When Evil Prevails

Section 5

Writer - Gabriel Shaytan

FX is a Rysher production in conjunction with Fireworks Entertainment Inc. and Winterset Productions Inc as well as Hallmark Entertainment.

Don’t own ‘em, aren’t bein’ paid.
 

         Mira shut the door behind Frank and Rollie and walked over to the bedroom door, she could hear muffled sobs coming from the other side.
        ' Angie, they're gone, can we talk?' Mira started.
        ' What now?' Angie said slightly angry sounding.
        ' It'd be easier talking without the door between us' Mira replied.

         The door inched open and Mira heard Angie move.  Pushing the door open she moved to where Angie was sitting on the bed, knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around them.
        ' Angie?' she asked.
        ' I can't do it Mira.  I can't even work with him now.  I avoid even talking to him, staying where he won't see me but I can't stop feeling what I do for him, I love Rollie but whenever I see him it reminds me of what happened, especially when Loubar keeps throwing these things at me'
        ' You can't let him win Angie.  That's exactly what he wants.  If he's here in the city I bet he's already seen how effective this is being at breaking up your friendship'
        ' It hurt him so bad you know, finding out what really happened.  He tries to seem tough but he's not, he had such a tough childhood, I suppose that's why we got on so well.  I've caused him a lot of problems and we've had fights but he always forgives me… he just can't forgive himself'
        ' He thinks you'll never want to see him again, that you don't trust him.  I hope he doesn't do anything stupid'
        ' He'd better not, he's not getting away that easy' Angie answered angrily ' I trust Rollie with my life Mira, what I don't trust is what I see.  If I could look and know it was Rollie and not Loubar this wouldn't have happened, I'd be at the loft right now, but I can't and that's what scares me'
        ‘ Frank went with Rollie to try and figure out a way around that, some sort of identifier, so you could be sure’ Mira answered.
        ‘ What am I going to do Mira?’ Angie asked, scared and troubled with what was happening.
        ‘ I think you should talk to Rollie about what you told me, about not believing what you see.  You’ve got to let him know how you feel about HIM not about Loubar.  He’s angry, confused, he’s hurting.  He wants to help’
        ‘ Not now, I couldn’t, not after what just happened.  How can I not know the difference?’
        ‘ Angie, you probably don’t want to hear this but you know why.  You love Rollie, Loubar used that, and you wanted Rollie to love you so much, and he does, that you weren’t thinking straight, none of us do when we’re in love, that’s part of it’
        ‘ I know, it was just that after so long, I thought he was actually ready to admit it, to act on it, I didn’t want to let him slip away again’ Angie replied, face crumbling to tears.
        ‘ You should get some rest, go to sleep Angie’ Mira said ‘ Deal with it in the morning’
 

         Frank looked over at his friend, since arriving back at the loft he hadn't said a word, visibly battling with himself over something.
        ' Yo Rollie, want to talk about it?' Frank asked.
        ' Maybe it would be better if we just stayed…' Rollie began but was cut off.
        ' Cut the crap Rollie, you know she'll just find you.  You two spend so much time together, you think it'll be that easy to persuade her not to look for you, now that you know how she feels about you and more importantly she knows how you feel?' Frank barged in ' Get a hold of yourself, if you don't then Loubar wins'
        ' I won't give up Frank but if Loubar splits us up he'll have won anyway'
        ' Then you'd better put that brain of yours to work on finding a way around it, a way to show Angie you're really the Rollie Tyler she loves'

         The look of determination on Rollie's face at the moment surprised Frank even more than the lassitude and defeatist comments had.
 

