Title:Dead On.Part 2 Author:Tapestry Email:Shaddow_Cat@hotmail.com Standard Disclaimer Apply Rating:PG13 *denotes thought <>denotes foreign language Just to clear things up a bit....this story is set before the Soviet Union broke apart. Just in case you haven't already guessed: Nikolas - Nephlite Jed - Jadeite Malakov - Malachite Marine(codename) - Amy ~Morning~ Darien was just stepping out of an elevator when somebody bumped into him.The man muttered an apology and quickly entered the elevator. Darien frowned. "What are you staring at??"came a voice. Turning towards the voice,Darien saw it was Serena.Standing next to her was a sour-faced Alan. "Oh hi,Serena."mumbled Darien absent-mindedly,still staring at the closed elevator doors. "Are you waiting for a lift?"asked Serena confused. Darien shook his head. "Is something wrong?"prodded Serena. "Nothing...just...ah,forget it." Serena stared at Darien quizzically. Alan merely glared at Darien silently. Serena leaned down and picked up a set of mangled car keys.The keys were fused together.Serena stared at it curiously. A strange thought fluttered in her head,but it was gone as soon as it came. "Do these belong to you??"asked Serena holding up the keys to Darien. Darien's eyes fell on the set of keys.With a tight,wan smile,Darien grabbed the keys and nodded slightly. "They belong to me.Or actually...Sere."whispered Darien. Alan muttered something in Russian and walked away.Only Serena stood there staring at Darien. "Sere??Serena Thompkins your-um-...." "Right.This is all that I have left of her to remember her by."sighed Darien. "I am sorry."whispered Serena. "It's all right.It's been so long.You don't need to apologize."assured Darien. "Alright then,Collins told me to get you...Swallow is already there,so you don't need to worry about her."informed Serena seriously. Darien was surprised at her sudden change of emotion.First she was concerned and kind almost beginning to cry about what had happened with Serena Thompkins next,she was speaking in a voice which clearly indicated, no nonsense. Serena Dancek was a curious and intriguing young woman. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien and Serena reached the quiet little side walk cafe.The rest of the agents were already there. "Is there any news of the terrorists??"asked Darien his midnight eyes hardening. Ann bit her lip.Every American agent who knew Darien Lachlan knew the reason of his hatred and disgust for terrorists. "Yes there is,sources say that the terrorist group are aware of us.We have to be careful."said Mina. "But how did the terrorists find out about us in the first place??" questioned Litanya angrily. "The goverment agencies think that there is a leak in one of our goverments."answered Andrew calmly. "That is preposterous!!Unbelievable."exclaimed Nikolas in his heavy accent.Standing up,he glared at Andrew who returned the fierce stare. "Nikolas....please..."whispered Serena in a soothing voice. Nikolas muttered something in Russian and sat down quietly. "What Andrew meant was,our goverments suspect of a leak,however we do not know which country the leak is from."explained Mina. "But we do have an inkling."added Andrew."However...it is not safe here and I suggest we move to another location." The other agents nodded testily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later... "Are you sure it is safe here???"asked Alan suspiciously as his eyes darted from side to side. "Absolutely."assured Andrew. Nikolas snorted. As the group entered the farm house,Litanya stared suspiciously at a man sitting inside. "Who is that??"questioned Litanya. "Jed??He is one of us."replied Mina. "Litanya...do you have to be suspicious??"asked Serena."We are here to work together." "Serena..."began Litanya. "It's alright,Miss Dancek...Miss Rasputin is only doing her job.If she wasn't,I would be suspicious."smiled Mina. "Hello Jed." "So these are the Americans and the Russians."said Jed. Darien noted that he said Americans and Russians as if they were hateful words. "This is Jed Starling.One of our agents."intoduced Mina. "Please to meet all of you.It's late...why don't you go to bed and we can talk about the terrorists first thing in the morning?"asked Jed. Everybody agreed as they had taken half the day to get to the smelly old farm.But it was a good cover though....nobody would ever suspect a smelly old farm to hide spies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien sat on his bed staring at the mangled set of keys.He remembered that day....the day when his car burst into flames,taking with it the woman he loved.The day when Serena had stormed off angrily....the memory was like crystal...clear as if it had happened only yesterday.. ~FLASHBACK~ "Lachlan,will you stop flirting with the girl and hurry up already??We're late!"exclaimed Serena. Darien muttered an apology to the woman and made his way towards Serena. "Sere,I wasn't flirting.The girl bumped into me!!!"exclaimed Darien. Serena rolled her eyes. "You could have walked away instead of stopping to talk to her." "Sere,...." "Save it for your other girlfriends Lachlan...you don't have to explain to me...I'm not important anyway."replied Serena cutting him off. "I didn't even KNOW that girl!!!"exclaimed Darien. "Whatever you say."replied