Author's Notes:

Hype!

https://youtu.be/JWxEzKQYSuQ

Chapter 52

Sunset and I were now almost through Montana, nearing the state border to North Dakota in the next couple of hours. Sunset had returned to the front seat by then, but she still had a fairly sombre attitude towards the whole mission.

I reached down to turn the radio up when a song by Rammstein came on. “Here’s some crazy shit for you, Sunny.” I said, grinning at her.

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the radio, listening to the guttural growl of the lead vocalist. “What the fuck is this shit?” she asked.

I chuckled. “It’s a band from Germany.”

She shook her head. “Can you actually understand what they’re saying?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

Sunset shrugged. “So what are they saying?” she asked.

I listened to the line that was playing right then, then looked at her. “You probably don’t wanna know.”

“Hm.” she mumbled, looking out the other window.

I continued to drive, letting my head bob slightly to the music. Sunset turned back to look at me after a moment, her stare visible in my peripheries, making me wonder what she was thinking.

She finally spoke. “How are you so calm right now??” she asked, somewhat flustered.

I looked at her, wondering what her problem was.

After a moment, she huffed and shook her head. “You know they’re probably watching us right now? They saw my passport in the system at the border…yours is fake, which is great, but now they know I just crossed with some dude…we’re probably walking right into a trap…” she covered her face, stressfully rubbing her hands up and down her cheeks. “I don’t know how you think were gonna get there and break into the CIA…”

I shook my head in confusion. “Sunny, what are you going on about?”

She looked back at me completely stunned. “Uh, gee, I don’t know…the CIA? Cody? Whoever the fuck these ‘other’ people are…?”

I glanced over at her for a second, then looked back at the road. “No one’s watching us. Not if my hunch is right.”

Sunset was frozen in place, staring at me blankly.

I took a deep breath, trying to think of how to explain everything. “Listen, you gotta look at the big picture. Think of things from their perspective.” I said, gesturing into the air with my hand as I spoke. “Now, who are we up against?”

She blinked a couple of times, thinking about it. “Uh, Agent Cody…the CIA…and possibly some other super-secret organisation…”

I nodded. “OK, so what do we know about them?”

Sunset frowned. “Uh, well Cody is obsessed with finding you…the CIA, well I guess they aren’t really interested in you, other than Cody…and the ‘others’ are also interested in you…”

“Right.” I said. “Remember, the CIA isn’t after me anymore. They called it quits years ago, right? So right now, they aren’t looking for me, and they’re not looking for you. They’ve probably never even heard of you.”

“OK…” she said, sounding somewhat doubtful. “But what about Cody? You told him you were coming for him…”

I shook my head. “He just hit paydirt by nabbing Flutters. It’s fuckin Christmas at the Cody house right now. He’ll be busy with her, and I really doubt he gives a shit about you or me or the other girls at the moment. He actually said on the phone that he didn’t care that I was coming because I’d never find him. And like we said, no one else at the CIA is going to be watching us for him. Our passports may have been scanned at the border, but if no one’s watching for them it doesn’t mean jack-shit.”

She rubbed her brow thoughtfully with her fingers. “But what about the ‘others’?”

I shrugged. “What about them? They might be watching us, but are they gonna do about it?”

“I…” Sunset stopped talking as she thought about it.

“Remember, you said yourself they don’t like to use their own field agents.” I explained. “They use people from the CIA who don’t know anything about them, like where their headquarters are. That way, if they get caught and interrogated, they can’t give away any info cuz they don’t know anything about who they’re working for.” I looked at her with a smirk. “They wouldn’t dare send their own man after me…cuz they know I’ll catch him and make him squeal.”

She smirked back, but her smile disappeared quickly. “But if they’re watching us, won’t they get some CIA guys to come after us for them?”

I shook my head. “Doubtful after what happened on Sunday.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

I took a deep breath. “OK. What does CIA stand for?”

“Central Intelligence Agency…” she answered.

“Bingo.” I said, putting my finger up. “Their sole purpose is to gather intelligence. They are not a policing agency, meaning they do not arrest people. They are spies, that is all.” I glanced over at the brunette. “When they took Flutters, that was not a CIA mission. It was an arrest, or a capture, whatever you want to call it. That is not something the CIA normally does, and either Cody put them up to it, or the ‘others’ put Cody up to it.”

Sunset shook her head. “Yeah OK, but I don’t understand what you mean about them not helping the ‘others’ anymore…”

“Well, I’m sure they have a mutually beneficial relationship with each other…” I explained. “The CIA loans man-power to the ’others’, and the ‘others’ probably pay them back with intelligence information.”

She rubbed her chin. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Sunny,” I started, “do you know how many people have died serving the CIA for the past seventy-five years?”

She shook her head.

“About a hundred and twenty-five.” I answered. “That’s less than two per year…but on Sunday, they lost six in one day. That’s a huge loss…and they were doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. It was a gross misuse of CIA operatives that led to their deaths and the CIA had nothing to gain from it. Remember, they don’t really care about finding me, or people like me…and do you know what happens when a relationship is no longer mutually beneficial?”

