Veronica Versus The First Date
Veronica Sawyer had many things on her bucket list: Go to Paris, get married, become a journalist.
Needless to say, dangling off a balcony was not one of those things.
"Before you do anything rash, I think you should know that I have the cipher," she said to her captor, Mr. Colt.
"Hand it over right now," Mr. Colt said, while preventing Veronica from falling by holding one of her shoulders.
"Don't you think we should discuss terms first?" Veronica asked semi-jokingly, trying to stall.
Unfortunately, that only caused Mr. Colt to let go of her shoulder and grab her hand.
In other words, Veronica was now closer to the ground, causing her to scream.
"Now, who are you?" Mr. Colt asked.
"You know? You probably wouldn't believe me."
Mr. Colt then grabbed Veronica's right leg with his free hand. He then let go of her hand and held onto the other leg, causing her to scream again.
"Last chance. Who are you?"
"Veronica!" She yelled, terrified for her life.
"Ok, tell me everything, Veronica."
There's no way he'll believe me, and I don't blame him. I mean, who would believe that the government put all their secrets into one file that was downloaded into my brain. Of course, I can't tell this guy that.
"The thing is, I kind of work for the CIA and the NSA in my off hours, like a second job," Veronica said. "And though I don't look it, being really young and all, you should know that I'm probably the most important intelligence asset in the world."
Mr. Colt laughed his head off. "That is the single dumbest story I've ever heard."
"That very well may be, but if you drop me, there will be a couple of people who are gonna be very, very, upset," Veronica said, with a hint of danger in her voice.
As if on cue, Alex and Lydia barged into the room connected to the balcony, guns drawn.
"Let the nerd go," Lydia said.
"Not off the balcony!" Veronica yelled.
Mr. Colt chuckled. "Aren't we picky?"
Then, the unthinkable happened.
Mr. Colt let go of Veronica.
Veronica screamed as her life flashed (no pun intended) before her eyes.
Well, part of it anyway.
Because less than two seconds later, a pair of arms grabbed Veronica's legs.
"Gotcha!" Alex said, before pulling her up to safety.
Veronica took several deep breaths, reeling from what just happened. "Nice hands, Alex," she said, before they started to run.
"Why didn't you stay in the car?!" Alex yelled as he and Veronica ran out of the building.
"IT'S NEVER SAFE IN THE CAR!" Veronica replied.
"HEY!" Evan and Jeremy yelled in Alex's earpiece.
Lydia met up with Alex and Veronica once they were outside.
"Bad guy?" Alex asked Lydia.
"Got away," Lydia replied, before turning to Veronica. "Tell me you got it, at least."
"Did I get it?" Veronica asked with a smile, while moving her right hand towards her high knee sock. Then, she pulled out a rectangular device, with a silver circle in the middle, lines connecting to the corners. "Of course I got it."
"Excellent work, agents," General Beckham said to the team via webcam. "Our transporters will be taking the cipher out of Cleveland."
"General, what exactly is the cipher?" Jeremy asked. "I mean, mercenaries break into the NSA lab and it's the only thing they take?"
"The cipher is the artificial brain for the new Intersect computer," General Graham said via webcam.
"The new Intersect?" Veronica asked, a bit shocked.
General Graham nodded. "We've been working on a new one ever since the original was downloaded into your brain. The cipher is the final piece."
"Wait, timeout," Veronica said. "What will happen to me? The old Intersect?"
"Tomorrow, the new computer will be online," General Beckham said. "Operation Sawyer will officially come to an end. You'll be done with us. No more briefings, no more missions, no more spies. Enjoy the rest of your life, Veronica," he said before logging off with General Graham.
Veronica was speechless to say the least.
"You ok there, V?" Lydia asked.
That snapped Veronica back into reality. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm, uh, I mean," she said, struggling to find the right words. "I don't believe it, but, uh, I think I'm great."
"Well, you're gonna get your old life back," Evan said.
"Yeah, I was starting to think that you all were gonna be my handlers forever."
"Awww, are you gonna miss us?" Lydia teased.
"Pfft, of course not," Veronica said, bluffing. "Besides, I don't think I'm really cut out for a job where you jump off a building."
"You could have fooled me," Alex said.
"That's very kind of you, Alex," Veronica said. "But I'm pretty sure my girlish screams in the face of danger give me away."
"So what happens now?" Jeremy asked a few seconds later. "You're almost free. What are you gonna do next?"
"Well, I gotta finish high school," Veronica replied, while trying to think of what else she could do. "And I gotta go to college. Get married, have kids. Maybe travel around the world."
