Death wish

Reese watches Phinox, still in a bit of shock. He finally puts his feet in motion, and walks around his desk to sit down too, his eyes still on the man they all had thought was dead.

Listening intently, he lets out a long sigh, and shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Phinox... if we would have known... You know, you were the hero that day... if it hadn't been for you, Katie probably wouldn't be with us now." He nods, implying that was the answer to Phinox's question. "But she is. We were able to get her out. She spent a month in a coma but... she's on the mend and will probably be back to work tomorrow."

Leaning forward a little, he folds his hands on the desk. "We wound up with the girl who was set up as Katie's double as well. Her name's Jasmine, though at the moment, she's still going by her Agency-given name of Thirteen. One of my men is handling her care. So yes... the mission was a success... other than your supposed death. We all wished we would have had time to thank you. I know your past has some stains, but... you showed you truly cared, giving your life like that."

Reese thinks for a long moment, just studying Phinox. He was slowly getting over the shock, but a lot of questions remained, and none came with easy answers. "I wish I could say that you're free, but... I know you're smart enough to know that we're going to have to go through some channels here, if you're going to stick around. I'm not going to force you though... you helped us bring Katie back, so if your plan is just to walk away and go, then I won't stop you. But... if you want to stay... if you have nothing else then... I'd like to help."


Con grins and comes around to draw Jamie into an embrace, enveloping her in his large frame. "Mm... I'm just glad I'll get to see you more."

Before he can say anymore, his phone vibrates on his belt. "I better get that." Letting go of Jamie, he takes his phone and looks at the number. He didn't recognize it. "Hello? Yes, this is Con..." He throws Jamie a confused look as he talks to the person on the other end. "What? When? What happened? Yes... please..." He scrambles around Jamie in the small space, fishing for a pen and piece of paper, scribbling out a short memo. "Uh-huh... yeah, thanks. Appreciate it."

Flipping his phone shut, he turns back to Jamie, looking down at her grimly. "That was someone from the racetrack. There was an accident and Bret's in critical condition. He's in ICU right now and apparently Charlotte's there with him. I should go."


"Of course you can help me!" Ryder spins around twice before spotting an extra apron. "Here we go." Turning Thirteen, he ties the apron around her waist for her. "There we are... now you're officially an assistant of a pretend cook."

He rubs his hands together, going to the stove, then looking up to find the orders that were waiting. "Let's see... um... chicken. Yes... chicken."

"Fridge!" Dani yells at him. "Come on, let's move."

"Moving, moving!" Ryder's eyes were wide as he glances at Thirteen again. "I hope you realize that this was as good as a death wish on Carson's part."

For the next hour, the kitchen is chaos. Food, pots, pans, plats, utensils and anything else imaginable ends up on the counter, table, floor, trash and anywhere else it could possibly land. Good use is made of the mop, and a batch of pasta winds up ruined. One attempt at pizza winds up in filling the kitchen with smoke before the second one is made, and at some point in time, a cloud of flour replaces the cloud of smoke.

But somehow, with the help of Dani and Aerith, the customers are none the wiser. Though everything is an entire mess, Ryder somehow manages to pull through, even gaining a compliment from a very satisfied customer. He wasn't sure what he did with the white sauce, but it must have worked. Though his style was a bit different from Carson's, surprisingly enough, the food ends up done, just a tad later than usual.

Another half hour, and there was a steady flow of people. By now the kitchen was is total disarray, but by this time, Ryder has somewhat of an idea of what's going on, and at least knows where things are.

"Another pepperoni pizza!" Dani calls, handing off the drink list to Aerith before stepping to a waving customer at another table.

"Got it!" Ryder yells back. "Um..." Turning around once or twice, he gets his bearings again, and sets to work. Flour was smudged on his cheek and shirt, and two fingers on his right hand sported bandaids where he'd burned himself. His left thumb also wore a bandaid from slicing it with a knife.

He glances at the clock, then over to Thirteen who he had set to work getting him utensils when he needed them. "Carson is so dead."