“It ends…” Sunset answered, chewing the inside of her cheek as she thought. “So…you think the CIA is pissed at the ‘others’ about it?”

I nodded. “When you read Cody’s mind, did you happen to find out if the CIA is obligated to lend field agents to the ‘others’?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah I did, actually. The CIA can refuse to lend agents anytime they want.” she replied.

“Ah-ha!” I said, putting my finger up again. “After what happened Sunday, if the ‘others’ ask the CIA for more agents, I’m pretty sure the CIA is going to tell them to go fuck themselves.”

Sunset rubbed her chin, thinking about it some more. “So…you think the CIA isn’t watching out for us, and the ‘others’ probably are, but can’t do anything about it cuz they don’t want to send their own guys after us?”

“Yup. And Cody’s off in his own little world, patting himself on the back and jerkin off into his own mouth…that’s the kind of dickhead he is.” I said. “But the possibility of 'others' watching is part of why I wanted Rare to stay home…so her and the rest of the girls carry on with life as usual and look innocent. I didn’t want Rare’s name popping up when we crossed the border.”

“But you told Rare to look after the city…what if something happens that she gets involved with?” she asked.

“I doubt anything will happen. Canterlot is a quiet town.” I said. “Before the school shooting, what the last big thing that happened there?”

Sunset thought for a moment, then she shrugged. “I don’t know…probably our stuff, which was like eight years ago.”

I nodded. “Exactly. I just told her that so she wouldn’t feel left out. I seriously doubt anything will go down while we’re gone.”

Sunset frowned suddenly. “What about me? I left town and crossed the border…”

I shrugged. “Yeah, so? You said Cody had the report from the bouncer at the bar who saw us out front…but you weren’t with us. You were already inside…or in the alley, rather.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “But I met Cody in person later at Flutters’ house…”

I looked at her. “And what did he think about you?”

She paused before answering. “...He thinks I’m an idiot.”

I nodded. “Exactly. He thinks you’re too stupid to even make a coffee right. I doubt he gave you a second thought, and I seriously doubt he mentioned you to the ‘others’…so they wouldn’t have taken notice of your name at the border.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked.

“That was four months ago, Sunny.” I replied. “He would have been back to visit you by now if he suspected that you had any ‘special talents’.”

She took a deep breath. “Maybe you’re right…” she said, before looking back at me. “But what if you’re wrong?”

I shook my head. “Listen Sunny…” I said sternly. “When you’re alive as long as me, there are certain things you just know. OK? Times change, technology changes, but people will always be exactly the same.” I looked over at the brunette. “I have met the same predictable fuckin idiots century after century, and eventually you learn to read between the lines, and you can see the mistakes they’re gonna make before they make them. Trust me Sunny, if I didn’t think we'd be able to sneak in there, we wouldn’t be doing this right now…I would have brought Rare, and maybe even Twilight and we would just go in there steamroll the bastards.”

Sunset took a deep breath, nodding her head. “But obviously quiet is better, right?”

“Right.” I replied. “I’m really not keen on killing any more people than we need to.”

She let her head rest against the back of the seat. “I wish I could see things like you do. I get what you’re saying...and it makes sense, but I don’t understand how you could be so sure…what if you’re wrong and they are letting us walk into a trap?”

“So what if they catch us?” I shrugged. “What are they gonna do, kill us?”

She scoffed at my response.

“Look Sunny,” I said, putting my hand out. “We’re gonna win. I always win. The only thing I’m not sure about is actually getting you into the CIA under the radar to find out where he took Flutters. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Sunset shook her head.

“You feel better?” I asked.

“Maybe a little, but…” she hesitated.

“But what?” I asked.

“I still really wanna fuck.”

*****

After two more full days of travel, Sunset and I were approaching our destination near McLean, Virginia. We were still in Maryland, ready to cross the state border within the next few hours. Sunset and I were chatting back and forth, trying to formulate a plan for how we were going to get her inside the CIA headquarters undetected.

“So, when was the last time you were there?” she asked, with one foot up on the seat cushion, resting her arm on her knee.

I shook my head. “Long time…” I replied. “Long fuckin time. Long before the new building, which they added in the late eighties.”

The brunette shook her head. “What the fuck, man…how are we going to do this?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Do you still have that webpage open on your phone?”

She took her phone out again to look at it. “Yeah…but it’s not giving me much to go on…”

Sunset had brought up an overhead view of the CIA headquarters on Google Maps, the image of the building and parking lot was surprisingly clear, so we could at least see how the place was laid out, but it didn’t offer us any real clues as to how to get in the place without proper security clearance, which obviously neither of us had.

“Fuck man, having my data on here is gonna be murder on my phone bill.” she complained.

“I’ll pay you back, Sunny.” I said, rolling my eyes. “So what do you see?”

She sighed, looking hopelessly at the image. “There’s a road that goes in, but there’s a little building only part way to the main building…looks like a security station…like where they take our IDs, and possibly search the car…I’m guessing?”

