Subject: Heir of the Amazon!

Disclaimer: All of the standard disclaimers apply. Wonder Woman and all other DC characters are the property of DC Comics, and I take no credit for the creation of their characters, only my own. This is a fan fiction, therefore anything discontinuous to the normal DC universe, including sexuality of the characters, is the product of my imagination. Any similarities to real people or events is completely coincidental. This story contains male/male sex and romance. If you find either theme offensive, what are you doing reading nifty stories? And if you are underage or this story is illegal where you are reading, please leave.

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Chapter 11- I just want to be a normal Agent

One Month Later-

In Cuba-

Diana: (Sits at a table at a cafe, reading a newspaper and looking up and down the street, waiting to meet someone.)

Col. Atkinson: (At the IADC speaking to Dmitri) In Cuba, your mother made contact with an old informant. A Havana insider who set up the meeting between your mother and Black Mask's men.

Dmitri: What happened?

Diana: (She waits at the table. The informant walks to her, a gun at his side. He points the gun at Diana. Diana bolts to her feet, throws the table at the man. The man goes down, but two other goons come to Diana. One flips her to the ground. They shove their guns in Diana's face.)

IADC-

Col.: Dmitri...Black Mask has your Mother.

Dmitri: What's being done?

Col.: We have a team in place in Havana, but DMA (Department of Meta-Human affairs) doesn't want to move yet. He says sending an IADC team to scour the countryside will only attract the kind of attention we cant afford.

Dmitri: You said you understood what my mother did for me. That she couldn't just wait and do nothing. (He nods.)

Dmitri: Then you'll understand that I'm going to need your help to get to Cuba.

Havana-

Dmitri: (I show a picture of Diana to a few people. One guy nods and points to where Diana was assaulted.)

Black Mask's Mansion-

Diana: (She sits in a chair with her arms tied behind her back. A few goons stand around with guns. Diana's face is bruised and bleeding. Black Mask enters.)

Black: My men, they told me that you have contacted them. How?

Diana: I knew how to ask and who to ask for, Tomas Falcone that's your new name. I know it. DMA knows it.

Black: DMA is your employer?

Black: Yes.

(Black Mask punches her. Blood starts pouring out from Diana's lip. She grunts in pain.)

Black: They will learn what happens when they send someone after me.

Diana: Wait... I have an offer to make. That's why I'm here...

Outside the Masion-

Dmitri: (A guard stands around. I sneak up behind him and kick him in the head and punch him. He goes down. Inside the room, continuing...)

Diana: You think DMA ripped you off, so you stole from them and you disappeared. Now they've stolen a good deal of your money and they want you dead.

Black: DMA will never kill me.

Diana: You're too smart to believe that. Think about it, Tony Zucco and his men where taken down, they`re through playing games with you. They will find you. They have a photograph of you from Semba Island.

Black: How?

Diana: That's the same question you'll be asking yourself the moment before they kill you.

Black: What's your offer?

Diana: You have something of value to me. Your client list. I want it. Not for DMA. For me. For my own personal use. (Black Mask laughs.)

Diana: You give me your client list and I'll give you your freedom.

Black: How?

Diana: We'll fake your death, you and I, together. And I'll return to DMA and show them the photographs. They'll think you're no longer a problem. You'll be free. (Outside Dmitri runs outside the house searching for a way in, finds a door. A guard comes up from behind him. He punches him. He takes Dmitri down by sweeping his legs out from under him. He then hits Dmitri with the butt of his gun. They take Diana and throw her into a chair outside.)

Black: How do I know that you are not setting me up and how do I know that if I give you my list that I worked decades to assemble, you're not simply going to shoot me anyway?

Diana: Because you can trust me. Think about it. I'm the one who contacted your men. If I really wanted to kill you, all I'd have to do is wait. Keep my mouth shut. You didn't know that you'd been ID'd with your new face. You would've walked into town. I could've popped you in the head like a deer. If you say yes to this, we both win -- big. If you say no, we both die. It's your call.

(Black's men walks in and speaks in Spanish to him. They tell him about finding Dmitri.)

Black: Gracias. Interesting!

Diana: What?

Black: Well... I think you make a good offer, but I still don't know if I can trust you completely. So, prove to me that you are willing to go against DMA.

Diana: Anything.

Black: You say you came alone?

Diana: Yes.

Black: Well then, there is someone else here...

(Diana turns, frantically, and sees two men carrying an unconscious Dmitri. They throw him down on the floor and he comes to.)

Black: Someone who works for DMA. (He slaps Dmitri. Diana looks away, pained. Dmitri sits up, groggy, and looks at them. They point their guns at Diana. Black unties her hands and gives her a gun.)

