Chapter 136: State of Play

Madison Manor Boutique Hotel, Toronto, Canada

Having been sent on assignment, Belle and Freja were in Toronto, with Freja watching the movements of Akiza and Tee through binoculars. 'Doing anything yet?' 'If you define "anything" as buying bread and going to really fancy cafes, then yeah, they're doing loads. If you mean are they doing anything anti-Renegadey, then no, they're doing jack all.' 'Renegade-y should be in the dictionary y'know.' 'Why are you telling me? I'm not the person who writes the dictionary.' 'Who is then?' Belle just shrugged. 'Ask Jodi, she knows everything else.' So she did. 'Jodi, who wrote the dictionary?!' Shortly after, a shouted reply stated 'The first one or now?' 'Now obviously.' 'No idea, ask Google, it knows everything.'

As she went to look it up, Jodi walked into the room, with her expression suggesting that she might not be enjoying herself. 'We're going to get nowhere while we're stuck in some swanky hotel. We should be out there, following them.' 'And how do we do that without getting caught?' Belle asked in response. 'Simple, we don't get too close, and don't act weird.' 'Jodi, you're talking about two girls who are brainwashed including a shapeshifter, and someone who should probably still be in Young Offenders, how do we not act weird?' 'Just do what Maddy said, don't draw attention to yourselves.'

Flashback: 36 hours earlier

Freja and Belle were back in Maddy's office, when Jodi walked in. 'So I've been thinking, and I decided that you need someone with you who's been to Toronto before. So… I'm sending Jodi with you.' This seemed to confuse Belle and Jodi alike. 'You heard me when I told you that I've not been to Toronto in, like 10 years, right?' 'I did, but you'll probably still recognise it. Besides, Phil said you'd have a lot to talk about.'

'I'm not sure about that' Belle mumbled, resulting in Maddy giving her the look. 'I'm just saying, why are you sending us if you don't trust us? You didn't have to send us, you could have sent people you like and know you can rely on.' 'It isn't that I don't trust you, I just…' 'Don't trust us, yeah.' 'Why are you being like this?' 'Because first I find out I'm some social experiment' 'I thought we were past that, Lydia already showed you the messages.' 'But now I find out you don't trust me and Freja to do a job you specifically asked us to do. I'm not being funny, but I don't want to be the substitute because Blair wanted the day off.' 'That really what you think?' 'Yeah, it is actually.'

'Look, I should have asked sooner, it isn't that I don't trust you, it's that I want you to have more numbers there. If you get rumbled or confronted, I need to know you can get out of there. Honestly Belle, I wouldn't have sent you if I didn't trust you both. I'm doing this because I trust you and Freja to get the job done, she's the master of disguise and you're so resourceful and able to hand yourself, I honestly don't think Blair would be as good. I just want someone who's familiar with the country, k?' Belle accepted this explanation, but deep down, both she and Jodi knew the exact reason why she was being sent.

Back in Canada

As they were leaving the hotel room, Jodi told them her theory. 'Honestly I think the reason I was actually sent here was because Maddy's trying to stop me serving Phil like I do, I have no idea what her issue is with it but she seems to be obsessed with "fixing his life", like she actually knows how to, even though she barely sees him. Not being funny, but if she's so keen on fixing him, knowing anything about him would be a start wouldn't it?' 'Wouldn't surprise me' Freja responded. 'I got told off for being at his home too long the other day. Hey Jodi, got a question if you don't mind me asking?'

'Depends what the question is.' 'You know, like when you first came to us, you were nicknamed "Scout"?' 'Yeah, been a while since anyone called me that but sure?' 'Why were you nicknamed that? Were you like, in the Brownies or something? I was in the Brownies when I was younger, proper boring.' 'No, but I was involved with something that you could put in brownies if you catch my drift.' Freja was confused, but Belle immediately understood the reference, so decided to spell it out for her tag partner. 'She means she was involved with drugs.'

'What, you were a druggie?' 'No, I was nicknamed "Scout" because I used to be a drug courier. I'd ride around the estate on my bike, posting people's drugs through their letterboxes. Weed, Coke, Heroin, LSD, you name it I probably shoved it into someone's house at some point to get their kicks.' 'What happened to make you do that?' 'Broken home, druggie mother, presumably got a Dad out there, never met him, probably a total deadbeat as well, had to post drugs to get money to keep the leccy on. I'm a council estate girl, you do what you have to in order to survive.'