“So we obviously can’t just drive in and park…” I surmised.

Sunset shook her head. Then she cocked an eyebrow. “There’s a lot of trees around the place…do you think we could sneak in through the woods?”

“Hmm…” I said. “I wouldn’t try it. I’m sure they got fences and cameras in there…and god knows what else. I doubt you could just walk through the woods and knock on the back door…”

She sighed, setting her phone down on her lap. “I don’t know then.”

“We’ll get a motel in McLean first, before we even try getting close to it.” I instructed.

She nodded in agreement. “I can’t wait to get out of this fucking car…” she said, running her right hand down her stomach to her abdomen, feeling the ever-present tingling burn of arousal between her legs…still torturing her through every mile of the journey.

“Have you ever been this far into our world?” I asked, causing her to snap her attention back to me.

Sunset shook her head. “No…I’ve never been more than a few hours from the portal. It’s pretty crazy how expansive this world is…and beautiful.” she said, giving me a smile. “I never thought I’d find myself travelling across this world with you…”

I glanced over at her for a moment to take in her expression, then looked back at the road. “This is just a small fraction of this planet…there is so much more across the oceans.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know…I’ve seen the maps…but you don’t really get how big it is until you drive across it.”

I nodded. “Yup.”

“You must have seen every inch of this world by now…after being alive so long, eh?” the brunette said, resting her head on the seatback and letting her foot slide down to the floor.

I shook my head. “No way…not even close.”

She frowned. “Really?”

I glanced at her for a second before replying. “This planet is far bigger than people realize.” I explained. “We’ve lost sight of the scale because of technology…like, we can hop and a jet and be anywhere in the world within a day, day and a half…it makes it feel smaller, but try travelling on horseback…or on foot. You’ll have a different appreciation for how big this world really is.”

Sunset sighed, looking up at the headliner, trying to imagine all the mysteries this world had to offer. “Do you think there’s still a lot to learn here…that we haven’t seen yet?”

“Absolutely.” I replied. “There’s so many places that man hasn’t set foot…who knows what’s out there…and someone like Flutters is the key to discovering new species, since she can feel their presence.”

Sunset’s expression changed when she was reminded of the shy girl. She looked down at the seat for a moment, then asked: “How do you think she’s doing?”

I took a deep breath, not wanting to think about it. “I don’t know. Hopefully not as bad as I remember it being…all the testing they tried on me back in the fifties…”

She closed her eyes, unsure if she wanted to know any more, but forced herself to ask anyway. “What testing?”

I looked over at her. “They’re gonna try their best to try to find out if she can be destroyed…”

The brunette shook her head, covering her mouth at the thought of what they might be doing to her meek, timid friend.

“It’s best not to think about that.” I said. “We need to focus on our job. We’re gonna get her out of there, and we’re gonna make Cody pay dearly for taking her away from us.”

Sunset looked at me, a small half-grin sliding up one side of her mouth. “Promise?”

I smiled as I looked over at her. “Hell yeah.”

She grinned, picking up her phone again. She flipped to her other browser window where she had opened the official CIA website. She browsed around briefly, noticing that most of what the website did was brag about their wonderful building, and their mission statement of supplying the US government with the information needed to make proper decisions on foreign affairs.

Then something caught her eye at the top of the page: ‘Careers & Internships’

“Hey,” she said, glancing at me. “What about a job?”

“Huh?” I mumbled, frowning as I watched the road.

“At the CIA…I could apply for a job…to get inside…I mean, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Forensic Science…I can apply for an internship or something, get into the building to meet a few people, then I can shake a few hands and voila! We find out where Fluttershy is.” she said, her voice finally showing a glimmer of hope at our chances of success.

I looked over at her. “That’s actually not a bad idea…but how does that work? I doubt you can just walk in there and leave a resume at the front desk…”

Sunset sighed…”I don’t know…but I think it’s an angle we can use…it’s worth a shot, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we’ll have to think about it and try to learn more about how the process works.” I said, checking my blind spot to change lanes to pass a slow moving car. “But before we get too excited, I think we need to talk to someone first.”

She looked at me suddenly.”Who?”

“An old friend.” I said. “Last I heard, he still lives in DC…maybe he can talk us through the process.”

Sunset scowled. “You know a guy? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

I shrugged. “I said at Rarity’s that I have connections…remember?”

She shook her head. “Well I thought you were using that as an excuse for going without her. It would have taken a lot of stress off of me this whole time if I knew you actually had friends who could help...”

I put my hand up to her. “Now just wait,” I said. “I never said he could help us for sure, but he’s the best guy to see before we try anything.”

“Who is he? How does he know about the CIA?” she asked.

“He used to work for them.” I said. “And he was one of the few who was on my side when I left, something that they didn’t know about, and they let him continue to work for them until he retired…”

“Wow…” she said. “So you think he’ll help us? He’s not loyal to them?”