Black: Here. Kill him. (Diana takes the gun.) Aim the gun at this man if you are who you say you are, and kill him. (Dmitri stares. The guards all have their guns pointed at Diana. She raises the gun and points it at her own son...) Aim the gun at this man if you are who you say you are, and kill him. (She raises the gun, blinking rapidly. Dmitri watches and waits. Black watches. The guards all point their guns at Dmitri. Diana keeps her gun on Dmitri, Still blinking.)

Diana: Shooting this agent proves nothing.

Black: To me, it proves everything. You come to me and you make me an offer. You tell me you are willing to work against DMA and that you are working alone. And then he shows up.

Diana: Obviously, DMA sent him here without my knowledge.

Black: Well then, you should have no problem whatsoever proving your loyalty to me. Kill this agent and I'll believe you. And accept your offer. And if you choose not to, then I'll just have to say good-bye to both of you. (Diana shoots one of the guards in the arm he`s holding the gun in. The guard shoots at Diana. Dmitri takes out the guard next to him. Black reaches for a gun, but Diana is quicker. She's up on her feet and pointing a gun at Black.)

Diana: Don't do it! Hands in the air! Now!

Dmitri: It took me a second to realize what you were doing.

Diana: I was blinking as fast as I could.

Dmitri: I know. I was like, "Hard on your light"?

Diana: Guard on your right.

Dmitri: Well, I figured it out. I was just never very good at Morse code. (I see she has a wound on her upper arm.)

Dmitri: Mom, you were shot.

Diana: It's nothing. (to Black) Call you guards. Have them meet you out back. We're going out the front. We're fluent in Spanish, so just do as I say.

Black: (speaks Spanish)

Diana: (speaks Spanish right back. (Black takes a walkie-talkie and talks to the guards. They all run towards the back exit. Diana snatches the walkie-talkie away and pushes him out. Diana and Dmitri put him in a car. Diana drives out of there with Dmitri in the backseat, keeping a gun on Mask. Along the countryside, they drive along.)

Black: So, now what? Take me to the mountains and kill me?

Diana: The plan doesn't change. You're still going to give me your client list and I'm still going to make sure DMA thinks you're dead.

Black: (laughs) I don't care who you work for as long as you let me go.

Diana: You ready to give me the list?

Black: Do I have a choice! In my pocket, my palm pilot, the list is in there!

Diana: Dmitri, reach in his pocket and get the palm pilot!

Dmitri: Don't try anything, I'm not afraid to use this! (Although I would never use it to kill someone! I reach in and grab it!) Password required! What is it?

Black: Joker!

Dmitri: Original!

Diana: Is the list there?

Dmitri: Yes, its all there!

Black: Now, what exactly is your plan for me?

Diana: We make you look dead, show the pictures to DMA, you start a new life! (Or so you think! We take him to a house, put him in a pool of blood, take photos to make it look as if he was assassinated!)

Black: That's it, I'm free to go?

Diana: (Using her phone) Its time! (Four men walk in to the backyard, handcuff Black Mask!)

Black: You double crossed me, I swear to you, I'll kill you, you bitch!

Diana: I didn't double cross you at all! I told you, I would make DMA think your dead, and now they will!

Black: Then who are these people, where are they taking me?

Diana: This is the IADC, and they are going to take very good care of you! Take him away!

Dmitri: (Walking up) I don't understand what just happened here?

Diana: Someone at the DMA is trying to kill Black Mask, I needed to get the list from him! The IADC is going to take him and question him, he has a lot of information in that head of his, they're going to get it out! How did you find me?

Dmitri: Col. Atkinson, he told you were taken at a café by Black Mask's men! I came the second I found out! But I don't get it, why doesn't Col. Atkinson know about what you were doing?

Diana: This was above his head, remember your boss has a boss, who has a boss and so on! This was something that was top, top, secret! The DMA has a rogue player in the mix, same as the IADC, until these moles are found, everything from here on in, is on a need to know basis! But I have to tell you, your concern over my welfare pleases my heart to no end!

Dmitri: Mother! You know I could never sit by and do nothing if I knew you were in trouble!

Diana: So my next question is why did you not come as (Looking around) Wonder Boy?

Dmitri: I'm trying to do things using that as a last resort, I just want to be a normal agent!

Diana: Just be careful!

Dmitri: Mother, you know I was trained by the best!

Diana: You ready to go home?

Dmitri: Yes!

Diana: Everyone is gone, shall we fly home?

Dmitri: It would be my pleasure! (We stood facing each other, we both lifted our arms up and to the left and then began to spin spreading our arms straight, we both had a thunderous red and blue light explode and then disappear until we both stood there as Wonder Woman and Wonder Boy!) After you!

