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Kill Us All (feat. Denzel Cury) : The Neighbourhood
"I can't tell you what a rare opportunity you have here, Miss Petronis." Shelley enters my old house with me and I rest my sunglasses on my head. "The current owners live in the city, of course, but they've been loyal for years. Perhaps, if Mister Terri had been a bit more loyal to his wife, they wouldn't be renting out this season. Word has it, he dumped her for a girl half his age. Men."
"You mind if I look around a bit?" I question.
"That's what we're here for." She grins.
I look around the house before heading out to the porch. I stop and look at the carving of the double infinity sign. I trace my fingers over it and then look down at the floor.
"Dad?" Eight year old me walks up the steps with a bucket of sand and shells.
"Hey, kiddo. You having fun exploring?" Dad flips a burger on the grill.
"We really get to spend the whole summer here?" Eight year old me dumps the sand and shells on the floor.
"And every summer after that. What do you think?"
"I think mom would've loved it."
"Hey, you know how much I love you, Amanda?" He crouches down in front of me.
"Infinity?"
"Well, infinity...times infinity." He makes a double infinity sign in the sand.
"Miss Petronis?" Shelley snaps me out of it. "Now you have to imagine, it's 75 and sunny, all those boys of summer wondering who the new girl is. And that's where, uh, I think an Angus MacGyver resides. Biggest terrace in LA. You won't find a better address than this."
"I'll take it." I keep my eyes on the terrace from afar.
"Oh. Wonderful. I'll get the contract." She heads back inside the house and my phone rings.
"Hey, Patty." I answer.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
I make my way towards Mac's house and my chest tightens. I look around and spot the basketball hoop.
"Too slow!" Eight year old me grabs the ball from Mac.
"Hey!" Five year old Mac runs and eight year old me laughs as I run around him.
"Suck it, Angus!" Eight year old me makes a shot and it goes into the hoop.
"I went easy on you." He grabs the ball.
"In your dreams." Eight year old me punches his chest.
"And don't call me Angus. I hate my name enough already."
"You want me to call you Angela instead?"
"Funny."
"Fine, how about Mac?"
"Mac. I like that, Amanda." James heads over with my dad carrying a pizza. "What do you think, son?"
"Beats Angus. Thanks for that by the way, dad." Mac throws the ball.
I snap out of it with watery eyes and I quickly compose myself. I now ring the doorbell and check the time on my watch. After a few seconds, the door opens and we lock eyes.
"Hi." He greets.
"Hi. Is Patricia Thornton here? She called me." I inquire.
"Yeah, she's-"
"Lina, in here." Patty calls out.
"In here." Mac steps aside.
"Wouldn't have guessed." I enter and I hear him lowly chuckle.
"Mac, this is Lina Petronis. She's going to be joining us. Lina, this is Angus MacGyver." Patty heads over.
"Nice to meet you." Mac holds out his hand.
"You too." I shake it and my chest tightens as we lock eyes.
"You two can overshare your personal lives later. It's time to get to work." Patty sets a tablet down and I cross my arms, now looking at the screen. "Yesterday at 5:07 p.m. local time, technicians for the Nargaard research facility in Greenland sent out an S.O.S."
"Please...if anyone is getting this, please, we need help." A woman coughs up blood.
"Ten minutes later, all twenty seven researchers were dead. The CDC sent out a containment team to quarantine the building, figure out what happened."
"Well, looks like Ebola or some sort of viral hemorrhagic fever." I narrow my eyes at the woman.
"But they never had any cases in Greenland. Is this something new?" Mac questions.
"Try something old. 30,000 years old. The CDC thinks it's prehistoric. Something they dug up while fracking in Siberia. We believe this virus is the biological weapon that you were sent to Italy to recover three months ago." Patty informs. "Intel suggests this was a proof of concept demonstration to prove that the seller was actually in possession of the biologic. Up until now, the man who stole the virus from you-"
"You mean the man who killed Nikki."
"We've been trying to find him, assuming that he was the end user. But this latest intel suggests that he was just another broker looking to make a sale."
"Any idea when or where?"
"No."
"Well, if we can't find him, we need to find the buyer." I uncross my arms.
"Yeah, Nikki downloaded everything from that night onto her hard drive." Mac nods. "The face of every guest at that party. That's our list of potential buyers."
"I already have our cyber team processing her computer." Patty tells him. "Mac, I know you asked for some time, but this requires somebody who can handle a biologic. The clock's ticking. We need you. The both of you."
"I didn't move here just for the change in scenery." I walk past her.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Yeah, man, it's good to be back." Jack enters with Mac. "Hey, there. Who's this?"