“He is, but he’s more loyal to me. He’s helped a few times before.” I said. “How do you think I knew that team was coming after me a decade ago?”

“Hmm…” she rubbed her chin. “You mean the time you first met Cody?”

“Bingo.” I said.

“This guy warned you they were coming?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“What was he? A spy? A field agent?” she asked enthusiastically.

I shook my head. “No, he was in the science and technology department…as well as security and communication. He designed all the new systems when they built the new headquarters in the eighties…”

“WHAT?” Sunset asked, sitting up straight in her seat, shocked by the revelation. “He can totally help us get in…”

“Well, no…not entirely.” I said, shaking my head. “His systems would be over thirty years old now…a lot of them have been replaced by new technology that isn’t his by now.”

She sank back down in her seat. “Hm. So much for that.”

I stayed silent, watching forward through the windshield as we continued to drive to our destination. It was just getting dark out. I looked at the horizon off to the left, taking in the bright, warm colours of the sky, the yellow and orange closest to the bright orb of the sun as it sat half-sunk into the earth. Higher up, the sky faded into dark reds and purples and eventually blues and blacks directly above us.

“Hey,” I smirked, turning to the brunette. “It’s not very often I get to see two beautiful Sunsets at once…”

She turned to me suddenly, cocking her eyebrows. Then after a moment, she smirked and blushed, turning away to look out her window.

I looked forward again. “Sorry.” I couldn’t help myself. I thought it was a good line…”

She snickered, turning back to face me timidly. “It’s OK. It was pretty sweet, actually.”

I glanced back at her for a second, then continued concentrating on the drive.

She sat for a moment, then took in a deep breath as she let her eyes close, arching her back up, rubbing her rear-end down into the seat.

I looked at her, noticing her body language smacking of sensuality as she loudly breathed outwards, running her hands firmly down over her thighs to her knees.

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

Sunset took another breath, then looked at me, biting her lip. “I got the ‘itch’…” she said in a low voice. “Pretty bad.”

I sighed, looking down at the clock on the dash. “Just a few more hours, then we’ll be out of this car.”

Sunset pursed her lips, then shook her head after a moment. “I can’t wait that long…”

“Uhh…” I mumbled in response, wondering what she was going to do.

She sat for another moment, then mumbled under her breath. “Fuck it…” she whispered as she lifted her right leg up and set her sock foot on the dash, letting her toes press against the windshield.

I glanced over at her as she reclined the seat halfway down, then closed her eyes as she slipped her hand inside her tights.

She let her fingertips slide down over her bare mound, eventually letting her middle finger slip into the slick, soaking wet slit between her thighs. She stroked her finger down over the soft, delicate hood, then continued onward to the soft, warm opening between the folds of her sensitive flesh, letting her fingertip dip inside her soaking wetness. She stroked her finger in and out a few times, swirling it around, trying to give every part of herself equal attention, then she let her finger drag out and upwards, letting it gently peel back the layers of flesh before dragging directly across her clit.

Sunset's breath rushed into her lungs sharply as soon as she felt it, the sudden jolt of electric pleasure that fired up through her body…so fulfilling after the past three days of intense arousal from being trapped close to the man that her own magic was mindlessly drawing her to.

“Fuck…” she whispered, as she dared to stroke the ever-sensitive button a second time, causing her legs to spasm as she started circling her finger around it, barely able to keep herself still in the seat as she continued pleasuring herself in front of me.

She knew it wouldn’t be long before she would set off an explosion within herself…after days of feel this tingling wetness, the heat, her clit practically buzzing as if it was a cell phone getting call after call on silent mode…

She brought her index finger in to join her middle finger, sliding them both down together into her tender opening, using the side of her thumb to caress her clit as she stroked her fingers in and out of herself…the pleasure began to build rapidly with each caress of her seemingly infinitely talented fingers. The pressure was beginning to build inside her loins, boiling rapidly to the surface of her moisture to meet her relentless digits, greeting them with more and more elevated sensations…

Sunset’s eyes suddenly popped open as the rough sound of gravel started radiating through the vehicle, punctuated by the loud pinging of stones hitting the rocker panel on her side of the car. She looked over at me as I yanked the steering wheel to the left, swerving the car back onto the smooth, paved surface of the road.

“Shit!” I cursed, looking back through the windshield. I glanced back at her for a split second. “Sorry…”

She giggled warmly, biting her lip as she continued to pleasure herself…desperate to reach that release that she desired so badly. “Eyes on the road, b-buster…” she panted.

I nodded, keeping my eyes forward as I listened to the brunette from another world breath heavily in the seat beside me.

She brought herself back, using the two fingers inside to her to draw the orgasm out of herself, rubbing her thumb on her unbearably sensitive red button, causing her hips to squirm up and down as she leaned her head back, moaning as the climax teetered on the edge, ready to take the plunge all over her writhing body.

One more stroke, two more…then a third was all it took. Sunset Shimmer arched her back up, moaning loudly, her voice almost deafening inside the confinement of the car. The explosion started from under her hand, sending shockwaves out from the center of her arousal-soaked slit all the way out to her limbs, causing her to reach up with her free hand and grip the backrest of her seat as she let her body spasm with excitement.

