Bomb

JP with mdman, Jaxx, Trustno1, Redsword, and Cindy

This takes place before Learning From The Master

Dahlia had just heard her phone give a text notification as she was getting dressed for the day. She bent over to pick up the phone, when the fire alarm began to go off. She quickly read the text, then forwarded it to Yeong.

Yeong himself had just got out of the shower, when he heard the alarm. Of course! We’re in this fire trap and now we have a fire.

He quickly put on a pair of pants and picked up his phone. He read the text from Dahlia. So, it wasn’t a fire. He finished dressing and met Dahlia in the hallway.

Dahlia knocked on Kat’s door. Choi knocked on Sung’s and Power’s.

“We’ll need to take the stairs,” Choi stated. “With the alarm going off, the elevator won’t be working.”

Once Powers and Ekaterina were outside she texted Dahlia she and Powers were outside but they didn't have Sung's number.

As the alarm went off Sung sighed. He was not too happy about this. Sung wondered what was going on. He looked out his window to see people start together outside. Then, he knocked on the door, walked up to it and opened it when Sung felt Choi's presence. "Choi this better not be a joke or some dumb plan someone thought up," commented Sung as he walked out of his room.

Sung paused on the stairway for a moment. shook his head "Why, this?" he said as he continued down the stairs.

“There is a bomb threat,” Choi replied. “We have to evacuate the building.”

Choi looked at Dahlia and nodded. Dahlia nodded back. “Kat is already outside with Powers.”

Choi was about to say: I bet she is, but chose to remain silent.

“Let’s go, then,” he replied.

While waiting on the others to find them Ekaterina asked Agent Powers, “How did you find out about the bomb?” Agent Powers gave her a smolder as he replied, “Alyssa tipped me off. You managed to pack your bag fast. Is it due to random enemy attacks?” Ekaterina smirked and replied, “Sometimes, but mostly for the paparazzi.” Agent Powers nodded as he gazed into her eyes and got nervous. She then put her hand on his large muscular chest and softly said, “I did enjoy our time together, but we should be careful of our enemies interfering in our friendship.” Agent Powers nervously nodded as he understood that what they did in his room was a big secret. Of course he was afraid to admit he wanted to do it again since he was new to this kind of relationship. Then Agent Powers got another text that the bomb squad was on their way so he forwarded the text to Ekaterina who forwarded it to Dahlia.

Choi, Dahlia, and Sung exited the building on the ground floor. He was amazed at the people loitering about, looking for the fire or the trucks to arrive.

He turned to Sung and quietly spoke. “We’ve got to get the people away from the building if there is a bomb.”

****

Back in the van:

Peter typed in what appeared to be binary code and then looked for a message. "Yes, everyone is outside," he said with relief.

Alyssa breathed but maintained her speed down the road. The traffic was probably never great around Chicago but it wasn't as bad as it could be. They would arrive in about thirty minutes at the hotel in Gary.

"All the civilians are safe, the bomb squad should be able to disable the devices. This was definitely done by "The Phoenix Society." They met their calling card on the radio last night." said Sartre

"That's good and I agree with your assessment. I think we might need the team to move to a more secure location, somewhere where the public isn't staying." Alyssa responded. "I am pretty sure I can get us a private home to rent or a safe house.”

"Alyssa take a look at this", Peter said as he looked at his phone, finally accessing his "Vault Data Access." as an "Illuminated Agent" earned twelve years ago. "You'll probably want to discuss this with the others. Chicago would be a better place to purchase a permanent base. "Look for a decent private rental home. Later we may be able to get a permanent base."

"Well, then you can start looking. I won't be able to do much until I stop driving." Alyssa had no plans of that until they arrived at the hotel in Gary.

"You're great at evasive driving! Go Alyssa go!" he said as he admired her concentration.

"Text Max, let him know the bomb squad said they can defuse the bomb." Alyssa said. "And thanks for the compliment “

Peter texted Max, The bomb squad will be able to take care of the bomb.

"Done." he said.

In the chip, Peter said, “These radical Anarch's tried to destroy our time together. You might do a little bit of research when we get to the mansion. I wasn't finished relaxing and spending time with you before you received the message about the bombs.”

Back at the hotel:

Sung got an evil grin on his face and answered Choi. "That will be easy. Just start yelling, it's a bomb and everyone will run. Make sure you sound sacred and start to run yourself. Just run say 25 yards and stop. The people will run away." whispered Sung looking over the crowd.

“I don’t want to panic everyone,” Choi returned, “just ease them away from the building.”

“Easing may be too slow,” Dahlia suggested. She had seen the effects of bombs upon her people. She did not wish to see that happen here. She began to wave her hands away from the building, shouting, “We must get away from the building! There is a reported bomb!”

"Should have said gas leak, too late now. Now the police will want to know how you know," remarked Sung.

With Alyssa's driving skills, the two made it back to the hotel, in less time than it should have taken. Alyssa saw everyone outside and hopped out of the van, then locked it when Peter got out. She stood by the van a moment and watched people move quickly away from the building. Then walked over to the team. "The bomb squad has it under control." She reported.

"Theirs or ours," Sung asked in his normal relaxed tone. His question to Alyssa was more out of curiosity than anything. Was the organization going to keep this quiet or just stand back and watch?

