Full Circle

Tony

Disclaimer: I don't own F/X or it's characters and am not making any profit from this story.

Part 1:

Rollie walked up to the entrance to Hunter Studios. He sighed, and pushed open the door. He had spent a week not answering any phone calls, not responding, not taking any job offers. He mulled over in his mind over and over again what Angie had told him, how he could never change, how she couldn't face him. He mulled over how she had walked right out the door and he hadn't said a thing. He had sat around the loft and realized how empty it was, how alone he truly was. His only close friend, Francis, was spending time with his wife, of course. Mira was busy with police work, and she wasn't exactly a come over and hang out friend, anyway. Without Angie, Rollie didn't have anyone.

Then the bills started coming in and he realized that he'd have to keep working, working without Angie. He had neglected work for quite some time through the whole ordeal, and now he was feeling the monetary stress. When Jay Hunter called for the ninth time, he'd answered. He'd explained that Angie was away, didn't explain why, so he was short handed. Jay was actually happy, he had said he had the perfect assistant for him, at least for this job.

Jay had offered an exorbitant amount of money for this movie, titled "Takeover," where a group of terrorists stage a takeover of the White House. It promised to be a huge action picture with an all star cast. Rollie couldn't afford to turn it down. Still, he knew his heart wouldn't be in it without Angie. She had promised to write, to let him know how she was, and where she was, but that didn't change Rollie's loneliness. He wished now he hadn't taken her so for granted.

Rollie walked up to the receptionist, who verified his appointment for 10 am. He then walked through the large wooden doors into a spacious twentieth story office with a huge view of New York. Jay Hunter spun around in his a chair. He was a large man, an inch taller than Rollie and far broader. He smiled a huge smile, his white teeth dazzling. He stood, his dark brown hair just turning grey at the edges. His voice boomed, even though he wasn't trying to yell.

"Rollie Tyler!" he said, laughing, "At long last!"

He got up out of his large leather seat and reached over, clasping Rollie hard with his meaty hands on the shoulders. Rollie winced slightly and smiled back.

"Good to see you too, Jay," he said weakly.

"Hey, sit down," Jay said, "want a cold one? I've got a bunch in the fridge."

"Nah," Rollie said, "I'm here to talk business."

"Right," Jay said with another smile, "and that's just what we're doing. I'm producing and directing the biggest blockbuster to hit the screens this year, at least it will be, after you give me the biggest, and the best F/X you can! I mean explosions, car crashes, people falling off buildings, helicopters crashing, the works! You know, bigger than real life!"

Rollie smiled a sideways smile. Real life for normal people maybe, but for him, that had been daily life for the past month.

"Who's this assistant, Jay?" Rollie asked.

"Ah," Jay said, looking down, "well, Rollie. I wouldn't give you someone I didn't trust implicitly. Someone I didn't think could do the best job possible. Someone who could maybe top that lovely assistant you had. In fact he should be here-"

The secretary buzzed.

"You're son is here, Mr. Hunter," she said.

"Send him in, Gladys," Jay said.

Rollie turned and the door flew open. A young man stood in the door way.

"Yo Pop!" he yelled, arms outstretched, "I'm here!"

Jay grinned and belly laughed. Rollie raised his eyebrow.

"Rollie, meet Jay Jr.," Jay said, gesturing at his son.

Jay Jr. was not nearly as large as his father. He stood a head shorter than Rollie, and was no more than twenty one. He was blond, and good looking in a college frat-boy sort of way. He had crew cut blond hair, and a small gold earring. He wore a thin gold chain around his neck, and a single silver college ring. He was clothed in beige slacks and a striped shirt, which half hung out of his pants. He swaggered up to Rollie.

"Yo," he said, slapping Rollie's hand, "good to meet you, bro."

"Nice to meet you," Rollie said.

"Jay Jr just got his bachelor's in computer science," Jay Sr. said proudly, "fresh out of college and ready to work!"

"Yeah," Jay Jr. said, plopping down on a seat and putting his feet up on his father's desk, "long as I don't have to work too hard."

Jay Jr. titled his head an eyed Rollie.

"Yeah, I remember you," he said, "I saw you on the set a few years ago. You and that babe, yeah. Do I get to work with her? What was her name, Abbey, Alley?"

"Angie," Rollie said dryly, "and no, she's on sabbatical."

"Too bad," he said with a grin,"I wouldn't mind going on sabbatical with her."

Rollie's fists clenched and he forced a smile.

"Well, it's just me," Rollie said.

"Oh well," Jay Jr. said, shrugging, "I'm sure there'll be plenty of babes on the set, eh Pop?"

Jay Sr. nodded, chuckling.

"My son is quite the ladies man," he said, smiling.

"So I gather," Rollie said, "listen, Jay, why don't you send me the script, I'll look it over, see what we can do, all right?"

"That's fine," Jay Sr. said, standing up, "I've got some downstairs, Jay Jr. will take you up."

Rollie tightly smiled again.

"Ok," he said, "lead on."

Jay Jr. sighed and slid out of his chair. They walked out of the office. A pretty young woman walked by and Jay Jr. pinched her in the butt as she did so. She gasped and spun around, when she caught sight of Jay Jr. her face flushed.

"I told you about that, Jay," she said angrily, "do that again and I'll kick you so hard somewhere every male in your family will feel it. Boss's son or not."

Jay shrugged, and then grinned as she walked away.

"Oh yeah," he said to Rollie, "that girl is crazy about me. But then, they all are."

He swaggered out the door, and into the elevator. Rollie sighed, then followed.

* * *

Angie braced herself as the plane landed in Hopkins Airport with a soft jolt. Ever since she'd fallen out of one without a parachute, she'd felt a bit skittish, but she had made it all right. She had spent a long time figuring out where to go, what to do. First, she'd said goodbye to some friends, Mira was the most upset, then started looking up some old ones. She'd found one, Mary Hostetler, her old college roommate. They'd been best of friends, could talk about anything, and Mary could help with any problem. But Angie had lost touch with her after college.

She had found her again though, and Mary was anxious to see her again. Mary was back living in her hometown, Cleveland, Ohio. Angie had decided to go visit her, first off, for a change of pace and some reminiscing. She filed off the plane with the rest of the passengers, a back pack slung over her shoulders. She walked into the airport terminal, and glanced around. Finally she saw a young blonde woman holding up a sign that said, 'Angie'. Angie smiled and ran over toward her.

Mary ran towards her as well and they met in the middle in a hug.

"Mary," Angie said, "oh it's good to see you."

"Not as good as it is to see you," Mary said smiling broadly, "Ms. Bigtime special effects, stunt coordinator, doer of all that is Hollywood."

Angie blushed.

"Well," she said, "I wouldn't say that."

"We have got a lot of catching up to do," Mary said, "I've got a room all set up for you at my house, don't even think about going to a hotel."

Mary had always been forceful, and Angie could never say no to her, besides she didn't want to.

"Ok," she said with a grin, "I'll stay with you, like old times, let me get my luggage."

They walked through the busy airport to the luggage carousel.

"How's life in Cleveland?" Angie asked.

"Oh, great," Mary said, "I've got a great job, and living single in the big city is fun."

"Any boyfriends?" Angie said with a mischievious grin, remembering Mary's college days.

It was Mary's turn to blush.

"Well, there was this one guy," she said softly, "but that's important. What I want to know about it you. Up there in New York, with all the glamour, and that cutey you work with, what's his name?"

"Rollie Tyler," Angie said softly, "but we'll have time for that."

Angie picked up her luggage, and Mary helped her with it.

"Let's grab something to eat," Angie said, "I'm starved."

Mary nodded, then suddenly paled as she stared across the busy terminal.

"Mary?" Angie said, "What's wrong?"

Angie turned in the direction Mary was looking, but she didn't pick out anything. Then Mary grabbed her arm.

"Come on," Mary said with a tight smile, "let's go."

"Is something wrong?" Angie asked.

"Oh no," Mary said, "nothing. Just anxious to hear all about you."

Mary glanced over her shoulder a couple of times though as they walked.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" Angie asked.

"Sure I'm sure," Mary said, "come on, I know a great restaurant near here."

* * *

Part 2:

Rollie followed Jay Jr. through the maze of cubicals. Hunter Studios had an entire floor of offices, for writers, and other odd workers. They had stacks of scripts for various projects in one section. Jay picked up one.

"Here you go, R-man," he said, tossing it to Rollie.

The large script flew through the air and hit Rollie in the stomach. Rollie grunted and caught the thing. He rifled through it a bit, and nodded.

"All right," he said, "that's all I'll need. I'll get back to your Dad real soon."

"Hold on, RT," Jay Jr. said, "I'm coming with you."

"What?" Rollie asked.

"Yeah, since I'm gonna be working with all your stuff," Jay Jr. said, "Pops thought it would be a good idea if I started, you know, messin' with it now."

"Oh," Rollie said, then shrugged and sighed, "well, I suppose that's true."

Jay Jr. nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "that and I could use a few nights away."

"Excuse me?" Rollie asked.

"Well, rather than goin' back and forth," Jay Jr. said, "I'll just crash with you for a few days."

Jay walked up close to Rollie and put his arm around him.

"To tell you the truth," he said softly, "my old man has been gettin' on my case about my, social habits. He's got a lot of work to do at home anyway, I kind of, you know, get in the way. It'd probably be best if I wasn't around for a while. Anyway Dad thought it'd be nice if we got to know eachother. I mean if this works out, we could work together, like, all the time!"

Rollie smiled weakly again.

"Imagine that," he said.

"Anyway," Jay Jr. said, reaching behind the papers, "I'm all ready."

He pulled out a small brown suitcase, out of which a pair of underwear and a shirt stuck out. Jay Jr. held out his arms and grinned widely.

"Let's go," he said gleefully, "roomy!"

* * *

Angie and Mary sat in a small cafe in downtown Cleveland. Sitting in front of the large picture window, Angie bit into her corned beef sandwich.

"So," Angie said between bites, "how's life in Cleveland?"

"Oh great," Mary said, "plenty to see and do. I'll have to take you to all the sites! I've got a full day for us planned tomorrow. We can go to the rock and roll hall of fame, a couple museums, go shopping at Tower City, and there's this night club down at the flats you have-"

Mary trailed off, stopping in mid bite as she stared out of the window. Angie glanced outside, where crowds of people were walking.

"What is it?" Angie asked.

Mary shook her head.

"Nothing," she said, resuming eating, "I just thought I saw something, that's all."

"What?" Angie asked, "Come on, Mary, you never could hide anything from me. You've been jumpy since I arrived."

Mary sighed.

"I've got reason to be," she said sadly, "it's my boyfriend."

Angie raised her eyebrows, and sat back in her chair.

"Tell me," she said.

Mary looked at the ceiling.

"Oh my," she said, "where to begin. Well, his name is Ricardo Montagna, the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen in my life. Anyway we met at this nightclub, went out on a few dates, and I just fell in love with him. He was suave, and sophisticated, so completely different from all the guys I dated in college."

"But," Angie prodded.

"But," Mary continued with a sigh, "he turned out to be a big mistake. He was involved in some sort of gang. They robbed some banks, and some jewelry stores. No one got hurt, but still that's what they did. I didn't find out about till, like, after three months of dating. I was really upset, but Ricardo promised me he was quitting, that he just needed the money to pay for his Mom's hospital bills, and to bring the rest of his family from Cuba. I believed him, then-"

"Then what?" Angie said, concerned.

"Then his boss came around," Mary said, "once he tried to quit. They wouldn't let him, said he owed them, that we was too important, knew too much. Oh, his boss was a creep, this real tall thin guy they called 'The Snake.' He gave me the creeps, gave Ricardo the creeps even more. He told me that he was sorry, that he couldn't leave, and that if I left him he'd understand. So I told him I'd have to, I couldn't be with him while he was a criminal. That was our last date, then-"

Mary sniffed and looked down.

"Then as we were walking out of the restaurant," Mary said, "a car drove buy. There were some guys in it and one had a gun. They shot him, Angie, they shot him right there next to me. He dropped to the ground, I was screaming, they were hooting-"

Mary was trembling and a few tears escaped from her eyes.

"I knelt over him," she said, "tried to do something, got blood all over me, his blood, but it was too late. He was already dead. I don't know why they killed him."

"Oh, Mary," Angie said, putting her hand on Mary's, "that's awful. What did you do?"

"What could I do?" Mary said, "I cried. I talked to the police more than I cared to. In the end there was nothing I could do, he was in a gang and that's the price you pay sometimes. That all happened two months ago."

Mary wiped her eyes.

"I thought I'd put it behind me," she said, "but then weird stuff started happening. I kept getting this weird phone calls, some guy disguising his voice telling me 'turn it over or die.' I mean, I had no idea what the guy was talking about, and it was probably just some idiot kids or something, but it still gave me the creeps. I keep thinking I see that snake guy behind me, watching me."

Mary shook her head.

"I mean," Mary said, "you can't imagine what it's like to be shot at! To fear for your life! Here are these people, with these weapons, and all it takes is a pull of a trigger-"

"I know," Angie said, "I really do know."

Mary's eyes met with Angie's.

"Something happened to you?" Mary asked.

Angie nodded solemnly.

"Yes," Angie said, "more than you can imagine."

"Oh no," Mary said, wiping her eyes, "and here I am ranting on. What happened?"

Angie took a deep breath. She decided to tell Mary everything, she always had when they were in college. Then something caught Angie's attention at the corner of her vision. A red sports car had pulled up and stopped in the middle of the street in front of the cafe. Two men were in the car, both wearing dark sunglasses. The passenger pulled out a gun.

"Get down!" Angie yelled, grabbing Mary and pulling the both of them to the ground under the table.

People in the restaurant screamed as automatic gun fire erupted shattering the glass which tinkled to the floor around Angie and Mary, and sending tufts of smoke all along the walls as bullets hit. Glasses, plates, cups, and all assortments of objects shattered and broke as bullets hit them and people dove out of the line of fire.

Then the gunfire stopped. Angie had covered Mary and she slowly raised herself off the floor, taking her arms off her head. Mary was shaking. The car had driven away and people were running up to the cafe off the street. The people next to them were murmering, checking themselves and their companions. One woman was crying. Angie took a deep breath and looked at Mary who's face was paler than the white plates they'd been eating on.

"I think," Angie said, "you're going have to talk to the police a little more."

* * *

Part 3:

Jay Jr. followed Rollie up to the van, now just out of the shop where the bullet holes had been repaired. Jay Jr. stepped inside.

"Whoa!" he cried, "Totally Star Trek, dude!"

He began running his hands over various instruments, and pressing a few buttons.

"And you, like, use all this stuff?" Jay Jr. asked.

"Uh, yeah," Rollie said, "you know at least something about most of this, right?"

"Oh, yeah, no problem dude," Jay Jr. said, "I can handle anything you can throw at me."

"Good," Rollie said, "we use the equipment in here for multiple purposes. The main computer system is tied in with the one at my loft, and into the P.D.A's we carry around. Using a remote satellite hook up they've got a range all through out the city."

Rollie picked up a P.D.A., Angie's old one, and handed it to him.

"It's multi-platform," Rollie said, "and can handle an assortment of executable programs and other formats. It's touch sensitive and will reply to most standard programming languages, as well as a specialized one."

"Yeah, sure," Jay Jr. said nodding furiously.

Rollie looked at him, and sighed, Jay Jr. was holding it upside down. He grabbed the P.D.A. and turned it around.

"Can I drive, bro?" Jay Jr. asked, "I'd love to see what this set of wheels could do."

"I don't think so," Rollie said, and drove off.

Jay Jr. scooted up to the passenger seat and rolled down the window.

"You got a radio in here?" Jay Jr. asked.

"Yeah," Rollie said, pointing.

Jay Jr. flipped on the radio and turned it to a hard rock station. He cranked up the volume and began bobbing his head furiously, playing air guitar. Rollie reached over and turned it off.

"Maybe we'll listen later," Rollie said.

Jay Jr. shrugged, then his head snapped around as a pretty jogger came down the street next to him.

"Hey, baby, want a ride?" Jay Jr. asked with a grin.

The woman turned, and with a look of disgust turned forward again. Jay Jr. leaned far out of the window and began barking and howling at her. She shouted an obsenity back at her. Rollie grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him back inside.

"Do you mind?" Rollie asked.

"Aw, lighten up, dude," Jay Jr. said, "I'm just havin' a little fun."

"Right," Rollie said, "fun."

Jay Jr. leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the dashboard. He let his arms drop to the sides and accidentally hit the chair reclining button. The chair titled back suddenly and wildly, and Jay Jr.'s legs flipped up and hit the ceiling as he tumbled backwards in the chair.

"Whoa!" he yelled, "Dude!"

Rollie didn't even look at him. It was going to be a long movie.

* * *

People crowded on the streets as the police blocked off the area around the cafe, and put yellow tape around the window. They would board it up soon. A few waiters were cleaning up the shattered glass off the floor. One, red haired, spoke to another dark, curly haired young man.

"Not exactly in the job description, eh Tony?" the red haired one asked.

Tony grinned.

"You're not kidding," he said, "I think I'm putting in for safer work, like a crash test dummy."

Angie and Mary were standing talking to a police officer.

"I didn't get a real good look at the men," Angie was saying, "they were wearing dark glasses and I was more worried about getting out of their way."

The officer nodded.

"The cafe owner doesn't know why they'd shoot up his restaurant," the officer said, "anyone of you have any reasons?"

Angie glanced at Mary who furiously shook her head no. The officer finished writing on his notepad.

"Thanks you ladies," he said, "if you think of anything just give us a call."

He walked off to someone else.

"Mary-" Angie started.

"I don't know that it was aimed at me," Mary said, "it's been two months! If they wanted to kill me, they'd have done it a long time ago."

"Did you recognize those men?" she asked.

"No," Mary said, "they were probably just some gang going through initiation or something."

Angie was unconvinced, but she respected her friend's decision.

"Ok," Angie said, "so now what do you want to do?"

"Make up for your first Cleveland experience," Mary said, brightening up again, "trust me, that kind of stuff doesn't usually happen. I'm sure the cops will catch them anyway."

Angie and Mary walked out of the cafe, after the owner apologized to them, and got in her car. They drove off in silence.

"Well," Angie said half smiling, "that wasn't the first time, for me. I've had lots of excitement since I left college."

"Really?" Mary said, "Tell me about it."

Angie leaned back and recalled the first bit of excitement she and Rollie had had, with Leo, when Rollie had been framed. She began to tell a few stories, Rollie and Luther Cale, herself being blown up, kidnapped, and frozen. Mary gasped at all of them.

"I can't believe it!" she said, "And you just do all this stuff, willingly?"

Angie smiled.

"It's not quite as simple as that," Angie said.

They pulled up to Mary's apartment building, and got out. They went into the building, and up to Mary's apartment on the third floor. Mary put the key in the lock.

"Don't mind the mess, please," she said sheepishly, "you know me. But still, mi casa es su casa."

They walked in the door and someone slammed it shut behind them. Mary gasped and Angie spun around to face a huge thug behind her. Two other men were standing in Mary's hallway, and a fourth got up off the couch in her living room.

"Ms. Hostetler," the tall thin man said in a Cuban accent, "so good to see you again, especially after Ricardo's, um, tragedy."

Angie was ready to hit the guy behind her when he pulled out a gun and aimed it at them.

"Come, sit down," the thin man said, gesturing to a seat, "we have to talk."

* * *

Part 4:

Rollie pulled up to the loft and he and Jay Jr. hopped out. They entered and Jay Jr.'s eyes popped open. He spun around in a circle, trying to take everything in.

"Whoa!" he cried again, "Dude! Is this all yours?"

"Yeah," Rollie said, tossing his jacket on the couch, "it's mine."

"Awesome!" Jay Jr. cried, picking up a monster mask "And you like can make all this stuff?"

"Yeah," Rollie said, "I can make it."

Jay Jr. ran over to another mask.

"Dude!" he cried again, "This is, like, the monster from 'Mutant Sand Creatures part 3'! I loved that movie!"