I could only see it out of the corner of my eye as I watched the road. I wanted to look at her, to see her face…to see if it was the same face she made when she climaxed with me inside her that night I made her the indestructible being she is today.

“Oh Ffffff….” she shouted, shocking me with the words that came from her mouth next. “FUCK ME, GOLDS!”

My heart stopped when I heard it, my eyes peeled themselves open wide as I kept them locked through the windshield. It wasn’t hard to figure out what she was fantasizing about…

I listened to her moans as they died down during her aftermath, feeling fidgety after what she said, unaware if she had realized that she said it…I reached down with my hand to the combination switch on the steering column and activated the windshield washers, spraying the glass with the blue liquid, then watching as the wipers swept it aside over and over again. The reason I did this was unknown to me, and probably Sunset as well…the windshield was clean and dry after all, and it was a clear day. Not a drop of rain or snow to be seen…evidently I was just nervous now and was acting like an idiot.

“Ahhhh…” she breathed out beside me, withdrawing her arm from her tights, letting the elastic of her pants snap against her toned belly as her hand was pulled clear. She put her index and middle fingers in her mouth, licking off the smooth, flavourful juice with her tongue and lips, making a loud, wet smacking sound as she glanced back over at me.

I could feel her gaze burning holes in my skin, and I quickly glanced over at her for a second before returning my eyes to the road.

She sat up in the seat again, taking her foot off the dash, leaving a set of clear toe prints surrounded by a light fog on the windshield. She felt a bit more spritely, her spirits lifted now that she’d finally found some satisfaction…hoping that it might last more than a few minutes.

“Well…” she said, seductively. “Did you enjoy the show??”

I glanced at her…relieved that she was returning back to her normal self…slowly. I nodded. “Uh…yeah. It was pretty good.” I said.

I watched her close her eyes as she ran her fingers through her brunette hair, then look back at me with her sparkling aqua eyes. “Pretty good? That’s all?”

I shrugged, looking back at the road. “Well…let’s just say I gave it three thumbs up.”

*****

We finally arrived in McLean during the wee hours of the morning. We checked into a cheap, dumpy motel on the edge of town, barely three kilometers away from the CIA headquarters. The place was pretty sketchy, and I managed to talk them into letting us check-in anonymously by slipping them a few extra bills from the gym bag.

It felt strange for me to be there, so close to the place that has tormented me for the past sixty years…and now I was barking right at their doorstep.

Both of us were glad to be out of that car. It felt like we had memorised every nook and cranny of that interior and heard every metal song the satellite radio had to offer.

Sunset dropped her bag on the floor and flopped down on the bed onto her back. “Ahhh…fuck that car, man.”

“Yeah, heard that.” I replied, setting my bag down and turning on the lamp. We had gotten a room with two twin-sized beds…not that we needed to sleep, but at least we could lie down…away from each other. I had offered to get Sunset her own room, but she said she didn’t want me to waste my money…although I think in truth, she was worried about being so close to CIA headquarters and wanted to be close to me just in case, even though I told her repeatedly it will be fine. I was 99% sure nothing would happen, but I decided to cater to her desires anyway...besides, I liked spending time with her.

I sat down on the other bed, feeling like I had nothing to do. I wanted to take my phone out to check it for messages, but alas, it was long gone. I chuckled to myself about the addictiveness of smartphones, even for a guy like me who lived without them for over two millennia, I was hooked on them just as much as everyone else.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, staring at the ceiling.

“Nothing.” I replied. “Just wish I had my phone.”

“Ah.” She said. “Did you really have to smash it like that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know…I was worried they might have had a lock on it after they called it…maybe I was being a bit overcautious…”

She shook her head. “Nah…”

I sighed. “Yeah…”

We paused for a moment, wondering where Fluttershy was right then…thinking about how close we might be to her, yet so far away…

“So,” Sunset began. “What’s the plan, boss?”

I snorted, looking at her with a half-grin on my face. “I’m not your boss, Sunny…”

“You are right now.” she replied. “This is your rescue mission.”

“It’s our mission.” I said. “Flutters is a friend to us both.”

She rolled her eyes. “OK, whatever then. So what’s the plan?”

I sighed, chewing my bottom lip as I thought. “Well, there’s not much we can do until morning. We'll wait until then, and we’ll make our way into DC to go see the Doc.”

She looked at me. “The Doc?”

I waved my hand in a circle as I spoke. “You know, the guy who’s gonna help us…” I said. “Hopefully.” I added.

She stared back at the ceiling for a moment, casually playing with her brunette locks. Then she stood up suddenly from the bed. “Well, I’m gonna hop in the shower. I gotta clean myself up a bit…down there. Three days worth of horniness, plus cumming once has made me a bit…er, messy.”

“Right…” I replied, watching as she picked up her bag and headed into the bathroom and closed the door.

