"Pies for everybody, you hear me? For everybody!" A screen is showing the camera footage inside the restaurant, in it is Richard holding a gun and taking Kory away. A hand reaches forward and turns off the screen.
It's the man in his fifties wearing the same black suit. He turns around facing Xavier, not a happy look on his face. They are currently at a government office.
"So, what do you think? We are facing another player?" He asks referring to Kory.
"We are looking at a pawn, I talked to her. She owns a garage, no passport, gone nowhere, been nowhere; she's a nobody."
The man gets up from his seat. "You've been two steps behind since this began, Xavier. You sure someone's not taking you to school?" Xavier doesn't answer, just listens to his boss. "Clean this shit up."
Richard and Kory enter an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of San Francisco. Inside it seems like a deposit with old boats and multiple shelves with parts.
Kory looks at Richard as if asking him if they are in the right place. "This is a safe house?" She asks looking around. It seems more like a dumpster.
He doesn't answer as he continues walking inside. Kory follows him closely, not wanting to find herself on her own. As they continue walking, they start hearing music coming from a radio.
"Victor?!" Richard calls. No answer.
They follow the music until reaching an open container, a bright light coming from the inside. Richard takes out a gun.
"Victor?" Again no answer. "Stay close" he orders Kory. He slowly starts walking to the container. "Victor, this is not time to play…" The music becoming louder with every step they take.
Richard raises his gun as he peaks inside. It's empty. He lowers the gun and walks inside. He sighs. It seems like a room, with a bed on the far corner of the container, a small drawer with the radio playing on, and the walls filled with mathematical equations written in black.
"What is all this?" Kory asks joining him inside the container.
"Victor... its what he does" he says looking around. "I'm late, and he is gone." He doesn't seem happy. He hands her his gun and goes deeper into the container.
He inspects the different equations. Math was never his strong suit, so he doubts he will be able to understand what Victor was doing, however, he hopes he had left him a message on these walls, a code, something. He notices RICHARD written on the left corner with an arrow coming out of it.
Outside the container, Kory looks at the gun in her hands. Then in a quick move she points to the side, then with another quick move she points to the other side and fires two imaginary bullets, making the sound effect with her mouth, acting like a cop on a police flick. She giggles. She looks back at Richard, who continues looking at the formulas. She now kneels and fires two more fake shots, leaning more into her game. She doesn't notice as an agent in a black SWAT uniform descends from the ceiling and hides behind one of the shelves.
Richard follows the arrow leaning his face in the wall. Four letters being discernible between all the formulas: ALPS.
"Victor…" he whispers. He takes out his phone and takes a picture.
More agents continue descending from the ceiling, hiding themselves around the place, while an oblivious Kory continues playing with the gun.
Richard follows the arrows even further, another word being clear: TRAIN. Another picture.
Kory inspects the gun. A lot more men descending from the ceiling. "Made in Austria" she reads. She takes the charger with the bullets off the gun and puts it back in.
Then out of nowhere comes Richard, grabs her from behind, placing a hand on her hand holding the gun, and aims it at the ceiling where one of the men is descending and shoots him down. Kory gasps. Richard then turns her to the side and shoots at another man who was aiming at them with his machine gun. He turns around again and fires two quick shots at another.
He lets go of her hand and reaches to the floor, grabbing a machine gun from one of the dead men. The men around start shooting at them. Richard and Kory take cover behind the shelves, Kory screaming with every shot coming their way. Richard again reaches to the dead man, grabs a grenade and throws it at the container, preventing their attackers from following Victors clues.
"Come on! Come on!" The agents in black yell as they continue entering the warehouse and firing at the couple.
"Who are these people?!" Kory asks. "They work for Xavier?!"
"No, its... other guys" Richard explains, clearly not happy about being found.
"Other bad guys?" She screams as a shot nearly hits her.
"Worse guys… hold this" he says handing her two chargers with bullets, one charger per hand.
"Worse guys?" Kory asks, dead scared.
Richard shoots another agent and also takes his machine gun, now he has two, one on each hand. He is about to get out of their hiding spot, but he stops. He turns to Kory. "Now, I need you to listen carefully, do exactly as I say" he says trying to sound as calm as possible. Kory nods frenetically. "On three, I'm gonna lay down cover, then we're gonna to run to the shelves over there" he points with his guns.
Kory again nods. "Okay." She looks in the direction he pointed to.
"Okay?"
"Yeah…"
"You ready?"
"Yeah."
