From: Frank Curtin <curtin@fcc.net>


To: JQML@onelist.com
From: curtin@fcc.net

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Quests or Bannons, they all belong to
the folks over at Hanna Barbara. I am not making any money off of this
fic, although gifts are always appreciated.

Type: This is and HR, E, and F as far as I know. If anyone thinks
another category is needed, I will be more than happy to add it. This
story has some
Adult appropriate content (brief, mild language: sexual implications).
Feel free to enter this (if it ever gets through!) in both the Wildley
awards and the archive.

                                             Past, Present, and Future

     November 7th, 12:45am, 2012
 Bryne sat crouched in the doorway of the research room. Looking down he
checked his watch. *Almost time* he thought. It was just a few more
seconds until the guards traded off. Just another second. *Now!* Bryne
sprang quickly to his feet and was into the room before either of the
guards could finish yawning. The late shift was apparently not their cup
of tea. Outside in the hallway he could hear the new one exchanging the
evening's events with his predecessor.  Obviously neither, thankfully,
had heard Bryne's hurried movements or his back would already be lined
with bullet holes.
 Sometimes the job was just a little too dangerous for comfort. But if
all he wanted out of life was comfort, he wouldn't be in this line of
work, Bryne reflection with a sadistic half grin. As long as there was
work, Bryne would kept with his current occupation. Of course, there
were always jobs available for professional thieves, especially those
who steal high level technology from corporations like Vertutech. He was
a highly regarded man with many employers vying for his special talents.

 *How 'bout that software. Ah, there you are.* Bryne quickly hacked into
the nearest computer and began to work. In no time he had accessed
precisely what he needed, the "instruction manual" so to speak for the
latest in global peace keeping technology, Sub-atomic nuclear war heads.
*Got it! Guess it's time to hit the road. I'd like to thank all those
guards out there who've been to busy to sleep at home. Thanks, guys. If
it wasn't for your lack of attention things might have had to have
gotten messy. See you later.* With that last thought Bryne turned off
the Vertutech security system, shut down the computer, and proceeded to
walk over to the window. *Not a bad night's work,* he concluded. *Night
a bad night at all,* and without any hesitation he opened the window and
jumped out, sending himself hurtling down thirteen stories to the
awaiting cement below.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 Bryne let out a very satisfying yawn as he entered his temporary
two-story condo. He glanced down at his watch. He noticed himself doing
that a lot lately. *By this time tomorrow this place'll be someone
else's problem, this little package will be with its owner, and I'll be
eight grand richer.* It was pleasant thought to drift off to sleep with.

    November 10th, 4:20am
 Bryne was startled into wakefulness by the sudden beeping sound emitted
from his computer. Between his flight back home from Vertutech's
California installation a day ago and his reoccurring dreams, Bryne was
exhausted. In them he kept seeing this red head with cat green eyes in
his dreams. She had the most amazing eyes and her hair was like an
untamable beast on top of her head. Every night he had the same dream
and in each something different was happening with her. Nothing about
his dreams made sense, especially since they kept changing. One night
the dream would be set in a place like Panama, and the next they were in
ancient Greece. The only constants were the woman, who happened to be
more beautiful than he even could ever have imagined while he was awake,
himself, and the plot. The two of them were together, happy and giddily
in love, and then someone would try to kill him for some reason or
another. They could never quite managed to pull that off because
whenever they got close to accomplishing their task, the woman would
sacrifice her life to save his. He couldn't for life of him understand
what the dreams meant or the reason why he was having them.
 None of it added up, but he could understand what the results would be.
Him and a lack of sleep until the dreams stopped. Constants and factors?
You're thinking in math terms again, West, a little voice piped up from
somewhere in the back of his mind. That is definitely not a good sign.
 Hobbling over to his desk Bryne sat down on a stool next to his
computer. YOU HAVE AN E-MAIL it read.  Bryne sat back and allowed his
processor to decrypt the incoming message.
