Brave New World: Black Lightning

Chapter 24

"Lyla, this is a surprise." Gambi said when he picked up the phone to answer her call.

"Hello Peter. There's something I wanted to talk to you about." Lyla said.

"Go on." Gambi said.

"As you know, I am working on plans to turn the Pit into an Argus base so we can better monitor the pod kids, along with keeping an eye on the situation with the Markovians." Lyla said.

"I'm aware. You told Jeff and I before you left Freeland last time." Gambi said.

"Well, I need someone to run the base and your name was the first one to come to mind. You already have the tactical skills needed and you're an experienced spy." Lyla said.

"I don't know Lyla. I got out of that game for a reason." Gambi said.

"I'm not asking you to take on field missions. Honestly, I just need someone to make sure that the situation in Freeland doesn't get as bad as it was before. And by that I mean no perimeter or occupation." Lyla said.

"If I agree with this, I have conditions." Gambi said, since he had to admit, he did see the appeal in where Lyla was coming from, since honestly, he and Jeff both had their concerns about another clandestine government organization building a base in freeland, even the organization itself was run by someone who was family, the person who ran the base wouldn't be.

"Name them. And just so you know, whatever you want for pay, I'll give you double." Lyla said and Gambi smiled.

"That's tempting, but my first condition is that any record of Jeff or the girls' powers has to be wiped from Argus's database." Gambi said.

"They were never in it and I've also expunged Argus records on you, Lynn, Grace Choi and Khalil Payne." Lyla said.

"My next condition is that I want to be able to personally vet any staff you want at the facility before you hire them, make sure I can trust them." Gambi said.

"Agreed." Lyla said.

"I also want full access to all Argus files and resources regarding anything involving Freeland." Gambi said.

"Within reason." Lyla said.

"I can live with that. I also want to be able to divert resources to help fund Lynn's research to find a cure to stabilize the pod kids." Gambi said.

"That's one of the reasons I'm offering you this job. I've tried reaching out to Lynn before, but she doesn't want the government involved in her work and considering that Odell turned her into a drug addict, I don't blame her, but if you're involved, it might convince her. You'll also have access to any Argus resources you need to help Jefferson's team protect Freeland, just like how I let Oliver's team use Argus resources when they need to in order to protect Star City." Lyla said and Gambi smiled.

"Okay then. I'm in. If only because I want to make sure that the position doesn't go to someone who could've fooled you so they could take over Odell's mission." Gambi said.

"Good. I will need you to come to Star City so that we can get it all made official there and so that I can get you put into our system. You know how we are about security." Lyla said.

"Yes and the only reason I'm agreeing to this is because I know that you would never allow what Odell did to stand, because you actually have a heart." Gambi said.

"Let me know when you can come out here." Lyla said.

"I will and Lyla, thank you." Gambi said.

"Thank you for not just saying no, but actually considering my offer." Lyla said.

"I was tempted, but this opportunity sounds too good for me to pass up. And also a little too good to be true." Gambi said.

"Considering that the brains of Team Arrow and Team Flash hack into Argus files whenever it suits them, I figured you'd be following suit whenever you need to, so I figure I might as well just give you clearance." Lyla said.

"Smart. I'll let you know when I can make it out to Star City." Gambi said.

"See you soon." Lyla said as she hung up.

"You what?" Jefferson asked after Gambi told him and Lynn about Lyla's offer.

"I told Lyla I would run the new Argus base that's being setup here in Freeland and before you freak out Jeff, I think it's important that you remember that Lyla is not Odell. Your brother-in-law wouldn't be remarrying her if she was. And she offered me the position to make sure that the Argus presence here doesn't become like the ASA's was, since while Lyla may be in charge of the entire organization, she can't pay attention to every little detail of it. I took the position to make sure that what the ASA did never starts up again." Gambi said.

"This might actually be a good thing." Lynn said.

"What?" Jefferson asked.

"Look Jeff, we've both had our concerns about Argus building a base here in Freeland, but if Gambi is in charge of it, at least we'll know that it's run by someone we trust. Not to mention it will give him access to much better resources he can use to help keep you and the girls alive." Lynn said.

"And also you Lynn." Gambi said.

"What?" Lynn asked.

"One of my conditions for taking the job was that Lyla allow me to give you access to Argus resources to help you develop a new meta stabilization cure that doesn't depend on Tobias being captured." Gambi said.

"She offered that to me already, but since I didn't know who would be running the base I'd likely need to work out of, I refused. But now I can accept it." Lynn said.

"Jeff?" Gambi asked.

"Look, I don't like it, but you both made very good cases for this. And, I do know that nearly every other team has connections with some kind of government organization which has allowed it to stay ahead of the bad guys and I guess I can see the appeal, especially since Argus is much more relevant than the ASA ever was. The more help we can get, the better." Jefferson said.

"Okay then, how do you think the girls will react?" Gambi asked.

"That is hard to gauge." Jefferson said.

"Let's worry about that when we actually have to." Lynn said and they all nodded in agreement.