"Lina Petronis. She's joining us." Patty tells him.
"Oh, that's awesome. How are you, sweetheart?" He shakes my hand and I look down. "I'm-"
"I know who you are, Jack." I slowly nod.
"Okay, well, that's a little creepy. But also impressive at the same time. Alright. Good to meet you. Patty, bring it in." He goes to hug her, but stops as she doesn't return the gesture.
"Director Thornton. And human resources is still on the third floor, in case you need a refresher." Patty gives him a side glare.
"No, I'm...I'm good with that." He backs away.
"Nikki's laptop give us anything?" Mac stands next to me.
"Not yet. We hit a wall of encryption that even our guys can't crack." Patty tells him.
"She was good."
"So good. But I think we're gonna burn through the window we have to stop the sale."
"Maybe not." I cross my arms.
"Maybe not?" Jack turns to me.
"Care to elaborate?" Patty questions.
"More of a visual person." I walk past her.
"Oh, I like this woman." I hear Jack say.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"This is the young lady that's supposed to be as good as Nikki?" Patty looks at Riley through the glass.
"Did you expect the Easter Bunny?" I shove my hands in my jean pockets.
"There's nothing here but black marker." Mac opens the file from the corner of my eye.
"You're not color blind, good to know." I nod.
"Good one." Jack chuckles. "And hey, I think it means it's one hell of a résumé, am I right?"
"She's good. One of the best I ever worked with." I keep my eyes on Riley.
"And how do you know her?" Patty takes the file.
"That's for me to know and for you to dot, dot, dot." I open the door and the buzzer goes off. "Riley Davis." I sit across from her. "I don't know if you remember me, but, Lina Petronis." I hold out my hand.
"I do." Riley shakes it.
"So, can you help us?"
"Is there anything you wanna say to me?" She turns to Jack.
"You help us out, I'll put in a good word with the judge." Jack crosses his arms.
"That's not what I'm talking about."
"A reduced sentence. That should wipe the slate clean between us."
"No, it doesn't."
"Look, whatever's going on between you two, can we put it aside right now?" Mac speaks up.
"Yeah, we have a serious problem, Riley, and we could use your help." I nod.
"I doubt you need it. What are you? Detective? CIA? Assassin?" Riley guesses.
"I think you're smart enough to figure it out."
"Okay, point taken. And what exactly do you do, Mister MacGyver?"
"You know how you hack computers? Well, I hack everything else." Mac says.
"I thought you said you sold bathroom tile." Riley inquires.
"Do I look like I sell bathroom tile?" Jack uncrosses his arms.
"No. You don't look that smart." She shakes her head and I slightly grin down.
"When we met, I was CIA. The people I work for now, the CIA doesn't even know they exist." He turns a chair backwards and sits down.
"So you're DXS?" She looks at me.
"Lina, how did we not meet sooner? If I had known you knew her too-"
"There's already a clear reason why we haven't met sooner." I cut Jack off and Riley snickers. "Now, you're guilty of the crimes that put you in here."
"Yes, I am." Riley nods. "And if I had to do it all over again, I would."
"Good. You're coming with us."
"Seriously?"
"You have a unique skill set we can utilize."
"Is it gonna be dangerous?" Riley wonders.
"Our last analyst was murdered three months ago." Mac tells her.
"Not the ideal recruitment slogan."
"What, you think it's gonna be any easier for you in here?" Jack remarks.
"I'll take it over coffee with you any day." Riley shoots back.
"I don't even drink coffee-"
"Hey. You two are on time-out from now on." Mac cuts him off.
"If I help you, I want a reduced sentence." Riley turns back to me. "Like, zero days. And access to tech. Unsupervised."
"Done." I nod.
"Wait, what?" Jack gapes.
"Really?" Riley raises her eyebrows.
"Was I speaking Japanese? I said done." I lean forward and place my hands on her wrists. "Or, you can spend the next five years in a five-by-six hole wishing you had said yes, or you can do the right thing now and thank me later. So, what's it gonna be?"
"Yeah, okay." She tells me after a few seconds.
"Great." I take the cuffs off her wrists and she looks at me in disbelief as I lean back. "We can sit and continue this conversation another day. Now, let's go." I get up and so does she. "Don't call me sweetheart again, you get to keep your spleen." I walk past Jack before opening the door and the buzzer goes off.
"Are you insane?" Patty follows as I lead Riley in front of me.
"No, I'm actually mentally okay. But thanks for checking in, feeling the love already."
"This is supposed to be an interview, not a jailbreak."