WW: Why thank you kind sir!

Dmitri: (We flew up into the sky and began flying home!) I love this part!

WW: Me too, there is no feeling like soaring through the sky! So how have you been, I haven't seen you since the celebration a month ago!

WB: I've been so busy, I've been meaning to stop by, or invite you for dinner or something, but after everything that happened with the Gods, I kind of just need a break from it all! So many things happened in such a short time to me, I just need to put it all together, learn and grow!

WW: I'm so proud of you, you're becoming a real man! But I have to tell you, I really feel like you've been avoiding me!

WB: Why would you say something like that!

WW: Don't try it, Dmitri, I'm you're mother, I know when you're being less than honest!

WB: I just, mother I found out some stuff and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to be around you, without wanting to tell you!

WW: And?

WB: Mother, Zeus is my father!

WW: (Stopping in mid air!) What? How do you know?

WB: Its not what you think, mother you were never raped! Mother, do you remember a man name Trevor Barnes?

WW: Yes, but what does he have to do with any of this?

WB: Zeus had come down to earth to take a human form and walk among the mortals, he became a man named Trevor Barnes. Something happened he lost his memories, other then the memories he created for Trevor Barnes! Shortly after he met you, he fell in love, he would have done anything for you! Hera searched for him after he had been missing for a long period of time than usual! When she found him, she returned his memories, out of fear of what Hera would do to you, he changed your memories so that would remember meeting a Trevor Barnes, but nothing else! Shortly after you were pregnant! He was happy, but fear of what Hera would do to you and your baby, me, he didn't come forward to tell you! As well as, after all you had gone through in the past, with Zeus making advances on you, he didn't think you or grams would believe anything he had to say, so he didn't risk the chance, or Hera finding out, or hurting you! Zeus, he told me all of this, but I didn't think I would be able to be with you and not tell you! So I've been avoiding you!

WW: You believe him, you believe that to be the story of what really happened?

WB: I do mother, I swear to you, he spoke from the heart! We've been hanging out a lot, getting to know each other, its been amazing! I just feel so much more put together, like I understand my parents better, so I'm beginning to understand myself more!

WW: I'm happy for you, you deserve this, to be happy! But this is a lot for me to take in, I need sometime honey, to be alone! I think this is where we go our separate ways for the rest of the flight home!

WB: Are you mad at me?

WW: Of course not (Grabbing him into her) I love you, I just have been living with this for so long, believe I was raped, and all this time, Zeus knew the truth, and didn't tell me, knowing what it was doing to me, its just a lot, I would have made different choices had I know the truth, but its to late to change it!

WB: Please, mother, understand why he did it, he swears it was to protect us from Hera, you remember all she did to Hercules and Pursues, his sons from another woman! He didn't want anything to happen to me, and to protect you!

WW: I know honey, I believe you! Now, please, go, get home and be safe! No more secrets between us! Ok?

WB: Ok, I love you mother!

The next day-

IADC-

Col.: You're looking at an E.M. refractor used to cloak missiles. If this gets into the wrong hands, any country could become a target of missile attacks! It's being stored on the island of Crete. Thanks to your mother's middle eastern contacts, we know where to go.

Dmitri: Good work.

Co.: You go to Allan in the technical department, he'll review the op tech. You'll leave in the morning.

Dmitri: Okay.

Crete-

Dmitri: (I look through a pair of binoculars as a man closes the silo doors and walks to his vehicle. He turns over the engine and drives away. Speaking into an ear piece!) The guard is leaving the bunker. (Back at the IADC, Agent Trevor and Agent Marks are sitting in a control room watching, with Black Mask handcuffed.)

Steve: We've got him on satellite relay, D.

Dmitri: See any guards?

Steve: Mask says there won't be any. The bunker was designed to look abandoned. The E.M. refractor is in a secure department underground.

Dmitri: Copy that. (I go in. Climbing a fence, I drop to the ground and run to the silo. I open the door and go in. Back at the IADC....)

Steve: Go infrared. (Marks does so.)

Marks: It's clear.

Steve: D, you're clear.

Dmitri: (I look around and start going down the stairs.) Okay. I'm in. Where to?

Steve: There's a stairwell on the left. Go down to the lower level.

Dmitri: (With a flashlight I go down!) It's a dead end. (At the IADC.)

Black: There is a valve halfway up on the left. He needs to turn it clockwise.

Steve: D, turn to your left. There's a valve. Turn it clockwise.

Dmitri: Copy.

Black: A panel will open. he'll find a keypad behind it.

