![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lyl_devilSorry for the delay - due to an annoying router problem, I get internet access about once a day, and LJ was offline earlier. Enjoy this part!
Title: In Another Life (10/22+Epilogue)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lyl_devil
Rating: PG-15
Fandom: BtVS, Numb3rs
Pairing: Willow/Don
Beta:strangevisitor7 & kallie_kat
Words: ~37,500 (as of Dec 28, 2008)
Disclaimer: I don’t own either show. I just like to play in their sandboxes.
Summary: Every action has a consequence and every deal comes with a price. Willow’s life is wiped clean, so she makes a new one for herself in LA.
Master Post
Note: I don’t claim to know anything about magic, medicine or the FBI – what I didn’t pick up from tv and books, I made up.
~!~
Part 10
Don realized he'd been shot at far too many times, when pushing Willow to the ground, scanning the room for threats and reaching for the gun that wasn't there, were all done in one smooth move and without conscious thought.
People were screaming and trying to run, causing more confusion in the already crowded ballroom.
“Don?” Willow's quiet voice drew his attention back to her. She had a tight grip on his jacket, and he could feel her trembling beneath him.
“You okay?” he asked, keeping his voice low. At her nod, he stood slowly, pulling her up, keeping his body between hers and the room at large. More shots and yells from the assailants had managed to stop the panicked stampeding of the guests, but cries and screams still filled the air. Whoever the gunmen were – and there had to be more than one – they weren't very experienced at crowd control.
“What's going on?” asked Willow in his ear, pressing up against his back as she looked over his shoulder. The tremble had disappeared from her voice, but she still had a white-knuckled grip on the back of his suit.
“I'm not sure,” Don answered slowly, counting five – no, six – black-clad gunmen with large automatic weapons. “Six, covering the main exits,” he murmured to himself, shuffling Willow closer to the nearest wall. He wanted something solid at his back.
“Everybody down!” one of the gunmen yelled.
Don took the order as his cue to crouch down, along with everyone else in the room. The shout had evoked more screaming and crying, which resulted in more threatening gun waving.
“Don?” Willow whispered in his ear as the noise level dropped significantly with every menacing wave of a gun. Don angled his body away from the intruders and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Hiding the device with his body, he silently cursed the 'No Service' printed on the glowing screen. Great.
“Nothing?” asked a second voice, and Don looked up to see Jack Munroe sidling closer, holding his wife behind him as they moved.
“Jammed,” Don suggested, putting the useless phone back in his pocket.
“What do you think they're using?” Willow asked from his back, sounding calmer by the minute. At any other time he would be curious as to her calm under fire, but right now he was simply glad. The room was filled with quietly sobbing people, and he was relieved that Willow wasn't one of them. Annalise looked close, but seemed to have latched onto the calm around her.
“What?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the intruders as they seemed to get organized.
“Would they be jamming all radio and cell signals or just certain frequencies?”
Don wasn't sure why that was important – most of the guests would have had cell phones, and the downed security would have been on their own internal frequencies, all of which would have to be taken down if they had wanted any chance of success.
“Probably a commercial jammer for the cell phones,” Don answered. “Which they could modify for specific radio signals. Yeah, look, see – they have radios to stay in contact with each other, so they had to have specifically targeted the security band.”
“But a cell phone jammer would only be targeting the phones on the frequencies that the cell companies use?” she asked, and Don wondered what was going on in her head.
“Yeah. It's impossible to jam every frequency.”
“We need to get over to Darren and the rest of the guys,” Willow told him, pulling at his back in the direction she wanted him to look.
“Why?” he asked, wondering why she wanted to head over to the computer guys.
“Some of the guys have 'special' phones,” she said. Don could feel her pressing her mouth and nose into his shoulder, and reached behind him to seek out her hand. A quick squeeze and he felt her release a shuddering breath against his back. “They've hacked into some of the old satcoms, and use them instead of the phone companies.”
“So they'd be on a different frequency?” Don felt her nod against his shoulder, and started to work on a plan.
“They're coming in this direction,” said Jack at his side. Don noted that the CEO had the same look in his eyes that he'd seen in senior agents and veterans that had seen heavy action. It was the same look Colby got when he went into a dangerous situation – calculating the best and most efficient way of disposing of the threat.
