by thedoctor and Captain Sammitch
The Fish Factory, La Perdita:
"I like the office you gave me," Dr. Jody Huerta said to Kit Piper.
Kit had been walking in a daze since the meeting. His mind was racing with his problem. Now another one was staring him in the face. With all the excitement, he'd forgotten about the new members he had just scooped up.
The morning after the party, Kit had woken up to find some stragglers from the festivities the night before. When he asked Danny Hearn who they were, the response he got was that they were some of Blackwulf's old teammates.
Kit then remembered overhearing the giant Russian the night before saying, "Yes, was very interesting time. Team knew how to handle a problem. We took down many big enemies. Team was, how you say, unstoppable."
He had always toyed with the idea of having two groups that he could send on two opposite missions at the same time. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about turning jobs down.
Within minutes, he had convinced the three men to join the team. The guy in the wrestling mask kind of weirded him out. But the guy with the beard and the backpack made him nervous. All that was washed away by Wulf's words of the unstoppable team. Maybe that was what he'd nickname them. Besides, Jody -- the one Wulf referred to most likely lovingly as Monkey Boy -- would make a great asset to the company with his Ph.D. in Psychology. And with all the members who listened to voices in their heads, he wouldn't be short on work. He'd even given them a sizable cash retainer.
Until now, Kit had forgotten all about hiring this new crew. Now his problems were multiplied. He had handed away money that could have gone to save his daughters.
"I was looking at some furniture to put in it. Well, the one I'll have when we move into the reconstructed headquarters, that is. I've marked a few right here for you to look at." He handed Kit a catalog.
"Um... Yeah, I'll look into it. Hey! You wouldn't happen to have any of that retainer I gave you left?"
"Don't be ridiculous! We just got it a day ago. Aside from the couple of hundred Luchadore used to by Fago's and John some Nair, we've still got it all."
"Would it be too much to ask if I could have some of it... back?"
"What? ... Oh, I see what's going on here. Thought you could put one over on me, eh?" said Jody. Kit began to sweat a bit. "Things aren't all as they seem, are they? I see your game."
"No... really... I just..."
"Relax. I know things are going to be tight with the rebuilding and all. Don't worry about it. I'll get what's left back to you before supper, okay?" Dr. Jody Huerta smiled and walked off down the hallway with his flip-flops smacking against the soles of his two huge feet.
The MBL Consulting apartment complex, La Perdita:
Phil Smith's head rested on the main computer console as he slept. Sometime during the night, Gabi Riviera had crept in and draped a blanket over the sleeping telepath. She tiptoed back in carrying a mug of coffee, which she placed on a table next to the console.
Phil stirred slightly. His eyes opened slowly. "Man... I was down here a lot later than I thought." He turned and noticed the coffee, then the blanket, then Gabi. "I don't know how I got along without you," he told her.
Gabi smiled. "Good morning, sunshine. You were down here all night."
Phil nodded. "I wanted to get everything just right."
"Which explains why you hacked into the FBI mail servers," Gabi said, motioning to the screen.
Phil sighed. "Sorry. Just wanted to stay a step ahead of things."
"You're really worried, aren't you?" Gabi asked.
"A little," Phil admitted. "But I'm more concerned about what would happen to the team if things went south while they were out in the field." He looked around. "Are you familiar with the concept of a panic room?"
"Didn't like the movie," Gabi answered.
Phil chuckled. "It's like this: In an emergency, when you know security has been compromised or something very bad is about to happen to the area where you're located, you need to have one place you can go where you can be sure nothing will get to you. So you create a chamber that's about as close to invincible as architecture and materials will allow.
"This room," Phil said as he gestured around him, "is my definitive idea of that concept. The walls are made of steel-reinforced concrete two feet thick, with a thin layer of lead to dissipate radiation. The room is airtight, watertight, and impervious to pretty much anything short of a bunker-buster bomb specially designed to destroy hardened military command centers -- but even that would have to come through the rest of the building. Basically, the whole building could come down around us, and this room would go untouched."
"But what about the people inside?" Gabi asked.
