Agents Of Noir...

[zarathrustra_ink]

"I'm guessing this is Dax's little hidey hole." 

We had no idea where we were. To the left of us was a desk with a small, white lamp lying on its side. To the right, a dresser with the majority of the clothes strewn on the floor. Behind us was a four post bed with the sheets and blankets rolled beneath a yellow pillow. 

"From the looks of it, whoever was here left in a hurry." I whispered.

"If we're in the right place," Toilyn said, surveying the clothes. She picked up a sweatshirt and sniffed it. She scrunched up her nose. "Luminous has a lot of explaining to do."

"What's that face? It smells?"

She tossed the shirt aside to rummage through the rest. "No. I mean, come on, Z… We don't live at Luminous." She held up a pair of pants. "For the bad guys, they sure are hospitable."

I continued to watch the door while she stalked through what could end up not even being Dax's possessions. "They make sure their agents are comfortable." I said quietly. "The more comfortable you become, be the situation good or bad, right or wrong, the human mind will cling to what we know. Comfort zones are in our nature. We can't help it."

"So you're saying defecting is in our nature?"

"You honestly want me to believe that you, of all people, have never thought about it?" I shrugged though her back was still turned to me. "I can only speak for myself, but when I considered the idea, it was because Noir made so much sense. Not only that, it seemed so much easier. They basically do whatever, whenever, no consequences. For an amount of time that I'm not even comfortable admitting to, I felt like a prisoner of this job. I wanted to do whatever I wanted, consequences be damned. It wasn't until…" I paused. Brie.

Toilyn threw me a quick glance over her shoulder before returning to her task. "Brie… Right?" 

"Right." I replied to her slouched form. "After all of that, I wanted to blame Dax, blame Noir… Blame anybody and everybody but the person who caused all of it and it was getting harder and harder to face her in the mirror." I sighed. "Truth is, by the time I accepted my part in it, too much time had passed and Brie was already a higher up in Noir. More than anything, I just wanted to apologize for bringing her back. I wanted to tell her not only had I accepted that this was my fault, I wanted her to know that never again would I put someone else on the line for my own interests." My voice cracked. Despite my best efforts, my eyes were trying to tear up. "I wanted her to know that I put all that selfishness behind me, that I really had changed."

"Yes." Toilyn turned so that she sat Indian style across from me. 

I brushed the vulnerability from my cheeks. Toilyn was the only one allowed to know that side of me. Never again would I risk someone catching even a partial glimpse into my soul. "Yes what?"

"I've thought about defecting in the past." She fiddled with the flooring between her knees. "I changed my mind after I found something worth sticking around for." 

"What was that?" 

"You, Z." She slapped the floor. "Dammit, I stayed for you, okay?"

"Me?"

"You're my best friend, my family. If that's not worth seeing this through to the end, what is?"

Throughout time, space and all that was in between, no matter what, we always chose each other. Us before them. Us before Luminous. Almost at the same time, we both reached to wipe stray tears from our eyes. 

"I love you, Toy." 

"I love… Wait a second, what's that?"

So much for mush. "What?" 

She jabbed her finger at the bed. "Right there. Under the bed." She crawled to reach under the bed. "Right… There. Here, get this." She waved a cracked picture frame back at me. "There's something else." She sat up, straining to pull something free. "Little help?" I tossed the frame on the bed to lend a hand. Together, we dragged a large, vintage looking trunk from beneath the bed. She hopped to her feet. I don't know what she was about to say, but instead, her eyes clouded over. "Uh, Z?" 

I looked up from the trunk. "What?" 

"Did you look at that picture?"

"No." Was I supposed to?

"It's Jan." She said.

Though I heard her perfectly, my brain didn't compute. "Huh?"

"The picture." She snatched it off the bed to hand to me. "It's Jan." 

