Sick One

[DeletedUser28032]

"Oh...err...thank you...I was just happy to help really" Sera replied looking slightly embarrassed; unused to such high praise and assuming it must be an American thing, that or Doc was just really nice.
As Doc finished getting ready Sera cleaned away the coffee cups from the night before and then collected her jacket and purse from where she'd left them slung over the back of a chair.
After a rather pleasant walk the pair of them arrived at "Espresso River" several minutes early and found themselves a seat by the window so that they could see Vincent's arrival. Smiling at the waiter as he asked them for their order; the young man laying the charm on thick no doubt hoping for a tip as opposed to her phone number. Ordering a pair of tea's, Doc opted for the omelette were as Sera went for a more traditional Bacon sandwich; she'd never gotten the idea of pancakes for breakfast where she came from pancakes were a dessert and waffles were practically unheard of "So how long do we give him?" Sera asked as the waiter left, although in this instance she was referring to Vincent "I don't think he's our grass but our running into each other last night seemed to have spooked him...well it spooked me anyway"

 

[DeletedUser13682]

The harsh beeps of an alarm faded in and out as the alarm clock slowly moved about the room, it's random programming allowing its path to be unpredictable, necessitating the owner to get up and turn it off himself to silence the thing. Vincent got out of his bed and intercepted the beast, deactivating its shrill call. Setting it back on the floor, Vincent checked the time on his wall clock. It was currently 7:00. The Beeb should have its morning news story. Vincent turned on his tv, the wall illuminating with the BBC news room. Their big story this morning was about the attack yesterday, and the worry that another attack like it could happen soon.

Vincent listened to the news as he prepared to head out to Espresso River and meet his fellow freedom fighters for a revolutionary cup of coffee. After a quick shower, Vincent put on a light blue dress shirt with black slacks. A black tie completed the outfit. After slicking back his hair, and donning a black sports jacket, Vincent headed out, making sure the tv was off. Looking at his phone, he had about half an hour to get to Espresso River. So far, he had not had any emails from anybody important, just his broker and some spam.

Arriving at Espresso River about 10 minutes early, Vincent was surprised to see Sera and Doc already at a table. They had chosen an outside table, and though Vincent would have prefered his occasional spot in the third floor, they did arrive first and had priority in table choosing. As he sat down, Vincent made his greetings. "Good morning. Hope you found this place easily." A waiter came and asked for his order. "Black coffee, a glass of apple juice, and the steak and eggs with potatoes for breakfast. Eggs over easy, please." After the waiter had departed, Vincent faced the women again, concern on his face. "Now, what about the party did you want to talk about? I know it didn't go very well; somebody must have made a party foul."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Yeah we didn't have any problems finding the place... in fact...I think I may have been here before" Sera replied with a smile as a well dressed Vincent took a seat opposite them. Waiting until Vincent had made his order and the excessively friendly waiter had disappeared Sera started to speak in calm quiet voice; fighting the urge to start whispering as three people whispering together was guaranteed to attract unwanted attention whilst currently they were just three friends having breakfast "Well we all know that we were grassed in and assuming that we all trust each other enough decide it wasn't one of us I propose we form a club of our own until we find out for sure who did grass us in" she wasn't sure how big the New York cell was or even where the other members of their team were but with things the way they were at the moment, they were completely on their own.
As the waiter returned with the orders Sera let the others think over what she had just proposed before speaking again once they were alone again "So...what do you guys think?"

 

[DeletedUser]

Vincent arrived a bit early as well. He ordered his breakfast, and inquired what we wanted to talk about. Sera then offered a pact of trust between the three of them. Doc felt comfortable at this point that Vincent was not the informant, and thought that was a great idea. The waiter brought their food, and Doc lightly salted her omelet, and started to eat. “That works for me.” She assumed at this point that Vincent would also agree, but even though he hadn’t agreed yet, she couldn’t hold onto this anymore. Doc paused for a moment, and then continued. “I still have all this info that Vickers the foreman told me. He said they were making cyanogens, an ingredient in fertilizer. He said they were making it in large quantities. Toxic cyanogens gas.” Doc took a sip of tea, and another bite of her omelet, and said. “He was so very nervous. He was so afraid of being found out. What are they planning to do? What would they do with all of that gas?” Doc stumbled on her next words... “And now he is dead anyway….his poor family. It is certainly this kind of thing that brought me to the FF.” Doc became visibly upset, and pushed the rest of her breakfast aside.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