Veronica didn't realize it before, but her dreams were a sweet fantasy she needed to have.
Alex was not surprised to receive from a certain somebody later that day.
"Thought you might call," Alex said.
"You understand the situation, Agent Hamilton?" General Beckham asked. "We can't have another Intersect wandering around Sherwood getting into trouble."
"General, Veronica may be a novice spy, but the results speak for themselves," Alex said, his response being an indirect attack on the General. "Surely we can find another exit strategy."
"You and Agent Hansen have your orders," General Beckham said sternly. "Tomorrow night, eliminate Veronica Sawyer."
Veronica walked into Westerberg High the next day, listening to "You Make My Dreams (Come True)" by Hall & Oates, while dancing like Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3.
Sure, it earned her some stares, but she didn't mind.
Veronica practically waltzed her way over to JD's locker.
"What's gotten into you, today?" JD asked, amused and confused at the same time.
"I'm just having a really good day, Babe," Veronica said, as if she was impersonating a cool kid. "Say, how 'bout we eat at the Buttery tonight?"
The Buttery was the most expensive restaurant in all of Sherwood. Wealthy people could eat there whenever, but others? They'd be lucky to eat there twice a year.
JD nervously chuckled. "Are you sure you're feeling ok?"
"Yeah, it's just that we leave for college in a few months, so why not loosen up a little bit?" Veronica asked rhetorically. "Plus, my parents already agreed to give me enough money for tonight."
"Um, ok," JD eventually said. "But I insist on paying for my own food, ok?"
"No problemo," Veronica said. "It's a date."
Evan sat in his bedroom, trying to justify the plan to kill Veronica Sawyer that night.
Or rather, let Alex kill her while he watched the surveillance.
He had done this type of thing before, but those were all people who committed some sort of crime worthy of death. But this one? This one was different.
Because he loved Veronica Sawyer enough to know that she would commit no crime after this whole ordeal was over.
But how can I know that for sure? Evan thought. After all, Veronica's life changed when Team Sawyer was assembled. Who's to say that it wouldn't change again once it was dead?
Dead.
Evan shuddered at that thought. Just in a few short hours, Veronica Sawyer will be dead.
And there's nothing he can do about it.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Evan went downstairs and looked through the peephole, noticing a delivery man. He opened the door.
"Hi, how can I help you?" Evan asked.
"I'm here for a pick-up placed by one G. Beckham," the delivery man said, looking at his chart.
Evan grew more suspicious. "Verification code?"
"Morning glory."
Evan instantly relaxed. "One moment," he said, before grabbing the cipher out of his bedroom.
After the man put the cipher in his pocket, he held a towel up to his mouth with his right hand and put his left hand up, emitting some sort of white gas from his glove.
Evan coughed vicariously, before passing out.
The delivery man pulled out a walkie talkie. "It's done. I've got the cipher."
"Good," Mr. Colt replied. "Now, go to the second location. We have another target."
"Wow, this food is fantastic," JD said, as he took another bit of his steak.
"This place really is the best," Veronica said, feeling like she was a girl on an exciting first date.
"But it's better with you in it," JD said.
The two of them looked at each other, a mutual understanding in their eyes. As they leaned in for a kiss, Veronica happened to see a couple at another table, staring at her.
That's when she felt a familiar sensation in her brain.
"Not now," Veronica mumbled.
"What?" JD asked.
But it was too late.
The Intersect showed that the people sitting across from them were in fact, assassins.
When the flash was over, Veronica just happened to see a waiter walking by. Her brain flashed again, showing that the man was an assassin too.
"Veronica? What's wrong?" JD asked, concerned.
"Nothing," Veronica reassured him, perhaps a bit too quickly. "It's just that my mom keeps calling me, so I better go answer her outside," she said, standing up and grabbing her purse.
"Ok?" JD said, still unsure as to what was happening while Veronica walked out the door.
Once outside, Veronica got out her phone and was about to contact the team when she felt a gun behind her head.
"Hello again, Veronica," Mr. Colt greeted.
"Mr. Colt," Veronica said. "To whom do I owe this please?" She asked sarcastically.
"I need you to come with me."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because I assume you find me imposing," Mr. Colt said. "Don't worry, be honest. I'm going for imposing."
"Mission accomplished," Veronica jokingly replied.
"Well, I tell you what. The people that I work for give me the heebie-jeebies."
Veronica grew a little bit more afraid at that. "You know, when you put it like that, I-"
"Let's go. Your boyfriend can pick up the check," Mr. Colt said, lowering his gun and grabbing Veronica's hand.
"Let go of me," Veronica said, resisting him.
