"Where on Earth is Lauren Ridgemount?"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
So, yeah... one week. It's been five months. Ouch.
Also, I wanted to finish this tonight, but things didn't work out, as it always seems to be the case with the story. So, this is just the first half of the finale. Second half coming soon. Sooner than another five months, I super, super promise!
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Stoked' belong to Fresh TV, Inc., Teletoon, and Cartoon Network.
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Chapter Eight - Name Game (01.30.12)
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Lauren could not believe her eyes! It was the most beautiful thing she had seen in days, despite all the exotic locales she had been to.
"A 48-inch flat screen TV?" she squealed. "Oh yeah!"
She leaped onto the sofa, found the remote control on a nearby table, and turned the TV on.
"Never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm SO glad to be able to watch my shows!"
But Lo's enthusiasm quickly faded when she realized...
"Still, it's not as huge as the one back home in the penthouse."
And...
"What the? I can't understand a word they're saying!"
She was watching a young adult couple talking to each other while sitting in a park at night. They were speaking Italian. Naturally, though...
"I forgot I'm in Italy! They must be speaking Italish or somethin'."
But things got a little better when the on-screen couple leaned in towards each other and engaged in a very intimate, lip-smacking kiss.
"Oh, never mind! Their speaking the language of love! Everyone understands that!"
Suddenly, Lo felt and heard her stomach rumble. She groaned as she recalled it had been awhile since she last ate.
"I'm famished! But Jack said to not go outside, for my own safety!"
She sat up on the sofa and started looking around the room for something to eat. She did not see anything, but found the next best thing.
A delivery menu for a nearby restaurant.
Back out in the countryside...
Sounds of lip smacking could be heard coming from atop the queen-sized bed in the room. That was accompanied by the sounds of a vibrating object... one that made the seemingly one heavy-set shadow on the bed turn into two smaller ones. The figure on top reached for the aforementioned object, while the other pulled up the bedsheets to cover herself.
The first groaned upon picking up the object and looking down at the display.
"Nooo..." he exclaimed, with a worried gasp.
He reached for the lamp and turned it on, then hopped out of bed. He started scanning the room for his pants as he answered his phone.
"Jack!" shouted Lo, who was on the other end of the line. "I'm in trouble! HELP!"
The line then went dead.
"I knew this wasn't a good idea."
Jack found his clothes, picked up, and rushed to put them on as he headed out of the room and to the front door. Jemma sat up in bed, confused and concerned about her lover's sudden exit.
Half an hour later, Jack's Lamborghini screeched to a halt in front of the ground-level entrance to the apartment where he had left Lo. But as he got out, he saw Lo marching towards him, with an exasperated look on her face - and dressed in her silk chemise and a pair of sandals and nothing else.
"About TIME!" grumbled Lo.
"What's the emergency? And why are you outside when I specifically told you not to..."
Lo pointed to her left, where a male teenager wearing an apron over a tuxedo was standing. He had in hand a makeshift cardboard box.
"I ordered a pizza!"
Jack shook his head. "I can see that. Lo, there's no such thing as pizza being delivered to your door in Italy!"
"That's what they told me, too! And yet... there he is!"
Jack marched over, obviously not pleased.
"I thought you were in danger! That phone was to be used for emergencies ONLY!"
"This IS one, Jack! I don't have any money, remember?"
Jack stared at Lo for a few seconds before giving in and reluctantly pulling out his wallet. Jack went back over to the 'delivery boy,' took a peek at the receipt, and then paid him exact change.
"Grazie! [Thank you!]"
Jack took the pizza 'box' and started walking away.
"Che? Nessun suggerimento? [What? No tip?]" asked the 'delivery boy.'
"Devi guardare un mezzo nudo straniero per mezz'ora! [You got to stare at a half-naked foreigner for half an hour!]"
Jack handed the box to Lo and then ushered her back inside. Once they were safely back in their borrowed apartment, Jack resumed scolding Lo.
"What did I tell you before I left? Do NOT go outside, do NOT answer the door for anyone, and do NOT draw attention to yourself!"
"FYI, you only said the first thing! Don't try to pin all that other stuff on me!"
Lo walked to the kitchen, having decided that their conversation was over. But it was not.
"Is there something I'm not getting? You fail to grasp the reality of the situation you're in!"
"What I fail to grasp is the location of a plate in this place!" Lo shouted as she searched for the cupboard.
"Are you really that daft, Lauren? After New York, Johannesburg, and even Venice just a few hours ago, you're still that lackadaisical about your own safety?"
Lo finally located a clean plate and placed it on the counter.
