Saturday afternoon, Washington D.C. Hyatt-Regency
Parker had called Jarod as soon as she'd gotten in, then checked her e-mail.
Good. Enough people had responded. That would make this a lot simpler than if she'd had to ask for more help. At the knock on the door, she took a deep breath, and smoothed down her shirt. Showtime.
And hopefully, Jarod wouldn't be too furious to listen when she told him what she had planned.
"Did you bring the blueprints?" Jarod asked as she opened the door.
"Hi, Jarod, good to see you, and wow, bad haircut." Parker held the door open and then shut it behind him. "I had a great flight, thanks for asking, and no, I didn't have lunch yet. Care to join me?"
"Parker, I'm really not up for any games." Jarod paced the length of the room, then folded his arms, every motion screaming I'm waiting. "I know you want to help, but the first thing you can do? Is not waste any time. They could be hurting her right now."
"They're not, and we both know it. I contacted Angelo, and I know you did too." Parker stalked back over to him and poked him in the chest. "Chill. Out. We're not doing anything until your help gets here."
"Until what?"
The first knock at the door was room service she'd ordered, with dinner for five.
"Uh. How much are you planning to eat?"
The next knock was the arrival of her other guests.
"Calvary's here," Isabel said as she came through the door. She immediately crossed to the room to give Jarod a hug. "Hey stranger."
"Isabel. But why--" Jarod had smiled the moment she walked in, glad to see her after the better part of a year away, then his face fell. "No, you can't. It's too dangerous and Parker shouldn't have asked." Accompanied by a glare in Parker's direction. "What were you thinking? Either of you?"
"That a friend needed help," she told him. "So stop arguing and deal with it."
"You are not going back in there alone. Sydney's spent too much time covering for you to have all his work go up in smoke now," Parker said forcefully. "And you haven't even looked at the plans yet. I have. There's no way you're getting out of there alone as fast as you want. Maybe if you had months to plan it, but you don't."
Jarod took Isabel's hand, giving it a squeeze. "Thank you. You still don't have to. But I appreciate it." And somehow, he'd pay Isabel back. He nodded at the two young men who looked vaguely familiar. "And you two as well. If you want to back out when I tell you what's going to happen, it'll be okay."
Except that Emily needed all the help he could find. But he didn't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt or captured by the Centre. The things they could do to Isabel alone would give him nightmares.
"Thanks for the offer, but we're not going to need it," Bridge says. "This isn't our first break-in to a top secret facility. Not even our first this year." And it was *Parker*, asking for help, and Bridge wasn't about to let her down. Neither, he was sure, would Xander.
"It's not the first time I've dealt with the Centre, either," Xander added. He didn't add that he hadn't exactly been on a break-in mission that time, and the Parker he'd been working with was a lot higher up in the organization.
Jarod sent Xander a look that on anyone else would translate as 'buh?' "Wait. You've dealt with the Centre before? When, how...?"
Parker rolled her eyes, and said, "I don't know if you remember meeting them at any point before, Jarod. Bridge Carson, and Xander Harris. And, uh. It wasn't exactly our Centre."
"Parker was older," Xander said with a nod. "So you probably were too; I only met her and a bunch of Sweepers. Saw you-you at the bar in Caritas a few times though, before I went home."
"I remember that, now," Jarod said, processing as quickly as he could, then blowing out a slow breath. "Alternate universe, I take it? Okay." He studied the three friends who Parker had recruited on his behalf, and wondered what had made her choose them; convenience and willingness, certainly, and Isabel's abilities would certainly be useful.
"I know what Isabel can do beyond the ordinary. And if you're familiar with the Centre, that can help. Is there anything else that is going to come in especially useful in your second break-in this year?"
Bridge holds up one gloved hand and wiggles his fingers. "Psychic. I can track just about anything. Or anyone."
Parker had pulled out her laptop by now, and pulled up the plans. "Everyone grab some food. Jarod? Your plans." She took a breath. "And you might want to tell people what we're actually after?"
