Breaking Dawn
A Danny Phantom Fanfic by Quill N. Inque
I do not own Danny Phantom.
Chapter 19: Mission Impossible
(Go ahead. Hum the theme song. You know you want to. XD)
221 Elm and Parker Lane, Amity Park, 6:45 p.m.
The nondescript, aging gentleman drew little attention to himself as a waiter escorted him to a meticulously clean table that sat in the shadows of the outdoor café's massive red awning. Clad in a yellow button-down shirt, his face was obscured by a pair of thick sunglasses, and with calculated smoothness he pulled out his chair and cracked open the latest edition of the Amity Herald.
No one could have guessed that beneath the unassuming guise of the ordinary pedestrian lay the calculated, cold determination of one Agent Thomas Brody.
Though he mourned the conspicuous absence of his usual dark suit and crimson necktie, Brody knew that discretion, subtlety and obscurity were key to the success of Danny's mission. He had scouted out this particular location himself and found it perfect for his needs: the massive piece of canvas overhead functioned to sufficiently hide any distinguishing characteristics from unwanted attention, and the little restaurant provided a nearly perfect view of the nondescript building across the street that served as one of the Society's lairs. With his paper in hand, he could make a pretense of reading while glancing out of the corner of his shades, and no one would be the wiser.
Brody had pulled off dozens, perhaps even hundreds of similar missions during his career at the Bureau. This sort of thing was right up his alley, so to speak.
The agent made a pretense of scratching his earlobe, but in reality he was surreptitiously switching on the tiny, hi-tech earbud that lay lodged in his ear canal. It was a device of Tucker's own design, able to pick up even the tiniest of whispers, and it expertly decoded the vibrations of Brody's throat as he coughed into his sleeve.
"This is Brody," he said, barely moving his lips. "What's your status, guys?"
"I've got a bird's eye view of the street," Danny replied. "All clear so far."
"Copy that. Maintain your position until Foley gives you the go-ahead. We can't move in until the security's been bypassed or compromised."
Several blocks away and in the alley adjoining the secret base, Tucker spat out choking dust and bits of mortar as he fiddles with the assortment of wires that he was attempting to connect to his PDA. "I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, Brody, but despite what you may believe, I can't twiddle my fingers and magically overcome several layers of top-notch surveillance equipment. I may be good, but I'm not a miracle worker! You have no idea what you're asking me to do! Have you ever tried to fool a network of video cameras, thermal imagers, and motion sensors while deactivating several layers of laser alarms? It's difficult. Oh, and added to that, I have to do it all without being detected by the firewall, which, in case you were wondering, is the kind used by the freaking CIA. It's like trying to hit an arrow with a smaller arrow while wearing a blindfold and walking over hot coals!"
"Quit your whining, you big baby. Can you do it or not?" Brody asked irritably, apparently unmoved by the difficulties that the boy was experiencing.
"Yes, I can do it. Of course I can do it," Tucker grumbled as he fiddled with the circuitry. "I just wanted you to know how hard it was."
The tecchie grimaced as he reached into the small, dark square where a brick had once been. "There's no way I could feed the loop in digitally without the firewall detecting and automatically deleting it. Instead, the security override I've created will simply piggyback the wireless signal, like a stowaway on a ship. Only when that's done can we administer the loop without setting off every alarm in the entire building. If my math is right, and it always is, the algorithms I've put in should be sufficient to confuse all the sensors long enough for Danny to get in and out ."
"And how long is that?" Brody asked.
Tucker shrugged as he bit his tongue anxiously. "Optimistically? Five to ten minutes, tops."
"You get all that, Danny?"
"I think so," the ghost hybrid replied, hovering invisibly over the city street. "Get in, get the roster, tap the phone, and get out."
"Don't let anyone see you," Tucker warned.
"I already figured that one out, but thanks anyway," Danny's tone was dry. "It'll be like busting Brody out of the cellar."
"No," Brody growled, glancing over the tip of his paper, "it's gonna be harder. Foley won't be able to keep the security network at bay for long. If you're out of there even one second late, you're toast. This whole operation is being conducted without clearance from my superiors upstairs, and we could all get in a world of trouble if we screw this up."
"What about radio silence?"
"Thankfully, that won't be necessary this time around," Tucker said proudly as he clamped a small, sinister-looking nodule over a cluster of circuitry. A small, electronic buzz rewarded his efforts, and Tucker breathed a sigh of relief as he consulted his PDA. "I stayed up all night modifying the wireless signal of Danny's earpiece to ensure that it won't be picked up by the Society's network."
"Five minutes till go," Brody interrupted. "If our squealer's intel is correct, the security staff should be trading shifts right about now. That gives you ten minutes, max, to get what we came for, Danny. The Society's higher-ups are probably already on their way here for their daily briefing, too; it'd be best if we were gone by the time they arrive. We have a precarious timetable, kid; don't mess it up."