"Oh, pish posh!" she said as she opened the pizza 'box.' "It's not like I walked down to the corner store by myself or something foolish like that! Wait, what am I saying? Me, stepping foot in one of those? EEW!"
She then reached down to pick up a slice of pizza and instantly came to a realization.
"Rats! It's cold!"
"Will you listen to me?" Jack shouted as Lo began cutting into her slice with her knife. "You've got a megalomaniac who wants to take over your family's resort, who was willing to use you as leverage and for who else knows what, and is bent on doing whatever it takes to achieve world domination! And yet here you are, casually strutting about like you're on vacation, as if you have nothing to worry about! Seriously, lass, if you are that set on putting yourself out in the open, then I should've never bothered rescuing you!"
Jack was seething mad, ready to give up on Lo. And yet here she was, munching on cold pizza willingly because her hunger overpowered her want to eat something warm, and she was completely fine with it.
He settled for trotting over to the couch, sitting down on it, and burying his face in his hands. He sighed deeply as he contemplated his next move, if there was any he was willing to make. Lo stood in the kitchen, frowning as she wondered if she had done something wrong.
"J-Jack?"
Jack remained still, not responding to Lo's calls for him. Getting that she was being ignored, which she never liked happening to her, she suddenly was the one who became enraged!"
"Fine! Stay there and sulk! Ha! Some secret agent you are!"
With that, Lo grabbed a second slice of pizza to put on her plate before marching off to her sleeping quarters. A few seconds later, Jack heard the door to Lo's room slam shut.
Later that night, Lo was in a restless mood. She had been unable to get much sleep, as she was tossing and turning in bed.
"Oh, why can't I sleep?" she groaned. "Other than the fact that these sheets obviously have far less than a 900 thread count..."
She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to come up with a reasonable answer. But all she could think about was what Jack had said just hours ago.
"I know Jack was right, but... but what if I wanna pretend he's not? I mean... it's not wrong to want all of this to be over, is it?"
She began to think about her family, friends, co-workers, and the resort. It suddenly hit her that she missed them all a lot. Never in her wildest dreams did Lo ever foresee a date with a cute guy turning into an international incident in which her future, or rather, the future of the Ridgemount legacy, was in their hands.
"I want to just go home, but I know this won't go away if I do that! Not until that sleaze, Fargo Hope, is done away with!"
Lo sat up in bed, and she had a determined look on her face.
"That does it! There's only one course of action to take here! And that is..."
"Jack, we need to have a talk!"
It was the next morning, and Lo was standing next to Jack at the ticket counter at Valerio Catullo Airport, securing tickets for safe passage out of Italy.
"Funny time to have one, considering the quiet time we had on the drive here."
Jack then turned to the attendant and thanked her...
"Grazie!"
...and then he started heading away, with Lo keeping pace alongside him.
"You know," stated Jack, "I had a lot of time to think about your actions last night..."
"I realize my actions last night were, like, not cool..." admitted Lo.
"...and I've come to accept the fact that I've put you in such an undesirable position that you never wished be set upon you..."
"...and I know I was wrong to put myself in such a vulnerable pinch, but I'm just so tired from, like, all this running..."
"...and I've decided that this must end, posthaste!"
"...and it may not be what I want to do, but I know it's what I must do."
Both of them took a deep breath, and then shouted, simultaneously...
"I don't want to send you home!"
"I don't want you to send me home!"
They both froze, taken aback as they realized what the other had said.
"You don't want to go home?"
"You weren't going to send me home?"
Jack turned to look at Lo.
"I could go home," Lo proclaimed, "but that would not stop that jerk or his goon squad from continuing to come after me or hassling Daddy! Besides, I thought I made it clear that the only person allowed to hassle him is me!"
Jack flashed a smug smile. "I see."
"You dragged me into this, Jack, and you're not dragging me out of it! I'm not going back to Surfer's Paradise until Fargo Hope is behind bars! That... that... that... say, what do you call a person who tries to unlawfully take someone else's property?"
"You mean an extortionist?"
"Oh, good, because I was about to say contortionist, even though it didn't sound right."
"Um, yes. Sure."
"So, why you just standing there like a bump on a log? Come on, come on! If those tickets you bought weren't for Canada, then tell me! Where are we going?"
"Well, my dear Lauren, I figure that it's time that we stop running with our tails between our legs! It's time to go on the offensive! And to do that, we need to get some new intel, as well a few new toys!"
"Right! So... off to the North Pole!"
"England."
"Off to England!"
A couple hours later, Jack and Lo's commercial flight landed at Gatwick Airport, near London. They had just gotten through customs and were on their way to meeting Jack's contact. But...
