Over the open com link, the whole group listened in on the conversation that none of them had expected.

There was rustling and sounds of a struggle as Tygeress forcibly subdued the shadowy figure.  "Face!" she called in shock as she finally got a glimpse of his features.

Although there was no visual, Sally could tell he was giving her partner the same flashing grin and her blood boiled.  She started for the locker room.

"Stay where you are," Techno said sternly.

"They may need help," she protested.  But Techno didn't even acknowledge her words.  She crossed her arms across her chest and listened with the rest of the group.

"What the heck are you doing this time?" Ty's voice hissed over the speakers. 

"I've come to ask your assistance," he replied flatly.

"By breaking into a pizza joint?" Patti's eyebrow rose.

"It was the only way I knew to contact you."  There was silence then he continued most likely egged on by Ty's hexing look.  "For once you have to believe everything that I've told you is true.  I am trying to leave the services of my employer."  They heard the tiger striped girl scoff. 

"You've already tried that line once," Patti reminded him.

"I was serious then, and I am serious now."  His voice was stern.  "I underestimated the suspicions they have of my loyalty; I've discovered recently that a tracking device is embedded in my skin so I will never be able to disappear from them until it is removed.  I brought the schematics for your tech man, who I believe to be quite a genius."

The group in the cave looked at Techno who had a small, satisfied smile gracing his lips.

"All the information is in those plans," he continued.  "The rest of the plan is yours to construct.  I will rendezvous with you Wednesday night.  If you do not show, I will interpret it as a no to my plea for help."

"What if we just arrest you now?" Patti said.  "Then you'll be in jail, and away from those you wish to avoid."

"It's not that simple," he said matter-of-factly.  "Only one man has ever escaped the services of SECRET and lived.  However, his freedom came at a price."  There was silence again.  "You have all the information I can give you.  I will be awaiting your decision at the appointed place and time."

- - - - - - - - - -  - - - - -

As the Harley sped up the driveway, Sally noticed Jessica sitting on the porch waiting for her.  She climbed off the bike and strapped the borrowed helmet onto the seat behind Rick.

"See ya," she said and he nodded goodbye and drove away.

"Where have you been?!" Jed called out.  "And who was that?!"

"A friend of mine," the blonde stated matter-of-factly.

"You're not cheating on Daniel are you?" Jed questioned looking at her roommate out of the corner of her eye.

Sally looked stunned.  "How could you even suggest a thing like that?" she asked sternly.

"Well..." she gestured down the driveway.  "Alec called and said you were in the middle of a field with some guy."

"I hope my boyfriend trusts me more than my best friends," she said under her breath as she entered the house. "Geeze."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Sally," Tonya called out to her as she entered the cave. "You'd have better been behaving yourself tonight.  Daniel is a good friend of mine," she warned.

"You too?" Sally asked exasperated.  Both Dee and Sebastian had made comments as she passed through the house.  "Can't I have friends?!"

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your work," Techno answered.  "You were supposed to be here three hours ago.  We still need your decision."

Sally sighed.  Walking over to the edge of the great crevasse in the cave floor, she looked down into the abyss and bit her lower lip.  "You all know he pushes my buttons.  You all know I have an unspoken vendetta against him.  You all know that The Others stand up for the oppressed, whoever they may be.  As a member of The Others I will act to uphold the weak, and see for blind Justice.  It's not my place to judge, but to reconcile."  She turned back toward them.  "I say we do it."

Techno nodded and placed the large town map onto the conference table.

"He's meeting us here.  Ty and Azure should go to retrieve him.  From the details we were given, the beacon sends out a signal every twelve minutes.  You'll fly him to this location." He pointed to a block in the warehouse district.  "I've already set up the supplies you'll need.  He doesn't want anesthetic."

"That's going to hurt," Jed winced.

"Patti," he continued. "Will be stationed just outside the door to distract any attention. Lucy will have the top of this adjacent building to keep an eye out. Shani will be inside the OR to transport the bug to the bottom of the lake and to clean up the incision."

"What about me?" Sally asked.

"You're here with me," Techno stated.

"What?" she protested.

"Someone has to help me keep an eye on SECRET'S active trackers.  I will have to continuously enter a complicated code to uplink the new signals.  You'll have to keep an eye on the screen.  Not to mention there will be a lot of tracks to cover."

"I have to stare at a screen?!" But Techno gave no sign of budging.  She threw up her hands.  "For once we have a plan, and I have to sit on the sidelines."

- - - - - - - - - -

Sally stared at the big screen of the computer that was broadcasting to the cave the happenings of the small room in the warehouse.  Right now there was just an empty room with a gurney and a tray of medical equipment.  But over the PA system they could hear Tygeress' and Azure's transmitters telling them what was going on. 

The pick up had gone as planned and they were currently approaching the building.  Lucy's voice came over the speakers.

"Three blind mice approaching Hubbard's cupboard."

"No sign of the Farmer's wife," Slick Pimp Patti added.

Techno shook his head as his fingers flew over the keyboard, a rhythmic clicking adding to Sally's apprehension.

