The Key and the Gate

[DeletedUser31931]

Jain Farstrider… The name seemed, familiar and yet not familiar. He felt that gentle tugging at the back of his memory again, something calling to be let out. Damn and Blast it! Why did the whole thing have to be so damned… mysterious! Setting aside thoughts of knowledge and of frustration, Boris studied the photo. The girl definitely seemed to look at least similar to the one on the news. As Cynthia made a dejected comment about how she was likely in prison by now. Patting her shoulder gently, Boris tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. If she’d been captured, we’d likely have heard about it on the news, and anyway, they probably wouldn’t send her to prison, they would kill her before she even got to…” Suddenly realising that what he was saying was probably not having the desired effect, Boris released Cynthia’s shoulder and collected both soup bowls before beginning to wash them up, along with the pan and everything else. He would continue to chat to Cynthia as he proceeded with the tasks, attempting to cheer the girl up.

Once he’d finished, he looked at her, studying he up and down. “What might help with your memory and what I might suggest is that we do some physical exercises and some basic hand to hand training. If you need to fight then we’ve probably got bigger issues on our hands but I doubt it would hurt to do some training and it’s not like we’ve got much else to do.” Should Cynthia accept the offer Boris would proceed to walk her through the basic of unarmed combat against an assailant, depending on whether they were armed and whether it was with a gun or not. He focused mostly on techniques that involved using your opponent’s weight against them and dodging attacks that were headed at you. Throughout the afternoon they continued to practice and by the time the sun was beginning to set Cynthia had a basic understanding of the important concepts. It wasn’t much and Boris doubted how much of it she’d remember if they got into a fight now, but it was a start and it was something that they could build off of as they went. Looking through the fridge, Boris selected a pair of lamb steaks from the fridge and set them out along with some flour, honey and cranberry sauce. He picked some broccoli and beans as well and called Cynthia over. “Lamb Steaks with cranberry sauce and broccoli and runner beans for dinner, how does that sound?” The offer made, Boris waited for the girl’s response before making a decision on whether to cook.

 

[DeletedUser37114]

The reveal that Abbie was a Christian was... pretty anticlimactic (for her, at least, maybe another girl would have flipped out or something). Obviously, the woman wasn't the sort of person to force her beliefs on anyone (which would have been a problem), she wasn't against anything Nia enjoyed (which would have been a more concerning problem), why would she have any issues with what she chose to believe in? Being an Agnostic herself, it wasn't like she was going to deny Abbie's faith, either. The crucifix was also a gift (though it didn't seem to want to be anywhere else) from her grandmother, with a whole story and everything. And that made it important (because anything old like that had its own history and personality, family was always important, and most importantly that necklace obviously liked Abbie).

So when her lover took the pendant out from between her lips, she didn't struggle or try to play keep away (which she would have done for fun with something less important), she just let it fall (with a mental "goodbye", of course) and accepted Abbie's replacement of the metal with her lips. That kiss was very enjoyable, promising some wonderful activities that Nia was definitely up for another round of (now that she'd had a chance to recover). Her lover apparently had the same idea, a beautiful giggle (that sparkled and glittered) and a mention of naughty things (that slid across Nia's imagination like soft velvet) prompting a quick but teasing trace of her finger across Abbie's chest. And then she was out from underneath her lover with a giggle of her own (it had been a while since she'd been quite this happy, even with someone new in her home), sauntering over toward her bedroom. If Abbie wasn't quick to join her, Nia would beckon and call for her companion, though she was pretty sure Abbie would be up and after her in no time at all. She'd make sure to end up on the bottom again, but this time her touches were light and teasing only, letting her lover take the initiative. As much as she loved making Abbie squirm and moan, it wasn't fair of her to take the lead every single time. Besides, there was something to be said about being gentle and ever so slow...

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Nia
Watching as Nia headed for the bedroom with a seductive sway in her step that Abbie found utterly mesmerising, she took a moment to study the other girl's figure quietly wondering why she'd never been captivated by another girl's body like she was now. Had she just been in denial all this time and had simply refused to see or accept what was in front of her? Or was she just simply drawn to Nia and Nia alone?
As she heard her name being gently called Abbie realised that she'd been staring at her new lover for far too long, with her quickly jumping off of the couch in order to join her. The girl's naked form slowly materialising from out of the mist of her unaided eyesight as she approached the bed; her breath catching slightly in her throat as she whispered "wow... you’re looking so gorgeous right about now" she said as her eyes unashamedly roved over the contours of other girl’s body with obvious desire.
Giggling softly she climbed into Nia's embrace; kissing the girls face and neck before slowly working her way down her body.
Abbie would freely admit to being nervous about taking the lead as Nia always seemed to know exactly what she wanted and how she wanted it making Abbie's own rather tentative touches feel rather fumbling and inexperienced to her. With the rock chick fearing that her efforts would be somewhat lacking though judging from the reaction she was getting she couldn't have been doing too badly.

Nia would awake early the following morning to find a fully clothed Abbie crouching beside the bed as she gently stroked her hair "Hey babe, I'm sorry to wake you but I've gotta go now...though I thought you should know that last night was wonderful" she softly whispered whilst she continued to lovingly stroke the Nia’s hair "I'll see you at work, ok?" she said; gently kissing her forehead before getting up and letting herself out.
An hour or so later she'd be awoken again, this time by her alarm signalling the start of another working day. After performing her usual morning routine she'd be met by a smiling Sandra waiting outside of her building with the car "Morning hun, so I take it your date last night went well then?" she asked with a knowing look in her eye as she opened the back door for Nia to get in “Can I ask his name or is that still need to know?”

