The next time the hatch opened, we were in a dimly lit parking garage probably belonging to an urban apartment complex. We weren't given much time to look around before they put empty grocery sacks over our heads as makeshift hoods. They bound our hands behind using strips of the rags that were in the trunk. Clearly our assailants were not prepared for taking hostages. It must have been an impromptu decision. I guessed they were hoping hostages might make up for the loss of weaponry?

They shuffled us through the garage and up some stairs to a stuffy dimly lit apartment. Either the building was not a very busy place or Frenchmen are used to seeing people with sacks on their heads. In the apartment, they sat us down roughly into a couple of kitchen chairs and since there were no windows which might allow us to see where we were, they removed the makeshift hoods. They immediately began arguing with each other in French. There were five of them. I assigned each of them a name of one of the five Three Stooges: Curly, Larry, Moe, Shemp and Curly-Joe. I considered using the names of comic book super villains, but honestly these guys were so inept, I just couldn't disgrace the names of supervillains that way.

Moe was the shortest, most vocal, and probably the leader of the group. He was arguing with Curly who was a little taller and of stockier build. Larry was the tallest. He would occasionally add something to their discussion. I couldn't be sure because they only spoke French, but I got the impressions that it was Shemp and Curly who had decided to take us hostage and Moe was not happy about that. Shemp who was the driver of the car and Curly-Joe who was clearly the muscle for the gang both stayed out of the argument.

They had taken our passports and identification and were going over them. Finally, Moe made a phone call and for the first time lowered his voice. He gave our names to whoever he was talking to. When he hung up, he was a much calmer person. He told the others something that seemed to make them happier too. They got some dish towels from the kitchen and used those to secure our legs to the chair. They pretended not to understand any of the English we spoke to them even though I knew Moe had understood enough to retrieve Rogue's phone when she had told him where it was. I think they wanted us to think they didn't understand English so that we would talk freely in front of them and they might pick up on any escape plans we might make.

For the next three or four hours, the stooges watched us and the small television in the apartment. While I listened to Rogue tell me sarcastically what a delightful time she was having and how she was so glad Agent Slutty Galore had recommended these accommodations to us and that we must remember to thank her. Apparently, no situation was dire enough to rob Rogue of her sarcasm.

Late that afternoon, there was a knock on the door. Shemp opened the door and Deadpool came in. Deadpool was the name I chose for him because he looked a little like Ryan Reynolds who played the antihero in the movies. Also, I wasn't sure if he was a hero or villain at this point. I also recognized him as the guy who had stolen my car and the intercept equipment. I was hoping he was a hero. My hopes were to be sadly subverted.

He spoke with Moe and Curly for several minutes as if they were negotiating something. They seemed to reach an agreement and then he came over to me. He told Shemp to untie me and then he spoke to me in English with a bit of a Russian accent.

"Mr. Farley, I am so glad I found you."

"You have me at a disadvantage' "I said. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure?"

"And you won't," Deadpool said. "I'm here strictly to negotiate an agreement with you. We have a unique opportunity here to be of mutual benefit to each other. We don't need to be friends. You do me a favor and I can get you and your girlfriend set free. Interested?"

"What's the favor?"

"It is no big deal. I just need you to go ahead and complete the mission you were sent over here for and just don't mention anything about this little detour you made or tell anyone that the equipment was ever out of your possession."

"I'm afraid they may already know," I said remembering the call I'd received from Nick Fury.

"They don't or I would know," Deadpool said. He seemed quite certain. This told me he was getting inside information from the NSA, but was not connected to Nick Fury. Was he connected to the mole?

"You have the equipment?" I asked.

"It's in your car waiting for you."

"And it has not been modified in anyway?"

"Of course not," he lied. "So, you don't need to check and shouldn't. And just to make sure you hold up your end of this agreement; my friends here are going to hold on to your girlfriend until this mission is over. If you tell anyone about this, I will know; and your girlfriend will suffer the consequences. You understand?"

"I do."

"So are you ready to go? You're several hours behind schedule I believe."

"Do I have a choice?"

"I hope not. But just in case, kiss your girlfriend goodbye," he suggested. I gave him an odd look. "I'm not a monster Mr. Farley." He indicated I should kiss Rogue which I did.

"I'll be back for you," I told her.

"Take care of yourself Chuck. No matter what happens, thank you for everything."

"I will get you out of this. You owe me a night in Paris."

"Come Mr. Farley. You have a job to do." With that, he put a bag over my head and led me back to the garage.

I got to ride in the passenger seat this time. I tried to keep track of the seconds between stops and turns and direction of the turns for as long as the sack was on my head. I assumed he'd be traveling at close to the speed limit. After a thousand seconds and a half dozen turns and even more stops, I lost track of everything except the seconds. After two thousand seconds, we pulled over and he took the sack off my head and handed me the keys. I was in my stolen car, Rogue's and my bags were still in the backseat and I assumed my equipment was in the trunk.