As the trio waited for their food, Sera proposed that they form a club, presumably for mutual protection and to help find out who did compromise the mission and the cell. After they had received their food, and Doc had explained what she had found out, Vincent spoke as well. "I didn't get much from who I'm assuming was the boss of the factory. I doubt those digital files contain anything important. But if they are, well were, creating cyanogens, and we were supposed to die, we may not be as safe as we think we are." Drenching his food in Worcestershire Sauce, and mashing his potatoes, Vincent thought about what to do about their current situation. "I think we should get hotel rooms, away from our places of residences. Being a businessman, I may or may not have a few ways of getting rooms without the government knowing that I purchased anything of the sort. Still, we should be careful. They may be spying on us, so try to keep going about life as usual. Do what you normally do."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Hey it’s not your fault, they were the ones that...did that not us there was nothing you could have done" Sera said putting an arm about the other woman's shoulders in a comforting manner knowing exactly how she felt. After all she was the one that had helped produce the gas that had killed all those people in Munich "...If they were producing gas then it would explain all those missing machines" she continued thoughtfully having heard what Vincent had to say on the matter.
On his advice of acting normally she agreed that that would be a sensible idea as for the hotel rooms "I can't afford to stay in a hotel, not for that long anyway besides which I am in a corporation building my work would know if I wasn't there and considering what I do for a living..." they would call the feds and drop on me like a ton of bricks she silently finished her mind filled with the image of iron bars and armed police "we'd be better off with a safe house, somewhere we could all meet and talk without the risk of being overheard" she continued ignoring the sudden desire to check over her shoulders, instead taking a mouthful of her bacon sarnie "...We also need to plan our next move, I want to get them back for what they did to us and more importantly what they did to those people"

 

[DeletedUser]

Doc heard Vincent suggest that they get hotel rooms, and go about life as usual, doing what we normally do, while Sera was trying to comfort her. Doc was grateful for the reassurance. While Doc listened to Sera talk about going to a safe house, Doc unconsciously reached into her pocket, and pulled out her hair tie. She started raking her hair back with her fingers, and with years of practice, had it in a bun in just a few seconds. This helped her get her emotions back in check. But she drifted off for a moment, and reflected about her last few months….

When she got the offer from Bob, whom she thought of as her sponsor, to work with the FF, she left her job. He helped her change her name, and apartment. Since then, she really had not done much of anything. She was working on a research paper, which she knew would never get published. Certainly not something that could be the subject of a dinner discussion topic. But she hadn’t heard from Bob since he told her to report for what Sera referred to as “the party”. So, it seemed possible that Bob was the one responsible to give them away. And, if that was the case, going back to her apartment was definitely out of the question. For a few hours, she had considered asking her new friends, that since Jeb (her patient that recognized her at the party), was dead… did they think it safe for Doc to return to her apartment? But…if Bob was the one, then her apartment was surely being watched.

Doc was brought back to the conversation when Sera said [FONT=&quot]"...We also need to plan our next move, I want to get them back for what they did to us and more importantly what they did to those people".
[/FONT]
“Looks like you have gotten your courage back, Sera my dear.” Doc grinned and added “But, we do need to be cautious, or….we will end up…just like those people…” Doc desire for privacy lead her to vote for hotel rooms, but considering the ‘safety in numbers’ rule, she said “Staying in a hotel, and acting like everything is normal, if they are watching us, it totally not normal. I think we should try and get one big safe place for now, is that something you can manage to do for us Vincent?”