Jay Jr. put the mask up to his face and began stalking around the loft, arm outstretched, roaring.

"Would you mind putting that down?" Rollie asked.

Jay Jr. tossed it back and began rummaging through more things. He picked up a fake laser pistol and began making shooting noises, firing at imaginary enemies. Rollie walked over to him, plucked it out of his hands, and put it down.

"In fact," Rollie said, "why don't you not touch anything."

Jay Jr. shrugged, and followed Rollie to the computer system.

"This is what you'll be working on," Rollie said, "dual sets of ultra-fast microprocessors, complete with multiple interfaces, cross platform acceptance, programmable VLSI chips, and a host of other stuff."

Jay Jr. sat in front of the computer, nodding.

"I'll bet you can play some steller games with this baby," he said.

"Probably," Rollie said, "but I don't have any one there. At least none for you to play with."

"No problem," Jay Jr. said, "I've got plenty."

Jay Jr. began flipping through the computer's file directory system, and the multiple numbers of programs they had installed on the system. Rollie's eyebrows raised at the speed at which Jay Jr. moved through, and seemed to assimilate the information.

"You getting all this?" Rollie asked.

"Oh, well, I got like this photographic memory," Jay Jr. said, tapping his head, "comes in handy now and then."

Rollie nodded, surprised, and left Jay Jr. to his work.

"Dude you got any bruskies?" Jay Jr. asked.

Rollie walked over to the fridge and pulled out two beers, he tossed one to Jay Jr. He grinned and began to shake up the can. Then he popped it open, the contents flying all across the room while Jay Jr. cackled in a high pitched tone. Rollie looked down at his shirt, now spotted with beer.

"Oh sorry, dude," Jay Jr. said, "it's my way of, you know, marking my new territory."

Rollie looked back up at him, rage in his eyes, to which Jay Jr. was oblivious.

"So," Jay Jr. asked, "like, where do I sleep?"

* * *

Angie and Mary slowly sat down on the couch across from the thin man, who sat in an easy chair across from them.

"Who are you?" Angie asked, "And what do you want?"

"I am 'el serpiente'," the man said.

"The Snake," Mary said, angrily, "I recognized you."

"I thought you would," the man said.

The Snake looked just like his name. He was very tall, and very thin. He had jet black hair which was slicked down and pulled back on his head. He wore dark glasses which came down over his beak of a nose. His movements were long, and lithe. Angie could have sworn she heard a hiss in his voice.

"What do you want?" Mary asked, echoing Angie's question.

The Snake titled back in the chair and put his black wing tips on the coffee table. His long black overcoat slid open, revealing his black sweatshirt and jeans. He twisted a simple gold ring on his finger.

"You were Ricardo Montagna's girlfriend, no?" he asked, "That is before his untimely demise."

"You know that," Mary said, her eyes cold as steel.

The Snake nodded.

"He cared very much for you, you know," he said, "he was ready to leave us because you wanted him to."

"Except you wouldn't let him," Mary snapped back.

The Snake shrugged.

"He was one of us," he said, "he had taken an oath, he had been trusted. He was our brother."

"He knew too much," Angie said.

The Snake turned to her, he dropped his glasses slightly revealing beedy black eyes and looked her greedily up and down.

"Yes," he said with a sly grin, lisping the 's' slightly, "that's true as well. And what is your name, my sweet?"

"Angie Ramirez," Angie said tightly.

"A beautiful name," the Snake said, "for a beautiful lady."

He turned back to Mary.

"Ricardo cared so much for you I believe he would have trusted you with anything," the Snake continued, "even the most valued of possesions."

"So?" Mary asked, not seeing where he was going.

"So," the Snake continued, "shortly before his tragic death, we, obtained a small item of great value. Well, great value to the right buyer, anyway. However, somewhere in shipment, it was lost. I believe Ricardo stole it. We could not find his hiding place though. Then I thought, perhaps he told you where he hid it, or perhaps-"

The Snake leaned forward.

"Gave it to you," he said.

Mary shook her head.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, "Ricardo never told me about some 'thing of value' or gave me anything you might want."

The Snake leaned back again.

"I thought you might say that," he said, "still, you wouldn't mind a small search of your apartment, would you?"

The Snake snapped his fingers and two of the men began rummaging through Mary's drawers, pulling out things and tossing them to the floor. A glass vase shattered as one man picked it up and dropped it. Mary and Angie jumped at the crash.

"I don't have anything," Mary said, through gritted teeth.

"Maybe not," the Snake said, "but if we do find it, we know you were lying and we kill you."

The Snake eyed Angie again.

"If not," he said, "we'll just have to find some, other, ways to have some fun."

He grinned and the large man who held the gun on them grinned as well, chuckling softly. Angie took the opportunity while the large man was laughing to lash out with a kick. Her foot struck him square in the groin and with a moan he leaned over. Angie wrenched the gun out of his hand and stood up, covering the men.

"Get back!" she yelled, "Hands up!"

She saw two of the men start to reach for their pockets. She fired a shot above them, and they stopped immediately.

"I said hands up!" she yelled.

Mary stood up beside her. The large man and the snake began to fan out slightly around her, making her unable to cover all of them at once. Angie reached behind her, opened the door, grabbed Mary's hand, and dashed out. They ran swiftly and bounded down the stairs.

"After them!" she heard the Snake cry.

Angie began to scream fire, and people began to peak out of their apartment doors. But no one assisted their cries of help. Angie reached the door, hearing the pounding as the men followed her down. The ran out into the street, and Angie looked left and right. There were no police in sight, only a few pedestrians. Not much against a gang with guns. Mary and Angie dashed down the sidewalk, people skeetering out of the way of them, and then the gang of men after them.

Angie dashed into the street, a car screeching to a halt just in front of them, horn blaring. She pulled Mary along behind her, weaving through traffic, but the men still followed. She dared a glance behind her, and the large man was in the lead, no doubt looking for a little revenge. Angie dashed down a street and immediately realized it was a mistake. It was a dead end. She turned, but the men were already there. The large man had his gun out, and was grimly smiling.

The Snake walked up from behind him.

"A nice try," he said with a smile, "too bad it didn't work."

* * *

Part 5:

Rollie walked into the VR chamber, leaving Jay Jr., the boy wonder, to his work. He slumped in the chair and sighed heavily. He rolled his neck around, and heard popping as he loosened, tight from stress. So much had happened in just over a month, really. It was all too much for any person to take in. He understood why Angie had left. He was still clinging, strangely, to the desperate idea that she didn't love him. Why did he want that so much?

Rollie pulled up the remote control and popped on a scene. It was Australia, of course, he always pulled up the awe inspring landscape when he was depressed. Aborigine music played softly in the background.

Why did he want Angie to not love him so much? He looked up. Because if she loved him, they couldn't be together. If she loved him, she would have to go away, like she did. If she didn't, they could be friends, like they always had been, nothing more. Things could go back to normal, Rollie could have his best friend back.

Rollie rubbed his temples slowly, a headache coming on. Instead he had Jay Jr., not quite an even trade. Rollie went over in his mind his history with Angie. All the time they had spent together. The times he had teased and tortured her like a big brother. The time they had bonded when Manny died. She had cried for days after that, and Rollie cried with her. They had forged something, that was for sure, but Rollie never thought of it as anything more than friendship.

Well, Rollie admitted to himself, maybe more than friendship. But nothing romantic. Never. Then again, he had, subconsciously perhaps, realized her hidden jealously when he would date other women. He had seen her glances at him, but he'd always changed their meaning in his own head. Ignored her. How painful all these years must have been. Rollie knew what it was to have an unrequited love. It hurt. It hurt bad.

Rollie sighed heavily again. The last thing in the world he had ever wanted to do was hurt Angie. Yet, as he looked at his actions over the last month, looked at when she had said goodbye, that's exactly what he had done. It was too much for him, that was what he had kept thinking, he had never stopped to think what it was doing to Angie. He knew Loubar had hurt her, but he didn't realize that he had. A terrible thought struck him.

What if Loubar's raping her, was not an seperate act? He had done so as Rollie. Maybe the rape was just an extension, a climax, of the pain Rollie had already been causing her. All the times Angie had left the loft at night, alone, to go home to her apartment, alone. All the while feeling that way.

Rollie felt a lump in his throat. Little Angie. Manny's little Angie. He had promised himself, a last promise to Manny, really, that he would take care of her. Yet another vow he had failed to keep, and at what a price.

Rollie peered at the remote control, and flipped a few buttons pulling up the menu of scenes. He backed up a bit through the file system and found a picture he was looking for. He hit the button and, filling the screen, came a picture of he and Angie at a cast party they had attended a few months ago. He sat next to her, leaning close to her, they were smiling. He had his arm around her. He hadn't had a second thought about that. He smiled at Angie's happy face, then the smile faded. If only she had known what was to come.

He sighed again, his eyes watering. Rollie leaned far back in his chair, and hit the zoom button, filling the screen with Angie's face, blocking out his own.

"You know Ang," he said softly, "you look better that way."

* * *

Angie's teeth clenched and she gripped the barrel of the gun tightly. Her heart was racing and a bolt of adrenaline was running through her, making her feel that she could rip down the wall if she had to. Mary cowered behind her.

"Put the gun down," the Snake said, "or we kill you."

Angie's eyes narrowed. She hated guys like him. She had known plenty, and they always acted the same way. Smug, superior, like she was worth nothing. Like she was just something for them to have fun with, like Loubar had had fun with her. She tossed the gun in the air and their eyes followed it.

Angie took that moment to rush into the Snake head first. He fell backwards with a grunt into the large man, who had had his gun out. They both fell to the ground. Angie grabbed Mary's hand and darted around them. The other two men were there as well though. One got in Angie's way and Angie found her favorite spot to kick. As he began to fall to floor, red in the face, Angie tried to take off again. A hand caught her foot and she stumbled.

The large man had grabbed her. The Snake was up now, gun out. He got up close to her and she could smell his reaking cologne and a slight scent of garlic. The Snake sneered at her.

"You're trying my patience," he said putting the gun to her face.

He grabbed her by the hair and tossed her back into the wall. Angie hit it hard and it knocked the wind out of her. He gestured at Mary and she ran to Angie's side, whimpering.

"I am going to enjoy teaching you a lesson, woman," the Snake said, "on how to respect a man."

The Snake thumped his chest with the words.

"How to respect El Serpiente!" he cried.

"Respect this," a voice said from behind.

Then suddenly the fourth man, the only who had been untouched by Angie, was flying into the third, just getting up off the ground. Angie caught a glimpse of a man in a gray jogging outfit, but that was all. The large man spun around, and Angie saw the jogger's foot lash out and hit him square in the jaw. The large man spun on his heel, falling.

The Snake was spinning also, but before he could aim his gun the jogger's other foot hit the Snake's hand. The gun flew and smacked against the wall, and another kick sent him sprawling against the wall. The Snake growled and came at the jogger in a rush. The jogger sidestepped the man, grabbing hold of his wrist. With a judo move he sent him flying across into the other wall. One final punch and the Snake fell to the ground, unconscious.

The jogger picked up the gun and yelled for everyone to stay on the ground. He glanced at Angie and Mary.

"Are you all right?" the jogger asked.

Angie and Mary nodded slowly, both speechless.

"We'll get the police," he said.

"Who are you?" Angie blurted out.

"My name is Jordan," he said with an easy smile, "Jordan Hunter."

Jordan Hunter was a head taller than Angie with dark brown, extremely wavy hair. He had somewhat thick eyebrows, and was, apparently, in very good shape.

"Well, thank you," Angie said, and Mary nodded in agreement.

"No problem," Jordan said, "just so happened I was jogging this way when I heard your trouble. A shame about these kind of people, far too many of them in the world."

The large man shifted and Jordan spun around to him again.

"I said don't move!" he yelled.

The large man froze. He turned back to Angie and Mary.

"So," he said with another smile, "what are your names?"

* * *

Part 6:

Rollie paced back and forth above the stairs. His head was down and he was muttering furiously. Where was Angie? She had said she would 'keep in touch.' Let him know where she was. He knew he shouldn't be with her, but he needed to know she was all right. What if she was in trouble? What if she was in danger?

Rollie shook his head. Angie had proven herself capable. More than capable. She could take care of herself, no doubt. Rollie walked down the stairs. Jay Jr. was rummaging around the computer desk.

"Looking for something?" Rollie asked.

Jay Jr. flipped around fast.

"Oh," he said, "just wondering if you had, like, a joystick anywhere."

"Why?" Rollie asked.

"Well," Jay Jr. said, "you've got this awesome modem connection speed, and these huge harddrives, so I, like, downloaded a couple of things to, you know, pass the time."

Rollie raised an eyebrow.

"What time?" Rollie asked.

"Aw," Jay Jr. said, "you know. Down time. Relaxing time. You can't work nonstop you know. I have to have a break now and then while working to cool down, have a little fun. Takes the stress off, man. You should try it."

Rollie frowned.

"And just how often is 'now and then'?" Rollie asked.

Jay Jr. shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, "depends. I usually need a kick every hour or so. Keeps the mind from slipping into monotony."

"Every hour?" Rollie said, aghast.

"Yeah, about," Jay Jr. said, "with a bruskie thrown in between. Works wonders for the, you know, creative juices."

"You're not here to have 'creative juices,'" Rollie said dryly, "you're here to work. To program, to organize, and most of all to do what I say. Got that?"

"Yeah, dude," Jay Jr. said, holding up his hands, "no prob."

Rollie nodded and walked away.

"Testy," he heard Jay Jr. mumble.

Rollie rolled his eyes. He decided to run through the script. He had to take his mind off of Angie, she would contact him when she was ready. She was probably off somewhere peaceful, with no guns, no goons, and no police.

* * *

A police officer took the gun from Jordan. Four police cars had responded to the call, hauling in the criminals.

"Yeah, we've dealt with these guys before," the officer was saying, "real nice guys. Call themselves 'The Snakes' because their leader is named 'the Snake.'"

"Very creative," Angie remarked.

"You'll have to come down and file charges,," the officer said to Angie and Mary.

"With pleasure," Angie said.

The officer walked away and Jordan looked over at them.

"So," he said, "you sure you're all right, um, Angie and Mary you said, right?"

"Yes," Angie said nodding, and smiling, "that's right. And we're fine. We want to thank you for your help."

"Any time," Jordan said with a smile, "so, where are you from?"

"I live here in Cleveland," Mary said, "Angie's visiting from New York."

Jordan raised his eyebrows.

"New York?" he said, "What a coincidence!"

"How's that?" Angie asked.

"My father owns Hunter Studios, a film making company," he said, "they're stationed in New York. I lived there my whole life, till I transferred here, that is."

"Hunter Studios?" Angie asked, "So your father is Jay Hunter? The company I...used to work for...did some work for him. Tyler F/X?"

"Oh yeah!" Jordan said nodding, "I've heard of you guys before. My Dad's mentioned you a couple times too. So just visiting a friend? On vacation?"

"Something like that," Angie said with a tight smile.

"Well," Jordan said, "you've got to get down to the station, and I have somewhere to be as well."

"Oh," Mary said, "well, you live around here?"

Jordan nodded.

"I'll probably be seeing you around," Jordan said, "nice meeting you."

He jogged off before they could say anything. Angie glanced at Mary, both of them had their eyebrows raised. Mary smiled slightly.

"Cute," she said.

Angie didn't reply.

* * *

Several hours later, 'El Serpiente' stood shifting on a street corner, at a pay phone he had been instructed to be at. He had been sitting in the cell fuming, when the officer to his surprise told him he was free to go, though he had a court date, becuase someone had posted bail. He had been surprised, but glad, flipping the tie of the officer with a snicker as he walked out. A man in a dark suit met him outside the station and handed him a note with the instructions. He answered the phone when it rang. The voice across the other line spoke in a vaguely Middle Eastern accent.

"We bailed you out, Mr. Rodriguez," the voice said, "we don't forget our friends."

"Hey thanks, amigo-" the Snake started to say.

"However," the voice interrupted, "you have still failed to bring us the merchandise. We have been patient, very patient. However, our patience is limited."

"One more chance," the Snake said, "I believe I know where it is, or at least who has it. All I need is another chance. I almost had it but I was, stopped, by, by a force of police officers! Several of them with guns-"

"Enough," the voice said, "you have forty eight hours to retrieve the object. After that we handle it ourselves, and tie up loose ends such as yourself."

"I understand," the Snake said gravely.

"Good," the voice said, "once you get the merchandise, bring it to us. Then you will be paid."

"Yes, of course," the Snake said, "don't worry, man. I'll get it."

"Be sure that you do," the voice said, and hung up.

* * *

Angie and Mary sat in Mary's apartment, after cleaning up the things that had been damaged. It was evening now, and they were both exhausted and worried from the days events.

"And Ricardo was involved with these guys?" Angie was asking.

"Yes," Mary said solemnly, "I knew it was bad. But he was already in, and it was too late. They're just a bunch of small time crooks, but, they still can kill."

Mary's words trailed off. Angie put her arm around her friends shoulders.

"It's all right," Angie said, "I know what it is to lose someone close to you."

Mary nodded, her head still down.

"You really don't have any idea what they might have wanted?" Angie asked.

Mary shook her head.

"No," she said, "Ricardo never mentioned anything about what they did to me. He knew it upset me. Oh, Angie, he loved me, and I loved him, and it got him killed."

"No," Angie said, "his involvement with those people got him killed, it's not your fault."

"I know," Mary said, "but it doesn't hurt any less."

Mary sighed.

"And Ricardo only gave me one thing of any big value," she said, "in fact he gave it to me at the restaurant, just before he got shot down."

Mary walked to a dresser drawer and pulled a ring out of her jewelry box.

"I don't wear it all the time," she said, "it reminds me too much of him."

Angie took the ring and looked at it. It was of fine craftmenship, a solid gold woman's ring with a small diamond seated on the top. She looked it over.

"Ricardo was going to ask to marry me," Mary said, "but first he wanted to get out of the gang. He said he wanted to give me the ring to wear, and he would ask when the time was right."

Angie peered under the ring, and something caught her eye.

"Mary what's this?" Angie asked.

Mary peered over to where Angie was looking. There was a small circular grove on the inside of the ring, under the diamond.

"I don't know," Mary said, puzzled, "some sort of logo? Or maybe a mark from when they put the ring together."

Angie shook her head.

"Get me a pair of tweezers," she said.

Mary retrieved a pair and Angie poked them against the grove. It moved. She pushed it further and it slipped and fell off the ring, revealing a minute circular hole in the ring. Mary gasped.

"What's that?" she asked.

Angie squinted. Something was in the hole. She reached inside with the tweezers, and steady as a surgeon pulled the object out. It was a tiny, flat, rectangular object with a few glinting metallic looking pieces. Angie held it up to the light.

"It's a microchip," Angie said in wonderment.

"A microchip?" Mary gasped, "In my ring? Why?"

"Because Ricardo hid it there," Angie said, eyeing it closely, and nervously, "and I'll bet anything that this is what our friends are looking for."

* * *

Part 7:

Rollie was half way through the script in a couple of hours. This movie had really big action sequences, and some special effects that were going to be pretty mind boggling. Rollie's creative brain was already tingling with the prospects. He would have to call in his usual crew, there would be a lot of stunt work to coordinate, and a some rather intense gunplay.

Rollie sighed. Angie would have loved to work on this. Rollie admitted to himself that her abilities were half of his creative genius. He would think up how to do it, and Angie would make it happen. She would anticipate what he wanted. He would say for her to do something, and she would already have it done, or have done it a better way.

Rollie glanced over his shoulder to see Jay Jr. rummaging through his refrigerator. He had pulled out another beer and a large chicken leg. He bit into it ferociously ripping off a piece with his mouth. He glanced up at Rollie and, with a large piece of chicken hanging out of his mouth, saluted him with the leg. He saluted to quickly and the chicken leg smacked him in the forehead with a thump. He staggered a bit.

"Dude!" he said with a mouthful of chicken, "Whoops."

He laughed at himself and walked back over to the computer. Rollie sighed yet again, and, for the millionth time in only a few days, he missed Angie.