"I never said this was an interview." I stop. "And this woman just happens to be the one we need to succeed in this mission. Or, if you prefer, I can let a 30,000-year-old weapon virus kill everyone on the planet." I grin the corner of my mouth mockingly and she stays silent. "I didn't think so." I continue walking with Riley.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Never seen encryption like this before." Todd types on the computer and I cross my arms. "I've been trying to extract her private key, but this thing has more logic bomb in it than Stuxnet. I mean, if we're not super careful, we could easily destroy—whoa, whoa!" He jumps back as Riley smashes the keyboard with a hammer. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Lina." Patty turns to me from the corner of my eye.
"Why interrogate the prisoner when you can just look inside her brain?" Riley picks up a disk. "We'll scan the data as read-only, then search the disk image to extract the key." She looks at me.
"You knew this the whole time, didn't you?" She looks back at me.
"Bypassing all the logic bomb." Todd realizes.
"I thought you said this was gonna be hard." Riley quirks up.
"It will be. Promise." I nod.
"Hitwoman?" She tilts her head.
"Don't I wish." I turn.
"Hey, how did you get me out of those cuffs without a bobby pin?" She follows me.
"You think about it for the rest of the day. See what you come up with."
"You don't think I can get it?"
"Not many can. Less than one percent, actually, if we wanna get technical."
"Fine. Deal. Prepare to lose." She clasps her hand with mine.
"Take your own advice." I grin in the corner of my mouth.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Facial recognition could take a few minutes." Riley points to the computer screen. "You guys got anything to eat?"
"After." I tell her.
"Warden."
"No, but I know about a hundred of them, across all states."
"Are you really not gonna be talking to me?" Jack says and Riley turns to him.
"Jack." Mac warns. "Jack." He steps away and Jack follows him. "What in the world is going on between you two?"
"He dated her mom, what else would it be?" I glance at the pair over my shoulder.
"How the hell did you—Riley, did you tell her-"
"She doesn't have to tell me anything." I cut Jack off.
"Okay, yeah, I might have...dated her mom." Jack murmurs.
"That's what she's mad at you about? You know what, never mind. I'd be pissed at you, too." Mac tells him.
"No, no, no, no, no. Dating her mom's not the problem. No, no. Riley doesn't know it, but her old man was an abusive ex. He comes over one night, starts throwing her mom around, so I tuned him up. And then he goes and he tells her that—that I was jealous." He whispers and I cross my arms.
"So, tell her the truth."
"C'mon, man. Who's she gonna believe? Me or dear old dad?"
"Alright. Secret agents, gather round. I got your jam." Riley turns.
"This is the background of all the buyers that Nikki recorded." Patty points to the buyers on the screen and Mac stands beside me from the corner of my eye.
"Son of a bitch was at the party." Mac presses a man's profile.
"You don't remember seeing him?" Jack questions.
"There was a lot of people. He must have slipped out before I got into the safe."
"Who is he?" Riley wonders.
"That's the guy who shot Mac and killed our friend Nikki." Jack replies.
"His name is John Kendrick. Can you find him?" I place my hands in my jean pockets.
"According to this, the guy's on eight watch lists. If he's still in the wind at this point, I highly doubt we're gonna be able-"
"Can you zoom in on his left wrist?" I cut Riley off.
"Yeah." Riley zooms in.
"What do you see, Lina?" Jack asks.
"I see a man with anger issues of his own, and who is greatly in an identity crisis, and-"
"I—I mean on—on the screen." He points to the screen.
"Yeah, I know what you meant." I turn to the screen and Riley chuckles. "Time zone. His watch is set to nine hours earlier." I nod to the watch.
"The West Coast of the U.S. is nine hours earlier than Lake Como." Patty inquires.
"I might be able to find him using a Shodan Map." Riley starts to type.
"What—What's a...What's a Shodan Map?" Jack places his hands on his hips.
"A map of every digital device connected to the internet." I tell him. "You want me to write it down for you so you can hang on it on your fridge incase you forget?"
"No, thanks for the offer. I'm good."
"Doubt it."
"Excuse me?"
"You just seem like the type of person to hang up random shit everywhere. Whether it's a portrait of Bruce Willis in his glory days or your sixth grade soccer participation trophy that you use to trick yourself into thinking you're athletic and have high self-esteem, and to impress women." I nod and Riley snickers. "Just a deduction. Blink twice if I'm right. Or tell me it's not true."
"Okay, it's not true, thank you very much." Jack nods.
"Alright." Riley scoffs. "Using this, I can access every traffic cam, ATM cam and unsecured surveillance cam on the West Coast."
