(Next Chapter. Enjoy! I own nothing but Helene)
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Five hours in on their flight and the team is already back to work. They were going to infiltrate a high society party in Mumbai and that meant everyone had to dress the part even Benji who was just going to sneak into the engineering room to help Brandt hack into the networking system.
Helene sighed as she scrutinized herself in floor length red evening gown she was wearing in the mirror of the luxurious first class bathroom.
She couldn't remember the last time she had worn something so fancy and it made her slightly nervous especially considering what she was about to do in this dress.
"I can't do this." Jane suddenly sighed from the cabin just outside and Helene turned to glance at her through the crack in the doorway when the agent tossed the dress Ethan gave her onto the nearest empty bunk.
"You can't do what?" She asked, carefully stepping over the doorway to join the other woman in the empty room.
Jane shook her head. "This. I can get the codes from the Brij Nath no problem, but I can't do this the way Ethan wants me to!" She bit her lip and sank stiffly into the bottom bunk behind her.
Helene frowned at that. "Why not? You're a beautiful woman, I'm sure Brij Nath will definitely find you-."
"That's not that point!" Jane cut her off. "I'm an agent Helene, not a hooker. Why can't I just..." She started and trailed off as if thinking better of what she was about to say.
Helene barely bit back a smile. "Beat it out of him?" She guessed. She turned to carefully sit down next to Jane when the agent gave her a frustrated sigh in response.
"We'll you'd still have to get him alone for that and after what happened in Dubai I don't think Ethan will be friendly to another change in plans." She tried to play at some mild humor, but Jane did not laugh.
"I don't seduce, Helene...it's just not me." She murmured and her voice broke betraying the emotions she had been working so hard to conceal.
Helene sighed and turned to grab the dress Jane had tossed after offering her a sympathetic smile. "Well, if it's really going to be that difficult for you...maybe you should tell Ethan to let me go in first. Not that it will be any easier for me or anything."
She handed the long green gown back to Jane before smoothing her hand back over her dress.
Jane shook her head. "I can't. Brandt would kill me. Besides Ethan'd just say to try to think about the first boy I liked or something." Helene inclined her head. "What's the matter with that idea?"
"I never had to seduce the guy I wanted. I got his attention the minute I hit him during a sparring match." Jane stared down at the dress in her hands with distaste.
The look in her eyes made Helene's heart ache from the pain she saw leaking through the other woman's eyes since she'd first met her that fateful night on the train car.
"Agent Hanaway...he was the boy wasn't he?" Helene asked carefully hoping Jane wouldn't get angry at her question.
"Yes..." Jane nodded her head. Helene dropped her gaze and reached over to pat the agent on the shoulder when she started shaking a little. "I'm sorry. I understand now why you got so upset...if Will knew, I'm sure he wouldn't have been so harsh with you earlier." She glanced back towards the door that led into the main area of the jet plane.
Jane rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah right. He'd still blame me for what happened with Moreau. She was the asset not me." She wiped her eyes then stood shakily to her feet, still clutching the gown in her hand.
Helene stood to join her. "What's done is done, Jane. It's like Ethan said. The most important thing now is we set things right and stop Hendricks from achieving his goal."
Jane sighed stiffly at that. "And that's supposed to be comforting? I'm still going to humiliate myself when we get to the party." She moaned. Helene rolled her eyes.
"Ethan's going to be with you the entire time. He'll probably even talk you through it like Will had to when I was taking apart a bomb someone hid in a waste disposal unit back in Bavaria" Jane snickered at that.
"And if it really gets too hairy for you,...I'll take over as we planned and you can just walk out like a normal woman who's been spurned." Helene reached down and picked up a pair of heels Ethan had also left for Jane to change into before the plane landed.
Jane smiled slightly as she reached for the shoes. "Thanks Helene...I can see why Brandt is in love with you." She grinned and turned to walk into the bathroom to change her clothes.
...
"Comm check." Ethan said as he entered the party with Jane and separated from her to the other side of the room.
From the left side entrance he saw Helene walk in, guided by Brandt until he excused himself for a restroom break.
"Saturn's got your five by five, Jupiter." Brandt responded first as he slipped quickly through the unguarded halls to the computer array chamber.
"This is Mercury. Checking in." Helene tapped her Comm.
"This is Pluto. I have arrived at the party." Benji said last as he climbed down into the engineering room and found a spot to set up his equipment.
"There he is." Jane muttered a bit nervously when she saw Nath crossing the room to the bar where a couple scantily clad women were standing obviously enthralled by the billionaire's presence.
Helene bit her lip and reminded herself to keep her expression blank as she pretended to scope out the other attendees of the party.
