Octagon Project 3: Zachary McHall

~-3-~

"Nothing?! Are you kidding me?!" McHall shouted into his desk phone. "How could you possibly miss two American teenagers wearing black?! Let alone with the fact that one of them has an unmistakable scar running down the right side of his face!"

"All that my agents recovered was a cell-phone that belonged to the boy with two trails of blood." They said on the other end of the line.

"And?" McHall sighed loudly in frustration.

"They belonged to the targets."

"And how have you not found them yet?!" McHall yelled.

"The trail ends near the exit ramp into a small town three hours out of London. We suspect they got into a vehicle of some sort."

"Have you pulled up any street surveillances yet?"

"The town's population is only a hundred and thirty-two. Do you really think they would have traffic cameras?" He asked in reply.

"Damn it!" McHall screamed, slamming his fist onto his wooden desk.

"I have every division set on finding them. So long as they are still in England, they are a threat to us as well. Now, with that aside, how is Project S97M1 coming along?" McHall sighed and bit back his anger to reply.

"It's moving slowly. I have my lab working on replicating the vile of serum my agents recovered last year."

"We're running out of time."

"I know that." McHall growled through gritted teeth.

"If you would be so inclined, once one replica is made, to send it here so that we may do the same. It would speed up the process all things considered." McHall tightened his jaw and took a moment to make sure his voice was even before speaking.

"I will notify the lab immediately."

"Thank you."

"Oh, and Lium, next time you give me a report regarding Agents Halloway and McHall, don't leave out any details."

"Former Agents." Lium Foltson corrected before hanging up; leaving McHall seething with frustration.

"You're going to get wrinkles if you frown that much." Alyssa commented as she walked in and made herself comfortable in one of the cushioned seats of his office. McHall sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face before plopping down into his swindling desk chair.

"How can you expect me not to frown? All of this drama is ridiculous."

"If we can just play Foltson and the T.R.O for one more month, we should have enough Sigma for all of our agents." Alyssa assured him as she left her seat and sat on the corner of his desk. McHall took one of her hands in his and sighed, rubbing his thumb along the top of her hand.

"You are so much like your mother." He sighed gently. Alyssa gave him a soft smile as she watched her father stare at the picture of the dark haired woman smiling at him behind the glass of a black frame on his desk. As she slowly got up to leave, McHall broke from his trans.

"What about Kaylee Halloway?"

"No changes besides her rise in diligence out in the field." McHall nodded again. Kaylee's anger about the revealed truth of her sister has been fueling her beyond measures. Maybe that could be the leverage McHall needs in order to lure in Melody. And surely enough, Zackary will follow. It is definitely time for some exposure.

"Anything?" Kaylee asked as she watched Roy walk back into the house rubbing the back of his neck like usual. He shook his head with his eyebrows furrowed silently in defeat. Ever since getting back from England and finding out the truth about Mel, Kaylee has been hell-bent on finding her sister so that she could kill her personally. The way Justin looks at it is that at least she and Vanessa finally have something in common. Roy's biggest concerns at the moment were what exactly McHall planned on doing to Zack and Mel when he finds them. After McHall made an alliance with his daughter and B.L.A.K Operations, all of the agents that were 'killed' were returned plus a few from B.L.A.K. Dean glanced at Roy with a knowing face from where he stood in the hall as Kaylee stormed into her room- slamming the door behind her. As if nothing changed, Justin was busy on the X-box and Vanessa was in the training room.