Chapter 12: Sweet Opium To Ease Dying

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter blinked. The woman was ever confusing. She looked like she'd been dragged behind a truck for a couple blocks. Peter stood and offered a hand to help her to her feet, turning his attention to Dollar. "Sir, I'm sorry about this, I'll get her to... uh... well, someplace, right away." Where were the aid kits? There weren't hospitals anymore... was there a kit in the staff room?

"Um... break room," he said at least, smiling suddenly. That wasn't really spot on, there weren't 'break rooms' anymore, taking a break was rather against Manalism (one of the things Peter and Allmart happened to like pushing onto the workers actually) but there was a room that contained drinks and chairs and tables where people sometimes stopped working for a short time before resuming. Hopefully it had a first aid kit.

He grinned at Dollar. "This woman is an employee at the Global Bank in London, she's worked on some of our accounts before. I'm sure she has importnat news for us." Damned if he knew what it was. Knowing Bambi she'd probably fallen down a flight of stairs or under a stack of boxes, she stumbled enough. But how'd she ended up in an elevator in Florida?

The elevator dinged and the doors opened as it stopped at another floor.

[Bambi Engel]

Important news? Ahaha, sure, why not... Bambi thought, a bit delirious as she gripped Peter's hand. "Break room, sounds nice..." She was breathing easier now, some of the aches beginning to fight. The air conditioning and using Peter's hand for support was helping greatly.

Remembering her phone, she glanced down at it and sighed mentally. She'd have to call Annette as soon as they reached the break room. She felt safe enough here, but she didn't know who that man worked for.

Was it possible there was an organization with enough power to break into All Mart to get to her? The thought made her tense again. Realizing she'd have to explain things to Peter too, she groaned inwardly. Even if they managed to break into All Mart after her though, she somehow felt Peter made the place all the more safer.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter helped Bambi out the door, keeping a hand close to her but not actually supporting her himself. He figured Dinari would come along, though he could be wrong. Dinari liked woman but when they were unresponsive or incapable of performing actions Dollar felt a woman should, he either lost interest or pushed harder (seldom the latter). In any event it didn't matter if he came along or not, what mattered at the moment was getting Bambi calmed down and talking. Something had happened. Either it was something of importance to her specifically, such as a mugging, or to the world. She did work at Global Bank, something big might be going on.

The staff room was down the hall, only a minute or two from the elevator. Peter helped Bambi to a chair under the buzzing floresent lights, next to the off-white counter where the non-diary powders and fake sugars where. Real food was too expensive to just hand out, especially sugar and cream.

Like most staff rooms it was designed to make staying in it as uncomfortable as possible without directly causing pain. The color was off white enough to be unpleasant no matter where in the room you looked. The lights buzzed just enough to be audiable and annoying. The chairs weren't quite the right shape for the average human butt to find them comfortable. That was the point of staff rooms: making employees actually miss their little cube.

The first aid kit here turned out to be a plastic bag with some bandages and gauze. It was a design ment to allow workers to treat their own wounds, if they sustained any, without bothering anybody else.

Peter grabbed a mug from the counter and filled it with the luke warm water that came from the "hot" dial on the sink and mixed in some soap from the dispinser. It was the white powder soup that never laters and feels like sandpaper. Quite effective actually but people hated it and that was really the point.

Kit, soapy water, and a roll of paper towels in hand Peter came back to Bambi and set everything down on the table (which wasn't quite level) next to her. "So, what happened?"

[John Duddy]

Russia. Duddy drove to the ambush point in what was once Vybourg Russia. Since the black hole was moving very quickly through Siberia, this little city had become a major release point for all thge Russian who wanted to leave. Duddy knew a spot on the outskirts of the city that would be great for his ambush. His phone vibrated and he answered, "Yeah, Swaggert. What's up?" Swaggert told Duddy that they would probably be more than one assasin with Sy. Swaggert also told Duddy that Sy will not remeber who he is or how shes feels about him, because it is an effect from the brainwashing she recieved. "Fuck so your saying theres nothing I can DO?" Duddy was more dejected than ever, but he told Swaggert where he planned his ambush. Duddy then texted Sy with the information she would need to find him.