After half a second, she opened the door again and stuck her head out. ”Oh, and if you hear me making noises, don’t worry about it…I’m probably gonna be taking care of business again.”

I turned on the bed to face her. “Really? You’re feeling it again?”

She rolled her eyes and nodded. “Yeah…it came back after like, ten minutes.” she confessed.

I let my head droop. “Damn. Sorry Sunny…”

Sunset shrugged. “Meh…at least I can make the most of it…”

I smirked, looking at her sideways. “OK, well…have fun, I guess.”

*****

At about 9am the next morning I put on a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses to try to hide myself a bit, but for the cherry on top, I wrapped my left hand in a tensor bandage to simulate an injury. Why would someone who can’t get hurt be wearing a bandage?

Next we headed across the river into Washington DC to track down my associate. I had Sunset look up his name on her phone and use the navigation app to figure out where he was living now. Luckily, he was still in DC…I think the CIA prefers it’s retirees to be close so they can keep an eye on them…

I drove us from McLean, right past the CIA, along the river to Washington DC. I liked watching Sunset as her eyes stayed glued to the windows, looking at the different landmarks of our world as we crossed the bridge into DC, passing the Lincoln memorial first, then making a right, followed by a left onto Independence Avenue, continuing on to pass by the Washington monument.

She dipped her head as we drove past the huge obelisk, looking upward to see the top of it under the roof of the car.

I smirked and leaned over to her, whispering loudly. “That’s my cock…”

Sunset snorted and glanced at me briefly, laughing at my immaturity as we continued on past the Smithsonian, as well as a bunch of other important buildings along the same stretch. We finally made a turn to the left, passing by the Capitol Building, which Sunset glared at with her mouth open as its huge domed peak passed by in the distance.

I leaned over to her. “This place was built by cultists…”

She turned to me suddenly, her eyebrows cocked in confusion. “Cultists?”

I nodded. “Do you realize we just drove through a giant owl sitting on top of a pyramid?”

She looked around outside of the car, then back at me. “Where?”

“You can’t see it from here. It’s made up of the streets…” I said. “Look at the map on your phone again…that big building we just drove past is on the chest of the owl.”

Sunset furrowed her eyebrows, looking at me like I was crazy as she picked up her phone and studied the webpage with the map of DC on it. She finally shook her head and glanced at me. “I don’t see it…”

“The pyramid points east…” I said. “Look at it sideways.”

She looked back at her phone, frowning as she tilted her head…then after a few seconds her eyes opened wide as she gasped. “I see it! You’re right…”

“See?” I gloated. “And if you scroll over to the White House, there’s a huge pentagram in the streets pointing right at it.”

The brunette scrolled around the map for a few moments, locating the residence of the Commander-in-Chief. She couldn’t see it at first, until she zoomed out a bit to see more of the area, then she saw the huge, upside-down star pointed right that the front yard of the White House. “Holy shit…why? How did you know?”

I looked at her. “Because I was here when they built this city…fucking nut-case cults were running the show. Freemasons, Illuminati…you name it, they were all involved.”

“That’s…amazing. I never knew this world could have such an interesting history without magic.” she said, looking at me. “Were the Presidents in these cults?”

“Some of them…” I replied. “A bunch of the Founding Fathers were in these groups…as well as rich business owners, and a bunch of people from the old world.”

“Old world?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Europe.” I replied.

“Ah.” She nodded, looking back out the window to see more of the sights.

Eventually, we made our way to the destination shown on her phone and pulled up in front of an older house on a rough looking street, located in a less-than-perfect part of town.

“Is this it?” I asked, looking at the house before glancing at her.

Sunset raised her eyebrows as she inhaled, looking down at her phone again. “According to this…yeah.”

I took a deep breath, then opened the car door. “Well, let’s go see then. Flutters isn’t gonna rescue herself.”

“Let’s do it.” she nodded in agreement.

We got out and walked to the front door of the house. The siding was made of wood, with the paint peeling badly from years of neglect, similar to the wooden screen door that stood directly in front of us as we stepped up onto the front porch.

We looked at each other slowly, then I reached up and gently knocked on the rickety old door.

We waited a moment, and I was about to try knocking again, when we heard the locks clicking loudly, followed by the inside door slowly opening about four inches. We could see the edge of an old wrinkly face peer out at us, only showing us one eye through one side of a pair of thick bi-focal glasses.

“Hello?” the old man’s voice sounded out, muffled a bit from being behind the door. “How can I be of assistance?”

I leaned forward, pulling my sunglasses down so he could see my face.“Hey…don’t you recognise me, old man?” I said through the screen door.

There was a pause, then old eye suddenly got wider as the man behind the door drew in a shaky breath. “By Joe! What the devil are you doing in DC???” he asked as he whipped the inside door open. “Get inside, before someone sees you!”

I opened the screen door and gestured Sunset inside, holding it open for her, then stepping inside myself. Once inside, we got a good look at the old man, who appeared to be in his mid-eighties by now.

