nrpg : this is very long.... so beware
rpg:
The morning after the return from Boston, 0800 hours Vanessa's apartment
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Vanessa woke up to the smell of bacon and egg. She sat up, stretched herself, and looked at her alarm clock.
"8 o'clock", she told herself, and yawned. She knew that she was supposed to wake up earlier for a jog, but was simply unable to find the energy. Well, not after the hectic investigation in Boston, followed by a last-minute dinner-cum-last night conversation with her friends Jennifer and Robby who had suddenly turned up in Washington. They were, they told her and Christopher, on their way to Europe from California, and thought that they should visit their old friends first.
Tomorrow, Vanessa told herself as she laid down again. I'll start my jogging tomorrow.
Just then, Chris came in, looking absolutely at home with his polo-tee, jeans and a apron (his, she did not trust aprons) with a picture of carrots, vegetables and peas.
"Wake up, sleepyhead."
"Can I have 5 more minutes?" She asked.
"No way. Breakfast is turning cold. Come on." Chris said as he approached the bed, and tried to pull her out of it. "Come on, Vanessa. Its rise and shine!"
She gave up, releasing her hand from his grip, and got out of bed.
"How did you ever wake up so early everyday?" she asked as she went to brush her teeth.
"I got a routine lifestyle. You should develop a routine lifestyle too. " He shouted.
"My job does not let me have a routine lifestyle!" She shouted back.
Five minutes later, Vanessa appeared in the kitchenette, refreshed.
Two sets of bacon, cereal and eggs breakfast were on the table. He had a mug of coffee in his hands, while a mug of chocolate was on the opposite end of the small square table.
"Heavy breakfast," she commented as she sat down.
"Its good for you. I bet you don't have a decent breakfast when you are in Boston."
"Not really," she told him with a shrug.
As they settled down to breakfast, Vanessa's thoughts went back to the recent case again. Jim and her had missed out most of the action. The only person who was doing the updating was Jordan. Tom was slightly groggy from his strange encounter, Zenya and Leo were unusually quiet, while Martin was busy concentrating on Emily. She smiled at the last part.
"What are you smiling at?" Chris asked, breaking her train of thoughts.
"Nothing much. A team member was reunited with his girlfriend who was captured by terrorists. He was very affectionate to her when I first saw the two of them together."
"He brought her along during the mission? So when are you going to bring me along when you leave Washington? " He asked her teasingly. "The last time I only knew you had left when I reached home after a busy day and heard your 10 second message on my answering phone. That hurts, you know." He joked, pressing his heart to show the degree of the hurt he felt.
Vanessa had to laugh at that.
"Don't be ridiculous. They don't even know you exist. And how do you expect me to bring you along? You would not want to bring me along when you are on your hospital rounds right?"
"But what happen when we are married?" He continued.
"Oh yeah, _if_ we got married."
"When." He said, his face suddently serious as he dug into his jeans pocket and retrieved a ring.
"Will you marry me?" He asked as he left his seat and walk towards her. The ring was held between his thumb and forefinger, and was placed just in front of her face.
It was a simple gold wedding band with little pattern.
"I know that you wouldn't like those big, glittering, diamond-encrusted type, so I got this. Nice and simple. See, I even got the inscription done." He tilted the ring abit so that she could see the engraving on the inside of the ring.
It read : Chris & Nessa
"Oh my god." She said, all expression gone from her face.
"You are not supposed to say 'oh my god'. You are supposed to say 'yes'."
Vanessa looked down to Chris, who had, somewhere in between, knelt down.
"But we hardly knew each other. We had only met for a few months."
"A few years. " He corrected. "I knew you when you are just 18. Its been 4 years since then."
"Oh my god." She repeated, her face still expressionless.
Oh my god, Chris thought. She is going to reject me.
Then she smiled, and she hugged him, fierce, and tight.
"Oh my god, Chris," she said as he returned her hug.
0930 hours Holiday Inn Room 303, Washington
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"You did it!" Robby screamed the moment he opened the door to his hotel room, and saw Chris with Vanessa, and the ring.