Steve: You should find a keypad. (Dmitri does.)

Dmitri: What's the code?

Steve: The code.

Black: Pi to six digits.

Steve: The code is 314159. (Dmitri punches it in. The doors slide open. I go inside and look around. The silo is more like a warehouse; it's huge.)

Dmitri: Where do I look?

Steve: Mask says to look for black shipping cases. (He sees them and starts pulling them open and throwing them aside until he gets it.)

Dmitri: I found the refractor. (Suddenly, the doors start to close. I try running to it with the refractor in hand, but don't get there in time.) Steve, I think this is a set-up! (The lights go out and then emergency lights come on.) Steve, what's going on? The room just went into lockdown! (Back at the IADC....)

Dmitri: What the hell did you just do?

Mask: I gave you the wrong code. Your agent has activated an anti-intruder device.

(The Guard is driving in his Jeep along the road when he listens to the radio and hears the message about the intruder back at the silo. Back at the C.I.A....)

Black: In a few seconds, the room will be filled with gasoline. Exactly one minute after that, a flame will ignite. (In the silo, nozzles start coming down from the ceiling. Dmitri looks up.)

Dmitri: Steve, talk to me...(At the IADC., Steve takes out his gun and points it at Mask.)

Steve: Give me the deactivation code. (In the silo, gas starts spraying on Dmitri. He covers his face.)

Dmitri: Steve...(At the IADC., Steve still has his gun pointed at Black Mask.)

Mask: Not until I have an agreement, in writing, signed by your superiors, guaranteeing that my family will be allowed entry in your witness protection program.

Steve: Give me the code, you son of a bitch, or I'll pull the trigger!

Mask: I have no doubt that's true. (Mask sits back smugly. Steve, not taking his gun or his eyes off Mask, pulls off his headset with which he was communicating with Dmitri.)

Steve: (To Marks) Start typing.

Marks: Me?! (Steve runs out. In the silo, Dmitri runs for cover, trying to get out of the way of the gasoline spray. In the IADC. building, Steve starts climbing the stairs two at a time, going floor to floor. Dmitri coughs, covering his mouth with his hands, getting soaked with gasoline. Steve keeps climbing the stairs. Dmitri coughs. In the control room, Marks quickly types on a computer.)

Mask: You misspelled my wife's name!

Marks: Shut up! (Steve bursts through Director Parker's office, panting.)

Steve: Sorry, Mr. Parker--

Parker: What are you doing?!

Steve: If I don't get your signature on a protection order for Black Mask's family in the next forty seconds, Dmitri Prince will die.(Dmitri coughs, completely covered in gasoline. Parker and Steve walk into the control room just as Marks prints off the agreement.)

Marks: Here. (With seconds to go, Parker takes a pen from his shirt pocket and starts to sign it.)

Parker: My pen. (It ran out of ink. Steve gives him one from his shirt pocket. He signs it.)

Steve: Give me the code! (Mask looks over the agreement.)

Mask: 766153. (Steve gets back on the headset.)

Steve: The code is 766153! (Dmitri punches it in on a keypad on the wall. The gasoline stops. He coughs, gasping for breath, covering his mouth.)

Dmitri: (I would have changed into Wonder Boy, but the explosion of light that occurs may have set of the gasoline causing an explosion!) Steve...thank you...(Everyone in the IADC. room takes a deep breath. In the silo, the guard walks in with a gun raised.)

Dmitri: Don't shoot! Don't shoot! The room is full of gasoline!

Dmitri: What the hell are you doing here? (He takes out a knife instead of a gun and tries attacking me. He makes a move to stab me, but I kick him. We fight, he goes to stab again, I block, I spin and elbow him in the face. I turn to grab the knife, he kicks my shin. He has the knife raised and is about to stab me when I move out of the way and the knife drives into the security keypad on the wall. I run out. I see the panel spark from his knife that went into it.)

Guard: AAHHHHHH! (I flop down on the ground outside the silo, refractor in my arms, as the silo explodes beneath me.)

IADC Parking Garage- (A van with 'McKiernan Air Conditioning' written on the side drives up. The driver stops at the security gate and wires it up to a machine he has that unlocks the gate. The gate doors open and the van goes inside. They stop once they're inside and cut the wires of a surveillance camera.)

(Inside the control room, two agents sit and watch the various camera angles.)

AGENT1: We've lost coverage on the off-site garage.

AGENT2: Any signs of forced entry?

AGENT1: Negative from gate control. I'll check it out.

AGENT2: Hey, while you're at it, grab me a black coffee, will you? Two sugars.

(Agent1 leaves.)