"Right." Jarod crossed his arms, looking from Bridge, to Xander, to Isabel. "Thirty-six hours ago, the Centre acquired a new test subject. A ten-year-old girl named Emily. Right now she's just being tested, probably. Evaluated." One fist clenched without his being aware of it. "She's my sister. And I won't have her there one minute longer than she has to be."
Isabel couldn't help but shudder at what that probably meant. A White Room. Or at least the Centre's version of it. Regardless, no one deserved that.
"You have an idea how to get her out?" she asked Parker.
"I have an idea that you guys can help with, but Jarod? You're going to have to do the work to get yourself back in there. I've got no idea how to pull that off." Parker paced over to the dinner layout, and picked up a Diet Coke. "How do you guys feel about wearing disguises?"
Jarod cocked an eyebrow at Parker, then studied Isabel, Bridge and Xander. "I think I know where this is going." He frowned at Xander. "I hate to ask, but do you have an alternative to the eye-patch? You're going to be a little too recognizable, if you go in wearing one."
Bridge shoots Xander a concerned look. There *is* an alternative to the patch, he knows. But he also knows how comfortable Xander *isn't* with said alternative. "He wore it last time we did something like this and everything was fine," he says, a little defensively.
Xander couldn't squelch the troubled frown entirely, but he did keep it down to a brief flicker. "Last time, Anders and I were trying to attract attention," he said, fiddling with the strap above his right ear. "And these guys aren't SPD."
He took a breath, then pulled the patch off, nervously crumpling it up in his hand. "I'm fine with it." Not really, no, but it was the smart thing to do.
And now the look Bridge is giving Xander transforms to something that's part 'bitch, please' at the "fine" comment and part reassuring smile as he moves to stand closer to his side.
"Thank you. I appreciate that you're willing to do that." Jarod gave Xander a nod of respect, then crossed over to the laptop, paging through the plans. "I was planning on going in first because the Centre has been lead to believe I'm still there, in custody." He grimaced, flipping through the diagrams of various sub-levels.
"I'm going to have to be seen to 'escape' during this break-out; friends on the inside have been covering me for too long. So I'm going to have to trust you three to find Emily during the first part." He looked over the screen at Parker. "And you can't be part of this, Parker. Not the infiltration, at any rate."
"Joy." Parker had been smiling at Xander before Jarod's comments, and was now looking irritated.
Isabel flashed a quick smile at Xander before nodding in agreement with Jarod's words to Parker. "He's right. You're no where near the inside. You've got too much of your own at stake."
Moving across the room, she peered over Jarod's shoulder. "We're going to need to memorize the best ways in an out."
Giving Bridge's shoulder a quick squeeze before moving away, Xander walked over to look at the blueprints as well. He whistled when he got a look at the various levels. "Somebody designed this place to make that about as easy as finding your way out of Special Collections at FH. On a day when the books are pissed at you."
"As fabulously awful as that concept is, the comparison is legitimate." Parker made a face. "Fortunately, we have a decoder ring on the inside. Angelo."
Isabel couldn't help but snicker. "Do we feed him the sugar before we go in? Or after we're out?"
"Either way, I don't think we'll have a problem coming up with something suitably sugary to offer in exchange, as long as Xander's got his phone," Bridge says with a grin.
Xander gave a quick smile. "Laptop's in the other room. I can load up on chocolate too, if we need to."
"You may never get it back," Parker warned him, smirking a little, then she turned to Jarod. "Tomorrow soon enough for you to get everything worked out and ready, with alien, psychic, and construction-guy-with-guts help?"
"And I'm not forgetting the obsessive-compulsive fashion maven." Jarod looked up from the plans and gave her a quick smile. "I think so. Let's work out the details."
They planned and plotted for another few hours, and then adjourned to equipment-buying, disguise-obtaining, and alibi-planting.
The clock in Jarod's head never stopped counting down the hours until he had to go back in to the Centre.
Or the hours until he met his little sister for the first time.
