Posted by Civilian Molly Holloway (CEO - Holloway Industries) in [Attack at City Center] The Beginning of the End

Posted by Jerome Davis in [Attack at City Center] The Beginning of the End

Posted by Civilian Molly Holloway (CEO - Holloway Industries) in [Attack at City Center] The Beginning of the End
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Molly knew that her uncle’s request for her to grab him the newspaper was not an innocent one. Ever since he had woken up, Lucas had made no secret of the fact that he thought she should go outside, instead of spending her days inside the hospital’s walls. She had argued, but this had been the first morning she had had no excuse. It was just the newspaper. At the kiosk across the street from Sacred Heart. One of the few places that sold both breakfast items and paper based newspapers and magazines.

Who buys the newspaper anyway? Paper snobs like her uncle, her mind completed. Molly scoffed in annoyance, ignoring the fact that book reading was something she frequently did and that she enjoyed much more than doing so on a PaDD.

Molly walked at a fast pace. Her face half buried under the collar of the long tweed coat the Mannings had gifted her, hoping she wouldn’t get recognized on the street — something that had become much harder after the protests that had swept the center of the city the week before.

“Oh uh… M… Miss Holloway…! What can I do for you?” The young man working the small establishment stuttered, and his face blushed bright pink when he recognized her amongst the people waiting around for their morning coffee, his words prompting many of them to look in her direction. Molly sighed inaudibly and her face opened in the most polite smile she could muster. “Just a coffee to go and today’s issue of The OED Times.” She said as she patted her pockets in search for credits. “Yes Ma’am.” Came his prompt reply as he took a copy of the colony’s newspaper and handed it to her, before waving his open palms. “Don’t worry about it, it’s on the house!”

“No, please.” Molly said, trying not to sound visibly frustrated. “I’m a customer just like anyone else on this line.” With a swift movement she placed the credits on the small counter filled with numerous magazines and took the newspaper. “Keep the change.” The young man opened his mouth to protest, but the glare Molly gave him made him take a step back. “Yes Ma’am. Th- Thank you.” He said shakily before pointing to the left side of the kiosk. “You can grab your coffee on that side. It will be right out.”

With the same polite smile as before, Molly nodded, placing the newspaper under her arm. “Thank you. Have a good day!” And she moved to the small group of people waiting.

A few of them glanced at her curiously, and a woman stepped closer to her making Molly take half a step back. “Miss Holloway. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what happened to your uncle. I hope he gets better soon. Send him my regards.”

Molly smiled at the woman, glancing nervously at the coffee counter, hoping that hers was coming out soon. “Thank you.” She glanced back at the woman, clutching tightly the newspaper under her arm. “I’ll let him know.”

“Mine too.” Another customer stepped closer. “We’ve seen it on the news. The shuttle… and then all those protesters. Rest assured, Miss Holloway, we never doubted you or your uncle!”

The smile on Molly’s face became more nervous as the interactions progressed, as she became visibly more uncomfortable. “Miss Holloway!” This time it was a teenager stepping away from his mother. “I’m sorry to bother you. Can I get an autograph?” Autograph!? Molly’s mind was starting to be overwhelmed, and anyone that knew her would know that that was not good. She smiled at the teenager that was now holding out a pen and a piece of paper for her to sign, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Molly Holloway, CEO Holloway Heavy Industries

“Sign the kid’s autograph Red, then we can go for a walk… we have things to discuss” The soft, familiar voice came from just above and behind Molly’s right shoulder. Looking behind her, Molly would find Ryan York… in a suit, long coat, and fedora smiling down on her. He looked as though he’d fallen out of an old earth detective novella. Reaching over to the kid, Ryan smiled kindly as he took the pen and handed it to Molly. “Come on hun… no reason to disappoint your adoring public.” He smirked then gave a playful wink.

Colonel Ryan York, SFI

Taking a deep breath, Molly took the pen and the piece of paper. With a quick motion she signed her name and handed it back to the teen with a smile. “Oh this is so cool! Thank you!” He said as he turned away to rejoin his mother waiting in line.

“Molly Holloway!” Came the voice of the kiosk assistant as he placed the lid on a steaming cup of coffee and sat it on the small counter. With a nod to the young man running the small place, she grabbed the cup and walked back to Ryan, her uncle’s OED Times issue still firmly tucked under her arm.

It was only when they had walked far enough away from the kiosk that Molly spoke. “So what brings you here, Mr. Dixon Hill?” She said with a smirk, taking a tentative sip from her coffee, making sure she didn’t burn her tongue. “I assume you didn’t just come to help me give out random autographs?” Molly smiled at Ryan, and sighed. Her heart fluttering slightly as it always did when York was around. “Thank you though. I hate it every single time it happens and after the protests and all the news reports… even those that didn’t know who I am are suddenly familiar with my face.” Molly sighed again, looking disheartened at her coffee cup. “It’s exhausting.”