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  *Hm,* he thought after reading the letter. *It is, in all aspects, an
interesting proposition. This mission would certainly boost my
reputation, no one has ever gotten into Vertutech's head building. I'll
have to think about it. After all, everything deserves a fair chance,*
he mused as he turned to face the screen and began to type. I'll give it
a glance, but no deal. Yet.  He needed to check things out first. * Well
it looks like it's off to the Big Apple for a while.*
*************************************************************
   November 12th, 8:49am
  Jessica rolled over and touched the other side of the queen-sized bed.
It was, thankfully, empty. Yesterday had been pure hell, even by her
standards. First, she'd had an international crisis to deal concerning a
shipment, or lack thereof, of software that absolutely no one else
anywhere in the entire corporation could handle. It had to be dealt with
by her, and her alone. Unfortunately she didn't know the first thing
about profits and sales or any thing else "businessy". She had spent the
whole day calming down people from eight different countries who each
spoke a different language.  All day she had thanked G-d for her mother
insisting that she take at least three high school foreign language
classes.
 The day had been horrendous and when she got home all she wanted to do
was to take long, hot bath and sleep for the next six years. Her fiancé,
on the other hand, had had other, more physical plans, for the two of
them. Not that Jake knew what her day had been like. So as to better
protect her, Jessica's true identity was a complete secret from all but
a dozen select individuals. Not even her family knew she was the
president of the most powerful company on the planet.  Jessica wondered
if he would have changed his plans if he had known what she'd put up
with earlier that day. *Not likely,* she thought.
 Sometimes she wondered why she put up with him. She knew she didn't
love him, or at least not the way she should. Moving her thoughts from
Jake she turned to face her digital clock.
 It was getting late and she knew she should be moving to get ready for
work, but she just didn't feel like it. She was so tired. Every night
for the past several weeks she'd been plagued by strange dreams. They
were very disconcerting, but there was a really cute guy. *Thank
goodness for small blessings,* she concluded as she glanced over at the
alarm clock.
  "OHMYG-D!" she screamed as her eyes fell on the time. "It can't be
that late! It's not possible!" Flinging her body off the mattress,
Jessica hit the floor at a dead run. Not once in the eight years she had
worked at Vertutech, one as an inventor/programmer and seven as its
president, had she been anything but precisely punctual. "Not today. I
can't be late today," she moaned out loud as she rushed through her
toiletry. In less than five minutes Jessica was ready to go.
 Grabbing her briefcase Jessica bolted out of her apartment and down the
five flights of stairs it took her to get to the city streets below.
*Myshell is going to kill me! We were supposed to start working on
Alphaomega an hour and a half ago. She's never going to let me forget
this. Man!* she yelled at herself.  When she finally reached the street
she was at a dead run, giving everything to the effort of getting to the
office, twelve blocks away.
 *It's a good thing I was on the track team in high school and was
captain in college. Not that any of that really prepared me for
sprinting to work like this.*
*************************************************************
     9:00am
Bryne calmly circled the Vertutech building. On the outside, it looked
any other business building, plain and modern, and, for the most part it
was. Most of the offices were used for basic software programming and
plain ordinary technological development. Few passersby suspected
anything other than what its appearance implied. Fewer stiller actually
knew what went on in the high-level security research rooms on the top
most level. If the average citizen knew what was being made in those
rooms.... Scarier still was that Vertutech was a privately owned
establishment, not in any way connected to the government.
Everything outside looked fine, inside too. None of his sweeps had
revealed any obvious obstacles. Bryne was, by nature, more worried about
the not so apparent ones. *It looks too easy. This is supposed to be
their head quarters and yet this place has even less security than the
down town seven-eleven. Must have some great surprises inside. To bad I
hate surprises,* thought Bryne as he shook his head and slowly rounded
the next corner, crashing into a fast moving body.
"Ugh! Watch where going, would you?" yelled an angry, high pitched
female voice from next to him on the ground. Bryne stood up and brushed
the dirt off his clothes. He had a mind to tell her the same thing.
Opening his mouth to do just that, he stopped himself short when he got
a look at her.  *My G-d, look at her. I know I've seen her before,
somewhere. I wish I could remember.* There was something incredibly
familiar about her, especially her tightly pinned back hair. Bryne
couldn't ever remember seeing hair that brilliant shade of red, at
least, not when it hadn't come out of a box.
