"Hide and Seek"
June 23, 2008 Ranger Station 809, NJ 1700 hours Paige whirled as soon as she opened the celly and saw the message. There had been a signal before when the other call came in and now there was none. She scanned the cabin quickly as her mind raced through images captured from the moment the phone had vibrated to this point. There. She stared at the small bin next to the table as her mind replayed the images. He had decided to cut her bindings, when he stood, he had stooped just the slightest bit, turned the tiniest way towards that bin. She crossed the room and kicked it over. He was sneaky, she'd give him that. She saw the small black router come skidding out. She was again flattered not only at his depth of security when dealing with her, but of the respect he paid her by doing so. She picked it up knowing within seconds that it was not a Section router. It could be an SIA router and he could have stolen it before he went awol. Irrelevant, her mind scolded her. She disabled it and checked her phone, signal. She smiled and dropped the router in one of her cargo pockets. She might need it later at some point. She dialed Joshua's number immediately. He picked it up on the first ring. "Where are you?" he answered. "What? No hello?" she turned back around and went to the door. "Where are you?" he asked again, agitated. "Ranger Station eight, zero, nine, up by High Point." "What the hell are you doing there?" "I just had a meeting with Kihn." Silence for a moment. "With Kihn? How in the...where is he now?" She could here the anger in his voice. "He just took off about 5 minutes ago." She stood on the small porch surveying the area. "I'll get a team on it," he said already distracted. "You can land a chopper here, but only a small one," she said walking towards the back of the cabin but seeing the dense woods were too close to it. "Uh huh," Joshua said, "are you hurt?" "No," she shook her head returning to the front of the cabin, "I'm fine." "What else?" "He's wearing civilian clothes, neutral stuff. He's got a tan vest on. He's on foot though he has my car keys." "Where's the car?" "Scenic overlook off 206 about 20 miles north of Newton." "I'll send someone there, what else?" "He's injured, ribs, leg, head. Don't know how or the extent, he's still pretty mobile, though." "Ok," Joshua said and she could hear him typing, probably to whatever Section team was being scrambled. "Um, he's got some weapons, namely mine." "What else?" "He also had equipment, things he got on the outside which means he's been getting in touch with old friends. I'd start looking into those. And he has money somewhere, I'm guessing." She purposely failed to mention the pastor. Section would kill him and really, he had helped her after all. "Probably, I'll get people on it. Anything else?" "No, I think that's pretty much it," she said squinting in the sunlight. The smell from the rain before had disappeared. "Did you call Gray?" "Please," she scoffed, "he thinks the CIA will catch him." "I'll call him and call you right back." "Yep," she said and hung up the phone. She eyed the woods wondering which way Kihn would go. He had walked straight out, and she could see a trail leading into the woods, but then he could have easily gone any way ten feet into them. But he'd be looking to put as much distance between himself and that particular cabin as quickly as possible and following an already made trail would be the easiest way to accomplish that. And he was injured. But that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was getting the Section there as quickly as possible. She went back inside to take a better look around and her phone rang. "Yeah?" she answered now moving over to the chair she had been taped to. It occurred to her that it was very White Room-ish...being taped down to that chair. "It's me," Joshua announced, "I've got Gray on the line as well." "Paige, are you ok?" Gray asked and she could here the concern and anger in his voice. "Yes, Gray, I'm fine." "I've got two teams going to your location, tell them what you can. The chopper will take you back to SH2," Joshua instructed. "Ok," she responded evenly. She suppressed a shiver at having to work with the Section people. Oh well, she would get through it. She knew, once she decided to let Kihn live, that it would come down to her working with Section. "How did you even meet with him?" Gray asked. "You said you didn't know..." "He called me," she interrupted him. "This morning when I was driving home." "And you never thought to call me?" Now the tone was just angry. "You should have called in first." "I know, I thought I could talk him back in..." "You should have never met with him...not alone." Her eyes narrowed momentarily forgetting the chair. "I had to meet him and I had to do it alone. He would have spooked out if anyone else showed up." Gray pressed on. "I have a team on it, I could have had them there..." "Your team hasn't done shit Gray – he's been tooling around Jersey this whole fucking month! I know him better than anyone and I thought I could talk him in..." "You thought...it's not your job to think!" He said that in the tone of voice that