<Episode 12>

“I don’t like this,” Jason said. The old man just ignored him and sat there. The whole situation stank to high heaven as far as he was concerned. First they were in the middle of an open cafe. Anderson’s men could be any where at the moment, they needed more cover to meet their contact. Then there was the matter of the contact. “I still say you should have let me make sure he was still with the cause first.”

“I have no reason to doubt him,” the old man said between sips of his coffee.

“It’s the first time we heard from him in months,” he pointed out. “Why now all of the sudden?”

“Ask him yourself.” The person they were waiting for walked up and sat in an empty chair at the table. He nodded at both of them and tried to not look suspicious as he looked around the area. “It was good to hear from you again,” the old man started. “I was starting to wonder if you were still alive.”

“I had to be careful. Anderson put the entire operation into overdrive ever since Jack’s system went active.”

“So that’s the insect’s name,” Jason said. Their contact nodded. “Do you still have the information you were supposed to give Kendall about that thing?”

“The information is locked up and they keep me under ‘need to know’ when it comes to his systems. I was going to tell him what little I knew before Anderson locked up the building.”

“And that’s when Kendall meet up with this Jack?”, the old man wondered out loud.

“From what I understand they spotted him a few blocks from the building. And after it got locked down I couldn’t get out without being questioned.”

“So why now?”

“It was the first chance I thought I had and still be safe. They have cameras all over this city. It’s a safe bet more than one saw me enter this place.”

“This is a trap,” Jason started to get up. The old man put a hand on his shoulder to keep him down.

“Believe me, if I thought they knew what the two of you looked like as humans I wouldn’t be here.”

“I’m assuming you know more about his systems by now”, the old man inquired.

“I written down what I know on this.” he pulled a notebook out of his briefcase and handed it to them. “I went into as much detail as I could, but you know more about this technology than I do.”

“True,” the old man put a hand into a pocket and pulled out a bottle filled with a neon green liquid. “Our people think this should disrupt the systems based on that technology. You’re the only one who can get close enough to give it to him.”

“If we’re lucky” Jason added, “it’ll be fatal.” Their contact looked a little distraught. Jason raised an eyebrow in suspicion, “You don’t approve?”

“I know he’s the enemy, but I gotten to know Jack. I don’t think he deserves this.”

“Tell that to Max.”

“Jason,” the old man warned.

“No, I heard about this. Jack left him alone.”

“He went back and took care of him.” He nodded his head toward the old man, “He saw it all.”

“Is this true?”

“From what I saw, yes.” Then he quickly added, “But Max didn’t seem himself. He was more animal than man. I’ve never seen him like that.”

Their contact was quiet for a few moments, just staring at the bottle. “I’m going to have to think about this.”

“Don’t take too long. But I’m telling you this has to be done.” Their contact just nodded and silently left the table. Jason stared at the old man in disbelief. “He needed all the facts.”

“Facts get in the way of the job.”

***

He stood in the center of a quiet part of the park. It looked about the same as the last time he saw it. Of course that was before the Drakan he and Rachel were watching turned into an ox and started trashing the place. It was the reason why he was back here. That Drakans personality change was as sudden as Max’s was. Although he had no clue what possessed to think him that he would find another dart. It’s been a couple of months since that happened. If there was a dart it was gone long before now. But he had to do something to try to but the pieces together.

“Think it out Davidson,” he told himself. He sat on the bench where the Drakan was and looked around. Where did that shot come from? He was in a pretty open area so it could have come from anywhere. But could somebody sneak a gun into the park and fire it without being seen. No, the best option was those buildings across the street, right behind the parking lot where they were. That thing could have gone right over their heads and they didn’t even hear it. But he still didn’t know who or why. Well actually he had an idea why, it’s just the who part that he wasn’t seeing. He sighed, there were way too many pieces to this puzzle that didn’t fit. Man, he really needed help putting this thing together. “Richie where’s that nerd brain of your when I really need it?”

