Hush Hush & Deception: Stolen

Chapter 3

Magnus regained consciousness on the way back to the agency. He awoke with a start, staring eyes wide at his captors. Once he realized where he was, he sat back, glaring.

The van drove into a Chili's parking lot south of the towering heights of urban Miami. After all, the best place to hide something is in plain sight. Checking that nobody was watching, Finn clicked a button on the dashboard, sending a signal down to the base. A moment later the ground below the van hissed and began to lower. The outside world began to rise above them.

As the van descended into the base, Finn sighed and set his arm against the door, looking out the window at the agency. They were being lowered into a large hangar area, workers scurrying left and right. There were several of the agency's other vehicles parked nearby, including multiple cars, a helicopter and even a plane.

Finn opened the door as soon as they came to a stop. Phil and Joey popped open the back doors and pushed out Laura and Magnus. As the agents and their captives made their way across the hangar, they were met by another group welcoming them. Several agents in black gear hurried to help Phil and Joey with Magnus.

Marcus Welsh approached, leaning heavily on his sleek cane. Walking next to him was Veronica, a concerned expression on the lovely agent's face. Trailing behind both of them was Sonya Snage. Sonya was Harold's fiancée, and since his death she had been closed off an quiet, her emotions masked.

"I'm glad to see you made it back okay," Welsh said, changing the tone of conversation. He turned to lock eyes with Finn, "Good work." Finn was surprised at this. Welsh rarely gave his approval to anyone. The mentor turned to look at Magnus, who avoided eye contact, "You, however. . . I am very disappointed in." Welsh gave one more nod to Finn and made his way back to the main part of the agency. His gait was staggered but purposeful. Magnus' face burned red at his cheeks, but if it was from anger or embarrassment, no one could tell.

Phil and Joey began to walk off with the captives, but Finn put his hand on Joey's shoulder. "Bring him to an interrogation room," Finn nodded towards Magnus, who scowled. Joey's brow furrowed in confusion, "Isn't Scarlett interrogating Jane right now?" Finn's jaw tightened and his tone was harsh, "Just put him in a different interrogation room."

"Got it."

Finn glared at Magnus as he was led away with Phil and Joey. Veronica put her arm on Finn's left shoulder as she hugged him from the side. She looked up at Finn and they made brief eye contact. The attempt at comfort brought a slight smile to Finn's face. Sonya snorted at the gesture and followed Welsh. Empathy was not something that sat well with Sonya.

The door slammed shut. The dim lamp above the table swayed a bit. Finn made his way to center of the room and set a rolled up cloth down. Magnus looked curiously at the cloth, then Finn, who unrolled the cloth. A set of surgical utensils was revealed.

Magnus looked at Finn, grinning. "Torture? I thought you were smarter than that, Finn. You know it won't work; we've had the same training."

Finn silently picked up the tweezers and gingerly undid the bandage on his arm. It was clumsily put on by Alexis during the van ride. The bandages fell away, revealing an ugly gunshot wound. It hadn't had much time to clot, and dry blood matted the area around it. The wound gurgled a little and continued to bleed.

Finn grit his teeth and carefully inserted the tweezer, fishing around for a few seconds. Magnus watched, amused, as Finn slowly pulled out the bullet lodged in his arm. He set it on the cloth and wrapped the wound in new gauze. A thin stream of blood came from the newly opened wound.

"Are you done?" Magnus grinned. "I'd applaud, but. . ." he jingled his cuffs. "Nice party trick though, you ought to show it off more often--" Magnus was cut off as Finn slammed his head onto the table. "I don't like to repeat myself, so I'll only ask once. Who else is a double agent?" Finn's tone was low but dangerous.