"Working Out the End"
Section One Finally, some action had returned into Section. The days had passed, blurring into one another as Paige found herself more and more alone in her room. The operatives were all worried and scared to speak openly (or furtively) to each other on their fate. Most of the missions were called in...some had been forced in. She had been taking a daily stroll around the endless Section hallways, her headphones blaring loudly the latest tunes from Seven Channels, who were currently Chasing Monsters...amongst other things. Her stroll led her through access where in front of her the MedTeam lay in waiting, ready to pounce. She stopped, watching carefully seeing who the next player in Section's Unlucky Lottery would be. It took only a glance to recognize the shape of the body being brought in. Safara. She tore her headphones off rushing up to meet with the medics. Gideon grabbed her yelling for the guards. They, the big, bulky, ones held her back whilst her best friend was wheeled away. She watched helpless until the stretcher disappeared from sight and the goons let her go. She pulled her hands away glaring at them as they barred her way to Medical. She threw her hands in the air, "fine," she said before turning and going to the gym. It was here she tried to spend some of her days. Her body was healed nicely from the latest injuries and besides a few sore muscles she was relatively in the best shape she could hope to be in for her young age. She waited a couple hours, trying to remain clearly visible in the gym and 'no longer a threat'. The notion of being caged within the cage of Section had taken on a whole new meaning to her. At an approximate time that she had run through the worst unbloody trauma in her head she stole away into Medical. Gideon, ever on the alert stopped her progress. "What's wrong with her?" Paige demanded softly. "You're not cleared for that," he replied. "Cleared for what? I'm a working member of Medical..." "Don't throw your rhetoric in my face. You see as well as anyone else what's going on around here. You've got to deal with it just like everyone else. Operations is DEAD and things are changing." His words stung her and she visibly winced. She whirled to walk away thoroughly pissed off. "Paige," he stopped her. "I have a meeting with Madeline and friends in an hour. After that we can talk." Paige noted it but did not respond. She went out into the stairwell and sat on the stairs watching her watch and fuming. He didn't have to tell her that. A gift. What else could it be? (1 Hour Later) Paige got up and stretched, a lot calmer than she had been, having a whole hour to cool off. She stole into Medical again and gestured to one of the techs. She in turn held up three fingers and immediately looked down going about her business. Paige scowled. "Damn," she said quietly to herself. She grabbed an empty chart off the main desk and flipped through it absently as she worked her way down the hallway off Medical. The hallway where the prisoners were often kept. She passed by three waiting for someone to clear out then slipped into the room quietly. Safara lay quietly though she looked quite different to Paige. She moved near the bed and saw the big intake of breath from the body that lay there. She quickly put her hand over Saf's mouth, "Saf, it's Paige," she whispered into her ear. The body opened its eyes and looked into her own. The relief was evident as Saf relaxed and Paige removed her hand and grinned. "Paige?" Paige stroked her forehead seeing the small tears that welled up. Hm, this was new... "What the fuck happened Saf? You look like shit and no one is saying anything, your records are supposed to be sealed. No one except Andre, Dr. Gideon or Madeline is supposed to see you," Paige said quietly as she sat on the bed. Safara took a moment to recover herself, then finally said, "Deep cover mission...it got a bit out of hand." Paige reached over for the notes at the foot of the bed and sifted through them. "Bit out of hand, is an understatement. The drugs you are written up for are for recovering addicts," she paused as she looked at Saf and seeing something different. She moved to the head of the bed and tilted Saf's head up so she could look at her eyes, "Interesting color, but I prefer your own. So what gives?" Saf shook her head, she couldn't tell her at the moment. "Nice try, but you know you want to tell me." They both paused at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. They quickly faded though and Paige turned back to Safara. "Paige," Saf said, "don't get into trouble on my account. In a few days, they will let me out of here. We can talk then, no tricks." Paige smiled remembering the last time Saf had used that phrase. She had nearly put a bullet in Saf's head for the effort. Paige nodded and got up. As long as Saf was ok and coherent Paige could wait. "Operations died, in Geneva, just thought you would want to know," she said quietly, then nodded and slipped out the door. Paige had offered the information more for Saf's safety in case Madeline decided to fuck with her mind still. Paige waited a full day lingering around Medical until Gideon had given her the heads up. She grabbed the tray of food and headed straight for Saf's room. "Just what the doctor ordered honey..." Paige sang as she strode in. Saf started in immediately, "Paige, you have to get me out of here, something bad is going to happen unless I can get to a computer and try and stop it." "You've picked a hard time to ask such a thing with two guards on this room," Paige said flatly. "Please Paige, it is important..." she replied, "I gave Madeline some information, that was linked to the mission I was on, but I think it was more than just that. I have heard the name Max Schundfuss before, I need to find out more, before Madeline takes any action." Paige nodded once, thinking it over. "Do you need out, or do you need a computer?" Hell, she was always up for a challenge. Saf smiled, of course that would be the best way of getting it done. She could hack into the system, via the back door, from one of the Medsection points. She nodded and told Paige what she needed. Paige spoke softly, "You and me against the world," she paused and Saf finished it "...all for one, and one for all." Paige smiled, "Spoken like a true musketeer. I'll get back as soon as I can round this lot