Molly Holloway, CEO Holloway Heavy Industries

“I understand Red… I really do.” Ryan began gently and though Molly knew his attention as far as the conversation was totally his, it would be one of the few times recently Molly could walk comfortably in public… knowing the Intelligence Operative’s eagle eyes were taking in every inch of their surroundings. “And no, I didn’t come here just to help you with autographs.” He made a point of looking left and right before continuing. “Target is in play…” Ryan said flatly, the term would immediately register with Molly. “… the team is closing in. We will close within the hour. Ya ready Red?”

Colonel Ryan York, SFI

There was a pang of hurt as for a moment Molly thought Ryan was blowing her off. Until his final words registered in her brain. He was in business mode. She should have known what he was there to tell her.

As her light brown gaze locked with his blue eyes, the turmoil of emotions within her would be impossible to miss. To him, she knew she was an open book, and she didn’t really hold it back. “I…” Molly had dreamed with this moment for months, maybe even years, and now that it was finally here she didn’t know how to react. Nodding, she cleared her throat. “I need to bring my uncle his newspaper… I can leave it with Hudson and she’ll get it to him. I’ll need someone to cover for me anyway and she’ll likely be the one that asks the least amount of questions. Other than that… I feel like I’ve been ready for this my whole life.”

Molly Holloway, CEO Holloway Heavy Industries

Ryan smiled warmly at Molly’s last words. Looking around, the former Marine looked to a small gathering of trees nearby. Nodding toward the trees, he said flatly “Meet there in five.” Then, without another word, he walked off toward the trees. It was almost like the man vanished… or did he? York had stepped around a larger tree about twenty feet away and then was just… gone. Molly would remember that the man, contrary to Calvin, loved point-to-point beaming as a great way to prevent people from following him.

Colonel Ryan York, SFI

With a smile on her lips, Molly shook her head and rolled her eyes as she saw Ryan vanish. Show off.

The walk back to Sacred Heart was a short one, barely more than crossing the road. Once inside the hospital, it didn’t take long for Holloway to find Hudson and pull her aside into an isolated corner away from the rest of the CCDA personnel.

“Hey.” Molly started both in greeting and in a way of getting the woman’s attention. “Do you mind getting this to my uncle?” She asked, giving Hudson the copy of The OED Times she had just bought. “Something came up and I need to be away for a bit. If he asks, tell him that Cal can get him up to speed. If anyone else asks, tell them I’m at work.” She smiled. “I’ll be back later.”

Hudson opened her mouth to reply but never got the chance. Instead, she merely watched the woman walk away as she shook her head and sighed. “They really are a perfect match…” Then turned to head to Holloway’s room.

Without another word, Molly turned on her heel and walked out of Sacred Heart and back to her and Ryan’s agreed upon rendezvous spot. It was exactly five minutes after they had separated. Not a second later.

Molly Holloway, CEO Holloway Heavy Industries

As Molly arrived, she would immediately notice she was alone. Looking around, there was now sign of York then with only the sound of crunching grass behind her, Ryan appeared. “Hey Red… ya ready?” He put a hand gently on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

Turning around abruptly as she heard the grass behind her and felt the hand on her shoulder, Molly sighed in relief when she realized it was Ryan. “I swear you do this on purpose York.” She said with a smirk. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Lead the way.”

“Let’s finish this… ok hun?”

Without a moments thought, Ryan tapped his CommBadge and the pair disappeared in the sparkle of transporter beam. When her eyes registered her new location, Molly found herself in a deserted corridor in what looked to be an abandoned building. The walls appeared to be concrete and the floors unfinished, similar to a factory or a warehouse. As the pair appeared in the corridor, one of the six man strike team stood and looked first to Molly then Ryan. “Sir…” The man said almost in-audibly. “Identity confirmed. Inhibitors are now live. She’s trapped. Permission to engage?”

It took only a moment for Molly to regain her surroundings, even though she didn’t know exactly where they were. For the first time, Molly felt nervous, not knowing what they would find next. Ever since she had found that Newton had fled and that she had been behind the attacks on Lucas in New York, that Holloway had pictured their encounter. She could feel the rage and the hatred she had for the woman simmering just below the surface.

York gave a sharp nod of his head and watched as the Team Leader turned, raised a large barreled… something… and pointed it toward the partially opened door a few meters away. The strike member to the Leader’s right raised his right hand, palm open, then silently & rapidly formed a fist. The moment he did, the large barrel in the Leader’s hands fired a sort of sonic wave so powerful the wave disturbance could be seen in the air between them the split second before the slightly ajar door was violently ripped from it’s hinges and slammed against the opposite wall. Barely a second later, the team surged forward as one, spilling into the room where a shocked and visibly furious Newton glared down their raised weapons, her hands in the air. She was standing in the still settling dust behind a table with a data terminal and a large pistol laying on it. “Don’t…” was the only word the Team Leader said to Newton.