Boris
To start with Cynthia had wondered whether the term physical activity was a thinly veiled euphemism for getting her into bed with him which was something that she was seriously not in favour of especially not after her paranoid fears from the previous day. However as Boris continued to talk about teaching her hand to hand combat techniques she quickly realised that he really did mean that should do some exercises in order to pass the time.
Knowing that she hadn't been to the gym in quite some time and as a result would probably be aching all over Cynthia cautiously agreed to his suggestion. After all it sure beat sitting around watching daytime television all day long and after several hours of being thrown around like a rag doll, it didn’t matter how many times he told her to shift her weight she was not capable of throwing him over her shoulder when he didn’t want to be! Was exhausted, starving and in need of a shower "Sure...that…that sounds good to me, mind if I grab a shower first?" she replied in response to Boris' offer of tonight's dinner choice as she tried to catch her breath.
It would be as Cynthia was in the shower that the safe house phone would start to ring with the HUD showing the name Jimmy and a withheld number on the screen.
During the course of Boris' life he'd picked up various contacts with some of the more shady ones including Jimmy, if that even was his real name. Who among other things was able to acquire certain items, no questions asked quickly and for a reasonable price or at least reasonable by underworld standards. Whether it was untraceable firearms, specialised body armour or large amounts of narcotics for a sting operation in the heart of Central America Jimmy could find whatever you needed...for a price. The fact that he was ringing this phone meant that he'd already tried the usual ways of contacting Boris and had been unable to reach him and was now scraping the barrel by calling a seldom used safe house. Meaning that whatever it was that Jimmy needed from the mercenary he needed it urgently and wasn’t afraid of risking the Boris’ ire by contacting him here meaning that it was probably very important too. Or at least it had better be.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

The afternoon’s session had gone well. Cynthia’s throwing wasn’t great still but that was partly explained by the fact that it was going to be far harder to throw Boris than most people. Her dodging, however, had been steadily improving and he was pleased with her. As she made off to have a shower, he nodded. “You should find a couple of fresh towels in the closet.” Boris paused for a second, realising he hadn’t actually uttered a single word of encouragement or reassurance throughout the afternoon. “Oh, and Cynthia? You made good progress this afternoon even if it might not feel like it.” Watching her as she went into the bedroom, Boris smiled gently. He’d ask when she got back from the shower about her memories, though she probably hadn’t been able to remember anything given that they’d spent pretty much all of the afternoon practicing throwing punches and dealing with opponents. Turning around, he pulled a plate from the cupboard and grabbed a couple of onions from the pantry. Turning on the hot tap, he quickly washed his hands and was in the process of drying them off when the phone began to rang. Moving over he picked up the shotgun from the table where he’d left it and put it down next to the phone. It was wireless but the homeset displayed the caller ID. Johnny.

Something must be seriously up the creek if Johnny was taking the time to hit up all of his different safehouse numbers. He didn’t know their locations, just the numbers, and the numbers themselves were run through a masking operation to ensure that his location couldn’t be traced but he still was hesitant… answering would confirm that he was at the safehouse corresponding to that number and who knew what they knew and who was working with them. Moving quickly he crossed the room carrying the shotgun with him. Setting it down on the kitchen counter, he raised the phone to his ear and pressed the green button. If someone broke down the door, he’d be ready to drop the phone in an instant and pick up the shotgun and shoot back. As it stood, however, maybe there really was something urgent that Johnny needed help with. In that vein as soon as he’d answered the phone, before the other man even had a chance to speak, he growled out a sentence. “What is it?”

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

How thick was this man? Zani had explicitly said no hospital and his response was to go to the hospital. Thankfully, Rebecca spoke up agreeing with her, adding the tidbit that the men who had attacked her had been dressed as cops. Forcing her eyes awake she could tell they were en route to the hospital still. What. An. Idiot. There was only time to try once more before they'd be there. "Look, if you take us to the hospital, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to be arrested within minutes for a crime I didn't commit. In a day or two you'll get a newspaper article or maybe even a moment on TV saying how I became violent during questioning and died in the subsequent struggle or some bull like that. Meanwhile, Becca will either mysteriously die in the hospital or vanish shortly after and wind up in a river somewhere. I'm being targeted for a reason that I don't even know, and my best friend got roped into it just for knowing me. It sucks. It really really sucks. But you're going to be condemning us both to death if you take us there. Do you really want that on your conscience?" She hoped this got through to the idiot. Otherwise she'd have to do something to get them out of there. Maybe wait until he'd pulled into the hospital, taze him, then take his car? Or maybe...wait, when had she started crying? She hadn't felt her eyes well up, but...damn it, it was all too much at this point. She's evaded the police, the same type of creeps who'd killed the artist to start this mess, and saved Rebecca while doing it. And now she was going to die because of an idiot trying to do good but not being willing to listen to the very people she was trying to help. What in the world could she do this time to save them?

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Both of the librarians were in a very bad way and required professional medical attention, but for some reason they both insisted on not going to the hospital and receiving the care that they so obviously and desperately needed. And to top it all off, they believed that there was a big conspiracy against them, with fake cops and framings, everything. The culmination of all this was a girl who had obviously been tortured, sporting an eye swollen shut, cigarette burns, countless bruises, and possible internal injuries. This was the kind of thing that Johnathan couldn't treat by himself. He wasn't trained as a corpsman, and St. Elsewhere wasn't the best source for medical know how. They both needed to see a doctor, so why weren't they able to come to terms with that? How could he get it through their dense skulls that professional medical help was the only way they both would be guaranteed to live? They would need to be convinced that seeing a doctor was the only way, and it seemed like they would need a lot of convincing. So, Johnathan pulled over off the side of the road, and shut the Porsche down. He turned with a sigh and angled himself so he could easily face his passengers. “Alright, look. This is how it is,” Johnathan spoke, voice recalling those times he'd been required to deal with stubborn nonquals. “The girl laying in my back seat, obviously in pain, is very injured. So severe in fact, that she might die if she doesn't see a doctor. You want her death on your conscience, Zani? Because of those people, your options are limited. And every option involves a doctor. You either let me take you to that hospital, or we go see s private practitioner. From everything you two have told me, it sounds like you'd prefer the second choice. I don't know a private practitioner, so here's what I'll do. I'll call around, see if anybody I know has a personal doctor. Zani, watch her. If she gets much worse, tell me. We'll have no choice but to go to that hospital then. Hopefully we'll get lucky and find someone.” Johnathan retrieved his phone and started scrolling down his contact list, asking everyone who lived nearby about whether they used a private practitioner and if he could borrow them for an emergency if they did.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

In the back of a Porsche 911
The argument continued. The man still wanted to take them to the hospital, pointing out that their injuries and hers especially were severe and were well beyond his expertise to treat. However with a tearful plea from Zani that if he continued down this path that the pair of them would wind up dead he relented; pulling over to the side of the road so that he could make some calls.
With a desperate plea of her own Becca, with a little help from Zani scrambled out of the car in order to be sick by the back tyre with the girl then proceeding to lie down upon the grass verge.
It was so cool and soft lying there on the grass; maybe she could take a little nap here whilst Zani and the man sorted things out. She just felt so tired.