He and was wearing dark pants, with a white shirt and blue tie under a burgundy V-neck sweater. He had thick glasses on, which framed his bright blue eyes. His hair was wild, brushed back loosely, but sticking up a bit, pointing backwards. The last time I saw this man, his hair was dark brown, but now it was a light gray colour.

By the door there was a long brown coat hanging on a hook, with a dark brown fedora hanging next to it, sharing a hook with a long scarf with wide stripes of assorted colours along its length. As I looked back at the old man, I noticed the hourglass-shaped gold pin on the left breast of his sweater, something that the man wore in his youth, even back when I first knew him.

“How are you doing old man?” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. “Long time, no see.”

“Yes yes, quite so, old chap. You’d better watch who you’re calling old, however…lest I accuse you of being the pot that called the kettle black.” he said back to me.

He and I shared a friendly chuckle while Sunset, unfamiliar with our world’s old English, stared at us in confusion.

“What the fuck are they talking about?” she wondered to herself as she looked around his house. It was dark, with most of the curtains drawn, creating beams of light that picked up the dusty air, seemingly dividing the room into sections. It was cluttered, with books stacked everywhere…on shelves, end tables, on top of the old floor model TV he had sitting in front of his out-of-date, worn out couch. Upon closer inspection, she realized most of the books were technical manuals...electrical engineering, computer science and security system books, as well as many others of similar topics.

“So, my dear boy…” the old man said, wandering over to his couch and sitting down slowly. “What on Earth has brought you out of the shadows and right into the lion’s den, hm?”

I sat down next to him on the couch, while Sunset remained standing in front of us.

“The CIA…” I said. “They took my…uh, girlfriend.”

He leaned his head back suddenly. “HA!” he laughed. “Girlfriend! I thought you were done with the fairer sex since they kept…you know…dying.” he said, stumbling over his words. “You haven’t had a girlfriend in all the years I’ve known you…”

I looked at Sunset, then back at him, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. I clapped my hands once, then laced my fingers together before speaking again. “Well this girlfriend of mine doesn’t die.”

He leaned his head forward, cocking an eyebrow. “I say, my boy…it sounded to me like you said ‘she doesn’t die’, if I’m correctly mistaken…”

“No, you heard right, Doc.” I said. “He found out where I’ve been living and came after me, but he found her instead…and he took her from me.”

“He who?” the old man asked.

“Cody.” I replied.

He scowled, waving his hand in disgust at the name. “BAH!” he jeered. “I don’t know why they still employ that jackass…he is a completely arrogant, belligerent, untalented windbag, stuck in his own delusions of grandeur, hoping someone will notice his unremarkable achievements and put him on a pedestal for all the world to cheer his name from on high!” the old man huffed. “Well, I will never applaud him. He is a complete loser!”

“Yeah, that’s the guy.” I chuckled.

The old man smiled at my response. “You know, my boy…I always knew if you ever had a lady in your life that you would be a hopeless romantic…” he chuckled. “So now you’ve come here to rescue her? Does she not have your excessive strength to rescue herself?”

I shook my head. “No, she doesn’t. I’m here to ask you for help to get into the headquarters to find out where she is and get her out.”

He chuckled hard, causing himself to go into a couching fit. “OH… *cough cough* my boy…you know as well as I that *cough cough* you can’t set foot in there…” he trailed off as he continued to cough for another moment.

I shook my head as I waited for him to finish coughing. “I’m not going in there.” I pointed at Sunset. “She is.”

He covered his mouth after the last cough with a handkerchief and held it there as he looked at the tall, leather-clad brunette, letting his eyes travel up her figure, taking in her details. “And you, my lady, are?”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer.” she replied, introducing herself with an awkward smile.

“Well,” he said, looking back at me. “Your plan is to send some biker broad into the CIA for you?”

Sunset scowled at him, opening her mouth to say something.

I looked at her and shook my head, signalling her to back down.

She stopped, then folded her arms, letting out a frustrated exhale as she looked to the side of us.

“Listen,” I explained. “Sunny here is the best at what she does. She has a certain…talent…that will allow us to gain a LOT of information…as long as we can get her inside the headquarters safely and quietly.”

The old man cocked an eyebrow. “What talent?”

I nodded to her. “Well, Doc…you haven’t introduced yourself to her yet. Why don’t you shake her hand?”

He furrowed his bushy old brows at me for a moment, then turned to her and reached his hand up. “Dr. Whooves…at your service, madam.” he said with a nod and a smile.

Sunset reached out and shook his hand briefly, then let go, folding her arms again.

I watched as a smile crawled across her face.

“So, my lady…what is this talent you possess?” the old man asked.

Sunset glanced at me first, then nodded towards the wall near the front door. “You have a stash of cash, weapons and surveillance equipment sealed up behind that wall.” she said flatly. “And you haven’t been taking your blood pressure medication…shame on you.”

Whooves was speechless. He looked at me with his eyes and mouth wide open, then back at her. “It…well it makes me light headed…” he started saying before shaking his head. “I say…how did you…?”

