Serena stood outside the Bed and Breakfast the next morning, dressed in a large, thick sweater, and a pair of denims with trainers, and a leather jacket pulled around her tightly. The British climate was a lot colder than she was used to back home, and she figured that going to a shooting estate, this would be a lot more appropriate than the cocktail dress that Hayley had given her to bait the 'honey trap' that secured her an invitation.
The Bentley pulled up to the kerb before her, and she smiled as the back door opened and Frederick stepped out.
"You seem a little underequipped." He greeted her, approaching her and leaning in to kiss her cheek. Serena managed to keep a forced smile on her face as she pulled away.
"I thought the guns would be up there." She answered. He just chuckled a little.
"You don't need to worry about that, I just meant you don't have a bag with you." He stated, gesturing to her shoulders. "We are going to be up there four days."
"I just thought..."
"We like to have a couple of dinners, some drinks and suchlike between days of shooting." He clarified. "We have plenty of rooms; we'll find one for you."
This changed things a little. While she did suspect that he would want her to stay up at the estate, in the hopes of getting something from her over the weekend, she also knew that it would make her more vulnerable, especially as she slept. She thought about it for a while, trying to imagine a way out, but a thought occurred to her. She was sure that Frederick would want to show off the estate while she was there, and if she was there at night, she was sure that she would get a chance to get a better look once everyone was asleep. She just smiled.
"I guess I'll go pack." She told him. "I just need to check out. I'm booked in for another couple of days."
"I'll be waiting." He told her, flashing a bright grin. "Don't be too long."
"Nice job Serena." Hayley teased her. "Keep going like that, he may just give you the sword."
"Shut up Hayley." Serena grumbled as she went to her room to pack.
Over in the Shiba House, it was beginning to get late, and the Rangers were starting to succumb to jet-lag and the exhaustion of the last few days. Emily was leaning onto Mike, occasionally drifting off as they all watched a movie. They didn't want to go to bed too early just to try and get back to a proper sleeping pattern. Mike saw the state of his girlfriend and just gave her a little shake to wake her.
"I think that's late enough." He commented. "Guys, I'm just taking her to her room."
"Good night guys." Emily yawned as Mike helped her up. "I'll see you tomorrow...hopefully."
"Sure thing Emily." Mia chuckled. "Goodnight."
As she left, Kevin leaned in to Mia, sniggering a little.
"Maybe she should lay off the herbal remedies." He suggested. "She's been up and down since we left the temple."
"It got her home without another psychotic freak out on the plane didn't it?" Mia said with a shrug. "I'm sure it'll be out her system soon."
"Well, I know I'm just about done for the night." Kevin told them. "Sorry Mia, but there's only so much Drew Barrymore I can watch. I'll catch you tomorrow."
"Have a good night." She replied, kissing him softly as he left. Jayden smiled to see the closeness between them. They'd had a few bumps in their relationship, including the incident a few weeks back involving Antonio's arrival, but it was good to see that they were starting to work back towards what they had. "I think I might just go too. This is probably the best chance I'll get of having a long sleep with Emily as a room-mate."
"Good night!" Antonio called out after her as she left. He then turned to where Jayden was sitting on the couch. "I guess that just leaves us."
"I suppose so." He answered with a shrug.
"Tired yet?" Antonio asked. He just shrugged again.
"I just don't feel like going just yet." He answered honestly. "Do you mind if we put on something with a little more action? I kind of agree with Kevin on the romantic comedies."
"Please do." Antonio replied. Jayden made his way over, removing the DVD and looked out another. He turned around, showing Antonio the cover to The Dark Knight.
"That looks perfect." Antonio said with a smile. "Trust you to like masked superheroes."
"I guess there is something a little subconscious in it." He replied as he started it up, taking a seat next to Antonio. The Gold Ranger just looked to him as he took a seat.
"So how's work on The Black Box going?" Jayden asked him.
"Slowly." Antonio admitted. "I'm going to try and programme Emily's disk again tomorrow."
"Well just keep trying." Jayden told him, putting an arm around him and smiling. "If anyone can do it, it's you."
Antonio just smiled as he turned his attention back to the screen. He suspected that there was nothing more to it than friendship, but it still felt good. It might be all he could hope for from Jayden, but if that was the case, then he guessed he could live with it.
Back in England, Serena spent the ride over in the Bentley exchanging small-talk with Frederick, taking the occasional look outside at the surroundings. They had long since left the city, and all she could see for miles was fields and a few woods. She was beginning to wonder how far exactly the estate was considering the fact that Frederick had only said 'a few miles'. She was beginning to consider that this might create another potential problem once she had seen the sword. How exactly did she get back?
"You said you'd grown up on a farm." He recalled with a smirk. "I guess you feel pretty much at home here."
