| "In Short Of" | ||
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CF: CT-1802A-08 Safehouse 2, Woodbridge, New Jersey April 27, 2008 1700 hours Paige arrived on time for the briefing at SH2 and she thought back briefly to the events that led her here. Dinner at Jordan's had been awesome, good food, good beer and wine, and good natured fun. When Sara had shown up she had informed them of her pre-tactical meeting. They had discussed it only a little bit since the date had not been set. That was until Saturday. Friday night shift for Baz proved to be the night they had all worked so hard for. Baz was let in. The shipment of weapons would be moving late Sunday night, the 27th and he was to be included. They would indeed be sold to Cigarette Boy and it was now simply a waiting game. Paige had paced her apartment all day Saturday nervous with anticipation of getting out on a mission. She had still felt someone was outside, watching and waiting, and so she dared not leave her abode. She did, however, clean her gun multiple times. The call didn't come in until Sunday and so it was in that that she found herself sitting in her car outside of SH2. The rush of adrenaline, upon getting all the intel had long since dissipated. Not before, however, it infringed on her sleep, and now, before anything had even begun, she was already quite tired. She did not know what to expect from this and had nothing to compare it against other than her experience with Section briefings: here are the facts we wish you to know; accomplish this impossible task; all are acceptable collateral. Then always, the final blow...failure was not an option. She wondered then, as she climbed the stairs to the second floor, if failure would be an option for the Agency? Would Alpha be privy to all the facts and figures? Or would they be carelessly put up against odds so great that even luck wouldn't help them? These answers, moving towards the negative, were confirmed by the sinking feeling in her gut upon her entrance to the second floor and the sight of him. Joshua. Standing across the room talking with Gray, holding his arm, and flexing it in a weird manner. She hadn't seen him since the incident with Baz, and before that since the three days he spent in her apartment. Joshua hadn't even noticed her (yet) and already he put her on edge. He smiled and laughed at something Gray had said and for all intents and purposes, it looked like two old friends sharing a good natured joke. Paige mentally shook herself and scanned the rest of the room as she moved towards the table, she assumed, where the briefing would be. Jordan and Sara were there, as well as Rebecca who made small talk with a man dressed in blue fatigues. Paige set another part of her mind in search of his identity as well as the other that stood off from the rest, near Gray and Joshua, studying the papers he shuffled in his hands. "Piece of cake this one," Sara smiled as Paige drew near. Paige smiled back, "piece of cake or easy peasy?" Sara laughed, "definitely not easy peasy but certainly qualifies as piece of cake." "Veeery good," Paige giggled sitting next to Jordan and giving her a knuckle tap, "what's up, kiddo?" "Just another day at the office," Jordan smiled. "Right," Paige grinned. "Okay," Gray interrupted all the conversations, "everyone's here, we should get started." Rebecca smiled at the man in blue and took a seat off to the side with Joshua and the paper man. Paige closed her eyes for a moment as the two unknown men registered. Richard Holmes, was the man in blue fatigues, or so the Samboy employee files registered him as. First shift engineer and who she concluded now to be the ATF inside man. The other sent her heart rate up a notch. Jackson Wellington, Homeland Security Officer...and what would he be doing here? "So we all know who is who," Gray began, "Steven Riley," he gestured to the man in blue, "ATF, weapons division, you know Sara Churchill." Steven nodded towards Sara. "This is Jordan Mitchell." He extended his hand, which Jordan took. "Excellent job confirming the weapons," he smiled at her. "Thanks," she said evenly. "And Paige Casey." He again extended his hand which Paige took. "Amazing," he said shaking her hand, "what you can do. Brilliant discovering the sand piles...glad you're on our side." Paige smiled, letting herself indulge in the genuine flattery she did not usually (ever) get in regards to her ability. "Thank you, glad to be on this side," she said softly, though her feelings reserved judgement on that. "You know everyone else," Gray said gesturing towards the three others. Steven nodded his head. "Ok, let's get started." Gray opened the laptop that sat in the middle of the table, bringing up a satellite