In England

Maddy was busy feeding Diesel when Astrid walked into the office. 'So I hear you've not calmed down yet.' 'Pardon?' 'Just saw Kris complaining, apparently you two had a little argument?' 'It's his fault, not mine, I don't appreciate being told that I need to take time off.' 'What made him say that?' she inquired in response. 'Apparently I'm too sick to be running the club. Even though I feel fine. Besides, I have bigger things to focus on, like you being Mam and Dad's wetnurse.' 'Excuse me?' Astrid recoiled in disgust. 'What did you just call me?' 'You heard me. And if it ain't them, it's Blair. Point is, you spend more time looking after everyone else's babies than you do here. You're basically a glorified Mary Poppins, and I don't get it, one minute you want to be on the security team' 'No, I said I want to do anything which involves being outdoors, not stuck around some stuffy table talking about CCTV.'

'And the next you're suddenly supernanny' Maddy continued, clearly not listening to a word Astrid had just said. 'I don't like your attitude Mads.' 'I don't like the fact you're never here, I don't like the fact that I wanted to talk to you the other day and you were too busy taking Blair's snot-nosed kid to the park.' 'Blame Rio for getting the flu then, not me for saying I'd help when I was already not available on that day because I'm never available on Sundays. But yeah, we do need a conversation, a conversation about you.'

'What about me, the fact I'm running the whole show single handed? Or maybe the fact that the head of my security team would rather galavant off constantly' 'About the fact that ever since you realised Akiza's hiding stuff from you, you've gone absolutely crazy, you've pushed people away, you've started snapping at people, you accused Rio of turning you into a druggie just so she could have a role she never wanted, I mean, where's Maddy? Where's the leader who cares about everyone, where's the leader who reacted to someone who had been in the club a matter of weeks having cancer by paying for private treatment so he didn't have to go on a waiting list? Where is she, because I don't see her here.'

'And I don't see the real Astrid here' a livid Maddy retorted. 'All I see is an au pair who spends more time with the kid of someone she doesn't even like, suddenly wants him as a manager, and spends more time with him than his actual wife does, and to what extent? To get ahead, to feel important, to get in fuckin' bed with him because that's the only way you could be closer!' Maddy immediately regretted what she said, but as she reached out, Astrid stormed out of the office in tears, leaving Maddy to thump the wall.

Back in Canada

After several hours of uneventful spying, Jodi noticed something unusual. 'Who's that Tee's speaking to?' Freja picked up the binoculars and identified 'Looks like some kind of priest or pastor?' Belle then looked around sharply. 'When did you learn what a pastor was?' 'My Mum's a pastor, or at least she was when I last spoke to her. Proper weird people.' They watched her talk to the pastor for several minutes, before she went around the side of the building and spoke to two more individuals in crimson robes, having a detailed conversation with them before she passed a letter to them.

Reading the letter, the two individuals briefly looked at each other, and then admitted her into the church, where she would stay for around 40 minutes. While this was going on, Freja dipped into a nearby shop, and came out with three chocolate bars. 'I know you like your fruit and nut Belle, and Jodi, you're allergic to nuts aren't you?' 'Just peanuts.' 'Well I got you one without nuts in anyway.' 'Thanks, could do with the energy boost.' 'Look, just because we're doing Maddy's work for her, doesn't mean we should go hungry.' They then continued to wait, staying a safe distance away to evade detection.

When she emerged from the church, Tee pulled her ponytail tight, and then got on the phone to Akiza. 'I've spoken to them, they gave me an address. I'll pass it back onto you at the apartment. I understand, I'll be there immediately, and I'll bring the equipment you asked for.' As she came off the phone, she immediately turned around, and walked away with a purpose. The trio of Renegades waited for around 30 seconds, before slowly moving on in the same direction, as they shadowed her path.

Every time Tee would look backwards at all, they would be distracted, be it talking to each other, or taking selfies, or hiding behind a nearby street corner. Time after time they evaded detection, until Tee suddenly diverted into another store, giving the girls a couple of minutes to relax and regroup. 'Right, we need to stop hiding like this, we just need to not be suspicious.' Belle's slightly curt response was 'We're Renegades, we're always suspicious.' 'Just… I don't know, we just talk about shit. Literally anything as long as it's not too loud and we just look like we're three randos having a conversation.