"Is that real? Doesn't sound real."
"I'm inputting Kendrick's photo and running an image search." She keeps typing. "Got him. He's in San Francisco. This feed is live."
"He's not the only one there. Look. There's Benjamin Chen." Patty points to the man. "He was one of the potential buyers. Last whereabouts: San Francisco."
"Interesting." Jack leans over. "Benny boy's a Chinese national. Former military. This charmer was disavowed by his own government and has an incredibly documented hatred for all things Uncle Sam. Guy sounds lovely."
"You said this is a live feed. Can you follow him?" I cross my arms. "If Kendrick is in California to meet Chen, that means we only have a few hours. We have to get there and stop the sale."
"What about me?" Riley cranes her neck.
"Your work here is done." Patty nods.
"Far from it, actually." I turn to her. "She's coming with us."
"Yeah, I'd have to agree. I'd like her to come with us." Jack says.
"And I'd like to see you wear a clean shirt, but unfortunately, we can't always get what we want." Patty shoots back.
"Look, she's our responsibility until this is all over. And if the virus is released, we're all gonna die anyway, so she's coming with us." I shrug.
"Alright, since we're gonna die anyway. Get yourselves to San Francisco." She leaves.
"You swallowed." I uncross my arms.
"What?" Jack turns to me.
"When I asked you tell me that it's not true, you swallowed before answering. And you looked over my shoulder. Makes me wonder if you ever get tired of playing poker." I turn.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Stay behind me." I tell Riley as we enter the building and I look around. I stop a staircase and make my way towards it.
"So how are we gonna find this guy? No way he checked in under his real name." Riley now follows us up the stairs.
"You know, she's right. We don't have time to search room by room." Jack agrees.
"We'll make him come to us." I tell him.
"How are we gonna do that?" Riley wonders.
"I can't keep coming up with the genius ideas. Anyone else wanna step onto the court?"
"Tinfoil." Mac says and I turn, locking eyes with him.
"He's kidding, right?" Riley inquires.
"Oh, my man never jokes about tinfoil." Jack shakes his head and I step aside, mockingly waving my arm for Mac to lead the way.
"Oh, thank you." Mac walks past me with a grin.
"You're welcome." I give him a mocking face and I hear him scoff.
"Paperclip." Riley says.
"Good guess. Obvious, but good."
We now follow Mac towards a janitor's closet, helping him make a chemical mixture to set off the fire alarm. Once we do so, I rip off a piece of tinfoil and make it into a star, then puffing out the edges.
"What are you doing? What is she doing?" Jack murmurs.
"Giving something I don't think you've ever experienced, Jack." I slip the tinfoil star into Mac's jacket pocket. "Let's go." I open the door and the others follow me out. I look around as the fire alarm continues to go off. I see people starting to clear out and I look down. "Mac, is that Nikki?" I spot a girl with blonde hair looking up at us.
"Jack! Jack!" Mac speeds down the steps and Jack rushes over.
We now head down the stairs, trying to catch up with Mac. We head out of the building and reach an alleyway. I see a man raising a gun at Mac and I pick up my pace. I get to the scene and slam the man's head into the wall. He cries out before falling to the ground, now unconscious.
"Damn." Jack heads over with his gun raised. "Nice."
"You okay?" I turn back to meet Mac's stare on me.
"Yeah." Mac nods before turning, now running.
"Mac?" Jack calls out and I follow Mac. "Mac, where you going? What are you looking for? It's over, man. We got him."
"Riley!" I look around.
"I'm here. I'm here." Riley joins in and we grip each other's arms.
"No, it's not over. Nikki's alive." Mac informs.
"What do you mean Nikki's alive?" Jack gapes.
"Lina and I saw her. She was with Kendrick. They've been in on this together."
"Whoa, guys, time-out. Are you talking about the same dead Nikki?" Riley questions. "Your girlfriend Nikki?"
"Yeah." Mac confirms.
"How is that possible?"
"We're about to find that out." I turn and the others follow me before I rub the side of my hand.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Mhm!" Kendrick groans as I sock him across the face.
"That's for making us think Nikki was dead and for trying to kill our friend here." Jack points to Mac.
"Where's the virus?" Mac asks and I stab Kendrick in the leg with a nail gun, making him grunt.
"Oh, I got your attention now? Good." I whisper the last part.
"Nikki has the virus. I don't know where it is." Kendrick tells me.
"You're gonna have to better than that." I drill another nail in his leg and he cries out. "Start talking."