 

[DeletedUser13682]

As Vincent was eating his food, he listened to the others talk. It seemed they would rather go for one safe house instead of separate hotel rooms. Sera's argument did make sense; the corporate buildings did usually have tighter monitoring than private buildings. But a large safe house was slightly worrisome. If the Government did find out where they were, they could all be taken out in one hit. But they would all be able to converse, and may be they would be harder to take out if the Government raided the place. Setting down his fork, Vincent considered what he could do about a safe house. "I personally don't have a safe house, but I'll make a few calls. I'm sure at least a couple of my colleagues has a place we could use. I'll say I need a place for a client to stay for a while until a rival corporation gives up the search for him and he can safely return to his home country. Now, should we bring in other people who were at the party with us? They might be in just as much danger as us, but then again, one of them might be the rat."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"No I didn't mean anything like that I mean it would be really satisfying. Really, really satisfying but I lack the body mass to go all Jack Bauer I...I...I meant something like...party bangers...or a broadcast" she said hurriedly babbling a response to Doc's comment "...I can make truly epic party bangers but I think I am going to stop talking now" she said suddenly realising that she'd let her mouth get the better of her, making a zipping motion across her lips and allowing Vincent to continue talking.
It seemed he may be able to find them a place, several places would be better but they couldn't be picky at this point in time. On the subject of whether or not they go in search of the others Sera cautiously ventures her opinion on the matter "There are only two people left from the party and they were both a little hardcore for me...no...I say we keep this to ourselves. If one of them was to make contact however then we'll just have to play it by ear"

 

[DeletedUser]

“I agree… Maya and Ethan have very strong personalities.” Doc said with conviction. “That doesn’t mean they are the informant. But, it doesn’t count them out either. I just don’t know.” Doc’s weakness of indecisiveness was definitely showing. “Maybe the place Vincent finds for us will be big enough that if we add another person (or two), it will still be large enough to accommodate all of us. Agreed, let’s play that part by ear.”

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Finishing the last of her bacon sandwich, Sera dabs the corners of her mouth in order to eradicate the potential for escaped ketchup before speaking to the rest of the group "Ok then...well if you can sort that out for us that would be cool, meanwhile me and Doc have a little errand to run in the meantime" she said speaking of Doc's need of clean clothing and toiletries, that and it would be good to try and see if anybody was actually watching her place.
Grabbing another of the paper napkins from the table and a sharpie pen from out of her purse Sera quickly scribbles a phone number down before handing it over to Vincent "Here you can reach me on this if you need to" she said neglecting to mention that it was for an encrypted phone. Bruce had assured her that unless they knew the signal was encrypted that by the time it had stopped bouncing around all over the place that she would be long gone and the Feds would most probably be looking for her in Mumbai.
Opening her purse Sera pulls out enough money to cover both her and Doc's share of the breakfast before looking at the other woman "Ok I am ready when you are, lead the way"

 

[DeletedUser13682]

After a bit of babbling and indecisiveness from Sera and Doc respectively, they finally decided to not include the other two into the group. Vincent agreed; he didn’t like those violent types. Too likely to get hot headed and send both friend and foe to the fiery afterlife. After they had all finished their meals, Sera left enough money to her’s and Doc’s food, and left Vincent her number. Vincent asked for a check then spoke to the other two. “I’ll call when I get a place. We’ll meet somewhere else, whatever you suggest, then establish ourselves in the new home. Does that sound good?”

 

[DeletedUser]

As Doc reached for her backpack, and nodded to Sera that she was ready to go, Vincent confirmed that he would get them all a place together, and would contact Sera. That was good news indeed as she really hadn’t wanted to leave without knowing Vincent was on board. “Sounds wonderful Vincent, and thanks so much for doing this! We will hopefully see you soon.”
Doc and Sera exited the Espresso River, and headed back to the bus stop. They would be traveling on the eastbound for about 50 minutes, depending on traffic. The bus arrived pretty quickly, and the two ladies paid their fare, and headed toward a spot that had two empty seats. They chatted about this and that, and the time passed quickly. It was apparent that the two were becoming good friends. Doc said “Sera, I suggest we get off the stop after my apartment, so can see see if there are any obvious lurkers about. My apartment is on the next block, so it’s time to start watching, and start heading toward the exit.”

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Maya arrived home without a problem, she had made certain that no-one was following her. The safe house was clear and she set up her computer. She still had a few back doors into The Department database that she'd convinced a techie to give to her before she'd left the Department. He was now long dead, she'd made sure of that once she knew that the Department didn't know about the back doors. Thinking back to the mission, she thought about who was most likely the mole. The most obvious option was Sera, she was a lab girl with a family, plenty of pressure points. She would spend the evening hunting, and go pay the girl a visit...

