Compromised Affairs || Nicole, Catherine

Not wanting to sit around and wait, Nicole had Lexi take over before getting up and heading over to the FBI building. Once there, she started to ask for Danny's boss, urgency in her voice as she asked around for him. She hoped that Danny was okay as an FBI Agent led her to the office of Danny's boss.

SSA Jack Palmer was in his office, on a constant line with his agents at the scene. Since he had other business to attent to, he couldn't be there himself, but he wanted to know what was happening down there. So far, everything was quiet, but from the audio they got from Danny, he was alarmed that things could go south easily. He wasn't worried, yet, just on his toes. He knew he couldn't do anything, but he trusted his men to do what they needed to do to keep Danny safe.


And meanwhile inside the club, Danny did his best to keep himself and the operation safe. Appearently it wasn't as easy as he figured it might be. The boss of the organization was watching him closely and it felt like he tried to look right into his very soul to read his thoughts and figure out who Danny really was. But he was trained in that kind of thing. It would turn out okay, right?

The agent let Nicole into Palmer's office then left her. Nicole just stood there watching him, keeping composed as she stood there. The look on Nicole's face made it clear that she was worried and wasn't going to let anyone stop her. Nicole gently cleared her throat, hoping it got Palmer's attention.

The older Agent turned around, looking at Nicole with a questioning look in his eyes. He had a small speaker in his right ear, where he got the information from the operation. He had been looking out of the window behind his desk when Nicole entered, now he was facing her, the city in the background.

"How can I help you?" he asked in a friendly tone, not really knowing where to put her.

Nicole watched him, "Its about Danny.....you need to get him out." she said, her tone firm and honest. "Yes I know he's working undercover and no I haven't told anyone about it." she added while standing there.

"Sorry, what?" Jack Palmer asked, a little bit confused. He knew who this woman was talking about, since the only one working undercover was his agent Cooper, but why would he tell her about it? As far as he knew there was no woman in the agent's life he'd share this stuff with. So how come she knew?
"First of all, federal business is not to be messed with... secondly... how do you know about an undercover job, you're not an agent and he wouldn't share this information with anyone."

Nicole watched Jack as he said that to her, then told him about what happened recently, starting with her seeing Danny while walking to her studio, then what he told her at the club and the person they saw while leaving. Nicole just stood there after saying all of that, waiting for Jack's reply. At the same time, she hoped Danny was okay. Nicole didn't let it show as she stood there, she was in her army mode at this time.

The SSA listened to the young woman before him, then sighed a little bit. He knew Danny would never put an operation in jeopardy and he really wouldn't tell those things to just anyone, so this woman really meant something to his Agent.
Jack sighed a little. He, too, was on alert, he knew how easily things could go south there, but unless Danny said the code words, they couldn't simply bust in and ruin the operation. They had to wait for his signal, or for a sign on his life being in immediate danger. But there was nothing as of now.

"You do realize that I can't just pull him out and ruin an operation. We have to wait for his signal, otherwise we risk blowing an important operation, or even put his life in danger." he finally said to Nicole. He could tell she wouldn't be satisfied with that, but there was nothing he could do right now.

Meanwhile inside the Club the boss of the drug dealing organization was taking a close 'look' at his new rising member. Danny felt a little uneasy. His gut feeling told him to get the hell out of this club. He knew that something wasn't right, he couldn't put his finger on it, he just knew.
"Well, well, well..." the man said slowly, walking a circle around Danny. "You don't seem the type for this business though..."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked back. "Been doin' nothin' else for years now."

Nicole listened to Jack as he said that to her, then nodded a bit. "I know sir" she replied while watching Jack. "How long do we have to wait for him to say the word?" she asked while standing in front of Danny's boss. Nicole was worried, but she wasn't going to let it show until he was back and she could see him face to face. hang on Danny she said to herself.

Jack Palmer gave a small shrug in reply. "I don't know. That is up to him." he replied seriously. "How do you know something's up there anyway?"

