Episode 8: FANthrax
Part 10
“Thanks for all your help. We couldn’t have done this without you,” Red said the next day as she and Nick prepared to leave. She smiled, shaking Julilly’s hand.
“I was glad to help. Hopefully, we won’t have to meet like this again.” Julilly nodded. “But if we do, I don’t know anyone else I’d rather work with.”
Red chuckled. “I feel the same.”
Julilly looked over at Nick, giving him a small smile. “It’s been fun, Nick.”
Nick stared at her for a minute before taking her hand and tugging gently. “Walk with me,” he said quietly.
Red rolled her eyes, turning and joining everyone else at the waiting van that would take them home.
“I’ve really enjoyed our time together,” Nick said, smiling.
“Sure you have. You say that to all your women, Nick; I wouldn’t stop to think for a minute that you mean that.”
“But I do. You’re special, baby.”
“Oh yeah? How special?” Julilly questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“Really special. You’re my Canadian woman… the one and only.”
Julilly groaned. “Oh lord.”
Nick winked. “You love it.”
Julilly said nothing, merely smiling.
“So can I look you up the next time I come to Canada, maybe go to a hockey game? You do like hockey, right?”
Julilly gave him a look of exasperation. “I’m Canadian; of course I like hockey.”
“Then it’s a date.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Carter. I don’t date co-workers.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“But we’re not co-workers. We worked on a special assignment, and now we’re just two adults going to a hockey game… and maybe a nightcap after.” He grinned.
Julilly chuckled. “I should’ve known. I’ll think about it, okay? Hold your breath until I call.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have you know, I’m a licensed scuba diver; I can hold my breath longer than you’d imagine, and that‘s without the tank.”
Julilly stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and tugging him close to her, their lips only inches apart.
“Yeah? Prove it,” she murmured before kissing him deeply.
***
“Ya know, I’m really gonna miss Canada,” Nick sighed as he and Red made their way into HimTak’s headquarters.
Red had been unusually quiet on the trip back, side-eyeing him every so often. “Really?” she dead-panned, walking through the door Nick held open for her.
“Absolutely! I mean, I feel like I’m part Canadian now. And the women — so welcoming…” He chuckled.
Rolling her eyes, Red slipped quickly through the door ahead of her and let it close behind her without bothering to hold it open for him. Nick, who was off in his own world, didn’t notice and ran right into it with a muttered “Ow.”
He rubbed his nose absently as he followed her down the hall. It took a moment before he realized that everyone who passed him seemed to be staring at him. Some snickered behind their hands; others just burst out laughing. He smiled uneasily the first couple of times, but as they got closer and closer to K’s office, he started to grow more and more suspicious, his smile fading into a grimace. “What’s so funny?” he kept asking people, but no one would respond — they’d just started laughing harder.
“This is some welcome for a couple of agents who just saved the world from a deadly virus.” Nick frowned. “They should be thanking us, not laughing at us.”
“It’s not us they’re laughing at, Nick; it’s you.” Red grinned.
Nick furrowed his brow. She seemed to be enjoying this, and that was not cool.
“How do you know they’re not laughing at you? How do you know that they‘re…” Nick stopped suddenly.
Lancy stood outside K’s office, staring intently at him. Nick had grown used to the way Lancy stared at him, but not like this. It was as if he were undressing him with his eyes. There was a longing, a hunger in his eyes that Nick had never seen before. He turned quickly, checking to make sure his fly was zipped before turning back around.
Lancy continued to stare at him, his eyes never leaving Nick as he and Red made their way into K’s office.
“What the hell was that all about?” Nick asked, looking at Red.
She shrugged, still grinning. “I have no idea; I’m as lost as you are. Well… maybe not that lost.”
“Shuddup!” Nick groaned.
“I dunno, you’ve always been the product of his fantasies… Maybe he’s just gotten really good at fantasizing about you.”
“That’s just sick, you know that? I haven‘t done anything different to feed his, uh… whatever.”
Red simply smiled.