* * *

Angie tossed and turned for an hour before finally falling asleep at midnight. Still the events of the day, the month, the year whirled around in her head in mazes of twisting dreams. She saw many faces, Rollie, Mira, Loubar, her father. She saw guns and danger and death. She laughed and then cried as she jumped from one dream to the next. Subconsciously, Angie realized the dreams were a lot like her life, going from good to bad, good to bad. The only steady good thing had been Rollie Tyler, and she had given that up.

Angie woke up with a start and sat straight up in bed. She had heard a thump coming from the living room. She slipped out from under the covers and slid her slippers on. She ripped the lamp next to her bed out of the socket, and carrying it in one hand she peeked out of her bedroom door.

She snuck down the small hallway and spotted a figure rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. It was pitch dark, but as the figure turned his face caught a glint of moonlight through the window and she was the silouette of a beaked nose. The Snake, no doubt. Angie couldn't get to the phone, it was across the room.

His back was to her, so Angie steeled herself for the thousandth time, and screamed. Running forward she caught the Snake completely by surprise and belted him across the chin with the metal lamp stand. He cried out and arms wheeling he fell to the ground. Angie screamed again and began to pummel him with the lamp.

Mary ran out from her room and caught Angie beating on the Snake.

"Call the police!" Angie yelled between blows.

Mary ran to the phone. Angie swung again but this time the Snake grabbed the lamp and twisted it, throwing Angie off balance. He bounded up off the floor and Angie faced him. The Snake with a lightening move reached to grab the set of kitchen knives on the counter. He didn't look where he was grabbing, watching Angie, and grabbed a soup ladle instead.

He peered at the thing, and his eyes opened wide as Angie came at him again. He tried to bat her aside with the ladle and threw himself over the countertop into the living room. Angie followed him, still screaming. This time the Snake was ready for her and he grabbed her arm in mid run, flipping her over and onto the floor.

The Snake raised his fist to punch her when a figure streaked across the room and with a wild scream landed on the Snake's back. Mary bit hard into the Snake's shoulder and he screamed. They spun around and around as the Snake tried to get her off of his back, but Mary wouldn't budge, like a championship rodeo rider.

Angie got up off the floor and kicked the Snake in the stomach as he spun toward her. He backed up and fell across the coffee table, he and Mary spilling onto the floor. Mary took her fingernails and raked them across his eyes. He screamed and while he put his hand to his eyes Angie bashed him in the face with the lamp.

A tooth and a bit of blood from his mouth spouted out and flew across the room. The Snake with a lung jumped up and not quite able to see still took a blind swing. Angie connected with the lamp again, across his jaw. The Snake spun and stumbled into the window. Angie heard a tinkle of glass and the Snake slumped to the ground, unmoving.

Angie and Mary walked slowly to him, and then carefully turned him over. A soft circle of blood was slowly growing on his chest.

"He's been shot!" Angie gasped.

Angie glanced up and out the window under which the Snake was now laying. She caught a glimpse of someone's back on the roof of the next building. That person was hurrying away. She walked up the window and looked down. Three men were hurrying out of the building at the ground floor, and heading their direction.

"Uh-oh," Angie whispered.

"What is it?" Mary asked.

"We'll have to leave him here," Angie said, "come on. Grab a coat, we're getting out of here."

Mary ran and got two coats and tossed one to Angie. Angie ran and grabbed the ring and microchip out of the dresser drawer. They were going to take it to the police the next morning.

"But why?" Mary asked.

"No time to explain," Angie said, "but we're about to have company."

Angie and Mary bolted out of the apartment and Angie hit the elevator button. She nervously stood while the elevator slowly ascended. Finally it beeped and the doors slid open. She and Mary walked in and the doors began closing just as the next elevator slid open. The three men walked out and one man glanced back spotting Angie and Mary. He jumped forward, but the doors had already finished closing.

Angie and Mary reached the ground floor and standing outside of the doors was Jordan Hunter. Angie gasped.

"Jordan!" she cried, "What are you doing here?"

"Follow with me," he said, "you're in terrible danger."

"Wait!" Angie said, "Who are you? How do I know we can trust you?"

"No time," he said, grabbing both of their hands.

Against her better judgement, Angie followed Jordan as he led them out of the apartment. He ran and open the door of a black sedan.

"Hop in," he said, "quickly."

Angie and Mary glanced at each other, then hopped in the back of the car. Jordan peeled off just as the men ran up to the car. They sped down the light lit streets.

"Ok," Angie said, "now tell us, who are you?"

"My name is Jordan Hunter," he said, "I already told you that. For the rest, you'll have to trust that I can't divulge any information. Suffice it to say I'm a good guy, and I'm trying to protect this country."

"What are you talking about?" Angie asked.

"You found the microchip, didn't you," Jordan said.

"How did you know about that?" Mary gasped, before Angie could say anything.

"It was stolen," Jordan said, "by some very dangerous terrorists. There's a lot going on here you don't know about, but know this. That microchip makes the difference between the life and death of thousands, maybe millions of innocent people. Where is it?"

"Hold it," Angie said, "you still haven't told us who you really are. I don't know if you're bad or good. I'm not about to just give it to you, especially while I'm still wearing pajamas!"

Jordan sighed and turned a sharp corner. Angie saw his eyes in the rear view mirror, and then saw his arm shift as he reached toward his glove compartment. The light ahead turned red and Jordan slowed and stopped. Angie wasn't sure whether he was reaching for a gun or not, but she wasn't going to wait around and find out.

She popped open the door, grabbed Mary's hand, and slid out. She darted down the street, and heard Jordan cry to wait. She glanced behind her and saw him leap out of the car and take off after her. Angie willed her legs to run faster, and heard Mary panting next to her, out of breath and trying to keep up.

"What are you doing?" Mary breathed.

"Trying to keep us alive," Angie said, "I'm not trusting anyone till we get to the police."

Jordan was catching up as Angie dragged Mary behind her. Angie darted down a side street. She flew past a large dumpster and got an idea. She screeched to a halt. She pulled Mary to the ground and hid behind the dumpster.

"What are you doing?" Mary whispered.

Angie put her fingers to her lips and picked up a large board lying on the ground. She heard quick footsteps as Jordan ran down the street. He blazed past them and Angie yelled and ran up behind him, the board raised high. Jordan spun around but it was too late and Angie struck him on the head. His eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the ground. Mary walked up behind her.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Mary said.

Angie leaned over Jordan and flipped through his pockets. There was no gun, but also no police, or other law inforcement officer, identification.

"I don't know who this guy is," Angie said, "but he's not a cop."

"What are we going to do?" Mary asked.

"We have to get to the police," Angie said.

"Angie," Mary said, "those guys who chased us in my apartment were the police!"

"What?" Angie said spinning to face her.

"I saw a badge on one of them," Mary said, "as the doors closed. But they sure didn't look like they were coming to rescue us."

"What is going on here?" Mary asked, "Why are all these people after me, after this microchip?"

Angie pulled the small object, now sealed in a plastic bag, out and stared at it.

"I don't know," Angie said, "but we're in our pajamas and we can't go back to your apartment. So we can't go to the police, and there are thugs after us as well."

"Oh Angie," Mary said, beginning to cry and wringing her hands, "what are going to do? These people want me dead or something! They shot at me before and now they want to grab this thing! They'll kill to do it! We've got to get out of town! We've got to disappear! Change out identities! Something!"

Angie grabbed Mary's shoulders.

"Get a hold of yourself," Angie said, "we'll figure it out."

"But Angie," Mary said, "how are we going to get out of this? I can't fight off police and criminals, and sneak out of town unseen!"

Angie turned away from her. She stood for a long moment. When she turned back her mouth had thinned into a long, determined line.

"Maybe not," Angie said, "but I know someone who can."

* * *

Part 8:

Rollie finished going over the script and had compiled a list of equipment he would need for the coordination. He had already notified his usual crew, and had begun compiling thoughts for the F/X needed in some of the more spectacular scenes. He had put them on paper and given them to Jay Jr. to see what he thought, if 'thought' was the proper word for it.

Surprisingly, Jay Jr. had had some decent ideas on the computer graphics area, and some rather innovative, if unorthodox, approaches to the implementation. Rollie, although shruggingly, was impressed. He was no where near Angie, of course, but Rollie was willing to place him in the idiot-savant category, at least for now.

The phone rang and Rollie picked it up.

"Tyler F/X," he said.

"Rollie?" a familiar voice said.

"Angie!" Rollie cried, "Where are you? How are you? Are you all right?"

"I'm in Cleveland," Angie said, "and, no, I'm not exactly all right."

Rollie didn't bother to ask why she was in Cleveland, or even why she hadn't contacted him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Angie took a deep breath then gave a quick, concise synopsis of what had happened. By the time she was done Rollie was ready to leap out of seat and run to Cleveland if necessary.

"What do you need?" Rollie asked.

"To get out," Angie said, "and find someone we can trust. I need to get Mary and I back to New York, talk to Mira, or Van Duran."

"Ok," Rollie said, "but they're obviously after you."

"Right," Angie said, "we'll need to get out incognito, that's why I called you. Listen, I know-"

"Ang, love," Rollie said, "don't say a word more. I'm on my way. Where should I meet you?"

"The main atrium of Tower City," Angie said, "it's a huge mall downtown."

"I'll be there by noon tomorrow," Rollie said, "until then you lay low, ok?"

"Ok," Angie said, a note of relief in her voice, "Rollie-"

"I said don't say a word more," Rollie said, "first I get you out of there, then we can talk."

"Ok," Angie said, "I'll see you soon."

"Stay safe," Rollie said, then waited until Angie hung up.

Rollie immediately phoned the airport and purchased a ticket on the next flight out to Cleveland, which was that night, in only a few hours. Rollie ran upstairs, and began throwing a few clothes in a suitcase, he then placed a call to the normal shipping company he used. He instructed them on packaging some of the equipment he was going to bring, and they would be flown in the next day. Normally they wouldn't do that sort of work so quickly, but Rollie paid extra without a second thought.

He ran downstairs to Jay Jr. Jay had just placed Bluey back on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Rollie asked.

Jay Jr. grinned.

"Check this out," Jay Jr. said, "walk up close to him."

Rollie carefully moved close and when he was about fifteen feet away a huge roar came from Blue's speakers. A deep, guttural voice then spoke.

"Proximity alert," Blue growled, "intruder detected. Die mutant scum!"

Sounds of gunfire and explosions then came from him, while Jay Jr. laughed hysterically. Rollie turned red.

"Listen," Rollie said, "first off, I've got to go. I'll be gone for a few days."

"What?" Jay Jr. asked, "Why?"

"Don't worry about it," Rollie said, "but I'll call your dad, tell him I'll be delayed a few days on getting a response back to him."

"Hey," Jay Jr. said, "you don't have to do that. I'll finish up the proposal on cost and stuff, and give it to him."

"I don't think-" Rollie started to say.

"Don't worry, man!" Jay Jr. said, "I've worked with my Dad plenty of times, and you already wrote down everything. I'll just do a little computer work, see what it'll take."

"But I won't be here, so-" Rollie said.

"Well," Jay Jr. interrupted, "if you let me stay here, I'd get it done real fast, and stay out of my Dad's hair."

Rollie's eyes opened wide.

"Come on," Jay Jr. said, "you don't want to get on my Dad's bad side, I'll cover for you! I promise, dude, I won't break a thing."

Jay Jr. put up his right hand with a grin. Rollie sighed, if he wasn't in a such a rush, he would think it over more. As it was, he needed Jay Jr.'s help, so he would have to let him stay.

"Ok," Rollie said, walking up close to him, ignoring Blue's shouts of 'die mutant scum', "here are the rules. You don't touch anything except the computer. You sleep on the couch and bring no friends or other companions over. Everything stays as it is, and you program nothing that doesn't have to do with the movie."

Rollie pointed to Bluey, who now was snarling at Rollie.

"And you put him back to normal!" Rollie yelled.

"No prob, bro," Jay Jr. said, "consider it done. So where are you going?"

"Cleveland," Rollie said, his chest heaving.

"Oh," Jay Jr. said, "my brother lives there. He's an F.B.I. agent."

"That's nice," Rollie mumbled, and began to head back upstairs, "I've got a lot of stuff to throw together for shipping, just, just don't touch anything."

Jay Jr. grinned even wider than normal.

"Hey, dude," he said, "you don't have to tell me twice."

* * *

Angie and Mary sat in the small motel room they had rented. Mary had a small pocket book in her coat with a credit card. They had kept their coats over their pajamas, and the woman who owned the motel was nice enough to lend them a few articles of clothing. They sat together on the bed.

"So he'll really be able to help us?" Mary asked, speaking of Rollie.

Angie nodded.

"If anyone can," Angie said, "he can."

Mary nodded.

"You've got a lot of confidence in him," Mary said.

"I should," Angie said, "I love him."

Mary raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" Mary asked, "So you guys are-"

"No," Angie said shaking her head, then sighed, "it's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere," Mary said, leaning back on the bed.

Angie smiled at Mary, and then delved into her story. She told Mary everything, from the time she had met Rollie to now. She spoke of his kindness when her father died, she spoke of the multiple times he had saved her and others lives. She spoke of all the times she had seen him with another woman and ached with pain and jealousy. She told her of how often she wanted to tell him, but never had. She told Mary what Loubar had done, and how that had finally revealed how she felt to Rollie, and how Rollie didn't feel the same way.

Angie and Mary laughed at some of the funny instances she and Rollie had gone through. Angie cried as she spoke of her father, and of Loubar, and Mary cried with her. Mary told her of her own trials, and her feelings when Ricardo had been shot down next to her. They cried further, this time for the loss of the innocence they had had while in college.

When they were done, Angie felt as if some weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. But then again, talking to Mary had always been theropeutic for Angie, her friend was like a sounding board for every thought, every emotion. Angie sniffed and wiped her eyes with a tissue Mary had handed her.

"You know," Mary said, "a thought just struck me."

"What's that?" Angie asked.

"Well," Mary said, "when your Dad died, Rollie took care of you right?"

"Pretty much," Angie said, smiling slightly, "he was great. I don't know what I would have done without him."

"And he took over your Dad's business, right?" Mary asked.

"Yes," Angie said tentatively, "so-"

"So," Mary said, shifting up, "I'm thinking back to college, and how you spoke of him then. You always talked to him about your grades, about how you were doing, you always seemed to eager to make him proud. He would ask you about your friends, and boyfriends, making sure you were hanging out with the right crowd."

"Yeah," Angie said, "I remember."

"Even though he's only a few years older than you," Mary said, "I always thought of him as sort of, a father figure, to you. He replaced your Dad, really, in the role he played."

"My father?" Angie cried, "Rollie? Oh, I don't think-"

"Think about it," Mary said, "he took care of you during the later part of your childhood. He took on the business your father had. You looked up to him, loved him, yes. Tell me, though, if Loubar hadn't, done what he had done, would you have ever told him how you felt. Did you really know how you felt?"

Angie pondered that question for a long moment.

"I would never have told him," she said, "and I think I blocked out my feelings as much as possible, because I knew they would never be returned. I just wanted to remain friends."

"But you were more than friends," Mary said, "you were brother and sister, maybe even father and daughter. Rollie may not be old enough to be your father, but after your Dad died that's the psychological position he took in your mind."

"But that's not the way I felt about him," Angie said, "I mean when I saw him with other women-"

"Every little girl," Mary said, "if their father divorces or something, is jealous of the women he sees. Every little girl wants to be the center of their father's attention. Rollie took that role, so that's how you felt."

Angie didn't respond to that. She sat staring down at the bed.

"Maybe," Mary continued, "you thought you felt that way for Rollie because he was close enough to your age, maybe Loubar pulled up an old crush from when you were little. But, in the end, the role he plays in your mind will never change. Maybe that's why you never really would have told him, maybe because you didn't love him in that way at all."

Angie held her breath for a long moment, letting Mary's words sink in. She thought about how she had thought about Rollie all these years. They way she had worked so hard to please him. They way they had joked when she was younger, and how he gazed at her like a proud father when she left on a rare date, dressed to kill. Angie thought about how he protected her with the vigilance of a big brother.

"You love him Angie," Mary said, "but let, for a moment, your mind open up a bit, and see the other possibilites."

Angie nodded slowly. It had been so hard to leave Rollie, but, was it because she was in love with him? In love with him like a wife loves a husband? Angie, all of a sudden, couldn't place her feelings. She wasn't as certain as she had been only a few days before. For the first time in Angie Ramirez's life, she thought that maybe she didn't love Rollie Tyler in a romantic way, after all.

* * *

Rollie sat in the window seat, staring out at the lit up city skyline slowly fading behind him. An attendant asked if he needed anything.

"No thank you," he said waving her away, and leaned back in his chair.

He thought of Angie. How much he had worried about her, how he had panicked in the moments he thought she might be dead. He thought about how his heart had dropped to the floor and shrunk into nothingness when she left. He thought about how he knew he would leap into the greatest danger, sacrifice his life at a moments notice, to protect her. He had dropped everything the moment she had called.

He knew he would miss her, but he didn't realize how much. The thought of her not returning was too much for him to think about. Rollie rubbed his forehead. He had always felt this way, ever since he had met her. He had always wanted to protect her. He knew he cared for her deeply, but he had always thought it was more like a little sister kind of love. Not the way a man loved a wife.

But when he thought of what Loubar had done, a foul taste came into his mouth, and when he thought of Angie in pain he felt he would do anything to make her better. He cared for her more than he had realized. He smiled as he recalled watching her grow into a woman, and the joys that had come with that. When had things changed? When had they changed?

Angie said he hadn't changed, and never would. But had he? Had this whole series of events made him finally realize something? Had it taken tragedy to make him realize that Angela Ramirez was the most important person in his life? Rollie stared out of the window again, watching the stars twinkle in the sky. A single shooting star streaked across and Rollie made a quiet wish, a wish to keep Angie safe. He closed his eyes, and for the first time in Rollie Tyler's life, he thought he just might love her in that way, after all.

* * *

Part 9:

Angie and Mary sat nervously on a booth in the middle of Tower City. Behind them was a maze of lush vegetation and a huge water fountain. The large, white tiles glistened and the clips of peoples heels echoes across the five story high ceiling. A large set of escalators was to their left as people moved back and fro, shopping. Angie wished she could walk about with their casual ease.

As it was, she and Mary had stopped in a store to pick up a few items of clothing, but only enough for a day or two. Angie figured they would be getting out of Cleveland real soon. Mary still couldn't believe that the police were trying to kill them, but that something far more sinister was going on. They just didn't know what, nor whom to trust. That was why Angie had decided to turn to the one person in the world she trusted absolutely, Rollie Tyler.

"I don't see anyone that looks like him," Mary said.

Angie glanced at the large clock hanging from the ceiling.

"We've got a couple of minutes," Angie said.

Angie squirmed a bit in her seat. She hated not knowing what was going on. First thing she would do when she got back to New York, was talk to Mira. She'd hand over the microchip, and let them handle it from there. No more guns and terrorists for her. Too, she would have to face Rollie again. But somehow, after her talk with Mary, that didn't seem so hard. Angie glanced around, then sat up. A dozen yards away, walking toward them in his long leather jacket, was Rollie Tyler.

* * *

"You lost them? You lost them? I don't believe this!"

Chief Michael Sturns, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, threw his hands up in the air.

"An honored, always get his man, F.B.I. agent looses two civilian women, who don't even know what is going on!" he yelled.

Agent Jordan Hunter sat in the seat calmly.

"This are no ordinary civilian women I assure you," Jordan said, "at least, one of them wasn't."

"What?" Sturns said, "You mean they're involved seriously?"

"No, no," Jordan said shaking his head, "but this one, Angela Ramirez, she's not one to be messed with. Let's just say they surprised me."

The woman next to him, Agent Sheila Jones, snorted.

"I'll say," she said with a grin, "that lump on the back of your head proves it. Not that I blame her."

"Funny," Jordan said wryly.