"Just stay calm. Follow your instincts." She advised just before Ethan came over the line. "And get us that code."
Jane nodded her head. "Got it." She started to saunter over to the bar. Ethan tapped his COMM again. "Venus is moving on the target. Hook's in." He spoke to everyone.
"You're making an impressive impression, Jane." Helene added to help Jane's confidence. She turned to smile at a waiter who had been eyeing her desiringly before continuing her slow walk across the ballroom.
Suddenly Benji sighed. "Hey why am I Pluto again? It's not even a planet anymore." He complained as the noises from his machinery flitered through the COMM.
Brandt shrugged as he peeled off his jacket and threw it over a railing. "Well I think Uranus is available." He muttered and Helene smothered a snort.
"Ha ha ha! That's funny cause you said anus." Benji laughed back sarcastically before sitting down in front of his computer. Will sighed nervously.
"Okay. I'm in position." He announced and Helene suddenly stopped walking. "Why hello..." A low seductive voice breathed in her ear. Helene cringed.
"Sending in the Rover." Benji stated before activing the remote controls on the robot he had built to guide Brandt through the computer array.
"Meyer. Focus on the mission. Play your part." Ethan hissed through the COMM. Both Brandt and Helene tensed at that, but Helene took care not to show it on her face.
"Hello..." Helene looked up and smiled at the man standing in front of her. He was obviously very rich given the diamond cuff links on his shirt and something told the ex-agent that this was not his first time trying to pick up a woman.
"He's moving to you." Ethan spoke again and Helene frowned a bit in confusion until she realized he was talking to Jane.
"In twenty minutes, I want a glass of Cuve Louis in every guest's hand and make sure all of them have a bottle to take home by the end of the night." A man Helene correctly assumed was Nath laughed as he turned to eye Jane again with a hungry glance.
"Impressed yet?"
Jane inclined her body towards him slightly. "I'm more of a bourbon girl." She said with a sexy smile that made Helene smile too. The nerves were almost gone. Jane was working it.
"Did I say something funny?" The man Helene was still standing in front of inquired as though slightly offended by Helene's smirk.
Ethan started walking across the room eyeing both women as inconspicuously as possible.
"And Rover's in position." Benji piped up as the whir of machinery could be heard through the COMM. "Spinning down the turbine."
Helene raised her chin. "No...forgive me I was distracted." She walked forward and made a show of brushing her hand against his chest before moving past him towards Ethan's location.
"Good work Mercury." Helene heard Brandt say from the Computer room and she smirked slightly at the disgruntledness she heard in his tone.
"What? Were you jealous?" She asked in a soft voice that she thought no one would catch.
Brandt decided not to answer her.
"Saturn take the leap." Ethan spoke after a minute as Jane moved in on Brij Nath. Helene heard Brandt take a deep breath.
"Okay...Jump. Jump now?" He asked. His voice echoed through the computer turbine.
Ethan nodded his head. "Yes. Commit. Jump." He instructed still walking across the room.
Helene caught his gaze and moved to walk towards the fountain in order to avoid crossing paths with him.
"Jump." Brandt repeated again.
"Yes Jump." Ethan insisted.
"And I catch you." Benji added.
Helene frowned when she heard Brandt hyperventilating a little.
"Now." Ethan repeated, getting slightly impatient at this point.
Brandt sighed and perched himself at the entrance to the computer array.
"So uh...you're sure about this suit, right Benji?" He asked as he rolled his sleeves back over his elbows.
Benji shrugged as Helene slowly reached her hand into the fountain.
"Pretty sure."
Brandt let out a nervous laugh. "Oh now you're pretty sure?" He laughed again.
"Will focus." Helene pressed her lips together.
"So...what do you say to a night in my quarters? I'm staying in one of the finest hotels here in India." The same man who tried to seduce Helene earlier appeared from behind her again.
"Jump!" Ethan started getting louder. Helene bit her lip.
"The finest you say?" She asked trying to stall for time. The man nodded believing that Helene was interested in his offer. "The best. The bed sheets are woven from Grecian silk. We'd be alone there too." He closed the distance between them and Helene blushed.
"Oh God." Brandt groaned and Ethan rolled his eyes. "Forget about her! Jump!" He ordered.
"Okay! All right!" Brandt coached himself though he sounded like he was going to throw up.
"Brandt jump!" Ethan growled.
Helene started when she heard a loud yell and by instinct she dropped the champagne glass she was carrying causing people to gape at her when it shattered all over the glossy stone floor spilling its contents all over the rich man's freshly polished shoes.
She looked up nervously to meet her seducer's eyes when she saw the mess she had made and smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm sorry..."
"No, please!...Allow me my Dear." The man smiled, bowing before turning to call for a server in the room. Helene took her chance and ran picking up her skirts a little to go faster before the man could try to follow her.