My jaw dropped. "Where are we?" In frame was Jan and a girl, in what appeared to be her early twenties. Her lips were curved into a pinched smile, as if someone had to beg for its presence. His face was completely blank. Gone was the sarcastic confidence that we'd come to know. Neither of them looked particularly comfortable. It was just that, a picture, and they just happened to be in it. I dropped the frame on the floor to stamp the glass free.

"What are you doing?"

"What if this means something?"

"It means that guy is definitely single." Toilyn smirked. "Or he was after they took that pic. Those two have zero chemistry."

I almost threw the glass at her. Almost. Instead, I plucked the photo free then shoved it in my back pocket. 

"Why are you keeping that?" Toilyn's eyes narrowed as if she could see the photo through my jeans. "You know what? Nevermind." She leaned down, disguising her annoyance within a heavy sigh. "Help me lift this on the bed."

I took my place on the other end of the trunk. "Ready?" When our eyes met, I nodded. "3… 2… Lift."

We hoisted it from the floor. "It definitely didn't feel this light when we were dragging it." Toilyn muttered, attempting to lift the lid. "Figures. Locked." Her eyes scanned the room before going back to the keyhole. "Do you still have that weird looking key from that stuff that jerk off gave us?" 

"Why would he have a key to…" I thought about it. "Here? Wherever here is." I fished around my pockets. If I still had that key after everything, it would be a miracle. Finally, my fingers brushed across the brass. "I one hundred percent legit doubt…" I began, watching her slide it in the keyhole. To both our surprise, we heard a click. "I stand corrected."

"Keep an eye on the door." She hissed, throwing open the lid. "On second thought…"

I was already beside her. "What is this stuff?" So many colors. The amount of OCD it had to take… The clothes were color coordinated, folded so neatly that the creases were sharp enough to cut glass. Pants and shirts. Sweaters and shorts. On top of it all, placed directly in the middle, was a rolled up poster looking thing alongside an envelope. 

Toilyn selected the rolled up paper. "I'm starting to think this isn't Dax's hidey hole… These are floor plans." She spread the poster across the nearest empty swatch of bed. "Why are floor plans stuffed underneath somebody's bed?" She asked, smoothing the edges so it would stop rolling back up. 

"Hold on, I think this a letter." 

Toilyn glanced up from the plans. "Man, the last time somebody snatched up a letter…" 

"So you're saying I shouldn't?"

"Oh no, no, no. We're royally jacked anyway. What else could happen?"

I held the envelope up to the light. One thing I knew for sure was it wasn't a bomb, but that was about it. I tore at the edges. Instantly, I recognized the handwriting from the college. "Dr. Patil wrote this." I told Toilyn. If eyes could roll free from their sockets, she would have been an expert. 

"Ugh… I'm tired of this fool. What?"

"If you're reading this, I'm either in hiding or I'm already dead."

"Hopefully the latter."

"Shhhh. Hold up a sec." I cleared my throat. "In this chest you will find the floor plans of Noir Corporation. I acquired them from one of their agents, Dax." 

"That would explain why Dax was here… Wherever this is. Does it happen to say how he managed to get these from Dax?" She tapped her chin with an index finger. "I just can't imagine Dr. Busy Body winning a fight against that guy."

"Shhhh."

"You're going to shush me one more time…"

"Toilyn…" I groaned. It's not like she was paying attention. I started scanning ahead. 

"Fine, fine." She held up her hands in surrender. "What else does he have to say for himself?"

"I'm guessing this trunk is supposed to be some sort of apology."

"How? There's no way this is his stuff." Toilyn started sifting through the clothes. "These are women's clothes." 

"Oh?" I looked up. She was dangling a dress over the trunk. "Oh."

"None of this makes sense." She said, dropping it. "Is there anything useful in there?"

I shrugged. There wasn't much. "It says he didn't know his involvement would cause as much trouble as it has. Not only did they threaten him, they manipulated him by not disclosing how intricate this job can be."

"He's no victim." Toilyn scoffed. "All I'm hearing is that letter says exactly what he was blubbering about that night. So what."

I waved off her irritations. "I think this was Jan's assistant's dorm."