"Excuse me but, have we ever met? I have the strangest feeling of déjà
vu," Bryne asked as he leaned over to help her pick up her papers. The
clasp of her briefcase had broken when the two had collided and its
contents had spilled everywhere. She looked up at him and their eyes
met.
"You know," she said shakily, "I suddenly have the same feeling. I'm
very sorry about knocking you over like that, but I was on my way to
work."
"You looked more like you were running the New York City marathon than
going to work. By the way, my name is Bryne West. I work over at
Ribosal," Bryne said as he handed the woman the last of her papers. He
extended his hand to her, "Nice to meet you."
"Um, the pleasure is all mine, I think. My name is Jessica Bannon. I'm a
programmer for Vertutech," she answered, clasping his hand and firmly
shaking. She had a good grip, he noticed appreciatively. *Obviously
works out. Beautiful face. Unusual coloring. Great body. Overall, not a
bad total package.* Bryne wondered what she would say if she could hear
exactly what he was thinking. Little did he know, her thoughts had hit a
similar groove.
*Wow.* Jessica was stunned. She'd never met anyone who looked quite like
him. *His eyes are such a clear blue. It's like looking into an icicle.
And his hair. I don't think I've ever seen anything that black before.
Wow.*
"I know this is kind of sudden," Bryne began, "but would you like to
meet me for some coffee this afternoon. Say around one at the Central
Perk. It's right down the block, over there." Bryne turned and pointed
in the direction of the small coffeehouse. *What the hell do you think
you're doing, West? You don't even this woman. Sure she's beautiful, but
for all you know she's psychopathical and spends her nights planning her
murders.*
"Sure. Um, that sounds nice. See you then." *Fool! What if he's a newly
released convict or something even worse, like one of Dr. Zin's agents.
Just because he has a nice pair of eyes doesn't mean you can toss
caution to the wind. On the other hand maybe you need to stop being so
cautious all the time. After all, that is what got you into this
wonderful situation with Jake, isn't it?*
*************************************************************
9:18am
"Hey, sorry I'm late. Myshell, you are never, not in a million years,
going to guess what just happened to me," Jessica puffed. The elevator
hadn't been working and Jessica had to run up sixteen flights of stairs,
all the while knowing she was insanely late. Her face was almost as red
as her hair and her heartbeat was up to 156. Slowly she began to breathe
more deeply and her skin tone gradually changed back to normal.
"Let me guess. You were attacked by terrorists, or maybe Surd sent
Lorenzo out to kidnap you, or maybe a bomb was found in the World Trade
Center and you were called down to diffuse it. Of course knowing you
it's something new, but no less weird and Bannon like. I do know how you
hate to do things more than once," Myshell said teasingly to her best
friend. She knew that Jessica was a trouble magnet and couldn't even
take a vacation for fear of having to deal with an international
incident while trying to relax. Some new catastrophe always managed to
pop up just when she was ready to take a short breather. All things
considered it was a wonder her hair hadn't taken on the white shade her
father's was.
"Actually, I was so tired from yesterday that I slept in and...."
"You're joking! You sleep in?! You'll never live this down Miss
Punctuality! When I think of all the times...."
"Would you shut up and listen to me?" Jessica proceeded to relate the
morning's events to Myshell. "What am I going to do? I don't know
anything about this guy."
"Check him out." When she saw her friend's jaw drop she rushed to
explain herself. "I mean why don't you look at his business profile. He
said he worked at Ribosal. You can easily hack into their systems and
see what he's like. And don't worry about Jake," she added, anticipating
her friend's next question, "he'll never know. If we could, I'd like to
hear more about this guy, he sounds great."
"What about Alphaomega?"
"You're the president, Jess. Who's gonna tell you to get to work, one of
the partners? You know that they'd back me one hundred percent. Getting
back on track, I'd like you to start with the eyes...."