"Maybe I should at least slip into my costume, just in case..."

"I'm trying to concentrate here!" Techno burst out. A small screen in the corner of the large one, showed a satellite image of the United States.  At the moment there were red dots speckling the map, condensing in the larger cities.  As Techno's talented fingers flicked the right keys, the image zoomed into the Midwest, then over Kansas, then over Tequila Heights.  There were only five dots within a five-mile radius of town.

As the computer beeped the image updated itself moving the dots to their current positions.

Techno jammed his finger into the comm button, "Now," he commanded.

Sally eyed the new dots.  The one two blocks away from their designated OR was The Face.  From his information, the closest one would be in a mile of the site, and according to the map, it was true.  Now they had 9 minutes of waiting, before the dots moved again, and in that time anything could happen.

The door on the screen burst open, and The Face entered and threw himself onto the gurney.

"Let's get this over with," he ordered, removing his shirt and tossing it to the elf.

"Pushy pushy," Ty mumbled.

Grabbing a bottle of alcohol, Azure dumped some onto a cotton swab as their patient flipped onto his stomach.

"I can"t tell you what a pleasure this will be for me," Ty said with a wicked grin as she picked up the scalpel.  Azure gave her a stern look as he disinfected the shoulder blade which was tattooed with the SECRET logo.

"Stop flapping your jaw," Face shot at her.  "Let's go alrea...AH!"  He gritted his teeth as the first incision was made.

"This is why I don't watch the Animal Planet," Sally said, turning her head from the screen.

"Keep your eyes on the clock," Techno ordered typing wildly as he brought another screen to life.

"Shit!" Ty mumbled to herself as she reached for another tool.  "It's deeper than we assumed."

"Keep going," Face said through gritted teeth, fending off the burning in his shoulder. 

"If I go any deeper, I'll be running into some major organs," Ty shot back.

"Calm down," Azure said soothingly taking the scalpel from her hands.  "You find something for him to bite down on."

Ty growled and glanced over at Shashani.  Shani handed Ty the Face's shirt, which she twisted and gave to him to place between his teeth.

The next instant he bit down into the black t-shirt with all his might as a wave of pain enveloped his whole body.

"Six minutes," Sally said as she pressed the comm button.

"Damn it," Ty muttered as she peered around Azure's shoulder.

Techno let out an exasperated sigh of frustration and, although it had seemed impossible, sped up the rhythm of his masterful fingers.

"Keep your cool, T," Sally coaxed.  "You can do it."

A few more minutes passed, and they were no closer to removing the device imbedded in the Faces shoulder.  However, Azure had actually seen it.  It was imbedded in the actual bone of the scapula. And it seemed that when the bone had healed from the carving, it had began to incorporate the metal into it, covering almost half of the outward facing surface. This detail had not been mentioned in the brief description of the procedure that they had been equipped with.

"Two minutes," Sally said.

"I'm not sure we can do this with the equipment we have without breaking the bone," Azure assessed.

"I bet I could fish it out with my claws," Ty suggested.  "Of course that would bring searing pain to the victi... I mean patient."

"I could try and transport it directly from its place," Shani bit her lip.

"It's worth a try," Azure nodded.

Sally bit her lip as she watched the clock continue to count down.  There had been no alarm from Patti or Lucy. But until the dots came up with the tracking update, there was really no way of telling what kind of danger they might be in.

The largest screen on the computer showed Shani making a face as she slid her fingers into the center of the flaming world.  She tried to concentrate on the lake, but the realization of where her fingers were kept her mind from making the connection.

"I can't," she sighed and shuddered as she retrieved her fingers and wiped them on the wipe-ems.

"One minute," Sally warned.

"I have confirmation that Big Brother is watching," Lucy said.

"FUCK!" Patti yelled out. "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb approaching Penny Lane."

"If there's nothing else you can do," Face sat up on the table, pulling his shirt back on.  "I appreciate your help but you'd better get out of here before they discover us together."

"Thirty seconds."

The screen showed the group throwing the dirtied instruments and gauze onto the gurney.  Shani asked Face to let her heal the incision.

"Too late," he replied. 

The computer screen beeped and the dots refreshed themselves.  One described Face's position; and sure enough, two were nearing SPP's location.

Shashani sat upon the gurney and grabbed the medical tray as she vanished.  Ty and Azure headed out the door.  Azure grabbed Lucy from the roof as Ty swooped down and lifted SPP off her feet, just as the two SECRET agents rounded the corner.

Techno slammed his fists furiously into the desk.

"Calm down, Techno," Shani said as she climbed off the gurney.  "The last thing we need is for you to have a heart attack or something."

Sally watched the screen as The Face turned toward the camera and gave a gratified gesture, nodding as he signed.  Then he turned and left.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"That's the first time we've ever failed a mission," Dee commented at the breakfast table.

"We didn't fail," Jessica corrected. "No one was hurt."

"But we didn't do what we set out to do."

"Well, I guess that's the downside of actually having a plan," Sally teased.