York/Strike Team

And there she was. This time in flesh and blood. Molly glanced around the room quickly, certain that the room had been booby-trapped in some way, that they knew of their arrival beforehand. Yet, only the bare walls of the abandoned room stared back at her, and even though Newton was a very good actress, she had seemed genuinely surprised. Not to mention, Molly knew Ryan well enough to know that he would have done a thorough job and not leave anything to chance.

Slowly and silently, still behind the strike team, Molly took off her coat, making it very apparent that she was armed. Handing her coat to Ryan, Molly cut through the strike team in calm and calculated steps, as dramatically as Moses parting the waters. She stopped just in front of them, keeping her distance from the woman.

Through Molly’s tired frame and demeanor, Newton would see the real toll her actions had taken on the woman. She might even think of that as a small victory. Holloway, on the other hand, wanted to yell at Newton, to berate her for everything she had done, but she found herself frozen in place, at a loss for words, trying to fight the turmoil of violent emotions threatening to take hold of her.

Molly knew that when she had found Newton in her living room, had the woman been really there, she would have killed her. Now, she found herself walking the tight rope to avoid that from happening. It was a delicate dance for her, that left no space for anything else than deep focus on her part.

Finally, with effort, and a raspier sounding voice than she had expected, Molly broke the silence. “It seems you weren’t there when my uncle woke up after all.”

Molly Holloway, CEO Holloway Heavy Industries

It took Newton only a moment to register what had happened before her head cleared and her steely resolve returned. She lowered her hands and smiled the same vindictive smile as she had as a hologram weeks before. She looked first to Ryan then to Molly, a smirk growing on her face. “Wow… really?! You got one of the top Section 31 Operatives, the Commander of the USS Thresher himself…” Newton snorted in blatant disgust. “… Colonel Ryan York… to bring one of Intel’s most powerful ships half way across the galaxy on a botched assassination. Really York…” She eyed the man that she had once worked for. “… you seriously think your goons scare me?”

“Stuff it Newton…” Ryan growled. “… trash like you simply never change. Better to be safe!”

Newton laughed, rolling her eyes. “You really are something else York! My god, man! How good of a lay is this woman for you to keep risking your career over her?!” York looked like he wanted to pummel the woman but didn’t take the bait.

Newton then looked back to Molly, rolling her shoulders and placing her hands in the small of her back. “I never thought they’d let you take the damn holo emitters off line Holloway, well done. I guess…” She smiled another dangerous smile. ‘… I guess I’ll just have to… wait for him to return to that goddamn palace of his. Then… I can have that little… chat with your dream, sweet unc…” Whatever Newton still had to say, no one in the room would ever hear.

York/Strike Team/Newton

With a loud cry, Molly lunged at Newton. Her body on autopilot, her movements fueled by the feral rage towards the woman that had brought so much anguish and suffering to her and her family. Blinded by the unleashed emotions she had repressed for so long, time seemed to come to a halt, and Molly could feel nothing and everything at once. As far as Holloway was concerned, Ashley Newton was finally on the receiving end of it.

Then a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, pushing her away from the scene, from Newton, from the woman that had tried time and time again to take away the two most important people in her life. Molly struggled, fighting back with a strength she didn’t know she had. She was hers. He had promised. She could feel her own cries of anguish leaving her body but the voice that reached her ears was not her own.

“Red… Stop! MOLLY!”

The name… Her name… and the voice… Ryan’s voice. It was as if her consciousness was ripped away from the darkness of her mind, and her eyes opened to six Section 31 agents staring at her. Gazes with emotions that she had never seen directed at her before… Fear. No… Terror. What have I done?

Molly felt her body go limp in Ryan’s arms, and his grip on her holding her steady. She looked around, before the room dissolved around her.

In the signature glimmer of a transporter beam, the pair disappeared from the room, leaving the strike team behind to clean up the scene.

Molly Holloway, CEO Holloway Heavy Industries (and Ryan York, with permission)

From the safety of their black site, Eryn watched the video from her small robotic arachnid friend. It had appeared attached to the ceiling behind York and…so he brought Molly. Eryn watched the whole horror show unfold and shook her head. York was stupid, he should have known Molly was a risk. Nothing against the woman, but a person could only handle so much and SFI and S31 didn’t exactly care when or how you broke as long as you were useful until you did.

She knew they would be after the information in Newton’s computer. The small pest, as quiet as it’s name sake, scurried along the ceiling into the room, down the wall,across the floor and under the desk while everyone watched Molly and York in horror. It hard wired itself into the terminal and began to copy everything on the computer. When it was done it wiped any record of the files being taken, and then the spider scurried into a crack between the floor joints.

Romanov, CIA