"All Things Considered"
July 7, 2008 Safehouse 1 0600 hours Paige depressed the elevator button taking it to medical. Today was the day. Six long weeks and she would finally be getting the stupid cast off. Six and a half she reminded herself as she stepped out into the waiting area. There was no one there this early in the morning so she walked all the way in. The doc...Bodnar…she checked herself, saw her and waved her over. She smiled as she approached him, "today's the day," she said brightly. "Well, we'll see," he smiled back, "it's not like you've been resting it." She rolled her eyes as one of the tech positioned the portable xray machine and placed her casted wrist within the crossed beams of light. A couple pictures taken and she sat on the bed alone waiting for them to develop. She thought of the last two weeks and all that had happened, that was still happening, and what was to come. She had forced Joshua's hand, backed him into a corner, a position he was not used to and did not like. But things being what they were he really had no choice. He could not tell his conspirator Michael, nor anyone else, that she had been the one to kill Pichalski. To do so would let out that she figured out the encryption and the Directory. If Section or Oversight found that out they would have her killed, and him, too, most likely. If Joshua told Michael she not only had the Directory, but all the other information they had stored in her head at the some time, Michael would insist on her termination for their own safety. Therefore, in order to keep her alive, Joshua had to keep his mouth shut and protect her. With that protection came cooperation; and cooperation brought certain privileges. He had done her bidding when she requested he plant an excuse with Rebecca, that he needed her for some quick Section business for two days. She had flown to Mexico and retrieved her money, money that had been stolen from the Section by her so long ago. That money was now laundered out to various accounts and all designed for one use: Brian. The money was his, set up in funds for when and if he needed it. She, too, of course had access to it, but there were other ways to do and get what she wanted. Joshua also questioned her less. He was suspicious of her, no doubt, even more so now, but he did not try to bully her as much as he used to. In fact, he seemed to be keeping his distance. This, she could only imagine, was him not liking her position as a full fledged equal, and him scheming to rectify it. Her plans with Jaime, taking out the next on the list, had to be pushed back yet another week. They were both frustrated but recent events had left them more than a little paranoid. Michael was breathing down Jaime's back and his whereabouts were being constantly monitored. Still, the time seemed to be almost a blessing in disguise as Jaime was able to secure weapons from the army base for them to use - it could not have been any easier than being an assassin with full charge of a shooting range. Even though they both grew restless from the anticipation and subsequent let down, they did not rush into things and managed to both keep their cool. She had managed herself off of probation over a cup of coffee and a heart to heart with Gray. He had a soft spot for the Section operatives and what they had been through. Paige exploited that letting him in on how Section ran some things. The information had been unsettling for him though he was not shocked. She explained her closeness with Kihn, their talks about getting out, and how she really thought she could convince him to turn himself in. When questioned as to why she didn't join him, Paige launched into her `the world is such an evil place' routine winning her argument. The best way to lie was to gloss it over with a half truth. Though her view of the evil world was definitely true, her reason for not joining Kihn was simply because she had other plans. "Alright, we're gonna take it off," Bodnar interrupted her thoughts. "Good," she smiled back. "Well, the xray is negative and I would prefer to keep it on another week or two but…" and he just shrugged. She understood. There were other things influencing his decision… mainly her being an Agent and one going out on a case file in less than an hour. "I have a brace I want you to wear, especially working out or in the field. And some therapy, every day if you can. It should be as good as new in a couple weeks." She nodded her head, she could deal with a brace, besides, the wrist still did hurt and only in the last two weeks had she really rested it. Yes, a brace would be fine. She allowed them to cut the cast off and clean the skin. It was still swollen, and bruised, but it looked generally less broke and that was a good thing. He had put her through some range of motion exercises, a benchmark for future sessions, helped her get used to the brace, some pain killers and she was on her way. She rode the elevator up to the conference rooms as the briefing was to start in ten minutes. Still, her mind drifted to the recent past. She had visited Brian over the weekend. He was doing very well and was actually making friends. He said it was because of his hair, that being copied from Baz, and maybe he was right. All that mattered to Paige was that he was doing well, blue hair or not. Brian also had agreed to help her by making some crude MEMS devices under the guise of a science project. He certainly had the knowledge and the vision to grasp what her objectives were. He had not hesitated when she asked and had even understood the importance of secrecy by stating he would lead his classmates down the right road so that they could `make' the discovery. He had heeded her warning about not letting people know exactly how smart he was. People like them were not easily understood and if not careful, could be brutalized in the red tape and behind closed doors politics that ruled the world. They had to be careful. And what of the Moonlighter? Her thoughts had rested on him many times over the last two weeks. Their time spent together had been good for her, had allowed her to sort more things out in her mind. It also allowed her to align herself, even if it was to be for sometime in the future, with someone she deemed would be a powerful ally. Given the revelation of how alike they actually were, how they viewed the world and the real mutual enemies, she would in return be a powerful ally for him. She had been particularly stressed over the consequences of killing Pichalski. The uncertainty of a thousand possible scenarios had plagued her mind like a virus and up until that point, the cards she'd been dealt had been kept secret. Only with the actual pulling of the trigger, the showing of her hand, the realization of such by her adversaries, was she able to free herself from the destructiveness of ambiguity. Where once, her vision had been clouded and confused, her goals and how to achieve them were now clear. With set objectives, clear goals, and the finding of new allies…all things considered…the future looked relatively brighter. Return