Operation Suicidal Insanity (calling King)

[Mia Keystone]

The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah...

Jumpsuits were stupid. God, jumpsuits were so stupid. Mia looked like a smurf. A smurf with really badass mirrored aviator (plus night vision!!) sunglasses, and a baseball hat pulled low over her face. Her tool kit was stocked with copper wires and pliers, and she had reformatted a palm pilot that was tuned to the wireless frequencies that she’d picked up at the manor. She’d be able to tell instantly the moment someone so much as did a search on Google.

They’d gone over the plan at least four times in one of the cafes, Mia making sure the route on the blueprints would be drummed into Jonah’s head.

Get to the security system, view surveillance, locate files, disconnect cameras to clear route. In, out. In, fucking out.

Simple, right?

It had seemed so, but as Mia had overridden the gate’s lock and strode inside, Jonah following with a toolbox (not empty; GPS, netbook. Also, a spanner). The trick was to walk in like you owned the place, like you were supposed to be there. Like you were the head honcho. No security guards which was unusual, but Mia wasn’t going to complain. And Mia was very glad they had an electronic lock, because the other option would be for Jonah to boost her up over the wall, and their height difference was already big enough to make the idea of having to get onto his shoulders or whatever just seem like some bizarre clown routine. The blue suits just made it worse. Or better, if it was indeed a clown act.

The king and the key... Ha. Ha. Ha.

Ok, back to business.

They’d gotten around the back to the panel that controlled the exterior security. Mia sighed, noting the very non electronic lock on it and turned around, pulling off her sunglasses and waving to make sure Jonah was looking at her. ”Ok,” she said slowly, instantly regretting taking off the sunglasses as she squinted against the glare, ”we’re in. King, this is really important,”. While Mia was considered by most to be insanely foolhardy, she did get scared. And Jonah was the only person who could ever tell. So, when she was scared, like right now, her instinct was to act as though this was all a big game.

Only, well, that was fine when it was just her...

Don’t worry, King! It’s not like the police actually look under their desks...

Of course I can take him, he’s not even six foot! Besides, I wont need to unless he keeps hassling you. Which he won’t. Because he knows I can take him.

I’m sure it’s nothing, just a file. Nothing to worry about, teachers can take care of themselves.

”If you see someone, you text me or call me or whatever and then you get the fuck out,” Mia wasn’t even speaking, just mouthing the words. She didn’t even need to, which would make this a lot easier. ”I am not kidding. You get out, you get help or whatever.” Pausing for a moment, Mia chewed absently on her thumbnail. Who would they get to help? Teachers would be a disaster, for her, and for Jonah. Ginny? Reeve? if she got Ginny in trouble, she’d be fucked. Dr Campbell would execute her. Well, he might not... Chase would. Fucking Jedi.

Reeve then. ”Number’s in the phone. You go, you get help. Seriously.” Crossing her arms over her chest she raised on eyebrow. ”Now, pass me that crowbar.”

[Jonah King]

For someone usually so aware of what was going on around her, Jonah had always been surprised that Mia never had any idea of what she looked like on her ‘missions’.

Take now: how many small, female electricians have you seen wearing huge sunglasses and baseball caps on not-exactly-warm days? Exactly. Jonah had already attempted once to get her to remove the damn cap, but she wasn’t listening to him and he already knew that asking again would only result in another rebuttal. When she hid under a plant pot, or in a filing cabinet (or in a pair of blue overalls), Mia always seemed to imagine herself to be completely invisible to the naked eye – when, in fact, she would probably have been served better by looking far more ordinary.

So he had compensated for the both of them. His overalls were already scruffy from use (he was made to wear them when he did anything to a car – oil is very difficult to get out of normal clothes), and he walked with his usual long stride and open expression. The one concession he had made to her was to wear his usual beanie hat – both to keep warm, and to hide his (somewhat distinctive) ears.

He knew every detail of the plan (except the details which Mia had decided not to tell him. Jonah wasn’t sure there were any, but he knew her too well to think that he would be told absolutely everything), and he was feeling surprisingly confident about their chances. Mia had helped him to nurture his excellent talent for playing dumb and lying behind a look of bland bemusement, and he hadn’t yet failed to take anyone in. If they both stuck to the plan, then maybe they would get out of here without being killed.

And Jonah had another card up his sleeve: his telepathy. His control had been getting better and better lately, and he had resolved that in this case, to use it to protect Mia and himself would be entirely forgivable. These were exceptional circumstances, and there was no way in hell he was going to let Mia get hurt if he could possibly save her.