“Don, did you bring your badge?” Willow asked, and looking up, Don suddenly realized the danger. They were going around the room collecting wallets and jewelry from all the guests. If they ID'd him as a federal agent, his continued lifespan could be counted in hours. Maybe minutes.
“Yeah,” he breathed out, wondering how he could ditch the leather wallet without drawing attention to himself.
“Give me your badge.”
“What?”
Don felt her free hand glide up and under his suit jacket, creeping around his waist. “Give me your badge,” she repeated. Don slid his hand unobtrusively underneath his jacket and slipped the leather wallet from his inside pocket into her waiting hand.
He felt her hand withdraw, his heart speeding up as she stepped away from him. The quiet rustle of clothes had him curious, but he refrained from turning around to see what she was doing. Soon enough she was back, gripping his hand again.
The intruders were close enough for Don to recognize more details, and it was all Don could do not to roll his eyes. These guys were amateurs. Sure, they had big guns and loud voices, but that was the most professional thing about them. They wore cheap ski masks with a loose enough weave to tell skin colour, they called each other by nicknames - like 'Pancho' and 'Rex' – instead of remaining nameless, and instead of black fatigues, they had on long-sleeved shirts, black jeans and dark sneakers. One of them was wearing boots, but they had shiny steeled toes. To top it off, the bag they were using to collect the guests' valuables in looked like a couple of pillow cases dyed black.
They eventually arrived at Don, and he passed over his wallet and valuables, as did Willow, Jack and Annalise – though her hand shook as she dropped her wedding ring into the bag. The men passed by without incident, and once they were far enough away he turned slightly to Jack.
Before he could say anything, Jack pursed his lips and said, “If my security team was overtaken by these rank amateurs, they're all fired.”
“There's gotta be something else going on,” Don said, feeling in his gut that this wasn't what it seemed. These guys didn't have what it took to burst into a high security party and rob the entire guest list.
He was distracted further by the flurry of arms and legs further down the line, as one of the guests refused to give up her necklace. This resulted in one of the robbers attempting to backhand her with the automatic rifle, but being the amateur that he was, ended up firing off a round.
It wasn't until all the screaming died down that he realized anyone had been shot.
End Part 10
Part 11
Title: In Another Life (10/22+Epilogue)
Author:
lyl_devilRating: PG-15
Fandom: BtVS, Numb3rs
Pairing: Willow/Don
Beta:
strangevisitor7 & kallie_katWords: ~37,500 (as of Dec 28, 2008)
Disclaimer: I don’t own either show. I just like to play in their sandboxes.
Summary: Every action has a consequence and every deal comes with a price. Willow’s life is wiped clean, so she makes a new one for herself in LA.
Master Post
Note: I don’t claim to know anything about magic, medicine or the FBI – what I didn’t pick up from tv and books, I made up.
~!~
Part 10
Don realized he'd been shot at far too many times, when pushing Willow to the ground, scanning the room for threats and reaching for the gun that wasn't there, were all done in one smooth move and without conscious thought.
People were screaming and trying to run, causing more confusion in the already crowded ballroom.
“Don?” Willow's quiet voice drew his attention back to her. She had a tight grip on his jacket, and he could feel her trembling beneath him.
“You okay?” he asked, keeping his voice low. At her nod, he stood slowly, pulling her up, keeping his body between hers and the room at large. More shots and yells from the assailants had managed to stop the panicked stampeding of the guests, but cries and screams still filled the air. Whoever the gunmen were – and there had to be more than one – they weren't very experienced at crowd control.
“What's going on?” asked Willow in his ear, pressing up against his back as she looked over his shoulder. The tremble had disappeared from her voice, but she still had a white-knuckled grip on the back of his suit.
“I'm not sure,” Don answered slowly, counting five – no, six – black-clad gunmen with large automatic weapons. “Six, covering the main exits,” he murmured to himself, shuffling Willow closer to the nearest wall. He wanted something solid at his back.
“Everybody down!” one of the gunmen yelled.
Don took the order as his cue to crouch down, along with everyone else in the room. The shout had evoked more screaming and crying, which resulted in more threatening gun waving.
“Don?” Willow whispered in his ear as the noise level dropped significantly with every menacing wave of a gun. Don angled his body away from the intruders and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Hiding the device with his body, he silently cursed the 'No Service' printed on the glowing screen. Great.