Several minutes of careful following would then ensue, but the need to be careful wasn't as great as they thought, as Tee was focused only on returning to the apartment, which turned out to be in a large set of high-rise apartments. As she entered the lobby, her stalkers paused by the west side of the building to discuss the situation. 'So what do we do now, we can't just go in there' Jodi pointed out, but Freja had a solution. 'You mean you can't just go in there. If only one of us was able to turn into anybody else.'

'Don't you have to have seen the person you're morphing into though?' She nodded, and then snooped around, confusing her fellows. 'What are you doing?' 'Looking for the address. Because if I can get the address, I can get the guy who owns the apartments.' 'Never gonna work' Jodi remarked as Freja got her phone out, and rung up the number. 'Hello, is this Finlay McKenzie? Hi, I was just walking past your apartments on 226 Stanley Street, and noticed someone lighting a fire in front of it. Here in 20? Ok.'

As the owner arrived, he was very confused to not see any signs of a fire. But he didn't have long to consider this before Freja came from behind and kicked him between the uprights, before morphing into him. 'I could also be wrong…' Jodi sighed, as Freja beckoned her over. 'Tie him up by the fence' she demanded while passing Belle some rope. 'Or we could just wipe his memory.' 'Yeah, do that actually, probably easier.' she said while entering the lobby. Jodi then got on with wiping the man's memories of that day.

At the base

Maddy was filling in some paperwork when someone hammered on the door to her office. 'C'mon in.' As she said this, Denny walked in nervously, and just stood there. 'Denny, you don't need to ask my permission to speak in here, there's clearly something that's on your mind, and if there is, I want to know. So why don't you just spill?' He took a breath, and then stated 'Sean's in hospital.' This shocked Maddy greatly. 'Sean? The hell happened?' 'Apparently he and Jess were doing some decorating at the safe house when Jess suddenly turned and pushed him down the stairs, before walking out of the front door, he's in hospital with a bad strain in his neck, it's looking like he'll need a neck brace for a little while.' 'So where's Jess now?' 'Nobody knows, he's got people to ask around but the last time anyone he knows saw her, she was getting the bus to Newcastle bus station.'

'Do we know anything else?' 'No, she apparently turned and left without saying a word.' 'She's probably been caught by Akiza then. Thanks for letting me know Denny.' 'You're welcome I suppose. Is there any way me and Dakota can be of help?' She just shook her head in response. 'I don't think there is, but thank you again.' 'You're welcome again.' He walked out, as Maddy made an announcement. 'This is an amber alert, if anybody sees Jessica D'Ambrosio, please capture her immediately and bring her straight back here. I repeat, if anybody sees Jessica D'Ambrosio, please capture her immediately and bring her straight back to the base. Thank you.'

In Washington

Blair was sat at home, frantically looking through various books she had rented from the local library, as well as some learning materials Phil had leant her. 'It doesn't even say anything about schools and behaviour though! She's got these interests, she does strange shit but don't we all, I just don't understand!' As she moaned, Rio walked into the room, wearing a candy pink hooded jacket over a sleeveless vest. 'B, you wanna take a break? I'm going out after all.' She didn't get a response, so tried again.

'I know you're trying to find some answers, but the thing is, you might think of more ideas with me, and there's bound to be people to ask there.' As she still didn't say anything, Rio sighed. 'Right, I'm off to the hospital, wish me luck.' As the door shut, the thought hit Blair. 'I can't believe I forgot about Rio's appointment today. I'm such a shitty friend, she's always been there for me but I can't even remember that? Maybe I should just let Jade have her way.'

In her frustrations though, she saw a paragraph entitled "Your child is unique", and stared reading it, which made her come to a realisation. 'I've been such an idiot. Just because Ally might have this, it doesn't make her not her, just like Rio's condition doesn't make her not her.' She then stood up, and got her phone out. 'Hey Jade, it's B. Look, I wanted to apologise, I've been a real awful girlfriend recently. Look, I think you might be right with the Autism thing. I'm going to the GP to find out how we get her diagnosed. You fancy coming with? Since you were right all along? K, I'll see you in half an hour.'

