[Another taste of the evil I breed
Will level you completely
Bring to life everything that you fear
Live in the dark, and the world is threatening]
--- Lyrics to 'Prayer' by Disturbed
A Silver Lining Part 26
Turning over the bed mattress, Kent growled deeply to himself, his eyes narrowed in rage as his search of the apartment continued to prove futile. After scanning every inch of Angie's place, he had yet to find anything that may lead him to finding his prime targets. He was not going to be pleased in finding that there was no luck in locating the Gundam pilots.
When he looked up to the clock, the young man hissed a quiet curse. Angie would be returning home in little over two hours, her shift nearly at its end. Straightening himself to see the shambles that he had left the bedroom in, Kent sighed deeply and ran a hand through his short brown hair. He certainly had been as thorough as he could possibly be.
Drawers in every dresser were pulled out, clothes and other items were strewn about the floor. If he came up short after eight hours of searching the entire apartment, there was nothing there to be found. He had spent the entire weekend and two more days only to come up short. Those Preventers certainly covered their bases this time, covering every track that might leak any valuable information to his targets' whereabouts.
It was now time to move on and come up with another angle, which was most frustrating at this stage in the game.
Time to make a quick departure as this once deep well of information had dried.
With another deep sigh, Kent set himself to cleaning the mess that he had made of the bedroom. At least it was the last room he had to do this for. Angie would never know that he had all but torn her place literally upside down while she was gone. Thankfully, the clothes in her dressers were never neatly folded and assorted, but thrown about haphazardly.
By the time he was finished with setting all of the young woman's belongings back to their rightful place, it was moments before he heard her voice calling his name from downstairs. Quickly straightening the last framed artwork, Kent stepped from the bedroom to head down the steps to the living room with his bag.
The dark-haired Preventer smiled at her lover's entrance, "There you are." Noting the suitcase in his hand, Angie tried to cover the disappointment in her voice as she smirked, "Taking off on me again?"
With a nod, Kent replied, "I have to be at the shuttle port in the next couple of hours."
No need to stay when it would not benefit him. He already ran a risk by showing up so close to his last visit. This would be the last time he would be making this visit. Keeping up with his cover, he lied instead with a reassuring smile, "I am sure my job will bring me back to the area in the near future again. You'll see me before again before you realize I am gone."
At that, Angie's smile brightened a bit and she nodded, "Well, I certainly hope so." She leaned in and took his lips in a hungry kiss. After a brief exchange of farewells and a wish for a safe trip, Kent winked at the young woman before stepping from the apartment, closing the door behind him.
Entering the driver's seat of his rented car, Kent took up his cell phone. As the speed dial registered, he maneuvered the steering wheel with his free hand. The deep voice that picked up on the other line greeted, "Yea."
His eyes narrowing, Kent hissed, "You listen to me, you little fuck. Because of your stunt in destroying that house weeks ago, not only were those pilots moved, but there is nothing recorded in the Preventer database to where they are now." His voice rose as he shouted, "Nothing!"
The sound of a rough swallow came over the receiver. "Angie was the only person that we could have gotten to that would have had any information. I swear I thought it was a lock in finding them," the agent stated, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
Swerving through traffic, Kent growled deeply, "Well, you are the only person within the Preventers that we have left. You will curse your mother for ever meeting your father if you fuck up again, I will see to that personally. Whatever it takes, you get to those pilots. Find them and get the location to me. Or so help me, I will hunt you down wherever you hide if you fail me again, Tim. Do you understand me!"
"Yes, sir," came the quick response. "I understand clearly. We'll have them," the Preventer added when there was a long, uncomfortable silence between them.
With no other choice but to be satisfied in that, Kent snapped, "We had better. There is too much at stake to lose another opportunity now. I'll be in touch to check on your progress in a couple of days." His thumb moved up to end the call. Lowering the phone and gripping the steering wheel with both hands, the brunette gritted his teeth.
Another mistake would prove devastating at this stage. With that fool as their only eyes and ears among the Preventers, there were too many things that could go wrong. Considering what Tim had cost them already, Kent was at unease in having to put their eggs into that one basket.
In the end, it was all that they could so for now, until another opportunity arose. It would simply have to be enough for now.
* * * * * *
"So does anyone want to play charades?"
"No!" eight voices chorused as one.
Duo lowered his head to rest on Heero's good shoulder again as he sighed deeply, "Killjoys. One of these times, you're all going to take up on the idea." His partner just chuckled deeply and squeezed his leg.
Looking up from the deck of cards in his hand, Wufei snorted, "Maxwell, as boring as it is being stuck here, it will never get so bad that I would ever partake in that game." Duo just closed his eyes, laughing to himself at just getting a rise from his friends. Lately, it was his only sense of entertainment.