“Nothing?” asked a second voice, and Don looked up to see Jack Munroe sidling closer, holding his wife behind him as they moved.
“Jammed,” Don suggested, putting the useless phone back in his pocket.
“What do you think they're using?” Willow asked from his back, sounding calmer by the minute. At any other time he would be curious as to her calm under fire, but right now he was simply glad. The room was filled with quietly sobbing people, and he was relieved that Willow wasn't one of them. Annalise looked close, but seemed to have latched onto the calm around her.
“What?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the intruders as they seemed to get organized.
“Would they be jamming all radio and cell signals or just certain frequencies?”
Don wasn't sure why that was important – most of the guests would have had cell phones, and the downed security would have been on their own internal frequencies, all of which would have to be taken down if they had wanted any chance of success.
“Probably a commercial jammer for the cell phones,” Don answered. “Which they could modify for specific radio signals. Yeah, look, see – they have radios to stay in contact with each other, so they had to have specifically targeted the security band.”
“But a cell phone jammer would only be targeting the phones on the frequencies that the cell companies use?” she asked, and Don wondered what was going on in her head.
“Yeah. It's impossible to jam every frequency.”
“We need to get over to Darren and the rest of the guys,” Willow told him, pulling at his back in the direction she wanted him to look.
“Why?” he asked, wondering why she wanted to head over to the computer guys.
“Some of the guys have 'special' phones,” she said. Don could feel her pressing her mouth and nose into his shoulder, and reached behind him to seek out her hand. A quick squeeze and he felt her release a shuddering breath against his back. “They've hacked into some of the old satcoms, and use them instead of the phone companies.”
“So they'd be on a different frequency?” Don felt her nod against his shoulder, and started to work on a plan.
“They're coming in this direction,” said Jack at his side. Don noted that the CEO had the same look in his eyes that he'd seen in senior agents and veterans that had seen heavy action. It was the same look Colby got when he went into a dangerous situation – calculating the best and most efficient way of disposing of the threat.
“Don, did you bring your badge?” Willow asked, and looking up, Don suddenly realized the danger. They were going around the room collecting wallets and jewelry from all the guests. If they ID'd him as a federal agent, his continued lifespan could be counted in hours. Maybe minutes.
“Yeah,” he breathed out, wondering how he could ditch the leather wallet without drawing attention to himself.
“Give me your badge.”
“What?”
Don felt her free hand glide up and under his suit jacket, creeping around his waist. “Give me your badge,” she repeated. Don slid his hand unobtrusively underneath his jacket and slipped the leather wallet from his inside pocket into her waiting hand.
He felt her hand withdraw, his heart speeding up as she stepped away from him. The quiet rustle of clothes had him curious, but he refrained from turning around to see what she was doing. Soon enough she was back, gripping his hand again.
The intruders were close enough for Don to recognize more details, and it was all Don could do not to roll his eyes. These guys were amateurs. Sure, they had big guns and loud voices, but that was the most professional thing about them. They wore cheap ski masks with a loose enough weave to tell skin colour, they called each other by nicknames - like 'Pancho' and 'Rex' – instead of remaining nameless, and instead of black fatigues, they had on long-sleeved shirts, black jeans and dark sneakers. One of them was wearing boots, but they had shiny steeled toes. To top it off, the bag they were using to collect the guests' valuables in looked like a couple of pillow cases dyed black.
They eventually arrived at Don, and he passed over his wallet and valuables, as did Willow, Jack and Annalise – though her hand shook as she dropped her wedding ring into the bag. The men passed by without incident, and once they were far enough away he turned slightly to Jack.
Before he could say anything, Jack pursed his lips and said, “If my security team was overtaken by these rank amateurs, they're all fired.”
“There's gotta be something else going on,” Don said, feeling in his gut that this wasn't what it seemed. These guys didn't have what it took to burst into a high security party and rob the entire guest list.
He was distracted further by the flurry of arms and legs further down the line, as one of the guests refused to give up her necklace. This resulted in one of the robbers attempting to backhand her with the automatic rifle, but being the amateur that he was, ended up firing off a round.
It wasn't until all the screaming died down that he realized anyone had been shot.
End Part 10
Part 11