Jill was breaking about forty different regulations tonight but it was about time she shook things up. People had become far too complacent lately. They needed to be reminded why they were doing this job and more importantly, why she was doing this job. With furtive glances right and left, trying hard to spot the watcher drones she knew were everywhere outside Point Zero - and within as well - she slipped inside and headed for the bar.
Having seen the interior of this building a thousand times still didn't prepare her for the smells or the noise. She felt a bit like a tourist as she moved behind the bar and helped herself to a bottle of that beer she's seen him drink scores of times. Tilling some coins, she moved now for a table near the door and settled down with the beer.
Uncapping the beer, she took an exploratory sip and found much to her delight that it was quite tasty. She settled back in her chair and cast a glance around the room, staring a touch too long at each face, trying to match them up to faces in his file. He didn't know anyone here so that meant neither did she. Then with a shake of her head, she sat forward and dragged a pad of paper and a pencil nub out of the back pocket of her jeans and then settled in to jot down some notes.
Since Riley had gone to see 'The Importance of Being Earnest' at the Shanachie with one of her dance students, and Dan was out with his new lady friend, David was heading to the Inn. It wasn't his kind of show, otherwise he would've gone with Riley, but she didn't mind him sitting this one out. The night was too nice to sit around at home. Maybe he'd run into someone he knew.
He wasn't in any particular hurry, just strolling down the street towards the familiar building. He went up the stairs to the porch, glancing in through the window as was his habit before entering. No familiar faces in there. He went in anyway, tugging the door open and stepping inside.
Blue eyes went wide for a moment when he walked in, and then she recovered smoothly, pretending to be shocked at something she'd just written. Which on second thought probably wasn't the smoothest recovery on record. God. She was a trained field agent! And now she was acting like a school girl who'd just seen the cute boy she was crushing on. Next thing you knew she'd be blushing and giggling like an idiot. She drank more beer and kept her eyes averted.
He crossed the room to the bar, pausing briefly to see if anyone was tending. Not this time, so he went behind the bar and to the cooler where he grabbed himself a Newcastle. He went back around to the patron side, pausing to toss a coin into the till for the drink, then picked a stool at random and settled down onto it. He turned to face the room, leaning his back against the counter.
She watched out of the corner of her eye as he went to the bar and selected his beer. Finishing hers, she flipped over a page in her notebook and continued writing. This time, though, it was slower and more deliberate and there were many lines she erased and rewrote.
He flicked the cap off the bottle with one finger and took a sip, idly scanning the crowd. Pretty usual group for the Inn. It was kind of amazing, when you thought about it, how easily a person could get used to all the strange things this city held. No one was being shot, stabbed, or beaten. Not that he was complaining. Slow nights were great, after the kind of life he and Riley usually ended up leading. He watched the red-headed woman who was scribbling in her notebook. She was kind of cute, in a shy sort of way. But then he looked away. Riley would eat the poor girl's face if she caught him staring.
Tearing out the sheet she'd just written on, she carefully began folding the sheet of paper into the form of a crane. She set the completed crane down on the table and leaned forward a bit to slip the notebook and pencil back into her pocket. Then she glanced towards the bar, eyes moving smoothly over the people there to stare at the water clock thingy above the mirror. "Oh, crap," she muttered softly. Time to go. She stood up and grabbed the empty beer bottle and the origami bird. Then she headed to the bar to deposit the empty bottle on the counter and to drop the crane in front of David before heading for the doors. A single glance over her shoulder to make sure he picked up the bird - and not someone else - and then she was gone.
One brow lifted in surprise as the redhead dropped the crane in front of him. That was different. He reached out and picked it up before he watched her leave the Inn. He looked at the crane again; he could see writing through the paper. Well, clearly he had to open the thing.
He unfolded the paper crane carefully, and this time both eyebrows went up. The message was in neatly written Mandarin ideograms. He looked at the door again, as if he could see through it to wherever the redhead had gone. "Okay, this is more than a little off," he muttered, reading the note. You're being watched. Meet me at the Opera House in fifteen minutes. Not enough time for even someone as fast as him to get to the Theatre to get Riley and still make it in time. Did he ignore the note, or go? Common sense said ignore it. What kind of idiot went blindly to a meeting with someone he'd never met. Yet...the crane, the Mandarin... The woman couldn't have chosen a better way to get his attention.
"Sh*t." He stood, leaving his half empty beer on the counter and headed for the door. He couldn't ignore it. Not after everything that had happened in the past year. Damned if he was going to walk blindly into it, though. His hand dropped automatically the Sig Sauer holstered at his belt. If he ran, he could be at the Opera house with at least ten minutes to spare. Not much time, but enough to check the place out, see if there was ambush waiting. As soon as he was outside, he broke into a run, heading south, accelerating rapidly beyond anything resembling human speed.