There was one way in which it really would help in this mission – Jonah and Mia had discussed it at length, and practice had revealed that it was possible and surprisingly easy for both of them: he could send her a word, or a short phrase, and she would understand it. It had taken them both a while to get used to, but it made things a damn sight easier when it came to staying quiet – Jonah had no concept of volume when he spoke, and Mia had talked him around to using his ability when it became apparent that he couldn’t get the hang of whispering. So when she repeated her point he nodded, a short, sharp nod, and murmured (it was like thinking, but putting a pressure behind it): I get it.[/b] For Mia, to all intents and purposes, it would be like her wearing a radio headset with him talking into it. The only difference here was that she wouldn’t be hearing it with her ears, and his voice was clear and mellow – not hoarse and guttural, as it was when he spoke.

And all with no discomfort for her. This time, Jonah had to admit that Mia’s idea had paid off.

He handed her the crowbar, but had the advantage – he was in front of the lock. Reaching into his pocket he drew out a screwdriver, which he slid into the lock. He had been taught this trick ages ago, at the school he attended before Hammel. Lock successfully picked, he stepped back with a small smile to let Mia draw the bolt back – she would be able to keep everything much quieter than he would.

First step completed. But Jonah had the feeling that getting through the first door would be by far the easiest task…

[Mia Keystone]

Jonah looked kinda cute when he wore his beanie. Mia glared at the panel in front of her, thinking hard about not thinking about that fact, because having a friend with telepathy was fucking awkward sometimes. Like, right now. Jonah if you’re reading my mind, I will end you so hard.

With his voice in her brain (which would have been weirder if she hadn’t been used to computers in her mind) Mia couldn’t help but feel a little paranoid about her thoughts. ”Show off,” she groaned, rolling her eyes as she stepped out of the way. ”Do your sneaky thing.” She’d really wanted to use that crowbar... with a sigh she dropped it, and pressed her palm to the now bared electronic panel, and really hoped Jonah remembered to put a block up. Unless he wanted to be seeing binary for the next few hours anyway.

Blinking through the cameras, Mia frowned as she scanned through the possible routs in seconds, taking a moment to check for security. One guard, surveillance room. The frown deepened as Mia realized she’d have to create loops rather then just short out the cameras. Fuuuccckkk. ”Stupid shithead security dickhead piece of crap,” Mia muttered even as she started creating the thirty second time loops on three of the cameras, working hard to make sure her frustration didn’t short out any of the wiring. It was really annoying when that happened.

Fishing out her palm pilot, Mia started wiring through the direct camera feeds through to the small screen. ”You watch this. If you see anyone, you let me know so I can get out of the way,” she said clearly, handing over the electronic device. ”Be careful. Follow me.” Original plan had been to have Jonah wait outside on lookout. Jonah had disagreed with this plan. Jonah had mentioned how much he disagreed with this plan, many times. Mia had gotten tired of him telling her this. Now, Jonah was not going to wait outside on lookout. There was only so long she could argue with someone who found it so easy to ignore her.

Tricky bastard

The lock on the backdoor was a panel lock, more expensive then hers but still, it only took a few seconds for her to break it open. Officially breaking and entering. If Romanov could see her now... Man she wanted to punch him in the face. ”Through the spare room, kitchen. Stairs there. Main bedroom is third floor. We check there first. Just,” with a scowl that was clearly not aimed at her friend, Mia picked up the crowbar. ”Be careful, yeah? Watch you don’t knock anything, and if we get separated, and someone sees you, just... pretend you can’t speak english, ok? You can be...” Mia had to smirk at her own little joke, ”you’re Russian.” She gestured to the door. ”Ladies first,” and with a flourish she pulled the door open.

[Jonah King]

To be fair to Jonah, his manners were impeccable. He never read a mind if he could help it, and he was lucky with Mia’s mind – it was so different to most people’s that he found it pretty easy to ‘talk’ to her without actually listening to what she was thinking. It was as if he was using a radio channel to transmit, but had all the receivers turned off. So, luckily for both of them, he didn’t hear either his best friend’s complimentary thought, or the threat which closely followed it.

Why was it that compliments and threats always went hand-in-hand where Mia was concerned?

The only trouble was, Jonah knew Mia well enough to know that, right now, she was hoping that he wasn’t reading her thoughts. But if he assured her that he was doing no such thing, how would he convince her that he hadn’t been reading her thoughts to discover that in the first place? Sometimes life with Mia was more complicated than he had ever imagined that his life would be. One minute he would be sitting peacefully with something to fix, and the next – poof! Operation Suicidal Insanity!

At least Mia always gave everything a cheerful and snappy name.