Steadily working his way through his phone contacts, Jonathan after several dead ends and having to dodge several pointed questions to the effect of "why do you need a private practitioner?" would eventually reach on old Navy friend of his who said he knew of a former army corpsman who would probably be willing to do some medical work no questions asked. There would be a price, but that was kind of inevitable and after promising to keep his friend's name out of it he was given a phone number and an address for the guy who with a little luck and some cash would be able to help him and his passengers out with out having to involve the authorities.

 

[DeletedUser37114]

Nia was pulled from her sleepy times (and dreams of numbers and symbols) by the sensation of someone stroking her hair. Which was odd, because her mother had never done that (too busy working), the sensation was gentle and repetitive (which meant it wasn't something random or accidental), and because she felt her own bed (singing as usual, slow and low) underneath her. Which meant there was someone else in her home. While she was sleeping. Nia's heart immediately began racing (oh god) and she forced her eyes open (need to know what's going on) her eyes to see a dark shape looming over her, trying to kick her sleep fogged mind into figuring out what to do (ohgodohgodohgod) until the figure spoke. Abbie. Of course. A kiss on the forehead (and a promise to see her at work) and the other woman was gone, leaving Nia still mostly asleep and struggling to get up so that she could see her lover out. Though of course, her sheets (which were feeling sleepy and quite clingy) decided they didn't want to let her go and the sound of the door closing whispered through her home as Abbie left her alone. Which, at the moment, didn't seem that bad (even if she liked Abbie, the thought of someone else being in her home was a little bit...). Nia was still a little panicky, but she focused on breathing (in, out, in, out) and thinking about last night (she was in here then and didn't mess anything up). Her lover had picked up on what she should do pretty quickly, even without (verbal) instructions, which made for a pretty wonderful night. That wasn't to say there weren't mistakes made (OH GOD PLEASE BE GENTLE THERE), but after a little communication, those problems disappeared...

And then Nia's alarm rang (very happily, it was glad to finally get to do its job), telling her that it was time to get up and go to work. Rolling out of bed, she had clothes picked out (though she had to dig deep for a simple blue blouse mid-length black skirt) and the shower warming up within a reasonable amount of time. Scrambled eggs and lunchmeat ham for breakfast (and the pan requesting that it not change hooks), a nice, clean (thorough) shower, and a quick dressing-up hit all the right chords for her (which produced a really nice harmony), which meant this was an even day. A good day after a good night. There was an extra bounce (and wiggle) in her step as she walked out to meet Sandra, who seemed to be having a pretty good day herself. Her guess that her date went well was a little eye roll worthy (plus a confirmation smirk for good measure), good vibes were rolling off her like a steady glissando this morning. It was pretty obvious she'd gotten (thoroughly) laid. Though the question about "his" name (what would be the male form of Abigail? Alan? Alexander?) was a little saddening. Normally she'd correct the woman in a heartbeat, just to see how she'd respond (they were stuck working together anyway, a negative response wouldn't bother her much and a positive one was always fun), but Abbie hadn't given her permission to make things public yet. A simple head shake was the only answer she could give.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Nia
“Still early days huh?” Sandra said with a raised eyebrow as the girl silently shook her head in response as to who her mystery date had been “…well that’s ok hun, you tell me when your ready…oh and you may want to turn your collar up a bit, your new beau has left his mark on your neck” she said with a chuckle before climbing into the waiting car.
The rest of Nia’s day would prove to be a pretty decent one as she once again did battle with Hex and its mysterious code. With John doing most of the drudge work for her, Nia was able to focus entirely on solving the problem at hand. A problem made all the easier with Abbie’s unexpected help, with the rock chick who was now back in pigtails, skirt, white knee socks that sported little blacks bow ands with her glasses replaced with a pair of contacts much to her obvious relief.
With Abbie’s own bubbly, good mood apparently rubbing her colleague up the wrong way with the girl quietly confiding that “Steve said if he heard me singing Want you Bad one more time he’d stuff me into a locker” she’d decided to see how her baby was doing. The girl lovingly stroking the brass scrollwork and glass dials that covered Hex, making it more than a little clear who or rather what her baby was.
After taking a screen dump of the code Abbie would return several hours later during their lunch break with a print out covered in coloured coded notes. Abbie knew jack all about computer programming but it transpired that she was a whiz at number games and had more than a few pointers for Nia as to how she could tackle the problem.
It was also during this time that Abbie would steal a kiss or two from the other girl whilst they were in the ladies restroom together; stating that it was pretty much the one place in the building that didn’t have any camera’s in it and that seen as they were the only girls on that floor, their chances of being discovered were pretty minimal.

It was around four o’clock when Nia’s efforts would finally pay off when she was greeted with legible text once her code breaker had finally finished. Sure the content was strange with it detailing folklore and star charts but she’d done it, she’d finally cracked it…or at least she thought she had.
She had only been able to scan read a handful of the entries when once again everything was systematically erased with the same laughing quality to Hex’s workings as it did so. And then something different happened.

:- THAT WAS FUN.
:- NOW TRY THIS ONE.

No sooner had the message appeared in a window on one of her monitors that another code, even more complex that the last appeared onto the other. There were more numbers, more languages and to make things worse it appeared that the spacing had been scrambled. It was also pretty clear that Hex was no ordinary machine.

Boris
“Ruskie? Is that you? Bejayzus I’ve been searching all over for yer!” Jimmy replied in a thick Irish accent that barely hid the panic in his voice, not that the guy or his parents for that matter had ever set foot in Ireland “…it’s like trying find Jimmy Hoffa with you!” the man continued to complain, over riding anything that Boris might say as he did so before finally getting to the point of his call and why it was so urgent that he find him “look Ruskie I need to meet you at the usual place as soon as, you’re in a heap of trouble and I also need a favour of you, a big favour…needless to say I can’t say anything over the phone, so how soon can you meet me?” with the question asked Jimmy would go silent as he impatiently waited for Boris to respond.
The usual place was an “abandoned” warehouse in the old industrial estate on the edge of town with the building acting as a depot for his various wares. It was also despite its outward appearance a veritable fortress and was manned by a small army of hired guns who were kept loyal through a combination of high pay and threats. You didn’t remain in Jimmy’s line of work for very long without taking certain precautions or by keeping your hands clean. The fact that he was willing to do business with practically anyone good or bad didn’t hurt either.