[ooc: Pre-played with the lovely izzyalienqueen, needsaparrot and bridge_carson; to be continued tomorrow.]
Good. Enough people had responded. That would make this a lot simpler than if she'd had to ask for more help. At the knock on the door, she took a deep breath, and smoothed down her shirt. Showtime.
And hopefully, Jarod wouldn't be too furious to listen when she told him what she had planned.
"Did you bring the blueprints?" Jarod asked as she opened the door.
"Hi, Jarod, good to see you, and wow, bad haircut." Parker held the door open and then shut it behind him. "I had a great flight, thanks for asking, and no, I didn't have lunch yet. Care to join me?"
"Parker, I'm really not up for any games." Jarod paced the length of the room, then folded his arms, every motion screaming I'm waiting. "I know you want to help, but the first thing you can do? Is not waste any time. They could be hurting her right now."
"They're not, and we both know it. I contacted Angelo, and I know you did too." Parker stalked back over to him and poked him in the chest. "Chill. Out. We're not doing anything until your help gets here."
"Until what?"
The first knock at the door was room service she'd ordered, with dinner for five.
"Uh. How much are you planning to eat?"
The next knock was the arrival of her other guests.
"Calvary's here," Isabel said as she came through the door. She immediately crossed to the room to give Jarod a hug. "Hey stranger."
"Isabel. But why--" Jarod had smiled the moment she walked in, glad to see her after the better part of a year away, then his face fell. "No, you can't. It's too dangerous and Parker shouldn't have asked." Accompanied by a glare in Parker's direction. "What were you thinking? Either of you?"
"That a friend needed help," she told him. "So stop arguing and deal with it."
"You are not going back in there alone. Sydney's spent too much time covering for you to have all his work go up in smoke now," Parker said forcefully. "And you haven't even looked at the plans yet. I have. There's no way you're getting out of there alone as fast as you want. Maybe if you had months to plan it, but you don't."
Jarod took Isabel's hand, giving it a squeeze. "Thank you. You still don't have to. But I appreciate it." And somehow, he'd pay Isabel back. He nodded at the two young men who looked vaguely familiar. "And you two as well. If you want to back out when I tell you what's going to happen, it'll be okay."
Except that Emily needed all the help he could find. But he didn't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt or captured by the Centre. The things they could do to Isabel alone would give him nightmares.
"Thanks for the offer, but we're not going to need it," Bridge says. "This isn't our first break-in to a top secret facility. Not even our first this year." And it was *Parker*, asking for help, and Bridge wasn't about to let her down. Neither, he was sure, would Xander.
"It's not the first time I've dealt with the Centre, either," Xander added. He didn't add that he hadn't exactly been on a break-in mission that time, and the Parker he'd been working with was a lot higher up in the organization.
Jarod sent Xander a look that on anyone else would translate as 'buh?' "Wait. You've dealt with the Centre before? When, how...?"
Parker rolled her eyes, and said, "I don't know if you remember meeting them at any point before, Jarod. Bridge Carson, and Xander Harris. And, uh. It wasn't exactly our Centre."
"Parker was older," Xander said with a nod. "So you probably were too; I only met her and a bunch of Sweepers. Saw you-you at the bar in Caritas a few times though, before I went home."
"I remember that, now," Jarod said, processing as quickly as he could, then blowing out a slow breath. "Alternate universe, I take it? Okay." He studied the three friends who Parker had recruited on his behalf, and wondered what had made her choose them; convenience and willingness, certainly, and Isabel's abilities would certainly be useful.
"I know what Isabel can do beyond the ordinary. And if you're familiar with the Centre, that can help. Is there anything else that is going to come in especially useful in your second break-in this year?"
Bridge holds up one gloved hand and wiggles his fingers. "Psychic. I can track just about anything. Or anyone."
Parker had pulled out her laptop by now, and pulled up the plans. "Everyone grab some food. Jarod? Your plans." She took a breath. "And you might want to tell people what we're actually after?"