picture of Samboy on a white wash board. "We all know Samboy has been hiding weapons under sand piles with the intent of distribution. Sebastian was informed Friday night that he would be participating in the recovery of said weapons this evening." Paige absorbed the picture feeling eyes on her demanding her attention. She shifted in her seat trying to ignore Joshua and concentrate on the briefing. The picture changed to the surveillance shots of the Cigarette Boy Paige had taken. "This man has been identified as Eric Banning, " Steven said, "no prior history though we believe he has connections to various small groups ranging from the Far East to the mob. Thanks to you guys," he smiled at Paige and Jordan, "we've got a chance to get him a nice little arrest history." Paige risked a glance at Joshua as Steven turned back to the laptop. Joshua was staring at her, a small amusing smile on his face. He nodded ever so slightly in her direction. She lowered her eyes taking a small breath and returned her attention to the board. Back to the satellite picture...the one her mind now fixed in its sights to work on. "What we need is hard evidence to make this stick in court. Therefore, Paige and Jordan, you will need to get to this building." he grabbed a black marker and circled the building closest to two sand piles, building 127, Paige noted. "We've got plenty of cameras and video. You'll need to get shots of the boys getting the weapons out." Paige and Jordan both nodded, although Paige, not versed in what apparently 'sticks' or not in court, was a little confused. It didn't help that Joshua continued his staring at her making her uneasy and distracted. What the hell was wrong with him? "If you get...noticed...you should be able to talk yourselves out of it," he said quietly. "I'm sure the cameras and guns won't give us away," Jordan said, uncharacteristically sarcastic, Paige thought. She wondered then, how close Jordy and Tommy had gotten...and if that was behind the tone of her comment. She would have to ask Jordan about that... Steven laughed softly, nodding his head and shuffling his feet, "we're gonna help you out with that. You'll need to sign in, overtime or whatever, you guys have free reign in there. My guys will drop a bag containing the cameras and weapons here," he pointed to an area along the fence near the building. "Once you get in you shouldn't have any trouble." Paige's mind reeled, "Wait...you want us to go in without weapons?" "Not exactly, like I said we'll have weapons in the bag for you. Once you get stationed it should take about 45 minutes to an hour to get the evidence we need." Paige nodded, still not happy with not initially bringing in any weapons, but understanding, the necessity of it. "I have a team of 15 individuals...they will be stationed here," he circled various spots around the perimeter that were the closest to building 127 and the sand piles in question. "We'll also need you two to report and monitor guards, security movement, and any potential hostiles." That's when Paige started tuning him out, studying the picture carefully. She noticed then, (test) the difference, and was surprised, they did not. She bit her bottom lip, recalling past images that were nearly the same, again and again she laid them over each other in her mind. Why didn't they see? And was it significant enough to bring up? Test? Did they already know about that one pile of sand and they were testing her to see if she would find it? That had to be it. But why risk that? Her hand went to her lip, pulling at it as she bit at it, nervous, unsure, yet positive in her findings. "What's the matter, Paige?" Sara's voice broke her silent quarreling. The room went silent. Her eyes flicked towards the voice as her hand went to rub the back of her neck. Sara looked at her with genuine concern and sympathy. If anyone could begin to fathom how Paige's mind held her captive and subject her to torment and torture, it would be Sara. Paige rubbed her eyes for a moment attempting to thwart the throbbing that threatened. "The pic Saf," Paige said quietly, "when's it dated?" Sara nodded and got up to rummage through some papers on the small table to the side. "Here," she said bringing them over to Paige and setting them on the table. "This is the one on the board, from late this afternoon...and this," she placed another one down, "is from last week...probably the last one you saw." Sara then handed her a marker. Paige took it gratefully, clearing her mind and drawing on the compassion from the friend that knew her best and apparently understood her own apprehension. Paige, the fresh pics now in the front of her mind, took a moment to figure a way to relay the information her mind saw