#agent xray

XXXXX

X-Ray had, in fact, been nowhere near Uniform and Zulu. The plan was for him to keep an eye on things; sitting only a table away from them. But he couldn’t even do that at the moment. His thoughts and feelings were too much to handle already. And there was always the possibility that he had to do what he did best. Which was something he really didn’t feel up to. Being that close to Uniform at a time like this made everything even worse.

Once Zulu had sat down and they all got to talking X-Ray left.

I have to get out of here.

As he shoved his way out the door he looked back. But they didn’t notice.

He lied to himself saying that he didn’t care.

The fall night air was chilly and hit him like a brick wall when he stepped outside. He was glad that he chose to wear layers for once in his life. X-Ray shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and walked down the sidewalk. With no destination in mind he walked around aimlessly eyes to the ground.

Every once in a while he would bump into some random civilian who would look at him like he was crazy. Or like they would kill him. He’d apologize quickly and walk on.

If they only knew, he thought to himself.

Sometimes he wished that his life was different.

This life was too much. The toll it took on his mind was something he could definitely live without. Most of what they did was horrific. All the lives they’ve ruined through the years. The things they’ve stolen. The lies they’ve spread. The governments they’ve toppled. The people they’ve killed. None of that was worth the small bits of happiness he rarely felt.

He could just leave.

It was completely possible.

H.E.R.A.C.L.E.S. would never find you, his mind told him. Do you think they’d really care to look?

But the opposite thoughts ran through his mind at the same time.

He had to do those things. What he was doing was right after all. The people they hunted down committed crimes, some unspeakable, and deserved to be punished. And besides, what chose did he have? An orphaned boy with a rap sheet longer than his arm didn’t have much choice in career paths.

And there were always the other facts;

They would find someone to take his place.

They would make him their next target.

They will make the team hunt you down and kill you. Every last one of them.

They had done the same thing to Alfa; the first agent of H.E.R.A.C.L.E.S. He escaped while on mission in North Korea or so the story went. And those in charge of the organization couldn’t let him live outside of their control. So they set his old team onto his trail. Those operatives did not stop until they found him. But they didn’t stop there either.

Leaving is not an option and you know it.

“I can dream can’t I?” he whispered to himself.

X-Ray thought about turning back.

The others needed him. They couldn’t do this without him. And besides they were not allowed. Regulation clearly stated that all able-bodied team members had to present for all missions they were needed for. The only reason for him not be on a mission was if he was in the infirmary.

But before he could make an actual decision a voice erupted through his comm.

X… my man! Where you?

Uniform was drunk; that much was clear. But he was never this drunk. He had never been drunk enough to be unable to speak clearly. The Raven always prided himself on being able to keep a clear head. Being able to be one step ahead of his target and keep them unawares of his true intentions. And on being able to handle his liquor.

But now he was barely stringing words together. And he didn’t use the fake names they decided on earlier.

Something else had to be going on.

Someone had ulterior motives that night and for once it wasn’t them.

“Are you still at the restaurant, sir?” X-Ray said; trying to keep up the cover just in case someone was listening in.

Nope, nope, nope.

He started to go back the way he came; trying to keep his head. But that was hard. Uniform was most likely drugged. His mind went straight to date rape drugs. One of which he was familiar with, since the operatives used them on a regular basis; Ketamine. Most commonly known by its street name; Special K. But it was also possible that Rohypnol, GHB, or Ecstasy were used to drug him.

X-Ray couldn’t tell much though just the sound of Un’s voice.

All he could do was ask questions and try to figure out where they were.

“Okay, is Zoe still with you?”

Shhhhh… She’s shleeping.

Slurred speech didn’t tell him much either. That was a symptom of far too many things; including being drunk. But Zulu had lost consciousness and passed out. That had narrowed things down a bit. The only problem was that he still had no idea where his friends were.

“Can you see okay? Can you describe where you are?”

Silence met his questions.

That was not good.

Diz.. Dizzzy. Can’t shee. Uniform said after a few minutes.

That was all X-Ray needed to know to confirm his suspicions. The two of them had to be drugged with Rohypnol. All of Uniform’s symptoms pointed to that drug. X-Ray started to quicken his pace to a run and started pushing people out of his way. He didn’t stop to apologize.

He had more pressing matters to deal with.

“You need to tell me something about where you are. Anything.”

It’sh dark. And cold. Can’t move.

The loss of movement also confirmed Rohnypnol. But the description gave him nothing more than he already had. He couldn’t work with dark and cold. That could be anywhere.

“Anything else?”

“Mr. Monroe? Mr. Monroe?!”

“UNIFORM?!”

He could feel eyes on him as he screamed. But he couldn't help it. The other side of the comm link was silent.

Shit.

X-Ray ran a hand over his face. His heart beat hard and fast and he could feel it through his chest. The only thing he could do was call the others. Tell them what was going on. And try to figure out where the hell they had been taken.

Someone had to have some idea.

