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James blinked his eyes a few times as he slowly took in the dark scene in front of himself. He was sitting in what appeared to be a small store room of some sort.. There were large crates stacked around the walls, and he could feel the dirt under his hands... There was no floor, just the ground. He tried to pull his hands forward to stand up, but found they were handcuffed around the pole he was leaning on..
James sighed as he turned and saw Coswell just a few feet to his right, she still appeared to be unconscious.
"Jen..."
"Jen.. wake up..." James tried to rouse her with his low whispers, but it was no use..
With a great deal of effort he managed to get his feet up to his body and stand up. As he stood he could feel the pole he was chained around shift slightly in the ground. It wasn't secured in the ground with anything, so he continued to shift it around. hoping to loosen it.
"James?"
He looked over to see Coswell had finally returned to reality.
"Jen, quick, do like I am, stand up and try to shift your pole, we can loosen them and pull them up."
"Alright.."
Coswell had about as difficult a time standing up as James had, but finally made it.
James was sure he'd be able to pull his pole up out of the ground when they heard the sound of a door opening..
They both stopped what they were doing as three figures dressed in black walked in from behind and stood in front of them. Two larger masked figures, and the girl that they'd chased over the rooftops only a couple of days before..
She had a very confident look on her face as she stood looking back and forth between the two prisoners a few moments before she spoke.
"Well well... Agents Coswell and Kojiro.. I've been doing a lot of thinking about you two while I tracked you."
James felt embarrassed at himself for being so lax as to be tracked and captured...
"Who are you?"
The girl looked back over at James for a moment, then said, "you may call me Fei."
Fei walked over to stand in front of Coswell, smiling smugly as she laid a hand on her shoulder.
"You know, Jennifer, at first I just wanted to kill you.."
"Well then just do it so I don't have to look at your repulsive face any longer.."
The side of James' lip curled slightly in a smile.. always defiant..
"Because, my dear.. I've been tracking you and thinking.." She paused to laugh, "you'll get your chance to die.. but first, I want your heart to ache as my heart aches."
Fei paused for a moment to look over to James and smile.
"You killed my love while I watched, now I will do the same to you.."
The curl on James' lip quickly melted.. He could also see the expression of anger on Coswell's face as Fei continued to lean on her shoulder.
"Well, Jennifer? What do you think? Gun shot to the head? nah... too quick, too painless.. I want you to see him suffer."
Coswell growled..
"Disembowelment?" As she said this, Fei partially drew her sword from it's narrow sheath. "Yes.. that's it.. I'll gut him and you can watch him die.."
"NO!"
Coswell kicked Fei as hard as she could on the chest, sending her reeling back against the boxes. Fei's partners immediately rushed her. However, James quickly pulled his pole out of the ground and bent forward, swinging it like a large club and catching the two black clad figures square in the face.. They both fell down knocked out cold.
Before James could do anything else though, Fei was back on the attack, sword drawn.
James quickly let the pole slide out of his grip and onto the floor, but his hands were still cuffed behind himself. She swung just as before on the rooftop, in large wild arcs.
James skillfully dodged her attacks, but there wasn't much that he could do besides continue dodging until she made some kind of big mistake like she did back on the rooftop in Vector.
James ducked and weaved avoiding the continuous barrage of attacks.. but finally his luck ran out.. He stepped on the pole he'd dropped on the ground earlier and stumbled to to the ground. Landing flat on his back he was powerless.. He said a prayer and waited for the deathblow.
Fei stopped and smirked down at him on the ground. Then turned towards Coswell.
"You see Jen, this is why-"
As Fei turned around her face was met by Jen's pole. Her sword fell out of her hand as she landed hard on her back, knocked out cold.
James sighed in relief. "Thanks Jen..."
"Thank me later, lets get out of here."
He couldn't agree more as they ran outside into the darkness.
When they reached a phone booth they called 911 and the police arrived shortly thereafter.
Fei was arrested and Jennifer and James were unhandcuffed after a check of ID's that showed they worked for the National defense agency.
The Police also gave them a lift back to the CIA building. It still wasn't dawn yet, and the two caught some sleep in Coswell's office waiting for the day to break.
James opened his eyes slowly and looked up to see Foster standing in front of him. He also noticed that Coswell was laying on the couch next to him with her head on his lap. His face turned a little red..
"Um... it wasn't like this when I went to sleep.."
Coswell blinked her eyes as she woke up and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position as well.
Foster sat on the edge of Coswell's desk with his arms crossed looking at them.
"Have you read the police report yet?" Coswell changing the subject.