so easily to the others that would not. It was so small, so insignificant, but to Paige's mind, it would not go unnoticed. "Can you overlay these on the laptop?" she looked up hopefully towards Sara thinking perhaps the others might see it clearer that way. Sara nodded, "gimme a sec." Paige leaned back in her chair daring another glance at Joshua. He was not smiling now, curiosity was plastered on his face, and as she scanned the room quickly, on everyone else's as well. Jackson Wellington had even stopped shuffling his papers long enough to whisper something to Rebecca. Perhaps, then, it was not a test? "I don't know if this is a big deal," she said getting up and moving towards the board as Sara worked at the computer. "Are you in communications with Baz?" she asked Steven. "We can get him on the cell...as his girlfriend," he replied evenly. "You may want to," she replied. Steven nodded towards Gray. "I can only get a signal outside," Gray replied. "Wait then," Paige said. "Ok, here," Sara said moving out of the projector light. Paige looked at the pics, overlaid, "they aren't even, move the later one over a bit to the left." Sara nodded and tapped at the keyboard. "Ok, there," Paige stopped her, "stop there." She studied the overlay again, running her fingers over it, willing herself to be accurate, the difference, to her, still quite noticeable. "See this?" she asked no one in particular. "This particular sand pile...it's been moved." Steven and Gray came closer studying the area she had circled. A small panic fluttered in her chest...they didn't see it. "See," she tried again, marking it over, "here?" Sara touched her arm tugging on it slightly to move her back. "It's moved...smaller," she looked to Sara. "Relax," Sara said calmly. Paige tensed and watched Gray and Steven still study the overlays. They just need another minute to figure it out, she told herself, another minute. "I'll get Sebastian on the phone," Gray said, shaking his head, before making his way out of the building. "Christ," Steven said still studying the overlay. "They could have them...the weapons...already loaded on a truck or in a car...or something," she said quietly to him. He took another moment then looked to her. "No, I didn't mean it that way...just we had people looking at these all weekend..." Paige looked at the overlay again then handed him the marker, "well, they didn't look hard enough." She returned to her seat and cast her gaze on the table, quite aware of more eyes on her. She rubbed her temple absently well aware of the whispers coming from Jackson and Rebecca. More than likely, she thought, they were discussing how they were going to remove her from this briefing and give her a nice new padded room to stay in for awhile. Gray, after what seemed like an eternity, finally returned, "Paige was right. Baz said they moved a load out as an 'act of good will' on Saturday. He didn't know about it until a little while ago. He was trying to call us." Paige sighed, she wasn't losing it. "Sorry," she said to Steven, "I didn't mean to interupt." "No," he said looking at her bewildred, "it's fine...don't worry about it. Any intel is good intel." He smiled at her, then, encouragingly. "Sara," he said getting her attention, "make sure you save the overlay, and mark it up." "Already done," she replied. Paige took a breath, glad for the moment that that was over with. She glanced at Joshua who looked at her, almost approvingly. What he viewed, she thought, as perhaps a stroke of luck, she perceived as another notch of torment. She hated her mind sometimes, always controlling, always disruptive. "So one load has made its way to the streets." Jackson's voice sounded off in the room. He looked disappointed and everyone shifted just a little with the accusation. "It appears that way, sir," Steven said evenly. Jackson nodded his head surveying the room. "Your people should have caught that, Steven...but we'll discuss that later. As well as why a field agent can't get in touch with his superiors." Paige closed her eyes with a sigh. She didn't mean to get anyone in trouble and she made a mental note to herself to learn to keep her mouth shut. As for her mind...well...that would take different methods to control. "I suggest we get moving before we lose another load to the streets," Jackson said simply. His statement turned the tension up in the room another notch. "Alright," Steven said, his tone changing from friendly briefing tone to 'all business let's get this over with quickly mode'. "Once the surveillance is done, my men will move in. The FBI has boats out on the water just in case, though we don't expect any water escape attempt. It's a simple rush and cover, we'll sweep in, get our bad guys, and