[Sy Lecy]

Before Sy can even open her mouth Duddy texts her with a meeting place. Sy was not stupid. His contacts had gotten to him. She was still sad that she had to betray him...why did he have to be her mark...

"Lena he knows we are coming for him. He probably knows I can not be trusted either. We can still stick to the plan however because he will not let on that he knows who I am. We can use that just to give you guys enough cover to have the element of suprise. How long will it take for us to be organized enough to set out? What should I text him back?"

Her hand hovers over the keypad...

[Bambi Engel]

It was not near as lovely as it sounded, but Bambi was in no condition to be picky. She took the seat gratefully and massaged her temples, taking slow breaths with closed eyes as Peter gathered whatever he was. First aid kit, probably. She doubted she needed it, probably only scrapes and dirt.

"I apologize greatly for all of this. I need-" She paused, checking her wrist watch. It was still working, thankfully. Annette would still be at that meeting, wouldn't she? Damn!

She thought for a moment. Perhaps it'd be best to go over it with Peter first, maybe he'd have ideas on who the man was. Besides, the worst that could happen was the man's boss took the money out. The bank could easily track such a thing.

Moving her eyes over the things Peter laid on the table, she reached her hand out for a towel and dipped it in the water. She squeezed the excess water out and wiped her face. It felt wonderful. Of course, a part of her mind was still freaking out and being nervous about Peter.

"Annette gave me a special project to investigate the bank in London, there were suspicious transitions going on there." She decided to begin with that, the beginning. She wiped her neck with the warm, but quickly cooling, wet towel slowly as she spoke. "As I was walking there, a man grabbed hold of my elbow."

She was skipping the useless details. No point in boring him. She brushed some strands of her hair behind her ear before leaning down, stretching out one of her legs. Just as she thought, nothing from scrapes, but she knew she'd be sore in the morning.

"He introduced himself as Alexei and directed me toward a coffee house. There, he payed the owner some rads and the owner made everyone else leave. Alexei said that his employer kept money at the bank I was going to investigate, and that if I valued my life I would overlook the transition."

The talking distracted her from the aches and slight pain she felt as she dabbed the towel at the places where her stockings were ripped from the scrapes. Her side was the worst ache from the car. Would there be a bruise there? Probably.

Suddenly... she grins, a very out of character thing for the timid seeming banker. "And then I threw steaming hot coffee in his face. He never saw it coming. Of course a waiter tried to stop me on the way out but I threw the cup at his face." After a moment's pause, she grimaces slightly. "I hope I didn't hurt them too bad."

[Markus Dunstan]

Markus observed the others planning, waiting patiently. Planning, Intel gathering these were all things Markus was virtually incapable of. If he still had the ability, he might have felt frustration at his limited ability to participate in situations like this. However, for the moment he was content to let the others handle things.

[Eun/Aoi Kiriyama]

Eun manage to get a few days off from work so she can stay home and rest up a bit. As for her mother, Haneul, she either sleeps or out......supposly shopping.

"At least she's out of the house." Eun mutter to herself as she water her plants. She also heard her coworkers talk about the incident in Helsinki, but she did not pay attention since it is not her problem.

"At least the plants weren't hurt." Eun mutter to herself before transforming into Aoi. Aoi slowly stood up and went to the basement. In the basement, there are some Wiccan items next to a large cactus.

"I am sorry that I didn't visit you, Eric." Aoi says to the large cactus before began doing the ritual.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Alexei, eh? Well, there could be other Alexei's in the world but there was an Alexei who worked for the Russian Mob. Tuvi had mentioned him before, but not his last name. If this was the same guy... well, it would be a nice chance for a little payback wouldn't it? That'd be worth chasing down later.

It took a moment for Peter's mind to wander off of violence and onto the more important information Bambi had revealed. "Wait, they wanted you to overlook accounts? So, there are records?" Peter smiled inspite of himself. The Manalists wouldn't care, not unless it was a personal matter. Taking from people too stupid or weak to stop you? That was day one stuff.