***
“In other news, we’re told that the plague that had been sweeping through Canada was caused by a biochemical weapon dubbed ‘FANthrax.’ Although it shares some common characteristics with the similarly-named anthrax, FANthrax is viral, not bacterial. We’re told that the antidote developed by scientists at Canada’s Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control is currently being distributed across the country. More doses will be manufactured to ship to other countries to prevent a global pandemic.”
“Too bad that couldn’t have happened before I caught it.” Brian smirked as he watched the news from where he was lying on the couch.
They’d been back home at his country house in Virginia for about a week now. Ashavari had even come with him, taking her work with her so that she could help nurse Brian back to health. He could hear her in his kitchen, preparing a batch of homemade chicken and dumplings. He smiled. It was nice being pampered. Although he was doing better, he was still weak from the effects of FANthrax. Red had warned him he’d need at least two weeks of rest before even considering going back to work. Of course, his boss and Opal had gotten wind of that and were holding him to it. He sighed. He wasn’t fond of being stuck on bed rest; he’d always been an active guy, and being confined like this was going to drive him crazy soon enough. He’d give them two weeks. Three wasn’t an option; he’d start acting like Nick if he was confined that long. At least he’d survived one already…
“…The Canadian Service Intelligence Agency has repeatedly denied rumors that the virus was bioengineered by a terrorist organization, claiming it was created by an anarchist acting alone. Sources report that the culprit is believed to have been killed in a helicopter crash during a pursuit by both the Canadian and American Air Forces…”
“Good,” Brian muttered to himself.
“You know, it’s funny how HimTak has their fingers in every global problem, yet no one has any hint of their existence,” Opal remarked as she came into the living room, carrying a bowl of piping hot soup.
Brian chuckled softly. “I know, but that’s how the UN wants it.” He smiled as his girlfriend set the bowl on the TV tray before him. The aroma tantalized his nose and reminded him of just how good it felt to eat real, home-cooked food again.
Ashavari sat beside him on the couch. “So working for the UN isn’t just a rumor spread to enforce authority.”
“Not the way Kev tells it, and he’s always been honest with me since I started liaising with HimTak. The UN figured they’d be nothing but a powerless figurehead without something to back it up. I’m sketchy on the details…” He smirked as he sat up on the couch. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to know what I do, but it led to HimTak being born, a police force to keep the world at peace, for the most part.”
Ashavari nodded. “Makes sense.”
Brian dug into his soup, blowing on the spoonful of chicken and dumplings before he shoveled it into his mouth. “Mmm… this is so good, baby,” he said as he swallowed.
She smiled. “As good as your mom’s?”
He hesitated before giving her an honest answer. “Almost.”
She laughed. “Well, I’m learning, at least.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Brian took another bite.
“So,” she said as he continued to eat. “I got a new assignment the other day…”
He glanced up, raising his brow. “When?”
“Just before I rushed up to Canada. It’s from the Feds.”
Brian frowned. As much as he loved serving his country as part of the Central Intelligence Agency, he wasn’t fond of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He felt there was too much overlap between the FBI department that dealt with unsolved cases and unexplained events and his own division of the CIA. As a result, the FBI tended to interfere with Brian’s investigations.
“Really? What do they want with you, Ash? I know they have their own cryptographers…”
“Remember your Playboy mission?”
“Alien central? Sure.”
“All the technology they took…”
“Still can’t believe they were allowed to keep it all when my branch could have done more with it…”
“They’re borrowing me to see if I can crack the alien language. My department approved it. It’s supposed to rank above all other assignments — and stay highly classified…”
Brian chuckled. “So I don’t count then. Nice.”
Ashavari shrugged. “You’re getting too scruffy,” she teased, her hand brushing against his sideburns. “You know you need to shave. You’re starting to look like the Wolfman.”
Brian recognized her attempt to change the subject, but he went along with it, howling playfully. He loved to make her laugh.
Before they could continue their conversation, Brian’s phone began ringing. He didn’t recognize it at first because the ringtone wasn’t the one he normally had. Yet, it absolutely came from his phone, which was vibrating beside his soup bowl on the TV tray in front of the couch. Brian’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the lyrics of the song that was playing.
