Part Three

They awoke several hours later to the sound of a ringing cell phone. Brenna murmured, "It’s for you."

Xavier recovered his phone from the pocket of his khakis and answered, "Yes. I’ll be right there." Leaning down to kiss Brenna goodbye, Xavier said, "If this is the Hernandez mission going live, you’ll have to come in in a few hours."

Grinning Brenna replied, "You know how to reach me." Holding him to her for one more long kiss she whispered softly, "Thanks again."

"No problem," Xavier assured her as he brushed her hair away from her face. "Try to get some more sleep," he suggested.

"I’ll do that," Brenna murmured as she snuggled into the spot he had so recently vacated.

Brenna was awakened shortly to the sound of her own phone ringing. Answering it, she was greeted with the familiar yet always jarring, "Isabel, come in."

"On my way," she responded and headed for the shower.

Reaching the briefing table, Brenna was relieved to see she was not the last to arrive. It had taken her forever to find her boots. Xavier must have moved them last night when he came in. She took her usual seat next to Xavier just as the two remaining members of Blue team were arriving.

Madeleine wasted no time beginning the briefing. "As most of you know, Red Cell has taken responsibility for many of the recent incidents in Russia. Our Intel suggests that there is a link between those incidents and the attacks by Black Night in Europe. We need to know exactly what that connection is and who is giving the orders." Pushing the button that would light up the holographic display, Madeleine continued, "This man, Gabriel Hernandez, is our best shot at getting that information. We believe he supplied both groups with materials for these attacks. Our sources tell us that Mr. Hernandez arrives in Madrid tomorrow, where he never misses on opportunity to check out the nightlife. You will be stationed at one of his preferred clubs. It is vital that no one suspect our involvement in this or the groups in question will make sure any intel Mr. Hernandez has for us will be useless before he can utter it. The rest of the information you need is on your panels. Mission departs in 90 minutes."

As was their custom the team stayed gathered around the briefing table waiting for Xavier to announce assignments. "The target considers himself very chivalrous. The profile suggests that the best way to get his attention is through a woman in distress. Brenna you and I will be team one. We’ll have a very public fight from which we expect the target to rescue you. From there you will convince him to return to your hotel with you. We’ll pick him up from there, taking out his bodyguards. No one must be able to report his disappearance. Dragonlady and Damien will be team two and will take up positions inside the club providing backup. Kit and Kathy are team three and will provide perimeter support. Get what you need from wardrobe, pick-up your gear from Walter, and meet me in van access in 85 minutes."

Heading for wardrobe Brenna commented to Dragonlady, "Another one of these missions. How did you get out of being the bait this time? Isn’t it your turn?"

Dragonlady grinned and replied, "Apparently he likes blondes. Lucky you."

As too was their custom, the team spent the plane ride reading their panels and sleeping. They arrived in Madrid in time to check into the hotel and grab a quick dinner before heading out to the club. Everything went exactly as profiled until Xavier heard Brenna excuse herself to go to the bathroom. He had returned to the van after being bounced out of the club following his "fight" with Brenna. "What are you doing?" Xavier hissed.

"Just checking something out. Don’t worry the target’s not going anywhere," Brenna responded.

"Dragonlady give me a visual on the target," Xavier ordered. He relaxed a little when he saw that the target was in fact waiting patiently for Brenna’ s return. "Now give me a visual on Brenna’s position," Xavier requested. Xavier focused in on Brenna just in time to see a mane of curly, brown hair disappear into the bathroom ahead of Brenna. Recognizing that hair, Xavier swore under his breath. Mindful that there were other people on this channel he said, "Brenna you can’t afford distractions right now. Return to the target immediately."

"In a second, I have to pee" she said and turned off the transmitter on her com link. Now that she was away from prying eyes and ears for a moment Brenna stopped the woman in front of her and asked, "Misti?"

The woman turned and replied, "No, I think you have me mixed up with someone else." However the woman’s eyes told her differently. They showed recognition and begged Brenna to go along with the charade.

Nodding Brenna replied, "I’m sorry," and went into a stall to pee. She turned her com link back on so Xavier could hear what she was doing and would hopefully stop freaking. As she was standing up and readjusting her clothing to return to her target, Brenna noticed a business card on the floor that wasn’t there a minute ago. On the back of the card there was an address with the words, "Tomorrow 1:00 PM". Brenna carefully tucked the card into her bra and went back to her mission.

The rest of the mission was completed as profiled. They were back on a plane with their sedated target within hours. At one point when Brenna was checking on the target, Xavier came to the back of the plane and hissed, "What the hell was that little bathroom trip all about?"

Looking at him puzzled, Brenna replied, "I had to pee."

Xavier shook his head. "I saw that woman," he told her. "You can’t be chasing ghosts and endangering missions. You have to give this up."