But the Economic Council, and the other corporations, wouldn't be happy to know that somebody was stealing from their side pockets. Everybody did business with the Global Bank. And besides that, the Bank had it's own opinion about such things. If this was the same Alexei, than this might be the Russians behind it.

If he could prove it was them than he'd be able to go after them personally and directly, along with whatever allies he wanted to call in along the way. And they weren't the only ones who could tamper with records... Even if the mob wasn't involved, it would be possible to implicate them with a little creative interpriation.

Perfect.

"Bambi," Peter said, his smile softening, his tone concerned, "Are you sure that your alright?" He knelt down again, putting his face level with her's, and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, squeezing just enough to make it seem he really cared how she was doing. For this to work he needed her on Allmart's side, completely on his side, so right now she was the most important person in the world.

"What you did was amazingly brave." He kept a hand on her shoulder and used his other to gently take one of her hands, careful to gasp it with the unsure touch of someone attempting to be comforting. "This could be really big stuff. You came to the right place. Allmart won't let anything happen to you. I won't let anything happen to you."He gave her hand another quick squeeze before letting go. He left his hand on hers but no longer held it.

"You look kinda shaken. I think what you really need is a chance to clean up properly." He stood up and slowly took his hand off of her shoulder. "If they knew who you are it might not be safe to go home just yet..." Peter put a hand to his chin, as if he was thinking, than snapped his fingers, causing a small flash of blue light. "We'll get you a hotel room closeby, give you a chance to get yourself back into proper shape. Proper shower, change of clothes, and a good meal, you'll be back in top shape. Then we can get to finding out what's really going on."

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi was surprised when he begun touching her, the urge to flinch away immediate. She had no idea how to react. Someone touching and praising her was something that rarely, if ever, had occurred in her life. He sounded actually concern.

Buttering the deer up... She almost rolled her eyes as she pushed the thought away, but was able to restrain herself.

Even with her paranoia, his words eased her enough. She looked down at his hand touching hers, simply nodding softly to his words as she was still rather at a loss. After all, Manalism nature didn't encourage praisement or encouragement.

Her skin felt strangely warm and tingly where ever they were in contact, she had barely registered it before, but perhaps it was just because her body was tired now that it seemed more prominent.

When he came upon the topic of getting herself cleaned up she thought it a good idea. That was, until he mentioned leaving All Mart. She practically cringed backwards, the urge to hold the chair great. If her arms weren't still aching she just might've.

"I'm really fine staying here until I can contact Annette, I don't want to risk-" She paused. She had told Peter, couldn't he simply inform Annette if anything happened to her? She was the kind of person who preferred to deliver her own news, though. "Alexei showing up. Even if that sounds like a lovely idea."

Ooh, a shower. A hot shower.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter smiled and nodded, though his mind raced. Perhaps the woman would be more difficult to manipulate than he thought. She'd gotten some more spine since he'd seen her last it seemed. Or maybe she was always more forceful when she was tired and hurt.

"Well the important thing is to get you back to your superiors, yes?" He looked around the room for a moment before turning back to Bambi. "Call whoever you need to and have them meet you here. You'll be safe as anywhere while your here." Hopefully... last time the mob had basically walked into the place. But then he hadn't been here that time.

"I'm afraid we haven't go a shower here that I know of, but you can use the bathroom to freshen up and I'll get you some new clothes." They probably did have a shower. Dinari's office had everything an American could want, there was probably a shower but taking Bambi there probably wasn't a great idea...

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi sighed mentally, the shower would have to wait then. She stood much easier than before. Strange, she felt much better, as if she'd been given more energy despite the chair's uncomfortable structure. "All right. I know where the bathroom is."

She begun toward the door but stopped after a moment. She should at least say something for his kindness. Half-turning back, she opened her mouth unsurely. "Thank you... for..." For what? "Your... aid." She finished lamely before turning back toward the door.

All too eager to be away from the situation, she made her way to the bathroom. There was no one else in the bathroom that she could see. Feeling relieved, she walked to the nearest sink.

She pulled her glasses off and gingerly placed them on the counter. Had she lost the hair tie she kept in her pocket? Checking, she felt the small curve of the hair tie in her blouse breast pocket. She pulled the blue hair tie out and pulled her hair back, putting her hair back into a messy bun once more.