Back in Canada

Under her disguise, Freja walked into the building, to spy on Tee. To evade suspicion, she was on the phone to Belle when she walked in, as they had a relatively everyday conversation. 'So you know what you're doing?' 'Of course, I'm just having a browse around now, I'm not seeing any of the damage I was told about. There certainly wasn't any fires outside.' 'Is she talking?' 'Negative.' This word peaked Tee's interest, and she looked around, but all she saw was the building's owner on the phone, so she sat down again. Freja then observed her texting Akiza to say "Everything is in place", and stare at her phone for a minute before walking out of the room.

As Freja reported back what she had seen, Belle had an idea. 'Fre, just outside of the building there's a black wire running across the ground. I'm going to slide some tools to you and need you to cut an incision into the wire.' 'A what now?' 'Slice it slightly. Just enough to break one of the wires.' 'K.' She snuck out, as Belle put her hood up and bravely slid a pen-knife and a pair rubber gloves just far enough for Freja to see them. She then put the gloves on, and with the greatest of speed and grace, pushed the knife upwards from the bottom, cutting two wires and causing the phone and internet to lose power in the apartments. After hiding for a couple of minutes as other residents looked around in confusion, she made her escape back to Jodi, while Belle went a longer route through a nearby farm to evade detection.

As they met up again, Jodi had a revelation. 'Honestly I feel sorry for Tee.' 'Do you?' Belle questioned in confusion. 'Like, I know she's our enemy and all, but I know what it's like to be taken advantage of by someone you look up to or love, like take me for example, when I were 15, my Mum tried to sell me off to marry some Ukranian bloke so he could scam his way to a visa, got 2 grand for it an'all. And I remember how powerless I was then.'

Belle provided a rebuttal though. 'It's not like she was tricked though, she was close with Akiza, she volunteered to be with her, she quit the Renegades to be with her.' 'No, she volunteered for management, not to be brainwashed and turned totally heartless and betray the people who gave her a chance, she was perfectly happy in the club before that. This was never what she wanted.' 'Didn't stop her siding with Akiza' 'I don't think she had much choice.' 'Coulda fooled me, she seemed pretty clear on her choice.' 'You weren't even with us at the time Belle, how would you even know?' 'Because I've been told what happened so many times.' 'Because people are biassed then.' 'Like you're not.'

Trying to avoid the two opinionated girls coming to blows, Freja calmed the situation down. 'Hey, anyone else kinda starving?' Belle just looked down at her stomach. 'Now you mention it, I suppose we should get something, it is Half 2 and we still need to accomplish anything yet. Hey Jodi, sorry if I got a little heated there.' 'I think we both did' the Bolton native responded kindly. 'How about we leave that discussion for when there's a referee.' 'Or a boxing ring.' 'Or a boxing ring' Jodi concurred as they left to find somewhere to eat. But deep down, there was an acknowledgement that the hardest task was yet to come.

In Norden

Hannah was feeding Sky when Astrid walked in, huffing and puffing. 'Right, who's annoyed you, sit sit.' 'It's Maddy, she's being an absolute super bitch. All but accused me of trying to get Phil in bed with me.' Hannah couldn't help herself but laugh at this assertion. 'You and Phil? Christ, that girl's a nightmare right now.' 'You're telling me? I'm the one who had to put up with her earlier! I mean she's my best friend and I couldn't even talk to her for a second.'

'Well what did you say to her?' 'Meaning?' 'None of her outbursts recently have been out of the blue, they're prompted by something. Like the stuff with Rio was prompted by her finding out about the Morphine, her thing with Kris the other day was caused by him saying she was unreasonable to Rio, and her thing with Sakura was a follow-on from Rio. Basically, something you said's got to have caused it.'

After thinking for a moment, she realised. 'I suppose I did say she was losing her mind and suggested she was going a bit crazy.' 'Well there you go then.' 'What, so it's my fault?' 'No, I'm saying she's being triggered by things. I'm not defending what she's saying, I'm just pointing out that it isn't without reason. And she's under so much strain at the moment, between the Akiza stuff, her health and running the club, she has a hell of a lot on her plate, quite frankly she's gone past the point of running herself into the ground.'

'And she won't ask for help.' 'Because she's Maddy and she's convinced she can do everything all by herself, what do you think? She's always been the same, she was the same before she met you, before you joined the Renegades, before all this with Akiza, she's always been the same.' 'You think so?' 'I know so. Sometimes it's not about asking if someone needs help, it's about telling them they need help. So I suggest you just give her a few days to calm down, ok? I'm sure she'll be fine after that.'