"This is no joking matter people," Sturns said, "those women are in serious danger. They have no idea what they have in their posession."

Sheila shook her head.

"Unbelieveable," she said, "walking around with the key to the most sophisticated missile guidance system ever created. And not knowing it!"

"I've been getting it from above to find this chip," Sturns said, "the CIA are in on it, as well as a bunch of other organizations we don't even know about. If those Iraqi terrorists get a hold of it-"

"I know, I know," Jordan said, "they'll be able to launch from the moon, if they wanted to, and still hit the President right between the eyes."

"Exactly," Sturns said, "this thing has been out in the open for months now. We're unbelieveably fortunate no one has gotten hold of it."

"We've got to find them," Sheila said.

Jordan nodded.

"We will," he said, "because if we don't, they're not the only ones who will be in danger."

* * *

Rollie spotted Angie and her blonde friend, Mary, sitting on a white bench in front of the water fountain. He walked up to them with a smile. They both stood up.

"Angie," he said.

"Hey Rol," Angie said softly, "you remember Mary Hostetler."

"Yeah sure," Rollie said nodding and shaking her hand.

Rollie glanced around.

"I rented a car," he said, "and I've got a few pieces of equipment coming in soon. Why don't we go somewhere private."

Angie nodded.

"Sounds good to me," she said.

They began to walk off. Rollie opened is mouth as if to say something when Mary spoke.

"Um, guys," she said, "I just glanced over my shoulder and I think these two guys are following us."

"What?" Rollie said.

"They got up as soon as we did," Mary said, "two of them. About fifty feet behind us."

They continued to walk and Rollie glanced in a large store window. In the reflection he saw the two men she was speaking of.

"Could be a coincidence," Angie said, "then again, we do have reason to be paranoid."

"Let's find out," Rollie said, "see that escalator we're coming up on? At the last second, veer onto it."

They continued walking at a normal pace and just as they were about to pass the escalator, they jumped onto it in front of a couple. Rollie glanced behind him and saw the men stop and veer toward the escalator, somewhat more quickly than they had been walking.

"You're right," Rollie said to Mary.

"What do we do?" Mary asked.

Rollie glanced at Angie, and he knew she understood.

"We lose them," Rollie said, "on my mark."

They readed themselves.

"Go!" Rollie yelled and they took off up the moving stairs, pushing past people ahead of them.

Rollie looked behind them, the men were pushing past people as well, not worrying about being incognito anymore, their cover obviously blown. They reached the second floor and they took off at top speed, not worrying as much as where, but as to how fast they were going. The two men reached the top as well and were in hot pursuit.

Suddenly another trio of men appeared in front of them, also obviously heading towards them. The group skidded to a halt and veered off down another large hallway. People jumped out of the way as now eight people dashed through the crowds. As they came into another atrium a man stepped out directly in front of them. Tall and menacing with black hair he pulled out a gun.

"I wouldn't go any farther if I were you," he said.

Rollie looked back, the five men were starting to disperse as if nothing had happened.

"Come with me," the man said, gesturing with his gun.

The man seemed to be focusing on Rollie, seeing him as the biggest threat. That was a mistake. As they turned Angie lunged out kicking his outstretched arm, but he kept hold of the gun. Rollie grabbed him and began to struggle for the weapon and it went off striking the ceiling. People screamed and began running the other direction.

Rollie and the tall man spun around and around trying to gain the upper hand. Rollie slipped and they both tumbled to the ground. The five men that had been tailing them now converged behind them, cutting off escape the way they came. Angie saw a group of security men and a few officers heading their direction, guns drawn.

One of the men behind them came up to Angie and grabbed her. An elbow into his stomach caused him to release her. Meanwhile the tall man had wrestled away from Rollie and rose, gun out and aimed at his head.

"Freeze!" an officer yelled.

The tall man spun around and fired, missing, but causing the officers to scatter for cover. There was some return fire and the tall man was hit and fell to the ground. The other five men had also begun shooting and Angie and Mary dove out of the way, on the ground next to Rollie. That section of the mall was cleared out now, people having fled. An officer near the escalator was hit with a round and tumbled down the stairs.

The five men were retreating, but continued to fire.

"Let's get out of here," Angie said, while they laid on the ground.

"I'm all for that," Rollie said.

They began to crawl, while staying as close to the ground as possible, away from the gunfire. Once they rounded a corner, they got up and took off running. The police were still chasing the men and took no notice of them, figuring they were shoppers caught by accident.

"Who were those guys?" Rollie asked as they ran.

"I don't know," Mary said, gasping for breath, "but that's what we've been going through."

"We have no idea who is doing all this," Angie said, "who is chasing us, that's why I want to get back to New York and hand this over to Mira."

They reached a large crowd, buzzing with the events they had just escaped. They slowed to a walk and began to slowly make their way to the exit, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Finally they reached the silver compact car Rollie had rented. Hopping in, they made their way to the hotel Rollie was staying at.

"Well, I've heard the basic story," Rollie said, "any details you can fill in?"

Mary shook her head.

"All is know is that Ricardo put this microchip in my ring without telling me," she said, "he must have not wanted it to be found. The Snakes must've stole it."

"And were going to sell it to someone," Angie said, "but Ricardo must have found out what it was, or something. It must be something dangerous or he wouldn't have hidden it."

"We need to find out what," Rollie said.

"No," Angie said, "we need to turn it over, and be done with it. We need to get out first though."

Rollie nodded.

"I've got the means to do that," he said.

"How?" Mary asked.

Rollie smiled.

"Magic," he said.

Mary glanced at Angie, who just smiled as well. She patted Mary's hand.

"Trust us," she said.

Mary nodded at rode the rest of the way in silence. They reached the hotel and parked in the garage across the way, on the fourth level. They got in the elevator and started the ride down.

"The equipment should be coming in in an hour," Rollie said, "you can stay in the hotel room while I get it. After that we do a little make over, and fly out back to New York."

The elevator beeped as they reached the ground floor and the door slid open. Standing before them was the Snake and three men behind him.

"Hola, senoritas," the Snake said, grinning at Angie, "it is good to see you again. And your friend. If you please, come with us."

* * *

Part 10:

Angie slammed her hand on the 'close door' button, but the Snake stuck his hand through, stopping it. The door slid back open and Rollie prepared to rush him when the three leather clad goons behind him pulled out their guns.

"Por favor," the Snake hissed, "come with me."

Reluctantly the three exited the elevator, surrounded on all sides by the gun toting gang members. They walked up to a large black van.

"Into the back," the Snake said, "and no talking."

They were filed into the back of the van and two thugs kept their guns trained on them while they road out of the main tourist area of Cleveland, and into the lower slums. At last they arrived and were escorted into a dark apartment building, which smelled like it hadn't been cleaned for years. They entered an apartment on the third floor and as the door opened Rollie saw several cockroaches skeeter out of the shaft of light that struck the far wall.

One of the men shoved Angie in the back, making her stumble forward.

"On the couch," he said to the three of them.

"Do that again," Rollie growled, "and you'll eat that gun."

The man sneered and gestured again. Rollie sat next to Angie and Mary defiantly. As they sat a puft of dirt came up from the couch and something crawled quickly down Angie's leg. She didn't look, she didn't want to know.

"What do you want?" Rollie asked, "I take it you're the Snake. I've heard about you. How'd you find us?"

The Snake smiled, his white teeth glittering slightly, and he gnashed them a bit, raking his sharp encisors with a grinding sound.

"All in good time," the Snake said, "you see, I have brought you here to interrogate you."

He gestured to one of his men and he came forward and grabbed Mary roughly. He searched her up and down, finding nothing he went to Angie. He pulled the ring and microchip out of her pocket and tossed it to the Snake. He looked it over.

"Ah, Ricardo," he said, "how sad you had to steal from me. How sad you had to die."

He clutched the clear plastic bag the microchip was held in tightly.

"This has caused much trouble for me," he said, eyeing them coldly, "but the profits will be more than worth the loss."

"What is that thing?" Angie asked.

"Only something the greatest scientific minds of the United States has developed," the Snake said, "I don't pretend to know how it works, exactly. It is part of some sort of missile guidance system. Either way, other countries would pay dearly for it."

"How'd you get your filthy hands on it?" Rollie asked.

"Pure chance, actually," the Snake said, ignoring the insult, "you see, my gang hijacked a small armored truck carrying money and jewels. Little did we know the government was sneaking this little baby in as well. In a ring no less, very clever. Anyway, once I had stolen the goods, a representative from an, interested, government contacted me. He offered me more money than you can imagine for this little gem, and as you can imagine, I was only too happy to sell it."

"Ah," he sighed, "but I underestimated our government. The F.B.I., and C.I.A. were close on my heels. I had already made several contacts with this representative, and the agents were eager to capture this man. Thus I made a deal. I would continue the deal, so they could capture him. They, however, would have to ensure my safety afterward. In fact, I wanted out of the country. They agreed to this, and arranged for my death to be faked."

"When I thought you were shot," Angie said, "at the apartment."

"Precisamente," the Snake affirmed, "one of their sharp shooters hit me with a pellet full of red die. A bit of a sting, but better than death."

"But after you stole it," Rollie said, getting back to the story, "Ricardo stole it from you."

"Yes," the Snake said, "you see, I didn't actually know where the microchip was hidden. I sent my men, including Ricardo, to find it. They searched and Ricardo found it in this ring. However he was, eh, overly patriotic, and failed to tell me. Instead he gave it to his dear novia here, and pretended not to find it. Trying to go straight for her, I suppose. Anyway much later, after he was dead, I found out that the ring wanted was gone. At first I thought it had been pawned, sold, so I tried to retrace it's steps for a month. My buyer became very impatient. Anyway, finally, I put two and two together."

"But if you're working for the feds-" Angie started.

The Snake held up his hand.

"As I said," he continued, "this buyer was willing to pay much. I could not let an opportunity like this pass me by."

"So you double crossed the feds," Rollie said, nodding with understanding.

"Precisely," he said, "they will recieve a fake microchip. The real one will go to my buyer at another secret meeting, of which the authorities have no knowledge. At the 'sting' the 'feds' as you call them, set up, well, my buyer will either not show up, or be ready."

"Playing both ends," Angie said, "you win both ways."

The Snake nodded, and tapped his skull.

"El Serpiente," he said, "is very smart."

"I still don't understand how you found us," Angie said.

"Well," the Snake said, "my buyer has supplied with several toys in helping my quest. They have been trying to track you down as well, the men who chased you in the mall. I, however, was smarter, bided my time. Do you remember when we first met, and I grabbed your hair?"

Angie nodded. The Snake reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny microchip like object.

"A minaturized homing device," he said with satisfaction, "I placed it in your scalp when I grabbed you. It is water proof, for when you bathe."

Angie rubbed her head furiously.

"You'll only push it in deeper," the Snake said, smiling viciously.

"So now what?" Rollie asked.

The Snake gestured to his men and they began binding the three of them with twine, placing their hands behind their backs. They tied their legs as well. The Snake stood up in front of them.

"Now I must decide," he said, pacing, "what to do with you."

He pointed at Rollie.

"You," he said, "you mean nothing. You will die."

He pointed at Mary.

"You," he said, "you have been nothing but trouble. You will die as well."

Then he looked at Angie, and walked up to her.

"But you," he said, "you are a different story."

He leaned over Angie and smiled. His incisors gleamed again, and Angie caught a strong whif of breath mints mixed with heavy cologne.

"Que linda," he said, "how beautiful you are. I would hate to kill such a beautiful lady. Perhaps we could make, other, arrangements-"

The Snake softly rolled his r's, blowing in Angie's face. She spit on him.

"Don't even try it, creep," she said, "or I'll make sure you'll never have little snakes."

The Snake wiped his face with a black sleeve then snapped his fingers.

"The drugs," he said.

One man left the room and came back a moment later with a vial and syringe. The Snake filled the hypodermic, and tapped it.

"Normally I would love a challenge," he said, "but you, my sweet, are far too divine to injure. So I will take away your choice. A little narcotic, sometimes called the 'date rape' drug. Works wonders."

Angie's eyes opened wide with fright.

"Dirtbag," Rollie said, "you lay so much as one slimy finger on her-"

The Snake lunged and backhanded Rollie across the face. Rollie licked his lip, now bleeding.

"Silence, dead man," he hissed.

He injected Angie in the arm. She winced, and Rollie and Mary watched in horror. After a short while they could tell Angie was in a daze, her head lolling around and her eyes unfocused. She didn't respond to Rollie's calls. The Snake scooper her up in his arms and held her tightly. He grinned widely and walked toward the bedroom. He gestured with his head at Rollie and Mary.

"Kill them," he said, "if you want the girl, fine, but make sure she's dead later on. And take your time, I may be a while."

* * *

Part 11:

Rollie had never felt anger this strong before. Every bone, every muscle, every fiber of his being was surging with raw fury. He strained against the ropes, not caring about the pain it caused. His entire body felt warm and he could see clearly an image of himself killing the Snake.

Two of the three thugs sitting with them pulled out their guns. They both had silencers.

"You won't get away with this," Rollie managed to say through his blind rage.

The men chuckled.

"Actually," one man said, "everyone says that."

The Snake had left into one of the bedrooms and the men calmly aimed their weapons.

"What about the girl?" one man asked.

"Want her?" another said.

The man who had first spoken looked her up and down. He walked up to Mary and tossled her hair a bit. She whimpered and tried to scoot away from him. He grinned.

"Nah," he said, "too easy."

The men nodded and stepped back, aiming their weapons again. Rollie stared down the face of death unflinching. If he could do something, at the last second, at the moment when their fingers pulled the trigger. Rollie's hands worked furiously on the bonds. He couldn't get them loose, and as he did so his fingers began to ache. He gritted his teeth and worked through the pain. He hadn't been tied up too efficiently. He worked his fingers around the knot, but his thumb was in the way.

With a bolt of adrenaline he popped his thumb out of joint, enabling him to squeeze through the ropes. The pain was excruciating, but worth it. He popped it back into place and braced himself. As it had before, time seemed to slow down. Rollie could sense everything so clearly. The sounds of children playing in the street, the smell of the Snake's cologne lingering in the air, the feel of the rough material of the couch against his hands, see the lips of the men tightening as they readied to kill another human being.

A heartbeat, and the guns were cocked, a loud, long click, thundering in Rollie's ears. Mary began to whimper 'no', and that intermingled with the sounds of Rollie's breathing. Another heartbeat and the final aim was taken, careful, right between his eyes. A third heartbeat and the men's fingers rested on the triggers. Rollie's man's finger twitched slightly, in anticipation.

A fourth heartbeat, a fifth, a sixth.

"Time to die," the man aiming at Rollie droaned.

Rollie tightened his legs and leaned forward slightly. A seventh heartbeat and their fingers began to pull on the trigger. Rollie launched from the couch, arms outstretched, aiming low. The thunder of a gunshot rang through the air and the wall behind him exploded. Rollie hit the man in front of him and the second gunman simultaneously, though his feet were still bound.

The sound of the gunshot still echoing around them, they began to fall backwards, as Rollie had let every ounce of anger culminate in that single rush. Mary rolled off the couch and onto the floor. The third man, standing a ways back drew his gun and aimed, yelling. Rollie couldn't leap up though, his legs were still tied.

Then the door burst open and a flood of men entered the room, yelling for everyone to get down. They had bulletproof vests on, and written across them in bright yellow letters was "F.B.I." They all had guns drawn and the three gunman quickly dropped their weapons and raised their hands. A man with dark wavy hair, dressed in a dark trenchcoat, walked up to Rollie and Mary and began to untie them.

"Jordan!" Mary yelled, "Thank goodness! You're an F.B.I. agent?"

"Angie!" Rollie yelled, as his feet were untied, "Angie's in there with the Snake!"

Jordan pulled his gun out of his holster again, and stalked off to the room, several men following. He burst into the room to see the Snake holding Angie in front of him, a gun to her temple.

"Put the guns down!" the Snake yelled, "Or she dies!"

Jordan held his position, aiming at the Snake, for a moment, then slowly put the gun to the floor.

"Let her go," he said, "it's over. You've got nowhere to run to."

"Back off," the Snake said, "you'd better not do anything. You need me. Without me, you don't get those terrorists."

"One of your gang ratted you out to cop a plea," Jordan said, "we know about your double cross. Now let her go, and come quietly before something happens that we'll all regret."

"I don't think so," the Snake spat.

"Listen man!" Jordan yelled, "This is crazy! You're just digging yourself a deeper hole!"

"Not as deep as the one you'll put me in if I get caught," the Snake said chuckling, "now I said, back off."

All the officers slowly backed up as the Snake walked forward. Rollie was pushing his way through the officers, though. Jordan pushed him back.

"Hold on," Jordan said forcefully, as the Snake walked past them, still holding the semi-conscious Angie as a shield.

"Anyone makes a move," the Snake said, eyes narrowing, "and she dies. Anyone comes near me, and she dies. Anyone follows me, well, you get the picture."

"You won't get far,," Jordan said, "it's not worth it."

"We'll see about that," the Snake said.

"No olvida nosotros, serpiente," one of the Snake's men said.

The Snake glanced at him.

"Let my men go as well," he said.

"Hold on-" Jordan said.

"Now!" the Snake interrupted, jamming the gun into Angie's temple, she moaned softly.

Rollie blanched with horror.

"Do it!" he whispered to Jordan.

Jordan gave him a silencing look, and nodded to his men. The three goons were released and walked next to their boss.

"We need more insurance," the Snake said, and gestured at the man who had aimed at Rollie, "grab the big man here."

"Come with us," he said to Jordan.

Jordan's men began to reach for their weapons but Jordan held his hand up. He walked up to the group and the man grabbed him roughly, and held another gun to his head.

"Ok," the Snake said with a wicked smile, "now the odd's are a bit better. Wouldn't want to shoot the big man, eh?"

The Snake began to back through the door with his men, laughing. As they backed up, the man holding Jordan shifted to get through the door and his gun hand shifted away from his head. Jordan had been standing to the right of the Snake and Angie, on the side where he held his gun. With a move too quick to follow, he tossed the man holding him back and grabbed the Snake's gun hand. It twisted away from Angie's head and went off into the ceiling.

The Snake screamed and fell to his knees as Jordan bent his wrist at an odd angle. Angie slumped to the ground. The other three men converged on Jordan as Jordan's men drew their weapons. Jordan drove his elbow into the face of the man behind him, then landed a kick to the other, knocking him to the ground. One man aimed his gun and one of Jordan's men dispatched him with a single shot.

The Snake sat moaning, next to Angie, holding his broken wrist. His face twisted with anger and he tried to punch Jordan. Jordan caught his fist, held it for a moment squeezing until the Snake's face turned beet red, then back handed him back to the ground.

"That's what scum like you get," he growled, "you're fortunate I didn't kill you."

Rollie ran forward to Angie, but Jordan had already leaned over her. He waved Rollie away.

"Give her some air," he said.

Rollie came up anyway and leaned over as well. Jordan picked Angie's head up gently and softly said her name. Her eyes fluttered slightly, and focused for a moment. A look of confusion came over her face, then relief.

"Jordan?" she said softly.

Jordan nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "don't worry, I'm a good guy."

"Oh that's nice to hear," Angie mumbled, then closed her eyes again.

Mary walked up behind them.

"Will she be all right?" Mary asked.

"I think so," Rollie said, "it'll wear off soon."

"Right now we have some other problems," Jordan said, "without the Snake helping us, we won't be able to capture the buyers."

One of Jordan's men walked up, holding the microchip. Jordan nodded with satisfaction.

"They know what the Snake looks like?" Rollie asked.

Jordan nodded.

"Then all might not be lost," Rollie said.

"What do you mean?" Jordan asked.

"I mean," Rollie said, "I think I'm going to have to learn how slither like a Snake."

"I still don't know what you mean," Jordan said.

"Don't worry," Rollie said, "you will."

* * *

Part 12:

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Jordan said several hours, and many conversations, later.

Jordan shook his head over and over again.

"I really can't believe you talked me into this," he said again, "I must be crazy."

