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"Maksim." she croaked, recognizing him despite still being unable to fully see him.
"You okay?" He asked, concerned as she pushed herself to her feet, pushing his hand away.
She laughed slightly, upset with herself for coming so close to losing. "You shouldn't have interfered." She said, pride speaking now.
"I should have let her take you?" He snorted. "Get over it Meghan, I knew you wouldn't have let her beat you but we didn't have time for you to be playing games."
She sighed and looked up, her vision cleared. "Did you get the scroll?"
"Yes.”
"Good, then we'll begin the reading tonight. Take the hybrid to Logan, I'll join you when I can."
~*~*~
IT WAS A MISPLACED noise that woke Julie, after spending a week in the compound she knew what belonged and what didn't. This sound did NOT belong. Eyes closed she listened. She knew that Logan was in the lab, his little test tubes tinkled as they touched each other. This sound had come from the kitchen, the same room where she'd fallen asleep, arms folded below her head for a pillow, resting on the counter.
There it was again, just the slightest hint of a footfall, closer this time almost right next to her. Warmth spread above her as someone lent towards her body, she could feel eyes searching her for the slightest hint of movement. Her breathing remained even and as she felt an accidental brush of fingers on her arm she pounced.
Maksim was on the floor before he knew what hit him, Julie's thumb pressed into an artery in his neck. She was good, he'd been sure she was sleeping! But no, she'd waited until the betraying touch of skin on skin to know his exact position, then floored him like a pro.
He'd read what little was known about her after his brief glimpse last visit; to his horror Meghan had said they were just alike. Loners, the best at what they do, both consummate warriors. Most importantly though, the real parallel, they were loyal to the death and fiercely protective. She would die to protect Logan. She’d been sleeping between Logan and all doors to the lab; he would have done the exact same thing for Meghan. At that moment he had a respect for Julie that he knew would never break.
"Three questions, if I don't like the answers you'll die. How did you get into the building? What are you doing here? And who are you? Answer in that order please."
He listened to her hushed tone; let it wash over him, a voice that was interesting due to its distinct lack of accent. Her black eyes regarded him in a disturbingly detached way, a woman with no emotion in her eyes trained to kill when she had to and not care, he'd never met someone so much like himself. He shouldn't let her get the upper hand on him though, it would be dishonest, and in a moment their position was reversed.
"Three answers in the required order. I entered though a time window, I need to give Logan the final ingredient for the antidote and I am Maksim, best friend to Meghan, a warrior like yourself. I'm not inclined to following orders but you managed to drop me so I thought I'd allow you the privilege."
After a look of understanding passed between them, he stood and extended his hand. She smiled as she accepted it.
"Hello Maksim, I'm Julie. Once you've given Logan his special plant and fed him the required news from Meghan would you teach me how to do that flip? I've never seen it done by anyone and I've fought a lot of people."
"It's nice to meet you face to face Julie. Yes, I'll teach you that and more if we have the time."
In the lab, Logan raised his head from the microscope to and looked upon the two most unlikely allies he’d ever seen, Maksim and Julie. He stood up and his eyes strayed to see beyond the big man standing in the doorway.
“Where’s Meghan? Didn’t she come back with you?” he asked anxiously. Maksim entered further into the room.
“No, she could not come. The war between the Tracers and Immortals has escalated. We were sold out by one of our own. Meghan had to stay behind to deal with the matter. She me ahead to bring you the missing ingredient you need to perfect the antidote and to take you back with me when it is ready.”
Logan nodded and held out his hand for the Hybrid. He put it on the table and started to put on his jacket.
“Maks frowned and asked, “Where are you going?”
He’d expected Logan to start working on the antidote right away, not go somewhere.
“Jules and I have to visit the morgue,” answered Logan.
“NO! You cannot visit this morgue!” exclaimed Maksim. “You must work on incorporating the Hybrid into the antidote formula.”
Julie laid her hand on Maksim’s arm to gain his attention.
“Maks, if Logan’s to disappear, I need me to help me steal a body from the morgue. You see, right after Logan and you go through the time-window, this whole house is going to explode. The body from the morgue will be found in the rubble and everyone will think it is Logan.”
Maksim nodded, he understood exactly what she wanted to do, so he proposed a compromise.
“I will go to this morgue and help Julie. You will stay here and work on the antidote.” Logan looked at Julie to see if she agreed. She nodded and Logan took his coat off and sat back down to work on the antidote.
Meghan marched toward her office. As she passed, she ordered a couple of soldiers to tell the remaining Captains and Lieutenants to meet her there. She also sent a couple of soldiers to the holding cells and fetch up Lieutenant Cynthia Davis.
The Captains and Lieutenants gathered inside Meghan’s office and listened as she told of Cynthia’s betrayal. She asked them what they thought should be done and listened as the offered their opinion.
One angry Lieutenant said, “We should chop her head off and stick it on a pike in warning to others of our kind who think to betray us!”
Another said, “I don’t know what we can do. We can’t let her go free, she’ll just betray us again and we can’t send her through a time-window because she’ll use her mental powers against the humans.”