“She can read minds.” I explained. “When she touches people with her hands.”

He looked back at me for a moment, trying to process what he just witnessed.

“So when she shook your hand, she just learned and awful lot about you.” I finished.

He looked at her again and nodded. “Yes…I see now why you want her to go in there for you…”

I slowly nodded one time, then continued. “And that is where you come in…you know the place inside and out.”

Whooves put his hands up. “Ah, my boy…that is to say I knew the place inside and out. They’ve replaced and updated so many of my systems, hardly any of my original work remains. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to beat their security now…I mean, they've got cameras, thermal and infrared I might add…retina scanners, lasers, many, many security guards…and that’s just scratching the surface, my boy…”

I shook my head. “No no, we knew it was going to be too hard to get past their security, especially with our limited resources.” I looked up at the brunette. “Sunny here actually had a different plan…”

She looked nervous suddenly as she was put on the spot with both of us watching her. “Oh…um, I was thinking I could apply for a job there…I have a degree in Forensic Sci-“

“Are you an American citizen, my lady?” he asked, cutting her off.

Sunset paused. “Uh, no…actually.”

He shook his head. “It won’t work then.”

“Why not?” she argued. “I don’t actually need to get the job, I just need to get in to talk to some of them…shake a few hands, and get some information from them…”

“No, my lady, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work like that.” he replied. “You don’t apply in person…you do it through their website, then you wait for a reply…and when you apply, you grant them your consent to investigate everything about you to make sure they aren’t letting in a potential threat or spy, and that’s just to get in for an interview, which involves a polygraph test and mental and physical exams.”

Sunset sighed. “Well, couldn’t I just lie in the online application so I could at least get into the building…then we’ll figure it out from there…”

Whooves groaned, shaking his head. “No no, they’ll know your lying, firstly. Secondly, they get well over ten thousand applications every month…it’s usually a minimum of forty-five days before you hear back from them…IF you hear back from them. I’m sorry, my lady, but it’s just a terrible idea.”

The brunette’s shoulders drooped. She turned to me with a defeated look on her face.

Whooves saw her expression, and felt some remorse for his bluntness. “My apologies, my dear…please allow me to rephrase that.” he said. “It was good thinking, but a bad idea.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks.” she said flatly as she folded her arms again.

I watched her for a moment, then leaned back against the couch, letting my head rest on the back, looking up at the ceiling. We sat in awkward silence for a few moments.

I finally lifted my head again. “So what else is there?”

Whooves shrugged, shaking his head slowly as he stared at the floor. “I don’t know, my boy. Unfortunately the place was well designed to keep intruders like you out.” he said, turning to look at me. “The only real possibility is to have help from the inside…”

I took a deep breath, looking around the dark and dusty room at all the books stacked up everywhere as I thought to myself.

“But good luck with that…” the old man continued. “All of those CIA folks are quite loyal, thanks to the stringent recruitment process that we discussed earlier.”

“What about you?” I asked. “You were CIA and you’re helping me right now…”

Whooves closed his eyes and shook his head a bit. “That’s different,” he explained. “I knew you back in the day…many of us from then were quite unhappy with how they treated you. You had more sympathizers than you realise...however, that whole generation is gone from there now…”

I glanced at Sunset, who was giving me that intrigued look that she always did when she learned something about my past. I chewed my bottom lip as she and I locked eyes with each other, gazing absentmindedly for a moment until Whooves suddenly clapped his hands together loudly.

I looked at him to find both of this index fingers pointed at me, his eyebrows raised high on his forehead. “By Joe, I’ve got it! I know just the guy for you!”

I raised one eyebrow in return. “Oh? Who?”

“He works in the headquarters, in Human Resources…” he said, looking at Sunset. “He deals with helping the other Agency managers in recruitment, retention, training, deployment…things of that nature…which goes back to your idea, my lady.”

“I’m listening…” I said, leaning in closer to him.

He looked at me as he continued. “He has become very…shall we say…disillusioned with the Agency as of late…”

“Why?” I asked.

“I’m quite positive you will find out soon enough if you meet him, my boy.” he replied.

“Can we trust him?” I asked again.

“All I can tell you,” he started, “is that he has a bone to pick with your Agent Cody…if you mention his name, I’d be willing to bet he’ll help you out.”

“Where do we find him?” I said, standing up from the couch to join Sunset.

“Here in DC.” he replied, nodding his head toward the front door to the city. “He spends his evenings at the same damn bar every night these days.”

I frowned, tilting my head. “How do you know all this?”

He chuckled. “Well…retirement is a boring prospect, old chap. You don’t think that I wouldn’t leave myself a good many back doors in that system that I designed there, do you?”

I raised my eyebrow. “You can monitor the CIA headquarters from here?”

Whooves drooped his head a bit. “Well…sort of. Many of my systems have been replaced, as mentioned, so those ‘back doors’ that I put in are gone…but there’s a few left.” he grinned. “Enough for me to take in a little gossip now and again…”