By the time he’d finished his conversation with Jimmy, Cynthia would walk back into the room having finished with the shower. A single glance at his face telling her that something wasn’t quite right “Is something the matter?” she cautiously asked with the girl not really sure whether she was more afraid that he would lie to her or that he would actually tell her the truth and that they were in trouble and it was all her fault.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Jimmy immediately cut over him in a thick Irish accent, continuing to complain over the phone for a solid minute or two as Boris waited silently for the man to finish his tirade. Finally getting to the heart of the matter, Jimmy said that he knew Boris was in trouble right now. That’s not good. If he knows then feelers have been put out for me. And as far as a favour went…. Boris was not feeling happy about the way things were turning out. As Jimmy asked how soon he could meet, Boris thought over his options for a second. Option one was to slam the phone down and carry on but that wouldn’t be a very good idea. Though he didn’t owe Jimmy anything as such, Jimmy wasn’t the type of person that you ignored if you knew what was good for you. Option two, and seemingly therefore his only option, was to say yes to the request. Still, he had his own concerns, not least of which was Cynthia. “Fine.” He growled out the response, starting speaking again before Jimmy had the chance to get a word in edgeways. “On two conditions. One, I’m almost certainly bringing a guest, she’s under my protection and a move against her is a move against me, we clear? Two, I’m bringing weapons. If you want me there then you trust me not to shoot you and with what’s been happening recently, I’m not particularly inclined to go anywhere emptyhanded. Both are non-negotiable.” Boris knew Jimmy well enough that he’d likely get away with the second, even if the man didn’t like it. It wasn’t as if Boris alone could fight his way through Jimmy’s complex either but at least this way if something did go down he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. Once the two had agreed on the conditions, with Boris being willing to concede to only small arms at most, he would arrange a time. “No time like today. Whatever you want to see me for, I’d rather get it out of the way sooner than later.” Glancing at a clock, Boris looked at the present time. 6:30. It’d be dark out soon and that would be good, it’d give them some form of cover. It’d take them forty-five minutes on the bike to get from the safehouse to the usual place. “I’ll be there for 10:00”. With the details arranged, Boris hung up before slamming the phone down on the receiver and beginning to cook dinner, taking his frustration out on the steaks as he coated them in spiced flour, before throwing them onto the frying pan, watching as the steaks started to turn golden.

As Cynthia exited the bedroom, towelling off her hair from the shower, Boris turned round and she immediately picked up on his foul state of mood. Turning back to the pan, Boris put the steaks out of the pan onto a plate and put some onions in to the pan, letting them crisp up. As the girl asked her question, Boris let out an exasperated sigh before answering the girl’s question. “Something is the matter, though I don’t think it’s your fault, even though it might be related to you.” Pausing for a second, he shifted the onions around, letting them turn golden as they soaked up the juices of the pork steaks. “A contact got in touch, wanting a favour. He wants me to go and meet him at one of his warehouses.” As the onions browned up, Boris set the kettle to boil and opened up the jars of cranberry sauce and honey that were sitting on the desktop. He pulled some cabbage from the fridge and put it on a chopping board, letting the knife run through the cabbage, slicing it into pieces as he continued to talk. “He also knew that I was in trouble myself. Not sure how he did that, best guess is that someone put out feelers to see if anyone knew my location. He can’t trace us back to here through the phone number but I’m still suspicious. The issue is, he’s not exactly the sort of man you can say no to.” With the kettle finished boiling, he put most of it into a saucepan which he began to boil before putting the chopped up cabbage into a steamer and placing the whole thing on stove, with a lid on top to keep the heat in. The last of the water he added the stock cube to before pouring into the frying pan and adding the cranberry sauce and the honey, stirring as the ingredients came together to form a thick, purple, viscous sauce. “I’ve agreed to go and meet him tonight, he’s only forty-five minutes from here so we’re meeting at 10:00. And I was going to ask you to come too. Although I’d rather you didn’t have to come, part of me worries that this is an attempt to split us so that they can get to you and I’m fairly certain I was being watched in town today. Although I’m pretty certain I lost them on the way home, I can’t be sure so I think it’s safer for you to be with me, if you’re willing to come.” As the sauce bubbled up, Boris took the two steaks and placed them both back in the pan, turning the gas down slightly to let the whole thing cook. “There we go. Should be done in about five minutes or so.” Taking his attention away from the stove, he turned around and properly examined Cynthia for the first time since she’d come out of the shower, waiting for her response to his proposition.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

The idiot listened, thank the gods. Despite having considered stealing the car and knocking him out, Zani knew she was too tired to safely go anywhere behind the wheel. Though what the hell did he mean by Rebecca's injuries being life threatening? She hadn't been that bad, had she? And yet, as she helped her friend get out of the car so she could be sick, the weak retching threw doubts into her confidence that she was fine. "Hey, Becca? Don't go to sleep...please don't," the librarian shook her co-worker as it looked like she was about to do just that. "If what the man said is true, you can't do that...I don't want to believe it, but...I can't take the chance. You can't go to sleep, ok? Come on, I'll help you get back in the car, ok? Come on...you can do it, I promise..." This was a nightmare all around...framed for murder, run ragged, her best friend had gotten horribly involved and now might be dying for having tried to protect her...she couldn't take it anymore, and at this point she was too tired to stop the tears. "Come on, Becca, you're ok, I promise...let's get you back in the car so you can get help, ok? Stay awake...you can do it..."

 

[DeletedUser13682]

"No, I'm just thinking of trying it out. No, I've just heard that there's some shady stuff going on with hospital doctors that you just won't get with private practitioners. It's what time? No, I hadn't realized. I'm switching shifts. Sorry, I'll try not to call you this late again. Alright, good night." There was failure number so many he'd lost count. He was nearing the bottom of his list, and it seemed like nobody he'd met used a private practitioner or was willing to share theirs. Selfish people. He neared the bottom of his phone list, Jimmy Yeltsin, a fellow nuke who got sent to boomers, whose last deployment was on the USS Texas. "Jimmy, sorry if I woke you. Got a question for you." Luckily he was much more willing to help and through some convincing, promicing, and a threat to reveal what really happened in Guam, put him into contact with a former Army medic who had gone through medical school and opened up his own practice. Despite apprehension at using this source (the only doctor worse than a Navy corpsman was an Army medic), they promised to do work discreetly, at a price. That was exactly what Johnathan was looking for. He wasn't too far away, but it'd still take a while to get there. And with the time it'd already taken to find a private doctor, he hoped that it wasn't too late for the librarians to recover from any hidden injuries they might have received from their ordeals. As he looked around, he noticed that the librarians had alighted the Porsche, and one had spread her guts about the field. He was grateful that she hadn't gotten anything on the leather, but given her current condition, he wouldn't have blamed her. "I have good news, you two. Better news than the current news, I guess," Johnathan mumbled. "I found a private practitioner. He's about a half hour from here, but I'll try to hurry it up. If either one of you starts to get worse, just pipe up and I'll see if there's anything I can do to help." After helping the librarians back into the Porsche, Johnathan departed for the address Jimmy sent him, hoping that it was a legitimate practice he was taking the librarians to.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Zani, Becca and Jonathan
Feeling the pain radiating from out of her side, Rebecca gave a weak moan as Zani and then their white knight started lifting her from off of the nice cool ground to drag her back into the waiting car.
Why couldn't they just leave her alone? She didn’t deserve any help, she'd betrayed her friend, her best friend! They'd barely begun before she'd started babbling out everything she knew about Zani; even promising that she'd bring her to them so that they could god knows what to her…what kind of a friend did that?