(In the parking garage, McKiernan gang starts welding off the air vent. Inside the van, the rest of the goons start packing their guns and loading them. Agent1 walks in the garage and sees the van. He talks on his transmitter to his buddy from control.)

AGENT1: You know about any AC repairs?

AGENT2: Negative. (The goons have already started to make their way inside the building using the air conditioning vents. Agent1 pulls his gun out. Near the van, one of the goons comes behind him and hits him over the head. Agent1 falls to the ground.)

(The goons burst through the vent and make it to a hallway off of another hallway where red security beams are illuminated. The female goon - FGOON - has a heart beat detector in her hands. It beeps, and an agent comes into view.)

FGOON: We're right on time. (He checks the corridor. The security red beams go off. They bust in. One of them breaks the agent's neck. They run through the hallway while the beams aren't there. The lead goon - Coop - motions for one of the last goons to hurry up as the red beams start appearing from the back, coming up. Not enough time left, the last goon slides down the rest of the hallway and makes it. Coop strips off his jumpsuit while FGOON pours him a cup of coffee from a thermos. Underneath the jumpsuit, Coop is wearing a suit. He takes a swig of coffee and spreads his arms out.)

Coop: How do I look? (In the parking garage, Dmitri comes walking up. He takes out a card and slides it into the security panel that the goons had unlocked with their machine earlier. He passes through and the gate doors buzz and then open. In the IADC, Coop walks through. Nobody recognizes him because, since he's wearing a suit, he blends right in. Coop walks by Col. Atkinson's office. Inside the office, Col. is on the phone, rubbing his temples.)

Col: Yes, will you get me my wife's doctor on the phone please? (He looks at monitor on his desk. It's a security camera monitor. He sees Coop walk by. The monitor scans for facial recognition. The Col.'s face freezes because he knows who he is.)

VOICE: Dr. Mendelssohn is on line one. (The Col. stares as the security monitor scans through the files, trying to identify Coop.)

VOICE: Sir? (Col. isn't paying attention. He stares at the monitor.)

VOICE: Sir? (In the garage, Dmitri sees the McTiernan van. The driver leers at him.)

DRIVER: Hey there, beautiful! Why don't you turn that frown upside down? (He doesn't run over there and kick his ass. He keeps walking. Pissed, the driver takes out his gun and puts the silencer and laser on. He points the gun at Dmitri while he walks away, into the IADC. The red beam of light is aimed right on his head. He walks, having no idea. Suddenly, tires screech and he puts the gun away. Dmitri turns. Diana pulls up and gets out of her car, running after him. The Col. still has the phone up to his ear as he waits for the security panel to identify Coop. A picture flashes up on the screen: McKenna Coop.)

Col.: Cole. (He presses a button on his desk with his finger. The monitor flashes "FAILSAFE ACTIVATED". In the elevator.)

Diana: I heard about what happened in Crete, I really think you should start using you powers more!(Control room. Agent2 is still by the monitors, waiting for his coffee. Coop enters behind him, holding a gun.)

AGENT2: Let me guess. You forgot the two sugars. (He turns around. Coop shoots him twice. In his office, Col. scrambles for the phone and calls the control room. Coop answers the phone.)

Col.: We have a physical breach! Start lockdown procedures now!

Coop: Sure thing, Fool. Whatever you say. (Coop hangs up. Elevator.)

Dmitri: I know what I`m doing mother, you have to trust me, I need to see what I`m made of. (Instead, the elevator stops and the lights go out. Inside the IADC, Allan looks up as gas starts hissing down from the ceiling vents. Agents start to pass out around him. In his office, Allan sees the gas coming down and covers his mouth with his sweater vest. Making two or three steps, he falls to the ground beside his inflatable chair. Out in the main part of the IADC, more agents fall to the ground. In the Col. office, a vent of gas is pouring down right on top of him. He's slumped over his desk, his head down. In the elevator, the lights come back on. Diana tries the phone.)

Diana: Dead. But a blackout wouldn't shut down security. (Coop and his goons, wearing gas masks, walk in the IADC with various guns. The gas stops. Coop takes off his mask and looks around.)

Coop: Five minutes ahead. Get them wrapped up, baby! (FGOON starts tying up everyone's hands while they're unconscious. Coop looks to another guy with a gun.)

Coop: Chopper, secure the elevator. You got the scanning room door code?

Chopper: Got it! (Coop approaches FGOON who is at a computer typing.)

Coop: You jammin'?

FGOON: I'm jammin'. (He kisses her head. In the elevator.)

Dmitri: Still can't get a signal.