"There's a vast amount of supporting infrastructure connected to this room," Phil explained. "Once the outside of the building is completed, we'll be mounting solar panels to collect energy to run the systems here, and also to supply banks of solar batteries down here in case the power fails. There are filters that purify air and water taken in from the outside and store it in tanks. Those air and water supplies can last almost a week, and in the event that they run out, the filtration systems can remove almost all known pollutants and poisons from the outside air and water. There will be stockpiles of food, medical supplies, and weapons. And the list goes on."
"Sounds great," Gabi said, "but how do you plan on protecting all those things?"
"Comprehensive access control," Phil replied. "I'm finishing up installing the hardware for fingerprint, voiceprint, and retinal scanners now. But the most important element of security is that the door opens from the outside only once, to let one person in. After that, that person is responsible for letting others in -- or keeping them out."
"Sounds like you've been working on this for a while," Gabi said.
"Me and Grissom put the system together, and Charley and Priest added a few ideas of their own." Phil sipped his coffee. "We've got all sorts of plans put together."
"And you didn't consult with Leslie?" Gabi asked.
Phil looked at her. "No. Does that surprise you?"
"I figured you would have found a way to include her," Gabi said.
Phil frowned. "No. We're currently not speaking to each other."
Gabi laughed. "Is this high school again?"
"She told me she likes me," Phil said.
Gabi couldn't contain another laugh. "So?"
"So, I'm not interested."
"Not at all?" Gabi smiled at him.
"Gabi! I'm with you!" Phil was beside himself. "What does it matter whether or not anyone else interests me?"
"That's not what I asked," Gabi said.
Phil sighed. "Okay, while you were gone, a lot of stuff happened. Leslie and I were kind of... close. But that doesn't matter now, does it?"
"Phil," Gabi replied, "you don't have to hide how you feel about another woman to avoid offending me. I'm a big girl, and I can handle knowing that I'm not the only one in your life. You're your own person, and you've got to make your own choices."
"Gabi," Phil insisted, "I love you. You know that."
Gabi looked at him. "I know. But I'm not going to be around forever."
"What do you mean?" Phil asked.
"Don't worry about it right now," Gabi instructed him. "You've got a lot of work to do." She crossed the room and looked at the heavy steel door. "So tell me how this retinal scanner works."
Somewhere in La Perdita:
"I can't believe it," the Luchadore said with his smile beaming from under his mask. "We're on our first mission for the team."
John replied as he picked up an armful of boxes of macaroni and cheese, "We're just grocery shopping." He dropped the boxes into the cart that Dr. Huerta was steadily having to pull to the left to keep it from crashing into the shelves on his right. "And stop lifting up your mask like that when you talk. Jay-sis, you've got an opening for your mouth right there."
"No," the Luchadore replied before pulling his mask back down over his face.
"And why are you wearing that mask to the supermarket? It makes you look retarded."
"Does not."
"Does."
"Does not."
"Does."
"DOES NOT."
"DOES."
"DOES..."
"Are you two going to be quiet, or do I have to make you be quiet?" Dr. Huerta said in a very authoritative voice.
The Luchadore and John both hung their heads in shame as they said, "Sorry," in unison.
"That's better," Dr. Huerta said as he turned around to grab a few more items from Shirley Francis' shopping list. John quickly slapped Luchadore's arm. Lucha returned the slap, except a little harder. Then John slapped Lucha a little harder too. Again and again until both men were wrestling on the floor.
A few minutes later, John was limping beside the shopping cart while the Luchadore held onto the opposite side of the basket. Dr. Huerta was still fighting the pull to the right. "I can't believe you did that to us again," John said.
"Yeah," Luchadore chimed in. "Do you know how big of a pain in the butt it is not to be able to see?"
"I warned you," the doctor replied. "Besides, you'll both be back to normal in a few minutes. I swear, lab rats learn faster than you two."
"Can I...?" Lucha began to say before Dr. Huerta cut him off.
"No, you can't ride in the shopping cart. We've got to put groceries in there."
"But I'm blind!"
"If he gets to ride in the shopping cart, I get to play the crane game up front."
"Why did I ever decide to take you two on?" Huerta mumbled to himself.