He took the palm pilot from her and looked at it closely as he followed her through the door - then glanced up as they neared the house. For a moment his stomach flipped over as he realised exactly what it was they were doing: criminal activity. But there was no time for worrying about things like that. They were going to do much better at everything if he didn’t think about anything which could go wrong. Including expulsion. Or prison. There was only so far you could play the deaf card, after all. He didn’t think he could make up a plausible excuse for why he should feel the need to actually break into a place, rather than just knocking on the door. Mia’s appearance of confidence, and her little speech, made him more confident about what was going to happen – he pulled himself together. The idea of him being ‘Russian’ earned Mia a raised eyebrow: what kind of actor did she think he was?

At ‘ladies first’ he gave her an amused smile, and headed through the door in front of her. It was just as she had said it would be, and he swept the hall with a quick look before heading up the stairs Mia had pointed out. What the hell does this person do for a living? he wondered for a moment, awed at the opulence of the place. He had never set foot in a house this big or expensive. It was like walking into a palace.

Up the stairs, into the main bedroom. Jonah felt a deep unease settle in his stomach. The owner of the room was clearly female. They were going to go through a woman’s room to try and find something which Mia didn’t exactly know the location of? He knew when he would be more of a hindrance than a help – Jonah stepped away as Mia entered the room after him. Pulling his trusty screwdriver once again from his pocket he went up to a socket and began to fiddle with it: this way, if anyone came along, he would at least look like he was doing something useful. Doing that with one eye on the landing and one on the palm pilot was tricky, and he didn’t dare to look away and check what Mia was doing as she searched the room. Gently, he sent her a wordless question: [/b] ‘How’s it going?’

[Mia Keystone]

It was the magazine that gave it away. Well, that and the fucking huge painting of the woman painted onto the wall. Oh man, this is not cool. Mia could recognize her from the magazines, as well as something she’d seen on ETV one time. They’d broken into the house of a billionaire. Who only had one security guard? Ha, she must be pretty confident no one would break in. The house had been under Alvang... but this was the van Drake family.

Check this out, Mia sent to Jonah’s phone with a touch. After pulling on a pair of disposable gloves, she had tried the en suite first, just to be able to eliminate it. Besides, some people might think the bathroom was a clever place to store things. Well, the amateur spy had found something worth hiding. She pointed at the medicine cabinet, unable to stop herself from the slight smirk. There were more bottles of pills and powder in there then you’d see at a pharmacy. The daughter of that van Drake dude, who owns all those stores, is a massive pill popper, Mia sent, then bit on her knuckle to hide a slightly hysterical giggle. OxyCodine, Morphoine, Tylox, Valium, Xanax, Ritalin, Librium, some little white pills with smily faces on them which were most likely not prescription, white powders of various types...

Their street value would be insane. For a moment, Mia’s hand hovered over the smiley pills but with a sigh she drew it back and she stuffed them in her pockets in case she was tempted. While Mia’s on experience with drugs was usually contained to alcohol and pot, the short girl’s obsessive curiosity had a habit of extending towards everything she heard about. The rest of the room was clean, obsessively so. Apart from the shampoo looking like it cost as much as Kaylee, there was nothing unusual other than the massive amount of narcotics.


Moving out of the bathroom, Mia decided to ignore the walk in closet that was bigger then her room, and started working through the man bedroom. It was huge, all black silk and wrote iron and crystal. And paintings. Paintings everywhere of eyes, and monsters, and cells full of screaming swirls of red and black. It was creepy, it was really really creepy. In Mia’s opinion, the room looked like something out of Nosferatu, if it’d been designed by Gucci. There as an empty bottle of something, the label was Russian and when Mia sniffed curiously, it smelt like rubbing alcohol. Drinking problem too. Not exactly the sort of person that should know about one of the teachers at her school. Even if it was someone who’d been on Opera.

Still muttering under her breath, Mia started checking drawers, being careful not to disturb anything, and make sure anything she moved was replaced exactly where she found it. When she was just starting her version of searches, at about... 10, Mia had started a game. She’d take a picture of the contents of a drawer, search it and try to put it all back, then take another photo, then compare them to see what she’d changed. After 7 years of practice she was very very good at it. There were more little orange bottles, some empty, some still with a few blue or white or brown pills sitting at the bottom.

It wasn’t until the fifth drawer (and contemplating throwing some cream slip lace thing with the label still on at Jonah) that Mia found the familiar manilla folder she’d sent to the post office box in Atlanta. She hadn’t been the only one wanting to over her tracks, clearly. Another little piece that didn’t really add up to an innocent motive.

Touching her phone, Mia sent:Ok, got it, lets go. Hurrying towards the door, the technopath looked up at Jonah earnestly. We clear?

On the screen, the solitary security guard had risen, and had disappeared from view.