It would very quickly become clear to Zani that if left unattended her friend would quickly fall asleep, which with the injuries she was sporting was, as they'd already realised a bad idea. As a consequence the girl would spend most of the drive to the clinic crying as she was forced to stay awake; wondering why Zani was being so cruel to her. Sure she deserved it, she deserved far worse than that, but it was so unlike Zani to be anything but friendly.

The clinic was in a part of town that although nowhere near as bad as McArthur Plaza was definitely on the rundown side of things. It was a place where poor but hardworking people lived, a place where even though the shops and houses had seen far better days they were still clean and nicely painted. You could almost smell the hope for better things to come emanating from out of those tidy little homes.
The clinic was small; tucked around a corner near a garage and an empty lot with a faded “For Sale” sign displaying an optimistic price. Unsurprisingly for this time in the morning the building was in darkness though after ringing the bell a few times an upstairs light would come on, followed a few moments later by the door being cracked open. The eyes of a grizzled old man briefly studying the two girls before opening the door fully with a weary sigh “you’d better come in, I’d say take your friend to the hospital but I suspect that isn’t an option” he grumbled.
The guy looked to be in his mid to late sixties with thinning grey hair and a stubbly chin. A combination of creased jeans and a pyjama top betraying the fact that they’d woken him up though his eyes were alert and there was no hint of grogginess within his voice.
He would wait until the three of them had come inside before closing and locking the door behind them; pushing what looked to be an old service pistol into his waistband “excuse the gun ladies but at this time in the morning the clientele are usually less than friendly” he said in a gruff voice as he lead them into the surgery. Unsurprisingly it was Becca that the grizzled old medic turned his attention to first; getting Zani to strip her friend down to her underwear so that he could examine her injuries though not before telling Jonathan to wait outside; the look in the medics eyes telling him that he wouldn’t take no for an answer and wasn’t afraid to use the gun in his waistband to back it up.
It was a few minutes into his examination that the Medic spoke to Zani in a gruff, bad tempered voice “I don’t need to hear any names, but I need you to tell me what happened to you and your friend here…and whether the guy outside is responsible” he asked with the cold look in his eyes saying that he would more than happily return the favour to guy that had done this to the pretty blonde currently sat on his table.

Boris
“Fine Ruskie, you can bring the National guard here with you for all I care just get your ass down here!” Jimmy replied just a little testily to Boris’ conditions. The guy expected his customers to come armed, that was why he had his goons and a metal detector but he was usually a little more squirrelly about people bringing mystery guests with them. The black market dealer being paranoid enough to suspect FBI undercover agents and hitmen to make things awkward for anyone who asked, though apparently not this time for some reason.
After agreeing to the time Jimmy would hang up the phone with a brief “See you later Ruskie” allowing Boris to turn his attention back to Cynthia and his cooking, with the girl looking just a little surprised that he wanted her to come along with him “oh…ok, sure I can come with you” she replied; nervous over the idea of potentially walking into something dangerous even if it did mean getting out of the apartment.
After eating their dinner the pair would depart for the warehouse with Boris getting that same itchy, somebody watching him feeling as he’d had whilst shopping. Despite any countermeasures he pulled he was unable to fully shake the feeling though he was never able to catch sight of who it was that he felt was watching him.

Upon arriving at the warehouse, Boris would walk in on a hive of activity as men loaded boxes and steel drums into the backs of several unmarked Lorries, with another couple of men up on ladders dismantling the top of the range security system “Ruskie! Up here!” Jimmy would shout from the window of what had once been the foreman’s office with the elevated position allowing the morally grey dealer to easily survey the goings on down on the shop floor.
After ascending the checker plate steps Boris would find jimmy sat within a sparse office with his computer and most of his paperwork already gone; replaced by three hand grenades and an FN FAL along with what looked like a MAC-10 lurking beneath the guy’s jacket.
With stereotypical green eyes and red hair shaved close to his skull, Jimmy was almost a match for Boris in size and build though he lacked that hardened look that came from serving in a war zone. After indicating that Boris and Cynthia should take the two remaining chairs Jimmy lights himself a cigarette before beginning “Its good of you to make the effort Ruskie considering the trouble this has caused me” Jimmy started; flicking the spent match into an empty waste paper basket “First things first, somebody is looking for you, started about a day or so ago some group started sending out feelers; who you were, what you did, where they could find you, the usual stuff so being a valued customer I sent some out of my own figured I could sell you the information only my guys never returned…or at least not all of them; found an arm with a load of smashed up fingers in a vacant lot luckily whoever chopped him up left enough of his tattoo visible for us to identify him by” he explained seemingly unshaken by the brutal murder of one of his colleagues as he took another drag on his cigarette “…I don’t know who you’ve pissed off Ruskie but they’re seriously dangerous and gunning for you so if I was you I’d find someplace else to be…they’re also looking for some girl, tell me darling have you got any tattoos under that pretty blouse of yours?” Jimmy asked, giving Cynthia a quizzical look that caused her to go pale; wishing that the black market dealer would stop looking at her like he’d just found one hundred bucks sat on his front porch.
With a single disinterested shrug of his shoulders Jimmy tosses the butt of his cigarette into the bin and lights another one before turning his attention back to Boris “Ok Ruskie that’s the heads up out of the way now for the favour” he said whilst opening the bottom draw of his desk out of which he would produce a rectangular item around about the size of a phone book, wrapped with string and brown paper and place it next to the assault rifle “There’s a collector coming to pick this up at the end of the week, I need you to look after it until then and deliver it to him, I’ll send you the meeting place nearer the time. There’s a thousand bucks in it for you for doing this…so what do you say? Have we got a deal?”