"It's all yours from here," Deadpool informed me. "Remember our deal. Oh, and Mr. Farley you might want to avoid the local police. They have a sketch of you and they think you're a terrorist."

As I was coming around to get in the driver's seat, I had to ask, "That was quite fortuitous you being there when I had the accident?"

"Fortune smiles on the prepared," he said with a smirk. "Their driver works for me. The accident was a set up."

"So all those guys work for you?"

"Are you kidding? Those guys had no idea the accident was a setup. They are dropouts from suicide bombers school. I steer clear of them as much as possible.

"Their driver freelances for me. He keeps tabs on them and some associates of theirs that I do business with. Occasionally, he does other things like staging that accident including popping the trunk to scare everyone away. The kidnapping was strictly their idea. I had no idea you would be traveling with your girlfriend. That in fact did turn out to be fortuitous. It gave me leverage over you and a simple way to get your mission back on track.

"I've arranged for them to babysit your girlfriend for a couple of weeks. If all goes well, I'll get your girlfriend back for you. If not, believe me these guys are real terrorists and they will not hesitate to dispose of her. So, Mr. Farley tell no one about this if you want to see her again." He finished his warning and started walking away.

Remembering the bags in the car, I called after him, "Can you take Rogue's luggage back to her?" I asked.

"She's in a hostage situation not a spa. You had better hang on to her things."

I was well aware of the situation, his threat only served to anger me. I don't think he was aware that although threats can be very effective in the short term, in the long run, they almost always come back to bite you. Eventually I would make him pay for what he was putting Rogue through. If anything happened to her, he had no concept of the hell I would rain down on him.

"How do I get in touch with you?" I hollered after him.

"You don't. I'll be in touch with you."

#

I took stock of my situation. Rogue was a hostage. To get her released, I was being forced to commit treason. There was no doubt in my mind Deadpool had altered the intercept equipment in a way that was not in the best interest of my country. Exactly how significant a threat it posed, I had no idea. Possibly I could undo any damage once I'd secured Rogue's release. Until I secured her release, I was not willing to trust anyone. There was a mole or a leak somewhere either in the CIA or NSA that seemed to be aware of everything I did and that information was going to Rogue's captors. On top of everything else, the French police and perhaps even Interpol were hunting for me as a suspected terrorist.

Let us recap. My girlfriend is held hostage. I'm about to commit treason. I'm being hunted as a terrorist, and I am in a foreign country where I don't speak the language and there is no one I can trust. I've had better days. Unfortunately, things were only going to get worse.

I decided to proceed with delivering the equipment. The longer I waited the harder it would be for me to come up with an excuse for why I was running so late. I put the address of the intercept site into the GPS. Fortunately, it was still speaking English.

#

At the site, I was met at the door by Jeff. I could see past Jeff there were two guys and a young woman I assumed were CIA.

"Where have you been?" Jeff asked. "We were beginning to worry.

"First, I got held up by the police. Did you hear about the terrorists' car full of assault rifles the police captured?" They shook their heads no. "It was a car wreck. The terrorists abandoned the car and got away, but the police detained all the eyewitnesses for questioning. I was in one of the cars behind the wreck. They held me as a witness, and since I didn't speak French, they took their time. After that I got lost and then held up in traffic. Anyway, I'm here now."

"That story is just weird enough to be true. No one would make up a story like that," suggested one of the CIA guys.

"Are you going to introduce me?" I asked Jeff. I was anxious to change the subject.

"In a manner," Jeff replied. "Here we don't use our real names. So, in your honor, we have assigned everyone the names of comic book heroes. You are Agent Phil Coulson. I'm Ironman Tony Stark. This is our team leader The Wasp, Janet van Dyne. This is Captain America, Steve Rogers. This is the Hulk, Bruce Banner."

"Together we are the Avengers!" Janet said as if she were introducing a rock band. "Pleased to meet you Phil." She shook my hand and the others followed. "You know I kind of like this whole codenames with a theme. We should do this more often."

"I think not. People might catch on," said Steve.

"Of course," Janet agreed. "We probably should start getting you guys set up."

"Come on I'll go down to the car with you and help you bring everything up." Bruce volunteered.

We got the equipment set up and it was decided Jeff and I would take the night shift monitoring the equipment. So, he and I left to get dinner before we came back for that shift.

#

I wanted to go to the McDonald's we passed but Jeff refused. We ordered sandwiches at an outdoor cafe. Jeff leaned back in his chair.

"So how was your flight?" he asked.

"Uneventful. How about yours?"

"The same," He replied. "I called Amy to let her know I got in safely. She was very excited about the interning job you set up. She got a call from your friend Donna. They seemed to have really hit it off. Donna led Amy to believe someone would be traveling with you on this trip?"

"Yeah, long story," I said.

"Chuck, we have two weeks together. I have time for a long story."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to explain what had happened to Rogue without telling him about losing the intercept equipment for several hours. I couldn't tell Jeff about the possible tampering with the intercept equipment. If he reported it, I could lose Rogue. If he didn't report it, he could get in serious trouble with his employer.