“You wanna know what you get
When you play a country song backwards
You get your house back
You get your dog back
You get your best friend Jack back
You get your truck back
You get your hair back…”
He didn’t know how Nick had done it, but he was definitely going to get him back for this.
Opal covered her mouth as she laughed.
Brian stuck his tongue out at her, causing her to giggle more. Fighting the urge to laugh himself, he finally picked up the phone. Before Canada, he would have been furious. Now, he found it hilarious, but damn if he was gonna let Nick know that immediately. “Carter,” he said, trying to sound stern.
And what did Nick do? Instead of answering like a normal person, he started singing. “Oh itty bitty dinky one… come on and talk to me… Oh itty bitty dinky one, I’m down on my kneeeeeeeeeee…”
Finally, it was too much. Brian burst out laughing. “How…?”
“Did I change your phone? I called down and asked Pearl to do it.”
Brian raised his eyebrows, stifling a chuckle. “…You actually went to the trouble of getting Pearl to hack my phone? You mean, you couldn’t just have changed it while I was, oh… I dunno… comatose??”
There was a pause. Then Nick’s sheepish voice replied, “Uh… yeah, well… shitballs. I didn’t think of it at the time!”
Brian snickered. “Fail.”
“Not for Pearl,” Nick insisted. “She got a kick out of it, too… once she was done yelling at me about the car. She wanted to kill me for that.”
“Have you seen K yet? I need to call my dear sweet cousin. I have such a story to tell him about that car of yours… oh, and that bumblebee, gas-guzzling Hummer…”
“It was ALL they had, I tell you!” Brian could hear him laughing, too. “I kinda miss Canada… had to say goodbye to Julilly… damn, and she was fun, too.” Brian shook his head. “But how are you feeling?”
“Better. They got me down on bed rest for two-and-a-half weeks.”
“Aight, then that’s when I’ll come up, and we can wrap up this file. I just, you know… had to call.”
Brian got the meaning. It was strange, that feeling of camaraderie that had popped up between them during this mission. Yet, there it was, undeniably. Nick had been there for him in ways Brian would never have expected. He was actually a better agent than Brian had ever thought. Strange. Just like everything else in Himitsu Takana.
“Thanks, Nick. Or should I say… 008?”
“You suck, Country Boy.”
“Bye.”
“Laters!”
Brian flipped the phone shut, and Opal kissed him gently on his cheek, giving him the smile he adored. “I told you he wasn’t the Anti-Christ.”
“Shush.”
“Just admit I was right, Bri…” she sing-songed.
“Shush.”
“Make me.”
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close against him, her lips only inches away from his own. “Oh, I will.”
***
At the FANS headquarters in the heart of the Florida Everglades, Dr. Rough’s henchmen had gathered in their meeting room. They sat silently in solemn rows with their heads down, avoiding looking at the flower bouquets and large, framed photos of their leader that lined the four walls.
The man in the pictures was much smaller in real life than he had been portrayed, but as he stood before them, Dr. Rough had never looked more menacing. His left eye twitched as he looked across row after row of his minions. He had collected these forgotten agents after other agencies had rejected them, casting them aside like pieces of trash. All were faithful to him. Yet, as he surveyed their fearful faces, he realized there was only one he could truly count on. His eyes landed on Drums, who was sitting in the last row. Drums alone deserved to be rewarded, Dr. Rough decided, remembering how his right-hand man had rescued him during his recent brush with death.
Dr. Rough watched as the helicopter carrying the exasperating 00Carter and another agent neared his aerial escape. The female agent was better at flying the pursuing helicopter than he ever would want to have admitted. He needed to find a way to shake them.
He glanced below and noticed he was flying over what he believed to be Lake Erie. Staring ahead, he knew he was flying right into U.S. airspace, but it was a risk he was willing to take to shake his tail.
Sweat on his palms caused his hand to slip from the collective and down onto a panel of buttons he had not noticed originally. Quickly grabbing hold of the collective again in order to keep control of his helicopter, he glanced down and grinned to himself. Now he knew exactly how he would get away from those meddlesome kids and make them believe he was no longer a threat.
Timing his turn, he veered back towards Lake Erie, the perfect place for this plan. In order for it to work, he needed to fly low.