They debated what to do until Meghan raised her hand all fell silent.
“I have a solution,” she said as she looked at each one of them in turn. “I have in my possession the Scroll of Reversal. We can remove her powers and send her to an earlier time. Then destroy the window of that timeline, so that she could never return.”
The silence in the room was thunderous, the Captains and the Lieutenants were in shock. They knew that to remove an immortals power was tantamount to death.
Meghan stood and said, “We must all agree to this. Once it is done, it cannot be undone.” She took pieces of paper from her desk and passed them around.
“Write your answer, yes or no.”
Everyone in the room wrote their answer and put the paper on the desk. Meghan read each one. She motioned to the soldier standing at the door to bring in the prisoner. Cynthia stood head held high in the center of the room. Meghan came out from behind her desk and stood in front of her.
“Lieutenant Cynthia Davis, you are charged with the Act of Treason. How do you plead?”
“How do I plead?” asked Cynthia in an amused voice. “Well, not guilty, of course. What did you think I would say? That I did it? I’m not stupid you know. There’s nothing you can do to me,” she said s she laughed in there faces.
Meghan took a step back and retrieved the Scroll of Reversal. The Captains and Lieutenants in the room stood at attention and waited for their leader to pronounce sentence.
“Cynthia Davis you are hereby stripped of rank to that of civilian and this Tribunal sentences you to the removal of your powers. After which you will be sent through the time-widow to the year 1137 to live out your life as any human, but one who cannot die,” said Meghan in an expressionless voice.
Cynthia’s laughter died as the words removal of your powers registered in her mind. She gasped and yelled, “No, you can’t do this. You can’t take away my powers. How will I survive?”
“You will survive just as well as any mortal. This tribunal is closed. Take her to the designated time-window, I will join you in a few moments.”
The soldiers dragged Cynthia away kicking and screaming. She tried biting one of them, but all she got for her trouble was a cuff upside the head.
As soon as the door closed Meghan sat down and cried.
"Maks, before we go to the morgue I'd like to make a quick stop-off at a hardware store, I need to grab some stuff just in case I have a failure with the automated Mercury explosives. Incidentally do you know how to drive?"
"Yes, it's a skill that all trainees are required to master, do you mind if I do? I like to remain sharp and well, quite frankly speed is fun."
Julie threw a set of keys across the hood of Logan's 'Mercury issue' sports car. She was of the opinion Logan chose this particular little bullet as opposed to having it assigned to him. The two of them were underway in no time.
To Julie's obvious delight, Maksim drove like she rode, hard and fast, it was mere minutes before they reached a hardware store. While Maks stayed with the car she sweet-talked the manager into staying open a little longer than normal.
'I'll bet he wishes he worked on commission' was Maks comment when he saw her 'few items.’ Jules just laughed and threw her bags behind the seats. Maks was about to turn the key when Julie was grabbed from behind.
"You are under arrest for impersonating a Federal Agent. You have the right to remain silent..."
Maks moved to grab his weapon, but Jules quickly shook her head. He hesitated, not sure what was going on or why Julie was just letting the man arrest her. She seemed completely calm, as though strangers’ routinely cuffed her while drawing the attention of the whole world.
"Hello Ryan, I hope you don't mind, but I choose to wave my right to remain silent." Turning to Maksim she gave swift instructions. "Don't bother with what you're thinking, it's a bad idea, and will just get you busted too. Take the bags back to the compound; you'll have to buzz Log... I mean Mr. Antidote to let you in. I'll call you when I'm done downtown, it won't take me long. Tonight is still going ahead."
"Are you sure? It would be easier to just..."
"I assure you, he'll arrest you too if you don't leave now, we'll be screwed if that happens."
Both men raised their eyebrows at her language, it seemed out of character. She grinned and winked at Maksim, he protested again but was cut off by Ryan's steely tone.
"If you're both quite finished we should probably be on our way. Shouldn't we, Miss Julie Laurence?"
If she hadn't been so well trained Julie would have fainted.
To Ryan’s shock, Julie just laughed. He was so sure she would faint.
“My name is not Julie Laurence. You have got the wrong person.”
“Whatever. I know you are Julie Laurence. And I am taking you in.”
He took her to his car and shoved her in the backseat. She turned around and shouted at Maksim to go ahead and pick up the last item and she’d meet him at compound. Ryan wondered what that was and he was sure it wouldn’t be something good. As Ryan drove, he looked into the rearview mirror and admired her profile.
“You are quiet.”
“What is there to say?”
“Probably because you are busted, Julie, or should I say, an international terrorist?”
Julie laugh, “A terrorist? Me? Ryan, get real, you need to have your head exam. My name is Lizzy, not Julie. And if memory serve me correctly, Julie Laurence die 4 years ago.”
“You look like her, your profile’s like her.”
“Have you heard of cloning? I knew her before she died. We trained together in the FBI. She was one of the best and I feel bad that she’s dead. Shot to death.”