Maya walked back into her safe-house two hours later, sliding her weapons into their respective racks which then slid back into the wall. A short while later, having done some research she knew where Sera lived, she was on documented Department property it seemed. This would be easier than Maya had thought. Maya checked, and saw that the apartment was under surveillance, CCTV but no bugs. They'd be able to see her, but not hear her. Thankfully, the Department no longer had any idea who Maya Voril was. Her team was dead, the people who had known her in the Department: Dead. Her records on the system: Gone. The last one had been her, the rest was the Department, clearing up loose ends. She wouldn't trip any alarms. Grabbing a radio rewirer, she knew exactly how she would deal with this.

Go into the building, cause the signal to freeze and then crash on the entire floor, that'd give her about ten minutes, and then they'd come back on-line and the automatic system would just log it as a glitch. The only way that anyone would notice anything suspicious would be if they watched the entire footage through, and since the algorithm wouldn't know what it was looking for, it'd have to be a human. She slipped a pistol into her handbag into her handbag, and the radio transmitter to jam the signal. She looked up directions and then set off out of her apartment.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Sure thing Vincent we'll see you later" Sera replied with a friendly smile on her lips before following Doc down to the bus stop. Taking a seat on the bus the pair of them spent most if not all of the trip chatting, talking about everything from food, TV and men although Sera tried to keep her love of sci-fi to a minimum. As they neared their stop Doc suggested that they got off at the next one in order to see if there were any lurker’s; the blonde girl nodding her head in agreement.
Getting off of the bus she makes a note of seeing which other passengers also got off at the stop before walking down the street eventually deciding that the old lady and the two teenagers skipping school probably weren't department spies. Without any form of training Sera didn't see anyone obviously watching or following them, nor did she see any suspiciously parked vans when they neared Doc's apartment which either meant that they weren't being followed or that the department were somewhat better at hiding their activities than Sera was at spotting them "Say Doc...if you don't mind me asking...what’s your real first name?" she'd been calling the other woman by the nickname all morning but felt it a little strange not knowing the name of somebody she fast beginning to think of as a friend "...Also should we both go inside your place or just the one of us?"

 

[DeletedUser]

“My name…my name is Mary Margaret McMurray…nickname is Maggie. It’s been a while since anyone called me that.” Doc was a very private person, and this was a big admission. “Think you can call me Maggie in private and Doc in public?” While Doc was talking, she was scanning the street for anything out of sorts. Everything looked as it usually did. “I would love to show you my place; however…I think it best for you to hang out here, and text me if anyone arrives. There is a back emergency exit in case I need to run, and we can reconnect again nearer to your place if we need to go that route.” Doc didn’t think that anyone was here, but…she still hadn’t spoken with her contact since this before yesterday’s incident. So, perhaps he was the rat. “Sera, I should only be five minutes. I am going in now, while I have the courage.”

Doc went up the walk, and put the key in the lock of the front door to the complex, and took a deep breath. She opened the door, entered, and turned around to get one last look at Sera before she allowed the door to close. She went up the stairs to the third floor, as she rounded every corner, she breathed a little easier. She reached her apartment, and with another deep breath, she put her other key in the lock, turned the handle, and walked in, and…. everything was exactly as she had left it. She tucked her keys in her pocket, and kept her backpack on. She walked through the compact living area, into her bedroom. Doc opened the closet, and pulled out her rolling suitcase. She gathered some of her clothes and shoes, and then went to the bathroom, and grabbed some toiletries. She couldn’t resist taking a moment to brush her teeth… it had been over 24 hours. When done, she opened the draw by the sink again, and pulled out an odd item to be found in the bathroom. It was a screwdriver. Taking it in her hand, she removed the faceplate of the light switch, and inside to the left was a folded wad of cash, to the right, a flash drive. She removed them both, put them in her pocket, and replaced the faceplate. She went to the nook area and looked at her research, then looked at her suitcase. Groaning, she removed a couple of pairs of shoes, and neatly stacked her research in the empty spot. Doc gave the place a final look, and closed the door behind her. As she rolled the suitcase to the stairs, she looked at her watch, and only four and one half minutes had passed. Doc wondered if she would ever return. She lifted the suitcase, rapidly descended the stairs, and was soon out of the complex. Casually looking around, Doc tried to see where Sera had gotten to.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Sure...so long as you keep my real name to yourself also" Sera replied, her full and frankly rather embarrassing first name having come out during her psyche evaluation prior to her joining the cell. She still had very vivid memories of her first few days at school where all of her teachers had insisted on reading out her name for the register much to the amusement of her classmates, and it had only been after much protestation that she eventually succeeded it getting them to call her Sera. As a consequence with the exception of a few official documents nearly everything else was simply signed Sera Douglas.
Walking up to the front of the building she stops to listen as Doc explained that it would probably be for the best if she went in alone and that Sera kept watch outside "Sure, I'll meet you out here in five" she replied before moving off towards the small park across the street.
Taking a seat on a bench facing the apartment building Sera pulls out her mobile and starts sorting through her old messages, whilst also keeping an eye open for anything suspicious. The rest of the park was deserted which wasn't surprising considering the time of day though to be honest calling this tiny patch of green a park was a bit of an overstatement.
As the hands on her watch moved ever closer to the five minute mark Sera started to anxiously search the front of the building for an sign of her friend, beginning to fear that her earlier suspicions of the place being watched had been true and that even now they were interrogating her. Thankfully however her fears were proved to be groundless as she watched the other woman exit the building carrying a suitcase. Getting up from the bench she makes to cross the road and rejoin her, though not before giving the street yet another furtive look. Gods she was getting paranoid!