move out. Jordan, Paige, you'll need to provide sniper cover and monitor anyone attempting to flee on foot." "We should pursue?" Jordan asked. "That will be determined by Sara who will monitor and coordinate all tactical from the van." Paige suppressed a shiver...the assault and monitoring of it reminded her too much of Section. But if Sara had designed the tactical...why wouldn't it? "Sebastian confirmed they've started digging out one of the sand piles...so we've got about an hour," Gray offered. "Call him back in 30 minutes, we'll reassess then. Any questions?" Steven asked the group. They were all silent. "Alright, let's get locked and loaded." He then turned back to the overlay that was still displayed on the board. The meeting broke though Paige sought out Gray who for some reason insisted on staying near Joshua. Jackson was also with them as she approached. "Gray?" The three turned to her as Jackson gave her a genuine smile and nod of his head. She spoke softly to Gray, "what if someone gets hurt?" Gray smiled, "I've got one surgeon and two medtechs coming in from New York, Safehouse 1. They should be here within the hour on standby. We'll be bringing equipment with us for you to use, being a medic, and the ATF team has their own equipment as well as two medics for the field. " Paige nodded her understanding, "just in case." He nodded, "just in case." Paige smiled lowering her gaze and made an attempt at retreat. "Oh, Paige?" Gray stopped her. She looked to him apprehensively. "Take a look at Joshua's arm, you've got some time before we leave." She wasn't sure if it was a request or an order so she looked to Joshua for help. "I just pulled something lifting today," he said casually though his eyes betrayed something else. 'Liar' she thought immediately. "Nonsense, Joshua, it won't hurt," Gray said shuffling them off towards the back where the medical section still was (not of Paige's approval either). "We'll discuss some things anyway." Paige sighed allowing herself to be led off by Gray with Joshua in tow. She cast a glance back at Sara who watched the trio intently. Paige shrugged offering a small smile that said 'stay close'. Sara nodded slightly her acknowledgement of the gesture. "Perhaps we'll have to get you into more tactical discussions, Paige. Absolutely wonderful picking out the moved sand pile." Gray said quite pleased with himself. "Sit," Paige gestured for Joshua to sit on the bed. "It's not a big deal..." she said to Gray as she motioned for Joshua to take off his shirt. It wasn't a big deal, really. It hadn't even been a choice. Her mind would have simply started throbbing and tormenting her until she had said something about it. "Fluffnstuff, not a big deal," Gray said smiling at her, practically beaming. "Mr. Wellington was most impressed." Fluffnstuff? Had he just said 'fluffnstuff'? What the hell did that mean? Joshua continued to smirk at her making a half-hearted attempt to unbutton his shirt. "Well, considering Mr. Wellington had only heard about your...memory thing," Gray made a gesture at his own head, "he was quite impressed to see it in action." 'Good for him' Paige thought caustically 'maybe he'd like to walk in my shoes one day and we'll see how impressed he'd be then'. She moved Joshua's 'good hand' out of the way and began unbuttoning his shirt for him, eager to have this impromptu medical exam scam done with. Her heart rate increased just the slightest bit as his well muscled chest revealed itself under her hands. She fought again with her mind then, for control of the situation, and it not being too happy with her sent a few soft throbs to her forehead to show it's displeasure. "So what? Do I get a raise?" Paige said sarcastically annoyed with Gray's giddiness. "Right arm first," she said to Joshua attempting to pull the shirt off his good arm. He obliged, though she felt he made it difficult for her resulting in her stepping closer to him, straddling his left leg, with her chest practically in his face, trying to get the shirt off. "A raise? That's amusing, good to see you still have that sense of humor," Gray continued speaking. Paige glanced at Joshua who was outright grinning at her now as she tried to stave off rolling her eyes. "But really to pick out that detail, though he wasn't too happy with the outcome, I think Mr. Wellington appreciates our selection of the Alpha Unit..." "Gray," Joshua said suddenly, erasing the grin from his face and freezing Paige in her motion. "Please," he said turning to him. Gray stopped, startled, then cleared his throat, "of course. It's just that there's a lot riding..." "We know Gray, give it a rest," Joshua said flatly. "The girls know what they're doing, they'll be fine." Gray smiled