"One…"
Instantly, Kory runs out of their hiding, following the direction he had pointed to. The moment she gets out, an avalanche of bullets comes her way. She screams, the bullets miraculously missing her. "Oh, X'Hal!" He runs back to Richard, who hasn't moved. "Sorry! I panicked!"
"What number would you like?"
She shakes her head frenetically. "Let us just stick with three, it is the okay."
He nods. "Okay, one, two, three."
In a rapid motion, he gets up and starts firing in multiple directions, hitting every one of the agents he aims at, using each of his machine guns to shoot both ways. Kory taking cover behind his body. He hits one, two, three, four, five, six… twelve Kory manages to count.
They finally reach the shelf he was referring to, and they take cover once again.
"These guys are fancy." He takes the empty charger off the machine guns. "Chargers" he calls. Kory holds the chargers up to Richard to just place the machine guns on them charging them automatically. "Could be Mad Mods men; he is an English arms dealer" he explains. "He also wants the Xenothium."
"Come on!" They hear as more agents approach them. "Lets go!"
Richard looks at Kory. "Ready?"
Kory nods. "Okay…"
"Let's move."
With that Richard stands up, Kory following closely. They get between shelves.
"Kory! Kory! Duck!" Kory obeys as she ducks just in time to avoid more gunfire coming their way. Richard raises his machine guns and fires in the direction they came. They continue moving. More gunfire continues to come.
"How… How are we going to get out of here?" She asks. "Where... where is Victor?"
"I don't know yet, but he left a message."
"Message?"
Richard suddenly stops, a bit wary. "Wait" he whispers. He kneels on the ground, Kory instantly matching him. He watches in between the shelves as the agents continue flooding the warehouse, currently unaware of their location. He turns to Kory. "What I need you to do right now is wait here."
"What?!"
"Yeah, I'm gonna find us a way out." He looks around, there must be a way.
"Wait, I cannot wait here…" She tries to stop him. He can't just leave her alone!
He doesn't listen to her as he stands up. "I'll be right back."
"Wait! Richard!" She grabs him by the wrist.
Richard kneels once again and gives her one of his machine guns. "Just take this."
"What?"
Richard stands up and leaves her, taking a turn at the next shelf.
Kory starts panting while holding the heavy machine gun in her hands. She looks down, no, she can't do it. She continues panting, struggling to breathe. She suddenly hears distant gunfire. She gasps, clinging to the machine gun for dear life. More gunfire but coming from the opposite direction. She gasps once again. She gets up. More gunfire and incoherent shouts.
"Richard?" She whispers. She whimpers softly. She slowly raises the machine gun, pointing ahead. "Richard?"
From behind her and without making any noise, Richard approaches her. "Kory…"
She freaks out as she screams and turns around firing her machine gun out of control. Richard ducks. "Kory! Kory!" She continues firing in every direction while screaming. "Kory! Kory!"
The agents around the warehouse trade glances. What is going on?
Kory continues shooting in all directions, not being able to take her finger from the trigger. "Kory!"
He scrambles and throws himself at her taking hold of the machine gun. The gunfire ceases.
"Please, stop saying my name…" she says out of breath. "You keep saying my name, and it is freaking me out." Actual tears coming from her eyes.
"Okay" he nods. "I understand."
"Okay."
He takes out a small bottle and gives it to her. "Here, drink this."
"What is it?"
"Its brotine-zero. They're gonna smoke us with D-5."
"Yeah?" She doesn't think it through, and she drinks the whole bottle. Richard looks around, they don't have much time. She finishes the bottle and looks at him, still panting. "Where is yours?" He doesn't answer. She understands that look. "Oh, shit."
"I'm sorry."
"Oh, no." She collapses as he grabs her before she hits the ground.
"They're coming."
All around them the agents descend surrounding them, their guns raised.
The last thing Kory can see is an agent pointing at her before her eyes close.
Kory moans softly as she tiredly opens her eyes. It's a dark room around her. In front of her is Richard, bare-chested, hanging upside down from the ceiling, his hands tied back. A few scars on his chest, meaning he was tortured.
"Kory…" He whispers.
She doesn't answer, her head hurting badly.
"I know this looks bad... but we'll be out of here… in a couple of minutes. I got this."
She once again closes her eyes, not before hearing the sound of chains hitting the floor.
A guard drops dead right in front of her. Richard kneels in front of her. "We gotta go, Kory." He looks around. "Here, I'll help you."
Kory closes her eyes.