“Jack.” He looked up for a moment before he recognized the voice as Rachel’s, “I’ve been looking for you.”

“How did you know I’d be here?”

“I… uh…,” she looked back at the parking lot, “saw the motorcycle. Thought I’d take a chance to see if it was you.”

“Hmm,” he tried to look thoughtful. “So you’re driving around town looking for me and you only stopped because you thought the bike might be mine.” He made a couple of tsk sounds. “Sounds like you have me on the brain. I’m sorry but that’s incurable.”

“Get over yourself.”

He looked insulted, “No.” Then he broke out in a grin, “So what’s up?”

“Nothing important,” she sat on the bench next to him. “I just want to make sure everything is alright. You’ve been kind of scarce ever since your upgrade.”

“Just trying to readjust,” he replied while flexing the fingers on his right hand. “But I think my imagination is playing tricks on me though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just some stupid stuff I’m blaming Richie for putting in my head. In those old school riders tapes he used to show me the hero was part machine too. They were super strong in and out of the suit.”

“Do you think you’re stronger when the system’s powered down?”

“Like I said, it’s probably in my head.”

“I could have them run some test to find out for sure.” He was afraid she was going to say that. “Only problem is there’s nothing to show how strong you were before the upgrades.”

“Look don’t worry about it,” he told her.” I’m sorry brought it up.”

“Ok, but I’m still going to talk to R&D to see if this is even possible.” Jack just shrugged his shoulders. Right now he had other things on his mind. “So why are you out here? Outside of the garage I never thought you be hanging around you old battle sites unless you had too.”

“I’m just… trying to wrap my head around something.”

“Need some help? I’m pretty good at figuring stuff out.”

“Maybe next time.”

“If you want to strain something go right ahead,” she said as she got up. “Don’t be a stranger though alright, you know were I am if you need to talk about anything.”

“I know.” He watched her walk off. Jack wanted to tell everything he knew. But that “uh” she uttered put his shields up. He’d been feed too many lines after hearing that sound to know better. Still, she was his closest friend at the moment, “Rachel.”

She stopped, “Yeah?”

“Did it ever bother you that Drakan we were watching just went nuts?”

“A little bit,” she admitted. “Maybe he had some kind of mental problem or something. It’s not like somebody made it go crazy right?”

Jack thought about that dart back at his place, “Right.”

***

“That’s an interesting possibility,” Barry said. Rachel had just told him what Jack told her about his strength earlier. “To be honest with you I never really thought about it.”

There were a lot of things nobody thought about on this project, herself included. “So do you think he’s imaging things?”

“I don’t want to say anything without anything concrete backing it up. Let me run some simulations on the computer first to see how likely this is. If you can get Jack to come in…”

“Sure give me the hard job.” He smiled as he turned to the computer. “Let me know if you find anything.” He nodded without turning away from the screen. As she left the room Rachel hoped Jack’s mind was playing tricks on him. His mood hasn’t been that great ever since they sent him after that group of children. And he was never happy about what he was turned into to begin with. There was no clue on how this was going to affect him. She better make herself more available to talk things over if he wanted to. Of course with Jack that would probably be happening right after hell froze over.

“Yo Rachel!”, Mitchell came around the corner. She slowed down so he could catch up. “Did you ever find Jack?”

“Yeah he was in the park getting some air.”

“Going over his past ‘victories’?”, he made quotation marks in the air as he said that. That was something she never saw him do before. Then again she never saw him in the same light after his big picture comment from a while back either.

“No, I think he needed some ‘me’ time.” At the moment she didn’t think it was wise to let him in on Jack’s current situation.

“Well his me time is getting into his training time. It’s been awhile since his he had one.”

“He was a little indisposed for a couple of months,” she reminded him.

“All the more reason to catch up. A weapon that’s getting dull is of no use to anybody.”

She stopped and grabbed his arm to make him face her. “You did not just say that. First of all Jack is not a weapon.”