Having seen the interior of this building a thousand times still didn't prepare her for the smells or the noise. She felt a bit like a tourist as she moved behind the bar and helped herself to a bottle of that beer she's seen him drink scores of times. Tilling some coins, she moved now for a table near the door and settled down with the beer.
Uncapping the beer, she took an exploratory sip and found much to her delight that it was quite tasty. She settled back in her chair and cast a glance around the room, staring a touch too long at each face, trying to match them up to faces in his file. He didn't know anyone here so that meant neither did she. Then with a shake of her head, she sat forward and dragged a pad of paper and a pencil nub out of the back pocket of her jeans and then settled in to jot down some notes.
Since Riley had gone to see 'The Importance of Being Earnest' at the Shanachie with one of her dance students, and Dan was out with his new lady friend, David was heading to the Inn. It wasn't his kind of show, otherwise he would've gone with Riley, but she didn't mind him sitting this one out. The night was too nice to sit around at home. Maybe he'd run into someone he knew.
He wasn't in any particular hurry, just strolling down the street towards the familiar building. He went up the stairs to the porch, glancing in through the window as was his habit before entering. No familiar faces in there. He went in anyway, tugging the door open and stepping inside.
Blue eyes went wide for a moment when he walked in, and then she recovered smoothly, pretending to be shocked at something she'd just written. Which on second thought probably wasn't the smoothest recovery on record. God. She was a trained field agent! And now she was acting like a school girl who'd just seen the cute boy she was crushing on. Next thing you knew she'd be blushing and giggling like an idiot. She drank more beer and kept her eyes averted.
He crossed the room to the bar, pausing briefly to see if anyone was tending. Not this time, so he went behind the bar and to the cooler where he grabbed himself a Newcastle. He went back around to the patron side, pausing to toss a coin into the till for the drink, then picked a stool at random and settled down onto it. He turned to face the room, leaning his back against the counter.
She watched out of the corner of her eye as he went to the bar and selected his beer. Finishing hers, she flipped over a page in her notebook and continued writing. This time, though, it was slower and more deliberate and there were many lines she erased and rewrote.
He flicked the cap off the bottle with one finger and took a sip, idly scanning the crowd. Pretty usual group for the Inn. It was kind of amazing, when you thought about it, how easily a person could get used to all the strange things this city held. No one was being shot, stabbed, or beaten. Not that he was complaining. Slow nights were great, after the kind of life he and Riley usually ended up leading. He watched the red-headed woman who was scribbling in her notebook. She was kind of cute, in a shy sort of way. But then he looked away. Riley would eat the poor girl's face if she caught him staring.
Tearing out the sheet she'd just written on, she carefully began folding the sheet of paper into the form of a crane. She set the completed crane down on the table and leaned forward a bit to slip the notebook and pencil back into her pocket. Then she glanced towards the bar, eyes moving smoothly over the people there to stare at the water clock thingy above the mirror. "Oh, crap," she muttered softly. Time to go. She stood up and grabbed the empty beer bottle and the origami bird. Then she headed to the bar to deposit the empty bottle on the counter and to drop the crane in front of David before heading for the doors. A single glance over her shoulder to make sure he picked up the bird - and not someone else - and then she was gone.
One brow lifted in surprise as the redhead dropped the crane in front of him. That was different. He reached out and picked it up before he watched her leave the Inn. He looked at the crane again; he could see writing through the paper. Well, clearly he had to open the thing.
He unfolded the paper crane carefully, and this time both eyebrows went up. The message was in neatly written Mandarin ideograms. He looked at the door again, as if he could see through it to wherever the redhead had gone. "Okay, this is more than a little off," he muttered, reading the note. You're being watched. Meet me at the Opera House in fifteen minutes. Not enough time for even someone as fast as him to get to the Theatre to get Riley and still make it in time. Did he ignore the note, or go? Common sense said ignore it. What kind of idiot went blindly to a meeting with someone he'd never met. Yet...the crane, the Mandarin... The woman couldn't have chosen a better way to get his attention.
"Sh*t." He stood, leaving his half empty beer on the counter and headed for the door. He couldn't ignore it. Not after everything that had happened in the past year. Damned if he was going to walk blindly into it, though. His hand dropped automatically the Sig Sauer holstered at his belt. If he ran, he could be at the Opera house with at least ten minutes to spare. Not much time, but enough to check the place out, see if there was ambush waiting. As soon as he was outside, he broke into a run, heading south, accelerating rapidly beyond anything resembling human speed.