"Resist me again or else one of my colleagues will kill your boyfriend," Mr. Colt threatened, to which Veronica relented.
Suddenly, a speeding van came towards them, causing both Veronica and Mr. Colt to jump away.
The car made a screeching halt, just barely missing the wall of the restaurant. One of the doors opened to reveal Lydia.
"Did somebody order drive-thru?" She jokingly asked.
Thankfully, Veronica managed to get up quicker than Mr. Colt, practically running to the van. After she got in, Mr. Colt approached the open door.
"Sorry, but if you want to get to her, you'll have to go through us first," Lydia challenged.
It was at this point that Mr. Colt noticed the other people in the van. He pulled out a walkie-talkie. "I need backup," he said, before putting it away and punching Lydia in the face, sending her to the ground.
As soon as Mr. Colt put one foot in the van, he was sent back outside due to a shot in the knee from Evan. Jeremy quickly shut the door, before Alex speeded out of the parking lot.
"What is happening?!" Veronica asked.
"Somebody stole the cipher," Alex said.
Veronica took a moment to absorb that information. "Wait, so that means-"
"You're still the Intersect," Evan interjected. "But don't worry. We'll get it back," he said with some nervousness in his voice.
Veronica then noticed Lydia's face, which had a scar of what looked like a weirdly-shaped octopus.
That's when Veronica's brain did a flash.
"I know where they're going," she said.
"Who?" Jeremy asked.
"Colt. The guy who smashed Lydia's face," Veronica said, before turning back to Lydia. "No offense."
"None taken."
"What caused you to flash?" Evan asked.
"Lydia's scar. It's the emblem for their organization," Veronica said. "They have a secret hideout downtown. Warehouse 17 on 103rd Street."
"Alex, put that address into the GPS," Lydia said.
"Cool your jets, kiddos. I'll call it in."
This shocked everyone.
"What?! There's no time!" Jeremy stated.
"Relax. I'm not gonna rush into a hideout situation until I'm certain we have the upper hand. We'll get the cipher. It just might take some time."
"Who are you?!" Lydia asked, dumbfounded. This was definitely not how Alexander Hamilton acted in situations like this.
"Alex, I can't take this anymore! Do you understand?!" Veronica asked. "I cannot do this anymore. I've almost died too many times within the past few months, ok? And when I'm looking at what my future could be, I honestly don't see the spy world as a part of it," Veronica said. "Your new Intersect is almost done. And when it is, I'm free. I have a future and a life I wanna live."
"Future's a dangerous thing," Alex retorted. "Doesn't always work out the way plan."
"What happened to you?" Veronica asked. "You were this close to being done with me, and being a real spy again. Why? What are you so afraid of?!"
"I'M AFRAID THAT I'LL HAVE TO KILL YOU!"
"WHAT?!" Veronica, Lydia, and Jeremy stated in shock.
Jeremy noticed that Evan wasn't quite as shocked as the others. "Evan, did you know about this?"
Evan put his head down as Jeremy and the girls stared daggers at him. "I-I n-never m-m-"
"Oh, just spit it out, Stutterboy!" Lydia yelled.
"It was all Beckham," Alex said, jumping in to help Evan. "He said that the data was too powerful to leave in the hands of ordinary citizens, and since there's no cure…" He didn't want to say the last part.
"You guys were gonna kill me," Veronica said, with a heaviness in her chest.
A few seconds of silence passed, before Jeremy spoke to Evan. "Why didn't you tell me anything?!"
"Jer-"
"We've been best friends since diapers! How could you plan on murdering one of our friends?!"
"Murder is a strong word, Heere," Alex said. "I prefer the term 'taking care.'"
"And murder is a great way to show someone that you care!" Lydia said sarcastically.
"Stop!" Veronica said, tired of all the bickering. "This is just…a lot to take in right now."
Seriously, how is one supposed to take the news that they're supposed to be killed by friends?
"If Beckham wanted me dead, then why am I still here?" Veronica asked Alex and Evan.
"Because you have the only copy of the Intersect," Evan replied. "But now that 2.0 is possibly about to go online, he nee- wanted you out of the equation."
"So why not offer me an NDA or something?"
"Because people can still break those," Evan replied. "Plus, having handlers for the rest of your life would've been 'wasting resources' according to him."
"Ok, why didn't either of you guys tell me sooner?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Jeremy asked. "They knew we would've prevented it from happening."
"Veronica, I know you think the worst of me and Alex right now," Evan said. "But believe me, believe us, we didn't want anything to do with it. We tried to convince Beckham out of it, but he wouldn't budge. It was either carry out the assignment or risk suspension, maybe worse."