 

[DeletedUser13682]

The women left, leaving Vincent alone to make sure the bills got paid (it was alright; they left money), and the waiter got tipped well. After picking up a bag of Death Wish coffee, Vincent walked back to his apartment. On the way back, he looked behind him, checking to see if anyone was following him. He purposely took a long, redundant path. As far as he could tell, nobody was following him. About 20 minutes later, Vincent arrived at his place, a slight fear rising in him that the government had set a trap to capture him when he entered his apartment. Luckily, the trap didn’t exist, and Vincent was able to enter his apartment with no hassle or problem. Vincent poured some beans out of the bag of coffee, ground them, and brewed them. The warning on Death Wish advertised that no more than a few ounces should be consumed a day due to the high caffeine content. Vincent would probably need more, if he was to pull off finding a safe house for the little group he had become a part of.

A pot of coffee and many hours later, Vincent had finally succeeded. He spent hours emailing, texting, calling, video chatting, and entertaining partners, associates, acquaintances, even people he had only heard of in passing, to get a hold of a safe house. It wasn’t the best place in the world, a dilapidated house with the cover story of having been bombed by the FF earlier that year. It was, however, a cover story. The structure was truly a safe house, guaranteed to be free from all evil government influence. After he had guaranteed his use of the safe house, Vincent found the number that Sera had given him, and called to inform her and Doc of the good news.

 

[DeletedUser]

Doc saw her young friend, Sera, cross the street, and it made her smile. She put her suitcase down, and started to wheel it toward the bus stop. However, it occurred to her that she wasn't sure where they should go now. Their plan had not been discussed beyond this point. It was almost as if neither of them had expected this expedition to go this smoothly. Doc adjusted her glasses with her free hand, reached back and freed her hair, giving it a shake. "What shall we do, and where shall we go now Sera?" Doc asked once they had been united. "Should we now head back to your place again, so you can get a few things too? As Doc asked the question, Sera's cell started to ring.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"I don't know I never planned us to get this far...not that I thought that we would fail or...or...anything just that...you know" Sera said before pausing to take a deep breath and get her thoughts back on track "The security at my place is fairly tight...also the corporation don't like their explosive technician's going AWOL" though she also suspected that they would be less than impressed to find that she was working with the FF either though at least this way she wouldn't have corporate security teams hunting her down. It was around about this point that her phone, her encrypted phone began to ring. Pulling the phone from her pocket she quickly checks the number before cautiously answering though it didn't take long for a relieved smile to appear on her face "you found a place...wow that’s...like really fast, ok well we'll meet you at Verdant so that you can tell us all about it then" she said before then proceeding to rattle off directions for the bar. It would be quiet this time of day but she was running out of places to meet and wouldn't object to a drink around about now.
Ending the call with a cheery goodbye she turns back to her friend in order to pass on the good news "He's found us a place...perhaps we ought to go back to my place and stash your stuff before we go and meet him?" she suggests; already heading for the bus stop as she does so "You know I don't think I've ever spent so much time on a bus as I have today!"