"Nif, Chris did it! He proposed!" He shouted into the room as he opened the door wider. "Come on in."
Jennifer, her make-up half done, rushed out of the bathroom and she immediately pulled her best friend into the room.
"Nessa, you said yes?!" She asked, looking more excited than anyone else in the room.
"Well, actually, she did not." Chris admitted.
"What?" Both Jennifer and Robby chorused, surprise on their face.
Chris paused for a few seconds, then grinned.
"All she said is 'oh my god'. For a while, I thought that she had converted to Christianity while I was not looking."
Jennifer let out a shout of joy, and then the four of them were just busy hugging one another. If not for the gaiety of the occasion, Vanessa would have felt quite foolish in the midst of the all the huggings and kissings.
"I told you you would succeed," Robby told Chris with a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"Let me look at the ring." Jennifer said. "Your style," she commented after she inspected it, which means that she did not like it, but she knew that Vanessa would because it was 'her style'. Jennifer, who was now a freelance architural designer, prefered loud, bright things.
"So when's the wedding?"
"Not so soon. Both of us are busy, and we have not met our parents yet. As a matter of fact, my parents are coming down to Washington next weekend to meet her." Chris said, pulling her close to him.
"I don't care, but you must wait for me to finish my posting." Robby warned them. He was going to Europe for a one year posting at his company's Paris branch. Jennifer decided to go along for some shopping.
They talked for a while more, and soon it was time for them to go to the airport.
Chris drove them to the newly named Ronald Reagen Washington International Airport, and the two of them sent their old friends off before he sent her home.
"Dinner tonight. My place." She told him as he dropped her off.
"8pm. I believe that they are showing a rerun of 'Carrie'." He informed her before he drove away.
Increasing her pace, Vanessa went to the carpark and retrieved her Suzuki Vitara and went to Station X.
Station X 1200 hours
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As usual, the first person Vanessa saw was Jenny.
"Hi, Jenny. Where is everyone?"
"Good afternoon, Agent Lee. Agent Stern had come along earlier this morning. The rest of them are not here yet."
Then Jenny's eyes widened as she spotted the wedding band on Vanessa's ring finger.
"I'm getting married," Vanessa announced.
"Well, congratulations! Who is the lucky guy? Someone from the bureau?"
"A friend from outside."
"This is good news then. Good to have good news after some bad ones."
"Bad news?"
Jenny shook her head. "The training director was hospitalised recently. In fact, Agent Stern had left for the hospital."
"Oh my, was he all right?"
"I am not sure. I heard that the doctors are still conducting the tests, but they are not conclusive. Nobody knew what happened actually. He just collapsed one day."
"Maybe I'll go and visit him later. Did you know which hospital is he in?"
"St Vincent's I believe."
Chris' working place.
"Well, maybe I will go and visit him later. BUt first, some paperwork."
Jordan had informed them on the little white lies that they should tell regarding their 'training' stinct in Boston. Lies were easy to fabricate, but making them sound real was another major task in itself. By the time she had finished her report, it was 6 o'clock. She had some marketing to do after a two days absence, and decided to postpone the visitation till the next day. Still, she decided, it was no harm to ask Chris to take a look at the TD.
"St Vincent's. May I help you?"
"Hello? May I speak to Dr Christopher Starling?"
"I'm sorry, but Dr Starling had already left."
"Its alright then. Thanks."
She thought that it was kind of strange for him to leave so early, but perhaps he had an appointment that she did not know about. After all, she did not keep track of his every move.
She drove home, parked the car, and walked a few streets where a Hong Kong supermarket was.
It was a weekday afternoon, and there was not much people around. The moment Vanessa stepped in, the Auntie (the usual way Chinese greeted a older woman) at the cashier noticed the ring.
"Your boyfriend proposed?" She asked in cantonese, loud enough for everyone in the supermarket to hear.
Vanessa smiled, slightly embarassed.
"Well, that's great. Is he the tall, good looking one that come here with you once? The doctor?" She asked.
Vanessa smiled and nodded, more embarassed.