*************************************************************
     10:30am
*Well, well, well. Looks like Miss Bannon happens to be the president of
the most powerful organization in the world. This could be a very useful
piece of information.* Upon arriving home Bryne had immediately settled
down to check out his date, just to make sure she wasn't going to try
and kill him. Using a specially designed, one of a kind program Bryne
had finally been able to get hold of some non existent information,
namely a complete background profile on Jessica Elise Bannon. What he
had found had been a complete shock, to say the least. *Now that I've
got this interesting bit of information, what am I going to do with it?*
Bryne knew he couldn't hurt her, killing or blackmailing her were
equally out of the question. He might not even be able to steal from
her. He didn't know why, he just couldn't. It was like an instinct or
something, something that he couldn't explain.
  *Almost time to go. I can't keep Jessica waiting.* He was already
thinking of her on a first name basis. You'd better watch your back,
West. Of all the things that you deal with, this woman could be the one
to bring you down.
*************************************************************



    1:00pm
*She's not coming. She probably changed her mind as soon as she got into
the office and felt safe. You probably sacred her into accepting and as
soon as she....*
"Hey! Bryne!" Jess called out as she ran over to the table he was
sitting at in front of the Central Perk. "Sorry I'm late." She was out
of breath, just like this morning.
"Do you run everywhere?" Bryne asked, using a lopsided grin to soften
the question. He was glad to see her, even if she was a little late.
"Only when I'm late," Jess replied, grinning right back at him. "I'm
dead, let's get something to drink. Preferably with large amounts of
caffeine."
"Big java fan, huh?"
"Nope, I hate the stuff. I hardly ever drink it. Usually I won't even go
into a room that has a coffeepot. I wouldn't want to become a java
junkie. How 'bout you?" Jess was nervous and because she was so nervous,
she was babbling, all the while hating herself for sounding so stupid.
*Idiot! Go ahead, insult him. What if he always drinks coffee? I'm sure
this will endear you to him.* Jess could feel her body tensing up,
something it never did. She couldn't believe she was so nervous. *What
is wrong with you? Calm down. Do you hear me? Be calm. It's just a
normal guy. Remember all the things you've done. If you take a deep
breath everything will be just fine.*
  "It's okay, but, to tell you the truth, I'd rather have a glass of
orange juice," and with that her nervousness disappeared and her faced
cracked into a smile. He'd finally broken the ice. After that, things
were great between the two of them. Both felt comfortable enough to talk
about anything. They discussed politics, the national debt, their
childhoods, and anything else that popped into their heads. Bryne was
surprised to find himself telling so much of the truth. He couldn't
remember a time before when he'd ever felt so comfortable with another
human being.
"I can't believe we've been here so long. I was supposed to be back at
work at two and it's almost six. I've definitely gotta go," Jess sighed
as she stood up. She really didn't want to go. As a matter of fact she
didn't really want to do anything except stay with him. Permanently. She
wanted to talk to him, to kiss him, to... *What are you nuts? You,
sister, are in big trouble.*
"Are you sure? I don't know why, but I can't stand the thought of this
day ending. Is there anything I can do to stop you? Jess?" The eager
look on his face was absolutely charming. She almost couldn't do it.
"I really have to go but I have just one more question."
"Shoot."
"Why did you lie to me and say you worked at Ribosal? I checked their
files this afternoon with one of my friends," as she talked she saw
Bryne's face cloud over and close up. Involuntarily she sped up, "and
you weren't in there. I was hoping... Bryne! Wait, don't go!" Jess
called out, but it was in vain. Bryne was already out the door and
halfway down the block before she could even finish the sentence. Jess
tried to follow but only succeeded in losing him and getting swallowed
up in rush hour traffic. She sighed. *Well, Bannon, that was eloquently
done.*
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Stupid! How could you have let her do that? You should never have let
your guard down. Now she's suspicious of you.* Is that really why you're
so angry? Or are you pissed because now you can't see her any more?
He hated the little voice in his head, it always knew what he was
thinking and it always told the truth, whether he wanted to hear it or
not. *Everything is all screwed up now, and I still have to rob
Vertutech.* The only time life was difficult was when he let his
emotions get involved, not that happened all that often anymore. At
least, not until today.