Foster dropped a folder on her desk.
"I was just getting to that. The Prime minister was found last night, just before you got in contact with the police. They'd stripped him down naked and let him go.. I'm not sure if the people that kidnapped him were the assassins."
"No, they were the same.. they just let a personal vendetta get in the way.."
"Well, Kojiro, how are you sure?"
"Because it was the same girl that I fought back in the hotel in Vector.. It's been the same girl the whole time.. I don't know who she was working for, or what they wanted with this whole thing, but it was the same girl.."
Foster nodded, then looked back at Coswell who was still a little red in the face. "Well the signing's been pushed up, it's this afternoon in the capital house at four-thirty. You two will be there. As will almost everyone else, just in case."
Foster opened the door out of the small office and stopped as he was halfway through to add, "oh yeah, you guys can take a break till then, Reeves is with the Prime Minister."
James nodded and let his head fall back against the arm of the couch with a sigh. His visit was almost over, he'd catch the first flight that evening and be back with Jessie..
Coswell sighed too, and James looked over at her.
"You know, Kojiro, I never had a partner before."
"Why not?"
"Just no one I could really work with I guess.."
James nodded and turned back away.
"I'm going to miss you, James.."
"Yeah, I'll miss you a little too."
James sighed as he closed his eyes and thought about getting home.. hoping Jessie would still be there for him..
The two parked and walked up to the entrance, showing ID to gain admittance. Inside every wall was white, even the floors were covered in white marble.. James wondered at the costs of such architecture.. The government knew no limits of spending, they had their hand securely in the pocket of the proletariat.. He sighed as he walked through the plushly decorated hall, paintings of former rulers hung every few feet.
After the short trip through the bright white halls of power, James found himself standing in the rear of a large crowd. The press was out in force to witness the signing of the trade accord that would "open up" the economies of both countries.
James knew of course that in reality each country hoped to seize control of the other's economy without the restrictive tariffs. He knew it wasn't a realistic goal, however, and that neither country would really be able to profitably cut into the other's economy. The agreement would really just mean more legal choices for consumers, which is usually good.
After standing around for about ten minutes the Prime Minister finally appeared. He gave the standard boring speech that made James want to fall asleep. However, he managed to stay awake through the thirty minute monstrosity.
After all of the days of protection, and hassle, even after the thirty minute speech, all it took was fifteen seconds to sign the paper and be done with it...
James sighed, nothing had happened, he knew that nothing would. Coswell pulled his arm as they filed out of the room with most of the press.
They walked in silence out to her car, where they got in and sat down, but before she started the engine, she spoke.
"Is this it? You're going back to the Airport and going home now?"
James rubbed his chin as he thought about the past week.. the chase on the rooftops, the fight at the hotel in Vector, and how Coswell had saved his life the night before.."
"Yeah.. I guess it is.."
"You can stay with me if you want.. I don't mind, I'd kind of like it in fact.."
"Maybe I'll come to visit one day.. but I better get home.. Jessie's probably pretty mad.."
Coswell just sighed and started the engine. She started to pull away but jerked to a stop.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, but turn around."
James looked towards the back of the car to see Foster running up. When he finally reached the car he leaned in the open passenger window."
"Director Foster, what can we do for you?"
"Nothing, Coswell, I just wanted to say good-bye to Kojiro here and thank him for his help."
James smiled, "thanks a lot, but I wouldn't have made it without agent Coswell."
Foster laughed as he stood up and turned to walk away, "always the gentleman.. well, good luck, James, I'm sure we'll meet again."
He looked over at Coswell, who was smiling slightly. She faced the road when he turned around though, and started the car off down the driveway.
When they arrived at the airport James went to the ticket counter and paid for the exorbitant price of the no-wait plane ticket back to Trinity with the remainder of his CIA stipend.
Coswell followed him all the way to the boarding terminal.
When they reached it James stopped and turned around to her.
"You know, Coswell, you're not as bad as you try to make everyone think.."
She just smiled in response.
James hugged her and added, "maybe if you'd just open up a little and let people see that, you'd be a little happier.."
When he pulled away from her he could see a tear come down from behind her dark sunglasses.
"There's no need to cry," he said as he wiped the tear off her cheek.
"Maybe not, but I'm doing it anyway," she said with a slight smirk.
The intercom rang that his flight would be leaving in 5 minutes, and this was the last boarding call.
"I've got to go, can't miss it after all I paid."
"Yeah.. I really will miss you, Kojiro.."
He chuckled a little, "yeah, I'll miss you too, Coswell."
