renee didn't manage to get to. The three trucks was still on the move over a bumpy and rough road.
She had promised Sydney that she'd get her friends back and she was determined to. Vaughn was the father of Sydney's baby. She had to help her. She knew how much Vaughn cared for her.
Renee could hear the rain continue to poor outside as the truck continued down the rough abrasive road. Renee had been in the truck for hours. She saw the faces of the truck drives and there passengers. One of which being Kelly Peyton who was probably in the truck with the Artifact. Renee should have guessed that and punished herself for not reaching the other truck.
Sydney had given Renee enough weapons for three missions. At the moment, she had two silent shooters, a couple of grandes, steel wire, and knives. She also had a repel to climb up and down walls. There was more back at Renee's hiding place which she didn't take because she wanted to travel more lightly. She was wearing all black and Sydney had given her a bulletproof vest which Renee took off. She never liked the feel of them.
After about a hour and a half, the truck slowly came to a stop. They had arrived.
LOS ANGELES
Arvin stood over his daughter, Nadia as she lay in the bed with her eyes closed. She looked so helpless. It hurt Arvin to see her like this and recently he had been contemplating on pulling the plug. But now, the CIA was on the move for the artifact and if that failed, he always had his deal with Gordon Dean.
Just then, Arvin's cellular phone began ringing. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was midnight. Who would be calling at this time of the night? And then he realized, Gordon Dean had said he'd make contact with Arvin in two days. Those two days had passed. It had to be Gordon Dean.
Sloane pressed a button on his phone and then put it up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Is line secure?" asked Gordon Dean's familiar voice.
"Yes," answered Sloane.
"How are you Arvin?" asked Dean.
"Do you have a price?" asked Arvin.
"How's your daughter. She looks awfully comfortable sleeping on that bed doesn't she?"
Sloane looked around the room and out the window.
"It's alright Arvin, I'm not in Los Angeles," added Dean.
"Do you have your price yet?" asked Sloane.
"Price? Oh, the price, yes I indeed do but Arvin I don't have the time at the moment to negotiate with you. You see I'm retrieving The Antithesis quite soon. My retriever has just arrived."
"What are you going to do with the captives?"
"Oh, I'm not sure yet," answered Dean. "There's plenty we could do. Why do you care Arvin? You don't care about anyone but yourself."
Arvin ignored his comment. "When will you have a price?"
"Well, once I contact my superiors, I'll discuss the offer. It should be later on today. Well Arvin, I must go. Get some rest, you look exhausted." And then Gordon Dean hung up.
ATHENS
Renee had everything planned already and the plan set in motion once the car stopped. Renee, during the ride, had put a small hole in one of the crates for her to see through. She wasn't going to try and sneak in by herself. She was going to have Dean's men bring her in. She got into the crate and closed the lid on top of it. It was incredibly dark and she could not see a thing. She heard two men come into the back of the truck and they began picking up crates to carry in.
Kelly Peyton had stepped out of the trunk and onto the dirt as the rain continued to pour. She had ridden in the back of the truck with The Antithesis and she sat right next to it with a gun. As she stepped out of the truck she saw the prisoners being taken.
"Put them in the cells!" called Peyton. "The ones in the basement, that's where Dean wants them!"
Peyton then turned to one Dean's men who was next to her.
"Take the artifact to Dean. He's in his office. You know what the box is marked with."
The man nodded and got into the truck.
Renee had heard where the captives were being taken but she couldn't hear what Renee said to the man standing next to her. She was too far. The man got into the back of the truck and then came out shortly after. He was carrying a crate that looked like all the rest except for the giant red Rambaldi symbol, painted on it.
Grace was pushed forward by a guard who holding a large assault rifle. There were two guards in front of him, pushing Dixon and Weiss along. All their hands had been tied and during the trip they were chained to the walls of the truck. They weren't able to attempt to escape because a guard was in the back of the truck with them, watching their every move.
They were now walking down a long gray hall. Grace had lost a lot of hope. He thought APO would have been here by now. What if they didn't know they were still alive? What if they had given up hope on them? Grace didn't want to think about it. He just continued down the large hall.