Diana: Whoever's doing that could be jamming the frequencies. (Elevator starts.) Emergency lockdown procedures. (She hits a button.) The elevator is returning to the IADC main floor the doors will automatically open. (She gives Dmitri a knowing look. Out in the white area where the agents stand to get cleared by security outside the elevator, Chopper stands in front of the elevator with a gun pointed, ready to shoot whoever's inside the elevator. The bell dings. No one's there. Diana and Dmitri are on top of the elevator, looking down.)

CHOPPER: Elevator secure. (Diana and Dmitri climb down the stairs from the elevator shaft and jump down. They walk down the hallway, getting to a door. Diana comes out, Dmitri next. She closes the door. Diana comes around a corner with Dmitri and sees the agent that was punching in the code in the red beam hallway, dead. The red beams are up. They go in the hallway and Diana punches in a code. The red beams disappear.)

Diana: The advantages of high-level clearance. Let's go. (They enter an underground control room. There are cables and monitors and some sheets up on a wall. Diana starts tearing off the outside on the wires, getting to the core of them.)

Dmitri: How could someone overpower fifty trained agents?

Diana: This team that's invaded the IADC, isn't working with any organization we know. My guess is they're working for a group, clearly unpredictable and dangerous. Hand me that cable. (He does.)

Dmitri: Now plug it in. (They hook up a nearby monitor to the camera wires. Diana starts flicking through the wires, going from camera angle to camera angle. The conference room is empty, various rooms are empty.)

Diana: There are six hundred cameras hidden throughout the IADC. (They finally spot the group of agents, everyone at the IADC, is gathered together on the floor outside the Col.'s office. They all have their arms tied behind their backs. A couple of men with guns watch them.)

Dmitri: Oh, my God. Look at that hardware.

Diana: Latest military specs. Don't worry, they would have killed him already if that's what they wanted!

Dmitri: Extended magazines, compensators, laser sights...

Diana: I see four.

Dmitri: There's a fifth. (Coop walks in. Steve stares. Allan looks scared. The Col. sits with everyone else, his back against the wall. Coop swaggers in, coming closer to the Col.)

Coop: I want to talk to you. That's the sick part. Catch up and stuff. You know, so much has happened in the last five years. This place... it hasn't changed. But you. You look... older. But that's good. Your hair... looks good. You know what the worst part is? Being left for dead in Grozny, Col.? Well, you're going to learn the worst part. But another part that sucks is seeing guys you worked with, guys you thought were tougher than deer jerky, tortured to death. That's no good. The most ironical part for me is... we did the damn job. We blew that pipeline to hell first night we landed. But you know me, Atkinson...(In the control room, Dmitri and Diana still watch.)

Dmitri: Do you know this guy?

Diana: I know the operation. Col. Atkinson in '96 sent a team to Chechnya to destroy the Shelhemil pipeline. There were complications. The team was captured by the Russians.

(Back to Cole.)

Coop: And if that chopper had have been where the hell you know it should have been--

(He kicks an agent out of the way and sits down.) My whole life would have taken a different direction.

Col.: What do you want?

Coop: I got this really kick ass new job. See, I'm working for this gentleman they call The Man. And you will learn about The Man. What The Man wants is a certain little sumthin'-sumthin' you got in the IADC's vault.

Col.: Well, you initiated lockdown. Not only is the vault secure, the vault access room is locked now, too.

Coop: Well, don't worry about the vault access room, we're taking care of that. What I need is the combination to the vault.(Col. laughs. Coop laughs.)

Col.: Not a chance. (Coop sits back and claps his hands a couple of times.)

Coop: That's cool. (He stands up and kicks his chair he was sitting on. It slides across the room.) You still got that room downstairs, right? The "conversation room"? That's what you used to call it, right? The torture room's like you really got to admit what the hell you do down there. So, Col. Joe Atkinson. Let's go to the conversation room! (Two guys, one who is called Endo, drill through the vault access room. Coop talks to them through a transmitter.)

Coop: Endo! What's up? Where are we? I need status!

Endo: Almost done drilling. Then we'll start packing explosives.(Diana flicks from cam to cam.)

Diana: Those other two. Where the hell did they go? (They see them in the vault room. Vault room.)

ENDO: We should be in the vault within ten minutes! (Dmitri and Diana.)

Dmitri: Ten minutes? What are they going for in the vault?

Diana: Could be anything the Col. was planning on sending you to Taiwan, did you know about that?

Dmitri: Mask acquired some scud launchers. He wanted me to scramble their launch codes.

Diana: Allen's working on a scrambling device for that op. Have you seen it?

Dmitri: He showed it to me last week.

Diana: What does it look like?

Dmitri: Why?