"It wasn't exactly like this." She assured him. "There wasn't quite so much green."
"The benefits of the British weather." He assured her. As they became engulfed in a wood, the only man-made thing being the single-track road the Bentley was driving along, the car seemed to be engulfed in darkness. "This is the drive-way, we should be here soon."
"The Drive way?" She asked, looking around. He just laughed.
"My ancestors didn't exactly like people coming around uninvited." He told her, gesturing to the forests. "These were great for privacy."
Serena marvelled as they came to the end, coming into a massive area, at four times the size of her parent's farm, though she couldn't exactly tell since it stretched far beyond what she could see. The road turned to a gravel path that led through gardens, which incorporated a tennis court, a large hedge maze, and several buildings all around, presumably stables, equipment sheds and the like. And right in the centre, was Kensington Manor.
It was three stories high, and built of ancient stone that was darkened with age, and high windows. On the upper floors, many of the windows were made of stained glass. As they got closer, she noticed a lot of men in thick, woollen jackets walking around with shotguns, moving in obvious guarding patterns.
As the car pulled up to the front, parking with several other vehicles, several men were gathered outside, wearing red jackets, white trousers and riding boots. They too were carrying shotguns. One of them, she recognised as Edward Kensington, Frederick's father. He came over, shaking his son's hand.
"Glad you could finally make it." He chastised his son light-heartedly. "So this is the date?"
"She just needed a while to pack." Frederick assured him. "Dad, this is Kat."
"Kat eh?" He asked, taking her hand and kissing it. "The pleasure is all mine."
"You have a beautiful home here Mr. Kensington." She assured him.
"Well I'm sure my son will give you the guided tour later." He told her. "In the meantime, one of my servants can take you to your room to get changed. Perhaps you can join us for the last few minutes of the grouse shoot..."
"Perhaps I can give her the guided tour and we'll just join you for dinner." Frederick interrupted his father. "We do want her to feel at home here right?"
Serena was a little relieved that Frederick had given her a get-out clause. She really had no interest in the shoot. She only believed in taking what was going to be eaten, but by the looks of the size of the hunting party, she doubted that all of it was going into the pot. This way she wouldn't have to come up with an excuse.
"Alright." He replied, looking to Serena with a little smile. He was clearly impressed by the partner his son had brought with him for the weekend. "I'll see you at dinner."
With that, the hunting party left. Frederick took Serena's bag from her and handed it to a servant.
"Take this to her room." He told the man, before turning back to her. Serena was a little nervous about this, hoping they wouldn't look inside. There were only clothes, and the laptop Hayley gave her, so a cursory glance would reveal nothing, but if anyone looked more closely, it was possible they would start to ask questions when they couldn't open the laptop. Now, all she had was the hidden blade inside her sleeve, and the earwig giving her direct link to Hayley.
"Dinner?" She asked him. "How big exactly is this place?"
"Trust me, we can use that time." He replied, putting an arm around her, his hand straying to her backside. Serena tried not to react, hoping to keep up the ruse. "Now, let me show you the entrance hall."
Back at the Shiba House, Jayden woke up somewhere early in the morning, finding Antonio lying next to him on the couch. They must have finally fallen asleep while they were watching the movie. Pulling himself free, taking care not to wake Antonio, he found himself looking at him, just...watching him sleep.
He couldn't explain what he felt when Antonio had come back. He was pleased to have his childhood friend back, the one person in the whole world that had ever just made him feel like a normal person any time they played together in the garden of the Shiba House. He was impressed that he even remembered the promise he had made all those years ago, but the word impressed didn't even cover how he felt about how seriously Antonio had taken that promise, accomplishing in a few years what many had failed to accomplish in a lifetime.
When Antonio became the Gold Ranger, and had come into the team, Jayden worried for him at first, not wanting to put him in danger. He didn't really want to put any of his friends in danger, but for some reason with Antonio it was different. Emily, Mike, Kevin, Mia...they had all been raised for this since birth, and as much as he cared about them, in the end, he knew it was not his choice to let them risk their lives. Antonio, he had to allow onto the team, to risk his life for them. It took him a while, but Antonio had finally won him over, convincing him that he could handle it.
He shifted from the couch, but seeing Antonio still sleeping, he didn't have the heart to wake him, even just for the short journey from here to the bedroom. Instead, he gently took his feet and placed them on the couch, letting him lie along the full length of it, and covered him over with a jacket. As he left the room, he turned back one last time, looking to Antonio. He couldn't imagine what it would be like without him.
Over at the estate, Serena was still on the tour with Frederick, looking around with him. The estate was indeed huge, once again raising in her mind the issue of how exactly she would get away if it did transpire she had to leave in a hurry. The grounds themselves were immense, even without the woods, and then, of course, they were many miles from the city. He pointed to some out-buildings.