Nobody knew what to say to that.
"You still should've told us," Lydia said.
"You would've done the same thing if you were in our shoes," Alex pointed out.
Lydia stayed silent on that one.
"We're coming up on the warehouse," Alex announced.
"What? I thought you were gonna call in a team?" Jeremy asked.
"I was," Alex said. "But then I thought I could make it up to Sawyer by investigating ourselves. Hansen and I can deal with our punishments later," he said, before turning to Veronica. "You deserve that full life Sawyer, and it's waiting for you inside that building right now."
The gang split up to investigate the warehouse inside.
Or at least, that's the last thing Veronica remembered before waking up, tied to a chair.
"You're awake," Mr. Colt said, with an AK-47 in his hands, surrounded by similar guards. "You're probably wondering why you're here."
Veronica nodded, before Mr. Colt sighed. "We have a problem here. You saw my face and heard my voice."
Veronica knew where this was going. "That's not a problem," she said nervously. "I forget things all the time. Ask my mother."
Mr. Colt put his gun down and started to do some stretches.
"What exactly are you doing?" Veronica asked.
"I'm getting limber," Mr. Colt replied. "I like strangling my victims to death."
"Say what now?" Veronica asked, confused.
"I like strangling people," Mr. Colt said, a bit more slowly. "The guards and AK-47's are here in case you try to resist. I would've strangled you sooner, but it's always more enjoyable when the victims are fully conscious."
"My friends will find me," Veronica said with determination.
Mr. Colt chuckled at that. "There's nobody here to help you. You and your friends walked into a trap, Veronica, if that is your real name."
A light bulb turned on inside Veronica's head.
"My name is Winona Ryder," Veronica declared. "I'm a CIA agent, and this is my trap."
Mr. Colt and his guards were definitely confused by that.
"I don't think you realize the gravity of the predicament you're in," Veronica said. "The cipher that you have? We were able to track it."
That made everybody nervous.
"Your warehouse is currently surrounded by 23 infantry troopers, 16 snipers, 7 heavy gunners, and 4 demolition experts," Veronica said. "You're outmatched and outgunned."
Mr. Colt laughed at that. "You had me there for a second," he said, before calming down. "Unfortunately, I still have to kill you."
"I can prove it!" Veronica yelled as Mr. Colt walked closer. "Just let me call my friend and he will tell you the same thing."
Mr. Colt nodded at two of his guards, who proceeded to untie Veronica. After that, Veronica got out her phone and called JD.
"Veronica? Where are you? I've been worried sick!" JD said on the other line.
"I'm sorry. Something came up, but it's resolved now. Hey, I was wondering if you could remind me of the exact details for the team surrounding the compound."
"What?" JD asked, before realizing that she was talking about a conversation about Call of Duty from last week. "Oh, right," he said, not realizing that Veronica just put him on speaker phone.
"We have 23 infantry troopers, 16 snipers, 7 gunners, and 4 demolition experts. However, I forgot to give you a little update. I got impatient and took out one of the guards. Don't worry. It was a headshot. Couldn't warn his buddies. It was awesome, V. His head exploded like a watermelon."
"Thanks," Veronica said, before hanging up.
Mr. Colt looked at his guards. "She's either lying or she's crazy. Check everywhere. Don't let anything get past you."
Suddenly, everyone heard the sound of approaching vehicles outside.
Veronica took this opportunity to grab the cipher out of an open briefcase nearby and run like the wind.
Veronica made it down one floor and was on the fourth step on the second staircase when Mr. Colt yanked her into his arms.
"No, no, no!" Veronica said.
"Hand it over," Mr. Colt demanded.
"And what happens if I don't?"
"I'll drop you," Mr. Colt said as he held Veronica by the arm on the edge of the rooftop.
"We gotta work on your negotiating skills," Veronica said. "How about this, you pull me away and we discuss this like normal people?"
"You know what?" Mr. Colt asked.
"What?"
Suddenly, the door to the rooftop burst open. Evan and Lydia walked in, guns drawn.
"Freeze!" Lydia said.
"It ain't worth it," Mr. Colt said to Veronica.
Then, he pushed her off the roof.
"NO!" Evan and Lydia yelled.
Mr. Colt turned around to face them. "Your friend's dead. Now, what are you gonna do?"
Needless to say, Evan shot him in the other knee.
Veronica Sawyer was absolutely certain that she was about to die.
That was, until somebody prevented her from falling to her doom.
"I've got you," Alex said as he pulled up onto one of the balconies.