She opens her eyes, goggles over them as she hears multiple alarms beeping, and the whole place seems to be shaking out of control. Her head falls to the side, nearly hanging from the edge of what appears to be a chopper. Right in front of her is Richard piloting the chopper, goggles also over his eyes.
He gets up from his seat and approaches her. "We've been hit!" He yells. "It's okay. We get through this, we're home free!" He grabs her. "Ready! Set! Go!"
Kory watches as they suddenly begin to fall, the earth turning around her, then only water around.
She closes her eyes.
She opens her eyes. Water still, but they seem to be moving at great speed. She looks in front, where Richard is suddenly driving a motorboat. His gaze on his cellphone as he is searching for a specific location. He turns to her and smiles. He is wearing a white shirt with shades over his eyes. Clearly a contrast from how she had seen him last.
"We're almost there" he smiles.
Kory closes her eyes.
The wind blowing in the distance, the sound of waves sloshing gently to the coast. Kory opens her eyes, a single ray of sun hitting her in the face, everything is calm. She looks up, palm trees below the blue sky. She moans softly as she stirs up, that was a good sleep. She pans her gaze to the side, she is also below a tent. She becomes a bit wary and gets up from a hammock.
In front of her, a few feet away, is a shirtless Richard getting out of the water, his hair soaked, and walking onto the beach. He is holding what appears to be a self-made fishing rod and a pair of fish.
He smiles at her. "Hey there, sleepy head."
She looks around, the tent appears to be some sort of refugee with tables, maps and different electronic devices.
Richard leaves the pair of fish on a table outside of the tent.
"How long have I been out?" Kory wonders.
"Eighteen hours, give or take."
Kory once again looks around, confused. "Where am I?" It appears to be a tropical beach. He then looks down, for the first time noticing she is wearing a red bikini. How? She doesn't remember ever putting it on.
"My place" he smiles. He grabs a machete from the ground. "We're off grid; no one's going to find us here. Shame we can't stay longer, we gotta rendezvous with Victor, he's fine." He walks to a table where a coconut is and cuts it in half with his machete. "I figured up his code." He chuckles. "He is crazy about trains…"
Kory walks up to him looking offended, and maybe rightfully so.
Richard doesn't realize. "He used the passport I gave him and flew to Austria."
"You drugged me again, Richard."
He looks at her. "Yeah."
"You cannot do that."
"You weren't copying well." He walks to the fish, grabs them and places them on the same table where he cut the coconut. "I'm not sure if you were awake, they would have let you live." He again grabs the machete and cuts their head.
"What am I wearing?" She now shoots.
Richard again looks at her, a bit of blush on his face. He doesn't know how to answer.
"Huh?"
He looks to the side, trying to come up with a response. "A bikini, we're on the tropics" he whispers as if it were something obvious.
"How did I get in the bikini?" She crosses her arms.
He again makes silence as he thinks how he wants to answer this. He looks to the side. "Kory, I… I've been trained to dismantle a bomb in the pitch black, with nothing but a pin and a junior mint. I think I can get you out of some clothes without…" He pauses. "…looking."
Kory narrows her eyes at him.
He grins. "I'm not saying that's what I did, but…"
She throws a punch at him, that out of reflexes, he catches her. "Okay." He raises his other hand and lets her go. "Sorry, reflexes. I deserved that; hit me again." He motions to his face and closes his eyes. She is angry.
Kory turns around and walks away.
"Kory?"
She walks to the tent and grabs her shirt and bag and continues into the jungle.
"Kory?" He doesn't even chase her.
"Pin and a junior mint…" she repeats as she travels across the jungle, moving the branches out of the way, clearly not happy. She continues. "Not saying, that is what I did" she mocks making a silly voice.
A couple of minutes later, she stops, feeling a bit tired. Hopefully she had made it far, far away from him.
Suddenly she hears the ringtone of a phone. She scrambles to her bag and takes it out.
"Is this it?"
Movement alert is shown in red letters. It then changes to a satellite image showing a location on the west coast near Jump City.
"Movement alert?"
The satellite zooms in to a suburban house, the address below it, where an old man is busy cleaning a black car outside on the street.
"That is a 67 Grand Prix."
She then hears another ringtone. She looks into the bag, taking out her very own cellphone.
"I thought we were supposed to be out the grid."
Komi she reads on the screen, eighty-eight missing calls. She presses answer.