then but kept his mouth closed. Paige stared at Gray for a moment, making sure he didn't have anything to add before turning her attention to Joshua. She cleared her throat analyzing the words before she spoke them as to not stutter. "So, what happened?" She gently pulled the rest of his shirt off his alleged injured arm. "Lifting this morning, went too heavy on the weights, I suppose," he said staring at her again. She looked at him only briefly. No, he wasn't staring anymore; he was watching her...her movements and reactions. He was looking for something... She fixed her eyes, then, on his arm though one hand still lingered on his right shoulder. She realized this and removed it trying not to look at him and control her breathing. "Curls?" she asked casually, though her voice was quieter than she would have liked it to be. "Preacher curls," he replied. "Think I pulled my bicep, happens sometimes." She nodded bringing his left arm up to her shoulder and studied the skin Her mind lapsed for the moment it took to be distracted by something new to do...but it had only been a moment. There was no deformity, no dimpling, and no swelling. It was not outside the realm of possibility that the muscle in question was injured, but if it was, it certainly was not as severe as Joshua led everyone to believe. Why would he do that? "Where's most of the pain?" she asked him, playing the game against her will, moving her fingers over the muscle. He took her hand then, as she held her breath. "Here," he said pressing her fingers into the detailed fold under his inner bicep. "That's the spot," he breathed at her. She closed her eyes for a moment catching her breath and trying to remember that Gray was still in the room. She shook his hand off with a small half smile, trying to concentrate on the task at hand, keeping herself from hyperventilating, and began massaging the muscle. "Tell me if it hurts," she said flatly. "You shouldn't be worried about not going in without any weapons, Paige. You can double check the bag before it's dropped..." "Gray," she said, looking to him, "it's ok. I understood the briefing." "Will you give us a minute?" Joshua asked. Gray looked between the two before nodding his head, "you should concentrate on what you're doing," he gestured towards Paige, "I need to go speak with Steve before we contact Sebastian again." "Good idea," Joshua said turning back to Paige. Gray left them, though he left the door open when he exited. "He's easily excited," Joshua commented. Paige, now realizing they were alone only nodded her head, returning to massaging Joshua's arm that lay heavily on her shoulder. Joshua was silent for a moment before wincing, "there," he said. Paige furrowed her brow, not sure if his reaction was genuine then or not, "I think you might have tweaked your tricep as well." "You think?" he said amusingly. Paige folded her hands over his wrist, "pull up," she said applying pressure. He made a little attempt before stopping. "Door's open...you can see out there, right?" Paige looked to his eyes. He was clearly enjoying her being uncomfortable. "Yes," she replied evenly. He watched her carefully, "you'll have to keep your composure then, because they can see." She narrowed her eyes slightly at him, her fingers suddenly motionless. The Bathroom Tigers were growling, though they made no attempt to advance. They seemed apprehensive with Joshua, not quite sure just how curious they really wanted to be. "You look tired," he commented easily, "you ok?" "I'm fine," she said evenly, beginning to move her fingers again, as she glanced through the doorway. The others milled about seemingly oblivious to them. "I watched you..." he said looking at her again. Her eyes caught his immediately, "you shouldn't be sneaking around like that.." the confusion in his eyes stopped her. "What are you talking about?" he asked. She held her breath for a moment...what was HE talking about? She had felt it only to be one person, her stalker, and why couldn't it be Joshua? "Nothing...I thought..." (think quick) "...thought you were talking about something else." His eyes narrowed studying her. He spoke slowly, "I watched you on a tape from the training facility." She smiled in relief...was that all? "I want to know why you spent five straight hours shooting the same exact target without ever changing it." She stopped again her mouth dropping open a little. Five hours? She hadn't been there that long. "You logged in three hours," he continued, "though you were there for five. Which led us to review the tapes, which led to me watching you for five straight hours shooting the same target without moving except to change clips." Paige stared at him, her mouth almost fully open as her