"My guess is theirs, but don't know for sure. Anyway, we have another issue. This wasn't the only bomb planted, one was also where we," she non-verbally indicated she meant Peter and herself, "were. Which means we need to find somewhere to stay that the general public isn’t.”

Dahlia responded to that, “So, someone is attempting to kill us?”

It wouldn’t have been the first time for her, but she was now thinking from the Mossad side of her being, something in which the others, except for maybe Kat knew nothing about.

“We pissed someone off,” Choi stated with a raised brow. Then he grinned, as he rather enjoyed getting reactions from others. That was when people were apt to make mistakes. “Of course,” he continued, “it’s better than being pissed on!”

“Once we find out who it is,” Dahlia interjected, “I can take care of it.”

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I know who it is. I received a text that pretty clearly stated who is behind it." Alyssa stated.

Ekaterina saw Agent Powers was looking around with a smolder as if he was looking for someone in particular. She then asked Alyssa, “I’m sure we all have a long list of enemies but who was it this time?”

Sung looked over the crowd. "So is it the people of the night?" asked Sung referring to the Vampires. Sung closed his eyes and took a slow breath and mumbled some words. He opened his eyes looking one more time. "If they are within 50 yards I will see them or detect any aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead. For the next 10 minutes. I will keep an eye out for them." Sung informed them while being vigilant.

“Good idea,” Dahlia agreed with Sung, “I will go the opposite way as you. We can cover more ground together.”

Dahlia clasped her hands before her. She muttered one word, “Chokmah!”, meaning wisdom.

Suddenly a light surrounded her head, her mind being enlightened. Wisdom from the nothingness before time, because it was part of the great Creative Source, was hers. She walked away from Sung, looking into the eyes, the light of the souls of people. She could readily read them. She assumed if she came across someone whom she couldn’t read, it would be a soulless one.

Choi looked after each. He would be quick to respond in the heat of either. He readied himself for a fight, if needed.

"Alyssa, see if you can find us a place to stay. We all need to relax." said Sartre.

"I do have a card, Alyssa. This card is untraceable so we can get you in somewhere. We need to get with the Prince. I have a feeling it was not the Prince that ordered this. I know little about them. They are about as secret as we are; this was not secret and out in the open. " commented Sung.

"This could be the chance we are looking for to introduce our team," Sung added, looking a little annoyed.

Choi looked at Alyssa. “Where was the bomb? I may be able to sense the presence of whomever placed it.”

"It was the Phoenix Society, pretty sure they're big Prince fans, the singer not the other one." Alyssa responded. "I don't know where they planted it." It wasn't like they offered that info in the text.

Alyssa started looking for a place with her phone, it didn't take long. "Alright, got us a rental house, it looks like each bedroom is set up like a Master bedroom with a private bath, enough for everyone to have their own." She texted everyone the directions. "It's not directly in Gary but over by the lake, still about a 15, maybe 20 minute drive and it's more secluded which might help with safety issues.”

Choi responded to Alyssa, “Does this house have eight bedrooms, in case Eun-Ji decides to join us. We are seven now, She makes eight.

"Yes," Alyssa had already thought of that. The place was really a mansion but it was the size they needed.

"Everyone needs to try and relax, it might be good to do some studying, but don't push yourself too much. Relax and regain your thoughts. said Sartre.

"Well, we first need to get the all clear to go get our stuff." Alyssa had noticed that Peter tended to get ahead of himself and she was trying to be patient about it. "I'll check us out, but if others want to go ahead before I'm ready, in the directions I added the code for the security system and lockbox, so, you can get in.”

"I completely forgot about our stuff," said Sartre. "Who wants to call the bomb squad?”

"You told me, in the van, the bomb squad was taking care of it, already." Alyssa sounded understandably confused at his comment.

“You are not touching my stuff,” Choi insisted. “Nobody but me.”

“Same here,” Dahlia added. “She didn’t sense anything sinister coming from Sartre, but the idea of him going through her things didn’t sound…well, kosher.

“We’ll go back in if it’s clear,” said Choi.

Alyssa sighed, "We should just retrieve our own things. I will need help with the printer and the box of office supplies." She wasn't sure why Sartre thought he could carry everyone's things, anyway. Her phone buzzed. "It's clear to go in." About five minutes later someone in a police uniform would step outside to tell the public the same.

Sartre followed Alyssa's lead.

Agent Powers slung his bag over his large muscular shoulder then carried Ekaterina's bags for her. She then said, "Mr. Powers you are such a gentleman." Agent Powers gave her a smolder then replied, "Uh thanks. Its not heavy." Agent Powers figured he would be carrying more stuff from the hotel anyway. Ekaterina then elegantly walked beside Agent Powers on the way back to the hotel as she remembered she left her toothbrush and hairbrush in the hotel.

Once in the hotel Ekaterina went to her room to collect the few things she forgot on the way out and since Agent Powers still had her bags she made her way to his room to put them in her bag. Meanwhile Agent Powers was collecting the last of the stuff he left behind since it was not critical to keep. Once he was all packed up he carried all his and Ekaterin's luggage as she followed him to Alyssa's room. Then Agent Powers knocked on her door and asked, "Need me to carry anything Alyssa?”