Aghast, Brenna stared at Xavier and replied icily, "Give what up exactly? My past? My ability to feel and remember? Or give up on the one person in the world who would have never given up on me? Fuck you, Xavier. You give up. Give up on me because apparently you don’t understand me at all. And for your information I did not endanger the mission. It worked out exactly as expected." As Brenna tried to push past him Xavier grabbed her arm. Brenna stopped whatever he was going to say with a scathing look and said, "Go to hell." She yanked her arm out of his grip and returned to her seat.

By the time they returned to Section they had managed to mask the tension between them enough to get through debrief without any uncomfortable questions. Brenna turned in her gear and headed for her quarters in CLHQ. She set her alarm for noon to give herself enough time to get to the meeting place at the appointed time and drifted into a fitful sleep.

When he arrived at CLHQ later, Xavier was not surprised to find the doors to her rooms locked. He had a key but didn’t want to further antagonize Brenna. Mindful of his vow to monitor her movements, he returned to his office and activated the program that would notify him if she left CLHQ.

Part Four/End

Brenna woke four minutes before her alarm was set to go off. Grinning to herself at the predictability of that fact, she turned off the alarm and headed for the shower. Thirty minutes later she was on her way to meet the strange woman.

Xavier was startled out of his reverie by a PDA on his desk beeping. He quickly grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and headed for the exit he knew Brenna would be walking by any moment. Luck was with him and he didn’t get stopped by anyone on his way out of Section. He got to the street level exit just as Brenna walked past. He ducked out of sight and waited a few moments before he opened the door and followed her.

Brenna turned quickly to look behind her as she was hit with the feeling of being watched. It was not the constant hum that went with the ever constant surveillance in Section but more intense and personal than that. She hadn’t felt that feeling in a really long time. Sighing, she hoped it was just nostalgia for the old days brought on by recent events but realistically she knew more likely that old feeling coming back was symptomatic of Xavier falling back into the role of watcher. She had learned a few tricks since the old days but so had he. Deciding it was useless to try to elude him she opened her cell phone and punched the second number on the speed dial. When Xavier answered his phone she said, "Go home," and promptly hung up. Hoping he would listen to her knowing he had been made, she continued with her quest.

Brenna arrived at the small coffee shop ten minutes early. After ascertaining the person she thought she was meeting was not present, she ordered a mocha and took it to a seat that put her back to a wall and gave her a good view of the entrance. Her eyes scanned the room automatically taking note of exits and possible threats.

After a while a waitress stopped by to see if she needed anything else. Brenna answered in the negative and asked for her check. On the back of the check instead of the waitress’ name was the words, "rose garden". Memories coursed through Brenna like a river. Misti and her had spent countless hours in the public rose garden planning and playing and searching for peace. It was Misti’s favorite place in the city. When there were plans to turn the garden into a fountain to save the city the upkeep costs, Misti found both the money and the influence to save the garden.

Brenna headed over there but took the long way around letting herself in through the green house. Arriving in the garden proper, she was gratified to see that not much had changed since her last visit all those years ago. "Seems Misti’s influence lasted well beyond her death," Brenna mused to herself, "or maybe this was something Misti still influenced in whatever new life she had." Brenna had no doubt that if Misti was still alive she led a very different life now than she once did. Besides that fact that Brenna had kept close track of what happened to the remnants of the old organization since she was brought into Section. Brenna knew how much Misti had come to hate the life they led. She just didn’t know how to get out of it without endangering everyone she loved.

Brenna headed for the experimental section of the rose garden. It was where they planted new breeds of roses to see how they fared. The roses in this section always had unique colors or petals and were often in various stages of growth. Misti loved the idea that something and beautiful and unique as a new breed of rose could be created if you knew enough about plants. She called it her living hope. When she reached the experimental roses she saw the same woman from the bar gently touching one plant that was dying. "So sad," Brenna heard her say. Misti never mourned the death of the roses. She understood it was part of the cycle. Brenna pulled her gun from her shoulder holster and pointed it at the woman, asking steely, "Who are you?"

Shocked and startled the woman looked up and answered, "Bren, it’s me Misti."

No one ever startled Misti. Knowing her surroundings was the only thing between her and certain death most of the time. And in the open like this she was always doubly aware. Regardless of that fact that this woman used the name Misti always called her, Brenna was sure the woman standing in front of her wasn’t Misti. Switching the safety off on her gun, her voice hard Brenna said, "You have five seconds to tell me who you are."

The woman just stood taller and stared at Brenna defiantly, but at the same time there was something in her eyes that made Brenna suspect she welcomed death. Playing a hunch, her eyes never leaving the woman’s eyes, Brenna took out her cell phone and punched the first button on her speed dial. Activating her clearance, she requested housekeeping to her location. The woman’s eyes widened in recognition when Brenna mentioned housekeeping. Knowing now who the woman was, Brenna pulled the trigger that would end her miserable existence. Brenna knelt down beside the woman where she had fallen in the rose bed. Brenna reached a hand up to close the woman’s eyes. Holstering her gun, Brenna walked back the way she came never looking back.

The End

This story ©copyright Brenna, 2000