Mitchell freed himself from her grasp. “You may not want to see it that way but it’s his place in the universe now. The both of you better get used to it.” He walked off.

“I’m really starting to hope Jack did get stronger,” she said mainly to herself, “because I can’t wait to see the look on your face.”

***

“Sorry I’m late,” Williams said as she entered the command center. “I wanted to double check the information we gotten a hold of. I’m sure nobody wants a repeat of what happened in the forest.” She looked at Haily and Davidson as she passed by them. “Rachel, Jack,” she said evenly.

“Did it get a little cold in here?”, Davidson muttered to Haily who hushed him.

“The extra caution is appreciated,” Anderson told her. “Hopefully with Allen out of the picture it won’t happen again.”

“Unless there’s another Allen in here somewhere,” Davidson said.

“Let’s hope not.” He turned to Williams, “So was the information accurate?”

“It seems that way.”

Davidson raised a hand, “For those of us who don’t know what the information is.”

“Forgive me. Some of our informants have told us of an envoy, possibly carrying something important to the rebels.”

“Do we know what it is?”, Haily asked.

“It could be a plan,” Williams answered, “could be a memo, they could be escorting a person. But there is one little problem. There are apparently three different couriers. They could each have a piece of what ever it is or two of the three could be decoys.”

“Good thing my bike gets good gas mileage.” Anderson had to smile to that one.

“While that’s true it will not necessary for this one. We’re sending out three teams. Mitchell will send out two teams to intercept two of the couriers. You will intercept the third Mr. Davidson.”

“Alone, of course,” he said, not seeming overjoyed by the prospect.

“There is a worry that a team would get in your way seeing how effective you are on your own.”

“I’m up to testing that theory out.”

“Perhaps on a less sensitive mission,” he told him.

“Our information, “Williams continued, “say the three routes they’re on will take them through the quieter parts of the city. So hopefully we can contain the situation as much as possible.”

Haily asked another question,” Are we going to track them to where ever they’re going?”

“No, our primary concern is the information they may have. Mr. Davidson you will be stationed here at the docks. It should be quiet this time of year so you shouldn’t be stopped as you investigate.”

“That’s a pretty big area for little old me to cover,” he said sounding surprised.

“I’m sure you can handle it.”

“Is it too late to mention I’m allergic to seafood?”

“No you’re not,” Haily told him. “You were eating a fish sandwich the other day.”

“It comes and goes.” Haily obviously wasn’t buying the story and crossed her arms in front of her. “I get seasick real easily? Eh, it was worth a shot.” Davidson headed out of the room. Haily sighed heavily and followed him out.

“I would have though killing a child would have affected him more,” Willaims said after they left.

“I’m sure he’s feeling it on the inside,” Anderson told her. But he had to agree in some way. If they were trying to convince people he went through with it, or a least felt something, they should at least know how to act.

***

Jack sat on an old crate with his jacket buttoned up. He passed the time by watching his breath on the chilly night and tracking the half moon in the sky. A small part of him remembered there was suppose to be a half moon the night the monkey blew up the mountain. The things you remember about events you wanted to forget. He saw Rachel get off her crate and start walking around trying to warm up. “I told you to bring a heavier jacket.”

“Like you knew it was going to be this cold,” she snapped while rubbing her arms.

“Well they got this new thing called the Weather Channel.”

“Whatever.” She paced some more. “You know a gentleman would give me his coat.”

“I’ll see if I can find you one,” he said as he flipped the hood over his head.

“Would it hurt you to at least make the offer?”

“You might take me up on it than I’d be cold.” Leaning back he said, “At least it’s warmer out here than it was in the command center.”

“What were you expecting?” She sat back on her crate, “Do you think we should tell them now? The kids have to be miles away from here by now.”

“If they were smart they’ll be in another state all together.” He scanned the docks again. Same as before nothing but a bunch of water and warehouses. But for a moment he thought he saw an old man in a suit standing by a warehouse door. Looking a little closer he didn’t see anything there, but he got off his crate anyway. He knew that old man. “Max?”, he uttered quietly.