'Sure, I still just can't believe she called me an au pair.' Hannah smiled, and put her arm around Astrid. 'I'll let you in on a little secret - Maddy doesn't even know what one of those is.' 'Really?' 'Yeah, when she's angry she'll just say anything, regardless of whether it actually makes any sense. Her first priority is just to shout anything and everything that will get across how angry she is.' 'She's got anger issues.' 'She's got a very short fuse, that's for sure. And I don't think anything's ever going to change that. She's always going to be this little firecracker.'

In Canada

Over lunch, Jodi and Freja were exchanging stories of their time serving their master. 'I still remember the time he sat me down and played with my hair for the first time, the moment he let it down it was almost like the first time I'd ever really had a purpose, I just felt so much through feeling nothing. Do you remember how you were hypnotised Jodi?' 'No, I don't have any memories from weeks before it happened, all the way up to straight after, and even then it's kind of hazy. I believe I'm the only one Phil doesn't have a recording for, because it was a snap decision. The idea was I got Hannah for him, and in return he'd set me up in a flat so I didn't have to live at home. Or at least that's what he's told me.'

'Do you remember what happened after your hypnosis?' 'Oh yeah, all of it. I was taken back to the base, the original base, it was some random warehouse out the back arse of Gateshead, and he took me upstairs, Mollie let my hair down, sorry, have you met Mollie Belle?' 'I don't remember doing, if we have it wasn't an especially notable meeting. She the one in Switzerland?' 'Yeah, Hannah farmed her out there so she didn't interfere with her and Phil's growing relationship. No idea why she thought that would even happen, but whatever.'

'Anyway, so where was I? Yeah, so Mollie took my hair down, and Phil stroked my fringe for a few seconds I remember, before he put me in the old machine' 'Oh yeah, that hurt like fuck!' 'And he just deleted me effectively. I came out, no personality, no independence, no nothing, I just wanted to be his slave. Well I say "I wanted", what I mean is I was, there was no want or desire about it either way. I remember when he first hypnotised you and Lydia as well, I knew that you'd be a favourite straight away, you just had that look about you, that wild child constrained that he likes so much. Not that you're a kid obviously.' 'Yeah I'm 25.'

'But the thing is, things just blur sometimes, because it's been so long, and because I didn't have any will for so long. It wasn't until Hannah made me the first ever V.P. that she gave me some free will and memories back. It's weird to think that I could walk away from all of this now, but I… I'm just not.' 'Why not? I mean I'm not going to do it because I absolutely love what I do for him and would do more if I could but I'm not allowed, because he's trying to find some kind of stability with Hannah and Maddy keeps giving me a ticking off as well, never mind Lyds doing it. How about you Jodi?'

'Honestly I just have no reason to. It's not like I really feel anything, I know you've got this thing about having a morbid crush on him, but I just do what I'm told.' 'I wouldn't say I have a morbid crush on him, it's just what makes him happy.' 'You were flirting with him even when he asked you not to.' 'It wasn't serious, and he knows that, just… old habits die hard I guess. Although I suppose there is a certain feeling I get when I'm serving him that everything kind of just feels right.' Trying to escape the conversation, Belle explained why she wanted the phone line cutting.

'So I needed you to cut those lines so we have an excuse to go back in there. My idea is to wiretap the apartment, so Maddy can listen in to what's being said there. If Akiza is staying there, it might just give the answers that we need.' 'Great idea' Jodi responded. 'I'll go in with Freja, it's going to be way easier for me to disguise myself, because I don't look like me without the burn.' 'And I'll stay outside to look out. That's ok with you Freja?' She just nodded as a response. 'Yeah, no idea what wiretapping is, but it's a great idea I'm sure.' 'It's basically listening into other people's private conversations.'

'Oh, so what Maddy does constantly.' 'Kind of, except without the supersonic hearing. It's kind of complicated to explain. Now you need to get going, because you two need to disguise yourself.' 'Easy, I'll just morph into some random girl from the B&B.' 'As long as you do it out of sight and after you've left there, otherwise you're going to arouse suspicion.' 'Obviously, I'll just hide behind a building like normal.'