was reserved for when he was really pissed. "It's my job to do the thinking...you are an Agent, we have protocols for these things...and you just blatantly ignored them." "I did what I thought was best," she countered. "That's how people get killed, Paige," Gray said flatly. She flinched. That comment stung. He had driven home his point, backhandedly using Baz's death to do so. "You're right," she snapped at him, "and I'm sure Baz would agree." Though she wouldn't have changed anything about how she handled Kihn because of her own objectives, Baz's death still hurt. The guilt was just too fresh. "As long as you get the point," he snapped back at her. Damn him, she fumed. She had pushed him. "Are you done berating me?" "We'll continue this at the safehouse," he dismissed her. Joshua, who had remained silent through the exchange, finally spoke, "they should be there in 20 minutes or so. You gonna be ok until then?" He actually sounded like he meant it. "Yeah," she said flatly. "Alright, we'll see you when you get back." She closed the cell phone. Damn Gray pissed her off. She kicked at the chair realizing her mistake too late. "Fuck," she yelled grabbing her foot. The chair was still tied down and did not move when she kicked it. The pain, however, stymied her anger and she limped over to the table and lay down on it. She stared at the ceiling letting her thoughts drift. He was on the run, Kihn, the traitor, the servant. Section would soon be close on his heels. That, she smirked, was a good thing. They probably wouldn't catch him, unless of course he got sloppy and messed up somewhere, but that kind of luck wasn't usually generated in her favor. They would, however, be good enough to keep close to him, keep him on his toes. She still couldn't believe he just walked away. After all that drama, everything they had been through and knowing that Paige could get to his daughter...he just walked away. Unbelievable. He must really put his trust in god because if he had been thinking rationally there was no way in hell he would have let her go...or let her live for that matter. And so the plan was set into motion. What she needed was for him to stay busy and she knew, for his own sake, that he would. He would be out of her life until, and only until, she needed him. When her plans worked into place, when the final two met head to head and she once again needed an ally of his caliber she would call on him. And of course...he would come. There weren't that many things in the world she could count on but she could count on him. Even if his trust was skewed enough to walk away from her, nothing would stand between him and his daughter. "Ain't love grand?" she muttered smiling at the ceiling. People did funny things for love. She flipped open her phone dialing Jaime's number. "Warner," he answered the phone. "Hey, it's me," she said softly. "Where the hell are you? Gray called me freaking out that you weren't back yet." "It's alright. I'm fine, it's a long story and I don't have time to tell you right now." "You'll tell me this weekend?" "Yep, I just wanted to let you know I was ok." "Good. By the way, Michael called me again." That got her attention. "What?" she sat up on the table. "Yeah, we weren't on a secure line but I have an errand to run." "What kind of errand?" "I dunno, but I don't think it's a big deal. I've done drops before." "Ok," she sighed, "I'm just having a rough day." "You're having a rough day, I can hardly fucking move from all the...stuff...we did this weekend." Paige giggled, "you're an ass." She could hear the chopper approaching. "Ah, but a cute ass," he answered back playfully. "Is that a chopper?" "Yep, my ride's here. I'll call you probably tomorrow, k?" "Sure thing, be good." "Always," she said shutting the phone. She got off the table and went to the doorway just in time to see the chopper touch down and the Section people start out of it. She watched them as they got out, six in total, and two dogs. Wow, she thought, they weren't fucking around. They approached her. "Which way did he go?" the one yelled at her over the sound of the chopper. She shrugged, "how should I know?" her mind immediately started going through the Directory trying to find his name. He gestured for her to go back into the cabin, and although she didn't want to, she did...it was considerably more quiet in there. "We took the car already, they're flat bedding it to a location in...Swarren?" "Sewaren," she corrected him. "Yeah," he nodded his head. "We got intel he's in civvies, on foot, injuries?" Paige nodded her head, "knee or foot, bruised ribs, head...he's still mobile though definitely not 100%." She could hear the dogs yapping outside. "Ok," he nodded towards the chair that was still tied down to the cabin and had shreds of tape on it. "That where he escaped from?" "No," she said flatly, "that's where I was." "Oh," he nodded still studying the chair, "he really didn't want you go anywhere, did he?" He turned back to her. She ignored him, "he's got radio equipment and weapons. I don't know where, if anywhere, he's heading." The man nodded reaching up to his comm. Just seeing those again creeped her