"Look at all the shops they have around here!" exclaimed Lo as they walked through the terminal. "I'd look so hot in that dress! And that purse shines as bright as my silver two-piece! And... no way! They have a place that sells caviar?"
"Yes, yes, I know everything here is fabulous," stated Jack, "but we have a tight schedule to keep!"
"Oh, come on, Jack! It's your fault I didn't bring any extra clothes! You owe me a shopping splurge!"
"You had one in Johannesburg. And we all remember how that one turned out!"
"Hey! That sundress was chic! Plus, nothing happened until after I got back. And all that was your fault, anyway."
"My... look, like I said, we don't have time! Once we've taken care of our business, then maybe we find you a new outfit.
"I'm surprised we haven't been jumped yet. Given we're here. Out in the open. Plainclothes..."
"I get it!"
Lo went silent. But that was short-lived, as she spotted...
"They have a surf shop here? Get out!"
Before Jack could say anything, Lo bolted for the entrance. Jack had no choice but to let her go.
"Fine. You have ten minutes!"
"Don't fret! I'll be back in seven!"
Seven minutes - plus seventy more - later...
"You're late!"
Jack and Lo finally met with the former's contact. It was actually someone Lo had seen before...
"Hey, it's trench coat guy I saw from the car from Queens!"
"Delighted," the man said, albeit with a hint of sarcasm.
He then smiled as he saw Jack holding four shopping bags.
"Heh heh... someone's whipped!"
"Hush, you!"
"At least I know why you were delayed. A will not be happy."
Lo cut in. "A? Really? What kind of a name is A?"
"We'd best be going," continued the man, ignoring Lo's question. "The situation's changed since you got off the ground in Verona. I'll brief you on the way."
"Very good."
They started heading for the exit, but stopped when they saw that Lo was not following them.
"Let's go, Lauren," Jack barked.
"No! How do I know this isn't another trap?"
The other agent rolled his eyes. "You cannot be serious..."
"Lauren," Jack said as he walked back over to her. "You said you remember him from New York. So you know you can trust him."
"How? I 'saw' him. I never got out of the car and formally met him. And besides, that was a few days ago! How do I know he hasn't, like, become a traitor and is actually now working for the other side?"
"Because," the agent explained, sternly, "if I was a double agent, both of you would already be dead."
Jack nodded. "I trust Agent 321 here with my life, Lauren."
"And another thing," Lo grumbled. "Letters, numbers... how about a real name, bub?"
"I am a member of Her Majesty's Secret Service! We use letters and numbers to identify ourselves rather than our real names in order to protect our lives and those of our..."
"Blah, blah, blah, spill with the name, or I'm not going anywhere!"
"Just tell her your name before she makes a scene," stated Jack.
Agent 321 sighed. "Fine. My name is..."
Later, in the car...
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
Lo had been laughing hysterically for almost ten minutes now, as Agent 321 tried to keep his anger tempered since he was driving, and Jack was busy checking messages on his cell phones.
"HA HA HA HA! Your name is Ashleigh! Ashleigh? HA HA HA!"
Ashleigh - or rather, Agent 321 - looked over at Jack.
"Does she ever zip her yap?"
Jack replied. "You have to admit, that is a rather girly name."
"I cannot help that me mum and me dad wanted a girl, okay?"
Agent 321 did not want to endure Lo's laughter much longer, but he would have to, given they were stuck in traffic.
Eventually, they reached their destination, and it was not long before Jack, Ashleigh, and Lo were in the office of the head of the spy organization, A.
"Glad to see you're still among the living, Oh-Six-Seven."
A, who was a mature, gray-haired woman in her 60s, walked up to the group.
"Oh, you know it's takes more than a few mishaps to get the better of me," Jack replied.
"And I take it that this is..."
"Yes, ma'am. Lauren Ridgemount, heiress to the Ridgemount Resorts chain."
"I take it that you're A?" asked Lo, giving the woman the once-over with her eyes.
"Yes, I am A, the head of MI6, better known as Her Majesty's Secret Service."
"Well, I must say..."
Jack held his breath, expecting Lo to say something stupid. But...
"...I love that broach you're wearing. I wish I had something that pretty myself!"
Lo was referring to the blue sapphire broach that served as the top button on A's shirt.
"You have good taste, my dear. It's a one-of-a-kind heirloom that's been passed down in my family for generations!"
"It's pretty on you! It makes you look ten years younger!"
A giggled, to the surprise of her agents.
"I've been here for almost 20 years," 321 whispered to Jack, "and this is the first time I've seen her laugh at anything!"
A's face grew serious as she turned her attention to her men.
"Oh-six-seven and Three-two-one, don't you two have a meeting with One-nine-nine to get to?"