"Nikki wanted to meet the buyer alone. She thought it would be safer if we met up after the transaction. I swear."
"I swear? Really?" I scoff. "Hate to break it to you, but you're not the first killer to make me an empty promise. You're not even the first man to make me an empty promise." I half whisper and he clenches his jaw. "Oh, did I hurt your feelings?" I tilt my head before raising the nail gun to his throat. "Something else is gonna hurt a lot more if you don't keep talking."
"What did you do to get Nikki to cooperate? What did you threaten her with?" Mac questions.
"I didn't." Kendrick tells him.
"Nikki would never do this unless you had something on her."
"Look for a bank account in Prague in her mother's name. You'll find $5 million in there."
"When you shot her, the first round was a blank." Jack nods.
"She insisted we make her disappear after the transaction. It was non-negotiable." Kendrick nods back.
"And me?" Mac raises his eyebrows.
"She wanted you unhurt, but hey...she understood it might get messy, if necessary."
"You got enough?" I turn.
"Every phoneme in the English language." Riley grins.
"What did you do?" Kendrick growls and Jack tapes his mouth.
"Check the last call on that." Mac grabs the phone from Kendrick's jacket and tosses it to Riley. "It's gonna be Nikki."
"Eliza Pittsinger." Riley scoffs. "I would have chose Beyoncé as an alias, but hey." She starts typing.
"Call her."
"Don't pace. Makes everything you're feeling go into overdrive. Instead of it reducing anxiety, you're making it worse. And you're gonna lose it, and it's gonna blow our cover." I turn to Mac and he stops pacing.
"Ugh!" Five year old Mac throws his lego set across the floor.
"Woah!" Eight year old me jumps back and I see Mac beginning to pace.
"What's going on?" James enters.
"This is ridiculous! I can build a telescope out of paper towel rolls and tape, but I can't build one stupid lego set!" He stresses.
"Hey." Eight year old me walks over. "First of all, you need to relax." I grab his shoulders. "Pacing may help reduce anxiety and clear the mind, but not if you're this fired up. So, breathe."
"Amanda-"
"Mac. Look at me, and breathe." Eight year old me inhales and exhales, and he mimics the action as we stare into each other's eyes. "Okay, good. Now, let's pick up the pieces. We'll build it together, read the instructions carefully." I bend down and he joins in.
"I'm sorry if I scared you."
"You didn't. You could never scare me, Mac. Your head just gets swollen from all the knowledge you withhold from time to time." Eight year old me kisses his forehead. "There. Hopefully you won't need ice now."
"We shouldn't be talking right now." Nikki's voice comes through and I snap out of it.
"I took care of your friends." Kendrick voice clone tells her. "They're not going to be bothering us anymore."
"Don't call me again. I'll see you in New York." She hangs up.
"Sorry. Call was voice over IP, routed using TOR. No way to trace it." Riley shakes her head.
"There were planes in the background. She's at an airport." I keep the nail gun to Kendrick's throat.
"Alright, I'll look for cell towers at San Francisco International."
"No, no, she's not at SFO. Those engines were too small to be commercial. I heard a Bell Ranger. I think we're looking for a private airport, one that services planes and choppers." Jack suggests.
"Got something." Riley stops typing. "It's in San Carlos, ten minutes from here."
"Call Thornton, tell her to ground all airplanes in the area. We can't let that virus leave the city." I shake my head and Riley nods.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"There." I get out of the car, now sprinting towards the airplane.
"Lina! Mac!" Jack calls out and I run under the airplane before jumping.
My hands grip the wire and Mac joins in. I look down as we get higher and higher. I then look back up and lock eyes with Mac.
"Just think about Superman. Anything's possible. Even a strange visitor from Krypton who can fly and stop a speeding bullet." I kick my feet up and Mac mimics the action adjacent from me.
"And if I can't?" Mac pants.
"Then I'm just gonna have to—" I grab his hand as it slips off from the wire. "Catch you." I lock eyes with him. I pull his arm back up and his hand grips the wire again. "You got a knife? I forgot mine." I look at the other wires.
"Yeah." He takes out the Swiss Army knife I gave him and cuts a white wire with it.
"I got you a gift, Mac." Eight year old me hands him the knife.
"Woah. This is so cool." Five year old Mac smiles.
"I had your initials carved in it too. It'll keep you safe whenever I'm not around." I punch his chest and we share a grin before hugging.
"You're the bestest friend I ever had. I love you, Amanda."
"So are you, Mac. I love you too."
"Alright, we got a problem. Landing gear retraction has failed. Manual is not responsive either." The copilot comes through, snapping me out of it, and I look down to see us starting to land.