out. "Keep on it," he said. He then turned to the other one with him, "the dogs picked up a scent." The man turned to her just as she got his name, age, and where he was staying once he got back to the Section. A level four, she was impressed. He was only 23; but typical Section material: nice build, handsome, pretty eyes. "You gonna bring him in alive?" His expression was blank as he approached her, studying her. "We're under orders to allow you to get on that chopper and head out. I suggest you not wait around because orders like that change pretty frequently." "Point taken," she said evenly. He nodded his head and dismissed her. "Ok, team two..." She turned walking out of the cabin and towards the waiting chopper. Safehouse 2 Sewaren, NJ 1910 hours The small medical staff had given her a physical upon her return though she insisted she didn't need one. They were kind enough to give her pain relievers for her headache. It seemed whenever she accessed the Directory she got one. It was just too large, too much data trapped inside her mind, and it cost a lot of energy to go sifting through it. She really didn't need the Section operatives name...but somehow she couldn't help herself. She listened passively while Gray chewed her out again about protocols. She did not, this time, have the energy or the will to fight back. Joshua, who actually kept his mouth shut, lazily flipped through a magazine during the reprimand. "You're on probation," Gray finally concluded. "Probation?" she said pissed off. "Probation, three months. Maybe then you'll get the drift of protocols and using them." She glared at him but said nothing. Probation sucked. She would be allowed at her apartment, the Edison facility, and either safe house. That would be it. That would not do at all. That would seriously cramp into her plans with Jaime. She changed her tone to that of a pleading one. "C'mon Gray, I fucked up, and I'm sorry. I promise it won't happen..." "I know it won't happen again." That was an interesting tone of voice and it shut her up immediately. There was no changing his mind tonight and she'd have to give him a chance to cool off before she pleaded her case, what little there was, again to him. "Good night, Paige," he said. "Joshua," he nodded his head to Joshua and walked out of the room. Joshua smirked at her, "that was fun." "Fuck off," she said rubbing her cast. Stupid thing was still throbbing. "Probation," Joshua pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against. "Guess you'll be spending a lot of time at your apartment then." She eyed him suspiciously. He was up to something. He walked over to where she sat on a hospital bed. The safehouse had 4 med rooms, that one being the only one occupied. "You and Kihn...what is it between you two?" She remained silent, watching him passively, waiting to see what game he was playing. Because Joshua was always playing games...especially with her. "You have some kind of weird relationship. I mean, you were teammates. Then you were a little bit more than that. Did you have a thing for him?" She still remained silent. "No," he shook his head studying her. "I don't think it was that. But he got to you, had some kind of...he infatuated you. You were curious about him, got close to him. Then," he smirked at her. "Stratus." He said the word slowly and quietly and he might as well have slapped her...the word still stung. "After all this time, Paige, you can't seem to get over that. None of you can, really. Michael even deals with it, gets that same deer in the headlight look you got on right now." He still studied her carefully. "It must have been bad. What was it, huh? What was it that was the worst? Was it the beating? Huh? The water? What they did to Jaime? Your precious little boytoy? Huh?" He moved closer to her, imposing himself on her, all around her, taking her space, her breath, taking everything. "Tied the poor thing up...dropped him in the water." "Stop it," she whispered. "Hm, did that bother you? Make you feel sick in the pit of your stomach watching that?" He paused for a moment. "But the beating," he whispered in her ear. "The handcuffs, Michael and what was his name?" His hand rested on her shoulder. "Marc." The hand (always these hands) slid down her arm and stopped at her elbow. "The two of them across from you. And the guards just beat you...until you couldn't even stand." His hand moved against her ribs. "Do they still ache sometimes? Where they broke?" "Stop," she whispered, trembling under his hands. He was making her relive it, in her mind, so vividly captured. "What about when they started in on Michael and Marc? To watch must have been horrible. No one deserves that, not even Michael, right?" The hand came up to stroke her hair. "And then he came and saved you, Kihn, the same one who betrayed you." He studied her again and still he was unbearably close. "Is that what you hold over him? Guilt? For what he did to you? For what he made you do? Sacrificing your life...to save his daughter's?" "He still pays for that," she said flatly. It was dangerous ground they now tread. There were only three people in the world that knew about those words – herself, Kihn, and the daughter. Joshua did not know and could not know. He thought her hold over Kihn was because of Stratus and the betrayal...she would say nothing to lead him to believe otherwise. "What happened out there in that ranger station? Why did you let him go?" "I didn't let him go," she said slowly. "You wanted to kill him though, didn't you? That's why you went there, alone. But then the push came to shove...and you couldn't. Couldn't pull the trigger could you?" He glared at her. "After all he did to you...you still are infatuated with him." He shook his head slowly studying her. "But the same goes for him apparently. Because he didn't kill you either. Neither of you can just get over it, can you?" "You weren't there at Stratus," she shook her head slowly at him. "No, I wasn't..." "That's right you weren't. You weren't there when they were skull fucking our minds were you?" Her voice started to rise. "Where were you Joshua? Oh, that's right, sitting on your pretty little hands in Section Four why we were getting our asses handed to us!" He reacted to her anger with his own. "I would have been there for you...I would have went...for you...but I couldn't." He stared at her, the anger flushing from his face. "I couldn't." "No...Joshua. You wouldn't," she whispered. He looked away for a moment giving himself time to regroup. He turned his gaze on her again. "And what about you and Kihn? You both have this...twisted little hold over each other...hating each other...and not being able to do a damn thing about it." She evened her gaze with him. "Kind of like us?" He smiled at that, though she could see the anger behind it. "I don't think hate is a strong enough word for how I feel about you." She tilted her head, almost surprised that he would speak so openly of his feelings...especially for her. It was so rare that he did. "And how is that?" He smirked at her and his eyes flashed. "It goes beyond hate...I want...I want to hurt you and to kill you so badly," he shook his head slowly as her eyes narrowed at him. "It rips me up inside, it literally eats me inside out how bad I want to wrap my hands around your throat and choke the life out of you." His voice was a throaty rumble, low and dangerous. She felt a chill along her spine as he openly threatened her. "And at the same time, the very same time I can't stand not being around you, not seeing you, smelling you, touching you...being inside of you...I hate you and I..." He caught himself just in time. He tilted his head and smiled at her, "well, you know don't you?" She nodded her head. "Say it," he hissed at her. Paige twitched as her eyes narrowed. "I do hate you," she whispered the anger ringing clear in her voice. "Say it Paige," he growled at her again. She was trembling now, but this time in anger. "You say it you fucking bitch," he seethed. "I'm going to kill you some day." He smirked at her. A smug one. "But you can't say no to me, can you? You can't get enough of me," he moved closer to her. "When all is said and done, when the push finally comes to shove, and the dust settles..." he stared at her coldly, "it's just gonna be me...and you." He stepped back from her his gaze never wavering from her. "You know that, don't you?" She offered her own smirk. "I know." She tilted her head, studying him this time, "you and I are going to make great enemies one day." He nodded his agreement, "yes, we will." "But then we've always known that, too." "Yes, we have. It'll just come down to who pulls the trigger first." "No," she shook her head, "who pulls it at all." The smugness disappeared from his face as he narrowed his eyes at her. And so the threats had been made and agreed upon. She felt better knowing they were out in the open, as bizarre as that was. "We don't hate each other," she said dismissing the argument. "What?" he asked apparently still thinking about it. "Kihn and I," she said getting off the exam bed. "We don't hate each other." She pointed to the small bruise on her shoulder where the dart had impacted. "He cheated," she said flatly answering his first question. Joshua snorted, "we'll catch him." "You better," she said softly. "He knows how to get to me." Nothing like giving Joshua incentive. "He lays a hand on you again and I'll make it my personal agenda to kill him." His tone was laced with threat. "But it won't have to come down to that." She smiled, "that's the spirit," she said softly. "We still have other matters to discuss," he said watching her carefully. She merely met his gaze, knowing this would have come up eventually. "That being?" He smiled getting that look in his eyes. She knew that look. That was the look he got right before he did things to her. Bad things. "We'll...discuss...them at your place." That was a threat, her mind reported. A threat, different from the one before, and one she knew he would make good on. And he might not wrap his hands around her throat and choke the life out of her tonight...but he was going to come pretty close. He hadn't been around her in over a week, plus the fight and threats they just threw at each other...and there was something else, she could see it in his smile. He knew. Return