"Um, whatsherface… M name, right?"

"Her name was Mavis."

"I was close." Not even a little. "What makes you sure?"

"Call it a hunch."

"I doubt it." Toilyn said.

"It would explain the clothes." 

"Or the good doctor moonlights as a drag queen. How much does a professor make anyway?" When I didn't respond, she sighed. "Come on Z, why would the good doctor be hanging around some chick's dorm? That's a little creepy."

She had a point. "Because nobody would check the dorm of a dead girl."

"Hello? Dax was just here."

Another solid point and yet, I was right. I was sure of it. It would explain so much. He'd made it a point to tell us she was a former student of his. On the one hand, it could have easily been small talk, but what if it wasn't? What if it was a crucial detail, meant to lead us to the place that we were now standing in by sheer chance? 

Only one way to find out. "Let's go." 

"Go?" Toilyn looked on, confused. "Go where?"

"What do you mean? Toilyn, this has longitude and latitude." 

"And I have zero patience. That doesn't tell me squat." 

"No, no. The floor plans." I pointed at the plans excitedly. "We can get into Noir!"

"How?"

Sometimes she was so… So… I typed the coordinates into my goggles in order to show them to her. She nodded, finally understanding. "Oh. Okay, okay. Longitude and latitude."

Really? I shoved her shoulder playfully. "You're so full of shit sometimes. You know that, right?"

She shoved me back. "Stop trying to act like you don't like it." 

 

******

"I really, really don't like this." 

From the looks of it, we were in a boiler room of some sort. Toilyn scanned our surroundings before nodding that we were indeed, alone. "No time for chitchat. There's no telling where they've stashed Jan." She pointed to the left of us. "We've made it this far. Ugh… I wish I'd brought my gear now." 

"It's too bulky."

"Well, it's now or never. What's it going to be?"

"We've gotta save-"

"Jan. I know, I know. Enough already."

Neither of us had the stomach to digest the fact that we could be on a mission to retrieve a body. The truth of the matter hung in the air, wafting over our skin, lest we forget and that was heavy enough.

Toilyn peeked out of the boiler room door. "All clear." She pushed the door open. 

"You there!"

All clear, huh? She was down the hall before I could react. She wrapped her hands around his face. SNAP! Even from where I was standing, I could hear the faint click of his esophagus as his neck broke. She started dragging him towards me. I reopened the door so that she could stash him. 

"You said all clear…" I muttered.

"This is a long, dark hallway." She grinned. "Let's go."

"I'm so glad you're enjoying this."

"Oh no, if I'm dying today, I'm going to have some fun first." 

I fell in step behind her. We came up on another door. She grabbed the knob. "Alright, you ready?"

I nodded. "Ready." She jerked it open. I threw myself in front of her, hands at the ready. "Clear."

"I'm guessing there's an elevator somewhere down here." Toilyn said.

"We wouldn't be able to take it anyway." Duh. "Come on." I started up the stairs, this time with her flanking me. At each floor, we would risk a glance. We were surrounded by Noir. 

"We're going to have to blend in somehow." I said on the sixth floor. "If Jan is here, this would be the floor." Neither of us understood how to read the blueprints but I did understand that the sixth floor hardly had any surrounding rooms. It had to mean something. Toilyn didn't like the idea, but the longer we debated it, the more it became clear that we really didn't have much of a plan so the sixteenth floor was the plan. 

She pointed at my belt. "The goggles. Switch your goggles with Dax's and I'll take mine off." 

Noir's goggles were solid gold. They were hard to miss, even in a fight. The toggles and switches were a stark contrast to Luminous' black and bronze. I switched mine out with Dax's. 

"How do I look?"

"Like this is already a bad idea."

"So, on theme? Perfect." 

"Ah ha. Ah ha." 

I opened the door ahead of her. A couple agents waved at us absently. I waved back.

Toilyn grabbed my hand. "What are you doing?"

"Blending in." Every face was smiling and either waving or nodding. I didn't know this version of Noir. I lowered my voice. "Fix your face. You can read the distrust off your eyebrows." 