"We have to let go now. Take a deep breath." I inhale and Mac does so as well before we let go, then tumbling across the ground. "Not so bad, right?" I pull Mac up and we lock eyes again. "You okay? You feel like having a stroke?"
"No." Mac scoffs.
"Good, cause then you'd screw us all. C'mon." I run towards the plane.
"Drop the gun, Nikki." Jack enters first and we follow behind. "Now! Or I swear to God, I will put one in you for real this time."
"You wanna shoot him, you're gonna have to go through me." Mac stands in front of Jack and walks towards Nikki. "Go ahead. You already had me killed once."
"Where's the virus?" I kick the gun out of her hand and up in the air, then catching it. "It's not on you." I shake my head.
"Tear this place apart."
"You got it." Jack heaves.
"Was everything a lie?" Mac asks.
"Not us." Nikki tells him.
"Then why? I thought you died trying to do something good."
"You were always the hero, Mac. Not me."
"Jack, stop looking." I keep my eyes on her. "She already sold it." I head out of the plane.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"So, Nikki's alive. Benjamin Chen is in the wind and we don't know when or where he's gonna unleash that virus." Patty stresses through the computer.
"I know it looks bad-"
"Bad? Jack, bad is when you accidentally run over your neighbor's dog. This is a damn catastrophe of biblical proportions."
"It's here." I look around. "The target's San Francisco." I head over to Nikki. "Chen's planning on releasing the virus here, isn't he?"
"You're wrong." Nikki tells me. "It's Tokyo."
"Yeah, and I'm BFFs with the world's infamous ladies man, Chris Brown. Eliza A. Pittsinger. I saw it on Kendrick's phone. Pittsinger wrote a poem in 1907 on the anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake. Over 3,000 people died in the fires."
"Sometimes a purge is necessary to fix what's broken."
"Don't pretend this was about ideology. You did this for a payday."
"Did you ever ask yourself why our government wants that weapon? What are they planning on doing with it?"
"We're running out of time here, Lina." Jack informs.
"Even if you find it, the people I work for will stop at nothing to get it back." Nikki goes on and I study her.
"We'll see about that, won't we?"
"No more games. Where's Chen?" Mac questions.
"You should leave." Nikki nods.
"Well, that's not gonna happen. I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. So, Chen will release the virus here, then we'll both die. So what's it gonna be?"
"And the answer's no. I don't ask myself why the government wants that weapon. I was the government, I am the government." I get in her face. "So, start talking."
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"There it is—the truck Nikki said Chen was driving!" Mac points to the truck from below.
"Yeah, I got him." Jack flies the helicopter down and I open the door.
I slowly step out and grip the handle before letting go. I fly down and land on top of the truck. Mac joins me and I grip his shoulder as he grabs my forearm. We lock eyes and I pull him up more away from the edge so he doesn't fall.
Mac now takes out his knife and cuts the tarp with it. We both fall through and land on our knees. I turn my head and crawl towards the safe. I open it and see that the virus is connected to a timer.
"Jack, we got a problem." I push some hair out of my face.
"What kind of problem?" Jack comes through my wrist piece.
"The kind you don't wanna be anywhere near. Chen's using an I.E.D. to send the virus airborne. It'll kill millions."
"Well, can you guys stop it?"
"I don't know. You should probably get out of here, though." Mac takes out his knife.
"Ah, you know I'm not gonna do that. If you go kaboom, I go kaboom. This is what the Army trained you for. You can do this in your sleep."
"Yeah, okay, he can do it without the pep talk right now." I wipe my jaw on my shoulder.
"Okay, that's cool. Just trying to do my part, you know." Jack tells me.
"Great." I look at the wires.
"That doesn't sound very encouraging, Lina."
"Yeah, well, you know how you always have to pick between cutting the blue wire and the red wire, Mister CIA?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, we've got about twelve wires down here and they're all green."
"Well, you better pick one quick. Someone's coming down the chimney and it ain't Santa Claus."
"Shut up, Jack."
"Okay." Jack says and Mac cuts a wire, making the time go down faster.
I then look up as a man hops down in front of us. I get up and shield Mac from his fist. I start fighting the man and ram him into the other side of the truck. I hear my gun fall from my holster and we struggle against each other. Riley and Jack's voice goes in one ear and out the other from my wrist piece.
My punches and kicks get harder before I wrap my hand around the man's throat. He chokes on his breath and I deliver a hard spin kick to his chest, making him fall of the back of the truck. I watch him roll across the ground and wipe the blood off my lip with front of my hand. I pick up my gun and place it back in my holster.