About fifteen minutes of waiting, Renee made sure nobody was coming back into the room which all the crates had been placed. After those long minutes, no more crates had come. Renee got out of her crate and looked around the room for the Rambaldi one. It was no where to be seen.
The room she was in was almost like a large storage closet. It was dark and only a single light lit the room. There must have been at least fifty crates. Some were piled on top of one another, creating large obstacles Renee had to climb over.
As she climbed, making her way to the door, she began thinking about what to go after first, the Artifact or the captives. At the moment, she knew the captives were being held in the cells somewhere in the basement of the building and Renee knew the guard which carried the crate she was in didn't go up any flights of stairs which probably meant she was on the first floor. She had no idea where the Artifact was. If she got to the captives and freed them, they could help her get to the Artifact. But if they were hurt then they wouldn't be able to help her. If she went for the Artifact first, it could possibly take her hours to find it and by then they might have killed Sydney's friends and left with the Artifact.
Renee then decided to go get Sydney's friends first. Even though the artifact was so very valuable, she knew Sydney would rather have her friends back. So Renee decided to attempt to find the cells, somewhere underneath her.
Before leaving the room, she put her ear up to the door to check for any guards. She heard no voices nor footsteps. Cautiously, she opened the door, which sung into the room rather than out. The hallway was some what dark. There were a few small light bulbs which hung from a metal pole attached to the ceiling. The pole ran the distance of the hall.
Renee decided to take a right. She ran made her way down the hall as quietly as possible. When reaching a corner she pressed herself against a wall and peered around. There was nobody in sight. The next hall was as dark as hall she just came from, if not darker. There were several doors, two on the left side and three on the right. When she was about halfway down the hall, a door farther down opened. She stopped in shock. She didn't have enough time to run back. There was nothing she could hide behind and the door closest to her was about ten feet away and who knows who else could be in the other room. She was trapped already.
Quentin Angle, a Greek, trained agent who worked for Gordon Dean, stepped out into the hallway. He had just come from upstairs after handing the Rambaldi Artifact to Gordon Dean who happened to be on the eighth floor of the building. Quentin was tired from the long trip to Athens and was hoping to head back to his apartment tonight, which was in the city.
The hallway seemed exceptionally darker. Some of the light bulbs had gone out, as he observed looking at the metal pole that provided power to the bulbs. He watched one blink repeatedly and then subsequently, it went out. Quentin pushed up his gun, which hung from a strap which was around his body. He wondered if he should wait for Kelly to come down from Dean's office so the two could have their alone time which he had been waiting for all night.
There was nothing else he could do really. Except patrol this corridor which somebody else should have been doing.
Lazy bastards, he thought to himself.
He decided to guard the hall. He turned to his left and began walking down the hallway at a slow pace. After about ten steps he heard a noise. It sounded like a small creak. He quickly turned around but saw nothing down the hall. Probably just a rat, the building was full of them.
Quentin continued down the hall. He wondered about the Rambaldi artifact. What bothered him was that, he was third in command, right under Kelly Peyton yet he knew nothing about the artifact. Every time he asked Kelly about it, she discarded it and told him it wasn't important. Clearly, it was. He believed he had the right to know but just as Dean was about to say something about the Artifact, he showed Angle the door.
Angle was approaching the corner of the hall just as he heard another noise but this time he didn't have the time to turn around. He felt a thin wire wrap around his neck and it began cutting off his air supply.
"Don't scream or I'll snap your neck," said a voice. It was a woman.
Renee stood behind the broad, tall guard. She just managed to reach and wrap the wire around his large neck. He was a hulking man and intimidating. Renee was actually a bit worried at the idea of attacking him.
Just when the door opened, Renee had remembered the metal pole that ran on the ceiling of the hallway. She leaped up and managed to grab hold of the pole. She swung legs up and hung from the pole like a monkey. She watched the guard travel down the hall and once he looked up at the ceiling and she thought he had spotted her. But it was too dark.
"Who are you," the man managed to spit out.
"That's none of your business," Renee answered. "Where are you keeping the CIA captives?"
