Remember Me Ch. 03

A/N: My bones are tired and worn from doing schoolwork...and writing this. Feel honored. ^^

There's some...dramatic bits here. Kind of felt forced to me but oh well. Enjoy.

oOo

Darkness...

A memory was etched into her mind, trying to get her attention.

Pain...

It clawed and bit and tugged at her consciousness. She wanted desperately to ignore it.

Hate.

But as she stared into the cold gray blue eyes of Estafana, she couldn't push it away anymore. She remembered, no matter how much she didn't want to.

oOo

"A deal?" Dante turned her gaze to Elliot for a brief second before turning to stare at Estafana.

She couldn't hide her doubt, nor her curiosity.

"What deal?"

Estafana leaned back into her chair as if allowing herself to relax, but she quickly sat up again as if remembering she was in a filthy cabin not worthy of her presence. One of her many long finger nails lifted up to her temple as her usual smirk vanished. It was instantly replaced with a no nonsense frown.

"Dantrese Patricia Reed." Her voice came out softly, but it was full of iron as she spoke Dantes full name. The woman in question only furrowed her brows and waited for Estafana to continue. The Judge didn't make her wait long.

"Eight years ago at twelve point two hours you infiltrated the Hime Agency and stole sensitive government files. That is a capitol offense. You then proceeded to resist arrest from the security guards who caught you. Another offense."

Dante felt her body stiffen and her eyes widen as she realized Estafana was listing the crimes she had committed before she had run off. She felt Elliots hot gaze on her, but she didn't break eye contact with Estafana.

"You not only refused cooperation with the security guards who caught you." Estafana went on, her eyes cold as ice. "But you committed third degree murder. You then stole a small amount of agency equipment and took an unauthorized hovercraft out of the city and went into hiding. Not only that, but a suspected aid was rumored to have helped you. You are currently at risk of execution under the charges of felon, murder, and you are currently in absconder status."

Dante was frozen in her spot. She couldn't move even if she wanted to. Memories of that night started to flood her mind at an alarmingly fast rate and she had to bite her tongue to keep from succumbing to the mental pain. She wanted to scream everytime she remembered the extremes she had gone to. She wanted to scream everytime she remember that she had killed.

There was a difference between shooting a blood thirsty drug lord on the job and killing an innocent security guard who was paid to protect. She had never lived that down. Her source had never mentioned it to her, and she had went on as if it never happened. And now eight years, eight fucking years, of forcing herself to forget were wasted with a few uttered sentences. What was worse was that Estafana was the one to utter them.

Which made it all the more dangerous.

It didn't take long for Dante to realize she was shaking. And it took even less time for her to realize that Estafana and Elliot were still gazing at her. One of the gazes were filled with steel and discreet malice. The other was full of barely masked worry and even more painful; betrayal.

Dante swallowed.

"What do you want with me then." Dantes voice came out just as soft and cold as Estafanas. She was surprised it wasn't shaking like the rest of her body.

"You have me in cuffs." Dante lifted her wrists for confirmation. "So why aren't I on a plane heading toward a crummy cell. Huh? WHY!?" The last voice was shouted, and her voice reverberated through the room.

Silence.

Dante no longer felt Elliots eyes on her. And with a quick glance to the side, she saw his head bent toward his lap, hands covering his eyes. He looked pained. That only made Dantes heart shutter painfully.

Slowly Dante lifted her own hands to her face and squeezed her eyes shut as darkness surrounded her. She regretted it instantly when the lifeless faces of the men she had killed flashed in her mind. Quickly she pushed those haunting thoughts away and let herself feel empty. That was the only way to calm herself.

It was the only way to stay sane.

She felt and saw nothing for a few moments, the only sound in the room being soft breaths.

And then a deep sigh echoed in her ears.

"Because," Estafanas voice vocalized once more. "Because...we need you."

That caught Dantes attention instantly. The likes of Estafana admitting such a thing was unheard of. The fact that she had said 'we' implied that her superiors needed her as well. Questions swarmed Dantes mind as she lifted her skeptical gray eyes to meet Estafanas own.

