response #3 to challenge "one night"
Set in Season Five, but with only the most vague spoilers.
"One Night in Five Minutes"
It's sundown in Tokyo, and Tom is running for his life.
The brilliant city lights are lighting up all around him, blinding him to the dusk-pink sky with their strobe flashes or red and blue. In the clamor of the crowd, he can't hear his pursuers; Tom doesn't think they'd shoot, but they're not the kind of people whose consciences he can count on.
Worse yet: He didn't get the code key.
Panting, he grabs up his cell phone and hits an autodial. Still running, he yells into the receiver, "Op aborted! Go to option 2!"
**
It's just after dinner in Honolulu. Rachel folds up her phone apologetically, like the sales rep she's pretending to be. "Excuse me for just a second -- family business. So sorry."
"I've got a Mom," sighs her contact, waving her off. For a second Rachel feels bad about robbing him blind. But then she taps the keys on her phone that will set Option 2 in motion.
**
In Los Angeles, it's the middle of the night.
"You're positive?" Jack stands in front of the sofa, staring at Sydney with trepidation.
"They're just Braxton-Hicks contractions. They would've sped up by now if I were really in labor." She rubs her belly and sighs. "Sorry I woke you."
"Don't apologize for --" Jack breaks off when his phone chirps; he looks at the text message and frowns. "We lost the code key."
Sydney's instantly all business. "Then we have to transfer the data ourselves."
**
In Washington, D.C., it's the wee hours of the morning.
Officially, Weiss doesn't work for APO anymore -- but then, he actually never "officially" worked for them in the first place, as the black ops unit doesn't officially exist. So, once in a while, Jack or Sydney calls with an errand for him, and he makes it happen. What's a little espionage between friends?
He's up because they warned him to be waiting -- drinking coffee, looking at the dark sky outside his window -- when his laptop blinks. Weiss doesn't analyze what's coming through his computer, because it's better not to know. He just makes sure the information reaches its destination.
**
In Iceland, it's dawn.
Dixon is bundled into a parka, standing out in a field -- if you can call it a "field" when the earth is as much stone as frost-covered grass, and when sulfur springs hiss and sputter all around him. The air is acrid and foul. No telling why Kelly Peyton insisted on the meet taking place here, but in Dixon's opinion, this location suits her well.
"Haven't got it, have you?" she says, with a smirk.
As his reply, Dixon lifts the handheld and smiles as the screen begins to blink. Peyton almost seems angry that the exchange has worked as she demanded.
"Sloane will be set free tonight." She takes the handheld and stalks off.
Dixon wanders back toward his jeep, enjoying the dawn. Sometimes the night slips away too quickly, in an instant.
"One Night in Five Minutes"
It's sundown in Tokyo, and Tom is running for his life.
The brilliant city lights are lighting up all around him, blinding him to the dusk-pink sky with their strobe flashes or red and blue. In the clamor of the crowd, he can't hear his pursuers; Tom doesn't think they'd shoot, but they're not the kind of people whose consciences he can count on.
Worse yet: He didn't get the code key.
Panting, he grabs up his cell phone and hits an autodial. Still running, he yells into the receiver, "Op aborted! Go to option 2!"
**
It's just after dinner in Honolulu. Rachel folds up her phone apologetically, like the sales rep she's pretending to be. "Excuse me for just a second -- family business. So sorry."
"I've got a Mom," sighs her contact, waving her off. For a second Rachel feels bad about robbing him blind. But then she taps the keys on her phone that will set Option 2 in motion.
**
In Los Angeles, it's the middle of the night.
"You're positive?" Jack stands in front of the sofa, staring at Sydney with trepidation.
"They're just Braxton-Hicks contractions. They would've sped up by now if I were really in labor." She rubs her belly and sighs. "Sorry I woke you."
"Don't apologize for --" Jack breaks off when his phone chirps; he looks at the text message and frowns. "We lost the code key."
Sydney's instantly all business. "Then we have to transfer the data ourselves."
**
In Washington, D.C., it's the wee hours of the morning.
Officially, Weiss doesn't work for APO anymore -- but then, he actually never "officially" worked for them in the first place, as the black ops unit doesn't officially exist. So, once in a while, Jack or Sydney calls with an errand for him, and he makes it happen. What's a little espionage between friends?
He's up because they warned him to be waiting -- drinking coffee, looking at the dark sky outside his window -- when his laptop blinks. Weiss doesn't analyze what's coming through his computer, because it's better not to know. He just makes sure the information reaches its destination.
**
In Iceland, it's dawn.
Dixon is bundled into a parka, standing out in a field -- if you can call it a "field" when the earth is as much stone as frost-covered grass, and when sulfur springs hiss and sputter all around him. The air is acrid and foul. No telling why Kelly Peyton insisted on the meet taking place here, but in Dixon's opinion, this location suits her well.
"Haven't got it, have you?" she says, with a smirk.
As his reply, Dixon lifts the handheld and smiles as the screen begins to blink. Peyton almost seems angry that the exchange has worked as she demanded.
"Sloane will be set free tonight." She takes the handheld and stalks off.
Dixon wanders back toward his jeep, enjoying the dawn. Sometimes the night slips away too quickly, in an instant.