January 07, 2002

Lara:

“Guys, listen. We need to get moving”

Lara heaved a heavy sigh, glancing at the committee assembled before her. They’d been here now for several hours, but nowhere closer to solving their problems. Their last resort was this project, which was risky in itself. It wasn’t as if they had much of a choice either; their assets were frozen, Syol had failed, and the stock market was plummeting. If nothing were to be done, they’d be bankrupt within two weeks. Great.

Their best shot right now was to take a job that one of the contacts had requested. It was risky, but that job alone would bring in 50 million dollars: enough to get Eymant affairs back on track, at least until they figured out how to get their money back.

“Leo, do you think you can get into the system and get us those passwords without Seven’s help?” Seven had taken off a few days before, trying to make some money. Lara gave a grim smile, posing her hands flat against the table. Free-lance assassination and high-rise robbery sounded like something Lara would much rather be doing than trying to plan a mission like this, upon which everything they’d ever worked for hinged. But her job lay here, planning in the best and worst of times.

Lara stretched an arm behind her with a faint popping noise. All around her, yawns from sleepy employees seemed to echo emptily within the harshness of clean walls and linoleum floors. This room in particular was not a good representation of Eymant’s beauty; it was all business, doing nothing for jittery nerves.

The seat groaned a sigh in response, as a sleepy Leo lifted the heavy dark eyes. “ I can do it Lara, but it will take some doing. The museum’s set with some kind of nuclear war-proof security. Any hint that someone’s trying to hack their way in and everything shuts down for a week. By the time they’re back online, all the passwords will have changed. I’m sure a trip to my bed would greatly aid us, though. I can’t do much when I’m sleepy, savvy?”

A faint rustle of uneasy chuckles swept the room, to which Lara smiled faintly and shook her head. “I won’t keep you then. We’re through, but I want to see you guys again later. We have to get a move-on…savvy?” She gave a cat-like grin, borrowing Leo’s words. The committee disassembled with a small symphony of rustling, unnoticed to Lara as she crossed to the windows.

If all came to worse, they would have to sell the Estate. Everything they had ever worked for would go down the drain. Hazel eyes lifted to stare at the obscene office decor, seeming to savour the impractical angles for a moment. She really did hate this room, she thought as her boots clicked against the slick floor, but as a part of this house, she’d be loath to never see it again.

From the door came a faint scritch-scratching, followed by a muted meow. Lara chuckled softly and pushed the door open to allow the sleek cat entry. “Dear Mr. Fuzzball,” she crooned into his fur as she lifted him into her arms. “What would you do?” She shook her head softly, and slipped out and up the stairs to plan some more.

Leo:

He’d found Lara asleep and slumped over her desk, pen in hand, that morning. Leo chuckled and shook his head, glancing at his boss, as she fussed over Zelda. She was awfully strung out, much more than usual. Must be that the problems they’d encountered for the mission were even bigger than originally speculated. He turned to Cathy and tapped a finger over the sheet of instructions Lara’d handed him, mentally checking off several of the items.

“Cathy…did you load the computers for Zelda to work at?”

Blue eyes filtered up to stare at her, as she gave a small nod and jumped into the back of the trailer to demonstrate. “Right here is where she’ll sit, right next to all the systems. I set up the generator here, at the back of the trailer.” Cathy touched each component in turn, trying to hide her agitation.

But Leo knew that she felt like him. And like Tom. They could feel the tension crackling in the air. This was their last resort, for god’s sake! If they failed, so would Eymant. And nothing they could do--nothing even *Tom* could do--would help Lara cool down. Poor Wes felt the tension too, apparently, since it had been days since he gave that angelical grin.

Leo nodded and stepped away, glancing wistfully at the Estate. How he wished Brin were here…. he didn’t wish to begrudge her an education in music, which she most desperately wanted, but he missed her company. The sooner he got back, he figured, the sooner he could take a road trip up to the college. He wrenched his mind from these thoughts, gravel crunching under his sneakers as he stalked toward Lara.

“Boss…we’re ready to go. Can’t leave till tomorrow, though. You need to sleep, and we need to pack up our bags.” Leo nodded to her, not waiting for her response, and stalked into the house. Time for lunch, and he intended to make a pig of himself one last time before he had to rely on drive-through fast food.