An hour later

As the girls met up in a nearby B&B, Jodi looked far different, with her hair down, wild green eyes, and pasty white skin, like her face had been covered by snow. 'Jodi, you look, like, totally different.' 'It's amazing what contact lenses and a bit of concealer and talcum powder can do.' Belle then talked them through the plan. 'So the idea is, you two go in, you pretend to be checking the internet inside. You attach this phone to the wall, Maddy's just rung it so she'll hear everything that happens, and then once it's attached you make your excuses, and leave, fixing the wire out here.' 'I'll take the lead' Jodi stated confidently. 'Right, I'll talk you through how to do it anyway.'

In Newcastle

Dan and Emma were looking nervously at their watches, when Maddy walked into view, wearing her hair down with the black headband that Rio had recently replaced for her. 'Sorry I'm, like an hour late, traffic is murder when you're gettin' the bus.' Straight away, Emma admired the look of her daughter, as she picked up some strands of her hair. 'You look beautiful darling, look how long your hair is, I don't think it's been this long since you were about 8 years old.' 'Yeah, and I was wearing me hair in bunches 'cause I thought they looked cool after watching that one television show.'

Over a coffee, they talked. 'So how've you both been?' 'Oh you know, keep on keeping on, nothing special ever really happens with us now. We adopted a cat a few weeks ago though, a long haired thing, called it Eliza.' 'My middle name.' 'Yep, it's almost like having you back at home, except she's a little less trouble. But anyway, we want to know about you and all the adventures you've been having lately. How was Paris?'

'Paris was absolutely gorgeous' Maddy grinned. 'There's just so many amazing places to eat there, there are so many incredible sights, I'm definitely gonna go back there at some point.' 'It looked like you had an amazing time from the pictures you sent us.' 'That was only a fraction of it. Trust me, you should go at some time.' 'I will do, probably with you actually. You know, you've grown up to be a beautiful young woman, we have so many reasons to be so proud of you.'

Reflecting, she shook her head. 'You really don't, I've been a total arsehole to people lately.' 'How so?' 'It's just… I've been so wrapped up in my own little issues… ok, sometimes big issues (glances at her ribs) that I've been pushin' people away when I don't mean to, sayin' shit that I don't mean, making them think I hate 'em when I don't, I've just been a total monster recently.' Seeing that her daughter was upset, Emma reached out. 'Don't forget chuck, you can always make up with people. They won't hate you, they understand that people say things that they don't mean. Even if it sometimes takes a few days or weeks even, you can always say sorry and move on.'

Hearing this, she just smiled. 'Thank you. This is honestly the happiest I've been in a long time, just being here with you and not letting all my tensions get to me.' 'I'm not surprised, sometimes you just need to accept that you're wrong, that things aren't as bad as you think, and that not everything's going to fall apart without you.' 'You're right, I do need to take a step back sometimes.' 'You might think you're a world beater chuck, but even Superman can't always do it alone.'

In Canada

As Freja and Jodi entered the apartments, they immediately ran into Akiza, who stared at them disapprovingly. 'And who might you be?' Scrambling, Jodi had an answer. 'We're from the Novatech company, we're responsible for the internet and phone lines in this area. We've had a few complaints about internet outages here so we came to investigate.' 'Well while you're here you can sort our Internet out, it's not working.' Jodi nodded to her, and they were invited into the apartment.

As they started to hold a phone to the skirting boards, Akiza was suspicious about them. 'Why's your partner not speaking anyway? I've tried talking to them several times and I don't like being ignored.' Jodi smiled in response. 'Oh that's Pamela, she's from Montreal, she doesn't speak any English, she was drafted in because we're short staffed, which we wouldn't be if the company hadn't just laid off half the workers.' Akiza then put Freja on the spot by saying 'Vous habitez à Montréal?' (Do you live in Montreal?), but as Jodi looked on in concealed concern, she responded with an assertive 'Oui, depuis l'âge de quatre ans, je suis né à Paris. Tu devrais venir à Paris, belle ville!' (Yes, I have lived in France since the age of 4 years. You should come to Paris, beautiful city!)

This seemed to satisfy Akiza, who turned her attention to Jodi. 'And you?' 'Where I'm from?' 'Yes, you don't sound Canadian.' 'If I had a dollar for everyone who's told me that. No, I was born in Walkden in England, I moved here three years ago to be with my girlfriend, Annie, we live just north of Windsor. You sound like you're a west coast girl.' 'Pretty much, Washington.' 'I went to Tacoma once, nice place, Annie used to work for Simpson there, the lumbar company that is, but she had to retire after being paralysed by a falling tree.'