"Ya know, all the chitchat really isn't helping," Tucker growled through clenched teeth, his fingers flying over the miniature keyboard from whence the snarling net of wires originated. "Wait for it…"
"Hurry, Tuck!"
"Wait for it…"
"Stand by; go time in T-minus three," Brody whispered.
"Hurry up, Tucker!"
"GOT IT! I got it!" the tecchie cried, his face drenched with perspiration from his daunting task. Though tapping keys was not in and of itself exhausting, the mental effort that Tucker had expended in performing his task had been positively enormous. "We're in!"
Brody switched on his watch, and the numbers immediately started to tick rapidly by. "You are cleared for infiltration, Danny. Good luck."
"I'll help walk you through it," Tucker added. "I have the building specs on hand, so I know every inch of that place."
"Copy that," Danny nodded, going from his steady hovering into a steep dive. The fact that the door to the Society's hidden lair was locked did little to discourage the ghost boy as he tentatively stretched an arm through it-
-Only to have the door swing open right in his face. If Danny had not been in tangible, it would probably have broken his nose. Ignoring Tucker's alarmed voice in his ear, Danny withdrew his limb as though it had been bitten by a snake, and with the still-open door as cover, he held his breath…and waited.
Danny didn't dare turn invisible now. To do so would to risk attracting attention from whoever was exiting the building. Better to stay and use the impromptu hiding place as cover until the situation improved.
Danny was almost afraid to blink as two sets of feet traveled rapidly down the front steps and turned into the sidewalk. From the sharp clip-clip sounds the heels made, Danny guessed that they were wearing dress shoes of some kind. The bud in his ear was balefully silent as his chest rose and fell rapidly with hurried, shallow breaths, and the sounds of the two pedestrians had scarcely faded away when yet a third of the Society's goons seemed to notice that the entrance had been left gapingly ajar.
From the scan visibility provided by the crack in the doorjamb, Danny almost came eye-to –eye with the unwitting fellow as the man muttered menacingly under his breath.
"Would it be too much trouble to ask for people to shut the door around here?" he growled. "Honestly, were those guys raised in a bar or something?"
Danny knew an opportunity when he saw one. As the entrance began to close resolutely shut, he shed any remnants of solidity from his cells and hurtled into the building like a speeding quarterback. Danny threw himself at the rapidly vanishing window of opportunity, and so great was his momentum that he sailed over the wooden floor before dropping to a halt on one knee with surprising agility.
The only problem was that, while he had made it inside, Danny had forgotten to keep his focus on maintaining his invisibility. The startled gasp of the one who'd nearly shut him out sent a chill of panic through Danny's veins, and with speed borne of desperation, he closed the distance in a space of time to small to measure.
His fist made a rather satisfying, meaty smack as Danny backhanded him hard across the face, and his enemy dropped without uttering a sound, his cry of alarm vanishing along with his consciousness.
"That was way too close for comfort," Tucker breathed over the airwaves as Danny hurriedly stuffed the knocked-out sentry into a nearby closet. "But I think you'd probably be better staying invisible from here on."
"Seven minutes, twenty seconds," Brody added.
"I know, I know," Danny muttered. "Tuck, which way?"
The tecchie consulted the digital copy of the building's schematics that appeared on his screen. "Go up the stairs and take a left. That will bring you into another corridor. When you get there, take a right, and the conference room will be the third door down."
"Got it," Danny nodded. "I'll contact you when I'm in position. Over and out."
The earbud gave an almost inaudible beep as Danny switched it off, and his legs and feet turned into a ghostly tail as he floated over the stairway. It was a winding, creaking old dinosaur of a stairwell, with ancient wooden floorboards that would squeak like a rusty gate with even the slightest pressure. It was just as well that Danny hadn't mounted the stairs on foot; he never would have made it to the top without being detected.
Danny's hand clutched the banister from pure reflex as he rapidly ascended the flight of steps, and he turned the corner almost in tandem with another group of the Society's hired muscle. If Danny had been solid, he would have collided with them like bowling pins, and he silently thanked whatever cosmic deity happened to be listening for his good fortune as he passed right through them.
One of the mercenaries shuddered as Danny phased through his torso. "Anyone else think it's cold in here?"
"No, that's just you, Phil."
"I dunno…aren't cold spells a sign of ghosts?"
"What? Like the ghost kid? Gimme a break!"
"No, really! He could have compromised the entire building! Hell, he could be here right now, and we'd never know it! Can't he turn invisible?"
"Get real. You really think Fenton would try to get into our base? Nobody's crazy enough to try that."