“Drums!” he barked into his headset as he held on to the controls, contorting himself to reach just what he needed from behind his seat. He could feel the helicopter dip sideways, tilting objects inside to the right; he hoped the agents were still far enough away that they did not catch that flying blunder.
“Yah, boss?” Drums spoke back.
Dr. Rough detailed his brilliant plan to his right-hand man. He knew Drums would fulfill his part. Now he just had to make sure his end worked as well as his mind had envisioned.
He tried desperately to pull his arms through the air tank’s straps so that he would be prepared. Using only one hand, he thought he had control, despite his right arm getting caught on the strap.
“Gar!” he shouted as he lost control of the helicopter. Just then, he heard gunfire coming from the pursuing chopper. He would have cursed his foolishness, but the sudden swerve of his own copter saved him from being hit too soon by the agents.
Both hands now on the collective, Dr. Rough purposely swerved and sped forward, searching for the perfect place for his feigned demise. It was not long until he found the spot and turned his copter so that his door was on the far side. Staring out the passenger window at the oncoming helicopter, he jimmied the steering to hold position and jammed his hand down on the self-destruct button.
He grinned as he saw them fire, as he hoped they would. He pulled the breathing apparatus around his face and clung tightly to the air tank. As the missile struck the flank of his helicopter, he lowered himself through the trapdoor in the floor and dropped, freefalling towards the water. He could feel the heat from the hit, followed by a fresh burst of fire from the explosion as the helicopter self-destructed.
By contrast, the water was cold as he sank beneath it and swam for the shore, where he knew Drums would be waiting. He hoped that the extra fireworks would prevent the interfering agents from looking for him.
Dr. Rough still thought his escape from the HimTak agents was one of sheer brilliance, but now he was infuriated. Drums may have had his back, but the other minions had failed him.
“How could this happen?!” he shouted to the four Moffatt brothers who sat in the front row, quailing under his furious stare. They had only recently been his favorites. Now they would be eel fodder if he could just find an eel that would eat their flesh.
“THOSE BLASTED HIMTAK AGENTS HAVE FOUND A CURE!” he screamed, picking up the first thing he could reach to throw. Looking at the object in his hand, he thought better of throwing a picture of his mother. Instead, he snatched a vase filled with flowers and hurled it across the room. “WHY DO WE HAVE VASES WITH FLOWERS, ANYWAY?!”
“They make the place cozy,” answered one of the identical ones — Dr. Rough could not remember which. It didn’t matter — a moment later, his brothers were dragging him off to the medical wing, as the picture of Dr. Rough’s mother did fly from his hands, hitting the minion in the nose.
“One… two… three… four… five…” Dr. Rough counted in an attempt to calm himself down. He looked out at the crowd of minions gathered, awaiting the beginning of the meeting. Turning to business, he stepped up to his podium and began. “As we are all aware by now, Operation FANthrax did not complete its objective.”
He started up a slide show, which showed a picture of a Moffatts concert, followed by images of hospitals full of the sick, then onto the images of those once ill recovering, including a picture of Officer Littrell.
“With the infection of Officer Littrell, we weakened Himitsu Takana’s regime only slightly. That is why you have all been called here today. It is time to embark on my newest scheme: Operation Let It Blow!” He threw back his head and cackled maniacally as his minions clapped and cheered.
***
Back at HimTak, Red and Nick waited in K’s office for him to debrief them after their mission. They both turned around when K entered the room, angrily slamming the door shut.
“I don’t think I need to remind you, 008–” K began as he sat down behind his desk, glowering at Nick.
“00Carter,” Nick corrected, wincing when Red elbowed him in the arm.
K ignored the interruption and continued, “–that you have a license to kill, NOT to break traffic laws. We’re not paying these tickets off for you.”
“But K–”
“But NOTHING! You broke at least five traffic laws in two minutes! What were you thinking?” K asked, waving his hand at Nick as he opened his mouth to answer. “On second thought, I probably don’t even want to know.”
“You don’t. Really,” Red insisted.
“The point is, you caused a lot of damage and could have made things worse if–”
“–If I hadn’t known you were a total blond and put in extra safety mechanisms,” Pearl finished, interrupting K again as she opened the door of his office. “Do you realize how long it’s going to take me to make all of those repairs?!”