*************************************************************
9:30pm
*I should never have even mentioned it.* Jess had been in a funk ever
since she had left the coffee house that evening. She'd gone back to
work but had been so unpleasant that Myshell had noticed it and took her
aside in order to let her know. This was in order to make sure she could
protect herself when one of the technicians finally snapped. She had
only been trying to help and all she had gotten for her trouble was a
twenty-minute curse out from her aggravated friend. Needless to say, she
had been immediately sent home so that she could "blow off some steam"
and take several midol pills. Actually, Myshell had told her to take the
whole bottle, but Jessica hadn't been paying all that much attention.
Jessica had then proceeded to curse everything she could think of on her
walk back to her building, then up the five flights of stairs to her
apartment. When she had run out of dirty things to say in English she
had turned to the other fifteen languages she was fluent in.
Upon arriving at her apartment Jessica had discovered a note from Jake
stating that he would be away on business for the rest of the month. It
also said that he'd have a surprise for her as soon as he got back. *Oh
goody,* she thought before carelessly tossing the note out the  kitchen
window. Jessica crossed the living room and went into the extra room
where her clothes were, carelessly stripping off her work clothes as she
went. She finished undressing and put on a pair of comfy old shorts and
a deep, red, button down shirt that she had stolen from her father on
her last visit to Maine.
  "Ugh!" Jessica tried to cry out as one strong hand clamped down over
her mouth and another encircled her waist, holding her like a vise. She
couldn't move, the arms wouldn't let her, but she struggled any way, all
the while knowing that it was useless.
"Jess, calm down," said a deep, familiar voice from behind her. "It's
me, Bryne." The hand on her mouth dropped and Jessica felt the arms
entrapping her loosen so as to allow her to escape. As she turned to
face her attacker, Jessica spotted the nearby window, which was now
gapping open. *How could I not have heard him?*
"What do you think you're doing breaking into my apartment like this?"
she said icily. Even though she hadn't been able to stop thinking about
him she resented his intrusion into her house. It made her feel very
uncomfortable knowing that he could come and go like that.
"I wanted to apologize... for running out like that. It was rude."
"You could have called or...."
"You have an unlisted number. Besides, I couldn't stop thinking about
you ever since I ran out before," his hands found their way to her hair
and pulled out the bobby pins that had been holding the unruly strands
in place. The silky hair came tumbling down in waves, which he buried
his face in and sifted through with his hands. Jessica's breath hit the
back of her throat like a truck full of bricks. *My G-d. Why am I
letting him do this? I should stop him, push him away or something,* she
told herself, but didn't do either. Instead, she coiled her arms up
around his neck and hid her face in his chest.
"I had no right to accuse you of lying like that, especially not since I
didn't tell you everything," she mumbled into his chest. "I'm...not who
you think I am. I...." She trailed off. He reached down and picked up
her head, bringing them eye to eye.
"Go on." When she hesitated he added, "I promise, I'll never use it
against you." *Ever,* he added silently to himself.
She took a deep breath and started again. "I'm the president of
Vertutech. In order to protect myself from kidnappers and the likes I
tell everyone that I'm an ordinary binary programmer. Even my family
doesn't know. We...." Her voice caught in her throat. She'd been distant
to too many people for too long. She had needed someone to share her
secret with for as long as she had kept it. And now she had that
someone.
"I," the two said in unison. And then they started to laugh, long and
hearty. A deep, comforting, tension releasing laugh. It was one of the
most wonderful experiences of their lives, and it was just laughing.
Jessica reached behind his head and pulled his mouth down to meet hers
in a kiss. When it was finished Bryne grinned at Jessica and watched as
a mischievous smile crossed over her face. Jessica reached over and
laced her fingers with his, and then began to pull him out of the room.
  She dragged him down the hallway and into her bedroom. Bryne's grin
faded as he realized where they were headed. He wondered if she
understood what she was implying and if she'd be able to handle him
excepting. Actually, he was more curious to know if he could handle it.
"Jess, you don't have to...," he started, but she quickly cut him off.
"I want to."
