My impromptu lunch date ended with a lot of extra food being bought and a lot of slightly nervous looks from the college girls. I just smiled and paid the ridiculous bill as I picked up my own take out food. Seeing that I also had extra food seemed to make them relax and they all thanked me, with the two girls that were disappointed in my admission I was taken, giving my cheeks a kiss at the same time.

As the group made to leave, the not-at-the-moment goth girl rushed over to me and kissed me soundly on the lips, whispered a thank you for not being an asshole and outing her and her after-hours activities, and rushed back over to her friends. The girls were equally scandalized and delighted at her kissing me on the lips and teased her mercilessly as the door closed and they disappeared from sight.

The clerk at the counter gave me a look full of amusement and sat on the little stool to eat her own small bowl of stew. I thanked her for the great service and waved to her and left the restaurant, put the take-out bag in the back of the Hummer, and drove to my apartment building. I had barely parked when the landlady was out on the street and motioned for me to help.

I ran inside and helped her gather up her garbage and dumped it into the dumpster in the alley beside the building. After washing my hands, I went back out to the vehicle and brought the food inside. She looked really happy at seeing both myself and the food and I had another meal with pleasant company.

I told her I would be coming and going, usually every two weeks from now on with my schedule worked out for the most part. Before I could say anything else, the earpiece in my ear beeped at me.

“I just got paged for work and I have to go.” I stood and leaned over the table to lightly kiss her already puckered lips. “Be safe, take care, and I'll be back to visit in about two weeks.”

She blushed and nodded, so I ran out of the building and hopped into the Hummer.

I reached up and tapped the earpiece as I drove out of my parking space. “I'm clear of witnesses, Agent Smith. Go ahead.”

“Mr. Anderson, after thoroughly investigating the location, there are no legitimate ways for myself and my fellow agents to breach the integrity of the building.” Smith's voice said over the earpiece.

I understood right away what I had to do. “You need me to go in and cause a reason for you to storm the place, since they aren't technically breaking the rules right at the moment.”

“Correct.” Smith said with some appreciation in his voice. “However, the barriers they have in place will keep us out long enough for them to escape.”

“Of course they have something like that.” I said with a chuckle, since that was three different times I had seen a similar thing inside the system. “We can't have that, can we?”

“No, we can't. You will be given a device to disrupt them and you must only use it after you cause a scene that will necessitate our intervention.” Smith told me.

It was surprisingly similar to the human resistance's use of the EMP to take down the sentinels, so I figured that was fair. It also meant they were learning more and more about human tactics and possibly how to circumvent them.

“I won't let you down.” I promised and squealed the tires as I took a corner faster than I legally should have. “I'm almost there.”

“Divert to the first corner off the main boulevard at the start of the block the building is on. You will be given the device and it will be masked. Do not open it to inspect it, since as soon as the case is opened, it will go off.”

“It's a one-time use, got it.” I responded.

“Yes, it is.” Smith said and paused for a moment. “You must hand over the earpiece as well. The information you have given us has been invaluable; but, the source itself is highly questionable.”

I thought I heard regret in his voice and smiled. “I understand, Agent Smith. No more inside information from the system for an obvious spy for the human resistance, even if he is working his butt off to help clean up the place.”

“I petitioned to let you keep it and I was... overruled.” Smith said and he really did sound regretful. “Good luck, Mr. Anderson.”

“Good hunting, Agent Smith.” I responded. “Over and out.”

I tapped the earpiece to hang up and slowed down slightly, braced the steering wheel with my knee, and took out my cell phone. I pulled the earpiece off of my ear and placed it on the cell phone and set it to copy the device and the datalink.

I would have to work on it later to see if I could recreate it to hack into the Federal communications network. I put my cell phone away and held the earpiece in my hand as I steered with the other hand. I saw the Fed sedan near the corner and pulled off of the main boulevard and came to a stop, rolled my window down, and held out the earpiece.

The agent gave it a look, one mixed with interest and disgust, and he carefully took it and handed back a small silver case that looked like the one Smith had the trackers in. I slipped it into the pocket with my cell phone and nodded to him as it also secretly copied whatever the device was.

The agent's face went blank at my nod and he waved me on instead of nodding back. I smirked knowingly at him and drove down the side street to the next intersection and took the corner, drove along the less used back street to the end of the block, and took the corner for my next meeting.

I came to a stop and the passenger door of the Hummer opened and a pink-haired teenage girl hopped up to sit in the seat and shut the door. I gave her a pointed look at the torn t-shirt hanging off her shoulder and a full cup of her bra showing. Surprisingly, there was only a hint of cleavage with that much exposure.

The copy of Dragon laughed at my look. “I don't stand out hanging around with the locals when looking like this.” She said and held out her hand. “I'd give you an actual sit-rep if we had time.”

I drove on and held a hand out and took hers. She gave me a small data dump with all the information I needed for both the local area being clear of civilians, about the building, and about who was guarding each of the entrances. I would go in through the parking garage, since it was the safest and least obvious route.