“Shot to death? From thigh?”
“She was shot in the thigh and died from loss of blood. The man who shot her killed himself. And nobody noticed it until it was too late.”
‘She’s good, little too good,’ thought Ryan. It almost like she was reading a script. Ryan knew in it his bones that she was Julie Laurence. He also knew that she would be out tonight, free, if he didn’t have solid evidence to keep her in jail. Moments later, a plan formed in Ryan’s head and he smiled.
Meghan mopped up her tears and joined her fellow officers at the time-window. She looked at Cynthia who stood calm and defiant. Meghan glanced at each Captain and lieutenant. Each of them nodded their consent to start reading the scroll.
Meghan unrolled the scroll and translated, “Immortality you have and power we remove. Immortal you are and immortal you will always be. Cynthia Davis, we hereby decree that you are now powerless to hurt others for your own gain.”
As soon as the last word was heard a mist lifted from Cynthia. Her demeanor changed from a tall, strong woman, to that of a pale feeble one. The soldiers at her side activated the time-window, which lead to the year 1137 and pushed her through it. All that was heard was Cynthia’s scream as she disappeared. Meghan ordered the time-window destroyed, turned and went back to her office to wait for Maksim and Logan.
Ryan pushed Julie through the doors of the precinct.
The desk Sergeant lifted his head, “What we got?”
Ryan smiled and said, “Book her for soliciting.”
“Soliciting, huh. Ok Detective. This way, sweetheart.”
The Sergeant took Julie’s arm and pulled her to the back of the room. He placed her against the wall and nodded to the photographer.
The photographer sneered at her, “Smile babe, we want a pretty picture, don’t we?” Julie turned her eyes on him and glared. The young man’s smile disappeared under that glare because if he wasn’t mistaken that glare promised retribution. The photos taken, the Sergeant then took her fingerprints and put her in a holding cell.
As the cell doors clanged shut, Julie turned and asked, “What about my phone call?” The Sergeant squirmed and hedged, “You’ll get your call in a little while. We have to process you through the computer first.”
Julie fixed her cool gaze at him and stated, “You’re lying. I’m suppose to get my phone call as soon as my fingerprints are taken.”
“The Sergeant bent his head toward her and whispered, “I’m sorry ma’am but detective Harrison told me that I wasn’t to let you make any phone calls until he gave the order.”
"Well did he now? I thought that corruption had been eliminated in this branch of the N.O.P.D. If it's not to much trouble I'll have your badge number and full name."
"Come on lady don't play nasty."
"Why not? I have every right!"
"I'll get suspended without pay, I've got kids to feed."
"Alright then, do me a favor and I'll let it drop. I want to be processed as Elizabeth Jayne Simpson, it's my name I don't care what Harrison says."
"Umm, do you have papers?"
"Check the F.B.I. database, it's all there."
~*~*~
AS FAR AS HOLDING CELLS went, Julie was impressed, then again she'd been in some disgusting places. The smell wasn't too bad and touching things probably wouldn't result in an instant fungal infection.
"I'm Trish, it's nice to meet you. So what are you in for?" Julie turned to face the smiling young woman in the adjacent cell.
"Apparently I'm a prostitute. It's a lie though, I rejected a detective's advances and it bugged him. Yourself?"
"Well, I actually am a prostitute." She paused as if considering her next statement. "You don't remember me do you?"
"Should I?" Julie was confused, desperately attempting to fit a name to the pretty face. Leon had said having too many covers would catch up with her eventually.
"I was one of Billy's girls back in Texas!" Texas? Julie's mind reeled she'd never worked in Texas. Europe was her stomping ground.
"I tell you he was livid when you went missing. Sent search parties out, the full works.
Gave up eventually and accepted that you were dead, still thinks you are. I don't blame you for leaving though, he was telling you to do really suicidal jobs wasn't he?" Trish continued in a constant stream of memories, telling Julie about a woman she'd never heard of or ever used as a cover.
"I remember him talking about you on the phone once, what was it he said? 'The fact she's more than fantastic at her job makes up for the fact I can't get my hands on her. Yes sir, that Mel Collins is more than a pretty face!' He really respected you."
She knew that it was dangerous but Julie felt compelled to learn more, a disgusting habit that saved her life all the time. Imagine an exact physical match who was missing, presumed dead? 100% foolproof, instant cover that only she knew about! What an interesting possibility.
"So is Billy still in the business?"
"THE business! Our Billy is into everything now, drugs, weapons, loans, and protection money, just to name a few 'industries' as he calls them. Here comes Detective Harrison, it looks like you're going to be dragged away again." She sounded so disappointed Julie almost wished she were Mel, with shared memories and friendships to enjoy.
"Enjoying yourself Julie?"
Just the sound of Ryan's smooth voice created a reaction in her she'd had to deny. The resulting anger mingled with lust left her just about ready leap on him and rip his clothes off or wring his neck.
Just as she was about to answer the Sergeant came in, “Detective, there’s a phone call for you on line 2.”
