Hush Hush & Deception: Stolen

Chapter 12

The next few days were a blur. There was much outrage from the squad after hearing of Veronica's escape, but there wasn't much to do but move forward. They flew back to Miami the next day. The hospital tried to keep Finn in bed, but he refused to wait around and boarded the plane with the rest of the squad. They were on high alert the whole flight, nerves at all time high.

HD and Marcus met them at the airport. They both wore expressions of grave concern. "I'm glad to see you're doing alright." HD said to them as they approached. "It was our carelessness that allowed you to be kidnapped. I hope you can forgive us." She lowered her head, looking at her feet. Marcus stepped forwards.

"You need rest. You've been pushed too far these last few weeks. You won't be receiving new assignments for a while." He nodded to the team, then turned around to lead them to the shuttle that would bring them back to the agency.

They didn't speak much on the ride back, not that either of the directors were especially chatty under normal circumstances, but the squad stayed silent too. Once they arrived at home base everyone took off in different directions. Phil went to his lab, Alexis and Joey went to the rec- room, and Scarlet went to her room. Finn didn't see where Sonya went before he was ushered to the medical bay and into a hospital bed.

Finn took three days to recover. In that period of time he talked strategy with other members of the squad, related everything that happened in detail to intel agents, and worked on his screenplay, a project he had started to keep himself busy. He was just finishing up on act four when a shadow appeared in the doorway. He looked up to see Sonya.

"Got a minute?" She asked.

Finn closed his laptop and shifted to sit on the side of the bed, "Sure thing."

"There's a cafe downtown. I'd like to talk...," Sonya's eyes grew somewhat misty. "...About Harold."

Finn looked at her warily, but nodded and stood up. They took a cadillac to the cafe. It was small, not terribly busy, and pleasant smelling. Sonya ordered an Earl Grey Tea and took a seat in the back of the cafe. Finn ordered an iced coffee and followed suit.

"Nice place," Finn remarked. "Real cozy."

"It stinks."

"Well, I wouldn't--"

"Not this place, the Agency. It's rotten to the core." Sonya had a hard look in her eye.

Finn swallowed. "Yes, we've flushed out a few double agents, but-"

"You don't know the half of it," Sonya cut him off. "There's corruption everywhere, up to the very top. It's all on here." She placed a cell phone on the table. "After Harold died, I realized he had been set up. I had to find the traitor. But I found so much more."

Finn looked from her to the cell phone. ""What are you talking about? Who's the traitor?"

"More like who isn't." Sonya looked Finn in the eyes. "Trust no one, Finn. No one."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You're one of the good ones Finn. You're innocent, like Harold was." Sonya looked down and began digging through her bag.

Finn leaned forward. "If what you're saying is true, we need to do something. You have to tell me everything you know."

"I won't need to." Sonya pulled out what she was looking for. It was a small handheld device with an antenna and a button. Finn's blood froze.

"Sonya... What is that?" He didn't move his eyes from the device.

"A detonator. With this, we'll finally have our revenge. Harold's true killers will be destroyed, as well as the institution that has hurt so many, including you and I." Her hand tensed.

Finn jolted up, spilling his coffee, but he wasn't fast enough. Sonya's thumb pressed down on the button a second before Finn tackled her. He pinned her arms to the ground roughly. "What did you do?!" He shouted. Sonya only smiled.

There was a sudden tremor and the sound of numerous muffled explosions. Finn jumped to his feet heading in the direction of the Agency, but Sonya tripped him, causing him to hit his head on the ground hard. His ears rang and his vision swam, but he could make out Sonya kneeling over him and pressing something into his hands. She said something he couldn't hear, but he read her lips clear as day,

"Justice."

When his mind focused and he could stand, Sonya was long gone. Finn looked at his hands to see what she had given him. It was the cellphone. He cursed and shoved it into his pocket, running out of the cafe and towards the Agency.

It was chaos in the street, people were running and screaming everywhere. Someone shouted "The Chile's just blew up!" and Finn doubled his speed.

When he got there he stopped in his tracks. It looked like a Godzilla movie. Not the original, which was a heart wrenching allegory of the cultural impact that the atomic bomb had on Japan, but the crappy one made in 2014 that Finn was actually kind of excited for the sequel. The explosions had caused the parking lot to start caving in, making the base look like a post-apocalyptic cavern. Thinking quickly, Finn jumped and swung off a fallen street light, caught a piece of hanging pavement, then dropped down to the remains of the elevator.

"Hello?" Finn called once he'd worked his way to the main level. "If you can hear me, call out so I can help!"

"Over... Here..." A strained voice came from the right of Finn. He looked in it's direction and saw Joey leaning against a car that had fallen in from the parking lot. Finn rushed over to him and knelt. He was in rough shape, but mostly alright. He had hit his head, and dislocated his shoulder, but there was no permanent damage.

"Joey, I'm gonna need you to count backwards from one hundred by seventeen." Finn said, placing his hand delicately on Joey's hurt shoulder. Joey looked confused.

"Why--OW! AHRG!" Finn popped Joey's shoulder back in mid-sentence.

"Stay here, I'm going to look for more survivors." Finn said, jogging off. Joey wheezed in pain.

Finn encountered a few bodies of agents in the hallway, none of them living. They had all been crushed by debris or burned by the explosions. So far, he hadn't seen his squad, or any of the directors. Finn became frantic, running from room to room, looking for someone. His heart was racing erratically, the pounding in his head only grew stronger, and he felt hopeless, consciousness slowly slipping away.

"Finn!" It was Scarlet. Finn turned to see her and Alexis carrying Phil by the shoulders. A wave of adrenaline rushed into Finn's bones. "He got hit in the head by some debris. He's unconscious, but alive," Scarlet explained.

"Joey's in the garage. Meet up with him." Finn turned to keep looking. The other's nodded and headed to the garage.

Finn looked for anyone else alive, but couldn't find anyone. Finally, there was the director's office. Something was blocking the door, but he was able to kick it in. The room had collapsed, and underneath the rubble was a large figure breathing raspy breaths. It was Marcus Welsh.

Marcus looked up as Finn rushed over to help him. "What are you doing? The rest of the room could collapse in an instant, foolish child!"

"I won't leave you!" Tears stung Finn's eyes. He remembered his first day at the agency, where Marcus had taken him under his wing. Trained him, raised him. "I can't!"

"Finn look at me." Marcus said through ragged breaths. "I was killed twenty minutes ago. Even if you get me out, there's no way I could survive."

The tears were flowing now. "No-"

"Go!" Marcus shouted as the building rumbled once more. Finn looked up to see the roof caving in. A lump in his throat and tears in his eyes, Finn dived out of the room as it collapsed, sealing Marcus's tomb.