Diana: Col. must have activated the emergency failsafe. There are five hundred pounds of C-4 strategically placed within the substructure of this building. Opening the vault will trigger that C-4. All underground levels will collapse, burying any evidence that the Star City cell of the IADC ever existed.

Dmitri: You want to scramble the vault codes. (Diana goes from camera to camera until she gets Allan's office.)

Diana: Can you see the scrambler in Allan's office?

Dmitri: There it is. That compact on his desk.

Diana: It's not far from his air vent. But getting into his office is too much of a risk. (Dmitri sees a magnet on the wall in a shape of a fish. He gets it.)

Dmitri: So then... we fish for it. (Interrogation room where the Col. is strapped in. Coop puts on some Chapstick.)

Coop: They took us to their base in Hankala. And after thirty-eight straight days of beatings, they finally got around to interrogating me. They took me into a room. They tied me to a chair. And they asked me questions about Islamic Rebels. They wanted to know where they were keeping Russian P.O.W.s and I told them, "I'm just a kid from Redondo Beach running black ops for Uncle Sam! Get it? I'm an American citizen." Well, that senior Russian officer - he didn't want any piece of that action. He had the KGB contact IADC through both front and back channels. And they never heard of me. They didn't know of any operative by the name of McKenna Cole. (Atkinson smiles and looks away.)

Coop: So when that Russian got off the phone, he was so pissed. He was so insane with rage. That was when he showed me this. Baby? (FGOON gets a long box from the bag on the counter and gives it to Coop. Diana is preparing to go in the air vent.)

Diana: Watch the security feeds. If I'm caught, get out of the building through the elevator shaft as fast as you can.

Dmitri: Mother, wait. You're not doing this.

Diana: Of course I am. What are you talking about?

Dmitri: No, you're not. You're going to have to crawl through a maze of air shafts, get to Allan's office, get the scrambler, get to the vault room and scramble the code all in under ten minutes. I mean, no offense, but, Mom, I am doing this. This is my family, I work with them everyday. (Pause. Diana relents.)

Diana: You'll have to find your way to the vault.

Dmitri: I know.

Diana: And use the scrambler. And stay low!

Dmitri: Mom, I know how to use the scrambler. Hey one thing I have to say to you, your really a bad ass at all this, watching you work is amazing!

Diana: Your not so bad yourself. If only we could change, but we would risk everyone getting killed if they found a "Superhero" in the building! Well you wanted to be just a normal agent! (He crawls in. She watches him go, listening as he bumps along the air vents. Diana puts her head up to the vent, looking worried for Dmitri. Interrogation room. Coop holds the box.)

Coop: Want to see what's inside? I know you do. I'll open it. Want me to? (Atkinson looks away, bored.) You're going to give me the combination to the vault and if you don't, I'm going to open this box. And Joe, trust me when I tell you, you do not want me to open this box. (Chopper and another goon watches everyone, guns pointed. Allan looks worried. Dmitri pulls himself up in the vent and climbs on all fours. When he's above Allan's office and the compact, he gets the fish magnet which is tied to a string and starts lowering it through the slot on the vent. Diana, in the control room, flicks from camera to camera until she finds the one for Allan's office. She sees the string being lowered. Dmitri lowers it down but gets a ring instead. He sighs and brings it up anyway. Diana watches.)

Diana: No... come on....(Dmitri brings the ring up, looks at it, and pockets it. He goes down again. At the vault access room, Endo and another goon.)

Endo: Explosives in place. Activating detonator. (Dmitri is finally at the compact, drops it. He gets it again and starts raising it up. Endo and the goon run away from the vault access room and take cover. Dmitri is almost there, he has the compact... when the explosives go off. The building shakes and the desk in Allan's office breaks. Everything falls to the floor, including the compact. Dmitri brings the magnet back up and watches below. He starts moving. In the interrogation room, Endo enters.)

Endo: We're in.

Coop: Excellent! All right, Joe, here's the deal. We are in the vault room. Two things. One - you don't give us the codes. We got the tech to get it anyway, it'll just take a while. And two - you give us the codes, and I don't have to open the box which will be really excellent for you.

Col.: I can't be the first person having difficulty taking you seriously, can I?

Coop: Well, while that was a moderately clever retort... I'm the man holding the box.

(He opens it and takes out a cloth rolled up.) Have you ever regretted being born? That's a pretty... heavy thing to experience. (He unravels it. A series of pins are on the cloth.) Regretting having emerged from your mother's womb. I mean, I've had some dark days but nothing close to regretting the day I was born, until I met [foreign language]. Needles of fire.

(Allan's office. Dmitri looks down through the vent and opens the vent door. Diana watches. He starts motioning with his hands.)