"Well, I think we should do an ecto-sweep of the area, just in case," Phil replied, digging a scanner of some kind out of his pocket.
Farther down the corridor, fear made Danny's heart begin thundering against his ribs. He knew that the device the man held was capable of picking up ecto-signatures emitted by ghosts; his invisibility would do him no good if the scanner picked him up!
He glanced from side to side helplessly, his face contorting with panic. There had to be a way out. There was always a way out!
C'mon, Danny! THINK!
But the time for contemplation was over, and all at once, the world seemed to begin moving in slow motion. Danny felt a tingle of fear shoot down his spine as the guard, Phil, coolly switched on the device, aimed it, and pulled the trigger.
Instantly, the entire hallway was bathed in a wide-angled beam of electromagnetic pulses-
-But nothing happened.
"Hm. Guess I was wrong," Phil muttered, stuffing the machine into the pocket of his sports blazer. "C'mon, guys. Let's go get some Chinese."
From the spot on the ceiling where Danny's fingers had dug desperately into the drywall with enhanced strength, the ghost boy's face contorted with effort as he struggled to keep from floating away. Just because gravity wasn't working didn't mean he could just stick to a surface like a certain arachnid-based superhero. It was actually a lot like being weightless in space, and now Danny had to exert colossal strength to keep himself from fluttering to the floor like a feather on the wind. Tiny bits of plaster sprinkled down overhead as he waited for the guards to take their leave, and beads of sweat slid down Danny's forehead as he felt his grip begin to weaken. His fingertips began to go numb with exhaustion, but only when the last of them had vanished down the stairway did Danny allow himself reprieve. Sagging with relief and panting mightily from the strain, Danny let go of his impromptu hand and footholds to hover over the carpet once more.
"Tucker!" Danny hissed, switching his earbud back on. "Tucker! You there?"
"Yeah. What's wrong?"
"They have ecto-scanners!" Danny muttered. "Why didn't you tell me they had ecto-scanners? Now how am I supposed to get out of here?"
"There's no way I could have known. Just try to stay out of the way as much as you can, okay?"
"Six minutes, forty-five seconds," Brody concluded.
Danny was tempted to crush the earpiece beneath his foot as he turned it off once more. "But no pressure, right?" he asked, his tone sardonic.
"Take a left, take a right, third door down," Danny mouthed silently as he quickened his flying speed. Had he solidity, the wind would have surely blown Danny's snowy hair into his eyes as he shot towards his destination. With admirable aerial acrobatics, Danny ducked under, over, or simply avoided any potential threats like a seasoned fighter ace. Every second counted, Danny knew, and therefore he was willing to sacrifice better maneuverability in exchange for greater haste.
His goal was so close, and yet Danny had never felt so far from achieving it…
Meanwhile…
Agent Brody took a sip of extra-caffeinated espresso as his quick eyes darted over the rim of his sunglasses. Nothing unusual, so far, Brody breathed. The outside, at least, remained clear for Danny's escape once his mission had been accomplished, and for this the old cop was extremely grateful.
Then Brody happened to glance to his left, and he nearly choked on his coffee.
Nearly half a dozen vehicles with blacked-out windows had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, and their screeching brakes could be clearly heard over the roar of the traffic as they parked right in front of the building that Danny had just surreptitiously entered. At least ten people, all hostiles, were now converging on the front steps; whether they were packing heat or not, they were cause for serious concern.
"This is not gonna end well," Brody growled. "Tucker! Get out of that alley, now! The Society's higher-ups are starting their meeting early, and they're headed your way!"
"I can't just leave!" Tucker replied, his voice a hoarse whisper. "If I do that, the security network will come back online!"
"Can you see anything?"
From his hiding place, Tucker chanced a peek around the corner. "Not really," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "They look like your standard executive spooks to me."
"Any weapons on them?"
"If they're armed, they must have concealed whatever they're carrying."
"Dammit," Brody hissed. "Danny! Get out of there! Danny! Do you read?"
"No use," Tucker moaned. "He's turned his comlink off. He can't hear either of us, Brody."
"Stay on them!" Brody ordered. "You have the cameras, right? Then use them. Monitor those guys' every move, and if they even come near Danny I'm pulling the plug on this operation!"
At the same time…
Danny held his breath as yet another squad of fierce-looking thugs passed him by. The ghost boy had flattened himself against the far wall, sucking in his stomach to allow room for the hired goons to continue their patrol unawares, and when the last pug-faced enforcer had disappeared around the bend, Danny took a deep, gasping inhalation.
How many of these people are there? He wondered, heading in the opposite direction. Does the Society have its own private army or something?
We'll soon find out, Danny promised himself determinedly as he glanced out of the corner of his eye. They won't get away this time.