She was so startled in fact, that her oh so wise reply was simply; "What?"

Estafana uncrossed her legs and then crossed them again, the slit at the side of her robe riding up her pale legs. Her face was filled with an unreadable emotion that Dante could only identify as discomfort. Curiously Dante turned to see Elliots reaction, but he hadn't moved from his earlier position. He was listening though, that much was obvious. Dante quickly, a little too quickly at that, tore her gaze away though when Estafanas voice sounded in her ears again.

"You are familiar with Andre Michelangelo are you not?" Estafanas voice said one thing, but her eyes said another. Her eyes clearly said that she hadn't missed Dantes intense chemistry with Elliot, and that even though she was all business now she'd be asking about it later.

Dantes wasn't sure what her own eyes were saying in response, since her facial expressions were pretty much an open book and not entirely in her control, but she forced herself to register Estafanas question in hopes of distracting herself from Elliot.

Dantes dark eyebrows furrowed in concentration for a moment as she mentally reached toward the part of her that had been paying attention. It didn't take long for her to remember, and when she did it wasn't very pretty.

Andre Michelangelo...

It was like a lock clicked and opened in her mind, and once again more memories spilled over like a waterfall. Dantes jaw tightened when flashes of Andre kissing and caressing her came to mind. She didn't like where her mind was heading. She didn't like it at all. Elliot too seemed to have reacted to Andres name, and he lifted his head. Dante forced herself not to meet his eyes though as guilt began to swell up in her again, and she couldn't stop herself from sending Estafana a long heated glare. The womans blank face didn't change a bit.

"What about him?" Dante asked coolly. She wanted to fold her arms, but the cuffs prevented it. So she just settled with crossing her legs to mirror Estafanas aloof position.

"What about him?" Estafana repeated slowly. Her mouth curled in distaste. Dante had shown her more disrespect in fifteen minutes than all of her superiors had in fifteen years. She was starting to lose her patience. But none of her anger rose to the surface. Her body language and expression stayed the same despite the fury bubbling underneath.

Estafana had self control when she wanted to.

As the bustling activity outside of the house on the desert floor began to slowly die down, the silence stretched on inside of the house as the two women gazed silently at eachother. Estafana broke the silence first.

"Elliot, the files please." She ordered monotonously. Out of the corner of her eyes Dante saw Elliot hesitate. But it was only for a moment and in seconds the lanky man had strode across the room and out the entrance. Dante spotted a line of security soldiers standing outside of it but the view was fleeting and short as the door slammed to a close.

When he came back in a few moments later, a large black suitcase was in his hands. Handing it to Estafana, Elliot went to stand behind her as the older woman slowly leaned forward and ran her pale hands over the leathery surface. Dante eyed her silently, her hands still trembling from her outburst ages before.

"This." Estafana finally said as she unclasped the suitcase without looking up. "Is your answer."

oOo

Dante stared down at the view beneath her. Spread across the table were files. Most depicting the profile of Andres handsome face. Others simply filled with text. Dante shut her mouth tightly as her gaze swept over the files.

When she began to read the words however, it became harder and harder for her to keep quiet. Estafanas voice filled the silence though as Dante focused her eyes on the mug shot of Andre that had been at the bottom of the suitcase.

"Two weeks after your disappearance, the man you know as Andre returned from his mission in Monaco. He was informed first by his co-agents, yours truly standing behind me along with Crystal Lear, and then by Hime Agency officials that you had become a fugitive. An absconder."

Dante took a shaky breath as she listened to Estafanas words. She could already see where this was going. She had read the transcripts, she had put the pieces together. Her hand slowly reached toward Andres picture. His handsome face was as usual in a charming grin. Even in a simple mug shot he looked amazing.

Sandy strands of hair fell into his sleepy and mischievous blue eyes that were just as bright as his blinding white teeth. His skin was pale and smooth as a pearl, and in his agent uniform he looked like a cute teen playing soldier. He had always looked younger than he was. But he was a beast with a gun and had an IQ that was only a smidgen lower than Crystals. And Crystal was pretty fucking smart.

