Myriam sighed with slight relief as she hung up her cell phone and tossed it onto the passenger seat. She felt bad about stealing Detective Williams car, but she knew she couldn’t stay at the office knowing that her parents’ lawyer was on his way. If he saw her, then it would only mean confirmation of her location.
She’d put the location of a recommended safe place from some of her previous contacts in the GPS and followed the directions. As soon as she was aware of the neighborhood, she was glad she left her badge and gun behind because she needed them to see her as much as one of them as possible.
Stopping outside the auto shop, she did not miss the people watching her and the car since it came within view. Grabbing her phone, Myriam stepped out and headed for the open garage. Immediately she was stopped when she got inside. “I’m not armed or wired, but check all you want,” she sighed. “Diggle sent me.”
All the men paused at the name, forcing one to come forward. He eyed her for a moment before nodding to one nearby. “You from New Orleans?”
“How the hell do you think I know Diggle?”
He smiled at her and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you arrested him at some point.”
Myriam smirked and shook her head. “If he was arrested, it wasn’t by my people or me unless he fucked with the Navy. Now, he was an Army man so I doubt he’d go messing with anyone or anything involving the military. He’s got some morals.”
“That he does,” the man sighed and waved her in. “He’s helped me out a time or two over the years. I won’t stand here and lie, I got shit going on, and I just want to make sure that you won’t be going and turning on us once you get what you need.”
“I’d rather make you an informant and ally as long as you stay clear from my radar,” Myriam answered. “I can’t make promises for 5-0, but some interference, maybe I can do. Of course, depending on the situation. I have some hard lines when I help those who help me.”
He looked back at her and nodded. “I can respect that,” he said as he offered his hand. “Oliver.”
“Myriam,” she smiled. “Now, Diggle didn’t exactly tell me how you can help.”
“I assume you left your issued weapon behind?” Oliver asked.
She nodded. “I was in a little hurry. A lawyer I wasn’t particularly fond of seeing was on the way to the office, and I needed to book it out of there. Called Diggle for some contacts since I’ve not been here all that long.”
“I can get you a clean weapon. I can even house you somewhere off the grid depending on who you are on the run from,” he offered.
“My parents. Diggle may have given you some insight, if not, then they are extremely elusive and wanted by some agencies. I personally just want them dead so that my brothers and I can be free,” she sighed. “Last suspected location was here on the island, and they are working with someone named Parsons that I’d like to go for right now.”
“Parsons?” Oliver blinked at her. “As in Amelia Parsons? Are you out of your mind?”
“I’m not asking for help in taking her down. Just a weapon and if you have a direction to point me in,” Myriam firmly stated as she held her ground. “I wouldn’t expect you to get involved. When I found out, she was on the island and what she was pulling, I knew she would have a hard time finding allies.”
Oliver shrugged then. “It’s quite easy. I’ll help. There are some sleeper Bratva brothers on the island as well, and the Bratva owes me.”
She narrowed her eyes at him as she crossed her arms. “I don’t think I want to know how the hell you got involved with them and still alive. I don’t even think my father attempted business with them.”
“Me neither, until that one time, in Russia? I saved the life of the Bratva leader, was quite cool, but you had to be there to know just how cool,” he replied as he walked over to the weapon’s locker. “To be fair, Diggle told me about you after he found out where you were going, you guys were pretty tight, huh?”
“He helped me out a time or two some years ago,” Myriam vaguely answered with a fond smile of bar-be-ques in the man’s yard and music blaring. “He told me that he’d be there what seems to be a lifetime ago. Only it’s now catching up.”
Oliver nodded as he opened the locker. “As I said, you’re crazy for going after Parsons alone; I’ll help you if you let me. Now, what did you have in mind for a gun?”
Taking in his inventory, she let out a breath. “It all depends on where she is. I assume she has no issue roughing it since she managed to arrange herself to stowaway on an outgoing port that came here after what she pulled in Louisiana.”
Oliver nodded before looking over his shoulder. “Hey, Felicity!”
“Yeah, boss?”
“Use your drones to do some reconnaissance flights over the jungle and forests for me? Find someone who’s not supposed to be at that spot and all?”
“You mean fly around the drones, get facial recognition to find the person you’re after so you can go after that person?” Felicity countered playfully. “On it boss.”
Myriam’s eyebrow rose. “You have access to facial recognition software?”
“Sister, I have access to everything your heart desires,” the woman replied. “I froze all of Parson’s assets and made it look like it was issued from HPD.”
“Huh,” Myriam grinned as she looked at the woman. “I thought my hacker was good and he’s CIA.”
“Oh,” Felicity cooed as she spun her chair around to face Myriam. “Is his handle Mingus by any chance? He’s soooo talented, lazy, but talented. He should put more effort in his hacks, and he’ll be as brilliant as me.”
The smile that was on her face fell as her eyes grew cold. “It is. I suggest you watch what you say. That man sacrificed a lot for me.”
Felicity shrugged as she turned back to her computer. “He’s CIA. It sucks when good hackers go bad and work for the government to catch people like me.”