Over the last few days, being in the same residence with more than a half-dozen others was beginning to wear on everyone. Had there been regular assignments to keep them busy, the novelty of their arrangements would not have tarnished so quickly. But after seeing the same faces for more than a month, cabin fever was creeping in... and quickly.
As he raised his head again, Duo asked, "How about twenty questions?"
"No!" came the chorused voices of his friends again. Heero smirked when his best friend lowered his braided head on his shoulder again. Wrapping his arms around his partner's shoulders with a squeeze, the ex-Wing pilot kissed Duo's head in a silent gesture of understanding his frustration. Even Yuuki jumped up to sit in her owners' laps, bringing a smile to the American's face as he played with her ears.
For Duo's sanity, for everyone's sanity, Heero certainly hoped that something happened soon.
* * * * * *
"I had higher hopes that you would pull this off," the voice on the other end of the line growled deeply. "This certainly is most displeasing news."
Running a hand over his short brown hair, Kent sighed deeply. This was the one call he had been dreading since returning to his place of operations the day before. "I assure you, sir, this problem will be handled. We still have our last leak within the Preventers looking into situation. We'll find those pilots soon enough."
There was a brief pause before the man on the other line commented, "I do not like having to rely on only one resource, especially that loose trigger." Kent could not help but snort at that, sharing the same concerns himself. "See that you find them."
Without hesitating, Kent replied, "Yes, sir." Opening his suitcase that he had not bothered with since his return, the young man went through his things and continued on his conversation. "They won't be able to stay hidden for much longer. I would not be surprised if-" he stopped short, his eyes widening and his hands pausing over his clothes.
In hearing the sudden stall, the voice asked urgently, "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, sir," Kent quickly answered, somehow able to keep his voice calm. "I will keep you updated on the progress of our search. I just remembered that I have something that I need to take care of."
Another awkward silence followed. Finally, he responded, "Very well. This is a very busy time for the two of us." Silently, Kent breathed a sigh of relief that his excuse seemed to have worked. That relief lasted for a very fleeting moment. "I will be calling you again after this evening's events." With that, the call was cut.
Kent was all too happy to hear the disconnected tone over his cell phone as it all but fell to the floor. His hands pushed his clothes around, along with the small devices that he had taken with him to Angie's apartment. "It was right here," he told himself, his blue eyes widening again.
Growing frustrated, he began throwing his things out of his suitcase. After going through anything and still not finding it, Kent's back arched and his eyes closed tightly as he let out a loud scream. Of all of the things to leave behind in his rush to get away, his data card contained an untold wealth on knowledge leading to him if the wrong people got their hands on it.
His hands shaking, Kent dry washed his face, forcing himself to focus. There was no choice in what he had to do. Quickly opening his laptop, he began opening his programs. Taking up his cell phone again, he waited for the voice on the other line to answer.
Not bothering with the formalities of greetings, the brunette man ordered, "I want you to assemble some men. You are being sent an email with an address not far from where you are now. My data card was left behind there and I want it retrieved. There is a young woman who lives there alone." With that, he pressed the 'send' button to his message.
The professional response came, "Of course, sir." It was a good thing to have a reliable team at their disposal at every key location ready to follow out on their orders. "And what of the woman?"
"Kill her," Kent answered sharply without the need of consideration. "We cannot risk the chance that she may have seen something she shouldn't have. Make sure that no one sees you, and do what you must if anyone does."
He could hear the smile in the voice when it answered, "Understood. I just received the coordinates now. We'll move in well after dark."
At that, Kent stated, "I want to be reached as soon as you're done." With one last affirmative response, he closed his cell phone with a shuddery breath. Falling into his chair at his desk, his hands went up to his face again.
Questions and thoughts ran through his mind as he sat there. How could he have made such a mistake? He swore that he had checked everything before he packed his bag. As far as he knew, the card was never taken out. It must simply have fallen. Now, he could only wait, hoping that the team he sent reached the card before anyone else found it, Kent sighed deeply as he sat back in his seat.
What if Angie had found that card? Would she know how to decode what was on there? How was he going to make up for what this meant to the White Out Organization if that happened? What if 'he' ever found out what happened?
It was going to be a long few hours before he would have any answers to those questions.
* * * * * *
The following evening, Angie returned home from another day at the office. Work was as challenging as ever, but it was what made her job rewarding for her. Working overtime over the weekend never bothered her, considering that there wasn't anyone waiting for her at home. After several devastating relationships in the past, she was not ready to have more than her flings from time-to-time. She was comfortable with her life.
At least, that was what she kept telling herself at the end of every day.
Sighing deeply in relief, Angie removed her black hair from its short ponytail. As warm as it was, she decided to close the windows and turn on the air conditioner. She paused to smile at watching the sunset over the mountainous horizon. Her apartment certainly had one of the best views for such splendors.