Nick looked back at her standing in the doorway, noticing her arms crossed over her chest. He had a feeling that if looks could kill, he would have been dead the moment she walked in. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Diamond entered the room behind Pearl. The tight red dress she wore made his heart race so fast that he thought he might have a heart attack and die anyway.
“Ladies, this meeting is supposed to be private,” K told them, then cleared his throat in an attempt to redirect Nick’s attention to the matter at hand.
“So’s this…” Pearl said, stifling a giggle as she strode over to K’s desk and pressed the button on his nameplate, causing the projector screen to pop from within it. She then pressed a button on the remote in her hand. A picture appeared on the screen of Nick, in all his naked glory, standing in the hallway of the hotel, moments after his scuffle with Brian had caused his towel to fall down. Diamond wolf-whistled while Pearl laughed hysterically, and Red tried to look as innocent as possible.
“WHAT THE–?! HOW DID–?! RED?!” Nick exclaimed, jumping up from his chair and spinning around to face Red Jewel.
Red tried not to laugh any harder than she already was, but the expression on Nick’s face, both in the picture and in person, was just too priceless.
“I couldn’t resist, Nick…” she answered once she had contained her amusement – for the moment.
Nick stared at her, appalled, and took a few steps towards the door before K’s voice stopped him again. “Not so fast, 008. We’re not done here.”
“But K, haven’t I suffered enough?!” Nick motioned to the picture still displayed on the screen.
K glanced back quickly and tried to cover up his laughter with a fake cough. “No, you haven’t,” he stated flatly, motioning for Nick to sit back down, which he did, begrudgingly, slumping down in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest like a child throwing a tantrum. “I haven’t even gotten to how ridiculous that rental car was! You represent our organization when you go on missions, 008; you can’t do something as outrageous as renting a bumblebee yellow Hummer to drive around Canada.”
“But it was all they had!”
“I highly doubt that.”
“I swear, it was–”
“I don’t want to hear it! You’re paying for the car rental, too,” K said, as Nick scoffed in disbelief.
Before Nick could object, the door opened once again., This time, Emerald walked in.
“Oh jeez!” she exclaimed, immediately putting her right hand up to block her view of the picture. “I didn’t know you guys were watching Nick Jr. in here. Think of the children!”
“Don’t hate, Em,” Diamond said as she checked her reflection in the mirrored screen on the front of her cell phone. “Everyone should get to enjoy it every once in a while, even you.”
“Nope,” Emerald replied, leaning against the wall near the doorway to avoid coming any closer to the disturbing picture. “Though I wonder how anyone can find that thing without a microscope…”
This time, it was Nick who responded. “Just admit that you could never handle me, Avril.”
“You need a babysitter, not a girlfriend, Double-0-Streaker.”
“I knew we shoulda dropped you off at home while we were in Canada,” Nick grumbled.
“ENOUGH!” K shouted, stopping both agents from erupting into yet another argument. “Emerald does have a point, Nick: your behavior on this mission was unacceptable. You’re a secret agent — that means your presence needs to stay a secret. Running naked through a hotel is not the proper way to stay incognito.”
“K, that was a total accident! I just got out of the shower, and–”
“I told you, I don’t want to hear it, 008! I expect those expenses to be paid on time and you to remain fully clothed at all times during missions from now on.”
“Even when I take a shower or something?” Nick asked.
“How about you try not leaving hotel rooms without your pants on, Nick?” Red suggested, giggling as Nick glared at her again.
“Gee, I wonder why I didn’t think of that,” Nick said sarcastically.
“Obviously, you didn’t.” K nodded behind him at the picture, now trying to control his laughter even more. He looked up at the doorway and saw Lancy poke his head into the office.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I have Nick’s notes — OH… MY… GO–” Lancy fainted before he finished his sentence, having finally taken in the entire picture practically staring him in the face. Diamond shrieked as she rushed over to help Red aid Lancy, while K and Pearl glared at Nick as he finally started to laugh.
“Okay… now that was kinda funny.”
***