Chapter 54: Finally, An Update

"Hunter, are you coming to bed any time soon?"

"In a minute Steph!" He called back from his personal office. "I just need to look over this last email first."

"Can't it wait till the morning when you're aware and well-rested enough to handle any bullshit it might hold?!" She called back in return as she shuffled down the hallway to where her husband was.

"If only it was that easy Steph," He called back, finally looking up from his computer screen to see his wife poking her head into his room. ". . . Come in! Join me as I take in the angry ranting of our favorite fighting Frenchman!"

"A Hamilton reference, nice . . . And isn't Martel originally from Quebec?" She asked in return, smirking slightly at the fact that no matter how stressed her husband became, he still found time to make a joke.

"It still didn't stop him from accepting leadership of the Paris HQ as soon as it got offered to him," Hunter sighed, shaking his head as he brushed his hand across his shaven head. "Even if it does come with its fair share of headaches."

"Fair enough . . . So, what's his gripe this time?" Stephanie dared to ask as she walked further into the room.

"What else could it be but our favorite Romanian friends?"

"So it's Mr. S and his band of buddies then, hmm? It seems that every time we hear his name, it ends up being bad news on top of more bad news," The McMahon heiress grumbled as she stood in front of her husband's desk. ". . . Alright, now you really have my attention."

"I thought I already did," Hunter mused as he looked up at his wife.

"Correction: full attention," She emphasized, snuffing out the yawn that threatened to escape from her throat. "Now then, what did Martel write in his email?"

"Nothing good. . ." Hunter admitted as he watched the woman walk around his desk. "The support unit he sent to Bucharest has gone radio silent."

"You can't be serious," Stephanie groused as she looked over her husband's left shoulder to look at the screen. "They did make contact with their HQ as soon as they arrived in Romania, correct?"

"Yeah, they did the customary check in as soon as they touched down, and they were supposed to check in again six hours after that," Hunter explained, pointing to the exact paragraph he was getting the info from. ". . . They never did, and they haven't been in contact since the initial check in."

"Which means they've either used their mission as an excuse to go sightseeing without anyone knowing . . ." Stephanie theorized as she rested her chin on her husband's shoulder. "Or they're in some major trouble."

"They could be dead for all we know," the man growled as he felt his wife lean her head against his. "This Mr. S guy knows his stuff. He's smart, has many resources at his disposal thanks to his wealth, and he has people around him that are more than willing to help him carry out his plans."

"Not to mention that he has our former employees on his payroll, so he has some idea on how we operate . . . I don't have to name names for you to know who exactly I'm talking about."

"No, you certainly do not have to do that Stephanie," Hunter grumbled as he glared at the screen. "This operation Mr. S is running . . . If he's successful, it would have severe ramifications for the world at large."

"The idea of using psychics to do your bidding. . . I have to admit. I can see the merit in such a twisted idea," Stephanie admitted as she stood up to her full height. "If you have a particularly adept and powerful psychic on your side, you could have them get into the minds of any person you want and take control of them. . . CEOs, world leaders, military leaders, royalty."

"And that's if you have one on your side . . . Just imagine an army of them under his control. He could remake the political, military, and economic landscape of the world with only a word," Hunter added as he logged off of his computer, pinching the bridge of his nose as he resisted the urge to punch the monitor out of frustration. ". . . The world would be absolutely screwed."

"And you absolutely need some rest," Stephanie countered as she tapped her fingers along the base of her husband's neck. "C'mon, let's go."

"It's not like I planned to do any more work tonight," Hunter mumbled as he looked up at his wife. "You did just watch me turn the computer off right?"

"And yet that stack of paperwork you brought home tells me otherwise," she mused as she walked off, but not before giving a pointed look to said stack that stood on Hunter's desk, just off to the right of his computer.

"Okay, you got me there," The man conceded as he finally got up from his chair, just as a phone started ringing. "Well shit. . ."

"I thought we told HQ to not call us after 10 PM. Only emails are allowed," Stephanie grumbled as she watched her husband take his phone out of his pocket.

"Um, I may have told Administration that anything revolving around the Mr. S situation was the exception to the rule, for now," Hunter mumbled apologetically as he looked down at his phone's screen, his eyebrows scrunching together in disbelief. "I don't recognize this number."

"Let me see," Stephanie ordered, holding her hand out for the device. Hunter immediately complied, his eyes narrowing slightly as his wife's gaze widened at the screen.

"What is it?"

"The country code is +40."

"So, what of it?"

"Hunter, that's the dialing code for Romania."

Immediately taking the hint, Hunter practically snatched his phone back from his wife's grasp before sliding the green icon, quickly putting the call on speaker as Steph booked it towards his computer.

