by Jeff Uribe
[NRPG :
Delta : This is being sent to you to wrap up Docker's involvement with Delta and Agent Robins' last conversation with him.
Tango : Just to turn off the heat on Emily for a bit. Now the investigation can go on without any further worries. Also, a bit of foreshadowing with the "special forces" readying for another attack sometime soon.
Zulu : Just another chance to crosspost. Leo and Zenya will be returning to D.C. soon, with a surprising conversation in the next post. ]
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[Somewhere in New York City]
Docker had given up smoking a long time ago, yet here he was craving a long soothing drag on a cig. Sitting in the back seat of a supposedly nondescript car, Docker looked at the expensive listening equipment that littered the passenger seat and shook his head. It's former user, now dead in the driver's seat with his head lolling off to one side at an awkward angle, must've paid a pretty penny for those toys. In his hands, Docker had an expensive toy of his own, something that looked like one of those handheld video games, but much much more fun. Glancing at the picture on the screen once again, Docker sat back and waited.
[Office of Thaddeus Cross, NYC]
"It seems as though we have an interesting situation, don't we?" Thaddeus Cross said to his personal assistant who was sitting in the seat across from his desk, nervously scanning the file and pictures in front of him.
"I would say so, sir." McBride answered, "You haven't had two X-files units after you before."
Cross nodded at this comment. "That's true. The last thing that I need is for both Zulu and Tango to team up. Zulu is dangerous enough to deal with as it stands, add the novice Tango and I may just have a formidable foe. How do I possibly avoid the unavoidable?"
McBride glanced once again at the files and looked up. "My suggestion would be to take out the novice team. You've proven that you're still a step ahead of Zulu and that they're controllable."
Cross chuckled and said, "Don't underestimate Zulu, McBride. They're not a team to be taken lightly, nor underestimated. If anything, they're extremely resilient and quick to counterstrike as my dear Rebecca found out. Thaddeus sat back in chair and crossed his fingers. "No... they're not to be taken lightly, not at the least."
"Besides...." Thaddeus continued, "I need them to find out who our competition is, and what's their objective with returning Starling and their obvious cloning project."
McBride nodded, looking at the picture of Ann Cross speaking with Jordan and Vanessa. "Not to mention how'd they managed to get a hold of Rebecca's DNA to clone her?"
"Exactly." Thaddeus said, venom dripping from his voice.
"And Tango?" McBride asked, his voice steady and direct, exactly the opposite of what he was feeling at the moment.
"If our 'special forces' don't get them first, then I'll need them to find out who's killing off our troops." Thaddeus said. "Fortunately, they're new and expendable. Kill off one and it'll demoralize the entire group, possibly scatter them to other divisions."
McBride nodded once again and asked, "And that one would be?"
"Agent Hanson, of course." Thaddeus Cross smiled at this. "If it wasn't for Agent Reed's constant snooping, then it probably would have been someone else, but.... as it stands. I believe it's time to give our John Smith a call."
With that, he pressed a button on his speaker phone and heard the number begin to dial.
[In the car with Docker]
As Thaddeus discussed his options with McBride, Docker was replaying a certain conversation he had in Miami. Miami... losing Agent Robins had been a hard hit loss for Delta, but it had a harder impact on Docker. He should've known that reinforcements wouldn't have been far behind and he should have never let Sharlyn step out in front of him. He had been clumsy and someone else had paid for it with their life. Docker shook his head and went back to Miami....
[Miami, en route to Dade County Memorial Hospital]
Docker drove like a madman through the streets of Miami in order to get a very badly hurt Sharlyn Robins to the hospital. She was still bleeding profusely from the three slugs in her and he was feeling the pain from the bullet he had taken in his gut as well.
Sharlyn propped herself up in the back seat and said, "So, Docker... why ARE you helping us after trying to kill us back at World's End?"
"At World's End, I was paid to keep you out of the way. Besides, you were never in any serious trouble. If I tried to kill you, some of you would've been dead by now, and I wouldn't be speeding your butt to the closest hospital right now." Docker said as he tried to maneuver through the Miami traffic. "Why is it so important for you to know why I'm helping?"
Sharlyn lay back and coughed up some blood. "Just curious, that's all. It just seems unusual for a pain in the ass like you to be helpful, that's all."
Docker had to smile at this, although his focus was intent on his driving. He looked at the pained look on Sharlyn's face and said, "Well, maybe I'm trying to quit the killing biz, or perhaps trying to turn over a new leaf. Mostly everyone that I've ever killed has been out of necessity, self-defense, or I was hired to kill. I've only killed once out of a personal vendetta amd it's haunted me ever since."
Sharlyn nodded in the back and pressed Docker's makeshift compresses over her wounds. "I'm not going to make it, am I? I can see it in your eyes."
"If you give up now, you're not." Docker said, a steely determination entering his voice as he saw the Hospital looming in the distance. "besides, we're almost there. Hold on for a few minutes more, Robins."
Sharlyn chuckled from the back and said, "I never thought I'd ever hear myself saying this, but I'm glad you were there for us, Docker. We're not going to be able to link Moran to this, are we?"