“Good work.” I said and let her hand go. I came to a stop at the next corner, since that was the street I needed to turn on to reach the hideout. The passenger door opened and I turned to her to say thank you, and she surprised me by hopping across the seat and kissed me right on the lips.

“Good luck, sexy!” She said and dove back out of the vehicle and shut the door.

I stared at her as she smugly sauntered away down the street. Her tiny denim shorts hugged her ass tight enough to show off that she wasn't wearing any underwear. What had caught my attention was that the middle seam of the denim was wedged so far up between her cheeks that I was surprised she could still walk straight.

I shook my head at the sight, delightful though it was, and drove around the corner. I cruised down the street at a normal pace, despite there being no other traffic, since speeding there would only give away that I wanted to get there quickly.

I pulled into the parking garage and parked at a safe distance away from the elevator. There were a lot of other cars there, so they were having a late lunch or an early dinner. Since the main business was a restaurant, it was probably busy all the time serving food. I spent a moment changing my clothing into an Armani suit and adjusted my face slightly to hide who I was.

After a moment of thought, I took my phone out of my pocket and loaded a stack of cash and loaded a dummy one, then put the real one into the glove compartment. I transferred the device the agent gave me into my inside breast pocket and skinned the outer casing with a popular cigarette brand, just in case. I put the stack of cash into one jacket pocket and the fake phone in the other.

With my disguise in place, I stepped out of the Hummer and locked it, set the alarm, and walked over towards the elevator entrance with two guards standing in front of it. They didn't react at all as I approached, probably because I was alone. On second thought, I should have brought a date to make my appearance here for a meal more believable. It was too late to change things now.

I came to a stop in front of the elevator and gave the guy on the right a raised eyebrow. Being this close, I could easily detect the werewolf programming he had, with higher body heat, enhanced senses, and reflexes. The guy on the left was a vampire and was weaker in comparison, yet much tougher.

“Password?” He asked and pulled a metal detector from behind his back.

I sighed as he ran it over me and it didn't beep when it passed over the small metal case in my breast pocket. “Do I really need to say the password to reach the restaurant? The club doesn't open until 8.”

“Same elevator entrance, same password.” The vampire said and patted my jacket pockets. “Empty them.”

I handed over the dummy cell phone and turned out the other one to show the stack of cash. “Chauve-souris.”

The werewolf chuckled at the French word for bat and let the metal detector wand go and the hidden strap let it fall behind his back under his jacket. “No guns or knives, he's clear.”

The vamp opened the phone, checked it had a signal, then he turned it off and handed it back. He didn't try to take the stack of cash, either. “No phone usage in front of the boss.”

I rolled my eyes at him and put both back into my pockets. “I'm meeting my dinner date here, so who would I call?”

The vamp shrugged and turned back to hit the elevator button. “Doesn't matter. If it rings and disrupts the atmosphere, you'll be out on your ass faster than you can blink.”

“I'll be careful, dad. Thanks for the advice.” I said with as much sarcasm as I could.

The vamp frowned at me as the werewolf laughed. The elevator dinged just then and the doors opened, so I stepped inside the elevator car and away from the vamp's ire. When I felt the coding on the panel, I found that the most pressed buttons were for the sub-basement and for the tenth floor.

Instead of hitting the ten button, I grabbed the surprisingly silver plated hand rail with one hand and part of the wood panel of the wall with the other. Quick as a flash, I tore the improvised weapons out and took a single step to be half out of the elevator car. Both guards turned to look at me with surprise, which was perfect for me, becuse I had caught them flat-footed.

I smashed the werewolf through the face and his brain with the silver plated hand rail and then turned and shoved the piece of wood panelling into the vamp's chest and heart. The vamp's shocked look was priceless as the werewolf dropped dead on the ground. He followed a moment later and his body quickly started to decompose and dry out, which meant he must have been a lot older than he looked.

Since I didn't want to leave dead bodies out in the open where anyone could see them, I pulled them into the elevator with me. I propped the dead werewolf up against the floor select panel, the hand rail still through his head, and stood the vampire's near skeleton on the other side of the door. I didn't dare remove the wooden shard from his chest, because that might let him revive.

I stood there for a moment and wondered what to do with them, then chuckled. I hit the ten button before shrunk them down to doll size and put them into the pocket with the cell phone. I created a napkin and wiped off my slightly bloody hand from handling the werewolf and waited for the elevator to stop moving.

As an older model, the elevator took quite some time to reach the tenth floor. The thing eventually dinged and the doors opened onto an expensive looking corridor. I left the elevator and walked down the empty hallway and over to the concierge at a podium. It was raised slightly to give him a sense of superiority.

“I do not have a reservation for you.” The small French man said as I came to a stop in front of him. It was only a slight surprise to discover that he had a similar power to Desiree, the greeter at the Oracle's apartment.