As her supper of leftovers was reheating in the microwave, Angie moved upstairs to her room to change out of her uniform. Stepping into her bedroom, she kicked her shoes off and slid them under her bed for a change instead of placing them by the door. As the edge of her blanket was pulled back, the light caught something metallic, causing it to catch her eye when it shimmered for a brief second.
Lowering her hands as they undid the first button of her blouse, Angie tilted her head as she looked down to the strange object. She lowered to her knees, picking up what she discovered was some kind of data card. "Kent must have left this behind yesterday," she thought aloud, just needed to hear something in the silence-even if she was stating the obvious as she never owned such a device. Turning it before her face, she examined the card punched with holes and small wires.
If it was something important, he would have contacted her by now that he needed it, Angie considered to herself. That was, unless, Kent didn't realize that it was missing yet. Biting her lip, the young woman considered what she should do. There was no way of contacting Kent, his number always showing as unlisted whenever he showed on her caller id. He never left a number for her to reach him.
There were many things about that man that were more or less hidden from Angie. The card in her hand, she knew by some of the punched patterns with her work in data entry and retrieval, he must have had a much more important job than what he led her to believe.
It was a very high-tech piece of information storage that looked to have very complex details, most likely for coding whatever was on it. Given that, whatever was on the card was something of great importance and Kent needed it back somehow.
Biting her lip, Angie weighed her options and the only logical way of somehow contacting her lover was to look up a possible phone number from the card. As much as she disliked the idea of 'prying' into something so private, it was obvious that this was something very important and she wanted to help get it to its rightful owner. Kent would understand when she called him to tell him she found his card. Besides, she only needed his cell phone number. That was quick and easy to retrieve.
Finally decided on it, Angie nodded to herself and changed quickly into her long pajamas. Taking up the card, she left her room to enjoy her meal as she worked. She couldn't help but think to herself that it would be nice to hear her lover's voice again.
Kent would be thrilled to hear that she had gone through such lengths to help him.
* * * * * *
Lady Une was making a batch of tea when her vid phone rang. Stepping from her kitchen with her teacup, she moved to her desk and blinked in surprise at the name on the small caller id screen. As she lowered her cup, she pressed the accept button, her brown eyes widening at the tear-streaked face that appeared on her screen. "Agent Sleet?" she asked with a concerned frown.
With a choked sob, the young woman before her whimpered, "Commander, Une I am so sorry. I don't know what to do." Her body trembled with a near violent shudder.
Straightening in her seat, Lady Une's gaze filled with greater concern, but she kept her voice calm to reply, "Whatever it is, it'll be all right, Angie. Just tell me what happened and I will help however I can." Angie had been one of her hardest workers in the record holdings department. Seeing the normally happy young woman so distraught was unnerving.
It took a moment for Angie to force a deep breath to calm her wracking sobs. "I really made a terrible mistake," she began, her voice trembling. "And I think that I'm in danger now." Before Lady Une could ask what made her think that, the dark-haired Preventer lifted the data card that she had found.
"A man that I met a few months ago left this in my apartment last night. I've spent the last hour looking through it and-" she could not continue as her voice trembled with another spell of sobs. The Commander just nodded encouragingly to let her know that she was listening. Having to collect herself again, Angie managed, "I saw some things that I shouldn't have about him."
At that, Lady Une licked her lips and nodded, "Okay. I am going to see that someone comes to help you. Can just you tell me, quickly, what it was that you found that has you so upset so that I know what we're dealing with here?"
Shaking her head, Angie sniffled, "I don't even know. It took me so long to get into any of the data on this card. When I thought I finally got into Kent's personal contact information, I found that he has dozens of aliases." She wiped at the tears running down her cheeks as she recited from memory, "Lance Treas. Toby Haan. Richard Herbert. Terry Henderson."
Her brown eyes widening, Lady Une gripped the edge of her desk. "W-what was that last name?" she breathed, her skin paling.
Angie seemed to finally control her sobs at last. Swallowing hard, she answered, "Terry Henderson." In seeing the state of her Commander, she frowned, "Have you heard that name before?"
Unable to breathe, Lady Une cupped the sides of her face as the name ran through her mind. Terry Henderson. It was the only name that Duo managed to get out of Brian Hefner and the other leaks that had been interrogated. The name of one of the direct contacts to the head of the White Out Organization. And now Angie had the only tie to any information on him, not even realizing just how great of danger she was currently in because of it.
Quickly rising from her seat, the Commander bent at the waist to keep eye contact with the young woman. "Where are you now?" she demanded, her brown eyes narrowing in resolve.
Blinking her green eyes, Angie answered, "I am at my apartment at the Glenn Allen Estates. Should I go somewhere else?"