With her marriage announced, everyone who understood cantonese smiled and congratulated her when she appeared on their aisle. Lots of "Gong Hei (congratulations)"s and one grocery bag later, she left the supermarket.
By then, the sky was getting dark with clouds and sign of rain. Cold wind blew, and Vanessa chided herself for not wearing her trenchcoat.
And then her handphone rang.
With one hand holding onto her grocery bag, it took her a rather long time to take her handphone out of her bag.
"Hello, Vanessa." She said as she multitask the job of jaywalking at the same time, continuing her journey home.
"Agent Lee, good evening." A female voice, unknown to her.
"Who's that please?"
"Well, I'm afraid that we did not have the chance to really meet before. But I'm sure you remember me. You try to shoot at me and my husband before."
Rebecca Cross, Vanessa thought.
"What do you want?" Vanessa asked, two buildings away from home, still walking.
"Well. Nothing much, just just desserts."
"Just desserts?"
"You and your team members make my Momma suffer so much. And tried to kill my husband and I. Of course, I will never forget such treatment."
"You broke the law. You go around killing people. You kidnapped and tried to kill a federal agent, and you are complaining now?"
One building away.
"My Momma suffered, Agent Lee," the voice on the other end continued as if she had not spoken. "But I shall be lenient. I even bring a welcome gift. You are now very near your apartment, Agent Lee. Why don't you look up and see."
Something in the voice made Vanessa looked up at her apartment. From her standing point, she was able to see the balcony and the fire escape staircase of her apartment. She was also able to see two man on the fire escape route. One of them was a stranger in black trenchcoat and sunglasses. The other person was Chris.
The streets was almost empty, and nobody noticed the strange duo standing up there.
"What do you want?" Vanessa asked.
"Nothing much, Agent Lee. I just want to make you feel the same way Momma feel. After the scores are settled, we can even meet and be friends. How about making a appointment now? We'll meet at the funeral?"
"What funeral?!" Vanessa asked, only to hear the sound of a line being disconnected.
She knew the answer half a second later.
The sound of the body hitting the soft turf was loud enough to attract the attention of everyone on that street. All Vanessa was able to do was to stand there, her eyes on the body a few metres away from her, her whole body paralysed. She did not even notice a stranger in dark clothing running out of the lift lobby of her building and escaped in a plateless car. She did not even realise that she had dropped the grocery bag. She did not even the feel the pain in her hand from gripping at the handphone too hard. She did not even hear the screaming of a few passerbys.
She did not even screamed.
All her screaming was done in that long dark corridor leading deep down into her soul.
St Vincent's Hospital 2115 hours
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Special Agent Jim Reaper burst through the main door of St Vincent's, his face all red and sweating from the rush from Station X to the hospital. He felt his heart beating very fast, but he ignored it as he ran towards the registration counter. Just one phonecall could sent him into a momentum like this.
A simple phonecall just because Jenny had told him something.
Station X 2010 hours
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"Agent Reaper!" Jenny said, surprise on her face as Jim walked out of the lift. "I was about to leave. I didn't expect anyone to come so late."
"Just to finish a few things, Jenny." He told her. It was raining outside, and he was all wet, rainwater dripping down his face. Maybe its time he switched from a two-wheeler to a four-wheeled vehicle, he thought.
"You're all wet. Why don't you dry up while I get you something hot? Coffee perhaps?"
"That would not be necessary, Jenny. I can handle it myself. Why don't you go home? I'm sure your family is waiting for you."
"You're sure you will be alright?" Jenny asked, concerned.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry," Jim told her, as he pressed the down button for her. The lift door opened, and Jenny went in.
As the door closed, she suddenly remembered.
"Oh yes, Agent Reaper. Did you know that Agent Lee is getting married?" She told him as the door separated the two of them.
Jim login and read his mail, including the one about TD being hospitalised.
"One wedding and a hospitalisation," he said with a bitter smile, looking out into the storm outside. Letting out a audible sign, he began to call Vanessa's handphone. Congratulations, he believed, was in order. It was answered on the fifth ring.