After splashing her face with some water, she checked herself over again with her glasses on. She supposed it would've made more sense to wait until Peter had gotten the clothes and then come into the bathroom, but she'd rather not sit in that break room while he did so.

She flipped her phone open and rung up the Global Bank head quarters. Apparently, Annette was still not back. Lovely. "Tell Annette when she gets back that the bank in London is definitely corrupt. A man showed up to attempt to force me to overlook the records. I got away and I'm at All Mart right now, I'd appreciate a creditor or something sent over."

With that she finished the call and made her way out of the bathroom, wondering if Peter had already gotten her a change of clothes. She felt bad, she probably didn't really need a new set of clothes. Then again, it'd probably stop people from staring curiously at her.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

"Entirely self-interest, I assure you," replied Peter with a grin. He made it sound like a joke. Maybe it was.

It wasn't hard to find new clothes for Bambi. He'd essentually just gone to the next floor up and started looking for a woman about her size. People often brought changes of clothes to the office, for when they went for a run at lunch or wanted to change before going home.

Convincing the woman to part with her clothes, spare or otherwise, had been a little trickier but he was a persistant man. But once he'd explained who he was and that she could either hand over the spare stuff or the stuff she had on now, she had become much more cooperative.

So, ten or so minute later, Peter returned to the bathroom door, spare clothes in hand. They weren't exactly right but they looked like they'd be in her general size. He knocked, then opened the door enough to slid the clothes in, and close it again.

[Bambi Engel]

Bambi jumped at the knock, but upon turning around and seeing it was Peter simply sliding the clothes in, she relaxed. She walked to the door and picked the clothes up to place them on the table. They were business enough for her.

As she reached her hands up to the first button of her under blouse, though, her paranoia kicked in and she glanced around. Places like this were ducked out in cameras. Pursing her lips thoughtfully, she mused for a moment.

Well, they were ruined anyways. She carefully pulled her stockings off with her skirt still on, dropping them onto the table and grabbing the skirt. Holding it up, she blinked. It was rather... short. Suggestively so. Maybe it just looked that way, sometimes clothes were like that.

Pulling the grey skirt on under her current one, she simply ripped the old one off. It was easy enough with the tear on the side. The ruined skirt went right on top of her ruined stockings. Her legs felt... naked. Trailing her fingers around the hem of the skirt, she frowned downward. She pulled the back down as far as she could before sighing.

Now feeling too awkward to care, she simply unbuttoned her blouse and pulled the other one on. At least this one seemed fine enough- as she was buttoning it up, she found the chest area was a bit... small. Just when she thought her luck was changing. Grabbing the pile of her old clothes, she simply dumped them into the trash.

The top was white and went nicely with the grey skirt, even if the skirt was too... short for her likes, and the chest area of the top a bit tight. Beggars couldn't be choosers, but she suddenly didn't regret throwing coffee into Alexei's face. He deserved it for what he was putting her through.

Opening the door, she glanced around sheepishly.

[Peter "Levitas" Barak]

Peter leaned against the wall, picking at his finger nails. There wasn't anyone around so he was putting no effort into the usual air of soldierly discipline he normally employed when he was in the building. It kept people from asking him questions. At the moment he looked more like a punk who'd somehow gotten his hands on a GenTech coat.

When he heard the door opened his stood properly, though he didn't put on the disciplined appearance yet. He raised his eyebrows a little and grinned (just at the corner of his mouth), but quickly assumed a more neutral grin and bowed his head a little to Bambi. This was business.

"Feeling better?" He asked, stepping forward. He gave her a look up a down, making no attempt to hide his apprasing look. After a moment he looked her in the eye. "We'll get you safe home once you get in contact with your superiors." He gestured back towards the elevators and lead the way. Though Peter didn't have an officie proper there was a room he made use of. It'd belonged to one of the higher ups at one point and he'd taken it over when the man left.

It was on the same floor as Dollar and Tuvi, which made it the most effective place for him. It'd do well enough to kill some time in. "Did you manage to contact your superior, by the way?"