“Who is it?” he asked, his eyes fixed on Julie.
“It’s an Agent Gaspard, Sir, the director of the F. B. I.”
Ryan eyes turned cold and he scowled. He turned and followed the Sergeant out.
“Wow, are you and Agent?” asked Trish. “Boy is Billy ever gonna flip when he hears this!”
Thinking quickly, Julie gazed over at Trish and smiled slyly, “An Agent! Get real. I was in a Federal prison. I got out last week. They let me change my name to Elizabeth. It sounds so much more feminine than Mel, don’t you think?”
After a moments pause, Trish launched right back into reminiscing. Getting a word in edgewise would have been hard if Julie had even wanted to, as things were an occasional nod of the head held up her end of the conversation.
Something nagged at her, Gaspard had phoned Ryan. But Gaspard didn't know she'd been arrested, Maks and Logan wouldn't have told him. If he wasn’t calling to get her out of jail, why had he phoned?
In less than a second the answer came to her, it was awful but strangely believable. He'd been supplying Ryan with false or incomplete information, sending things that led Ryan to the conclusion she was a terrorist.
But why would he do that?
Death was a serious possibility, if any of her past associates found out who she was, they would be lining up for a shot at her. What was Gaspard's angle, one moment professing to love her and the next attempting to have her killed?
The only way to undo the damage he'd done would be to explain herself completely to Ryan. To open up to a man she didn't want to get involved with. No matter how she worked it, that was the only way.
She'd tell him what Mercury really was and why she needed to be non-existent to function properly. After all the lies and half-truths, he probably wouldn't believe her, it was a risk she'd have to take. If after hearing her story he still didn't let her go, only then would she escape and get back to the compound.
Tonight was too important for her to let Ryan screw it up. An entire race's survival depended on Logan getting away and destroying all traces of what he'd been working on. A plan began to form in her mind. She'd call Leon as soon as she got to a phone, tell him about Gaspard's latest trick, and then ask him to meet her outside the compound before it blew. They'd make sure the explosion went off perfectly then she'd let Leon take her to the airport, France was beautiful this time of year. When Mercury was calm again she'd introduce herself to the new leader, get an assignment then get back to work.
It felt good to have a plan again; the future wasn't something she considered to often. Hey, maybe after the holiday, Leon would let her recruit a new partner. Without Logan things were going to be hard, and honestly, sometimes working alone wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
Maks got back to the compound and immediately informed Logan of Julie's arrest.
"Damn! I knew she couldn't handle that Harrison character on her own. I need to call Leon," said Logan as he stormed into the kitchen and grabbed the phone.
"Talk to me," said Leon.
"She's been arrested. Get her out and here on the double," raged Logan.
"Ok, Logan. Calm down, I'm on it. She'll be there in half an hour," replied Leon.
He hung up the phone, grabbed his false identity papers and headed to the precinct.
"If you don't mind could we talk in your office instead of the interview room? I want to speak with you in private to explain everything. Just us, no hidden cameras and detectives behind the glass," Julie's voice was softly lilting, stripped of the bold New York accent she'd hated using from day one.
He was quiet as he considered her request, attempting to pinpoint what, apart from the accent, was different about the woman before him. Dark hair now framed her features, she'd un-done it while he'd been on the phone with 'Agent Gaspard', (a man so obviously not F.B.I. that he'd been hung up on in less than a minute).
There something about her, she was getting under his skin. When she used her real voice again he knew what it was. It didn't matter what name was attached, the woman before him was stripped of all covers, and she was real!
~*~*~
HIS OFFICE WASN'T AS tidy as she remembered; evidently Ryan had been a tad distracted lately. Julie drew strength from that fact; she walked straight to a seat and waited for Ryan to sit opposite her. What she was doing was necessary, whether he believed her or not was beyond her control.
"Well then Julie, start at the beginning and keep going until the end, don't forget to tell me everything about Mercury. I'll be promoted through the roof when your little group is busted."
"I don't understand why you think the worst of me, I've never done anything to justify the way you think about me." She sounded wounded but what worried Ryan was that she didn't try to change his mind, like she'd given up.
"In the beginning I was happy. I had a family and friends who loved me, at least that's what I was told as I grew up because I can't remember any of it. I grew up all over Europe, placed with countless families until I was sent to a state boarding school..." "Ok, very funny, just get to the stuff I really want to know." He said. Julie raised an eyebrow.
"What's your real name?"
"Elizabeth Jayne Simpson."
Both spun towards the door, neither had heard the older man enter the room. Ryan's eyes snapped to Julie, she looked decidedly uncomfortable, like a teenager.
"You're going to yell at me aren't you?" she said in French. Ryan kept impassive so she wouldn't realize he understood.
"I'm going to do worse than that E-liza-beth," The syllables were emphasized sarcastically. "After I yell a lot while we set up for tonight, you're going to be treated to 'at least' two months of basic cover retention training. I'm also going to put you into psych. You need to talk to someone about what happened four years ago it's killing you. Now get your gear, strap it all back on and don't for god's sake break any more rules. You never should have been left to deal with Harrison on your own, I'll kill Gaspard for doing this to you."
