"Fair enough, Wolf. The way I see it, though, is that we force him to fight on our terms and the mock conference sounds prett y good for that. We make him come to one place, instead of having us split up between five locations."

"Then again, I'm not too good in the planning department. Just get me near one of them and we'll see exactly how tough they are..."

"Of course. I'm going to go to France because I lived there for a bit and my French is best out of all of us. Kaitlin, you'll go with Wolf to..." Jade gave her a grin, "keep him in line. Wraith, Scrya seems to trust you the most out of all of us, you and she will go to the UK, if she agrees to. Devin you'll stay here and protect the US delegate, and Angel will join you. You're our only medic and Angel might not be at his best after the funeral. Monk will come with me. We'll leave for our respective countries tomorrow."

Angel was on the plane brooding.

Silently, he wondered how things had gotten so screwed up since he was born.

"Arrival in three minutes," chimed a speaker, and Angel leaned back in his seat and just waited for the inevitable.

Wraith nodded when Jade told him his part, but said nothing else. Leaning back in his seat, he began to think over what they would need to do and what they should prepare for as Jade goes on. While he likes Devin's idea of drawing Mastermind's assassins out in the open, he also realizes that there might not be enough time on their side... that, and they could lose what little element of surprise they might have in the defense.

And then there would've been the possibility of having to face more than just one of those First Order warriors at once... certainly not a good thing at all, even for Scrya.

"Monk will come with me. We'll leave for our respective countries tomorrow."

Wraith snaps to quickly, trying in a flurry to remember what was just said. As it comes back to him in sudden spurts, he sits back forward and addresses Jade. "Listen... I'm not sure if Scrya would be willing to help us yet or not... I mean, for all she cares, she might just want to go off somewhere and join a circus, I don't know. But I'll sure as hell try to convince her to join us, Colonel."

At least, I'm counting on her wanting revenge on Mastermind... "So, will there be anything else, or can we get right on to planning?"

"I've got nothing, unless anyone else has anything to say, we can all go."

After just about everyone else had left, Wolf walked up to Jade.

"I just want to thank you," he said to her "For pairing me with Kaitlin for this mission. It's nothing personal against anyone here, but right now I feel that I can only trust myself to make sure she survivies this fight...which we all know will not be easy. And I didn't want to have myself constantly worrying if, thousands of miles away, she's still alive or not. At least this way I can make sure she's all right. Once again, thanks."

Angel drove the firebird down the streets of St. John's.

Little bits of his childhood flashed back to him. Even random bits of when he'd lived in Russia, or in Toronto. Behind him, the funeral procession was driving. Inside, he felt broken. All he wanted to do was just scream and destroy. He wanted to punish Graves beyond what mortal minds could comprehend.

Like a little kid, he wanted to make it all not true.

He didn't notice when the tears started down his cheeks. All he knew was that Andrea was dead. That was it. His life's entire purpose was gone.

They reached the graveyard, and Angel parked quickly. He ran his hand over the parking brake, momentarily appreciating that it was one of the parts from the original car. Silently, he got out and watched the coffin be carried to the grave, where it was put on the plastic sheet.

Angel looked around at the crowds. Andrea's sister, her brother, her parents. Old buddies from college, Andrea's friends. Angel thought about who had come for him. No one. For all anyone knew, Neil did not exist anymore. Then a familiar face was picked out of the crowd. His mother.

He didn't have time to ponder however, as the priest started the sermon. By the end, Angel felt broken and hollow. Tears were streaming freely down his cheeks. Everyone stood to walk by the coffin. Angel had brought Jasmines. He layed them on her, and saw she still wore a small heart-shaped locket. Quietly, he reached down and took it off, feeling the immensity of what it represented. Inside was a miniature picture of them at Paris.

Choking back more tears, he held it in his fist and put it in his pocket.

As everyone milled, Angel collapsed under a nearby tree. It wasn't raining, the sun was shining, it was a lovely picture, and the ocean air was fresh in the air. Exactly how Andrea would've wanted to be buried.

"Hm. Neil, what are you doing down there?" Said a hauntingly familiar voice. He looked up and saw his mother and father.

"Where've you been boy? We have estates we need help running. This whole Mastermind scandal is making quite a turmoil, so our businesses need more help for control."

Angel tried to say, "Is that all you can think about?" What really came out was a choked sob.

"And so you should feel guilty. Now get up, get a good suit, get over the broad's death and lets go."

Angel had no idea what he did until he suddenly found himself standing, gun out, and pointed straight at her forehead. It was cocked, the safety was off, and there was a bullet in the chamber. And his finger was tightening on trigger.

In that single moment, Angel re-evaluated his entire life after Aegis. As Aegis, he'd killed and used survival as an excuse. As Angel, he'd said Andrea. At Rikers, he told himself he was following orders and saving a friend. But what was he doing now?

He'd killed, and killed, and killed. Nothing had beat him yet. They'd come close of course, with Adam being the closest example yet. Everytime he'd come out on top, whether by superior equipment, excellent comrades, skill, or horseshoes coming out of his ass.

But at that moment when he had the gun against his mother's forehead it didn't matter. The fact was he had a sudden contempt for life. He believed he was high enough that he didn't need to bat an eyelid about killing someone, that he was superior.