'What did you go to Tacoma for?' Akiza quizzed, but again, Jodi was able to dodge the suspicions. 'We were on our way to see Mount Rainier, it was always Annie's dream to climb it, and decided to spend a day in Tacoma because I was a little fed-up of driving, we were on this great road trip and were coming from the Grand Canyon.' 'Heck of a drive.' 'Trust me, you don't know the half of it until you've done it yourself. We spent a day in Tacoma, then drove up to Seattle to meet Annie's cousin, then the three of us drove up to Ranier for a couple of days. That was about two years ago now.'

She then took a gamble, and spoke to Freja in French. 'Pamela, Il vous suffit d'installer l'appareil ici, d'éteindre l'écran et la batterie dure 1 semaine. Ensuite, nous passons à autre chose. (You just install the device here, turn off the screen and the battery lasts 1 week. Then we move on), to which Freja smiled and stated 'Compris. (Understood). 'Why are you leaving?' 'We can't detect a problem in here, so we're going to check the phone line outside, just in case something's happened to that, and we're going to leave this (holding up a phone) in here, and a couple in every other apartment, just so we can keep an eye on the speeds and signal. Otherwise we don't know if the problem has been resolved.'

As Freja finished attaching the phone to the skirting board, she and Jodi made a hasty exit, with Jodi putting on a pair of rubber gloves, and carefully fixing the cut wire, taping it together and seeing that the internet was once again working in the apartment as Akiza went on a television streaming service. Jodi then re-entered, and stated 'That looks like the issue solved, there was some damage to the wires outside. Now I need to charge you some money because the damage was outside, but because it clearly wasn't your fault, we'll call it $50.' 'How much is it normally?' Akiza inquired while forking over the cash. '$80-$100 depending on what work was done, but we can offer you a discount because the work was done in under an hour.' As the money changed hands, Jodi hastened out of the apartment, and finding Belle, they ran off, showing a clean pair of heels as Kieran arrived at the apartment.

In a cafe around 3 miles away, they were able to relax, and hi-five each other. 'Hey Freja, when did you learn French?' 'School.' 'I thought you spent more time sleeping at school than working.' 'I did, but I was well good at French, got an 'A'. It was that and cooking what I could do.' 'Not English apparently' Jodi remarked, which Freja burst into laughter at. 'Yeah, the girl from St. Helens who's better at French than English, who woulda thought it? Makes no sense. Talking of making no sense, where did you learn to do that wiretapping Jodi?'

Jodi then took off her hearing aid to reveal a small radio. 'Belle was instructing me.' 'Why didn't I get one of those?' 'Because it would have looked super sus if we both used identical hearing aids. So Belle, where did you learn to wiretap?' 'Oh, I just watch too many crime documentaries' she calmly stated while drinking the last of her strawberry milkshake. 'Kind of disturbing how entertaining I find 'em actually. I was supposed to be having a psychological assessment when I came off parole, but I got put on hold and they never rang me back. Oh well.' With that, the girls celebrated a job well done.

In Newcastle

Rio was with Hannah when her scan results came through. 'How are you feeling Ms. Kastle?' the doctor asked, but she just wanted answers. 'Anxious.' 'Right, well I've reviewed the scans, and I'm pleased to tell you that we can see some improvements.' Her eyes lit up hearing this news. 'The damage to your frontal lobe and your Broca's area appear to have started to reverse.' As she smiled, she was given an explanation as to her long-term prognosis.

'Now I have to warn you, this does not mean that your brain will completely heal, you were very lucky to survive, and some of the damage will be lifelong. But what your results do tell us is that you are doing all the right things in order to improve your condition. We would like you to return in six weeks, and at that time we will see if there has been any further improvement. Do you have any questions?' Grinning, she replied with an emphatic 'No, thank you', before she and Hannah walked out and celebrated.