[Jonah King]

Not surprisingly, Jonah had no idea who van Drake was – but if he owned a corporation, then he was rich. As was his daughter. And no matter what they told you, wealth meant power. Suddenly, Jonah had a bad feeling about all of this. Of all the houses to break into, surely that of the daughter of a millionaire wasn’t the best choice? But no matter who she was, she was trying to do something bad to Hammel – and there was no way they could stand idly by and let her do it. The school had done better by Jonah, emotionally, than his parents: he felt a loyalty to it that he didn’t even feel to his own family. Sad, but true.

At almost exactly the same time Mia had found the folder she had been looking for, Jonah had felt his heart stop beating for a moment.

He had blinked, and the security guard had no longer been on the screen of the palm pilot. Where the fuck did he go? he wanted to scream, but his mouth was dry. Something cold settled in his stomach, and it was difficult to take a breath. Quite where this sudden and profound fear had come from was beyond Jonah, but it was there – maybe it was because up until now, the situation had been under their control. Now things were definitely not in a position where Mia would press a button and fix it.

He didn’t even see the words she sent him – as the phone screen lit up, Jonah had raised his eyes to Mia’s. Gone.[/b] He sent, hoping that the fear he was feeling didn’t show all that obviously in his tone (although it probably did: lying mind-to-mind was impossible). Ducking his head, Jonah looked intensely back at the palm pilot, taking in all the small camera screens to try and see where the man had got to. Ah! There! He’s in the living room. Heading for the stairs.[/b] The air in Jonah’s lungs was suddenly much too hot.

But he couldn’t go to pieces at a time like this. He wasn’t a person to lose his head, and he wasn’t going to start being one now.

In films, people hid. They made balls of themselves and burrowed into a small place with their eyes closed. But without his eyes open, Jonah could do nothing – there was no sound which would be able to tell him where anyone was. Mia could hide if she wanted to, but Jonah wasn’t going to jump into a pitch-black cupboard under any circumstances. He would have no way of knowing what was happening outside, and such a lack of knowledge would be unbearable.

The man reached the foot of the stairs, paused, and appeared to be looking around. Reaching for Mia, Jonah touched her hand with his ice-cold one and projected what he was seeing. Then the security guard had resumed walking, and all Jonah could do was tell Mia to Hide![/b] before putting the gadget in his pocket and resuming his tinkering with the socket. In an almost detached way, he noticed that his hands were rock steady, despite the fact that he could feel his chest pounding like a base drum.

A flicker in the corner of his eye, and Jonah turned. The security guard was standing there, looking at him in confusion – and suspicion. He had obviously just asked a question, and Jonah gave him his best rueful smile: ’Sorry,’ he said softly, nerves or play-acting making his words even more malformed than usual. He touched his right ear lightly with two fingers of his right hand. ’I’m deaf. I’m from Vermont Electric.’

Then he held out that same hand for the security guard to shake.

It was the first time he had ever deliberately used his telepathy in an interrogative way. As the guard took his hand Jonah dove into his mind, sifting through for the necessary details –

who the hell has eliot been letting in I take one night off and he wrecks the place what does he think hes doing thank god hes only got another week

- They shook, and Jonah withdrew from the man’s thoughts, stomach churning. ’Your colleague, Eliot, rang yesterday evening,’ he said, words gaining more assurance now. ’He gave me the code to let myself in. He said one of the circuits was down.'

He felt the man’s suspicion turn to irritation – but it was an irritation which showed that the guard believed what he had said. With a sigh, Jack (for that was the guard’s name) shook his head in exasperation. ’I thought the cameras were on the blink,’ he replied. ‘Anything you can do?’

Jonah made the face all electricians make when they know their project is a lost cause. ’Afraid not,’ he replied. ’He thought it was an electric problem – it’s the cameras themselves. You need to phone the company.'

’Great.’ Jack huffed, and offered Jonah a smile. ’Thanks for coming out, I guess.' He had begun to move towards the door, still looking at Jonah – and Jonah knew he was effectively being asked to leave.

‘You’re welcome,’ he told the older man, praying that Mia had everything she needed – there was no way he could find an excuse to stay without seeming very indifferent indeed.

They were on their way down the stairs when Jack paused. ’I thought I heard something, he said, looking up the stairs. ’Wait a sec.’

Jonah’s heart sunk as the man walked assuredly back towards the room.

He’s coming back![/b]

[Mia Keystone]

WHAT? Mia mouthed furiously at Jonah. STaying inside almost all of the time meant Mia was more than pasty, she was transparent. Still, as pale as she was, her face went paler. Private security at a place like this meant possible guns, or instant calls to cops. Mia hated cops. Cops would really hate her for this... and when the school found out she’d loose Kaylee, or get kicked out or locked up...