mind processed what he said. Five hours? Same target? That would explain why it had been so bright outside when she finally got home; and also why her hand had hurt so much the next day. Where had the two hours gone? "I dunno," she said shaking her head a little bit. "I don't know?" he looked to her for clarification. "That's your explanation for such bizarre behavior?" She closed her mouth, concentrating on his arm again. She shrugged, "I dunno why." He sighed, "you're drawing unwanted attention to yourself." He moved his right arm, just the slightest bit to touch her side. Her breath quickened as her eyes flicked up to look through the doorway again. With Joshua's back to the door, anyone glancing in would not see his hand (always these hands) on her. Thankfully, no one was even paying attention. Or maybe not so thankfully. "Allowing a certain amount of adjustment to this new environment, in addition to it being so late at night...we decided to overlook it." "It won't happen again," she said never taking her eyes from the room outside. His hand slipped inside the sweater she was wearing touching the sensitive skin of her waist. The slightest noise escaped her throat as both hands grasped his arm hard. "Don't lose it, Paige," he warned softly. "Why are you doing this?" her eyes latched on to Sara who was passing by and looked in. "Whoever it is," Joshua's tone changed, "smile at them and nod your head slightly." His hand gripped her waist then, gently, but firmly, exerting his control over her. She smiled, nodding the slightest bit as Sara paused a moment, then continued with what she had been doing. "Thatta girl," he smiled as she watched him. "See what you can do when you concentrate?" His expression had changed by the time his eyes returned to hers, after dropping along her body. "When you aren't...distracted?" "You're very distracting," she whispered. "No," he said softly, "distracting," he moved forward on the bed closer to her, squeezed his legs softly against hers, and dropped his hand slightly to grip her hip "...is having you so close and not being able to touch you." "Joshua, please," she breathed closing her eyes attempting to shut him out. He was suffocating her with his closeness, intoxicating her with that scent that she hated to miss in her bed. She felt dizzy, overwhelmed by him and she gripped his arm willing her eyes open. "Paige," he said her name so quietly. She opened her eyes, meeting those dark blue pools that threatened to drown her. "You'll give me your full attention before sunrise," he nodded at her knowingly. But she wasn't sure what he meant by that...full attention to the mission? To him? To something else...would he demand something else of her? She dropped her gaze, lifting his arm off her shoulder and gently laying it on his thigh. She then took a step back to look at him. "There's nothing wrong with your arm, is there?" His expression did not change. "No," he said quite deviously, "but there's nothing you can do about that now, is there? You have to continue the charade...or face their questions as to why we were in here so long." He smiled at her gently, "I don't think you want that." Her muscles tensed then. He was right. "You bastard," she said quietly. "Hmph," he smirked at her, "you have no idea." She stared at him for a second longer, quite sure now, she hated him, and retrieved a bandage from one of the drawers. She also took out a bottle of ibuprofen and put it on the counter. She unclipped the bandage, and with a knot in her stomach, wrapped Joshua's arm needlessly. When she was done Joshua looked at it approvingly. "Just another form of self preservation," he smiled satisfied. She stared at him having nothing to say. Had this all been to drive home a point? The one he had tried to make the last time they were alone? That she was quite capable (and quite good) at practicing self- preservation. More so, perhaps, than others were. Or was it that her mind was more superior at bending the truth, obscuring the obvious, and selectively believing what it wanted in order to justify her actions as nothing short of sacrifice? How fucked up in the head was she? She turned, grabbed the bottle and pulled the top off. She shook out five of the little white pills into her hand, then swallowed them. She clicked the cap back on and tossed the bottle in the drawer and opening another one retrieved an ice pack. She turned to Joshua who was putting his shirt back on though he never took his eyes off her. "That's a nice habit," he said disapprovingly. She pushed herself off the counter, "fuck off," she said tossing the icepack at him and walked out, leaving him alone in the exam room. Return |
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