 

[DeletedUser31931]

The dinner was eaten in near silence, with Boris’ mind too busy running through possible scenarios to engage in proper conversation with Cynthia. Once he’d cleared up, the pair set off. The sun had set and there was a brisk chill to the night air as Boris locked the safe house up behind him. As they set off, Boris started getting that feeling again. It was hard to explain to someone who had never felt it before. It was like an itch. It ran down the entire side of his left arm and he impulsively scratched his elbow. His instincts didn’t usually fail him and he was willing to bet that this was no exception. Still, as they left the complex silently on his motorbike, he couldn’t shake their pursuers. No matter what he did, and he did practically everything he could in the time he’d allowed himself to get there, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were still watching him. Pulling into the compound, he left his bike near the entrance and made his way through the warehouse. It seemed like Jimmy was moving out of his present safehouse. No wonder he was allowed to bring guests then. Still, something had to have Jimmy spooked for him to be up and leaving as quickly as this. Pushing such thoughts to one side, Boris made his way up the steel staircase to the foreman’s office. Jimmy motioned for him and Cynthia to take a seat and he let Cynthia pick which seat she wanted before taking the other chair.

Jimmy, it seemed, had encountered them as well. On the plus side, at least Boris’ suspicions about the fact that he was being followed were correct. On the minus side, they were being followed. Boris raised an eyebrow as Jimmy described the state that they had found his men in. A single limb. Not bad. Clearly they mean business. Well, if that wasn’t obvious already. His suspicions were further confirmed by the fact that they were not only searching for him but also for Cynthia. I knew I should have killed those fakes. Ah well, it’s a mistake I can rectify next time. Boris’ index finger stroked the holster on his waist as he thought about a confrontation with the mysterious men. Jimmy, however, had other plans and was already moving on to the purpose of his calling Boris out here. Placing the package on the table, he stated his terms and told him the details of the job. Boris picked the package up, knowing better than to question its contents and not particularly caring. If Jimmy was going to betray them then they would have been shot the moment they’d walked into the factory. As Jimmy mentioned the money, Boris shook his head. “I won’t need cash payment. Not that I’m doing it for free but I’d rather do this in exchange for a favour.” Pausing for a moment, Boris best considered how to sum up what he needed before launching into his explanation. “I need to find a girl. Her name’s Zani, she’s the one that’s been all over the news recently. Thing is, I have pretty good reason to believe that she’s been set up and that the same people that are after me are after her. Since she might well have a better idea as to what’s going on, I’d like to find her and ask her a few questions. With my status being as it is though; going out to search for her… well it’d be difficult. So here’s the deal: You put some of your men on finding her for me and I watch the package for the week. When I hand over the package, you get your deliveryman to hand me a file with everything you can find on her. How does that sound?” His tone was neutral and he purposefully avoided some of the more bizarre details about the situation, like the photograph and Dmitri, so as to not trigger to much suspicion from Jimmy. They had plenty of cash to live off of for the next couple of months or so and this information might actually get the pair of them closer to figuring out what the hell was going on, so Boris was much happier to do things this way.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Zani had been in a near panic as they'd gone to the private practitioner trying to keep Rebecca awake...she'd thought she was out of adrenaline, but fear for her friend's life was keeping her going for the time being. She didn't seem to appreciate what was being done for her benefit, but that was understandable...and the librarian was prepared to do whatever it took to keep them both alive. Fortunately, they got to the place before anything drastic had to happen, an out of the way area that would hopefully be unusually placed enough that the cops wouldn't find them...and same with whoever had been so effortlessly controlling the circumstances behind the evening. The owner of the residence was older, but had a professional air despite his obvious recent return to consciousness. After shooing their driver to a different portion of the house, the two got Rebecca undressed so he could examine her properly. After that, having done truly all she could for her friend, Zani sank to the floor, eyes closed as her exhaustion overtook her again, stronger than before. She had almost fallen asleep when the man called her back, asking what had happened and if the driver had done it. "No, he helped us...this is going to sound insane, but...I was framed for a murder I didn't commit but was present for..." her eyes snapped open as she looked guiltily at the man. "Don't get me wrong, I was held at gunpoint while it happened, there was nothing I could've done...anyway, they framed me, and unnaturally thoroughly and quickly too, my name was all over the news as soon as the poor man was dead, complete with motive...I called her," here she gestured at Rebecca, "because I didn't know what to do, and she said I had to run, so I did...after a while, she called me back...told me she'd help me get away, that her sister was out of town...turns out the same men who had murdered the one guy, or at the very least someone working for the same cause, had come to her place and did...what you see...told her they'd kill her if they didn't bring me to them...she chickened out at the last minute...I...I couldn't let them get her...she's my best friend...kind of wrecked her car trying to get away, we went through the woods for a while...that's when we got picked up and brought here...I think...I think they had the room bugged...I think I'm the reason she got involved..." Zani wasn't sure when the tears had started, but they were coming now...the exhaustion, the fear...being able to tell someone about it was really, really nice...she looked back up at him, finishing with, "I know it sounds insane...but I promise you, it's all true. I don't know why they came after me, I don't know why they're so hell-bent on ruining my life...we're librarians, we're not secret government workers...I don't know why anyone would have such an interest in me...but please, crazy as it sounds, I swear it's true." If he didn't believe her...he could easily throw them out of his house...but...if that happened...no, he had to believe her...he had to...

