Between the Lines - On the Edge
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, remember if anyone would like to write an episode - let me know, the more the merrier. As you can see I've stopped giving the episodes numbers - to make it easier for people to slot in other episodes.
You can learn a lot about a man in three years and, though he kept the information to himself, Laurence Dominic had a natural flair for observation and a near photographic memory. The combination meant he had learnt a lot about how Balthazar did business and he’d used that knowledge because of all the things Balthazar had undoubtedly changed in the period since his cover was blown, the one thing that couldn’t be altered was the character of the man himself.
It was a point DeWitt had understood only too well when he'd explained his plan to her. She'd crossed her legs, twisted in her chair and looked at him for a long, considered moment. He'd stood his ground, relaxed and confident in her presence when he felt anything but.
"You're using your knowledge of him," she’d observed evenly - not a hint of accusation in her perfectly modulated tone, which immediately made him fight back a wave of defensiveness.
"It's all I have," he'd responded, "three years is a long time to get to know someone."
"And sometimes it doesn't take that long." Her voice held a trace of wry amusement and though she seemed to have no plans to share the joke it had occurred to him that she was something of an expert at learning things about people in a short timeframe. "But it works both ways," she'd said equably. "He knows you as well."
"I was undercover," he'd protested. But her gaze hadn't wavered.
"Were you so very different Mr Dominic?" Unfortunately she'd been right - all that he had really left behind to work for Balthazar were his morals and he still didn't know if they were an intrinsic part of his character or not. He'd considered her oblique warning - trying to separate himself from the engagement; he wasn't sure how well he'd succeeded but he might be close to finding out.
It irritated him exactly as much as he expected it to that he couldn't be in the field for this one. For every day of the last two months, as the operation he’d painstakingly put together had taken shape, he’d had to stay out of sight and let Anthony take on the task of reeling Balthazar in.
It had taken this long to get a face to face meeting, for all of this time they'd been dealing with intermediaries, including Balthazar's new right hand man. The trail had led to Thailand, Cuba and briefly to Budapest. But now he and Victor, with Romeo and Mike and their handlers, were waiting for the meet that would in theory, seal the deal.
Anthony was imprinted as an DEA posing as a member of a Colombian counter revolutionary, paramilitary organisation. The imprint needed expertise as an undercover operative, which Dominic had supplied, but it also required the characteristics of a Columbian para-military. It was just a little alarming that Topher had not found it at all difficult to come up with what they needed - Dominic did not want to know how they gained access to the brain of someone like that.
In theory, Balthazar agreeing to sell them arms should be enough to persuade the authorities to arrest him. Their para-military organisation had been labelled as terrorist by a handful of Governments - including the US, so doing business with them was not a good idea. But he doubted it would be that simple - not least because their crucial meeting was taking place in Guatemala City.
He can't think too far ahead yet; he's been taking it step by step and so far that had worked for him. The meeting had been postponed a couple of times. Balthazar's people were jittery but their own side had also postponed; to help make the case that they have just as much to be cautious about.
But now it was half an hour from the designated time and he was in a suite of the same hotel - watching the computer readings - wondering if third time will be the charm.
***
Adelle refused to give the slightest impression that she was more concerned about this engagement than any other. It had been a busy day; there were meetings, debriefings and a trans-atlantic video conference for her to think about. But still a part of her mind was in Guatemala City.
The atmosphere in the house was tense - the engagement involved three actives, their handlers and several members of Mr Langton's security team. Anthony was a quiet active and his new handler was taciturn to the point of being rude but, it seemed many people were interested in the outcome of this engagement. Even Caroline had asked about it and she was currently on the other side of the country.
"I understand they're still waiting for the meeting to take place." She told her over the video link. Caroline was imprinted as an investigator seeking a corporate spy who threatened the fortunes of a small company about to make a major breakthrough. Unfortunately that required her to have greater than normal awareness of body language and facial expressions and because it was Caroline this knowledge will be retained and used in future engagements - but although inconvenient it was also necessary.