        Morning bloomed and Rollie sat at his desk opposite Frank, the expression on his face showed the different moods he was continually swinging through.  Anger, Caring, Worry, Helplessness, Love, Despair.  He was trying to find a way to prove to Angela that he was who he said he was on a continual basis.
        Looking around at all the equipment he still couldn’t think of anything.
        ‘ How about a tracker?’ Frank asked.
        ‘ Loubar could trace the frequency and use the same on his own, no good sorry’ Rollie answered.
        ‘ No good having a piece of jewellery or anything either then is it, if Loubar caught you he could copy it’ Frank replied.
        ‘ That’s the problem all right’ Rollie answered, lifting his hands in front of his face, thinking as his fingers drummed against each other.

         Standing up he began pacing across the floor, across the rug by the television and back again.  He had to find a way, he couldn't just stop seeing her without a fight, he couldn't stop seeing her anyway, she was his life.
Walking back he put a hand on the metal shelf to support himself and felt the static electricity jump from his hand to the metal leaving his hand tingling.
         Suddenly he looked up, turned to look at Frank with a growing smile on his face.  Maybe there was an answer…
        ' Frank grab your coat, we've got work to do' he said, slinging his thick leather coat around his shoulders.

         Frank trailed after Rollie as he stopped off at various places, the hospital, finally coming to the university where a friend of his worked.  Gaining admittance Rollie immediately began talking to his friend in terms that Frank, quite honestly, didn't understand.  He watched as there was much arm waving and gesturing, terms and principles flowing between the pair.  He watched as Rollie pulled out his P.D.A and started talking again.
         The friend was nodding vigorously now, like they were reaching some sort of agreement.  The friend, Frank thought he'd heard mentioned as Senjari paused, looked down at what they'd been designing on a piece of paper and turned to Rollie nodding once.

        ' We can do it?' Rollie asked hope shining in his eyes.
        ' I believe so.  You're aware that you'll have to have the program continuously running on the computer for it to work, and that your handheld will need a lot of re-designing to encompass the electro-discharge camera.
        ' Anything, it's dreadfully important' Rollie said handing over his P.D.A.
        ' I can see that by the way you're acting and the fact you have a policeman here with you'
        ' It's about Angie'
        ' I understand, I'll get right on it.  Looking around he picked up a disk and slotted it into the computer, downloading something onto it.

        ' This is the program you'll need to differentiate between them, it takes a few minutes at the moment, perhaps Angela might be able to do something with it' the doctor said.
        ' Possibly' Rollie replied, vigorously pumping the doctor's hand.
        ' It'll still be several days at the very least before this is ready though, and if you want more than one it'll be longer'
        ' Right, it'd pay to have some backups, I'll drop them off' Rollie said heading for the door.

        ' I still don't get what's going on Rollie' Frank said as they returned to the loft.
        ' Everyone has an electrical signature, pulses running through the body.  We're going to copy mine and have the computer identify it, then Angie will be able to use the P.D.A Senjari's making up for me to locate my signal.  If I come within a hundred metres of her she'll know about it' Rollie explained.
        ' What if it's Loubar though?' Frank asked.
        ' Well, his pattern won't set it off so if she sees a Rollie and it hasn't gone off she'll know.  She'll be able to point it and get a reading when I'm in sight to be positive' Rollie answered ' and if we can spot Loubar we might be able to get his signature and attach a warning to his on Angie's P.D.A'
        ' Will it work?'
        ' We won't know until we've tried it' he finished, sitting down in the loft and loading the program ' I'll need you to talk to Angie, she'll need the computer here to work on the program so I'll have to stay somewhere else for the time being'
        ' No problem there, stay with me.  Sarah and the girls have gone to her mother's for a week or so' Frank replied.
        ' Great.  Well, let's get busy'
 

        Rollie returned to the uni, running the program on their machine while Senjari got another camera ready for him.  Standing before the specially designed equipment Rollie watched as an image of his body, and vital statistics appeared on the computer.  Electrical body pattern, heart rate and beat rhythm, electrical skin conductivity.  Most of the electrical activity was centred on the brain and heart but his outline showed small signals travelling to all extremities.

        ' So we put this into the P.D.A and with your camera and the signal detector we'll be able to set it up to announce me?' Rollie asked.
        ' That's the plan' Senjari replied not looking up.
 

