Showtime. Shadow drove the end of her grappling cable into the roof, gave it a few hard tugs to be sure it was secure, and climbed over the edge. The cable unspooled slowly from her harness as she lowered herself to the fourteenth floor. She stopped outside the window to Eric's office, cupped her hands around her eyes and peered inside. Travis sat at his desk in the corner, clutching a small briefcase to his chest and staring at the door with wide, terrified eyes.

She tapped a claw gently on the window. Travis screamed, spun around, and almost fell off his chair. Shadow gasped, waved her hand, and mouthed the word, "Sorry!" She motioned for him to open the window. He hurried to the window, glancing over his shoulder at the door every other step, and slid it open.

"Shadow?"

"Hey, babe." She braced her feet on the window sill, leaned forward, put her arms around him and kissed him. "I'm here to get you out of this mess."

His jaw dropped. "I've been waiting for some agents to pick me up, but -- it's you?"

"Well, not exactly. I work for the same agency, but Jack and the girls don't know I'm here. When I found out you were the one they were here for, I decided to slip in while they keep the guards busy." She waved a hand at the cable attached to her harness. "Come on. I can take us straight down to the street without having to get past the guards."

"But the other agents -- won't they be pissed?" Travis shook his head. "I don't know, I should just wait for them."

Shadow dug her ID out of her shorts pocket and held it in front of his face. "There. See? Justice Foundation." She put it away and grinned. "Jack might be pissed at first, but he'll get over it when he realizes that he and Corona and Taura can just cut out."

"Well, okay." He shrugged and turned to stare at the door again.

Shadow pointed at his briefcase. "You got everything you need?"

"Uh, yeah. I think so."

"Good. Now, come on. Put your arms around me and hold on tight."

His face turned pale as soon as he realized what she was about to do. She chuckled and put her arms and wings around him.

"You'll be just fine." She leaned back so he could see her face for a moment and winked. "Or would you rather try to get past all those mechs?"

"Oh, shit," he moaned, and locked his arms around her waist.

"Here we go." She pushed away from the window, released the brake on the cable, and zipped toward the ground.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Travis's face turned almost completely white.

"It's okay, I've got you." She kissed his cheek as they reached the sidewalk. "Look, we're almost on the ground."

Trembling, he glanced down and let a long breath rush out when he saw that they were hanging about six inches above the pavement.

"We've reached the end of the rope. I gotta let go of you so I can detach it, but as you can see, the drop's only a few inches."

"R-right." He gulped, let go, and staggered. He gasped for breath, leaned over and braced his hands on his knees. "Goddamn! I almost shat in my pants!"

"My hero." Shadow detached the cable from her harness, patted his cheek, and grasped his hand. "Come on. My car's parked around the corner."

She activated her comlink implant as they jogged toward the alley where she'd left her car. [Jack? Corona? Taura?]

"This isn't a good time," Jack grumbled a few second later.

[Relax. I've already got Eric.]

Another pause, this one stretching out for at least seven or eight seconds. "What?"

[I landed on the roof and descended to his office while you were keeping the guards away. You can leave whenever you want. It's over.] Shadow opened the passenger door and waited for Eric to get in before dashing around to the driver's side.

"We were a distraction?" Jack bellowed, and Shadow winced. "You fucking used us as fucking decoys?"

Shadow's heart pounded suddenly. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Travis stared at her. "What do you mean, 'uh-oh'?"

"Jack's really, really pissed. More than I expected him to be."

"How …?" Travis shrank back from her, staring as if he thought she'd popped her cork.

"Cybernetic comlink implant." She tapped the side of her headm started the engine, and eased out onto the street. [Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't mean -- I was only trying to help.]

"When we get back to the office, we're gonna have a little talk." Jack broke the connection.

Shadow exhaled slowly and gripped the steering wheel to prevent her hands from shaking.

Well, fuck me.