In Sunderland

Blair and Jade were just hoving into view of the GP's when Blair's phone started ringing. 'It's Rio.' 'Hope the scan went ok.' She then answered. 'Hey Rio, sorry I was occupied earlier, how did it go?' A delighted voice came from the other end. 'They said some of the damage has reversed! It's gettin' better B, I'm not gonna die!' In tears, Blair just flung her arms around Jade. 'That's incredible! Takeaway on me later.' 'Is that the world's tightest spender offering me a takeaway? How could I turn that down? Anyway, the signal's kind of crappy in here so I'll see you later.' As the call ended, the two of them walked into the GP's and went straight to the desk. 'Hello, how can I help you?' 'Blair Flannigan, I'm looking for Dr. Singh, I want to get an Autism diagnosis.' 'And who is the diagnosis for?' 'Ally Flannigan, my… sorry, our adoptive daughter.'

At the base

Maddy was sat in the office, listening to conversations from the apartment in Canada, but not picking up anything useful, as Akiza's voice was heard again. 'That stupid girl should have known I'd come after her when she did what she did. I mean betraying me like that, making me look like a total idiot, and for what - because someone managed to knock her mask off? Teaches me to be more careful, I'll glue it to her stupid vacant face next time, that should keep her under the spell. But what can you do about prototypes, at least she's dealt with now.'

Kieran's voice could then be heard. 'Why are we even using her?' 'Because it forces Maddy's attention away from our duel and from what I'm doing. If she finds out, she's able to counteract me. But if she doesn't know, she's got no chance, because what I'm planning is something that the world has never ever seen.' 'I wouldn't go that far but it is pretty impressive, I'll give you that.'

Listening to this, Maddy started wondering out loud. 'What is it they're planning though? Just say something useful! I didn't fork out that money on plane tickets and a hotel in Toronto for no result!' That wasn't to be the case though, as Akiza then started ranting about Hannah. 'And Hannah's got such a cocky face, and she thinks she's incredible because "oh my god it's a miracle birth" like her baby wasn't going to be delivered anyway. And she has to flaunt it, oh how she has to flaunt it, she appears on television cradling the demon seed, and everyone pretends it's a big deal, why don't we get that attention that we deserve?'

'Because she's Hannah and she's the apple of everybody's eye' Kieran responded sarcastically. 'You should know how that works, they all have the media wrapped around their little fingers.' 'Well just wait until they find out who we've got wrapped around ours. You sorted the money I take it?' 'Last instalment goes out in two weeks' time. They won't believe their eyes, and they won't have any comeback. This is actually going to be the end of the Renegades as we know it, Phil and Hannah's dynasty will crumble to the ground.' At this point, Maddy groaned. 'There's nothing useful here at all. I gave up my entire room, those three gave up the best part of an entire week, just so I could listen to Akiza rant senselessly.' Despite this, she continued listening, and her patience was eventually rewarded, when after a pause in talking for several tense minutes, Akiza's subject shifted slightly towards Maddy.

'So we've got the plan ready for the event?' 'Everything's organised, it's just a matter of Claude coming through for us now. I don't like the guy, but if he can do it then he can do it.' 'She'll be lucky to even make it to Canada.' At this moment all that could be heard was a phone ringing. And as a tired Maddy listened, there was nothing especially notable on the call, until something innocuous in the conversation pricked her ears up. 'What did she just say?' she questioned, and rewound the recording, slowing it down. And as she listened closely, the conversation started diverting towards Akiza fantasising about torturing her. And then she heard a name, a name she hadn't heard much in a while, but a name which made her eyes widen and her blood run cold. She replayed that portion of the tape time after time after time, trying to make sure she heard correctly, trying to convince herself she hadn't, but every single time, she heard the same name, and a shiver went down her spine.

What followed was several minutes of panicking, followed by the realisation that she was in too deep, in over her head, and out of her depth, and bouts of table thumping hard enough to break someone's hand and chip bits off the increasingly worn-looking desk, and then nothing, except the mournful sound of Maddy crying. But nobody was listening, as everyone was keeping their distance after the argument with Astrid earlier, busier trying to save their skin than supporting their leader. After a few minutes though, she stopped, wiped the tears away with tissue, and then regained her composure. Doing this, she went into a cupboard, and pulled out a tripod. In one of the draws in her desk, she withdrew a shiny and expensive-looking digital camera. After opening the camera and adjusting the settings, she placed it atop the tripod, and after taking several deep breaths to calm herself down enough to speak, she leant over to the camera, and pressed record.

Next time: Maddy's world comes crashing down, as her enemies ally against her, and Akiza's plan becomes clear in Renegades: A New Dawn Final Chapter: Fall From Grace