"Komi? Komi?" She beams a smile. "I know... no, I am okay... I am okay, listen, Komi… Komi…" She begins losing the signal. "Komi, do you hear me? Komi!" She raises her phone trying to get a signal while she keeps walking.
She then freezes at what she has in front, more ocean. It's an island. This son of a bitch. The phone call ends.
Kory's phone call is being listened by two men in a dark room, to the side is a computer screen closing in on an island.
"What ais this Grayson lad doing?" One of them speaks in a British accent. "Who ais the girl?" He looks old with red hair and buck teeth.
"We don't know, Mod. We traced the phone to the Azores. We are on range now."
"Bloody get to them before the agency."
Kory comes back to the camp, where Richard has put on a shirt and is still cutting coconuts. He turns to her.
"Perfect timing." He motions to the table. "Launch is ready." Kory walks to the table. "You must be thirsty." He offers her a coconut. "Loaded with electrolytes."
She fakes a smile and takes it. Then in a quick move she reaches for his wrist, while with one leg she circles it around one of his, trying to get him to the ground, however, he easily gets out of the move, almost sending her to the ground without even spilling his drink.
He raises a hand. "Whoa, okay."
She throws a kick sending his coconut flying. She then throws a punch that he easily dodges. He again raises his hands. Kory gets on a fighting stance.
"Okay, whoa."
She again throws a fist, but he moves to the side.
"Yeah?"
Another punch, followed by another dodge. The frustration being visible on her face.
"Hey, you got skills."
Another punch, but this time he catches her fist and turns her around, forcing her back against his chest, with one hand holding both wrists of her.
"My dad wanted boys" she admits while fighting against his grip.
"Yeah?"
"Let me go."
"You can get out anytime you want, let me teach you how." She stops fighting and decides to listen to him. "Hands like Houdini, turn your palms down, and all at once, throw your hands to the ground, and your hip back."
Kory obeys, as in a quick move she tries it and gets out of his grasp and falls to the sand.
"Nice."
She smiles, feeling proud of herself.
"That was good."
He offers her his hand to help her out. She takes it, but before he can, she pulls him down with her to the sand and rolls him to the side, positioning herself on top. However, he quickly rolls her to the side, positioning him on top as they roll through the sand. Both laugh at their childishness. She giggles, and he smiles back. Silence as they look at each other.
She gazes at his blue eyes, a dreamy look on her face, however, a question still present in her mind. "Who are you? Really."
Richard doesn't answer, he just looks down at her green eyes, she is so beautiful. Slowly, he starts leaning down. Kory closes her eyes and leans up.
Just before their lips can meet, they hear the engine of a plane in the distance. They both break apart as they look in that direction. A jet approaches the island, flying right over them.
"I don't understand" Richard says still looking at it.
The jet then takes a turn going straight in their direction.
Richard widens his eyes. "Follow me." He quickly gets up, grabs her by the hand as they run the opposite way. The jet starts firing missiles at them, leaving a trail of fire behind them. Kory screams as they run. They pass right next to the table, where she grabs her bag and continues running. The jet sends a missile to the tent, destroying it completely. Richard and Kory jump into the water, taking cover of the explosion.
Once they get out of the water, Richard looks at the tent. "I don't understand, I came up clean." He turns to Kory, and they swim the opposite way.
They quickly run through the jungle; their hands still intertwined. "My phone is secure, its secure" he talks to himself trying to find his mistake. "Unless you made a call, and you didn't make a call..."
"No, I didn't make a call!" She stops. "I… I took a call."
Richard stops and turns to her, his eyes wide. "You took a call."
"It was a quick one."
"You…" He suddenly is interrupted as the jet once again flies over them. They get back to running.
"I thought you said we were off the grid and then the phone rang!"
"It's okay."
"And it was my sister, and it was just... I had to take the call!" Missiles still going off behind them. "I did not want her to worry."
They reach a big brown bush. Richard takes the cover off, revealing a small emergency chopper; it doesn't look very safe. He opens the door.
"No, no, no, I… I… I cannot get into that, I cannot get into that thing, I... I cannot get into that." Another explosion goes off near them, forcing Kory to duck.
"Kory…"
"Richard… just please, knock me up, use broton-seven or whatever."
He closes his eyes; he also doesn't want to do it. He walks to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Okay."
"You're grabbing my neck."
"You asked me not to drug you."
"Okay, good."
He applies pressure on her neck, instantly knocking her unconscious as she falls to the side, him catching her before she hits the floor. He looks around. Now how the hell is he going to get them out of here? More explosions continue going off around them.