*************************************************************
            November 13, 5:15am
Jessica reached over to feel the opposite side of the bed, only to find
that it was empty. She turned to face it, sighing as she did so. *Did
you honestly think he was going to stick around? Honestly, I don't
what's gotten into me.* Bet I do, said an impish voice in the back of
her head. Jessica couldn't understand what was going on with her. She
had always been the levelheaded, feet on the ground, reliable type. Not
that her actions in the past day had shown it. If anything, they had
proved just the opposite. She wanted so much to feel ashamed of what she
had done, but, strangely, she didn't. I Instead, she felt invigorated
and cheerful, a combination she hadn't experienced since she was a
teenager. Never had she shared her self with another being like that
before, not even with Jake. *Well, what am I going to do now?* Go to
work, just like any other day. Nothing has changed out there, just in
here. With that thought fresh in her mind, Jessica hopped out of bed and
began to whistle as she cheerfully hopped into the shower and prepared
for work.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bryne had never felt like this before, ever. He found himself
experiencing a lot of new feelings lately, ever since he had started
seeing her. *What you're doing doesn't qualify as seeing. After all, it
was only one lousy date. Pretty much. Now snap out of it or your going
to get yourself hurt. Right now you've got a job to do. You've still
gotta get that Alphaomega file from Vertutech, remember? I suggest that
if you still value your life, you should start paying attention. The
Vertutech security here is going to be tough enough without you
daydreaming about that red headed bombshell.*
Snapping out of his daze Bryne finished packing up and left his  rented
apartment, briefcase in hand. Quickly crossing the street to the
Vertutech building Bryne had no trouble slipping into the building and
getting on to the second level. He glanced down at his watch. It read
5:17. *Right on schedule. Well, no time like the present. Let's get
started.*
Bryne took out a portable laptop and a special program supplied by his
employer from his briefcase and hooked it into the nearest outlet. He
then proceeded to hack into their defense system. All he had to do was
reset it a few minutes later than its intended programming and he would
be all set. *Just ... one ... more ... digit ... got it. There. That
should give me a good ten minutes to get into Alphaomega once I get up
to the room. Of course, getting there is half the fun.* Bryne quickly
disconnected his computer and replaced it with a pair of climbing
gloves, the very latest in covert technology courtesy of the Russian
government. The gloves would, somehow, allow him to scale the outer
walls without any other climbing gear. Next he took out a stethoscope, a
glasscutter, an M-16, and a 50-caliber sniper rifle with killing
capabilities up to a mile away. The last was probably overkill, but it
never hurt to be careful. Tucking all of his unneeded equipment away,
Bryne hosted his little pack of goodies onto his back and crawled out of
the window.
Peeking out, Bryne looked from side to side, checking for any guards or
wayward onlookers. Lucky for him the sun wouldn't be rising for about
another hour and a half at 6:50. Luckier still was that the building
didn't officially open until 7:30, which would give him plenty of time
to finish the job and get out before Jess got there. It still bothered
him, now more than ever, that he had to steal from her. You have to
steal from her? I thought it was just to make a living, his conscience
asked. It's nothing personal after all. Turning his attention back to
the task at hand, Bryne began his ascent up the wall, a perfect
ninety-degree angle. *If nothing else, it's nice to know I'm still in
good enough shape to do this. Oh, boy. There we go,* he thought as he
hosted himself up to the window of one of the research rooms. Using the
glasscutter Bryne expertly made a hole in the window for his hand to fit
through. He reached in and unlocked it, allowing him access to a carbon
copy of almost every other room in the building.
The similarities in décor made the already all but impossible art of
burglary even less likely. Fortunately for him, Bryne had done this so
many times he could find the room he needed blindfolded. Up he went,
into the air vent over head and down its twisting passageways. After an
eternity of crawling he finally reached his destination, room #468m.
Cautiously, he slid the grid off the vent and jumped down into the
middle of the room. *No one here, good. That'll make this easier.*
Striding over to the nearest computer he sat and began to enter his
stolen pass words. Within two minutes he had accessed the Alphaomega
file and was transferring it's data on to a disc.
Loud voices began to gather outside in the nearby hallway. By straining
Bryne could make out part of the hurried conversation.
"An intruder...man about thirty...came in through the front entrance but
never left...probably a thief of some kind...shoot to kill."