"Hello?!" Hunter spoke in greeting as he watched his wife turn the device back on so that she could type the number into its tracking software. "Who is this?"

"Hunter, it's me . . . You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice after so long!"

Visible relief washed through the couple's faces as Randy's voice echoed from the receiver, a long held worry now falling from their shoulders as the Viper finally made his presence known after days of silence.

"Randy, you took the words right out of my mouth, and I'm usually not this sentimental," Hunter agreed as he walked over to his window. "Now then, I would love to reminisce about old times, but let's cut the bullshit and get to the chase."

"Now you are speaking my language . . . Where would you like me to begin?"

"Start from right after the last call we had with each other," Hunter ordered as he looked out at his backyard. "What happened since then?"

"A shit ton of stuff actually," Randy admitted as the sounds of a few yells of agreement could be heard from his end of the line. "We infiltrated Mr. S's compound as planned, only to find that Amanda and her roommate Kaitlyn were already under that bastard's control."

"Aw shit. . ." Hunter grumbled as he ignored the shiver that went down his spine. "That was certainly something we did not want happening . . . Wait a sec. I understand why Mr. S wants Amanda on his side, but why Kaitlyn?"

"Kaitlyn's power is lightning manipulation. She can generate and throw it at people without batting an eye," Randy explained, his words earning an impressed look from the older man.

"A lightning elemental huh . . . Out of all the elementals that walk the earth, lightning is among the rarest." Hunter mused as he brought his free hand to his chin. "It doesn't surprise me that the Romanian bastard decided to be extra greedy."

"He didn't just brainwash her Hunter. He had his goons turn her into a vampire too."

"Oh he did not!" Stephanie immediately snapped as Hunter sucked in a deep breath. With both having been aware of Cody's bond to Kaitlyn, the two knew that a vampire turning the mate of another vampire was not something that was taken lightly.

"He definitely did Kaitlyn. We ended up fighting her along with some of his goons upon our initial infiltration," Randy explained, now sounding tired. "Cody had to resort to the old, archaic method to subdue her."

"How is he faring?"

"I've been better," came Cody's sudden reply. "Probably won't be fully settled till we get the girls back, but still, I'm managing."

"That's good to hear. I know the whole mating thing is sacred to your kind, so finding out that someone else interfered with that must have been gnawing at you from the jump."

"Oh you have no idea Hunter. . . I owe Mr. S my two cents, but Randy already has first dibs."

"I'll try to leave something for you Cody, but unfortunately, I can't make any promises."

"Back to the topic at hand boys," Hunter commanded. "I'm guessing the extraction failed and you all got captured?"

"Pretty much, and guess who was one of our jailers," Randy prompted. "Does the name AJ Lee ring any bells?"

A sudden slam echoed from the desk, and Hunter did not need to turn his head to know that his wife just smacked his table, irritation the dominant emotion on her face.

"So AJ's on Mr. S's payroll too huh . . . It seems the man is making it a habit of hiring old castoffs."

"Seems like it. Punk and AJ are the only ones we can confirm for sure, but apparently there's more of them in the ranks," Randy explained as the sounds of shuffling could be heard from his end. "Unfortunately, she ended up doing a number on John before she was called away."

"How badly hurt is he?"

"He's not missing a limb, but AJ's penchant for cutting up her victims still rings true to this very day."

"That girl always had her . . . eccentricities, and that's putting it nicely," Steph grumbled.

"There was a reason we banned her from wielding any sharp weapons around HQ outside of training and missions," Hunter added. "Any hoo, I'm guessing that once AJ left, that's when you started to make your big escape?"

"We're still in the process of it," Randy answered back. "Had to get through a bunch of small fry, and get John some first aid first. . . Oh, and we found a surveillance room that's connected to a bunch of places under Mr. S's purview, including a warehouse where the task force Martel sent to aid us were taken to."

"So that's what happened to them," Stephanie grumbled as she continued to wait for the tracking system to pinpoint the man's location. "I have to ask . . . Any chance they're still alive at this point in time, Randy?"

"Judging from what we saw on the surveillance feed, it's highly unlikely that they're returning to France in one piece any time soon."

"I was afraid of that," Stephanie mumbled as she kept her eyes on the screen. "Martel is going to be furious once he finds out."

"To be honest, I don't think the force he sent ever had a chance," Randy added. "Mr. S' has managed to stretch his surveillance apparatus throughout much of this city. Transit hubs, tourist spots, you name it, he probably has eyes on it."

"If that's the case, Martel's team was doomed as soon as they set foot on Romanian soil," Hunter grumbled. "Randy, if he has all the major entry points under wraps, it's going to be that much harder to send assistance your way."