"Um…" Toilyn's expression folded into a bright, friendly smile. 

"Hi, you guys." 

Uh oh. I almost stopped breathing. He approached us quickly. Instead of engaging in conversation, he said "Excuse me." And kept going. I exhaled the breath of air I'd been holding. "Toy, my arm." Her fingers had nudged a scarlet pattern in the skin.  

"Huh? Oh." 

"Relax." I whispered. 

I led us through the swarm of agents, each smiling. Each nodding. Each welcoming. In their eyes, we were one of their own. 

Finally, I paused in front of a set of double doors. "If I remember correctly, he should be around this area." 

Toilyn threw a few more agents a hasty smile. "Don't you think there are too many agents for those blueprints?" 

"What do you mean?"

"The floor we were looking at didn't have many rooms and this one is swarming with Noir." 

"Blueprints don't show people, Toy." I replied, though I was already having the same feeling. "He's here." Again, I inhaled a deep breath. He has to be. 

Exhaling, I pushed the silver panel. Empty. It looked to be some sort of lab.

"Toy…"

"Shhhh. Shhhh. Close the door behind us." 

Frantically, we began searching for something, anything. We threw open every cabinet, every previously unopened door. I shook my head in defeat. "Nothing."

"There are two more rooms with doors like this one." She didn't speak further, but I could hear the doubt in her voice. 

Thankful for the lack of "I told you so", I followed her back to the doors.

"Come on, we can-"

"Wait a second, what's that?"

"What?" Toilyn braced herself, same as we always had.

"No, no, there. Over there." I pointed to several buttons poking from beneath a shelf. "Over there. Under that shelf." The closer Toilyn got, the more I understood exactly what we were looking at. I clapped my hands over my mouth. "It's… Toy, no… Toy, no…"

It was Jan's remote. It was broken in four places but still recognizable.

"This doesn't mean anything, Z." She picked up the pieces. The face plate for coordinates was cracked. When she lifted it, it started to flash the last set, the last place he ever was: The doctor's home.

"Why did we come here?" My voice cracked with unshed tears. 

"Because he's here." She grabbed the latch on my belt. "Where are those plans?" 

"Back pocket." I mumbled, handing them to her.

She unfolded them on the nearest countertop. After a few seconds, she muttered something that sounded a lot like "That explains all the agents."

"What?"

"Ugh… Z, we're on the wrong floor."

"No we're not."

"Come here." 

I leaned across her shoulder. From this angle, I could clearly see that we were supposed to be on floor 9. Not 6. Rookie mistake. 

She refolded the plan. "Howsabout I hold on to this?" She tucked it away without waiting for a response. I knew she wanted to say something else but again, was choosing not to. Probably "You idiot!" or "How could you be so stupid?!" or "So you're telling me you couldn't tell you were looking at it upside down?!?!?!" Whatever thoughts were jogging through her mind, her lips remained closed as she turned on her heels. "Let's go." Was all she offered. 

Again, we were wading through the murky sea of Noir agents. Each a face of welcoming and trust. The Noir we were being presented with was not the Noir either of us had come to know. It was jarring each time somebody greeted us. 

Once we were inside the stairwell again, I asked Toilyn was her silence because she was mad at me. 

"No." She assured me. "I'm just worried about you. Let's face it: That's something I would do and we would just laugh and laugh because I'm the screw up. You're supposed to have it together." 

"I'm freaking out about-"

"Jan." She interrupted. "I'm starting to think this is less about him and more about you." 

"What do you mean?" 

"You have always blamed yourself for the Brie thing. You know what I think? I think in your eyes, if we don't get him back, it's another scratch in your book of life and this one would mean more because he saved not just your life… But mine." 

"Toy… I'm glad he saved you."

"Oh no, I know. But come on, save two damsels in distress, die in Noir. Nobody deserves that. Especially not Jan."

"Especially?" Despite our circumstances, a smile crept across my face. 