"Hm... have you now?" he said, looking at Danny with a look on his face that made Danny realize that he had to be even more careful. He kind of felt like that man could look into his very thoughts and it was scary for the usually so tough Agent. He didn't feel safe, but he couldn't say the word either.
"You seem so... different from the men who usually work for me. Sure... you know your turf, but... you're too... curious, just a little bit too pushy to meet the big boss."

Oh, oh... Was I really too careless this time? Danny asked himself, but he couldn't remember being pushy or curious. At least not in a way that would be this suspicious. But what he was supposed to say now?

Nicole nodded a bit, "The bloke I saw when I was with him said something about how he would be back for Danny." she replied. "I know that I'm just a civilian, but Danny is in trouble." Nicole added, trying to stay composed as she spoke to him. It was clear that she was concerned for Danny and hoped that he would be okay.

Jack nodded a little bit, his face showing a frown. He could hear what was said in the room where Danny was, since he got the audio from their survaillance van and from what he just heard, he knew Danny was in a hot situation. He feared that his cover may be blown, this boss seemed too suspicious of his Agent.
"Well, I appreciate your concern for my Agent, Miss, but there is nothing I can do right now." he replied, repeating himself. "I admit, it is possible that this man you saw was part of the group we are investigating, but for now we have no evidence of him being in immediate danger."

Meanwhile Danny got a little anxious, but he hid it under his facade. He had a job to do, a role to play and he was too well trained and experienced to blow it now. Although he feared that he was already detected as a person who is suspicious. He had to play it smart in order to keep his cover safe.

Unknown to Danny, the man who threatened him and Nicole, had been feeding information to the boss that Danny might not be who he said he was. Little did he know how fast things would go south for him.

"Well... I'm ambitious to work my way up, y'know..." he replied with a small shrug, acting as casually as possible.

Nicole watched him, then turned and left the office, having gone from concerned to pissed in the matter of seconds. If she couldn't get help, she would do it on her own. Falling back on her military training, she went to look for Danny. Nothing else mattered at the moment for her.

SSA Palmer could tell that she was about to do something stupid. Something that could endanger not only his Agent's life, but hers as well. He couldn't let her do it. He gave word to Danny's partner Catherine, to keep an eye out for Nicole and then sent an Agent to keep a close eye on Nicole.
He could tell she came from a military background.

"Made a bad choice messin' with us, boy." the boss said in a threatening tone.

"What is it, I did wrong again?" Danny asked, slightly annoyed. "I don't remember being nosy or anythin'. I just did ma job... workin' ma way up as I hoped. Why the hostility against me now?"



~ ~ ~ ~ ~
PS.... you could help me with that ganger boss a little bit, if you like...

Nicole had a feeling that she was being followed as she made her way into the part of city that she knew Danny would be in.  She quickly hid and waited for the agent to show up.

The boss watched Danny, then had two of his button men grab Danny by the arms and search him for a wire.  He stood back as the men did their job.

Catherine listened to what was going on. If they found the wire hidden in his basecap, they were screwed and Danny was most likely in grave danger. Men like him didn't stop at murder. Catherine was listening to what was happening inside, though there wasn't much to hear.

"Whoa?! What the heck are you doin' man?" Danny asked, fighting against the men, grabbing him. But he was still playing his role. He had to.
He was anxious, getting a slight bit angered, too. He knew he was probably dead if they found the hidden wire in his cap. But he kept his cool, he had to. Damn it... can't even say the word for Cath...

Nicole soon saw the agent come by and confronted him. "Let me guess: Agent Palmer sent you to follow me." she said to her. The agent nodded in reply, telling Nicole what Palmer said to her.

The boss continued to watch his men as they searched Danny. "Check his hat" he said in his normal gruff tone to the two younger men. The taller one nodded, then did so.

The Agent looked at Nicole, a stern look on her face. She was one of the more seasoned Agents of the unit and by looking at her, one could tell that she wasn't a person to be messed with. She was strong and athletic built, with a determined atmosphere surrounding her. She was not going to back down, not without a fight. And she was following her orders at any cost.
"Look lady, if you storm into a federal investigation like that you do not only put yourself in danger, but the lives of our Agents out there, too. Busting into the situation will most likely get all of you killed." she said in a very serious tone. "Now you do not look like a dump chick off the streets. I strongly advice you to back down and let the agents out there do their jobs. Coop will be just fine. He's more experienced with these type of people and operations than anyone."