Jordan stood behind a fully recovered Angie, and a furiously working Rollie.

"So you had all this equipment shipped in?" Jordan asked, "What is all this stuff again?"

"Oh a variety of things," Rollie said, "Angie, you finish scanning those pictures of the Snake?"

Angie nodded, and several images popped up on the computer screen, showing the Snake from all angles. The three stood in the hotel room Rollie had rented, where much of his equipment had been brought in. It had cost a pretty penny to ship, but it was worth it. They really only needed a computer terminal, and the actual latex molding equipment.

"Ok," Rollie said, "seam the pictures together and create the wireframe model."

Angie nodded again, and went to work. The Snake's various pictures suddenly overlapped on top of one another, and the computer began crunching with effort as the various angles were calculated and seamed together, into one three dimensional representation of the Snake's face. A few moments later, a wireframe representation of the Snake's face was spinning around on the screen. Angie hit a button and skin was added over top, giving the computer's full version of the Snake.

"Wow," Jordan said, "not bad."

"Yeah," Angie said, "nice and ugly."

"Ok, Ang," Rollie said, "we're all set. Create it."

Angie hit a button with panache, and the latex jets in the mask creator began spitting out, forming themselves around the model. The mask creator worked similar to Loubar's mask, in that the sophisticated microhydraulics in the plastic mold could move and stretch to form themselves into any representation. The model created by the computer was fed into the machine, sector by sector of the Snake's face, and the hydraulics shifted to match the angle and skew.

The hot latex spread across the mold, applying and quickly drying. With a hiss the top of the machine opened and Rollie reached inside. He carefully pulled the dried mask out. It was the Snake's face, no doubt, the large beaked nose protruding from it's face.

"I think we can slick your hair back, and dye it black," Angie said, "and you're the right height. What about the voice?"

"I've been working on that," Rollie hissed, in a decent imitation of the Snake's lisping voice and Cuban accent.

"Hmm," Angie said, "not a bad hiss, but you're not the best Cubano."

"Hey," Rollie said, "I don't need to convince a bunch of latinos, just these bad guys."

"I still think I should have one of my agents do this," Jordan said.

"I'm familiar with the technology," Rollie said, "and if you want it done, I do it. Or do you want to find another way to catch these guys?"

Jordan grumbled, and shook his head. Rollie smiled.

"Good," he said, placing the mask over his face, "a few finishing touches, and I'll be all reptile."

* * *

The meeting had been set up in a warehouse on the West Side of town, at midnight. One of the Snake's men, in exchange for leniency, had given up the location and time of the real buy, not the fake one the Snake was going to double cross them with.

"What is it with us and warehouses anyway?" Rollie had asked.

"Don't ask me," Angie had said with a grimace, "I guess they're easier to blow up."

Angie had fitted Rollie with a minature camera and mic, as usual. Neither of them had spoken about Angie's leaving, they both simply threw themselves into the task at hand. As Rollie prepared himself, dressed in all black, he had feverishly gone over every step of their plan. He had calculated and prepared for any possible mistakes.

Jordan had organized an armada of men who would be ready at a moments notice to converge on the warehouse. He was fully convinced now of Rollie's prowess, after seeing the final touches on the mask and their technological capabilities.

"Remember," he had said, "these guys are serious. You can't take any chances."

"Trust me," Rollie had replied, "I know their kind. And I know the risks. I won't do anything stupid."

The meeting was simple. Rollie, as the Snake, would hand over a fake microchip, actually a tracer, and they would hand him the money. The entire event would be recorded, and as they tried to leave they would be stopped by Jordan's men.

If anything went wrong, the tracer would lead them wherever they went. The F.B.I. had decided against just letting them take the chip, and following. The risks were to great, and it was better to have their agents in hand. They could get information out of them, hopefully. Now that they had the real chip, the risk to the American public was greatly diminished.

They sat now in a van Jordan had supplied, which Rollie had makeshifted into a base of operations. A simple computer system, surveillance, and P.D.A.'s. Jordan had organized his men to attack as soon as the buyers tried to leave the building. If they tried to kill Rollie, snipers were prepared to take them out.

The transaction in which the Snake was going to double cross them in was to take place tomorrow. After this one, they would have their men and that would be unnecessary. Jordan stood behind Angie as they waited for Rollie to finish putting on the Snake mask.

"I never did thank you did I?" Angie asked.

"Oh, that's all right," Jordan said, "that's my job."

"No," Angie said, "that's the third time you saved my life. I owe you big."

Jordan smiled.

"You owe me nothing," he said, "if I had to, I'd give my life for you, and any other law abiding citizen. That's what I do."

Angie turned and smiled back.

"Still," she said, "I don't usually do the damsel in distress thing."

"I know that," Jordan said, grinning and rubbing the bump on his head, "but you should more often, you're very good at it."

Jordan gave her a disarming smile, and bowed slightly at the waist.

"Always happy to save a lovely lady," he said.

Angie rolled her eyes, but her smile widened slightly. Then Rollie turned around from his position next to them.

"How do I look?" he said in the Snake's voice.

Jordan turned and his eyes widened. The mask was perfect.

"Wow!" he gasped, "If I didn't know better, I'd arrest you right now!"

Rollie smiled and glanced back at the mirror again. He adjusted a strand of hair.

"Not bad if I do say so myself," he said, "let's check the equipment Ang."

A picture flipped up on the screen. A gold necklace around Rollie's neck held the minature camera, and that angle was shown on the monitor. The view swung as Rollie turned, showing the back of Angie's head, then Jordan's arm.

"Looks good," Angie said, "mic?"

Rollie fiddled with the single earring which acted as a speaker, and the ring which acted as a microphone.

"Can you hear me?" she asked, speaking into a desktop microphone of her own.

"Loud and clear," Rollie said, "recieving?"

Angie nodded.

"That ring will pick up everything?" Jordan asked.

"Everything in a good fifteen foot radius," Angie said, "with almost perfect clarity."

"If not," Rollie said, "I'll just stroke my chin a lot."

Jordan checked his watch.

"We'd better roll," he said, "remember. Make it quick and don't get into any detailed conversations. If you're in a pinch or even think their onto something, give us a signal."

"I know," Rollie said, "I've done this sort of thing before."

Jordan started the van, and they took off.

* * *

The warehouse was large, dark, and empty. Rollie had too many bad memories in places just like this. Recent memories. A foreboding shiver ran down his spine. His heels clicked as he slowly walked across the warehouse floor. The moonlight shafted slightly across, and he stopped in the middle.

"You have come alone?" an accented voice called out.

"Yes, senor," Rollie called back.

Three men came out of the shadows and walked up to him. One shorter, two large men behind him, guns in hand.

"You have the item?" the man asked.

Rollie pulled out the fake microchip and held it up, smiling, the fake teeth making his incisors gleam.

"But of course," he said, "you have my money?"

One of the large men held up a briefcase. He flipped it open to reveal wads of money. Rollie grinned wider.

Inside the van Jordan stood behind Angie, both of them watching the exchange intensely.

"Come on," Jordan was saying, "come on, get it over with."

"Just what you requested," Rollie said, "though, I must admit, getting it was trialsome. I tell you now, I have tied up those, loose ends, we had."

"Good," the man said, "those foolish people are of no consequence anyway. We have much bigger problems to tackle. Now take the money and go."

"One thing I want to know," Rollie said.

The man raised an eyebrow.

"What is he doing!" Jordan yelled inside the truck, he leaned toward the microphone, "Tyler, quit it and get out of there!"

Rollie winced slightly at Jordan's loud voice, but continued.

"How did you manage to find out about all this?" he asked, "I mean how the equipment was brought in, get your hands on the rest of it?"

"You need to know nothing," the short man said, "now give me the chip."

"They money first," Rollie said.

The large man tossed the money to Rollie and it hit him square in the chest. He caught it with an 'oof.' He handed the short man the microchip. The man looked at it carefully, then back at Rollie. He handed it to the other large man.

"Test it," he said.

The large man pulled out a small palmtop computer, with the back open. He inserted the microchip into a slot began pulling up it's contents.

"Uh-oh," Jordan said, and pulled up his walkie-talkie, "Get ready to go in."

Rollie tried to remain calm as the man looked over the chip.

"Well," Rollie said, "I'll be on my way."

"Hold on," the short man said.

The large man was frowning. He handed the palmtop to his boss.

"What is this?" the man asked, "This is nonsense! A trick!"

"Go!" Jordan yelled from the van, and darted from the van himself.

"What are you talking about?" Rollie asked.

The two large men aimed their guns at him.

"Whoa, whoa," Rollie said, raising his arms.

"Freeze!" a voice yelled.

They all turned to see men pouring into the warehouse from all directions. Rollie swung the briefcase out at the man closest to him, connecting with the gun, sending it flying to the ground. He darted away as they raised their arms and the agents converged on them.

Rollie left the warehouse not long later, to rejoin Angie. Jordan came out moments later, grinning from ear to ear.

"We got 'em," Jordan said, "looks like they're the hired help though, as we thought. Still, they should give up some information."

"They obviously knew what they were doing," Angie said, "being able to check the chip."

"Probably briefed," Jordan said with a shrug, "we'll find out soon enough."

"Hunter!" someone called, and Jordan walked away.

"Well," Angie said, "that actually went off without a hitch. Though you had me scared for a moment. What were you trying to do?"

"Get more info," Rollie said, "that's ok, though. Listen, Ang, I know you left to get away from stuff like this, plus, other reasons-"

"Rollie," Angie said holding up her hand, "listen, we need to talk more. I've been thinking and-"

She was cut off when she heard Jordan yelling. They turned to see him throw a cell phone back at someone, and walk up to them, his face red.

"I don't believe this!" he said, throwing up his hands.

"What is is?" Rollie asked.

"Well," Jordan said, "looks like this was for nothing."

"What?" Angie said, "Why?"

"Because the real microchip got stolen," Jordan said.

"How?" Rollie asked.

"Our escort got hijacked," Jordan said, "while it was being transported. The thieves got away, and they think they left town. Probably left the state, at least."

"Where are they headed?" Rollie asked.

"That's one good part," Jordan said, "one of our agents got a look at one of the thieves, and he matched a description of a man an airport security guard had trouble with. Seemed the man didn't want to wait to go through the metal detector, that he was in rather a rush."

"Great," Rollie said, "where was he headed?"

Jordan smiled slightly.

"Talk about coincidences," Jordan said, "he was heading to New York."

* * *

Part 13:

Rollie and Angie stood in the airport, waiting for the boarding call. Jordan stood next to them.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," he said, "I really can't."

Angie turned and smiled at him.

"Sure you can," she said, "we're very persuasive."

"I'd be heading back to New York anyway," Rollie said, "and we were going to get Mary out of the city."

"I took care of that," Jordan said, "she's being put in the witness protection program."

"I still don't know why," Angie said.

"She knows a whole lot," Jordan said, "and these people will still be after her. She's a key witness when we capture them. As will you be."

"So why aren't we in the program?" Angie asked.

"Because," Jordan growled at Rollie, "your friend isn't too smart."

Rollie smiled.

"Come on, Hunter," Rollie said, "you need us, and you know it. Besides, I'll tell your father on you if you don't let us come along."

"I never officially said you could help me with this," Jordan said, "you're heading back to New York because that's where you live."

"Right," Rollie said, "of course. Exactly."

Jordan turned away, his jaw tight, and Rollie rolled his eyes at Angie. She snickered. Their eyes locked for a moment and they both lost their happy countenances. Rollie took a deep breath.

"Flight D from Cleveland to New York boarding at Gate A," a voice said over the loudspeaker.

"Let's go," Jordan said, he took Angie's arm.

"Tell me," he said with a grin, "would you like a window or aisle seat?"

He walked off, taking Angie with him. Rollie glanced down at the mountain of luggage they still had to carry. Rollie grimaced and hefted all the items as best he could.

"Thanks for the help," he muttered, and followed as quickly as he could behind them.

* * *

Rollie ended up in the aisle seat, Jordan at the window, and Angie in between them. Jordan was pointing out some of the buildings on the Cleveland skyline to Angie as they climbed into the air.

"So," Rollie said, interrupting them, "you bring any of your lackeys with you?"

Jordan frowned, then cleared his throat.

"A few of my men will be accompanying me," Jordan said, "but I'll be working with the department in New York, as well as the NYPD."

"Any idea why they took the chip to NYC anyway?" Angie asked.

Jordan shrugged.

"Could be he was just taking a connecting flight to somewhere," Jordan said, "or it could be the buyers are meeting him there."

"Wait," Rollie said, "I thought the guys we dealt with were the buyers."

"In a way," Jordan said, "usually these terrorist factions aren't that coherent. I don't think it's just one, really. The guys who we captured were much more low budget, like the Snake and his gang, but they're probably working for the big boys, the main government itself."

"Who will buy this chip," Rollie said, "and have this top notch technology-"

"And probably fire a missile right up the White's House's front door," Jordan said, "which is why it is imperative that we stop them."

"How did they know where and when the chip was being transported?" Angie asked.

Jordan shrugged.

"These guys know what they're doing," he said, "they've probably being keeping tabs for a long time. In any government, in any organization, there's no such thing as air tight security."

Rollie and Angie nodded, thinking of recent events, and Tommy Chin.

"What'll we do once we get home?" Rollie asked.

"A search has already been set into motion," Jordan said, "I'll be briefed, and head up the hunt."

"And?" Rollie asked.

"And you'll sit tight," Jordan said, "unless we need you. Which I doubt."

"Now hold on," Rollie said.

Jordan put up his hand.

"You're not needed Tyler," Jordan said, "not now. I'm grateful to you for offering your, um, services. But right now this is a federal matter. However, we may end up needing your help in capturing these guys, when the actual sting goes down."

Rollie sighed and nodded.

"You two can go home and relax," Jordan said.

Angie and Rollie glanced at eachother, and Angie looked down again quickly.

"Yeah," Rollie said, then excused himself to use the bathroom.

Jordan's brow furrowed, and he looked at Angie.

"What's going on Angie?" he asked.

Angie shook her head and looked up at him.

"Nothing," she said.

"Oh come on," Jordan said, "I'm no dummy. You didn't come to Cleveland just for a vacation did you."

Angie shook her head, her eyes closing.

"So what's this all about?" Jordan asked.

"It's a long story," Angie said, "and one I don't feel like telling again."

Jordan was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Ok," he said, "I can respect that."

He put his arm around Angie's shoulder.

"But," he said, "if you need someone to talk to, ever. I'm here."

Angie smiled slightly.

"Thanks."

* * *

Omar Hussadi was sweating, sweating profusely. It wasn't hot. He wasn't sick. He sat in his small hotel room, fumbling with his jacket. He took out a small knife and sliced open the lining. He reached inside and pulled out a small box. He popped open the lid, and reached inside carefully. He pulled out a small plastic bag, in which was a single microchip.

He slowly exhaled. It didn't look to be damaged. He placed it back in the box and sat heavily on his bed. He wiped his brow with the back of his shirt sleeve. The phone rang. He picked it up with a shaking hand.

"Yes?" he said, his voice softly accented.

A more heavily accented voice replied.

"You have it?" the voice asked.

"Yes," Omar said again.

"Good," the voice said, "bring it."

"My-my money," Omar stuttered.

"You will be given your money when you hand over the chip," the voice said, "do not concern yourself. You do trust us don't you? Are you not a loyal citizen?"

"Of course," Omar said hurriedly, "of course. I will bring it."

The phone clicked, and Omar got a dial tone. The phone reciever slipped out of his sweaty hand and crashed against the wall. He picked it up, fumbled with it, and placed it down hard. He walked into the bathroom and ran the sink faucet. He splashed cold water against his face, and took long slow breaths, trying to ease his pounding heart. He nodded at himself in the mirror. Soon, very soon, he would be a rich man. Then he and his family could live in peace.

* * *

The man, the man who owned the voice on the phone, placed the reciever down gently and settled back in his chair.

"He is coming," he said to the man next to him, "when he arrives, get the chip, then kill him."

"Very good," the other man said, "and I have something to report. Some of our operatives were captured in that treachery the FBI attempted."

"No matter," the man in the chair said, "soon we will have the chip and be out of the country."

"They are coming looking for it," the other man said.

"If they get close," the man in the chair said, "you know our orders. Kill them."

The other man nodded and left the room. The man in the chair reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a long thick cigar. He lit it and laid back, putting his feet on his desk. He chuckled softly and blew large rings of smoke across the room. He glanced out of the window, the tall New York buildings on the horizon. Soon he would be back in his own home, but for now, this was where he was ordered to be.

Once he brought the chip back, he would be considered a hero. He would help crush all enemies under his country's feet. Plus, he would be rich. Oh yes, a very rich man indeed.

* * *

Part 14:

The plane landed in New York and Jordan bid goodbye to Rollie and Angie, heading straight to the FBI building. He found out where the loft was and promised to be in touch shortly. He pulled Angie aside while Rollie was getting their luggage.

"Listen," he said, "if there's some sort of problem, I'll put you up in a hotel."

Angie smiled slightly.

"That's ok," Angie said, "I can take care of myself."

"Are you sure?" Jordan asked, "I mean, I wouldn't want-"

"It's ok," Angie said more forcefully.

Jordan paused, then nodded.

"Ok," he said, "but, remember, if you need anything-"

"I've got your cell phone number," Angie said, "I'll call. I'm surprised, though, you didn't want to come with us and see your brother."

Jordan smiled, and a twinkle came into his eye.

"Yes," he said, "I was quite surprised when Tyler said my brother was staying over. I would rather, not, be there when you arrive."

Angie gave him a questioning look, but Jordan just smiled broadly and walked away. He walked past Rollie, who was carrying the baggage for he and Angie. He stopped Rollie with a shoulder.

"I'll be talking to you Tyler," he said, "meanwhile."

He glanced over his shoulder at Angie who was getting a cab.

"I like Angie," he said, "I don't want her hurt or anything. I don't know what's going on, but watch yourself."

Rollie's jaw tightened and Jordan walked away. He came up behind Angie.

"All set?" he asked.

Angie spun around.

"Oh, yeah," she said, "I guess so."

"Soooo," Rollie said, "where are you going to stay?"

"I'll just stay with Mira, I think," Angie said.

"Ok," Rollie said nodding, "why don't you come to the loft, make sure Jay Jr. hasn't destroyed my computer systems, check out the work we'll be doing for this movie."

"Rollie-" Angie started.

"Come on Ang, please," he said, "I can't do this job without you."

Angie's brow furrowed, then she slowly nodded.

"Ok," she said, "there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about anyway. Something I think I've realized."

"Me too," Rollie said.

They got in the cab and drove off.

* * *

They had ridden in silence all the way to the loft, Angie staring out of the window watching the buildings, cars, and people go past. How things had changed. How she had changed. She remembered when her biggest concern was getting some special effect to work right at the right time. Over the course of the past few months, she had faced far more than she would ever have dreamed. She had been frozen, shot at, kidnapped, blown up, among other things.

Then there was Rollie. She'd never expected to ever tell him. She hadn't even been certain herself. Then things had changed, and she had had to leave. Now that she was back, after talking to Mary, after seeing that she could never really escape this incessant trouble she would get herself into, she was more uncertain than ever.

She didn't love Rollie in a romantic way. She kept repeating that in her mind over and over again. She loved him as a brother, a father maybe, a friend. It took a weight off of her shoulders to say that. To think that. Because if that was true life could go back to normal. She could go back to being happy.

She glanced over at Rollie, and her fist clenched. She quickly looked back out of the window. To be happy. She and Rollie, happy, there was only one way.

The cab pulled up to the loft and let them out, Rollie pulled the luggage out of the trunk and paid the driver. As they approached the loft door Rollie glanced at Angie.

"Things have beenr really lonely without you," he said softly, "I missed you."

Angie looked up at Rollie and opened her mouth. They both froze and turned to the door. There was a steady throbbing coming from the inside of the loft. They could feel the pulsating of a heavy beat as they stood there. They glanced at eachother and Rollie opened the loft door. They were nearly blown back by the rush of noise that hit them.