Exactly, 100% like Mastermind.

Angel saw at that moment he had two choices. He could drop the gun, quit Cyber Force, and live his life while allowing Wolf and company to handle things, or he could give into the rage and contempt, kill her, and crush all that opposed him.

The gun tumbled limply from his hand. Angel stepped back, then said with a strength he didn't know he posessed, "You're aren't worth it. Those bullets were not bought for you. They're going to save you though."

His mother's brain suddenly caught up to what happened and screamed, (In Russian no less) "What do you mean you worthless ingrate!? How DARE you even believe yourself worthy to threaten me! If you'd had any sense at all you'd have taken the family's businesses over!"

Angel stepped black and slumped against the tree. Slowly, he said, "Mother, in the past three years I have probably killed two hundred people. You deserve to die. I will not lie about that. But it is not my place to execute or judge you."

There was an odd silence. Thirty minutes later, back in the plane, Angel got out of the firebird and said, "Let's go boys. We've got a situation coming up, so we've gotta go hot. Washington DC, I'm meeting up with Devin there."

He opened a small cubby and pulled out a new change of clothes. Twenty minutes later, Angel stepped out of the washroom no longer in a suit, but now in a black leather duster with a bulletproof vest on underneath and black jeans. At his sides were his colts, and in his hand was a small knife that he was cleaning his finger nails with.

One of the crew glanced at him, then said, "You seem different."

Angel grinned. "Jade's back, Andrea's dead, and Mastermind's upping the game. New game, new war, new Angel."

Wraith headed down towards his room after the meeting to think, but stopped in the hallway halfway there. Glancing over towards an elevator, he debates something in his head quickly, and then makes a decision.

***

When Scrya's door opens, the first thing he notices is the music blaring at him, Motley Crue's Too Young to Fall in Love. He cringes slightly as it hits him, raising his hand slightly but stopping himself. "Scrya?"

She stops bouncing around and stops at the door, putting one hand on the frame and the other to her ear, gesturing. "What?"

"Scrya, could you turn that down a bit?"

"Oh, okay!" she shouts back over the din.

Not that he has anything against it, they just can't hear each other. She goes over and turns it off quickly while he enters the room and closes the door behind him, asking her as she turns around, "Ahem, so how're you holding up? After your fight with Monk and all?"

"Fine."

"Fine, just fine?"

She smiles back at him, crossing her arms. "Fine."

"Okay," he replies, laughing a bit. "Dumb question I guess..."

He goes over to the computer beside her and leans an arm on it, looking first at it and then at her. "But anyway, I guess you heard Jade's announcement?"

Her smile slowly fades away, then she asks, "You want to know if I'll help?"

"Or more to the point, have you made a decision about the team yet?" he asks her softly.

She looks back at him for a second, then rubs her arms and glances away, down at the floor. "Not really..."

"You've still got some time to decide," he's quick to point out, gesturing. "We don't leave on our next mission until tomorrow."

She's silent for a long time, staring at the floor in thought. "... ... ... ...Will... any of my brothers be there, where you're going?"

"It's possible. We're not sure yet."

Again, more silence. "...I suppose you'll need my help, then..."

He stares at her for another long moment, watching her expression. It's almost somewhere between some kind of sense of duty, or regret, or maybe sadness and guilt. He can only wonder passingly what she might be thinking, and tells himself he should probably leave her alone to think about it for a while.

"Take your time," he whispers, then exits.

Alone in her room again, she rubs her arms gently, still thinking it over, vaguely paying attention to the music playing quietly beside her.

So tear me open, pour me out...
There's things inside that scream and shout~
And the pain still hates me
So hold me,
Until it Sleeps~

Monk folded his arms over themselves and dropped his head. From my battle with Scrya... I know the strength and speed of these fighters, if they are like her. I was barely able to hold them off, what makes Jade think that anyone else can? I am the best hand to hand out there, but judging at my speeds, these guys seem like they could dodge bullets! He closed his eyes.

We'll just have to go faster, won't we?

I'm not worried about us. I'm worried about the others. They saw the speed we put out there.

For once, Myth was at a lost for words. There's nothing we can do. If they want to make it out of there alive, they will have to just grow stronger, as we did.

Monk let out a weak smile and opened his eyes. You know... you aren't that bad of a person. Either that, or I'm just getting to you.

He waited for the rest of the crew to leave before approaching Jade. He kept his head low, a puppy knowing full-well he did something wrong. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh... Colonel." He winced at the sound of the word. "I'm sorry about my actions ealier. I was out of line and quick to judge. I am willing to accept any punishment you deem fit for me."

OOC: Hey, Angel has good french. He IS canadian afterall. And not an Albertan at that. Excuse me while I go and eat my 2 pound steak.

And Angel speaks russian too!

Oh well. Washington, here I come.

IC: The plane touched down and Angel quickly got into his Firebird. Momentarily, he pulled out his PDAP and shot off a message to Devin saying that Devin should meet him at the White House.

Inwardly he smiled. Who'd of thought that after years of saying the US was out of control he'd find himself going to save their leader. In the white house no less.

Just to finish, he sent a message off to Wolf. "Since you're cleared of murder charges, and I've scrapped all evidence against me, can we go home now?"

Feeling content with himself, Angel took the parking brake off and set it in reverse.