Andre had always been teased as a 'pretty boy' in his time as an agent, but he had embraced his looks and Dante had admired that. Now it was like a curse to see his handsome face after so long.

"When he found out that you became a fugitive, he temporarily resigned from any further missions and, under the witness reports of several other agents, began to look for clues of your sudden change."

Dante lifted her eyes from the picture. If she had been trembling before; she was outright shaking now. This was too much for her to handle.

To be caught, to see Elliots face after all that had happened, to be facing Estafana and for Andres name to ever be mentioned in front of her again. She didn't want to hear it. She just wanted them to ship her to an asylum and be done with it.

Whatever they needed her for, Dante wanted no part of it. If it dealt with Andre...she just couldn't.

But as her eyes connected with Elliots own without her permission, Dantes lips froze in motion. She couldn't read what he was thinking through his eyes, but the firmness of his jaw and stiff posture stopped whatever words she had been planning to send towards Estafana.

They stared at eachother for what was only seconds, yet seemed like forever. Estafana herself kept speaking as if she was an informative record that wouldn't shut up. Dante felt contempt yet her curiosity continued to grow the more the woman revealed.

Her ears were at full attention, though her eyes remained locked on Elliots. Heat began to spread throughout her body the more they stared, but Estafana didn't seemed to notice, or care, that Dantes eyes were elsewhere.

"My information is limited on what happened to him afterward." Estafanas voice was clipped, as though she was annoyed at the fact that she didn't know everything for once. "But he disappeared as well."

A beat of silence followed Estafanas statement, and Dante stared at Elliot for a moment longer before turning her gaze to Estafana. A frown marred Dantes face as she struggled for words.

"And you are telling me this why?" She asked so softly that Estafana leaned forward slightly to hear.

Her reply was short and to the point, yet it was confusing as fuck. "Because you're the key."

...

Dantes sharply reared back at that, her eyes narrowed once again. "The key? Like I'm some damned object to be used- key to what Estafana? Why won't you just spit it out already! What. Do. You. Need. Me. For?"

Her voice rose with every word, and Dante knew the men outside could hear. Elliots eyes rose considerably high at her audacity, but Estafana only smiled at her. That same damned smile that always graced her face when she was amused. Dante could have blown steam out of her nose if she had been any more irritated.

"Andre disappeared." Estafana repeated slowly, her eyes searching Dantes. "But not for long. Not two years after he vanished from the face of the earth did he show himself again. You are aware of the international criminal force known as F.L.E.X?"

Dante opened her mouth to speak but Estafana held up her hand to stop her.

"Of course you have. Before you betrayed your superiors and your country you were renowned as a hero for destroying some of the bases F.L.E.X ruled over."

Dantes face flushed red, but Estafana only smirked as she continued.

"Well, here's something to think about. On March the third a heat sensitive bomb was secretly placed in one of the agencies in Monaco. Hundreds were killed, hundreds more were injured. The placer of the bomb was identified only hours later, and do you know who it was?"

Dante didn't get a chance to answer before Estafana went on.

"Andre Michelangelo. His DNA was found near the scene along with two other men named Carter Degenerate and Larsa Smith. Both of them F.L.E.X members. Only two days after the incident did another bomb kill thousands more, this time located in Novada. Hostages were taken."

Elliots mouth tightened as Estafana spoke, and Estafana herself seemed to have an aura of fury radiating off of her. Dante however couldn't seem to find it in her to speak, or even feel. Her throat felt dry and her limbs burned due to the long amount of time she had sat frozen there. But still she didn't move.

"For years F.L.E.X has been slipping by the governments radar. And for years the terrorists that work in the organization have slipped by our grasp. To realize that Andre was now apart of their ranks not only startled the people in the council, but it was a slap to the face of the people who worked with him. Of course this information is confidential and no one outside of the agency is aware of it.

-I understand this might be hard to grasp for you as well. But Andres actions, though the motive behind them not yet known, didn't stop there. The frequency in the attacks of F.L.E.X have only increased since then. And just like it was difficult to track you, it was even harder to track him. There is one matter however, that has forced the council to take desperate measures."