*I guess the jig is up. Time to get lost.* Quickly packing up Bryne
grabbed the disc and stuffed it into his jacket. He exited the file and
disconnected the main server, then shut it down. *All set.* Next door,
he could hear the guards searching the other rooms.
"Freeze!" came an authoritative voice from behind him. "Turn around
slowly and place whatever you've taken on the desk on your right. I
wanna see your hands, mister."
"Okay buddy, just relax. I've got something you want and you've got
something I want. Maybe we can make a deal."
"I don't make deals with pondscum!"
"Too bad," Bryne murmured as he let his right knee collapse sending him
rolling. Popping up Bryne grabbed a nearby chair and swung it at the
guard. The guard ducked and swung his arm out to the side to maintain
his balance.  The chair missed its desired mark, but it did disrupt the
guard's equilibrium enough for Bryne to slip behind him and cuff him on
the back of the head. The guard's body slumped to the ground and made a
sick thudding sound as it hit the floor. Bryne set to work stripping the
body and taking his weapons. When he was completely changed Bryne took
out his equipment and placed it in his pack, which he hosted over his
shoulder. Bryne peeked his head out the door to check for any of the
other guards. With a little luck no one would remember the man sent to
search his room until after he was gone.
*************************************************************
     9:13am
"What the hell happened here?" Jessica cried out as she walked into her
research room. The furniture had been tossed around with her favorite
chair lying upside down on the wrong side of the room. And there,
sitting in the middle of the floor was one of the laboratory guards, all
tied up just like a Christmas turkey.
"Charlie!" Jess yelled into the nearby intercom. " Get up here now!"
Jessica walked over to the naked guard and began to untie him.  "For
some weird reason, I get the feeling we've had an intruder."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"How could this have happened, Charlie? Our security system is state of
the art, the best there is, I should know, I helped design it." After
two hours of dealing with perimeter sweeping, internal searching, and
dumbfounded security types Jessica was about ready to snap. "Do we even
know what was stolen? Or is that answer just out of your reach also?"
"You know, Jess, you're not always the most pleasant person to deal
with. Yes, we do know what was taken and how they managed to pull it
off."
"Well?"
"The intruder entered through the front door and hacked our security
program. We don't know how he managed to get in there, especially with
all the proofs we've put up. As for what was taken," Charlie hesitated.
He was one of the only people who knew exactly how important this file
was. How dangerous it could be if the wrong type of people got a hold of
it....
"And it was?"
"Alphaomega." Charlie watched as the color drained from his friend's
face.
  "Dear G-d," Jessica breathed. "It can't be. It just can't. If a
terrorist was to get a hold of it...." Jessica's body began to shake
violently. Her worst fears were coming true. Alphaomega was the ultimate
weapon, the perfect machine. There was no way to stop it, at least, not
that had been developed. The only thing that could even keep in check
hadn't even been installed. If the thief had gotten it working....
"Jess, calm down. It was just a copy of the design specks. As far as we
can tell they weren't even translated. Besides, we've got a little
surprise in there, remember? Everything will work out. We'll get it
back. Now, why don't you get back to the lab and let me handle this. You
don't want to keep Harvey waiting. I'll talk to you tonight before you
go home and we'll plan out next move, 'kay?" Charlie looked over at his
friend and long time confident. One of Jess' worst features was her
readable face. It was just like having a window into her head because it
let the nearest person know exactly what she was thinking. By reading
her face now he could tell that she didn't like his suggestion, but was
going to go along with it anyway.
"All right, Charlie," Jess said. She turned away from him, not wanting
him to see the growing fear in her eyes. "But don't you dare forget
about our little chat later. I want to know everything. Remember, I'm
just as responsible for the safety and well being of the people in this
building as you are. Now, as head of security I expect you to go make
this building secure, got it?" Jess glanced back at him.
"Yes ma'am!" Charlie abruptly straightened to attention and saluted.
"Let's get moving you pieces of dirt! We've got a building to protect so
let's haul it out!" With that he made a sharp turn and pivoted, sending
him in the opposite direction.
"Yes Drill Sergeant," Jessica muttered under her breath, a smile tugging
at her lips. *What a day.* It's not over yet, sister.