Myriam’s lip curled as she started towards the blond.
“Easy,” Oliver said as he took Myriam by her arm to pull her back. “Felicity takes pride in her job, and her people skills are certainly non-existent. That’s what makes her who she is, don’t kill her.”
“I’m told my people skills are lacking, but at least I don’t go tearing down good soldiers. He’s in the hospital because he left his job to help me do mine and likely won’t be able to work because he’s blind from that bomb on the naval base. You did hear about that, right?”
He looked over Myriam’s shoulder to see Felicity typing furiously on her keyboard and then looked back at Myriam. “I’m sorry to hear that your friend got hurt in that blast, and of course I heard that, I think the whole of Hawaii felt that blast. Hackers are a special breed of people. Felicity is good at what she does, and she doesn’t care. Just ignore her, okay? Let’s get you something stiff to drink.”
“Yeah, I know. I was involved with one, so I don’t think that excuse is going to cut it. I get the whole anti-government shit, but not everyone is in it to be corrupt. There are many trying to fix it but the ones in place higher up are making it damn hard for bottom feeders like my friends and me to do our job and get the right bad guys off the street. She only makes our jobs more difficult,” she hissed. “After all, given my history, I could have my reservations about her. Maybe she’s one that’s been helping my parents stay hidden for so long?”
“Ah, no,” Felicity piped up. “That would have been my father. Don’t worry, as soon as Diggle called Oliver about you; I made sure my father fell off a building so that your parents had to rely on idiots so you could get them,” she said before turning to smile. “See? Not such a bad person after all, amirite?”
“Don’t make me punch you in the face,” Myriam replied. “I officially do not like you. It’s not going to change. Like ever.”
Oliver had poured Myriam a glass of vodka and handed it to her. “Drink up. Felicity will have results shortly.”
She swallowed the glass in two sips and shook it off. “I’m more of a wine and whiskey person. And you probably should know, that car outside? I stole it from 5-0.”
“Great,” Oliver sighed as he headed to the door. “Let’s disable the GPS.”
“I can call my brothers to come to get it and return it. Can’t be stolen if it was handed back? Besides, he’s sufficiently distracted at the office by now,” she carelessly shrugged. “They can deal with it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Nick and Cole have enough experience in this area. Trust me. Nick, he will probably be as honest as possible with his whole new leaf act, but he’d be careful about what he gives. He has been watching and trying to track our parents for years. It’s in the Mikaelson blood.”
“And what if he returns the car and you parents happen to arrive there?” Oliver questioned before shrugging. “Ah, why do I care? Abiding the law and rules and regulations with the said law is no longer my problem.”
She sighed, texting her brother and looked around impatient. She hated how she was stuck waiting and not able to act. She didn’t know what was going on with Lance or the team at the condo where they suspected her parents of hiding. At this point, she needed to focus on Parsons.
~o.O.o~
Nick walked into the 5-0 office, uncomfortably glancing around. While it wasn’t a police station, it was still enough to put him on edge.
“You lost?” Jerry asked as he walked out of McGarrett’s office with a beer in hand.
“I’m looking for Detective Williams,” he replied. “I was told I could find him here.”
“Oh, well, he’s down the hall entertaining some lawyers. Feel free to pull up a seat. I’m sure he’ll be back soon. High maintenance of those two,” he huffed and shook his head.
Nick blinked, unsure of what to respond with. “I’m sorry?”
“Yeah, you should be,” Danny said as he walked in, annoyed. “Where the hell did your family dig those two up? I mean I’ve met many high maintenance women but that lady…”
“Who are you speaking about?” Nick asked, frustrated by not knowing what the hell was going on. Especially since it was apparent that it includes his family in some form.
“Quentin and Laurel Lance? Miss, I’ll have a lemon tea while we wait,” Danny waved in the general direction of the conference room. “They showed up for Cullen. It seems your sister managed to get their name out of her in time to get the hell out of dodge before they showed up. Supposedly, Parsons arranged for them to come and get her out. That doesn’t exactly work when you’re up on murder and terroristic charges.”
“The Lances are here?” Nick slowly repeated, blinking his eyes through his shock. “If they are here, then it is almost certain that my father is close as well. He has to be on the island.”
“We believe that too, but for other reasons,” Danny agreed. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”
Nick was confused for a moment before smiling. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket. “From my sister. She sends her regards.”
“Where the hell is she?”
Hesitating, Nick shook his head. “Doing what my sister needs to do. Just let her be, and she will be fine,” he replied. “I do not doubt that she called some of her friends to see if they have connections locally that may offer a helping hand. Nothing more than you and your team would do, I’m sure.”
Danny eyed him. “I have a walking IED for a partner. He’d go to his extremes, and for some reason, I think your sister is just like him.”