"Are you going to rein him in?" Caroline asked, she was not Adelle knew, talking about Anthony.
"If I have to."
"I'm sorry I'm going to miss that." Caroline quipped, "maybe I can persuade someone to make a recording for me."
"If you can they won't be working here by the time you return." Her response seemed to amuse Carolien even more.
"She didn't ask whether you thought you'd succeed." Langton observed once the call was over.
"I imagine she assumed that would be your question." Adelle responded, crossing the room towards him. He didn't back away, though she sensed that he was uncomfortable with her willingness to confront him. She imagined that he was accustomed to using his height to give him an advantage but she wasn't easily intimidated.
"A murder, an assassination. However you dress it up it's outside the parameters of this mission - it isn't what we do." She didn't particularly need him to remind her of this - but she decided to humour him.
"People have been killed during engagements," she pointed out.
"We've never sanctioned killing our targets. We aren't judge and jury, remember?"
"I am aware of that."
"Then surely Mr Dominic's personal grudge against Balthazar is a reason for caution. You've been surprisingly, relaxed on this matter." She thought he was probably suggesting that she was normally uptight and controlling - but she opted to let it pass. She'd spent enough time reviewing this particular engagement - possibly more than Langton realised though he tended to be well informed about her movements.
"Do you trust my judgment Mr Langton?"
She quirked an eyebrow and he gazed solidly back at her before conceding, "usually."
"Then you're going to have to hope that I am not losing my touch." He didn't look too pleased at that response, but he managed a nod before leaving her to her own thoughts. She gave into temptation and poured herself a drink, she had a feeling she might need it.
***
The deal was made with little fanfare; the cash exchanged, the details by which the weapons will be moved discussed, though Balthazar was too good a business man to give too much away. All of it was recorded by a discrete little device that was embedded in Romeo's right eye - though it had temporarily cost him its use. Even Dominic was forced to concede the ingenuity of this solution although every time it passed Balthazars' security checks he was forced to listen to Topher crowing about his own brilliance.
The information that they were ready to move onto the next phase was conveyed back to DeWitt through a brief phone conversatoin. He waited for her order to make his move and it wasn't just a courtesy. He'd spent time with her over the last two months and though he was no closer to working her out he had learnt that she was very definitely in charge. He might have, occassionally, wondered how she might react to someone else calling the shots - but he knew better than to push his luck.
He was very aware that he could no longer flash a badge and identify himself as a Federal agent and he refused to add posing as one to this operation, even though it might have made things easier. They definitely haven't cleared this operation with the local authorities - so getting Balthazar and getting away clean was every bit as complicated as the undercover operation that had brought them this far.
To all intents and purposes they were just about to kidnap a man and the fact that the man in question was wanted in several jurisdictions for arms dealing was not all that much of an excuse - especially when his closest advisor was a CIA operative.
His knowledge of Balthazar meant that he anticipated the room service order; which made it relatively simple to intercept the bottle of Tequila and replace it with one that is identical; except for the addition of enough sedative to knock out a horse.
He'd had an estimate of how long the sedative would take to kick in, but these things were never cut and dried and when he kicked the door to the hotel room open one of Balthazar's guys got a shot off; fortunately it took a chunk out of the wall rather than out one of them. With half a dozen more of Balthazar's people downstairs they don't have time for a long, drawn out confrontation.
Balthazar was on his knees, barely conscious but still awake. Dominic took great pleasure in the recognition in his expression before he slammed the butt of his rifle into his head. But his former employer wasn't the only person who knew who he was - or thinks he does.
"What the hell is the NSA playing at?" His replacement hadn't drunk any of the Tequila; which didn't surprise Dominic, since he'd never drunk it either. He wasn't sure that he would have surrendered without firing a shot; but that wasn't his problem.
"CIA?" He asked, although he scarcely needed the confirmation.
"Balthazar is our asset, you missed your chance."