"Right." Jarod crossed his arms, looking from Bridge, to Xander, to Isabel. "Thirty-six hours ago, the Centre acquired a new test subject. A ten-year-old girl named Emily. Right now she's just being tested, probably. Evaluated." One fist clenched without his being aware of it. "She's my sister. And I won't have her there one minute longer than she has to be."
Isabel couldn't help but shudder at what that probably meant. A White Room. Or at least the Centre's version of it. Regardless, no one deserved that.
"You have an idea how to get her out?" she asked Parker.
"I have an idea that you guys can help with, but Jarod? You're going to have to do the work to get yourself back in there. I've got no idea how to pull that off." Parker paced over to the dinner layout, and picked up a Diet Coke. "How do you guys feel about wearing disguises?"
Jarod cocked an eyebrow at Parker, then studied Isabel, Bridge and Xander. "I think I know where this is going." He frowned at Xander. "I hate to ask, but do you have an alternative to the eye-patch? You're going to be a little too recognizable, if you go in wearing one."
Bridge shoots Xander a concerned look. There *is* an alternative to the patch, he knows. But he also knows how comfortable Xander *isn't* with said alternative. "He wore it last time we did something like this and everything was fine," he says, a little defensively.
Xander couldn't squelch the troubled frown entirely, but he did keep it down to a brief flicker. "Last time, Anders and I were trying to attract attention," he said, fiddling with the strap above his right ear. "And these guys aren't SPD."
He took a breath, then pulled the patch off, nervously crumpling it up in his hand. "I'm fine with it." Not really, no, but it was the smart thing to do.
And now the look Bridge is giving Xander transforms to something that's part 'bitch, please' at the "fine" comment and part reassuring smile as he moves to stand closer to his side.
"Thank you. I appreciate that you're willing to do that." Jarod gave Xander a nod of respect, then crossed over to the laptop, paging through the plans. "I was planning on going in first because the Centre has been lead to believe I'm still there, in custody." He grimaced, flipping through the diagrams of various sub-levels.
"I'm going to have to be seen to 'escape' during this break-out; friends on the inside have been covering me for too long. So I'm going to have to trust you three to find Emily during the first part." He looked over the screen at Parker. "And you can't be part of this, Parker. Not the infiltration, at any rate."
"Joy." Parker had been smiling at Xander before Jarod's comments, and was now looking irritated.
Isabel flashed a quick smile at Xander before nodding in agreement with Jarod's words to Parker. "He's right. You're no where near the inside. You've got too much of your own at stake."
Moving across the room, she peered over Jarod's shoulder. "We're going to need to memorize the best ways in an out."
Giving Bridge's shoulder a quick squeeze before moving away, Xander walked over to look at the blueprints as well. He whistled when he got a look at the various levels. "Somebody designed this place to make that about as easy as finding your way out of Special Collections at FH. On a day when the books are pissed at you."
"As fabulously awful as that concept is, the comparison is legitimate." Parker made a face. "Fortunately, we have a decoder ring on the inside. Angelo."
Isabel couldn't help but snicker. "Do we feed him the sugar before we go in? Or after we're out?"
"Either way, I don't think we'll have a problem coming up with something suitably sugary to offer in exchange, as long as Xander's got his phone," Bridge says with a grin.
Xander gave a quick smile. "Laptop's in the other room. I can load up on chocolate too, if we need to."
"You may never get it back," Parker warned him, smirking a little, then she turned to Jarod. "Tomorrow soon enough for you to get everything worked out and ready, with alien, psychic, and construction-guy-with-guts help?"
"And I'm not forgetting the obsessive-compulsive fashion maven." Jarod looked up from the plans and gave her a quick smile. "I think so. Let's work out the details."
They planned and plotted for another few hours, and then adjourned to equipment-buying, disguise-obtaining, and alibi-planting.
The clock in Jarod's head never stopped counting down the hours until he had to go back in to the Centre.
Or the hours until he met his little sister for the first time.
[ooc: Pre-played with the lovely izzyalienqueen, needsaparrot and bridge_carson; to be continued tomorrow.]