"Oh, yes," Jack said aloud. "We shall be going, then."
"For the time being, Miss Ridgemount, I'd like to debrief you on a few things. You'll be reunited with Oh-six-seven in due time."
With that, Jack left Lo in the safe arms of his superior. Besides, he needed to gear up for the mission ahead.
Some time later, Jack and Ashleigh were in the armory, picking out firearms and body armor. As they did that, Agent 199 was giving the pair their mission specs.
"Our latest intelligence indicates that Fargo Hope is either en route or likely has already arrived in Paris. He is scheduled to appear at a gala dinner to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of his premier European resort, Le Riche!"
"Kind of obvious name there," commented Jack. "And he's appearing despite the fact that he knows we're coming after him?"
"Well, to be frank, our mission to stop Hope is still very much under-the-radar. His shady business dealings are not public knowledge, and given that, he has enlisted the assistance of the local police force to work security at the event. Given the number of VIPs there, both on-the-level and illegals, that's obviously no surprise."
"So we're not walking in the front door, then? With all of this heat we'll be packing, we won't make it unscathed through their security checkpoints.
"We're coordinating with a man in French Intelligence to get you clearance. But he's working independent of the agency, so do your best to maintain a low profile. We have no extra resources to allocate to this mission, so if you two screw it up, there will be no one there to save your asses. Got it?"
"Yes, mum," chided Ashleigh.
Agent 199 continued with his briefing.
"The two of you will arrive first, and then we're in the process of arranging a special escort to bring in Miss Ridgemount."
"What?" Jack jumped in. "Why?"
"Our sources say Lauren's father will be attending this gala, and that Hope has apparently given him an ultimatum. He wants Ridgemount to surrender his empire in exchange for the safety of his daughter."
"But... doesn't he know that Lauren is safe and with us?"
"No. Mr. Ridgemount still believes that Miss Ridgemount is still Hope's captive. We need to make sure it stays that way until we're sure Hope is in the building."
"And we're using 'the princess' as bait to draw him out."
"Precisely."
"So let's say the plan works. How do we apprehend with all of that security around? Not to mention that Hope will also have members of the mafia there as well, working undercover. Especially De Luca."
"That will be up to you two to deal with."
"Great," remarked Ashleigh sarcastically. "Sounds like a fun way to spend a Saturday night!"
"As usual, yada yada yada, disavow knowledge, yada yada yada, death, yada yada yada."
"You always have a way with words, don't you?" chuckled Jack.
Agent 199 then tossed Jack a pair of keys.
"Don't wreck this one," he told him. "Mark 7s don't fall out of trees, you know."
"You know me... do whatever it takes to complete the mission."
Agent 199 sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of."
About an hour later, the aforementioned Mark 7's engine roared to life atop MI6 headquarters. Agent 321 was seen loading an unmarked suitcase into the helicopter's back seat, as an unnamed agent fiddled with the controls, prepping it for takeoff. Jack had his back turned to them, as his attention was turned towards the roof entrance, where A and Lo had just emerged from. Two other agents were also on the roof to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity nearby.
"I see you gave Lauren a gift," Jack said as they stopped in front of him and he pointed out the new black beret on Lo's head.
"Doesn't it look cute?" Lo asked, somewhat flirtatiously.
"Sure," he replied, without even thinking twice.
"Lo?" A interrupted.
"Yes?"
"As I told you, I'll have my specialist ready for you upon your arrival! Remember, be safe!"
"I will! Thanks for everything!"
With that, Lo headed for the copter. A took this opportunity to hand Jack a PDA, filled with more intel he would need for the mission.
"Remember, Oh-six-seven! If Hope succeeds in wrestling control of the Ridgemount Resort chain..."
"I know... the effects could be catastrophic to the global economy."
"Oh, and one more thing. Miss Lauren is only aware that she is going to confront Hope and that we're providing sufficient backup. For her safety, do NOT tell her that there is no backup, or that her Dad will be there. Doing either could jeopardize the mission!"
"Roger, A!"
He turned to get on the helicopter, but she grabbed him by the arm.
"One last thing... new intel just came in. Mr. Ridgemount is not traveling to Paris alone."
She pointed to a file on the PDA's desktop designed only as 'X.' Jack opened it and instantly understood what it meant based on who was in the photo inside.
"Do I have permission to..."
"Yes. But ONLY as a last resort. Understand?"
A closer look at the photo revealed that making the trip to attend the gala with Mr. Ridgemount... were Fin and Reef.
To be continued...
Author's Notes:
Now that the final confrontation has pretty much been setup, all that's left is to let the fur fly! Don't miss the final chapter, in just a few weeks. Really! I'm ready to end this...