"You saved me," Veronica said breathlessly, once Alex got her whole body onto the balcony. "Why? You're about to get the cipher. As much as I would've hated it, you could've completed your assignment by letting me fall."
"It's like Evan and I said, we never wanted to do that assignment," Alex said, sincerity evident in his voice. "Now let's go, I called in another team 20 minutes ago."
Meanwhile, Evan and Lydia were hiding behind the entrance to the rooftop, avoiding gun shots from Mr. Colt.
"You just had to shoot him in the knee, didn't you?" Lydia asked.
"Well, I couldn't just kill him. He might have important information."
Suddenly, they heard a voice via megaphone.
A voice they never thought they would hear again.
"Show yourself, Mr. Colt," Veronica said confidently.
Mr. Colt walked to the edge of the rooftop and saw multiple soldiers surrounding Veronica.
"You gotta put that gun down, buddy. Because you're surrounded," Veronica said, before turning to Alex, Jeremy, and the other soldiers. "Meet the rest of my people. Tell me, Mr. Colt, do you find them imposing?"
Mr. Colt didn't know how to respond.
Veronica took his silence as a key to keep going. "Go ahead. You can be honest. I was going for imposing."
"Your good, Ryder," Mr. Colt said as he walked away in handcuffs.
"Thank you, I try my best," Veronica replied somewhat jokingly.
"Please tell me you have the cipher," Evan said.
"Do I have it?" Veronica asked, before pulling it out of her pocket. "Of course I have it."
"Is the new Intersect ready?" Alex asked General Beckham in a private meeting with Evan.
"In less than an hour, yes," General Beckham replied via webcam. "Which means that your orders remain the same. Veronica Sawyer is to be eliminated."
Evan and Alex hesitated for a second. "General, I believe that Veronica has served her country with honor," Alex said.
"She might even have some potential as an analyst," Evan added.
"I understand, but can you extract these secrets from Ms. Sawyer's head?"
"No," Evan replied.
"Can you guarantee her safety from kidnapping and torture?"
"No," Alex said.
"Then it's clear," General Beckham said. "Veronica Sawyer has served her country with honor. Now she'll die to protect it."
"Really?" Veronica asked, entering Castle. "Because I can think of a zillion other ways to protect my country."
"What's going on here?!" General Beckham asked, baffled by this revelation.
"Evan and I told her the truth," Alex proudly said. "Because she doesn't deserve death."
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you that you're being recorded," Evan said with a smile. "And I can send this video to every CIA and NSA database possible, so that they can know what to expect from the Intersect 2.0, or you can just erase the kill order. Then, I'll delete the video."
General Beckham sighed. "Fine, Sawyer can live. But pull something like that again and there will be consequences," he said. "Ms. Sawyer, you will not be required for missions, but your handlers will still need to supervise you."
Honestly, Team Sawyer was fine with that.
General Graham stood in a room full of other agents, surrounded by TV screens. He pressed "Play" on a computer, and a series of images appeared quickly on some of the screens, while others didn't have anything.
But then, they all showed one message:
FULCRUM THANKS YOU
And that's when the whole building blew up.
"I'm so sorry about tonight, JD," Veronica said to JD, once he opened the door to his house. "My mom was having a really bad migraine and went to the hospital. They helped her and she was sent home. She knows that she overreacted, so please don't bring it up to her."
"No problemo," JD said. "But that still doesn't explain why you called me about my 'Call of Duty' battle strategy."
"Oh, I ran into Jeremy at the hospital. He was there visiting his sick grandma. We started talking, and he didn't believe your battle strategy was real. He bugged me about it until I called you. After you relayed the plan, the doctor for my mom wanted to talk to me. That's why I hung up."
Veronica's phone started to ring. "Speaking of which," she said, noticing that the call was from Jeremy.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Hey, are you busy right now?"
Veronica tilted her phone. "He wants to talk more about his grandma," she whispered to JD, before walking a few steps away.
"What's up?" She asked Jeremy.
"The Intersect 2.0 was destroyed," he replied sadly.
Veronica was beyond shocked to hear this. "What? But the cipher-"
"Was a Trojan horse. A sabotage device. The moment it came online, it exploded."
"But that means-"
"You're still the only Intersect."
A/N: And that's the end of the first chapter of "Veronica Versus Fulcrum!"
Two quick notes about Beckham:
I didn't realize that her (or, in this case, his) last name in the series was "Beckman," not "Beckham," until this chapter. *insert multiple facepalms.*
I'm probably to stop writing "via webcam" for him. Just assume that he's talking via video conference unless stated otherwise.
Thoughts? Any constructive criticism is welcome!