Lara:

She nodded only faintly to Leo, staring at the red pickup and the battered trailer as staff buzzed around like bees. They’d leave tomorrow, finally. It seemed like years from now. Hazel eyes presently tore away to watch as Leo stalked off. It seemed that everyone was too busy to have a simple conversation. Starting by her…and especially her. She wished Seven were here, for counsel, for friendship. But she’d been gone a long time now…who knew if her escapades were at all successful? Who knew if Seven was still around, period?

“Zelda…who’ll take care of Wes?” Her brow furrowed for a moment, not glancing toward her companion. They’d been there a while now, in quiet companionship as the crews finished up on the cars. Zelda seemed to be one of the only ones that felt as strung out as her, one that actually knew that Lara only wanted reassurance. Something that not even Tom had understood…dear Tom, she’d miss him. He’d wanted to go with them, but someone had to stay…if anything were to go wrong…

She glanced down at Zelda, who held Wes now. He’d grown a lot…barely six months old and he was already doing most everything on his own. He babbled and kicked presently, muttering a ‘mama’ and gurgling, pleased with himself. Lara really couldn’t help but smile and prod at his nose.

Already, she was starting to feel better. There came a point where adrenaline overtook all her worries, and Lara just rode on that drive to see this through to the end. Tom would be heartened by the change. It was more like the normal Lara they all knew.

Zelda:

“Lara, you worry too much…Tom’s gonna be with him, remember?”

Zelda gave a glance up at Lara, cocking her head at an angle. She’d made no sense all morning long, or the day before. Nothing could get her to calm down, except for Wes. He alone held the key to those sullen smiles that so seldom crossed across her face since Seven had gone. Zelda lifted Wes up and offered him to Lara, who took him up and cradled him against her. Pretty soon she’d be fine, too busy to even remember the consequences of their failure. This was her history, and it would repeat itself for sure.

Zelda chuckled softly, one hand posed over a wheel, and another gesturing towards the door. Lunchtime…or so Leo the eternal eater said. “C’mon…let’s go have lunch or something…Tom ‘s been waiting for you for the longest time.”

Might even make her feel better…it seemed Lara hadn’t seen Tom in days; she’d locked herself in her office for days on end, only exiting to go into another meeting. ”I hear their serving…liver and onions.” She wrinkled her nose and manoeuvred her way in, without looking over her shoulder to see if Lara followed. Zelda knew she would, after all…

Lara:

“hmm…I’d forgotten…” Lara shrugged and gave a small smile, gently rocking a wriggling Wes. He reached for an errant strand of raven hair, gurgling and giggling. She’d isolated herself a bit too much, apparently. She couldn’t even remember what day it was anymore. Saturday… Wednesday…Tuesday???

But at least she gotten a lot figured out the night before. She knew exactly what they were going to be doing, down to the last detail. The plan was foolproof, despite all the hazards. And Leo had gotten the codes. The only thing that could botch everything was if one of the unexpected variable happened: if someone defected and gave them away. The chances? One in a million. This was the best crew she’d ever worked with, like a family for her.

A devilish grin now crossed her face, finally finding the prestige in this mission. She’d devised a plan B in which she could get the fifty million dollars from the contact regardless what happened. It wasn’t until now that she saw the myriad of possibilities stretched before her. Yes…forget the risk and just grasp the moment. After fifty years of Eymant, Lara wouldn’t let this place fall.

“Right behind ya…I could use some of his lovin’” With this precipitous mood swing, she chuckled and stormed back inside with Zelda.

---later---

Cathy:

Finally on the move…it seemed that the week since that meeting Lara held had gone by so slowly…They’d finished packing and started driving only four days ago, but seemed like it had been more than a month ago. And it seemed like years since Seven had left. Green eyes filtered up from the computer to stare out the window, a hand posed over the tools in her knapsack for just a moment. Who knew Montana looked so awesome?

She’d do the actual theft, one of the more dangerous sections of the project. But she was the only one who was the most experienced at doing this. Not that she really minded; she’d been doing this since her years as an offbeat on the street. Besides, it kept her mind of the fact that she hadn’t seen Seven for weeks.