"What can I say? He's grown on me." She sighed. "I need you to get your head in the game, Z. I don't know what's up there but I do know that there's only two of us to fight it. Me and you, right?" She looked back at me.

I nodded. "You and me."

"Besides, it's not like it was a total bust." She patted the lumps from the remote in her right pocket. "Either he or someone dealing with him was in that room."

I knew she was trying to help, but it was having the opposite effect. 

"You're going to drive yourself crazy with all that worrying." She poked my cheek. "Do you want to hear a stupid idea?"  

"You know how I adore a good ol' fashion stupid idea." I said sarcastically.

"Hear me out." She jabbed a finger at my head. "We made it all the way down here with just those goggles. Why not risk the elevator?"

"Oh yeah, that really is stupid." I answered. "What's wrong with the stairs?"

"Nothing. It's just," She shrugged. "If we don't hurry up, we're going to run out of time." She opened the door to look out. "Come on."

With anxiety doing everything it could to glue my feet to the floor, I followed her out. As we carved our way down the hall, my mind was reeling. What I really couldn't wrap my head around was why Luminous was so hell bent on leaving Jan behind. As far back as I could remember, we weren't allowed to risk civilian lives, ESPECIALLY if Noir was involved. What made Jan different? From what I gathered, Luminous had eyes on Jan in his timeline from the beginning, probably because of his research. Bateman had been tracking him for a while but not to bring him in. Instead he was only keeping an eye on him. The real question was: Why? What was I missing? Jan was obviously a cog in an even bigger machine, but why?

"Hello."

"Hi."

"Hey."

Wave. Wave. Wave.

More warm expressions and greetings. This time, Toilyn did all the smiling and nodding. Noticeably, there were less smiles in the mix. A few faces were folded with tension. Several goggles were disappearing into rooms, speaking in hushed tones. Finally, she nudged me. The elevator was opening. Noir agents, these more focused and tense, scurried past. My gaze bounced after them. That's weird. Outside of a faint "Excuse me," they barely acknowledged us. 

The door was closing when a hand appeared, stopping the door from closing. The Noir agent noted us. First Toilyn, then me. Her gaze stayed on me longer. I shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes scanned mine as if she was searching for something. Suddenly they widened in recognition. Toilyn jumped on her before she could cry out. She attempted to break free, but Toilyn was faster. SNAP! She was placing her in a sitting position when the alarm sounded. 

Both of our mouths fell open. The elevator screeched to a halt as red lights started to flash from the walls. 

"This can't be good!" I shouted over the alarms. 

"Oh, you think?!" Toilyn shouted back.

"What-" my "are we going to do?" was swallowed by "Agents of Noir…" The voice that was vibrating from the ceiling was one I knew all too well. "Our base has been infiltrated by Luminous agents." 

Dax. "It's Dax!" 

"Just great!"

"Now what?!"

He was in the middle of describing Toilyn and I right down to our bootstraps. "Approach with extreme prejudice. Shoot on sight." 

The alarms felt as if they were growing louder by the second. The elevator sprang back to life. "Get ready!" Toilyn warned at the same time as Ding! The elevator doors opened on Floor 9. Two sets of eyes fell on us. No time for pleasantries. I threw my hands to the left of me. The blast reflected off the glass window, knocking out both agents. 

Toilyn smirked. "So, no more smiling and nodding?!" For the first time since our paths had crossed, one of us was pushing the red jewel. I had no idea what it did but for how confident she was when she slapped her palm on it, Toylin knew exactly what it did. 

"Check every floor, every room! Luminous has infiltrated Noir!"

Red and white siren lights echoed up the hallway. "We need to secure the floor!" Toilyn turned to me. "I've got this! Go find him!"

"I'm not leaving you!" I shouted over the chaos.

"There's no telling how many more are up here! I'm right behind you! I promise!" She shouted back, pushing me. "Go, Z! GO!"