"You okay?" I look up at Mac.
"Mac, Lina, talk to me." Jack comes through.
"Stopping the bomb is out of the question." I walk back over to the safe and kneel down.
"Then get the virus and get out of there."
"What do you think we're doing." I hover my hand over my aching ear and Mac unlocks the hook with a paper clip to get the bottle containing the virus.
"Mac? Lina?"
"We got it." I stand up.
"Good. Now jump!" Jack urges.
"We can't risk shattering the container and releasing the virus." I look at the tarps and Mac uses his knife to cut it, making us parachutes.
I put mine on and Mac shoves the virus in his jacket before we both fly out of the truck. I land steadily on the feet and I grab Mac as half of his body hits the ground.
I pull him back more as a car almost hits him. The driver honks and passes by us. The truck then explodes and Mac shields me as the flames get bigger, shaking the whole area. We then lock eyes.
"Lina! Mac! You alright?" Jack runs over and we get up. "You okay?" He places his hands on my shoulders.
"Yeah." Mac nods.
"My man and new woman saving the world in style!" He laughs and clasps Mac's hand.
"Where's Riley?" I hold my aching ear again.
"She's okay. Hey, Lina, you need to get checked out-"
"No, Jack, I'm fine. Where's Riley?"
"She's in the helicopter." He tells me and I turn.
"Lina!" He yells and I start running.
"Riley!" I get to the helicopter.
"Lina!" Riley leans forward and we hug. "The Graysons are dead. Your father's name is cleared."
"I know."
"So when are you gonna tell him?" She refers to Mac.
"When the last man standing is finally put down." I pull away.
"Back to the old days then, huh?" Riley inquires.
"No, you've done enough for me all these years, Riley. I would never-"
"You're not. Your father was a good man. From the time I got to know him. And we both know Nolan deserves a break."
"Yeah, true." I scoff and she chuckles, then hugging me.
"Back to work?"
"Back to work."
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Hey, Lina." Jack says as I enter.
"How many did you get? C'mon, spit it out." Riley crosses her arms.
"Eight." I walk up the stairs.
"Nice." She clasps my hand.
"Eight what?" Jack questions.
"Stitches." She looks at the stitches in my knuckles.
"You kinda look like a female Wolverine, I don't know."
"Thanks, Jack." I nod.
"Jackie boy, what's happening, man?" Bozer walks over and they hug. "I haven't seen my bestie in a while."
"Ah, we're gonna change that. You look good, son." Jack tells him.
"Uh, not as good as them, though. Excu—Excuse me." He pushes Jack aside and heads over to us. "Now, who are tear little ingénues?"
"Yeah, Riley, Lina, meet Bozer. Bozer, meet off-limits."
"Riley just joined our I.T. Department a week ago." I cross my arms.
"Cutie." Bozer takes off his hat. "You do any acting? I'd love to put you in my movie."
"Baller, you better get to work. Those fries won't cook themselves." Riley tells him.
"Oh, yeah." He laughs. "This is gonna be fun."
"Might hurt, though." I raise my eyebrows and he gulps.
"Alright, I'll catch you all think tank geeks later. And you, Jack." Bozer leaves and Riley chuckles.
"So, check it out. Boss lady says we can keep this little rascal right here." Jack sits down.
"Can you not refer to me like I was a pet?" Riley scoffs.
"Hey, remember, you're still on probation, little lady." He hands her a beer.
"Yeah, thank you for reminding me for the sixth time in the last half hour."
"You're welcome. You, uh, you doing alright there, pal?"
"I will be." Mac sips his beer.
"Lina?" Jack holds out a beer.
"No, I'm good. I have to get going." I look at the time on my watch.
"To do some assassin duties?"
"No, move in my furniture. You need me to draw you a picture?" I tilt my head down.
"No, I can imagine on my own, thank you." Jack tells me.
"Hey, if you ever change your mind." I nod before turning.
"Thank you." Riley says and I turn back.
"What?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"You said if I did the right thing, I'd be thanking you later. And this is later. So...thanks."
"I made you a promise, didn't I?"
"What—What promise? You need to tell me how you know each other." Jack sips his beer.
"I was at her trial when she got convicted. I was out here on an assignment anyway." I lie.
"She tried to get me out on early release." Riley adds and I pull a necklace off the rack from behind me.
"What's this?" I toss the necklace.
"This we got in Cairo." Mac catches it.
"You were in Cairo?" Riley raises her eyebrows.
"No." Jack shakes his head.
"Yeah." Mac nods.
