05 Loose Ends

[Enforcer]

In the main parking lot of the East Coast House campus Joe Pierce shook hands with the President in farewell. He stepped back to give clearance for the limousine to pull out with the caravan of secret service vehicles. There was a certain confidence and pride radiating from him as he watched them leave.

Soon after, a gold four-door mid-sized car pulled up and parked nearby. The drive got out, letting the door slam as she huffed her way to his side. Her raven black hair bounced as she moved.

"Pierce, what the hell?" She threw her arms out then dropped them to her hips. "What's happened to my school?"

He smiled with a nod. "It's good to see you too Athena. Come with me and I'll explain."

As she joined him, he held his arm out and placed hand on her shoulder. They walked passed the crews clearing the fallen parts of the tree. Inside the Victorian Pierce closed the door shutting out the noise.

"I would have called you in but there wasn't time." He ushered her to the drawing room where he poured two glasses of bourbon. "I am glad you came."

"So, what happened?" She accepted the glass and sat on the sofa. "There's a lot of chatter on the radio about an attack."

"It was one person. We managed to catch her and have her sedated in the med building."

"Do you need me to take her into custody?" She asked.

"I would appreciate it." He looked to her then, from his pocket, produced a flash drive that he tossed to her. "Something told me I should have this prepared."

"What is it?" She asked, clapping her hands around the drive to catch it.

"A copy of my incident report to Versailles." Pierce poured another drink for himself then stepped to the fireplace. "I recommend keeping her sedated and placing her in a psionic-secured cell. We did run her prints and found nothing. All we do know is that she's psionic and was able to evade even me."

"And yet you still caught her?" Athena asked. She tucked the drive into the inner pocket of her jacket then slid her handed into the back pockets of her jeans.

"A stroke of luck." Pierce grimaced with a slight shrug. "I really don't know, only that we caught her. This bothers me. An unknown psionic willing to attack a peaceful center that helps our kind. This isn't good."

"Are you thinking ISR?" She asked.

"That's my first guess," he nodded.

"All right," she pulled the keys from her pocket and clenched them. "I'll do the paperwork but you're going to have to transport her. I don't or didn't think I'd need to bring the right kind of vehicle to transport a psionic."

"Fare enough," he shook hands with her. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for the drink," she smirked with a wink.

[Torque]

- OOC - okay, so it took over a year. Please keep in mind that this is a rough draft ( no editing ).

Torque was helping with clean up in the cafeteria. As the lights flickered back on, the children cheered. She sighed with relief. Then her phone rang. She handed her dish rag to a volunteer and stepped away from the tables.

"This is Torque," she said.

"I have a job for you." Pierce said. "I trust you to transport our uninvited guest to the police station for processing. Athena will escort you."

"Oh joy, Enforcer's in town." She rolled her eyes.

"Play nice," Pierce ordered.

"If I must," she snickered. "Should I grab my partner for this?"

"She's working with Tech," he said. "They seem to work well together."

"Not to mention… What's his name? Wrangler."

"I think so," Pierce said. "I get them mixed up. I can't read their minds."

"And that surprises you?" She asked. "They're a different biology."

"Right, drive safe." Pierce ended the call.

She left the cafeteria for the motor pool. There, she found an armored vehicle waiting for her. She signed the form to receive it and a technician handed her the keys. She had just opened the door when Athena pulled up, parking nearby.

The nearby elevator's door opened and two orderlies emerged guiding a gurney with a sedated Avalon strapped to it. They placed her in the back of the transport and one secured a dampening collar around her neck. He handed the key to Athena.

"She shouldn't give you any trouble," he said.

"Thanks guys," Torque nodded to Athena. "Let's do this."

"I'll lead the way," Athena returned to her car.

Not ten minutes into the drive, they approached an assembly of men standing on the road. Their vehicles were parked behind them, blocking the path. One man stepped forward with a double barrel rifle.

Toque leaned over the wheel of the transport, sizing up the group before them. She called Athena. "Talk about a cliché."

"Let me handle this," Athena closed her flip phone and stepped from her car, holding up her police badge. "CSR Securities. Is there something I can help you with, gentlemen?"

The man cocked his weapon and growled. "You have something that belongs to my employers. They wants her back."

"Not going to happen boys," she reached for the gun at the small of her back. "This is an official police escort. You cannot have my prisoner."

The man aimed and fired. The windshield of Athena's car cracked and splintered outwards, from the impact point. "We'll take the prisoner, now."

"Oh, I don't think so." With her arms out to her sides, Athena stepped to him. She pressed her chest to the muzzle of the rifle. "Go ahead and shoot me. You're getting my prison over my dead body."

He smirked, then chuckled. "Have it your way." He fired.

Athena was blown back and knocked to the ground. She turned sideways and her head smacked the asphalt of the road.

Within seconds, Torque was by her side. She crouched checking Athena's neck for a pulse. She closed her eyes with a sigh. "You shouldn't have done that."

"She put herself in the line of fire." The man said.

"I was talking to you." Torque looked up then stood. She held her hand out towards Athena.

Then Athena groaned, rolled onto her back and accepted the hand up to stand. "Predictable, I'd think that the word would've gotten out by now."

"How's the head?" Torque asked.

"Hurts a bit." Athena rubbed at her scalp. "The pulse check was a nice touch."

"Yeah, I thought it would be."

They turned to the men to see the disbelief on their faces. "Now, where were we?" Athena asked.

"We got what we wanted." The man snorted. He tugged at the brim of his hat then turned towards his men. They got into their vehicles, screeched the tires and left smoke as they pulled out.

Torque and Athena looked to each other then back to their own vehicles. The side door to the armored transport was open. They could only watch as Eve loaded Avalon into the back of another sedan. Eve smirked and saluted them with a middle finger to her forehead.

"Oh hell," Torque said.

"Let'em, go," Athena said. "We all know what the ISR does to their people for failure."

"She would have been better off in jail." Torque said. "This paperwork on this is going to be a bitch."

"For both of us." Athena quipped. She went to her car to turn it around.

Torque went to the the armored transport and unfastened the line from the wench on the back. Together they hooked Athena's car to the transport.

"I have a question for you." Torque stepped over the line. "Did you have to get that close?"

Athena shrugged. "It was effective."