Danny stood frozen in place, saving his strength for when he might actually need it. It was senseless to fight against these two minions anyway. He was after the big fish after all. And his first goal right now was to make it out of here alive.

The two minions pulled his basecap of and checked it 'thouroughly'. Danny knew of the good work that one was, with just a small transmitter in the seam of the hat. Seeing how they did the searching job, there was only a little chance that they would find it.
But Danny didn't know that the guy who threatened him and Nicole was an FBI Agent himself, a dirty one from another devision, feeding information to the organization. He had already told the boss that Danny was not who he said he was. They already knew he was a fed. But they did a good job not showing.

But, as Danny had hoped, they did not find the transmitter in his cap,  which was a good thing for him. But he didn't know, how to get his trigger phrase to Catherine. Long day wasn't exactly something you just said without reason.

Meanwhile, hearing what was going on inside, Catherine got the team ready to move in. She knew her partner may not be able to say the trigger word. She may have to act on her own instincts.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Word Count: 397

Nicole watched the female agent as she said that to her, ignoring the dumb chick comment. "I can hold my own." she replied. "You ever serve in the army?" Nicole asked the agent as she stood there, she had a feeling that this woman did. Nicole wasn't going to let this woman stop her from getting to Danny, regardless of what she said to her. She didn't know about the dirty FBI agent as she stood there with the female agent, clearly upset with her for having followed her to this place and confronted her. Nicole really wanted to knock this agent out and cuff her to a pipe, but knew that wouldn't do her any good.

"As a matter of fact, I did. Which is why I know exactly you did, too. And I also know you're about to do something very stupid here, which will endanger everyone involved in this operation today." she said in a stern voice, looking at Nicole, her dark green eyes fixing the younger woman before her to her spot. "I have no quealms to use this gun and cuffs on you, if I have to. It is my duty to keep everyone involved safe and that includes you. I will arrest you, if that's what it takes to keep you from running to your own death."

And that wasn't the only thing this agent had in mind. She knew, if Nicole busted into Danny's operation, endangering everyone involved, including Nicole herself, Danny would be mad as hell about it. Now if this woman before her, really cared about Agent Cooper, she wouldn't want that to happen. Right now, they were a block away from the club Danny was meeting the suspects in and this Agent was going to keep it that way.

At the same time inside the club, Danny stared at the boss, a serious look on his face. This man was hard to read, but somehow Danny got the feeling that he already knew he was sent in undercover. He didn't know why, but he just knew. He wondered what was going to happen next, though.

Bracing himself for whatever would happen next, he stayed focused on the boss of the gang, while his minions were kept in observation, too. As best as he could anyway.

"You happy now?" he asked the man, clearly upset.

"Well, no." he said, in his serious, deep voice. "Let's stop playing stupid here. I know you work for the feds, so don't try and play me."

"Feds? What the hell are you talkin' about?"

"Ever heard of Agent Rick Martin?" the boss asked. "Well, you see, Rick is a smart man. He knows who to do business with."

Bloody bastard! Danny thought to himself, looking at the boss with a death glare in his eyes. "Does he now? Well, good for him."

"I don't like people sticking their noses where they don't belong."

"So what? You gonna kill me now?"

"Nah... that would be a shame... you see, everybody has his price. I'm going to find yours."

Danny didn't like the implication of that. This man was trying to buy him. Right now, Daniel would rather die than be bought by this piece of scum. But he had to play along, as long as it kept him alive.
"Good luck with that." he said in a slightly taunting tone.

Nicole watched the woman as she told her that, then backed off. "Fine" she said, relaxing her stance as she that to her. It was clear that she was worried about Danny. "You have to get him out of there." she said to the agent while looking her in the eye.

Back inside, the henchmen continued to hold Danny, waiting for orders on what to do next. It was clear that these two men wanted to take him out back and play a number on him for snooping around their organization, but they knew that they had to wait for their boss to give the order. "Come on boss, let us rough this fed up." the shorter one said, clearly a hot head. The taller guy looked at him when he said that.