"I don't know," said Angle. Renee pulled the wire tighter around his neck.
"Alright, alright," he pleaded. "Down in the basement."
"I know that you piece of shit," said Renee. "Which way is the basement?"
"You continue down this hall and take a right. Continue down that hall until you reach a door that has a key code on the wall next to it."
"What's the code?"
"4733"
"And how do I know you're not lying?" asked Renee.
"I'm not, I swear to you."
Renee reached for the man's back pocket. From the pocket she pulled out a wallet and opened it with one of her hands. "Mr. Angle. Where are you from?"
"Athens," he answered.
"Ah yes, it says that in your wallet. It also says your home address, so Mr. Angle. If the directions you give me are false, I will personally come to your house and kill you and trust me, I won't kill you before I torture you, is that clear?"
"Crystal."
"Don't play smart. Where do you go from there?"
"After, the button on the key code should turn green, when it does the door will be unlocked. Open it and go down the stairs."
"How many guards will be down there?"
"I don't know."
"Give en estimate."
"Three."
"Well, thank you Mr. Quentin Angle for your time. And thank you for the Euros as well. I hope we don't have to cross paths again."
Renee pulled as tight as possible on the wire as Mr. Angle slowly lost more oxygen. Then he fainted. Renee carried his body to the room with the crates and hid him behind a stack of them. She put his wallet in her pocket and headed down the hall.
The stairs to the basement were dark. She traveled down them as quietly as possible and when she reached the bottom she peaked out into the bright lit basement.
There were only two guards who were both sitting on chairs in the long white hall. On either side of the hall were heavy doors, clearly the cells of the basement. Both of the guards had not noticed her and were too busy playing a card game on a near by table.
Renee thought of a plan of action. The two guards didn't seem to pose a threat to her. Mr. Angle seemed like a threat but she easily took him out. Dean clearly doesn't care that much about the safety of his facilities.
Then Renee found a plan of action.
She flicked the lights off.
"Hey what happened?" said one of the guards?
"I don't know? I'll get the lights," said the other.
The second guard traveled down the hall and when he flicked on the lights he found his partner lying on the floor, unconscious.
"Oh my god," he muttered as he ran over to his partner. He checked for a pulse and found one and tried to awaken his friend and that was the last thing he saw before Renee knocked him out by slamming a gun into his skull.
She took the keys to a cell and locked both of them in one. She locked the door and then began looking in the other cells.
Eventually she found three men.
"Are one of your names Marcus Dixon?" she asked.
The three looked up at her.
"Why?" asked the African-American man.
"Sydney Bristow sent me," said Renee.
After explaining who she was and introducing one another, Renee, Grace, Weiss, and Dixon all began traveling up the stairs to the first floor.
"So you have been working with Sydney and Jack Bristow?" asked Grace.
"Occasionally," answered Renee. "I'm sure she'll inform you all later. We have to retrieve the Rambaldi artifact, it's upstairs somewhere with Dean. You'll need weapons, there are some in crates back in another room."
The group of four entered a room full of crates. Mr. Angle was still lying on the floor.
"Who's that?" asked Weiss.
"Nobody important," said Renee as she snapped open the top of a crate. She opened up two more as Grace, Dixon and Weiss all grabbed weapons.
"How are we going to find Dean?" asked Weiss.
"We going to ask him," answered Renee nodding to the guard lying on the floor.
Quentin Angle felt someone slapping his face as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw a woman crouching in front of him. He realized she was holding his wallet. He went to go leap at her but then noticed he was being held back and he heard the lock of two guns when he attempted to get at her.
Quentin twisted his head and saw the face of a man holding him back. He also saw another man holding a pointed gun at him as well as another man on the other side who was also holding a gun.
Grace was the one holding his arms back. Dixon was at Angle's right, holding a gun wile Weiss was on the left also holding a gun.
"Sorry to wake you," said Renee, "But we need some help. Where is Gordon Dean's office?"
"On the eighth floor," answered Angle.
"We figured that out," said Renee. "How do you get to it?"
