The Program Ch. 06

"She's tough, and she's a survivor."

"No, I meant you."

"Me?" Danny glanced up in surprise.

He smiled wryly. "Sure, I mean, your brother and your best friend work together, you all lose a good friend, they lean on each other. Who looks after you?"

"I look after myself well enough."

"I'm sure you do," he mused. Danny shivered and he pulled her closer. "You cold?"

"A bit. Still a gentleman," she murmured.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She tilted her head back so she could gauge the look on his face and smiled sweetly. "You know, most guys would have already taken advantage of a girl sitting in their lap, especially if she has been as forward as I think I've been." The corner of her mouth twitched sardonically, "I'm fresh out of ideas, so either you're a gentleman or you just don't find me attractive."

Bill felt his cheeks colour. She certainly was forward. And it was actually somewhat refreshing. He was used to being a little unsure of where a girl stood, a little hesitant about initiating anything, and he had absolutely no question with Danny. And it certainly wasn't that he didn't find her attractive. His fingers trailed down the side of her cheek and his thumb traced the small dimple that appeared with the smile stretching across her face. He could hear the soft sigh she made when her eyes closed and it sent a heated rush through his body that warmed him all over. "I assure you, I find you very very attractive," he whispered.

Danny blinked. Her eyes darkened with desire. She shifted, her breasts pressing against his chest as she rose up on her knees and straddled his lap. "Then what?" she asked softly.

Bill cleared his throat. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her lips. "I uh..." Oh crap. His hands had already found their way to her hips, sliding down her back to caress her soft curves. "Danny, no offence, but I'd rather keep all my limbs and appendages intact. Your brother will kill me."

Her laugh sounded like a purr, "Then you better not upset me." Her lips brushed against his as she spoke and he bit back a groan, his fingers tightening convulsively around her hips. "Quit worrying about my brother and quit being such a boy scout," she muttered, pressing her lips to his and kissing him outright.

Her lips were soft and lush and his entire body tensed beneath her. Then she stopped and he stifled a sighed. For all her talk, the kiss was sweet and almost innocent, timid, fleeting. She braced her hands on his shoulders and covered his mouth with another gentle kiss, her lips moving slowly, delicately over his. It was frustratingly light and left him wanting more. And his wish was exasperatingly granted as she sucked daintily on his lower lip. "Danny," he sighed as she pulled out of the kiss.

She was grinning broadly as she twirled a lock of his hair around her finger. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he licked his lips, leaning in to return her kiss with one of his own. His lips met hers and he coaxed a reaction from her that was far from innocent. The tip of her tongue flicked across his lips then dipped into his mouth, and blood rushed to his loins so quickly he couldn't tell if he was dizzy from the sudden drop in blood pressure or the lack of oxygen to his brain. And he took the next opportunity she gave him to take a deep breath.

Her body was warm where it pressed against his, all curves where it should be, soft, pliable, and sleek. He was so far from wanting to stop. He could keep kissing her all night. He leaned up to capture her mouth. Just as his lips reached hers, she pulled back beyond his reach. He moved in again, but she pulled back just a touch further. She coyly played her fingers along the back of his neck and jaw line, but held herself just out of his reach. He could feel her breath across his lips when she whispered, "And you were worried."

He blinked and in a fraction of a second noted the flush to her cheeks, the heave in her breath, and the pout of her lower lip where she held it captive between her teeth. Now she was teasing him. Teasing? Tormenting maybe. This time he groaned aloud, one hand tangling in the jet-black hair at the base of her neck, pulling her down as he leaned forward to meet her halfway. He kissed her forcefully, letting her feel the frustration she provoked. God, her lips were made to be kissed. They were full and silken and every time he looked at them he'd wanted to kiss them. He cradled the back of her head in his palm, afraid she'd pull away again if he let her go. His free hand wandered, caressing the curve of her ass and pulling her closer.

A soft mewing sound escaped her as his tongue flicked along the seam of her lips and slid into her mouth. Her fingers wove into his hair and he sighed, his arms tightening around her shoulders as his tongue brushed against hers. Bill kissed her thoroughly and deeply, revelling in the taste of her mouth. It was as if he had to touch her. He couldn't help himself. He tugged her shirt free of her pants and his fingers stole beneath the fabric, searching for the soft skin hidden below.

A loud creak came from just inside the cottage and they both jumped apart and froze like startled rabbits. Bill's eyes were wide and he carefully slid his hands out from under Danny's shirt as she swivelled to find the source of the sound. After a long silence, she turned back to Bill and gave a nervous laugh, "I think it's just this old cottage making noise."