"Ah, so Vince hasn't pulled the plug on this mission after all. . ."

"Considering my father's business' preferences, I'm shocked too," Steph said as he looked over at her husband. "My father has confirmed with the client that as long as Amanda is still alive, the mission remains a go."

"So they've been in talks recently," Randy mumbled, sounding a bit bemused with the situation. ". . . Hunter, did you ever tell Vince that Amanda was my mate?"

"Yeah, I had to . . . You know the rules of this organization. Any flings shorter than a month don't need to be declared to HQ . . ."

"But once the thirty day threshold passes, you have to make your relationship status known to HR and the supervisors for safety and security reasons." Randy finished, and even though he understood the rule, he was still a little annoyed by it.

"Except for the instances like the one you and Cody are in now," Hunter added, smirking slightly as the Viper let out a huff. "When an operative finds their mate, whether it's on a mission or outside of business hours, it must be declared to the higher ups immediately."

"And you let Vince know once you found out," Randy concluded, and if Hunter wanted to, he could picture the taller man shaking his head as he spoke. "And I'm guessing he let the client know about this too during the mission update?"

"The client thinks that this latest development in your. . . relationship history will serve as great motivation in your mission to get her and her roommates back," Hunter admitted, smirking at the huff that came from the other man. "Is the client wrong?"

"Not by a long shot," Randy declared, his tone brokering no room for arguments. "Look Hunter, I know getting more help sent our way is a long shot considering how many eyes he has around the city. . ."

"Don't tell me you're not going to request any. . ." Hunter grumbled, a little surprised at where this conversation was going.

"It's too much trouble getting them in the city, but if they decide to wait for us on the outskirts, where they're less likely to be caught. . ."

"They could help funnel you guys out once you get your asses out of the city's borders," Hunter concluded, nodding along. "However, if whoever gets sent manages to find a way to get to you without getting caught by the security detail, I won't stop them if their plan is reasonably foolproof."

"I can agree to those terms . . . Steph, knowing you, you probably already have this call traced right?"

"I'll also want access to Mr. S's surveillance system," The woman declared as she looked at the computer monitor. "If we can get access to the system, it'll be easier to keep an eye on things over there . . . By the way, you guys are definitely not in one of Bucharest's nicer neighborhoods at the moment, but at least you're still in the city."

"Good to know . . . Once Mr. S finds out that we escaped, he's not going to be too happy."

"It's not like he's going to be eager to roll out the red carpet for you once you show your faces again," Stephanie added.

"If he finds out that you all escaped, it may prompt him to speed up his plans," Hunter suggested, his voice even. "For now, you guys have the element of surprise. . . You just have to use it wisely."

"And speaking of using the element of surprise wisely, what's the plan now Randy?" Stephanie asked as she approached her husband.

"Right now, Mr. S is likely flying high thinking that his most pressing issue is being handled . . ."

"That pressing issue being you of course."

"Yeah, me . . . Thanks for the reminder Hunter."

"Any time Ran," Hunter smirked, not even bothered by the quick slap to the shoulder his wife gave him.

". . . Anyway, as I was saying, with Mr. S still thinking that he has everything under control, it won't be hard to sneak back into the place he's holding the girls and get them out of there."

"But wasn't that what you essentially did the first time around?" Stephanie asked. "At the very least, whatever way you used to get into his place the first time must have been boarded up by now."

"True, but that could be the only thing he did in the aftermath of our attempt," Randy countered, and the couple could easily imagine the smirk that was on his face at that moment. ". . . We won't know unless we check."

"Well, it's not like we can stop you at this point." Hunter conceded. "I just hope you don't pull any unnecessary risks. If you can't find a new way in. . ."

"We'll just have to force them out," Randy agreed. "Thanks Hunter . . . I'll call back with an update in 24 hours."

"Make sure you do this time." Hunter agreed before ending the call. ". . . Well, that update came sooner than I expected."

"But it's not unwelcomed in the slightest . . . Be lucky we got an update from him at all. From his own lips no less," Stephanie admitted as she walked back over to the computer. "I seriously hope that Randy and his team know what they're doing."

"Considering what's at stake here, I'm sure they do," Hunter smirked as he pocketed his phone. "So, since the computer's back on, do you mind writing that email to Martel to update him on the fate of his team?"

"Um, nah, I think I'll leave that one to you. After all, the extra help was more your idea after all." Stephanie admitted as she pointed at the computer screen before heading to the door. "You can join me for bed once you're done."

"I walked myself into that one didn't I?" Hunter called out to her as she walked out the door.

"What do you think?"

A/N: Please review!