~*~*~
MEGHAN, DESPITE HER I'm-a-woman-hear-me-roar facade, was weakening. Not only did she need Maksim to take over her control but she also needed Logan to calm her down. She hadn't slept in 36 hours and she was afraid that that fact would begin to show in her command. There was very little left for her to do before she returned to the 21st century and she was eager to leave.
She felt that they had dealt with Cynthia admirably, done their duty to both her and their people; they had located the mole and had been working on cleaning up his mess for the past five hours. Unfortunately, his mess was large and he refused to talk.
His mind appeared blocked to all their attempts at infiltrating it and Meghan feared that another incantation would have to be performed. She shook her head, wondering what had become of them, how her people had managed to come to such a state of disrepair. It scared her the amount of trust that had been lost, faith long gone. How could that ever be made right again?
Her sergeant entered the room. Both disregarded the formalities of greeting, things too urgent and far too inappropriate to be afforded.
"He refuses to talk, his mind can't be filtrated. If we can't get him to speak we stand the chance of losing hundreds more of our people to the Tracers. The militia is already beginning to panic, they need to know what to do."
"Is he still coherent of the situation he's in?"
"Yes, he knows exactly what he's done and the consequences to both us and him. He just won't talk."
"Then we must get it out of him."
"How?"
"Incantation number 2," she said bitterly, hating that she was being made to abuse such ancient scripts on her own people, people who were ancestors to those who had written them so many years before.
"Excuse me?" the sergeant didn't understand.
"We invoke the spirit of truth in him, make him speak."
"Why didn't we do this sooner?"
"Because it's a process that drains a person completely, makes them weak until they can't even stand. And even as they writher on the floor they still answer every question that's asked of them."
"Will he survive?"
"That depends on his constitution, or on how quickly he speaks."
Meghan hated that she was being forced to do this. But she was the leader of her people, and if the incantation meant saving them all then the choice was inevitable. She knew that.
"Then we'll follow you in this decision, there isn't anything else to do."
"Bring him to me, and I'll speak it here."
Minutes later, they stood in the room, a minimum amount of people as was possible because Meghan understood that seeing such a ritual performed was disturbing and she refused to expose them to it.
As their mole sat before her, his eyes strong and his jaw set, Meghan hated herself for what she was about to do, because behind his appearance she saw the fear.
She set her shoulders and spoke the words she had been instructed to speak by heart when she had accepted the role as leader.
"To thy mind and for thy soul, I ask solely for truth in replacement of hate, speak thy words or damned be thee to eternal silence."
A shallow mist seemed to descend and circle them, it's source as determinable as their mole. And as her own spirit invaded her she prayed that he might speak as soon as she spoke, for she doubted she would be able to live with herself if she drained his life completely.
She became impartial questioner, devoid of all emotion, "Which outpost did you betray to the Tracers?"
He didn't speak, and those around them, saw vitality drain from his face.
Meghan's spirit spoke again, "Why did you betray us?"
"You think of outposts!"
He spoke as he slid form his chair, an attendee ran to him, mopped his brow with a damp cloth and lifted him back to the chair, holding his shoulders in the hope that he would hold strong.
"I did not give them outposts, I gave them the very center of what they want. I gave them you."
A gasp arose around them, the full implications of what he had said sinking in. If he had given them Meghan then the Tracers had the heart of the whole race. Would they were to come for her they would find information to the hiding places of their people.
Meghan, in her trance, merely overlooked this moving on to the next question.
"When do they come?"
"Tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that. Who knows, I merely told them what they wanted to know."
"Tell me when they come!" the questioner roared, the room seemed to shake.
"Today, they come today." Light infiltrated the room, and the spell seemed to break, the mole slid to the floor at the very moment that Meghan fell herself.
And as she drifted into unconsciousness she spoke to the sergeant, "Get me Maksim - we can't do this without him. And don't let him die."
They all knew she was referring to the mole and because they were not accustomed to causing death they did as she bade them.
Leon turned his gaze away from Julie and fixed it on Ryan.
“Here are her papers,” he said as he through them on Ryan’s desk, “ and here’s a document releasing her into my custody, signed by your Governor.”
Ryan picked up the document and read it. He fumed inside. He’d thought he’d have enough time before letting her go.
Ryan cleared his throat, “It looks in order, but one question, who are you?”
Leon raised an eyebrow, “I’m this ones,” he pointed to Julie, “Uncle.”
He turned back to Julie, “Get your things and lets go.”
Julie got up and headed for the door. She turned back and said, “It’s been a pleasure Detective.”
Ryan looked at her and replied, “I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
Ryan watched as they walked out the door, stopped at the sergeant’s desk and retrieved Julie’s personal items. He watched as they went out into the night, then grabbed his jacket and followed them.
Julie got in the passenger side of the car and Leon pulled away from the curb.
“Pass me your cell I need to call Logan,” she said.