He released the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and smiled sheepishly. "For a minute, I thought I was going to lose my hands."

"So did I," she whispered and kissed him lightly.

Bill cleared his throat and tugged her shirt back into place. "Maybe we should put this on hold and finish it later?"

"Only if we get to finish later."

Bill saw the heat in her deep blue eyes and nearly lost the tenuous grip he had on his self-control. "We will," he licked his lips compulsively.

"Promise?"

"Promise." He traced a finger along her cheek and kissed her gently. "But only when I'm not risking life and limb to touch you."

Danny giggled as she shifted off of his lap. "Fair enough."

He adjusted his jeans before standing, flushing at the wicked grin Danny shot his way. "Ok, come on, you." He held out his hand, "I'll walk you to your room... Or, maybe you can show me where mine is?"

~o~

Taylor yawned and rubbed her cheek against the pillow. No wait. Not a pillow. She blinked, up at Wilson, her eyes still heavy with sleep. "I thought you left," she murmured.

"I came back," he smiled sweetly, smoothing a palm down her back. "How're you feeling?"

"Better."

"Good. You look a little better."

"Mmn," she agreed, resting her cheek against his shoulder. "What time is it?"

"It's early."

"How early?"

"Too early for you to get out of bed," he kissed the top of her head. Taylor's stomach grumbled. Loudly. She groaned, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Wilson chuckled. "You know, if you wanted food you only had to ask." Taylor nipped at his shoulder and it only broadened the grin on his face. "I take it you're hungry?"

"Yes I'm hungry," she muttered.

"What do you want, I'll go make you something."

"Waffles."

"Waffles?"

"Mmn, with strawberries."

Wilson flipped her suddenly onto her back and peered down at her with barely concealed amusement. "Waffles? Are you serious?"

Taylor bit her lower lip and nodded. Wilson sighed heavily and dropped his head to her shoulder, careful to keep his full weight off of her, but pinning her to the mattress nonetheless. Taylor oofed in response and pushed at his shoulder. "Wilson, get off."

"Mnn, no," he muttered against her neck, his right hand coming to rest lightly on her breast.

Taylor stifled a giggle. "Come on, you oaf. Get off of me."

"No way," he nuzzled the underside of her jaw.

She laughed. "Stop." She tried to move his hand, but he was too quick for her. He caught her wrists and pinned them down by her shoulders, his face rising just inches over hers. She blinked up at him, her breathing uneven. "What are you doing?"

"If it weren't for the stitches, Pumpkin," he whispered, his mouth descending on hers. He kissed her firmly, his lips easing hers open with a practiced confidence. Taylor moaned low in her throat as his tongue dipped repeatedly into her mouth, teasing the corners of her lips before he pulled back. He rested his forehead against hers and sighed again. "Are you sure you want waffles?"

A smile bloomed across Taylor's face. "Yup."

"Fine, but you stay here until they're ready. Alright?"

Taylor nodded slightly. "Ok."

He pressed a lingering kiss to her lips before releasing her and rising stiffly from the bed. "Good," he grumbled in an attempt to be surly, tugged on a pair of jeans, and left her alone in the room.

Half an hour later, the smell of breakfast food was too tempting, and Taylor eased herself out of bed, struggled into pants, and wandered into the kitchen. Coffee seemed to have brightened Wilson's mood, and Danny and Bill soon joined them. After the full night of sleep and a hearty breakfast, they were ready to discuss the situation at hand.

"So who do we trust?" Bill asked.

Taylor and Wilson glanced at each other. "Patrick," she said softly. "If he's the one, then it won't matter who we talk to, but I don't think he'd ever switch sides."

Wilson nodded in agreement. "Patrick has been around for ages. If someone had something on him, he has the resources to eliminate any blackmailer."

"Plus, he gave me access to all the files. He wouldn't have done that if he had something to hide."

Danny nodded slowly. "Ok, so you contact Patrick. How?"

"That's a more difficult question," Wilson muttered.

"Actually," Taylor tilted her head to the side in thought. "It could be quite easy."

Wilson raised a sceptical brow.

"I've hacked into his computer before from off campus. It shouldn't be too hard to do it again."

Bill let out a low whistle. "You've hacked Langley?"