“I agree, but depending on the situation, she does restrain herself quite well. Knowing what’s she’s learned, it’s hard not to react out of emotion. She hasn’t been this impulsive until we moved here. I know because even while I couldn’t be there, I still tracked her career through mutual friends. Her attraction to your partner is a part of it because as far as I knew, she hasn’t been involved with anyone since that Auggie fellow,” he explained. “Her relationships before were much of the same. Your partner manages to make her feel somewhat other than anger and fear, just like Auggie has done in the past.”
Danny nodded. “That’s all fine and all, and thanks for returning my car, but where is she? My partner and his new NCIS friends will kill me for allowing her to go off on her own.”
He waved it off, unconcerned. “I wouldn’t worry yourself. They are aware of how my sister is, especially once they learn who showed up here. They would expect her to make herself scarce. Now Commander McGarrett, having only begun to learn of her intricacies? Well,” Nick let out an amused chuckle. “I can picture them having some very entertaining arguments.”
Danny couldn’t help but stare at the man. “You know your family is completely nuts, right?”
“We haven’t even begun to surprise you,” Nick sighed. “In any case, I think I’ve stayed in the same building as my parents’ lawyers for far too long and I shall be taking my leave,” he added.
“And what if I want you to stay?” Danny countered. “To… I don’t know, maybe stop you from going off on your own as well?”
Nick barked out a laugh. “For once, I’m not the one you should be worried about.”
~o.O.o~
Breaching the apartment had been easier than the team anticipated. To their disappointment, Elijah Mikaelson was not found. Instead, there was an older woman destroying anything she could find between taking large pulls from a bottle of rum.
“Huh,” Pride muttered as he stared at the shock. “I would think Myriam would have gotten her wine drinking from her.”
Steve kept his gun fixed on the irate woman who was still oblivious to the group watching her. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
Pride nodded toward the woman as she smashed a vase. “Well, for one when Myriam lets herself get drunk, she’s very happy and uh, friendly. I’m sure you’ll find that out eventually. Her mother is destructive.”
Gibbs ducked when the woman threw something hard and solid their way. “Hey!” he called out.
The woman froze and looked at the men standing in her living room. She held up a finger as she downed the entire bottle of rum in one go before throwing the bottle against a very pricey looking painting. “I’ll come willingly, and I’ll testify against that cochon of a husband of mine. I’ll tell you everything that he did, and everything I have done.” She then grabbed a briefcase from the couch and handed it to Gibbs. “And a whole shit ton of fucking evidence.”
Pride blinked as he looked at Steve and Gibbs, who had the same dumbfounded looks on their faces as he did. They had expected this to be a lot difficult. “Ma’am, where’s your husband?”
“Who cares? Probably off fucking that blonde. As long as he stays the fuck away from me, we’re good!”
Steve’s face morphed to realization. This was Myriam’s mother. “Um, this is nice and all, but let’s get you back to the office and get this sorted. I’m sure Agent Mikaelson might have some questions herself.”
Pride and Gibbs glanced at him with smirks. “You think so?” Pride muttered under his breath.
Toni grabbed another bottle from one of the tables and headed towards the door. “Your car or mine?”
Steve sighed and pulled out a zip tie. “Most definitely ours. Come on, lady.”
Toni stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing the zip tie and then looking at Steve. “Darling, I’m coming willingly. I’m drunk off my ass, I highly doubt any of that is necessary, but if you do wish to play…” she jerked her head into the direction of the bedroom. “The bedroom’s over there.”
Pride took the bottle out of Toni’s hands. “I doubt she’ll make any sense at all unless she sobers up, best call ahead for them to make a lot of coffee,” he said as he set the bottle down. “And Toni, you’re going to allow him to put the zip ties around your wrists. His rules.”
Toni sighed and nodded. “Ironic, isn’t it? You and Gibbs have been better parents to my daughter than Elijah, and I have ever been, and you’re here to take me away.”
“Oh, it’s not ironic,” Pride replied. “I call it inevitable. You and your husband have always been a thorn in New Orleans’ side, but messing with your children and innocent bystanders like this?”
“I guess Myriam is just like her mother,” Gibbs grinned. “How many times has she propositioned you so far?”
Steve glared at him as he placed the zip tie around Toni’s wrists while she was giving him stupid smiles and blowing kisses. “No. She never indicated any of the like even once. But she did inform my bosses about my showing up all the time.”
“Ah,” Gibbs nodded as he took Toni from him and started to walk her outside. “She must like you then. She didn’t annoy her hacker like that.”
“You know, I’m starting to understand why she was dreading having the two of you show up,” Steve replied. “It’s one thing not having your father growing up, but having two surrogates can overwhelm a person.”
“Are you overwhelmed?” Gibbs quipped as they headed out of the door to leave Steve’s team to do the rest. Gibbs was carrying the briefcase Toni had offered, and Pride was rolling his eyes. “What?”
“Stop putting pressure on the kid,” Pride told him. “You know you like him.”
“You two sound like an old married couple!” Steve said frustratedly. “Look, I understand you want to help your girl, which is fine, but for the love of God, leave hers and my personal life out of this. Now let’s get Mrs. Mikaelson back to base while my team checks out the apartments.”