And Behind Locker Number One Is....? (Noel)

>> "Rack your brain for that call you responded to. We need to find 'do not disturb' lady…Get off the bus when we get off the bus. It won't be the second stop…You might have to reintroduce yourself, but I'll know for sure who you are when you hand me my phone… We won't need these. So don't worry."[/i]

Agent Gage was a whirlwind of movement and Jorge tried to get everything she said memorized. She had handed him her phone, told him to attempt to remember something, anything about the woman he knew he met before. But on top of that, she seemed to be jotting down a lot of notes about everything that had happened this night. Jorge was not entirely sure what she was up to at first, but the faster she moved, the more time he had to think about what she could possibly be up to. Slowly though it was coming to him, the notes, the giving over of her phone, the following them off the bus…

She was going to do again what she had already done tonight. She was going to wipe that man’s memories. The idea was extremely risky in his opinion. They had just started to trust each other and they were making some headway into this mess and now she wanted to risk it all by forgetting again? Unfortunately he had to admit that it was their best option right now. There was no guarantee that they would have a chance to get away once they got off the bus with that man, and he was definitely not going to allow him to open fire in a crowded bus. That was just insanity.

And yet, this plan seemed slightly crazier. Maybe that was why it had the better chance of working. By wiping their memories, she would have a better chance of getting the man off the bus. And into a situation where more than likely there would not be a plethora of goons waiting for them. Still though…hopefully it would not be as hard to gain her trust again.

He watched as she stood up, leaning down and gave him a peck on the cheek…

>> “I'll see you later, Pop."[/i]

“Be careful,” he suddenly found himself saying.

It sounded so fatherly, so caring, and completely from the heart…maybe that was because it was. He was beginning to warm up to this young lady and the last thing he wanted was to see a bullet hole through her chest because of some antsy thug. It was a gamble they were just about pull off and he hoped that, in the end, it was going to pay off. He sighed and watched her saunter down the aisle, drop the barely visible baggy in his lap and sit next to him.

The next few minutes for agony as he waited…

***
Nod sighed in relief as the pills were dropped into his lap, followed by the vision of beauty that sat next to him. But as he inquired about the phone, all he got was a snarky attitude in reply…

>> "What phone?"

He ground his teeth, rolled his eyes and immediately wanted the shove the butt of his gun through her teeth. He was told to get both the pills and the phone and dispose of the three interlopers! There was big bucks in completing an order that like and he had every intention of completing it! That is…until he stared back into the eyes of woman who stared at him. At first his anger was so overwhelming that he wanted to slug her, but slowly that anger melted away into a dark and cold oblivion. But he was not scared…he wasn’t mad…he wasn’t sad…he wasn’t….anything…

Indifferent, aloof to the whole world. For a moment it felt like his brain were in a spiral with a sponge against it, seeping up fluids. Slowly he began feel so at peace because he really could not think of any fears or worries. He had had a good morning today, ruffled up some store clerks for protection money, got a shipment of hot equipment into the warehouse right underneath the cops’ noses, and even had a very light and wonderful lunch! But…more recent events began to get fuzzy…

Where was he? Oh…a bus…

Why was he sitting here? The girl…and a guy….

Why did he needed them? He…had to collect….something….the bag of pills in his lap…that had to be it.

They were going to stop…and he was…

Wait…where was he going to stop…

Nod stared mutely forward as he blinked his eyes, trying to remember that he needed to get off the bus…somewhere. Somewhere so that he could, take the pills and…something else and…shoot…something….

Before he knew it, the second stop had rolled by, as did a car of thugs who were waiting patiently for any sign of their boss Nod. But he slipped away, like the memory from his head…

***

Jorge muttered over and over to himself obscenity after obscenity. He stared at that picture in Agent Gage’s cell phone, still having no idea who the woman was on it. This memory lapse could not have been from the agent’s doing, it was more because the case seemed so long ago that he had difficulty pinpointing which case it was. He saw a lot of faces in the average day working at the precinct so it was little hard to remember precisely who she was. She obviously could not have been some uber-power mutant criminal like Mittens or Meld, he could never forget people like that. But this woman…he knew he saw her before…but where…?

A glance up and Jorge watched as Gage began to talk to the man. Why were they staring into each other’s eyes? It looked like a scene from some romance, but Jorge remembered what she was there for. She was trying to make him forgot some details. He had no idea how much she was making him forget, or even how much time they had so he had to remember something about that blonde with the electrifying attitude…

Wait…attitude? He began to remember something! She had attitude towards him because…he accidentally hit her with his car! Slowly it was flooding back to Jorge’s memory. That night, he had gotten a call from some woman in a nightclub about a mutant girl who had gone nuts and was burning people with her bare hands. He responded but while there…there was that blonde he nearly hit with his car. She would not listen to him to stay back and instead…kept following. After that…the blonde disappeared…never to be seen again…

Suddenly AC/DC’s Back in Black echoed from his pocket. He had completely forgotten that he had his phone back! Quickly he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell and flipped it open. As he did he noticed that the second bus stop, the stop they were supposed to get off at just rolled on by. Maybe Gage’s plan would work after all…

As he put the phone to his ear, he answered, “Detective Cervantes here…” he listened and immediately recognized the voice on the other line. “Drake! Thank god a quasi-friendly voice. You’re not going to believe the night I’ve had…”

>> "Did it involve a cab, a woman with a scarred face, a pretty lady, and one other guy? Clue me in on the parts I missed."