XXXXX

India had just left the Prosperity Financial building and was in the process of hot-wiring a car in the lot. Turning the makeshift key, which was actually a small flathead screwdriver, once more the car roared to life. She smiled and pulled out of the parking space. Once she was on the road she started her way to the safe house. Turning the radio on she finally settled on a station when Delta’s voice rang through her ear.

X just got back to the car. The others are gone.

She swore under her breath. The scrawled notes on Forbes’ desk calendar aroused suspicions. Suspicions she told Delta about earlier. And now that they were proven India mentally scolded herself for doing nothing to prevent it.

What do we do, Indy?

“I don’t know, babe, you tell me. Fucking hell! I knew this was going to go to shit. I knew it!” she yelled; pulling at her hair.

The comms fell silent as she screamed in frustration.

X-Ray told her all that he knew once she calmed down. But it wasn’t much to go on. All they could go was start looking near the restaurant. Or back near Forbes’ apartment. India was closer to the apartment so she offered to search there and ordered the others to search where they were.

“You’re still in the alley across from Maya, right.”

We sure are, Delta said trying to remain as positive as possible.

“We can always count on you to keep things light, can’t we, babe?”

India didn’t give Delta the chance to respond before signing off.

She gripped the steering wheel tighter with one hand. With her free hand she turned the radio up louder. Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids and she tried to drown them with music and pain. But it didn’t work.

Taking a deep breath she screamed as loud as she could.

With that out of the way India tried to think of places Forbes could have taken her teammates. It was no use. All she could think about was how she let them down. It was her fault this had happened. She couldn't come up with a plan so they had to improvise one at last minute. Improv never lead to anything good.

What the hell am I going to tell Stevens?

What am I gonna say if they turn up dead?

Her mind was racing and she couldn’t think straight. It didn’t make any sense. Forbes had no prior arrest records for kidnapping or abduction. There wasn’t a single reason she would drug another person. And taking them against their will was something else entirely.

Why would she even take them? She’s a gambler. What does she need...

Then it hit her.

The gambling ring was fake. Everyone assumed that Jacqueline Forbes gambled because that’s what the signs pointed to. Photos of her going into seedy bars and talking to shady people. Countless security camera footage of her taking money from her multiple bank accounts. Rich friends with similar vices.

But people were only seeing what she wanted them to see.

There was a completely different side to the woman than the strong business woman. A side she definitely wanted to keep secret from everyone.

“X? Do you know if Forbes had any trauma in her past?”

She was an orphan for most of her life.  Was arrested once for prostitution and charged with a misdemeanor. But she was adopted by Henry and Michelle Forbes at age fifteen. Why?

“Just a hunch.”

Where’s this hunch leading, sweetie?

“To Zulu and Uniform, hopefully, babe.”

XXXXX

“Indy, I think I found something.”

Lay it on me.

“Seems like Forbes has been corresponding with someone in code. There are tons of emails here that look like complete nonsense.”

You think you can crack it?

Golf’s face twisted in thought. He wasn’t so sure but he had to try.

“Maybe…”

If a maybe’s all you got then I’ll take it. India out.

He tapped his comm. off needing the silence to work properly. There was only so much pressure he could take. Anything coming in would add to that. And would be distractions he really didn’t need.

Golf clicked inside the search box and typed the email address that the coded messages where coming from and being sent to.

Once the return had filled the page with all the emails he scrolled to the bottom. Clicking open the very first email he started to read. For all intents and purposes it looked like a normal business related email. Nothing jumped out at him at first. But he knew there was a code. He just had to crack it.

Easier said than done.

He copied the text of the email and opened a word document. Pasting the text into the blank doc he went back to the email list. Opening one email after another he copied them all. After pasting a few more into the same doc as the first one he searched for the clue. Golf left out the greeting and the closing since there was nothing different there. His eyes scanned the first word of each line of text.

But that had not created anything that made sense.

After that he tried the second word of each line. Again that had created a nonsensical string of words. Pulling at the edge of his sweater sleeve Golf thought about what to try next. But thinking was difficult at the moment.

The comm. had been too silent for his liking.

Silence never meant anything good.

Not in his experiences.

He tried to focus on the words; on the code hidden within. Trying to find the clue that told him what he needed to look for. There weren’t any obvious things that pointed out the code. No words in the text were randomly capitalized. Stacking the messages on top of one another had proved to be useless.

Then it hit him. It had to be the last word of each sentence. It just had to be.

But before he could test the theory India’s voice flowed through his ear once again.

Un and Zulu were taken by Forbes.

“Wha—What?”

You heard me, India said.

He heard her loud and clear but that wasn’t the problem. He just couldn’t believe it. Uniform was so careful about his work nothing would slip by him. And Zulu always picked up little nuances in people’s tone of voice. She would’ve definitely figured out if something was up. Both of them would have.

It just made no sense.

“Do you know where they are?”

No. Not a single damn lead.

“Any ideas as to why?”

Yeah. Seems like gambling isn’t the only sin she dabbles in. That was another ruse.

Golf waited.

I think she’s a madam. And a trafficker.

The severity hit Golf so hard that he had nothing to say. He just sat with his mouth hanging open in shock.

But we need more proof. And a lead on a place. So, we really need any info you’ve got.