        ' Frank I want you to take this to Angela, it explains what we're doing and why she'll have to go to the loft.  I promise I'll be gone by the time you get there, however, if the van's still out the front you'll know I'm there for some reason or another.' Rollie explained handing Frank a note carefully written.
        ' No good Rol, if I let you out of my sight how do we know it's you?'
        ' I'll let you pull my face and hair, Loubar wouldn't'
        ' Good point' Frank conceded ' I'll meet you at my place'
        ' Is this a good idea, the note I mean.  Wouldn't you rather talk to her?'
        ' Of course I would, you know that but I don't think she's ready for that just yet, this has been a really big fright for her and I don't want to do any more damage'
        ' I can't just tell you and ask you to repeat it, it's pretty complicated'
        ' Ok, I'll take it.  My place remember?'
        ' Right'
 

         Frank left the uni and headed to Angie's apartment where Mira was, Vanduran had given her time off until they verified if Loubar was actually in the city and whether he posed a threat to Angela's safety.
 

         Angie had been thinking hard about what a mess her life had become over the last few days.  First finding out that Rollie really did return the feelings she had for him, then the perfume and her resultant argument with Rollie and then lastly the CD and it's personal message punishing her again and again.
         She sighed, she was doing that a lot she knew but the situation just seemed so hopeless, trapped by her fear that Rollie was no longer himself but Loubar in disguise.  She'd talked with Mira about her nightmares, more than she had with Rollie even though he'd helped her put others behind her in the past.
         So badly did she want to see Rollie and apologise, to let him in, to share her life with him again that there were times when she found herself halfway to the phone or the door before she stopped, or Mira asked what she thought she was doing.
         Last night hadn't been pleasant and she kept going back and blaming herself for not realising that it wasn't Rollie.  That was the one thing she couldn't forget, that she'd betrayed him.  Even though he hadn't known it, being unconscious for three days, THREE DAYS, she felt liked she'd betrayed the feelings she had for him, and that she now knew he felt in return.

        Mira was at the door, gun drawn, a second after the knock came.
        ' What d'ya want?' she asked.
        ' It's Frank, let me in'

         Mira pulled the door open and watched as Frank stepped inside.

        ' What's going on?' she asked.
        ' Well Rollie came up with an idea, it'll take a few days to get everything together but he thinks it's a workable idea'
        ' What is it?' Angie asked from the couch.
        ' He gave me a note… said a dumb cop like me wouldn't understand' Frank finished with a grin.

         Angie took the note and hands quivering slightly began to read, eyes widening as she took in the idea.
        ' You sure this was Rollie's idea?'
        ' Straight from his hand to yours'
        ' You think it'll work?'
        ' I don't know what he's really doing, like I said… but he thinks it will'
        ' Could it have been Loubar, and this his idea?'
        ' You're giving him too much credit Angie.  Sure, ok, he slips in and out of the country at will despite all we do.  He knows disguises and weapons.  Do you think ideas like this come to just anyone?  You know Rollie, do you think he COULD have come up with it?'
        ' If he was trying to find a way for me to be sure… yes, he'd do anything he could' Angie answered looking down at the writing, seeing the small differences to that of the CD note, this was certainly Rollie's writing.
        ' So you'll come to the loft?'
        ' Yeah, he's right.  I'll need the alpha if I'm going to data dive'
        ' He said he'd be out by the time we got there, don't worry, he's staying with me'
        ' Doesn't he want to see me?'
        ' Of course he does, it's all he's thinking of.  He just doesn't want to hurt you any more than he already has'
        ' Rollie never hurt me, it was only ever Loubar' Angie said with a tone of finality.
        ' I'll let you pack then we'll all get going' Frank said, sitting down as Angie and Mira went to pack.

        ' Maybe there is some hope after all' Angela said to herself as she packed, thinking of Rollie's smiling face, the feel of his comforting arms around her.