*Authors Note: Sorry, been a while since I've been able to put out more. The story is mostly done, just have to do a lot more editing before I release these chapters. Thanks for all of your feedback, reviews, and compliments! Please let me know if there are any confusing sections in the future; if they are too confusing or if I have errors, I will be more than happy to fix them for the sake of the story. I believe we're at a good spot right now, as the true action is starting in the next several chapters. Please enjoy…!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: UNDERCOVER REDHEAD

"Dr. Walker likes his girls… his exotic dancers," Vorona explained to Scarlett as the redhead reluctantly stepped into her crimson dancers outfit, "…a lot."

Great, Shana. Just great. That's what I get for complaining about a low-cut evening dress. I'll never make that mistake again. Her cheeks were flush… a bright red color to match her tight leather G-string and corset; her embarrassment hadn't died down one bit, and she wasn't even on stage just yet. And to think Jinx and Mayday have cameras and will be recording the entire thing. Sure, the focus will be on Dr. Walker and his guess but guess who'll be in the background, dancing her little ass off? Snake is gonna kill me, and I don't blame him. *I* would kill me if I were him. This day just can't get any worse.

"Don't worry, darling, that's a good thing for us today. His weakness will be his undoing," Vorona told the nervous redhead as she finished zipping up her boots. "Just remember; get close enough so we can record the conversation with Dr. Walker and his two clients. I know the doctor has hired the two of them for some reason relating to the EMP program – hopefully their conversation will give us a clue to where Dr. Bennett is, and maybe even how close they are to finishing the bomb."

With a quick adjustment of her choker and a nod to Vorona, Scarlett took a deep breath. She exhaled, put on her red elbow-length gloves, and began to walk… which turned into a strut… towards the stage.

Through a transmission in her near-invisible earpiece, Scarlett heard Jinx tell her, "Hey, could be worse! At least Clutch isn't here to undress you with his eyes!" Jinx snickered, and then made a playful purring sound in Scarlett's earpiece.

Scarlett, for the first time in her short career… had to do the hardest thing she had ever had to do in her life; maintain her composure and resist shaking her body as if every inch of her skin was crawling. …Eww! I guess my day can get worse. Scarlett could hear a laugh from Mayday in the background, who… along with Jinx, quietly let out an "Eww!" of their own.

Up on stage, Scarlett danced to the music, swaying her hips from side to side, raising her arms above her head and tussling her red locks of hair through her fingers… looking incredibly sultry. Her hair cascaded through her fingers as her body rocked to the beat of the music; her gyrations were enough to grab the attention of any red-blooded male in the room. Her eyes were partially closed, as if she was finding herself lost in the music as she twisted and moved her body in inhuman ways.

Yet it was all a ruse. Even through her game of seduction, it was all business. The dance wasn't for Snake-Eyes, which made her entire performance difficult. And made her feel guilty. For the first time since she met the masked silent warrior, she had to perform a dance for someone other than him. That feeling alone made it hard to get into the rhythm and into her routine – but still, it was like riding a bike and something she could have easily done in her sleep.

It's all business, Shana. You're an undercover agent, she kept telling herself. You were trained for this… this performance can dictate the difference between a bomb going off and maintaining national security.

Even if she was dancing for the general crowd, deep inside her all of her attention was focused towards the one man down in front: Dr. Walker. She was focused on him just as much as she would have been for Snake-Eyes, but in a very, extremely different way.

She had to get close enough to Dr. Walker so her hidden microphone would pick up his conversation with his guests, even though she was worried that he might not recognize her – this could be bad if the doctor kept tabs on every dancer that he had in the mansion, meaning that the strange female dance on stage wasn't one of his regulars. Hopefully this wasn't the case.

I can't believe I'm doing this. If Snake-Eyes ever sees the footage from this… oh my…, I… oh, I don't know what I would do. I don't even want to think about it. The sexual, seductive look on Scarlett's face clearly didn't match the nervousness and anxiety she had on the inside. Her inside and outside were polar opposites.

