The Fall

Chapter Two

Travis liked to meditate. Some thought that it was quite peculiar, but he didn't care. Being alone with only his thoughts for company was soothing to the man, so Travis did it often.

He became so intwined in his mind that he didn't notice the african american woman come into the dark conference room. "Ahem," Rita cleared her throat loudly, causing little reponse on Travis's end. "Earth to Johan!"

"I know you're here. How is Peter?" Travis replied without opening his eyes. Peter had been found in the middle of a dry forest in Arizona, more than a day ago. The team had been brought back to PSA headquarters on a secret island in the Caribbean. The team had been confined to their rooms, the conference room, and the infirmary, not allowed to see the rest of the mysterious organization's assets.

"He's finally awake, I just got a call," Rita answered. Travis's eyes popped open and he was quickly following Rita down the hall, a PSA guard trailing right behind.

"Is he okay?"

"Probably. We haven't been able to observe  the long term effects of that poison we found in the dart. All we know as that it caused unconciousness for about a day."

Travis and Rita finally arrived. Peter was sitting up in bed, his eyes crazed. "My jacket!" He was repeatedly saying.

Travis frowned and was quickly by his friend's side. "Peter! How do you feel?"

Peter turned to look at Travis. "Whaa.... wait, where am I? How'd you find me?"

Rita stepped forward. "We found you in the forest, passed out with a dart in your chest and a parachute. Your tracker went dead for about fifteen minutes, but then was turned on again."

Peter frowned, trying to remember. "Huh... the details are foggy..."

"What's up with your jacket?" Travis asked. Peter's eyes suddenly widened and the crazed expression came back. "My jacket! I need it!"

"Why?" Rita and Travis asked in sync.

Peter smiled,  his eyes glassing over. "A-a girl gave me her number. She was beautiful!"

Rita exchanged an exasperated look with Travis as Peter went on.

"A-and then she saved me! She damced right through those lasers, and we flew!"

Travis frowned, remembering the parachute. "You jumped out of a plane?" He acvepted a cup of coffee from a nurse and started sipping it.

Peter grinned dumbly. "A helicopter."

"And then she shot him with that dart," Rita concluded. "This must be the girl who went through the laser trap first... she's gotta be with ED."

"No!" Peter cut in. "She's with the Triad!"

Travis choked on his coffee. "The CHINESE Triad??!"

Peter nodded. "Well... sort of. She was hired to find some sort of... blueprint? From the PSA! She had it... she saw it then remembered it somehow in her mind!"

Rita raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Travis stood still.

"Yeah! Then she defected right there! She didn't want to suck."

Rita's expression became concerned. "... huh?"

"The blueprints must have been for some sort of nutriet sucking machin-"

"That's enough," a voice cut through, silencing Peter. They all turned to see a severe looking blonde woman standing a few feet away. "We'll have a classified briefing later. For now, we'll have Mr. Tuff back to health, and then we'll try to identify this girl." The woman handed some paper and pencils to Peter. "Draw her."

Peter's face lit up, like he'd been waiting to do that all day. "Of course, Ma'am.  But-" he frowned. "My jacket-"

Travis looked at the nurse. "What hapoened to his jacket?" A phone number would be key in locating where the girl was.

The nurse winced. "We-we sent it down for cleaning..."

Travis groaned. "Great. But, why do we need to find her anyway?"

The woman in charge moved her eyes to him. "If what Mr. Tuff says is true, this girl was seen files sensitive to us and others, including ED. We need those secure. She also has information about the Triad, and probably knows the codes we sent you to get."

Peter looked down at the paper in his hand. "I don't know if I can do her justice..."

"Oh, shut up already," Rita snapped, annoyed. "You're just high on sedative."

Peter shrugged and used his tray as a hard surface as he began to sketch.

Travis stood up and looked at the woman. "When is this meeting? And what is your name?"

The woman stretched out a hand. "9:00pm. And I am Number One, leader of the PSA investigative branch."

~

Rita knocked on Travis's door as she went by. "Trav? Ready yet?" It was 8:45pm. When she got no answer, Rita frusturatedly pushed the door open. "Travis-"

The man was sitting on the bed, obviously deep in thought. Rita sighed. "What's wrong? Did you get a message from Jenna?"

"Yes, actually," Travis said suddenly, his voice tinted with an uncertainty... as though he was lying. Rita narrowed her eyes.

"... She emailed me, appearently Jimmy broke up with his first girlfriend today! That's what you get for dating in high-school, haha! And-"

"Travis. Tell the truth." The lighthearted news from his family didn't fit his mood. Travis closed his eyes again.

"I think I may know this girl."

Rita frowned. "What? How?"

Travis shook his head. "I don't know... I knew someone with a killer memory before... but that was five years ago. She's probably dead."

~

Peter had finished his drawing at last and was heading down to the forensics lab to scan it in. The process only took a few seconds, and a single document, from more than five years ago, popped up.

It was a CIA dossier on an agent. She was young, maybe 17, but unmistakably that girl that Peter had encountered. Next to her smiling picture was the word MIA and her name... at least her first name.

"Janet," Peter whispered to himself. "Janet."

He ran and caught up to his two friends. They seemed shocked that Peter was still running around in only the bathrobe he'd been given. "Guys, I found her!"

Travis furrowed his brows and looked at the picture, recognition suddenly flooding his hardened features. Rita noticed. "It's her, isn't it?"

Travis nodded slowly.

"It's Janet."