“Where’s your cell?” asked Leon as he gave it to her.
“Maksim’s got it, “ she replied while punching in the numbers.
“It’s me. Were you able to get the body?” she asked.
“No, I was not. There were to many people around,” came the reply.
“All right, sit tight. I’m on my way back. I’ll make another call and take care of it,” she said and hung up.
She punched in another set of numbers and listened until the other end picked up.
“Spider sweetie, it’s Liz. I want you to do somethin' for me.”
“Yeah, what?”
“Go to the county morgue and steal a body under the name Frank Carter. Bring it to 642 Hightower Street in the country and I want it yesterday,” ordered Julie.
“It’s gonna cost ya,” replied Spider.
“Haven’t I always paid you for a job well done?”
“Yeah, you have. All right I’ll get on it right away,” promised Spider and hung up.
Julie gave the cell back to Leon, “Well, that’s done. Can’t you go a little faster?” Ryan followed out to the country. He closed his headlights so they wouldn’t know they were being followed. He hung back as they turned into the driveway of and estate. He checked the address and called in, “Who lives at ‘642 Hightower.’”
“Nobody, the place is abandoned,” replied dispatched.
“Ok, thanks.”
Ryan parked out of sight and got out of his car. He stealthily made his way across the compound and up to the windows.
Inside he saw Julie, her supposedly uncle and two men. His eyes widened slightly as he recognized the two men. One was the same man he’d seen Julie meet in the square some weeks ago and the other was the man who’d been with Julie when he’d arrested her tonight. What was going on? What were they doing here?
Suddenly, the man who’d been with Julie turned his head and looked out the window. Ryan quickly stooped down out of sight. He raised his head and peered into the room. The man was still looking out the window with a puzzled frown.
Julie noticed, “What wrong Maks?”
Maksim shook his head, “I do not know. I just have this feeling we are being watched.”
Julie turned her gaze to the window. She peered out and for a moment thought she saw the shadow of a man. She blinked and the shadow was gone.
"There's nobody there. We're all on edge. I wish Spider would hurry up, I hate waiting," said Julie.
Suddenly headlights came up the driveway and Maksim's wrist communicator beeped.
Maks punched a button on his wrist, "Yes, what is it?"
"Sir, Commander O'Leary told me to call. You must get back right away. The Tracers are coming and Commander O'Leary is unconscious," replied a faint voice.
"What do you mean unconscious? Everything was calm when I left, what in the hell has happened?" shouted Maksim.
"What's wrong, what's happened to Meghan?" Logan insisted as soon as the call was terminated, sensing that it was Meghan who was being discussed.
"I don't know." Maksim bit out, the words sharp and edgy.
"Tell me!" Logan demanded, ready to push Maksim to the floor if he had to, Julie stepped before him just in time to hold him back.
"I don't know! I really don't know." Maksim replied almost as forcefully, worry shadowing his voice. "What I do know is that my people are under attack. I can't stay here."
"If Meghan's in trouble then I'm coming with you." Logan stated ready and willing to step right out of it all in order to see Meghan safe again.
"Is the antidote finished?"
"Nearly, how long can you wait?"
"I can't..." He looked at Logan then, saw the sheer worry and panic in his eyes and relented a little, "an hour, you have an hour to make it all complete. I can't leave Meghan there any longer."
"You won't have to." Logan spun on his heel and made his way to the test tubes, determined to have things finished before the hour was up. The quicker he did that the quicker he would get to Meghan.
"Jules it seems we've our own work cut out for us." Leon announced as Maksim prepared a tabled area and took out a large map from his pocket.
"We need the body before we can do anything." She stated and went to join Maksim eager to know what he was doing, always ready to learn something new.
~*~*~
RYAN WATCHED IT ALL from outside the compound. He watched Julie lean over the man she had brought to the station with her, and ignored the flare of jealousy that seemed to rage through him. He watched as Logan separated himself from the group and poured over what appeared to be a microscope.
He watched Julie's 'uncle' as he flitted between the three individuals the phone ever present next to his ear. And one thing Ryan had to admit is that he was intrigued, almost enough to blow his cover, almost.
Julie opened the door and ran to the driver side of the truck that had just stopped.
“It’s about time you got here!” she exclaimed. “I was beginning to wonder if you couldn’t pull it off.”
“Relax baby, when Spider says he’s gonna do something, he does it.”
He got out of the truck and walked to the back. He opened the double doors and pulled the body onto his shoulder.
“Where do ya want it?” he asked with a sneering smile.
“Follow me,” said Julie as she walked up the stairs and entered the house. Julie led Spider through the hallway and into the living room.
“Just put it on the couch,” she ordered.
Spider dropped the body on the couch and turned to Julie.
“Now for my money sweetheart. That’ll be $400.00 you owe me.”
“Yeah, yeah I know. Hang on a sec.”
Julie took some cash out of her back pocket and peeled off $400.00 dollars. She gave them to Spider, and then peeled off another $100.00. “This extra means, keep your mouth shut. You got that! If I hear anything remotely connected to this body, you can be sure that the next time I need a dead body, it’ll be yours I use. Are we clear?” said Julie in a dangerous voice.