Diana: No, Dmitri. Don't, don't...(He motions to her what he's going to do. He flicks to another camera and sees Allan. She starts flicking the camera, making the red light under the camera flash on and off. In the office, the door opens just as a goon looks in. Diana keeps flicking until Allan sees it.) Good, good...

Allan: Ahem. (He motions to an agent and then motions to the camera. The Agent sees the red light going on and off, like Morse code. In the office, Dmitri lowers himself down, hanging on the ledge of the vent. The goon looks in...the agent starts violently shaking on the floor, gasping for breath. Diana watches.)

Allan: Hey! We need some help here, this guy's having a seizure! (Dmitri lowers himself into the office and gets the compact and starts to lift himself up back in the vent. The goons kick the agent and tie him in a chair.)

GOON: I heard something back there. I'm going to go check it out.(Allan stands up.)

Allan: Um, excuse me? As luck would have it, I'm feeling kind of a Stockholm Syndrome thing happening right now--(The goon hits him in the head with the but of his gun. Marshall falls and rolls across the floor. Dmitri flips himself back up in the vent, closes the door. Diana watches.) (In the interrogation room.)

Coop: There's this little Cajun food place in Abita Springs, Louisiana. It's called Rockamore's. You know what they're famous for? Making people cry. You know what makes them cry? The hot sauce. No one knows how they get that crap so hot. Legend has it that the devil comes by once a month and spits in their frying pan. Point being, the hot sauce at Rockamore's is like a fluffy vanilla ice cream cone when compared to what's in these. Each one is like you took a bag of red jalapenos, threw them in a blender, and used them for an enema. And Joe, you're about to get to know them.

Col.: Eight, five, nine and three.

Coop: And three. (He smiles and sticks a pin in the Col.'s open palm. He gasps.) Now, it takes the powder a few minutes to kick in. I can always take it out. So, Joe why don't you give us the real combination? (Coop and two goons with guns walk down the hallway. Coop has a piece of paper with the numbers on it. Diana sees them and flicks through the cameras, looking for Dmitri and trying to see if he scrambled it yet.)

Dmitri: Where are you...(She flicks and flicks and sees Dmitri. He walks in and sees the explosion from the vault access room. Diana watches Coop coming closer to Dmitri with the two huge guys with huge guns. Dmitri takes out the scrambler and puts it on the panel. It starts. Diana watches. She looks around. Coop is still walking. It finishes. Dmitri takes the compact, slips it in his bag and moves over to the vent. He escapes. Coop walks in just as Dmitri is putting the air vent cover back on. He moves to the panel and punches in the code. Diana watches. A buzzer sounds.)

VOICE: Access denied.

Coop: Atkinson! (He slams his hand against the panel and hears something in the air vent. He takes the gun from one of the goons. Dmitri moves through the vent on all fours, unaware. One of the goons has the heartbeat detector from before and sees that someone's in the vent. Coop fires his gun and shoots the vent. Dmitri yelps and moves up in the vent, out of harm's way.)

VOICE: Target out of range.

Coop: Go get 'em! (He gives one of the goons the gun back. The two goons take off. Dmitri hides in the vent in the corner, barely hanging on. He hears someone coming. Panting, he tries holding on to the edge. Dmitri hears banging around in the vents. Thinking it's one of Coop's goons, he braces herself... until he sees Diana.)

Dmitri: Mother! What are you doing here?

Diana: Just stay there.

Dmitri: No, mom, don't!

Diana: Hold your fire! I'm coming through! I'm coming out! (Diana gets out. Dmitri hears her getting punched. In the IADC's main part, the goons hold their guns on the agents. The agent looks over at Allan, who has blood running down the side of his head.)

Agent: You okay?

Allan: Except for my head injury, yeah.(Coop and two goons bring Diana in, her hands behind her back.)

Coop: Mrs. Cool Customer here was caught crawling around the vents. Sit her butt down.

(They put Diana in a chair next to Allan. Coop talks to FGOON.)

Coop: So, how long is it going to take to open the vault?

FGOON: The sooner I get started, the sooner I'll know. (They kiss.)

Coop: I need, like, awesome good news, baby.

FGOON: I know.

Coop: Endo, Chen, I'll be in the conversation room. (Diana looks up to the vents, knowing Dmitri's somewhere up there. In their control room, Dmitri comes out of the vents and sees a note left by Diana on top of the monitor.)

Diana: (voice over) Follow this map to the three locations where the C-4 explosives are set. You must deactivate all three C-4 packages before the vault door opens. Good luck.

(He takes the map and a flashlight and starts.)

Dmitri: Zeus help us!

To Be Continued-

End Chapter-