Danny chanced a peek in either direction once more before he was satisfied that his mission remained uncompromised. His ghostly tail wafted behind him almost like smoke as he felt the clock turning against him, and Danny's eyes scanned the narrow hallway for the room that Tucker had singled out for him.
Third door on the left, third door…There it is! A fierce grin split Danny's serious expression in half. Take that, Skryme!
He approached the closed and locked entrance with caution, as though it were a dangerous animal, and Danny spared a few precious seconds to press his ear against the wood to listen for any signs of conversation within.
Nothing but silence rewarded his efforts, and Danny needed no further encouragement to phase silently through the adjoining wall.
Darkness was the first thing that greeted him. Apparently the lights in this room were to be turned off when it was not in use to avoid running up the Society's electric bill. Danny held his arms out in front of him as his eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness, and once his vision had coped with the lack of artificial illumination, he could just make out the profile of an old-fashioned desk phone; this must be the device that Skryme had been using to instruct those he deceived into believing his lies. Moving swiftly and stumbling over several chairs, Danny roughly turned the phone on its side and slipped a small, blinking dot on the machine's base. The bug would be able to discern from where a call came from and when it was dialed, and it would transmit the received information directly to Tucker's laptop.
Danny's smile was smug as he turned his earpiece on again, but any thoughts of confidence vanished when he heard what Brody was saying.
"Danny, for the love of Christ, turn your damn earbud on!'
"I'm here, I'm here!" Danny said hoarsely, keeping his voice down. "What is it?"
"The Society's upper echelons are holding their meeting ahead of schedule," Brody replied. "They'll be right on top of you in less than a minute! Get out of there!"
"What about the membership roster?"
"Forget the damn roster! Get your ass out of that building, now!"
"I'm not leaving until I get what I came for," Danny shook his head determinedly.
"You have forty-five seconds, kid." Brody's tone was harsh with anxiety. "Make 'em count."
Danny dropped to one knee as the sounds of footsteps could clearly be heard pounding up the stairs, and he knew that those footfalls were heading directly toward him. He could clearly make out a number of voices as muted conversation grew nearer and louder in volume.
"Thirty-two seconds! Hurry!"
The ghost boy struggled to concentrate as he pressed his ear to the safe and turned the dial slowly; he could hear the tumblers clicking rapidly as he swiveled it back and forth. His heart pounded like an enormous drum in Danny's ears as his fingers grew slick with sweat, and his grip was trembling with fear and a terrified excitement as the lock continued to defy him.
"Twenty seconds!"
From his post in the alley, the tip of Tucker's tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he entered a series of keystrokes into the machine. "Maybe this'll buy Danny some time," he muttered, pressing the 'enter' button decisively.
Instantly, every fire sprinkler in the Society's lair began spraying water at over ninety pounds of pressure per square inch. Shouts of alarm and cries of outrage could be heard as Danny laughed in spite of himself, and it was at that moment that the safe's door slid silently open. Whether it was natural skill at safecracking or sheer dumb luck Danny neither knew nor cared, and he had just enough time to give the piece of paper a once-over with a digi-pen before replacing it back in the safe's interior. Water dripped from Danny's sodden jumpsuit as he turned invisible once more and threw himself clear out of the adjoining wall, and his body sagged with relief and exhaustion as the adrenaline in his veins disappeared.
"It's done," Danny said wearily.
"Copy that," Brody, too, sagged in his seat and used a hankerchief to mop up his face. "Well done, you two. Meet me at the rendezvous point in fifteen minutes."
"Understood," Tucker nodded, gently replacing the now-worn and sizzling pile of circuits and inserting the loose brick back into its hole. "Give me a sec to pack all this up, and I'll be right there."
"This had better work," Danny growled. "Skryme can't get away with everything he's done."
"Oh, it'll work," Brody's tone was smug. "Now that we have eyes and ears in the Society's inner circle, it's only a matter of time before we get something on Skryme that he won't be able to weasel his way out of. And when that happens, we take both him and the Society down."
Inside the Society's lair, seven very drenched men and women took their seats in chairs that were even more thoroughly soaked than they. The atmosphere had an almost cultish atmosphere as they waited patiently, and then, almost on cue, the phone rang.
Obediently, the bug switched on and began recording.
A/N: Oooh, looks like the endgame is fast approaching! But will the plan work? Will Danny ever be able to get back to his life? And will he ever be free of the Society's hatred? Find out in coming chapters! And PLEASE REVIEW! I'm starting to think that suspense chapters are even harder to write than action sequences, and I REALLY want to know what you all thought of this one! ^^
Seriously, though, I really, really hope that this chapter has lived up to what you all were expecting. (*Is nervous*).
Your humble servant,
-Quill N. Inque