James turned and walked into the boarding terminal, showing his ticket as he went. At the corner he turned back, Coswell was still standing there, in her oversized black suit.. He waved, and she waved back with a smile, then he rounded the corner and was gone.
As he was making his way out to catch a cab he noticed the phone booths and decided to call home ahead of time. He inserted his quarter and dialed. After several rings someone picked up.
"Hello?"
James knew it was Jessie, but she sounded a little unusual, and he could hear some giggling in the background.
"Hey Jessie, it's me."
"Who?"
"James..."
"Oh, hey babe, when you coming back home?"
The giggling in the background seemed to get louder as she talked.
"Um.. I'm at the airport.. I'll be home in just a little while.."
"Good, I'll be waiting."
Jessie made a few strange kissing noises and hung up as the giggling seemed to grow into laughter.
It seemed pretty strange the way she was acting, she didn't seem at all mad about what had happened back in Thames. James decided she must be drinking, just by the strange tone her voice had taken on..
James knew he could call TIDA to come pick him up since he was on official business, but he didn't want to wait that long, so he caught the first cab he could and had the slavic driver use the fastest route home.
When they'd finally arrived in front of his small home, James stretched and reluctantly handed over the thirty-five dollars that the peevish immigrant said he was owed.. There was a car in front of the house that James didn't readily recognize, but he just shrugged it off and walked in.
Once inside he could hear the sound of the television blaring in the living room, and he went in. James was pleasantly surprised by the guests.
Butch and Cassidy turned to him with a smile from the far couch as he walked in, and Jessie sprang from her seat and jumped into his arms as he walked in, giving him a kiss.
James smiled, he hadn't expected things to go so smoothly..
"I thought you were mad the way you slugged me." James whispered in Jessie's ear as he set her back down on her feet.
"Don't worry, I'll tell you about it later." She whispered back as she pulled him back to the couch she'd been sitting on, pushed him down, and hopped on his lap.
"How's it going, James?" Cassidy asked.
"It's a lot better than I figured it would be," He said smiling back.
Butch nodded as it was his habit to let Cassidy do as much of the talking as possible.
Cassidy smiled and continued, "I hear you just got back from the west, how was it?"
James smiled a little and pinched Jessie's bottom as a sort of revenge since he knew she was the one that really wanted to know. Jessie pinched him back with a smile.
"Well, things are a little different there, but not much... The CIA's a little different than the TIDA.. but you know.. it's a cultural thing I suppose.." James thought back to the encounter with Fred and his two buddies.. "all in all it was fun. I definitely prefer it right here, though."
"That's pretty cool. Meet any interesting people?" Cassidy said as she grinned back.
James really wanted to be alone with Jessie for a little while, but he was never good at getting people to leave nicely...
Jessie seemed to read his mind though (as she often seemed to) and bid Butch and Cassidy a kind farewell, saying they should all get together again soon so they could see their nice new home. The two left amicably, and James sighed.
As soon as they were gone, though, Jessie turned to James with an angry expression on her face.
"I'm leaving you, James!"
James sighed and felt a sting in his head as he was rocked with the words.
Jessie smiled evilly, "I'm just kidding!" she said with a kiss.
James chuckled a little and smiled.. she liked to be cruel like that.
"I'm sorry about punching your lights out back in Thames too," she said rubbing the side of his head.
"What made you change your mind?" James asked..
Jessie smiled, "Well, I was thinking about it, and I knew you'd never leave me for her, I'm so very much prettier."
James grinned as she continued.
"Plus, a friend of yours gave me a call a couple of hours ago, said her name was 'Coswell.'"
"Oh yeah, what'd she say?"
"She said she was sorry, and that it was all her fault, you were just dragging her back to the hotel from her getting disgustingly drunk at a bar."
James thought about her, back in Oceania.. alone.. He hoped she'd find someone.. no he was sure she would, after all, if James could fall in love with an aggressive abusive girl like Jessie, there has to be someone for an introverted beauty like Jen..
Jessie pinched James back to reality.
"What was that for?"
"Because you haven't given me my 'I'm so glad to be back home with you' kiss yet"
James let out a short laugh then pulled her against him and kissed her.
"Why can't we be like that, Butch?"
"I dunno" Butch said with a shrug.
Cassidy growled and elbowed him in the side.
"Come on, lets get out of here before I see more than I want to.."
"Wait, I wanna see!" Butch said as Cassidy smacked him on the back of the head and pulled him over to the car. The two drove away, Cassidy smacking Butch one last time for good measure.