"Those are the stables down there." He told her. "We'll probably do some riding over the weekend. And down there we have one of the gun sheds..."
"What's that one?" Serena asked. It was a rather non-descript looking stone shed, with a secure-looking door on it. He just turned her from it.
"That's...nothing important." He told her.
"Come on, you've shown me everything else." She replied, placing a hand on his chest and smiling at him. "What's in there?"
"We don't use it anymore." He told her. He just sighed. "It's kind of embarrassing, but my ancestors weren't always particularly enlightened."
"I don't understand." She answered.
"That's the old slave quarters." He informed her. "That's where they'd lock the slaves in at night."
"Oh." She responded. "Sorry to bring it up."
"Let's look at something a little more interesting." He responded, taking her back towards the house. "This is the rear entrance, and it brings us into our armoury."
"Armoury?" She asked him. Suddenly this was becoming interesting. She was here because the Kensingtons were one of the few known owners of a Masamune. As he brought her inside, she could see he wasn't exaggerating in calling it an armoury. It looked more like a museum than part of a home. The room itself was larger than most houses, and full of glass cases with ancient weapons inside, suits of armour, and paintings of battles dotted around the walls. There were also a few full-length mirrors, something she had noticed in pretty much every room of the house. Obviously these guys had a real hit for themselves.
"My family has a long and rich military history. Indeed, my own father was once a member of the prestigious SAS."
"British special forces." Hayley explained in the earwig. Frederick took her around letting her look at the exhibits.
"Many of these weapons actually belonged to my ancestors, and were used in battle." He told her. "Others, we purchased. My father and I have a great interest in historical weaponry."
"So do I." Serena said, looking around at all the instruments of destruction. She finally found a case, housing a katana. It appeared to be the only Japanese weapon in the room. It was in a glass case, but as she reached out for it, he took her wrist gently.
"I wouldn't recommend that." He told her. He pointed to a sensor, which presumably was a laser. "My dad has pretty heavy security on these exhibits. This one especially, this sword cost us quite a bit."
"What is it?" She asked him. "I mean, I know it's a samurai sword..."
"It's not just any sword, it's a Masamune." He explained. "My dad picked it up in auction a little while ago. It's considered one of the finest swords of its kind ever created."
"That sounds impressive." She commented, taking a look around. She noticed a couple of cameras, and she was confident that there would likely be guards doing rounds after lights out. She had no idea what other form of security they would have on it, not to mention she doubted that the case itself was a simple glass box, and would likely be hard to get into. Frederick interrupted her thoughts by placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him.
"You know, it's beginning to get late." He told her. "My dad and his friends should be getting back soon. We should get ready for dinner."
"I...um..." She looked into his eyes as he drew closer. "I don't know where my room is. You never took me up there."
He waved over a servant.
"Take my guest to her room and give her some privacy." He told him. "She would like to get washed up before dinner."
"At once sir." The servant replied, taking her away.
Serena was taken as high as the second floor, and the servant gestured to the door.
"You'll find towels on the bed." He told her. "If there's anything else you need, just ask."
Serena went inside, closing the door behind her, and putting on the latch, breathing a sigh of relief at finally getting some privacy.
It was larger than the living room of her parents farm, with a bed that looked like it could sleep an entire family, full of large pillows, and a huge quilt. The room was panelled in dark oak, with an antique dresser against one wall, and a full-length mirror on it. She flopped down onto the bed. At last able to relax, she took off her jumper, before unstrapping the hidden blade from her forearm and tossing it aside. She started to prepare herself for a shower.
"God, I thought I'd never get any breathing space." She complained. "My ass feels like a pin cushion. If he grabs it again, I don't care how important he is, I'm breaking his arm."
"You only have to keep up the act a little longer." Hayley assured her over the earwig. "You already know where the sword is."
"Yeah, but getting to it's another problem." She told her. "Not only does the guy have better security on it than the White House, there are a lot of people with shotguns here, and that makes me kind of nervous."
"You've made it this far." Hayley reminded her. "Just give me a while. I don't have schematics for the mansion, but I might be able to find any purchases relating to the security systems under their names."
"That would be helpful." Serena commented as she went into the bathroom. She jumped as she saw someone there, before realising it was just her reflection in another full-length mirror. This mission had already given her reason to be nervous. "God, what is it with these guys and mirrors?"
"I'll get back to you when I have something." Hayley told her. "Until then, enjoy dinner."
Serena just muttered under her breath as she started the shower, getting it to temperature and stepping inside, cleaning up for dinner, hoping she could make it through the night and figure out a way to get out before anyone suspected she was there as anything other than Frederick's date.