With one last nod, I took off to the left of her. I froze at a familiar hue. It can't be. Slithering through the red and white was a low hum of blue and gold flickering on the wall in the middle of the hall. It has to be. I rushed to the window. It is. I gasped and backed up a few steps, covering my mouth. Jan.

Tears flooded the brims of my eyes. I blinked them back, blurring everything but not enough that I couldn't make him out in the middle of the floor. Bound to some sort of hook, made noticeable by the surrounding blue and gold emanating the walls like a candle wick, was Jan. I tried the door. Locked. Of course it is. I shook the handle again. "Jan!" I slapped my hands on the glass, screaming though I knew he couldn't hear and even if he could, the alarms were swallowing my words, snatching them out of reach. 

I wiped my eyes. "Dammit! Think, Z! Think!" 

At the end of the hall was another set of doors. I'll be right back. I promise. I nodded at the glass before rushing to them. Locked. I screamed in frustration. This was not supposed to be happening. I scrambled down the hallways, twisting the knobs on each room, all locked. There weren't a lot, but in my frenzy, it felt like hundreds. 

By another elevator, I found a closet, fully expecting another locked door. I will never be able to express how relieved I felt when it clicked. I flung the door open. Frantically, I pushed the brooms and mops behind me. As I was shoving the third set of buckets out of the way, I noticed a rustic shimmer in the corner. I jumped over a bin of cleaning supplies for a closer look. I knew I was making too much noise, but there was no time. Noir already knew we were there; is what I kept screaming mentally. We are out of time! I noted a triangular base of wheels. I grabbed the base and pulled. At first, it wouldn't budge. Of course not. I pulled once more, gritting my teeth. I barely stumbled backwards just in time for a stack of bins to topple out of the way, revealing a chair. 

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I rolled the chair back to the blue and gold wall. With each step, I whispered a prayer under my breath. Please let this thing be heavy enough. Please…

I approached the blue with caution. Not once had I checked my surroundings. What was I thinking? Moreover, where was Toilyn? I chanced a quick glance behind me before stopping at the glass. I placed one hand on either side of the chair. A few flakes of rust crumbled onto my fingers. 

Okay, Z… You've got this…

1… Totally. I've got this. 2… 

THREE

With every ounce of strength I could scrape together, I lifted the chair and launched it at the window. It shattered beneath the weight, echoing the presence of an intruder. I didn't have time to worry about how far the sound carried. I knocked the rest of the glass out of the way so that I could climb through. 

Now closer, I could see that his chest was bare and there were bloody streaks on his skin. I checked around him, just in case. 

"Jan…" His head snapped up suddenly. His sockets reflected gold across my skin. 

"Z…" He whispered. I reached to touch his cheek. I mean, he was alive. Before my hand could connect, his head dropped again. 

Shit. I grabbed him around the waist and pulled. As soon as my fingers touched him, the glow grew brighter, stronger, almost blindingly so.

"Z?!"

"I'm in here!" 

"Z?!" 

"Here, Toilyn! HERE!"

My eyes were squeezed shut against Jan's chest. I couldn't see. "Toilyn?!" 

"I'm here! Holy shit, what is this?!"

"It's Jan! Help me, Toy!"

"Back away from him!"

"What?! Why?!"

"Dammit, Z… DUCK!" 

I dropped to the floor beside Jan's bare feet. He fell backwards onto the linoleum. The glowing ceased immediately. 

"What did you do?!"

"No time! Grab his other side! I cleared the floor but I'm sure they've figured out we're here for him!"

Four agents appeared in the now glassless window. 

"Toilyn!" I was on my feet before they could climb all the way through. 

She whirled her hands in a circle. As the fourth boot was entering, she screamed. A bright red, even brighter than the alarm filled the room. She held her position, both palms up. When she finally lowered her hands, ash and dust swirled across the room. 

"Grab him." She all but snarled at me. 

She jammed coordinates into her goggles. I did the same. Knelt on the cold floor, Toilyn warned me not to lift. Both of us slung one of Jan's arms over our shoulders.

"NOW!"