A slender finger made a pass over the frosted window of the trailer, softly scrawling her name with a touch of finesse. The worst part of all these things was the fact that she had to wait. Her nerves went on edge every time, and no extent of chips that Dr Lorn had dumped into her would ever change that.

Leo was driving, blue eyes fixed on the freeway for three hours straight now. The rest, Cathy, Lara, and Zelda, all were in the trailer, watching the small television set they’d set up in there. CNN was so incredibly boring, but Lara seemed horribly intent on the screen. Cathy didn’t pay attention to it, though; she was too busy playing minesweeper on the server computer. Zelda was napping right in her own seat.

Cathy finished Intermediate level, watching the little happy face don sunglasses as she placed the last flag on one of the mines. This game was incredibly addictive! She opened a window for Expert, getting to work on the little flags as soon as she could. And behind her, Lara gasped and switched off the TV.

“The hell was that Lara?” Cathy didn’t turn around or anything; she just planted her question. No way anybody would mess up her concentration when she had to mark ninety-nine mines! She shrugged when no answer came. Oh well, might as well finish this.

Lara:

Lara straightened from her perch on the cot, staring intently at the news. That…was…Seven! Surely the source of those explosions too. What the hell had she gotten into?? Lara trembled and switched off the television, not wanting Cathy to see that. Supposedly the girl’s nerves were better now, but Lara didn’t want to risk making Cathy go into some sort of depressive relapse.

Shakily she reviewed the events within her thoughts again, still disbelieving the snatch of film they’d caught. A car exploding two blocks from the White House, Seven diving out with blood coursing down the side of her head, screams for help as bystanders were thrown off their feet and hard against the pavement, alarms blaring, undercover CIA agents retrieving their weapons. All caught on film of some happy-go-lucky tourist who just happened to be filming himself standing in front of the White House and acting like a moron. AT least Seven got out of there…she’d evaded two officers coming towards her and dived down one of the many, winding alleys.

Lara glanced up, not knowing what to tell Cathy. What was there to be told? She knew she would have to go now…so she needed an excuse to go now…Shit. This was not foreseen in their plans. Seven was supposed to stay out of trouble…and had probably stepped into something much bigger than which she could handle.

“Leo…how far are we from the bus station? I have to go back, I forgot something at home and I have to go back. You guys need to go on, you’re non-expendable…” She forced herself to chuckle as she spoke into the intercom, allowing the trademark smirk to spread for Cathy and Zelda to see. She had to make this believable…if not they might get suspicious and take her home themselves. Fact was, she knew she wouldn’t be going home anytime soon…

She then turned to Cathy, kneeling down beside her for a moment. “You guys can handle? We’ve been through this…and I gave Leo a copy of plan B in case you guys need it. There’s just some stuff I have to do…One of the news bulletins, uh…reminded me”

“Lara, you’re in luck…just pulled up…bus station…come on out…” The intercom crackled with the static of Leo’s response. Lara heaved a sigh of relief and grabbed her bags, pushing the door open a smidgeon.

“See ya…say bye to Zelda for me, I don’t want to wake her…”

The door slammed behind her, the locks clicking in place when Cathy bent forward to pull the bolts. One of the buses gave a grunt of seeming disapproval as Lara slid into the bus station and the pickup slipped away.

First stop: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Virginia…

Cathy:

“Hmmm…that seems rich Lara. I thought you said you’d handled everything at Eymant?” Cathy gave a teasing grin, never once glancing up from her game. Thirty-seven mines to go!! Green eyes glinted in soft excitement, a hand just barely lifting in farewell. “I’ll make sure she gets the message…just go quick so you can join as later. I’d hate to take all the credit for myself, y’know?”

Cathy stood and stretched, leaving the game for a moment to go and relock the door to the trailer. Hoo boy…this mission would be strange without Lara presiding. A definite change. What could she have left at home that would compel her to go back? Right now Cathy was too comfortable to be asking questions. A period of calm in the swirling activity in Eymant had lured her into a false sense of security, even as the world around her became more and more militant.

“’Bye, Lara…”