The Price We've Paid

35 Years

~Flashback to 3 months after Merrick Enterprises~

"Copley." You heard from the other end of the line.

"I need you to do me a favor," you said, as you began sifting through test tubes in your lab on 34th street. "I need DNA samples from my team."

"I thought you took all the samples from Merrick Enterprises when you raided the lab?" He responded.

"I did, but I've used all of them," you said, as you placed a petri dish under a microscope.

"So...the trials all failed then I'm assuming?" He asked gently.

You smirked. "Actually...no. The last two succeeded. But I used Booker's DNA for both of them. I need to see if it works with all of them or if the chemical compound was only accepted because of something unique to his genetic code."

"Understood," Copley responded. "But...how do I get samples of their DNA without them asking questions about why I need it?"

At that moment, Tyler moved closer to the phone. "It can be any type of DNA; hair, blood, sweat, spit..."

"Get creative," you added on, as you watched the sample under the microscope, a smile plastered on your face.

"Fine...just gimme a few days," Copley sighed. "They're still in Jakarta."

"Whenever you can," you replied.

"But as soon as possible. We're so close!" Tyler added in.

"Will do," he said as the call ended.

You watched as the DNA in the petri dish began to shift and change. You let out a large sigh of relief as the smile on your face grew wider. This was the moment you'd been waiting for...this was finally an answer.

~Present Day; 3 weeks after visiting Booker~

You stared at your new lab. 

After cleaning out the one on 34th, you and Tyler had continued your work in your apartment. That went on for a few days until you found a suitable location for a replacement.

You had found a plot of land for sale in upstate New York that was beautiful. It had lots of space, the land was fenced in, and smack dab in the center of it was a brand new house. It went for a steal; and after acquiring it, you and Tyler spent the next two weeks setting it up as your new safehouse.

It had 3 floors. The basement was set up to be your lab but it also had a hidden armory to store all your weapons. The first floor housed your office, the kitchen, living and laundry rooms and the second floor had 3 bedrooms. Though you never expected to have guests, you set up the rooms with extra clothes, towels, and toiletries...just in case.

And because you set it up that way, you also gave James the address of this safehouse. He didn't know about any of your other safehouses, but you wanted him to have the location of at least one. You figured now that you were getting close to being ready to rejoin the team, it might be good to have an "in case of emergency" place for them that was on James's radar. So as soon as it was ready, you sent him a puzzle box with the coordinates hidden inside it.

"What am I supposed to do with this thing you sent me?" He had asked over the phone the day he got it.

"Keep it somewhere in your office," you instructed. "If the team needs a safehouse to disappear in, give them that puzzle box. Nicky and Joe will know what to do with it."

"Alright, it's going on my desk then." James replied. "No one would ever suspect this...thing is important so I doubt it would look suspicious if anyone ever raided my house."