The female agent relaxed a little, glad that she didn't need to use her gun or cuffs on the young woman before her. She could tell that she was worried about Danny, they all were, whenever an agent went undercover.
"I can't give that order, but I'm sure if something's wrong, our agents are already waiting to get him out of there." she explained, her voice a lot warmer now. This wasn't about protecting Danny's operation, this was about reassuring a friend of his.

Danny felt his body tense under their grasp. Two against one and then the boss there, too... cowards, just like he thought they were. If they wanted to rough him up, he had to brace himself for that. He had seen what they were capable of doing to someone they didn't like. He watched them doing it once and he didn't really want to go through this.

The boss turned around, looking at his two minions. "No, I have other plans with him. I want to know what his life is worth to him." he said slowly, but seriously. "Like I said, everybody has his price."

"You can't buy me. I'd rather end up on the bottom of Lake Mead than to work for you." Danny replied, looking at the man before with fire in his brown eyes. This was just a little of his Spanish temper showing.

"Oh, really now?" he asked Daniel. "Well, in that case... why don't we give you a little taste of that, then? Take him downstairs."

The two guys nodded, smirking to themselves as they made Danny come with them. They left the room through the door the three of them came through and took him down a small stairwell to the basement of this club. The main room was storage and cooling for the bar upstairs, but there was back room, behind a storage shelf, that's where they took Danny. He had never been down here before, but he remembered some other drug dealer telling him stories about how snitches were taken there and never came back.
Naturally Danny felt a little anxious.
"Where are we going?" he asked, trying not to sound too worried.

"We... are going to have a little fun with you... show you what the bottom of Lake Mead will be like, my friend." the boss said to him. Danny became a little bit more worried.

"Looks like this is going to be a long day then..." he said, hoping his partner would get his signal.

They reached the back room and pushed Daniel inside. He looked around, shocked at what he saw. This was the torture chamber some of the drug dealers were talking about. Danny knew what they were going to do to him now and he hoped his backup would be here in time.

In the back of the room was a small basin, filled with cold water. They took Danny to it, took his hat off and when Danny fought back, not wanting to be pushed into the basin, both minions grabbed him and pushed him inside. It took both of them to overwhelm Danny, but he had no chance again two of them. And then they began their little "game".

Please... be here in time... be here in time. he said to himself, while he was pushed underwater the first time...

Nicole watched her, then sighed a bit. "If you can't, then who can?" she asked, clearly ticked at the agent. "Does he have to die or scream like a wild man for you guys to move in?" she added, trying to keep her anger in check as she stood there. Nicole didn't even want to think of what could happen to Danny.

Back inside, the hot head gangster was still holding Danny. "Kiss your life good by g-man." he taunted after the door to the room closed. It was clear that he hated Danny and wanted to see him suffer.

"His partner, Agent Johanson is there with a team of agents to bust him out. They're listinging to what's going on none-stop." the female Agent explained calmly. "He has a code-word to use, when he does they get him out immediately. You promise to sit tight, I can take you to the location of the team and you can wait with us. But no playing hero, alright?"

Catherine and Agent Langston, another member of their team had the FBI Agents and SQUAT move in. Danny had successfully transmitted the code word and that was the last thing they heard of him before the signal went dead. All they knew was they took him to a basement. They needed to find it and quick.

Meanwhile Danny was holding his breath while he was held underwater. It took both henchmen to hold him there, because he was fighting back with all he had. A few moments later, they pulled him up and he took a deep breath, literally gasping for air, before they pushed him back down.

They wouldn't kill him, yet though.

Nicole nodded in reply when she said that, then looked around. She wasn't a religious person, but she had no where else to turn. If there is some higher power I don't know about, please watch out for Danny.....he could use your help she said to herself as she stood there. She had gone from being on the war path to someone who was concerned. "Come on Danny say the word" Nicole said out loud.

The boss looked at Danny after he was pulled back up. "You will crack, its just a matter of time." he said while standing there, it was clear he underestimated Danny and his skill.