Serena flippantly. "Lets just forget about this already okay???We have a job to do."bit Darien his temper beginning to flare. "What's new...??I'm always second in your life..."whispered Serena. Darien stopped in his tracks. "Serena,you're NOT second in my life.It's just,you know what we do is important."sighed Darien softening. "Just leave me alone for awhile,I'll meet you at your car."mumbled Serena. Darien nodded. ~END FLASHBACK~ A tear fell from Darien Lachlan's eye.He bit his lip.Sometimes he still blamed himself over her death.If he hadn't left her alone,if they hadn't argued...perhaps,she would still be here. "I'm sorry Serena...I'm sorry,I loved you.Maybe I didn't tell you that enough but you were the bst thing that happened to me."whispered Darien to himself.His lips trembled slightly. A sudden knock on his door,made Darien look up. "Am I disturbing,Shields??"asked Ann.Her face was sympathetic and worried. "No,you're not disturbing." "Thinking about her again?It has been 5 years you know.It's in the past. You should be looking to the future."advised Ann. "You DIDN'T KNOW HER!!She was special!!!"growled Darien menacingly. "I'm sorry,I-" "Go away....just leave me alone." "Lachlan-" "OUT!!" With that,Ann Matthews was out the door in a flash.Leaving Darien alone, once again to remember and to mourn. Darien stared at the set of melted keys once again.With sudden anger and disgust,Darien shoved the keys into one of his pockets. Suddenly,his hand encountered a piece of paper in his pocket, *What the??* Pulling the paper out,he stared at it.It wasn't in his pocket before, so where did it come from??? Slowly unfolding the paper,Darien's eyes scanned the piece of paper quickly. Nobody likes nosy Americans and people who try to get others to show their past and true colours. Leave the past alone and let the dead rest in peace. Darien stared at the paper.Reading and rereading it.Who had sent it? Was the note regarding Serena Thompkins and Serena Dancek? ~FLASHBACK~ Darien was just stepping out of an elevator when somebody bumped into him.The man muttered an apology and quickly entered the elevator. @@@@ "Am I disturbing,Shields??"asked Ann. ~END FLASHBACK~ *Could it have been Ann??Or was it that guy who had bumped into him this morning??* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~The next day~ Darien was deep in thought as he sat at the kitchen table a cup of coffee in his hands. *It had to be that man yesterday,but I didn't get a goo-* "Good morning Mr Shields."came a voice. Startled,Darien looked up.He saw Serena Dancek and Litanya Rasputin entering the kitchen. "Is something wrong???You look a little pale,Mr Shields."said Serena worried. "I'm fine.Just didn't get much sleep last night."mumbled Darien. "I understand the feeling,Mr Shields.Nikolas too was up late."said Litanya. "What for?"asked Darien. Serena frowned and nudged Litanya in the ribs lightly.Then whispering in hushed Russian. Darien frowned and strained his ears.Though he was not a pro at the language,he could understand enough to converse. <"Litanya!Why did you tell him that?">scolded Serena. *Why is Nikolas Krylov being up late such a secret?*wondered Darien. "Good morning.I hope you slept well."came a British accented voice. It was Mina Collins,along with Andrew Conners and Jed Starling. "Because we have a lot of work to do today.Intelligence reports that the terrorists have plans to bomb the American Embassy.Special units have been dispatched to watch the place." "Where did the reports come in from??"asked Darien. "The source was unknown.But you can check if you like."said Andrew. "We have to go down to the shed." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The group left the farm house and headed towards the shed.Suddenly.... an explosion sent a mill crashing down.Litanya who was walking up front froze as the mill came crashing down. "LITA!!"shouted Serena,her eyes wide with horror. The scene jolted Darien's memory of his car explosion. *No..not again.*thought Darien to himself. Everybody was dirty and dusty.Except Litanya Rasputin...she had taken injuries.Her legs were buried under the pile of rubble and her hands and face were scarred with burns and a gash showed at her forehead.She was clearly unconscious. "Lita!"shouted Serena as she clawed at the rubble. Alan and Nikolas got up running to their comrade and began to dig at the pile too. Mina pulled out a hand phone and dialed a number.Shouting words into the phone.Darien only caught the last phrase. "GET AN AMBULANCE OUT HERE!STAT!!" ~Later~ An ambulance had taken Litanya to a hospital.She was lucky to have survived the bombing.Both her legs were broken,a concussion,mild burns and internal bleeding.If she survived the ordeal it would be a miracle if she wasn't in a coma. British agents were crawling all over the farm. The British forensics scrapped off some remaining yellow claylike substance from the base of the mill.Holding it up for the group to see. "Plastique."muttered Darien. "You are correct Mr.Shields.Apparently someone placed the plastic explosives with a detonater inside at the base of the mill."said the scientist. "This is an outrage!!!You assured us that this location was safe!!" growled Nikolas."Do you always give empty assurances??" Both Andrew and Nikolas squared off as they glared at each other. "Stop it!!"shouted Serena. The two men turned to look at the Russian agent. "We shouldn't fight.Litanya is already in the hospital!There's nothing we can do already!!!The only thing we can do now is stop bickering and capture these terrorists!!" Alan placed his hands on her shoulders.Comforting her. Darien felt a jolt of jealousy. "You are correct Serena.I just worry for Litanya."sighed Nikolas. Serena walked towards him. "I know...I worry for her as well."sighed Serena. Darien shook his head.It was scary...Serena Dancek was exactly like Serena Thompkins in everyway.The attitude,the facial features even the heart.Except Serena Dancek was a Russian,at least thats what she was suppose to be. *Damn those terrorists.* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serena came out for a breath of fresh air.All the sudden happenings were still fresh in her mind.The explosion...Lita in the hospital.Stepping out, she noticed someone else was there too.It was Shields. Darien was far away in thought.Not noticing Serena Dancek standing next to him. "Shields...." No response.... "Shields!!"exclaimed Serena loudly. This caught Darien's attention. "I'm sorry Serena...you wanted something??"asked Darien absent-mindedly, staring at Serena with a faraway gaze.His heart throbbed slightly.It was so painful to look at her and not remember Serena Thompkins. "Why are you looking at me like that???"asked Serena in a sharp Russian tone. "Looking,how??"sputtered Darien. "Like you have been hurt." "It's nothing."replied Darien. "No it is not.Talk to me."said Serena indignantly. Hesitantly,Darien opened his mouth to speak....then stopped.He wasn't sure if he should reveal his deepest thoughts to a complete stranger no matter how familiar the face.But Serena Dancek's eyes did it...the way she stood there so intent on listening.Nodding her head as encouragement. "You just remind me so much of Serena Thompkins.Your looks...your similiar attitude.Well....Rena's more short tempered actually,but you get my point. I loved her so much,that it still hurts to think about her."sighed Darien. "And that is bad???That I look like her,I mean."asked Serena confused. "No....not really.Just painful." "Don't you miss her sometimes??Wish she was still here with you??"asked Serena curiously. "I do....but it really doesn't matter if she's here or not.Because,no matter where she is,she's still with me,inside here."said Darien thumping his chest with his fist. "Even though she's gone now,I never regretted loving her...the pain was worth knowing her,cause I know I'll never be alone.We are united,she and I, our hearts will always be together even if we are seperated in body,we will always be together in soul."smiled Darien as he tapped his chest. "You are a very curious man.I will be truthful that I do not think much of Americans.But I know,after all this is over,I will always think very well of one particular American."smiled Serena as she turned to go... "Serena...."began Darien. Turning in response,Serena stared at him."Yes?" "Thank you...for listening."smiled Darien."And I apologize for going off the way I did." "Rubbish,Shields.You need not apologize.Good night."smiled Serena. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien sat outside awhile longer starring at the stars that twinkled in the night's sky. Deciding it was time to get some shut eye,Darien got up,bumping into Alan Bessmerkov. "I'm sorry."said Darien as he began to push past Alan. Suddenly,Alan caught hold of his arm.His face set in a fierce and challenging glare. Darien blinked.His own eyes going hard and icy. "Can I help you,Alan?."asked Darien sarcastically. "You leave Serena alone.She doesn't need your friendship."spat Alan. "What are you talking about!?"said Darien.He was beginning to get irritated by Bessmerkov's strange and violent behaviour. "You need not play dumb American...I told you,Serena Dancek has no need of your friendship,and there are 2 reasons why I DON'T LIKE YOU..." "Do tell..."replied Darien sarcastically."I might never have noticed your dislike." "You are brash,unrespectful and you are American."hissed Alan. "That's three reasons....and I have news for you too....you are not so likeable yourself.Serena doesn't need you to choose her friends for her. What gives YOU the right." Alan gave a laugh."Oh I have no right....but Serena's brother does...he told me to keep an eye on his little sister.Keep Serena out of trouble AND out of BAD company which in my opinion INCLUDES YOU!!!"growled out Alan Bessmerkov fiercely in his deep Russian accent. "Well,then maybe Serena's brother should have looked at closely WHO he chose to watch his sister.You don't seem like such good company yourself, Bessmerkov."quipped Darien. "Shields,you..."began Alan his words getting heavier with accent instead of his usual carefully pronounced words. "Shields,is something going on??"came a feminine voice. "Nothing,Swallow.Bessmerkov and I were just finishing up."said Darien his eyes never leaving Alan's. "Well,if it's nothing we've got news.Mina just recieved some intelligence reports.Andrew is waking the others.Mina wants us down at the shed for a debriefing,STAT."informed Ann. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As Darien stepped into the shed,his eyes scanned the faces sitting in the shed. A wide awake and alert looking Mina,a stern looking Andrew,a groggy irritated Nikolas,and a curious looking Serena. "So,what is so.....important,that you must awaken us."asked Nikolas pausing a brief moment as to consider his words carefully. "If Shields,Swallow and Alan will take their seats,I will elaborate."was Mina's reply. "British Intelligence has recieved reports and information on the terrorist group that has been plaguing America,the Soviet Union and Britain for the past 7 years.We do not know the movement's motive and goal but we now do have a name for them."said Mina. "The group call themselves the 'Dominion',and apparently,the group has actually struck all over the world before and has existed for more than a hundred years.The leader who has been organizing all these terrorist activities in Britain,America and the Soviet is the number 3 rank in the Dominion's leadership board,who is known only as Lazarus."informed Andrew taking over Mina's words. "And???"asked Darien. Andrew stared at Darien briefly. "And our sources suspect the area which is currently occupied by the Dominion,is Washington,America."continued Andrew. "So,we are going to America?"asked Serena. "Right."replied Mina. "But what of Litanya??"asked Nikolas. "The Soviet Union is going to ship her back to Russia and sending another agent down,who I believe is your brother,Miss Dancek." "Malakov??"asked Serena. "That's right.He will be meeting us in America."said Mina. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~Washington D.C,United States of America~ The group arrived America.As they got off the plane,a young woman with dark midnight hair stood by a black limo waiting for them. Serena didn't miss the way Darien's eyes lit up as he saw the young woman. "Marine!"called out Darien. "Big brother,how have you been???"asked the woman smiling. Serena glaced at the young woman carefully.She was small and petite with sapphire eyes and midnight hair.She wore a deep blue suit.She looked like a timid businesswoman.Not at all the type one would have suspected to be a goverment secret agent.But then,everybody usually wasn't who they were suppose to be. "Marine is my sister.This is Serena Dancek,Nikolas Krylov,Alan Bessmerkov, Mina Collins and Andrew Connors."pointed out Darien. Marine's eyes went over each and every one until.... Staring at Serena,her eyes went wide.Her hand flew to her mouth. Darien noticed his sister's reaction.Putting a hand on her shoulder, Darien shook his head and whispered something into her ear. Serena stared at them curiously. "I'm apologize Miss Dancek for my behaviour,it's just you,look a lot like a person I knew."sighed Marine sadly. Serena nodded her head in understanding. Marine's eyes fell on Ann. "Oh,hello Swallow...."acknowledgned Marine coldly.Amy Lachlan codenamed Marine had never liked Ann.Because Ann was her brother's partner.The agency had placed Ann with her brother after Serena Thompkins' death. Amy saw the partnership as an intrusion on the very memory of one of her dearest friends in the whole world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two days later... The group had been awaiting the arrival of Serena's brother.Darien had been impatient saying it was a waste of time sitting and waiting instead of gathering intelligence reports on the terrorists. Deciding to go out for coffee and a sandwich,Darien left the goverment building. Reaching the small coffee shop,Darien entered striding confidently towards the bar.The waitress behind the counter smiled and batted her eye lashes flirtaciously.The waitress had dark wavy hair and bright green eyes which showed interest in Darien. "Can I get you something,sir??"asked the girl in a low silky voice. Darien smirked to himself.The chit was flirting.He knew it.Recognized it. He'd been a flirtacious young man once...always flirting with the opposite sex.Even when Serena Thompkins was still alive. But all that changed when she died in that car explosion.In spite of his wandering eye,Darien Lachlan had really did love Serena Thompkins.His attitude proved as much. "A cup of coffee and your speacial ham sandwich."ordered Darien. "Coming right up."smiled the girl flashing pearly white teeth. Darien sighed and sat down at the counter waiting for his order. Suddenly,a hand clamped on his shoulder,causing him to turn to face the owner of the hand. "Shields I presume??Best American agent on aprehending terrorists?"came the man's voice.He had ice blue eyes and long whitish hair hanging down to his shoulders. Darien's eyes narrowed. "Who are you??How do you know who I am??"growled Darien in a low voice. Darien was suspicious of the young man,and his voice had a slight...accent. But Darien was unable to place the accent. "I did the homework,read the files,besides...your reputation precedes you."smiled the man ignoring Darien's behaviour towards him. "Files???"echoed Darien confused. "Yes,you see,I am the replacement...Serena's brother." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be continued... Yay!!Thank you to everybody who wrote to me and my apologies to those whose mail I did not reply.I have been busy and I don't have much time on the computer.I do appreciate your mails.Keep them coming in!! :)