up," she pointed to her head. Saf looked deep into the bright green eyes, "Don't take any chances, it is important." "Poof, you think that they can stop us...no worries comrade...I will return," Paige whistled as she went out, "I'll just get some new bedding, back in a short while." She had hoped she instilled some confidence with her friend, but Joshua's words 'well within parameter...not best utilized in the field' still stung her mind. Well, we would see about that now muscle boy won't we? Paige secured the laptop from Gideon's office (of all places) and delivered it to Saf under a trolley of bed linens. Saf went to do her computer thing as Paige made as much noise as possible when it comes to changing linens as she could muster up. Saf eventually sat herself on the floor as Paige continued to whistle and snap sheets in the air. "Not long..." Saf reassured her and she just gave the thumbs up and nodded. Finally it was processed, and Saf snapped the line connectors to off and replaced the paneling. Saf took the laptop back to the bed and scrolled through the downloaded information. Pointing to the screen she indicated to Paige the information she had been looking for, "Maximillian Schundfuss was the Cardinal, it had to be." Paige looked puzzled though she diligently memorized the data, though she had no clue what it was about. Saf explained, "the Cardinal is the head of Red Cell, controlling the operations. If Madeline had worked this out as well, then a team would be scrambled to watch him." She scanned through the outgoing messages, reading the encrypted headers as though they were in plain English. On her first run through she found nothing about him, nor on the second pass. Paige took her word as true but still felt puzzled. Finally Saf spoke up. "Something is wrong, very wrong. I think Section is compromised, and the walls are about to come tumbling down. I can't do anything about it until I can get out of here and I need to convince Madeline that I am fit to go, and I think she is going to want to prevent me." Paige, for once serious, spoke softly "Do you think..." Saf shook her head, "I have no means of knowing if she or anyone else is involved, but the mission she sent me on, neither Oversight nor Centre were informed. Who was hiding what from whom?" she felt scared, but defiant. It was their wildest dream that she and Paige could be free from the clutches of Section, but what if they could disenfranchise Section or what remained of it? Paige swore softly under her breath and Saf turned to her "I have got to go, I have been here too long, they will get suspicious." "No, you go. I have a plan, to get Madeline to tell them, but I need your help," she paused, while Paige thought about it. It didn't take long and once she had explained what she needed to do and what she needed Paige to do, Paige agreed wholeheartedly with the plan. Saf looked at her all serious "Paige, If I can't, then remember this: Delta, Epsilon, Alpha, 666, Pi. Type it up on any one of the terminals and it will seed a virus through the mainframes, over 48 hours it will disintegrate the servers completely and make any backups redundant. You will be able to get away, and you have access still to the Chilean money, don't you?" Paige nodded slowly, remembering her parting words with Lincoln Kennedy in Cozumel. Paige hugged her tightly and left the room. Her ally would come to fruition yet. The next few days Paige mused watching Saf's play acting and her own feigned concern and constant badgering of Gideon to make the ruse complete. It was the perfect compliment and the attention was not unnoticed. Madeline, who she saw more often tooling about Medical, threw a constant watchful hating eye towards her, but she held her composure, after all...she had integrity. She had even managed another quick talk with Joshua who had finally seen with open eyes the deepest of the darkest secrets Section One held and he listened attentively to her. She had seen Saf tooling about Section but had avoided her as the powers alligned themselves against each other. These were the most difficult days with Madeline maneuvering to save her ass and Joshua unwillingly taking control a piece at a time. Another one hovered in the perch though she had not found out who it was as of yet. She didn't know at the time...but that the brief moment in Room Three of the prisoners ward would be the last time she saw Saf in Section One... She had been in her room when the call came. Joshua, wanted to see her. She knew this was it, this was when that conversation in Michael's room, as bizarre as it was, would come full circle. She went silently, led into some deeper parts of Section she was unfamiliar with but would be at any time in the future as the layout perfectly worked itself into her memory. She entered the room. "Paige, sit," Joshua stated without the friendly tone she had experienced in Michael's room. She sat silently watching the three individuals that sat beside Joshua and memorized every detail. There was a laptop of sorts on the table and a silhouetted figure displayed itself mysteriously. "Section 1 is being restructured, starting today," Joshua stated simply to her. "New leaders will be appointed and although it still has a role to play in preventing terrorism, it will be more controlled by Oversight than has been the case in the past." Paige had the feeling that this would be a speech offered many times today by Joshua before the day was through. The terms thrown at her were unfamiliar though she understood what he had meant. 