Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
San Francisco.
"Guerrero!" They all rushed into the conference room, where Sergej had kept working on the vanished website. "Look at this!"
The screen wasn't black anymore.
"Three assassins, one price? Special offer?", Ames read, frowning.
"Does that mean what I think it does?", Ilsa quietly asked after a moment of letting things sink in.
Winston took a deep breath, nodding slowly. "Their plan went south."
Guerrero sent Emma a text message.
… … …
The cell.
"What the hell are you doing here?" The Old Man was in surprisingly good health, considering that he had spent months in incarceration. It made sense, however. Torture is a lot more fun if the victim is healthy and Araña was intent on keeping her customers happy.
"Rescuing you", Chance stated the obvious. "No need to thank us, though." He started undressing to change into the dry clothes Araña's guards had thrown into the cell with them.
"What for? You're locked up in a cell with me!" Joubert turned towards Baptiste: "One of his "plans"?"
"It was actually my fault that…" Baptiste still hadn't started changing.
"Will you stop doing that?" Chance shrugged into a grayish t-shirt. "One of my enemies spotted me at the party and blew our cover."
The Old Man threw Baptiste the dry clothes. "How fast can you disappear from here again?"
Well, apparently he was in good physical health.
… … …
San Francisco.
"I'm going to pose as a rich buyer", Ilsa insisted.
"Yeah, because that worked so well the first time around." Emma opened another window on the computer screen and showed them even more plans of Araña's hacienda. "I say we bring in the CIA. They've been after Araña for ages and now that she's harboring criminals from all over the world…"
"We don't know what went wrong with Chance's Plan! Maybe the rich buyer part worked perfectly! If we, on the other hand, pull an Aunt Linda…" Ilsa unnecessarily stressed the phrase "… we risk Chance's freedom. The CIA might arrest him as well."
"I'll be there. I'll make sure they don't touch him." Emma was getting belligerent.
So was Ilsa.
"You've used Chance to boost your career before. His presence at the airport in connection with the hostage situation was risky, but you didn't waste a single thought on it!"
"This is different! Chance…"
Winston groaned, rubbing his forehead, the word "messy" written all over his face. Guerrero looked as if he was considering going for his gun.
"Hello-o-o-o!" Ames made huge waving gestures with her arms. "I don't want to be disrespectful or anything…" this was directed at Ilsa "...but this catfighting girly sh...stuff… is even getting on my nerves and I am a girl. How do we get Chance out of this?"
… … …
The cell.
"I've heard about people going round the bend in solitary confinement. I think I've even seen that on Law & Order once…"
"Junior, cut the crap. Immediately."
"Excuse me, but when you said " How fast can you disappear from here again?" it sounded like you were planning to stick around a little longer…" Chance gave Baptiste a second towel that had been amongst his dry clothes.
The Old Man's face became unreadable. "You understood correctly."
For a long moment silence reigned.
Chance and Baptiste exchanged glances.
Speaking glances.
That didn't escape Joubert's notice.
He slowly started moving backwards. "Don't you dare think you can knock me unconscious, break out of here and drag me with you like one of Junior's pathetic clients!"
Chance and Baptiste would have exchanged more speaking glances, but with Joubert, you've got to act fast.
They gradually advanced towards him.
… … …
San Francisco.
"We'll let the CIA handle this", Guerrero stated, his tone making it very clear that this decision was final. For once he and Winston were in total agreement, a fact that filled both of them with dismay.
Chance would so have to explain all of this.
Ilsa bit her lip at Guerrero's announcement. She knew they only wanted to protect her, but there was nothing endearing about it. They wanted to protect her because they thought she couldn't handle the situation.
… … …
The cell.
"This will only hurt for a couple of seconds", Chance told the Old Man.
"I can get out of here alone and I will get out of here alone. I neither need nor want you two involved!"
Baptiste looked hurt. Chance didn't care. "Do you want to fight this out or are you going to turn around voluntarily so I can coldcock you and Baptiste and I can pull a Second Steven in peace?"
"You don't need a Second Steven. I've got keys for most doors of this place, including the cell door."
Just when you think nothing can surprise you anymore.
"You've really lost your mind in here, haven't you?" Baptiste' expression changed from hurt to worried.
"If you've got all the keys, then why in the world are you still sitting here?" Chance spoke very slowly, like to a child.
A dumb child.
… … …
San Francisco.
"Just to make one thing clear, Emma", Guerrero quietly told her as the others got their stuff ready. "Don't even think of pulling any kind of funny stunt that would boost your career. Believe me, you'd regret it."
Emma gave him the coldest look she was capable of. "While I would have no problem whatsoever locking you away, Chance is a different story. He's a changed man and that deserves support."
"Yeah, and you'd never give Ilsa the opportunity to ride to Chance's rescue with all her money and influence, would you?", Ames commented silently, following the conversation through lip reading.
… … …
The cell.
"Araña possesses something that's of great value to me. A couple of papers in a red envelope. She keeps it in a safe behind a painting in her office. When I first arrived here, she showed it to me. I've got tons of keys for this place, but I'm still not sure I've got the right one for the safe. I've got no equipment here to crack it, I need that key." The Old Man loosened a brick from the wall and showed them a collection of keys hidden in the small space behind. "They don't use electronic locks here because of the humidity."
"How in the world did you…?"
Footsteps approached. Joubert quickly put the brick back in place. A guard opened the door and brought them something that was probably meant as dinner. While the door was open, a rat scuttled into the room, holding something gleaming between its teeth. It quickly disappeared underneath Joubert's bed.
Chance blinked a couple of times.
"You trained a rat to steal keys?"
"Had a lot of time on my hands." The Old Man gave the rat a generous piece of dinner. "So, you see I'm doing very well here."
He stroked the rat's fur.
"Now leave."
A/N: Thank you, catchingfire, for taking the time to leave a comment, it means a lot to me! And also thank you to niagaraweasel and all her plotting help!