“I know.” I said and pulled out the stack of cash and laid it onto the edge of the podium. “It was a last minute change to meet a gorgeous blonde woman here to share a meal. I'm sure you understand.”

The man swiped the cash off of the podium with a smarmy smile and tucked the money into his coat pocket. “Yes, it is quite understandable. If you will follow me?”

I nodded and he led me to the left and into a grandiose room full of expensive dark marble columns and many crowded tables with people eating. He brought me over to the only blonde woman in the entire place and her similarity to the Woman in the Red Dress was not lost on me. However, her chest was significantly smaller, which was quite noticeable because of her push-up bra, and her skin was slightly tanned.

“I'm sorry I'm late.” I said and leaned down to lightly kiss her cheek. “I was held up at my last appointment and rushed right over as soon as I could.”

She looked confused at seeing me, until I ran my hand over her bare shoulder and gave her the agent protection update. She shivered pleasantly and smiled warmly at me as the coding settled. The three men sitting around her at the table did not give me a kind look, though. Apparently, I was interrupting a business meeting of some kind.

The concierge saw I was accepted by the blonde woman and walked off, his job done. I didn't sit down or tried to join their table, though. I had something much more important to do.

“I'm sorry, gentlemen. I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation. I was just greeting the beautiful lady, as she deserves.” I said and they reluctantly nodded. “Despite the temptation of keeping her company, I see someone I've been wanting to meet for a while. Please excuse me.”

I walked away from the table that had three men with relieved looks and one disappointed blonde woman. I thought about heading directly to the raised table at the far end of the room where the Merovingian and his wife sat, except with the werewolf and vampire guards he had nearby, not to mention the two Ghost Twins off to the side, I knew it would be a mistake and I wouldn't reach them.

Instead, I walked over to one of the many servers. The waitress looked surprised and a little worried when I placed a gentle hand on her arm to get her attention.

“I apologize for interrupting you, miss. I only wanted to ask who I give my credit card to.” I said and pulled the card out of my wallet, skinning it in gold, just in case.

“You usually wait until after the dessert course, sir. Your server will bring you the bill for your table when the meal is finished and they will handle everything for you.” She responded.

I smiled and shook my head slightly. “I haven't eaten yet and it's my first time here.” I said and placed the card in her hand. “I want to splurge a bit to celebrate and will pay for everyone's bill.”

The woman's mouth dropped open and she stared at me, as if my words didn't make sense. The people at the nearby tables heard my proclamation and they immediately called over more servers and pointed to me and told them what I said. Word quickly spread from that ruckus and soon most of the people in the restaurant were shouting for their servers to make sure it was true and to add to their orders.

I stood in the middle of the large gathering of servers as they bombarded the woman with my credit card for the truth and she showed them my card. All of them started saying their tips were going to be huge today and most of them rushed off, as did the woman with my credit card.

“What is going on here?” A sexy woman's voice asked as she approached.

I turned slightly and smiled at catching the second best target in my improvised trap. “Lady Persephone! It's a pleasure to meet you in person.” I said and stepped close to lightly kiss her left cheek and then lightly kissed the right one.

The older woman wearing an off-white body-hugging and cleavage-revealing dress gave me a slightly incredulous look before she schooled her face. “You are disrupting the calm and peace here.”

“That was unintentional, I assure you.” I lied and she bought it. “I was just arranging to pay for everyone's meals.”

Again, she gave me a slightly incredulous look before she schooled her face. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“It's my first time being here and I wanted to make a memorable impression.” I said truthfully. It would also let Smith know I was in place and ready to set off the device. “Would you mind if I joined you at your table? I don't want to disrupt anyone else by asking them to make room for me.”

Persephone closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed and opened them. “You don't believe you are disrupting me?”

“Oh, I am; but, you're already here and bothered, so why shouldn't I want to spend more time with you?” I asked and she didn't have an answer for that. “At least I've given you a great conversation starter.”

Persephone made a hum sound and then motioned towards the raised table at the far side of the room. I nodded and stepped close to offer her my arm. She looked surprised and then she slid her arm around mine to hug it, almost automatically.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she settled into the role. I escorted her back across the restaurant towards the head table, where the guards were staring holes through me, as was the Merovingian himself. She smirked slightly at getting that reaction from him.

I brought her around the table and sat her in the chair she had been in before, which was about four feet from her husband's, then I walked around the table and picked up a chair from the other side and brought it back around to place it right beside hers and sat down.

When I took her hand and lightly kissed it, the squawk of indignation from the Merovingian made Persephone smile warmly at me. She knew exactly what I was doing and fully approved of it. She also kept hold of my hand when I tried to let it go.

“Thank you for allowing me to be in your presence, Lady Persephone.” I said and she graciously nodded. “Now that I have your undivided attention, please tell me about your day.”

All the guards around us seemed to still at that, as did both Persephone and the Merovingian.

“I really am quite interested in what a woman of such high class socialite does all day, Lady Persephone. Will you enlighten me?” I asked and gave her my best Gilderoy Lockhart smile.