"The door that you watched me come out of, in there are stairs. Just follow the flight of stairs up to the eighth floor. You'll come to a door that leads to a hallway that looks almost like a hotel. You'll walk down this hallway and take your first left but down this hallway is where Dean has two men guarding a door. Inside this door is a conference room, this is where I lost saw Dean with Kelly Peyton and the crate with the Rambaldi artifact. If he is not in this room then he'll be in the following room, which is his actual office."
"Did you leave anything out?" asked Renee.
"No," answered Angle.
"Good." Renee nodded to Grace who then smashed Angle's skull with his elbow and Angle fell to the floor.
Renee, Grace, Dixon, and Weiss could hear the conversation of the two men who were standing in front of the door which led to Gordon Dean. Renee had two silent pistols she could shoot but she preferred to refrain from that.
The guards were talking in Greek about prostitutes they had met on a trip. They were joking and making remarks about Dean being jealous.
Renee looked to the other three and whispered as the men laughed. "Any other ideas?"
They shook their heads.
"Use the pistols," whispered Grace.
Renee nodded and waited a few seconds, then spun around the corner and shot both guards before they even had time to take out their guns. The group approached the once guarded door and listened in. They couldn't hear anything.
Grace then flung open the door and the four ran in with their guns aimed.
But there was nothing to aim at. Nobody was in the empty conference room.
There was a large oval table that sat many chairs which were seated in front of computers. There was also a large screen on the wall which at the moment had a Rambaldi symbol spinning with a black background. There were four windows on the right wall looking out onto the city of Athens.
"Should we try the next door?" asked Weiss.
The group looked to the door across from the door they came in. It was shut and to the right off the large screen. This door supposedly lead to Gordon Dean's office.
"We might as well," said Renee. The group approached the door and listened in. Again, no voices. Grace tried the knob but it was locked so he rammed his elbow against the door. After a third try, the door flung open. As it opened, the group caught sight of Kelly Peyton and Gordon Dean fleeing the room out a secret door which looked to be apart of the wall. Grace shot but missed the two. Renee ran first, followed by Dixon, Weiss, and then Grace.
The secret door lead to another stairway. As the group began running down the stairs they saw that Gordon Dean has a black bag which probably had the Rambaldi Artifact.
Renee fired down the staircase but Gordon Dean and Kelly Peyton just managed to dodge the shot by turning a corner and heading down another flight. Renee leaped over a railing and landed in front of Gordon Dean with Kelly Peyton behind him. Gordon Dean stooped short but managed to swing a punch at Renee who bent back, dodging his fist. But he then kicked her, causing her to fall down the steps.
But Dean and Peyton didn't get much farther. Dixon came up behind Peyton and grabbed her from behind. She struggled uncontrollably and then stomped on Dixon's foot. She then managed to hit his thigh with her fist.
As this was going on, Dean fled down the steps but when reaching Renee, she tripped him and he fell on the same platform as Renee. Peyton's arms had now been freed from Dixon's grasp. She punched him in the face and then flipped him over her back. Dixon fell down the stairs and landed on the platform where Renee was now standing kicking a kneeled Dean.
Just as Kelly Peyton turned around Weiss took a punch at her, she stumbled down a few steps. Weiss went after her but she managed to elbow him the stomach as he descended down the steps. Grace came coming down to help Weiss, as he was thrown against a wall.
In attempted to reach for Dean's bag, Renee had been tossed by the arm down a few steps of the next set of stairs. Dixon quickly came up behind Dean and grabbed him from the shoulder. Dean spun around and elbowed him in the face. Blood came of Dixon's nose. Dean then kneed the hunched Dixon in the stomach.
Grace had his hand around Peyton's throat. She threw a punch at his face but Grace grabbed her arm with his free hand. She then started hitting Grace's choking arm with her free one. Her attacks failed to work but Grace had eventually let go because a force behind him had lifted him off the stairs.
Quentin Angle had awoken and had rushed to Dean's office, finding the secret compartment open. He rushed down the stairs and saw Kelly being choked by the man who elbowed him in the face. He came began Grace and pulled and lifted him from Kelly.