*************************************************************
      10:30pm
Jessica sighed to herself as she walked home from work. Things were
certainly looking down for the innocent people of the world. After that
morning's shock Jessica had tried to go through the day as if nothing
were wrong, but hadn't quite managed to pull it off. Her face was a
little too readable to fool any of her coworkers, especially Myshell.
During the day she had pulled her aside to ask what was wrong. Jessica
had just shrugged off her worries and chalked up her attitude to men
problems. Her friend had grudgingly excepted her answer and went back to
work.
At four- thirty Jess had let everyone go home early and had run
downstairs to the security desk in order to talk to Charlie. What he had
told her hadn't helped to brighten her spirits at all. It seemed that
when the intruder had messed up the security systems he had also
disrupted several personnel files. One in particular had been almost
completely deleted, hers.
"I don't have any idea why someone would want to delete those files.
Even if they themselves know who you really are, it wouldn't have
mattered. Those files only have your alias, to anyone outside the
company trying to find the president your file would have been
meaningless. It doesn't make any sense," Charlie had said. When he had
seen the apprehensive look on her face he had causally added, "Don't
worry, Jess. I'm sure it was just a fluke. The burglar probably just hit
the wrong key and wound up deleting your file. It was just an accident,
okay? Now go home and relax."
*Yeah, sure,* she had thought. Jessica couldn't believe Charlie was
actually expecting her to relax, what with everything that had been
going on. Another thing she couldn't understand was everyone trying to
protect and shelter her. It drove her nuts, particularly since she had
done so much more than anyone else. When she was growing up she had
handle situations twice as difficult as this one. She had even done it
alone on numerous occasions without the help or support or protection or
knowledge of either of her parents. *I bet I could...What was that?*
Jessica turned just in time to see a shadowy figure jump out from the
darkness behind her and clip her on the head. Then, all went black.
*************************************************************
   November 14, Approximately 11:20am
"Oh...Where am I?" Jessica asked to no one in particular as she rubbed
her head. A rather large, tender lump had formed at the base of her
skull and was throbbing something terrible. Gazing around at her
surroundings Jessica discovered that, while she was not chained, she was
locked in a rather old looking room, almost a dungeon. Jessica could
vaguely recall how she had gotten there and as she began to fully awaken
the details came back to her. As her memory returned Jessica could feel
her anger growing with her indignation. Questions circled her head but
one was fore most. *How the hell am I going to get out of here?* As if
to answer her a loud, booming voice called out from somewhere in the
gloom behind her.
"Ah," it crooned, "I am so glad that you have finally awoken, Miss
Bannon. I was afraid you might be out for another several hours. Now
that you are quite awake, we can get down to business."
"What business? What am I doing here? Where is here? What right do you
have to kidnap me? I demand that you let me go, right now!" Jessica
cried out. She knew perfectly well that her kidnapper had absolutely no
intention of letting her go, at least, not alive. He would keep her
there until her purpose had been fulfilled and then quietly dispose of
her.
"You, Miss Bannon, have your father's spirit and, I believe, an internal
fire of your own. I admire that in a woman. Unfortunately, it won't get
you very far in this particular circumstance. I suggest, for your own
sake, that you be cooperative," the voice continued calmly.
"What do you need me for?"
"The matter for which I require your assistance is related to a certain
Alphaomega project which I believe is totally yours by design. It seems
to be encoded in something none of my scientists have ever seen before.
You see, even though I had it stolen, I did not know about this
wonderful little puzzle, so to speak, of yours and so did not know to
acquire the necessary decryption codes. Without your help I can not
access your marvelous new program and find out what amazing little toys
your brilliant mind has concocted."
"So you want me to decode my file for you, is that it?"
"Basically."
"And if I refuse?"
"Things between us could get, unpleasant, so to speak."
"I suppose, in that case, I don't have much of a choice."
"No, you don't."

 By Michelle aka Bryne
So...what do you think of my first submitted fic. Yes, there are other
parts. Finished to, but I won't send them unless this gets feedback
asking for them.
Comments welcome. E-mail me at curtin@fcc.com or on the mailing list.



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