"Your intelligence is out of date," he growled, shooting the man in the knee and watching him fall to the ground. "I don't work for the NSA anymore."
Part 2 is this way
You can learn a lot about a man in three years and, though he kept the information to himself, Laurence Dominic had a natural flair for observation and a near photographic memory. The combination meant he had learnt a lot about how Balthazar did business and he’d used that knowledge because of all the things Balthazar had undoubtedly changed in the period since his cover was blown, the one thing that couldn’t be altered was the character of the man himself.
It was a point DeWitt had understood only too well when he'd explained his plan to her. She'd crossed her legs, twisted in her chair and looked at him for a long, considered moment. He'd stood his ground, relaxed and confident in her presence when he felt anything but.
"You're using your knowledge of him," she’d observed evenly - not a hint of accusation in her perfectly modulated tone, which immediately made him fight back a wave of defensiveness.
"It's all I have," he'd responded, "three years is a long time to get to know someone."
"And sometimes it doesn't take that long." Her voice held a trace of wry amusement and though she seemed to have no plans to share the joke it had occurred to him that she was something of an expert at learning things about people in a short timeframe. "But it works both ways," she'd said equably. "He knows you as well."
"I was undercover," he'd protested. But her gaze hadn't wavered.
"Were you so very different Mr Dominic?" Unfortunately she'd been right - all that he had really left behind to work for Balthazar were his morals and he still didn't know if they were an intrinsic part of his character or not. He'd considered her oblique warning - trying to separate himself from the engagement; he wasn't sure how well he'd succeeded but he might be close to finding out.
It irritated him exactly as much as he expected it to that he couldn't be in the field for this one. For every day of the last two months, as the operation he’d painstakingly put together had taken shape, he’d had to stay out of sight and let Anthony take on the task of reeling Balthazar in.
It had taken this long to get a face to face meeting, for all of this time they'd been dealing with intermediaries, including Balthazar's new right hand man. The trail had led to Thailand, Cuba and briefly to Budapest. But now he and Victor, with Romeo and Mike and their handlers, were waiting for the meet that would in theory, seal the deal.
Anthony was imprinted as an DEA posing as a member of a Colombian counter revolutionary, paramilitary organisation. The imprint needed expertise as an undercover operative, which Dominic had supplied, but it also required the characteristics of a Columbian para-military. It was just a little alarming that Topher had not found it at all difficult to come up with what they needed - Dominic did not want to know how they gained access to the brain of someone like that.
In theory, Balthazar agreeing to sell them arms should be enough to persuade the authorities to arrest him. Their para-military organisation had been labelled as terrorist by a handful of Governments - including the US, so doing business with them was not a good idea. But he doubted it would be that simple - not least because their crucial meeting was taking place in Guatemala City.
He can't think too far ahead yet; he's been taking it step by step and so far that had worked for him. The meeting had been postponed a couple of times. Balthazar's people were jittery but their own side had also postponed; to help make the case that they have just as much to be cautious about.
But now it was half an hour from the designated time and he was in a suite of the same hotel - watching the computer readings - wondering if third time will be the charm.
***
Adelle refused to give the slightest impression that she was more concerned about this engagement than any other. It had been a busy day; there were meetings, debriefings and a trans-atlantic video conference for her to think about. But still a part of her mind was in Guatemala City.
The atmosphere in the house was tense - the engagement involved three actives, their handlers and several members of Mr Langton's security team. Anthony was a quiet active and his new handler was taciturn to the point of being rude but, it seemed many people were interested in the outcome of this engagement. Even Caroline had asked about it and she was currently on the other side of the country.
"I understand they're still waiting for the meeting to take place." She told her over the video link. Caroline was imprinted as an investigator seeking a corporate spy who threatened the fortunes of a small company about to make a major breakthrough. Unfortunately that required her to have greater than normal awareness of body language and facial expressions and because it was Caroline this knowledge will be retained and used in future engagements - but although inconvenient it was also necessary.
"Are you going to rein him in?" Caroline asked, she was not Adelle knew, talking about Anthony.