"Okay," Alec interrupted. "Enough talk about plans.  You're all beginning to sound like Seth.  I'm getting a headache."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Making plans what to do on Sunday when your boyfriend returns?" The voice of Rick brought Sally out of her mind wandering.

"Huh?" She blinked, focusing her eyes on her project teammates.

"The one in London?" Tami asked.  "Are you excited?"

"Yeah." Sally couldn't hide the smile as the thought entered his head.

"All I know is," Rick stated.  "I have to move out of a sweet apartment Saturday so some guy I never met can make some moves on a friend of mine."

"Sounds like somebody's jealous," Tami taunted.

"Well, you'd be jealous too if you'd seen this apartment," Rick smirked

Sally chuckled.  "Can we just get this project over with?  It's due tomorrow and I still have some last minute Physics to study for my final on Friday."

When they had finished, Tami gathered up the materials and told her group she would be turning them in right away.

"Good luck with any finals you all have got left," she said as she left.

Rick walked with Sally across campus to where he had parked his motorcycle.  "Sorry about last night."

"Huh?" her mind wasnt really on their conversation.

"About getting you in trouble with your roommates," He smirked.

"Oh, don't worry about it.  They're just a little over protective sometimes."

Rick climbed onto his bike.  "Sure you don't want a ride home?"

"Yes," she slapped him playfully on the back. "I've had all the excitement I can handle for the week."

Rick returned her smile.  "Goodnight then. Have a wonderful summer."  And he winked before placing the helmet on this head, reving up his motorcycle and zooming off.

- - - - - - - - -

Exhausted from her last final, Sally plopped down onto her bed on Friday afternoon.  Her mind felt like green Jell-o.  Sighing she closed her eyes as the semesters hard work drained out of her body.  She hardly moved when she felt the weight of Bowie added to the bed.  She reached out her arm and slowly began to run her fingers through his fur.

A figure slowly crept toward the open door.  Looking through the opening he saw the tired girl strewn on the bed next to the black and white dog.  He pushed the door open a couple more inches as he squeezed in.  Noticing the animal had perked its ears at his arrival, he placed a finger to his lips to indicate for it to remain silent and still.  As the intruder crept toward the bed the brown eyes kept a close watch.  Bowie strained hard to keep his tail still.

The young man watched as her fingers slowly brushed through the dogs fur.  Never before had he been so jealous.  His lips turned up into a smirk as he leaned over the bed, careful not to disturb it and alert the woman of his presence.  He pressed his lip gently to hers.

Jerking back into the bed, Sally flung open her eyes. She gasped. "Daniel!!!"

The familiar gray eyes smiled back at her. "Hello, Sleeping Beauty," he murmured.  Sitting up she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a strong embrace.

"I thought you weren't coming back until Sunday," she whispered into his ear.

"Oh well," he pulled from her.  "I guess I'll just leave and come back later then." He stood.

"Oh, no you don't." She jumped onto his back.  "Now that I have you once again in my clutches, you won't get away that easily."

- - - - - - - - - - -

"I suppose you won't be able to move back into your apartment until tomorrow," Sally stated.  "We should go over there, Rick has been saying how much he'd like to meet you." 

"Is this guy really so special to you? It sure seems like you talk about him a lot." Daniel raised an eyebrow at her.

"He's just a friend. Sheesh." She shook her head as she rolled her eyes.  "I think you'd really like him."

"Okay, then, let's go," Daniel said half-heartedly as he stood up from the couch. 

"We don't have to go if you don't want to," Sally stated coldly.  "I just thought you guys would ..."

"No, I want to go," he demanded.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hey!" Peter called out as he opened the door of the apartment.  "Look who's back early.  Missed me that much, huh?"

"Yeah," Daniel playfully winked at him. "Couldn't stand to be apart from you a moment longer."

"Are you staying here tonight?" his roommate asked.

"What do you mean? My replacement doesn't have to be gone until tomorrow," Daniel stated.

"Well..." he glanced quickly at Sally. "He moved out last night.  You're room's empty."

Sally made her way to the bedroom, and sure enough, all of Rick's things were gone.

"I wonder why he left early?" Sally asked.

"Are you disappointed your friend didn't say goodbye?" Daniel asked more harshly than he had intended to.

"Stop being such a dork," Sally scolded.

"Well, what would you think was going on if I had met some girl in London and became great friends with her and within the first fifteen minutes you were there I suggested that you HAD to meet her and mentioned her name at least twice?"

Sally glared back at him.

Peter looked from one to the other.  "I'll just go to my room, now."

"No, I'll leave," Sally stated. "But who knows, I might just meet up with my imaginary boyfriend and have a good time, Lord knows at least he'll trust me."

"Good. Leave." Daniel called after her as she walked down the hall.  "And I'll just call up my imaginary girlfriend who won't think about other men when were together!"  He turned and stepped back into the apartment.

"You need to loosen up, mate," Peter said.  "You are being a jerk."

"I may be, but..." he protested.  He rolled his eyes at his roommate's look then sighed. "Want to help me carry in some things?"