 

[DeletedUser28032]

The Medic
"You're right...it does sound crazy" the medic replied in a voice that said there wasn't much of her story that he was buying. He'd heard crazy stories before from the drunk and stupid as they tried to cover up what they'd been doing to result in them being here before, though he had to admit that neither of the young women looked to be either drunk or stupid. Briefly drawing his attention away from Rebecca to look at the girl sat on his floor crying the medic's expression momentarily softened "look...I don't know what you've gotten yourself mixed up in but I do believe that you never meant for your friend to get hurt, now stop snivelling and go and hand me the antiseptic" he said, once again returning to his usual gruff self.
Zani was forced to play nurse for the duration of Rebecca's treatment with any complaint getting nothing but short shrift from the former army medic. In comparison Zani's own examination was shockingly brief with her barely having gotten her vest off before being told that she was fine and to "put on her big girl pants and live with it" with only Rebecca getting any form of bedside manner from him "ok sweet pea, you'll be glad to hear you have no sign of concussion however you do have a couple of cracked ribs and two broken fingers for which I'll give you some painkillers. The cuts and bruises are mainly superficial except for those that I stitched up for you, come back in a couple of weeks and I'll have them out for you If you like. The swelling in your eye will go down in time though I'm afraid that burn is most likely going to leave a permanent scar, though you'll have to apply the cream I've given you to stop it getting infected, Ok?" Becca mutely nodded her head with tears still slowly rolling down her cheeks "now, unless either of you would like a lollypop for being such good little girls I suggest you both go hone and get some rest" he said in a voice that made it clear that it was time for them to leave.
Normally Rebecca would have more than happily angled for the offered lollypop even if it was only to call the gruff old medics bluff but as it was it took all of her energy just to get off of the examination table and let Zani lead her back to the car.

After settling the bill, Jonathan would drive the pair back to his place before gallantly offering to sleep on the sofa so that they could share the solitary bed upstairs. After all he'd already been sleeping there so what did a few more hours matter? That and the fact they needed it far more than he did.

Once in the bedroom Rebecca would silently strip down to her underwear and slip beneath the sheets; unable to even look at Zani as she did so, her face a mask of utter misery.

Boris
“Wait a minute…I tell you that a group of seriously dangerous dudes are out looking for you and you decide to hang out with a wanted felon? Ruskie you are a seriously dumb mothe...ah you know what forget it, you want her found consider her found” Jimmy stated in a way that said he couldn’t be bothered to argue with him no matter how stupid he thought he was being “...end of the week I’ll pass along what we’ve got on her, If we actually find her we’ll call that way you stand a fighting chance of seeing her before the boys in blue do…consider it a sign of our past good fortune” Jimmy said with a wry grin as he tossed his cigarette and set about lighting a third “Wait you’re really going to just take that!?” Cynthia suddenly exclaimed pointing at the wrapped package currently sat on the desk “…we don’t know what it is! It could be drugs or…or a bomb or…”
“Cool your jets darling, it’s only a book…open it if you don’t believe me just don’t damage the thing, the buyer wants it in mint condition…now unless there is something else you need I have an operation to relocate”

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Boris chuckled as Jimmy complimented his sanity. “Like I said, I think she’s been set up by the same people that are after me. I have my reasons but she might well be able to help get to the bottom of this mess.” Jimmy agreed, thankfully, to the deal, even promising to let him know early if they found Zani-Jain so that he’d have a head start. “Much appreciated, though if you’re going to be doing that…” Boris’ hands went to his jacket and he pulled out one of the burner sims he’d purchased during his shopping earlier that day. He’d memorised the number for each sim and each had enough credit for a couple of texts or a call, not that Jimmy would be needing it for that. “I know the number, if you find her early then I’ll set off to find her immediately, so we’ll need that to contact. Alternatively, if you try and contact the safehouse and get no response, that likely means that our location’s been compromised. I’ll protect the package if that’s the case but expect radio silence because we’ll hit the dirt. If that happens, put the sim at 7:00 the day before the handover, I’ll call you within the hour. If I fail to do that, I’ll have left the package in one of our three dead drop locations. If I haven’t done that, then something really has gone down but I highly doubt it’ll come to that.” Taking a second to make sure he’d memorised the number, he placed the sim onto Jimmy’s desk. As he went to take the package, Cynthia raised the objection. Before Boris could allay her fears, however, Jimmy had cut in and explained that the package was a book. Boris slid the package into his jacket, ensuring it was nestled safely inside the jacket before he zipped it back up again. As jimmy asked if there was anything else Boris smiled. “Yeah, it’s American Ruskie to you.” Deciding to leave off the last couple of words from their customary parting phrase, mostly due to Cynthia’s presence in the room, Boris waited for Jimmy’s retort before he motioned to Cynthia to leave the room. Once they’d exited to the warehouse, as Boris was retrieving his keys from his jacket pocket, he spoke again. “To answer your question from earlier, yeah, I was going to just take it. I trust Jimmy and trust is something that’s pretty hard to come by at the moment. If I really needed to know what was in the package, he would have told me. Plus, sometimes, it’s better not to ask.” Starting up the motorbike engine, he tossed a helmet in Cynthia’s direction. “Now then, are you coming home with me or do you want to spend the night Jimmy’s men?” Chuckling at the joke for a second, he realised it was probably a little too harsh, but kept chuckling anyway, waiting for the girl to clamber onto the bike, whereupon he would set off back for the apartment, attempting to shake his mysterious tail along the way.

 

[DeletedUser37114]

Nia was getting into the backseat of the car when Sandra pointed out (with a chuckle) that her partner had left a mark on her neck. Sure enough, examining her reflection in the rear view mirror showed a hickey standing right out against her pale skin (though the blotch went surprisingly well with her blouse). The fact that she'd gotten laid was definitely obvious now, and it wasn't exactly like she was going to be able to hide it (nonexistent collar, no makeup, no band-aids) at this point. Ah well, anyone who couldn't handle the jealousy wasn't worth her time to deal with. The drive and trip into work was a nice one again, fitting with the rest of her day so far (even, even, evens all around). John decided to make himself very helpful with many of the bits of raw coding, which helped a lot with efficiency compared to the day before. Abbie also dropped by out of the blue (looking absolutely adorable), saying that her colleague had decided he didn't want to deal with her good mood (which was great to hear, Nia didn't want to be the only one with good vibes after last night). The hours until lunch slipped away from there as she and John ground through the work of analyzing the code, though they (sadly) didn't make too much headway. Lunchtime brought an unexpected bit of help, though, with Abbie showing off an amazing aptitude for code breaking with a screen dump she'd taken earlier (hopefully she wasn't neglecting her own work...). Though a trip to the girl's bathroom for some kissing (and an explanation that the hickey was perfectly fine) wasn't unhelpful either. A few more hours' work left Nia with a finished puzzle (it couldn't be this easy), to her own surprise. The text was mostly folklore and star charts, which was odd, given the nature of the code and Hex itself, but it was done. And then the erasure happened again, with Hex also outputting a new message and changing (more complexity, new symbols and spacing...) the code up. Nia immediately went to get Abbie, the other woman would want to see this. That, and if this was a hardware problem instead of Hex being both sentient and a jerk (seriously, she'd been taking backups of her code, but erasing and changing the puzzle was just mean), Abbie would hopefully be the one to help fix it.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