"If I have to."
"I'm sorry I'm going to miss that." Caroline quipped, "maybe I can persuade someone to make a recording for me."
"If you can they won't be working here by the time you return." Her response seemed to amuse Carolien even more.
"She didn't ask whether you thought you'd succeed." Langton observed once the call was over.
"I imagine she assumed that would be your question." Adelle responded, crossing the room towards him. He didn't back away, though she sensed that he was uncomfortable with her willingness to confront him. She imagined that he was accustomed to using his height to give him an advantage but she wasn't easily intimidated.
"A murder, an assassination. However you dress it up it's outside the parameters of this mission - it isn't what we do." She didn't particularly need him to remind her of this - but she decided to humour him.
"People have been killed during engagements," she pointed out.
"We've never sanctioned killing our targets. We aren't judge and jury, remember?"
"I am aware of that."
"Then surely Mr Dominic's personal grudge against Balthazar is a reason for caution. You've been surprisingly, relaxed on this matter." She thought he was probably suggesting that she was normally uptight and controlling - but she opted to let it pass. She'd spent enough time reviewing this particular engagement - possibly more than Langton realised though he tended to be well informed about her movements.
"Do you trust my judgment Mr Langton?"
She quirked an eyebrow and he gazed solidly back at her before conceding, "usually."
"Then you're going to have to hope that I am not losing my touch." He didn't look too pleased at that response, but he managed a nod before leaving her to her own thoughts. She gave into temptation and poured herself a drink, she had a feeling she might need it.
***
The deal was made with little fanfare; the cash exchanged, the details by which the weapons will be moved discussed, though Balthazar was too good a business man to give too much away. All of it was recorded by a discrete little device that was embedded in Romeo's right eye - though it had temporarily cost him its use. Even Dominic was forced to concede the ingenuity of this solution although every time it passed Balthazars' security checks he was forced to listen to Topher crowing about his own brilliance.
The information that they were ready to move onto the next phase was conveyed back to DeWitt through a brief phone conversatoin. He waited for her order to make his move and it wasn't just a courtesy. He'd spent time with her over the last two months and though he was no closer to working her out he had learnt that she was very definitely in charge. He might have, occassionally, wondered how she might react to someone else calling the shots - but he knew better than to push his luck.
He was very aware that he could no longer flash a badge and identify himself as a Federal agent and he refused to add posing as one to this operation, even though it might have made things easier. They definitely haven't cleared this operation with the local authorities - so getting Balthazar and getting away clean was every bit as complicated as the undercover operation that had brought them this far.
To all intents and purposes they were just about to kidnap a man and the fact that the man in question was wanted in several jurisdictions for arms dealing was not all that much of an excuse - especially when his closest advisor was a CIA operative.
His knowledge of Balthazar meant that he anticipated the room service order; which made it relatively simple to intercept the bottle of Tequila and replace it with one that is identical; except for the addition of enough sedative to knock out a horse.
He'd had an estimate of how long the sedative would take to kick in, but these things were never cut and dried and when he kicked the door to the hotel room open one of Balthazar's guys got a shot off; fortunately it took a chunk out of the wall rather than out one of them. With half a dozen more of Balthazar's people downstairs they don't have time for a long, drawn out confrontation.
Balthazar was on his knees, barely conscious but still awake. Dominic took great pleasure in the recognition in his expression before he slammed the butt of his rifle into his head. But his former employer wasn't the only person who knew who he was - or thinks he does.
"What the hell is the NSA playing at?" His replacement hadn't drunk any of the Tequila; which didn't surprise Dominic, since he'd never drunk it either. He wasn't sure that he would have surrendered without firing a shot; but that wasn't his problem.
"CIA?" He asked, although he scarcely needed the confirmation.
"Balthazar is our asset, you missed your chance."
"Your intelligence is out of date," he growled, shooting the man in the knee and watching him fall to the ground. "I don't work for the NSA anymore."
Part 2 is this way