"Is something the matter?" Jeff said sensing my dilemma.

"This is really my problem Jeff. I don't want to drag you into it."

"Chuck, you know I'm a really smart guy. If you have a problem, I might be able to help you out. Don't worry about me. I want to help."

"Even if I needed you to swear not to tell anyone else about this?"

"Chuck, I work for the NSA. I can keep a secret."

"This is a secret you would even have to keep from them. At least until our mission here is over."

"What is going on, Chuck?"

I decided to risk it. I was not comfortable with the current situation, but I had no idea how to change it. I needed help and Jeff was the best help at hand. I decided to tell him everything.

Jeff listened intently and then sat there thinking for quite some time. I finally broke the silence. "Jeff, I know this puts you in a really awkward position, but it is really important you not say anything to anyone at the agency. We still don't know who the leak is, but I do know, they are feeding information to Rogue's captors. It they find out I've told anyone, there is no telling what they would do to Rogue."

"Of course Chuck, I won't tell anyone. I'm just trying to figure out what we can do to limit the damage their tampering may cause. Tonight, when we have the equipment to ourselves, I'll open it up and find out what they've done to it. You're lucky I'm here. No one knows the equipment better than I do. I'll figure out some way to bypass whatever they're doing without them detecting it. Chuck, we will make this right, and no one will be the wiser."

I breathed an audible sigh of relief.

"I guess; you also need a place to stay without exposing yourself to the police? There are two beds in my hotel room. You can stay with me if you want. I'll also get you another cell phone to use. Anything else you need just let me know."

"I owe you big," I said.

"Yes you do and you can start by picking up the check. Let's finish eating. I'm anxious to get back and get started looking at the equipment."

#

We got back to the site and sent the others away early, which they were more than happy to oblige. As soon as they were gone, Jeff began opening up the equipment. As the designer of the equipment, he spotted the modifications that had been made almost immediately.

"Apparently, all they have done is tapped onto our outgoing transmissions so they can monitor the findings we are reporting back. It doesn't look like they have done anything to impede or modify what we are collecting. It seems, they didn't want to interfere with what we were doing. They just want to monitor it," Jeff concluded. "I say we let them. Then we will see if anything they see us monitoring affects anything they do."

"You mean, if they see us monitoring a specific signaling channel and that causes them to stop what they are doing related to that channel. That would tell us we were on the right track."

"Exactly," Jeff agreed. "A change in the activity of a signaling channel once we start monitoring it would red flag it as a channel of interest to us. In a way, we would be using their own tap against them. Instead of monitoring signaling channels looking for unusual rerouting to induce delays, now I'll focus on detecting changes in a signaling channel's activity as a result of our monitoring. We may actually learn more from that. I'll get Molly back at the fort to correlate the delayed channels I identify with the users. Maybe we can get a connection to those financial institutions your friend Donna is working for. The ones that are having the problems with front running. When we're done here, we can analyze the tap for clues to who placed it." Jeff put the equipment back together and we resumed monitoring.

I borrowed Jeff's phone to call Pixie. It was still afternoon in California. I had put off calling her as long as I could. I didn't know how I was going to tell her about Rogue. I just did.

"Oh Chuck, I don't know whether to scream at you or try to console you."

"Try both."

"How could you let this happen!" she screamed. "Are you okay? What can I do to help?"

"There is not much any of us can do until the mission is over in two weeks. In the meantime, talk to Jean. She speaks French, doesn't she? See if she and Percy have passports, and if they would be willing to come over here on short notice."

"You really need to start calling her Sara. I don't think she ever cared for the codename you gave her. I'll talk to them. If they don't have passports, we'll get them started. I'll get the process started for Beau and myself too."

"No. Rogue told me your news. You two need to stay safe. But if Sara and Percy are willing, you should get their passport applications in immediately. I think if you expedite them, they can get them in a couple of weeks."

"Once we have Rogue safe, remind me to fuss at her for telling you. I haven't told Beau yet."

"When are you going to tell him?"

"I haven't decided yet. You know Beau. As soon as he finds out he'll want to rush into marriage. I don't know what I want to do yet. Let's just deal with one drama at a time. Rogue is a higher priority right now. Let's focus on her."

"Okay. How is your project coming?"

"I still haven't found any evidence of hacking. Amy got her mother's permission to come out here. I'm going to bring her out right away if that is okay with you. I'd like to get her help right away. We'll put her up at Sara's place."

"That sounds good. She can act as a liaison with her mother. Her mother is looking into some peculiar behavior on the communication links your banks are using. The two may be related.

"Pixie, I have to go now. I do appreciate you being around. You've helped me get my feet back on the ground." The Beatles lyrics just crept in on me.

"I got you Chuck," Pixie acknowledged my lyrical plea for help. "Help is on the way. Stay safe."

#End Chapter Nine