Taylor blushed. "He told me he'd kick my ass if I did it again, but I think he'd forgive me for it in these circumstances." She hoped he would. At this point, she was nearly positive he'd be glad to know they were alive.

"How in the hell did you get past all of Patrick's security?" Wilson demanded. "I mean, forget Langley. You know that network inside and out, but Patrick is next to paranoid with his computer security." Wilson frowned when she shrugged. "You know what, I don't want to know."

"What if they're watching the network?" Bill asked carefully.

"I can bounce the IP all over the world if I want to, but we'd need a public network to begin with. I wouldn't want to risk something here at the cottage. Just in case."

"And where do we get one of those?" Danny chimed in.

"Best Buy," Taylor grinned a plan already forming in her mind.

"No." Wilson frowned. "We're not going into town."

"Well then what do you propose?" Taylor asked softly. "Because I know I can do this, and at the moment, there's not much else on the table."

"Are you sure we should all go into town?"

"No, Bill, not all of us. Just me and Wilson. You and Danny can stay here and hold down the fort."

"No!" Wilson interjected.

Taylor glanced at him for a moment and continued without heed. "I need Wilson to help me out, but there's no reason to expose us all to the risk. I'd actually feel better with you two here."

Bill and Danny exchanged glances and for a second Taylor wondered about the silent communication. "And what do we do if you don't come back?" Danny whispered.

"We'll leave an exit strategy for you two. An 'in case all things go to hell' option." Taylor stared down at her mug of coffee. "It won't happen. But we'll cover all the bases."

"Am I talking to myself here?" Wilson demanded. "I thought I said no. What I actually meant to say was no, Taylor!"

Taylor sighed and glared at Wilson. "I thought I told you to come up with another idea."

"Martin can do it and you stay here," Wilson suggested.

"Unh uh..." Bill shook his head. "Sorry, man. I build security, but there's no way I could do that. I wouldn't know where to start."

"She'll tell you."

"It doesn't work that way," Bill insisted. "That'd be like trying to talk someone through open heart surgery. It sounds simple enough, but then you see the blood and it's all over."

Taylor raised a brow at the strange comparison. "Weird."

"But apt," Danny added.

"Look, I'm putting my foot down!" Wilson growled.

Taylor fixed her gaze on Wilson's face, and though her voice was calm and sweet, the look in her eyes was far from it. "I'm sorry, Danny, Bill. Would you two give us a minute?"

Danny shook her head as she rose from the table, tugging Bill along behind her. "Don't kill him, please?" she whispered under her breath as they left the room.

Taylor's eyes narrowed. "You're putting your foot down?"

"Let me get this straight," Wilson frowned at her. "You think it's a good idea for us to go into town, risk exposing ourselves, and hack into Patrick's computer from some public network?"

Taylor nodded.

"No." Wilson shook his head. "Absolutely not."

"It will work," she insisted quietly.

"No."

"It's the only idea we have."

"No, Taylor."

She glared at him silently.

"Stop it."

She crossed her arms across her chest and raised a brow.

"Oh, shut up."

"I didn't say anything," she murmured.

"You don't have to," he muttered.

He scowled at her and Taylor knew that she was going to win this one. "So?"

"You won't let it drop?" Wilson asked hopefully.

"You come up with a better plan?"

He shook his head and sighed. "And you're sure you can hack his computer again?"

"I've done it before."

"And it has to be the two of us?"

Taylor shrugged. "They'll still be here. No one knows where here is. If we attract attention, we're going to attract it away from here. It's the safest way I can think to do it."

"Are you feeling up to this?" Wilson almost flinched at the glare he received for the comment. "Alright, look," he ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I don't like the idea of you anywhere but resting. And," he held up a hand staving off her objection. "I don't like the idea of leaving Danny here unprotected."

"So what do you propose?"

"Your idea is the only one we have. I just want to be on the record as objecting to this."

"Fine, dually noted."

~o~

Wilson swatted at the brim of her baseball cap, knocking it low over her eyes. She readjusted the hat and punched his arm. The impact shot down her arm into her side, making her wince. He leaned down, "Behave yourself."

"You behave," she hissed back. He wiped his palm across her cheek. "Gross!" she took another swing at him as they walked through the large, sliding glass doors. "Cut it out." Wilson grinned down at her as if he had no intention of stopping. No one would doubt that he was her older brother, taking her shopping for a college laptop.

"How long do you need?" he asked quietly.

"Twenty minutes."

"Why don't you take a look," he announced for the people nearby. "I'll go have a chat with that guy over there. He looks like he knows his stuff."