Straining her ears as much as possible while trying to ignore the loud bass of the background music, she knew that the other girls were listening to every word spoken through the microphone hidden in her dazzling ruby-shaped necklace. The fact that Dr. Walker and his business associates were so close to the front of the stage helped even though the music was loud. Dr. Walker was dressed up in a white suit and tie, looking flashy… just as Vorona had told Scarlett based on his profile. The other two men were much larger than the doctor, and both dressed in black.

It took a great amount of skill to dance to the music – let alone pretending she was "into it", while simultaneously using most of her focus and attention on eavesdropping and observation. Let's get closer, Scarlett, she thought to herself, even if you don't want to; you have a mission to do…

With every erotic dancing step bringing her slightly closer to the keeper of the mansion, Scarlett prayed that he wouldn't realize she wasn't one of his regular "girls". With any luck, he had so many girls that he wouldn't be able to recognize all of them, after all.

"Ok, Scarlett," Jinx told her through her earpiece. "We're electronically fading out the loud thumping base in the background…changing frequencies…and… ok, we're good now; as long as you stay that close to him, we can make out their conversation. Nod twice to acknowledge."

Throughout her dancing routine, Scarlett subtly nodded her head up and down two times.

Scarlett continued her routine, forced to gyrate her hips next to this man and pretending that she was seducing the most powerful man in that Borovian region… all for the sake of getting close enough to him so her jeweled necklace could pick up the conversation with him and his clients.

And those frickin' cameras, she thought again, realizing that Jinx and Mayday were going to have a field day with this video footage.

"For official use only" my ass. If I see any of this at the Christmas party…I will beat Jinx and Mayday within an inch of their lives…

Scarlett certainly had an effect on all of the doctor's regular guests in the mansion. They stared at her as if she was a Queen. However, for the first time, Scarlett realized that Dr. Walker wasn't watching her. In fact, she was the farthest thing from his attention. He may have very well been the one man in the crowd that wasn't eating out of her hand at this point. Scarlett wasn't sure if she should feel relieved… or insulted.

With a closer look, she realized that Dr. Walker was sweating… just a little. Tiny beads of sweat on his forehead… tiny, but enough for her to pick up on.

It was hard to hear anything over the music, but she strained her ears as much as she could. Fortunately she knew that Jinx and Mayday had adjusted the frequency so they could pick up the entire conversation, but she wasn't on the other end of the recorder. Still, Scarlett was able to pick up a few words from the conversation. Small phrases. She learned that one of the two men was codenamed "Blackout". She observed that they were very cautious…lowering their voices, when they used terms such as "the package". That was easy enough for Scarlett to decipher as "the bomb". Still, another significant name came up in the conversation; Dr. Bennett.

This was the real deal, alright. Keep dancing, Shana. Maintain your composure, she told herself. Don't screw this one up. She'd come a long way from Club Honey; but ultimately dancing in a small club in Atlanta wasn't that much different than dancing in an even more dangerous "club" in Borovia. Men were men, no matter where they were from.

Dr. Walker hinted that he had information downstairs in his basement of which he would retrieve and give them when the time was right. It was clear to Scarlett that he didn't want to give these guys the information just yet; she deduced he was a very paranoid and controlling type. Very meticulous, and very cautious. Dr. Walker had a plan that he wanted to follow precisely on schedule and to the second; more than that, he wanted to control as much of the information as he could without releasing it to anyone else. A real mistrustful, micromanaging style.

Finally, Scarlett's patience had paid off. The doctor had said something crucial.

"Tomorrow night," Dr. Walker told his two associates, "Meet me in my library. 2200 sharp. I will escort you to my office where we will go over the plan…"

Scarlett thought she heard him right, but wanted to make sure. Looking out to the crowd where Vorona, Jinx, and Mayday had blended in, Scarlett noticed all three of them gave her the pre-coordinated "mission complete" signal.

Finally! I can wrap it up, she thought. Not sure what they are up to, but it sounds like the girls have the complete picture, meaning we must have enough information to proceed…