Spider gulped and nodded his head. The look in Julie’s eyes promised him death if opened his mouth about what he did tonight.
“Now get out. I’ll call if I need anything again,” said Julie.
“Spider nearly ran out the door, started his truck up and sped down the driveway and back to the city.
Meghan woke and found herself lying on the sofa in her office. She was still weak, but her strength was slowly returning. As was her memory.
She shuddered as she remembered the cold way she had acted. The way the mole’s face had gone ashen every time he lied.
She sat up and rose only to fall back sitting again because she was dizzy. Her hands went to her head and she moaned.
"Work faster!"
Julie doubled her pace at Leon's impatient yell, they had wired three devices and were almost finished with the fourth. Behind their crouched figures, Maksim dragged the body into the lab; it would burn better with the chemicals.
"Do you want to clarify to me why you were telling him your real name when I walked in?"
"No! Copper wire please."
"What is the first rule of undercover work?"
"Rule one, truth is power, protect your truth to the death."
"Why did you break the rule? Stick that here."
"I don't want to discuss it, watch out for my fingers!"
"Sorry."
"I don't want to tell you."
"I love you like a daughter Jules, what's happening to you? You' seem so unhappy all the time, you're getting harder and harder to talk to. Let me help you."
"You don't really want to know!"
Julie finished the bomb and strapped it to the wall. Spinning around when Leon grabbed her shoulder.
"NO!"
"TELL ME!"
"Fine," Her voice began almost as a whisper, rising to a frightening level.
"I'll tell you what's wrong with me! Danny was right that night he shot me. I should have died there. You shouldn't have saved me! I'm sick! No one in their right mind could do what I do so well and be able to function. I AM WRONG IN THE HEAD AND I'M SICK OF EVERYTHING. I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ME ANYMORE!!!" Logan, Maks and Leon all stood staring in shock, her words echoing in the room. Behind them, Ryan slipped unseen down the hall.
Shouts from the hall brought Meghan up from her sitting position. Dizzy she grabbed the back of her chair to keep from falling. She could hear screams coming from behind her closed door. She swept up her crystal weapon, calibrated it to disintegration and slowly walked to the door.
Meghan grabbed the knob and turned it. She opened the door only enough to peer into the hall. She saw a few of her soldiers running to the stairs and opened the door wider. Her hand on the wall to help her walk she followed them outside.
“Grayson! He’s on your six!” shouted a soldier from her left.
“Got him Cap!” replied Grayson.
Meghan looked around, spotted a Tracer aiming at the soldier on her left. She raised her weapon and fired. The Tracer vanished. Meghan crouched low and made her way to the soldier.
“Chaplin, how many have breached the perimeter?”
Chaplin turned and regarded his commander, “Sir! We believe only a few have gotten through. They’re the advance guard. They were sent to take out our sentries, Sir.
“How many did they get?” asked Meghan.
“Only two, Sir. We were able to pinpoint their entry after we heard the mole’s confession,” replied Chaplin.
Ryan lay on an upstairs landing overlooking the main lounge room. He watched the woman he now knew was Julie grab an explosive then walk towards the side exit. The older man who'd said he loved her like a father caught her wrist.
"Why didn't you say anything Jules? You're so wrong about yourself."
She pulled free and headed for the door.
"Whatever, we don't have time for my mental breakdown."
"Please wait."
Calm once more she didn't pause as she walked out the door.
"I said no, Leon."
Ryan could have smacked his head against the wall; puzzle pieces fell into place left and right. That old man was Leon! He'd assumed that Leon was her boyfriend, then when he'd seen the man she called Maks he'd assumed that he was Leon. He'd been so wrong! Of course she loved Leon the man was her uncle!!! Four years ago a man called Danny had shot her. And from the way she'd taken the insults to heart, Danny had probably been her first serious boyfriend.
Now he knew why she'd backed off him, it was self-defense, the real Julie Laurence was hiding behind her covers. It hardly seemed possible but beneath everything, that beautiful woman had no self-esteem.
Ryan stood above a different part of the building; the entire second floor was built as an observation deck with bedrooms. Whatever had been going on here had been well funded; even after almost a year of being 'abandoned' it was still filled with technology he'd never seen before.
At the opposite side of the compound he saw a light come on, none of the men had walked below him, they were all still working in the lounge. It had to be Julie; curiosity drew him like a moth to a flame.
She sat in front of a keyboard staring at a huge monitor mounted on the opposite wall, her fingers flew as line after line of text appeared on the screen. He crept closer; whatever she was doing she didn't want the others to know. It seemed reason enough for him to find out what it was.
Peering closer, he read what he could see clearly, his eyes automatically shifting to a passage that contained his name. It was a letter to him!
‘...hate who I've become and need to fix it. I know that you'll be angry with me; I hope you at least understand. I wasn't prepared to feel like this about you Ryan...’ He wanted to shout out loud, she felt it too!