"St Vincent's Hospital? Oooops, I'm sorry. May I know who's calling?"
Jim sat up immediately, looking at the LD display on the phone. The number was correct.
"What do you mean by that? This is St Vincent's Hospital? What happen to Vanessa Lee?"
"I'm sorry sir, but the owner of this phone is currently in no condition to talk."
That certainly got his attention.
"I'll be right there."
St Vincent's Hospital 2115 hours
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"There is a patient called Vanessa Lee. Where is she?" Jim asked the nurse on duty at the registration counter.
The nurse, obviously used to seeing panic-stricken public, took her time in searching.
"Third floor, room 405."
"Thanks," Jim said before he ran off.
Sterotyping lifts as slow machinery, he used the stairs instead.
When he reached 405, it was empty except for a young nurse and a almost lifeless figure on the bed.
The nurse turned around, and gave him a smile.
"You are the man who called just now? She's all right now. The doctor had just given her an injection when you called. Now she's all right."
"Thank you. But what happened?"
The nurse shrugged. "I'm not sure of the details, but it seems that she witnessed an incident that left her in shock. When she just came, she was just like that, doing nothing, just clutching the handphone, not blinking, not talking. It was quite frightening at first." She said, reflecting her lack of experience.
"Who will have the details?"
"I do." A voice from behind made Jim turned around.
A man, about 50, walked in, his hand holding a steaming cup of coffee.
"Peter Curry, Washington PD." He introduced himself, stretching his hand out for a handshake. Jim took it.
"Jim Reaper, FBI. I'm a friend of - of the patient."
"Ms Vanessa Lee. FBI." Curry said in his deep voice, as if Jim did not know of her identity.
"Yes, Vanessa. So what exactly happened?"
"Ms Lee witnessed a accident near her house."
"What accident?" Jim asked, sensing that the detective was not telling everything.
"She saw her boyfriend falling from the balcony of her apartment."
"Boyfriend?" Jim was surprised. He did not know that Vanessa had a boyfriend.
Curry consulted his notebook. "A Mr Christopher Starling."
"It was not a accident." Jim did not ask.
Curry shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. Other witnesses said they saw a suspicious looking figure leaving the building very soon after the accident, and - "
"And?"
"Mr Starling's hands were tied behind his back when the medic arrived on the scene." Curry added after a few seconds. "Now, Agent Reaper, perhaps you would spare me a few moments to answer some questions?"
Intensive Care Unit, St Vincent's Hospital, 2250 hours
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Jordan reached St Vincent's with a deep heart. When he had heard of the TD's hospitalisation this morning, he had absolutely no idea that an agent would ended up in the same place in less than 24 hours.
He had received a phonecall from Jim and had rushed to the hospital.
Asking for directions, he soon found himself standing in front of a heavily-bandaged and much poked-into figure of Christopher Starling. A machine beside him beeped at regular intervals with each beat of his heart. If not for that particular machine, Jordan would not have known that the man in front of him was alive.
A nurse came in, and Jordan flashed his ID, asking for the doctor in charge.
"That would be Doctor Lane. Would you mind if you wait in the waiting room while I get the doctor?"
Saying that it was no problem, Jordan followed the nurse into a cold room with a few chairs, and sat there waiting for the doctor.
Must be a makeshift morgue when the moon is full, he told himself as he inspected his surroundings. There was no entertainment of any kind, and he amused himself by staring at the ceiling.
After 15 minutes later, the door opened, and a woman in doctor's robe came in. He looked at her, startled. The same eyes, the same face, the same build, the same flaming red hair.
"Carol!" He called out.
The doctor, surprised, dropped the stack of papers she was holding. Jordan immediately bent down to help her with the picking up.
"Thank you." She mumbled, a slight smile on her lips. "By the way, my name is not Carol, its Sissy. Sissy Lane."
"I'm sorry for the blunder," Jordan apologised. "I mistook you for a friend of mine. By the way, my name is Jordan Stern. I'm from the FBI."