And what about King? Like him, Mia was trying hard to maintain deep breaths and steady the shaking in her hands. She was calm, she was calm, she would be able to keep herself calm and collected and get them out of it. She could turn off the lights and try to guide Jonah out, but he hated the dark... When she felt him touch her hand, she had to fight the huge to grab it tight, or to say sorry for getting him caught up in this. Shit, anything...

King had once told Mia that ordinary people chose fight or flight, but she seemed to aways react as if flight was not an option. So when hide started ringing in her head with all of worry Jonah felt etched in it, she looked at him stubbornly for a moment, then cursed and rolled under the bed, twitching the sheets to hide her. Even as she lay as still as possible, the technopath couldn’t help but be impressed by Jonah’s acting. Still, this clumsy speech was so different to the one she had heard in her head...

There were 16 slats supporting the mattress above her head, dark wood against a mattress that looked like a giant meringue. Fuck, why wasn’t this guy out of the room yet? When Jonah mentioned a circuit being down, Mia contemplated having the lights flicker, but that wouldn’t fit with the cameras. The little red lights of the lenses in the room were still blinking though, which wouldn’t really fit with them being ‘on the blink’, or with the cameras themselves being out.

The folder, the root of all the evil, or at least of all the bother, was still clasped to her chest like a shield. Without this, there was no evidence she’d done anything wrong, and more importantly, the woman who lived here wouldn’t have the details on Dalton anymore. What does a billionaire socialite want with an old english dude anyway? No offense meant, Mr Dalton...

They’d left the room, so Mia rolled out from under the bed and scrambled to her feet. She could make a break for it, and if she was caught, just say she was baking up her partner, Elliot had called. Man she could kiss Jonah for being a telepath and picking up that name. Carefully, as delicately as she could move in thick boots, the tiny teenager started edging towards the door. What exactly happened she wasn’t sure, but either a part of her jumpsuit or a cardboard corner of her folder caught one of the bottles on the huge nightstand, and suddenly there was glass on the floorboards and an overwhelming smell of Dior Pure Poison. Shit
Jonah’s warning echoed and Mia contemplated diving under the bed again, but the perfume would be too much of a giveaway... Quickly, Mia cover the light switches with her hand and in a moment, sent a surge through the circuits strong enough to blow out the light fixtures. The room was plunged into darkness, and with a touch to her glasses, Mia’s Night Vision was now finally able to be utilized.

Pity she was a bit too on edge to appreciate it in all it’s hard core awesome-ness.

The door swung open onto blackness as, unknowingly watched, Jackthesecurityguy looked in and cursed about the blackout. Quickly, Mia tried to sneak past him but one of the tools in her belt chinked softly and with inhumanly fast relexes (meta security? That cashed up cow) Jake had Mia’s arm. His hand fitted around her entire upper arm, not that that was tricky. Still, with the lights off, he couldn’t do much more than hold her, while Mia could see him all too well.

”Was just checking the, ah,” Mia started, swallowed, tried again, ”Checking the cameras in the wardrobe when the lights blew.” Unfortunately, while Jonah’s hight made it believable, Jack wasn’t quite as willing to buy it from someone who felt and sounded like a 15 year old. He squeezed a bit harder; the house’s owner had made it clear that force was not only allowed, it was encouraged. ”Can’t do much with the, ah, lights off though,” She pulled a little, thinking of how much she could do with her arm out like that. As soon as she started twisting though, the gig was up. ”Look, misunderstanding. I’ll be needing my arm back now...”

Fuck it. She tugged, twisted, then spun under and aimed a kick at the back of his knee. Super human speed though sort of killed that idea too. Even in the dark he was too quick, and Mia just ran for the door. She made it down one flight of stairs, two, there was Jonah and then a hand grabbed the back of her jumpsuit and yanked, hard.

So damn close.

[Jonah King]

Having no idea of what exactly it was the security guy had heard, Jonah could only remain helplessly on the stairs as the other man went back to check. He took a few steps up, but that didn’t help – the room was now pitch black (that would be Mia doing something to the lights), and he couldn’t see a thing, and he couldn’t hear any of Mia’s attempts as talking herself out of the situation. He had never felt so useless in his life, and Jonah could feel the old anger welling up inside him. The same anger he had always felt as a child, when his deafness meant that he couldn’t be of any help. It was like a clenched fist in his stomach, and he wanted to scream in frustration.

But then there was movement, and Mia was running out of the room at full tilt – but she didn’t get very far. Jack was hard on her heels, and Jonah knew that there was nothing he could do. There was no way he could take out a guy as old and strong as a top security guard. The man’s hand closed on Mia’s collar, and he pulled her back, wrapping one arm firmly around her waist and holding her securely despite her struggles.

’What the hell is going on?’ he asked Jonah, eyes narrowed.