"Jupiter, he's gone." Jane suddenly came in, sounding defeated as Helene finally managed to get behind a column.
"What do you mean he's gone?" She asked, but she didn't get an answer.
"Saturn, did you jump?" Ethan asked.
Helene groaned when she saw her seducer coming towards her again through the crowd.
"Should I not have jumped?...Cause I jumped!" Brandt's voice came hollow and echoey confirming his location.
Ethan sighed. "Stand by." He moved across the room and Helene saw him approach Jane at the bar. She tapped her COMM.
"Should I move in?" She asked already making her way across the room. Ethan shook his head.
"No, stay where you are Mercury. I'm going to play up a hunch." he told her before taking up Nath's vacated seat at the bar.
Jane turned to glance at him as Ethan reached to take her shot glass. "Don't hit me." He said.
Helene snorted as he leaned over to kiss Jane on the lips.
A few minutes later she saw Nath peeking in their direction from the left side of the ballroom. He was obviously entranced by Jane and Helene could see the hunger in his eyes as he watched Jane and Ethan kiss.
After a minute Jane smiled and looked up to find their man.
"You are a slippery creature...I like that." The man reappeared again at Helene's side. Helene suppressed a groan. "They say I'm as slippery as a fox." She muttered, keeping her voice low and seductive despite herself.
She gasped when the man suddenly grabbed her by the hips and pulled her closer to his body.
"Well I've caught slipperier foxes than you, my Sweet." He smiled and leaned over to kiss her allowing his hands to roam lower down her body.
Helene stopped breathing, her eyes widened as his highly intoxicated breath hit her nostrils.
"Saturn, how are we doing in the relay room?" Ethan's voice came on calm and collected as if he were unaware of Helene's current situation.
"I see the satellite." Benji responded.
"I still need those codes." Brandt piped in.
Helene bit her lip as the man pushed her firmly against the pillar. She planted her legs firmly on the ground and roughly grabbed his right hand before he could try to grab her thigh through her dress.
"Hands off, Greasy." She glowered at him before bending his wrist quickly in the wrong direction. The man let out a yelp and dropped to the floor, causing nearby party goers to stare in their direction.
Helene turned and ran quickly in the direction of the public toilets.
"What the h*** is that?" Brandt asked the minute Helene managed to shut herself into a stall away from the rest of the party.
She thought he was talking to her and was about to reassure him when Ethan came on almost simultaneously. "Yeah what the h*** is that?" He asked sounding worried.
It was then she heard a low humming sound coming through the COMM.
"It's going haywire!" Brandt cried as the humming grew louder. Helene frowned at that. "What the heck does that mean?" She asked hoping she sounded calm and collected.
"The computer's downloading a virus from the satellite!" Benji explained and Ethan felt his stomach plummet to his feet.
"Hendricks is killing the server before we can kill the satellite!" He realized.
"He's also reprogramming the satellite! He's gonna have launch capability in five minutes!" Benji added.
Helene clutched onto the wall for support. "Jane, you need to move." She spoke into her COMM hoping the other woman would hear her over the whirring.
"She's right, now's the time Venus. You kick his a** and get the code." Ethan confirmed. A few minutes later Helene heard a series of noises indicating a short struggle then she heard Nath gasping over the COMM.
"46...82...93!"
Helene tapped onto her COMM. "Benji! Will! Did you get that?" She asked. At that moment the whirring suddenly stopped.
"Benji, what just happened?" Brandt asked, his voice still sounding hollow.
"The system's crashed! We're too late!" Benji responded. Ethan disagreed. "No no no. He's revealed himself. Can you pinpoint his location, Benji?" He asked.
"Hendricks is signalling out ofa state run TV station 6.7 miles away from here." Benji readily responded.
"Great! Send me the coordinates and get the h*** out of there! Good work Brandt." Ethan responded and tapped out.
"Back me up!" Brandt shouted and Helene flinched when she heard him bump into a metal barriers around him. "Helene! Where are you? I'm not seeing you in the ballroom." Ethan channeled to Helene and she awkwardly reached to tap her earpiece.
"I'm in a bathroom...Sorry, I'm fine with being attractive it's just the guy was trying to move on me and I couldn't do that to Will." She muttered.
"Faster Benji! Just straight through!" Brandt shouted unable to hear anything due to the loud buzzing caused by the machinery.
"That's okay. Meet up with Benji and Brandt then. I'll get Jane and try to cut Hendricks off. Good work, Mercury." Ethan signed off and Helene rolled her eyes. "Yeah thanks." She moved to lock the stall door and waited listening as Brandt continued to bump along the turbine.
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