"Its okay." Doctor Lane said in her soft voice as she sat down beside Jordan. "So you're here to acquire about Chris?"
"Chris?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. But the patient you are interested in, Doctor Christopher Starling, was a doctor in this hospital. Are you here as part of a investigation or as a friend?"
"Doctor, I'm actually half of both. You do know that there is a lady who was in shock after witnessing the accident right?"
"Yes, his friend, I believe."
"She was my subordinate, and I would like to know what happened. Very much. First of all, how is Starling?"
As Sissy Lane proceeded to outline Chris' case, Jordan observed her. She was, in a way, a almost duplicate copy of Carol. However, this copy was softer, with the hair slightly above shoulder length, and with more lines at the edge of the eyes, and a deeper look of understanding in them. Her voice too, was softer, more gentle, a voice used to speaking to upset family members, and consoling them.
"So is there any indication of when he will wake up?" Jordan asked.
"I'm afraid not. The injury to his head is quite severe. For cases like this, he might suddently wake up tomorrow, or he might never wake up. We'll keep monitoring his progress of course."
"Had his family been contacted?"
"Yes. His parents will fly down from New York as soon as possible. Would you like to speak to them when they had arrived?"
"If that's possible. Even though this case is not under the FBI, I would like to know what happened. Here is my namecard." Jordan passed his namecard to her. "You can call me anytime if anything happen." He told her as he walked her to the door of the room.
Just before she opened the door, Sissy Lane turned back and looked at Jordan.
"Agent Stern, can you be frank with me? Did my sister do something wrong? Caroline is my twin sister."
Before he could answer, the same nurse who led Jordan to this room came in.
"Doctor Lane, the patient in 4th floor had another heart attack!"
"I'll be right there." Sissy told the nurse. Before she left, she told Jordan. "I'll end my shift here at 9am tomorrow. Can we meet? At the cafeteria?"
"9am cafeteria." Jordan shouted as he saw her ran to yet another patient.
"Twin sisters, an angel and a devil." he mumbled to himself, as he left to find Jim.
Room 405 next day 0210 hours
----------------------------
Jim had volunteered to stay in the room overnight, and Jordan had left after he had updated the younger agent on Starling's progress. He had, however, soon fell asleep, and was dismayed to note that he had somewhere lost one hour in between.
"Damn, " he said to himself as he stood up from his seat and stretched.
Another "damn!" when he noticed that the bed was empty.
"Vanessa?" He called out. There was no reply in the dark room. Switching on the lights, he looked into the adjourning bathroom. It was empty.
"Damn!" He swore again as he ran out of the room. The corridor was empty.
"Where could she be?" He asked himself as he started to run in the general direction of the ICU. He soon found her.
She was seated next to the bed, still in her hospital clothes. Her hands were clutching those of the unmoving man on the bed, her new wedding ring shining in the dim light. She was talking.
"I know you've missed it tonight, but we can borrow the tape. And maybe some more horror tapes. One full night of them, how about that? (a pause) Chris, remember when you told me about Father Christopher? About how he saved you, how you got your name? I was thinking, would it be possible for him to preside over our wedding? That would be great isn't it? We'll ask Robby to take a few days leave and come back just for it okie?" She told the lying figure. Even from the door, Jim could see that her eyes were all red and swollen, and wet.
"You said that you want to marry me, Chris. So why don't you wake up now? We'll go to the airport and fetched your parents together, how about that? Just wake up, Chris. Why don't you wake up? This place is so lifeless, so cold. Its cold here, so cold. Please - "
Cursing himself for nothing, Jim moved in, and stood beside the sobbing Vanessa, until she looked up and noticed him.
"Jim," she called his name. "Oh my god, Jim. Its all my fault." She said as he pulled her close to him and let her cried her heart out.
nrpg : for those that are interested, Vanessa is not backing out from the
next mission
nrpg : regarding sissy lane, something for alton to work with? 8P
nrpg : would rebecca chose a next target soon? or would she rest due to her
pregnancy?
nrpg : ideas for next mission - poltergeist/carol's dead body/a search for
docker/lost civilisation/etc????