Estafana stood from her spot on the chair and gestured to Elliot to step forward. Elliot brushed a lock of black hair out of his glasses and set a folder that Dante hadn't seen before on the table. A beat of silence passed as Dante brought both of her cuffed hands toward the folder. Elliot assisted her in opening it, and when their hands brushed electricity seemed to pulse between them.

Dante avoided his eyes though and removed her hands, watching as he retrieved the blueprints inside. When the paper was spread across the table above the others for Dante to see; her eyes widened.

The construction manual of a missile lay before her. It appeared as a large bullet, with a explicit lines covering it. The words R5-MIT were printed in bold letters across the top of the blueprint, and Dante swallowed a lump in her throat. She wasn't an expert on bombs, just guns, but she knew that the R5-MIT was a nuclear bomb capable of mass destruction. It was practically forbidden to even speak of the missile, since its construction was top secret to even her level of former status as an elite agent.

Dante sent Estafana a questioning look. She didn't miss the grim expression that was currently stapled to her face, nor the cold one that was stapled on Elliots. Even without saying it, Dante knew that whatever happened later, it was serious business right now. The fact that they were even showing her this file was proof enough that she was in deep sh*t.

"Dante..." Estafana took a deep breath. "You are not the only one who stole sensitive files from the government. A month ago, just after we had got scent of you again, someone who we suspect to be Andre broke into our top facility. A copy of this was stolen, and a week ago we received word about a secret F.L.E.X facility in Juda."

Estafana seemed to pause for a moment, her eyes shut as if she was in pain. Dante waited patiently, her eyes fluttering from Estafana to Elliot and to the blueprints, and back again until Estafana opened her eyes and regained her composure.

"We sent our best agents to infiltrate it, and it was destroyed. The people who were recovered there were arrested, but the people we were really looking for; Andre and others as dangerous as him, spread out and took their information with them. That's where you come in."

Elliot stepped forward again and dropped five sheets on the table. Each of them presented mugshots and information of five different people. It didn't take long for Dante to study them and realize they were files on five alpha agents. She had to stop her jaw from dropping as Estafana continued to speak.

"After investigating, it has become clear that F.L.E.X is planning an invasion on Hime and all of its affiliates. The missile is a threat, or better yet; a promise. They are going to bomb the capitol of Hime and try to crumble the councils authority. You were one of the most promising agents under the councils command, and you have the potential to help us to the best of your ability. We have some of our best agents preparing to locate Andre, Larsa, and Carter, and to find the secret location of where they are building the replication of the missile.

You are the key to finding Andre because like it or not; you have something he wants. He trusted you with his life. We don't know what it IS that he wants from you, but he wants it nevertheless. And under the order of the council, I have a deal to propose to you. You will be offered full pardon for you crimes if you not only agree to our terms of locating and retrieving Andre, but also you will be given a reward of thirty million dollars, a new identity if you wish and best of all..."

Dantes eyes slid shut as Estafana spoke the last word that sealed her fate.

"Freedom."

oOo

"You've got to be kidding me."

Estafanas eyes widened as Dante stood from her chair, a shadow of darkness covering the upper half of her face. Dantes glare was colder than before, her lips tighter than before, and her hands were curled into fists that trembled; but not in fear.

"You want me. ME." Dante went on, her glare never wavering. "To save the world, to save the city that I HATE, from my demented Ex-Boyfriend? You've got to be kidding me. This is some twisted sick joke that you must have put together to give me false hope so you can hide the truth."

Estafana barely flinched when Dantes voice rose, but it was a flinch nevertheless. It was a reaction, and that was all Dante needed.

"I know too much, and you want me to throw it all away, to throw all of the horrible things you did to me away for- what did you say again? Oh yeah; some money, a new name, and freedom that I had the second I decided to abandon YOU and your fucking false promises. You experimented on me. You tortured me. You humiliated me. And now you want me to dismiss it all? Well do you know what I say to that?"

Dante kicked the table over; the suitcase, along with the files, tumbling to the floor. The table produced a loud crashing sound that echoed in the room. Dante wasn't worried about the security outside hearing. In fact, she wasn't worried about anything at the moment. She was angry, and even worse; she was confused.