Lady Une shouted, "No!" When the Preventer flinched with wide eyes, she placed a hand over her chest to take a deep breath. Shaking her head, she spoke much more softly, "No, Angie. Your address is in my database, here. I want you to stay in your apartment. Lock your doors and windows. I am going to have a team sent there to get you out of there. Do not answer your door until they have called you first, to let you know they're there."
In sensing the urgency of the situation, Angie gave a small nod to understanding the orders. "I am being targeted, then?" she breathed. She began to tremble again as she sobbed, "Lady Une, I swear that I never meant to compromise the Preventers' security. I never knew-"
Forcing a reassuring smile, the Commander spoke gently, "It's all right, Angie. I know that you did not act maliciously. Right now, I am just going to see to it that you're brought to safety. We will go into this more then."
Angie nodded, biting her lip against the terror that coursed through her. "Thank you, Commander," she whispered brokenly. "I'll wait for backup, then." A sob broke through as she whimpered, "If anything happens to me-"
"Hush," Lady Une cut her off, not wanting to think of the possibility. "I will see you in a few hours, Angie. Just don't leave your apartment alone, okay?" When the dark-haired Preventer nodded, she concluded, "Now I don't want to risk the possibility that someone might be listening to your line. Help will be there shortly." At the last nod from her agent, she disconnected the call.
Quickly dialing on her vid phone, Lady Une took a shuddering breath as she closed her eyes. The image of a familiar face appeared at the answering of her call and before he could greet her, she bent down to the screen and stated, "Zechs, we have to keep this brief."
* * * * * *
The next few minutes were a blur of shouting and running around the estate when relayed the message from Lady Une. Being the closest to the Glenn Allen Estates, they had to assemble quickly to reach Angie before someone else did. Relena, Quatre, Sally and Scott stayed out of the way as they watched the exchange of weapons and words between the Gundam pilots as they prepared to move out quickly.
Opening the front door, Zechs shouted over the others, "We better move now! Let's go!" He ran outside with Trowa, Wufei, Noin and Anna on his heels.
When Heero was about to follow after, Sally moved before him with a halting hand on his chest as she told him, "Heero, I am not going to let you step out of this house." When the Japanese pilot moved to protest, the braided woman frowned, "Your shoulder is finally starting to mend properly. It would take months to repair it if it is damaged again now."
"She's right, Heero," Duo's voice came from behind him. Taking the gun from his partner's hand, he added it to his belt of weapons at his waist. "You should sit this one out. We don't have any time to argue over it," he stated flatly.
His cobalt eyes widened in concern, Heero asked, "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm tired of sitting back and watching the rest of you take shots at these bastards. I'm going to have to face my demons at some point," Duo replied, his violet eyes narrowing. "And there is no use in trying to talk me out of this," he added just when his best friend opened his mouth.
With a deep sigh, Heero frowned deeply. He knew better than to try and get in the American's way when his mind was made up. Along with that, Sally was right in her assessment of his shoulder. Knowing his body better than anyone, further tearing to his healing muscles would set him back greatly.
Quickly pulling Duo close, the ex-Wing pilot kissed his lips and whispered, "Be careful." Duo only nodded before running out the door to join the others, slamming the door behind him.
As the sound of the two cars revving and peeling out of the driveway, Heero sighed deeply. In the blink of an eye, events had spiraled out of control and he had been left behind. It had been years since the last time Duo went off on a mission without him. Now, finding himself in that position again, Heero quickly remembered how unsettling it was.
* * * * * *
Adjusting his tie as he looked himself in the mirror, he smiled to himself. It was an important night for him and he certainly needed to be certain to look his best. There would be a great many people present at this particular event. Many of them included his more esteemed clients.
Despite the looming nuisance that the Preventers had covered his prized targets so well, he was assured that he had the right men working the channels to take care of that. The last phone call that he had with Kent was a bit reassuring. 'Kent.' He smirked at the name, just one in a long line of aliases that the young man had taken up.
The fact that there seemed to be a hint of distraught in 'Kent's' voice towards the end of their call did not worry him terribly. There were a great many more agents working for him. He could afford to lose several 'Kents' before he became too concerned.
Business was good and growing by the day as word was whispered up the right chain of high buyers. As the man running the organization, he was the prime beneficiary of one of the greatest underground slave trades to exist.
There was little to be truly concerned with, when it all came down to it. Even if the Gundam pilots stayed in hiding for years, at least they would not be interfering with his business directly again.
There was a knock on the door and he turned from the mirror to call, "Come in."
A tall, suited man entered with a bow of his head, "The guests have all arrived and the podium is ready for when you are, sir."
"Very good, Robson." he smiled, buttoning up his black suit coat. "I will be ready in a few more minutes, then."
With a salute, the secret service officer replied, "Yes, Mister President." Turning on his heels, he closed the door after himself.
His smile widened. He certainly never tired of that title.
TBC...
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