Jorge was floored. What, was the guy psychic on top of being a teleporter? It was rather astonishing for him to consider this idea but Jorge thought it best to let it slide. The fellow detective was proving to be more and more of an asset so he could only assume that the man had gotten this information through his own connections. Whatever the case, Jorge decided to fill Ashton into the story to the best of his ability. Detective Cervantes went through how he had woken up in the back of the van, to their painful yet grand escape, as well as the being picked up by a “friend” of the lawyer’s…

“And now, I’m in the back of a bus, waiting to see how we’re going to get away from this guy,” the detective said as he kept his eyes on the passing bus stops.

Jorge shook his head as he watched as the second stop they were supposed to get off at rolled on by. Thank god they were granted that much favor. Unfortunately it seemed as if both Agent Gage and their thug follower were coming out of their trance. He wondered how much information she was able to erase from his mind. Hopefully it would not be enough that would make her completely forget him and what they’ve gone through.

Though as he finally started to come to, Jorge needed to get off the phone. The man was getting angry, getting ready to pull her off the bus. Thank god it looked as if he had nearly forgotten all about him. That would definitely help provide him with an element of surprise. He turned his attention back to the phone and ended his call with Ashton.

“Drake, I’ll be heading back to the police station, A-S-A-P. Something’s going down right now that needs my attention,” he announced as he watched the bus get ready to roll to a stop in front of 211 Union Ave. “Keep the coffee hot.”

With that, Jorge snapped his phone closed and slipped it back into his pocket as he got up. Gently the bus came to a stop at the sidewalk, but no one else seemed to get up…only Nod and Agent Gage. So far, so good. Jorge stayed back as far as he could in order to keep looking casual as he stepped into the aisle. The kindly old woman from earlier beamed up to him a smile and Jorge nodded back in thanks. He was sure glad that they did not allow that manic to open fire in this bus. She should count herself lucky that she gets to see her multitude of grandchildren once again.

Silent footfalls in the cavernous bus, and Jorge followed the two, watching as they uneasily stepped out onto the sidewalk and slipped out behind them just as the door closed. Once he was outside, Jorge marveled as the bus drove away, leaving them in front of the 90th precinct police station. Talk about some luck on their side tonight…

“Reverse psychology."

He overheard Gage mumble to herself and he had to smirk. Apparently, though, Nod did not find the situation at all amusing. This was evident as the thuggish man growled and raised his fist to strike the federal agent square in the eye. That was not going to happe.

Faster than he really thought possible, Jorge moved forward from behind, wrapped his arm tight around the thugs neck, brought him back, and seized his “punchin’” arm with his free hand. Jorge twisted it in a way that made the thug gasp in pain and fall back against him. Still though, the man was imposing enough to put up a fight as Jorge struggled to keep him subdued, nearly breaking the thug’s arm in the process.

“You need to calm the hell down!” Jorge announced as he struggled to keep the man still. Immediately the struggle drew the attention of another pair of officers who were beginning to make their way out of the station. As they ran over, Jorge struggled to pull his badge from his coat and flashed it to his fellow officers. “Detective Jorge Cervantes, MRC division. Caught this man attempting to assault this young lady out here,” he said as he finally subdued the thug enough for the officers to handcuff. As they did, Jorge breathed heavily, shook his head, mumbled something about being too old for this job and fished inside pocket again. A glance up to Agent Gage and he smirked as he pulled her phone from his pocket and offered it back to her. “Believe this is yours.”

Jorge sighed, happy that the rest of the officers had managed to haul the struggling man away. On him they found his gun, a broken cell phone and a bag filled with pill with a strange “M” engraved on them. It was enough to put him away for awhile, especially assaulting someone in front of a precinct at resisting arrest. They could only pray that he did not have some high classed lawyer like many of these connected thugs seemed to have. Sometimes the criminal higher-ups loved to rub it into the faces of the law by having their vastly overpaid lawyers get their low-level thugs off on some technicality.

A final, deep relaxing breath and Jorge shook his head before he turned his attention back to Agent Gage. Wow, the young woman looked like a complete wreck. He was sure that he did not look any better, so at least they were in it together.

>> "Seems like I owe you some memories…But is there anything else you need tonight, detective? Know how to get a hold of me and everything?"

“Actually,” he said as he turned to face her. “I think it might be better if we hang out here for just a bit longer. We have a rather large puzzle on our hands and a lot of questions that still need some answers.”

He shrugged as he walked up to her.

She seemed like a good ally to have, but part of him would still remain wary of her. How come she stole their memories in the first place? All their stuff was together in the same duffle bag so it was apparent that she was not trying to simply still memories and ditch them. For whatever reason she wanted to stay connected with them…just….why? Did she trust them? If she did then that was a sure as hell a funny way to show it. Then again…maybe she just had her reasons. It would be nice to know what those reasons were though.

Still though, he really was tired too. All he wanted was home, a shower, sleep, maybe an hour with one of his good books so he could sleep well. He was sure that she was thinking the same thing too.

But…there were still too many questions for him to just bury the evening. Besides, the least he could off her while he got her contact information was some disgusting precinct brewed coffee to warm her bones.

“Why don’t you join me at the precinct? I can take down your contact info and see what they can get out of the witness. I’m sure they have plenty of that sludge they call coffee on hand.”