Finished she crossed to the wall, turned on what looked like a small television set, removed her watch and shocked the pants off him by revealing a tattoo. Holding it up to the screen she smiled with what seemed to be relief when it turned green. Walking back to the desk she muttered to herself quietly.
"Think you're so smart Gaspard don't you? I know Mercury backwards and you know nothing, freeze my password, kill my retina scan, delete the finger prints and I STILL have another way to get into the mainframe. Who's better now?"
Flipping a blue switch with her left hand she pressed a rapid succession of buttons with her right. To Ryan it appeared nothing had happened but she seemed satisfied, turning the lights, then the computer off and exiting through the window.
A moment later he heard her sweet voice coming from the lounge.
"Well, it's done lads and with plenty of time to spare. Frank's ready to party with all the flammables. Thanks Maks he was dead heavy! I know, I know, sometimes I'm just too funny for my own good. Logan we're ready are you almost done?"
Logan raised his head and nodded, “One more sec, I have to add this to the formula,” he said as he picked up a vial of green liquid and poured it carefully into the beaker that already held the rest of the Waxen antidote.
“There, done!” Logan exclaimed as he corked the beaker.
Maksim stopped pacing, pressed a button on his wrist and open a time-window.
“It’s about time, let’s go.”
“Wait! I need a few other things,” said Logan and he grabbed a leather bag. He filled it up with a change of clothes, some syringes and needles, his notebook containing the waxen and the antidote formulas he’d written down and his wallet.
In the doorway, Leon and Julie watched as Logan grabbed his essentials. Julie didn't seem able to function properly as the fact Logan was really going struck her. Leon just didn't know what to say. Strengthened by the knowledge he was on his way to Meghan, Logan walked over. It was strange, the three standing together for the last time.
"Any last minute advice?"
"Buy low, sell high." Leon shrugged and managed a small grin.
Logan blinked hard, laughed uncomfortably and gave him a brief hug.
He turned to where Julie was standing and had a long look into her dark eyes.
Sadness filled them, when Julie was herself she really was so little, why hadn't he ever noticed that before? He knew she would leave before he went through the window, for Julie seeing it would be too much. As it was she was trying desperately to retain her strict emotional control. Bending, he held her cheek and gave her a soft kiss.
"I don't pretend to understand you Jules, but you seem so down, please remember nothing is impossible to overcome. Danny was wrong, what you are is special and very important. You work for good on a global scale; your work saves thousands of lives! Remember you're my family and I love you. I'll see you again I promise."
Disbelief crept into her features but she nodded. Taking a shuddering breath she bit her lower lip, placed her hand on his chest and with downcast eyes finally spoke.
"The sun will rise tomorrow." Turning and walking down the hall he heard her whisper what she couldn't say to his face, "I love you too Logan, goodbye."
Maks activated the time-window and motioned Logan to step through it.
"When you come out on the other side, make sure you crouch down behind some cover. I don't know what situation we'll be walking into," said Maksim.
Logan nodded and stepped into the light.
Maks turned, lifted his hand in farewell, crooked a smile at Leon and also went through the window.
At the moment Maks smiled, Leon’s heart sped up in recognition. He’d seen that smile before, in an old photograph from the 1800’s. A photograph of a young woman named Katherine, which was his great, great, great grandmother. ‘My God! Could it be possible,’ thought Leon. His family history said that Katherine’s oldest son Maxim had died in a carriage accident. ‘Could this man Maksim be Katherine’s son, his ancestor?’
A soldier knocked on the door, “Commander, they’re coming! We have to go!”
Meghan got up and made her way to the door. She was still weak, not at full strength yet, but she was determined to get her people to safety. She opened the door and stared at the anxious soldier. He appeared to be 18 years old but she knew in reality he was over 100 years. She nodded to him, grabbed his arm for support and they made they’re way outside.
Outside, Meghan's soldiers ran in every direction, looking over their shoulders to pinpoint the enemies’ position.
Meghan looked to the North and saw at least a dozen Tracers marching their way. Even in her weakened condition, Meghan was able to pull Private Sampson down just in time to prevent him from being shot. She twisted and faced the Tracers that had fired and shot him.
"Run Private, I'll cover you," ordered Meghan.
"But, Commander! I can't leave you behind. Major Maksim would kill me if I did that." "Major Maksim is not your leader, I am! You will do as ordered or I'll shoot you myself. Is that clear, Private!" exclaimed Meghan.
Private Sampson reluctantly nodded. Meghan turned back around and started firing. "Go!" she shouted as one and then two Tracers disappeared under her red ray.
Julie was standing in the hallway waiting for Leon when he emerged from the lab. Her tear-stained face was politely ignored as she launched right into business mode.
"If you've got everything you want I'm going to arm them. I'll give us five minutes, is that alright with you?"
"Yes that's fine. It's a great shame about this facility, the technology here is first rate.
Can't be avoided though. Meet me outside."
He laid a hand on her shoulder in silent comfort then walked away.
