Operation Rebel Dragon, Phase Three: Day 12

Madison relaxed in the backseat of the armored limousine, her head resting on Ming's shoulder. She normally hated travelling with a full security detail, but the motorcade had been waiting for them when they got off the plane, leaving them little option. She always felt slightly suffocated by the detail, the limo was an upgraded version of the one used by the president, the drivers and guards were all former Mossad from before the Middle East collapsed, all of them were armed with plasma weapons. She'd loved it when she was younger, it made her feel like a princess or a queen, but now she just felt smothered by it. She much preferred her Rocket.

The last two weeks in Point Lookout were a happy blur. After their little performance, the rest of the evening had been quiet and it wasn't long before they retired back to the hotel room. The next day she dropped the holotape in the planned dead drop and went on as if nothing happened. She and Ming had agreed not to discuss the Chinese spy issue until they got back to the city, Point Lookout was clearly within hearing range of Chinese intelligence. Emma lost her companion the day after Madison made the dead drop, Nick got a call from headquarters about a Chinese spy. It had certainly given Ming bit of a shock, but then he'd rushed out and grabbed a couple of seamen from the Naval recruiting station because, "the local boys may be a little on the rare side." After that he'd stormed into the Calvert mansion and dragged a young senatorial staffer named Ashley Cheng out in cuffs. After that, he caught a ride on an army helicopter back to FBI headquarters. After that they spent the rest of the time hitting the tourist spots and spending quality time in the hotel room.

"Back to reality I suppose." Ming's words drew Madison out of her thoughts. Flying at night always left her reflective, but then again, Madison thought, so did a lot of things

"Referring to the whole Chinese spy thing?" Madison opened her eyes a crack and looked up at Ming. Emma had wanted to hit a few clubs so she grabbed a cab from the airfield.

"It's not the kind of thing you stop thinking about." Ming muttered while absentmindedly running her fingers through Madison's hair and looking out the window, Boston was an interesting city at night.

"My dad will be able to help, he's got plenty of friends in intelligence." Her first call would be to Payne, she couldn't contact the Activity from Point Lookout, it was a hotbed for Chinese operatives.

"I hope so." The rest of the ride passed in comfortable silence. They pulled up in front of House Tower and one of the bodyguards opened the door. Leaving the luggage for their entourage, they quickly crossed through the lobby into the elevator. The elevator was fast, as always, and a few seconds later they were stepping into Madison's apartment.

Leaning against Madison's kitchen counter was a well-built man in a pinstripe suit. If it weren't for his commanding presence and the slightly superior quality of his suit, he could have easily been mistaken for a part of the security detail. He had an easygoing grin on his face as he watched them enter, but there was an intensity in his eyes that said he didn't miss a single detail.

Madison's face lit up when she saw him, "Daddy!" She darted into his waiting arms.

"Hello Angel," he wrapped her up in a tight embrace. "It's so good to see you, how was Point Lookout, how are your studies going? You have to catch me up while I'm in town."

She pulled away and gestured towards Ming, who was currently standing there, unsure what she was supposed to do in this situation. "Daddy, this is Xiu Ming, my girlfriend."

"A pleasure to meet you Ming, Alexander Victory." He extended his hand.

Ming accepted it, suddenly feeling intimidated. "Nice to meet you Mister Victory, I've heard a lot about you."

"I've heard a lot about you too Ming," he turned to Madison, "Angel, do you mind if I steal Ming away for a few minutes, I have to scare the living day lights out of her."

"Daddy!" Madison blushed a deep red.

Her father chuckled, "Now darling, I've been preparing for this conversation for years, just because you've got a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend doesn't mean I don't still get to do the speech. It's a perk of being a dad." He looked back at Ming, "It won't take long, let's go up to the roof, I'm one of the owners of the damn building and they still won't let me smoke inside."

Madison looked at Ming, who merely shrugged her shoulders, might as well get it over with. Ming followed Madison's father into the elevator, then up to the roof. The roof of House Tower was surprisingly not used for anything, but it offered sweeping views of all of Boston. Madison's father weaved his way through the industrial air conditioning and heating systems, water tanks, and other machinery she didn't recognize. She followed him until they reached the edge of the roof.

He pulled two cigars out of his jacket, "smoke?"

He offered one to her, she took it, "Not around your daughter."

"Smart girl," he said, offering her a light then lighting his own. "She's like her mother, can't stand it." He took a long drag of the cigar, then blew out a puff of smoke. "Cubans, I did an op down there in '48 and I haven't been able to smoke anything else since."

Ming closed her eyes and took a drag of her own, "Your way of saying that you know who I am?"

"I was in special ops for the better part of my adult life, you think that I would let a top Chinese operative become intimate with my daughter and not know about it. You're good, probably the best they've got, you cover your tracks well, but you've been in the States too long not to be noticed."

She was quiet for a moment. Ming had thought that she was blown since the Niagara Falls operation went bad and she'd had to slip Yang out of custody. "She knows who I am."

"Of course she does." He paused, "I have a lot of friends in Intelligence, are you willing to turn?"

The question of whether she was willing to betray her homeland should have been a difficult one, but that decision had been made for her the second that they killed Ji. "I have no loyalty to China anymore, I am loyal to your daughter."

He looked at her, it wasn't lost on him that she was choosing his daughter over her nation. "I'll put you in contact with the appropriate people." He flicked an ash off of his sleeve. "You know, a lot of people aren't going to be too happy with one of the princesses of American capitalism being with a Chinese girl."

"You know what to do with the mail, right?"

She nodded, "yes sir."

He looked back towards the sweeping vista of Boston. "Good, if anyone tries to pull your visa or give you hell, tell me or Emma's father, and we'll come down on them like the wrath of god. You're a member of the American aristocracy now. It's a damn flawed system, but you've been a communist, so you know better than anyone, if you can't fix the system, it's best to be at the top."

Cynical, she thought, but honest. Ming could respect that. They stood there for a while, puffing on their cigars in silence. He broke the silence first. "Are you sure you want to do this? You'd be PNGed, but if you get caught doing this, you'll never see your family again."

Ming contemplated this for a moment, feeling a sliver of doubt slip into her heart. Then the thought of Ji popped into her mind, followed by the image of Madison, utterly crushing any doubt she had. She tossed the cigar off the edge of the roof.

"I love Madison, the politburo, the Department, China, they can all burn in hell."

Hey people, I'll be honest, I don't really like how this chapter turned out and I might go back and change it. I have midterms, so I wasn't entirely focused when I wrote this.

But either way, what do you guys think?

Read and Review People.