“You see something?”, Rachel asked looking in the direction he was

Jack looked at her than back to the door. “Just… stretching my legs a bit.” He then started waving his arms around to keep up the act. But his gaze kept going back to that spot. His imagination was playing trick with him, that had to be it. There was no way Max could have been there.

“Well I think I do,” she was pointing toward the other end of the dock. A shadow just went behind a building. No way he’d imagined that one. “Come on, I’ll follow while you head that way and cut him off.”

“Right, be careful.” Jack hurried off to catch whoever it was before she caught up with it. Taking the corner he flat out ran down the space between the buildings. He heard two sets of footsteps coming at him but it turned to one soon enough. Jack slowed down when he saw the briefcase just sitting on the ground. Rachel came up soon after just as confused as he was.

“Did you see anybody?”, she asked almost out of breath.

“Would I be standing here if I saw anybody?”

“This one had to be a decoy, why else would he leave it?”

“I don’t know, maybe so we stand around looking like a couple of…,” he trailed off. They both looked like they had the same thought. “Ah crap,” he looked up to see a mass of blue coming at them. He pushed Rachel out of the way as it landed and knocked him back. He stared into the black eyes of a Drakan that looked a like a grasshopper. He quickly raised his left arm and the belt materialized around over the jacket. He moved the arm to the left and raised his right arm. The grasshopper suddenly jumped over him and grabbed him around the neck. The pressure quickly grew and he couldn’t breath. Jack tried to elbow the thing behind him but couldn’t get a good shot in. Running out of ideas he kicked his right leg back between it’s legs. It made a noise and the pressure around his neck stopped. He pushed away to get some distance between them and got his arms back into position. “Henshin!,” he choked out and hit the top of the belt. He turned around to face the Drakan as Fusion armor covered him.

Holding his neck for a moment he punched the grasshopper in the face as it straightened up. Unleashing a backhand he made the Drakan spin around. He wasn’t expecting the foot that came around and caught him in the head. Jack’s head snapped back as he went to a knee. Its’ knee came up and hit him under the chin and he fell to his back. The Drakan stomped his foot down onto his chest and he felt it through the armor. Jack grabbed the foot and twisted. The antennas on it’s’ head went wild as it tried to maintain its’ balance. He kicked it in the back as he got to his feet. The grasshopper went down but it planted its’ hands and kicked both of its’ feet back. Jack went flying from the impact.

Jack slowly got up saying, “Oh yeah, I felt that one.” He looked up to see the Drakan rushing at him. “Oy,” was all he got out before the grasshopper tackled him and they crashed into a set of crates behind him. Jack slammed his forearms into the side of its’ head, stunning it. Letting his frustration get the better of him he picked the Drakan up, turned and slammed him back into the crates. Jack started throwing punches then threw the grasshopper out of the mess. He ran in with every intention of pounding that bug into the ground. But it jumped out of the way so all he got was concrete. Jack watched as it landed and jumped again, this time landing on the roof of a warehouse. “No you don’t,” he said as he ran and jumped to the roof too.

The grasshopper looked surprised to see him up there. For a brief moment he impressed himself before he got serious again. He charged the grasshopper praying it was still too shocked to move. Faking a punch he hit a side kick to the stomach. He missed an elbow to the back of its’ head that left him open to a leg sweep. Jack blocked a stomp aimed at his head and got to his feet quickly. He saw the meter start to flash. Jack grabbed the right pod on his belt and twisted up. The charge that built up went up his side and down his right arm rather quickly. Making a fist he ducked a swing and landed a straight punch to its ribs. The grasshopper flew over the side before exploding. He held his back for a moment after it was over, “Gonna feel this one in the morning.”

***

“I have some unfortunate news,” Mr. Anderson said the next day. Jack muttered something under his breath but she paid attention to the boss. “While all three teams successfully intercepted their targets all three turned out to be decoys. In fact all three cases were rigged to explode when opened.”