"Can't wait to hear that story." Riley grins.
"Guys, Cairo can wait." Patty enters.
"Oh, Director Thornton. What are you doing here?" Jack asks.
"As of 24:00 hours, we're shutting down DXS. What Nikki did compromised our covert operation, so we're folding up the tent and moving on all think tank personnel, tactical support and your team to a new location. Same job, new name. And you get to pick it."
"I like the Three Amigos."
"That means three guys." Riley sighs.
"Uh, you should brush up on your Spanish." Jack points at her. "My second choice—Thunder Stallions."
"Phoenix." I look at the necklace.
"C'mon, Lina. We don't wanna name our new super crew after a bird."
"Not just any bird. In ancient mythology, the Phoenix rose from the ashes stronger than it ever was. That's us." I lock eyes with Mac.
"I like it." Riley agrees.
"Me, too." Patty nods.
"To the Phoenix." I hold out my fist.
"Foundation." Riley bumps her beer bottle against my fist. "Alright, I give up. I surrender. I have no idea. Not even in the slightest bit." She shakes her head.
"Alright." I take out the pair of handcuffs out from my back pocket and put them on me. I make my hands smaller and get out of them. "Dislocated thumb."
"What?"
"Well, for those who aren't double jointed." I now put the cuffs on her wrist. "It's possible to escape handcuffs by dislocating the thumb, though. But the problem is that the joint you need to dislocate is not the joint most people think. It's the metacarpophalangeal joint, also known as the MCP. But for double jointed people, like us, all we have to do...is make our hands smaller." I push all of her fingers in a weird way and get her out of the cuffs. I raise my eyebrows and toss her the cuffs before turning.
"FBI."
"FBI?" Jack gasps. "Really?"
"I'll see you guys tomorrow." I walk down the steps.
"You live at that beach house, right?" Mac heads over.
"Yeah, why?"
"Nothing, uh, I'll walk you."
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"I didn't know my house was right across from yours until now, so, I'm not stalking you." I walk up the stairs.
"No, I know." Mac chuckles and traces the double infinity carving, making me thickly swallow.
"Double infinity. That's a long time."
"Yeah, it is. But it...it felt like a nanosecond. All of it."
"I could only imagine." I head over.
"Sorry, um-"
"Don't be. I'm guessing this house means something to you."
"Yeah. Yeah, it does." Mac nods. "I don't know if you ever heard of David Clarke. He was framed for the downing of Flight 197 back in the early 90s."
"And his name was cleared a few years ago. Yeah, I heard of the trial." I nod back.
"He had a daughter—Amanda. She came here one summer with him and she...she was my first ever friend. Even before Bozer. First crush too. And then, one night, I went to bring her dog Sammy back from a walk, and these men with machine guns come bursting in and I just froze. I couldn't process anything. All I could hear was her screaming, seeing her being dragged out of her house. Her father calling after her."
"Is that why you don't like guns?" I keep composure and lean my arms over the railing, then folding my hands. "You don't carry one."
"Y-Yeah, I guess so. My first time, uh, ever being exposed to that type of violence, I guess. And I think it's also the reason why I do what I do. What started it. Anyway, uh, the last time I saw her was when Social Services came. She gave me her dog, Sammy. It's, uh, it's all I really have left of her. Besides the knife."
"She gave you that?"
"Yeah. She said it would protect me whenever she wasn't around." He chuckles and I faintly grin. "Uh, anyway, sorry for trauma dumping. This house just...brings everything back."
"You're welcome to stand here and reminisce anytime you want. Amanda sounds like...a special girl."
"Yeah, she was. She even gave me my nickname, you know? Mac."
"Do you know where she is now?"
"No idea. David's name is cleared, so she's probably with him. Starting over. And that's good. She deserves it. I hope she's happy, wherever she is."
"I'm sure she is, happy."
"So, FBI, huh?" Mac slips his knife in his pocket. "You got fired, huh? Got too boring for you?"
"Funny." I nod and he smirks.
"Thanks for today. Sorry about the stitches, I owe you one."
"No, you don't." I shake my head. "Just don't let that silver star go to your head." I turn and head inside the house, then closing the door. My back hits the door and I close my eyes, letting the tears come down.
Fuck.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
🖇️🧠🪵🧨💥
i love lucas till and when i first started watching this show i fell in love for the 80th time🤭 anyway, some tweaks will be made to the original show of revenge, and you'll find out more and it'll make more sense as you keep reading. i really like this idea and i'm proud of this book so i hope you guys are too and i hope you like the first chapter!
THE best trio
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