'Oversight' was a dirty word but even the greenest of operatives knew what that was. "The operatives, you included..." "General Rammond," she spoke up looking at the older gentlemen carefully. Her brain had been working on identifying these individuals and had at least come up with one. The older man smiled gently then turned to Joshua, "she's good." "You commanded...when I was in the army," Paige said softly. And why would he be here??? "Yes, very good of you to remember," he said as if speaking to a child. "I don't forget a lot of things," she replied. "I've heard..." "The operatives...Paige..." Joshua interrupted. The older man waved his hand towards Joshua, "Relax, son." Paige glanced at Joshua who said nothing but nodded just the slightest bit to her. "I don't think you work well here in Section Miss. Flanigan," he stated easily as the others looked on uneasily. "I'm within acceptable standards for my rank," Paige retorted. "No, no, I'm not talking about how well you can shoot a gun, anyone can learn to do that. I'm talking about 'you'." He grinned at her then, something that made her shift in her seat and a chill creep up her spine. "Enough," the computer voice spoke out of the screen making them all turn towards it. "Joshua." Paige turned expectantly to Joshua. This was bizarre, the most bizarre meeting she had ever been in. "A new agency is being commissioned under the umbrella of the Center. Their needs require operatives that can work individually, that have lived and functioned on the outside." Outside? The word vibrated off her brain. Had he just said the Outside? "It will be based in the States and work under a higher security level. We can't offer you any more details then that but you must choose to work with the new agency or...retire from Section One." Paige sat back in her chair. Retire? Cancelled? "I don't understand...I didn't do anything wrong..." "It's not a punishment Paige," Joshua said softly. "Consider it...a chance to protect yourself." He looked at her hard as she stared at him. There it was, just as he had said it in Michael's room and had apparently known all along. The question that remained was could she trust him? "I don't know," she said shaking her head and attempting to get up. "Sit down, Paige," the computer voice broke in. She stared at the screen but sat down anyway. "This is why she needs to come with me," the General spoke up harshly. "She grew up in the army, she needs to stay with us, she needs to do the research." She sat in silence with her mouth slightly hung open, staring at the older man who spoke about her in the third person though she sat in front of him. What was 'the research' anyway? "Her abilities are a perfect match with the objectives of the new agency," Joshua interceded. Paige put her head in her hand and rubbed her temples. What the hell was going on? "To be realistic, her talents could be utilized more effectively here than anywhere else," one of the remaining two unidentified men spoke up. "Enough," the computer spoke again, this time clearly agitated, "Joshua please escort Paige outside for a moment." Joshua nodded towards Paige and she followed him out into the hallway. He was silent for a moment. "This is your chance to get out," he said flatly, clearly ticked off he wasn't still inside. "Out of where? Center's gonna control this...agency...or whatever it is you call it...same bars different cage, Joshua," she hissed at him. "It's not. Listen to me," he demanded, "I told you everything works out...this is how it works out...take the offer." "What will be my function there? What am I going to do with them?" she asked. "Nothing worse than you do here with a lot more freedom." She stared at him...freedom? "Please don't lie to me." "I have no reason to lie to you," he stated evenly. She looked at him hard, "you have no reason not to either." The door to the room they just vacated opened again and they both entered and sat down. "The choice is yours Paige. Either you join the new agency or you retire from Section," the computer voice announced. She glanced at the men before her, all waiting for her to answer. There really wasn't a choice. She could die or go to this agency thing. The army and 'the research' whatever that was, was not offered, only baited. Neither was the option of staying put in One offered. "Ok," she said defeatedly, stepping out on the limb, "I'll join your agency." Joshua smiled and placed a stuffed envelope in front of her. "You leave immediately." "What?" she gasped. "You have to go," Joshua said flatly, his tone very explicit. She checked herself and nodded her agreement. "Alright then," he said getting up and gestured for her to follow. The other three clearly were unhappy with her decision and continued the heated discussion she had been excused from before. She wondered, then, if the choice was only temporary, if they would renegotiate at a later time and give her another 'choice' at something different. When they had reached the relative safety of the hallway they were met by another Section Four operative. Joshua turned to her, "you made the right decision." "What about the others? Are they getting this offer?" she demanded quietly. "Some are, some aren't. I know it's difficult but you'll have to trust me," he smiled gently at her. She nodded softly though she felt a twinge of sadness around her. "What about you? Where are you going?" "I can't really tell you that," he said. "Will I be told about the others? I have some close...people...here that I'm friends...you know," she squirmed a bit. "Things work out in the end...remember that," he smiled and brushed a piece of blonde hair over her shoulder gently. "Be careful and take care of yourself," he said quietly. Paige could only nod and offer a small smile before turning away. "Remember to check all your mail," he called to her. She grinned shaking her head but didn't turn back, she knew right then she would hear from him again...hell, maybe even see him again. So, Section One would not be that far away from her in this new agency, and she supposed, that would be something she could deal with. Paige was led outside and told her personal belongings would be following shortly. She nodded and got in the black sedan with black tinted out windows. She sat quietly in the back seat wondering what was going to happen next but confident, for the first time since coming to this hell hole, that she indeed had escaped. The airport was crowded but the flight was fine. The realization of coming to the States permanently got her heart speeded up and it took all her self control not to bounce in her seat. Had it not been for the unknown laid out before her she felt she would have been thinking about her friends, her enemy, and her lover, that she had left behind. An operative she remembered from the Madison mission was waiting for her after she passed quickly through customs. He drove without saying a word and dropped her off in front of, what appeared to be a bar in Manhattan. "Ok, so what now?" she asked him. "You get out and walk into those doors, they'll take care of you," he said evenly, almost jealous like. She nodded then got out of the car and opened the doors, walking in to her new life. Return