“Well duh,” Jack blurted out,” they got a monkey who has explosives as a hobby.”

“True, fortunately the one who found this out personally is going to survive.”

“You gonna hook him up too?”, Jack asked.

“A second operative with the Fusion system cold be helpful,” she added. “If he was treated right,” she aimed the shot directly at Mitchell who ignored it.

He did say, “Outside of a hand he’s not considered a candidate.”

“Dude doesn’t know how lucky he is then,” Jack said as he got up and headed for the door. “I got something to check out, so later.”

She got up too, “I have to finish the report. I’ll have it for you as soon as I can.” She really wasn’t in the mood to be in the same room as Mitchell at the moment, no matter who else was in there.

***

Anderson waited until the door was closed before speaking to Mitchell, “Well?”

“Danny found nothing.” Anderson didn’t bother to hide his disappointment. “If Jack found the dart he’s not hiding it in his apartment.”

“But we still can’t count out the possibility that he has it, so I sent him out for nothing,” he sighed heavily. “At least three rebels operatives are out of the picture so the nights wasn’t a total loss.” He turned to look out his window. “Are you thinking the same thing I am about the information we received?”

“They were seeing were they got leaks.” Anderson’s thought exactly.

“Well we have to be a little more careful about what we hear from now on.”

***

Jack found the door open and the man he was looking for sitting at his desk. He knocked on the door any way. Dr. Friedman looked at him and gave him a friendly smile after a moment. “Can I come in?”

“Anytime at all,” he got up looking a little concerned. “Are you feeling any after affects from last night?”

“Nothing a couple of aspirin won’t fix, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Oh,” he looked curious, “why are you here than?”

He hesitated for a bit, “I can trust you to keep something on the down low right?”

“Of course, what kind of doctor would I be if I couldn’t?”

“Do you remember that Drakan at the college campus from a couple of days back?”

“Yes, I heard it wasn’t violent so you let it alone. It was the talk of the building for the rest of the day.”

“Yeah but nobody knows I went back.” Friedman’s demeanor changed slightly.

“And you fought and killed him,” he said rather matter of factly. Almost like he was expecting it.

“That wasn’t the idea when I went back.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t know about you but I noticed some things that’s not meshing with everything else. I went back hoping he had some answers.”

“So what happened?”

“Well we were talking then I think he got hit with something. As crazy as this sounds he went nuts and attacked me right after that. You have to believe me, I didn’t want it to happen that way. But after it was over I found this,” he reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Unwrapping it revealed the black dart. “You think you can tell me what was in this?”

“Maybe, but do you think somebody wanted you to fight the Drakan?”

“I wouldn’t believe it either, but it’s the only thing that’s making sense right now.”

“Can I ask you why you want to know so badly?”

“I come across a lot of rotten people in my life, and he was definitely one of the good ones. If somebody wanted this done to him I want to put his head on a pike.”

“I’ll try my best, but I’m not promising anything but I’ll try to see what was in here.” Jack nodded than looked over the doctor’s shoulder into his open briefcase.

“Hopefully it’s not that.” He pointed to a bottle holding a neon green liquid. “That’s some nasty looking stuff you got there.”

“Oh that,” he said nervously, “a colleague of mine gave it too me. I have a patient who’s severely sick. He said that would help him in some way.” Friedman was quiet for a few moments and looked at him. “Although I’m starting to wonder if the side effects are worse than the actual disease at the moment.”

“Nothing can be as bad as that looks, but I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.”

“I hope your right.” He pocketed the dart and patted it. “I’ll let you know what I find as soon as I can.”

“Thanks Doc. I don’t know how it will help, but maybe it’ll give another piece of the puzzle I didn’t have before.” Friedman agreed and he left the room. He reached the elevator and went in. Before the door closed he thought he heard the sound of breaking glass, but he dismissed it. “First you’re seeing things and now you’re hearing things. Davidson this place is driving you crazy.”