Unbelieveably loud heavy metal music blasted through every pour of their bodies. Rollie and Angie put their fingers to their ears and Rollie rushed inside. His mouth dropped open. Used clothing, parcels of paper, food wrappers, and various half eaten foods litered the entire floor. Rollie nearly slipped on a beer bottle lying on the floor, the contents making a soft puddle beneath him.

He glanced around. All the masks he had had been taken off their bases and planted in various areas of the loft. They had been mounted on various sticks and assorted odds and ends creating a giant audience of monsters, aliens, and other movie related characters. Angie stepped on a giant piece of used gum on the floor, it stuck to her shoe.

"What is going on?" she screamed at the top of her voice.

Rollie didn't answer, but his face reddened and he started searching for the entertainment system under the debris. Angie made her way to the computer. It was on, and when she did a quick check, she was shocked to find that every spare bit of memory had been taken up with games. The look of the OS had also changed. Rather than the normal F/X, high tech look, the screen was set to a 'Beavis and Butthead' motif. When Angie went to click on a program icon, a grating, snorting laughter came out at her and a slow drawl said 'Um, like, password dude.'

Something struck Angie's leg and she looked down. Bluey was barking, no, roaring at her. A lion's roar came out at her followed by a deep, raspy, ominous voice.

"Intruder," Bluey boomed, "you will leave or die!"

"Blue!" Angie shouted.

"Prepare to be exterminated!" Bluey yelled, then the sounds of gunfire came from his speaker, followed by cackling laughter.

Rollie was making his way up the stairs, pealing clothing off of the staircase. His hand struck something sticky and as he brought it a huge glob of thick, old maple syrup came up with him.

"Aaargh," Rollie growled, and started up the stairs again.

Then the music suddenly shifted to another song and Rollie heard someone doing fake audience roars.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a voice yelled, "I give you, Metal Heads!"

Rollie's mouth dropped open as Jay Jr. jumped out in front of the stairs and began running along the walkway. He was dressed in nothing but his boxer shorts, and was holding a broom. He began strumming it furiously, pretending it was a guitar, and screaming along with the music blasting from the speakers.

Angie came up to the bottom of the stairs, and put her hand to her mouth and Jay began throwing the broom around his head pretending to play with his teeth. She went over to the wall and pulled a plug out of it's socket. The music suddenly stopped. Jay Jr. looked down and yelped. He backpeddled, tripped over his own feet and fell to the floor with a thump.

"Dude!" he yelled.

Rollie grabbed a pair of pants lying on the floor and tossed them on Jay Jr's head. He began struggling to put them on, standing up, hopping on one leg, then falling down again. Rollie spun on his heel and marched back down the stairs.

"Rol?" Angie said as he passed her.

Rollie was breathing in long, slow, deep breaths.

"I think," he said, "I'm going to need a drink."

* * *

"We have reason to believe Omar is being followed by the police," his second in command reported.

The man, the equivalent of a lieutenant commander himself, shifted in his chair.

"You know where he is do you not?" the commander asked.

"Yes," his second said, "but we do not know where he is hiding the chip."

"We will have time," the commander said, "just search the premises thoroughly. No doubt he will keep it close by."

His second nodded once, and then left the room.

* * *

Detectives Mira Sanchez and Francis Gatti slowly made their way up the apartment stairs, guns drawn. A trio of policemen followed them.

"Apartment 3D," Mira whispered.

Francis nodded and they flanked the door, hunching over in the thin, wallpapered hallway.

"Remember," Mira said softly, "this guys is smuggling weapons, so he's probably armed, heavily."

Everyone nodded. Francis went up to the door and banged on it three times.

"NYPD!" he yelled, "Open up!"

There was a sound of scurrying and Mira opened the door with one swift kick, pieces of the door frame flying across the room. A small man had the window open, and had a small box in his hand.

"Freeze!" Mira yelled.

The man started to climb further out of the window, onto the ledge. There was no fire escape. Mira ran up to him and grabbed him from behind. He struggled with her, but she hung onto him furiously.

"No!" he screamed, "They will kill me!"

The small box he was holding slipped from his grasp and fell three stories to the ground.

"No!" he screamed again, this time in anguish.

Mira hauled him back inside, but he still fought with her. Francis grabbed him from the other side.

"Cool it!" Francis yelled.

The man was sobbing.

"Please!" he cried, "Please!"

Mira glanced out of the window. Someone in dark sunglasses was reaching down, picking up the box.

"Hey!" she yelled.

The man glanced up, he had a smile on his face. He gestured with his hand to something across the street. Suddenly the sound of gunfire filled the street. People screamed an ran. The top portion of the window Mira was under shattered. Francis dove one way. Mira and the man, however did not have time to. Both cried out, and flew backwards, falling to the ground.

"Mira!" Francis yelled.

The man fell lifeless to the ground, a wound to his head. Mira fell next to him, blood seeping from her side. Her face began to pale, and she took a long slow, rattling breath. Then another. Then she stopped.

* * *

Part 15:

"D-dude, d-dude, wait, dude!"

Angie heard the sound of teeth rattling, and Jay Jr.'s voice was wavering. When she came around the corner she saw Rollie had grabbed the smaller man by the collar, lifted him so he was on his toes, and was shaking him furiously.

"What did you do to the VR chamber?" Rollie asked, "And where are the programs I had?"

"They're there, they're there," Jay Jr. said, "backed up. I was gonna put 'em back before you got home, but you got here early-"

"And who told you to do that, eh?" Rollie yelled, "I get in the chamber to cool down, turn it on, and a billion decibles of heavy metal come out at me, and I'm surrounded by some idiotic music video that nearly caused my eyes to cave in!"

Rollie was shaking Jay Jr. harder and harder as he spoke.

"I don't suppose you actually worked on the project?" Rollie asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, yeah, dude," Jay Jr. said, "I got it done man! All done! You'll have to take a look!"

"It'd better be," Rollie said.

Angie was about to intervene before Rollie shook him to death, albeit she was debating slugging the punk herself, when the phone rang. It was Francis.

Rollie, meanwhile, had put Jay Jr. down and was following him to the computer, his fists clenched. Angie ran up to him, her face pale and her voice urgent.

"Rollie!" she yelled, "We've got to get to the hospital, Mira's been shot real bad!"

"What?" Rollie gasped, "Oh no."

Rollie grabbed his jacket and turned to Jay Jr. He pointed a finger at him.

"You stay here," Rollie said, "and when we get back everything, and I mean everything, better be back to the way I left it."

"Right, dude," Jay Jr. said holding up his hands, "no problem."

Angie ran out the door to the van, Rollie not far behind.

* * *

They arrived at the hospital and Francis was pacing back and forth nervously in the waiting room.

"Francis!" Rollie called as they walked in.

Francis ran up to them.

"What happened?" Angie asked, "How's Mira?"

"We were arresting this smuggler," Francis said, "when shots came out of nowhere, through the window. Mira got hit, stopped breathing. They got her breathing again in the ambulance, then she went out again. They're working on her now. I don't know how she is."

Angie put her hand to her mouth and sat down.

"Shots?" Rollie asked, "From who? Why?"

"I don't know," Francis said shaking his head, "but whoever they were they were after something in this box the perp had."

"What about the guy you were arresting?" Rollie asked.

Francis shook his head.

"They killed him," he said softly.

"What was in the box?" Rollie asked.

"We don't know," Francis said, "it was dropped out of the window, and picked up by someone. Whoever it was got away."

Francis ran his hand through his hair when Sarah ran in.

"Francis, what's happening?" she asked, breathless.

"Don't know yet," Francis answered, "I don't know."

Francis took a long deep breath.

"I should've done something," he said, "I should've pushed them all out of the way, something."

"Francis don't blame yourself," Sarah said.

"She's right," Rollie said, "there was nothing you could have done."

"I don't think I can take losing another partner," Francis said softly.

Sarah put her arm around him and they walked out of the waiting room and down the hall. That left Rollie and Angie alone together. He turned to her. Angie was craddling her stomach with her arms, and staring at the floor. Rollie slowly sat down next to her.

"Ang," Rollie said, "you ok?"

Angie didn't answer.

"Angie," Rollie said putting his arm on her shoulder.

Angie spun and pressed her face into Rollie's side. She began to sob, uncontrollably. Rollie was stunned for a moment, and then put his arm around her.

"It's ok, Ang," Rollie said, "it's ok."

"No," Angie said, between sobs, "it's not. It's not Rol. It's happening again. More pain, more death."

"I know," Rollie said, "I'm sorry for bringing you back-"

"No!" Angie yelled, "That's not it! I'm sorry I left at all! How could I? With all that had happened how could I abandon you all? How could I leave my friends when they needed me."

Angie took a deep breath.

"And I needed them," she mumbled.

"It's all right Ang," Rollie said, "I understood."

"You may have understood," Angie said, "but that didn't make it right. Look! You had to come and save me anyway!"

"Angie-" Rollie started.

"No," Angie said, "hold on Rollie. I've been a real jerk. After everything you've been really good to me. Really good. There are a lot of things I said to you that I'm sorry about. I was so confused. I mean, so confused! I tried to stop thinking about you by trying to get close to Tommy, and look how that turned out! Now, the same with Jordan. I'm not going to push you away anymore Rollie."

Angie looked up at him.

"And another thing," Angie said, "I've realized something. Something Mary helped me realize. I-I was wrong when I said I was in love with you Rollie. I thought I was. I had a crush on you for a long time, and you're my best friend. I think the combination, well, got me all muddled up. Now I realize that I do love you, but as a friend, a brother, maybe even a father in some ways. And I realize that my life is your life. That I'm your partner, that's what I am. I didn't need to find myself. I've always been in one place, here, with you, with my friends and my memories."

Angie laid back against Rollie's side.

"I'm sorry, Rollie, I'm so sorry," she said, "please forgive me."

Rollie was silent for a moment, his eyes crinkling at the side. He put his hand on Angie's head.

"Of course, love, of course," he said softly.

"Oh, I hope Mira pulls through," Angie said.

Just then Francis walked back in, Jordan Hunter at his side.

"Hey, um, Rollie," Francis said, "this guy says he knows you."

Jordan's eyes had opened at little wider at the site of Rollie and Angie. Angie raised her head and began drying her eyes with the back of her sleeve. Jordan cleared his throat.

"Um, the man that was killed," Jordan said, "was tied in with this whole microchip theft. I think that's what was in that box your friend here told me about. We got word of him through the coroner's office. Looks like it's in the buyers hands now. They'll be leaving town with it, we've got everyone available on this."

"Not everyone," Rollie said, "not yet."

He turned to Angie. Her expression changed to one of committment, and anger. She nodded confidentally to Rollie. Rollie stood up and walked up to Jordan.

"Now you've got us."

* * *

Part 16:

A loan black sedan slowly drove down a deserted alleyway. It pulled to a stop and two men in dark coats got out. One had a silver metal briefcase under his arm. Another man, in a leather jacket, came out of a building to meet them.

"Ah," he said, "you have it finally."

"Yes," the man with the briefcase said.

"Commander Assad did well," the jacketed man said, "although it took more time than it should have. Let me see."

The other man opened the briefcase with a snap. In it lay a tiny microchip, the size of a fingernail. The jacketed man smiled.

"Excellent," he said.

He took it and saluted to the others. They saluted in return, and returned to their car. As the car began to pull away, a huge explosion burst from the car's gas tank. It tore the car into pieces, sending shrapnel flying, and sending a huge fireball up to light the sky. The jacketed man was thrown back against the wall, the wind knocked out of him. The briefcase flew out of his hand and onto the street.

Several men came pouring out of the building, guns drawn. There was a hissing sound and a small object struck the ground in front of them. It exploded into a mountain of white gas and five men fell to the ground instantly. The other two began coughing and backed away, dropping their guns slightly down.

Two men wearing gas masks burst from behind the building. One knocked out one still coughing man, while the other coughing man struggled. His gun was waved in the air and a hail of bullets erupted. A blow to his neck knocked him to the ground. The two masked men nodded at eachother. One picked up the briefcase, and they scurried off.

The jacketed man began to stir and cough. He looked up. He began to scream in his language.

"We have been betrayed!"

His words echoed in emptiness.

* * *

The doctor walked into the waiting room, where Rollie, Angie, Francis, Sarah, and Jordan stood.

"Doc?" Francis asked.

The doctor took a deep breath.

"She pulled through," he said, "she's in recovery right now. We'll be transferring her to intensive care shortly. She was very fortunate. It was a clean shot. It entered her side, and exited just one inch to the right of her spine. Her lung collapsed. I won't go into all the details, but she's just barely stable right now. For the next few days it will be touch and go."

"Thanks, doc," Francis said, "we understand, can we see her?"

The doctor shook his head.

"Not all of you," he said, "are any of you family?"

The all glanced at eachother.

"Not exactly," Francis said, "she doesn't have any family close by. But I'm her partner."

"All right, you then," the doctor said, "but only for a moment."

Francis nodded and followed the doctor, Sarah behind him.

"Ok," Rollie said, taking a deep breath, and turning to Jordan, "so what can we do to help?"

"Tyler-" Jordan started.

"Don't argue," Angie said forcefully.

Jordan glanced at her, and took a deep breath himself. He held up his hands.

"All right," he said, "I could use some experts in surveillance as a matter of fact. We have to make sure the chip doesn't leave the city."

"I'll go back to the loft and get some equipment," Rollie said, "where should we meet you?"

"I'll call you," Jordan said, "in an hour. I want to find out some information first."

"Do you want to stay with Mira?" Rollie asked Angie.

Angie shook her head.

"We can't do anything right now, not here," she said.

Rollie nodded and they left the waiting room. They met Francis, who was a bit ashen. Rollie put his arm around his shoulders.

"She'll be all right," Rollie said, "you know Mira. She'll fight just about anything."

Francis nodded and smiled.

"This I know," he said.

They left the hospital, and walked onto the parking lot. Rollie and Angie headed to the van, now fully repaired from earlier encounters. Rollie looked down at Angie and smiled.

"Don't worry," he said, "we'll get 'em."

Angie smiled back.

"I know," she said, her voice determined, "I know."

As they walked, seemingly out of nowhere, a small red dot of light appeared on the back of Angie's neck. Almost unnoticeable, they continued to walk. Three hundred feet away, a finger slowly pulled down on a trigger. Then, unnoticed by Rollie and Angie, a man wearing a cap low over his eyes walked right in front of Angie, the red dot hitting his face. He stopped and glanced at his watch as if to check the time.

The man on the trigger stopped himself. He waited. The other man moved away too late. Rollie and Angie got into the van. The man on the trigger had wanted it to be personal, so he would wait. He had been successful in the rebuilding thus far. Only a few loose ends to tie up. Only one more step to take.

The man with the cap continued to walk briskly out of the parking lot. He turned the corner and set into a jog, his car parked down the street. He ran up to the car and thrust the key into the lock. A blossom of sunlight struck the car window and slowly across his reflection. As it passed, it revealed the face of Tommy Chin.

* * *

Jordan Hunter drove quickly down the highway. He had just recieved word of a car bombing, and the capture of several key men in the theft. It seemed the microchip had been restolen, by some other unknown party. Who could have known about it? Jordan shuddered to think. Distracted, he didn't notice the large silver Cadillac that had been following him.

It slid up next to him and began to slowly nudge against him. It struck him and he yelled, nearly loosing control of his small red sports car.

"Hey!" he yelled, glancing through the window at a man in dark glasses.

The caddy swerved again slamming into him and Jordan careened toward the guard rail. Jordan hit the gas and flew ahead of the larger vehicle. He cut between two trucks, changed lanes quickly twice, and put some distance between them. A moment later the caddy was behind him again. A man leaned out, and suddenly a shot rang out and almost simultaneously Jordan's front windshield shattered.

Jordan yelled again and began swerving across the road. Cars blew their horns and skidded around him. He barely missed several. Jordan managed to pull off onto an exit ramp and swerved around the cars which had stopped at a red light. He cut into already moving traffic, cutting off a black pick up truck, and raced down the street.

The caddy jumped a curb and came barreling down twenty feet behind him. Another shot rang out and Jordan ducked. It hit his radio and sparks flew up. Another struck the passenger seat. Finally one struck his back right tire and Jordan began to skid uncontrollably. He did a 360 degree turn and slammed to halt on the side of the road.

His head struck the side window and he was knocked unconscious. Three men jumped out of the cadillac and pulled him out of the car, his door already ajar. They carried him to the caddy and dumped him inside. They took off just as the sound of police sirens filled the air.

* * *

Mira Sanchez lay silently on the hospital bed, machines monitoring her vital signs. A soft beep echoed in the room with each precious heartbeat.

An orderly walked into her room and stood over her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. He picked up her IV tube and prepared to insert some thin yellowish substance into it.

"Excuse me," Francis voice said, coming into the room, "I forgot my hat."

The orderly spun around. Francis' eyes opened wide at the syringe.

"Hey!" he yelled, "What are you doing?"

The orderly, 6 foot, 3 inches tall and just as wide, pounced on Francis, knocking the smaller man to the ground. Francis lashed out with his foot as he fell knocking the orderly over as well. The syringe went flying, and shattered, the substance creating a soft puddle on the floor. Francis struggled with the man.

The orderly struck Francis once in the throat. Francis gasped and the orderly threw him off. As he stood, the orderly pulled a gun out of the back of his pants. Francis lept up and tackled him. As they fell together the gun went off, shattering a window. People began to yell outside the room. The orderly threw Francis to one side and took off out of the room.

"Freeze!" Francis yelled, chasing after him, "Police!"

The orderly ducked into the stairwell, and Francis was right behind him. Sliding down banisters the chase continued to the ground floor where the orderly ran out, knocked down a couple of passerbys, and continued out of the building. Francis chased him into the parking lot where a blue car screeched up in front of them. Francis had his gun out and aimed it on them.

"I said don't move!" he yelled.

The orderly dove into the car's open door and the car took off. Francis took some shots, knocking out their back window, but the car continued onto the street, and skidding it's tires, disappeared.

* * *

Part 17:

Rollie and Angie had ridden to the loft, but this time had talked along the way. They talked easily, and without hesitation like they always had. Not about relationships, though, but about Mira and the trouble they were probably getting themselves into. Strangely, neither one of them cared. Both were just glad they were facing it together.

They pulled up to the loft and entered. Rollie's mouth dropped open. This time, though, it was not because of the disarray of the loft, but the complete cleanliness. Rollie was in shock. Everything was back to the way it was when he left it. Exactly the way it was. Exactly, and he meant exactly. Even books and odd notes were stacked and layed precisely where they had been originally.

Jay Jr. walked out from the back of the loft. His hair was mussed and his face had a splash of dirt and water across it.

"Dude!" he said, "Welcome home!"

Rollie shook his head in amazement. The floors sparkled as he walked across them. There was not a speck of dirt in sight.

"Everything back to the way it was as ordered!" Jay Jr. said with a big smile across his face.

Bluey barked at Rollie as Rollie walked past him.

"Amazing!" Rollie gasped, "Unbelieveable!"

"That's not all," Jay Jr. said, walking over to the computer, "all your VR chamber programs are back, with a few others I put together myself. Relaxing ones. And I have something to show you."

Rollie walked over to the computer screen, the computer's look completely back to normal, and watched as Jay Jr. hit a few buttons. Angie walked up behind him.

The screen flipped to show a smooth computer animation fly across the screen. It was the effect for "Takeover" that Rollie had asked Jay Jr. to work on. An incredibly detailed computerized image of a military helicopter flew across the screen, backdropped by a blue sky tinged with light clouds. The helicopter swooped and began to sputter and shimmy realistically. As it flew down the camera paned across showing the White House. Smoke came from the cockpit and the helicopter dived wickedly directly towards the left wing of the house. It smashed into it and shards of computer-created bricks flew across the screen. A huge red fireball burst up and out filling the sky.

Jay Jr. glanced at Rollie who stood, his mouth open again. Jay glanced at Angie who had an eyebrow raised.

"What'dya think babe?" he asked.

Angie gave him the evil eye.