’How the hell should I know?’ Jonah replied, putting his anger and fear to good use – he appeared completely convincing. If he and Mia got out of this one intact, he would think again about taking up acting.

Jack was thrown by Jonah’s apparent honesty – and all it took was that one moment of confusion for Mia to take advantage. Jonah didn’t see exactly what she did, but in a moment the security guard was pushed backwards, holding his lower stomach and gasping for breath. Against his own better judgement, Jonah went to him, crouching down beside the older man. They both looked up in time to see the front door close behind Mia as she ran for her life, folder in hand.

The security guard swore loudly and heaved himself to his feet. He took a deep breath and began to run after her down the stairs.

The carpet on the stairs had, when Jonah and Mia had entered the house, been perfectly placed, lying flat against each step. It was thick carpet of excellent quality, and Mia had unfortunately managed to mess it up quit a bit. It was folded up in places, and the corners were turned up slightly. To Jack’s eternal chagrin, he didn’t notice this until it was too late: his boot snagged on an uneven patch of carpet, and he executed an almost perfect cartwheel in the air before landing on his back, all the wind knocked out of him.

He was unconscious, but breathing. Jonah pulled the nearest phone from the little table it was perched on, and left it in arm’s reach of Jack – after all, telephoning for an ambulance was a little out of his ability. He could almost hear Mia scoffing at him for this small act of kindness, but he didn’t regret it: the man had only been doing his job.

It was just a pity that his job involved guarding a house Mia had set her mind on getting into. That kind of thing didn’t tend to end well for anybody.

Jonah ran out into the daylight – he had never been more relieved to feel the sun on his face. He was out of the grounds in five seconds flat, and paused for a moment at the end of the road, looking intently around him. Relaxing his mental barriers slightly he cast around for her, through the dozens of minds in the surrounding area.

And there! Fear, exhaustion, and an angry stream of curse words. It had to be Mia.

Mia![/i] he sent to her, hoping she hadn’t gone too far. Telepathy was all very well, but it didn’t tell you where anyone actually was. Where the hell are you?[/i]

[Mia Keystone]

Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin. Didn’t need karate to teach her that. She titled her head back slightly, a give me an opening here sort of look (she hoped) which seemed to work. Jonah’s feigned outrage threw off her holder (and he had arms like the Hulk, steroid muncher much?) enough for her to SING as hard as possible. He fell like a sack of bricks, but even as she took off, Jonah was hanging back.

Oh all the fucking times to be all good Samaritan, Jonah!

A heavy thud thud thud started to follow her as the gorilla in a suit pounded down after her. Mia ran faster, skipping steps as she half fell, half stepped, until she hit the wall at the end hard. Her lip split even as she pushed herself off the wall and kept running. God, where was King? She was going to kill him if he was just hanging around and having a cup of tea or something stupid.

Pausing a moment to spit a mouthful of blood out onto the snow and reset the cameras (and how lame was that, she got beat up by a wall she ran in to) she ran the last few dozen meters to the wall and past the gate and then sat down behind a parked car to catch her breath and wait. She had no idea what had happened, what if the guard had grabbed Jonah or something? What if he’d fallen down the stairs too? What if that woman had come back and locked him up in some sort of.. dungeon or something? Through quick, gaspy breaths Mia started to pull herself back up when she heard Jonah’s broadcast.

Pulling herself up, Mia thought she saw a little solitary speck in a jumpsuit, and she broke into a run again. It was actually done. They'd never pulled anything like this before, nothing there they'd actually been scared of being arrested or, well, chopped up into little pieces by some crazy meta supremacy unit. And they'd done it. They'ed rocked that shit so hard.

This time, she didn’t stop until she ran into Jonah, forgetting for a moment about his personal space issue as she practically spear tackled her friend. Sure, it was sort of like a rabbit running headlong into a great dane but still, she was running on adrenaline and exhilaration and all sorts of things so she made a pretty good job of leaping up and clinging on like a spider monkey, her face inches from his as she grabbed his face and kissed him on the forehead. ”You idiot, I was so worried, I swear I’m going to kill you, you bastard!”

It hit her about then what she was doing, and she dropped quickly and rolled in the snow. She shouldn't have touched him but he was ok, and she was ok, and they were ok! That had to make up for her almost hugging him, or whatever. ”I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, King, seriously, you were brilliant!” Slightly hysterical laughter bubbled up in her throat and Mia covered her mouth to hold it in even as she bent to pick up the files she’d left scattered on the road. ”Fuck me that was nuts. I am never selling shit on anyone I know ever again, and we are never getting involved in Meta politics or terrorist cells with billionaires from TV or...”

With a huff, she stopped talking and sat by the side of the road, still grinning. Wiping her mouth with one hand, she wiped the blood on her jumpsuit and spat out again onto the road. ”I am going to get so very very drunk tonight.