Docker looked in the rear-view mirror, "probably not. He'll get away with it this time, but he'll mess up later down the line. Count on it."
Sharlyn nodded as she slowly lost consciousness. Docker braked hard in front of the Emergency room door and ran to get Sharlyn into the hospital. A wave of dizziness hit him as he bent to pick Sharlyn up from the back seat and carried her into the Emergency room.....
[Present, NYC]
... and that was the last he ever saw or heard of Agent Sharlyn Robins alive. He had managed to get stitched up at another area hospital, but try as they might, the doctors at Dade Memorial couldn't stop the blood loss and Sharlyn had slipped into a coma, dying soon after. Docker looked at his screen once again and noticed that he'd be getting a call soon. No sooner did the thought pass, the cell phone in the car began to ring. Switching on his mini-cassette recorder, he punched the speaker button in the dead assassin's car.
"Yeah?"
[Cross here, the target is a go. Do it tonight and get out of town.]
"Ok... and what target would this be again? I get so forgetful sometimes and there are so many people to hit." Docker said with a smile, seeing the figure on his screen stand up suddenly.
[Who is this?]
"I'm hurt Big Thaddy... first, you go and hire some small time amateur who couldn't kill an elephant if it stood in front of him with a bullseye painted on his side, and now you don't remember my voice."
[Docker...]
"That's better, Thaddy-boy. Now, listen up... I've got something to say and you're not going to like it....."
[Office of Thaddeus Cross]
[... First of all, you're boy is dead, courtesy of myself. Secondly, I'm retiring and won't be doing any more of your dirty work anymore....]
The veins on Thaddeus Cross' neck started to stand out as he gripped the edge of his table tightly. "Who the hell do you think you are, Docker? You're retiring when I say you're retiring. I pay you, you're mine."
[Tsk tsk tsk.... Now now, Thaddy. I believe you have this all wrong. I've given my notice and I'm out of here. Remember who made you the man you are... I killed Gorky so you could get an in with the Russian mob. I took out Jones' wife and kid because he interfered with your plan to take out the entire Gorky family. And now, they're together and hunting you down, how ironic.]
"I paid you well for those hits, as well as for those other jobs you did. I own you, Docker and don't you forget it." Thaddeus picked up a snowglobe that sat on his desk, a gift from Rebecca and Amanda when they were younger.
[You never owned me, Cross. Let's get that one point straight. Besides, I still have the tapes of you ordering me to kill off your enemies and those tapes nearly guarantee my retirement whether you want to pay or not. I own you Thaddy, get used to it.]
"I see..." Thaddeus turned the snowglobe upside down and watched the snow float back to the bottom.
[Besides, I never liked you anyway. Oh yeah, one more thing... I have a very special interest in Tango, don't do anything that would hurt anyone from that group.]
[The Car in NYC]
Docker fiddled with the joystick on his little gizmo and aligned the crosshair to the object of his interest.
[Or else what, Docker?]
"I'm glad you asked, Cross....." Docker said with a smile as he pressed a button on his console.
[Office of Thaddeus Cross]
A split-second later, the window to his office splintered and the snowglobe in his hand shattered into water and glass. McBride ducked reflexively, but Thaddeus just stood there looking at the remnants of his daughter's gift to him dripping in his hand.
[I can get to you anytime I want... and if that isn't enough, I can get to any member of your family as well. Stay away from Tango.]
Thaddeus set the base on his desk and said in a voice a hundred times calmer than he felt, "Anything else, Docker?"
[Just remember... I'm watching you, Cross.]
"Obviously.... Happy Retirement, Docker." Thaddeus said in a dry voice. "You had better enjoy it while you can."
[I plan on it, Big Thaddy.]
With that, Cross cut the connection and looked at the hole in his window and followed the trajectory of the bullet to see a nice round circle in the forehead of the picture hanging on the opposite wall.
"McBride... find out Docker's connection to Tango, and get someone to take him out as soon as possible."
McBride took the notes down and asked, "What about Tango, sir?"
"Tango will have to wait for now." Thaddeus said as he turned towards the window. "If our special forces don't take them out, we'll deal with them at a later time. Docker has become a problem, and I don't like problems."
"Very well, sir." McBride stood up and turned towards the door. "Will there be anything else?"
Cross said nothing and waved McBride away. He looked out over the city and muttered, "Docker, this is one mistake you're not getting away with. I will find you and kill you, if it's the last thing I do."
[Long Island Memorial Cemetary - Christopher Starling's plot]
Emily came through the police lines and looked at the mummified body laying in Starling's grave. Vynce followed close behind and saw Leo and Zenya once again and started towards them. Just as he was about to call out to them, a car horn started to blare not too far away from them.
Leo and Zenya started to run in the direction of the horn, followed closely by Emily and Vynce. When they got to the car, Leo pushed the dead body back into a sitting position, which turned off the horn.
"Strangled." Leo said as he saw a familiar card on the dead man's chest.
Zenya looked at the card and read, "A gift, from D. ps listen to the tape and you may be curiously surprised."
Emily reached in and played the tape that Docker had left for them. At the end of the tape, Leo and Zenya could only exchange a glance at each other, although the same thought crossed their mind. Cross.