"I think," she said, "that you won't call me babe."

Rollie smiled.

"I'd listen to her if I were you," he said, "but not bad. Not bad at all."

"So," Jay said, his arms outstretched, "all forgiven?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Rollie said with a smirk, "but it's a start."

"Awww," Jay Jr. said, suddenly grabbing Rollie in a bear hug, "thanks dude."

Rollie shrugged him off quickly. He sniffed the air.

"Been drinking?" he asked.

"Nope," Jay Jr. said, "not a drop."

Jay spun around and bowed to Angie slowly.

"I've got a date to keep," he said, "but I'd cancel it if you'd care to join me for a little dinner."

"That's ok," Angie said, "I'm not hungry."

"Next time, then, babe, next time," Jay Jr. said, and turned to Rollie, "she'll come around eventually. They all do."

Jay sauntered out of the loft. Rollie shook his head and glanced at Angie who had placed her hands firmly under her armpits, apparently to keep from hitting Jay Jr. Rollie opened his mouth to say something when another voice spoke from behind them.

"Rollie," the voice said.

Rollie spun around and jumped in front of Angie. A figure wearing a thick gray jacket and a hood was standing behind them.

"Who are you?" Rollie yelled, "How'd you get in here?"

The figure slowly pulled off the hood to reveal his face. Angie gasped.

"Tommy!" she said in disbelief.

Tommy Chin walked forward slowly but Rollie didn't move from his protective position.

"What do you want?" Rollie asked, "I was told you were dead."

"The Wang was wrong," Tommy said, "look I know what you're thinking, but I can explain."

"Explain what?" Rollie asked, "you tried to kill us. You worked for the Shou Xin."

"Not exactly," Tommy said, "not exactly. Please, just sit down. This is of the utmost importance."

Neither Rollie nor Angie moved. Tommy sighed and took off his jacket. He spun around with his hands outstretched showing that he had no weapons.

"Please," he said again.

Slowly they went over to the couches and Tommy sat across from them.

"First," Tommy said, "I was working for the Shou Xin, in a way. You see, the government knew the Wang was recruiting spies from different branches of the government, so he'd have his hands everywhere. We figured he had a few already from the F.B.I. I was selected to pretend to work for him, as a double agent."

"So you were pretending to be a traitor?" Rollie asked, "But you really were a loyal F.B.I. agent?"

"Yes, essentially," Tommy said, "then this whole atomic bomb business came up. That put a scare into everyone as you can imagine, but the Wang had been keeping closer tabs on me. He discovered that I was a spy against him. When he kidnapped Angie and I, I was taken to meet with him, and meet with my fate."

"So you didn't shoot at us?" Rollie asked, "And that, obviously, wasn't you dumped by the police station."

"No," Tommy said, "some agent shot at you, and that was some poor soul who was selected at random to be the body."

"How'd you get away then?" Angie asked.

"I was being kept in the same house that Rollie was taken to," Tommy said, "slowly being tortured. When you found it and seiged it, I was able to escape in the confusion."

"Why didn't you let us know?" Angie asked.

"Too dangerous," Tommy said, "you see, I haven't actually returned to my superiors myself. I don't know who I can trust. The Wang found out I was an agent through someone in the F.B.I. So I contacted an old C.I.A. friend of mine. He's been my contact ever since. I managed to find out by slipping back into the underworld that there was still some Shou Xin offshoot trying to keep the business alive."

"So?" Rollie said, "What does that have to do with us?"

"A lot," Tommy said, "remember the Shou Xin's obsession with revenge. You stopped them. You destroyed their empire."

"So they're after us again?" Angie said with a shudder.

"Yes," Tommy said nodding, "I'd been tailing you for a while to see if someone was trying to kill you yet. They were. At the hospital I stopped someone from shooting you Angie."

"Shooting me?" Angie said, shrinking back into the cushion.

Rollie put his hand on Angie's.

"So what do we do?" Rollie asked.

"There's more than that," Tommy said, "it would seem that this new faction is looking for an edge to squeeze out other underworld competitors for the empire. They quickly grabbed up plans for some super secret missile microchip that was being stolen by terrorists."

"Microchip?" Rollie gasped, "I don't believe it."

"I know," Tommy said, "I know about your involvement. In fact, just a while ago I was going to see Jordan Hunter."

"You know Jordan?" Angie asked.

"He was my partner before I went undercover," Tommy said, "my second partner in my life, and my very close friend."

"So?" Rollie asked, "what about it, then?"

"Jordan was abducted," Tommy said, "I saw his car get forced off of the road, I had followed him. The kidnappers saw I was tailing them, and I lost them."

"Why would he be kidnapped?" Angie asked.

"To get to me is one reason," Tommy said, "I know to much. They want to get me out in the open. Another reason is that he is a danger to them, leading the team searching for the chip. Just as you are a danger."

"Have you notified anyone?" Rollie asked.

"I told you I can't trust anyone, Tyler," Tommy snapped, "anyone."

"You're trusting us," Angie said.

Tommy glanced at her for a moment, then looked away again.

"I need help," Tommy said, "and so do you. And so does Jordan. The chip must not leave New York. And this faction must be stopped. We stop them, your lives will be saved."

"Along with a lot of other people," Rollie said, "ok, so where do we start?"

The phone rang suddenly and Angie got it. She listened for a moment and mumbled a few frightened words. A few moments later she ran up to Rollie.

"Someone tried to kill Mira in the hospital!" she said, "but Francis stopped them and she's all right."

"What?" Rollie said, getting up, "Why?"

"Francis thinks it's because she saw the guy who picked the chip up off the ground," Angie said, "she's a witness."

"Great, just great," Rollie said.

"It was rumoured this Shou Xin faction was working with the Middle Eastern terrorists," Tommy said, "then double crossed them. So it could be either one after your friend, tying up loose ends."

"They've got security stationed arond her 24 hours a day," Angie said, "and Francis is pledging his protection."

"Then she'll be all right," Rollie said with a nod.

He turned back to Tommy.

"This is getting worse and worse," Rollie said, "what do we need to do?"

"Find the Shou Xin," Tommy said, "and I believe the best way to do that is draw them out with some bait."

"Bait?" Rollie asked, "What kind of bait?"

Tommy turned and looked straight at Angie. She paled.

"Oh no," Rollie said, "no, no, no. I don't-"

"I'll do it," Angie said.

Rollie spun at Angie, his eyes open wide.

"Angie-" he started.

"I'll do it, Rol," Angie said, "just tell me what I need to do."

"Simple," Tommy said, "get too close. Get out in the open. The Shou Xin like revenge with a personal touch. I know of a safehouse they used to use here in New York, you show up there, they'll come after you and when they do we'll grab them."

"That won't get you to the main people," Angie said.

"No," Tommy said, "but we can question some members."

"You said they like revenge with a personal touch," Angie said, "but you said they just tried to shoot me."

"I don't know if they would have shot you or not," Tommy said, "that may have just been mind games. They like to assure themselves that they control life and death. I stopped them because I didn't want to take any chances."

"So if they get me," Angie said, "they'll take me to their leader, so to speak."

"Most likely," Tommy said, "why?"

"Put a transmitter on me," Angie said.

"Angie are you nuts?" Rollie said, "It's too dangerous!"

"Put a transmitter on me," she said again, "and follow me. Bring the whole army if you like, but let's find them and get rid of them. I don't want to live my life in fear. I won't."

Rollie looked back at Tommy who was staring at Angie with admiration.

"All right then," Tommy said, "let's do it."

* * *

Part 18:

The transmitter was a simple device. It would let one, intermittent pulse signal at an extremely low frequency. The van's dish would be attuned to the same frequency and follow Angie wherever she went. It was placed inside one of two gold spherical earrings that Angie wore. The plan was simple. Tommy knew that several safehouses were being watched by the Shou Xin faction, to see who might be on to the fact they still existed.

One safehouse in particular had some rather delicate electronic equipment in it's basement, and Tommy thought they wouldn't have had the chance to get it out yet. If Angie showed up, no doubt they would grab her. They devised a story for Angie to tell, as to how she had found out about the safehouse. Since the Shou Xin now knew Tommy was a double agent, but didn't know he was still alive, Angie would say he had confided in her. After the death, or at least the believed death, of the Wang, she had decided to visit the place to check into their computers and see what she might find. Who knew where they had hidden many of the things they had acquired over the years?

Rollie, at first, had wanted to accompany her, but Angie had convinced him that it was best if it was her alone. They wouldn't kill her on the spot. They might do so to Rollie. Tommy, of course, would have to stay out of sight. They took a full day to prepare, and went in at dusk that night.

Angie wore a gold colored necklace with a large, blue glass jewel. Inside the jewel was a minature camera, so they would see what she saw, as well as a microphone. As far as back up, Tommy assured them his contact at the CIA would have people ready and all around. Things were being kept very secretive, for they still didn't know who they leak, or leaks, were in the FBI.

Rollie kept glancing at Angie every few minutes as they double checked the equipment. Once, he asked her if she was sure she wanted to do this. She smiled a reassuring smile at him, and nodded. Inside, though, her stomach was churning. Rollie had told her what they had done to him, and she knew the risks.

Then she thought of all she had been through, how she had almost single handedly stopped an atomic bomb from hitting New York, and how another one of her friends was being kidnapped. She was getting sick of that. It was time for some payback.

"Time they get a little of their own medicine," she had said fervently.

Tommy had walked up behind Rollie and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry," he said, "we'll take care of her."

"I know I will," Rollie had said.

The safehouse was a small colonial in a residential area. A strange place for an organized crime faction, but Tommy had assured them he was correct. Who would think of looking in the basement of an unassuming family home for the Shou Xin?

Angie wore simple jeans a shirt, and a black jacket. They parked the van a block from the safehouse. A map on one computer screen showed Angie's transmitter bleeping strongly.

"If anything goes wrong, anything-" Rollie said.

"I know, I know," Angie said, "use the code sentence. 'Fire in the hole.'"

"And Tommy'll have platoons of men descend to get you out, right?" Rollie said, glancing at Tommy.

"You'd better believe it," Tommy said with a nod.

"I don't understand why we couldn't have coordinated with these friends of yours," Rollie said.

"Look, Tyler, I had to convince them that we needed your help," Tommy said, "don't worry. They'll be around."

"They'll be around," Rollie muttered, turning back to the computer, "they'd better be. Just who are 'they' anyway?"

"An anti-terrorist arm of the CIA, that's all you need to know," Tommy said.

"And you're sure this Shou Xin offshoot will recognize Angie?" Rollie asked.

"Positive," Tommy said.

"Then let's go," Angie said, "we're wasting time."

Angie left the van and began walking the block to the building. If all went well, she would be stopped and taken straight to their headquarters. Jordan would be kept there, and the transmitter would lead the them right in. If all went well. A big if, in Rollie's opinion. He'd just gotten Angie back, and he'd faced losing her more than once. He didn't want to go through that again.

Angie walked at a quick pace. She arrived at the house, and glanced down at a piece of paper she was holding, as if to check an address. The small white, vinyl sided colonial was crystal clean, but the grass hadn't been mowed in a while. Night had fallen and the moon along with a single street light illuminated her path.  She walked up to the front door and tested it. Locked, she quickly picked it and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her and glanced around. The set up was much like the house Victor Loubar had been staying in. The thought of that brought a well of apprehension up in her.

Steeling herself she began slowly walking through the house. She kept reminding herself that she was supposed to let them catch her. Inside the van, Rollie was stock still, staring at the video image Angie was sending back. The house was sparesely furnished, a couch, a few chairs and a table. Angie walked up to what should have been the door to the basement. She swung it open and made a face in surprise.

Behind the simple oak door was a huge steel one, complete with digital lock and keypad. Angie figured she might as well look like she was getting close to something, so she pulled out the small tool kit she usually carried with her. She leaned over the keypad and carefully worked the screws off. She didn't see any booby trap circuits.

The keypad was a simple one. The most basic of finite state machines imaginable. Enter the right numbers, in the right series, and the lock mechanism would be sent a signal "1," which would open it. Otherwise it would continue to loop back on itself. The trick was to, rather than input anything, to trick the output into being a 1. She could create a simple bypass circuit and send a false signal. Doing so, the door clicked and Angie pulled on the handle carefully. The heavy steel door swung open slightly, and Angie waited. No alarms, no bombs. Less hesitant she pulled the door all the way open and stepped through.

Inside the van, Angie's video camera and transmitter signals suddenly went dead. Rollie frantically punched the reset buttons, but nothing happened.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked.

"There must have been some kind of electromagnetic field set up inside the door," Rollie said, "fried all the circuitry. We've got to get her out of there, now."

Rollie stood up, but Tommy put his hand on his shoulder and pulled out his cell phone. He stepped to the back of the van talking to someone. Rollie stood waiting a moment, then, unable to wait any longer bounded out of the van. Tommy called to him, but it was to no avail, for Rollie was already sprinting down the sidewalk.

In the house Angie walked slowly down wooden stairs into the basement. She gasped as she stared at the huge networked computer system set up. With a large overhead projection screen, multiple workstations, and an Internet connection to rival Tyler F/X's. On one wall was a system of monitors that were off. Angie flipped them on and gasped again. On every screen showed a live feed of various places around New York. Angie recognized some of theml, the mayor's office, the police station, and other places. She looked at one image and recognized it instantly. It was inside the loft. Rollie's loft.

Somehow they had bugged the loft and placed a video camera there. Angie started heading for the stairs again, realizing the implications. They had seen everything, they knew Tommy was alive. They were prepared and she had to get out of there. She opened her mouth to let them know when the door burst open and Angie heard a silenced shot. Something struck her in the neck and she immediately began to get dizzy. The room spun and she couldn't speak. With a moan she slumped to the floor.

As Rollie reached the house he saw five fully armed men in black attire running from a van, and storming into the house. Tommy's friends, no doubt. A second later he heard a hail of gunfire. Two windows on one side of the house shattered and Rollie dropped to the ground. Thinking quickly Rollie ran to the back of the house. Someone was running out, gun in hand.

Rollie wasted no time in tackling him. One punch took care of the man. Someone yelled freeze from behind him. Rollie spun to see on of the black outfitted men. Rollie held up his hands.

"I'm on your side!" Rollie said, "Angie's still in there!"

One of the black outfitted men ran from the back of the house and yelled for everyone to get down. Rollie dropped to the ground just as the man who had yelled was blown off the back porch by the force of a huge explosion. Starting from the basement a fireball ripped through the house blowing out all of the windows and sending pieces of furniture, and the walls, everywhere. Rollie got up and started running while the other men were still lying on the ground.

He had been afraid of something like this. He didn't believe they would blow up the house with all of them in it. They must have gotten Angie out somehow. He pulled a small remote control out of his pocket and pressed the single button on it. Rollie had fitted the jewel on Angie's neck with a thin phosphorescent coating. When fed an electric current, it would emit an unbelieveably bright light.

Rollie listened as he hit the button and heard a yell. Running toward the source of the sound, on the street, he saw a man staggering and rubbing his eyes. A car was pealing away in front of him. Rollie in one smooth motion, pulled a device out of is pocket, aimed it at the car, and shot something onto the bumper, then he socked the man across the jaw as hard as possible. The man fell to the ground and Rollie kneeled on him. The man had only been holding Angie's necklace.

"Is Angie alive?" he yelled.

The man groaned but said nothing. Rollie grabbed him by the collar and hit him again.

"I said is Angie alive?" Rollie said fiercely.

"Not for long," the man muttered.

Rollie pulled his fist back again, and felt it held by someone. He turned to see Tommy Chin standing over him.

"Come on, Tyler, we've got to get out of here," Tommy said.

"But Angie," Rollie yelled.

"They're gone," Tommy said, "but don't worry, we'll find them."

"You bet we will," Rollie said jumping up, "but we've got to act before they get too far."

Rollie began sprinting back towards the van. Tommy followed him, the sounds of an ambulance and fire truck off in the distance. Residents had come out of their homes, the house now blown to pieces and smoldering.

"I stuck a tracer on the car," Rollie said as he ran, "but it's only short range."

The got to the van in record time. Rollie started it up and pealed off. The tracer was active, but almost out of range. Rollie floored the van and it shot down the street, the street lights passing by like bullets bouncing off of the front windshield.

"They're headed west," Tommy said, "I'll get back up."

Suddenly the van jerked and Rollie nearly lost control. A black Cadillac had pulled up on their right and were trying to run them off the road. A bullet went through the open window and up through the roof.

"Not more bullet holes!" Rollie yelled.

He jerked the wheel and slammed back into the Cadillac. It's tires squeeled, but it backed off then caught up again. Another hit and the van swerved off the road. It's side struck a telephone pole and the van groaned to a stop, throwing Tommy forward. Rollie cursed, stuck the van in reverse and pulled back onto the road.

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked, picking himself up.

"I'm not losing her," Rollie said, taking off again, "are they still headed west?"

"Yes," Tommy said glancing back at the monitor, "but the Cadillac is on our tail again."

"Check the trunk in back, there should be a large device that looks like a vacuum cleaner," Rollie said.

Tommy ran in back and pulled up the large black object. It had one bulky metal component on the bottom and some sort of appature that looked like a cross bow linked to it.

"What is this thing?" Tommy asked.

"Call it the ultimate taser," Rollie said, "my own design. Flip it on."

Tommy did so and it began to hum loudly. The humming slowly got louder till it was a high whine. Rollie began to slow down.

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked.

"Letting them pass us," Rollie said, "get down."

They both ducked and as they fell behind the Cadillac another shot went through the roof. Rollie pulled up directly behind them and grabbed the crossbow like apparatus. Humming with power he leaned out the window and aimed the thing at the car. He released it and with a hiss it flew out, a small wire attached to it's end, and struck the car. There was a flash of light and some crackling and the car began to grind to a halt. Disconnecting the wire, Rollie passed them by.

"You fried their electrical systems," Tommy said.

"They won't be going anywhere," Rollie said with a smile, "we still got Angie on the monitor?"

"Yup," Tommy said, "still heading west."

"Then call in back up," Rollie said, "we're going to get them."

* * *

Angie opened her eyes slightly. She felt a jostle and a bump. She was in a car, in the back seat, and it was speeding down the road. Two men were in the seats in front of her. She had been bound, feet and hands, and gagged. Her necklace and earrings were gone. She couldn't move, and now Rollie wouldn't be able to follow. She thought silently in her head:

"Fire in the hole."

* * *

Part 19:

They drove for ten minutes and stopped outside some building which Angie couldn't quite make out in the dark and from her position. The men opened the door and one grabbed Angie by the shoulders. She pretended to be still unconscious. Roughly he scooped her up over his shoulder, teetered slightly, then began lugging her into the buildling. Angie watched as the ground bumped along beneath her she was jostled with every step.

They walked down a long hallway, Angie staring at the stained brown carpet. She desperately wanted to start kicking and fighting, but as tied up as she was she knew that would be futile. She would have to bid her time, and use her brains. A door was opened and they entered a furnished office with one dim light illuminating it. She was placed down hard on a leather seat. Glancing around she was surprised to see the sophisticated computer equipment placed in the corner. Surveillance, graphics, and other applications and hardware. Also there were several choice high power weapons stacked in the corner.

"Ah she is awake," a woman's voice said, "good."

Angie couldn't turn in her position, but the woman's voice was low and rough. Hidden behind it was a hint of amusement. It reminded her of the Wang's voice, and gave her the shivers. The same slow, methodical evil. Finally the woman walked into view. She was tall, about as tall as Rollie, and extremely thin. She wore one long, black jumpsuit and had waist-length jet black hair.

Her eyebrows were thick and she had a thick coating of blue eyeshadow and other assorted make-up covering her face. Her eyes were large, round, and also jet black. She was a beautiful woman in features, underneath the make-up, but that beauty was far shadowed by her countenance. She stood to the side, cocky, one hand on her hip slowly taking Angie in.

"You beat the Wang?" she said in disbelief, "my dear it's hard to believe you could beat a cockroach."

She leaned over Angie and Angie got a whiff of expensive perfume. She pealed off Angie's gag.