While the doctor didn't believe Zani's story, he did at least get the important information out of it...that she didn't want any harm to come to Rebecca and felt terrible about her involvement. He then told her to help treat her friend and coworker, which she did, drying her eyes as she stood up. She would proceed to help as best she could, keeping complaints to a minimum...she was just glad she could do something. Fortunately it didn't sound like there was anything that would end her life, and before too long they were gruffly escorted out, Zani murmuring a thank you as they left. The idiot paid for the procedure, something for which she was grateful...she didn't have a lot of money on her and didn't want to shortchange the man after he'd been so helpful. A trip later and they were at the man's house, where he insisted they take the bed. After another thank you, Zani followed Rebecca into the room, frowning as she saw how the other girl avoided looking in her direction as they both prepared for bed, looking thoroughly miserable. Sliding into the comfortable sheets, she turned so she could hug her friend.

"Becca, please don't feel bad about what you did. You were tortured. Anyone would've decided to help them. We're not book heroes able to withstand anything because we know there's better things to come...we're just two librarians who got caught up in a bad situation...and I'm the one who involved you in the first place, for which I'm terribly sorry about. And even if I blamed you for turning me in, which I don't, because I'd be an idiot to blame you for that, you turned against them when it mattered...at the very end you decided to not help them...you could've stopped me from taking over your car...you could've subdued me after I crashed your car...you could've started shouting in the woods to draw them onto us...but you didn't. You chose to stick with me, and that's what's important. So please, don't feel bad about it...you're my best friend, you know that, and despite a moment of completely understandable weakness, you're here now instead of following their orders. Ok?" Zani wanted to make sure that the blonde girl wasn't going to continue to beat herself up over what she'd done...yeah there'd been mistakes made, but who didn't screw up every once in a while? The important thing was she was making the right choices now, and she wasn't giving up until Rebecca admitted that.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Nia
“What do you mean Hex erased your work!?” Abbie said in a stunned voice as she followed Nia back into Hex’s workshop with the rock chick giving the machine an almost scolding look “Are you sure you didn’t just hit a wrong key or something? I mean Hex has like the processing power of a Gameboy” however before her lover was able to respond John was already speaking up in her defence “No, I saw it too Abs, Nia had cracked it when your demon…robot…thing, went loco and wiped it all” he said receiving a scowl from Abbie that sent him scurrying back to his work, though whether that was because he’d insulted her baby or called her Abs wasn’t overly clear.
With two people now giving the same story Abbie decided that she’d probably ought to take a look with the girl walking over to one of the steel filing cabinets and retrieving a small tool box with the words ABBIES TOOLS. TOUCH AND YOU DIE! neatly stencilled across its top. After removing a hidden panel on Hex’s side Abbie retrieved a small pen light from out of her tool kit before shimmying halfway into the gap, with the girl automatically crossing her legs so as to prevent John-boy and Nia for that matter from looking up her skirt whilst she worked “hey Nia babe could you pass me the multi-tool please?” Abbie asked after a short while within the machine; holding out her hand expectantly as she started to quietly sing Want you Bad to herself.
A single glance at Abbie’s tool kit quickly told Nia that this was no normal girl’s tool kit with the quality and intricacy of the tools within more than warranting the death threat stencilled on the lid, with every item neatly, to the point of OCD stored in its own little compartment with other tools of a similar nature.
Abbie would spend the remainder of the working day checking Hex’s inner workings before climbing out with a defeated look on her face “I dunno Nia, it all looks fine to me, then again Hex isn’t exactly a normal machine so…I dunno… maybe there is a piece missing?” she said with a shrug and an unsure look on her face. It would mean digging out all of her notes and stripping hex down but she was more than happy to spend the day working on Hex if it meant getting the intricate piece of steampunk technology working as it should; even more so if it helped Nia out “so…um…do you fancy coming over to mine tonight?” Abbie tentatively asked as the pair of them made their way out of the building, with the rock chick still wiping patches of oil and grease off of her hands with a piece of kitchen roll “…I thought maybe I could try and cook us something then share a bottle of wine and watch a little Netflix, no rom-coms I promise” she hurriedly added with a nervous laugh as they stepped into the car park eager to spend more time with Nia whilst hoping that she wasn’t coming across as being clingy, after all this would be their third night together in a row. Not that she could see any problem with that, though that could just be her she supposed.

Zani
“W-why are you being so nice to me? I don’t deserve it Zani, you’re supposed to hate me…I sold you out!” Rebecca quietly sniffled as she turned to face the wall unable to even look at her friend who even now was trying to justify her actions to say it wasn’t her fault “…as for the other stuff I was too damn scared to do anything but follow you! You’re the brave one Zani, you’re the one who dealt with my psycho ex and you’re the one who got us out of this mess alive…all I did was try and save my own skin…I couldn’t even keep my stupid mouth closed, if I’d have just done that then you would never have been put in that position…I’m a coward Zani and I’d fully understand if you never wanted to see me again” she finished in a miserable voice that said she was once again on the verge of tears. The idea that had Zani never gotten involved with the artist then she never would have been visited by those men never even entering her mind. As far as Becca was concerned this was all her fault.

Boris
“Yeah right and I’m a Mexican” Jimmy sneered using one of the cleaner and less racist retorts he used when responding to Boris’ claims about his nationality.
With the black market dealer pocketing the burner phone he’d been left he’d usher the pair of them as far as the front door before leaving to tend to his business that would no doubt be located in another state by day break.
Quietly taking her dressing down concerning her outburst back in Jimmy’s office Cynthia simply gave Boris a sceptical look concerning his trust in the black market dealer “If you say so, personally I think he’s a crook” she said as her friend and protector set about putting his helmet on with her hoping that he was joking about leaving her here with Jimmy’s men
.
The pair of them had ridden as far as the compound gate when they spotted a pair of men stood within the shadows of an abandoned warehouse. Dressed in suits and fedoras they looked like they’d just walked out of a prohibition gangster movie with one of the men consulting a silver pocket watch as if timing their or someone else’s arrival.
Offering the pair on the bike a corpse like grin the two suited men turned and started walking into the shadows leaving a chill running down Cynthia’s spine as she watched them go “Lets just get out of here Dmi-Boris, lets just go home” she said in a voice muffled by her helmet. Something about those men just didn’t seem right.