[Jonah King]

It was like being tackled by the world’s smallest rugby player. Jonah had always known that single-minded Mia was a force of nature, but she had never collided with him before (or at least, not physically). It took everything he had not to fall over when she jumped at him, but somehow he managed to remain standing as she wrapped her arms and legs around his torso and held on for dear life. For a moment his arms came up to hold her in place, large hands steadying her waist. But he hadn’t had time to put up any blocks, and after a moment he was almost overwhelmed by the noisy, frantic, fiercely joyful stream of thoughts and images that was Mia’s mind. As she spoke her thoughts gave him images of what she was saying, but he hardly had time to process them, there was so much else going on. It was like someone suddenly shining a bright, bright torch in his face, and he recoiled involuntarily.

The last image he saw before she fell away from him was of her, sitting on his chest and attempting to throttle him. It made him laugh and once the first silent chuckle was out, he couldn’t stop – he flopped down in the snow next to Mia, shoulders shaking as he lay trapped in the throes of laughter as hysterical as hers. He couldn’t see what she said to him, but his barriers weren’t properly up yet: he got the gist from the emotions and images he was getting from her, and when he finally sat up to smile at her, she was sitting next to him with a huge grin on her face. He knew that their good spirits were probably unhealthy, but for the moment he didn’t care – he had never felt so high on adrenaline.

’If you ever do anything like that again, I’ll take you on a camping trip for a month. Without Kaylee.’ It was an old threat – Mia hated being out in the world without any technology, and Jonah had long been teasing her about the ‘camping trip’ they were one day going to embark on: cold, uncomfortable and entirely free of technology. It was always fun to bring it up and watch the expression on her face.

Finally he caught his breath after the laughter, giving a huge sigh and lying down once again in the snow. He looked up at Mia was a cheerful, if exhausted, smile. He didn’t often wish he could join her in getting drunk, but now was one of those times – Jonah felt very much that he could use something to calm his nerves. He was coming down from the adrenaline rush now, and his hands had started to shake a little, so he linked them over his chest to keep them still. He didn’t want Mia to see them. ‘Wish I could do that,’ he told her with a rather wistful grin, but he knew it really wouldn’t be worth it. Alcohol was never a good idea for him.

Especially when Mia was also drunk. Her thoughts, when drunk, were the most confusing thing he had ever experienced.

Reaching into his right pocket, he pulled out a lighter (Jonah’s pockets were always a treasure trove of useful things, from lighters to screwdrivers to bottle openers). Pointing to the files in her hand, he asked: ‘Do you want to do the honours?’ before ceremonially holding the lighter out on his flat palm. His hands were still shaking a little, and he fought to keep them still.

[Mia Keystone]

Jonah’s laugh sounded a bit like a horse dying, and a wild dog having an orgasm. Mia had heard it maybe... twice in her life, but never as loud as this. Her cheeks hurt from grinning, and the back of her throat felt all strange from her own cackles. Her stomach was in serious danger of splitting. With an effort, she swallowed the giggles and then pulled a face. ”You’ve got red on you,” she said seriously, before giggling again and using her sleeve (just her sleeve, no skin) to wipe of the smudge of blood she’d left on his forehead. Her bad.

Thinking about her lip made her aware of it stinging again, and Mia scooped up some snow to hold over it to numb it down. She found a better use for the snow when Jonah brought up the forbidden topic of the great outdoors, and piffed it at him before a few last bubbles of laughter popped passed her mouth. ”None of that,” she said, still grinning even as she took a few gulps of air. Laughing didn’t leave much from for it.

With him lying down like that, Mia had the wonderful experience of being taller, or at least feeling a little taller. In any case, she could look down on him, and give her neck a rest. Her grin turned crooked and she winked, then raised an eyebrow. ”I’ll make you a nice cup of tea instead,” she offered, then shook her head and flopped down as the adrenaline started to drain and her bones grew heavy. She’d thought about the drinking thing, like maybe if he was drunk and she was sober, it could work. Or the other way around. But that was always just awkward, because Mia had a habit of falling into bed with people when she was drunk and, well... the one time she’d shared, Jonah had just thrown up.

With a world weary sigh, the technopath turned cat burglar pushed herself up again and grabbed the lighter from Jonah, flicking it with savage glee. ”Kill it with fire,” she snorted, then set the flame to the corner of the folder. Though a little damp, the folder caught quickly. Mia held on till the last minute, when the flames were almost licking her fingers, then dropped it onto the mostly dry road. ”Burn baby, burn,” she muttered, then propped her chin onto her hands and nudged Jonah with one foot. ”Dude, this is done. We are never to speak of it again. Invisible pinkie swear.”