With his colossal strength, he tossed Grace, up the stairs. Then the massive man noticed Weiss, getting up and approaching from a lower stair. Weiss swung a fist at Angle, which only was able to reach his stomach. Angle grabbed the fist and twisted it. Weiss yelled in pain.
Renee pulled out her gun but lost grip of it as Dean kicked it from her hands, as he stood on a higher step. He then kicked her in the face and she stumbled. But Dixon came behind Dean and tossed him down onto the stairs. He reached for Dean, who threw a swing at Dixon's face, hitting him. Then Dean grabbed Dixon's throat but Dixon head butted Dean, causing him to fall and lose his grasp.
Quentin Angle was now punching Weiss in the face continuously as blood poured from Weiss's nose and mouth. Just as Angle pulled back for an eleventh punch, Grace had leaped onto his back. His arms hooked around his neck. Angle moved around in attempt to get Grace off of him.
Renee had grabbed the strap to the black pack. It was heavy and became clear to Renee that the Artifact was safely in a sealed container. Dean managed to kick her in the stomach. Dixon had fallen down another flight of stairs and was not getting up. Dean had threw him down there.
Dean kicked Renee a second time and she lost hold of the strap. She began falling but she grabbed hold of the railing. She then kicked Dean, using the railing as balance.
Grace still held on Angle's back as he rampaged like a bull. Grace hit him multiple times in the head. But then Angle grabbed hold of Grace's head and threw him over his back. Grace flew over the railing and then started heading down with nothing breaking his fall except the first floor.
Weiss had saw Grace being tossed over the railing after Kelly Peyton managed to kick him in the face, causing his cheek to bleed. He watched in horror as he saw Grace disappear from sight.
Shortly downward Renee saw Grace falling and she attempted to grab him but missed. Renee was then hit from behind by Dean as she stumbled down a few more steps.
Grace was falling fast and attempting to grab whatever he could. Everything seemed to be going to slow motion as he was falling to his death. He doubted he could survive the six floor fall. Then, one of his attempts to grab hold of something worked. His right hand had caught hold of a railing and he now was hanging on the second floor.
Rene got back on her feet and grabbed her gun from the ground and aimed it at Dean. She fired and shot him in the leg. He yelled in pain and stumbled down onto one of the stairs. She ran up at him but was stopped.
Angle had lifted Weiss and thrown him down the stairs at Renee. Weiss came in contact with Renee and the two fell down the flight of stairs, landing where Dixon was. Peyton and Angle approached Dean and helped him up.
"We got to go another way," said Peyton. "We'll alert the guards."
Renee in much pain was attempting to get up as she saw Dean stumbling up the stairs followed by Peyton and Angle. Grace ran up the stairs and fired at them but he missed. He ran after them as fast as he could.
Grace ran into Dean's office and from around the corner was punched in the face. Grace fell down on the floor and then saw the brawny Angle standing over him.
"How'd you survive falling you little..." Angle lifted Grace from the floor by his throat. Grace's feet left the floor. Angle shoved him against the wall and pulled out a knife. "Well you won't survive this one."
"Quentin!" yelled Kelly from the other room.
"I'm coming," he called back. "Just a quick sec..."
Grace managed to kick Angle in the groin causing him to lose the grip of the knife and Grace's throat. Grace fell to the floor but quickly got up. Now hunched over, Angle was a little shorter. Grace slugged him in the face causing him to fall to the floor. Grace's hand hurt a lot after it.
Then from behind, Kelly Peyton hit Grace in the back of the head with a lamp. Grace fell to the floor and the lamp shattered. Peyton ran over to Angle and helped him out.
"Come on we got to go," she said.
"Let me just take care of him," said Angle referring to Grace.
"We don't have the time," said Peyton. She rushed out of the room with Angle leaving Grace lying on the floor in pain.
Dixon, Renee and Weiss quickly came up and helped Grace to his feet.
"We have to get out of here," said Weiss. "The guards will be up here soon."
"We have to get the Artifact," reminded Renee.
"There's no chance," argued Weiss. "We have to get out."