"Who are you?" Angie said immediately, "Where am I?"

"Questions, questions," the woman breathed, "don't worry. I'm know you already know who we are. And where you are is of no consequence, since you will never leave."

"Shou Xin," Angie said, "Not quite as bold as before. What's the matter? Gotten soft since your leader died?"

The woman smiled.

"I assure you, we are not soft," she said, "as you will soon see. You see, you are our primary target for revenge. Then Tommy Chin after that. After that, your friend Mr. Tyler."

Angie stared at her.

"This is getting old, real old," Angie said, "and I'm getting tired of it. Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Yes," the woman said, "but first things first."

"I want an explanation," Angie said, "what are you doing? What were you doing in that house? Why did you let us get so close?"

The woman sighed and sat across from Angie.

"Very well," the woman said, "I'll explain. First, I am known, amongst my fellows, as 'the woman.'"

"The woman?" Angie scoffed, "How original."

"The organization is male only," the woman said, "the initiation procedure is quite, rigorous. I am the only woman ever deemed strong enough to be a member. Physically, and mentally."

"Well score one for our side," Angie said sarcastically, "right on, sister."

"The house you were in was used for surveillance, surveillance of the whole city," the woman continued, not missing a beat, "we like to know what's going on wherever we are. When you captured the headquarters, and stopped the bombing, that put quite a kink into our organization. But we had plans in case of this. An entire underground underground, so to speak, network had been developed. If the Shou Xin fell, we would let it. At least, in the eyes of the government it would be dead. But not really."

"Ok," Angie said, "so you're keeping the tradition alive. Pick a new Wang? Or haven't you picked out of the hat yet?"

"My aren't we brave," the woman said with a smile, "perhaps you are tougher than you look."

"I've had a rough year," Angie spat.

"No," the woman said, "no new Wang has been chosen."

"So who's in charge?" Angie asked.

"That is about to be decided," the woman asked, "you see, there was but one rule for if the Shou Xin fell. He, or she, who invoked revenge upon the ones responsible for it's falling will become the new leader."

"So if you kill me," Angie said slowly, "you become the new Wang."

"Correct," the woman said with a smile, "but it had to be done in a way worthy of the Shou Xin. Many attempts have been made, but someone was protecting you. We did not find out until later that it was Tommy Chin."

"Also," the woman said, "once that person rose to power, they were to do something great to reinstate the Shou Xin among the underworld. The theft of that microchip, and the successful creation of dozens of sophisticated smart-guided missiles striking various capitals around the world should do that."

"Unbelieveable," Angie said, "you sound like a comic book bad guy trying to take over the world."

"We are no comic book, Angela Ramirez," the woman said leaning forward, "we are very real. And you are my ticket to ultimate power."

Angie breathed in and out slowly. After all she had been through, to die now.

"Well," the woman said, "let us begin."

Suddenly there was a tinkle of glass and a man groaned and fell to the floor, a circle of blood on his back. The door burst open and several armed men burst in. Two of the woman's guards were shot, and another thrown to the ground. The woman spun and kicked the gun out of one of the armed men's hands, but another swiftly knocked her unconscious. They undid Angie's bonds.

"Wh-who," Angie started.

"Angie!" Rollie said, coming into the door, pushing his way past the other men.

"Rollie!" she said throwing her arms around him as he leaned over her, "what happened? How did you find me?"

"Slapped a tracer on their car," Rollie said, "got here as soon as I could and Tommy called in the calvalry again."

"Who are these guys?" Angie asked.

"CIA," Rollie said, "I think."

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Angie breathed.

"It's ok, love," Rollie said, "it will be all right. I won't let anything happen to you. It's over."

"No Rollie, it's not," Angie said standing up, and pointed at the woman lying on the floor, "she's a Shou Xin agent. And there are a whole bunch after me!"

"She's right," Tommy said walking up, "I've been keeping them off of her for the past two weeks. Whoever kills her, well first tortures then publically kills her, becomes the new Wang."

"Oh no," Rollie said, putting his arm around Angie.

"Fortunately," Tommy said, "we found a list of all agents in the Shou Xin headquarters and I've been told the list was finally decoded. All agents working inside and outside the government are being captured as we speak. She was one of the last ones."

"How?" Rollie asked.

"Long story," Tommy said, "Let's just say the Shou Xin became an international priority some time ago. Once the Wang was found and died, and the U.S. headquarters found, a series of preplanned steps were put into action. Hundreds of agents working for the CIA, FBI, Interpol, and other international counterparts worked together, synchronized by the CIA arm I've been working for, to stop those other agents. The Shou Xin have been effectively neutralized, thanks to your help."

"That easily?" Rollie asked.

"Trust me it's not easy," Tommy said, "and the clean up process is going on. We're talking a massive international crime organization here. But with their leader gone, they've turned on each other. 'The Woman' as she is called, killed two other rivals for the throne with her bare hands."

"Nice gal," Rollie said as Angie shivered, "so we don't have to worry?"

"Being careful is still the key," Tommy said, "for instance the attack on your friend Mira Sanchez was by a Shou Xin agent, one working doubly for the Iraqi terrrorists who originally stole the microchip."

"What about Jordan?" Angie asked.

"He was a threat to the Shou Xin," Tommy said softly, "I don't know where he is. Not yet."

"There's still a lot we don't understand, don't know," Rollie said, "and deserve to."

Tommy nodded.

"I know," he said, "but it's a long and complicated story. Much I simply can't tell you."

"Then tell us what you can," Rollie said, "we may need to know to protect us later."

Tommy sighed.

"Look Tyler," he said, "under normal circumstances you would have to disappear into Iowa with all that you've seen. We feel it would be better to let you go back to your lives, we don't need to draw any attention to ourselves right now. Business as usual. You don't really need to know any more."

Angie and Rollie just stared at Tommy, both giving him a look that spoke a thousand words.

"Ok," Tommy said, "we've got some cleaning up to do here. I'd recommend you head home."

"No statements to take?" Rollie asked, "No reports to write out?"

"We don't work like that," Tommy said with a smile.

Angie sighed.

"Loubar, the Shou Xin, the Snake," Angie said, "CIA, FBI, NYPD, and some secret good guys who shoot first and ask questions later. I feel like James Bond."

She glared at Rollie.

"And don't you dare do a Shawn Connery impression right now," she said, "this is serious."

"You're under our protection," Tommy said, "now and forever. Your involvement in this whole business assures that."

"I don't like the idea of being watched," Rollie said.

"Not watched," Tommy said, "cared for. Now get on home, I'll be by to talk to you."

Rollie nodded and walked with Angie out of the room, and out of the building, his arm still around her. She stopped as they reached the van, bullet mark and heavily dented.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Don't ask," Rollie said, "remember, that tracer was short range. I had to, um, keep up."

Angie didn't reply and climbed inside.

"I was really afraid of losing you," Rollie said, "I've felt that before. I didn't want to ever feel it again."

Angie smiled.

"Me neither," she said.

"You know," Rollie said, "We've agreed that we're not like, together, or anything like that. But I do love you. Deeply. More than a sister."

Angie looked down for a moment, then looked back at him.

"And I do love you," she said, "we're not, together. But I love you more than a brother, different then a father."

"So what are we?" Rollie asked.

"Partners," Angie said with a smile.

Rollie smiled back.

"Partners," he echoed, "then let's go home, partner. You want to stay at the loft tonight? I'll take the couch."

Angie thought, was about to say no, then nodded yes.

"I'd appreciate that," she said.

They drove back to the loft, the tension that had built up slowly draining away. Angie felt a tremendous weight lifting off of her shoulders. Perhaps she would have some closure after all. Despite the ordeal she had just been through, she felt better because it felt like the end of a long ordeal, beginning with Loubar. Maybe she could be happy again, things being just the way they were.

They arrived a the loft and walked inside. It was clean and Angie almost felt like sitting down to work. She was amazed at how comfortable it felt, how at home. She'd always been here, it was where she belonged.

Tossing down her jacket she walked over to the computer where the screenplay for "Takeover" sat. Maybe she could immerse herself in some work for a change. She had missed doing that. Just then there was a knock on the door. Walking over Rollie opened it up and Angie came up behind him. A figure stood in a dirty trench coat, with a small amount of blood on his head. He was leaning on the door, but he was smiling slightly.

"Hi guys," he said simply.

Rollie and Angie spoke in unison.

"Jordan!"

* * *

Part 20:

Rollie helped Jordan over to the couch and sat him down.

"What happened to you?" Angie asked, "How'd you escape?"

"Long story," Jordan said, "let's just say the hired help isn't all that smart."

"Where did they take you?" Rollie asked, as Angie went to get the first aid kit.

"Some hideout," Jordan said, "trussed me up and left me to get me out of the way. I escaped fairly easily."

"From the Shou Xin?" Rollie said skeptically.

"I'm a federal agent," Jordan said simply.

Jordan squirmed in his seat a bit and winced.

"Though they worked me over a bit," he said.

There was a knock at the door and Rollie answered it. It was Jay Jr.

"Hey T-man," Jay Jr. said, waltzing in, then stopped as Jordan turned around.

"Bro!" he yelled and ran up to him, "what's up dude? Long time no see, J-dawg. You didn't show up for dinner, and we couldn't get a hold of you."

"Yeah," Jordan said, "well, I was tied up."

Angie returned with the first aid kit.

"I've become an expert at this," Angie said, and Rollie turned red.

Jordan winced as she applied peroxide to his head.

"How about me next, you fine dudette?" Jay Jr. asked with a grin.

"Sure," Angie said, "I'll apply a tourniquette, but you won't like where."

"Want something to drink?" Rollie asked.

"Hey," Jay Jr. said, "I've got some V8's stashed in the back. I forgot to get them out."

"You drink that stuff?" Rollie asked, grimacing.

"Sure," Jay Jr. said, "we drunk that stuff all the time as kids, right bro?"

"Oh, yeah," Jordan said, nodding, "right. Sounds good."

"I put a crate behind some stuff when I cleaned up," Jay Jr. said, "help me out Rolando?"

"Yeah, sure," Rollie said, "be right back."

Angie continued put a bandage on the wound and backed away.

"There, good as new," she said.

"Thanks," Jordan said, standing up, "it's nice to be amongst friends again."

Angie smiled.

"You know," she said, "I really don't know all that much about you still."

"Not much to tell," Jordan said, then put his hand to his stomach, "Say I'm hungry, they didn't feed me. You have anything?"

"Lemme check," Angie said, and walked to the fridge.

As she leaned over checking, Jordan walked up behind her.

"Let's see," she said, "we've got old beef. Ew. We've got old turkey. Ew. We've got old milk. Double ew."

Jordan reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black gun. He raised it slowly and aimed it at Angie's back. A cold smile spread across his face.

"Well, we do have some good cheese," Angie said, "wait. No. It's not supposed to be green. Ew."

Jordan's finger rested against the trigger. He slowly pulled it. There was another knock at the door and bluey barked. Jordan quickly shoved the gun back in his pocket and smiled as Angie turned around. She ran to the door. Tommy Chin was standing there.

"I came to do some explaining," he said, "I felt kind of bad after-"

He stopped at seeing Jordan.

"Jordan!" he exclaimed, and ran up to him, and they clasped hands with a smile, "How?"

"You should know they couldn't hold me, Tom," Jordan said, "It's good to see you."

"Good to see you," Tommy said with an even bigger smile.

"Hey how about that sandwich?" Jordan asked.

Angie smiled and walked back to the fridge.

"Quite a girl isn't she?" Jordan said softly to Tommy.

"Quite," Tommy echoed.

Jordan turned his back to Tommy and gently pulled out the gun. He would have to shoot, spin and shoot. Tommy, meanwhile behind him, pulled a device of his own out. It was a sophisticated twin barrel tranquilizer gun. Two quick shots. It was loaded. He raised it slowly. Simultaneously, their fingers twitched.

* * *

Part 21:

"Angie duck!" Rollie's voice came screaming from across the loft.

Angie spun around and Jordan spun as well his gun out and he fired. Rollie was in motion, though. Midair motion. He swung via a rope attached to the rafters down from the second floor of the loft across and square into Jordan. They fell in a flurry of arms and legs. Angie's eyes opened wide and she dove behind the refridgerator as a thick dart from Tommy's gun flew across and struck the fridge at the spot where she had just stood.

He ran around the side after her and lined up again when a figure lept on his back.

"I don't think so dude!" Jay Jr. screamed as Tommy fought to throw him off.

Meanwhile Jordan and Rollie tossled on the ground. Jordan landed a punch to the side of Rollie's head, sending him rolling over. Jordan lept up and leveled his gun at Rollie, helpless on the floor. Then, out of nowhere, a figure crashed through a side window. Flying horizontally the figure shot, and struck Jordan's gun which flew from his hand across the room. The figure landed, rolled, and lept up. Angie and Rollie's mouths both dropped open. Another Jordan Hunter stood, but he had dropped his gun as he had burst through the window.

"Jordan?" Angie said, flabbergasted.

There was no time to talk though, as both Jordan's approached eachother. The one who had jumped through the window wore a brown overcoat. The two Jordan's squared off and one shot a high kick to the other's face. The coated Jordan blocked the kick with his forearm and countered with one of his own. They began sparring like two martial arts experts in a national competition.

Tommy had finally thrown Jay Jr. off, only to be tackled by Rollie.

"Angie!" Rollie yelled while they struggled, "Emergency plan!"

Angie took off up the stairs while Tommy landed a solid punch to Rollie's jaw. Rollie staggered backwards, his lip bleeding. He wiped his mouth with one hand.

"Why?" he asked.

Tommy didn't answer but instead took a swing at Rollie. Rollie ducked and pile drove into Tommy's gut sending the air rushing out of his lungs. The two Jordan's were circling eachother warily, an equal match for eachother in fighting skill. The coated Jordan shot a kick to the other's midsection. The other took the blow with a grunt and then countered by ducking under the coated Jordan's foot and slamming a spin kick to the coated Jordan's leg.

The coated Jordan fell to one knee but held onto the other's leg. He grabbed the other's ankle and came up twisting, sending the other crashing to the floor. The other, however, caught himself and backflipped up, pulling his leg free and standing upright again.

Tommy slammed into Rollie and they flew against the refridgerator, and it squeeled slightly, pushed across the floor. Rollie broke Tommy's grasp with two hands and slammed his palm into Tommy's forehead. Tommy backed away and Rollie headed butted them sending them crashing to the floor again.

The coated Jordan had the other in a headlock. The other slammed an elbow into his ribcage, and slid to the ground, pulling the coated Jordan with him. Using his back foot as leverage he flipped the coated Jordan over his head and onto the ground hard. The other pounced but the coated Jordan rolled away and bounded up again.

"Rollie!" Angie yelled from somewhere above.

Rollie was grappling with Tommy and quickly slid under his arm and spun. Tommy flew across into the two fighting Jordan's.

"Lights, camera," Rollie whispered to himself and started into a dive behind the couch.

Jay Jr., who had been trying to decide which Jordan to help, started into a run.

"Action!" Rollie yelled as he landed behind the couch.

Angie stood on the balcony, a device similar to the one Rollie used to fry the electrical systems in their attackers car, in her hand. She cocked and aimed the arrow. Releasing it it flew across and down, landing a foot in front of the trio of men. A bolt of electricity shot down the rope attached to the arrow and arched out of the back of the arrow, creating a halo of crackling blue energy around the men.

"Sorry Jordan," Angie whispered.

All three cringed for a moment, then fell to the floor unconscious as the crackling subsided. Rollie and Jay Jr. came out of hiding slowly. Angie flipped off the generator and ran down the stairs. Carefully they walked over to them. Rollie bent over both Jordan's.

"I think the one who tried to kill me is the fake," Angie said.

Rollie tugged on his face, and a Loubar-like mask came away. Angie put her hand to her mouth. Laying in front of them, was Wang Shou Xin.

* * *

Rollie, Angie, Francis and  Sarah Gatti, a recovering Mira Sanchez, and Jordan and Jay Jr. Hunter sat around the dinner table in Rollie's loft.

"So what's the verdict, Ms. Sanchez?" Rollie asked.

Mira smiled slightly. She was still in a wheelchair.

"I'm off of the active list, on the disabled," Mira said, "but don't you worry, I'll be back on duty in no time. Doctor says I should take it easy for now though."

"Yeah," Francis said, "and when she gets back, look out bad guys, right?"

Mira smiled at her partner, and everyone at the table grinned.

"You better believe it, Gatti," Mira said.

"What I want to know now is," Francis said, "what happened to all those goons you captured?"

"Wang Shou Xin is being put in a hole so deep no one will find him," Jordan said, "he was trying to kill Angie to regain his soiled honor at being beaten. We've captured all his agents, we believe, plus the leak in the department."

"What about Tommy?" Angie asked softly, "Did you finally find out what he was up to?"

"That's an interesting one," Jordan said slowly, "Tommy wasn't trying to kill you."

"Could've fooled me," Rollie snorted.

"The tranquilizer dart wasn't lethal," Jordan said, "According to him, he was going to drug you and stick you somewhere safe. Then he would claim to have killed you and taken position as leader of the Shou Xin. Imagine, a federal agent, undercover, leading a huge crime organization. Think of the possibilities."

"But he didn't succeed," Rollie said, "He was really going to drug Angie? And then what?"

"Make her realize if she ever revealed herself she and he would die," Jordan said, "but that went awry."

"So where is he now?" Francis asked.

"Well," Jordan said, shifting in his chair, "we don't know."

"What?" Rollie said, a bit loudly.

Jordan held up his hands.

"No one knows the Wang is still alive," Jordan said, "according to Tommy, his organization made it look like he killed the Wang. That alone gives him the right to take over as leader. His first act was to stop the attempts on your life, Angie."

"So he is the Shou Xin leader," Rollie said.

"What's left of them, yes," Jordan said, "they hope he can use the groups contacts to stop a lot of other crime bosses. But don't worry, you're in no danger. As long as you never reveal any of this. You did get rid of that surveillance camera they planted, right?"

"Yeah," Rollie said, "stuck it inside one of my masks. Quite an ingenious little thing."

"So Tommy's still out there," Angie said, looking down, "but he was willing to sacrifice my life for this."

"When I was Tommy's partner," Jordan said, "he was always dedicated. To a fault, really. This is his passion, and he's willing to do anything to stop crime everywhere."

"So is a hero?" Rollie asked, "Or a criminal?"

Jordan shrugged.

"As long as he doesn't cross the line," Jordan said, "right now, he's right on it. Fortunately his contacts in the CIA keep him from falling over."

"What about you?" Sarah asked, "Are you going back to Cleveland?"

"Actually," Jordan said with a smile, "I realized how much I missed my family. So I put in for a transfer to New York."

Rollie raised an eyebrow and Angie smiled.

"And we've still got a movie to do, dude," Jay Jr. said with a big grin, "you'll be seeing a lot of us!"

"Well," Jordan said reluctantly, but with a hint of amusement, "I'll be around."

He glanced at Angie with a glint in his eye and she looked down at her plate with a slight blush.

"Great," Rollie said, almost sincerely.

"What about the microchip?" Mira asked.

"Recovered," Jordan said, "'the woman' of the Shou Xin had it. It's back where it belongs. We also captured those Iraqi terrorists the Shou Xin double crossed. No one will be after you Detective Sanchez."

"Glad to hear it," Mira said dryly, "Say, pass me some more of that chicken."

The phone rang and Angie got up to get it. She paused as she walked and turned around. She smiled at her friends, old and new, talking and laughing with very little on their mind at the moment. It felt good. She was back where she belonged, back with Rollie, back in New York, back with F/X. She was stronger for all she had been through. She now had full confidence in herself, and in the great power she had learned about. The power of will, and friendship. After all this, they had come full circle, back where they started. But then again, that's the way life always was.

She walked up to the phone and took a deep breath. She picked it up and said the words she hadn't said in a long time. Words which felt amazingly good and sent a shiver of happiness up her spine.

"Tyler F/X," she said, "Angie speaking."

* * *