Her face now set in her deadly serious expression, Mia held out one fist. She’d invented this within two days of telling Jonah they were friends, when it became clear that actual pinkie promise wouldn’t work out with someone who got all panic eyed at the idea of touching. So she’d decided, with all the solemnness a young teenager could muster, that they each had an invisible pinkie on their right hands and that they could thus pinkie swear with these extra digits.

”And now, with this promise, I propose we get the fuck out of here, so I can drink and you can have tea.”

[Jonah King]

Throughout the time they had known one another, Mia had been educating Jonah about films and TV shows of every kind (though mostly sci-fi). There were a few that they had watched multiple times, so many that they could have said the dialogue along with the actors onscreen – and when Mia quoted one of those very films, Jonah had to smile. ‘Thanks,’ he told her dryly, as she wiped the speck of blood from his forehead. He hadn’t even known it was there, and he looked at the cut on his friend’s lip with concern. Not enough concern not to tease her, though: ’You know, you shouldn’t pick fights with doors…’

Mia had never let Jonah forget that he had thrown up during their first mutual experiment with alcohol. But to be fair to him, it had been a completely unexpected experience – he hadn’t known until he tried it that alcohol would have that kind of effect on him. He’d had too much, and the added effect of being completely unable to control his telepathy had left him nauseous and completely disorientated. One of the trainers had to suppress his power almost completely for a few hours, and he had subsequently been given one of the longest detentions in Hammel’s history for consuming alcohol on campus. But he hadn’t sold Mia out – they never found any proof that she had drunk anything, and he had never told them where he obtained the beer.

The effect of alcohol on Mia’s sex drive had not gone unnoticed by him, of course. When she was drunk she always seemed to end up at his room, and she was very difficult to block out after a few pints…

Not that she was thinking about him, but there were certain images that Jonah didn’t need to see.

Jonah couldn’t help but grin – they hadn’t sealed anything with an invisible pinky swear in years. With a solemnity to match her own, he extended his right hand, made a fist, and held it a centimetre away from hers. ’I swear,’ he told her with a grave nod, holding the position for a moment before they broke away. He sat up, and realised just how fast the snow had been melting against him – his overalls were damp. Reaching up to his neck he undid the zip, climbing out of the overalls to reveal jeans and a sweater: if anyone did come looking for them, they would be much less conspicuous if they weren’t wearing the same clothes that the security guard had seen them in. With unusual fastidiousness Jonah folded up the garment carefully, and bundled it under his arm as he got to his feet.

‘That sounds perfect,’ he told her, and meant it. All he wanted was a quiet, uninteresting night. There had been far too much excitement today. Standing up he took a deep breath and finally got all of his barriers back in place, before reaching out a hand to Mia, to help her up.

[Mia Keystone]

”It was looking at me funny, so I hit it,” Mia explained straight faced, ”with my face.” Carefully, she extracted the metal rings from her lip and pocketed them; she’d need to disinfect her lip when she got back to her room or it would get gross, and painful. ”It’s fine, just don’t want the holes to close up,” she said, brushing the faint concern on Jonah’s face aside with a raised eyebrow that suggested he should know better then to be worried about her. Not that he’d been overly concerned... but still, Mia did not like King thinking she needed him to worry about anything. At all.

She would swear till she was blue in the face if anyone asked she’d done this alone. They had each other’s backs. It was how they rolled. The divide and conquer thing had been tried once or twice by people wanting to get at the technopath (or get back at her), and they’d learnt the error of their ways. As had anyone who ever gave Jonah any trouble. Zac LaRousse was a prime example. Three and a half years and counting and Mia still took great pleasure in making his life that little bit more... exciting.

But enough exciting. At least for now. The usually action-hungry Mia was done with spy business for at least a night. Maybe even two days, if the school and its students were lucky.

Sparing one quizzical glance at Jonah’s outstretched hand and up at him, Mia shrugged and grasped it. She hauled herself up, not particularly worried her weight would unbalance her significantly heavier friend. Pulling off her own jumpsuit (smurf suit) Mia groaned as she looked at the snow-melt patches along her bright green jeans. Stuffing the blue monstrosity, her hat and the glasses, which by some miracle had serviced her escape, into a backpack she’d stashed in the garden of one of the nearby houses, Mia stretched and with a well practiced movement that rang of sullen teenager, she flipped the hood of her grey hoodie up and stuck her hands on the front pocket.

”Luckily for me, I still have my stash because I can not be arsed getting my id from my dorm,” she said, turning to look up at Jonah with a tired smirk, already thinking about the half bottle of bourbon she had hidden inside one of her hollowed out monitors. ”Come on. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Operation Suicidal Insanity complete.