Taylor followed his line of sight to a boy who couldn't be old enough to drive that had the look of a deer in headlights. Wilson could sure pick his marks. "Thanks Josh!" she headed down the laptop aisle, perusing display.

She found a reasonable model that was boasting high connectivity speeds and added security features, such as a privacy screen and fingerprint log-in. Smiling to herself as she bypassed the laughable store security, she quickly hacked a college server out in San Francisco. She had been on a conference in Palo Alto and had taken the opportunity to create a backdoor into the Stanford server. It was wholly illegal, but it wasn't the worst thing she'd ever done. Once online, she routed through a series of networks before plugging in her small USB key and breaking into the Langley computer grid. Five minutes... not bad.

Taylor glanced over her shoulder where Wilson stood, talking with the sales clerk in a hushed voice. She smothered a chuckle. The poor kid was staring at Wilson, wide-eyed and nodding mechanically. "Look," Wilson said. "My sister is pretty particular, and she knows what she wants. Just give her a few minutes and you get a sale without the work." Wilson was a great liar when it came down to it. She looked at the cursor blinking on the screen. Patrick would appreciate the old moniker.

Peters007: You secure? NP7430: Taylor? What the hell! I thought I told you to stop hacking my computer. Peters007: Look, I don't have much time. Things fell apart fast and ugly. We don't know who we can trust. NP7430: You can trust me. Peters007: Well, that's what I'm hoping. NP7430: How many is 'we'? Peters007: 4 NP7430: Thank God. Is everyone alright? Peters007: More or less, we're all in one piece. NP7430: When are you coming in? Peters007: We're not. At least, not yet. NP7430: Damnit. Just come in, James! Peters007: No way. Someone hit the safe house. Then hit the secondary. It was really really ugly. And there has to be someone in NCS. You find out who it is, we'll come in NP7430: How will I reach you? Peters007: The usual. We have evidence against VT and it's solid. That has to be the reason for this. NP7430: Can you get it to me now? Peters007: I don't think so. Too many people could see it. Just clean house, cause I want to come home. NP7430: Miss me? Peters007: Wilson smells bad. NP7430: If things turn south, call me. I'll figure something out. Peters007: Just keep an eye on the panic buttons. We have two with us. NP7430: Fine. That'll work. Peters007: I swear to god, if anyone else shows up, I'll shoot them. NP7430: I wouldn't expect anything less. Peters007: Got to run. Feed the cat. NP7430: Already ate the cat. Peters007: Ass.

She quickly pulled off the grid and erased the program she had run. Pulling out the USB key, she contemplated erasing the whole computer, but thought better of it. "Hey, Josh!" she called. Wilson looked up, a smile quirking the side of his mouth. "I like this one! Does it come in red?"

They had made a quick exit as the salesman was in the back looking for a laptop with her impossible specifications. Taylor didn't relax until they were a few miles from the store. "What did Patrick think?" Wilson asked.

"He agrees with me; you smell bad," she grinned.

Wilson rolled his eyes.

"I told him to clean house so we could come home. He knows we have evidence, he wants us home, and he'll be watching for the panic buttons. If he takes care of things, he'll let us know."

"And in the mean time?"

"In the mean time," Taylor sighed heavily. "I'm stuck with you."

Wilson laughed. "In the mean time, let's see if we can't get you healed up a bit." Taylor crossed her arms and tried to look annoyed, but it only made her look like an angry teenager. Wilson glanced at her and chuckled again. "Oh, don't look so sad, Pumpkin."

"I'm not sad, I'm thinking of all the horrible things I can do to you in your sleep."

He reached across and knocked the cap down over her eyes again.

A few miles down the road, Wilson was glancing at the rear-view mirror for the third time. "What's wrong?" Taylor asked softly.

Wilson shook his head. "I think we've got a tail."

"What?" Impossible. Who could have found there way out here so quickly? Unless they were already on their way... Taylor swallowed hard. "If they know we're here..."

Wilson didn't need to be told. He floored the accelerator. They had to get back to the cottage before someone beat them there.

It happened so quickly that Taylor couldn't be sure where the other car came from, but she was thrown against the door as a small van smashed into the rear driver's-side of their car. The jeep spun in a circle as it skidded off the road and ran, head-on, into a telephone pole. In the blink of an eye, their jeep was wrecked, steam billowed from the crumpled hood of the car, and the metal creaked as it settled in the dirt strip.