Phil kicked open the door of the maintenance elevator and crawled out of the empty shaft onto the fourth floor. He paused to catch his breath, then turned and helped Leslie through the door into the hallway. "You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Leslie replied. "What's next?"
"I'm not sure," Phil answered. "I thought Grissom would be around here somewhere."
"Are you kidding?" Leslie said. "You're not gonna find him aorund here!"
"What do you mean?"
"Grissom's a merc," Leslie said. "He didn't have to tell me anything, I could tell without really having to think about it much. When you've been around this business a while, you recognize your own kind." She ran a hand through her auburn hair. "If he's anything like your average mercenary, he's got a real aversion to the government. Any government."
"And that would preclude helping us?"
Leslie nodded. "If it was anyone but you getting chased by these guys, I would be long gone by now."
Phil pounded his fist against the wall. "Perfect. So now we got six MAW guys and Fisher running around out there, and it's just me, you, Gabi, and maybe Charley trying to stop them."
"Seven norms against three metas and a norm. Not bad odds," Leslie replied with a grin.
They heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. Phil and Leslie darted into rooms on opposite sides of the hallway.
A lone MAW agent was approaching, his gun pointed down as his gaze swept the corridor intently. Phil looked at Leslie and held up one finger. Leslie nodded - and began taking off her left shoe.
Phil's jaw dropped. What was she doing?
The MAW agent heard a sound and started toward them. Phil stepped back into the room, and his hand fumbled with the safety of his MP5.
Click.
Unfortunately, the safety switch made noise.
The agent moved toward the room Phil was in swiftly. He reached the doorway and paused, waiting to spring around the corner. His face came into view, and Phil started bringing the gun up.
The agent turned and noticed Phil. His eyes widened.
But the gun never came around. The man's knees buckled, and he slowly sank to the floor. A small dart stuck out of his left calf - a dart Leslie had fired from the compressed-air cylinder in her shoe. The agent's eyes closed slowly, and he slumped to the floor, breathing heavily.
"5cc's of my secret-recipe Versed-phenobarb cocktail," Leslie said as she slipped her shoe back on. "He'll be out of commission for a few hours."
Phil shook his head. "You still surprise me sometimes, you know?"
"I'm full of surprises, hon," Leslie replied. "Now let's find the rest of these bastards so I can catch my flight on time."
